Thursday, November 28, 2013

Pakistanis win Hearts all over again!


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 28, 2013 No Comments
"In other words, submission. Because, finally, what Pakistan are doing in these moments is asking you to submit. They are asking you, opponent and spectator, to submit to their reality, their chaos, their unplanning, their spur of the moment, their pox, their talent, their wretchedness, their beauty, their spirit." - Osman Samiuddin

Last night's second one day international between Pakistan and South Africa was an unbelievable game of cricket.

It was a game that reminded the Pakistani fans of their wins in the 90s when Wasim and Waqar would bring the team back from no where.

It was a game that reminded the Pakistani fans to believe again.

It was a game that made the Pakistani fans fall in love with their cricketers again.

To beat South Africa in South Africa in any form of the game is an achievement. To beat them in a series is a bigger achievement. And then to think that you have become the first ever team from the subcontinent to win a series in South Africa, is just overwhelming!

That is an achievement and a half for this Pakistan team, which not very long ago was being thrashed by South Africa in ODIs and T20s.

It has been an amazing comeback for the Boys in Green!

Everything worked yesterday for Pakistan.

A century partnership between Ahmed Shehzad and Sohaib Maqsood at a run rate of almost 6 per over provided them with a platform to fire from. Umar Akmal and Bilawal Bhatti, who very soon will move above Afridi in the batting order, finished the innings perfectly.

262 in 45 overs was a daunting target. It was going to be difficult for South Africa, especially considering that they were up against an in form bowling unit.

Junaid Khan gave Pakistan the perfect start, removing Smith early and keep the run rate in check. Even though Amla and De Kock kept it together for South Africa, their scoring rate of 4-4.5 an over never threatened Pakistan.

When Afridi came on to bowl, Amla and De Kock were well settled but the required run rate was steadily creeping towards 7 an over. Afridi, who has been superb with the ball against South Africa, applied more pressure and accounted for De Kock and Kallis in quick succession.

119-3 in 26. 144 required in 19 overs at 7.58. Game Over?

It looked like it, but AB De Villiers had different things in mind.

ABD went about his job and made the chase look like a cake walk.

The only time South Africa looked like they were in the hunt was when ABD was out there in the middle.

He smashed the bowling around, toyed with Pakistan's premier spinner, hit out against Pakistan's most economical bowler, and looked to take the game away from the Greens.

During the course of his innings, ABD brought down the run rate from over 7.5 to below 5.5.

It was a crushing match winning knock by the South African captain. But only just.

When ABD fell to a good catch by Afridi on the boundary, South Africa were left with only 36 runs to get from 38 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand. Amla was batting on 86 and JP Duminy was walking out to the crease.

It should have been like a walk in the park for South Africa. And it seemed it would be as Amla and Duminy went about their business with ease.

The match seemed lost for Pakistan.

35 from 36, 31 from 30, 26 from 24, 20 from 18, 11 from 12.

Just when it looked like it was game over for Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal delivered a counter punch like no other in the penultimate over of the match.

Amla and Duminy managed only two singles off the first 3 deliveries, and then Ajmal bowled two dot balls.

9 needed from 7. Pressure on South Africa. Ajmal had bowled beautifully.

Off Ajmal's final delivery, Amla went for the big one towards mid wicket. The ball was in the air and two Pakistani fielders were charging towards it. Misbah looked anxiously as Hafeez positioned himself to take the catch, which he held on to. It was a difficult one, but Hafeez remained calm and sent Amla back for a well made 98.

9 needed from the final over of the match.

Junaid Khan had the ball. David Miller was on strike. Duminy at the other end.

Now, it was any body's game.

Miller managed a single of the first delivery and then Duminy heaved the second ball towards mid wicket in the hope of getting a big one early in the over.

Umar Amin ran towards the ball and dived to take a catch inches from the ground. It was a superb effort to catch that in a pressure situation. I know the scorecard says Anwar Ali, even the commentators said Anwar Ali, but it was Umar Amin who caught that ball to send Duminy back.

8 from 4. Pakistan were truly and surely back in it.

Junaid Khan bowled a beautiful final over. His yorkers were spot on and he gave the batsmen no space at all. Reminded me of Wasim bhai. The Pakistani fielders were prowling the boundaries and the square like tigers. The catching was immaculate.

Junaid gave nothing away and Pakistan scraped home with a 1 run win!

A 1 run margin does justice to the sort of cricket that was played last night. But it doesn't do justice to the magical final over bowled by Junaid Khan. The final delivery went for 4 byes, which is why the end result was a 1 run victory.

