Pakistan Will Try to Reverse Trend of Losing Final

Javed Akhtar, Arab News

AMSTELVEEN, 28 August 2004 — World champions Australia and Pakistan will clash today in the final of the Videocon Cup tri-series cricket tournament. In what is a repeat of the 1999 World Cup final, former champs Pakistan are keen to reverse the trend of losing the final clash to the champs. “The boys are all fit and raring to go. Insha?llah we will do our best to win tomorrow,” Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul-Haq told Arab News. He said he hoped the full match of 50 overs would be played. ”If the match is shortened and the number of overs is reduced then anything can happen,”said Inzamam. He said the boys were looking forward to some action after spending most of the time in the hotel due to rains. “We hope the weather is fine tomorrow and we get the chance to put up a good show for the local fans,” Inzamam added. The tournament has been badly affected by unseasonal rains. Of the three preliminary league matches, two were abandoned, without a ball being bowled and there was result in only one game which was also reduced to 33 overs per side. The two teams could not have nets as it rained the whole day yesterday and instead opted to go to the gym and do some swimming to stay fit. Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie spoke to the media about his team’s chances. “Of course we are going all out to win tomorrow. We are playing for our country and whenever we play, we try to win every game,” Gillespie said. He said it was nice to see the full complement of pace attack available for selection after a long time. “Well, it does put some pressure on us to fight for a place in the team but it is good as we all try to do our best,” Gillespie added. He said it was not always possible to get ideal conditions for nets and training when the team is playing abroad. “This place is no different. But any good team does its best to adapt to the available conditions and we do the same,” he added. About the VRA cricket ground wicket Gillespie said it was really very very slow. “You have seen how slowly the ball comes off the pitch. But that is the nature and character of the wicket. I am sure it won’t change overnight since the same pitch will be used,” Gillespie added. Australia are without opener and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist but there is still a great deal of depth in their batting. His substitute Brad Haddin failed to impress against India. But Matthew Hayden, skipper Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke still constitute a formidable line-up. The slow wicket will perhaps see the Australians opt for only three fast bowlers as they did against India and include left-arm spinner Brad Hogg in the final eleven. Pakistan also have batsmen till low down in the order but they will look for a good start from Yasser Hamid and Shahid Afridi. But they will again be looking to all-rounder Shoaib Malik to shine with bat and ball. The slow wicket will be a dampener for all fast bowlers including Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Sami. Shabbir Ahmad is likely to be more successful with his better control rather than his more illustrious teammates. It will be an interesting encounter — provided of course the weather holds and the full 50 overs quota of each side can be played.