Pakistan A have named a strong team for the practice match against India, testing out several players on the fringes of the senior team

Anand Vasu10-Mar-2004

Final preparations are put in place ahead of Thursday’s curtain-raiser© Getty Images
The Indian team rarely has the luxury of a practice match before a one-day series. Frantic preparations were underway at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on the eve of their fixture against a strong Pakistan A side. The outfield was a lush green, in contrast to the dusty surrounds of the stadium. Pakistan Cricket Board officials scampered back and forth, sorting out last-minute glitches and preparations.Pakistan A have named a strong team for the match, testing out several players on the fringes of the senior team. Taufeeq Umar leads the side and will open the batting with Imran Nazir, the explosive batsman who once replaced Shahid Afridi in the Pakistan team. Faisal Iqbal – Javed Miandad’s nephew – and Bazid Khan strengthen the middle order. The Pakistan A bowling line-up is equally strong, with Umer Gul and Zahid Saeed sharing the new ball with Junaid Zia.The Indian team will use the match as an opportunity to Test out the match-readiness of Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Kaif. While Nehra has been in and out of the team with various niggles, Zaheer has not played since the third Test against Australia at Melbourne, and Kaif since the TVS Cup tri-series in India. The think-tank may also use the opportunity to see how Ramesh Powar, the only new face in the squad, fares in a pressure situation.The focus of the media at Sourav Ganguly’s press conference was largely on the Indian team’s hyped-up arrival. However, Ganguly was asked if lack of practice matches were a concern. “I don’t think so,” he replied. “The conditions here in Pakistan are similar to those in India and when we play one-day series at home we never play practice matches.”We played a practice game back home and have another tomorrow,” he added. “That’s good enough to get started for the one-day series.” This comes on the back of a three-day preparatory camp in Kolkata, where the full Indian team, minus Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra who were away playing the Duleep Trophy final, trained under the watchful eyes of John Wright, Andrew Leipus and Greg King.Teams
India XI (from) Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, L Balaji and Ashish Nehra.Pakistan A (from) Taufeeq Umar (capt), Imran Nazir, Faisal Iqbal, Bazid Khan, Naman Ullah, Kamran Akmal (wk), Yasir Arafat, Junaid Zia, Umer Gul, Zahid Saeed, Mohammad Khaleel, Azhar Zaidi and Qaiser Abbas.