Pakistan hit a purple patch

Against South Africa

Pakistan struck a purple patch in South Africa, winning the first two ODIs and fighting to the end in the third – on the back of leveling the Twenty20 International, in first of which a win was denied by rain through Duckworth/Lewis method. This was an encouraging performance and reaffirms the theory, form in cricket is cyclical. All teams have their ups and downs, all except the truly great ones like the Australians of a decade ago. They were so talented that no one could get near them. Currently there is no team that has that level of ascendency, although South Africa and India look to have the edge.

Pakistan impressed with their bowling attack, the most varied and perhaps the best on the circuit. It has to be because the batting is brittle with no batsman scoring runs with any consistency. The much maligned Misbah has, time and again, had to play the anchor role after the top order was overpowered by Dale Steyn. Sohaib Maqsood shows talent and application and, if mentored properly, could develop into a mainstay. Umar Amin played a good innings, but Umar Akmal was again found out. He may be talented with his strokes but his mind seems to be all over the place.

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“Pakistan impressed with their bowling attack, the most varied and perhaps the best on the circuit. It has to be because the batting is brittle with no batsman scoring runs with any consistency.”

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Players laugh and joke around all the time but when it is their turn at bat, they put on their game face, indicating concentration and focus. Grinning and joking is something that specialist batsmen should avoid, because it only takes one lapse of concentration for him to be back in the pavilion. And Umar Akmal has had more than his share of such lapses.

Bilawal Bhatti was hugely impressive. A stocky fast bowler with good, skiddy pace and a sharp bouncer, he was all business in the field; an attitude some of the above mentioned ought to emulate. He is also a more than useful late middle order batsman.

What these youngsters need more than coaching, is good mentoring, where a senior player takes them under their wing. One shudders to think what would have become of Wasim and Waqar had Imran not been there for them.

There is plenty of bowling talent. Usman Shinwari took four wickets in two overs as ZTBL beat SNGL (what is with all these acronyms? Why can’t they come up with some attractive names?). His swing and control allied with pace was too much for some of the best batsmen. But where will we get the batsmen? The Indians are not even going to miss Tendulkar, when they have Dhawan, Sharma, Kohli, Rahane and the impressively consistent Dhoni. The Indians play South Africa in an ODI and T20 series in South Africa. It will be a true Test for their young batting stars. Mohammad Shami is a find and should revel on the South African pitches.

At home in the UAE

Pakistan are home(!) to Sri Lanka in the UAE. The Sri Lankans will be counting on Kumar Sangakkara to take the lead and the consistent lefty is unlikely to disappoint. He will be backed up by Dilshan, Matthews and Chandimal. The Sri Lankan school system consistently turns out quality batsmen with impressive techniques. Pakistani batsmen will have to withstand the searing sidearm pace of Lasith Malinga and the wiles of Rangana Herath, but will have a much easier time of it than against Steyn and co.

This should be an entertaining series against a popular opponent, one that Pakistan should fancy winning considering their recent form.

Aussies one-up

The Ashes series started with a bang as Mitchell Johnson turned on some searing pace to leave the England batting in tatters. Johnson has always had the ability, but sometimes lacked self belief. With the Australian batting tottering at 130 odd for six, Johnson and ‘keeper Haddin launched a rear guard action that not only turned the momentum completely around, but also gave Johnson the self=belief that resulted in two of the most compelling spells of fast bowling, comparable to Jeff Thomson and Frank Tyson’s “pace like fire”.

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“The series against Sri Lanka should be entertaining against a popular opponent, one that Pakistan should fancy winning considering their recent form.”

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Cricket these days is a year round circus and it is no wonder that the players, especially the batsmen, are beginning to feel the strain. Jonathan Trott, a major presence in the English teams of the past few years, evidently could not take any more. The two soft dismissals to Johnson, were probably the straws that broke the camel’s back. He simply could not take the pressure any more. It was not a question of fear, because batsmen are inured to it and are well protected. It is the constant battle against their own apprehensions, knowing that one false shot would mean letting themselves and the team down. And Trott had been the rock that the batting revolved around. He simply could not take the pressure any more. Earlier, Marcus Trescothick had retired after just these symptoms. It is now up to Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Pietersen to bring their side back into the reckoning.

Modern sport…a pressure cooker

Modern sport is just such a pressure cooker. The use of PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) has spiraled just because the competition is so great and the pot at the end of the rainbow is so alluring. Cycling has been a major victim of this practice. Some bizarre forms of cheating is done. Litres of blood are taken and oxygenated. Before the race or the match, the oxygenated blood is reinjected and an equivalent amount removed. After the race, the practice is done the other way around in order to avoid detection. Sport has become more of a chemistry and biology laboratory rather than a competition. The result has been that players are able to achieve superhuman feats of stamina and recovery from exhausting five hour matches. It is said that the doctors that specialize in this are ten years ahead of the people trying to catch the wrong doers.

Questions are also being asked about some forced temporary retirements of players, which are alleged to have been ordered by sports’ governing bodies so that the cheating does not give the sport a bad name. Yannick Noah, France’s last French Open winner, recently, openly accused the Spanish athletes of taking PEDs. No legal action was taken against him. Use of PEDs by some of the very best tennis players has been an open secret on the professional. A recently suspended player all but accused Rafael Nadal of using unfair means, saying that some of his performances were beyond belief. It is high time professional sports organizers look this evil squarely in the face instead of taking the ostrich way out.