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High India, low Pakistan

Bishwajit Roy
While it was all quiet on the Indian front, the Pakistani camp was
rather shaken by an embarrassing defeat and its aftermath before revival of the old foes' rivalry on the eve of today's Ki tply Cup final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
But first of all, if anybody thought that the atmosphere is electric ahead of the battle of two traditional rivals, then he must have made a mistake because even the two captains did not bother to say a few words prior to the final of the tri-series and the organisers were also reluctant to bring them in front of media.
Everything looks in favour of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men as they hardly have any reason to worry after demolishing Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh in the onesided league encounters. One could only expect another ruthless show from the inform Indians if complacency does not become an issue.
The focus, however, was on Pakistan for all the wrong reasons and the tense appearance of Pakistan's Australian coach Jeff Lawson at the press conference yesterday reflected of what might have been going on inside the team.
The off-the-field situation was so bad that Lawson even faced a
question from a Pakistani journalist whether Shoaib Malik needed a break as captain.
The curiosity about the Pakistan team was whether the furious response of their board president after a 140 run embarrassment in the league match could ultimately ignite Shoaib Malik's men to make it a big final
But Malik's side have hardly earned the reputation of the past Pakistani teams often tagged as 'unpredictable'.
Nowadays everyone has become crapulous about the label, which especially worked against India in the past as the new generation Indian cricketers have been showing different kind of attitude since ice melted in cricketing ties between the two next-door rivals
five years back.
But still, many believe (hat even this Pakistan side can show character in the final despite the moraleslumped defeat in the league stage.
Lawson, however, was not definitely one of them.
"It is not do-or-die battle rather it's a final of a tournament which we want to win. If we lose it would be another day and we go back home and concentrale on the next game. Sometimes people get overtaken by consequence. What happens if you lose one match... it doesn't matter because you will get another morning," was the response of the former Australian fast bowler.
But with Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president, set to attend today's battle, Malik and his co would surely feel the heat if they go down badly again.
"There was no strong reaction by the Pakistan Cricket Board. I know the PCB chairman and he is entitled to his opinion," Lawson reacted over the board president's e-mail after a huge defeat.
India coach Gary Kirsten, however, was looking forward to face a big challenge against their opponents in the final.
"It's a great clash. Pakistan definitely will come up with more than the first game. We expect a big clash because Pakistan will give their best But we want to execute our plan and if we play good cricket
we have a chance, said the iormer South African opener.
India will look for another flying start from Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the pair who made the difference in both the league matches, but Kirsten has something else in his sleeves too.
"A good start is always important and it is nice to have a good start. It takes us towards a big score. But it can't happen all the time. So we have to prepare for everything," said a confident Kirsten.
He was little concerned with the toss. "The toss is not important because the wicket will hold up till the end so the toss is pretty much out of the equation. It'sgood for batting."
Kirsten was also happy with the dilemma on taking decision about RP Singh and Ishant Sharma. "It's a problem that I would like to haw all the time".
For the South African the most charming question may have been: Is it the best Indian team?
"Yet to consider but we arc working to achieve," was the smiling response of India's new coach.