As Shoaib Akhtar climbs the dressing room steps after the net session he has got a song on his lips. “In the Mumbai, we are the bhai, we are the bhai...” he hums the first few lines of the famous tapori anthem, and he whistles the rest.

He could have changed Mumbai to Bangalore, since the whistling winds, overcast conditions and light drizzle a day to go for the final Test here means the bad boy of world cricket knows that the conditions are ideal to make a killing.

Minutes before, he was fooling around the pitch even as Indian captain Anil Kumble was studiously examining the surface. Standing across the breadth of the 22 yards he bounced a ball towards Kumble, who though taken by surprise, managed to just about catch it. It seems this was his way of checking the bounce of the pitch and make his finding known to the Indian captain. The bowler in Kumble wouldn’t have grudged the bounce but the Indian batting line-up would certainly be a bit bothered about the big broad smile on Akhtar’s face all through the net session.

He seemed to struggle with fitness in Kolkata,0 but the break between Tests has worked out well for the pacer. Pakistan’s Australian physio David Dyer gives his green signal to the Rawalpindi Express as he says he says, “he is in perfect shape and raring to go now.”

Coach Geoff Lawson, after watching Akthar is also upbeat. “About the pitch conditions I am not sure, but there are no injury worries at all so far. And my fingers are crossed that it remains the same tomorrow,” says the cautious coach who has suffered sight of his captain Shoaib Malik limp out of a football session in Delhi. Shoaib missed Kolkata and would even sit out for the Bangalore Test.

... contd.