Is Pakistan cricket in crisis?

Well it looks as though the Pakistan cricket is in crisis when the news broke out that the retired Pakistan batsman Mohammed Yousuf has been called back into the Pakistani 16 member squad for the upcoming one day series against England in England. Of course, since the past two years or so, nothing has been able to be told regarding Pakistan cricket. In the beginning, it was only a problem for Pakistan cricket team in Pakistan. But, now, the Pakistan team is facing unbearable defeats outside as well, with the most recent one being the loss in the 1^st and 2^nd tests against England.

Not only did Pakistan lose both the aforementioned tests but also they were bowled out for a score less than 100 in both the tests. They have to consider themselves lucky for not getting all out for a score less than 100 in all the four innings they played. Nevermind that they did well to bowl out the Aussies unexpectedly for a score of 88 in the first innings of the 2^nd test last month. In early 2009, almost all cricketing nations started boycotting their tours of Pakistan for reasons not necessary to be cited specially. And, the only team that toured Pakistan had to pay the price for the same.

And then, Pakistan did which no other team in the world could do when they spent more than a year without playing a test match. This was also the year which Pakistan spent without hosting a test match on its home soil which is evident. Not even Bangladesh were able to achieve such a feat and Pakistan must be proud to have entered the record books for the wrong reasons. With teams viz Australia, New Zealand,England and South Africa along with India (obviously) dropping plans to tour Pakistan, one had to wonder as to what made Sri Lanka tour the nation. Were the Sri Lankans trying to justify that they are lions indeed as their flag suggests!

Off late, their performance is also found following the security situation back home. They were the first team to lose all matches to any team when they lost three tests, five one dayers and the lone T20 game that was played late last year. West Indies - who toured Australia at the same time were successful in drawing a match. Following this, the PCB took a drastic step by dropping eight players from the side and later on dropped the idea itself which is a different issue. Now, the worst of all is that Mohammed Yousuf is called back to the one dayers that follow against England.

The PCB never called back Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar or Waqar Younis once they retired. But, the case with Yousuf is a different one and shows the insecurity in Pakistan cricket as well similar to the one in Pakistan.

14, 15 and 16 are the top scores

Well it was fascinating not only to see England win the first test at Nottingham yesterday but also the scorecard was one of its kind when the top three individual scores in the 2^nd innings of Pakistan's batting happened to be 14, 15 and 16. Of course, the score of 14 in the innings was scored by extras and that is no player. These three add up to 45 runs which is more than half of the total score of 80 put up by Pakistan. Recently, a couple of weeks back, Pakistan made news for the right reasons when they bowled Australia for 88 which was their first score below 100 to lose all ten wickets.

Now, they themselves make news this time for the wrong reasons when they lost all their ten wickets for a score 8 runs less than what the Aussies scored. Coincidentally, the aforementioned scorers were the only three which crossed the double digit mark. Extras apart, there were just two Pakistani batsmen who scored above ten and with one making up his mind in leaving out the tail end batsman Danish Kaneria who scored 16, the number reduces to just one batsman out of 11 scoring double digit. It is nothing but a tragedy that the top scorer in the innings happened to be a number 10 batsman in Kaneria.

One more thing that would fascinate all Pakistan cricket fans would be the fact that the top scorer for Pakistan, with both their innings combined would be another tail end batsman in Umer Gul when he top scored with an unbeaten 65 in the 1^st innings. That was the 3^rd highest individual score in the match after the English batsmen Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior notched up centuries for their team in the 1^st and the 2^nd innings respectively. It was a good toss to win by the England captain Andrew Struass who wisely chose to bat. The scorecard tells us the pitch which was found favoring the bowlers and batting 2^nd would have been inviting trouble.

Of course, hardly any captain wins the toss and elects to bowl first no matter n what pitch he is playing. The Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni can be excluded from the list who is often found making abnormal decisions with reasons which only he justifies after making a fool out of himself and his team. One can see 8 bowlers from the Pakistan side having the red cherry in their hands in the first innings when England scored 364 as against the only 4 bowlers from the English side. This showed the pressure that the Pakistan players were. This was unnecessary with three more sessions and four more days to go in the match. Pakistan needs to learn a lot. Better approach Bangladesh.

