Pakistan prevailed over England in the second Test match at Abu Dhabi though the match remained at knife’s edge for a long time – the knife evidently was skewed towards England most of the time. Pakistan won but there is one facet of Pakistan cricket that does not look like going anywhere, and it’s the batting. Pakistan somehow managed to overcome the odds and beat England, they would again require their bowlers to pull off victory. Our reliance on our bowlers to win matches for us, and their habitual compliance to the call of duty has masked the shortcomings of our batsmen. Our batting, especially the middle order, might be a blend of youth and experience, but their batting repertoire is very similar – they have a very similar tendency to go in their shells for ages and when they are ostensibly set for a big score, they somehow give their wicket away. There is absolutely no variety amongst our batting ranks and this monotony means that the bowling side finds it easy to get the upper hand on matters, without any inkling of counter attacking instincts in the side. This is where one feels that Umar Akmal should be a part of the Test side. It was Adnan Akmal’s counter punching half century in the first test that provided the much needed impetus, and gave us a substantial lead in the end, and we need to instill something similar in the middle order to purge out the predictable conservativeness. One believes it’s safe to say that spinners would once again be the main striking weapons in the last test match, and if there is one player in our squad that can unsettle spin bowlers it’s Umar Akmal. He can dominate spin bowling like no one else in our squad, and the likes of Panesar and Swann can easily go the distance on a regular basis. As things stand, and as our players play, the cautious approach of our batsmen gives the spinners a stranglehold over matters and they can dictate matters without overstressing their cerebrum. Umar Akmal, on the other hand, would give the English bowlers a lot to think about, and he has the wherewithal to upset the line and length of any bowler in the world. Yes, he has that frustration inducing tendency of throwing his wicket away as well, but this is where team management comes into play. Instead of keeping a world class talent on the sidelines because of his naïveté, we should rather look to groom him into fulfilling the talent that he undoubtedly has. The safety first approach was the logical stratagem, when Pakistan cricket was traversing their transitory phase, but now we need to take it up a few notches. In fact, the current Pakistan side is exactly where England was in 2009. Andrew Strauss was quite often criticised back then for being overly defensive, which might have cost his side a series of two. But gradually as England stabilised matters, a more aggressive approach to the game arrived for the English side, which eventually took them to the summit of test cricket. Misbah’s men have realised steadiness and now they should be looking to assert themselves on the play, rather than take the back seat and let other sides dictate terms. We have the dictatorial instincts in the bowling department,
we need to translate
that in the batting as well.
