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Pakistan cricket debacle in Sri Lanka
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388
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Visits
388
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Visits
388
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June 29, 2012
After becoming the Asian Champion in cricket, Pakistan Cricket team had raised expectations and hopes of better performance and results in the ongoing cricket series against Sri Lanka, but green shirts failed to deliver.
The dismal performance of the national team, especially the poor show in the fourth contest followed by a shocking defeat in the fifth and last match of the ODI series, has plunged the whole nation into a sea of shame. Surprisingly, the bowlers, who are generally the match winners, have also failed to perform.
For a year-and-a-half after Muttiah Muralitharan's retirement, every match Sri Lanka played posed questions about their ability to be a top Test nation in the absence of the game's greatest wicket-taker. Those questions will be less frequent after Sri Lanka completed their third Test victory in five matches, and their greatest win over Pakistan on the fourth day in Galle. The result also snapped Pakistan's winning streak.
In One-Day series against Sri Lanka, a few teams have hit the 300 runs mark in ODIs, however, it is like a dream as far as our batting line is concerned. Despite the fact that the three top order batsmen, Azhar Ali (81), skipper Misbahul Haq (57) and Asad Shafiq (25), gave the team a formidable start, those who followed collapsed like ninepins. A serious flaw in the batting of the trio was that they consumed a major part of our quota of overs by batting in the Test match style, thus putting the batsmen to-follow under pressure. The disadvantage could have been neutralised had the batsmen who followed applied themselves with courage and dedication.
As for fielding, it was as poor as ever. Kumar Sangakkara, who emerged as the pillar of Sri Lanka victory by scoring a dashing 97, was dropped by Umar Gul at 35. Had the catch been taken, Pakistan would have been the winners. Apart from offering victory to Sri Lanka on the platter, our casual and careless batsmen also honored Thisara Perera with a hat trick.
In the last ODI, the victory was in sight till the last over when Sri Lanka required 15 runs to win. Surprisingly, our worthy captain gave the highly precious over to Muhammad Sami who had performed badly in the match. Having failed to bowl economically, Sami conceded the valuable 15 runs required by Sri Lanka to win. With a gallant innings of 80 not out, Angelo Mathew was hero of the match.
Disappointed with the defeat, I would like to bring out some of the serious faults and follies generally committed by our players. The opponents pile up a big total because our bowlers do not bowl within the three stumps, thus not keeping proper line and length. The overall standard of our fielding, including field placings, is not up to the mark, allowing rival batsmen to score runs freely.
Our bowlers must learn to bowl straight and standards of fielding need to improve. Our batsmen must achieve the flexibility to adjust themselves to different versions of the game.
On the other hand, Pakistan's chief selector Iqbal Qasim has said the panel will discuss Younis Khan's ODI future with him after completion of the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. Younis was left out of the fifth one-dayer, which Pakistan lost to concede the series 3-1, after making only 10 runs in three innings in Sri Lanka.
Younis, 34, was dismissed for 5, 4 and 1 in the ODIs, falling to Thisara Perera twice and Nuwan Kulasekara once. He was part of the dramatic collapse that cost Pakistan the fourth match in Colombo, where they lost seven wickets for 13 runs. Younis had made only 67 runs in four innings during Pakistan's previous one-day assignment, the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
"It's the duty of the senior cricketers to lead the team, to carry the team and to drive it forward, but if one of your senior players is struggling then that puts pressure on the team," Qasim told Pakpassion.net. "Let the tour of Sri Lanka finish and then we will definitely discuss his future plans with him [Younis]. Younis has of course already requested not to be selected in T20s, I don't know what he has in mind regarding 50-over cricket.
"I'm sure we will have an amicable chat about his future, as Pakistan needs him for Test cricket for the future. Experience is an invaluable commodity in cricket but you have to be out in the middle performing, which unfortunately Younis has not been doing in 50-over cricket of late," he added.
Apart from Azhar Ali, who scored 217 at an average of 54, Pakistan's batsmen struggled to post imposing totals in Sri Lanka. Qasim said their all-round performance had also been "below par".
"It's difficult to put Sri Lanka under pressure in their conditions, and the variable weather conditions did not make things easy for Pakistan either," he said. "However we should not make excuses, the overall performance of the team was below par."
Qasim said the team lacked consistency in all disciplines with their performances veering from exceptional one day to ordinary the next. In the final ODI, Pakistan were shoddy in the field, with several dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities allowing Sri Lanka to win in the last over.
"This inconsistency has been hurting Pakistan cricket for many years and it's about time it was eradicated," he said. "One day the fielding is outstanding, the next game it's very poor and the boys are dropping simple catches. The same with the batting, one day it clicks, the next day it misfires.
"Mohammad Sami is an example of this inconsistency, one day he bowls very well and helps the team to victory, the next day he bowls poorly and costs the team the game. It doesn't matter what your game plan is going into the game - it's very difficult to impose that game plan onto the opposition if you are inconsistent."
Despite the defeat in Sri Lanka, Qasim said the selectors would avoid making major changes for the series against Australia in August and the World Twenty20 in September. "You cannot chop and change ahead of a World Cup. There is no point selecting a player for a couple of games and then discarding him," he said. "I think it's too late to experiment now ahead of the T20 World Cup and I would expect that most of the personnel in the T20 squad in Sri Lanka recently will be retained."
"I don't think we should panic in this format and make major adjustments to the T20 squad. I think that slowly and gradually our philosophy in both the 50-over format and the twenty over format will bear fruit, but everyone has to be patient.
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