The Battle at Delhi, 1999

My interest in following cricket has finally rejuventated during this current Indo-Pak series. I have little faith in our Pakistani batsmen, but 26 for 6 on day one has even astonished me.

Salim Malik is the only technically correct batsmen in the Pakistani team. Let us see if he shows his mettle today. Moin and Waseem can provide support.

Whatever is the result, I hope that cricket series between Pakistan and India becomes a regular feature.

Nadir

Whats going on! Pak are 25/6!

Is this some kind of joke?

#: 40
shafqat


The article intro asks the rhetorical question, `Asian Test Championship - are you ready ?`

No, I am not ready. I am not going to be ready in the future either. Do you know what`s happened ? Pakistan are 26 for 6 in 12 overs in the first innings. They are about to make their lowest Test score ever. Who needs this ? I don`t need this.

The article intro asks the rhetorical question, `Asian Test Championship - are you ready ?`

No, I am not ready. I am not going to be ready in the future either. Do you know what`s happened ? Pakistan are 26 for 6 in 12 overs in the first innings. They are about to make their lowest Test score ever. Who needs this ? I don`t need this.

Team predictions for the next game:

These are easier to deal with.

I think India will field the same team they had for the second Test. Although I really think they should drop Laxman, make Mongia open and include another bowler. Maybe Shukla.

Pak will probably strengthen their batting. I think Wasti will be included dropping Malik. While Anwar may come in the middle order.
Another option is to include Azhar Mahmood as number six. Either way, me thinks SAUDA will get the boot.

re: Saad

this is hilarious. Sauda is still cracking me up. I remember being escorted out of the stands in Sahara Cup last year for yelling heckling Malik at the boundary line. I kept shouting `Oye Salim, kinne paise liye, saanu bhi dasso`. At first he just turned around and smiled. When the whole damn stand started saying it he complained to the cops and they did their job.

In any case, Azhar Mahmood needs a second look. What with Maliks injury, he looked seriously handicapped in the second Test. He could not even stretch well forward for balls pitched three quarter length. AM is a genuine all-rounder. IMHO, is a much better, more technically correct bat than Afridi (the other allrounder in the Pak team). In any case, there are not many sides in the world that would do without AM`s all round abilities. I guess Pak has such a big bowling arsenal that AM does not find a spot. Well then they should bring him in as a batsman in place of Salim Malik.

Inzamam is immensely talented. But lately his ``lazy elegance`` has given way to his being completely comatose at times. Like the way he played on in the second innings. Or even funnier, in the first innings he collapsed, clutching his chest. It turned out he had GASTRIC problems. Inexcusable for an athlete playing at his level. At least on match days he should cut out the asali ghee and maybe settle for refined. My dadi used to have gastric problems !!!!


re: Khan

Yaar, Kumble is by no means over-rated. On the contrary I would say Kumble is often compared to orthodox classical leg spinners and written off as predictable, doesn`t-turn-the-ball, not a leg spinner, etc. Taking 10 wickets in an innings is no mean feat. MacGill had a point when he (Aussie newbie leggie) said, ``its not amazing that Kumble took 10 wickets , it is amazing that no one else took a wicket``. But regardless, this was the same pitch all the other spinners exploited. I just think that while they turned the ball square and beat the bat so often by a mile, Kumble`s slight turners got edges and put the leg trap in business.

Kumble is extremely unorthodox. He rarely bowls the leg break, it is used only for variation. He is quicker and flatter through the air and relies more on pace, bounce and length. Because of this he has the top-spinner (of all paces) as his stock delivery mixed in with googlys (again which turn just a tad). His most vicious ball is an `in swinging yorker` (Ijaz and Saqlain fell to this).
He is also very accurate. Although he is King of crumbling tracks (which obviously suit the style described above) he also does very well on tracks which suit fast bowlers. His record, both in Tests and ODIs (50 odd Test matches 234 wickets and 200+ LOI wickets) testify to his ability as a strike bowler.
Some experts say that because he doesn`t turn the ball as much he finds edges where other classical leggies beat the bat completely. Whatever....

