New Delhi: The usual enthusiasm that is generally associated with the build-up of an India-Pakistan match was missing when the two teams came for the nets at the Kotla on Tuesday.

The huge posse of policemen, who were present at the ground long before the two teams arrived, were left whiling their time away as hardly anyone was there to watch their favourite stars. The Pakistanis were the first to arrive at 10.30am, the Indians showed up only after 2.30pm.

When the bus carrying the Indian players reached the Kotla gates, there was only a handful of curious onlookers.

All eyes were naturally on new captain Anil Kumble. A few enthusiasts called out his name and urged him to run through the Pakistan batting order as he did in 1999.

Kumble, however, didn’t respond and quickly disappeared into the dressing room, appearing for some fielding practice with his teammates.

He first had a long chat with cricket manager Lalchand Rajput and fielding coach Robin Singh before he joined practice.

Sreesanth, who was later ruled out of the first Test along with Rudra Pratap Singh, was the only player to miss practice. RP, however, bowled at nets.

Another player whose movements were keenly watched was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain in the shorter version of the game.

There were doubts about his fitness after he had slipped and injured his ankle during the fifth and final one-dayer in Jaipur.

Dhoni, however, appeared fit, going through the entire practice session quite enthusiastically. He was even involved in a special catching session with Robin.

Though none in the team management was ready to speak on Dhoni’s fitness officially, the wicketkeeper himself said he was feeling much better.

“I am fine at the moment… there is no pain,” he said while returning to the dressing room after practice.

“Let us keep it for tomorrow’s media conference,” said skipper Kumble later when questiioned about Dhoni’s availability. “Why get impatient? It is less than 24 hours away.”

Pakistan also do not have any injury worries, according to manager Talat Ali. “Mohammed Yousuf is fit and so is Kamran Akmal,” he said. Yousuf had an elbow trouble while Akmal suffered a finger injury.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was the centre of attraction after Shoaib Akhtar. All Pakistani players obliged autograph seekers but were not ready to speak to the media.

“We will do everything to win the Test,” was all Kaneria had to say before he disappeared into the team bus.