Pakistan’s first pool match against the West Indies was full of anxiety and speculation. There was a lot of drum beating about the strength and preparation of our team before the same left for South Africa. Their impressive 108-run victory against a strong Sri Lanka outfit in a warm up game proved the point. With Kamran Akmal (82), Misbahul Haq (72), Umar Akmal (67) and Shahid Afridi (36*), it was a high scoring match with Pakistan piling up a total of 306 runs. Our galaxy of bowlers especially Rana Navedul Hasan (5-41) having bowling out their opponents for 198 runs, Pakistan emerged with flying colours. The glorious victory brightened the hopes and aspirations of cricket lovers about our team’s performance in the forthcoming matches. The internationally known ‘inconsistency trait’ of our team, however, resurfaced when they took the field in their opening match against the West Indies. It was a combination of good luck and a brilliant performance by young Umar Akmal who played an invaluable unbeaten innings of 41 runs that made our team emerge victorious by five wickets.
The victory came amidst a shadow of apprehension and fear because never before our team were seen engulfed by such a state of pressure. As it is known, there exists some sort of a dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the players due to which the top players declined to form part of the touring side. The team participating in the prestigious tournament thus comprises of the players with little international exposure.
The Windies won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan’s outstanding bowling attack. True to their reputation our bowlers – left arm pacer Mohammad Aamer (3 for 24) and Umar Gul (3 for 28) – bundled out their rivals for a paltry 133 runs. At one stage, having lost 7 wickets for a mere 47 runs on the board they were seen struggling to survive. They would have surely collapsed for less than a hundred runs had not Nikita Miller played a gallant innings of 51 runs to bring some dignity to the total. The victory target of 134 runs was the easiest to look at but the way our team achieved it, was not only inglorious but also disappointing.
The sight of a small victory target and the feeling of complacency in achieving the same rendered our team too over-cautious. Feeling uncomfortable against a raw bunch of quickies, our team took a poor start losing the opening pair of Kamran Akmal and Imran Nazir within the first twenty runs. They were seen under such a pressure that even a gladiator like Mohammad Yousuf was not only hit on the arm but also dropped in the slips when Pakistan were only 28 for 2. The pressure mounted to such an extent that a prolific batsman like Misbahul Haq was able to score his 6 runs in 22 balls. With our team losing four wickets for only 62 runs it looked like a ditto copy of the Windies poor batting. With the dot balls far exceeding the played ones, our batsmen were seen struggling to score even the singles. This was the moment that cricket fans glued to their TV sets back home became apprehensive and started fearing for a defeat.
Thank God, lady-luck took mercy on our team. With the Pakistan team at 76 for 5, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal got together, stemmed the rot and rescued the team from a possible disaster. The nervousness of our batting line was evident from the fact that our team scored their 100 runs in 23 overs against a ‘B team’. Pakistan achieved the victory target of 134 runs in 30 overs. By playing a heroic innings of 41 not out, Umar Akmal emerged as hero of the match. With such a shabby, unsure and struggling batting performance, one can not call this achievement a ‘splendid victory’.
There is a common feeling that our players as well as officials especially skipper Younis Khan talk too much about the prowess of our team, perhaps to put other teams in the tournament under psychological pressure. This is like befooling ourselves. A review of other teams of the world will indicate that they are more accomplished, technically sound and polished as compared to our team. Younis Khan’s rhetoric of ‘taking revenge from India’ reflects badly on his highly unimpressive countenance. The Pakistan Cricket Board should tell him to keep his mouth shut. To advance further in the tournament, our team needs tremendous improvement in batting, building up confidence, improving the match strategy and other vital factors. Lady luck may not come to our rescue every time.
The victory came amidst a shadow of apprehension and fear because never before our team were seen engulfed by such a state of pressure. As it is known, there exists some sort of a dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the players due to which the top players declined to form part of the touring side. The team participating in the prestigious tournament thus comprises of the players with little international exposure.
The Windies won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan’s outstanding bowling attack. True to their reputation our bowlers – left arm pacer Mohammad Aamer (3 for 24) and Umar Gul (3 for 28) – bundled out their rivals for a paltry 133 runs. At one stage, having lost 7 wickets for a mere 47 runs on the board they were seen struggling to survive. They would have surely collapsed for less than a hundred runs had not Nikita Miller played a gallant innings of 51 runs to bring some dignity to the total. The victory target of 134 runs was the easiest to look at but the way our team achieved it, was not only inglorious but also disappointing.
The sight of a small victory target and the feeling of complacency in achieving the same rendered our team too over-cautious. Feeling uncomfortable against a raw bunch of quickies, our team took a poor start losing the opening pair of Kamran Akmal and Imran Nazir within the first twenty runs. They were seen under such a pressure that even a gladiator like Mohammad Yousuf was not only hit on the arm but also dropped in the slips when Pakistan were only 28 for 2. The pressure mounted to such an extent that a prolific batsman like Misbahul Haq was able to score his 6 runs in 22 balls. With our team losing four wickets for only 62 runs it looked like a ditto copy of the Windies poor batting. With the dot balls far exceeding the played ones, our batsmen were seen struggling to score even the singles. This was the moment that cricket fans glued to their TV sets back home became apprehensive and started fearing for a defeat.
Thank God, lady-luck took mercy on our team. With the Pakistan team at 76 for 5, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal got together, stemmed the rot and rescued the team from a possible disaster. The nervousness of our batting line was evident from the fact that our team scored their 100 runs in 23 overs against a ‘B team’. Pakistan achieved the victory target of 134 runs in 30 overs. By playing a heroic innings of 41 not out, Umar Akmal emerged as hero of the match. With such a shabby, unsure and struggling batting performance, one can not call this achievement a ‘splendid victory’.
There is a common feeling that our players as well as officials especially skipper Younis Khan talk too much about the prowess of our team, perhaps to put other teams in the tournament under psychological pressure. This is like befooling ourselves. A review of other teams of the world will indicate that they are more accomplished, technically sound and polished as compared to our team. Younis Khan’s rhetoric of ‘taking revenge from India’ reflects badly on his highly unimpressive countenance. The Pakistan Cricket Board should tell him to keep his mouth shut. To advance further in the tournament, our team needs tremendous improvement in batting, building up confidence, improving the match strategy and other vital factors. Lady luck may not come to our rescue every time.
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