Feb 3-7, 2012 (10:00 local | 06:00 GMT | 09:00 AST)
After being 2-0 up, Pakistan can afford to take a some bold decisions. Junaid bowled like 6 overs in the whole much, none in the second innings. Can we go in the next much with just 3 bowlers? Bring Umar Akmal in place of Junaid Khan. Or can we ask Umer Akmal to open in place of Taufeeq? I guess with series already in the bag, its perhaps fair to give another chance to Taufeeq and Younis. Perhaps they would have been under more pressure had Pakistan lost this match and could have affected their game but they can be more focused now.
re: Pakistan vs England 3rd Test in Dubai - Feb 3-7, 2012
England need to look at the way Misbah plays the spinners: Michael Vaughan
That is difficult to take as a team which believes it is the best but even top sides lose when they only have two batsmen in the top six playing with authority.
**Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott are the only batsmen who look comfortable but they are not the kind of guys to dominate the game. They occupy the crease. The rest of the top six are struggling for technique, judgement, scoring options and, biggest of all, confidence. **
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When you lose your confidence horrible things happen and it takes a long time to get it back. It can’t be rediscovered overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and the players will need to show guts and courage over the next few days to find a game plan against Pakistani spin bowlers who will bowl exactly the same way in Dubai next week. **
We have heard England talk about setting new goals. Well now they have to re-evaluate and do it pretty quickly. They can start by not hiding anymore and admitting they have a problem batting in the sub-continent on low, slow wickets.
Andy Flower, the coach, was the best player of spin of his generation. He was so good because he could defend and had boundary options whether it was using the sweep or hitting down the ground.
**The best players of spin have the ability to score 360 degrees of the ground. **
At the moment England have too many players who can only hit through 90 degrees. It makes it easier for Pakistan to defend the boundary leaving England with not enough options to take the pressure off.
**England need to look at the way Misbah-ul-Haq plays the spinners. He plants his front foot down and either plays through extra cover or hits over the top. Unless you are a brilliant sweeper, that is the way to play. **
Misbah’s opposite number, Andrew Strauss, is in a horrible position and that is a worry. He is such a good leader and a very strong man but now the team have started losing people have begun to look at his form and his average over the last year and a half.
He needs a score for his peace of mind. I have been there as a captain when the team are winning but you are not scoring runs. You say to yourself ‘I am contributing to the team success by being captain’.
But when you are still not scoring runs and the team are losing, your confidence goes. He needs runs for his own good. Forget about end of career predictions.
That is rubbish. He needs runs for his own well being to give himself energy because you soon feel drained as a captain when you are not playing well and the team is losing. The job exhausts you. Strauss still has energy, he just needs runs to bring back the feelgood factor.
The problem is that he needs to score runs in a part of the world where he is not comfortable playing on the pitches and unable to score off the back foot. He is trying to force it by going back and relying on the cut shot, but that leaves him without any other scoring opportunities off the spinners.
Mid-off and mid-on are out of the equation when Strauss is facing the spinner.
He is not alone. Pietersen’s technique against left-arm spinners is shot. Last year when he was playing well he was hitting it through extra cover or mid-off. He looked solid. Now he is playing across the front pad. Dangerous.
Ian Bell is totally bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal. Both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan had the better of Bell. Now Ajmal, another world class spinner, has him in trouble which raises questions about his ability to play top spin bowlers.
Eoin Morgan is at a crossroads in his career. He came out and tried to play shots in the second innings but got out. He is caught in the fog. He does not know how to build a Test innings. He is now thinking ‘should I just play shots?’
I think his best method is to play aggressively. He almost has to bring his one-day approach to the Test arena. That is why he was picked in the first place. It is just whether he will get another chance. What do England do?
If you drop Morgan you are saying he is out of the Test side for a long time.
Personally, I would not change the team. We have seen two embarrassing failures. Give them one more chance knowing a Sri Lanka tour, played on similar positions, is next on the calendar.
Dubai is one chance for these players to show they are good enough to get on the plane to Sri Lanka.
Re: Pakistan vs England 3rd Test in Dubai - Feb 3-7, 2012
amazing statement from vaughan, and a great accolade for misbah.
Even if its not a whitewash (which is on the cards now inshallah) Pakistan have already destroyedmany myths about themselves and England. Keep it up Team Green!
Re: Pakistan vs England 3rd Test in Dubai - Feb 3-7, 2012
As much as I whole heartedly wish for a Farangi Whitewash, somewhere in the small corner of my heart, I have a fear that Pakistan will throw the last test, God Forbid! :(
Re: Pakistan vs England 3rd Test in Dubai - Feb 3-7, 2012
As much as I whole heartedly wish for a Farangi Whitewash, somewhere in the small corner of my heart, I have a fear that Pakistan will throw the last test, God Forbid! :(
Throw as in relaxed and not bothered or throw as in match fixing. I hope you dont mean the second one.
We are not playing T20 … No change in openers but in future we can bring Asad Shafiq as openers who open in First class cricket :cobra:
