Pakistan vs England Test Series - Spinners Review

Abdur Rehman 9/10 - 19 wickets in 3 tests for the slow left arm spinner with his canny darts and smart changes of pace and trajectory. However, he really struggled in the batting department against the off breaks of Graeme Swann who dismissed him 4 times out of 5, but he bowled extremely well that the batting utility can be overlooked. Rehman was the 2nd joint leading wicket taker in the series. When the two have bowled together in the same line up Pakistan have taken 20 wickets 9 times in 10 tests and formed a destructive partnership with their guile and accuracy. With 75 wickets in exactly 15 tests Rehman is on track to be one of the quickest to the feat of 100 wickets as the Sialkot Stallion has not only controlled the run flow, but been amongst the wickets consistently.

Saeed Ajmal 10/10 - No brainer with regards to the mark. Perfection and rightly so. Where do we start? Saeed was phenomenal and claimed 40% of Pakistan's wickets in the series. Ian Bell was indeed his bunny as Ajmal saw the back of him on 4 occasions in this series as the off spinner spun webs around him. Saeed claimed 50% of his wickets LBW which gives a clear indication of how accurate he was bowling which enabled him to attack the stumps and bring DRS into play.

The flat pace he bowled never allowed batsmen to get to him which enabled him to bowl to a plan and work over a batsmen by getting the chance to bowl many balls at him. His economy rate is a reflection of how difficult it was to rotate the strike against him with many batsmen getting stuck at one end. His action was always going to be a talking point if he performed so let's leave that one out. I think former England captain Nasser Hussain summed him up well : " The gem in that bowling attack, Saeed Ajmal can end up as one of the genuine greats of the game. Arguably the best cricketer in the world at the moment. The lad is an absolute gem both on and off the field. He is the smiling assassin like Murali."

Ajmal during the series became not only the quickest Pakistani to reach the landmark of 100 test scalps, but also the quickest spinner to get there ever. In the last 3 major test series Pakistan have contested against West Indies, Sri Lanka and England, Ajmal has concluded the series as the leading wicket taker and MOTS. He was not off colour against them by any means, but his effectiveness was less against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh where Hafeez and Younis Khan received MOTS respectively.

Pak - Wash Is Not Finished Yet......

The 3-0 mission accomplished in the most significant format was monumentally, pleasantly surprising jubilance which no one could have seriously thought about in terms of a series score-line along those lines, but the job is not completed yet by any stretch of the imagination and there is more dominance to follow and many more victories although they won’t quite be as resounding as the test ones, but ODI cricket is Pakistan’s forte which they take equally as seriously. Generally the ODI format in this part of the world has higher viewership, crowd attendances and genuine excitement. Going by how pessimistic some of the England supporters are about their team’s chances in the one day internationals which start next week over winning even a single one day international let alone draw or win the 4 match series, there is almost every chance for Captain Misbah’s Team Pakistan to whitewash the visitors in ALL formats and end up with a 10-0 score line once the whole tour concludes on Monday 27th February in Abu Dhabi.

England have been woeful in sub continental conditions and lost 5-0 in India last year whereas in the World Cup only managed 3 victories in 7 encounters. They are below the men in green on the ICC ODI rankings by some way. Last two ODI series they have played against the men in green away from home have ended in defeats for them. Cook and Broad are inexperienced captains and England is vulnerable to spin on the slow and low wickets.

For the hosts majority of the overs will be bowled by the slower men who control the flow of runs, take wickets and are consistently reliable performers. It’s a squeezing process to overcome for the batsmen and each of the trio of spinners is different which never allows you to settle as a batter. With anything even over 200 on the board batting first and Pakistan will fancy their chances by turning to their spinners under lights, who get through their overs quickly not allowing batsmen to think on their feet, build pressure with dot deliveries, can come on early with the new ball to surprise the top order and with varieties in repertoire can break partnerships and cause panic in the dressing room at any moment. Lastly, they also have the skill, experience and confidence of bowling in the batting power play and can be extremely difficult to get hold of and subsequently trigger collapses courtesy of Saeed Ajmal’s mesmerising mysteries.

