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Writing for FirstPost Sports, Saj discusses the worrying decline in Pakistan's Test fortunes in the light of their 2-0 loss to New Zealand.
"If anything can go wrong, it will” states one of the most popularly quoted Murphy’s laws. And judging from what transpired in the second and final Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, this law holds completely true for Azhar Ali and his beleaguered team mates not only for the second Test but probably for most parts of the recently-concluded series.
The team suffered a hefty blow to its morale in the first Test with what many felt was an ambush victory by the hosts. It appeared that Pakistan went into this series under-cooked to tackle the playing conditions which they encountered in Christchurch, and duly lost the first match of the series.
In a two-match series, losing the first game immediately put Pakistan on the back-foot; the margin of error was tight and it would have needed nerves of steel and great staying power as well as a better effort from them to come out with their recent unbeaten Test series record unscathed.
An unfortunate personal tragedy deprived Pakistan of their dependable and strangely much-reviled captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who missed the line-up for the must-win final Test in Hamilton. That left Azhar Ali, the chosen successor, with the unenviable task of not only picking up his own poor form, but also to rally the troops to perform better than what they had done so far.
Whilst Azhar Ali had been known to answer his critics whenever questions were raised about his batting, he was now also charged with leading the team through a very low point. Captaincy was thrust upon Azhar and though he was named as vice-captain for the series, it was clear that he was not prepared nor sufficiently trained for the job. But then, fates of teams are not only dictated by captains alone.
The Pakistan batsmen were shell-shocked by being put into bat in the first Test but this time around they were asked to bat second with plenty of time to reflect on their tactics. The results, however were eerily similar to that at Christchurch.
The familiar inability to handle the moving ball or play outrageously inappropriate shots was on display in both innings. Whilst one could forgive the likes of debutant Mohammad Rizwan for perishing in trying to attempt something aggressive in the first innings, the continued poor form of Pakistan’s batting maestro Younis Khan possibly hurt the side the most. His inability to provide any solidity or support to a frail middle-order which was already wilting due to Misbah’s absence probably was a major cause in Pakistan’s defeat.
Sixteen runs in four innings for Younis tells a story of a player clearly struggling for form once again. In addition, Asad Shafiq’s mysterious decline from the status of 'Mr Dependable' to a nervous wreck when Pakistan wanted him to stand and be counted was not only shocking throughout this series but also spells danger for the upcoming series against Australia.
Just when it appeared that the Pakistan batting had finally recovered its composure in time for stiffer challenges, the batting suffered a catastrophic failure on the final day which left even the staunchest supporters close to tears.
It was as if the last few series, which had seen a “fight to the last man” attitude develop in a team notorious for its mental fragility, had never happened. In a matter of forty-nine runs the progress that many had taken for granted was blown away as Pakistan placed on 181/2 slumped to an embarrassing 138-run loss after being bowled out for a paltry and puzzling 230. Last day pressure does strange things to teams, but this Pakistan Test side — which was recently rated as number one in the world — was surely capable of a better and more cohesive showing.
The recent history of Pakistan batting has never given much hope to followers of this team, so it was par for the course for many to expect miracles from the much-vaunted bowling attack instead. With Mohammad Amir now a set feature of the bowling line-up, and given the support for his style of bowling on New Zealand pitches, it was fair to hope that Amir would be able to lead the Pakistan bowlers to untold successes in this series. Granted that he continues to be the victim of some of the worst pieces of fielding in terms of catches dropped, the very talent that he represented was expected to surmount all and deliver victory for Pakistan. His total of three wickets in two innings at Hamilton may not have done justice to his skills but what it also reflected was the inability of Pakistan bowling to come to the aid of their beleaguered batting line-up.
Yes, Sohail Khan and the less-fancied Imran Khan stepped in to pick wickets but Amir and Wahab Riaz’s failure to light-up the sky inflicted great self-damage to Pakistan’s chances in the concluded game. Yasir Shah’s omission from the second Test team did raise some eye-brows, but to imagine that he would have single-handedly turned the game on its head is as ludicrous as thinking that Pakistan's tail-enders could hold the fort for even a few overs to eke out a face-saving draw on the fifth day.
In the end, a suicidal effort by the Pakistan team to attempt an unlikely winning target without realizing their own weaknesses may well have been the cause of an embarrassing defeat. They may have been encouraged by the batting skills of Sami Aslam and Babar Azam to hope that they could do the impossible but to dream of a victory with the middle-order in its current shape was foolhardy, and so it proved.
From the heady days of posing with the ICC Test Championship mace to looking forlorn in post-match ceremonies in Hamilton where the realisation that they had dropped seven rating points to be rated number four in the world was slowly dawning on them. The Pakistan Test team seems to have regressed in a matter of weeks. There was further bad news for Pakistan players as they were fined for slow over-rates losing a hefty part of their match fees.
Whilst that may represent another low point in the team’s progress, they know that inability to improve upon their weaknesses as well as the promise shown by a new-look Australia after the Adelaide Test against South Africa may well present further heartache and pain in the coming few months.
