Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said he will target all India's batsmen in the forthcoming Test series but getting the wicket that has eluded him so far -- that of Sachin Tendulkar -- would be a dream.
"I have not dismissed Tendulkar and perhaps this will be the last time I will be up against him so I wish to get his wicket," Kaneria said before leaving for India yesterday.
Besides Kaneria, batsman Faisal Iqbal and paceman Mohammad Sami will join the Pakistan squad in India where the first of three Tests start in New Delhi from Thursday.
PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan won the fifth and final one-day game by 31 runs on Sunday at Jaipur but India clinched the series 3-2.
Kaneria, 26, said playing against India was always a tough challenge.
"India pose one of the biggest challenges for us, and playing against them in their own backyard is more challenging because they have world class batsmen like Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and many others," he said.
The spinner has grabbed 31 wickets against India in eight Tests but has yet to dismiss Tendulkar.
"He [Tendulkar] is a master and I came close to dismissing him in the 2005 series at Mohali. I thought it was a bat-pad but the umpire thought otherwise and his wicket eluded me," Kaneria said.
"The world knows how good a batsman Tendulkar is and it would be like an empty cupboard without his wicket so the first thing in all the innings would be to get his wicket and it's always the key," he said.
Kaneria said he would target all Indian batsmen with the ploy he usually uses against the archrivals.
"Since you know Indians play leg-spin well, you have to use a different ploy against them so I have that in my mind and I want to play my part as the main bowler and help Pakistan win the series," said Kaneria, only the second Hindu behind Anil Dalpat to play for Pakistan.
Kaneria said scoring big would be the key to victory.
"Since they have a very deep batting line-up the opposition needs to score big and then only you can pressurize India. If we score big then we can attack them like we did against them at Bangalore in 2005," Kaneria said.
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