Memories make the world, a world where you remember and also forget. How uncivilized and nasty Pakistan is, I was told by my aunt in the context of cricket. I was young and living in a world of centuries being made, wickets being taken and no matter what the match situation, a hero would always emerge, who would be from my country, India, and we would win.

The only country which did not believe in fair-play, I was told, was Pakistan. I heard that once, when India were on the verge of winning a match, the Pakistan captain had concealed nails in his hand and on the pretext of shaking hands with the Indian players, injured them, so that they could not perform well the next day.

My first experience of Pakistan was in 1997, a full-grown adult who had seen and watched enough cricket and, because of my profession, had interacted with the "other" so often that it had made me less rigid and more open to accept a different point of view.

That tour, where India played three one-day internationals in Pakistan after a gap of almost eight years, was a life defining experience. There were no enemies there, except the demons in our minds.   We only had to say 'India' and a red carpet would follow. Yet, I can never forget the face of a child, who was crying inconsolably after Pakistan's defeat in Karachi. I patted him and asked him why? "I am told we should never lose to India," was his answer.

India went again to Pakistan in 2004. I was there for the Lahore Test and the reception that we got was unbelievable. Politics and cricket had got intertwined and cricket had become a vehicle for peace and an instrument in bridging a divide. We lost the Lahore Test and instead of pinpricks on offer, people wanted our autographs.

The memory of that sobbing child unable to come to terms with losing to India was now being juxtaposed with the images of being treated like a film star by people who had beaten our cricket team.

I went again to Pakistan in 2006, travelled extensively there, thanks to the cricket tour and, minus all the dosti hype of the 2004 tour, was still treated like a friend, a guest who should be taken care of. It was also a sign of changing times, with the two nations accepting each other and cricket getting precedence over worrying too much about personal relationships getting affected just because one was vocally supporting one's own team.

When one looks at India-Pakistan cricket history and the hostilities accompanying it because of our past history, the last decade or so has redefined the way we look at each other. Thanks in many ways to cricket.

It is hopefully a sign of better times that this time around when Pakistan are here once again, the focus is entirely on cricket and not on what the game can do to help the two countries come closer to each other. Now, when the players from the two countries shake hands, I see in it a genuine warmth and do not try to look for that concealed nail that could hurt the players from my country.

The Pakistan team is scheduled to reach Delhi on Thursday evening for the month long Indian tour which includes five ODIs and three Test matches. But the team will be without Asif at least for the first part of the tour.

Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to make an official announcement on the matter and has not named any replacement for the injured pacer.

"Asif is not leaving with the team today due to an elbow injury. PCB will make an official announcement later during the day," sources in the board said.

Asif, though, is likely to join the team for the Test series starting on November 22.

Asif missed the ODI series against South Africa due to the same injury after breaking down while bowling in the second Test against South Africa at Lahore.

The bowler underwent an emergency MRI scan and the report showed that he needs further rest for the injury to heal properly.

Pakistan will play its first ODI in Guwahati on November 5.

Pakistan's Australian coach Geoff Lawson said on Wednesday he was looking forward to the challenge of touring India and that clashes between the great rivals were "bigger than the Ashes."

Pakistan fly out to India on Thursday to play five one-day internationals and three Tests. It will be only the fourth Test series between the cricket-obsessed neighbours since they resumed sporting ties in 2004.

"Having toured India on a number of occasions I know people follow an Indo-Pakistan match with extreme passion and at times it is little bit more than the sport, bigger than the Ashes, so I look forward to it," Lawson told AFP in an interview.

The former paceman, who played in five Ashes series between Australia and England in the 1980s, took over as Pakistan coach in July. He replaced Englishman Bob Woolmer, who died during the World Cup in Jamaica in March.

Lawson, 49, said Pakistan "would have been better off" for the India tour had they beaten world number two team South Africa in their recent home one-day series. Pakistan also lost the Test series, one-nil.

South Africa won the one-day series with a sensational 14-run victory in the fifth and final match in Lahore on Monday. Chasing 234 to win, Pakistan were cruising nicely at 199-4 before losing their last six wickets for 20 runs.

"Five overs of bad cricket spoiled our good work in the series, but it gave us lessons which we need to learn and work hard on the India tour, which will be tough," said Lawson, who took 97 wickets in 21 Ashes Tests.

Lawson said both Pakistan and India had progressed well after their disastrous showings in the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies, in which both were knocked out in the first round.

"India played tough cricket on their tour of England and both Pakistan and India did well in the Twenty20 (world championship)," said Lawson of September's event, which India won by beating Pakistan in the final.

Manmohan Singh pats cricket team captain MS Dhoni as other members look on, in New Delhi.

