Pakistan looking for their first Test series win in four years
The Pakistan cricket team would be going into the Wellington Test looking for their first Test series win in about four years.
Pakistan, who delivered a crushing ten wicket defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton, are looking sharp and hopeful to clinch the series when they meet the home side in the second Test of the two Test series in New Zealand.
Pakistan won their last Test series in 2007, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, and since then, the green shirts have plumped in the five day format of the game.
To make matters worse, Pakistan have been marred with spot-fixing allegations which have damaged the stature of the sport in the country, while depleting the strength of the team as some of the top players, including Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman
Butt, have been barred from playing for the national team until the verdict of their spot-fixing hearing is made public, which will be on the 5th of February.
Players like Shoaib Malik and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board’s (PCB) integrity committee, which was put in
charge of looking into the details of the financial assets of the players.
Even with a weaker squad, Pakistan managed to play remarkably well against the Black Caps, who are known to be very strong at home.
The tour didn’t have a good start for the visiting team as they lost the three match T20 series 2-1. After Pakistan’s despicable performance in the T20 series, many predicted an easy win by the home side in the Test series as well. However, Pakistan, under
the captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, shocked everyone by wrapping up the match in just three days.
Coach, Waqar Younis, speaking on the performance of his side, said, "It’s not that we’ve been playing bad cricket. It’s just that the controversy has just been following us. It’s very hard for the boys to keep going and keep hearing this, but I’m very proud
of these boys- they’ve stuck to the task and every morning they get up and stay positive.”
Team manager, Intikhab Alam also praised the efforts of the younger players in the team and insisted that the senior players would have to give an impressive show in Wellington to set an example for the youngsters. Alam was pretty confident of his side’s
chances in the second Test against the home side and hoped that the players would be able to replicate the fighting spirit that they displayed during the Hamilton Test.
Pakistan, who are currently ranked at sixth place in Test cricket, would likely go into the Test finale with the same squad that won at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Earlier, there were rumours that Wahab Riaz may not be fit and Sohail Tanvir may replace him, but
Pakistan management in New Zealand has not hinted at any changes in the squad and there have been no reports of Riaz being out of the team for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864. The induction of Saeed Ajmal also seems unlikely in place of Abdur Rahman, who was adjudged man of the
match after taking 6 wickets in the first Test. Ajmal missed the opening Test because he had to fly back to Pakistan due to personal reasons.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 during their tour of the subcontinent. Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand skipper, would
definitely want his squad to bat with a lot more consistency and temperament than what they managed to muster up in the most recent games.
Vice-captain, Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 praised the efforts of the newly appointed New Zealand coach, John Wright, and said, "The way that John coaches and the way he comes across- he’s very big on Test cricket. He had a very successful Test career for New Zealand and
he was a very hard player, so hopefully that can rub off on us."
Daryl Tuffey is expected to make a comeback in the second Test, which would strengthen the bowling attack of the Black Caps, and his presence might be crucial in determining the result of the Test series.
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