LAHORE, 5 April 2004 — Pakistan were dealt a severe blow on the eve of the second cricket Test against India here when they lost experienced wicketkeeper Moin Khan to a groin injury.

“Moin Khan will sit out this Test as he has not recovered from a groin injury, but hopefully will be fit for the third and final Test at Rawalpindi,” Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq said at a press conference yesterday.

“Kamran Akmal will replace Moin for the Lahore Test,” he added.

Akmal, 22, comes into the Test team after nearly a two-year period.

He had kept wickets for Pakistan against Zimbabwe and South Africa.

But the loss of Moin just a day before the start of the crucial Test for Pakistan could not have come at a wrong moment for Inzamam, who admitted to feeling the pressure.

“There is pressure on us to perform, and win, but the only thing I can tell you is that the wicket will be sporting and we’ll play positive cricket,” he said.

Apart from losing an experienced wicketkeeper and batsmen, Inzamam would also lose the valuable advice that Moin has been providing from behind the wickets.

Moin, a former captain, is believed to be of great help to Inzamam with his on-field suggestions.

The absence of Moin also creates another problem for Pakistan, exposing a long tail.

Moin has repeatedly played some valuable knocks when Pakistan needed it.

What he lacked in skill and flair, he more than made up for it with grit and improvisation.

With the Pakistan batting relying heavily on Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana — all others being relative newcomers — Moin’s absence could affect Pakistan’s chances of making a comeback in the series.

“I know that we face a difficult task, especially after going down 1-0 in the series, but we’ll make every effort to square it.

We have worked hard at the nets in the last three days, ironed out the wrinkles in our bowling and concentrated on our fielding,” he said.

Inzamam was in a bit of spot when he was asked to explain why he wrote in his column in an Indian newspaper that the present crop of bowlers in Pakistan are not world class.

“I did not say that my bowlers were bad, I only wrote that these bowlers need to bowl better and perform better to reach the class of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

These three are world class,” he said.

With the pitch still green, Inzamam said that the toss would not be crucial.

It may help the bowlers during the first two hours of play, but it will play good throughout the match.

India captain Rahul Dravid too concurred with Inzamam, saying that winning the toss would be good but it is not all that important. “The wicket seems to be good and firm, and we will take it session by session while playing positive cricket,” he said.

Dravid said that he was aware that the Indian team, after winning a Test, have allowed the hosts to comeback in the very next Test, adding: “This is an opportunity to rectify that. It is a very good opportunity.”

Dravid announced that India will make the final selection from 13 players, with Ashish Nehra included in place of Zaheer Khan in the 13 that was announced in Multan.

That means the one spot left vacant by Zaheer would be either filled by Nehra or Ajit Agarkar.

With Balaji getting some bounce in Multan on the third day and Irfan Pathan, now elevated to lead the attack, the third spot in the Indian seam attack could be a toss up between Nehra and Agarkar. Dravid also downplayed the historic aspect of a series win.

“We are here to play good cricket.

We do not want to look far ahead into the fifth day.

We will be taking it session by session and see how it goes,” he said.

Dravid was also asked why the Indian attack succeeded while the vaunted Pakistan attack failed in Multan.

“Our bowlers bowled in the right areas, they were consistent and kept a tight line.

History shows that bowlers who have followed this formula have succeeded,” he said.

Both the captains were asked at the small turnout for the first Test and the possibility of a similar situation at the Gaddafi Stadium following reports of poor sale of tickets.

“After such a close One-Day series it is understandable that interest in Tests has waned. But again Test cricket has not been a big draw in these recent years,” said Dravid diplomatically. But Inzamam jokingly retorted, “Do you want me to go out and sell tickets too.” India go into the Test with a definite edge with all systems go.

They are batting, bowling and fielding well while also taking into the Test the psychological advantage of registering their first ever victory on Pakistan soil. And if they manage to repeat Multan then they could record a historic ever series win over Pakistan.