Cricket, here in Pakistan, always has the appraisal, the backup, the attention and attachment from the local public. Though cricket isn't our national sport, where hockey is, its players always have been treated like superstars and that is for sure.

Take modern day heroes or former greats in Pakistan cricket, everyone has been treated with immense praises and acknowledgement.

If Abdul Hafeez Kardar, the first skipper of the national team, Fazal Mahmood and Mohammad brothers were the early days' maestros, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad alongside Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal were true phenomenon of the game about two decades ago.

Came the era of two Ws afterwards -- Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis -- which was then followed by Inzamam-ul-Haq's supremacy. Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar were the two noticeable personalities in that empire of Inzi. And the list doesn't stop here, there are others too who have given their all for the game.

Take hockey for instance now. The national sport was really a 'national sport' a decade and a more ago. The national team was performing as a dominant force in the world as it had done previously as well. All the accolades were being won at their will. But the team suddenly fell apart. In spite of that, its players are still acknowledged and the face of the game hasn't been lost totally.

Squash was the same as hockey. Jansher and Jahangir Khan were exceptional. They never allowed anybody to overcome them. If Jahangir was No 1 in the world, Jansher wasn't far behind. If Jansher held the top spot, Jahangir was always close behind at No 2 mark. We still follow the game, a bit, with our youngsters coming up with the goods.

But what about the world game? What about the sport that is the most-played and followed around the world? Has anyone ever cared about it? Do we even know what the stature of football is? Ask the national team captain and you'll get to know.

Essa Khan, the 24-year-old skipper of the national team, has been leading the side since Pakistan participated in the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games last year in Sri Lanka.

Essa, as most of us know, is the only footballing name in Pakistan synonymous to everybody. He has strived hard to make a name for himself and wants more exposure for the game and limelight for the players.

So how did the journey of present Pakistan captain started? "I started my playing career from my school days. I played for Chaman High School then, in a place (Chaman) where I was born as well," Essa told 'The News on Sunday'.

"Afterwards, I was offered to play for Afghan's Chaman Club (a club that has been a regular feature in local leagues over the years). That is where I started to grow and mature as a player. That was the beginning I needed for myself," Essa explained.

And true that is as Essa has played for the leading teams of the country afterwards and is still in high demand, not only in Pakistan, but outside the country as well.

Essa has been offered to play for India league sides East Bengal and JST. He was also asked to play for a local Oman side and had almost confirmed to play for a Maldives league side but then opted against it as the love of the country was more important to him than playing in some other country.

Like in any other footballing country, where the game is played at club-level as well, we have this in our knowledge that a player(s) can be transferred, sold or bought by any club.

For those who don't know much about this procedure, take in account of David Beckham's example. The former England skipper, who has the most recognisable face on the planet, used to play for Spanish club Real Madrid. Afterwards, he opted to play for an American club Los Angeles Galaxy.

The procedure that happened there was that LA Galaxy offered a sum to buy Beckham and Real Madrid accepted that. The player was also brought into discussion before and he expressed his desire to play for a new club.

The deal was secured then, and Beckham, after finishing his stint with Real, moved on to play in America. As simple as it gets!

Though this is quite usual everywhere, the first instance of this sort happened in Pakistan, which one won't believe, just two years ago (in 2005) when a player was offered a sum to play for a club and he was transferred from the club he was playing for at that time. And you guessed it right; he was none other than Essa.

"After playing for Afghan's Chaman Club, I then played for Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL). I had a brief stint there and then something out-of-the-box happened. My previous club (Chaman Club) offered me a hefty sum to play for them again. The offer was huge, and it was the first time it had happened here, so I accepted it," Essa explained joyfully.

Essa told that he had been offered Rs 350,000 to play for Chaman's Afghan Club again.

That was till 2005 that Essa played for them. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) then stepped in and got Essa's signature to play for them. "I am now playing for KRL in domestic leagues, and it's a good team for sure. They pay me good as well (Essa is being paid Rs 25,000 per month)".

Essa was quite excited when he told us about how his journey as the national skipper began. "I was appointed as the captain for the first time when our team visited Sri Lanka to participate in the SAF Games. And that was a perfect start for my tenure as Pakistan defeated all the strong teams in the competition to secure a gold medal, something which wasn't expected of us. It was truly a great moment in my career," Essa expressed.

After that tournament, Pakistan has performed exceptionally well over all and that's what Essa highlighted.

