Catches win Matches

The age-old phrase is used in cricket a lot but in this new day and age the basics of the game are lost on our superstars. The words never rang so true as they did in the India-Pakistan game a couple of days ago. I deliberately waited for the England-Australia game to finish before I wrote on the Pak-India game because I wanted to see what the chances were of Pakistan making it to the Super Sixes after the loss to India. As it turns out the chances are minimal now and I am happy because we do not deserve to be there. The atmosphere was electric at the centurion and everyone came prepared for the game. The Pakistanis and Indians were geared up for the game and it showed. The captains exchanged ties before the game to show our bungling politicians how to make peace while remaining competitive. It is quite a shame that the Indian Govt. has denied the cricket fans of this great spectacle owing to its idiotic stand. I mean why not let the cricket teams play each other when the hockey, soccer etc. teams are playing each other at each other’s venues? It is quite looney actually. If India was really serious about the Kashmir issue and really considered Pakistan to be the aggressor then shut down all ties with Pakistan, why just cricket? It is quite interesting to note that now that India has a competitive team, I am sure they will let them play Pakistan. When the going was tough a few years ago, the “principled stand” came in the way. It was a good game of cricket although a little one-sided at the end owing to the sheer brilliance of one little master named Sachin. He is a treat to watch for any cricket fan. He came out with the intention of taking this game out of Pakistan’s hand whenever he had the chance and he did just that.

Pakistan won the toss on a batting paradise and quite predictably they batted. Was this the right decision? Oh you betcha! Pakistan made some changes. Elahi was benched in favor of Younis. I agree with bringing Younis back in but I would have preferred if they opened with Elahi and let Taufeeq sit. Like I have said before Taufeeq is a correct batsman but does not have many shots for the one-day game. The second change was to sit Saqlain & play Shahid. I totally disagree. You CAN NOT play without 5 specialist bowlers. Pakistan cannot get away from their strength. If Shahid is considered a good 5th bowler the way he has been bowling the past few games then he should have played instead of Razzaq. Saqlain should have been in the side when you look at the fact that there are three left-handers in the Indian middle order…Ganguly, Mongia & Yuvraj. I thought that was a huge mistake. Anyway, Taufeeq & Saeed begun the innings with confidence. The ball was not moving around and Zaheer started off shakily so Pakistan got off to a 5 an over start. In my opinion, people like Elahi could have done much more than what Taufeeq did with the wayward Indian bowling at the start. Taufeeq played a couple of good drives to his credit and got 20 odd but played back to an incoming Zaheer delivery which bowled him. Saeed took a few overs to find his feet but once he got going, he looked the Saeed of old with his flowing off drives. Razzaq was sent one down and tried to play himself in. He took a long time to get in and then edged a Nehra delivery for Dravid to take a good catch. Dravid has done well behind the stumps & that has certainly helped the Indian cause. Inzi walked in and on his first ball danced down the wicket and lifted Kumble straight down the ground for a 2 bounce 4. It was a very courageous start for this man who had 10 runs in 4 innings. He then played his next two for easy singles & it looked like this was his day. Then the basics deserted Pakistan. Saeed played one to square leg where Sehwag had to move to his right to get to the ball. The ball was behind the stumps so it was Inzi’s call. Inzi called yes and started running. Half way down the pitch he realized that Saeed was not coming & that was the end. A run out had stopped short his come back bid in this tournament. It was his call & he must be the most unlucky man on the face of this planet because after being given out incorrectly in the last game, he got run out in this one. Pakistan had lost three wickets for 98 & it was time to rebuild. Youhana and Saeed did just that. They carried on with ease. Youhana was a little sedate. He played himself in slowly & on the other end Saeed was getting his old touch back and was really getting into his groove. It is all the more pitiful that he was not sent for the SA tour. Had he regained his form in that tour, Pakistan would have performed much better with the bat with Saeed in form at the start of the tournament. Youhana threw his wicket away after scoring 26 when he flicked Srinath straight to deep midwicket. A team’s premier bat cannot do that. Saeed completed a very well deserved hundred and then left immediately after that bowled by Nehra. Shahid came in with the intent of hitting every ball out of the ground. I thought when Youhana got out, Shahid should have been sent in to get the scoreboard moving and taking pressure off Saeed so that he could continue. However, Younis walked in and the onus was on Saeed to keep the scoreboard motoring along. So when Saeed left, it was rebuilding time again. Shahid wanted to hit out of trouble. He got two fours but tried another outrageous hit off Mongia and was caught at mid off. He did not waste any balls but a 25 odd from him would have helped a lot. Younis and Rashid played well to get a run a ball for the last few overs and Wasim came in at the end and finished off with a flurry. Pakistan had managed a very good 273 off 50 overs and the game was on.