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/pak...ts-their-sudden-decline-in-tests-3131364.html
"If anything can go wrong, it will” states one of the most popularly quoted Murphy’s laws. And judging from what transpired in the second and final Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, this law holds completely true for Azhar Ali and his beleaguered team mates not only for the second Test but probably for most parts of the recently-concluded series.
The team suffered a hefty blow to its morale in the first Test with what many felt was an ambush victory by the hosts. It appeared that Pakistan went into this series under-cooked to tackle the playing conditions which they encountered in Christchurch, and duly lost the first match of the series.
In a two-match series, losing the first game immediately put Pakistan on the back-foot; the margin of error was tight and it would have needed nerves of steel and great staying power as well as a better effort from them to come out with their recent unbeaten Test series record unscathed.
An unfortunate personal tragedy deprived Pakistan of their dependable and strangely much-reviled captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who missed the line-up for the must-win final Test in Hamilton. That left Azhar Ali, the chosen successor, with the unenviable task of not only picking up his own poor form, but also to rally the troops to perform better than what they had done so far.
Whilst Azhar Ali had been known to answer his critics whenever questions were raised about his batting, he was now also charged with leading the team through a very low point. Captaincy was thrust upon Azhar and though he was named as vice-captain for the series, it was clear that he was not prepared nor sufficiently trained for the job. But then, fates of teams are not only dictated by captains alone.
The Pakistan batsmen were shell-shocked by being put into bat in the first Test but this time around they were asked to bat second with plenty of time to reflect on their tactics. The results, however were eerily similar to that at Christchurch.
The familiar inability to handle the moving ball or play outrageously inappropriate shots was on display in both innings. Whilst one could forgive the likes of debutant Mohammad Rizwan for perishing in trying to attempt something aggressive in the first innings, the continued poor form of Pakistan’s batting maestro Younis Khan possibly hurt the side the most. His inability to provide any solidity or support to a frail middle-order which was already wilting due to Misbah’s absence probably was a major cause in Pakistan’s defeat.
Sixteen runs in four innings for Younis tells a story of a player clearly struggling for form once again. In addition, Asad Shafiq’s mysterious decline from the status of 'Mr Dependable' to a nervous wreck when Pakistan wanted him to stand and be counted was not only shocking throughout this series but also spells danger for the upcoming series against Australia.
Just when it appeared that the Pakistan batting had finally recovered its composure in time for stiffer challenges, the batting suffered a catastrophic failure on the final day which left even the staunchest supporters close to tears.
It was as if the last few series, which had seen a “fight to the last man” attitude develop in a team notorious for its mental fragility, had never happened. In a matter of forty-nine runs the progress that many had taken for granted was blown away as Pakistan placed on 181/2 slumped to an embarrassing 138-run loss after being bowled out for a paltry and puzzling 230. Last day pressure does strange things to teams, but this Pakistan Test side — which was recently rated as number one in the world — was surely capable of a better and more cohesive showing.
The recent history of Pakistan batting has never given much hope to followers of this team, so it was par for the course for many to expect miracles from the much-vaunted bowling attack instead. With Mohammad Amir now a set feature of the bowling line-up, and given the support for his style of bowling on New Zealand pitches, it was fair to hope that Amir would be able to lead the Pakistan bowlers to untold successes in this series. Granted that he continues to be the victim of some of the worst pieces of fielding in terms of catches dropped, the very talent that he represented was expected to surmount all and deliver victory for Pakistan. His total of three wickets in two innings at Hamilton may not have done justice to his skills but what it also reflected was the inability of Pakistan bowling to come to the aid of their beleaguered batting line-up.
Yes, Sohail Khan and the less-fancied Imran Khan stepped in to pick wickets but Amir and Wahab Riaz’s failure to light-up the sky inflicted great self-damage to Pakistan’s chances in the concluded game. Yasir Shah’s omission from the second Test team did raise some eye-brows, but to imagine that he would have single-handedly turned the game on its head is as ludicrous as thinking that Pakistan's tail-enders could hold the fort for even a few overs to eke out a face-saving draw on the fifth day.
In the end, a suicidal effort by the Pakistan team to attempt an unlikely winning target without realizing their own weaknesses may well have been the cause of an embarrassing defeat. They may have been encouraged by the batting skills of Sami Aslam and Babar Azam to hope that they could do the impossible but to dream of a victory with the middle-order in its current shape was foolhardy, and so it proved.
From the heady days of posing with the ICC Test Championship mace to looking forlorn in post-match ceremonies in Hamilton where the realisation that they had dropped seven rating points to be rated number four in the world was slowly dawning on them. The Pakistan Test team seems to have regressed in a matter of weeks. There was further bad news for Pakistan players as they were fined for slow over-rates losing a hefty part of their match fees.
Whilst that may represent another low point in the team’s progress, they know that inability to improve upon their weaknesses as well as the promise shown by a new-look Australia after the Adelaide Test against South Africa may well present further heartache and pain in the coming few months.
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/pak...ts-their-sudden-decline-in-tests-3131364.html
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