When Essa got the captain's armband from Jaffer Khan, Pakistan's renowned goalkeeper, the team was in a development mode. And Essa has seen the team convert into a strong unit.

"After that impressive performance in Colombo, our playing graph has increased rapidly. We participated in the Asian Qualifiers and didn't play badly (Pakistan just lost to UAE 2-3 in one of their matches)," Essa said.

"The Asian Games (in Qatar) was our next assignment and we gave our opponents quite a few surprises there too. We only lost to Japan and South Korea by single-goal margins in our matches against them. And those scorelines suggest we had improved," Essa continued.

The role of a coach is always important for the team. And Pakistan's two coaches -- former Salman Sharida (Bahrain) and present Akhtar Mohiuddin (Pakistan) -- were highly praised by Essa for their contribution.

Pakistan just participated in two World Cup Qualifiers -- both against Iraq -- and to the surprise of many, they played a draw against them in one leg of the tie. And Essa was quite thankful to Akhtar for his contribution in team's performance in that match.

"Our team was just on a rise. And Akhtar has now taken it to a new level. He has brought confidence in us and has taught has many new techniques and skills which we didn't know before. At first, I was quite surprised at his way of teaching but then the results started to come in our favour and I got impressed," Essa remarked.

Up to eight Pakistan-born foreign players were called up from England, after selecting them from trials, to represent Pakistan in the recently-held Qualifiers. And Essa was quite proud of them.

He said: "Seven out of those eight played with us in those matches. And they were quite brilliant. They breathed a new life into our team which helped us a lot. Obviously, their style of playing (in the UK) and ours is totally different. But they adopted well here and with the help of our coach, all of us were able to merge our abilities and strengths into a single unit," Essa carried on.

So who were the players Essa was most impressed by? "Zesh Rehman, Adnan, Amjad and Altaf were quite good. And we need them in the future as well as they bring a different dimension to our team. They really affected our game positively. Zesh was always helpful and contributed in with his advices as well," Essa revealed.

Essa also held the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), its president and other members in high regards and said: "PFF has been very supportive. The federation before was in tatters but this new admin is quite motivated to their job. PFF chief, Faisal Saleh Hayat, has done a good work. He feels that more should be done at grass-roots level and football at junior level should be supported. I, myself, clearly agree with him and look forward to a brighter future for the youth".

Media always has supported sports in the country and Essa thanked them for their efforts as well. "Obviously, you people are very important for us. You have highlighted our efforts and performances and that's what we want from you," Essa said.

Geo Super Football League was one of such efforts when a media giant supported the game of football. Essa participated in that tournament and was the topscorer. He played for Quetta Zorawar (Balochistan).

Though Essa is happy with the way things are going, what he further wants is more international exposure for his boys. He wants his team to play more matches against strong opponents because this helps a lot in preparing for big tournaments.

Essa said they (Pakistan) lack big-match temperament and experience and after playing a while against good teams, they return back to not-such-strong domestic leagues and that doesn't do good for them.

Essa said they always enter tournaments and play matches against stronger opponents without any match practice and wants a certain change now.

Essa said he would love to see the standard of Pakistan football like that in England one day. Though it is quite tough, it's not impossible according to Essa.

The Pakistan skipper is a big fan of the English Premier League and La Liga (Spanish League) and likes to watch European giants Manchester United and Barcelona in action. He also told that he likes upcoming youngsters Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi along with star player Ronaldinho and would love to play alongside them.

We hope he does so and Pakistan, itself, starts producing more players like Essa. A little bit of hardwork and commitment towards the game can achieve that. Optimism is very important for anything to happen and hopefully there are other optimists present in our country as well like Essa is.

"Our girls are ready for the Cricket World Cup Qualifying round whenever and wherever it is going to be played," this determination was expressed by Secretary of the Pakistan Cricket Board (Women Wing) Shamsa Hashmi, while talking to 'The News on Sunday' (TNS) last week at her office after the postponement of the event.

Earlier, Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's biggest province Punjab, was to host the historic women's cricket event from November 19-25, 2007. But the ICC management and ICC Women's committee, after assessing the security situation in Pakistan following the imposition of emergency, postponed the tournament.

As many as eight international teams -- South Africa, Bermuda, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (Pool A), Pakistan, Scotland, Ireland and Zimbabwe (Pool B) -- would be taking part in the event. The two top-ranked teams from each pool will qualify for the World Cup that is scheduled to be played in Australia in 2009.