The off spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez are ranked at 1 and 2 on the ICC ODI bowling rankings which just shows how impressively they have delivery in ODI colours over the last year whereas the multi talented leg spinner Shahid Afridi was the 2nd leading ODI wicket taker last year with 45 scalps in 27 outings including 4 5 wicket hauls with his canny flattish sharp drifting leg spinners, sliders and top spinners. The talismanic leg spinning all rounder has kept him busy by playing for the Melbourne Renegades down under while the national test team were up against Bangladesh and England and had a decent time of it over there from a personal point of view. How well England can negotiate and tackle these gifted, accurate and unorthodox spinners will be the deciding factor in the brief ODI series. The Men in Green are firm favourites, looking forward to the contests and the tourists will be up against it. We shouldn’t be surprised to see Pakistan win this series 4-0. It will be a challenging ride for Cook’s side and even harder than what they were up against during the test series which they’ll want to put behind them as quick as possible after suffering the humiliation of a clean sweep.

The visitors will be taking on their Lions squad for a warm up fixture on Friday who have just beaten the Sri Lankan A team 3-2 in a 5 match unofficial ODI series whereas Misbah and company they will be heading to Sharjah for a one day international against Afghanistan on the same day where they will be looking to dominate and perhaps experiment.

Only 2 of 8 KP writers had The Asian Side definitely claiming the series in the preview which was published on the 3rd of January titled: “England will be put through a tough Pakistan test”and that too by only a 1 match margin with a 1-0 scoreline. 1 of our writers hesitatingly sat on the fence at 1-0 either way, 2 said 1-1 including myself, 2 said 0-0 whereas one thought England would bag the series 1-0. Few of us expected Pakistan to win the series, compete and draw respectably perhaps yes, but winning it was not what we expected in all honesty. None of us said we would win the series by a 2 match margin, but it turned out to be by a 3 match margin. In the preview I also mentioned that 2 results was pushing it and 3 results was close to impossible, but as it stands the Greens have won all 3 tests with all 3 tests having results. We expected docile tracks, high scoring draws and uneventful action, but it was nothing but fast paced test cricket with wickets falling in clusters and tests continuously progressing forward towards an outcome with every session and none of the 3 tests went into day 5 believe it or not. 110 wickets fell in 11 days with over 3 wickets falling per session.

There were several reasons for this –

a) High quality bowling, both teams bowled exceptionally and it was refreshing to see some top class spin bowling in particular from both of the sides because as Nasser mentioned we had seen some ordinary, average, mediocre spinners for some time in world cricket, but here we had talented finger spinners from both sides and a mystery bowler from Pakistan in the form of Ajmal who injected fear in batsmen and posed some serious questions
b) DRS and batsmen being paranoid as a result of getting struck on the pad with a record number of LBWs falling for a 3 match series in this tour
c) Out of form batsmen who were short of runs and confidence
d) England’s batsmen struggling to adapt to the slow paced nature of scoring rates in this part of the world and lacking patience and application to play long old fashioned dogged test match innings
e) Ajmal’s pre series talk really playing in the minds of England’s batters
f) England’s preparation not being up to scratch while Pakistan were playing the Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis as I incidentally said in my preview for why they had a slight advantage over England coming into this series
g) England Not being able to lift themselves after losing 5 wickets in the opening session of the series of their top 5 batsmen without 60 on the board at the lunch interval with Ajmal bagging 3 wickets in his first 10 deliveries he sent down. Starting a series well is so often so important for what goes to happen at the end of it all
h) Underestimating the Pakistan team after the spot fixing scandal and how far they had come under Misbah ul Haq and talking of underestimating they also did so for the Pakistani bowler Rehman and Gul whereas they were taken a bit by suprirse by Hafeez who got 5 left handers dismissed at just 16 as all the talk was surrounding Saeed Ajmal

Combined Series 11

1) Mohammad Hafeez
2) Alastair Cook
3) Azhar Ali
4) Younis Khan
5) Misbah ul Haq (C)
6) Asad Shafiq
7) Matt Prior (WK)
8) Stuart Broad
9) Abdur Rehman
10) Saeed Ajmal
11) James Anderson

Pakistan’s ODI Squad

Batsmen

Misbah ul Haq (C)
Younis Khan
Azhar Ali
Asad Shafiq
Imran Farhat
Shoaib Malik (added on the request of Misbah ul Haq)

Wicket Keepers

Umar Akmal
Adnan Akmal

All Rounders

Mohammad Hafeez
Shahid Afridi
Hammad Azam

Fast Bowlers

Umar Gul
Wahab Riaz
Aizaz Cheema
Junaid Khan

Specialist Spinners

Saeed Ajmal
Abdur Rehman

Sessions WON

Pak 21
Eng 12

1st test: 6-3 Pak
2nd test: 6-6
3rd test: 9-3 Pak

10 to remember

Broad to Taufeeq: It shaped in and straightened from around the wicket to shatter the furniture and clip the top of the off stump bail which is exactly what coaches’ order for fast bowlers. It was England’s 1st wicket of the series and it was a peach of a delivery to break the opening stand. It was a dream delivery from Broad.

