India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's 2nd test day 4 review:

Day started with some edge to Pakistan, and with one good session they could have had India on mat, as well with two good sessions India could have Pakistan under pressure. None of that was to happen. Sessions were played with India having some edge and Pakistan getting it back in last session and teams finishing fourth day on equal footing. India should take heart that they reached on equal level with Pakistan in this match after finishing first three days defending the test.

Dhoni and Pathan brought India close to Pakistan total and tail wagged to cross the Pakistani total. That will give India psychological advantage in the game. To dwell on Dhoni, he proved me wrong by scoring the way he did despite coming in before 300. He is proving to be a great find for India. Best part is that he showed character in defending and playing resolute when it was required. This is good for India in coming days. Pathan scored third big score in last four innings and if he can get his bowling somewhat in shape, India can be in good shape in coming days. Indian tale wagged as predicted, this was to be, this tail has added 100 runs in most of the games lately. That makes life easy for coach and captain.

Pakistan came out well, batted well. Butt remains a But? based on his abilities seen in this series till now. Younis clearly showed that he is turning a leaf from good to great. Now since he has to captain in last test, its good that he has confidence of runs behind him. Akmal is also learning fast, just hope that his runs aren’t due to a purple patch and he is really building in a good prospect.

The bulletin can’t be ended without the behavior of Pakistani team on the field. It really looks that they are under tremendous pressure and are really frustrated with India chasing 600 run in two tests consecutively. The bowlers had England on the mat on same wickets, while Indian batsmen are taking on them even counter attacking. There is always this feeling that Indians are batting second and still bowlers not able to do much to give Pakistan a good grip of the game. All said and done, Shoaib bowling a beamer and not even apologizing isn’t good for Pakistan cricket. Afridi has been reprimanded by match referee for using foul language. Can’t have spinner like Danish Kaneria coming down after every ball and trying to look batsmen in eye that is hilarious at times. Indian batsmen took all the sledging that went overboard in stride and played like professionals. That showed that this team has strength to play tough situations. Dravid did complain to match referee and that was right thing to do, we are playing cricket here and not Rugby.

Since there isn’t much to discuss from match, going forward to discuss the behavior on field. It’s not good for Pakistan in long run, since you don’t want youngsters to learn this and lose focus on the game. It will give Pakistan team a bad reputation that they can do without. Kaneria jumping and showing off to Dhoni was hilarious after the guy had hit 144 runs. You stand and clap for the same, or just let it go.

Coming to fifth day, match is heading for draw, pitch is still decent for batting. Pakistan can take some more batting practice, don’t know how much will be enough. Finally its cricket and any guesses are hazardous.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's 2nd test day 5 review:

Pakistan should not play home test matches in this weather if the result would be dead pitches like the two we have witnessed so far in this series. It makes us look bad, defensive and gives the opposition the impression that we are afraid of losing home games. The second test match, just like the first one, ended in a tame draw. The previous two series between arch rivals, India and Pakistan, were closely fought and even the drawn games were action filled. No such thing has happened so far in this series. The batsmen have improved their averages, the out of sort players have taken time to settle down to play long innings and the bowlers have suffered non-stop. I agree people like to see aggressive stroke play so pitches all across the world are now accommodated for that, we rarely ever see a green top like we use to in the good ol’ days. But the pitches for the last two games have been just unacceptably in favor of the batsmen. One team has to play foolishly twice to hand a victory to the other team otherwise producing a result is next to impossible.

The day started with Pakistan comfortably ahead and Kamran Akmal raced to the 70’s before rush of blood made him play a little too far away from his body and gave a catch in gully to Kumble. Yousaf joined Younis Khan and recorded his second century of the series as Younis himself helped him self to another score in the 190’s. Yet again he was unable to convert that into a double hundred but nevertheless he is having a good time out there. Although his runs are scored on placid wickets but he did have a good run against India in India as well so he seems to enjoy playing the Indian bowlers. After Younis and Yousaf only Razzaq could reach double figures as a sudden rush of wickets saw Pakistan getting all out and Indians had to come out to bat some overs for the sake of formality.

With two high scoring drawn games all eyes are set on the Karachi match and although there have been talks about the fact that due to better climate in the city it is possible to create a supporting pitch but I personally am not sure if this will happen. Last time the two teams played at this venue was in an ODI and India has piled up a mammoth total of over 300 runs and Pakistan very nearly chased it down as they also scored over 300 but fell 12 short of the target, if memory serves me right. This means that the pitch in Karachi is also suited for batting and although efforts would be made to make it a little more sporting, I am not sure just how much it would offer the bowlers. One would hope it would offer enough help to ensure a result, that’s all everyone wants. At this time I think the players and the people of both nations are bored and tired of the past two games and they’d rather see their opposing team win then have another tame draw

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's 2nd test day 5 review:

Another batting feast came to an end. Pakistan’s reluctance to go for runs in morning was baffling. Though when one looks back at the way wickets came down in heap with in some 3-4 over at the end, one realizes that may be Pakistan think tank knew what they are doing. Now it becomes clear, Pakistan was playing with intent of first saving the test during first hr or so. Indians bowled well so run rate wasn’t upped. Pakistan was clear that they aren’t going to lose wicket. By the time Pakistan get requisite 350+, they were clear that there isn’t enough time to get India out, hence take batting practice. This made life easier for India with no pressure at all.

This tactic of Pakistan can be seen as practical, but surely it wasn’t bold. At least there should have been an attempt to get some fast runs by sending Afridi up the order in place of Yosuf. What pressure can do and what no pressure can do was seen when Indian bowlers run through Pakistani lower order. Defensive tactic has given India again moral victory at the end of second test. Chasing targets of 600 and followed by bowling Pakistan out twice on this pitch will give India lots of confidence going in third and final test.

Whatever Pakistan establishment may say, there has been very defensive intent from Pakistan in this series till now. From India’s perspective playing 5 bowlers for this match was an indication of aggression, though pitch has nothing for the bowlers. That made this match such a boring on fifth day.
Bowling by Dhoni can be seen in two ways, one it was a farce and final nail in the boredom of this test. Other way, it was one way to break monotony and Dravid to show to his bowlers that they are being sissy. Whatever it was, it worked like a charm and seems to affect the concentration of batsmen. May be it sort of indicated to Pakistan dressing room as match is over and India has thrown the towel and that made them come to play with no mental plan and wickets tumbled. It’s more of an analysis after the events are over so take it by pinch of salt.

Now we have another match with a world record, with maximum number of sixes. That shows the flatness of the pitch. More or less for a six batsmen need to go for the loop of the bat, and that’s where if bowl is doing something it will deviate and batsmen loses wicket, point in case Dhoni’s wicket in first innings. On this pitch batsmen realize nothing like that is going to happen and merrily swung bat and sent ball outside stadium. This test may have also made some kind of record with three players getting out in nineties, if somebody is keeping track of that.
Over all, India had menace of Y & Y to take care of in third test. India’s bigger problem is Younis, somehow Yosuf does look like getting out but Younis just seems to be going on and on. Chances are India will revert back to 4 bowler format for Karachi if pitch has something to offer, and the person who will sit out will be Harbhazan Singh. He hasn’t done anything at all till now in this series.