The top eight teams in the World Cup will also qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England later that year, where the tournament will be held alongside the men's event. It is to be noted here that women teams from Australia, England, New Zealand, India, West Indies and Sri Lanka have already qualified for the elite World Cup event.

Pakistan's 14-member women squad has already been announced for the World Cup qualifiers. All-rounder Urooj Mumtaz Khan will captain the side while Sajida Shah would be her deputy. Four reserves have also been named.

Shamsa, who is regarded as one of the leading female cricketers of the country, was quite confident about the hosting of grand women event, saying "Insha-Allah we would be able to hold the event in the near future". It is to be noted here that Pakistan have never hosted such a big women's international cricket event nor our female team featured in it before.

She informed that if Pakistan managed to get back the event, as many as 20 matches of the World Cup qualifying round will be played at four venues of the city -- Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Gymkhana, Aitchison College and LCCA cricket ground. "The warm-up games of the event would be held at Government College and Muridke Club cricket grounds," she added.

To a question regarding the preparation of national women team, Shamsa said that the best possible efforts have been put in to prepare our girls for the mega event. "We arranged matches against male teams of Shafqat Rana Academy and Aitchison College to give our girls the toughest possible circumstances to prepare themselves. Our girls defeated Shafqat Rana Academy twice and that is enough to gauge our planning and standard of our preparation as well," she elaborated.

"We are expecting quite encouraging results in the eight-nation event," she expressed her hope. "We imparted special training to our girls under three-phase formula. Firstly we emphasised on physical evaluation and mental strength. Then we arranged a five-week camp at Abbottabad's high altitude environment for cardio-vascular fitness of our players. We also focused on the fielding department and individual behaviour there. And lastly, we tried to raise the level of ability of our girls to counter a quality opposition by holding matches against boys," she explained.

Replying to a query regarding umpires, Shamsa said it would be the first time in national cricket history that two Pakistani women umpires -- Kausar Shah and Aafia Amin -- will be supervising an international cricket event.

Captain Urooj Mumtaz, who was undergoing a training session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ground along with her teammates, while expressing her views said, "We are quite confident of a good performance in the tournament."

Urooj, who hammered an unbeaten 101 not out against Hong Kong last year, said that they were working on improving footwork, and batting with more aggression and confidence. "We are working hard on our consistency which is the key to success."

It is pertinent to mention here that under Urooj, Pakistan thrashed Hong Kong 3-0 last year at Lahore and resultantly won the right to play in the World Cup Qualifying round for the first time. Urooj, who grabbed two five-wicket hauls against South Africa and West Indies, said "Our fielding has really improved over the last couple of months due to hard efforts of our coaches."

When asked to disclose her most dependable players, Urooj said "Qanita Jalil, Asmavia Iqbal, Sajida Shah and Sana Javed are my main players and they can play match-winning roles against any established side of the world."

Answering another question, Urooj, who has a sharp cricketing brain, said Ireland, Holland and South African women teams are playing international cricket for the last many years but even then we do have the potential to win a berth in the World Cup 2009.

"We bowled out boys of the Shafqat Rana Academy for 135 and 160 in two games and then chased the targets in 30-35 overs and that is enough to assess our batting and bowling abilities," she asserted.

Umar Rasheed, the coach of the Pakistan Women's team, while talking to TNS said "We know that the competition will be tough in the event, so we emphasised more on physical fitness, conditioning and accuracy in bowling during our preparations."

Umar, whose six brothers -- Haroon Rasheed (the Test cricketer), Tahir, Farooq, Ahmed, Mahmood and Mohtashim Rasheed -- have played first-class cricket, said the tours to India and South Africa during the last one year played an important role in transforming our team into a good unit.

When asked to tell about home advantage, Umar said that definitely our girls would feel comfortable while playing on their home grounds. But according to the latest situation we may have to play qualifying rounds somewhere else but his side was ready for any type of challenges.

"We do have necessary ingredients in our squad to make it to the final of the event in any country and on any kind of surfaces."

Former Pakistan captain Imtiaz Ahmed, who was also present on this occasion, said in women's cricket, a few girls left the scene every year due to their marriages, engagements and other such reasons. Imtiaz, who served Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for 27 years and Royal Saudi Air Force for three years, said that we don't feel any difficulty in finding the suitable replacements for retired cricketers due to sufficient talent in the country.