Batsman who can play shots on the rise and who figure out he is not really turning the ball can easily thrash him. (Afridi did this very well in all his innings against him). The only thing you have to deal with at that point is the variation in pace and bounce (bowler induced ie not pitch assisted)

Harbhajan Singh surely impressed and had a couple of missed chances in that Kumble perfect 10.

regards

Re Memo.

That Memo should be from ``ALL`` Pakistani Fans not ``A...``.

Sauda and Daagh were excellent choices. Personally I would forward a stronger takhallus for Ijaz but then, I`d have to go over to SCP.

I think we need Mohammed Wasim and Azhar Mahmood and (yes I`ll say it) Javed Miandad (dreamy sigh) in the team.

My biggest gripe (besides the sight of Ijaz) is that the overrated and undertalented Kumble will actually be deified and cast among the greats. I wish Prasad or Srinath had taken 10. Kumble (as Boycott put it) spins more than the ball he bowls. His biggest arsenal is that he is NOT a spinner (unless the pitch has crumbled). I was very impressed with the new offie Singh - wish he had taken a few wickets.

First Ijaz. Now Kumble. My Nemeses prosper.

MEMORANDUM

TO: Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ijaz Ahmed, Salim Malik.
FROM: A Pakistani cricket fan.
SUBJECT: Alternative careers.

My dear middle order batsmen of Pakistan, please find something else to do. Face it, none of you can bat. My sister bats better than you (and she doesn`t even like cricket). Since all of you seem so dreamy, what about trying Urdu poetry ? The takhallus can really let you express your true identity. I see a glorious literary future for Inzamam-ul-Haq Rusva, Salim Malik Sauda, and Ijaz Ahmed Daagh.

And if that doesn`t work out, I hear a theater group is looking for people who can play Larry, Curly and Moe like naturals.

Let me know, I could make some calls for you.

Honors even. No other permutation would have been fair. Both teams underperformed in one test.

Crying foul -- Naah! 420 was way too many runs for this wicket and the Pakistani batting line-up - barring a miracle. That is a fact.

The focus now shifts to Eden Gardens. Both teams have something to prove. I would still bet my bottom dollar on Pakistan - they have for more weapons than India. Akram, Saqlain, Waqar, Mushtaq and Afridi are capable of turning a match in Pakistan`s favor very quickly. In the Indian team the only match winner is Tendulkar and he is a batsman. Ganguly is a match saver and Azhar is a good passenger. Srinath and Kumble are slightly above average bowlers on more days than less. Kumble`s performance makes him a star for the time being but does not suddenly elevate him into the league of the greats. The strange Safraz Nawaz also took 9 wickets in Australia and won a match for Pakistan :=)

Unless there is a miracle performance - we have seen a few in this series - Pakistan should be able to neutralize the home field advantage and win in Calcuta.

re: RR
You are getting a little juzbatti.

The key player was the one who took 10 wickets. As the ball got older he started getting unplayable. (entire side, 40 year old record) Umpiring mistakes happen both ways, like SRT`s first innings dismissal, Ganguly`s Chennai second innings dismissal (the number of LBW`s in the game) and we could go on. Afridis decision was dubious, simply because there was a large snick, the bat was in front of his pads, but the replays don`t show the ball getting an edge nor clearly missing it. The ball does seem to inexplicably change trajectory after passing the bat. Right when it happened though it looked clearly out. Ijaz got an `inswinging yorker (no other way to describe this ball) right on his boot on middle and leg. The doubt here was that the ball may have missed leg, and also Ijaz was forward, even though he was doing his trademark shuffle from leg to off. If I was the third umpire I would have given Ijaz the benefit of the doubt but given Afidi out.
Speaking of turning points, a batting line-up that has Afridi as its spine needs help. The score was 420. You are giving the Pakistani batsman more credit than they deserve in this whole match (172 & 208).

