Curtain raiser for senior series: Aaqib

Indian-Pakistan matches, they say, are won and lost on pressure factor. The U-19 World Cup semifinal here showed that the Pakistan side acknowledged the factor, thought up ways to counter it and emerged winners. But the Indians chose to play down the factor — they did so even after losing the match — and fell short. On eve of the match Indian team manager Ram Babu Gupta had dismissed the high-voltage encounter by calling it ‘‘just another game’’ while his Pakistan counterpart Sultan Rana had insisted that the ability to ‘‘handle pressure will decide the winner.’’

And after the game, former Pakistani speedster Aaqib Javed with a ‘I-told-you’ look on his face gave a deeper meaning to his victory. ‘‘This match was a curtain raiser of sorts for the series scheduled for the middle of March,’’ he says with a smile and also adds ‘‘the good and the bad may well be determined the same way.’’

Strangely, even after the game Indian coach Robin Singh smirked at the mention of the word ‘pressure’ while stand-in captain Dinesh Karthik just parroted the lines his team management had taught him. ‘‘No, there was never any question of pressure. “

Come March when the Indian seniors tour Pakistan to play five ODIs and three Tests, be rest assured that matches won’t be won on talent alone. It will the ‘P’ factor that is going to call all the shots.