Test 1 Day 2 Session 1 Pak 1st innings

Monty to Younis: This was bowling of the highest order as Monty was setting Younis up with arm deliveries angling in to the right hander, but he managed to get one to turn and escape through the defences at speed which Younis had no answer to as the off stump was pegged back by the Sussex man.

Test 2 Day 4 Session 2 Pak 2nd innings

Rehman to Broad: The left arm spinner bowled him through the gate as he enticed him to drive through the off side, but the ball spun back between bat and pad, handsomely, as Broad was on his way without troubling the scorers after scoring an enterprising unbeaten half century in the first innings. This was the 2nd wicket of the over as England lost their 7th and Rehman had his first 5 wicket haul at test match level after getting many 4 fors before.

Test 2 Day 5 Session 3 Eng 2nd innings

Ajmal to Bell: Ajmal had his 2nd wicket in 2 deliveries after Bell was caught behind to the perfect doosra which brought him forward, but not totally committed and turned enough to find the edge which Adnan did not spill. The length was perfect, the variation was disguised expertly and the turn was sufficient enough to do the trick as Bell, arguably England’s best player of spin was on his way back with a golden duck. What followed was an abysmal series for Bell with 3 innings without any big score as Ajmal’s uniqueness had him in screws.

Test 1 Day 1 Session 1 Eng 1st innings

Hafeez to Cook: Intelligent bowling change from Misbah to employ him into the attack early in the piece and the Professor did the trick by dismissing Cook on the 3rd delivery of the over. The first two balls were interesting as Cook got a leading edge on the first ball looking to work towards the on side and on the 2nd delivery pushed back, but just managed to get the piece of wood down in time to survive, but 3rd time lucky for Hafeez and he had his man as Cook attempted to cut but got a thin edge as Adnan ensured he held on. It was the 1st breakthrough of the series and unsurprisingly it was the professor coming on with the new ball hardness and nipping out a left hander.

Test 1 Day 1 Session 1 Eng 1st innings

Trott to Younis: Sharp seam movement from the innocuous Trott who was doing a decent job with his handy medium pacers. Trott got the prize scalp of a 6000+ test run scorer and the hosts most capped batsmen as Younis was looking in pretty sound nick but Trott brought his downfall and prevented him from going on once he got a start.

Test 1 Day 2 Session 2 Pak 1st innings

Swann to Rehman: Shoaib Akhtar who was providing his thoughts on the series on a new local TV channel said Manna could no do anything differently on this ball and I agree with him. It spun at speed angling into the stumps and turned enough away from the left hander to brush the top of the off stump bail as Rehman departed in the penultimate over of the day without troubling the scorers.

Test 2 Day 1 Session 3 Pak 1st innings

Broad to Ali: It was an attacking length inviting the drive as Ali was tempted into one, but the ball came back and found the way through to send the off stump cart wheeling as Ali departed in the 20s on a test venue where he’s had a stupendous record.

Test 2 Day 1 Session 2 Pak 1st innings

Rehman to Trott: This broke the 100+ stand for the 2nd wicket between the left hand right hand combination between Cook and Trott which looked like taking England well into the lead as Trott was castled with a sharp turner from Rehman which pitched down leg and knocked back the off stump. Trott walked off acknowledging the delivery as the 2011 ICC cricketer of the year had his stumps sent down. Rehman removed the set batsmen with an inspirational moment.

Test 2 Day 2 Session 3 England 1st innings

Rehman to Swann: It turned marginally as Rehman got his opposite number in the final session of the opening day of the series as it pitched on middle and did enough to find the way past and give Swann the long walk back. There was rare turn on that one on a pitch which was doing little.

Test 1 Day 1 Session 3 England 1st innings

Half Way Through

After cleaning up the visitors for 327 with 9 of the wickets belonging to the spinners, the hosts trailed by exactly 70 going into the critical 3rd innings which could make or break the outcome of this Abu Dhabi test.

