A test of endurance

The picturesque ACA-VCDA Stadium, located on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, will host its first international game tomorrow when India defend their 1-0 lead against Pakistan before an estimated 26,000 spectators.

The stadium was built only recently and has hosted just one international team before, when the touring New Zealanders took on a Board President's XI here in 2003. Unlike Kochi, the venue of the last game, which had several tiers of stands built upon each other and seated more than 60,000, the stands here are comparatively low, allowing spectators a view of the beautiful hills that surround the ground. But in the preparation for the game there is evidence of thought and care not seen at Kochi, with a temporary shelter put up over the stands to protect the paying public from the hot April sun.

For the players out in the middle, though, there will be no such respite from the baking heat, though it is more breezy here than at Kochi, and the low-lying stands allow the breeze into the playing arena. Even so, cricket in this weather is as much a test of endurance as of skill. As Rahul Dravid suggested in the pre-match press conference, the team that copes with the heat better is the one likely to win.

Certainly there were signs of disorientation in the way Pakistan batted at Kochi, after fielding in the first session and being given the runaround by Virender Sehwag and Dravid, so there is little doubt that the side winning the toss tomorrow will choose to bat first. The pitch is expected to be a belter, and the evenly grassed, well-cut outfield looks like it will give batsmen full value for their strokes.

India are expected to field the same eleven that played at Kochi, and took the team to the biggest-ever victory by India over Pakistan by a runs-margin in an ODI. Pakistan are sure to make some changes, if for no other reason then from the worry of going two-down in the series. Their bowling looked a little toothless at Kochi, especially after the opening bowlers had gone off, so it would not be a bad idea to bring Danish Kaneria into the side; and the batting line-up, which flopped so badly in the first game, might benefit from being tweaked slightly so that Shahid Afridi opens the innings.

There are indications though that Younis Khan, who missed the last game because of illness and whose return would boost the team's confidence, may not play tomorrow, and for good reason. These are conditions that will sap the fittest and hardiest of men, and may not be the best place to test out if a player has made a full recovery.

Teams (probable) India 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Mahendra Dhoni (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan 10 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 11 Ashish Nehra.

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