Final nail in coffin of this test was put by experts; I heard that R.P Singh was named Man of the Match. Now that’s not done by any imagination. That’s was the biggest farce of this match. Younis was the candidate, followed by Dhoni, since Younis made maximum runs and Dhoni’s inning was the one that had maximum impact on the result of this match.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of 3rd test, day 1:

We want to call it absolute mayhem of a day, than may be its right. Day started with literal knock out punch, with Pakistan not knowing what hit them. They staggered a bit to regain consciousness. They got few more punches till they regained consciousness. Once on feet, they started counter punches. India wasn’t expecting this. By the time India realized there is a rearguard action taking place, it had few punches and was staggering. Before India could have regrouped came knockout punches and India was about to lose consciousness, when end of the day came to save them. The respite is not necessary for long since Pakistan will be back fresh tomorrow morning.

Prediction, Pakistan has won the match already unless Indian rear guard action kicks off tomorrow and get India at least 100+ runs lead on day 2. Its simple scenario, even if India reaches close to Pakistan total, chasing anything above 200 on this pitch isn’t easy and India will be looking down the barrel. The 100+ run lead doesn’t look possible.

I remember Michale Holding’s pitch report of ball holding on the surface and it looks like that was absolutely correct prediction. Ball after ball were bowled on seam by Pakistani bowlers and they got bite from the wicket and one after another came great deliveries to take wickets. Almost none of Indian batsmen can be faulted for losing wicket. All the deliveries were wicket taking deliveries.

We have been talking about Akmal coming long way during last few matches. If anybody had any doubt that Pakistan has found a great player, it was laid to rest today. It was an innings of absolute class and temperament. Shot after shot was amazing and I will leave at that since more you praise less it will be about this innings and this inning could decide the fate of the match. Shoaib seems to have really improved his batting, his large three scores came in with last year and this year. This shows that he is a greatly improved player.

Now India has work cutout, they have 4 players capable of scoring runs two on crease and two to come. All these four have to fire and at least we need to see on century before India will be out of woods in this test.

Can’t but spare a thought for Irfan who gave India a dream start with hatrick in first over. What ever experts may say all three were quality balls and with pitch having all the spite, batsmen can’t be blamed.

Rarely in test cricket would we have seen such a turn around within a day of a test? Indian’s fans will be hoping for a reverse gear to this turnaround tomorrow. That doesn’t look like coming this time to me. Pakistan is firmly in driver’s seat to win this test.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of 3rd test, day 1:

What a start to the 3rd test match between Pakistan and India. After two batting paradises in the previous games this pitch offered some assistance to the bowlers and they took full advantage of it. The first over of this match had more excitement then the rest of the two games combined as Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to record a hat trick in the first over. He accounted for Salman Butt with a ball that moved away and took the outside edge, the inform Younis and Yousaf were accounted for with big in swingers as Younis was plumb leg before and Yousaf played all over the ball to loose his stumps. Imran Farhat looked good while he was there but then flashed hard unnecessarily at a ball so far outside the off stump that in ODI’s it would have been called a wide. Faisal Iqbal was a little unlucky to be adjudged leg before to ball he didn’t offer a shot on.

The hero of the test in Mohali last year Kamran Akmal and Razzaq then joined to steady the ship and although Razzaq heroics were not as much as in the last year at Mohali but Akmal’s innings was just a master piece. He never looked under pressure, played his shots all around the wicket and most of all made other batsmen realize that the pitch was not as hard to bat on as they bad it seem. Yes, there was something in it for the bowlers to even out the contest but it still was a decent track to bat on and the ideal way to play on this pitch would be follow Kamran’s example. Unlike his more accomplished team mates he played most balls of the back foot to account for any seam or swing movement and played the ball very late and watched it till the last minute. With the ball swinging that was the perfect way to play unlike the top order that was trying to get to the pitch of the ball by moving the front foot. That gives them less of a chance to account for swing and seam movements that the bowlers were generating yesterday.

After Razzaq’s departure for 45 Kamran was partnered by the growingly dependant tailender in Pakistani ranks, Shoaib Akhtar. Shoaib played some defensive shots, some aggressive ones and yet again was agonizingly closer to his first half century before holding out for 45. Pakistan made a 245 all out, which is by no means a great score but looking back at the innings Pakistan were at one stage 6-39 which makes the eventual score look rather decent.

Indians must have been delighted by their effort in the field, they must have wanted to restrict Pakistan for even less then 245 but in the end getting the opposition all out for 245 in test cricket is no meant feat and they must have been looking at the prospect of batting Pakistan out of the game by taking a big first innings lead and putting the inexperienced batting line up under pressure. But the Pakistani bowlers had different ideas. Asif and Shoaib bowled brilliantly with the new ball. Asif accounted for Dravid with one that pitched on off and just shaped away taking the edge of Dravid’s bat and then taking Laxman’s middle stump with a big off cutter. Shoaib got Sehwag to edge one to the wicketkeeper, Sehwag was clearly undone by a little extra bounce and sheer pace and then to make matters worse Razzaq went through the defenses of Sachin Tendulkar to 4-56 for India. Ex-captain Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh played out the remaining overs with any more damage and at the end of the day India were in some trouble at 74-4 with the last recognized batting pair at the crease. Although Pathan and Dhoni are still to come Pakistan would be delighted by the effort of the bowlers as they accounted for the top 4

The first session of day two would be very interesting, if Yuvraj and Ganguly can negotiate the testing time in the first hour they would be in a good position to build a solid partnership and maybe they won’t be able to get a big lead over Pakistan but in this game it seems like every run will count.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of 3rd test, day 2:

Only two days have passed since this match started and we are already into the third innings, that must be some indicator of the sporting wicket. It’s really isn’t as bowler friendly as the stats suggest, the Pakistanis played recklessly in the first innings and the Indians had to face some good and disciplined bowling. The bowl that got Laxman would have gone through the defenses of any batsmen. India started of with 4 wickets down and Ganguly and Yuvraj on the crease. Although they did initially seemed to have taken the responsibility of taking the game away from Pakistan, only Yuvraj looked assured in his stay. Ganguly was there for a while but he always looked like battling to be there. Determined he was, classy he was not. He was so determined to not throw his wicket away that he even let some wayward balls pass by, without trying to score some easy runs. I do feel sorry for him, he was a class act and an inspiring leader not too long ago and now he is fighting for his place in the side.

