The toss
Sanjay Manjrekar: Right! Lets get down to the toss with Rameez Raja!
Ramiz Raja: Thank you Sanjay! And good morning ladies and gentlemen to this great encounter between India and Pakistan. I have got the two captains here, Inzamam-ul-haq of Pakistan and Rahul Dravid of India along with the match referee Chris Broad. Dravid....to toss the coin.....heads is the call, and heads it is!
So Dravid won the toss, what do you want to do?
Rahul Dravid: We are going to bat first, looks a very good pitch. The first hour will be crucial so our openers have to survive. But after that I think the conditions will definitely become better to bat.
Ramiz Raja: Who are you going to open with?
Rahul Dravid: Well we have decided upon the explosive duo of Dhoni and Viru in this match. They are very good players of fast bowling and can hopefully get us a good start in the first 15 overs.
Ramiz Raja: And your bowling?
Rahul Dravid: We are going in with four seam bowlers. On this pitch spin is not going to matter much but we have still gone for Harbhajan as a precautionary step. But the main burden will be on the fast bowlers and that will be the key today.
Ramiz Raja: Well thanks Rahul and good luck for the match! Inzamam what would you have done?
Inzamam-ul-haq: I would have bowled first considering the early morning help for the fast bowlers. It came as a surprise to me when Dravid elected to bat!
Ramiz Raja: And your team?
Inzamam-ul-haq: We have gone for Iftikhar Anjum and Umar Gul in this match. They will partner Abdul Razzaq and Rana to form the pace attack. Afridi and Malik will carry out the spin duties.
Ramiz Raja: And you are opening with Kamran Akmal again?
Inzamam-ul-haq: Yes. The batting is the same as it was in the England series with Kamran opening. He has done a very good job and we would not like to disturb the top order.
Ramiz Raja: Inzamam thanks for your thoughts and best of luck for the match!
The news from the center is that India have won the toss and elected to bat first!