Pakistan V India - 1st Test Match.

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[http://sify.com/sports/columns/fullstory.php?id=13441439](Miandad Column)

**India are not favourites yet **

By Javed Miandad

Before the one-day internationals started, I had mentioned that past successes have little importance in cricket. This is why I find talk about India having a psychological advantage in the Tests a bit bewildering. If such advantages actually existed, we would have won the one-day series in New Zealand after beating them in the Tests, and India would not have gone down so tamely in the one-dayers after playing so well against Australia in the Tests.

The Multan Test will be crucial for us because it is the most pacer-friendly wicket among the three we will be playing Tests on. The pitch is pretty similar to the wicket at Peshawar, and during the one-dayer in Peshawar, we saw that the Indians were a little out of sorts on a wicket with pace and bounce. However, our bowlers will have to work hard since it is hotter than usual for March, and they will have to be used in short bursts if they are to be effective.

The toss will be crucial since whatever grass will be on the wicket will dry up within a day. We would like to bowl if the grass we saw this morning is left on the wicket till tomorrow. I would have to admit that our bowling did let us down in the one-dayers, and hopefully we have been able to sort out our bowling problems in the nets.

*The Multan Test will be crucial for us because it is the most pacer-friendly wicket among the three we will be playing Tests on. The pitch is pretty similar to the wicket at Peshawar, *

Does this guy have any idea what he is talking about?!!!
I wonder whether Miandad has any role in the pitch preparation..either that or somebody has screwed up on the pitch preparation big time.
If the Multan pitch is the most “pacer-friendly” , i shudder to think what the other pitches will be like!

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dunno about Miandad but the slow track is a disappointment for Inzamam - that’s the thing with Pakistan cricket - team management are never on the same page!

Slow Multan track disappoints Inzamam

http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/mar2004-daily/28-03-2004/sports/s2.htm

MULTAN: Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is not satisfied with the pitch prepared for the first Test against India in Multan. He made it clear this morning that he had been looking for a hard and bouncy track so that Pakistan could play to its strength - the fast bowlers.

“We asked for a hard and bouncy track with some grass on it. But I don’t know what they have in mind. This pitch is too dry and should break up and assist the spinners. We have to think on those lines now,” he said.

Clearly, the pitch has now become a decisive factor in the Pakistan team’s planning as home team pacers were looking to have a go at the Indian batting with its pace attack from the start,

“It is always good to make a winning start to a series. I just think we will now have to forget about the pitch and try to perform to our best and try to force a positive result,” he added.

Pakistan has already lost the one-day series by 3-2 to India and their last hope of restoring pride is to win the Test series. Sources in the Pakistan team said that Inzamam would be speaking to the Board officials about the preparation of pitches for the remaining two Tests as he was worried that Pakistan should not give away the home advantage to the Indians.

“He is concerned because the Indians have a strong batting line-up and are capable of running up big totals on such dry pitches,” the source said.

===========

well Inzi was right about strong batting-line of India!

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Well watching almost the whole first Day it was (except 2 moments) simply PAIN ...... watching 2 catches dropped .... even though both were a bit difficult but at this level of cricket both should've been taken ...... Pakistan started where they left off in Lahore after the 5th ODI ...... The Pitch looks anything else than seam-friendly ..... hints of good turn could be seen but Saqi was a shadow of his own ...... Sachin played him with caution at the beginning but that's it ...... oh yes not to forget the wicket of Chopra ..... All bowlers bowled 4 good balls just to offer (maybe as a goodwill gesture!!!!????) a juicy half-volley to get hit for 4 ...... so the run rate of almost 4 was never in danger ...... Bowling straight and according to the field-setting seems something that's beyond our bowlers ability ...... so much for the hyped bowling attack ...... as a prove of it Sehwag got his 100 by a short-way-outside-the-offstump ball which went for SIX in a flash ...... much like the SIX from Sachin at Centurion!!!!

Case of Short-memory ???? Case of non or almost no Captaincy ?????

Well the body-Language of the Pakistan Team suggested they had a exhausting Party the night before the match !!!!! Shoaib ppitching the ball constantly short on a batting beauty ...... maybe someone who is sitting now Multan in reading what i'm (and a lot others) writing may remind him he is not bowling at the WACA-Pitch!!!!! Well according to Miandad we don't need a bowling coach !!!!! I guess what he really meant was "it's useless taching this bunch of wannabe-superstarts" ..... because ON the Field they always do the way they like not the way they're taught ...... case of Short-Memory !!!!!!

I don't see any other results as a Win for India or maybe (only in case of "if our Batsmen can hanle Irfan Pathan and Balaji") a hard fought draw

I know it'll start kinda "BASH ZERO_ONE" but i want Aamir Sohail back as chief selector ...... the way he handeld this team was what they needed ..... he sometimes said thing in public which needed to be discussed in a close group but these kinda acts kept also some pressure on the players even on the likes of Shoaib ..... now with Mr. Bari we r on to return to the days of where a big names will book their seat automatically regardless how pathetic their performance is ......

