‘Sloppy fielding and senior players let Pakistan down’
BIRMINGHAM: The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance at Edgbaston.
As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbour that it is in no mood to relinquish.
India started as the favourite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind, even as Pakistan crumbled limply.
Sarfraz Ahmed won what was a crucial toss in tricky weather conditions. When rain is around, the team batting second gets a huge advantage. Unfortunately though, a poor game plan and shoddy execution, besides abysmal fielding, nullified the advantage. Mohammad Amir bowled a splendid first over and I thought he would strike with the new ball. Strangely though, Sarfraz handed the other new ball to Imad Wasim.
STRANGE TACTIC
The tactic was perplexing for me since the match wasn’t being played in the UAE! Even if Sarfraz wanted to surprise India, he should have deployed his faster bowlers after an over or two from Imad.
While the Indian openers negotiated Amir carefully, they gradually got their eye in against Imad. Players of the calibre of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are very hard to stop if they are allowed to settle early. Pakistan missed a trick and for the rest of the Indian innings there was hardly a period where they looked troubled.
Pakistan’s fielding was very ordinary too, with easy runs given away inside the circle, besides the dropped chances, which made life tougher for the bowlers. The players looked tense and nervous despite the claims to the contrary before the start of the game.
India built a solid platform through Sharma and Dhawan. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh than flayed a tiring attack before Hardik Pandya’s cameo turned the match totally in the defending champion’s favour.
This was a big game, and after the initial overs, the Pakistani bowlers crumbled. Wahab Riaz was once the spearhead of this bowling attack but his performance was a major letdown.
YORKER MISSING
Our death bowling was once our strength, especially with the ability of our bowlers to bowl yorkers consistently.
I don’t know why the yorker has gone missing. Perhaps the two new balls and the lack of reverse swing at the end of the innings have shattered the confidence of the pace bowlers.
As has been the case in recent years, our batting looked clueless as the run-rate mounted.
In modern ODI cricket you need to innovate and come hard at the bowlers, batsmen can’t let the bowlers get into their groove. I hope the team management lifts the morale of the players ahead of the do-or-die clash; hopefully we will see them fight hard.
THE PAKISTAN PLAYERS LOOKED TENSE AND NERVOUS DESPITE CLAIMS TO THE CONTRARY BEFORE THE START OF THE GAME.