Sunday, April 24, 2011

1st ODI Observations

He should have batted at 4 in WC too. The solid batter HAS to be in the top 4. Mohali could have been a different story had Afridi and the management utilised him properly. Prevents pressure building up in the first place. Helps him command the game forward from the front and make a bigger impact as a top class experienced batter. Finally Misbah batted at 4 today. Soild anchor role accumulators who are capable of playing a long innings batting in the top 4 is key to maximise the effectiveness of both them and the team i.e. Trott and Kallis as examples. It is easier to make a bigger impact with more time and responsibility & build the innings that way. The legendary Imran Khan had stressed this point throughout his TV analysis in the World Cup & felt this was a key area why Pakistan were never able to play to their full potential and eventually went on to lose the all important clash on Wednesday 30th March 2011 as the guy pictured was left as an alone warrior with too much to do with too little time.




-Yesterday was exactly a month since the West Indies were outplayed in the 1st quarter final match up played in Dhaka by a humiliating 10 wicket margin. A month later it was the 1st ODI of a 5 match series held in the Caribbean and the outcome was similar. Pakistan outclassed them and eased to victory but this time by a margin of 8 wickets following an unbeaten 134* run 3rd wicket stand between emerging Shafiq and experienced Misbah.

-Pakistan have bowled first in their last 7 LO encounters and chased down the target successfully on 4 occasions.

-Pakistan have won their 6th consecutive ODI against the West Indies overall.

-The spinners just went for 100 runs in their 30 overs: Hafeez, Ajmal, Afridi whereas the left arm pacers went for 111 in their 20 overs: Wahab, Junaid.

-Wahab Riaz bowled 11 wides and 3 no balls in his 10 overs. It was a complete lack of discipline & control from the left arm seamer who sprayed it about all over the place.

-Misbah has scored 6 half centuries in 12 ODI innings this year. 4 of them have come in winning causes & on 3 occasions he has carried the bat through. Misbah reached his 15th ODI half century. 11 of those have come in winning causes.

-There were 3 half centuries in the top 4. Hafeez reached his 9th ODI half century whereas Shafiq reached his 3rd.

-After claiming 21 wickets in the space of 7 matches Afridi has gone wicketless for the last 3 LO encounters.

-Hammad Azam did not get a chance to turn his arm over or bat on his ODI debut.

-1,13, 12,10, 8, 22 are the scores of Ahmed Shehzad in his last 6 ODI innings. In order to keep his place in the national side he simply needs to get his act together and start performing. There might even be a temptation to drop him now and replace him with Pakistan's current Test left hand opener in Taufiq Umar who is part of the 16 man squad on this ODI trip.

-Junaid Khan bowled well in his first spell and generally impressed Michael Holding with his action and follow through. He conceded 23 runs in his first 6 overs & did a pretty good job. He seems to be able to move the ball appreciably away from the right hander and jag it into the left handers. There were some encouraging signs from a player who would have been nervous.

-In 2010 Pakistan won 5 ODIs in the calendar year out of 18 encounters. Misbah was not part of the team with the exception of 2 matches. In 2011 Pakistan have already won 10 ODIs out of 13 he has played in. Since coming into the side this is the difference and impact he has made to the ODI side. The change in fortunes his stature and presence has brought in the side speaks for itself. On current form he is up there amongst one of the best batsmen in the world right now. The New Zealand coach was insisting to his players :" we should learn how to bat like Misbah and take a leaf out of his book." It's pure ignorance to degrade his credentials and role in the LO side at this moment in time.

2 comments:

  1. Isn't it a good thing to get the job done professionally and comprehensively as possible? The way they went about their chase of 222 epitomised the class and professionalism of the stronger unit on the day. Coasting to victory in a completely controlled and authoritative manner & more importantly "being there at the end."

    Unchanged line up needed IMO. Another clinical performance would be great.

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  2. @ Maaz

    Got the first thorough look at Junaid's bowling and trust me I wasn't impressed he is an unfinished product and somebody has tempered with his bowling action since the last time I saw him bowling. Last time When I saw him bowl his bowling action was very similar to Aamer and had a high point of release now he is releasing the ball with a slightly round arm action. I am not sure who made that change?

    There is nothing exciting in his bowling, he is just another medium pacer with decent line and length and a left arm action,he has been economical and the conditions were not conducive for fast bowlers but lets not forget he was bowling against a very weak batting side,he needs to acquire a lot more skills to be compared with Aamer.

    Please don't write anything about Misbah.

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