Hard work and consolidation the key, says Inzamam

Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that Pakistan will concentrate on preserving wickets early in the innings as they bid to upset Australia in the first match of the VB Series finals at Melbourne on Friday. Having managed back-to-back victories over Australia and the West Indies in Perth, Pakistan go into the first final full of confidence, with Brian Lara declaring them a big threat to the home side.

Pakistan piled up an imposing 307 in their final league game against the West Indies, with Inzamam making 74 and Yousuf Youhana contributing a classy 105, and the unheralded Rana Naved-ul-Hasan then grabbed 4 for 29 as the West Indies were edged out in a tense finale.

According to Inzamam, the steady starts have been a major factor in the recent success. "If you look at the last couple of games, if you save wickets then in the last 20 or 30 overs you can score anything," he was quoted as saying in The News. "The last game against the West Indies they had a couple of wickets in hand and they scored 340-odd runs so it is important that we apply that."

Pakistan won one and lost two of its round-robin matches against Australia, and Inzamam said, "I know it is tough opposition but if we really work hard then well, hopefully we will perform well in the finals." He pronounced himself satisfied with his own form, and also pinpointed exceptional performances from the likes of Rana.

"My form is good, that is why I am looking good," he said. "The last two games he (Rana) has really done well -- they (the bowlers) really feel hunger and I think he has set the example."

Away from the feel-good atmosphere in the Pakistan camp, Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan cricket Board supreme, expressed the fear that Pakistan were losing ground as a Test-playing nation. With the tour of India now less than a month away, Shaharyar said, "It is obvious that the gap between our Test and one-day performances is big and this is something we remain concerned about even if we have made the one-day finals in Australia."

According to him, the lack of nous in the Test arena was easily explained. "The main reason for this is we are nurturing too many of our young players on one-day cricket and they just have not developed the mental strength and aptitude to play test cricket," he said. "So we are working on a plan to balance the number of Tests and one-dayers our team plays in the next few years.

"And the first step we have taken is to ask the Wales and English Cricket Board to consider playing four Tests and three ODIs in Pakistan later this year instead of three Tests and five ODIs."

For the moment though, Test matches will be far from Inzamam's mind, as he and Bob Woolmer, the coach, aim to script an improbable victory that would set the team up for a challenging tour of India, and also erase some of the painful memories of a 3-0 drubbing in the Tests.