Revival of international cricket
THE way, the Karachi drawn Test ended, is perhaps the most exciting manner a cricket fixture can terminate; matched in living memory by none as fortunes fluctuated in a see-saw battle between the bat and the ball until the very last over, as Pakistan valiantly dug in for an unparalleled fight-back lasting nearly six sessions; not just to save the match but at one point even contemplating to go for a possible run chase.
All this was possible only with a very sporting 2nd innings declaration by the Aussies when the match looked in their pocket had they made Pakistan follow on with a mammoth 408-run first inning deficit after being bundled out for 148, and nearly two and a half days still remaining.
The generated excitement, also owed itself to a sporting track in Karachi, unlike the dead surface prepared in Rawalpindi contrary to its reputation of the past.
That both the highly rated star-studded visitors as well as the starved hungry crowd were more than compensated with a responsive track in Karachi, is the least the Cricket Management ought to have done rather than play negatively safe.
Well done everyone. Coming to the comparative showing by the two sides in the long-awaited Test series, while the visitors showed their mettle with key batting performances from their in-form Pakistan-born opener Usman Khwaja, former Captain Steve Smith, Marnuslabuschagne and Keeper Carey, their pacers and spinners alike stuck to the task of immaculate line and length and invariably bowling to their field.
Pakistani batters on the other hand barring skipper Baber Azam, promising new find opener Abdullah Shafique and the gutsy keeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan who showed their resilience, testing patience and class, most others were a disappointment; particularly the highly touted and talented Fawad Alam who had made a belated but resounding come-back to mute those who had criminally ignored a promising star for a decade, and the all-rounder Faheem Ashraf who has been consistently failing with the bat.
Despite Imamul Haq getting into record books with centuries in both innings and a ton by Azhar Ali on a dead pitch in the inconsequential 1st Test, both of them failed to provide a decent start in the Karachi Test as they brought undue pressure upon the side and put it on the defensive for most part of the match.
When you are not able to negotiate swinging fast deliveries and not so lethal spin bowling and offer your pad plumb before the wicket instead of the bat at the very start of the innings, then surely there is something inherently wrong with your timing, reflexes and shot selection.
Pakistan’s bowling attack which was fairly matched with that of the visitors on paper, barring Shaheen Afridi at times, lacked application with their up and down stuff offering width, as they clearly did not bowl to their field; offering boundaries on a platter to their opponents.
Both Sajid and Nauman spun better than the Aussies, but with an odd slip and a gully, they let the batters off the hook and offered them an open arena to score freely.
Aussie bowling by comparison was bang on target most of the time as some great shots went straight to the fielders and even class batters like Babar Azam had to toil hard to manufacture boundaries.
They created pressure upon the batters by surrounding them with close-in fielders consistently; at one time eight plus the bowler when spinners were on, which brought them the prized scalp of Babar Azam who was a stroke away from his double hundred, while they had slips in place including a leg slip at times to aid and arm their pace attack spearheaded by Mitchel Stark, Pat Cummings and Green.
This is by no means to take credit away from Babar Azam who led from the front with his narrowly missed double ton, to head a list of all-time greats in the second inning, and partnered patiently with Abdullah Shafique and then with Mohammad Rizwan to frustrate the visitors and salvage a draw; snatching sure victory out of Aussie jaws; not to forget the rear guard action with dior determination by tail-ender Nauman whose score of Zero facing 18 deliveries successfully according to Rizwan equalled his hundred.
Nauman has displayed his metal twice in a row and should bat a notch up the order.
I for one was beginning to get a little edgy over the Pakistani skipper’s lack of form with the bat particularly during the just concluded Pakistan Premier League and the international series which followed against lowly placed sides.
He was constantly getting out chopping the ball onto his stumps trying to cut.
A player of his class was expected not to repeat the same mistake twice, besides his apparent lack of application over field placement and bowling changes in his capacity as the skipper.
The fact that the Pakistani squad was hit by niggles with some key pacers to start with, one is bewildered at exclusion of Test Pacer Mohammad Abbas on grounds of fitness when he had performed admirably for the national side in the past, and lately for his English County.
Similarly, opener Shan Masood who forced his way into selection for the long awaited white ball encounter against the Australians with stellar performances against international sides as well as in the just concluded PPL, has so far merely made the Bench in the two Tests, whereas one expected him to open with Abdullah Shafique in preference to the unpredictable Imamulhaq.
The purpose behind these suggestions is to arm the side with the best talent available including Harris Rauf who should be fit for the decider in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, where one expects a supporting track for both the bat and the ball, to provide a Test match feast worthy of its reputation to the crowd waiting to be entertained by top teams of the world after such a long lull due to conspiracies against the Pakistani side; its arch enemy first unleashing bookies to smear key players, and then orchestrating terrorist attack against Sri Lankan team after it refused to oblige India to cancel their tour of Pakistan.
Hats off to them for being in the forefront again to herald revival of International cricket in Pakistan.
Although the decision about the final line-up would already have been taken by the time this piece mounts the Press, one expects both Shan and Harris if not Abbas, to make the playing eleven on 21 March.
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
