We are delighted to go into the first of the two games with India in Lahore on Sunday with a big psychological advantage after winning another tight contest in Peshawar on Friday. The pressure is still on, though, and the people will expect us to not only win the series 3-1 on Sunday but also add another victory on Wednesday. I am told our decison to put India in to bat was questioned by the knowledgable but there was moisture on the wicket; it was not dry like Karachi and we knew it would help the seamers. Shoaib Akhtar was bowling with a lot of venom while Shabbir Ahmed was devastating. I think the critics were proved wrong well before the teams adjourned for lunch. Shabbir Ahmed bowled a nice line and showed that we would have a different story to tell had he been fit and available for selection in Karachi. The height from which he delivers the ball allowed him to get bounce that caused the Indians trouble. We did give away a lot more runs in the death than we would have liked but this Indian team fights till the very end. It was no surprise that the likes of Ramesh Powar and L Balaji stuck around for a while to help Yuvraj Singh raise a challenging total. Yasir Hamid played the best innings I have seen from him. It was not an easy wicket to bat on as the ball was doing a lot even in the afternoon. He showed much character and his consistency has proved that he can bat under any conditions. He played a gem of a knock, the best of all batsmen on view in difficult conditions. I was with him in the middle — far too briefly for my comfort — but he played some superb cover drives and it was a treat to watch him from close quarters. Abdul Razzaq has always scored runs in any situation and, despite the loss of Yasir Hamid at 173, we knew that we were in with a good chance to win the game with Razzaq at the wicket. As we flew in from Peshawar to Lahore on Friday night, it was obvious that the morale of the Pakistan team is high. We have scored back-to-back victories on surfaces that have behaved differently but are determined not to get complacent in Lahore. We are eager to seal the series win early.
