Seven steps to heaven
Kamran Abbasi assesses what Pakistan have to do to compete with India in the upcoming series
There is a danger in too much experimentation. Reward the current group of players by sticking with them ... mostly.
There's a danger in too little experimentation, too - it's equivalent to a lack of creativity. Pakistan's team formula has been too predictable. Javed and Inzamam tinkered with it only in the final one-day match against New Zealand, almost with spectacular results.
Inzamam's batting is commanding, his captaincy is not. A change in leader would be madness at this stage, and Inzamam can be successful provided his advisers are astute. Stand up Javed Miandad, Yousuf Youhana and Moin Khan: you can make or break Inzy.
Bowling is the route to success. India will be undone by high speed or high-class spin. Shoaib Akhtar's fitness is crucial; Mohammad Sami must rediscover his length and patience -- which he lost most alarmingly in the New Zealand one-day series. They need to be backed up by two frontline bowlers. Pakistan's current bowling attack is appetising after the first two, and India's middle order is prone to feasting. Also India's bowlers do not need to be countered by more than seven batsmen (including Moin).
Abdul Razzaq's alarming decline as a pace bowler means that he should be used as a batsman who sometimes bowls. This is balanced by his brilliant one-day batting form. Is he now the world's most destructive batsman under lights? All this should point to a move up the order and in responsibility.
Pakistan should stop thinking that Shoaib Malik is a rival for Saqlain Mushtaq's place. Malik is competing with Shahid Afridi, Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq, while Saqlain is in a different bowling league. It is time to accept Malik's limitations. The India series will also be a time for wise heads.
Remember Saqlain's endless spells from one end, combined with high pace from the other? The India series will be a war of attrition, and Saqlain has the armoury. Only Pakistan could treat their only world-class spinner so dismally. Remember too Afridi's attitude and destructive force? In Pakistan against India -- under Javed's beady eye -- he could be a phoenix.