'Pak's best bet: Make India bat first, restrict and bat their hearts out'

ISLAMABAD: Ever since the March 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket in Lahore, no foreign team has toured Pakistan and, until this day, not one international match has been played in the country.
Worse, in 2010, the Pakistani team was disgraced by a spot-fixing scandal resulting in long bans on three tainted players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.The shameful exit of these three frontline players from the team was coupled with brawl between various factions in the squad.
Nevertheless, Pakistan continues to produce topnotch cricketers despite playing little organized cricket at home — especially in the last decade. It's propensity for assembly line of fast bowlers continues to impress cricket watchers worldwide.
"Every kid plays cricket in Pakistan and the country is full of natural talent. The problem is that we lack in refinement, and that is the reason we could not produce good batsmen in recent years," Amir Sohail, a former Pakistani opener, told TOI.
"The supply line of Pakistani pace bowlers has never dried up because of a trend set by Fazal Mehmood, who was followed by Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and until this day. In Pakistan, these fast bowlers are larger than life figures and every kid wants to grow up become a fast bowler," Sohail added.
With the rising tide of terrorism, match-fixing scandals, internal bickering, and captaincy tussles, it seemed that it would be very difficult for the once celebrated squad, considered to be a dangerous side for its volatility, to regain its lost status.
The side has always lived up to its tag of mercurial unpredictability. Picture this: The Pakistan Test team rose to ICC's number one ranking only last year, but dropped to the sixth position within months.
The same unpredictable nature of Pakistani team was seen in the current Champions Trophy. After being thrashed by India in its first game, Pakistan won against world number ones South Africa before upsetting the Sri Lankans to make way to the semi-final to crush England, a pre-tournament favourite, for the cup. Now, it will face India in Sunday's final, the mother of all encounters.
"India has the edge because it has the composure. In batting, Pakistan is not as flamboyant as India. If Pakistan wins the toss, bowls well and confines India to a run rate of below six, then it has a chance to fight back," said Brian Lara, one of the greatest batsmen of modern era.
Legendary Vivian Richards said that because of historical and political reasons, both sides are going to play their hearts out. "The best chance Pakistan has is to win toss and put India into a different sort of scenario by restricting it to a score that can be chased," Sir Vivian said.
However, former Aussie great Ian Chappell said India is a strong batting side and it makes no difference whether it bats first or second.
"Pakistan is a decent bowling unit, and if you bowl well, you can make out a good batsman. Pakistan's best chance of winning is to get early wickets," Chappell added.