Misbah aiming for maiden whitewash

Final match of the tour takes place today in cold Delhi conditions.

DELHI:

The temperature may not have eased up and Delhi is still wrapped up in a blanket of fog, but a maiden series-whitewash over India is in Pakistan’s sights.

It got as low as six degree centigrade at the Feroz Shah Kotla after training sessions yesterday – MS Dhoni was left ruing the conditions while Misbahul Haq was thankful for the Lahore practice matches – but the series is already wrapped up starting the year with unexpected results in a similar manner to last year for Misbah.



Pakistan won by six wickets in Chennai and by 85 runs in Kolkata, stunning the 67,000 spectators. The strategy is the same for Feroz Shah Kotla with the added bonus of now having supporters in the crowd — according to an official, 500 Pakistan fans are expected at the 43,000-capacity venue today.

“There’s no specific plan for a whitewash but the specific plan in cricket is to stick to the basics and that is what we will do in the third match,” said Misbah. “We just need to continue playing the way we have been playing throughout the series. The cold weather in Delhi is not too much of a bother for us. We played practice matches in Lahore in similar conditions so those will prove to be very useful out in the middle.”



We came here with expectations: Misbah

The teams have met just once in an ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla and an all-round show by the tourists delivered an emphatic 159-run win in 2005. But while a series-whitewash was not in Misbah’s sights ahead of the series, the captain said that the team did expect results because it was capable of putting on a good show.

“Obviously we came here with expectations. And we had it in our minds that if we play to our potential, play positive cricket and step out of the mental barrier, we’d have a great chance to beat India in India. We have been better than India in all three departments so far and that’s why we’ve been winning.

“Our spin bowling was already good but the key in this series has been the re-emergence of our fast-bowling.”



Pakistan are keen to maintain the winning combination but might drop middle-order batsman Azhar Ali in favour of Umar Akmal or Haris Sohail. Wahab Riaz, who took a five-wicket haul against India in the 2011 World Cup, will once again miss out on the playing-XI after a consistently brilliant show by Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan.

Dhoni doubtful for Delhi

Meanwhile, India captain MS Dhoni is doubtful for today’s match due to a sore back with Dinesh Karthik being called up as replacement.

“It was during training yesterday that I felt something in my back,” said Dhoni at the pre-match press conference ahead of the match. “Hopefully, I should be ok for the game but a replacement has been called just incase I’m not able to take part.”

Dhoni’s absence, if he fails to play, will be a huge blow for the hosts with the captain being the only batsman who has delivered in the series so far, scoring 113* and 54* in the two matches.

“I did manage to bat in the nets and we’ll make a final decision about my inclusion in the morning.”

Misbah



“We’ve been better than India in all three departments and that’s why we’ve been winning. Our spin bowling was already good but the key in this series has been the re-emergence of our fast-bowling.”

Dhoni



“It was during training that I felt something in my back. Hopefully, I should be ok but a replacement has been called up just incase I’m not able to take part. We’ll make a final decision in the morning.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2013.