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

Yesterday's game between Australia and Pakistan in the second semi-finals of the T20 world cup was something different than reading some freeta's blog when a total of 191 was not only chased down successfully by the Aussies but also ended with the winning runs being scored in the form of a six. Aussies nevertheless were at one stage reeling at 105/5 from 12.3 over with their top five batsmen heading back towards the dressing room. Still, Mike Hussey had different things in mind when the wickets tumbling at the other end never seemed to bother him and he continued to sail with ease.

In yesterday's match, Mike Hussey was a T20 version of Michael Beaven who is famous for Australia's wins in the semi-finals of the 1996 and 1999 world cups. Whatsoever, no one can ever blame the Pakistani batsmen or their bowlers for their loss. The Pakistani batsmen got everything right with all of their top order batsmen barring Afridi contributing with the bat. And, a total of 191 on the board speaks for itself. Despite the score ticking for Pakistan, Dirk Nannes got an over maiden which was a highlight of Aussie bowling. It was just impossible for part time bowler to stop the flow of runs.

After the top bowlers namely Johnson, Nannes and Tait finished their spells, Clarke had no option but to toss the ball to Watson, Smith and David Hussey who added fuel to the Pakistani fire. The Aussies needless to be said kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with the scoreboard at one stage reading 105/5 as mentioned with Australia needing 87 runs from 45 balls at a rate of 2.00 runs every ball on an average. Though it has not happened for Australia in the past, this time the Aussie batsmen have been flawless with their approach to the T20 game.

Aussies have been unbeaten in this world cup when no one expected them to do so. Aussies have dominated the other two formats of the game for nearly decades which need not be cited specially but they had a problem with T20 format which forced Ponting to call it a day. With the T20 being the shortest version of the game, one has to give hats-off to Mike Hussey for bringing back Australia into the game. There is little time left in T20 game unlike in ODIs and tests. Hussey's innings gives rise to a new saying "Fast and steady wins the race".

Why is Ponting not concerned about tests?

The Australian captain Ricky Ponting is always found to be in the news for some or the other reasons. This might be for suggesting something new that sometimes might favor the cricketing world and at most of the times definitely favors the Australian cricket. It was Ponting who has a share in the worry that was found to haunt the ICC which feared that the advent of the T20 cricket may be the end of the road as far as the one dayers are considered. The other side of the coin also suggests that the T20 format of the game of cricket is not Australia's cup of tea.

Relax! This might not be the reason for Ricky Ponting to throw out such a comment. However, now Ponting has come out saying that "It is the number of one day games being played that is responsible for reduced crowd strength in Australian stadiums." Australia were found playing 10 one day internationals against Pakistan and West Indies in the past couple of months or so. Added to these were 6 test matches, with three games each against Pakistan and West Indies respectively. These 6 test matches took as much as 30 days compared to the 10 days taken away by ODIs.

Moreover, be it anywhere in the world, test cricket has hardly been able to draw people to the stadiums and Ponting is not found commenting on the issue. Ricky Ponting wants the number of one dayers to be reduced from 10 to 5 in the Australian summer. So, does Ponting insists that one series has 3 one day internationals and the other series has just 2 games? If one has to go by Ponting's words, there should have been 3 ODIs played against Pakistan and 2 ODIs against West Indies this summer. And it is not a big issue if test cricket is not able to draw crowds to the stadiums according to Ponting.

Next interesting fact is that Australia have been playing 10 one day internationals every summer. Like, there were 10 ODIs involving Australia with New Zealand and South Africa last year. And prior to that, there was the Commonwealth Bank series that hosted 14 ODIs minimum. This was the case even prior to that as well. And no one was found taking to the issue then. But, now Ponting comes out saying that the number of ODIs be reduced. Ponting suggests that due to the end of the summer vacations after which kids will have to return back to school, the number of spectators have reduced.

So, if Ponting's words are to be followed, ODIs have to be held only during vacations and nowhere in Australia otherwise.

