Gawahati: November 05, 2007 – Pakistan vs India Five-Match ODI Series has begun here today; the Pak Captain Shoaib Malik has won the toss and decided to bat first and made 239 runs for 7 in 50 overs., India needs 240 to win. 

India skipper MS Dhoni has shown faith in Gautam Gambhir and dropped Virender Sehwag. India has included five bowlers - three pacers and two spinners.

Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan form the pace group while Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh will represent the spinners. As regards Sree Santh, he is given rest.

The Pak team shall naturally have a pressure from Home, since Emergency has been imposed in Pakistan and turmoil news are flashing very fast, demonstrations and protests.

The series shall also decide who will be better captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India or Shoaib Malik of Pakistan.  (IR Summary).

As per Indiatimes,  Malik would also have to manage without their pace spearhead Mohammad Asif, who pulled out of the One-day series owing to his elbow injury, and the experience of former captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who recently retired from the international cricket.

All eyes will be on controversial Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar after he grabbed four wickets against South Africa on his return from a 13-game ban for hitting fellow paceman Mohammad Asif with a bat. The accurate Asif has been sidelined and has stayed home with an elbow injury, leaving the temperamental Akhtar to team up with fellow pacemen Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar and Sohail Tanvir.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (capt), Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul Haq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Abdul Rehman and Rao Iftikhar.

Umpires: Ian Gould (England) and Amish Saheba