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PESHAWAR: Indian Cricket team Captain Saurve Ganguly Thursday said that they came here after playing tough series against Australia and similarly the current series against Pakistan is also one of the difficult one.

He said, injury to Ashish Nehra and lack of rhythm to Zaheer Khan dented the team a lot as the fate of Nehra, the main frontline bowler, for the third one-day is uncertain due to his finger-cut and ankle swelling.

About Shoaib Akhar choker action, softly spoken Ganguly, denied the press statement attributed to him and said, he never objected over bowling action of Pakistan's speedstar.

"I had said everybody watched his action on TV and I do not want to make further comments," the Indian skipper replied to a question during a press conference here on Thursday.

About his illness during the second ODI at Rawalpindi, he said, now he was feeling well and would try hard to give cent percent results in the vital one-day of the five match series, which tied 1-1.

He said, performance of Zaheer Khan is just like other bowlers in a tough series. He remained absent from cricket for three months that is why he lacked rhythm. He will soon regain his form, the Indian skipper added.

To a question, he said, Irfan Pathan gained a lot of confidence during the Australian tour and definitely, he would play his role in the Indian cricket in the days to come. "I am satisfied with the pitches prepared by Andy Atikson, of England". At the same time, he said, the pitch at Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium seemed to be quite green and predicted that in the morning it would definitely favor the seamers.

He also pointed towards the shorter boundary and said that there would be more runs as compared to Karachi and Rawalpindi grounds.

To a question, the Indian Captain confessed that both teams are faced with the problem of physical fitness but it should not be taken as seriously as fitness should be part of a player's life.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Vice-captain Yousaf Youhana expressed the optimism to win the 3rd ODI. The team is rolling on the right track and will certainly stage a come back. He said, Pakistan first leveled the series and now looking after the atmosphere of Peshawar and pitch condition. Pakistan has a slight advantage of having good pacers in the side.

He said Pakistan batting line-up is gradually improving and the boys committed less mistakes in the Rawalpindi match as compared to the opener
in Karachi. He further said, in the one-day match first 15 overs played a crucial role and any team having good start from the top order would certainly reach at 300 hundred plus score.

However, Pakistan batting line-up has the ability to chase target, while the bowlers are playing tremendous role to give tough time to the rival team, Youhana added.

Earlier, Pakistan team did net practice at NWFP Cricket academy amid tight security. The Indian team arrived in the after noon and held three hours net practice at the stadium.