It was expected to be a smooth transition when Kiran More handed over charge of the chairman of selectors to Dilip Vengsarkar at the Cricket Club of India in September 2006.

But on Monday, More hit out at his successor for dropping Rahul Dravid for the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan.

“This is the same team that played the World Cup. What is the future of Indian cricket, I don’t know,” More said from Chandigarh. “The captain has changed, a former captain has been dropped. Are we going behind or are we going forward?”

More, who is a consultant with the Indian Cricket League, said Vengsarkar was scared of taking big decisions. “He is talking about youth. He is talking about Dravid’s fitness. There is no clear picture. He and his committee have to take big decisions, but I think he is scared of taking big decisions.”

“I don’t think the chairman of selectors has the guts to drop the others,” More said when asked if the other two seniors could also be in line if they did not perform.

More said his panel focussed on youth. “Look at players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik. They have not come overnight. We groomed them. The present selection committee is not doing anything outstanding.”

Two of the current selectors — Sanjay Jagdale and Bhupinder Singh Sr — were part of the previous committee chaired by More. Could they have not carried on from where they left under More?

“The selection committee is being dominated by the chairman. So, where is the question of others giving their opinion. If a person like Rahul has suddenly resigned from captaincy, and now he is being dropped, there is some agenda behind it,” said More.

The former Indian wicketkeeper defended Dravid’s poor form against the Australians in the one-day series. “Everybody is talking about starts. Rahul has batted from one to seven. Let the others bat between five and seven and average 30-odd. You cannot compare Rahul’s statistics with the others,” he said.

PTI adds

Dubai: “The fact that Dravid has been dropped for two one-dayers does not mean the end of his one-day career. We would need his experience for the Australian tour. For the amount of cricket that is being played, we will need about 20 to 25 players who are fit all the time,” Ravi Shastri said.

Mumbai: Former cricketers Sandeep Patil and Sanjay Manjrekar said Dravid got a raw deal from the selectors who showed scant respect for his contribution to the game.

“I had earlier supported the idea that Sharad Pawar, as BCCI president, should not interfere in selection matters. I would revise my decision now and recall how once NKP Salve, as then BCCI president, had intervened and influenced the selectors to include Sunil Gavaskar after he had been dropped,” Patil said.

Manjrekar said it was unfortunate that a “selfless” cricketer like Dravid had been given such a raw deal when he needed the support most.

“If anybody deserved a life jacket in troubled waters it was Dravid.”

Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan arrived on Wednesday for his first full Australia Test tour in 12 years, braced for a chilly reception from fans as he bids to break Shane Warne's wickets record.

Muralitharan, who as refused to our Australia in the past because of crowds taunting his unusual bowling action, wants to show why he is one of the best bowlers in the world, skipper Mahela Jayawardene said.

"He hasn't played here for 10 years in a Test match and he's pretty geared up I think. He feels Australia is one of the places that he has to challenge himself," Jayawardene said.

"This is probably a place where he has to prove he's one of the top bowlers in the world, so I think he's looking forward to the challenge."

'Murali' needs just nine wickets to overhaul Warne's 708 Test scalps in the Test matches in Brisbane and Hobart starting on November 8 and 16.

The Sri Lanka tour follows Australia's return home after a bitter series against India marred by the racial taunting of the team's only black player, Andrew Symonds, who was subjected to monkey noises and gestures.

There are fears that Muralitharan could receive unsportsman like treatment in Australia, where he has been called for 'throwing' on two previous tours and subjected to constant crowd calls of "no ball."

Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss said there were "always idiots in every crowd" and it was near impossible to control the behaviour of fans.

The pathologist who performed a controversial autopsy on former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer said on Wednesday that the Englishman was poisoned and then strangled.

Dr. Ere Shesiah, chief consultant pathologist of the Jamaican government, told an inquest that Woolmer "died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation associated with Cypermethrinide poisoning".

Cypermethrin is a pesticide used frequently in countries including the United Kingdom, China, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, said Shesiah, who had never before publicly linked Woolmer's death to poisoning.

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, a day after Pakistan were knocked out of the cricket World Cup following an upset loss to Ireland. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly after.

Police started a murder investigation days later after it was revealed that the autopsy, which investigators said was inconclusive at first, found that he died of manual strangulation.

That investigation ended on June 12 when Jamaica's police commissioner said the constabulary would accept the opinion of three independent pathologists that Woolmer had died of natural causes, possibly a heart attack.

Shesiah, an Indian national who has made Jamaica his home for more than 15 years, said that he never told police that the autopsy was inconclusive.