Seriusly what is Malik (crown prince of Pak through the 80s, clearly past his prime) playing while there is no room for a genuine all-rounder Azhar Mahmood.

Anyway, on to the next one at Calcutta. India Pak should have more of these.

Congratulations are in due order to the Indian fans. Commiserations to all the Pakistanis and once again, congrats to all Cricket fans for such a great series.

Hope we get to do this again.

If its any consolation, India has not lost a series in India for the past 12 yrs. since Pakistan defeated them in 1987.

Also India has yet to win a test match in Pakistan.

187/7

Pakistan has lost the game. India`s 12th man in black slacks was the key player. Cosidering Pakistan was 101/0, the decisions to send Afridi and then Ijaz, and then Yousuf back, made the difference. Well played Akram, though. Congrats to Indians, well done, despite of the 12th man.

Rehan

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !

Pakistani batting comes a K(r)UMBLEing down

Kumble 10/74

Indo-Pak should have at least 5 Test series.
Until next time.

101 for no loss.

And then. Once again. Ijaz comes through for Pakistan when the chips are down.


(BTW apparently both Afridi and Ijaz were doubtful decisions.)


Umair-Still-waiting-for-waqar`s-maiden-century-Khan

Saad:

Wow, what eloquence! what passion you show in baring your thoughts! Best piece of prose yet. However..........

These India-Pakistan series bring out the last reservoirs of talent and courage from the players. Unexpected happens. That is cricket.

Down memory lane----- this is from an India-Pakistan test series-----and most probably the match was being played in New Delhi or somewhere in India --- Pakistan was last at bat--last day----after lunch Indian commentator Vizzy -- thru his hissing drawl was proclaiming ``Victory is in India`s bag``---Pakistan had lost eight or nine wickets------Pakistani paceman Mahmood Hussain---not known for his batting prowess rose---at the other end I think it may have been Intikhab-----instead of going down by an innings the match ended in a draw.
(Whew, sorry for such a long sentence).

Tend to agree with the experts. If the weather holds, they will win.

My congradulations, in advance, to players on both the teams, to the cricket-nuts here, and above all to the fans at Chennai Stadium. May the Pakistani fans emulate you always.

over to you..

My fellow fans,

The hour is upon us. India lead by 404 runs with three 2nd innings wickets still remaining. As Khusro has said, it is the night of meeting, the body is mine but the soul is yours. A higher force is in play. At Ferozshah Kotla, in the heart of the Gangetic plains that have been settled by a great and cultured people, fate tonight is etched in inevitability.

A few things need to be said, and they need to be said plainly. I am here to say them.

First. Pakistan has no batsman of Test caliber. Second. Even when Pakistan used to have batsmen of Test caliber, it was never a fourth innings team. Third. It is now precisely 121 years, 10 months and 22 days since the first ball was bowled in Test cricket. In all this time, on only two occasions has a team made over 400 runs in the fourth innings to win the match. The first time this happened was in 1948 when Australia made 404 for 3 to win against England in the 4th Test at Headingley, with Morris and Bradman scoring hundreds. The second time this happened was in 1976 when India made 406 for 4 to win against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain, with Gavasker and Viswanath scoring hundreds. Fourth. The motley crew of Inzamam and company are not about to turn into Gavasker, Viswanath, Morris or Bradman.

If we were in the land of fairy tales, where kissed frogs became princes and pumpkins became opulent carriages for Cinderella, I would have chosen to be less blunt. But we are condemned to deal in reality. It is all written in the script of inevitability, my friends.

In the end, Hamlet always dies.

I have it on good authority that dreaming of days gone by and chanting `Miandad` and `Imran` in quick succession will dull the pain. Rest easy, as the pall of gloom envelops us all (except the Indians - you guys can go party).

Saad