ehsan
December 2, 2005, 10:08pm
1645
Re: Pakistan V England 3rd Test Match, Lahore
Faisal:
Had Pak batsmen played defensive strokes to stick on for personal records, I would agree with you. A draw-mentality has no place in a fighting team.
But what Pak batsmen did last night was nothing of the sort. It was a full-frontal and extremely brutal assault on English bowling. The point was not to ensure that Pak wins the game (they are already assured of a series victory). The reason was to completely humiliate the English bowling. And they succeeded in it, emphatically. The looks on Gora faces during the morning hours tells the whole story. The field placing (8 fielders on the boundary rope) explains the misery. Kicking the opposition when it is down and showing the killer instint to thump your authority was missing earlier in Faisalabad.
As funguy said, if England can still draw the match by batting for five sessions, then more power to them. They’d deserve to hang on to their pride. Personally, I think Pakistan can still repeat the Multan story with just one or two vital breakthroughs early in the day.
Congratulations on a major series win after a long long time!
The point is about pressure and not how long they are going to bat. Why do people send nightwatchman, to avoid pressure situation at awkward times. 30 minutes befiore lunch would have created that and we might have ended up with more than two wickets.