England v Pakistan: First ODI Preview – Redemption for Afridi’s team beckons
We all felt that the tour of Australia was the worst Pakistan could have done, yet the old adage that it can not get any worse than this has been proven wrong as the men in green plummeted to new depths on the tour of England. The Pakistan cricket team continues to be hammered on the field amid a slew of scandals around them.
Although the tour, unlike the Australian one, includes wins in two formats, it is the damning match and spot-fixing scandal that has rocked the very foundations of the game both in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and around the world. Hence, the team was almost frozen in the two match T20 series that ended earlier in the week with an absolute drubbing in the second match played at Cardiff.
The focus is now on the ODI series that starts in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s men after their comfortable win in the T20 series.
The two teams are expected to take the series as a build up for the World cup that is set to be staged in the sub-continent next year. The hosts have more or less formed the nucleus of their team for the coveted event and would be hoping to get more success under their belts after recording an impressive 3-2 win over arch rivals Australia in a five match series at the start of the summer.
However the first three matches of the series were all closely fought affairs, and the Aussies bounced back to win the last two comprehensively. Consequently, the hosts can not take much for granted as on paper at least the Pakistanis are quite strong and can give them a real run for their money.
Pakistan, though, is once again banking on natural talent and an unorthodox approach to take them through the series as they are set to field the gangly left arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan who is almost 7 foot high and easily the tallest player in first class cricket presently.
He has made rapid waves at the domestic front, bothering batsmen with his disconcerting pace and bounce. Above all he would be playing with an uncluttered mind having no scars of losing on the tour.
England is expected to make three changes to the line-up that featured in the second T20. Left arm pacer Ryan Sidebottom will make way for James Anderson who had an outstanding test series, while Jonathan Trott and captain Andrew Strauss will shore up the batting at the top of the order.
Strauss played well in patches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, while Trott was the only man that defied the Bangladeshis in their sensational triumph in the second match of their three match ODI Series.
The hosts have lost three and won five out of the eight ODI’s that they have played this summer, and are the overwhelming favourites after the mental scarring that the men in green have endured over the course of a tumultuous fortnight. Yet one thing is for sure: there is nothing guaranteed by a Pakistan team on the field.
If they can let go of the cobwebs and focus on the game they have the ammunition to defeat the hosts. All they need to remember is that they started this tour recording an enthralling 2-0 T20 series win over Australia and that should be the sort of tonic they are looking for.
Tags: