Md Asif pulls out, but skipper Malik has other plans ready

Together they make a good pair. Shoaib Malik's straight face and characteristically low-key talk comes out in neat contrast to Geoff Lawson's expressive face behind those stylish glasses. The captain talks about ek team, about haar and jeet; the coach talks about revenge, and sees how the canvas would look five weeks hence.
The Pakistan team arrived Thursday evening sans one man who could have made a major difference to their theories. But Mohammad Asif's (picture below) last-minute pullout, not having recovered from his elbow injury, and Shoaib Akhtar's latest resurgence has kept the visiting team tantalisingly on par.
"At the moment, we have four very good pacers in our ranks. Shoaib Akhtar is back and Umar Gul was outstanding in the Twenty20 World Cup. Rao Iftikar was the highest wicket-taker in the recent series, and we also have Sohail Tanveer. Of course you need a pacer of Asif's calibre and we are expecting him to join the side soon after completing his rehab," says Lawson, adding: "We had lost the final of the Twenty20 World Cup against India, so we have some scores to settle."
Malik played the conventional shots, spoke about handling the pressure and the seniors in his side well, about devising strategies for specific individuals and picking the dangermen, while Lawson spoke about sensible haircuts as a case in point in describing individuals. "Akhtar looks really sensible in his new haircut, I must say, and I hope he remains that way with the ball in his hand too. We know if we can handle this guy nicely, he can be a powerful force in this series," he says, cutting into speculations about handling the highly colourful life of the pacer on and off-field.
This Indian team has MS Dhoni to match up with his new hairdo to make an impact but Malik, while appreciating the potential of big bats, picked Yuvraj Singh and RP Singh for special focus.
"If current form is anything to go by, the biggest danger comes from Yuvraj, and RP has improved drastically and is looking like an extraordinary bowler. His line and length has improved. But we do have plans to disturb his rhythm," says Malik.
Plans, that Lawson insists don't figure verbal mumblings like the India-Australia series. "In the recent series against South Africa, we played hard cricket and still there was not a single bad word. If this series is played in the same spirit, this series too can give some enjoyable cricket to offer," he says.
Malik knows a lot about India's pitches, about 300-plus scores, and the glitz of cricket in recent times; for Lawson it's been a visit after a really long time and is measuring up to the decibels. Different in line and reasoning; but together they will stand up for baptism by fire.