KARACHI, Pakistan: Pakistan cricket team Captain Imran Khan has said here the present Pakistan team had the capability to beat India in India, provided the visiting batsmen cope with the pressure during the tour.

In an interview the famous all-rounder said Pakistan for the first time had the bowling to beat India in the coming series.

But he cautiously added that it would depend upon how the Pakistani batting copes up with the tremendous pressure of the presence of the huge crowd at various centers and how it tackles the Indian bowlers who usually bowl well before the home crowd.

He said whenever a Pak India cricket series is played “umpiring becomes an issue” and this factor was an added pressure on the visitors. When Sunil Gavaskar came here first time he called ‘umpiring in Pakistan “blatant cheating” but during the 1982 when he led India here he acknowledged that he was beaten by a better team but basically whenever the two countries play umpiring becomes an issue.

He said he wanted to play the forthcoming series in India “good atmosphere with good relationships between the two teams and the two countries”.

He said the series would probably be played much better through neutral umpires. “I would really like it to happen”, he said, but added “the ball is in the court of the Indian Cricket Control Board”.

He disclosed that in 1982 when India came here under Gavaskar and when he was leading Pakistan he had persuaded the then BCCP President Air Marshal (Retd.) Nur Khan to invite neutral umpires for the series, but the Indian Cricket Control Board rejected the proposal.

Imran Khan who has already been named to captain Pakistan in the Indian series when asked if he and the national selectors formed an idea of a team that will go t0 India, said a general idea has already been formed about the team based on the performance against West Indies.

However, there are three to four players who in the next one and half months will be under scrutiny to see whether they would be good ‘enough for the Indian tour. He, however, did not disclose their names.

Asked to comment on his fitness for the tour he said now Pakistan has depth in his fast bowling, “Our bowling could put Indian batting under pressure. Waseem Akram, Saleem Jaffer are quite good and there are back up bowlers in Mohsin Kamal and Zakir Khan,

Article extracted from this publication >> December 12, 1986