Cricket News: Shahid Afridi’s Pakistan Aim to Regain Lost Pride
Few people would have predicted that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s tour of the
United Kingdom which started so positively with a clean sweep of the mighty Australians in the two match T20 series would end in such misery. Now, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s men face an uphill battle to avoid a series loss in the One-Day International
format after meekly conceding the test and T20 series’ to their hosts.
In the midst of the on field disaster, the greatest set back has been the damning match fixing scandal that rocked international cricket during the fourth and final test match of the four test series against
England. The results of that scandal for the time being were the suspensions handed out by the ICC to Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and the test captain, Salman Butt.
Despite a spirited fight in the first two matches of the ODI series, especially the second one where the men in green fought tooth and nail till the last over of the innings, the team is staring at a 2-0 deficit with three matches to play.
However there is some silver lining in the thick dark clouds as Pakistan is set to bring back mercurial all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to the line-up for the match set to be played under the lights at the Oval.
The Lahore born player had sustained a back injury that ruled him out of the first two matches of the series; he would be replacing the tall Mohammad Irfan who was a major disappointment in his first two matches at the international
level.
The seven footer from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Multan-c819 failed to take any wickets while he was conceding more than six runs per over. His fielding too was absolutely appalling in both games as he looked totally uncut for the highest level of the game
with his tall and gangly frame.
A distraught Shahid Afridi minced no words in expressing his disappointment in his performance as he hinted that the pacer might struggle to return to the international level unless he improves dramatically.
"I'm really disappointed with this guy. Cricket is not all about just batting and bowling, fielding is very important and maybe if he's good in the field, I will give him a chance otherwise I'm not happy."
On the other hand the English team is going from strength to strength and on current form they are set to be a real handful in next year’s ODI World Cup that is set to take place in the sub-continent.
The consistent run of the team under the inspirational leadership of Andrew Strauss has seen them rise to the number 2 spot in ICC’s ODI ranking for teams. On paper they are as strong as any other team in the world and pundits feel that next year would
be their best chance of winning the trophy that has eluded him since the inception of the event in 1975.
One of the key members of the English team is off-spinner Graeme Swann who has been a real trump card for the hosts; he feels that his team deserves the accolades they are getting as they have put in a real effort to improve their game in all disciplines.
"I think we deserve to be patting ourselves on the back a little bit, for how much we've improved. But by no means are we the finished article, as last week showed in the field." He added that his team did not expect to win everything this summer and
their success has even surprised some of the team members
"It's been a long summer, and it would be nice if we could go out having won every series we've played. With the Aussies and Pakistanis, it certainly wasn't http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Summer-c41330 you look at and say 'Definitely we'll win them all', but it was the aim at the start
of it, and I think we've got ourselves in a very good position to do it."
Tags: