Yusuf Pathan rejoicing after another match-winning knock
Indian batsman Yusuf Pathan is a happy man after playing his second match-winning knock in a One Day International for his country in the last month or so. The big-hitter came to the crease with the Indians in the mire, chasing 221 runs
for a win on a sluggish Newlands wicket.
The tourists had lost 5 wickets for 93 runs and were staring at a defeat when Yusuf turned the tables with a power packed display that rocked the hosts, helping the tourists to a tense 2 wicket win.
At the post match press conference Pathan claimed that he always wants to play aggressively and play match winning knocks whenever an opportunity beckons.
"If you let the bowler know you can play the shots, and you will play the shots, he will stay under pressure," Yusuf said after his match-winning innings. "I went in thinking that I will play my shots that I won't be in any hurry to play
those shots that I will wait for the balls in my area. That is my strong point, and I have been successful doing that."
The incredible part of his effort was that the wicket at the Newlands was not the kind of surface that made stroke play any easier at all, yet it was the brilliance of Pathan that made the wicket look easy.
"There was bounce in the pitch," Yusuf said. "But I knew if I played a few shots, things would get easier. If you hit the bowlers, the opposition gets onto the back foot. A lot of things run through the captain's mind, and you benefit
from that."
That presence can be an abstract concept, but it is one that Yusuf believes in and many feel that his uncluttered approach to batting has brought him a lot of success with the bat as well as a rather messy looking beard that he has been
supporting for a last few months.
On the other hand, the South African captain Graeme Smith's statement, said a lot about Yusuf's effort. "Yusuf was probably the difference between the two teams tonight," he said.
Yusuf has been known to play explosively throughout his career. He set the stadiums alight with a memorable century at the start of the last Indian Premier League season. In december, he scored another belligerent hundred that toppled
the luckless Kiwis in the fourth ODI in the recently concluded series.
In Tuesday's match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, Yusuf went out with the same mind set, and at the end of it all his efforts have brought the tourists a win and a 2-1 lead from virtually no where. The men in blue were down and out after the crushing
loss by more then 100 runs in the first ODI, yet bounced back to win the second and third games, although both the matches went down the wire and it was the poor finishing on part of the Proetas that cost them the games.
Yusuf would be aiming to repeat the dose to other opponents when the Indians give the World Cup a shot in a month’s time in home conditions.
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