The Never-Say-Die Pakistanis

A packed house with 35,000 plus Australian fans were present at the GABBA in Brisbane. Pakistan won the toss and batted. The batting collapsed. They looked lack luster and indifferent. The batting order was suspect. The strategy almost non-existent. Bad shots galore. They made ordinary bowlers on debut look like goliaths. There seemed to be a demon in the wicket invisible to others apart from them. The ghosts of the World Cup final surfaced in this game and the Australians simply looked invincible. “That’s why they play the game”. There are some things that can not be traded on the stock market. The heart of this Pakistan team and its God given ability are two of those things. There is no one better when the chips are down. They fought back. All those allegations of match throwing, no spine and throwing the ball being their motivation. The Pakistanis today taught the World Champions a lesson they will be well served to learn. No one circles the wagon like this Pakistan cricket team.

Considering how bad we are against the seaming ball, maybe Wasim should have bowled in the first game atleast. Shoaib’s ban was turned overnight and he was cleared to play. That ban was a joke anyway as the guy has been playing for Pakistan on the international scene for two years or so. Shoaib flew from Perth in the morning to join the team. Mohammad Waseem was promoted to play at the opening slot alongwith Saeed. Adam Dale started proceedings with McGrath. Both the openers looked out of sorts. Although the bowlers were bowling well within themselves the Pakistanis made them look good. Something needs to be done with the back foot play of our front line batsmen. They want to come forward to everything and when there is bounce in the wicket or lateral movement off the seam, their bodies are never in line with the ball. They fish at balls outside off and there is never any body weight behind their shots. Waseem went immediately LBW playing across one from Dale that came back after bowling an outswinger. Pakistan were 2/1 with 3 balls bowled in the second over. Razzaq was promoted to number 3 and was beaten an embarrassing number of times. Saeed Anwar had played and missed at a few outside off from McGrath. Finally McGrath got him off a beauty that pitched middle and left him. Gilchrist did the rest. Pakistan was in trouble and the attitude displayed while batting did not inspire any confidence. Since the Pakistan run rate was very slow, the wily Steve Waugh brought on his all rounder on debut (Symonds) early. Razzaq after wasting a lot of balls slashed at a very very wide ball to be caught behind. Ijaz played a glorious on drive off the unimpressive Symonds and then played a horrible wave outside off to be caught behind, too. It was a loss of concentration as well as lack of technique. The back foot was not moved towards the ball and thus the edge. Gavasker mentioned that there is no one like Miandad at the present time in the Pakistan team who can use the back foot to counter the bounce and movement off the pitch. I totally agree. Drinks were taken after that at 32/4 after 17 overs.

Yousuf Youhana walked in after the drinks break. Youhana did absolutely the same thing Razzaq and Ijaz did. Another wide delivery from Symonds and another caught behind. Youhana was out first ball and Pakistan were 34/5 in the 19th over and this batting display had been reduced to a boring laugher. They need to put some front line batsmen in the top order and stop experimenting with middle order batsmen (Waseem) and lower order hacks (Razzaq). Wasti should open with Saeed. Ijaz should play one drop and Inzi number 4. If your best batsmen can not handle pressure they should not be in the side. Inzimam looked very content to play straight and play himself in. Steve continued with Dale to finish his quota. He had excellent figures but in my opinion he did not look impressive at all. A bowler like that would be clobbered anywhere in the world on a normal one-day wicket. But Pakistani ineptitude at playing on a pitch with bounce made him unplayable on this particular day. Brett Lee was brought in after Dale. This was the first time that I saw Brett. He looked very sharp in terms of pace. Even with the old ball he had a lot of carry but Steve’s comments earlier in the year that he was the fastest in the world seemed absurd to me. Shoaib is much faster than he is. Maybe the speed gun at the end of the day would tell the story. Inzi looks very very good when he is determined. He played very straight throughout his innings with a lot of confidence. Steve had blocked the singles alongwith having men on the boundary and the run rate was choked. Symonds changed ends and was immediately greeted with a perfect straight drive from Inzi for three. Moin did not look comfortable at the start. After 22 overs Pakistan were 44/5, which was pathetic. Moin and Inzi had no choice but to play cautiously. In a few overs Moin started to settle in. An on drive over mid on off Lee fetched him 4 runs in the 25th over to take Pakistan to 60/5 before Warne was brought in. And wouldn’t you know it, the first ball was a straight one pitched up and Inzi went forward. The ball pitched around leg and maybe turned a fraction but Inzi was well forward when it hit his pad. The Australian commentators ofcourse thought it was out but Inzi was not happy and rightly so. The Australians need to do some thing about their biased umpiring. These games between almost equally balanced teams are decided by one or two crucial decisions. Inzi was well forward and there was always a shadow of a doubt. Maybe it is time to have completely neutral umpires on both ends in every single international game. Wasim walked in at 60/6 and it looked like this game would soon be over. It was time to shut the TV off and go to sleep.

