Salman Butt’s captaincy vs. Andrew Strauss complacency
Pakistan has emerged victorious in the Oval test in great style, proving their critics wrong who had destined the team to be worse than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
The amount of potential and promise the young Pakistani pace attack hold is mind boggling. The entire picture for a Pakistani audience is just pristine - Mohammad Amir thrusting his ball from around the wicket at the batsmen, who has no intention of playing it till it reverse swings towards him and the batsman has no option left but to play. Mohammad Asif, even though not the fastest pace man in the world sure has the perfect mix of line and length, paired with his nagging accuracy and vicious swing. Asif’s bowling has been tremendous, not to mention Wahab Riaz who has impressed the selectors in his debut by paddling his way through the English batting line.
Mohammad Yousuf’s inclusion in the squad has given the Pakistan side some much needed confidence. The veteran batsman with his brilliant stroke play played unabashedly against the English side, emanating confidence and maturity that is reflective of his personality. The younger players felt more confident in his presence as well, which made them play spectacularly. However the man behind all of this is http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt. Surely many have been critical of the young lad, but his performance as captain has been commendable, and his productive equation with Waqar has for sure helped yield results. Butt has led his team to two test wins from four, against the top cricketing sides of the world and for that alone, he deserves a nice little pack of chocolates from his critics.
The recent form of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 and his cronies for making the most preposterous of decisions whenever they found a chance to do so.
As far as the Englishmen are concerned, this was something awaiting them for they had so far underestimated the Pakistan side, following the test match at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston. Following their wins at both these venues, which would definitely count as an A grade in modern day GCSE examination; they took the test a little too lightly at Oval. England’s batting has been fragile throughout the series, who were simply bidding time till they were truly exploited by a lethal bowling attack.
Andrew Strauss has not been able to find his form, and is adamant that this is not the worst defeat he has had to face during the tenure of his captaincy. However, his lack of form has drawn scathing criticism from critics. Kevin Pietersen, while talking to the media, admitted that it is the captain’s habit of getting out against left arm bowlers. Amir accounted for his dismissal on 4 occasions out of 5 times in the test series thus far, while he was dismissed by left arm debutant Wahab Riaz in remaining instance.
The seamers are not the only one’s causing trouble, for Saeed Ajmal has proved to be the tortoise outdoing the hare, in this particular competition. Moreover, “England’s dyslexia against Saeed Ajmal's bewildering display of off-breaks and ‘doosras’ at the Oval” has caused the side to have Merlyn in the nets, who had helped England cope with Shane Warne in 2005.
If the heavens send the rain on Thursday, and the match gets underway in overcast conditions, then Lords will yet again prove to be quite the batting graveyard. Already, the pitch has not seen sufficient sunlight to bake it hard and it is expected to be one underprepared pitch.
The defeat at the Oval might have helped the English overcome their complacency, but it has also proven that Pakistan now know fully well that they have the potential to draw the series from 2-0 down - a feat that has not been achieved in the cricketing history of this country. It will surely be a battle of nerves and Salman Butt has proven his mettle as a mature captain who knows how to handle the media well. This will surely be a clash between confident Salman and the not so complacent Andrew Strauss and only time can tell as to who will have the last laugh.
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