The last two overs was what Osman Samiuddin has termed "The Haal of Pakistan". According to Osman, the Haal of Pakistan is described in the following words:

 "In other words, submission. Because, finally, what Pakistan are doing in these moments is asking you to submit. They are asking you, opponent and spectator, to submit to their reality, their chaos, their unplanning, their spur of the moment, their pox, their talent, their wretchedness, their beauty, their spirit."

 It was truly unbelievable. Pakistan pulled of an amazing win. One that should have been easier had it not been for some superlative batting by AB De Villiers.

 In either case, it was a magical victory for Pakistan who became the first ever team from the subcontinent to win a series in South Africa.

 Reliving the events from last night, and it still feels like pure magic.

 Maza aa gaya Pakistaaaan!

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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

It is all Misbah's Fault!


Posted by Q at Tuesday, November 19, 2013 Pitched (1)
Yesterday there was an interesting blog post on the Express Tribune. It was titled: 6 reasons why Misbah Ul Haq should not be blamed.

The author of the article, Mr. Noman Ansari, provides us with 6 anti-Misbah notions (or assumptions as he calls them), which are publicly held by the vast majority of Pakistan fans and then dismisses them.

The 6 "assumptions" are:

Assumption 1:  We have a team of lions
Assumption 2:  the rest of the team tries to bat like Misbah
Assumption 3: Misbah should bat at number three and lead from the front
Assumption 4: Pakistan needs Inzamamul Haq as the batting coach
Assumption 5: Saeed Ajmal would be a better captain than Misbah
Assumption 6: Misbah only makes runs for himself, and not the team

I find it really hard to agree with Mr. Ansari. Imran Aslam, one of our regular followers and an avid fan of Cricket and the Pakistan team also disagrees with Mr. Ansari's viewpoint.

I am going to take a look at each of these assumptions one by one. I will first provide with a gist of what Mr. Ansari wrote; then I will provide Imran Aslam's point of view, and then my own opinion.

1. We have a team of lions

Mr. Ansari: ...the Pakistani cricket team is certainly not packing lions. Our opening batsman is Mohammad Hafeez, who going by his scores is more of a duck than a lion. The other openers such as Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad are promising, but still far from consistent. Sohaib Maqsood could be our next big thing, but needs grooming and apparently has a history of fitness issues. Meanwhile, our last next big thing, Umar Akmal, although supremely talented, bats like he had been dropped as a baby by his nurse. This could have been the same hospital where Shahid Afridi was born... we are less a team of lions, and more like a misfit zoo with old animals.

Imran Aslam: his first argument here is about Hafeez being a duck and not a lion - completely agreed. However, is it my fault that Hafeez continues to bat in the top 3 despite having proven very successfully that he is not capable of this or might Misbah have something to do with deciding the batting order? Then he talks about Shahzad and Jamshed - how come these 2 bat with a completely different intent in T20s? and then Afridi, again is it my fault that our team combination was such that Afridi was batting at 7 when everyone and their dog knows that he should not be batting above 8.

Q: If Hafeez is a duck then should Misbah not be blamed for keeping a duck in the team? Remember that the selectors finally put their foot down when they dropped Hafeez from the test squad for the series against South Africa, despite resistance from Misbah. Misbah has been instrumental in developing the clout that Hafeez now enjoys within the management and board. I am actually a Hafeez supporter; I think that through his bowling he commands a position in the limited overs teams. However, given his batting, he should be batting down the order. But again isn't Misbah to blame for maintaining Hafeez' position in the top order?

Dropping Nasir from the ODIs in SA, giving him a dressing down during the Champions Trophy, and playing with his confidence are all Misbah's fault. Ahmed Shehzad has been superb at the top of the order; please remember that Shehzad was kept away from the ODI side for the longest time by Misbah because he preferred the likes of Imran Farhat and did not want an Afridi supporter in the team. 

How can you let Misbah get away with his treatment of Umar Akmal? He first kicked him out of the domestic team that they both play for. Then he got him dumped from the ODI team, despite Umar being the highest ranked ODI batsman Pakistan had. Umar Akmal has been the best ODI batsman for Pakistan in the past 3-4 years, yet because of Misbah we find him batting at 6 or 7 and burdened with the wicket keeping duties.

Unbelievable.

Shahid Afridi should be kept away from batting discussions. But if we are talking about lions, then the team doesn't have a bigger one than Lala. What a player.

