England Test Series 2010 – Mohammad Yousuf to battle hard to save his team
Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistani batting veteran was given a huge task of saving his teammates from a degrading defeat against England in the ongoing tour of England. The young Pakistani side played hopelessly in the first two tests at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, and then came back with a scrambling 4 wicket victory over the host in the last week at the Oval.
Yousuf return from retirement proved to be wonders for young Pakistanis visiting English territory. English bowlers were at their best as they crumbled the Pakistani batting test power in the first two tests. With Yousuf’s inclusion, the young side scored their first total over 300 since this summer. The veteran saved Pakistan’s test cricket from a clean-sweep from the English; now the young team has the authoritative batting influence of Yousuf, they seem in a better position to draw the series with 2-2.
The veteran batsman previously banned in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s victory. The veteran has played a total of 89 test matches, scoring a massive of over 7,500 runs at an average of 53.07. He has 24 test centuries, with a highest of 223.
The veteran has several international records to his disposal as well. He was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 2007 edition. He is the fourth candidate of the ICC Test Cricketer of the year award in 2007, as he scored 944 run at an average of 94.40 including 7 centuries. Veteran batsman has also crossed former West Indian batsman Viv Richards’s record of 1710 runs in 10 test matches by scoring a massive 1788 runs. Before the adept cricketer reached this honourable land mark, he was in contest with Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting as he had scored 1544 runs. After beating Viv Richard record, he also became the third-person ever to make 5 consecutive centuries in 5 consecutive matches in lights of Jacques Kallis and Sir Don Bradman, scoring a total six centuries. 2006 turns out to be the peak for the player, as the veteran scored 9 centuries exceeding Viv Richard and Aravinda de Silva’s respective 7 centuries in a single year.
The veteran has paved the road for the youngsters with him participating in the Starting eleven squad. Pakistani team now looks to draw the test series 2-2 before entering into the one-day internationals (ODI). The final is to be played at Lord’s on the 26th of August, 2010.
Judging by their past record, the host would encounter a crucial test match at Lord’s than any other venue. Their record in the last decade has been fantastic. Besides losing to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 and the mighty Aussie’s, the English have performed impressively against all other opponents. While Pakistan’s last win at Lord’s came in 1996, and considering their current frail with the bat they will be hard-pressed. On top of that the English skipper’s Andrew Strauss and fellow team-mate Kevin Pietersen’s batting average is over 60.00 per inning in last decade. As fellow team-mates, Alistair Cook and Paul Collingwood also have an impressive batting average in last ten years.
On the other hand, Yousuf is the only Pakistani batsman who averaged a 70.50 at Lord’s in past decade, while out-form skipper Butt and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal are the other two mentionable batsmen having shown some performance at Lord’s.
The Lord’s ground being a batting paradise gave a surprising relief to the bowlers of both teams, since the previous 3 tests played had conditions highly favouring the bowlers. Pakistani cricket team relies heavily on veteran batsman Yousuf, as it will be up to his innings which will give others some strong footings.
One can expect an unpredictable Pakistani win over the hosts. On the other hand, the English will definitely look forward to have a test series win behind them before going into the Ashes. The viewers of the final test match should expect a high-scoring, nail-biting finish to the test series with a forecasted downpour to turn around tables.
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