"Annual U-17 tournaments and camps in different parts of the country played an important role in finding required replacements," said Imtiaz, who is working as a senior consultant of the PCB women's Wing.

Pakistan squad: Urooj Mumtaz Khan (captain), Sajida Shah, Bismah Maroof, Sana Javed, Nain Abidi, Taskeen Qadeer, Sana Mir, Batool Fatima (wk), Asmavia Iqbal, Qanita Jalil, Sadia Yousuf, Sabahat Rasheed, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Naila Nazir. Reserves: Almas Akram, Arman Khan, Javeria Khan, Sabeen Abdul Samad.

Pakistan, labelled as the most intrigue stricken team in the world, with loose batting links and fatiguing fast bowlers, a vulnerable captain and inept preparation is unravelling. It needs able patronage and help. To be helped it needs to be understood. Urging a transition to a developed attitude, after the Ad hoc period of over eight years and people whose legitimacy in positions of power could be questioned, betrays either naivete or disinterest. Both will hurt in the long run, if there is a long run.

After Pakistan's timid loss in the first Test at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, ill-planning and unconcerned behaviour provided plenty of indicators that with the current set-up there would be no long run. It would be an understatement, if one says that the Pakistan Cricket Board, its heavy top etcetera have been contributory towards cricket's daylight slaughter.

Pakistan's only chance left in the series to produce top drawer performances rests on Shoaib Akhtar if he returns a haul of 6-16 in a first session of play or a Mohammad Yousaf striking 200-plus. And even if such individual performances help Pakistan turning tables on India wouldn't guarantee its cricket a second lease of life.

At least thrice, with Danish Kaneria contrary to his reputation picking back-to-back wickets, an untraditional slump in India's first and with Shoaib Akhtar hauling up three top batsmen in the second innings Shoaib Malik shouldn't have relayed a tame approach.

The same captain, who on the eve of the match had skeptical beliefs about Anil Kumble being under pressure leading India for the first time was seen regressing into submission. Malik's remarks about Kumble were full with whimsicality. From Karnataka to Bangalore, from the captaincy of India's Under-19 and a rock-solid, unforgiving attitude during his peak were solid indicators about a man mastering not only the art of leg-spin but also scoring a matchless hundred in Tests delineates the typical warrior's approach. With limitations of talent achievements of a superstar is a real Anil Kumble.

Younis Khan too jumped into the fray labelling Misbah-ul-Haq as Inzamam-ul-Haq's ideal replacement. It must have taken a whopping over-optimism to draw such comparisons. The problem with this Pakistan team is that Mohammad Yousuf is constantly evolving under piles of pressure, Younis explicating his limitations, eccentricity and single-mindedness, Akhtar not in his typical fourth gear, Mohammad Sami having lost his bearings and people like Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal needing to remodel their attitude.

Sohail Tanvir was only an intermittent silver-lining. The team's management filled with truck loads of employees, the selectors Salahuddin Mulla and Shafqat Rana and even three quarters of the PCB in India, hasn't been able to see the significance of touring in a legitimate order of priority.

Everything is wrong with the team languishing at seventh in the ICC's Test rankings and a lowly sixth, not even middle of the course in One-day Internationals. This chaotic PCB wouldn't have survived, had the political situation in Pakistan worth a salt. For the PCB high-ups, Pakistan's current political instability had come to them as a prized gift.

Understand that there has not been much difference between dictatorship and Ad hocism in Pakistan cricket. When unreal hopes are betrayed by one, the other is accorded a relieved welcome. Five painful cycles ought to be enough to make that clear. The pundits wringing their hands at the ills of Ad hocism today are the same who saw huge silver linings when Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia came along to clean the democratic mess created with Wasim Akram's integrity being challenged and Khalid Mahmood languishing into disappointment as Pakistan exited brusquely from the lopsided World Cup 1999 final.

Understand that everyone from General Tauqir to Dr Nasim Ashraf attacked the conventions in the same way, all pandered to the lack of modernity within the country's cricket in the same way, all harassed and were harassed by the critics in the same way, all left or leaving cricket poorer in the same way.

Only Tauqir showed a sporadic light, turning his dream of a hi-fi National Cricket Academy into reality. Understand why this is so. Understand that the vast majority of the 160 million people have gained nothing since Pakistan's glorious World Cup win in 1992.