"At no time did I use the word inconclusive in any of my deliberations with the police," Shesiah said under cross examination by Jamaica's director of public prosecutions Kent Pantry.
"I told the police at the time that the autopsy was pending. I also never used the word suspicious, which the police used early in their investigations," Shesiah said.

"Their decision is very disappointing. They decided not to play in Karachi despite all security assurances given to them by the (Pakistan Cricket) Board and top security officials," said PCB's chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi.

"They had sent their security officer to Karachi to inspect everything himself. He met with the top officials and was given every sort of assurances. But despite this they have told us they would like the match shifted to any other venue," he said.

Naghmi said for the PCB only possible option was to shift the match to Lahore.

"We had no option but to shift the match to Lahore which is the most viable option for us at this moment because of the last minute changes in logistical details," he said.

Naghmi said the PCB had no doubt that Karachi was safe to host any international event but it had no other choice than to accept the decision of the South African management.

The South African team was badly shaken after a suspected suicide bomber attacked the rally of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, killing around 140 people and injuring some 500 people last Friday.

"We think Karachi is a good international cricket venue but at this moment our security officer after discussions with cricket South Africa didn't feel it was the right time to let our players travel to Karachi and play there," said Logan Naidoo, the touring team manager.

Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday said the rebel Indian Cricket League cannot prevent Mohammad Yousuf from playing for the country during the upcoming series against India by serving the player with a legal notice.

PCB Chairman Naseem Ashraf said the Board was prepared to offer the best possible legal help to Yousuf to fight the legal notice sent to him by the Essel Group-owned ICL for cancelling a contract with them.

"The ICL cannot prevent him from playing for Pakistan. Yousuf signed a contract for them but later he cancelled it and since the ICL has not started yet, any other player or he can do this," said Ashraf.

Yousuf was one of five Pakistani players who signed up for the ICL in August but last month accepted PCB's central contract and made himself available for national selection. He also signed a contract for the BCCI-promoted Indian Premier Cricket League, which is seen by many as an attempt by the Indian board to derail the ICL which is yet to get off the ground.

"National duty comes first and above everything else and no player can be stopped from playing for his country by any private contract," he said.

Inconsistency has been the bane of Indian cricket and it continues to be so. It was a good, hard-fought match no doubt and full credit has to be given to the Australians for the manner in which they kept at it but they would be the first to admit that it was the Indians' old habit of losing wickets in a heap that made it easier for them to run away with the match and the series. Typical of the Australians, when an inch was given with the bat or ball, they went the whole mile.

The importance of a good start has been stressed upon and on Sunday, Sachin and Sourav provided the perfect platform. I fail to understand why Irfan Pathan was promoted when there was someone like Yuvraj waiting to press on from that situation. Irfan may have had some success in his earlier stints at number three when he was a regular in the playing eleven but he's basically capable of a 20 or 30 and not one who can be expected to score big. The Indians needed someone who could settle in and carry on, like Symonds did so wonderfully for Australia, and Yuvraj would have been the ideal batsman.

However, we didn't lose out only because of our batting. Our fielding first and running between the wickets later, was miserable and there can be no excuses for such a show. A captain has to work with various situations in mind and take decisions as he thinks best but when you had someone bowling as well as Kartik was, there is nothing to be debated upon. The left-arm spinner should have continued from one end even as Harbhajan was perhaps kept back for later overs. The ball change after 34 overs would have worked on Dhoni's mind but with the pitch affording so much spin, slow bowlers were always going to be the better option.

That the Australian spinners, Hogg and Symonds did such a good job, only makes Dhoni's decision stranger but these are things a young captain should and will learn in time. Meanwhile, his predecessor's bad run with the bat continues. No doubt Rahul is short of runs but ups and downs are part of such long and illustrious careers and he is only one big knock away from getting back into the thick of things.

The series loss must not take away the team's focus on the final ODI in Mumbai. They must remember that they will be touring Australia shortly and so from a psychological point of view, the Indians must still try and upset the visitors. It is not the time to experiment either and we must field our full-strength side.

Most of us woke up early on Sunday, hoping to spend the day watching some great cricket. What we got instead, was a frustrating, infuriating experience and not just because the Indian bowlers were being thwacked all over the place.

The television coverage has been so terrible that you could be forgiven for wanting to shake someone in the BCCI brass - all of who seemed to have landed up in BCCI president-elect Shashank Manohar's hometown for the game - for allowing the producers to get away with such a shoddy job.

When Adam Gilchrist mercifully got out after reaching his 50, Rameez Raja had just started saying "The last 15 minutes have been..." when Abhishek Bachchan in his sarpanch avatar bloomed onto the screen.