India never really got any momentum going in their batting as evident from the fact that none of their batsmen scored a half century. Pakistan would have actually secured a much bigger lead then the 7 runs we eventually got if we wouldn’t have been so generous in dishing out extras and dropping catches. I don’t know when our team will learn to be a little more disciplined in the field. Even if we don’t take the catches into account the ground fielding from some players was just downright horrible. Players like Salman Butt who were worse then average fielders when they got in the side have improved their fielding through hard work, yet Danish Kaneria after quite some time with the team still seems to be a pedestrian in the field. No one is asking him to be a Johnty Rohdes but atleast try to show some commitment. It’s not all about taking wickets and hitting sixes and fours in cricket, there’s a lot more to it then that.

In the end Pakistani pacers bowled magnificently despite the lack of support from the fieldsmen to get India out without letting them pass our total. Yes, Irfan Pathan played well to score 40 odd runs but he was also dropped twice before he scored those runs. Had we held on to our catches Pakistan could have taken at least 50-60 runs lead which might prove crucial as this match progresses.

The Pakistani openers, for a change, provided a solid start as they both made well deserved half centuries. Although I was a little disappointed at the way both openers threw away their wickets after building a solid base to launch a big one from. The two most experienced batsmen in the side, Younis and Yousaf then ensured that there were no more hiccups before the close of play and at the end we were closing in to a lead of 200 with 8 second innings wickets still intact.

Pakistan no doubt have the upper hand at this time but only just, this pitch has eased up and is a lot easier to play on now. Pakistan will be eying a lead of as many runs as possible. There are still 3 more days remaining in this game so time is not a worry. The batsmen need to take their time settling in and provide the bowlers a big lead to bowl with. After this par we still have Faisal Iqbal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and the first inning hero Kamran Akmal so there is plenty of batting to come and all these batsmen need to do their part to build a healthy lead. If India can strike early tomorrow morning then they have a chance, the longer these two batsmen stay the dimmer India’s chances will get to take this match and the series.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of 3rd test, day 2:

I wrote on during Day 5, Test 1:“On a pitch helpful to bowlers, Pakistan has only three accomplish batsmen Pakistan has Y & Y and Inzy. Hence Pakistan has to be careful in pitches they make, it has to have just right support to bowlers, and shouldn’t become a landmine where Indian bowlers can have feast on its batting lineup.”

How prophetic these words be is clear now during third test. It’s a pitch with just enough for bowlers in it, and Pakistani bowling came good. All the Indian batsmen looked in good nick. From Tendulkar a day before to Yuvraj, Ganguly, Pathan all looked in good nick till that one ball happened. That’s the credit to be given to Pakistani bowlers to bowl that ball. The bowling was disciplined and accurate. Shoaib created pressure and other capitalized. Asif has done good job in this match, though Pakistan’s quest of pace bowler hasn’t ended yet. Asif won’t fill in the shoes of Wasim and Waqar in times to come.

Match is clearly in favor of Pakistan, all India has look forward to be that all the batsmen look in good nick. Everybody got a good start and than got out. Hence there is some light at the end of the tunnel. I heard Imran Khan saying after day 2 that this test can end in a draw, I don’t see that happening. As well that confuses me, what does Imran sees in this test so he feels that it is going to be a drawn test.

India should be saying adieu to one of its best captains and cricketer, Saurav Ganguly after this match. Its more painful to see him go like this, since he based on his innings did show that he still has cricket left in him. He looked in good nick and accomplished. Ganguly has to play the innings of his life in second innings or he will find it very difficult to get back in this team. This team needs bowlers and not batsmen.

On final note, this match has become so predictable about India losing it; rest is going through the motions of completing the formality. For Indian supporters, I think only true cricket lovers will sit through this slow death. Others would have already gone about life awaiting another moment of glory sometime in future.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of 3rd test, day 3:

Apparently the pitch is not playing anymore tricks as Pakistan continued piling runs on the third day of this test match. Younis and Yousaf continued their good form and scored half centuries to build on the solid foundation provided by the openers, Afridi blasted his way to a half century and Faisal Iqbal played majestically for his century. Razzaq was still out there with Iqbal approaching his half century as Pakistan took their lead beyond the massive 500 mark.

With two well set batsmen on the crease and the first innings hero Akmal still waiting in the wings India is looking at a massive target to chase. Pakistan will probably try to score quickly till lunch tomorrow and extend their lead beyond 600 which will essentially put the game out of India’s reach. Akmal and Razzaq are both capable of striking some lusty blows. I think Pakistan needs to start hitting out as soon as they go out tomorrow morning since the lead is pretty big as is, but we need to give our bowlers as much time as we can to have a go at India. We should play tomorrow morning at a brisk pace and ideally, we should declare about half hour or forty minutes before lunch to leave the Indian batsmen to face the uncomfortable few overs. Shoaib can go flat out, bend his back since he would know he could only get a couple of overs in before the lunch break. If we get a wicket during that phase it’s a bonus, if not then it’s no big deal and the bowlers can start fresh after lunch.

I wrote earlier that this pitch was not as bowler friendly as the first inning stats suggested, I also don’t think it’s as flat as the second innings stats are suggesting. There is still some juice in it for the bowlers and if they bowl in the right areas they can still ask the batsmen some testing questions. Shoaib has been bowling well in this match, he might have taken only two wickets in the first innings but he roughs up the batsmen and the bowlers from the other end take advantage of it. Asif bowls a very nice line and frustrates the batsmen with that nagging off stump line, many of his balls can be left alone but he does have that stock ball that nips back so it’s not easy to leave the ball every time.

Pakistan has ended each day of this match making with a slight advantage and finally today we ended with odds stacked pretty heavily in our favor. We don’t need to get complacent, there is still a lot of cricket to be played here and the players need to stay focused and finish the job. We’ve got the momentum with us; all we need is some disciplined display from our team, especially the fielders. Since the pitch has eased up a bit we need to start hanging on to the catches that come our way and InshAllah we will drive home the advantage we have worked so hard to gain.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of 3rd test, day 3:

If people say that there is life after death may be India has some thing left in this match. India should thank its stars that they had Faisal nearing his century that saved them playing atleast 5-6 overs before end of the play. Mr. Chappel says India can still draw this test, Imran Khan said that a day before. That confuses me and I have no idea where these two greats are coming from. Every single Pakistani batsmen got atleast a half century before returning to Pavilion. Now if that’s an indication on the pitch, may be India has atleast some thing to look for to make a fight of this match. India will be well served during oneday series if they make a fight out of it before going down.
India has fought back twice in this series, both the times facing total of around 600. Even if I believe that this pitch has become another Lahore or Faisalabad. The pressure of fourth innings will not be easy to manage. If I am Pakistani supporter, I will start celebrating.