In spite of the presence of world stars Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aamer Sohail, Saeed Anwar et al Pakistan couldn't win anything substantial, not even the top three rankings in the mid-1990s; mournfully since 1999 the graph has gone further down with cricket's existence severely threatened. Let alone people, cricket wasn't able to get anything from those who were running it, not from the power-sharing players, not from the hopes, not from the priests.

Pakistan's cricket has been empty; there has been a deep cavernous gap, not even a single superstar barring the self-imposed Shoaib Akhtar and the masterly Mohammad Yousuf have taken the team to the heights where Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Javed Miandad took it to in the 1980s until the mid-1990s.

The present players, half of them are untalented, a third below mediocrity, many still hopeful of breaking into the fifteen, not even in the eleven, and many not even able to come close to the dreams. Any surprise that they are not active participants in team's struggle to get to the top.

There aren't any identified structural and policy reforms, no systems and not even a single man from dawn to dusk ready to think conscientiously about cricket's development in the country. Understand that the forgotten have no expectations of game's improvement since people from different cadres, some generals, the others bureaucrats and doctors have bothered to make that the central thrust of its policies contrary to the ones those did in the past, they ill-treated it contemptuously.

Barring Tauqir Zia his back-to-back successors were ever ready to ditch the aspirations of their supporters to cover up their infirmity behind a disguise of rhetoric. It is an easier route to sustainability at the top.

Understand that in a deeply unequal society with political interruptions and a constant decay, and with extreme dependence of the many on the few, cricket couldn't be separated from political representation and social image.

Understand that the natural state of such a game is one of patronage. Understand that cricket has been unprotected and powerless, as irrational as anything else -- when these men in designer suiting, colourful striped ties, elegant sunshades and erect postures, often bilingual come into power, they handpick people completely inappropriate to run the game; they pick them because they surround them, forging a false sense of security. They try to establish links to sustain and survive.

Understand that the preyed upon want their toadies to represent their political or self-centered ideology. During these events, they lose time and also become apathetic not truly trying to make the Pakistan team, a winning side. Their selected working-staff become epics of ideological somersaults and shifting loyalties matter but have to be accepted pragmatically in the real world that exists for them. Count the number of these gentlemen showing off, reaping benefits and maneuvering. Watch how high they hold their heads; watch how much they are sought after.

Why should we have such people running the game? It seems since 1999 we have been put to the severest test! Understand our cricket's environment is rife with such fatalistic beliefs. Understand that ours is a strange world of cricket management where people in power are personal affinity groups with their chairman. Understand that there is a complete chaos. There is evidence, and one must understand there have been people switching loyalties; and, nary a protest from any side, nary a protest on any count.

By some quirk, there was a scenario beginning to unfold with the assertion of independence by the working staff and systems, by its questioning of arbitrary executive authority, by its taking up the causes of the real development plans when General Tauqir set the tone during his first two years in power. This was the first institutional development in over fifty-five years barring AH Kardar and Air Marshal Nur Khan's tenures that promised a meaningful step towards good governance in the interest of the players, game and the systems.

And even before one could be sure it was for real, a sequence of prompted events smothered it risking even cricket's carefully varnished image of a developing game in the process.

Understand that our cricket is still very much a monarchical society in which a strong-headed, selected and not elected chairman, in whatever garb, believes he rules by divine right. Understand the culture in which every chairman, legitimately or illegitimately surviving, begins to see visions of being anointed by the people to save the game, taking it to the grassroots and promises to the people to prepare the team to win the next world cup, next and next; ironically, the more incompetent and unprepared the chosen one, the greater the proof of divine purpose.

Pakistan find themselves in a pretty uncomfortable, but hardly unfamiliar, situation having lost the first Test in Delhi by a solid margin of six wickets. Still smarting from their defeat in the one-day series, they now face the danger of surrendering the three-match Test rubber as well owing to concerns surrounding the key players' fitness status. It would be a miracle even if they do square the rubber as a buoyed up India will now try to settle the outcome by going for another win in Kolkata.

Following their fine yet futile victory in the last one-dayer at Jaipur a better show was expected from Shoaib Malik's men. But a reckless batting effort -- which saw none of the batsmen, including Malik, showing any interest in prolonging his stay at the crease and building partnerships with his team-mates -- allowed the Indians to go one up in spite of failing to take a substantial first innings lead.

