Indians not scared, and Inzamam promises not to sledge

There are a number of quotes stories by Indian players, talking about the tour. Rahul Dravid, India's vice-captain, told the Press Trust of India that he wasn't worried about the security in Pakistan. "I don't think there is any amount of fear," he said. "We have to just go out and do our best like we did elsewhere. We tried our best in Australia and we will try our best in Pakistan. It's no different."

Virender Sehwag, who recently got engaged to a girl from Delhi, was equally unworried. Speaking to journalists in Mumbai, he said, "I have received no threats so I am not worried. We will play good cricket. Even the terrorists are humans, so even they would enjoy the game. I am sure about it."

Like Dravid, Sehwag said that he was focussed on the cricket. "There will be no personal battles," he said. "They have some good bowlers like Shoaib [Akhtar], [and Mohammad] Sami. I will continue to play the same way as I have been doing before."

Irfan Pathan echoed his seniors when he said, speaking to The Asian Age, that "I am not thinking about the tour or of the rivals as of now. To me, Pakistan is just another team like Australia, and I have to perform. I have not planned any weapon against them, but I have definitely chalked out a plan for improving my bowling."

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Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain, has asked his players to show discipline and sportsmanship during the series. According to Dawn, Inzamam spoke to his players at the training camp in Lahore and said: "I don't want any misconduct or verbal exchanges as we need to play in the true spirit of the game. After all this is just a game of cricket and nothing more, the same appeal is to fans also and they must take it as cricket. Billions of people will be watching us on television and I think it is a great opportunity for us to prove to the world that we are a sporting nation and play the game in its true spirit."

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The last man to captain an Indian Test side to Pakistan, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, backed India to win the upcoming series. Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Srikkanth said: "We are definitely the favourites to win both the series [Tests and one-day internationals]. We have the wherewithal to do so as both batsmen and bowlers are at a higher confidence-level, having proved themselves very well on the Australian tour."

For those worried about the security, Srikkanth related a tale about his encounter with a Pakistan supporter during his tour there in 1989. "A fanatic, Ziauddin, who was provoking Indian players into retaliation, got into the ground and pulled the buttons off my shirt. I had never seen Kapil Dev running backwards so fast and Manoj Prabhakar backing off a challenge as they were forced to by Ziauddin. He went berserk before being taken away by security personnel."

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