The captain and vice-captain were content on trying to play out the overs. Talking of suspect actions, I noticed that Lee stopped his arm half way through his final stride and then jerked it. If the Australians were unbiased they would take a close look at this guy too. Allegations create doubt in the minds of players and without confidence a player is nothing. Someone needs to give the Australians a taste of their own medicine. I am glad that the Indians have teamed up with the Pakistanis on this. Having an Indian President of the ICC helps too. More of our own would need to grab these positions to protect our players otherwise we would be reduced to average teams like we have been in field hockey. Without being spectacular, the two carried on the Pakistan innings. Moin’s running between the wickets was awesome as always. Wasim soon lifted Warne over mid off for a one bounce 4 and then in the same over pulled one through midwicket for another boundary. Pakistan were 86/6 after the 30th over. Moin kept nudging for ones and twos to go with a four here and there. McGrath was brought back in the 33rd over but did not bother the batsmen too much. Moin lifted Warne over mid off for a fantastic 6 but tried a sweep the very next ball only to top edge and be caught by Mark Waugh at short fine leg. Moin made 33 off 45 balls and Pakistan were 103/7 after 34 overs. In the 40th over Wasim started to use the long handle. A short arm jab/sweep over mid wicket raced to the boundary. Pakistan were 120/7 after 40 overs. The tail enders were teaching the top order how to play under pressure but then that is nothing new. A Warne ball hit Saqlain exactly the same way it hit Inzi but this time the same umpire did not give him out. In the 43rd over Wasim played Symonds to cover and tried a suicide run. Ponting got him easily and Wasim left for 35 runs. The captain should never have tried that single. Waqar walked in to help Saqlain play out the rest of the overs. After 45 overs Pakistan were 138/5. Both of them rotated the strike with singles. Waqar looked pretty decent with the bat, driving Lee at will through cover, which prompted Lee to bounce one to Waqar. But both of them hung on and played very sensibly. Saqlain has a knack of making good decisions under pressure. The biggest crowd at the GABBA witnessed a good comeback. Pakistan were 150/8 in the 47th over when Saqlain lifted Symonds over mid wicket for 4. Waqar joined in as well when he lifted McGrath over midwicket for another boundary. The 48th over cost McGrath 6 runs and Pakistan were 159/8. In the last over, Saqlain went after McGrath with a square drive over point for a boundary and then Waqar lifted McGrath straight over his head for a massive 6. Saqlain edged the last ball over the keeper for 4. The last over cost McGrath 18 and Pakistan got to a respectable 184/8. It just goes to show what can be done with sensible batting. Saqlain remained unbeaten on 37 and Waqar got 23 not out. The last wicket had yielded 57 runs.