On field Pakistani players have been excellent with the skills, though have clearly been found wanting in behavior. This is an indication of pressure they are in to win this series. India has clearly failed to capitalize on that pressure. It will be a joke if one of the administrator comes back and says that series was played in friendly and cordial environment. It was clearly a series which had intensity of Pakistan and India games. There were no friends this time, it was a war out there in middle.

Back to match, Pakistan may have missed a trick by not forcing the scoring rate. A rate of 4.02 looks good, though that’s the normal or lower than what Pakistan is capable of achieving and a lead of 600+ could have made life so much easier. Somehow I have a hunch that Pakistan will again come to bat on 4th day morning. This is from the perspective of Pakistan’s defensive strategy across this series. They will like to get a score of 600+, and as well put match out of India’s reach even in case India plays till end of 5th day. If Pakistan does that, it can be really foolhardy since that will take away one more session from them to bowl India out.
I will like Pakistan to declare and let give its bowlers full 2 days to bowl India out. Nobody has chased 500+ runs to win a test match. Even if India does it first time in 125 years of test cricket, than that's the risk worth taking.

For an Indian supporter, he hangs with words of two greats Imran and Greg Chappel, and that all the Indian batsmen did look in good nick during first innings before excellent deliveries accounted for them.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of 3rd test, day 4:

What an emphatic victory for Pakistan to silence all their critics talking about our negative tactics. I wrote yesterday that Pakistan should declare a little before lunch and that’s what they did, I also wrote that the pitch I not as flat as Pakistani batsmen made it look like and if the bowlers bowl in the right areas they is still something in it for them. That is precisely what Pakistani bowlers did when it was our turn to bowl and the celebrated Indian lineup crumbled under pressure and intensity of the Pakistani attack and was bowled out for less then 300 for the second time around in the match. I really think the credit should be given where it’s due. Pakistani batsmen played responsibly in the 2nd innings to set up a mammoth total for India, the Indian coach said so that the bowlers and fielders did a good job but there was nothing in the pitch for them. Maybe Greg Chappell can start admitting when his team is not playing well and his tactics are not working. Indian bowlers did not do a good job, the pitch was not as flat as they made it look like, and I also do agree with one of the cricinfo authors that Irfan Pathan should be questioned about the sudden loss of chunks of pace. One day he bowls in the lower to mid 80 mph, the next he cant even touch 80 mph. What exactly happens to him, why does he loose paces mysteriously in the middle of a game.

Pakistan started the day with an audacious assault at the Indian bowling this morning, much to the dislike of almost all “experts” commenting on the game. They wanted Pakistan to declare right away so our bowlers can have more time to get the Indians out but I totally agreed with the tactics of Younis. He first made sure that if Indians were flirting with any ideas of going for the runs they get that thought out of their head. The “experts” need to take everything in account before they start judging the captain and a team. It was an India-Pakistan game, of course we wanted to win it but we also wanted to make sure that after the strong position we were in we don’t give Indians a chance to go for our total. Arun Lal insisted that by not declaring Pakistani is making a statement that they are scared of the mighty Indian batting line up. We surely looked scared when we came out to bowl didn’t we?

It was a sweet victory from a team that lost the first three wickets in this game without having a single run on board but they fought back and what a come back. This team has developed into a fighting unit with a never say die attitude. When we were down and out Kamran Akmal, Razzaq and Akhtar bailed us out. Then the bowlers took the challenge head on and bowled India out cheaply. The second time around the batsmen took the responsibility to setting up a daunting total; every single batsman played his part. Then the bowlers came and bowled they hearts out to achieve what many expected we would achieve anyway but not as quickly.

It was a team effort, Kamran Akmal set up the game nicely with his heroic century in the first innings, the pacers (Shoaib, Asif and Razzaq) did their job to dismiss India cheaply twice and all the batsmen played responsibly in the 2nd innings to put the Indian batsmen under tremendous pressure. Kamran was declared man of the match and deserved it since he was the one who bailed his team out when they were completely out classed in the first innings. The gutsy wicketkeeper has made some bold statements with his bat in the last season and this season so far and he is surely someone who will have a long and prosperous career ahead of him. It was also nice to see Razzaq performing well with the ball after a long time. Mohammad Asif was the find of the series for Pakistan, he was picked ahead of Rana and Sami and he justified the faith and bowled beautifully. He bowls at a lively pace and moves the ball both ways and bowls at an excellent line to keep the batsmen guessing all the time. Pakistan takes another step forward in the test rankings, we might not have gained a spot but we are moving closer to India and England. The way this team is gelling together it won’t be too long before we start asking Australia some difficult questions as well. Well played Pakistan and hopefully we’ll continue the good run in the ODI’s as well.

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Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of 3rd test, day 4:

Rahul Dravid had said that with pitches like this it will take one session to decide the series. Pakistan and Akmal proved him wrong. It took one session to undo one bad session on day 1, and followed by another session to put India on mat. So in a sense Dravid was right that team having one extra good session will win. Pakistan won the test in last few overs on day one, when they sent Tendulkar and Laxman back in pavilion. Whatever people may say, they got out on good deliveries and all credit to Pakistani bowlers to bowl those deliveries.

I can dwell on Faisal’s century, or India’s collapse on sole defiance from Yuvraj Singh, though only defining innings of this match was Akmal’s century in first innings and his partnerships with Razzaq and Shoaib.

I have said constantly, after day one it was more or less a formality for India to lose this match. Playing second innings in any test and not getting a lead is doom’s day. Only thing India could have saved after second day was margin of defeat.

Finally the politics of team selection and playing Ganguly did come to haunt India. There were some news items that Dravid paid back an old debt to Ganguly by taking him in the team. If that was it, he really paid of it.
I may be repeating myself, though following are my takes from the test

• Pakistan was hungrier and its passion was more than resilience of India. India did show resilience in first two tests, though when it came to crunch passion won.
• Pakistan board got the pitch right this time and all credit to bowlers for winning the match. Even in this match team played defensive by batting on day 4.
• Pakistan’s on field behavior leaves lot to be desired. Knowing ways of ICC. Pakistan survived India without any banning. It may not happen if it’s playing against Australia.
• Pakistan batting still remain suspect on good pitches, 39 for 6 wasn’t good, even if pitch was playing tough.
• India just doesn’t have a bowling attack. It got carted all over the ground without sweat so easily, that sometimes it was embarrassing to watch the game.
• Pakistan has found an excellent player in Akmal, keep him up, and don’t let him fade away.
• Bob Woolmer may be a better coach than others, and very clear in his approach. He has made a batsman out of Afridi and bowler out of Shoaib.
• Pakistan seems to have a nucleus of team beyond Inzy and that’s good news for Pakistan.
• India is in trouble with Sehwag suspect, Tendulkar to prove that he can come back, Ganguly gone. The famed batting lineup is in bit of disarray. I am sure it’s already time to push panic buttons, may be not.
• PCB should learn to back its bowlers and give them good pitches and see what they can do? Before singing off, Mr. Greg Chappel has shown that why he is mean tough guy, he picked up Shoaib’s action. He is clearly putting Shoaib under pressure for one day’s. Pakistan starts as favorite, still India has fire power to take on Pakistan on one day’s and hopefully we will see some good matches out there.

