Unduly 'overawed' (5 July 1999)

Brig

05-Jul-1999

5 July 1999

Unduly 'overawed'

Brig. (R) Salahuddin

The world cup cricket 1999, contrary to speculation, ended with a note of dismay due to its one-sided final match between Pakistan and Australia. Pakistan team was solely responsible for this anti-climax which disappointed millions around the world.

It is natural that Pakistan supporters feel sorry on its defeat but the manner in which Pakistan team lost was painful to say the least. Wasim Akram and his players disappointed not only millions of Pakistanis but many more millions in other parts of the globe particularly in South Asia where Pakistan sympathizers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even in India had high expectations from Pakistan team.

How this happened was watched by all on TV but one has to look rather deeply as to why it happened in the manner most unexpected of a team, tipped by many experts as "Favourite". Much will be written on this subject in time to come. I have tried to pick up few points which looked odd to me, as a cricket enthusiast and observer of the game. All these observations relate to body language of Pakistani players.

To begin with, the two openers came out to bat and walked separately (one was approximately 10 feet behind the other), rather than moving together upto the wicket which is an established etiquette of cricket. Was it over excitement or nervousness?

Most of the batsmen came out of the dressing room looking down with dropping shoulders with no sign of exhilaration of a new man-in. Was it lack of self-confidence or fear of the opponent?

During their stay at crease, top order batsmen kept nodding in appreciation of bowlers as they were beaten time and again. This encouraged Australian bowlers to get on top of our batsmen. In a crunch match like this such appreciation is not good tactics. Was it acceptance of Australian bowlers superiority or confirmation of our own incompatibility?

Lack of discipline in batting. Undue haste in playing stroke, chasing moving outside balls, no determination shown to stay at the wicket were quite obvious to all TV viewers. Was it surrendering without fight or lack of game plan?

When the team came out to field, they had to defend a meagre total of 132 runs. This required cool nerves and rock like determination to fight back. The situation demanded sensible and accurate bowling supported by agile fielding. Nothing of this was visible to TV viewers. The fact that the target was achieved in just 20.1 overs confirms absence of any desire to fight it out let alone win.No doubt batsmen had given very little margin to bowlers to defend, yet with the class and variety of bowling Pakistan possessed, we could have made it much more competitive for Aussies to reach this target. Millions of Pakistan supporters, like myself would have been satisfied, rather proud, if we had lost honourably.

The question now arises, was this a case of surrender without putting up a fight? Where was the spirit of Pakistan team shown during group and super six matches particularly against South Africa and Australia? As an observer, my analysis of this defeat is that Pakistan was totally over-awed by Australian team's success against South Africa in two consecutive games before the final match and they, individually and collectively, accepted the superiority of the Australian team.

If this be the case, the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of team management who failed to prepare the team for this mega-event of their life. The team management not only failed to give a sound game plan but also failed to prepare young players who suffered from psychological disadvantage to face to big challenge of World Cup Final against a strong team.

Source :: The Dawn (www.dawn.com)