A tour of India is a tough proposition for any team, and to take up this challenge without your best bowler can at times break a team's resistance even before the start of the tour. That's exactly the predicament Pakistan are in as they prepare to take on their arch-rivals next month in a three-Test and six One-Day International series.

Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar [Images] ruled himself out of the tour and many believe that without his services Pakistan will face an uphill struggle in India. The rest of the bowlers, led by leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and a fit-again Mohammad Sami [Images] will be itching to prove the critics wrong.

Will they succeed in their quest or will the Indian batsman batter them into submission?

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