The game of cricket being the passion in these parts, whenever the Pakistan cricket team gathers for any purpose, even if it is as mundane as a training session, crowds gather to watch it. But now that anticipation levels are high with India visiting for what many in this country are dubbing ‘as the Mother of all Series’, the intensity is way above the normal levels.As the Pakistan probables - just the 16 of them for speedster Shabbir Ahmed is in Australia for corrective work on his bowling action and another five (Abdul Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar and Saleem Elahi) were engaged in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy (Pakistan’s top rated first-class event) match for the Lahore region - gathered at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium there was tremendous interest and commotion. There was a sizable sprinkling of people outside the well-guarded stadium, and crew of the various Pakistani television channels was already lined up before the 10.00 a.m. start to cover the action and interview the captain, coach and leading players.Shoaib Akhtar, being billed as the likely difference between the two teams in the forthcoming series, has a repute of avoiding the hard training. But for this series he had already shown his eagerness to be at his lethal-best by using the PCB facilities well before the training officially commenced. And he seemed to be eager and motivated on Tuesday too, in what is surely a departure from the norm. His commitment must have given a sigh of relief to skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is keen for the side to perform well in this needle series.Talking to scribes after the morning session, which was followed by another round of nets and gym work at the state-of-the-art National Cricket Academy, Inzamam said that he would want to carry the momentum of three back-to-back Test series wins this season into the rubber against India. ‘‘I think we can extend our sequence of victories. To me, the bottom-line is how you approach this series’’, said Inzamam, adding words to the effect that his instructions to the boys were to put up a good fight till the end. ‘‘No match is over till it’s over’’.As for the prospects of the series, he conceded that the Indian batting was a powerhouse. ‘‘We have respect for their batting, but at the same time we know that they have similar respect for our bowlers. I believe it is going to be a well-fought, evenly contested series’’, he said.The Pakistan Cricket Board in the meanwhile is trying its damnedest to provide the team all the back-up it possibly can by asking former greats Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and the fast-bowling hero of the 1950s, Fazal Mahmood to have sessions with the team.Imran Khan is scheduled to spend the next Sunday with Inzamam’s outfit. He would discuss the whole gamut of issues, from mental strength to technical points, complete with giving a pep talk to the boys.Imran is held in great esteem by every Pakistani player, and Inzamam said that there could not be a greater motivator than Imran to talk to before the all-important series.(The writer is Sports Editor of The Nation in Lahore)
