Karachi, Mar 13: India take on Pakistan in first ODI of the five match series in Karachi. As the first full tour between India and Pakistan in 15 years get underway ,both teams are raring to go.
Security has been beefed up in large parts of Pakistan`s biggest city, Karachi, ahead of today’s historic one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan. The National Stadium in Karachi and the area surrounding it have been turned into a virtual fortress. The game kicks off India`s 39-day tour of Pakistan, the first in 14 years.
Three frontline bowlers, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh out because of injuries. But he`ll be glad to know that Pakistan don`t really boast a great record in Karachi. They have lost 12 of the 25 matches played at the National Stadium. India, meanwhile have a pretty even record from the 3 matches played there, having won one game, lost one with one match abandoned. The team has been busy at the nets for the last two days and will be hoping that the team`s performance has given them the psychological edge ahead of the big match.
Teams: India (from): Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, L Balaji, Hemang Badani.
Pakistan (from): Inzamam-ul Haq (capt), Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Younis Khan, Shabbir Ahmed, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Naved-ul-Hasan and Saqlain Mushtaq. Umpires: Simon Taufel and Nadeem Ghaudi. 3rd Umpire: Asad Rauf.

Bureau Report