Tuesday, July 14, 2009

An Un-Colombo Morning

Unlike the first two mornings at Colombo, which saw a total of 11 wickets fall, this morning we witnessed the batsmen pile on the runs with utmost ease.

I guess Fawad Alam and Younis Khan slept soundly last night!

Both, Fawad and Younis, looked very comfortable at the crease and the runs flowed for Pakistan, stretching their lead from an overnight 28 to 144.

The best thing about Fawad's innings is that he has scored at a very good pace, yet he has hardly played any big shots.

It would be ironic to say that his runs have come unnoticed, but that is the way he has played.

Fawad has given the Sri Lankan bowlers a slow death and they are probably still wondering what hit them.

Younis was a bit more aggressive this morning; he missed out on a well deserved century and would have got there had he not tried to reverse sweep a rank full toss.

It was not a delivery that should have got a wicket but then something had to go Sri Lanka's way.

Pakistan is now in a very good position and they can convert this lead into a match winning one if they continue in the same vein.

I'm not sure what would be a match winning total here as the wicket is playing very well and Sri Lanka have chased 350+ on this ground before.

However, going by the way Sri Lanka have batted in this series, I would be confident if they are set a total over 300.

Having said that, Pakistan should look to bat out the day and take the match away from Sri Lanka.

They have the liberty to do so.

Make your pitch on this post...



Labels: , , , , ,


7 Pitched:

  1. Anonymous said...
     

    Q - i do really agree on what you have said about blastic performance of fawad alam. But dont forget that its too early for him to be rated as an opening batsmen.

    I still remember your one sentence during T20 WC. "one BUTT off the field makes a hell of a diffrence". So point is we cannot say fawad alam the man in our opening slot.

    Please correct me if i am mistaken for the comment mentioned

  2. Q said...
     

    Anonymous,

    Ur right abt my comment abt Butt.. and I also agree that it is too early to rate Fawad as an opening batsman.. if u read my previous post on Fawad that is exactly what I said - that though Pakistan have a found a great batsman, whether a great opener or not, we don't know.

  3. khansahab said...
     

    Q

    Please tell me why in your expert opinion, Malik and Misbah are in the Test side?

    I will mention some batsmen now who bat at no 5 and 6 and tell me if you think Malik and Misbah are better than them:

    Collingwood, Flintoff, Duminy, Prince, De Villiers, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Laxman, Samaraweera, Dilshan, Clarke, Hussey, North etc.

    All of them are of a better calibre than Malik and Misbah. Collingwood and Flintoff may not have high averages but both of them can play on seaming tracks and they can play under pressure.

    Regionalism should not dictate selection. Time for Malik and Misbah to go.

  4. Krish said...
     

    You jinxed it, man! Cannot believe they collapsed yet again.

  5. Q said...
     

    Khansahab,

    Since Misbah's comeback into the test team in 2007, he has played 9 tests including the just concluded one.

    His scores in those matches read:

    23, 23, 41, 82, 45, 161*, 6, 133*, 37, 42, 56, 7, 0, 3

    If you take a close look, the just concluded test is the only one in which he has failed in both innings.

    The only thing I can hold against him is that he hasn't converted some of the 20s,30s,and 40s that he has got.

    I will not drop him based on those scored. I see no reason too and I don't see why you do.

    As for Malik, you know what I think. I always wanted Faisal Iqbal at 6 ahead of Malik. Malik was never in the test team before he became captain.. he played a few but he was never a regular.. as captain obviously he played and after that Pakistan have been reluctant to drop him for reasons I don't understand.

    I don't think regionalism dictates selection in Pakistan. I know you think otherwise, but I would like to believe that a best Pakistan XI is chosen irrespective of a Punjab or a Sindh.

  6. Q said...
     

    Krish,

    Sigh.. its becoming too predictable now.

  7. khansahab said...
     

    Q

    I see a lot of scores there between 20-40.

    That exactly is my point. You know even I used to think like that until very recently. I used to think these 30s and 40s scores mean something, but they don't.

    Misbah and Malik are in the team to score more than 30s and 40s. If they are not performing that role than they should be sacked. In Tests you need to have a high conversion rate. It seems to me that is a serious flaw with Misbah's batting. 30s and 40s mean something in ODI's, which is why we argue that Malik should perhaps be playing ODI's but not Tests.

    You know people like Razzaq, Afridi and Akmal can also score in the 30s and 40s.

    Regionalism is blamed because you can't find any logic for keeping people like Fawad Alam out and keeping people like Shoaib Malik in. When you can't find any excuse of a "law of nature" then you have to find extraneous reasons.

Post a Comment