Pakistan Cricket after the embarrassment at Nottingham
Pakistan faced its second biggest defeat against England by a huge margin of 354 runs in the first Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Sunday. England bundled the inexperienced batting line of Pakistan for only 80 runs in the second innings while chasing England’s mammoth total of 434 runs. The Pakistani batsmen failed to face James Anderson confidently and the entire batting line was rolled over for a paltry 80 in the second innings.
It was a comprehensive performance from England with a disciplined bowling, excellent batting in the first innings from Collingwood and Morgan, and an athletic fielding throughout the test. On the other hand, Pakistan’s bowling was marvellous in the second innings but the out-of-sorts batting and the sloppy fielding did not let Pakistan capitalize on the excellent bowling performance. The match summary read: England 354 and 262 for 9 declared while Pakistan 182 and 80 (29.0 overs). Anderson’s final figures for the match turned out to be 11 for 71 which is the best performance by an English bowler since http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in January 2005 at the Wanderers.
Former Pakistan cricketers have slammed the poor batting performance from the Pakistan cricket team during the Nottingham test. A blunt analysis came from Ramiz Raja, former Pakistan cricketer and a commentator when he said, “Pakistan was absolutely rubbish with the bat. They’ll be mentally scarred by this performance.”
Mushtaq Ahmad also blamed Pakistan’s poor batting for the massive 354-run defeat. He said that no Pakistani batsman had the right technique to play on the moving and seaming tracks in England. He further added that most of the players did not have any clue as to how to face the ball on such pitches. Mushtaq also lashed out the coaches for not training the guys for such surfaces before sending them England.
He said, “I do not think anyone has worked on their technique before sending them here.”
Mushtaq said that it is the duty of accompanying coaches to prepare the batsmen well before every match according to the pitch conditions. Mushtaq emphasized on the preparation of bowler-friendly pitches in Pakistan. He further said that Pakistani players learnt their cricket on dead tracks with no grass and no swing. However, when the players turn out to play in England, it becomes difficult for them to cope with the conditions.
The Pakistan Cricket Board reacted swiftly to the poor batting performance from the inexperienced batting line by recalling Yousuf. Mohammad Yousuf, who started the season with a winless tour of Australia as skipper of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391, his inclusion into the squad would strengthen the batting line-up for the remaining three tests against England.
Another former skipper, Younis Khan, who got the ban parallel to Yousuf’s once again failed to get the call-back because of some serious issues with the board and its management.
Leg-spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Raza-Hasan-c84407 would replace Kaneria for the second Test that starts from the 6th of August in Edgbaston.
Pakistan’s former captain and the second highest Test run-scorer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Inzamam-ul-Haq-c64383 has offered his services to the Pakistan Cricket Board as a full-time batting coach. While talking to the media, Inzamam said that the team is desperate for a full-time batting coach to come out of their current slump. The triple-centurion for Pakistan said that Pakistan’s batsmen are lacking the required technique and temperament which is required for the longest form of cricket. He further added that the players lack the patience and lose their wickets after scoring 20 or 30 runs. Inzamam said that they need a proper batting coach to guide them through all this and he would be very happy to take the position if the board offers him the opportunity.
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