Pakistan vs. England T20 Match - aim to emerge out of spot-fixing scandal at Cardiff
After bearing the brunt of one of the biggest cricket scandals ever, the touring Pakistan team embarks upon the last leg of their extremely eventful tour of United Kingdom as they take on England in the first of their two T20 matches at Cardiff on the 5th of September.
The men in green have a mighty task on hand as they bid to win back the trust of their adoring fans who feel cheated and disconsolate. The match and spot-fixing scandal sent shockwaves amongst cricket fans during the fourth and final test match of the series against England at Lords, London last week.
Three players who were part of the limited over matches namely Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have all been suspended by the International Cricket Council. Cricket’s governing body claims to have found substantial evidence against the beleaguered trio that were at the centre of a sting operation by British tabloid “The News of the World”.
The squad for the two T20 matches only includes 13 players and there are already injury concerns regarding Umar Akmal and Abdul http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421.
Both players were injured during the warm-up match against Somerset which was played at Taunton earlier in the week. However, they are expected to regain full fitness before the start of the first T20 international at Sophia Gardens.
Other than their off-field problems, Shahid Afridi’s men have a tough challenge ahead of them on the field. The English team is the world champion in the shortest format of the game after their impressive win in the tournament’s third edition held in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 earlier this year.
England have had the best of Pakistan in the recently played T20 games, winning three out of the last four matches, with Kevin Pietersen being the real threat for the men in green.
He scored a vital half century to lead his team to a win in the super eights encounter that almost sealed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in one of the most incredible T20 games in the short history of the format.
On paper, the two teams look balanced and Pakistan would be glad to be taking on the hosts without KP who was also the man of the tournament in the Caribbean.
Pakistan would be banking on the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 to take them through to a win in the match.
On the other hand, the English squad has its own set of explosive players in the shape of Eoin Morgan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and James Anderson.
The wicket at the Sophia Gardens is set to favour the batsman and the fans of the game are in for a treat if the two teams put up a top class show on the pitch.
Meanwhile it remains to be seen if the crowd turns up at the venue in full force considering the dampened image of the game in the wake of the spot-fixing debacle, which has once again put the game in a compromising situation.
The trust level is perhaps at an all time low, as the fans are not sure if they would get a “real contest” or see a “scripted” match.
It is off extreme importance that the game cleanses itself at the first given opportunity and gets to the depth of the problem that has been there in the background for too many years. Only a surgical process is going to help it rather than a half-hearted superficial effort.
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