Positive India face tricky questions

In what is their first big foreign tour in two years, India find themselves in a strange situation - all square with the prospect of a greentop awaiting them on the first morning at the National Stadium in Karachi. If the blades do retain their length and if the ball darts around alarmingly, the whole series could be decided within the space of a session. Yet, it's India's medium-pace attack that has shown more promise through the series and there is no reason to not trust them to finish off the job when it comes down to the crunch.

India have taken some aggressive decisions throughout the series - opening with Rahul Dravid at Lahore, choosing five specialist bowlers at Faisalabad - and have looked like a side that aren't too paranoid about losing. They also appeared a relaxed lot ahead of one of their biggest tests in recent times - not scheduling practice yesterday and beginning today's session with a round of fun and games. Karachi may be Pakistan's cricketing fortress (they have lost here just once) but India seem least perturbed.

Having been disappointed with the pitches at the two previous venues, Dravid appeared upbeat in the pre-match press conference. "It looks a very good pitch, might do a bit initially, but should be a very good wicket as the game goes on," he said. "It is different to the ones we played in the last couple of Tests, but I feel that while it might help the bowlers a bit more and it might have a little bit in it early on, it will then pan out into a good batting pitch. Hopefully, we will have a result here, and it will go the way of the team that plays the better cricket for five days."

India named their 13-man squad on the eve of the match. As expected, Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer and Parthiv Patel were left out. Dravid added that the toss might not make such a vital difference, hinting that the team management might not be thinking of accommodating an extra batsman. With their 210-run partnership at Faisalabad, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan showed that they can handle the simmering pressure of an India-Pakistan contest and India may decide that they don't require additional batting cover. "Our batsmen give us a lot of confidence and experience," he added. "They have had success and scored hundreds in different parts of the world and under different conditions in the last four or five years, and we are confident we can play in any conditions given to us."

India's crucial decision will probably revolve around the bowling attack. At Faisalabad, Rudra Pratap Singh and Zaheer Khan had impressive bursts in trying conditions while Pathan went from pedestrian to probing as the game wore on. Ajit Agarkar, Dravid said, had recovered from his hamstring injury and considerable grass on the pitch may actually tempt India into using all four, with Anil Kumble being the lone spinner.

"I think under the conditions, our bowlers have done admirably well," Dravid continued. "It has been a challenge for them, and I think they have gained and learnt a fair bit. RP Singh, Zaheer and even Irfan in that spell on the final day showed encouraging signs. The way you motivate them on flat tracks is to tell them that they will benefit from what they have learnt from bowling on flat pitches when they bowl in more helpful conditions."

India will be well aware of another option, picking an extra batsmen who will provide them with a medium-pace option. Sourav Ganguly is yet to play a single innings in this series and, as always, it's tough to rule out another comeback. Around 16 years ago, a 16-year-old boy played his first Test on this ground and began a new era in Indian cricket. Dare we suggest it, but is another era about to come to an end? Maybe, but as always, maybe not.