The Pak think-tank has lately been disappointing their fans with very uninspired thinking and poor strategies. Following are two issues I hope Miandad and Inzi address in team meetings well before the series starts:
Shoaib - the only hope
Even when Pakistan bowling was its best with the likes of Wasim, Waqar, Saqi, Shoaib etc, our bowling was never a one-man effort. Yes, we frequently saw almost superhuman effort from one of the boys but our bowling was an expert at slowing down the runrate while constantly attacking the batsmen thus slowly strangling the opposition’s run chase. And they did all this as one unit.
And the same is true of this bowling lineup. Yes, two of the most skilled and destructive bowlers no longer don the Pak uniforms but our bowling if they bowl as a team are still a force to be reckoned with. Shoaib is a fine bowler but he alone can work only so many miracles. I hope Miandad gets that in all the bowlers’ head - they all have a responsibility and they can’t just pass the buck to Shoaib.
Indian batting - insurmountable wall?
Indian batting has always had a tremendous reputation and now they’re rated higher than ever before. In the past that however hasn’t always translated into equivalent success. And there is no reason why that can’t be the case again as long as the Pak bowlers remember that in the end Sehwag, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, and Dravid are just five batsmen although very, very good ones. Treat them on a one by one basis. Don’t get intimidated by the names, focus on the players.
One would think these are fundamental issues that any pro coach would clear but with Pak management you never know…
Samby.. Nice stuff.. But the facts remains the same.
Our batsmen are famous of making a mess even on a wicket which is declared most suitable for batting.
and our bowlers are famous for making zeroes a hero.
So just wait for the game to begin and let the nature do its course. What ever the outcome woudl be, I would only like to see good cricket.
From my heart I would like to see Pakistan win, but my mind would go for good cricket.
CB yaar, I differ a little bit there. While Pak's batting is not comparable to India's batting at all, I think they just might do the job on Pak pitches like they did against South Africa. I'm more concerned about our bowling and our team's over-reliance on Shoaib. Our bowling has lately turned into a one-man show and that in my opinion is not because of a lack of skills but it is more of a mental thing.
Waisay you're completely right about the letting the game takes its course. But I just thought I'd collect my thoughts before the series and let the armchair critic in me come forth. :)
Some1, that is not what I'm saying at all. The second point in my post is only that I hope Pakistani bowlers don't get intimidated by the Indian batsmen's reputation. India has a great batting lineup and it is right up there at the top along with the Aussies. It would be foolish of the Pak team to underestimate the Indian team especially the batting. :)
So what kind of pitches is Pak preparing? IF they are similar to Indian pitches then India will not have a problem adjusting to them. IF they are like the WACA you'll have us rope walking.
Shoaib is the kind of bowler who become unplayable if things are going his way. But smash him for early runs and he starts making big mistakes. It'll be a mind game for sure. I'd like to say that INdia has just come back from a tour that taught them all about dominance, but unfortunately the team went to pieces at the end. I can only hope they are carrying Adelaide attitude when they land in Pak.
The catching and fielding must be near perfect. The team that does it better has a head start.
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*Originally posted by karina: *
So what kind of pitches is Pak preparing? IF they are similar to Indian pitches then India will not have a problem adjusting to them. IF they are like the WACA you'll have us rope walking.
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What was the WACA pitch like? Ramiz has recently said that Pakistani pitches will be very similar to those prepared for the South African series. (Swing for the pacers and good turn for spinners) Englishman Atkinson (sp?) prepared the pitches for that tour and PCB has hired him again.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by karina: *
So what kind of pitches is Pak preparing? IF they are similar to Indian pitches then India will not have a problem adjusting to them. IF they are like the WACA you'll have us rope walking.
Shoaib is the kind of bowler who become unplayable if things are going his way. But smash him for early runs and he starts making big mistakes. It'll be a mind game for sure. I'd like to say that INdia has just come back from a tour that taught them all about dominance, but unfortunately the team went to pieces at the end. I can only hope they are carrying Adelaide attitude when they land in Pak.
The catching and fielding must be near perfect. The team that does it better has a head start.
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Pakistani pitches will have some life like they did in the Saffie series but it will be nothing close to WACA, I'm sure.
Re: Shoaib. That is exactly what I'm talking about. If the whole Pak team goes onto the field looking and praying to Shoaib and if Tendulkar and Sehwag take him apart, the match will turn into a no-contest in 10 overs!!
Samb I don’t think that Shoaib deal is a misconception. None of our other bowlers have proved them selves yet. I'm not sure if Saqlain will be in the playing 11 but if you look at the team we have been playing with for the past 6-8 months you'll notice without Shoaib it is a very mediocre bowling line-up. Everyone was very pumped up with two of the fastest bowlers in the world (Shoaib and Sami) opening the bowling. Then we dropped Sami as the first change and got Shabir to attack with Shoaib. Both Sami and Shabir are very inconsistent, with Shabir's future hanging in the air at this time.
