'Expect no mercy; show no mercy'

The media hype was missing for the India-Pakistan series in 1982/83, but the overall environment was very similar. When we went out there, the people were very hospitable. The hostility between India and Pakistan is because of politicians; the normal Indians and Pakistanis are the same.

I was lucky to get a chance to make my debut in the fourth Test of the 1982/83 series. Before the toss, Madan Lal reported unfit and it was only then that I realized my time had come.

Imran Khan, at his peak, was bowling in-swingers that had the top-order batsmen in trouble at all times. Most of the batsmen, with the exception of Mohinder Amarnath, were playing him on the back foot.

When I came in to bat, India were already seven wickets down at 72. But I steeled myself to survive in the middle.

"Wrist toot jaye; Jo bhi ho jaye, Imran ko wicket nahi deni. He can hurt me but he cannot get me out,"  [Sandhu top-scored for India with 71 off 88 balls, including 9 fours and 2 sixes]

Mohinder was batting well at the other end and he was a great help. Every now and then he would come and speak a few encouraging words. He inspired me. He was always like that: very supportive of the younger players, making them comfortable and always helping whenever possible.

The wickets in Pakistan are flat and do not encourage bowlers. Added to that, we had to get the Pakistani batsmen out caught in the slips or bowled, because none of the close decisions went our way. The umpiring was very biased.

I was batting with Mohinder, when I saw that Sarfaraz Nawaz was over-stepping the crease by almost a foot. I brought this to the umpire's attention by drawing a line with my bat.

So the next time, Sarfaraz over stepped, the umpire called out to him and said, "Sarfi yaar ball todhi peeche se dal, tu no-ball dal raha hai [Sarfaraz, you are bowling no-balls, bowl from a little behind]."

"Tu apna kaam kar [You do your work]," said a clearly annoyed Sarfaraz within earshot.

To which the umpire retorted, "Main to kar raha hoon, par Sandhu dekh raha hai [I am doing my job, but Sandhu is watching]."

During those days Imran did a great job of keeping the team together. I saw the true picture of Pakistan cricket when Imran went off the field to get some treatment on his shins. There were four former captains in the side, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Bari and Javed Miandad. As soon as Imran was off the field, all of them started trying to set the field. This went on for five minutes and so frustrated was the umpire that he loudly said, "Yaar, ek captain bano na bhai [Friends, let's have one captain]."

This is not the case today, as Inzamam-ul-Haq is a nice chap and a very good cricketer too.

If there is one regret I have, then it is that we could not be as aggressive as we should have been. That's because everyone was talking about it being a goodwill tour and how it is important not to ruffle feathers.

My advice to our cricketers who will be going to Pakistan later this month: Expect no mercy; show no mercy.

The Pakistanis will do anything to win. They will try all methods; by hook or by crook they will want to win. Woh kuch bhi kar sakte hai [they are capable of doing anything] because this series means a lot to them.

The matches will be interesting to watch and if India get on top, then we must not allow Pakistan even a sniff of a chance. Even more important: once on top, ignore Miandad. If they lose, he will get very tough on the team. He is a bad loser and will start mouthing a lot of stuff. Ignore him. The madder he gets, the better for us.

The Indian team should go and wish the man sitting next to Miandad, but not wish him. He was a great cricketer, but if we wish to win we must ignore him on and off the field.

For the Test series we will need Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar to get back into the team. If Ashish Nehra is back to full fitness he could be India's best bowler. The conditions there suit his style of bowling. The Pakistanis will try to tackle Zaheer Khan by playing safely against him. That means they will try and hit the other bowlers for runs and that is where they [the bowlers] might get wickets.

There has been talk about naming the series after Kapil Dev and Imran. But to me, personally, Kapil will always be the greater cricketer of the two. Simply because he never tampered with the ball; he always played fair.

Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning team, spoke to Ashish Magotra.