Pakistan outplayed England in their recent series

They recently defeated England 2-0 and again have home advantage, while India beat Sri Lanka by the same margin.

"There are a few positives that have come up (for India), but nothing like beating England, who had beaten Australia to win the Ashes.

"Pakistan's win was far, far better," Srinath told the BBC Asian Network.

He said, however, that managing to beat Sri Lanka convincingly against a background of "mayhem" off the field, much of it surrounding former skipper Sourav Ganguly, was a reason for optimism.

"There was a public spat between Sourav Ganguly and (coach) Greg Chappell, then followed by the change of guard at the BCCI, then dropping Ganguly and bringing him back into the team - a lot of things have happened.

"The positive out of it is that in spite of this, they managed some good results," said Srinath.

Ganguly was skipper when India won the Test series 2-1 on their last tour to Pakistan two years ago, and Srinath backs him for a place in the Test XI in Lahore next Friday.

"He will definitely play an important role. His experience on the previous tour will come into play.

"If Sourav wants to contribute constructively, there are a lot of things he can do for the team," he added.

Imran Khan has been working with the Pakistan seamers

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan shares Srinath's view about the current form of the two sides.

But he believes Mohammad Sami must produce more wickets to support fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar.

Imran conducted a one to one coaching session with Sami on Friday.

He said: "Akhtar has been a transformed bowler and won Pakistan the series against England.

"If he gets conducive hard tracks he can come good again because there will be a lot of moisture for fast bowlers on the pitch.