After that we have no one. We have been playing with the above mentioned three bowlers and 2 all rounders which according to me is suicidal against any team let alone the powerful Indian batting line up. We will need a 6th bowling option against India or for that matter we should have a 6th bowling option against any team in the world. We can make ourselves happy and keep saying these are all promising youngsters and we have some more youngsters in the lineup but when you take all the sugar coating off the fact remains Pakistani bowling revolves around Shoaib Akhtar. If he strikes, the opposition comes under pressure and then the other bowlers can sometimes make inroads as well. But overall Shoaib remians the heart and soul of the Pakistani bowling lineup. We are too dependent on him and will remain so unless Sami picks up his game quite a bit or we find another quality bowler
There is a proven formula to win one day matches. Aggressive bowling and mediocre batting can get you there. Aggressive batting and a mediocre bowling has comparatively bigger challenges at hand. Pakistan has an edge over India considering home crowd advantage and world’s top bowlers…but you are right.. Shoaib cannot perform miracles nor do I see him of Wasim Akram or Imran Khan’s caliber. Pakistan should play specialist bowlers to help Shoaib out not just 'batting allrounders'....I would take a bowling allrounder over a batting one anyday...
However, this series is more than just pure talent on the field. It comes with a lot of pressure, politics and pride factor. A flawless execution of a well planned strategy is the key to winning the series.
Which team will execute better in this series? India choked in Australian finals and Pakistanies didn’t prove themselves in NZ one-day series (not to mention the captaincy factor). Can Inzimam handle the pressure? Can Indian bowling deliver in crunch situations?
I think Inzi and Miandad have a big role to play in making strategies and to me..both of them failed in NZ. Pakistan should look very closely at the Aus/India series. Aussies were prepared so well that they nunga-fied Indian batting line. I can’t count the number of times Ganguly got hit on the halmet and how Sehwag got out to Lee's short of length body line balls.
Pakistan should show their professionalism for a change..study Indian batting lineup and PREPARE. As they say failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
The fact of the matter is nobody knows how this series will unfold. You can discuss anything adnauseum here.
Akhtar might injure himself in the first match and be ruled out for the series. Yaseer Hameed may turn out to be the batting hero of the series OR Zaheer Khan may prove to be Pak's nemesis OR in the most likely event there might be a minor blast outside the stadium and India will call off the tour.
True. No one knows.
However it is highly likely that Indians will call off the tour if things are not going in their favour. It is the first time in fourteen years that Indian team looks better on paper and hence the friendship and the tour. Why am I not surprised.
Indo/Pak friendship right
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*Originally posted by LahoriMunda: *
Samb I don’t think that Shoaib deal is a misconception. None of our other bowlers have proved them selves yet. I'm not sure if Saqlain will be in the playing 11 but if you look at the team we have been playing with for the past 6-8 months you'll notice without Shoaib it is a very mediocre bowling line-up. Everyone was very pumped up with two of the fastest bowlers in the world (Shoaib and Sami) opening the bowling. Then we dropped Sami as the first change and got Shabir to attack with Shoaib. Both Sami and Shabir are very inconsistent, with Shabir's future hanging in the air at this time.
After that we have no one. We have been playing with the above mentioned three bowlers and 2 all rounders which according to me is suicidal against any team let alone the powerful Indian batting line up. We will need a 6th bowling option against India or for that matter we should have a 6th bowling option against any team in the world. We can make ourselves happy and keep saying these are all promising youngsters and we have some more youngsters in the lineup but when you take all the sugar coating off the fact remains Pakistani bowling revolves around Shoaib Akhtar. If he strikes, the opposition comes under pressure and then the other bowlers can sometimes make inroads as well. But overall Shoaib remians the heart and soul of the Pakistani bowling lineup. We are too dependent on him and will remain so unless Sami picks up his game quite a bit or we find another quality bowler
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LM yaara, I agree with you that Shoaib is way ahead of his fellow bowlers. But the rest of the attack is pretty useful. They need to put their head down and support Shoaib. And if they can't do that, sack them - as simple as that. No one can convince me that Umar Gul is the fourth best fast bowling option we have in Pakistan, especially not after seeing our bowling the U-19 Cup. If Sami (who I think is a fine bowler) and Gul can't support Shoaib and Shabbir, give a chance to Abdul Rauf, Fazl-e-Akbar, Mohd Irshad, Zahid Saeed, etc etc.
Your second point couldn't be more true. I thought it was ridiculous and almost suicidal of Pakistan to play only 5 bowlers of which two were Razzaq and Shoaib Malik. Absolutely preposterous. I've been a strong advocate of the sixth bowling option even when we had the best bowling attack in the world. But now when you have a couple of rookies, it is essential that Pak play 6 bowlers to cover for Razzaq and one other poor performer. Lets see what Miandad and Inzi do. Waisay, after hearing all that talk about Miandad's street smarts, I've been very disappointd with his strategies and team selection.
[QUOTE] Originally posted by BoSS: *
**There is a proven formula to win one day matches. Aggressive bowling and mediocre batting can get you there.*
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Boss unkil, you deserve an Oscar for this. :-D This is precisely why Pakistan has been a strong team in recent years despite having one of the worst batting lineups among test nations.
I hope Razzaq is not expected to bowl his full 10 overs on Pakistani pitches. Inzi and Miandad must provide cover for Razzaq and Shoaib Malik.
right 