Kamran Abbasi
Ten lessons from the MCG
The Pakistan team has much to be proud from the performance at the MCG but surely it is are capable of more
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan's defeat in Melbourne was fascinating viewing. Test cricket is tough for Pakistan because of how few matches the team has played since 2006. Pakistan's domestic structure is also poor preparation for away tours. Nonetheless, it would be complacent to excuse the defeat on this basis.
The Pakistan team has much to be proud from the performance at the MCG but surely it is capable of more? Here are the lessons I believe Pakistan cricket should learn from the MCG. Feel free to add yours:
Full postAttitude goes a long way
The first two days were flat from Pakistan, but since that third morning they have competed strongly with Australia, and ultimately that is all their supporters seek
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Test cricket has once again proved why it mesmerises like no other. As Shane Watson edged towards his maiden Test century and Australia's first of the summer, Pakistan tried to squeeze the life out his innings.
Adopting a bowling line wide of off stump and an 8-1 offside field, Pakistan's bowlers reduced Watson to scrambling the ten runs to his hundred, when it should have been a relentless march to seal a formidable innings. In the land of Bodyline, MoYoline was born, the greatest scheme that Mohammad Yousuf has brought to the Test arena.
Indeed, had Abdur Rauf held on at point, Watson would have fallen for 99, Mohammad Aamer would have had his sixth wicket, and MoYoline would have become unforgettable. Nonetheless, the moment that Watson clinched his century was one of those precious moments that only Test cricket can bring.
Full postThrill of the new is short lived
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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The build up to this tour of Australia was an exciting one, unexpectedly so after Pakistan's struggles in the past few years. It was the thrill of the new, both sides fielding players with something to prove and unfamiliar with each other. Indeed, this has become one of the fascinations of following Pakistan and is a consequence of the recent dearth of international cricket.
Performances in New Zealand had sporadically promised some special moments in Australia. They might still come but Mohammad Yousuf's team have quickly replaced the thrill of the new with the familiar dull emotions of disappointment.
It's not so much that Pakistan have underperfomed dramatically.The bowlers generally bowled well, even Abdur Rauf, who despite looking anything but a destroyer of Australia, kept a disciplined length and forced Australia to score more slowly than they are used to. The batsmen toiled but unfortunately lost their wickets at important moments.
Full postThree reasons unknown
Why has Sami been recalled
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan escaped with a drawn Test and drawn series. When rain intervened in Napier, Mohammad Yousuf's side were looking ragged, their captain nervous. The bowling line of attack and the field placings didn't inspire confidence. Yousuf and his team weren't responding well to the pressure of defending a lowish total on a placid wicket. For me, this was the most fascinating and revealing passage of play in a rivetingTest series. Pity then that New Zealand fans stayed away, an extraordinary failure of marketing or sporting culture.
Indeed, the whole contest was tightly fought and utterly enthralling, in large part thanks to the inconsistencies and poor performances exhibited by both teams. But there was also heroism, from Bond, O'Brien, and Vettori for New Zealand. While Pakistan were grateful to their 'A' list: the Akmals, Asif, and Aamer. Danish Kaneria promised better days too, but he had a rather poor final day like all of Pakistan's bowlers.
Importantly, Yousuf displayed a new determination to struggle and grind out an innings when in the past he would have wafted his wicket away. His captaincy and tactics, though, did raise some concerns. Generally, Yousuf was a defensive captain, risk averse, safety first. His bowling changes seemed sensible but the field placings seldom did. In his defence, although it is a lame one, Yousuf is an inexperienced captain and with Pakistan's recent record a drawn series is a small triumph.
Full postRidiculous to the sublime
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan batted so differently in the two innings at Napier that it might have been a different team second time around. It was almost a different wicket, without any of the troubling pace and bounce of the first day, a Pakistani wicket in fact. Indeed, the blind panic that inflicted Pakistan's batsmen on the opening day has been banished by a determined effort that helped reconnect them with the disciplines of Test cricket.
Where Imran Farhat and co flashed and thrashed, they now defended and left well alone. If anything, Pakistan have been too cautious in their second innings to put themselves in a strong position to win this match. The new risk reduction method was applied with almost tyrannical zeal by Mohammad Yousuf as he repeatedly gave Umar Akmal "the eyes" whenever the new champion became overambitious.
For a while Umar nodded and played in submission, but a running mix-up soon put paid to that as the old pro and young pup had an impassioned exchange. It is impressive that Umar has such conviction for a teenager, even though his backing up technique is straight from school 3rd XI cricket. After letting off some steam, Umar decided to occasionally free his arms again.
