I guess it is important for a player to establish his credibility by scoring runs outside his home country also. Not only, that indicates his talent but it also stamps his class for being able to play in all sorts of environments. Of course it is easier to face opposition on those pitches where you have been playing your first class cricket from day one. Whereas, in other countries you have to adjust to a strange climate, bouncy or too turning (sri lanka) pitches and a far different seam &swing. Apart from technical reasons, it is also easier to play in front your home crowd. No wonder, Steve Waugh has always considered Calcutta Ground to be the one of the toughest grounds where almost hundred thousand people are shouting against you. As a matter of fact some time that is the real test of nerves and a lot of players fail to pass this test. So you need to show mental strength, display character and eventually establish your class by scoring outside your country.
Now for that matter why only yasir be pinpointed? Amer Sohail has assembled a good team so far but this team has been playing on home pitches for last 3 series and I don’t trust anyone’s class or caliber unless proved outside the country too. Yasir, Imran, taufeeq and Asim all have played some good knocks but it does not mean much unless they score runs outside Pakistan also at different grounds. Vice versa applies to all other teams too. And for that matter you don’t have to score in Aus, Nz and England only but it is equally important to score in Sri lanka and India also where pitches may be similar to Pakistan but external pressure would be far more. Only then we should start making big claims such as:
“we have a great unit”
“finally our opening problem has been solved” or
“aism is such a mature middle order player”
You will be surprised how quickly your emotions and judgments may change once the exact same team will be shipped to NZ, SA and AUS and even to Sri Lanka. Of course it needs a Herculean effort to beat SA in a home series but the real challenge will be to beat them in SA.
I am just afraid that all of us will start whining once again with emphasis on new set of openers or to look for some other solid middle order batsmen. I am saying all this because I have seen that so many times in past. Trip to Nz, Aus and SA in future could be a journey of disillusionment as it has always been. And every time we fail to perform (especially batsmen) abroad, it stresses to update our cricketing system as well as refinement of our psychological behavior. So lets be patient and pray for this young talented team. I really wish them a great luck and hope inshallah they will do great.
phoenixdesi, you are very right regarding proving class / strength of a batsmen. many of us here do agree that the real test for Yasir, Imran and Taufeeq would be to prove themselves when they visit NZ. That will be the beginning of their bigger testing.
Asim Kamal has only played 2 or 3 innings so I personally don't take him as a GREAT player YET. He has to score in more innings. We have had many batsmen in past who played first 2-5 great innings but then faded away. I hope he is not that material, but he has to prove more than Imran, Yasir and Taufeeq, at least these 3 have played great knocks in home pitches for quite some time now.
at the same time, you can't get dejected if they don't perform in nz. yasir, imran, asim all these players can very well struggle there but i think we should not drop them from the team. its all part of growing up. i just hope the team management won't come down hard on them if they fail. that can seriously screw up someones career. javed, inzi, and all the coaches should tell these players that they are behind them 100% even if they fail to perform. you have to remember, this series is the first of their career outside home. i don't think the question is "will they struggle" but " what will the seniors do to help these youngsters WHEN they struggle"
The result we got a good opening combo in both tests and onedayers is evident from the simple fact that we were nt able to form decent partnetships even at home... Atleast they made the first strides right?? We were not getting even the first strides right... tell me which pakistani opening pair consistently scored century partnerships even at home?
Yes they wil be tested elsewhere but the confidence they gained here will be of great value.
Oh come on.I don’t think so we ever had a great opening pair after Aamir Sohail/Saeed Anwar. The success of our opening pairs on a consistent basies should be appreciated and we have every reason to be excited about. We are definitely heading towards a right direction.
When an opening pair shares 4 straight opening 100+ partnerships should tell you something about the class of these 2 batsmen.
Regardless of how flat the track has been, both played very carefully and rarely played bad shots earlier.
If the combinition of Taufeeq/Farhat in test and Farhat/Hameed in 1dayers play the same way they have recently played, I have no doubt they will do well in the tour of New Zealand.
There is no doubt in the world that these guys will badly struggle, but if they can have such strong temprement and show maturity like recent matches, they will do well.
