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NEWS India-Pakistan Series 2006>Inzamam hoping for his bowlers to fire 15th Feb 2006 23.06 IST By Agencies Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is banking on his off-colour pacemen to hit form in time and stop India from clinching the one-day series in the fourth tie in Multan tomorrow. Inzamam said his bowlers had not played to their potential so far in the one-day series but had the ability to bounce back.
Inzamam, under pressure to perform both as batsman and captain with his side 1-2 down in the five-match series, was confident one of his key bowlers -- Rana Naved , would find form in the remaining matches. "Rana Naved has not been bowling well but we are all confident he will bounce back and be effective in the remaining two matches," he said. Inzamam said the conditions here would be helpful to bowlers and a score of 270 would be a challenging one. "The wicket is good, but I expect a little bit of help for the bowlers. I think 270 would be a fighting total," the Multan-born said. He also defended his batting order changes in the face of strong criticism from former cricketers like Imran Khan and added that Shahid Khan Afridi was sent to open in Lahore to ease pressure on the middle order. He also said in Afridi's absence Kamran Akmal or Imran Farhat would open the innings. "We thought Afridi would given us a good start in the first 5-6 overs. But it did not happen. Tomorrow we will open with Kamran Akmal or Imran Farhat," the captain said. He also defended the move to sent vice captain and crisis man Younis Khan down the order instead of using him at number three as in Tests. "The top order players have also scored earlier. Salman Butt did not score in the last two games but we have had success earlier (against England) with this batting order and don't want to change it too much," he said. Inzamam said batting first had been a bit of a disadvantage as big scores have been chased successfully so far in the series. "Batting first is a slight disadvantage as even totals of 330 have been chased successfully. In the last match I thought 288 was a very good score. We were in control when we had taken five wickets," Inzamam said. Praising Mahendra Dhoni for his match winning knock, Inzamam said that the Indian stumper played an extra-ordinary innings to snatch victory from Pakistan's clutches. "But Dhoni played an extraordinary innings. I don't think batting last would have made a difference (to the outcome) when he plays such an innings," he added. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-Pakistan Series 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: Pakistan | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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