Shabbir Ahmed in action in Peshawar on Friday. (PTI)

Peshawar: Sourav Ganguly rued missing his frontline bowlers while John Wright is hopeful of keeping the series alive.

“I’m missing my five frontline bowlers since the World Cup, and that is disappointing. If you keep Srinath aside, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar are unavailable. Ashish Nehra is out with injury and Zaheer Khan is still struggling to find his rhythm after a three-month lay off,” the Indian skipper said.

He also felt that the spinners have failed to make an impact in the middle overs and that is putting even more pressure on the team. “None of the spinners are proving to be effective. Going by records, Sachin Tendulkar is the most successful among bowlers, and that tells the story. They have failed to get their act together and that’s a big worry,” Sourav said.

He is also worried over V.V.S. Laxman’s inability to get to big scores after a decent start. “The pacers should also be more aggressive. Where are the bouncers and yorkers to unsettle the batsmen?” he asked.

Terming the loss as “disappointing”, Wright said: “Pakistan pacers used the conditions well. We couldn’t just finish them off.

“We’re still not out of the series. They surely have the advantage but we can’t just lose hope,” Wright said.

The coach felt that the task was cut out. “This is turning out to be a very close series. We have to be clinical and play well under pressure. Our goal will be to live till the last game. “We needed a wicket today. They played with maturity. It’s just not clicking for us for one or two reasons. We have to set that right,” he added.

Wright was all praise for Balaji’s batting. “He is developing into an all-rounder. He did a damn good job. That he is batting well is an understatement.”

Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq is confident of clinching the series. “We will definitely win one out of the two ODIs,” he told The Telegraph.

But the star for Pakistan was Yasir Hameed with a superb 98. “I’m very happy that we have won and have no regrets for missing the hundred,” he said. “The pressure was more today. Two wickets were down early and so I had to stay put. But Razzaq and Moin Khan also played a very important role.”

He doesn’t feel that this win will ease the pressure. “The pressure will always remain. The wicket was helping bowlers and it was a bit tough batting.”

Meanwhile Pakistan have decided to retain the squad for the next two ODIs.