As an Indian supporter I take sigh of relief that I won’t be writing this diary for test 3, day 5.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of First One Day International:

If this oneday is any sign of things to come we have a cracker of a series in place. Pakistan won in finally but this was one match too much for adrenalin and stupid D/L rule. We should clearly look at playing 45 over matches in subcontinent and places where we can’t finish a 50 over day. May be it was bit of a justice in the end since India was slow in over rate. On the other hand India will feel that they had fought back well and had a good grip on the match. Though only 17 runs were required, one more wicket and Pakistan was on the mat. We all know the Arshad and Asif’s capabilities with bat.

India despite a bowling lineup that’s showing no teeth during this trip fought well and fought till last and almost had the match back.

Tendulkar finally played a gem of an innings, he kept Asif at bay and finally a hundred in 113 balls is strike rate of 88+ was a great effort. He did look good during the series till he got out and I feel that he is coming back in form and some more time and he will be back scoring runs. This is good news for Indian cricket in run to the World Cup.

Dhoni and Pathan have been tried up front in many matches now, and both of them have been repaying the faith of the captain and they again did today. Some quick fireworks and India was cruising beyond 300+. Indian think tank will be disappointed with the capitulation of lower order, they are suppose to stand by and make some inroads in opposition in some way.

Pakistan batted superbly, though they almost threw the game away. I think they were always in command, except the time when D/L came in picture match was 60:40 in favor of Pakistan. Though India was one wicket away from coming into driving seat.

This match will be remembered for Inzy’s obstructing the field out. What Inzy did was odd, you don’t play a throw as you are batting. Some Indian players went in appeal more from the perspective of what’s going on here. Inzy’s statement after the match was even more hilarious for his stupidity. Now whole world knows that he was not out during England and him mentioning they give me out when I don’t play the ball and they give me out when I play the ball shows that he hasn’t even read or tried to find out about what happened against England.

I think Asif should have got the man of the match, had it not been to him, India would have easily made 350+.

This match was a great opener for one day series. We all are looking forward to next match.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of First One Day International:

A disappointing end to what was turning out to be a cracker of a game. I don’t mind the end result, but it certainly would have felt better had we actually played the last three overs as well and then won the game. Pakistan I thought batted brilliantly chasing a huge total but a lot of credit must be given to Rahul Dravid for his captaincy.

India batted first and after the early hiccup of losing Sehwag to a peach of a delivery from Asif they played brilliantly. First Pathan and then Dhoni belted the ball all over the park and on the other end the little master kept the score board ticking by rotating the strike and hitting the odd boundry. It was good to see Sachin get some runs under his belt, even if they were against Pakistan. He is always a treat to watch and this innings must rank among some of his best, due to the sheer pressure it was played under. Sachin’s class was questioned by some people and the little master played this innings under tremendous pressure as he has never really had to play with media and his country men questioning his ability. Sachin proved his critics wrong with an emphatic reply, make no mistake, this perhaps was not the most fluent innings Sachin has played in his illustrious career, he played and missed initially as well but he was determined to make an impact and India’s large total revolved around his determined effort.

Chasing over 300 is never easy, even on placid batting tracks but this Pakistan team has started to play like champions. They were positive right from the start and this time it was another man whose efforts must be applauded. The occasion might not be as great for him as it was for Sachin but Salman Butt’s position in the side was also under threat. With Imran Farhat in good touch, Yasir Hameed waiting for his call along with Imran Nazir and Taufeeq Umar also working hard for recalls Salman was under pressure as well and he played a gem of an innings under pressure, chasing a big target and Pakistan’s run chase revolved around his efforts. Although in the end I would have personally given the man of the match to Shoaib Malik for his brilliant 90 off just 67 balls, a stunning catch and a brilliant run out but I guess Salman was a fair choice as well.

What more can one say about Mohammad Asif. The guy is turning out to be the find of the year for Pakistan. He bowled beautifully in the test series and yesterday he proved that his performance in the tests was no fluke. Where every other bowler went for over 5 an over, with most of them actually going 6 runs an over Asif somehow managed to give just over 3 runs per over while taking three wickets. On a flat batting track it was a great effort. Pakistan has found a long term specialist opening bowler, a role Sami failed to play successfully.

If the last game was an indication how this series will go then I guess a few heart attacks will be happening in the coming weeks. It was a wonderful start to the ODI series and hopefully we’ll continue to see some brilliant cricket from both side.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of Second One Day International:

We were looking forward to cracker of a series and we have cracker of series on our hands. This match though a bit one sided leveled the series and made series closer and competitive.

On the hindsight it looks that this match was won because Inzy and Mr. Woolmer decided to bat first. Holdings pitch report did talk about that pitch is going to turn during second innings and he showed some loose part in the pitch as well and sort of supported batting first. Hence in hindsight the decision may have backfired though given the information available it looks like good decision. Now what did Inzy and Woolmer missed while making that decision. They forgot that India isn’t England, India can play spin even if its turning, pitch was suppose to turn and not support pace bowlers. India had batting lineup till number 9, Powar has an average of touching almost 40 in domestic circuit and that to add to that 10,and 11 Agarkar and Zaheer aren’t aaya ram and gayya rams. So may be even at the start of the match they took information too much on face value and didn’t analyze it against the changed opposition. In nutshell it was a wrong decision in hindsight and it was a wrong decision at the start of the match. I couldn’t as an Indian supporter stop my smile when Inzy decided to bat. He had given India an opening.

Though there was a match to be played and Pakistan seemed to have come to pitch without much preparation. They should start reading some of the Indian fielders like Raina, SreeSanth, or ofcourse Kaif and Yuvraj more the way they judge fielders against Auzy and SA, and don’t take chances against these arms and fielding of these guys. If four run outs weren’t enough. Inzy seem to come to bat with a death wish as he was out there to take revenge of being given out wrongly in last match, he didn’t give himself time to settle down which he normally does, that followed by some very very ordinary batting by Afridi. May be this death wish, will keep Afridi an amazingly exciting player but may never make him a great player, for what he has all the potential. Thanks to Malik and Younis Pakistan reached a fighting total.

India showed exactly opposite intent on the field. Tendulkar and Sehwag grafted against Asif and capitalized on weak bowling. Once they had India 100+ in quick time, India was in driver’s seat. Yuvraj and Dravid made it sure that India reaches at target without any challenges.