By the time Neo Sports brought the game back, Andrew Symonds was already facing the next delivery and before one could say "Bhajji", there was yet another commercial on screen.

This happened throughout the game. You missed all the discussions that would have been great to watch in a tense game such as this; you missed the drama, the pleasure (on this day) of the Indians celebrating the fall of another Aussie wicket (a rare occurrence, generally speaking); the excitement of watching a new batsman's expression as he walked in.

More than a few times, they cut off the over after the fifth ball, began a commercial and then quickly realised there was a sixth delivery remaining and switched back to the cricket. The final delivery should be called the vanishing ball. Almost invariably, we have been unabl-e to see the last legal delivery of an over, as the minute ball touches bat, there is a commercial.

Note here to the Neo Sports/DD producers: A ball is legally not dead till it gets back to the keeper and sometimes, not even that, depending on the situation.

And if all this isn't bad enough, we have these Big Bazaar ads singing loudly over the commentators while the action is on. Granted, that our ex-players don't always make sense, but c'mon, a singing commercial?! Incidentally, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, when contacted on Sunday, did say he was glad it had been brought to his "notice" and that the Board would take "necessary action" but when?

The BCCI had promised ages ago (during the India-England series in early 2006) that they would make sure there was a monitoring system in place to ensure viewers got to see the complete coverage of a game. Why make promises that can't be kept?

The International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad has sent to the world body his report on the alleged racist gestures made by fans during the India-Australia One-Day International (ODI) held at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, while the police denied reports that some fans had been arrested.

"I have sent my report to the ICC yesterday (Wednesday night)," Broad told IANS on Thursday morning.

Broad confirmed that he had seen a photograph taken by a foreign journalist, showing some fans making gestures with their hands. "I have seen the picture," he said.

The former England Test batsman, however, declined to go into the details of the incident during the day-night match that India won by two wickets.

Some fans allegedly taunted or gestured at Andrew Symonds after he was out to the first ball he faced.

There were also reports that the police had arrested some fans for their behaviour inside the stadium but Marine Drive police station officials on Thursday denied any arrests.

"Neither were any arrests made yesterday (Wednesday) nor was anyone put inside the lockup," a sub-inspector at the police station told IANS.

The seven-match ODI series, which Australia won 4-2, was marred by allegations of racial comments aimed at the Australians, particularly at Symonds who emerged as the most prolific batsman in the series with 365 runs in seven matches.

These incidents led to the heads of the Indian and Australian cricket boards, Sharad Pawar and Creagh O'Connor, to issue a joint statement on Wednesday night, "deploring racism of any kind anywhere in cricket".

"Cricket crowds in all cricket nations are often noisy and boisterous, which is part of the fun of cricket," said the statement.

"But all cricket nations have to be on guard to ensure that the fun does not cross the boundary into unacceptable behaviour. If it does, it is our expectation that the specifics of the ICC Anti-Racism Code be enforced without fear or favour."

No wonder cricketers love coming to Mumbai. Especially from abroad. They are gobbled up by corporates as their brand ambassadors. It was, not one, not two, but three such occasions in  India's Commercial Capital on Monday evening.

No sooner had the teams checked in at the team hotel than Australian captain Ricky Ponting was named brand ambassador of automotive products Valvoline Cummins Ltd. Both teams arrived late in the afternoon after their travel was delayed by a bird hit. The accident occurred 10 minutes after take-off from Nagpur. Five blades of one of the engines were damanged by the bird.

"I always love coming to Mumbai," Ponting said. "Whatever product I am associated with, either on and off the field, I am associated with the best," he said.

There was only one cricket question asked at what was a business press conference. And it was related to the alleged racism remarks made by Andrew Symonds after the Vadodara ODI.

Asked why so much hue and cry was made on the Symonds issue, Ponting said: "I don't think Andrew Symonds has made a big deal of the racism remarks. It were the Indian journalists who made me aware of what happened. Andrew has dealt with it in the most sensible way. He did not run into anybody and tell what happened."

Ponting also disagreed that cricket was not the number one sport in Australia. "Cricket is Australia's favourite and number one sport. It is certainly a big business in Australia, and with our success in the last 10 years, the game is spreading not just in Australia but all over the world."

Match referee’s report mentions racism

Melbourne: Match Referee Chris Broad has written to the ICC there were racial comments from the crowd during the fifth match at Vadodara last week, local media reported. An ICC spokesman confirmed that Broad had alerted them of his concerns.

VVS Laxman returned home to Hyderabad last week from England, where he had a productive tour. First, he contributed in India’s famous Test series triumph. Coming in at crucial junctures, he registered an impressive average of 51.25 in five innings.

