Take a bow team Green! You have thrashed the Worlds best Test team, brought their batting line-up into shambles. You have shown the world, that you really have resurged, and on your, adopted, home turf, you’re the one who rules! You have given your nation pride, something to celebrate about. An outstanding performance by the men in Green, raising even more doubts on Englands ability to win in the subcontinent. Of course, England can’t be written off just yet, after one horrible performance they will fight back, they have the potential to do so, but will they succeed?
This has been the perfect start to 2012 for our cricket team, and a lousy start for England and their new number one status. The question arises, do they really deserve it? England must face it, they are vulnerable away from home; and they have a lot of matches away this year, they must step up their game and play to their potential. Whilst Pakistan, who are full of confidence must show the English who’s boss.
Pakistan
What can I say? No words of praise are enough for the magical performance put up by them! This series is a big test, they have suffered a lot because of controversies and issues in the past two years, now is the phase of rebuilding. They had a great run last year, performing and bringing in results consistently. This is a new look Pakistan side who have been in form, the test is whether this side is good enough for the number one team, and after the first test, Pakistanis have a lot to be relieved about! So does the team! We have proved to the world that the past is behind us, we mean business. This game has provided us with a lot of confidence and momentum, one doesn’t beat the worlds best test team every day do they?
A lot of positives for Pakistan after this match, everything just went their way throughout. Our spin bowling was a major factor, the English failed to pick up Saeed Ajmals variations, misreading his lengths and playing with fear. All of our spin bowlers were brilliant, Ajmal of course the pick of the lot. Ten wickets, on a pitch with not much turn and against some of the best batsmen in test cricket, that is just incredible. He had the Englishmen guessing on each delivery, playing mind games by bringing up the teesra. Saeeds performance was very impressive, certainly putting him in line for the number one spot in the rankings. Pakistan will be hopeful that he will keep up his performances by bamboozling the English again and again.
Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez played crucial roles too, Misbah counted on them to apply pressure, squeeze the runs and they delivered. Hafeez took the first wicket of the match, leading to the English collapse by taking the big scalp of Alastair Cook. Rehman also chipped in with crucial wickets, this spin trio of ours, has proven to be lethal! Our spinners may have caused the major damage, but our seamers efforts must be appreciated too. Umar Gul, the leader of the pack, looked out of song the first innings, but delivered big the second innings! Took four big wickets, setting up the platform for the rest of the bowlers. He was underestimated earlier by many saying he’ll be ineffective against such a quality side. They have been proven wrong, England being “Gulldozed” in the second innings. Cheemas efforts must also be counted, he bowled with great heart, troubled the English batsmen a lot with the new ball, just didn’t get much luck, would still like to see better figures from him in the future though. He had a bit of a hamstring issue by the end of the match, so he may not play the next one, leaving the second seamers spot vacant for Wahab Riaz or Junaid Khan.
Our fielding was very improved too, some really good catches were held. Adnan Akmal took 6 catches, two of them brilliant ones.It was a combined bowling performance, getting England out so cheaply, everyone deserves the credit. Pakistans batting wasn’t bad either, the openers continued their great form to bring up their 5th century partnership, breaking the record of most century partnerships by Pakistani openers! Their innings set up the base for the rest of our batsmen. Adnan Akmal, he must really be applauded, played a gem of an innings! His 61 runs batting with the tail, to give Pakistan a substantial lead deserves appreciation. He played some fine shots, finally we have a player who can bat and wicketkeep. As frustrating as Misbahs innings was, it was useful for the team, that is Misbahs style and we must accept it, we can’t blame Misbah for that considering the situation Pakistan was in when he came to the crease. Shafiq has technical flaws outside the off stump, which England can exploit, so he must work it out in the nets if he wants to perform next match. Big runs are expected from him, but he must deliver soon because his place is under threat by the talented Chota Akmal.
What really must be appreciated is the discipline and patience our team showed throughout the test match, which has been well rewarded. Must keep this up, to show the world we really have resurged, other than this win being just a fluke.
ENGLAND
They, have a lot to be disappointed about, a lot to ponder over, certainly didn't look like the same side which whitewashed India last summer. Their batting needs some serious working on, a line up full of classy match winners, one expected more runs, more intent, more positivity from them. Only Trott and Prior looked confident while batting, the rest were just clueless. Some of their dismissals were just loose reckless shots which were not needed, Pietersons dismissal in the second innings a perfect example. England need to work on their shot selection, know at which lengths which shot can be played. They are unable to pick Pakistans spin variations, which led to a lot of their wickets, so they must work on that, perhaps try to figure out a plan for him in the break. In the second innings, they were struggling to pass Pakistans lead of 146, an innings defeat looked certain till their bowlers provided some resistance. This defiance could, in fact should have been there by the top order batsmen.
On the bright side, England bowled really well under tough conditions, a bit luckless though. Broad was the pick of the bowlers, showing he can be effective in these conditions, though more was expected of Swann because of the way Ajmal bowled. Nevertheless, the team will take some positivity from this, knowing that atleast their bowlers are in form and capable of bowling us out. In my opinion, Englands fielding was just brilliant, players like Morgan, Pieterson and Anderson really boosted the energy in the field and gave their bowlers something to smile about.
It’s the Monty Factor England have to think about, whether playing him will make a difference to our batsmen or not, enough to leave Eoin Morgan who hasn’t looked that bad so far.
The DRS has played a big part in this series so far, lots of reviews been taken by both teams, but whether it should be mandatory is still clouded by the dismissals of Saeed Ajmal and Strauss in the second innings. Ajmals decision was wrong, the hotspot ddn’t have a frame due to how far down the pitch Ajmal was, therefore the umpires depended on slow motion and real time replays. Doubts are still there over Strauss’s dismissal in the second innings too, he may have nicked it to the wicketkeeper, because there was a loud noise, but hot spot showed nothing. Surely, the DRS will play a major part in this series.
England must not let this loss hurt their confidence, nor press the panic button, but should move on and look to play competitive cricket. Their batsmen should not let their dismissals play in the back of their minds. Pakistan is now a confident side, momentum is with them, which England will look to break.
Expect more competition, more rivalry, more on-field drama, as a proud Pakistani I say:
BRING IT ON!!
GeoSuper