Have to mention about Indians not appealing against Mallik for obstructing the field, when he could have been easily run out. It clearly shows that what Inzy did in last one day was awkward and any team will again appeal and he will again be out if he does that again. Now I hope that there is somebody in Pakistan team who can tell him that, and he should come back to bat as a player captain and not man possessed

Few words on Tendulkar, more I see him more I admire him. He has a toe operated so toe isn’t as flexible as it used to be, his elbows are strapped. He is grafting himself, challenging himself, and fighting to get back in runs. He doesn’t look as fluent as of past, still 43 runs with almost run a ball was a good effort. He clearly seems to be getting back and have good 3-4 years on cricket left in him. His experience will carry him through. India will need him to sort of changes in his batting by 2007 WC and back in full flow.

Pakistan is missing Shoaib, and with Indians figuring out Asif finally in this OneDay, Pakistan will need Shoaib more desperately in further series. Since he is the difference with his shock value between these two teams, Asif provided that for some matches due to his newness. Now that’s gone and he remains a good bowler only not the one with shock value. I have said it earlier, without this shock value Pakistani bowling will look more and more ordinary as the series goes ahead.

Irfan must thank his stars for man of the match award. He got the conditions in his favor and two out of three wickets were clearly lucky breaks rather than great bowling. Hopefully this will give him lot more heart and confidence in his bowling to get back in wickets in coming matches.

It was a match that Pakistan lost than India won, they don’t seem to have done the homework and paid for it. The margin of victory this time and closeness of first one day shows that we have two very well balanced teams here if Pakistan can get analysis back in remaining One Dayers.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of Second One Day International:

Pakistan lost to a team that was just better prepared then them, it’s that simple. The batting collapse is not that uncommon for Pakistan neither would the clumsy running between the wickets surprise anyone. Salman Butt’s consistency issue also came into play, a century in game one and a duck in game two. He keeps getting out at the same place time and again and still continues to play the off drives far away from his body. It’s a shot that gets him a lot of runs too when he gets going but it has gotten him out cheaply enough times to make him realize that he needs to put some serious work into that area if he is to retain his place in the side for a long term.

Shoaib Malik and Younis came to Pakistan’s rescue when the ship was sinking fast. Shoaib has done this many a times before and is a rock at that one down position but Younis, despite all his heroics in the test circuit, has been an ordinary performer in ODI’s. If Pakistan can take anything from the last match maybe it would be Younis Khan’s coming to age as an ODI player as well. He rotated the strike well, improvised when needed and kept the score board ticking. Shoaib was once again unlucky to get out in the 90’s but I think the credit to his run out should go more to the bowler then the fieldsmen. Sachin had ball a very tight over without giving anything to the batsmen and it was the sheer pressure of scoring runs that prompted Shoaib to go for that second run that was never on. Normally both Shoaib and Younis are good at judging runs but I think the pressure to score quickly clouded their judgment. Although Younis did hesitate for the second run but eventually responded to the call of his partner and ended up losing an able ally who was playing well.

The less once can say about Yousaf and Inzamam the better. The two most senior batsmen in the side played like they were playing a league match for their domestic side. Yousaf, after all these years in international cricket still can’t judge a run and paid the price for it yet again. As Ramiz said while commentating “When Yousaf is on the crease, a run out is always around the corner”. He is such a pedestrian fielder that the first chance Pakistan gets to put the super sub in we do so by getting rid of Yousaf from the field. So he runs bad, he fields bad and he really hasn’t done a whole lot of good with the bat on a consistent basis either. Maybe time for a little wake up call for Mr. Yousaf if he ends with a lean series here maybe we can “rest” him for a series or two and make him realize that one needs to give his best when handed the national colors.

Inzamam never really looked comfortable in his brief stay. He was punching the ball hard, miscued a punchy hook that could have gone anywhere and it was just a matter of time before he got himself out. Inzi needs to put his little emotional tantrums aside when playing and concentrate on the game on hand and not let the past cloud his judgment.

Another interesting thing should be mentioned here though, the Shoaib Malik, Zaheer Khan run out incident. About five minutes after it happened, cricinfo had an article on their main page about it praising Dravid for not appealing. Although I have always been a great fan of Dravid as a cricketer as well as a down to earth person but I thought a lot of people were making a big issue out of this one. If Dravid would have allowed the appeal, what really would he have gotten out of it? The umpires on the field would have probably referred it to the 3rd umpire and there was no way he could have given that out. An Indian expert, Arun Lal was commentating at that time and he agreed as well that if Shoaib Malik had kicked the ball on purpose then he disguised it really well cause it did look like an accident. In any case Shoaib would probably have gotten the benefit of the doubt.

Pakistan at one stage were sinking fast, then a good partnership got them back on and then some careless cricket from the likes of Afridi ensured we don’t get anywhere near the magical 300 figure mark. In the end Pakistan would have been satisfied with the score of 265.

Pakistani bowlers never really got any rhythm going and were never able to stop the run flow. After Sehwag had raced away to 67 of just 60 balls the match was more or less over. India has depth in their batting with Agarkar coming in at 10, and the run rate was very manageable so the batsmen did not have to take any undue risk. Although I must say it’s easier said then done so all credit to the Indian batsmen for keeping their cool and guiding their side to victory.

The result makes this series even more interesting with 3 matches to go and the series hanging in balance at 1-1. Pakistan would be praying that Shoaib Akhtar is fit for the next game as he might become the deciding factor in the end.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of Third One Day International:

Another thriller out of way, three matches and third time team batting second won the match. That shows that bowling is being made a non-criteria in these matches

Pakistan should thank Shoaib Malik and Razzaq for playing amazing innings to take Pakistan to a competitive total of 288. The score looked good, though anything below 300 in an India Pakistan match in subcontinent is not good enough. Shoaib just likes Indian bowling with three scores of almost of century; he seems to be the main stay of Pakistan batting in this One Day series till now. Razzaq seems to be more and more determined to win matches and is playing good cricket in this series.

Watching straight drive, one can’t but agree with Imran Khan that Pakistan should have its best batsmen i.e. Inzy and Younis up the order rather than coming late. Its somehow shows a duality in thinking, on one side you put young batsmen upfront to build innings and on other side you keep your better batsmen for saving a collapse. Odd thought process, but Inzy coming at 4 down is clearly not done.

Indian bowling as usual was just ok, they are trying to keep things tight and that’s it. One bowler who can make a difference was clearly unlucky. SreeSanth had three catches dropped on his bowling. I hope team management will take this in to account and give him another chance, a good haul of wickets from him could be round the corner. Agarkar’s replacement was odd and hopefully his injury isn’t bad, since he bowled well and he can be good bowler when in flow. I can understand Zaheer’s plight, came in absolutely unprepared and next thing he had bowl in his hand.

Pakistani bowling up the front was excellent. Both Asif and Umer tested batsmen, it took full composure and skill of Dravid and Tendulkar to play that session. It was a great contest and fortunately for India experience could go through those overs or it could have been curtains for India. Except Naved, I think Pakistani bowlers bowled well till last.