Mr. Ansari, field pe dekhen kaun shero ki tarah shikar dhoond raha hota hai. It ain't Misbah!

2. Rest of the team tries to bat like Misbah

Mr. Ansari: Recently, Mohammad Yousuf told a few jokes when criticising Misbah. The first was that our batsmen are following Misbah as a role-model, which is why they are unable to score runs and thus win matches. If anyone has seen Misbah at the crease, they know that he is patient, disciplined and tries to play a long innings. Clearly, this is the exact problem with Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez and rest of the batsmen. Obviously, they are trying too hard to emulate Misbah by occupying the crease. Why, just the other day I was screaming at Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal for playing patiently like Misbah, rather than trying to irresponsibly hit the ball out of the park.

Imran Aslam: First of all Shahid Afridi is NOT a batsman and should not be considered in any argument which involves the word batsman. Look at Jamshed pre and post being dropped by Misbah; is there any difference in the way he plays and might that have something to do with the captain? Yes U Akmal does not try to bat like Misbah but he gets rewarded by being played below Sohail Tanvir and Afridi in the batting order!!!

Q: Misbah is not a role model. He cannot inspire his batsmen. Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq, and even MoYo to an extent were all inspirational and brought out the best in younger batsmen. Misbah cannot do the same.  

3. Misbah should bat at 3 and lead from the front

Mr. Ansari: This is another joke courtesy of Mohammad Yousuf, who says that our batsmen’s technique is poor is because Misbah doesn’t have the guts to come at the number three batting position. First of all, let’s think of all the times that Mohammad Yousuf as Pakistan captain came in at one down. Under his captaincy, Pakistan’s batting also struggled, and although the fans begged MoYo to come in at number three, he stuck to his favorite position in the middle order. So please, as great a batsman as you were Mr Yousuf, practice what you preach. Secondly, Misbah coming in at one down is only a stop gap solution and won’t improve any cricketer’s technique. Our batsmen have always had deep technical flaws that come from our terrible grassroots standards. How can one blame Misbah for that? 

Imran Aslam: If MoYo did not take on the responsibility and bat at no. 3 Misbah should not either? Brilliant logic indeed!!! Oh and btw, MoYo just captained Pakistan in a grand total of 8 ODI's with 4 of those instances coming in 2003-04 when he was deputizing for Inzi - so he effectively captained in 4 ODIs (against Australia) when the batting was struggling and he did not promote himself.

Q: This is typical of blaming the critic of not doing something instead of defending the person being criticized. So what if MoYo did not take the responsibility? The fact itself is untrue however. Mohammad Yousuf batted at number 3 in 45 innings in ODIs, compared to Misbah who has batted at that position only once!

4. Pakistan needs Inzamam Ul Haq as the batting coach

Mr. Ansari: I would say that Yousuf and Inzamam adversely affected Pakistan cricket by introducing a needless religious focus in the dressing room. Now, Yousuf is lobbying for Inzamam to become Pakistan’s new coach. While Inzamam was a great batsman, his technique wasn’t fabulous in testing conditions. One has to look at Inzamam’s World Cup record, where aside from 1992, he was a huge disappointment. Furthermore, Inzamam's record in Australia and South Africa, where the conditions really test a batsmen’s technique, was quite ordinary. In Australia he averaged a mediocre 30, while in South Africa, he scored at an average of 31 runs per Test match innings.

Imran Aslam: Inzi has been one of the very best batsmen produced by Pakistan (if not the best) and if our batsmen need a good batting coach and a local one Inzi is probably the best option out there. Yes he did not average very high in Aus and SA but batting conditions in England are equally hard (maybe tougher due to the swing and seam) and I remember Inzi producing some gems out there. As for his WC record - I remember Inzi doing well in the 96 WC and reasonably well in the 99 WC as well (his 81 against Australia being a treat to watch).

Q: Mr. Ansari has completely confused me here. In trying to defend Misbah, he has suddenly shifted focus to criticizing the best batsman ever produced by Pakistan. His technique was not fabulous? You gotta be kidding me! Not a good record in World Cups? Ha! He played an instrumental role in guiding Pakistan towards World Cup glory in 1992. He averaged 48 in the 1996 World Cup, and he was our second highest run scorer, behind Saeed Anwar, in the 1999 world cup.

If there is anyone who should be coaching Pakistan's batsmen it should be one of Hanif Mohammad, Javed Miandad, or Inzamam Ul Haq. But even they would not be able to change Misbah's mindset.