Then he extended his stay, playing for Lancashire as their overseas professional for five weeks. He nearly took the club to their first Championship title in more than seven decades. The 33-year-old is deservedly happy about his cricket.

Excerpts from an exclusive telephonic chat with Laxman soon after his return from England.

How was the experience of winning the Test series in England?

It is always a great feeling when we win Tests overseas. Since the West Indies tour in 2002, we have started winning Tests abroad but not a series. To be able to do that in the West Indies (2006) and England (2007) was great. And to be personally contributing to the victory in England was memorable. Winning in England gave extra satisfaction because we won against a very good side.

Why did the England win give you extra satisfaction?

It was a classic case of team effort. (MS) Dhoni at Lord’s played an uncharacteristic knock, not typical of him; Zaheer (Khan) with the ball at Nottingham; also Anil Kumble’s hundred at The Oval… it was a great effort.

The major factor for me was the opening partnerships we had. Dinesh (Karthik) and Wasim (Jaffer) laid a solid foundation. Whenever we did well overseas, the opening partnerships have been good.

Kumble is out there with his camera whenever someone reaches a milestone. When he reached to his first Test century, did anyone capture the moment for him?

All of us were so excited that none of us took out a camera. We were clapping for him from the balcony. There have been a lot of occasions when he has fought till the end. We have had good partnerships and during that knock, we were cheering each shot of his.

Rahul Dravid stepped down from captaincy upon returning from England. Was there any indication to that effect during the tour?

I was in Manchester playing for Lancashire when I heard the news. There was no indication at all. When he gave up the captaincy, I was surprised. He was leading the side well. It was a great team environment in England. Right from Chandu Borde sir to all the support staff, we enjoyed each other’s success.

India seem to be doing well without a coach — winning the Test series in Bangladesh and England and the World T20. What is your view on this?

The Future Cup between India and Australia saw the implementation of a new rule that makes change of ball mandatory after the 35th over. There have been cries for scrapping this rule as it could cost a team a game.

Ricky Ponting: It’s unfair on the part of the team which does everything right. It’s a very big advantage to the batting side. Common sense would be if you change the ball early like after the 27th or 28th over, the next change should be after the 41st and not after the 35th over... some day something like this is going to cost a team a game and that could well be the difference in a series.

Brett Lee: It’s a challenge playing the old ball when it starts to reverse-swing. The newer balls we’ve been using have been pretty shiny and still have the Kookaburra writing on them. It makes it harder for bowlers because you come on at the 35th over and you’re bowling with a new ball again.

Tim Nielsen (Australia coach): The different ball is harder and comes on to the bat better. We’ve been going on at four or five an over and it’s got up to seven or eight a couple of times.

Venkatesh Prasad (India’s bowling coach): It’s slightly disadvantageous to the bowlers. I don’t understand how they came to this decision. I would say the change can be delayed a bit, say like after 40 overs. Because it’s between the 30th and 40th overs that you generate reverse swing. The batsmen will have a chance to make their strokes if the ball is hard, especially on sub-continental pitches. You have so many rules loaded against bowlers, this is another one.

It is convenient to be a Monday morning quarterback, an American term for one who views things in hindsight. But in the business of chronicling events, it is also inevitable. 

Here’s an attempt, then, at identifying the reasons behind Australia’s thumping victory over India in the Future Cup, completed in the sixth match in Nagpur on Sunday. The purpose of the endeavour is to help India learn from their errors and return to winning ways.

So quick, get the nurse. Get the MRI machine. Let’s perform a scan on Indian cricket from the viewpoint of this series and see what it reveals.

1. Demented schedule

India beat Pakistan in the World T20 final on September 24. Five days later, they were playing Australia in the first match of the Future Cup. Weird or what! India had been on the road since the end of June and had also won the Test series against England. The players should have rested and rejoiced for a couple of weeks.

Yes, we know that the calendar is packed. This is how the cookie (and the cricketer) crumbles in the contemporary game. But it makes things too demanding for teams and indirectly breeds the malady of fan fickleness. It’s just about three weeks since the Twenty20 win, for example, and people have again started to ridicule the team. It is not a healthy way for things to be. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the fixtures committees of boards need to be more considerate towards the players and the games.

2. The bowling of Zaheer & Sree

Australia’s lowest score in the tournament was 283 (except in Vadodara where they had to get only 149 to win). It proved that the Indian bowling attack was not doing its job. Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, India’s opening bowlers in four of the six matches, gave away too many runs. Zaheer bowled only one sub-6 spell, a one for 55 in ten overs in Kochi. Sreesanth’s best effort was three for 55 in Bangalore. Even RP Singh, who bowled well in the UK and the World Twenty20, was ineffective in the three matches that he played against Australia.