This was the first real test that the Pakistan bowling had to face. And they failed miserably. On a batting paradise the idea is to bowl line and length and let batsman make shots. The Pakistan pace attack and especially Shoaib gave easy gifts to the Indian bats. Rashid was hit on the helmet earlier by a Zaheer delivery and carried on batting but an X-ray at the break had revealed a bruise & he did not come out to field. This was a bgi blow as he is a motivator and great keeper. He was missed although Taufeeq did well. Wasim bowled a rather ok first over although Sachin punched him for a beautiful four through covers. Shoaib bowled at express pace but gave too much width and bowled too short. Sachin cut him for 6, followed that with a couple of fours with the last one being just a defensive on drive & India was off to a flying start. Wasim did not find any rhythm either. Waqar took Shoaib off after one over and brought himself on. The result was not too different as India got to their 50 in the first 5 overs. Then Waqar struck. He got Sehwag to drive uppishly straight to Afridi at cover and then got Ganguly plumb in front first ball. The captain was pumped and this was the time to field well and back up the bowlers. The very next over Sachin drove one in the air to mid off & Razzaq jumped a little too early and floored it to Wasim’s dismay. That was it. That was the chance. If Razzaq had just tapped it up to catch it or timed his jump better Pakistan would have won this game. Instead Tendulkar got a life at 32 and boy did he make Pakistan pay. He smashed Wasim & Waqar all over the park and India went along at 9 an over. I wouldn’t say Tendulkar slowed down but he became a little more cautious once he saw that India had taken the initiative away by scoring at 7 an over for the first 20 overs. The run rate required had dropped to 4.5 and things looked very easy. Shahid came on and put the breaks on. He bowled well. Kaif had been promoted in the order and had defended well. Kaif played on to a Shahid delivery and Dravid joined Tendulkar. The key guy however was Tendulkar & when Shahid dropped a caught and bowled when Sachin was 86, I realized it was just not our day. Sachin went on to make 98. He cramped up at the end & required a runner. Shoaib came on for another spell and bounced one at Tendulkar, which he could not handle. It popped up to point where Younis dived to take a beauty. It seemed like there was life in the Pakistan camp again. Yuvraj & Dravid played very sensibly and took that brief ray of hope away. They kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and twos. They kept rotating the strike and India got the runs with 4 overs to spare. It was a comprehensive win at the end. Pakistan had to wait for the England-Australia to know their fate.

I think India were a much better team and deserved to go on. Obviously the law of averages has not caught up with them yet. However, I do feel that Pakistan bowlers handed them the game, Sachin’s fantastic knock notwithstanding. First of all, like my brother Ahmed says, “Why can’t our bowlers attack by keeping the run rate in check? Why do we have to give 6 runs an over to get wickets?” He is right. If our bowlers bowl line and length at the kind of speeds they bowl at, they can easily get wickets as well. McGrath is not express and at times does not move the ball around too much either. But he bowls at such an immaculate line and length that it seems that he is bowling faster. Pakistan need to bowl accurately at the start and they did not. Secondly, if Shoaib feels that his main strength is speed why doesn’t he use it to his advantage? No batsman in this world, even Ponting or Sachin, can play a good hook shot to a ball that is 95+ miles an hour and at their face. Why didn’t Shoaib try to bounce at Sachin in the first over when he was blasted for a 6 over point? Why couldn’t he direct the delivery at his face rather than a foot outside off stump? Why didn’t Wasim bowl a short one that nips back at the batter? He has done that so much over the years. Why didn’t they try slower deliveries when Sachin was going after them? Why didn’t they try to bowl around the stumps? There was no variation. Every ball was at the same speed and was outside the stumps. It was easy pickings for the batsmen. I think playing without Saqlain was a big mistake too.

Now Pakistan waited for Australia vs. England to decide their fate. Australia is a fabulous team. They came back to beat England when everything looked lost for them. England yet again chocked. Now Pakistan has a sniff but Zimbabwe has a better chance. If Zimbabwe had a better run-rate than England, I would have liked the PCB to forfeit the game by claiming security reasons so that Zimbabwe went through. That would have taught the England board a lesson. I think both New Zealand & England should be punished for this. Either the ICC as an organization makes a decision not to play in a certain country or everyone goes to play. This was ridiculous. Anyway, there are some things that I think Pakistan should do for the last game to atleast try to qualify:

§ If they win the toss, they should bowl so that they know exactly what they need to do batting second.
§ They should drop Taufeeq & play Elahi. The first 5 need to be Elahi, Saeed, Yousuf, Inzi & Younis. We can send Afridi as a pinch hitter at 3 to use the first 15 overs or even open with him against Zimbabwe but for other games our first 5 should be recognized bats.
§ Shoaib, Saqlain, Wasim and Waqar should always play as our best 4 bowlers & one out of Razzaq & Shahid to support them if they want to play with 5 bowlers only.
§ Play with some courage & positive attitude. Give it everything you have got.

It is highly unlikely that Pakistan can defeat Zimbabwe by the margin that they need to. They should atleast try and they will. Zimbabwe deserved to make it above England to the next round because of what England did by not being on the field in Zimbabwe. Otherwise, the English team has played better than Pakistan & Zimbabwe, and deserve to play in the Super Six. I am not sure what the future holds for the Pakistan team. I do not think dumping all of our senior players is the answer. I think a gradual phase out is in order. Let us hope PCB does it the right way. This is the lowest I have ever felt as a Pakistani supporter.