Australia has a very long batting lineup, so Pakistan’s work was cut out for them. Waqar started the bowling with Wasim, which was a sight for sore eyes. Both bowled well within themselves and were accurate. There was no indication of any animosity between the two Ws. Waqar’s natural out-swinger was on. He yorked Gilchirst only to miss the off stump by inches in his second over. In the 6th over the ball had to be changed. Soon after, Waqar brought one back in to Mark Waugh and an LBW decision left Australia at 7/1 in the 6th over. Pakistan’s ground fielding was sharp early on. Ponting walked in and the two developed in confidence as the runs began to flow. Two 4s by Gilchrist off a square cut and then a drive through cover alongwith a boundary to mid wicket by Ponting, all came in one over. Australia were 23/1 off 8 overs and back on track. Ponting then thrashed Wasim through cover and it seemed that these two would take the game away from Pakistan in a hurry. Gilchrist hit Wasim for two more 4s in the same over and 27 runs came in two overs. It was time to bring the fastest bowler in the world. Shoaib’s first over was fast and he beat the bat a couple of times. Wasim on the other end remained expensive as Ponting on-drove him for another 4. Shoaib tried a slower one to Ponting but he flicked it effortlessly for 4. In his frustration, Shoaib dropped one short and Ponting hooked it exquisitely one bounce to the mid wicket fence. Australia were 58/1 off 12 overs. Razzaq was brought in from Wasim’s end. This move paid immediate dividends as Gilchrist tried to cut one too close to his body and was caught behind. Razzaq who looks harmless, hit 140 km/h regularly. Shoaib got Ponting plumb in front in the next over but the umpire declared him not out. Ponting was well across and would have had his middle and leg stump uprooted if it didn’t hit the pad. Drinks were taken at 68/2 off 16 overs.

Ponting edged the first one after drinks but Shoaib was unlucky and it went through third slip for 4. However, the very next ball was edged high to second slip where M. Waseem took a good catch. Ponting made 32 and Australia were 72/3. The captain Steve Waugh walked in with all his World Cup and test match heroics in his swagger. He got a fast incutter from Shoaib first up and the “great Stephen Waugh” was out, absolutely plumb in front. A hush fell over the GABBA and Shoaib was on a hat trick. Martyn played nervously to mid wicket to avoid that feat. Martyn was very tentative and Razzaq soon enticed him to hit one uppishly to point where Ijaz snapped it up. Pakistan were in full control as Australia were 77/5. Waqar was brought back in as Symonds walked in on his debut. Symonds left first ball as he edged Razzaq to second slip where M. Waseem gobbled up another good catch. 77/6 was the score and the match pretty much over. Brett Lee left the hat trick ball outside off but Razzaq shattered his stumps soon after with a great inswinger. Australia has played about 21 overs and were 79/7. Dale and Bevan played out some overs very cautiously but the fate of the match was sealed. Saqlain was soon brought on as the two batsmen slowly kept the scoreboard moving. In this second spell, Shoaib bowled a great slower one, which deceived Dale into lobbing to cover where Saeed was waiting. Australia were 112/8 in 31 overs. Warne had stretched his rib muscle while bowling and batted with a runner. He lasted a short while in obvious pain but in the 37th over Waqar had him caught at point. McGrath was pretty soon run out superbly by Moin and Australia were bundled out for 139. Pakistan won by 45 runs as Razzaq deservedly got the man of the match award for his 4 wickets.

Pakistan has started this tournament on a very good note with the doubts of the World Cup loss and the test series white wash removed a shade. They will have confidence in the next games. They looked sharp and in the face of so much turmoil this team has shown remarkable resilience time and again. Shoaib’s handling of the pressure and all the gossip about his action was extremely professional. All this team needs is discipline and they will be great. Someone needs to look at the batting order though and put the genuine opener Wasti in at the top and boost Ijaz to number 3 with Inzi following him. Razzaq and Moin can follow Youhana. Stability at the top will make this team formidable. Using the master card philosophy. Door money at a bar a night prior to the World Cup final…25 pounds. A scalped ticket at the World Cup final…2000 pounds. Money made on betting against Pakistan in the World Cup final…50, 000 pounds. Beating the World Champions in their own back yard…priceless!