Despite a win against New Zealand at Hamilton, all is not perfect –
yet - in the Pakistan team
Without taking anything away from the victorious Pakistani team, the fact that the win in the Hamilton Test came under slightly fortuitous circumstances (some freak dismissals and the condition of the pitch) cannot be and perhaps
more importantly should not be ignored. To keep up the good work that was undeniably done by an at last united looking Pakistani team and to ensure a series win, the management and the players need to take care of some issues very quickly, before
the second Test at the Basin Reserve, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864, starts on Saturday.
The first and foremost factor that went in favour of Pakistan in Hamilton was the condition of the pitch and the square. Unlike most New Zealand pitches that we have come to witness for almost the entirety of the nation’s Test
history, Seddon Park’s wicket was a slow and dry one. The hot and humid conditions were more like the subcontinent’s usual fare than the little island down-under’s. The weather and the pitch combined certainly helped the Pakistani batsmen, who time and again
have shown an aversion to seaming tracks and swinging conditions, and thus would be well advised to put the victory behind them and prepare for the next Test, where batting conditions might be more of a challenge. What should be of particular concern to the
management is the fact that none of the batsmen could convert their starts into anything substantial even given the docile nature of the pitch and the impotent New Zealand bowling attack. Had it not been for a rallying innings from wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal
and significant contributions from Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed in the lower order, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 would have been hard put to post a lead in the first innings, which might have changed the course of the Test match quite significantly. So the batsmen,
once they are in, need to knuckle down and play big innings without thinking that they have done their job every time they get to 50, if Pakistan are to continue their winning ways in the Test cricket arena.
The bowling form of Abdur Rehman, who has always been considered something of a limited-overs specialist, must have pleasantly surprised the Pakistan think-tank, and will give the on-tour selection committee a nice little headache
once Saeed Ajmal is available for selection. The way Abdur Rehman deceived the New Zealand batsmen with clever variations of pace and flight was quite admirable, as he was the only one who looked like he was making an impact when things weren’t going too well
for the Pakistanis during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s first innings. Wahab Riaz was without a shadow of doubt Pakistan’s next best bowler and although he could not get among the wickets in the first innings, he showed remarkable control over his length and swing particularly
to decimate the Kiwi line-up the second time round. Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed, who did take more wickets than Wahab, were quite frankly a disappointment most of the time. Tanvir simply looks unfit for the 5-day format of the game, since he was visibly unable
to exert any kind of pressure in his second and third spells, and looked to be struggling to get up to even respectable pace sometimes. Umar’s is sadly a case of talent going to waste, due to what can only be called, apologetically albeit, a lack of brains.
Why a bowler who has his amount of pace and the ability to swing and seam a cricket ball, needs to keep banging the ball in so short, and that too on a distinctly unresponsive pitch, is beyond comprehension. It is time he works with the coaches and works out
a better plan, because he does become very predictable sometimes when things are not going his way.
The last point that would have disturbed the observant ones among the cricket fans must have been the readiness with which captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 started setting run-saving fields when McCullum was having a ball out on the pitch.
His decision to put men on the boundary in the first innings was particularly disconcerting, because however well a batsman is playing, you just do not stop attacking him on the first morning of a Test match. It has been said of Misbah that he is the best
cricketing brain in the country and perhaps he has his own individual way of doing things, but he will need to be much more attacking in the future if he wants to keep winning Test matches against oppositions that are more formidable than New Zealand at the
moment.
One might come out looking a bit like a spoilsport but the discrepancies outlined above cannot be neglected amidst the euphoria of winning a Test match, if our team is to become a potent force in the world of Test cricket.
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