Full postThe Farhat contradiction
Imran Farhat may have entered the record books: was this the luckiest innings in the history of Test cricket?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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On the face of it Imran Farhat joined a select band of openers who have carried their bat through an innings. On the face of it his lion hearted effort rescued Pakistan from calamity on a track that had pace, some bounce, but little else. It was a good toss to win. On the face of it Farhat has just solved one half of Pakistan's problem at the top of the order.
But numbers and scorecards are misleading. Just as the statistic that Danish Kaneria has risen above Abdul Qadir in Pakistan's order of Test merit says nothing about the relative qualities of the bowlers - Qadir for my money was world class, Kaneria is just worthy of an international cap - so today's scorecard tells us nothing about the true nature of Farhat's innings.
In an innings of panic, Farhat was the most panic stricken. In a desert of technique, Farhat was often the driest, except when leathering his trademark knee-on-the-ground drive to the off-side boundary. One particular stroke - as he charged and thrashed a good length ball to oblivion, in his mind sending it sailing over the long on boundary but in reality skying it over the slips - defined the ineptitude of Pakistan's display, and may become a contender for the stroke most unworthy of a Test opener.
Full postIs this Pakistan's best?
Have Pakistan wasted an opportunity with the selection of their touring party
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Like Dr Who in a few weeks time, Ricky Ponting's team is regenerating. Unfortunately for Australians the regeneration process to the next all-conquering form is taking longer than the few seconds that the Time Lord requires and much longer than previous cricketing regenerations. You might even begin to regard it as a decline.
Inevitably Australia will bounce back but until that happens there is a window of opportunity to defeat the best cricketing nation of the last two decades. Australia are now third in the Test rankings, a drop that isn’t caused simply by a freak defeat. Moreover, Australia are struggling to despatch an experimental West Indian team. In their pomp the result would have been a 3-0 whitewash.
Have Pakistan wasted an opportunity with the selection of their touring party? Here are ten questions for the PCB. You might want to add some of your own.
Full postYousuf's test of leadership
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Mohammad Yousuf's team is in a dominant position after two further days of gripping Test cricket. It is an advantage that Pakistan could not have contemplated until the bowlers got to work. Daniel Vettori and colleagues are doing a good job in talking up their chances but Pakistan will be mortified if they fail to level the series from here.
It is especially frustrating being a Pakistani supporter at the moment. There are genuine reasons for excitement, almost exclusively resting with Pakistan's diverse and penetrative bowling attack. The other beacon has been the batting of the Akmal brothers, especially Umar who will have an opportunity to put the match beyond New Zealand on the third day.
But some of their fellows and the strategies are causing perplexion and inviting criticism. Yousuf is baffled by criticism as he is making decisions by consensus, including the surprising call to send Umar in at number three when more experienced batsmen were available.
Full postForget two, one opener required
Pakistan's bowlers almost pick themselves but the batsmen are a different matter altogether: nobody seems to know who to pick
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan's bowlers almost pick themselves but the batsmen are a different matter altogether: nobody seems to know who to pick. You might have expected that Pakistan's salaried selectors had a sufficient level of expertise to be sure of most, if not all, of Pakistan's top six? That isn't the case, and disturbingly the top three positions are in a constant state of indecisive flux.
What to do, especially as Khurram Manzoor and Imran Farhat looked out of their depth and the next match at Wellington could be even more difficult for Pakistan's batsmen? These two unfortunates should make way for Salman Butt, a proven Test opener, and Misbah-ul Haq, a proven rallier of the late order with a career to revive.
It also seems unfair, almost negligent to throw Fawad Alam in at No. 3 when Shoaib Malik and Yousuf are in the ranks. As a senior player, Malik needs to be in the top three. Yousuf is unlikely to shift from his preferred position. Pakistan's paucity of opening options also means that Kamran Akmal might have to be a temporary solution again.
Full postBatting pretenders face instant examination
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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A debut Test century is a moment of optimism, a flower about to bloom. Now that Umar Akmal has joined Pakistan’s bouquet of record-making debutants—most of those flowers have wilted quickly—expectations will soar even higher than they were already. Can young Umar be the next batting star of Pakistan cricket?
A decade’s wait underlines the misery that Pakistan fans have had to endure. Many young men have flickered briefly only for their temperament or technique to send them into oblivion. Almost every year a clutch of new prospects raise and shatter our hopes. Nobody has emerged with class enough in recent years to suggest a comparison with the legends of Pakistan’s batting history.
Even debutant century makers have a dismal record. Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, and Younis Khan the only three that have gone on to forge substantial careers. The remainder have failed to turn potential into results. Some have been aided by friendly home wickets or friendly opponents, in Yasir Hameed’s case by both—and he succeeded twice over, a century in each innings of his Test debut. Nonetheless, Pakistan must have expected better progress from these men.
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