On a happier note, Irfan Pathan, Murali Kartik, and to an extent Harbhajan Singh, did better.

3. Fielding

Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. Zaheer Khan bowls the third over of the innings to Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist slices hard. Yuvraj Singh, at point, leaps up like a giant sturgeon in Florida’s Suwannee River and takes an electrifying catch.

India’s fielding got off to a flying start in the series, but over time it flamed out. There were some alert throws, but otherwise it was not in the same league as Australia. Sunday’s dropped catches were the nadir. Improvement is critical here.

4. Missed opportunities

India had Australia sweating in the first two matches with early wickets. The world champions were 18/3 in Bangalore and 8/2 in Kochi. It is true that Australia are too strong a team to collapse with the loss of a few wickets. But even captain MS Dhoni admitted that India could have done a better job of pressing home the advantage.

5. Chase-o-phobia

India have not crossed a target successfully against Australia since they overtook 272 in the Coca-Cola Cup final in Sharjah on April 24, 1998. It was Sachin Tendulkar’s 25 th birthday. At the peak of his prowess, he came up with an out-of-this-world 134 to author an India win.

Since then, though, India have chased 18 times against Australia and failed to reach the target.

The old weakness was exposed in this series. In the five completed matches so far, India batted second thrice, losing on all occasions. There were performances of individual brilliance. Yuvraj Singh scored a gallant century in Hyderabad. Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, then Robin Uthappa, were spectacular in Nagpur. But the sustained team effort that is needed to chip down a big target was missing.

With world champions Australia taking the competitive zing out of the current cricket series with their 4-1 winning lead in Nagpur, India will only have pride - and some statistics - to play for in the seventh One Day International (ODI) in Mumbai on Wednesday.

It was billed as a battle between the champions - Australia are the ODI World Cup winners and India the Twenty20 kings - but the seven-match series turned out to be thoroughly one-sided with Ricky Ponting's team emerging head and shoulders above the hosts.

If the first match had not been abandoned due to rain in Bangalore, the scoreline could have looked more embarrassing for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.

Now, the players will try to salvage some lost pride and add a few runs and wickets to their personal accounts in the day-night encounter - the last match at the stadium in its present form. The structure will soon be demolished and a new, modern stadium will be built in its place.

The gap between the two teams can be shown statistically. Consider this: the Australians have scored two centuries and 11 half-centuries while the Indians have managed just one century and five half-tons, the top Australian run accumulator Andrew Symonds has aggregated 365 while his counterpart Sachin Tendulkar has managed 257, the top Australian wicket takers Brad Hogg and Mitchell Johnson have dismissed 11 batsmen while Sreesanth has taken nine.

Numbers apart, the Australians have played no-holds-barred, professional and aggressive cricket throughout while the home side has only attracted negative media coverage for verbal duels. Significantly, India's aggression has not been backed by solid performances, unlike the Australians.

One reason could be that following their Twenty20 World Championship triumph, the Indian players got a mere four-day gap for switching to the ODI mode. Admitting as much a few days ago, Robin Uthappa said that the hangover of the Twenty20 fever did affect the team's performance in the first few matches.

But what about the rest of the matches, millions of Indian fans are asking. That the defeats have come on home ground, on tailor-made pitches and before vocal supporters is all the more embarrassing for Indian cricket.

India has not been up to the mark in either batting, bowling or fielding. The team has realised during the course of this series that there is a huge difference between the bang-bang Twenty20 version and 50-50 cricket, which requires more planning and strategising.

In today's extremely tight international itinerary for Test-playing nations, teams will now require to switch quickly from one mode to another, from Test cricket to ODIs to Twenty20, and the other way around. Australia do it remarkably well - their defeat in Twenty20 World Championship was an aberration - and the other teams will have to emulate them if they are to be competitive.

Amidst the ruins, Tendulkar has been the saving grace for India. At a time when people are debating the ageing maestro's place in the shorter version of the game, he has once again replied with his bat and emerged with the best aggregate for the home side.

While Tendulkar's fans in his home city would like him to extend his form to the Wankhede Stadium, Dravid, who has managed 61 in six matches, would like to leave his poor form behind and get among the runs, provided he is picked for Wednesday's match.

If the experienced three - Tendulkar, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - hit form together on Wednesday, Indian fans could see a competitive match ahead of the lone Twenty20 encounter between the two sides in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Indian bowlers, who have done well recently in England, in South Africa and in patches in this series, can come into play only if the batsmen give them a good enough total to bowl with. Although Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan (seven) are the top wicket-takers among the Indians, their scalps have come at a cost.

