The disappointing loss of a Series

The shocking end to the 3rd and final test at Karachi was perhaps the anti-climax of the series against England that Pakistan had planned to win. With this disappointing loss of the last test Pakistan also lost grace by being the culprit of putting the game into disrepute by adopting delaying tactics on the fateful evening. The unpleasant end devastated the hopes and aspirations of the cricket lovers whose expectations had risen high by the widely projected winning strategy of the Pakistan team. England's glorious victory was a well-deserved icing on the cake for Nasser Hussain's bunch of talented-cum-highly spirited players.

The loss of the series deprived Pakistan of at least two records. England was offered a victory on the plate after 38 years, breaking a five series winning sequence against England. The defeat at National Stadium Karachi (NSK) also shattered the stadium's unbeaten record of 34 matches. Pakistan had never lost a test at the NSK since the stadium was built in the early 50s. It is quite true that records are meant to be broken, just as the West Indies enviable streak of 11 continuous test victories has been demolished by Australia. One, however, feels the pinch when a prize is lost on account of one's own faults and follies. Pakistan was certainly capable of keeping the honors intact.

Many experts have put Pakistan's policy of 100 percent reliance on spin when the team possessed only one match winning spin bowler in Saqlain Mushtaq to sword. While Shahid Afridi had always played a stock bowler's role, Danish Kaneria was a debutante with no experience of confronting top class batsmen like the first five in the England team. He was still miles away from the magic of Abdul Qadir to simply demolish a side, what to speak of doing so for 53 runs or so. Full dependence on the trio to run through England's batting was rather unrealistic.

The speedsters create the first impact on a batting side while the spinners follow to exploit the damage done by them. It was a blunder to weaken the pace attack by sidelining in turns; the star fasties' like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. One tends to agree with the views of former captain and hero of World Cup-92, Imran Khan that Pakistan achieved more victories through the force of pace bowlers than the spinners. It must also be remembered that fast bowlers hunt in pairs. Their effectiveness is lost when the pair is broken. The records would show that spin bowlers even managed to get wickets on the pitches prepared for the fast bowlers. It is a different thing that the quality of spin in the past was far superior to what is found today.

As for the pitches, the top brass of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) admitted in one statement, that the pitches were not prepared according to the instructions issued to the ground staff. One may accept that the pitches did not provide outright support to spinners as envisaged but in the overall context there was nothing wrong with them. Intentionally or incidentally they proved to be the `sporting pitches', the ideal that the players would like to play on.

The fact that the pitches evenly supported the batsmen as well as the bowlers is proved by the facts and figures that emerged from the three tests. With three out of the six innings crossing the 400 runs mark, six centuries and a number of half centuries scored by batsmen from both sides and a few long partnerships, it is confirmed that the pitches were quite suitable for batting.

The major chunk of wickets having been grabbed by Saqlain Mushtaq (18) and Ashley Giles (17) indicate that the object of preparing spin-oriented pitches was adequately achieved. Rest of the spinners secured the share of wickets that they deserved, as per their potential and performance.

The fast bowlers like Darren Gough, Craig White, Waqar Younis and Abdur Razzaq played an effective role in the series creating some moments of excitement and collecting their due share of wickets. Offering considerable pace and a variable bounce, the pitches proved equally helpful to pace bowlers. Supporting all categories of players with no untoward incidents, any criticism of the pitches would thus be uncalled for.

The pitches coming out according to the plan or not, played no role in Pakistan's defeat. The poor strategy, unwise composition of the team and its dismal performance at crucial hours and uninspiring leadership particularly in the final test, were the major factors responsible for Pakistan's defeat. Despite the fact that Pakistan under-estimated England's strength both in batting as well as bowling, the score was even till the two teams met at Karachi. The decider being the most important of matches was required to be taken seriously and fought-out relentlessly with skill and wisdom. That was perhaps not a part of the Pakistan team's nature.

The nation may excuse the team for ending up in respectable draws at Lahore and Faisalabad but the nightmare at Karachi will go deep down in the annals of cricket history. While England will continue to celebrate their historic triumph for all times to come, Pakistan will mourn the loss suffered on account of its own pathetic display in all departments of the game. Having piled up a mammoth total of 405 runs in the 1st innings, there was no justifiable reason for plunging down to a petty 158 in the 2nd innings, Pakistan's lowest score against England on home soil. It was absolute carelessness and lack of application on the part of batsmen, many of them throwing away the wickets by playing silly shots. Their inept attitude eventually brought Pakistan the embarrassment.

In a series where an innings score of around 400 had been a common feature, a victory target of 176 runs in 44 overs was well within the capacity of the England team. The job was made easier by Moin Khan's poor and uninspiring handling of his team and his awful performance as a custodian behind the stumps. He provided the boost up to England's batting by dropping a number of vital catches in the match. After getting 3 batsmen out for 65, Moin lost grip on the match allowing Graham Thorpe and Graeme Hick to build up the winning partnership. The employment of bowling resources lacked tact and wisdom while the fielding was atrocious.

The fading light fiasco also helped England in scoring last minute runs when the ball was not visible to the fielders. With 6 wickets in hand, a historic triumph in sight and the light option in their favor, England was justified in continuing to play till victory was achieved. Looking at the other side, the conditions under which the game was continued was `not cricket'. The batsmen batting at 22 yards could not have faced the same problem that the fielders standing 75 yards away.

The conditions were certainly not similar for both the sides, proving thereby that a flaw exists in the rules. The incident provides the ICC, food for thought to revise rules on the subject. With the light meters in use, the umpires and the match referee should be allowed to stop the game when the light is reduced to a certain limit, without any options.

All said and done, full credit to England for a marvellous triumph and one can only hope that Pakistan will do some serious soul-searching to eliminate some of the obvious flaws exposed by this loss.