A Bad 2nd day after the worst 1st day at Sydney

As my earlier post reveals, there is neither Steve Bucknor nor Mark Benson who can help the Aussies at Sydney this time in the ongoing second test against Pakistan. And most of the mess that could have been possible was done on day one itself by the Aussie batsmen. Neither were the Pakistani pacemen viz Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Sami were at their all time bowling best nor were the Aussies so bad to lose all their 10 wickets for a partly score of 127. Even the West Indies team that had played Bangladesh and lost as well didn't fare so badly.

Not only because it was Bangladesh they were playing against but also in the ICC Champions Trophy, they made life tough for Pakistan by claiming 5 wickets en route their successful run chase with just above 150 on the board. At the end of the day's play, Pakistan finished at 331-9 and the lead of 200+ need not be highlighted specially whatsoever. The Aussie bowling which have won their team a lot of matches in the past was found giving room like anything. Or else how would some 20 year old Umar Akmal smash 5 boundaries in 7 balls from the moment he gets on to the field with his bat?

And on the other hand, even the Pakistani batsmen were not found playing a truly professional test cricket on the second day. Similar to the Aussies, even the Pakistani batsmen lost all their 10 wickets on a single day itself. The only difference being that the Pakistani batsmen had piled up 204 runs more than the Australian batsmen could do on day 1. Each and every Pakistani batsmen was found approaching the Aussie bowlers with an attacking style as compared to a more responsible one that makes test cricket great to watch. Hardly any Pakistani batsmen could spend time on the crease which is quintessential in test cricket.

I now can guess what Mohammed Yusuf meant a week back after his team lost the first test at Melbourne. Yusuf had blamed the T20 cricket to be responsible for his team's debacle in the first test when he said that "T20 will finish Pakistan cricket". Pakistani batsmen are found approaching the test cricket similar to the way T20 cricket is approached. And this has been the way the Pakistani batsmen were found playing in the past too. The best example for this would be the so called dashing batsmen-Shahid Afridi who has a batting average like a tail end batsmen and a strike rate which can raise eye brows. A little bit of planning by the Pakistani players would have ensured them an innings win.

At the end, it would not be wrong to say that it is an Aussie loss than a Pakistani gain. Thats all for today. Do come back for more tomorrow.