Task cut out for New Zealand against Pakistan
Overseas sides adapting to the conditions quickly will be the key, Williamson says
It was in 1969 that New Zealand had last won an away Test series against Pakistan and they will be keen to end the nearly five-decade drought when they meet the hosts in the first of the three-match series starting at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium today. The action starts at 10am. The task, however, will be a Herculean one for the Kiwis as Pakistan, despite being ranked seventh in the ICC Test Team Rankings, are currently on a roll in the longer format.
The hosts have beaten Ireland in the latter’s own den before drawing a two-Test series in England and have also tamed the Aussies 1-0 in their adopted home in the UAE.
Shaikh Zayed Stadium has also been a stronghold of Pakistan as they have lost just one out of the 11 Tests played here. More importantly, it will be interesting to see how well the New Zealanders can handle the pace of Mohammad Abbas and escape the spin-web of leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who pocketed 15 wickets in the last drawn series in 2014. Off-spinner Bilal Asif will also be another serious threat for the Kiwis.
“Yes, our bowling attack is good. Abbas has been bowling superbly while Yasir didn’t look as great as we had expected, but the way he bowled in the second innings it looked like he was back in rhythm and so in this series I expect him to do well,” said Sarfraz Ahmad. The skipper is sure his team will have to play good cricket to beat New Zealand, whom they have not won against since 2011.
“New Zealand are a good side and they have good bowling attack and experienced batsmen,” he said. “They gave us tough times both in the Twenty20s and One Day Internationals. So we will try to play our best cricket.
Sarfraz’s men blanked the Kiwis in the T20I series 3-0 before the latter bounced backed in the ODIs to draw 1-1 after the last match was abandoned due to rain. Sarfraz also has an option of using his in-form pace sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was adjudged the man-ofthe-series in the ODIs.
Shaji ul Mulk, who visualised the concept of T10 format and is the chairman of the T10 League, is a busy man shaping the second edition of the event which will be held from November 21 to December 2 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The huge success of the first edition allowed him to expand the event but he also been forced to face huge challenges.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf News, Shaji explained in depth his plans to ensure that the second edition — a 12-day tournament — is a big hit.
What prompted you to have a bigger edition this year than the last one?
The last year’s four-day event was more of a trial event. Any cricket property, to have some commercial sense, need to have a duration of 10 to 15 days. So we tested the tournament last year and we found that we have a good product and that is why we now gone into a commercial model. The television, the broadcasters and sponsors, they all need an certain amount of exposure, so we expanded the size of the event.
What is the reaction of the team owners? How satisfied are they with the growth of the event?
The owners have seen the excitement being part of the whole unit. When we announced our expansion we got two more new teams. So all are looking forward for a much larger tournament though we have the challenges of doing a bigger tournament this year. We have a bigger team handling it and everybody is satisfied with the way it is shaping up.
Has there been any attempt to disparage the image of the tournament before the second edition?
A negative campaign was run by our ex-president. It was nothing but an absolute commercial dispute. Now since we have already sent him a defamation notice, it is public knowledge now. He went against the league because he owns a media and he ran a negative campaign but as you can see we had all the authorities backing us such as the Emirates Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council and Pakistan Cricket Board and they gave us complete clearance. Now everything he was doing, like planting all the stories, have come out as false.
What was the reaction of the new cricketers when approached for the second event?
It was amazing. The word of mouth was so strong. The players who played in the T10 League last year were so satisfied that they talked about their satisfaction, the financial dealing and everything to new players. So we have all the big international players this time. We did not have people like Shane Watson, Sunil Narine, Zaheer Khan and Chris Gayle last year. We have all of them this year.
What would be the impact of many Indian players participating in the coming edition?
The T10 League will be the only league after the Indian Premier League (IPL) with maximum Indian players. It will also be the league where Indian and Pakistan players are playing together and it is the dream of the subcontinent fans. Thus we have become a very unique league this year.
The impact of Indian players is huge because 85 per cent of the global revenues comes from India. You will have a strong market when the Indian players attract the Indian audience so we are very optimistic that we, by adding the eight Indian players, have taken the league to a new level.