5. Saeed Ajmal would be a better captain than Misbah 

Mr. Ansari: both Yousuf and Akhtar are insisting that Ajmal would be a better captain than Misbah... the complaints Yousuf and Akhtar have about Misbah involve his batting. Well, newsflash, Ajmal can't actually bat. On the field, Misbah is a decent captain. His field settings are on the mark and he attacks new batsmen by blocking singles and employing close in fielders. He is certainly a better captain than Yousuf ever was. If the complaints about Misbah’s captaincy are about his approach to batting, why replace him with a bowler and at what cost? Will Ajmal continue to bowl as well under the pressure of captaincy? Will this appointment create rifts in the dressing room? Keep in mind, Misbah was the one who brought Ajmal into the team, so it would surely create friction in the dressing room.

Imran Aslam: Misbah being a better captain than MoYo does not make Misbah a good captain (again also remember MoYo was never a long term captain). The complaints against Misbah are for both his batting and his captaincy and these are 2 separate chains of complaints. Saying Saeed Ajmal can't replace Misbah as captain because Saeed Ajmal can't bat is probably the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a very long time. Regarding his field placings and attacking captaincy, I wonder what cricket this author has been watching because in the version I got to see there have been blatant mistakes in his captaincy, starting from team selection, going on to batting order, bowling changes and field placings. Promoting Sohail Tanvir in the middle of a crucial chase, not playing JK, not utilizing Hafeez enough as a bowler when the pacers are being taken to the cleaners are just a few recent examples.

Q: Whoever said that a bowler can't be a captain? Remember Courtney Walsh? Waqar Younis? Misbah the captain and misbah the batsman, both have flaws, but both problems are not interlinked. Speculation of what Ajmal's captaincy will result in are baseless. Why would it create a rift if Misbah and Ajmal are that close? Once again, attacking MoYo will not change the problems that are inherent in Misbah.

6. Misbah only makes runs for himself, not the team

Mr. Ansari: This is a theory that comes less from experts and more from some members of our public. Cricket is a team game and one cricketer can’t win a match alone. I remember when Sachin Tendulkar was India’s only good batsmen; he would score countless runs, but often end up on the losing side. Was this Sachin’s fault, or the fault of the rest of his team? Keep in mind that Misbah almost always comes to bat in a crisis, where he is forced to drop anchor. Does the Misbah propeller spin slowly because it is designed that way or because it has to carry the work load of 10 other propellers?

Let’s look at one of the few matches where Misbah did not come in under pressure. During the first Test match against South Africa, Misbah came in after a fantastic opening stand and scored an excellent century that was fairly aggressive by his standards.

Imran Aslam: First of all, lets not talk about test matches suddenly in the middle of an ODI related discussion because these are 2 very different games. Secondly, if Misbah does come in to bat in a crisis every single time, why does he not assess his top order and see the reasons behind him coming in a crisis? Having said that, I dug out some stats a couple of days back in response to some post and saw that from all the times Misbah has batted at no 5, he has come in to bat with less than 50 runs on the board only 25% of the time or so. 

Q: Why is the example one of a test match innings? Neither I, nor majority of the public, have an issue with Misbah the test captain or Misbah the test batsman. That is where he belongs and that is where he should stay. My sole issue is with his presence in the ODI team. He is not good for the ODI team.

To conclude, I would just like to ask Mr. Ansari and the public one question - over the past 3 years, our test performances and T20 performances have been very good. However, in ODIs, we have been quite pathetic. It is quite obvious to me that there are issues within the ODI team that are not prevalent in the Test or T20 setup. It is obvious to me that despite his batting form, Misbah, has not been able to bring out the best in his team in ODIs. Why isn't someone willing to do something about this?

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What We Love About the BBC's Ashes Test Match Special


Posted by Q at Tuesday, November 19, 2013 No Comments
At the time of writing, it is a little over 48 hours until the first ball is bowled in this classic sporting battle of two old foes. The Ashes has few parallels in modern sport in regards to its gruelling competitiveness and rivalry, but as with many contests, it is the quality of the coverage that its success relies on.

Test Match Special (otherwise known as TMS) has been providing ball-by-ball commentary of England cricket since 1957, and in that time it has developed a huge fan base (just shy of 50k Facebook likes currently), as well as a reputation as one of the finest sports broadcasts in the world.

But what is it about TMS that we find so compelling?

