Defence is the best form of attack... ask Pakistan

NEW DELHI, November 3: Austerity is tough to sell in this age when cricket thrives on jingoism and the explosive sound byte. Pakistan, on the evidence of Saturday, doesn’t seem to know this. That, or by choosing the path of non-resistance, they have plotted a grand deception.
Match strategy, body language, views on Indian players... there was the disarming absence of confrontation in every answer.Disarming enough to unnerve the opposition.
Sample this. Misbah-ul Haq: "We don't expect any sledging during the series. Our matches with India during the World T20 were played in great spirit." Salman Butt: "Aggression? Let's see how it goes." Younis Khan: "Cricket is a gentleman's game. The Indians are our brothers." And this series is supposed to be cricket's definitive clash.
No offence meant: that would seem to be Pakistan's motto. Abdur Rehman, for one, won't bowl to "take wickets". He "will bowl to contain".
A slouching position on the sofa is not what one would expect from a Pakistani pacer. But one wouldn't expect Rao Iftikhar Anjum to simply "bowl line and length to contain the batsmen" either. And yes, because "aggression doesn't mean getting wild", expect no "unnecessary bouncers" for the hosts from him. If cricket were football, that line would amount to a back-pass.
"Hello, gentlemen," announced Sohail Tanvir to herald his arrival. Followed by "all the Indian batsmen are good". And all the Indian batsmen, starting with "Sachin bhai" are like long-lost brothers. That's because all "players are humans," explained Younis, who "called up" Sehwag to express his condolences to the bereaved cricketer.
There was more friendliness - in the form of advice - from Younis. "Sachin, Rahul and Sourav are great. India needs its senior players." And Pakistan? "But how many senior players do we have? Just one or two." Making Pakistan the ‘junior' team in the series. And similarly, by inference, the team whose players are more likely to crack under pressure, with Misbah revealing that the "pressure" got to him in both World T20 games against India.
We are nice guys, they are nice guys, and cricket is only a game. It's a generational shift in attitude, they say. Maybe. Only, that theory will never answer one question: which generation, what attitude doesn't have winning as the bottom-line? The cynic's theory: all mind games are equal but Saturday's mind game is more equal than others. Pakistan, the ‘junior' team in the series, won't sledge, won't attack to take wickets, won't play as anything but brothers, and won't be able to overcome pressure.
Somehow, one gets the feeling that India have been left to do everything in this series.