KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi accused the Indian media Monday of conducting a negative campaign against his team before Wednesday's eagerly anticipated World Cup semifinal in Mohali. “There is so much negativity in the Indian media. There is nothing positive to watch on the channels and we are just sticking together as a team and it is just the hotel and ground for us,” Afridi told the Geo News channel. “The only answer we can give is with our performance. We will try to give 110 percent in this big match. Everyone knows how big a match this is and the pressures that come with it. But we will just do our best whatever the result. After the match we just want to be content in our hearts we gave our best.” Afridi also said Pakistan was considering playing its controversial fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar. “I also want him to play but we have not taken a final decision as yet. And we have to take into consideration his match fitness and his form which we will see in the nets,” Afridi said. “We want him in such a high-profile match but we don't want him for just four or five overs, we want him to bowl his full quota of overs,” Pakistan has not played Akhtar, who has announced his decision to retire after the World Cup, since it lost to New Zealand in the pool matches. Afridi played down his remarks about not allowing Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar to score runs in the semifinal. “The Indian media has treated this negatively. There is never any doubt about Tendulkar's greatness. But if someone approaches me and asks me about him (Tendulkar) obviously as Pakistan captain I will not say we will allow him to score runs I will say we will ensure he doesn't get his 100th international century,” Afridi said. The Pakistan skipper felt the dew factor would play an important role, He also expressed disappointment at remarks from Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik about the government keeping a close watch on the players in the semifinal because of last year's spot-fixing scandal. “I don't think he should have said such a thing at such a time,” Afridi said. India squad at the venue India's World Cup squad was greeted by a crowd of about 150 fans as they arrived at their first training session at the PCA Stadium ahead of the semifinal. The team was led off the bus by star batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Local hero Yuvraj Singh was the last to head into the stadium, but was the only player to stop to sign autographs. While the rest of his teammates began a football kickabout at the PCA Stadium, Tendulkar typically opted to practice a few of his famous strokes with a new bat before joining in. Only Harbhajan Singh did not attend the session as he visited his home in nearby Jalandhar. Virender Sehwag, still recovering from a knee problem, joined batting and fielding drills. Chemical help to combat dew Organizers will spray a chemical to minimize the impact of dew during Saturday's World Cup final at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, its curator said. The evening dew has troubled many captains during the event and has forced them to opt to field first on placid wickets. The excess moisture on the ground during the evening makes it extremely difficult for the spinners to grip the ball and makes batting much more easier as the ball skids on to the bat. World Cup organizers have mopped up grounds during the drinks intervals in day-night fixtures to get rid of the dew, which was in abundance during the Sri Lanka-New Zealand group match at the Wankhede Stadiun on March 18. “We had seen for nearly 10 days that the dew comes around 9.30-10 P.M. (IST) but unfortunately that day it started around 8 P.M.,” Sudhir Naik, the curator, said.
