PUNE, 27 February 2004 — For the two subcontinent cricketing rivals, the forthcoming Test and One Day series will be a war of nerves, according to more than 80 percent of cricket lovers interviewed by Arab News in Bombay, Pune and Nagpur.

Vijay Patil, coach of a cricket academy in Bombay, said that the Indian team would be under pressure to perform. All the talk of a security threat is just an excuse, he said. The fact is that the Pakistanis will have an edge over the Indians at home.

The Indians are touring Pakistan after nearly 14 years of no cricketing ties, said Avinash Ghule, a young cricketer. All the Indian team members except for Sachin Tendulkar will be touring Pakistan for the first time. The reality is that our cricketers could succumb to the short pitch bowling of the Pakistani pacemen.

The sting in Tendulkar’s batting prowess has vanished and it is very doubtful that he will perform to the expectations of the masses back home, commented Daniel Salvi, a coach at a club in Pune. We are sending a team weakened of its bowling attack and this could cost us.

However, Ramesh Sangle, a cricket enthusiast in Nagpur, came out in support of the Indian team and said that the Indian batsmen will blast the attack of Shoaib Akhtar and Sami to smithereens. Besides Tendulkar, we have batsmen of the caliber of Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Rohan Gavaskar and Muhammed Kaif who could smash the Pakistani attack all over the ground.

Former Indian skipper and chairman of the National Selection Board, Chandu Borde, who toured Pakistan as team manager in 1989, said that India-Pakistan matches are overdue. Other disputes with Pakistan do not prejudice the Indian players once they are on the field.

A former state player too felt India are in with a chance. We have a good batting line-up, said Milind Gunjal, former skipper of the Maharashtra Ranji Trophy team. Despite the pressure, we can do wonders. The resumption of cricketing ties is a path toward improving our relations with Pakistan, he said.

And this view was echoed by Vinod Kambli, a longtime friend of Sachin Tendulkar and also a former Test cricketer. He expressed his delight that politics had finally been separated from sports.

Politically, the Hindu militant Shiv Sena organization’s stand on Pakistan tour remains unchanged. Uddhav Thackery, the president and son of the Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackery, said that his organization is still firmly against having a cricketing relationship with Pakistan.

In another development the Pakistani government will set up a visa center in Amritsar (Punjab) to help Indian fans wanting to see the upcoming cricket series between India and Pakistan beginning March 10.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the first time in history, has started online ticket sales for the series and said global cricket fans have already given an encouraging response.

A PCB official said non-Pakistanis who purchase online tickets will not be automatically granted visas. The Pakistani Interior Minister, Saleh Faisal Hayat, indicated that only after passing the necessary security clearances will Indians with match tickets be issued a visa.

There is also a 10-ticket limit per match for credit card purchases.