The fielding and especially the catching have let India down badly. Bapu Nadkarni, the legendary former left-arm spinner, felt it was "criminal" to miss those crucial catches in the series.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicket-keeper), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Kartik, Subramaniam Badrinath, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rohit Sharma, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Sreekumaran Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain/wicketkeepe r), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Adam Voges, Michael Hussey, Shaun Tait and Shane Watson.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Ameesh Saheba (India)
Third umpire: G.A. Pratapkumar (India)
Match referee: Chris Broad (England)

The Indian cricket board on Tuesday rejected its Pakistani counterpart's request to replace one Test match with two Twenty20 matches during Pakistan's tour to India starting next month.

Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI), said in Mumbai on Tuesday that the request from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was very late and could not be accommodated.

"No match can be added at this juncture. Their request came too late to effect any changes in the itinerary," Shah told IANS in Mumbai.

PCB wanted to replace one of the three Test matches with two Twenty20 matches and wanted to help the family of its late coach Bob Woolmer with the money generated from one of the matches.

Pakistan's tour, which also comprises five one-day international matches, starts with a limited overs practice match in Delhi on November 2.

"No one in life is completely free from vulnerability to depression, anxiety, loneliness,” Mike Brearley, former captain, current pundit, psychoanalyst and the game's all-time top shrink, declares sagely, a faint smile flickering over his features.

We’ve just got to the top tier of the stand at Trent Bridge, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are in the middle and Brearley, declaring that he would not like to miss this for anything, has hastened up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, right to the top of the highest stand at the stadium.

From up there, the view is bird-like, and we look down at the middle as these modern gladiators, preyed by doubt, anxiety, fear and cynicism, fight on the pitch for supremacy and off it for normalcy.

Fear and anxiety are something that Brearley thrives on — no, he is not really a masochist, but when it comes to demystifying the demons that haunt cricketers, nibble on their minds and drive them towards the slippery slope to self-destruction, Brearley is the man to go to.

Brearley does not really seem to enjoy this — as he speaks in a soft, educated tone, he seems troubled by the thoughts threading through his mind, clothed by his words.

Candid

He is a bit hard to get but once you've got him, he can disarm you with his affability. He states his opinions by always tagging “I think” or “perhaps” or “probably” before them — clearly, the game's acknowledged top thinker does not wish to thrust his beliefs on you.

He asks you questions with beguiling simplicity and hears you out — as we warm up to our discussion, Brearley exceeds the time he had demarcated for the chat.

Down below us, as the two Indian superstars get down for a fascinating battle against James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, Brearley talks of the millions of men, equals as men but not made of the same material as cricketers, who will never make it to Trent Bridge — or even the Chepauk or the Wankhede.

Manish Mishra was a young man whose love of the game consumed him — he made it to India's under-19 team but never reached the Ranji Trophy level. Seemingly rejected by the game he loved, he ended his life last year. That sad tale was reflected in the life and death of Subhash Dixit from Kanpur.

What could have been done to save these two young souls? I put the question to Brearley, for Brearley has been writing on the subject of declaring the innings on their lives, when future seemed to hold more for them.

Cricket, famously, is often described as the game of death — you live in an innings, you die when you are out, you are given another chance, you are reincarnated.

You have your family, your team around you, but you face each difficulty, each problematic delivery, on your own.

In his book Silence of the Heart, David Frith has enumerated as many as 160 suicides by cricketers — up considerably from the last edition, and while the subject is morbid, it’s imperative to understand why sportsmen choose to go out that way.

Cricket can teach

Brearley says that he used to believe that cricket, with its dark metaphors about life and death, would teach players to deal with other defeats of life. Now, he says, he has altered his view, and does not have such a kindly view of the game.

But what could be done to reduce the anguish and the torments that drive cricketers over the edge?

Brearley says, in the context of the scene in India, ‘little’ can be a little depressing. “I'm sure there is a limit to what the cricket boards can do,” Brearley says. “There are a lot of players and no one asks a player to come and play first class cricket.

“It must be a very hard way — the alternatives are fame and wealth on one hand if you make it, poverty and no fame if you don't,” Brearley adds.

After breaking Ian Healy's world record to become the wicketkeeper with the highest number of Test dismissals, South Africa's Mark Boucher on Wednesday said he grew up admiring the Australian's work behind the stumps.

"Healy is someone who I used to watch on TV and love the way he kept. So it is also sad to break such a good keeper's record. But I have played enough Tests so this had to come along," Boucher said after the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi.

The South African wicketkeeper set the record in his 103rd Test making two stumpings off left-arm spinner Paul Harris' bowling to get to 396 dismissals, one more than Healy.

Boucher said he was not a man for stats and felt if his team could end up winning the Test it would be the icing on the cake for him.

