Pakistan's Victory was Sweet!
Pakistan almost made it difficult for themselves chasing 130 odd against the West Indies, but at the end a victory with almost 20 overs to spare sounds quite comprehensive.
The best part of the win was that it came on the back of two young cricketers, who will probably be two of the most important members of Pakistan's side over the next decade and a half.
First Mohammad Aamer with the ball and then Umar Akmal with the bat showed that Pakistan's future is in good hands.
Both Aamer and Umar have already shown their promise at the highest level; today's performances, however, showed that besides the immense talent that they have, they also possess maturity.
Aamer bowled with the precision of an experienced work horse.
While Umar batted with controlled aggression.
His innings wasn't the typical slam bang aggro that he has displayed in the little time he has been around in international cricket.
He played watchfully and consolidated when Pakistan was in a shaky position; then when the time was right he played his strokes.
It felt great to watch these two boys help Pakistan get a winning start in the Champions Trophy.
Afridi's captaincy was not really tested today but a win is always a confidence booster; its good that his first game as captain was against a side like the West Indies and not against India or Australia.
Not that he lacks it, but he will surely be more confident the next time round.
However, I feel that his eagerness got the better of him in the first half of the game; I don't think Afridi should have come on to bowl when he did.
The pacers had done an unbelievable job of reducing the West Indies to 47-7; Afridi should have worked towards shutting them down.
I guess he believed he could do the job himself, and he probably wanted to stamp his authority on the game.
Fortunately it did not do Pakistan much harm; it could have been worse.
And even if he was below par with the ball, he showed he means business with his level headed batting leading Pakistan to victory.
It was sweet!
They messed up. Oldies failed. Why keep them. Misbah, Yusuf are liabilities now.
Good to see you back Q.
It was indeed gratifying to see Pakistan win, however it was more of a sigh than sweet. It is the batting thats the issue.
I think for their next match against India, Misbah & Yousuf should be replaced with Younis & Alam. Though I am not very much impressed by Alam, but its the young-blood that could possibly make the difference.
Sameer,
I agree.. We need Fawad Alam in place of 1 of them at the least..
Thanx Adverbin!
Bilo,
Alam is an amazing batsman.. he just needs more chances...
Its good that Pakistan has started with a victory. The coming matches are the testing matches for Pakistan.
coming match is PAK vs INDIA in an ICC mega outing .... can u belive that?
All those statements about beating INDIA could only come true if at least 2 of oldies performed up to their potential having a good hand from Youngsters like Aamer , Umar and Fawad etc.
I just don't want to look ahead of 26 Sep or before 26 Sep for now, its all focused on that day :P
no need to jump the gun here and drop all the seniors at once. I strongly believe that we need Shoaib, Misbah and specially Yousuf. Shoaib and Misbah both did well in the warmups and they should find themselves at home on Centurian pitch. Yousuf is a class act and even if he makes under 40 he is labled as a failure. Thats because we expect nothing less from him.
The man who should be dropped is Imran Nazir. He is the real liability, we give too much value to crash bang players. They only come good in one match out of 10, when they do they are spectacular but thats not the reason for the 9 other failures.
Without Salman Butt, I think we should open with Shoaib Malik (after all he has an average of 37 as an opener and in 40s as 1 down, so he plays the new ball well).
Younis can come in for Imran Nazir and we will have very solid batting to build foundation. Afridi and Umar Akmal can provide the fireworks if needed at the end.
Totally agree with Khurram. And dont forget that Yousof got out to a terrible decision. This was a difficult pitch for Pakistanis. The batsmen have done well in the warm-up games (one of them was against Srilanka). Centurian is as close to a sub-continental wicket as it gets in SA. So the only change I'll recommend is Younus in place of Imran and open with Shoaib/Kamran. Bowling I think is fine, so I'm OK with no change. If we're getting too adventurous, maybe bring Asif in place of Rana (if Asif is bowling really well in the nets).
