Cricket: Pakistan cricket needs experienced Test Players
It was as if God was scripting the Lord’s Test Himself. He helped the Pakistani bowlers tear apart the Australians since they were giving it their 100 percent effort. He made sure the Pakistani fielders held onto the catches that came their way, yet he didn’t help those who couldn’t help themselves. Everyone except the Pakistan Cricket Board hierarchy knows that Pakistan need Younis Khan in the one-down position.
After dismissing the mighty Australians for 253 runs in their first innings, Pakistan must have thought they had the match in their hands. But they didn’t bank on the fact that Younis Khan, the man who has done the bulk of scoring for Pakistan in the last decade is not with them anymore. Pakistan missed him more than anything when they batted, and failed to even cross 150 runs in their entire first innings.
The only batsman, to show some maturity, was Salman Butt, who batted sensibly and scored 63 out of the 148 runs Pakistan put on the board. The biggest error the Pakistan management committed was sending Azhar Ali at number 3 and Umar Amin at number 4. They don’t seem to learn anything from their past mistakes, since this was exactly what they did during the Asia Cup as well. Shahzeb http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 and Umar Amin made their debut during the event and were sent in the top order where they could only play slowly, to ensure their place for the next matches. Similarly, the debutant Azhar Ali battled his way to 16 before being dismissed while Umar could score just 1 run on his maiden appearance.
Teams all over the world use their best batsmen in the top order, while Pakistan had the comeback king Imran Farhat along with the two newcomers. Skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 should have come at number 3 instead of sending the new kids, but his failure to do so saw Pakistan lose wickets at regular intervals. He came in to bat as low as number 7 and cracked 31 runs off 15 balls, which didn’t help his side. What was required from him at that point in time was some sensible stroke making, not rash hitting which he did. He could have learnt a thing or two from Salman Butt who was taking singles and doubles, but Shahid Afridi must have thought that if he is to score runs, then he must do so quickly.
Pakistan need to recall Younis Khan before the next Test, and his presence will benefit the side more than anything else. Pakistan have never played 6 test matches in less than 2 months and the non-selection of test players like Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan will help the Australians and the English. They should also select http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811 for the next match since he is likely to provide the top order some stability, in place of Umar Amin who has so far not been able to prove his selection despite chances in one-dayers and tests.
The Pakistan selectors are also to be blamed for this batting mishap. They didn’t retain the one batsman - Khurram Manzoor - who scored 70 odd runs when all the other batsmen failed in the last test against the Aussies earlier this year. Also, they should have selected Abdur Razzaq in the test side, since http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 missed a genuine all-rounder who could swing the ball, and belt the Aussies as well.
Australians on the other hand were spot on, be it their bowling changes, field placement and team selection. Ricky Ponting didn’t bowl Steven Smith in the first innings since he wants the leg spinner to surprise the Pakistani batsmen in their second innings, which would be the dangerous 4th innings of the match. The bowler is likely to trouble the suspect Pakistanis even though he is playing his first Test match for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
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