"Obviously it is a great feeling for me to break such a good wicketkeeper's record. But the bottom line for me is if we can pull off a win in this Test. It will probably be the cherry on top for me," he told reporters.

Boucher, however, said that breaking the record was probably the best achievement for him as a South African cricketer.

Boucher and Harris, who took five wickets in Pakistan's first innings, put South Africa in the driver's seat in the match. He was happy to see the way Harris bowled to take his five wickets.

Boucher joked that the second stumping that gave him the record was not actually a stumping, but an edge.

"But let us say it is stumping. But Harris really bowled well and because he is tall he gets a lot of bounce and plus he is also consistent in the areas he puts the ball in. He dried up one end for us in the day and bowled lot of pressure balls. It is great for South African cricket to have a spinner do that."

Both Boucher and Harris were confident that if South Africa could get an overall lead of 320 to 350, it would be difficult for Pakistan to chase it down.

"I think the first innings lead of 160 that we got today is like a goldmine on this pitch. If we extend our lead to 350 it would be a bonus for us."

After making 450, South Africa bowled out Pakistan for 291 on a spinning track and were 76 for three at close on the third day, an overall lead of 235 runs.

Harris said he was delighted with his performance but would like to end the match by bowling his team to victory. He is guided in South Africa by Pakistan's former coach Richard Pybus and said he had helped him become a mentally tough cricketer and also shown him how to turn the ball.

Harris has played five Tests - one against India and four against Pakistan - and said he enjoyed bowling to batsmen considered to be the best against spin bowling.

An elder brother is usually a role model for his younger siblings. But for the Pathan family here, younger brother Irfan is an inspiration for Yusuf.

"My brother (Irfan) is my inspiration. He is mentally very strong and his never-say-die attitude is what motivates me," Yusuf, a member of India's Twenty20 World Championship winning team said.

"We have grown up playing cricket together and I am proud of my brother's achievements. I try to work as hard as he does and hopefully my hard work will also bear fruit one day," he said on the sidelines of the Baroda Ranji team's practice session at the historical Motibaug Ground.

Irfan was considered by many to be India's best swing bowler when he made his Test debut in Australia in 2003-04. But his bowling declined in 2006, and he struggled to make it to the Test and ODI teams when the year ended. Irfan also earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first Indian player to be sent back from a tour (South Africa) to concentrate on domestic cricket.

Irfan was selected for the World Cup squad but could not make it to the 11 in a single game during India's disappointing campaign, after which he was dropped from both the Test and one-day sides.

He was recalled to the side for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa and made a big comeback, picking up 10 wickets. His crucial spell of 3/16 in the final against Pakistan earned him the Man of the Match award.

The Pathan brothers became the first siblings to represent India in Twenty20 matches. Irfan and Yusuf also became the eighth pair of siblings to represent India in international cricket - after a gap of almost 29 years.

"The way he fought his way into the team after being dropped is something one should learn from. His strength of character is his biggest power which I like the most," said Yusuf.

On Twenty20 cricket, Yusuf said, "Twenty20 cricket is exciting and I like the format of the game. I like hitting big sixes and that is the reason why I like the Twenty20 version. It is a great honour to be a part of the Twenty20 World Championship winning squad."

But at the same time, Yusuf asserted that he wouldn't like to be branded a Twenty20 player.

"I wouldn't like to be branded as only a Twenty20 cricketer. Every cricketer likes to be a part of the ODI and Test squads and I also hope to represent my country in the coming days," the cricketer said.

Yusuf first made his mark as a hard-hitting batsman and off-spinner for the Baroda Under-16 team in the Vijay Merchant Trophy in 1999-2000. He made his Ranji debut against Saurashtra in 2001-02, but it wasn't until the 2004-05 season that he established himself as a regular in the Baroda squad.

He has scored more than 250 runs and taken at least 15 wickets in each of the last three Ranji seasons. His ability to score runs quickly - he had the highest strike rate in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy - and good performances in the Deodhar Trophy and Twenty20 domestic tournament in 2006-07 helped him get a place in the Indian team for the Twenty20 World Championship.

"I have performed well in the one-dayers in the domestic level and I think my performance will get noticed. I know I have to keep performing and when my time comes I will get my break," Yusuf said.

Naseem Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), presents a life time achievement award to legendary cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq during a tribute ceremony at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore, on October 12, 2007.

Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting (C) leads his team off the field after beating India in the sixth one-day international between India and Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Stadium in Nagpur on Sunday, October 14, 2007. Australia beat India by 18 runs, and won the seven match ODI series 4-1, with the last match still to be played in Mumbai on October 17.