When an Aussie bowler who made an ODI debut at the age of 30+ and in his second one dayer picks up his first 5 wicket haul against a team who have a history of winning a world cup and making it to the finals of another, one has to indeed question whether Pakistan are indeed interested in playing serious cricket be it the one day or test cricket. If one goes through the scorecard of yesterday's third one day international between Australia and Pakistan, the Pakistani captain did the same mistake that he was found doing in the first ODI.
This time at Adelaide as well, Mohammed Yousuf went in for just five bowlers who bowled their full quota of 10 overs each. May be, had the ICC not imposed any such rules regarding the number of overs a bowler can bowl in an ODI match, Yousuf would have even gone in for just one or two bowlers to bowl the entire 50 overs. The other side of the coin is also that the Pakistan side had hardly any bowler who could give the main bowlers a break and step in as a part time bowler. Such is the destiny of today's Pakistan cricket.
If the recent past is given a close look at, chasing a total of even 300+ is not considered a difficult task. May be this doesn't hold good as far as Australia is considered. At the end of the day, anyone can come out with a reason regarding their team's loss. And how much weight that reason can be given becomes a different issue altogether. Compared to the previous ODIs, Pakistan have been putting a better performance each time they faced the Aussies. They bought the Aussies close to 50 overs in the first ODI while chasing 275. And in the 2nd, they utilized an extra bowler though they ultimately got out for 127.
Now, in the 3rd, Pakistan despite losing 4 quick wickets for 60 runs put up an 85 run partnership that could have well been converted to a winning total of 287. Some irresponsible shots from the blades of Shahid Afridi and Naved-Ul-Hasan have to be dealt with seriously if this is not happen once again. It looks like the PCB has failed in handling Afridi, who has the power to make it big but is allowed to play reckless shots, which are at most of the times irresponsible. Such shots can make only a gully cricketer and not an international. It is no more than a black mark on Afridi for playing such shots.
A 19 year old Umar Akmal along with Fawad Alam were found playing decent cricket compared to what Afridi & Naved played. Tail end batting is assumed by the Pakistani players to just give an entertainment to the crowd and nothing else. It is the performance of these tail enders who make a difference between a victory and a defeat. Pakistan have to learn from the Aussies who had a last ball victory in the ICC Champions Trophy which was made possible by tail enders Brett Lee & Nathan Hauritz who put up a 19 run partnership and also stood for 20 balls without taking unwanted risks like the ones taken by Afridi & Naved.
Showing posts with label Naved Ul Hasan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naved Ul Hasan. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
2nd match, Sydney and 127 all out!
Well it is at present needless to be said regarding the 140 run crushing defeat that Pakistan was handed in the second one dayer of the first phase of the Commonwealth bank series 2010 by Australia. However, one aspect to be noted from the match is that Pakistan was bundled out for 127, the total which a couple of weeks back was Australia's at the same venue in the first innings of the second test. However, unlike in the second test match, the winners were not the ones who were bundled out for 127. In the 2nd test, it was Australia who were first bundled out for 127 and finally went on to win the match by 36 runs.
But, this time in the second one day international, it was Pakistan who were bundled out for 127 but the only difference being that they had to end up on the losing side. Perhaps! There was no second innings like in a test match for the Pakistanis to make a comeback. However, one has to wonder as to what on earth made the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf to opt to bowl on a surface that would deteriorate gradually as the match progressed? Another tragedy that was personally invited by Mohammed Yousuf was the timing when he declared the bowling powerplay.
Yousuf went in for the bowling power play as soon as the first powerplay, that is mandatory during the first 10 overs, when he introduced the bowling powerplay in the 11th over itself. That was the time when the Aussie openers were in full bloom without losing a single wicket. This was the favor that Mohammed Yousuf did to his opposition which paved the way for 100 run 1st wicket partnership. The partnership lasted for exactly 100 runs, after which Watson got out. From then onwards, batting was difficult indeed, which was evident from the way the rest of the Aussie batsmen played.
One point that Yousuf has found to have learnt from the first ODI is that, this time he made use of all the bowlers that were available to him. Meaning six bowlers were used, out of which Shoaib Malik (who had not bowled in the first ODI) was made to bowl 4 overs. Otherwise, the Pakistani approach was hardly any different from the first ODI. However, the pitch never seemed to trouble the batsmen in the initial stages of the Aussie innings, when there was a 100 run 1st wicket partnership as mentioned above. And even afterwards, there was Cameron White who scored yet another half century (55 from 58 balls).
Added to that was the superb catches taken by Ponting & White in the slips to get rid of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik respectively. But, with just 3 out of the 11 Pakistani players scoring above 10, their defeat can be no exception. Rather than playing slowly and steadily, someone like Naved-Ul-Hasan going to smash every ball during his 22 ball 27 that included 2 sixes can never be justified whatsoever. When a defeat was already on the cards, a face saving innings from Naced would have helped matters.
But, this time in the second one day international, it was Pakistan who were bundled out for 127 but the only difference being that they had to end up on the losing side. Perhaps! There was no second innings like in a test match for the Pakistanis to make a comeback. However, one has to wonder as to what on earth made the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf to opt to bowl on a surface that would deteriorate gradually as the match progressed? Another tragedy that was personally invited by Mohammed Yousuf was the timing when he declared the bowling powerplay.
Yousuf went in for the bowling power play as soon as the first powerplay, that is mandatory during the first 10 overs, when he introduced the bowling powerplay in the 11th over itself. That was the time when the Aussie openers were in full bloom without losing a single wicket. This was the favor that Mohammed Yousuf did to his opposition which paved the way for 100 run 1st wicket partnership. The partnership lasted for exactly 100 runs, after which Watson got out. From then onwards, batting was difficult indeed, which was evident from the way the rest of the Aussie batsmen played.
One point that Yousuf has found to have learnt from the first ODI is that, this time he made use of all the bowlers that were available to him. Meaning six bowlers were used, out of which Shoaib Malik (who had not bowled in the first ODI) was made to bowl 4 overs. Otherwise, the Pakistani approach was hardly any different from the first ODI. However, the pitch never seemed to trouble the batsmen in the initial stages of the Aussie innings, when there was a 100 run 1st wicket partnership as mentioned above. And even afterwards, there was Cameron White who scored yet another half century (55 from 58 balls).
Added to that was the superb catches taken by Ponting & White in the slips to get rid of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik respectively. But, with just 3 out of the 11 Pakistani players scoring above 10, their defeat can be no exception. Rather than playing slowly and steadily, someone like Naved-Ul-Hasan going to smash every ball during his 22 ball 27 that included 2 sixes can never be justified whatsoever. When a defeat was already on the cards, a face saving innings from Naced would have helped matters.
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