Series comes alive before Ahmedabad clash

A series that seemed to be one-way traffic after two matches has suddenly, and most emphatically, come to life after Pakistan's outstanding display at Jamshedpur. India may still be ahead in the race, but the advantage is only a slight one, which might become slighter still if the coin lands in Inzamam-ul-Haq's favour tomorrow morning.

So far, the team batting first has won all three games, and with heat being a factor - as usual - at Ahmedabad as well, the team batting in the afternoon after chasing leather for three-and-a-half hours in sweltering conditions could once again be severely disadvantaged. Win the toss and bat first is the obvious mantra.

If India have a slender lead coming into this match, then Pakistan undoubtedly have a huge surge of momentum going their way. One win should usually not count for too much in a format as fickle as a one-day international, but the manner in which Pakistan swamped the Indians at Jamshedpur means that their confidence would be sky high; high enough for them to believe that even a successful run-chase - the first of the series - is not beyond them. Ganguly, on the other hand, will be desperately hoping to win the toss.

Besides the toss, Ganguly will be desperate for something else - a few runs for himself. In three matches so far, he has contributed a mere 13, but the problem isn't with Ganguly alone: Sachin Tendulkar (series aggregate 12), Yuvraj Singh (32) and Mohammad Kaif (39) have done precious little for the cause of the Indian total. That got camouflaged by Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the first two matches, but there's only so much three men can manage in a game played by 11. Ganguly's woeful form is obvious to all, but it isn't often that Tendulkar scores 4, 2 and 6 in consecutive matches. A big score is surely round the corner.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have a less formidable batting line-up on paper, but none of their batsmen are so obviously struggling for runs. Salman Butt's century was the outstanding effort of the day at Jamshedpur, but there were other less obvious but vital contributions as well - Shoaib Malik's 75 at No. 3, a position from which he averages 40.45, useful cameos from Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana. And the bowling attack, which appeared so toothless at Kochi and Visakhapatnam, suddenly sprung to life with a performance as disciplined as it was incisive.

An important factor in the bowlers' display, though, was the pitch at Keenan, and it's unlikely that the one at Motera will help them as much. From afar, it looked bare and devoid of grass - one where the batsmen could safely plonk their front-foot and drive through the line, without fearing either seam movement or extra bounce. So it'll be a tough baptism for the seam bowlers from both sides, and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who missed out at Jamshedpur due to injury, is likely to be one of the bowlers who will try to make the best of a tough task. Ganguly indicated at the press conference that a final decision on Balaji would only be taken after nets: "He [Balaji] says he's fit. He'll have a bowl in the nets and then we will decide." If Balaji plays, Irfan Pathan, who had a terrible match with the ball at Jamshedpur, is the most likely to sit out.

Meanwhile, the unusually high number of policemen present all around the ground is a telling indicator of just how serious the state government is taking the issue of security for the game. The city finally got the match despite many question-marks being raised, and, by the looks of it, the administrators are taking absolutely no chances.

India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 4 Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Shahid Afridi, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Arshad Khan, 9 Iftikhar Anjum, 10 Naved-ul-Hasan, 11 Danish Kaneria.