Coach Geoff Lawson's argument that too much one-day cricket actually played a part in the batsmen's soft dismissals lacks weight and seems nothing more than a lame excuse. The Indians had last played Test cricket in August on the England tour. Since then they are playing non-stop limited-over cricket which includes seven ODIs in England, Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, a seven-match series against the Aussies, and finally five one-dayers against Pakistan.

On the other hand Pakistan went to India after losing a two-Test rubber to the Proteas followed by five one-day games. So who actually needed adjustment for the longer version of the game, Pakistan or India?

The loss has not only left the team morale badly shaken, but may also force the Board to reconsider their decision of extending Malik's tenure as captain of the team till December next year. Even at the time of his appointment some quarters had expressed serious concerns over his place in the Test squad, and the Test rubber against South Africa and the game in New Delhi have proved those fears right to a great extent as it has become evident that Malik is struggling to find his rhythm in Test cricket, and he will have to work doubly hard to ensure a permanent berth on the team.

Malik is an aggressive person and like all young players must have a burning ambition to prove his critics wrong by playing long and fluent innings on a consistent basis and retain the top job in both versions of the game. But he needs to know the difference between aggression and a mad rush of blood. Heís captaining the side and his contributions are crucial to the teamís overall success.

The Sialkot all-rounder is currently leading the Test side not because of his managing skills, but mainly because he's the skipper and a useful middle-order bat. And his Test record suggests he needs to improve in all areas, i.e. captaincy, batting, and bowling. His primary task is to build the innings with Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal. But apart from Misbah others simply failed to adjust themselves with the requirement of Test cricket and threw their wickets away playing carelessly or got bogged down unnecessarily.

A good captain always puts a price tag on his wicket, and Malik must be no different. The opponents ought to be made to work hard for his scalp. But he, along with the entire middle-order, made a mess despite the fact that the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground played true on all five days though it did offer occasional help to the seamers and spinners.

Sourav Ganguly, nothing more than a part-timer, was able to feast on our regular batsmen, whereas our bowlers barring Shoaib Akhtar struggled to leave any impression. Mohammad Sami again showed that he is not made for international cricket and squandered a golden chance offered by Umar Gul's absence.

The match tally of Pakistan's middle-order read as: Younis (7 & 23), Yousuf (27 & 18), Malik (0 & 11), Misbah (82 & 45) and Kamran (30 & 21). The figures show that almost all the batsmen got out after making a fine start.

It's a common and genuine complaint that Pakistan do not have a settled opening pair and they invariably lose a couple of wickets within the first 10 overs of a match which, in turn, transfers the pressure on the middle-order. But the middle-order collapsed in both innings in spite of the fact that openers Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed had provided a great start in the second innings raising the hopes that Pakistan would be able to reach a big total. But some careless batting by the senior players let India off the hook. Malik failed in both innings, and did not bowl a single delivery in the match. That's not what one can expect from a skipper.

Surprisingly, Pakistan's bowling attack, which lacked the balance and bite because of the absence of regulars Mohammad Asif and Gul, did manage to rein in the formidable Indian line-up to a great extent and did not allow them to take a big first-innings lead. Shoaib Akhtar bowled with a lot of fire, and it is nice to see him playing through the tour without getting injured!

Danish Kaneria did take four first-innings wickets, but never looked in command against their top players. Similarly, Sohail Tanvir produced some great stuff, but he still has a long way to go. His three wickets in the first innings show that if he continues to work hard and keeps his fitness he can go all the way.

On the whole it was not a bad effort from Pakistan as they did manage to keep things under their control for a good number of sessions, but failed to finish off the game as one would have liked them to. On paper Pakistan's batting certainly looks vulnerable, but it's always been like this.

The problem is that Pakistan depend heavily on Yousuf and Younis, and when they fail the batting just falls apart. This is where Malik's trial begins. He must respond to the call and be there when the team needs him.

By appointing him captain for the next 12 months, the Board have done their bit, and now it's his turn to oblige. And it's hard to think of a better way of acknowledgment than leading the team from the front. A good captain is one who always stays a step ahead of the rest and who himself sets examples. He needs to do better than his team-mates in order to command respect and ensure a permanent place on the team.

If Pakistan are to avoid defeat in the series their batsmen will have to stand and deliver. They will certainly be missing Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was at the helm when Pakistan had drawn the 2004-05 series. The bowling options for Pakistan are limited and they will have to make do with what is available. If all the pacers remain fit Malik need not worry about bowling as the current attack is good enough to fully stretch the Indians.