Kanpur: Pakistan have expressed their unhappiness over their captain and coach not being allowed to take a look at the pitch on arrival here.

The teams arrived from Chandigarh via Lucknow around 5.30pm on Saturday. Shoaib Malik, Geoff Lawson and manager Talat Ali left almost immediately for Green Park stadium, where the third ODI against India will be played. It was almost dark by then, and going by ICC regulations, curator Shivkumar refused to remove the covers and this wasn’t to the Pakistanis’ liking.

“The ground was handed over to the umpires late on Saturday afternoon. The Pakistan captain had no business asking for the covers to be removed,” a match official said.

The Indians, knowing that they would not be able to take a look at the pitch at that hour, didn’t bother to venture out. Pakistan were reportedly unsatisfied with the hotel rooms. It was learnt that not enough single rooms were available.

Team India cricket manager Lalchand Rajput, meanwhile, felt that the two days’ rest after the Mohali encounter would ensure the players were hungry for a win. “Not practising before the match isn’t a big issue. The players are experienced and have played a lot of cricket… They have the ability to adapt to any situation,” he said.

Rajput said that they would reach the ground early on Sunday to have a look at the pitch and conditions.

“Pakistan played better cricket in Mohali. We will try to ensure that we don’t make the same mistakes. Hopefully things will fall into place,” he said.