Taufeeq Umar said keeping faith in his cricketing ability helped him regain his place in the Pakistan side. The left-handed opener was a regular member of the Pakistan side in the early part of the last decade, but spent fours years in the cricket wilderness when form and confidence deserted him. Taufeeq, who got to within touching distance of a fifth career hundred in the second Test against West Indies on Sunday at Warner Park, admitted he never gave up hope of regaining his place.
“It was a tough period for me, but I never gave up,” he said, following his chancy, unbeaten 97 that occupied close to five hours. “I was always focussed on my cricket. I never gave up. I was always thinking I have to come back. God helped me in this, and I made it back.” Taufeeq struck 10 boundaries from 231 balls to take Pakistan to 202 for three at stumps on the third day for an overall lead of 251.
He survived three dropped chances before West Indies also appealed for a caught behind off their captain Darren Sammy from the final ball of the day. “I was thinking I have to play positive cricket,” he said. “They bowled well with the new ball, especially Roach and Rampaul. They bowled good areas.” Pakistan trail 0-1 in the two-Test series, following a 40-run defeat inside four days in the first Test, which ended last Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium.
This crushed their dreams of a maiden Test series victory in the Caribbean, but Taufeeq felt the visitors were now in a position to press for a series-levelling victory, and a share of the spoils. “We are in the driving seat right now,” he said. “If we score over 300, and with two days left in the match, definitely there are a lot of chances to win this match.” The Test is scheduled to end on Tuesday.
