Pakistan hoping to use home advantage

The stands are sure to be full when India are in town © Getty Images

India won in Pakistan last time out but Inzamam-ul-Haq will be hoping home advantage proves to be more useful this time round when the two sides begin their three-Test series on Friday. The Indian side will be used to the kind of conditions they will discover in Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi but, as ever, it is worth looking at the history of matches played on those grounds.

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GADDAFI STADIUM, LAHORE Of the 36 Tests to be played there, Pakistan have won 11, lost just six and a massive 19 have been drawn, meaning that it yields a result only 47 percent of the time. They did, of course, win there against England recently, so confidence should be high and in fact, the victory over India there in 2004 was their only success of that series, which they lost 2-1. On the plus side for Pakistan, they have never lost to India in six Tests there, winning two and drawing four.

Again, though, what's interesting is that of the 17 Tests won on the ground, 14 of them have been won by the side batting second so the toss could prove extra important to both captains. After an average of 31.60 per wicket in the first innings, it rises to 37.90 in the second innings, drops to 30.60 in the third, but rises again to 37.8 in the final innings, which explains in part why claiming victories on the ground is not an easy task.

IQBAL STADIUM, FAISALABAD Of the 23 Test matches played here, 12 of them have been drawn with Pakistan winning six and losing the other five. The last time they triumphed there, though, was way back in 1996/1997 and they have drawn three and won once against India, though that was back in 1982/83.

What is interesting is that of the 11 matches which have yielded a result, seven of them have been won by the side batting first. The average runs per wicket in the first innings is 34.20 and though it rises to 38.60 in the second innings, the third innings average is 32.40 and then it drops, quite considerably, to just 22.10 in the final innings of the match.

NATIONAL STADIUM, KARACHI Should the series go to a decider, as it did in 2004, Pakistan should feel pretty confident of victory as they have a stunning record at the National Stadium, having won 19, drawn 17 and lost just one of the 37 Tests to have been played there. The only loss, remarkably, came against England in 2000 when they lost the series 1-0.

Again, they have never lost to India on the ground, winning twice and drawing the other three matches, including the last two, though they were so long ago (in 1982/8 and 1989/90) that they don't hold too much significance, to my mind at least.

As with Lahore, the toss could be crucial as if you want to win the game, you increase your chances dramatically by batting second. In total, 17 of the 20 Test wins on the ground have gone to the team batting second. Not surprisingly, the first innings average runs per wicket is fairly low, at 29.80, an average which rises to 34.40 in the second innings. It dips to 28.1 in the third and then rises to a whopping 39.3 in the final innings of the match.

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.

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