Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer told his team to ignore the pressure and hype surrounding their first full series in India for six years.
"Pressure is people in the tsunami trying to find food, pressure is people in Iraq and there is all different kinds of pressures in life," Woolmer told reporters on Wednesday.
| |||||||||||
Encounters between the two teams bring life to a standstill in both the cricket-mad nations, victory and defeat gaining added intensity owing to prolonged political tension between the two South Asian neighbours.
The Pakistan squad landed in New Delhi amidst tight security on Monday and Woolmer was given an early glimpse of the media scrutiny the tour will bring.
Woolmer, renowned for his attention to detail during his successful stint with South Africa, began counting the number of television microphones.
"I've counted 22 cameras. There were only four when I came with South Africa," he quipped.
Pakistan begin their tour on Thursday with a three-day match against the Board President's XI and Woolmer is hoping for a low-key start.
"You're worried about your own performance, and the more you are, you put more pressure on yourself," he said. "My whole aspect to trying and coach people is to reduce that aspect of pressure, after all this is a game of cricket.
"You have to look at the word pressure first. Essentially in cricket you create your own pressure."