Get up Pakistan it's to act now ..... instead keep lectruing what kind historical series this it wold be wise to spent atleast half o the time and concentration on the Teams on-field perforamnce and not what kinda history we're going to be part .....

Then one thing is for sure "History is written by the victor"

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Imran hammers the PCB yet again and rightly so.

This man almost always asks the questions that Pak fans are dying to see get answered. And this why Pakistan loves him.

**Lifeless pitch irks Imran as officials play hide and seek **

From Waheed Khan

MULTAN: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan slammed the Pakistan cricket authorities on Sunday for preparing a lifeless pitch for the fast bowlers here in the first Test against India. “What are they trying to achieve by preparing this sort of lifeless pitch against a batting line-up as strong as India’s,” Imran said to reporters at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

**“We should be taking advantage of the home conditions and preparing pitches that are supportive and offer encouragement to our fast bowlers. Shoaib Akhtar has played a leading role in our recent victories but on this pitch he has unfortunately been nullified,” he said.

He said whoever was responsible for preparing the pitch for the first Test needed to be taken to task for his negative attitude. “You can’t win a Test match if you have the fear of losing and try to play safe,” he added.**

Imran said Pakistan were now in for a tough time in the first Test as the Indian batsmen would revel on the slow pitch which has no lateral movement for the fast bowlers at all.

“Now the only hope for Pakistan is that Shoaib and Sami reverse swing the old ball. Hopefully, Saqlain Mushtaq would also find his old touch since he is playing in the senior team after such a long time.”

The former Pakistan captain was not the only one upset with the pitch prepared for the Test match they were other former players also who were very critical of the negative attitude adopted for the match.

Incidentally, no one was willing to say who was responsible for removing the little grass that was on the pitch on Friday and more interesting thing was the fact that captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said on record that he had asked for a supportive track which was not given to him.

Coach Javed Miandad also declined to comment on who was responsible for having such a flat pitch prepared for the Test but stated one had to keep in mind that decisions were always taken with consensus.

But a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said that the captain and coach had been given authority to decide on the sort of pitch they wanted for the test match.

The MCS curator Bashir Kadar when asked for his comments was clearly unhappy with the pitch and said: “Why ask me, you know very well how things work in Pakistan cricket.”

The interesting thing is that the PCB have specially hired English curator Andy Atkinson to prepare pitches for this series and are said to be paying a royal amount to him for his work.

One look at the pitch and even a layman will say it had nothing for the pacers but could offer some support to the spinners later on in the match. Yet the Pakistan team management opted to play just one spinner in Saqlain and fielded four seamers including allrounder Abdul Razzaq.

The Indians have also played just one spinner in Anil Kumble but atleast they have the options of using Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, which is not then case with the Pakistanis.

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With Sehwag scoring well, how come India has only 350 runs in one whole day? Test cricket is slower but it can get boring real quick on 4th day if India doesn't hit it up and get to 700 or so by end of day-2 with time to bowl 10 overs. Then there is some chance of bowling the Pakistan team out twice. Otherwise it'll be a draw

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  • ** well played pakistan :rolleyes: :mad3: wat pathetic bowling, they were bowling like a bunch of pansies… welldone pcb or whomever is responsible for picking the line-up, they choose abdul razzaq who has taken 6 wickets in his last 3 test matches @ a average of 50.00, they decided to play 1 spinner {saqi’} when the track was spinner friendly, both danny and saqi’ should have been playing, inzi’s dhoti will be gheeli now looking at the scorecard @ stumps day 1 only, who gives away 350+ runs on 1st days play, this is beyond comprehension, simply poor bowling, welldone saqi’ for dropping varindera on 68 and extrememly welldone mr highlights {sami} for dropping a sitter earlier on in the innings!

varindera is on a role i won’t be surprised if he beats laxman’s record of 281 for the highest indivudual score @ test level by a indian batsmen, all the best 2 him he deserves his moment of fame but not @ pakistan’s expense :nono:

pak set such a rubbish field a 7-2 for varindera and then were bowling a middle and/or leg stump line :smack2: saqi’ was expensive today but :insha: he like the others will pucker up and bowl out the indians for less then 500 hopefully, @ the mo’ that looks impossible given the way varindera is batting.

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this is ****

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THIS IS BAD, AND I HAVE HAD ENOUGH WITH THIS NOW THIS IS A FRIENDSHIP SERIES,

BUT PCB AND PLAYERS SHOULD STILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTS AND PERFORMANCES ON THE FIELD

THIS SEASON IS THE LOWEST I HAVE SEEN PAKISTANI'S PERFORM AGAINST INDIA IN THE HISTORY OF THEIR CRICKET

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This is unforgiveable. No one knows who gave the order to shave off the grass? Of course they know, must be the pcb chief. Really, you have to feel sorry for Inzi who is expected to win despite a dead track and fielders who drop everything.

