Pakistan make mark on #CWC15

Shoaib Mohammad 20:34 05/03/2015
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  • The UAE were humbled against Pakistan's men in green.

    Winning is a habit for good teams but it is a habit which had been a rarity for Pakistan as far as One-Day Internationals (ODIs) are concerned.

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    Every win improves the confidence of the team for bigger challenges ahead.

    Pakistan has started to connect the dots after their first victory against Zimbabwe and this week’s further triumph against United Arab Emirates, which has given them realistic hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

    It’s a timely boost before Pakistan’s match against in-form South Africa with the players’ self-belief restored with wins under their belts.

    To be fair, I did not expect UAE to match Pakistan but at the same time I did not though that they would go down so easily without putting up a real fight.

    Pakistan were struggling due to fear of failure and the team management and players were making life difficult for themselves.

    But, this time around, it was UAE who took inspiration from their opponents and followed suit. After winning the toss, UAE elected to field despite putting up good totals earlier in the event when batting first.

    And it transpired that the Emiratis were the ones to make the wrong call this time around. They hoped Pakistan would crumble but they were either consciously or sub-consciously putting Pakistan into their comfort zone, which is to bat first.

    I believe that decision was taken because of the psyche of the UAE’s Pakistani coaches; Aaqib Javed and Mudassar Nazar.

    Meanwhile, reliving the action I would state that it was distressing for me and other Pakistan supporters to see Nasir Jamshed, despite his constant failures, accompany Ahmed Shahzad out of the dressing room to open the batting.

    This time it was quite visible that it was the management that was more eager to see him score runs than the player himself. It was the management that opted for Nasir to be called as cover for Mohammad Hafeez and they are adamant for its justification.

    Unheralded Mohammad Rizwan could have been one of the finds of the World Cup for Pakistan if he had replaced Hafeez but that was not meant to be.

    And Jamshed did what he has been doing best of late, which is to disappoint.

    I had specifically made the point in the preview that Pakistan’s batting vulnerability will come into play and it did but UAE fielders did not take their chances and Shahzad punished them for their mistakes.

    Pakistan were put in real trouble early on by the UAE’s opening bowlers but once the opportunities were presented, Ahmed and Haris Sohail steered themselves away from danger.

    Shahzad needed that extra bit of luck to break the shackles and come out of the bubble which was ably provided by the neighbours from the gulf. The six he hit of Amjad Javed really got him going and showed he was in golden touch.

    Haris was once again pleasing on the eye as he showed class and technique during his 160-run stand with Shahzad as both completed their fifties. With the kind of form Haris is in, the only thing blocking his big scores is immaturity in international cricket. Otherwise he was poised for a much bigger score.

    Life was all too easy once the top-order fired and the middle-order really took on the responsibility to finish their innings in style.

    Sohaib Maqsood really changed the drive of Pakistan’s innings with his impactful knock which was punctuated with authority and power as he hit the bowlers round the park for fun.

    Likewise, it was a perfect setting for Misbah to go about his business in a more positive manner, scoring at a strike-rate of over 100. However, I feel that Misbah had been forced to block previously due to the failure of top-order teammates.

    Most importantly, crossing the 300-run barrier must have been a big sigh of relief among the camp. I am aware that 300 has become a par score and it has become a norm from teams in modern day cricket but yet for us it remains a so-called landmark.

    Though Guruge picked up four wickets, if I had to pick the bowlers who impressed me it would be Mohammad Naveed and skipper Mohammad Tauqir because they bowled really well but did not get the support from their fielders.

    It could have been a sorry saga for Pakistani batsmen had fielders provided the required assistance to the UAE bowling unit. The Men in Green would have been on the same troubled boat as in previous matches.

    With the kind of bowling attack Pakistan had, the UAE’s only hope was to come out and dominate from the start.

    However, they were rocked up front due to the terrifying Mohammad Irfan and other bowlers took advantage of that to be among the wickets while our overall fielding was much better, for a change.

    The only talking point for me from the UAE’s batting perspective was the consistency shown by Shaiman Anwar after he became the leading run-scorer at the World Cup thansk to his excellent 62-run knock.

    Shaiman leads the run-charts with 270 runs from four matches at an average of 67.50, having scored a century and two fifties. It is Shaiman whose name is above greats like Sangakkara, Hashim Amla and Chris Gayle.

    He is certainly a great inspiration for young UAE cricketers because Shaiman is doing it all against the top professionals and is, for the time being, ahead of the best batsmen in the world.

    Amjad Javed salvaged some pride with the bat, hitting some massive maximums after receiving a hammering himself wtih the ball but other than that the UAE’s only other positive would be to bat out their 50 overs.

    From here, Pakistan have got to keep doing the right things, while for the UAE I would suggest that they must stick to their basics and keep on playing attacking cricket, even if it means that they have to bat first in tough conditions. They have nothing to lose at the World Cup, so all they need to do is make their chance on the world’s biggest stage count.

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