Tendulkar again showed the value of experience, one can clearly see that he is moving full back leg when shifting legs. It looks awkward, but his experience is getting him through and once he get used to this, we will have Tendulkar of old. Three good innings on trot from little master, and may be India is looking for two more in this series. Over and above his batting he bowled 10 overs for 50 and one wicket and still not getting MoM. The MoM decisions in this series been bit baffling and not thought through.

Yuvraj has played a pivotal role in both the wins India had, and he is maturing as a sheet anchor. His ability to play big shots makes him a very dangerous proposition. India will look for him to lead India batting 3-4 years from now.

Should I say anything about the way Dhoni bats and what he does. There are people rubbishing him at times but an average of 50 and strike rate of 105% and already completed 1000 runs in One Day internationals. He is going to be a player to watch for, for world cricket. If he continues like this, India will be a force to reckon with just because of him. Since he will be able to come at any stage of the match and win it for India. This match was over in 47th over after his 72 from 46 balls. While everybody was looking at a last over nail biting finish. May be he gives a taste of Afridi to Pakistan from other side of the table. Sheer bludgeoning with no fanfare, no style, just effective.

In final word, take Naved out with his bowling and mis-fields and get a better captain and Pakistan team even with today’s performance would have won against any team. Batsmen put a score of 288, bowlers bowled dream spells upfront, Razzaq bowled good till end, and still you lose so easily, there has to be more than Dhoni something in it.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of Third One Day International:

India surprised everyone with two emphatic wins in the one days. When they landed in Pakistan they were regarded as a tough team to beat in the tests but an easier opposition in the shorter form, partly due to Pakistan’s good run in the ODI’s. What most people didn’t take in account was the fact that India was also playing well in ODI’s, having brushed off the Lankan’s comprehensively and drawing a series with the South Africans. They lost the first match in Peshawar after bad light ensured that D/L method has the final say in the result. Ever since then they have looked a different team, and well so have Pakistan.

Mohammad Asif has bowled his heart out in this series but unfortunately he has not had a lot of support from the other bowlers. Although Umar Gul bowled well in this game, he was not very effective in the first two games; Rana Naved has not looked threatening throughout the series while conceding a truck load of runs throughout. He did pick up wickets at the death in the first game but even in that game he conceded far too many runs at the start of Indian innings.

The senior batsmen are not doing their jobs either. I don’t see the point of playing Younis Khan if he is sent to bat at #7. All the senior batsmen are coming too far down the order and leaving the youngsters to negotiate the moving ball early on. So far Shoaib Malik has played admirably and I honestly fail to understand why was an inform batsman’s position moved around. He is solid at #3 and scoring runs, although he scored them at the #4 position as well but why send Afridi and Akmal so far up the order. We were enjoying a lot of success when we had an explosive lower middle order compromising Afridi, Razzaq and Akmal. At this time I personally think Pakistan is playing one too many batsmen in the middle. Maybe we need to wake some of the seniors up. If it was up to me I’d drop Mohammad Yousaf and bring in a specialist opener like Imran Farhat or Yasir Hameed. This way we have two regular openers, Malik at one down, Inzamam at four and Younis at five followed by Akmal, Afridi and Razzaq.

The match was still tense up until Dhoni walked in and made of mess of Inzamam’s plans (If we really had any). Inzamam is a senior player and a class act as a batsman but his captaincy really leaves a lot to be desired. I firmly believe if anything will stop us from winning the next world cup it would be Inzi’s captaincy. He is clueless at times and always waits for things to happen. I’ve said that before that he has a very talented team at his disposal which has been producing without much innovation from the captain but we really need a different captain who can inspire some faith in his side. Younis Khan certainly is not as talented as Inzi or for that matter Yousaf but I think we should definitely give the captaincy in his hands. England has shown it the difference it makes to have a good captain. Vaughan certainly don’t deserve to be in the playing XI in the ODI’s but his captaincy wins him a place and marches his talented troops quite masterfully. Maybe it’s time to let Inzamam concentrate on his batting so he can last till the next world cup and hand the reins to Younis Khan.

It would take a huge effort to come back into the series from here. Yes, Pakistan won the series even after being 0-2 down back in India but you can’t count on things like that happening time and again. The team needs some reshuffling and some innovative captaincy in the coming matches. I would play Sami for Rana and Farhat for Yousaf but I highly doubt Inzi or Woolmer are ready to do that just as yet, maybe a series loss to India will open their eyes and they wont keep playing players on past reputation.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of Fourth One Day International:

After getting out for 161 Pakistan had no chance to win this game. The pitch was supporting but it was not in favor of the bowlers as much as the score board suggests. Pakistani batting line up collapsed yet again. There was a little shuffle with the batting order as Mohammad Yousaf came in at #6 and Younis Khan came in at #5, not that it made any difference as they both failed to stabilize the Pakistani innings. For the first time in this series Shoaib Malik failed and the score board goes to show what an influence has had in Pakistan batting in the past three games. When he scored he paced his innings well, according to the situation of the game and kept the innings together. The first time he fails and it exposes all the others too soon for their liking. Inzamam apart none of the Pakistani batsmen looked like they were going to stand up to an inspired performance by the Indian bowling line up. Inzi was the only who probably was a little unlucky to fall for 49, the ball might have missed off or might have clipped off stump.

Time and again this batting line up has failed yet the captain doesn’t seem the least bit of worried. Inzamam needs to realize that he had been in terrific form for the past year or so and he has bailed his team out quite a few times. Along with him Shoaib Malik has bailed us out a few times and despite all the inconsistency Salman Butt has also played some match winning innings, but what about the two other senior batsmen in the side? Mohammad Yousaf and Younis Khan, the current vice captain and the former vice captain have done nothing of significance in the shorter format for a long time. In fact Younis has never really done anything significant in the ODI’s and Yousaf who has played some fine knock in the shorter format (you’ll find them if you pick up the ancient cricket history books) has not done anything of significance for quite some time. Younis does have a good cricketing brain could become a fine captain plus he is a decent fielder. Mohammad Yousaf on the other hand has lost the vice captaincy, is a horrible judge of runs and is one of the worst fielders in the side. How many more reasons does Inzamam need to get rid of his former deputy even if he is a good friend? When is he going to learn to do what’s right for Pakistan cricket instead of putting his personal relations with the players on top. Shoaib Akhtar was not taken to West Indies cause of his attitude problem and the fact that he did not get along with Inzi. It probably cost us our first test series victory in the Caribbean. I am not trying to justify Shoaib former attitude problem but there was no denying he was the best bowler available, he was fit and willing to go yet he was ignored. Now that Yousaf has not performed in ODI’s for ages, no one seems to be bothered.