Andrew Strauss’s woes continued as a tentative prod against Mohammad Hafeez brought his downfall as the ball ballooned up in the air for the simplest of catches for Asad Shafiq under the helmet as the England captain departed. Cook and Trott got together and piled on over 100 for 2nd wicket with an antirational approach at the crease as they grinded and nudged the ball around and dug hard to provide some direction and stability to the innings with an effective left right combination. However, Trott was denied a 3 figure score as the slow left arm spin of Rehman foxed him with a splendid delivery that castled Trott. Cook was removed on 94 when he decided not to go upstairs for a DRS when Ajmal spun one back into the pads for an LBW from a doosra delivered from over the wicket just shortly after he had been whipped on the back foot through mid wicket and mid on by Cook for a well timed boundary.

Ian Bell who was struggling to read Ajmal looked scratchy and was beaten regularly by sharp turn and bounce, but managed to stay to the end, but down the other end KP drove loosely to an off break and got an inside edge which popped up from the boot to slip where Hafeez held on. Eoin Morgan was in a tangle against Ajmal unsure of the spin imparted outside the off stump as he looked to defend tentatively and was on his way back to the pavilion in the final over of the day as a dismissed batsmen as Ajmal struck in the final over of the day with an off break which found the edge as Hafeez claimed yet another catch in the slip.

England went in to day 5 50 behind with 5 wickets left in the tank as Prior and Bell resumed proceedings. Prior was dropped at deep square leg in the early phases of day 5 by Junaid Khan who dropped a dolly, but soon perished as he pressed back to a sharp turning Ajmal off break as he was dismissed in similar fashion to what happened in Dubai last week as Ajmal got his 4th of the innings and 14th of the series.

Broad came in and looked positive and dangerous immediately as he got off the mark with a paddle sweep to the very first delivery he faced and looked to take the bowlers on with selective and powerful hitting, unafraid to go over the top. The Nottinghamshire bowling all rounder raced to a timely half century at approximately a run a ball to take England well into the lead with an attacking counter attack. However, Bell fell when Misbah finally decided to take the 2nd new ball before that with one nipping back off the seam as Bell reviewed unsuccessfully. Swann played some cracking strokes through the off side against Junaid who was ineffective and unimpressive, but his stay was short lived as Rehman got him with a straighter one which would have undoubtedly gone on to hit to stumps as Swann was dismissed by spin for the 3rd time in the series. James Anderson managed to survive until tea and played some surprisingly fine strokes against the hard-to-pick Ajmal, allowing Broad to extend his counter attack even further as Strauss’s men were 66 in front at lunch with 2 wickets left and Broad looking in sublime touch still there as 112 were added in a productive and critical session.

Nonetheless, Hafeez completed the job by dismissing the two tail ended left handers from around the wicket to strengthen his formidable tendency of getting left handers as the bulk of his scalps even more.

The pitch here in Abu Dhabi has surprised quite a few and provided appreciative turn and purchase for the slower men which is expected to get progressively worst and harder for batting. Some deliveries are kicking off and going square, literally. It’s made an intriguing and fascinating contest from what was supposedly meant to be an unresponsive track and the curator deserves to be applauded for preparing a fine sporting wicket. Anything above 200 will be tricky and examining to chase down in the 4th innings and 250-300 in front and the hosts will certainly be favourites to go 2 up and subsequently seal the series. However, they must bat with character in the 3rd innings and avoiding getting blown away by the balanced and penetrative English attack and bat for at least 3.5 and preferably 4 sessions and reach the 130 over mark to get at least 300 on the board. Even 10 or 15 over 200 will give them somewhat of a sniff. Ideally, 350 would be great with just around a day to bowl out England. A total of 400 will really send the chances of an England win out of the window and would be a dream total. The likes of Younis and Azhar need to stand up and make an impression like they did throughout 2011 as they are the only two batsmen who are yet to score a half century in the series from the Pakistan top 6 and both were expected to do well against England, Younis in particular. The inform batsmen and captain Misbah ul Haq who has 3 successive test 50s will need to continue his successful run in the middle order. The tail who all had 0s next to their name from 8-11 will need to take a leaf out of England’s book and show some resistance as their contributions can be vital with 15, 20s, 30s. They for sure will need an improved display and not let England rattle them so easily. The key for the batsmen will be all about being positive and precise in their foot work and defence, using their bat as much as possible and picking up on the subtleties from the finger spinners to avoid LBWs, taking on the bowlers every now and against just to remind them that they are serious about winning so they can break the shackles and occupy the crease easier and perhaps even push the field back and judging the length well against the English seamers and not getting enticed into those loose drives and understanding the bounce of the surface properly. They will need to deal with the mental stress being implied with bat pads who will be chirping away with plenty of noise.

