Pakistan Cricket: Positives from the English tour
Pakistan's tour to England has finally come to an end. Besides the temporary suspension of 3 Pakistani players, the tour was littered with accusations of corruption and riddled with controversies. However, given the circumstances, it was a good effort by
the Pakistani team. Keeping in mind the inexperience and pressure caused by the match-fixing scandal, the visitors played considerably well, remaining competitive and focused during most parts of the series.
The tour started off with two Test’s and as many T20 internationals against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 as part of the ICC’s Spirit of Cricket Series in coordination with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which was helping the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with neutral
venues. Pakistan could not hold the series at home due to security concerns, especially after the 2009 attacks on the Sri Lankan team. The visitors were able to draw the test series against Australia at 1-1, with a not so convincing but confident last test
win. The Pakistani dominated the 2 T20 internationals as the Aussies were completely outplayed with utmost professionalism and confidence.
A drawn test and T20 series win was enough to raise the morale of the young Pakistani team. However, the next series against the English team came about as a litmus test of character and spirit under playing conditions unfavourable to the Pakistani team.
It ended at 3-1 as England won the controversial test series. The 3rd test at Lord’s gave birth to new match-fixing allegations which almost ruined the integrity of the gentleman’s game.
However, soon afterwards, England and Pakistan met in the 20 over format where the hosts outplayed the Pakistani team with a lot of ease. As the visitor’s were already under immense pressure, it was hard for the Pakistani team to focus on cricket when the
team was constantly being questioned and interrogated by the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard.
The ODI’s turned out to bring some closure to the visitors, as they were able to give some competition to the hosts, losing the ODI series by 3-2. But there have been some fine discoveries for the Pakistani team. The most important was the re-discovery of
Shoaib Akhtar and his effectiveness in the bowling department. Akhtar, more popularly known as the “Rawalpindi Express” gradually regained his confidence in this series. Akhtar ended the series with a total of 8 wickets.
Meanwhile, Abdul Razzaq’s much needed batting and bowling confidence is back. After missing the first two ODI’s, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 did extremely well in his comeback. Keeping in mind that this veteran all-rounder comes in the lower order, he made over 85 runs in the
2 ODI matches that he played. Not to forget that he was dismissed only once during the ODI series and his batting was the main reason why the Pakistani team managed to achieve a fighting total. His contributions with the ball are commendable as he filled the
missing pieces of the Pakistani bowling power.
On the other hand, the Pakistani team made good opening starts in all ODI matches. With the likes of Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez, the young visiting team didn’t miss test skipper Salman Butt. Opening stands have been a problem for Pakistani cricket
over the years, but this series gave ODI skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 the room to experiment, which paid off as good opening partnerships were provided for the middle order to build-up a good total.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s bowling attack consisting of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, and Umar Gul proved that they could crumble any world-class batting line-up. The spin combination between Afridi and Saeed Ajmal has come in handy as
well. All these positives cannot be ignored as the next ICC World Cup 2011 is round the corner. And these ODI specialist discovered or rediscovered by the Pakistani team will surely affect their bid to win the 50 over World Cup in the subcontinent.
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