Wit and Humour

There's a lot of cricket to be played during one day of a test match, but even so, there is plenty of quiet moments which need to be filled. This is where the TMS team excel, delivering moments of great hilarity. Take this unintentional double entendre by TMS presenter Jonathon Agnew:

http://youtu.be/PtvYt28hD8I

Geoffrey Boycott's commentary can be especially entertaining, with his no nonsense and uncompromising Yorkshire personality leading to a Take-No-Prisoners approach to cricket analysis that is frankly some of the best around.

Expert Cricket Analysis

The banter of TMS is one of its unique selling points, but it still requires that expert analysis to paint a vivid picture of what is happening on the pitch. The TMS team are made up of former pro's that include some of the finest players to have graced the sport, all of whom can speak eloquently about even the most minor of details without losing the audience.



The commentary teams change around on a regular basis - perhaps every 20 minutes or so -  and yet retain the same impeccably high standards of analysis at all times. Talk about strength in depth.

As Relaxing as it is Enthralling

The final overs of an epic test may well have you on the edge of your seat, but for long periods of the match it can be quite sedate, but far from descending into boredom, TMS ensures that when the action isn't quite so intense you can sit back and relax as you enjoy pure audible ambrosia.

There is something especially comforting about listening to a broadcast from the sunshine of Australia on a cold British night, transporting you to the other side of the world and - in spirit at least - into the warmth of the Ashes down under.

What do you think it is about cricket commentary that sets it apart from analysis of any other sport? Let us know in the comments.

This guest blog was written by John Rooney

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Shahid Afridi ... Tu Mera Hero!


Posted by Q at Sunday, November 03, 2013 No Comments
It has been 17 years since Shahid Afridi made his ODI debut for Pakistan.

It has been 17 years since I have been an Afridi fan and vocal supporter. 

So much so that I have endlessly argued with the world about his value to the Pakistan ODI team on Well Pitched, Boys in Green, and on several other forums in the online world.

The first ODI against South Africa gave the Afridi critics another chance to blame the man who is a darling for the masses.

And blame him for what? For smashing a half tracker straight into the hands of deep mid wicket when Pakistan required only 7 runs to win.

Everyone forgot that Pakistan lost its last 6 wickets for 17 runs. Afridi was one of the six. There were 5 others and all of them got out to bad batting.

Magar gaaliyan to sirf Afridi ko hi deni hain na.

Everyone had also forgotten that Afridi, along with Saeed Ajmal, had been instrumental in restricting South Africa to 180 odd. A target that the Pakistan batsmen should have achieved.

Lekin nai. Gaaliyan to sirf Afridi ko hi deni hain na.

Well, nothing really shuts up the critics more than a match winning performance.

And Afridi produced just that in the 2nd ODI against South Africa in Dubai on Friday.

26 valuable runs. 3 crucial wickets. Man of the Match. Boom Boom!

Since his return to the national team, Afridi has played 10 ODIs against West Indies, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, for the following return:

17 wickets at an average of 18.23
194 runs at an average of 24.25
2 Man of the Match Awards

What else do you want?

Aur maangta kya hai Afridi se?

Is that not enough? 

It is a fact that Shahid Afridi is the largest Superstar in Pakistan right now. One of the most exhilarating experience of watching cricket in a stadium is to witness the roar that welcomes Shahid Afridi to the pitch.

It is deafening.

Every time Afridi walks out, har bache se leke buddhe tak ka dil karta hai Boom Boom.

Besides being the largest Superstar in Pakistan currently, Afridi is also Pakistan's biggest match winner in ODIs.

On Friday, it was his 31st Man of the Match Award.

Only 6 players have won more MOM awards, and no one has won more for Pakistan. Another 2 MOM awards and Afridi will have the third most MOM awards in the history of ODIs.

Sure he's played a lot of ODIs - 364 of them, but his 31 MOM awards means that Afridi wins a MOM award at the rate of 1 in every ~12 ODIs (11.7). That is exactly the same rate as Ricky Ponting! (32 MOM in 375 ODIs).

Only Saeed Anwar has a better rate of winning MOM awards for Pakistan than Afridi (among players with more than 15 MOM awards for Pakistan in ODIs).

I don't think Pakistan has seen a bigger match winner than Shahid Afridi in limited overs cricket.

He is only 35 wickets away from becoming only the 5th bowler in history to take 400 ODI wickets.

Superstar, match winner, top bowler, and as my friend Fatima says "tu mera hero" !

Aur kya chahye Pakistanio ko?



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