Pakistan Totally Outplayed

What can anyone say about the Pakistan team which toured Australia and lost each and every encounter if faced? Pakistan were on the verge of victory on three occasions in the 3 tests, 5 one dayers and the only T20 game that was played yesterday at Melbourne. In the second test played at Sydney, Pakistani bowlers did well to contain the Aussie batsmen by bowling them all out for a score of 127, that in turn set many records for Pakistan. That was followed by Pakistan piling up 333 runs on the board, which was as good a follow on by a team batting first. But, the end result is that Pakistan lost the match by 36 runs.

Then, in the 1^st one dayer at Brisbane, Pakistan did well to put up a decent score of 274 on board and eventually, out of bad luck lost the game and took honors after the Aussie batsmen went till the last over to win the game by 5 wickets. Then, in the 3^rd ODI, though the Pakistani batsmen lost control in the initial stages of their chase of 286, there was an 85 run 5^th wicket partnership between Fawad Alam and Umer Akmal, that restored hopes of a Pakistani win until the tail-enders viz Rana Naved and Shahid Afridi made a mess by just slogging irresponsibly.

Then comes the fifth one day match held at Perth, where still Pakistani batsmen made a mess of their game by losing all their wickets for a partly total of 212. But, that was not all until the Aussie batsmen had trouble chasing the same partly total. The Australian batsmen lost wickets at regular intervals, with the pressure balancing more on the Aussie batsmen than on the Pakistani bowlers. But, eventually, the result was that Pakistan had still lost by 2 wickets. Another blow to the Pakistan team was the suspension of Shahid Afridi for tasting the ball on the field.

Finally, in the T20 game held at Melbourne, Pakistan did everything to take home a win by first bowling the Aussie batsmen for 127 and then start the run chase the way it was supposed to be. Still, the final result of the game was no different. In defending a modest total of 127, even a 1 run victory is worth an innings win in case that can happen. The only thing that the Pakistani players can boast of is that they lost 1 wicket less than what the Aussie team could manage. Finally, needless to be said, the Pakistan team was totally outplayed, the reasons regarding the same being hardly of any weight.

Pakistan prepared for the worst?

The last time a team was found heading to Australia and coming back empty handed was Zimbabwe way back in 2003 when they lost both the test matches to Australia and then lost all the eight matches in the then Victoria Bitter series with 4 loss each to India and Australia. That was the test series where, in the first test Australia's Mathew Hayden scored a world record individual score of 380 runs breaking the 14 year old record held by the West Indian legend Brian Lara. Now, Pakistan after having been defeated in 3 tests and 4 ODIs are heading in the same direction.

It is no doubt that there have been teams in the past as well who have been whitewashed by Australia in tests. There was England team that lost all 5 matches in the Ashes 2006-07 and then there was Sri Lanka who lost both the test matches to Australia in 2007-08. Very few teams like India have been lucky not to have come back without winning even a single test match. India were able to win one test and draw another one on their last tour to Australia. Prior to that, South Africa managed to draw their first test at Perth in 2005-06 thus avoiding whitewash though they were not able to win.

Luckily, the West Indies were able to draw the second test at Adelaide in December last yer. But, when it came to the one dayeres, in the last decade there have been almost all major cricketing nations who have been a part of the VB series which is now played as a bilateral series under the sponsorship of Commonwealth bank. Though India was not able to win a game against Australia in 1999-00, they had a win against Pakistan in that year. So has been the case in the following years where a team takes home atleast one victory from the series be it against any opposition.

But, this time the Pakistan team that is currently under tour of Australia are found to break that jinx in case they lose the remaining one dayer to be played at Perth and the only T20 match that is bound to follow that. And moreover, Pakistan has not been whitewashed atleast in the recent past over almost a decade by any team. even in their last meeing with Australia, Pakistan despite losing the series could manage to win 2 out of the 3 one dayers and the T20 game also with it. Their worst defeat in the past decade has been 4-1 against India in 2006 and against New Zealand in 2004.