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good summary from Wisden report

In the 20 Tests before Chopra joined Sehwag at the top of the order, India's openers averaged a first-wicket partnership of 31, which has been pretty much the norm in recent years. In the 13 innings, including this one, in which Sehwag and Chopra have opened together, they average 65. Among Indian pairs who have opened in ten innings or more, this is the best ever, ahead of Mankad and Roy (57.9), Gavaskar and Chauhan (53.7), and Mongia and Sidhu (47) – it is also ahead of Hayden and Langer (60) and Vaughan and Trescothick (47) among contemporary pairs. Chopra keeps an end up and protects the middle order (the first five maiden overs today were bowled to him), Sehwag takes the initiative (the first eight boundaries were hit by him) – it is a perfect opening partnership.

India's middle order, it can safely be said, is the best they have ever had. With Sehwag and Chopra batting the way they have, there suddenly seem to be no holes whatsoever in the batting line-up. This is a remarkable development, and this remarkable day underlines just how formidable India could be in the years to come, as they break away from their past, and all these years of being also-rans, towards greatness.

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Preparing dead pitches for our pacers.

Where the hell is the strategy in that?

I am absolutely baffled with all this and am beginning to think that the PCB and the team are just a busch of arses!

We have surpassed all levels of stupidity.

Javed Miandad's statements right now look like they are coming out of a buffoon.

Where is his strategy for the Indian team?

I don't even know what to write anymore.

This is all bs!

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Granted the pitch plays a big role in the game but to solely blame the pitch is overdoing it. It is not as if Pakistan has lost the match already. Each dog has it day. Who'd have thought Sehwag who many doubted if he should be limited to ODIs, would turn up a bumper? But for Sehwag, the day will look ornery.

I'd rather credit Sehwag than blame the pitch

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Imran is good morning quarter back.
I am sure if PCB has provided a fast pitch and Pakistani Batsmen were 100/6 he would be saying opposite to this. Fact is that PCB didnt give fast pitches because they didnt have confidance in their batsmen and I think PCB is not wrong. Pakistani batsmen always struggled on bouncy wickets and this Indian attack may not be as good as pakistan but it has decent seam bowlers.

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Right;

On a seaming pitch with pacers moving the ball left and right Shewag would have made 200+. Dream on.

The little movement in Peshawar and the Indian batting collapsed.

Regardless, where is the home advantage in preparing these pitches?

I can understand stopping Brett Lee's pace on dead pitches. But who did we have to be afraid of - mediam pacers Irfan, Zaheer, and Agarkar?

If it has come down to that, then there is no hope left.

Buffons.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Gandalf: *

I can understand stopping Brett Lee's pace on dead pitches. But who did we have to be afraid of - mediam pacers Irfan, Zaheer, and Agarkar?

If it has come down to that, then there is no hope left.

Buffons.
[/QUOTE]

Well you had problem playing Pathan on dead wicket of lahore and pindi. So here you go !!!
talking about Peshawar..story could have been same for Pakistan if India had bowed first.

Hum....I dont think Melbourne , Brisbane or Adelaide are dead wickets and Indian batted pretty well on those wickets against the likes of Gillespie.Now dont tell me Lee is better bowler than Gillespie.By the way Sehwag 195 was at Melbourne. And Lee played in thatgame.just FYI.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Gandalf: *
Right;

On a seaming pitch with pacers moving the ball left and right Shewag would have made 200+. Dream on.

Buffons.
[/QUOTE]

Ofcourse he can. Don't u remember what he did in Aus?

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Guys;

Seaming and bouncy tracks will always pose a prob. I care in the least on Shewag's performance in Australia.

To win, we must play to our strengths. No point including pacers for this sort of pitch. Then have 3 spinners.

Tendy has scored thousands of runs. Does that mean that we should stop strategizing!

Forget it guys.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Gandalf: *
Guys;

Seaming and bouncy tracks will always pose a prob. I care in the least on Shewag's performance in Australia.

To win, we must play to our strengths. No point including pacers for this sort of pitch. Then have 3 spinners.

Tendy has scored thousands of runs. Does that mean that we should stop strategizing!

Forget it guys.
[/QUOTE]

This is what I am saying.Reason that PCB didnt play to its strength is that they thought it might backfire on them.And I dont think that was a wrong thinking.

But if that happened Imran khan would be back with his criticism that " We know Indian played so well in Australi and we shouldnot have provided them bouncy wicket."
It is very easy to say after facts.

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let me make it clearer.

Seaming wickets with bowlers of our pace and ability will cause problems.

Not with mediam pacers, even though they can extract some movement as well.

Is that clear for you now.

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It is amazing to see folks displace the blame of performance on to the pitch, the lights, the macchars, the fog that rolled in from the bay.

Diference between these teams is minimal. It is still up to the players to showcase their talents, which have been a failure the last three outings from the Pakistani side. Dropping easy catches, while watching tendy make an unbelievable one at the right moment when Inzi was finding his rhythm. Relying on some false sense of superiority of the bowling attack, considering the batters are capable too is another idiocy. The top 5-6 in the Indian order can put up huge numbers at any time. SO why the disbelief? Maybe the bowling is not that good. Nothing is being given away, the Indian team is taking it.

There is still time to right the ship. I think at this level it comes down to the captain and the coach, as many of you said. It is far more mental than the ability to throw at 100 mph. Maybe a Pat Riley book on motivation is needed. Inzi should order 25 copies asap.