The possible recall of former India captain Sourav Ganguly for the first Test against Pakistan has overshadowed the normal diplomatic ramifications of clashes between the two countries.
Frequent meetings between the two teams over the last two years have gradually shifted the emphasis from political to cricketing matters and Ganguly's future is the hottest of those topics ahead of the Friday's start to the Lahore Test.
Ganguly, a veteran of 86 Tests, led India to victory in Pakistan in 2004 -- their first series triumph away from home in 11 years -- making him India's most successful Test captain.
After being dropped in the Test series against Sri Lanka late last year, a decision that was met with protests in his home city of Kolkata, Ganguly was recalled to the India squad for the Pakistan tour.
But he faces stiff competition from youngsters Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh for a place in the starting line-up.
All three scored half-centuries in India's only practice game before the Test, which 33-year-old Ganguly missed as he was asked to play in a domestic game in which he scored two half-centuries.
Captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell might be forced to consider Ganguly because in the hothouse of a Test against Pakistan, experience is often given preference over talent.
"Due to frequent cricket exchanges the people have learnt to cope with victory and defeat," Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq told said on Wednesday.
"But the pressure still remains there in some form or the other on the players and this series is also about who copes best with the pressure on and off the field."
Inzamam, 35, should know because he was the captain when India won in Pakistan two years ago.
He got a measure of revenge by leading Pakistan to a drawn Test series and clinching the one-day rubber 4-2 last year in India, a series that paved the way for the Indian selectors to sack Ganguly as captain.
Inzamam's presence as captain and his outstanding form with the bat -- he scored 431 Test runs in Pakistan's 2-0 win over England recently -- could give Pakistan the edge despite the strong Indian batting line-up.
Teams:
Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Danish Kaneria, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Arshad Khan.
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Parthiv Patel.