Ryan Harris is hardly surprising

Well this has been the routine for me whenever I go through the cricket news on various cricket sites that I'm not satisfied with the way comments are made taking into account a player's flash in the pan brilliance. Just after one good performance, the Australian spearhead- Ryan Harris is making news as a surprise for Australia. This, I guess cannot get stupid anymore. I just remember some commentator making an all rounder out of Krishnamachari Shrikanth when he became the first player for India to have had 2 five wicket hauls in ODI cricket. And so has been Ajith Agarkar.

The world needed just one good innings from Ajith Agarkar to rate him as another Kapil Dev for India when he smashed the Zimbabwean bowlers to score the fastest fifty for India when he did it off just 22 balls. I don't know whether it is because both Kapil Dev and Ajith Agarkar achieved that feat against Zimbabwe that such comparisons are made. And, the moment Irfan Pathan is found getting the ball to swing; he is rated to someone like Wasim Akram. This was one thing that even Chaminda Vass couldn't afford to do despite following Akram for decades.

However, both Ajith Agarkar and Irfan Pathan are not being seen anywhere in the international arena at present. And then I can recall the way Ajantha Mendis bowled Sri Lanka to victory in the Asia cup 2008 who not only became the highest wicket taker in that series but was also awarded the man of the series. Later on he bacame the fastest bowler in termas of matches to take 50 wickets in one day internationals. However, statistics suggest that most of Mendis' wickets came against lesser known teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and UAE. The only exception being his 6 wicket haul against India in the finals of the 2008 Asia cup.

But still, he could not take the game forward for Sri Lanka. Mendis never became the threat that he was. And the most funniest of them all being the comparison between Avishkar Salvi and Glenn McGrath with both of them sharing only the bowling action. And, I would be glad if anyone could tell me where Avishkar Salvi is now and what is he doing. But, nothing can be as bad as the one under consideration where Ryan Harris is in full praise for his 5 wicket haul in his maiden game and that too against Pakistan who have so far not been able to win even a single match at OZ. So has been Saqlain Mushtaq who at one stage was the leading wicket-taker for Pak only to be sacked for almost a decade.

A Courageless Aussies captain

Well it was nice to see the Australians not compromising upon anything in the third test against Pakistan especially after the Aussies had to pay the price for taking the opposition lightly which saw Australia losing all ten wickets for a partly total of 127 on day 1 at Sydney. This was evident for the first day's play at Hobart where Australia declared at 519 for the loss of 7 wickets. This was followed by Pakistan getting all out for 301 runs that gave the Aussies a lead of more than 200 runs. Though the Aussies dominance is to be appreciated, some things need a rethinking.

Ricky Ponting, in addition to posting a mammoth total of 519 on the board, it looks like Ponting never has or had the courage to impose follow on. It would have been a better move by the Aussie captain had he imposed a follow on not only for Pakistan has proved to be an under rated team in test cricket but also owing to the fact that Australia lead the series 2-0 and a series loss for Australia is totally out of question. Moreover, as I mentioned, Pakistan have proved to be no match for Australia when they couldn't draw a win after bowling out the Aussies for 127 in the 1st innings of the Sydney test.

It has been almost a decade since Pakistan has last won a test match let alone a test series against Australia. And a loss in this test would mean a third consecutive whitewash for Pakistan against Australia. Previously, Australia was a world conquering side with the likes of Shane Warne, McGrath, Gilchrish, Hayden and others who could single handed tear apart any opposition. But, this time, it is not the case with Australia that is playing Pakistan. May be even Pakistan is not the team that it was a couple of years back when Australia canceled their tour to the country.

So, keeping the aforementioned factors in mind, it would not have been a wrong decision had Ricky Ponting gone in to impose a follow on on the Pakistani batsmen. Worst come, Australia might end up losing the match. But, what has the series got to do regarding the Aussies? In case Australia manage to bowl the opposition, it would be winning by an innings or settling for something less, Australia will have to bat again and chase a small total which is highly unlikely. Even on earlier tours, Australia have hardly imposed follow on against Pakistan, which finally saw Australia winning the match by 491 runs.

So, courage lies in taking such decisions rather than just sweep the series as though it is a mere formality.