Kumble and his men ready for Kotla Test

Nov 22:  Yuvraj, Kartik may have to sit out while Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma replace injured RP Singh and S Sreesanth. Pakistan's Umar Gul ruled out due to back spasms.

Veteran leggie Anil Kumble is all set for his captaincy debut and is under no pressure whatsoever together with his teammates in the first Test of the three match Test series against arch-rivals Pakistan starting here today at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

Kotla has always been a happy hunting ground for Kumble and for the Indian team. It was from here he started his journey, as he claimed wickets in an Irani Trophy match and was subsequently picked for the Indian team. Later he created history by capturing all the ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan in 1999.

India has a great winning record at Kotla as they had won all the matches at this venue since 1993. The last victory by the hosts was of a big margin of 188 runs when they beat Sri Lanka in December 2005.

The 37-year-old feels, “I don’t think there will be any pressure on me,”

Sharing his views with reporters after the practice session here on Wednesday, Kumble said, “I will be thinking only about bowling on the ground and when I have the ball in my hands I will be thinking about taking wickets."

"There is nothing new role to play and it will remain the same, as it’s still about getting runs and taking wickets and I will also try to motivate the teammates," he added.

As far as Delhi is concerned, Kumble feels, it has been very nice for me at personal level and also for Team India and hopes it continues.

"We hope to make a good start against Pakistan,” said Kumble, the highest wicket taker (566) for India.

YUVRAJ'S WAIT

It's been unfortunate for in-form Yuvraj Singh, as he will have to wait for a permanent Test berth despite being in the best of form in the recently concluded One-day series against Pakistan. He top scored with 272 runs in five ODI matches.

"It's really tough on Yuvraj," he said without shirking from the issue. “He’ll have to possibly wait a little more to become a regular member of the Indian Test squad."

"He has shown incredible form and his quality and class is really important for Indian cricket to move further. He is surely a great player and I'm sure the Indian team's batting will focus around him very soon."

VVS Laxman will play in the middle order ahead of Yuvraj Singh. He has got more experience in his kitty rather than Yuvraj.

Kumble clearly stated about the other spinner, as India will go into the match with two spinners and as many fast-bowlers.

Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik will also find it tough to make the cut in the final eleven.

“We will go with the best combination which can get us 20 wickets. At the moment we feel Harbhajan and I will play," said Kumble.

However, the newly crowned skipper kept his cards close to his chest by saying, let’s see if things change in the morning,” adding further.

The Indian captain also said that injuries are the part and parcel of the game on pacemen Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh, as both were ruled out of the opening match due to injuries. They were replaced with Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma.

PITCH AND THE TOSS

India thrashed Pakistan by 212 runs at this same venue in February 1999. Anil Kumble took ten wickets in this match. The newly furbished Kotla has witnessed a number of remarkable feats up till now. But there is great amount of change in the pitch from then and now, as the Indian skipper also thinks the same.

According to the Kotla pitch curator Radhey Shyam "The 1999 wicket was completely different as it was damaged by the Shiv Sena activists just few days back before the start of that match but now I have converted it into a decent wicket after putting up a lot of effort on it.

Both the captains would be in dilemma whether to bat first or field, as the wicket would help seam bowlers on the first day. The Delhi weather would also come in to consideration before coming out with any decision. It would be more conducive for the batsmen on the second day. And it should work in favour of spinners as the match progresses.

While as per the curator, "The toss will play a crucial role tomorrow as the team which bats first will certainly have an advantage."

PAKSITAN RELIES ON PACE ATTACK

The Pakistan team, which has always been heavily banking upon his seamers, suffered a major setback on Wednesday when his frontline bowler Umar Gul ruled out of this Test due to back injury.

According to Pakistan's media manager Ahsan Malik, "He has a stress pain in the back. It is not a serious injury but we have decided to rest him as a precautionary measure. He also consulted an orthopaedic surgeon and had a scan done.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik feels, "If we're to win the series, Shoaib and Danish Kaneria will have a vital role to play."

Gul's absence will surely bring good news for Sohail Tanvir, as the left-arm seamer is all set to make his Test debut and join Mohammad Sami and Akhtar in the ranks.

Malik was confident that Kaneria could match the Indian spinners, but our main strength is our pace bowling.

"We will give our best and we are in good spirit after the last ODI win at Jaipur," said Malik.

"Whenever you win, it's good for the team's morale."

"We had already lost the series, but the way we played was very encouraging," he said.

It's been almost three decades that Pakistan team hasn't lost a Test series on Indian soil since Asif Iqbal's team lost 2-0 in 1979 and Malik and his boys will certainly want to take this statistics further.

All in all it is also between the experience of Anil Kumble and the youth of Shoaib Malik and for that we will have to wait for the next five days. The question arises here; will it be the same this time, as experience always prevails over truth?

TEAMS

India: Anil Kumble (capt), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Kaarthick, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Venkat Sai Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel. 12th man: Yuvraj Singh.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria. 12th man: Faisal Iqbal.

Umpires: Simon Taufel ( Australia) and Billy Doctrove ( West Indies)

Third umpire: Suresh Shastri ( India)

Fourth umpire: Harnarain Singh Sekhon ( India)