The mouth-watering prospect of an Indo-Pak series decider seemed to have suddenly instilled the series with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Barring the odd occasion, the current seires has not lived up to past standards, owing to a number of on- and off-field factors. An explosive finale has been widely anticipated as a remedy to the ennui the series has witnessed so far, but the climate in the City has come as a dampener to the spirits of all.

The sun has hardly been visible here for the past two days, and the intermittent drizzle has only worsened the situation, forcing the officials to keep the pitch under covers for a large part of the day. But the Indian and Pakistani cricketers made light of the inclement weather on Thursday, turning out with unbridled enthiusiasm for practice.

Notable absentees
The notable absentees in the Indian camp were Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. “Tendulkar has given rest and he will resume practice on Friday. Ganguly will arrive from Kolkata late tonight, as he is suffering from a mild fever and throat infection. But there is no cause to worry,” a team management staff said.

Apart from Shoaib Mailk being ruled out, the other anxious moment for Pakistan came when Shoaib Akhtar tumbled on the field while playing rugby, but the pace bowler soon rejoined the rest of the team-mates and that would have eased a lot of tension in their camp.

While the players engaged in training, unmindful of the chill and the drizzle, one man was glancing skywards constantly. BCCI Pitch Review Committe chairman Daljit Singh shook his head and said, “What climate! There is not enough sun at the moment for the pitch and ground to dry up.” KSCA chief curator Narayan Raju chipped in, “Yeah, it is going to remain like this for the next few days as well.”

Younis hopeful
Stand-in Pakistan captain Younis Khan hoped for clear weather. The Mardan batsman had scored a double hundred at this venue some three years ago, playing the lead cast in Pakistan’s series-levelling victory. “Inshah Allah, the weather will clear up for the match and we can have a good Test match, and hope I can chip in as well.” The Indians too will like to have a good Test, but certainly not Younis chipping in!