A Job Well Done

THE YORKER LENGTH – The Pakistan cricket team has had a fruitful year so far in 2011. Starting the year with an ODI series win in New Zealand, then in the World Cup they played fantastically only to lose out to eventual winners India in the semi-final. Then in the Caribbean, they won the ODI series before drawing the Tests series 1-1.
And the 2011-12 started with a comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe in all three formats in September. The just-finished rubber against Sri Lanka was supposed to be their toughest Test this year, given the fact that the opponents were a top notch side and had played good cricket in the lead up to this series. Though the team comprised mostly of the youngsters, yet with Misbah-ul-Haq leading them well and inculcating unity, they knew what was expected of them. Importantly, they delivered. The Test series was won 1-0, the second Test at Dubai being the clincher, while the other two Tests could also have Pakistan’s way had our batsmen shown some urgency in getting their runs.
It was indeed a fine performance by Misbah and his charges; they gelled well together and believed in themselves. For the ODI series, Pakistan was bolstered by the return of the charismatic all-rounder Shahid Afridi. He made his impact straightway. With his all out energy, his performance with both bat and ball, and his presence itself was good for the side. With the ball he took 3-27, 2-35, 2-42, 5-35 and 1-60, for a tally of 13 wickets in the five games and also scored a dashing 75 in the fourth just when the team needed it as Pakistan won the ODI series comprehensively by 4-1.
Pakistan could also have won the only game they lost, had our batsmen organized the run chase at Dubai in the second match a little better. Along with Afridi’s superb all-round show it was another good team effort as everyone did the job required of him. The openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat combined well at the top. In the middle order, Younis Khan, Misbah and Umar Akmal did splendidly well, especially Umar off whom much was expected and he delivered by scoring the highest number of runs and topping the averages with 161 runs at 53.66 with two fifties for his team. In bowling it were the spinners who led the way: Afridi took 13 scalps while Saeed Ajmal took 11 wickets.
Ajmal’s contribution was also reflective in his economy rate – just 3.97 in the series, something unheard of in present-day ODI cricket. With his fine show, Ajmal also became the number one bowler in the ICC ODI rankings.
Having lost the Test and the five-match ODI rubbers comprehensively, the Sri Lankans may have hoped to lift themselves for the only T20 game. But again Pakistan maintained its superiority with a combined team effort. Restricted to 141 by Aizaz Cheema’s 4 for 30, Pakistan’s solid reply was built upon a sedate 48 not out by captain Misbah managed to coast to victory with five wickets to spare.
Pakistan completely outplayed Sri Lanka, with Sri Lanka only winning one game out of the nine played across the three formats. Pakistan’s strength lay in their unity and solid bowling performances as the pitches were pretty flat and a special effort was needed to take wickets.
While our bowling was superb, with the likes of Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Aizaz Cheema delivering all the time, the batsmen too didn’t disappoint. All this culminated in a fine team effort. Pakistan will now head out to Bangladesh for a one-off T20I, three ODIs and two Tests, confident that it will replicate this performance. Misbah and his charges in the days to come indeed are likely to bring more cheer to a nation that deserves better than it gets in almost every strata of life.