Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Practice Revealed, Strategy a Secret... Till Today..

The questions were raised.

How do you tackle him? how good is he? Do you read him from the hand or off the pitch? How many videos of him have you seen?

There was a brief response from the coach.

We have analysed him; we have a strategy, but that was between me and the team.

The media caught something:

Pakistan's batsmen have been practising on shorter pitches to try and counter the threat of Ajantha Mendis.

The key men spoke.

Intikhab Alam:

"I can't tell you the details but we are looking at everything. If Mendis was hit around by a player we check who the batsman was and how he went about it. Some say play him from the hand, some say off the pitch. But the thing is he's quick, so whatever we do, we have to decide properly. We will definately be positive and attack him."

Shoaib Malik:

“Mendis is a relatively new bowler and we have prepared a strategy to tackle him”

“It’s (the strategy) a secret and you will know about it during the series.”

Misbah Ul Haq:

"We will definitely try to attack and unnerve him"

"We saw him in the Asia Cup and even though he took four wickets, he went for a few runs"

"We are practicing a lot for Mendis"

"We're playing bowlers from shorter distances so we can counter the fast pace. There is no reason why we cannot handle him because all Pakistan players are good against spin."

“Nobody’s scared of him (Mendis)”

The Result.

BAW Mendis 7 0 41 0

Make your pitch on this post...



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16 Pitched:

  1. Gaurav Sethi said...
     

    And Akhtar 43 of 7 - how was he, just saw him bowl one over when Dilshan was having a fence outside off.

  2. Q said...
     

    Akhtar was short and wayward like he has been in recent times, hence the pounding from Dilshan and Jayasuriya..

    Mendis was good like he has been in recent times - only Salman & Khurram were better ;-)

  3. Anonymous said...
     

    Gul and Akhtar neutralized.........

    M&M -- who the heck are they ?

    Mahela -- time to go and catch fish in sea rather than step into the field and embarras himself and his team!!

    Sl are disgrace on the field....struggling against weaker teams like BD and Zim and now Pak thumps them !!

    3-0 win in line!!

    BTW happy for Malik, he needed smthin to show his critics...he has showed!! he is a far cry from rash skipeprs Pak had (read Inzy and Miandad) and is better one...

    he shud be the one who shud have a long successful run given the nasty players he had diff with are now not in the team and a 'supportive' PCB in his favor!!

    but for sure, SL are new minnows of the world cricket!!

  4. Anonymous said...
     

    It was fantastic to watch Pakistan play at home against a top tier nation and the ease of the win and the composure shown by young Manzoor was very impressive.

    I'll be watching again tonight. In my opinion, Pakistan are the most entertaining international side currently playing the game.

    They should have won the last T20 World Championships (oh Misbah, what were you thinking?)and if at full strength they must be a solid chance to win this year's version in a few months.

  5. Damith S. said...
     

    So does anyone know what the strategy was exactly ? Obviously it was to attack him but I thought Mendis bowled a lot fuller than he normally does, It was very good batting from Pak.

    Was it to his him straight ?

    Eitherway, our batting let us down again and our bowling had to give at one point or the other, there isnt a front line quick bowler who will scare Pakistan at this point. Need Malinga back.

    I dont think this will be one way traffic as Sam seems have been suggesting for nearly half a year now or something. SL will do their homework and we will be back !

  6. Som said...
     

    can't really underestimate the Mendis threat but definitely Pakistan got off to the start they wanted. I'm waiting to see how Mendis comes back after someone gives him a real hiding.

  7. straight point said...
     

    to second som its too early to judge whether he had an off day of pak played him better... i think bit of both...

    it only created a battle within a battle so next two game gonna be interesting...its pity they are gonna play only 3 odis though...

  8. Anonymous said...
     

    Yeah Sam Sl are the new minnows! lol

    They were the runners up of the world cup and just a few months earlier they thrashed India, so if they are minnows then so is India.

    Every team goes through ups and downs.

  9. Anonymous said...
     

    There are too many players in Pakistan who can bowl "carom ball" in especially in Lahore,they are a product of tape roll and cement pitch cricket, I think that Pakistan team must have prepared against some locals.Most of the batsmen grew up playing cricket on the streets and they must already knew how to handle this style of bowling.

  10. Q said...
     

    Sam, not sure if they r minnows but they have had a bad time lately. Their batting hasnt been clicking.. maybe its too much cricket.. they r the Asian champions after all..

    Though I would add that in recent times - even since the WC07, Pakistan has beaten Lanka more than they have lost to them...

  11. Q said...
     

    It sure was Nesta. Im glad to see that there are other people who can see the talent at display whenever Pakistan plays and at the same time ignore the off the field happenings related to Pakistan cricket.

    Honestly if you ignore whats happened off the field in the last 2-3 years, the on field performance isnt all that bad.

  12. Q said...
     

    Damith, as Salman and Malik said - the strategy wasnt really to attack but to pick up 1s and 2s without losing a wicket to him.

    Either way, I think what stood out most was the way the Pak batsmen practiced for him - facing balls from 10-15 yards..

    Im sure all of u have played 1-tip cricket in corridors.. in such games u always find 1 bowler using his fingers and wrists to bowl the leggies, offies, googlies, flippers, doosras, etc.. Play that all day and I reckon u'll be ready to face Mendis in a match..

    And as Wasim said, Pakistan is full of bowlers like Mendis playing street cricket so the novelty factor is not exactly there. However, its more cos of the practice methods than the familiarity levels..

    Exciting contest none the less.

  13. Q said...
     

    Som, agreed. Lets say we're 1 up on him right now and c how it goes today...

  14. Q said...
     

    SP, aaj dekhte hain! :-)

  15. Anonymous said...
     

    6.5 1 29 3
    Mendis strikes back!
    I wish Mendis played Aus, NZ, Eng and SA before they can study his videos. Some 2 digit all outs will ensue. unfortunately, by the time he plays them they would have got some video footage and escape the carnage. Darn lucky bastards - Mendis has bowled only to subcontinentals so far.

  16. Q said...
     

    Raj, those 3 were hapless tailenders. The seamers had already done the job for Lanka.

    But ur right.. a battle against the Aussies and Safrikaans is definitely worth watching..

    Would have liked to see Hayden against him, pity that wont happen.

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