After getting out on 162, we were lucky to pick up 5 Indian wickets. All the Pakistani bowlers put in all the heart in trying to crawl back in the game but 162 is just too small a total to defend these days. On the upside Mohammad Sami justified his selection and I think he could be part of a good attack along with Shoaib, Asif and Rana. Yes, our bowling has been below par in this series so far but our batting has not done wonders either. It’s time to sit down and think about how to fix all the problems that we’ve had in the past few games and start off with the opening issue.

A well deserved series victory to India. Pakistan can consider themselves lucky that the series score right now reads 3-1. Had it not been for the D/L method we might have been 4-0. Pakistan will play for pride in the next game to win one game and make the series score a little more respectable. But as far as Pakistani fans are concerned they would be utterly disappointed by the lackluster performance of their heroes. They have done wonders for us in the past, they have been playing good cricket for the past year or so, so it’s not fair to shun them after just one series loss. But they do need to pick themselves up and perform to the best of their abilities. Well played India, and congratulations to all Indian fans out there. Your team played better and deserved this victory.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Rahul's review of Fourth One Day International:

If first three One Days’ were fought on equal level with interest there almost till 80% of the match not knowing who is going to win, fourth one proved to be anti-climax. This was a disappointment since, we all, who were looking forward to a cracker of a series and were completely proved wrong in this match. Though somehow the answer for this can be looked into what we have seeing through the series and the consistency of defensive mindset of Pakistan team across the tour. From test series onwards despite having really talented players, Pakistan team has been showing a defensive intent, whether it was in batting order during one day, or field placements during One days, or it was in declaring during third test. The defensive bend of strategy took away fight out of Pakistan, finally and showed on players. Case in point again Inzy’s interview after the fourth match where he said that it will be difficult to motivate people for fifth ODI. In such a case you will always here from Dravid “Its international cricket and every body should be motivated, just because you are playing for your country”. With Afridi and Shoiab gone the flamboyance and the rebels of the team were not there to goad over the defensiveness of strategy.

Getting back to the match, its exactly went the way last two matches went, only difference was that Pakistan didn’t have a Shoaib Malik today to guide them to respectable total, and none of the other batsmen stayed put. This also shows the importance of the partnership of Dravid and Tendulkar in last match, where they played the hostile 7 overs of Asif and Umer in last match to settle the platform for India’s win. Unfortunately Pakistan’s top brass couldn’t do it when it was required. Inzy is struggling with back problem and should rest himself from last one day. That brings to Indian bowling; I don’t see any devil in this bowling beyond that you have bowlers who bring variety. R.P Singh due to his action/ height can make the bowl jump a bit. SreeSanth brings some speed to this attack. This combined with Irfan and loads of discipline and backed by some exceptionally improved and improving fielding, this attack has brought India dividends against some quality opponents and today was the case of Pakistan. India still needs an impact bowler, and if they get that, this team is improving quickly.

Indian batting looked brittle, Kaif still haven’t found his touch; Gambhir is refusing to fill up the shoes of Sehwag in as a replacement even 50% of the time despite umpteen chances. A score of 161 tested the team a bit and that isn’t’ good story telling, with no need to take chances this total should have been overhauled with 2 or at best 3 wickets down. Raina’s coming good on only chance made life easier in the end. India should try Raina up front in some matches as they have tried Dhoni and Pathan to test him. May be fifth one is the place to try him, when in last six innings despite sketchy chances he has scored an average of 30+ with strike rate of 100+. It will be fun to have four batsmen Sehwag, Dhoni and Raina with strike rates of 100+ in the team. This is a mouth watering prospect for Indian supporters, though as if dreams would have come true all the time.

Pakistan has better pace attack, with Asif coming good in this series. Why PCB isn’t backing its bowlers in surprising and tough to understand? Inzy not going for wickets and saving Asif was also not clear. Pakistan remains team with lots of potential and Bob Woolmer will get lots of think about after this series.

We will have fifth One day coming and despite whatever Inzy says Pakistan should go after India like hounds to get back in groove. Though India seems to be getting clinical in approach and it will be difficult to unsettle them unless one of Pakistan’s talented players play an Afridi like inning.

[ehsan]

Re: India/Pakistan series - Daily Diary

Lahori Munda's review of Fifth One Day International:

Embarrassing. That’s the only word that comes to mind when you want to try and analyze Pakistan team’s performance in the recently concluded ODI series. They have now lost last 5 of the 6 ODI’s played and were lucky to won the one in the middle, thanks to D/L method.

Pakistan made a few changes to their starting line up today. Salman Butt was dropped and Imran Farhat was drafted in his place. He opened the batting along with Kamran Akmal and did manage to provide a solid start. Pakistan was comfortably places until the first wicket fell down as Imran Farhat played an ugly hook shot to a ball that surprised him. It wasn’t in the slot, came onto him quicker then he expected and after being on the front foot he tried to quickly change his weight onto the back and play the shot anyways. Just like Salman Butt had identical way of getting out behind the stumps, Farhat did the same thing in two back to back matches. Ugly pull shots. Kamran Akmal has not looked comfortable in the ODI series and for the first time I think Inzi fail to deliver as a batsman since he has been the captain.

Mohammad Yousaf finally manage a face saving knock, not really good enough to march his team to a much formidable total then what they ended up with but still a lot better effort then what had shown in the previous games. Younis Khan also played well for his 70 odd runs but in the end he was trying to make sure that Pakistan bats out their quota of 50 overs rather then going for the runs.

If batting was below par then fielding was absolutely horrible. Missed catches is one thing but the ground fielding was pathetic as well. Missed run out chances, too many runs given away with misfield and over throws. All this eases up the pressure on the opposition and it helped the Indian side immensely.

Now this series is done and over with and the crude reality came in front of everyone. We need to make changes, radical changes. Inzamam fails to inspire as a captain when the chips are down and much be let go from his responsibilities. We need to find an opening pair and not experiment too much with the make shift openers. World cup is in one year’s time and we need to have a settled squad where everyone knows their responsibility. Of course we sorely missed the services of Afridi and Akhtar but the side should have still performed a lot better then they did. The only find of the series is Mohammad Asif, who also looked off color in the last couple of games as he went wicketless. He has somehow developed the “Irfan Pathan problem” as he lost chunks of pace as well. He was bowling well in the 80 mph zone until the last two games where he was barley touching 80 mph.

All in all it was a disastrous series for Pakistan and a real confidence booster for India who deserve every bit of praise for their brave efforts. There is still plenty of time left in the world cup and Pakistan will try their best to regroup and play positive cricket.

It has been fun writing the articles for GS for the India Pakistan series and I hope people enjoyed reading the articles as well. I would like to congratulate all the Indian fan on GS on a fabulous victory and the spirit that their side has shown in the series and also a special thanks for participating in the discussions on this board which is predominantly Pakistani and things can get a little heated up. I am sure no one means to hurt the other parties feeling on purpose and all is said and done in the heat of the moment. InshAllah I’ll be back with more with the next cricket series, until then see you at other threads in KK.