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Making the impossible possible

STAR SPORT DESK
While the talk of the town was the unbearable heat that was sweeping the country for the last couple of days, the members of The Daily Star sports section chose to discuss another kind of heat wave that had just ended at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Sunday.
Obviously they were talking about the mouth-watering series between the two great cricketing nations -- India and Pakistan. The topic of the discussion was not the results since it is history -- a 1-1 draw in the three-match Test series and a comprehensive 4-2 ODI success for Pakistan.
Rather it was a humble analysis of the series gone by. Here are some points that we felt stood apart in the gripping series:
STAR VALUE COUNTS FOR NOTHING
At the start of the series, Pakistan's first across the border in six years, all the predictions suggested the dominance of India's formidable batting over a Pakistan team that was branded by many as the weak-
est ever from the day the rivalry began in 1952.
But in reality it was not the case. Apart from the flashes of power hitting by opener Virender Sehwag and Rahul "The Wall" Dravid, the real value of India's batting never came to the party. When you talk about India it revolves round one man -- Sachin Tendulkar. But the little master never lived up to his billing after narrowly missing what could have been a world record 35th Test hundred in the first Test at Mohali. VVS Laxman also made no impression except for an unbeaten half-century in the third Test at Bangalore.
When India's star value backfired, Pakistan were lucky to leave behind pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar, who was considered the lone ace for the visitors to counter the threat of the Indian batsmen.
And that worked well for them as nobody got special attention. They worked like a team with Inzamamul Haq pulling the strings and that unity paid off handsomely. Who would have expected an unheralded wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to score a match-saving hundred in Mohali or Younis Khan, the vicecaptain under scrutiny, to brush off the failure in Mohali with a hundred in the second Test at Kolkata followed up with a magnificent double
hundred at Bangalore?
True, Inzamam has never been branded in the same select company with Tendulkar or Brian Lara, but the sleepy giant proved that he too belonged to that distinguished circle with a masterly 184 in his 100th Test at Bangalore.
ORDINARY BOWLING
India's bowling inadequacy was exposed as early as in the first Test when even with all their frontline bowlers except Harbhajan Singh, they failed to bundle out a stuttering Pakistan on the final day. Instead Pakistan got a hundred under pressure from the most unlikely of sources -- Akmal, as they went on to achieve a most creditable draw. The bowling was again found wanting in the third and final Test. The likes of Anil Kumble and Laxmipathy Balaji achieved five-fors in the Test series but did they ever threaten to run through the Pakistani batting?
Then came the ODI series on the most benign pitches you are ever likely to come across and not one Indian bowler showed that special quality to peg the opposition back. By contrast Pakistan, who had no pace bowler to stir the imagination, no spinner to turn it on, adapted better to the demands on unforgiving tracks. Navedul Hasan found zip
and extra bounce, Danish Kaneria tested Indian resolve and Shahid Afridi was a talismanic influence whenever the cherry was thrown at him by his skipper.
OVERDOSE OF CRICKET
It is all good and true bringing India and Pakistan back to the game. It was necessary because cricket has definitely been poorer without two proud nations doing battle in the middle. Until the groundbreaking tour of friendship by Sourav Ganguly's men to Pakistan in early 2004, political tensions prevented a bilateral series taking place.
Having overcome the initial apprehensions, that historic visit across the border paved the way for a return series. But it now seems in an attempt to appease money-hungry corporations, this series suffered an overkill.
Cricket is good to watch, nobody will dispute that fact but at the same time all good things need to be done in moderation.
NO MORE LIONS AT HOME Year after year, India built their reputation as being Lions at home and even world-record holding
SEE PAGE 13 COL 8 FROM PAGE 12
Australian captain Steve Waugh -who once said in frustration that 'no one is invincible' -- failed to win on Indian soil. But over the year, India seemed to lose the 'invincible at home' tag.
In the last four home Test series, they have only managed to win against South Africa but failed to beat New Zealand, lost to Australia before being held by Pakistan. While their away record has been improving after a draw down under and their famous victory in Pakistan, India must now give some thoughts about rediscovering their home form that has been recently dented by Inzamam and Co.
TOP-ORDER TOPS
THE BILL
The slam bang one-day cricket is all about how far a top-order batsman is hitting the shiny ball and how many runs he is putting on the board in the first fifteen overs. And the six-match one-day series was no exception with Sehwag starting it all for India in the first two games but only to be overtaken by Pakistan's Shahid Afridi in the next four.
Afridi returned to his belligerent best with a 45-ball 100 to win the fifth game for Pakistan and sealed the series with yet another aggressive knock in the final game.
PEOPLES WIN
It's easy to sing the 'cricket was the winner' tune after such an absorbing series, but if one has to pick without prejudice the real victors, it has to be the people of India and Pakistan. Forget politics, forget diplomacy, put aside all that is negative about the history that keeps the neighbours apart. If you can picture Indians and Pakistanis sitting side by side, sharing, smiling, bonding, just go and thank the cricketers of the two countries for making the impossible possible.