The moment of truth: a foreword

One of the paramount traits of life as a sportsman is that every outing is a momentous occasion. There is always something – diminutive or gargantuan – resting on every ball, every service, every scrum and every pitch. The expectations of the loyal fan or the skepticism of the doubting Thomas – every athlete carries a weight on his shoulder every single second of his career. However there are a few moments that truly define the fortitude of an athlete and distinguish between bona fides and also rans. Some of the illustrious players would be facing such moments in the coming week or so…
TIME TO REINSTATE OURSELVES AS A TEST POWER
A lot of people would be quick to point out that test cricket hasn’t been our forte for many a year now, without giving much thought to our lack of 5-day cricket over the same span of time. When we won that ‘home’ test match against Australia in England last year, a lot of fuss was made about the fact that it was our first test triumph over the monarchs of test cricket for 15 years – with no one paying heed to the fact Australia hadn’t visited Pakistan since 1998. If anyone, for a moment, believes that playing in the Gulf (or England or Sri Lanka) makes up for the ‘home advantage’ is frankly kidding themselves.
Our cricket has suffered with the multitude of off-field antagonisms – tour cancellations, limited matches, animosity of other governing bodies – and it’s a testament to the opulence of cricketing talent, and our passion for the sport that we have competed hard in all formats, when self-capitulation would have been ever so easy. The most successful side in T20 World Cups, we have also had our share of significant ODI achievements and now the moment has arrived to right our wrongs in Test Cricket.
We have made decent progress in the Test Match arena under Misbah-ul-Haq – drawn series against South Africa, the triumph in New Zealand, another creditable draw in the Caribbean and the recent win over Zimbabwe – we’ve gradually found our groove. We owe a lot of that to the stability and normalcy that Misbah brings to the helm, and he – along with a couple of other senior players – would be pivotal as we go into the 3-match test series against Sri Lanka knowing that not winning the series would be a disappointment.
The troubles of the post-Murali Sri Lankan bowling lineup have been well documented, and we must look to capitalize on their mundane bowling – led by Herath – to forestall their batting powerhouses’ decisive maneuvers. Welegedera, Prasad, Lakmal, Pradeep and Kulasekera (new-bee) have had variable success at the International and domestic level but don’t really have much perilous to offer – unlike Malinga who has retired from test cricket.
Our bowling has the virtuous spin doctors Ajmal and Rehman, who have the ideal opportunity to shush their doubters as dexterous test-match bowlers. However the onus is really on Umar Gul to make his mark as our fast-bowling spearhead. Gul has represented Pakistan for 8 years now, and although he has put in scores of staggering performances in the limited-overs format, not cutting it in the tests has been a let-down. He won’t get much assistance from the pitches, but if he wants to be make a mark as one of the standout bowlers of his generation, his quest begins on the 18th against Sri Lanka. He is only 27, with a good 3-4 years of peak condition to stamp his authority. Wahab Riaz is another talented pacer who must be looking to evolve from a promising talent into a veritable threat, and after Aizaz Cheema’s fairytale debut series in Zimbabwe – here’s where the real cricket begins…
Misbah and Younis will be our batting cornerstones, with the former doing a commanding job leading from the front and the later one of the most competent test batsmen we have produced recently. We seem to have a settled opening pair in Hafeez – who should look to build upon his mounting repute as an exceptional limited-overs cricketer – and Taufeeq. Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are two of the most technically sound and mentally apposite test batsmen amongst the current crop, and have the ideal chance to prove their credentials as the future of our middle-order. Dropping Umar Akmal was a judicious move as it sends an unambiguous message to our players – with our subterranean reservoir of skillful cricketers, talent or indeed the name alone does not merit a place in the side. Adnan Akmal is competent behind the stumps and experienced Shoaib Malik gives us another option – all-in-all we have every reason to be sanguine. With both batting lineups looking robust, the gauntlet has been thrown down to the bowlers. Misbah and his boys have the stage set and must look to seize the moment…
INDO-PAK EXPRESS: TIME FOR A RETHINK
The loss in their first match at the Shanghai Masters, was the fifth such exit that the Aisam-Bopanna duo have suffered in the last three months. The twosome has been on a downward spiral for a while and they blew a gilt-edged opportunity to qualify for the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup by losing out to the unheralded Almagro-Soares partnership. Clearly something has gone wrong recently, and having set the ATP Tour on fire over the last year or so, everyone’s favorite locomotive seems to be on the verge of derailment. The camaraderie seems to be fading, the seamless coordination is not there anymore and losing against teams, who in all honesty they should be battering – clearly the confidence is extremely low.
If they fail to qualify for the Masters Cup, a serious rethinking would be required and while dismemberment might be an overreaction, a reshuffle of strategy and enhancement of augmentation is surely the need of the hour. The once awesome twosome has a lot of thinking to do…
ALL BLACKS’ TIME TO REIGN SUPREME?
This was supposed to be the final, but Australia’s loss to Ireland in the group stages has meant that Wallabies and All-Blacks take on each other in today’s second semifinal. Both of the sides are marred by injuries, but with New Zealand’s reliance on individual brilliance, and Australia’s resurgence in form – the Wallabies would fancy their chances.
Beale is doubtful for the Wallabies and hence Cooper – who could have a massive game – could shift from fly-half to fullback. All-Blacks’ skipper Richie McCaw – arguably one of the greatest number 7s of all-time – has claimed that he will play and hence making his duel with Wallabies flanker David Pocock one of the decisive matchups of the encounter. Recently Pocock has displayed his expertise in breakdown play with a towering performance against the Springboks in the quarters, and should prepare himself for one of the biggest tests in Rugby.
Apart from the first half against a patched up France, New Zealand haven’t performed as a team in the tournament. They’d need to change that against a resilient Australian side that showed the true grit of knockout competition in the quarterfinal against South Africa – grinding out a win after being outplayed for most parts and in most statistics.
It’s a close one to call, but having backed the All-Blacks for the past month or so the column still backs the Kiwis to come up with the goods as history beckons…
RANGERS’ TIME TO GO A STEP FURTHER
The sixth innings proved to be decisive as Tigers forced Game 6. Verlander masterfully dug himself out of a bases-loaded hole at the top of the sixth, with Detroit conjuring up 4 runs in the bottom of the same innings. However with the series now shifting to Texas for the decisive skirmishes, Rangers should be buoyant about progressing into the World Series.
This season has been all about the quest for redemption for Rangers, after their heartrending World Series loss last year, and they look like giving themselves another tilt next week. Rangers’ bullpen has steered them throughout the season, and its enormity has been all the more conspicuous in the ongoing ALCS.
C.J Wilson has been a major factor for Rangers’ regular season success over the past couple of seasons, but he hasn’t performed in the clutch, in the pressure cooker situation of the Play-offs. He’d need to change that sometime soon or Rangers might want to cash in on him in the off-season.
Nelson Cruz has been pivotal for the Rangers in the playoffs and the championship series in particular –with a walk-off Grand Slam in Game 2, and a 3-run homer to seal Game 4 – becoming the first player to hit multiple extra-inning homeruns in the same postseason series. There is a call for moving Cruz up from 7 maximize his plate appearances and a possible solution would be to put him at cleanup and bring Young down.
Rangers are on the verge of making back-to-back World Series, having never made it this far in their history – no wonder they say that legends are born in October…