Reverse Swing,
It is going to be a BIG game.. for some reason previous outcomes and form don't matter any more when Pakistan and India face each other.. both teams raise their games up a level.. it should be a great encounter.. can't wait for it!
Khurram,
I agree to a certain extent.. all the seniors should not be dropped at once but I believe that a phasing out process needs to start so that the team is not overhauled all at once..
Misbah and Yousuf are reaching their expiry dates, hence I feel one should be dropped from the ODI side and a youngster like Fawad Alam, or any other promising batsman be brought into the team..
The younger bats needs experience and time in international cricket to develop themselves.. 2011 is only 2 years away and I don't c Misbah or Yousuf being a part of that..
And we can't afford to drop both or have both of them leave cricket at the same time..
Thinking ahead is crucial..
Fayez,
I know that is how you think.. my reply to Khurram has my thoughts.. I do feel an eye on the future is important..
I just read on Cricinfo that Intikhab Alam wants to play Asif against India tomorrow. I kinda like that move as a new ball combination of Asif and Aamer gives you a great mix of experience, youthful enthusiasm, movement, discipline and variety. But the current combination of Rana and Aamer has been doing great all ready. Plus who do you drop to make way for Asif? It cant be Ajmal since its gonna be a spinning pitch at Centurion (look at the success the previously out-of-form Mendis had there), Aamer and Gul are not getting dropped after their performance against West Indies, that leaves the unfortunate Rana who's done great since he returned to the International fold and recently took 5 wickets against Sri Lanka in a warm-up game...
Q,
Maybe Afridi shouldn't have brought himself on but even still he bowled worse than expected. Had he been his usual wicket taking and economical self, it would have been ok.
It's a lesson for him though and something to think about. At least it will encourage him to do better with the ball next time round.
Hi Q
Could you please update your blogroll with my new web address www.sillymaidon.com...
Cheers,
Megha
Pakistani fans always push for knee jerk reactions.
I don't think that Malik or Yousaf played badly. Misbah was under pressure to score runs and he failed but the Lankan batsmen also failed at Wanderes so did Strauss and a few other English players.
Younis will only have to decide between Malik/ Misbah and he will also have to decide between Rana/ Asif. I think none of the above players have a clear advantage over the other so regardless of who so ever gets picked its not going to materially affect the teams performance.
Imran Nazir should stay, personally I would prefer Malik over Misbah as he is a better fielder and also gives the team the option of a sixth bowler.
If the pitch at centurion is going to be a flat track i would prefer Rana over Asif if it is going to assist seamers than Asif is a beter choice.
Our oldies usually perform in side matches, and whenever they fail in bigger ones we say it's pressure. What's the point of playing them when they cant handle pressure ? playing international bowling is not something that worries batsmen (even fawad alam and imran nazir can do it ON THEIR DAY), it's facing them under critical situations which shows the mettle of the player.
Imran nazir is not an opener, he's maybe just a more fluent version of the Afridi we've seen all these years. how many GOOD innings does he have? plus look at his modes of dismissal. He has still not been able to identify and correct his weaker points.
Q,
I really did not find this victory sweet, it was more frustrating and it angered me more than before.
If you remember i told you once.. if you have 10 people in the room and ask them a simple question:
A team is chasing 180, and they are 70/4 or maybe 70/5, which team is it? I can swear 7 of the people in the room would answer it's Pakistan.
Basim,
I was hoping that Asif would play against India but I guess the mgmt thought otherwise.. I don't know why he wasn't played against WI either.. they should have thrown him at the deep end for that game..
Playing him against Australia now may be a risk but I would replace Gul after his performance against India..
Stani,
It was a lesson for sure.. he did much better against India.. he was in top form!
Hi Megha,
I'll do that asap!
"I really did not find this victory sweet, it was more frustrating and it angered me more than before."
The reason I found it sweet was because it was the new boys that performed and took Pakistan home.. Aamer with the ball and Umar with the bat..
NICE BLOG
Australia v England Live in ICC Champions Trophy 2009http://mixx-sports.blogspot.com/2009/10/australia-v-england-live-in-icc.html