Ajmal on the Brink of Creating History in Abu Dhabi

Saeed Ajmal has 93 test scalps in 18 tests. A 7 wicket match haul in Abu Dhabi will give him 100 test scalps in 19 tests which is the fastest by a Pakistani. The all time fastest was 16 test matches. The current fastest by a Pakistani is joined between Waqar Younis and Mohammad Asif. The quickest by a spinner, a Pakistani spinner, was the inventive off spinner Saqlain Mushatq who got there in 23 tests as did Shane Warne. After claiming a formidable 10 for against a powerful batting line up in the 1st test in Dubai and full of form, confidence and motivation behind him, one cannot rule Saeed getting there in Abu Dhabi when the 2nd test commences on Wednesday. If he doesn’t get there in Abu Dhabi however, Saeed is surely still going to be the quickest Pakistani spinner to the feat and all time joint quickest by a Pakistani bowler alongside his former coach Waqar Younis and former teammate Mohammad Asif. The wicket in Abu Dhabi however is not really result orientated and provides less assistance to the spinners than Dubai. Nonetheless Ajmal showed in Dubai that he doesn’t necessarily need a helpful wicket to do the damage and make batsmen look foolish. The control, mind games and unorthodoxy is enough to create trouble for the batsmen who have to face the unique challenge of dealing with him. In all seriousness his threat and talent is of such that England will feel they are up against Shane Warne or Murali and will be feeling the greatest pressure since they last faced the two champions and all time leading test wicket takers who got over 700 scalps in the 5 day arena with endless 5 fors next to their name.

Ajmal Too Strong For England In Dubai

England were woefully out of sorts in the 1^st test at Dubai as Misbah ul Haq’s men outplayed the world number 1 ranked test side to win by 10 wickets inside 3 days and take an influential 1-0 lead in the series. Now, 2 dead draws will be more than enough to give Misbah ul Haq’s side the series honours which will be nothing short of a monumental achievement in Pakistan’s test history and also represent a phenomenal run of rich test form under Misbah’s captaincy which includes beating the very best in the business who went into this series full of energy and optimism for beating Pakistan and even walking over them. Pakistan was expected to compete, but the manner and margin of victory was astounding and least expected. This is the first time since 2003 that Pakistan have won 3 consecutive tests in a row when they whitewashed Bangladesh in their tour of Pakistan in 2003, the series famously known for the match winning knock played by the Sultan of Multan to save the hosts from utter embarrassment. Pakistan has won the most test matches since January 2011 and has been the best test side in the world since then. England have stressed that they are not going to panic,but some decisions need to be made and they will need to get their acts together sooner than later, otherwise this tour could turn out to be a long and miserable one for them. Ian Botham on commentary had suggested one of the reasons Pakistan have been performing so well is by sticking by the same bunch of guys and not chopping and changing too much. This is backed up with the fact that Pakistan have fielded the same 11 in all the last 3 tests that they have played and won. Just like in 2011, Pakistan have started 2012 on a winning note by beating the opposition in the whites inside 3 days by 10 wickets. 2011 went on to be a record breaking year for Pakistan Cricket. 2010 started with the SCG defeat and a shambolic year followed. Early indications are promising for Pakistan for 2012.

Test Win Number 7 for Misbah ul Haq. What stands out is the margin of all the wins under his captaincy:

- 10 wicket win inside 3 days against New Zealand

- 196 run win against the West Indies

- 7 wicket win against Zimbabwe

- 9 wicket win against Sri Lanka

- An innings win against Bangladesh -

- 7 wicket win against Bangladesh

- 10 wicket win inside 3 days against England

Only 6 out of 29 Pakistan captains have led Pakistan to more test wins, although all of them had lost significantly more:

- 8 Mushtaq Mohammad

- 10Waqar Younis

- 11 Inzamam

- 12 Wasim Akram

- 14 Javed Miandad

- 14 Imran Khan

Misbah has the highest W/L ratio by a Pakistan test captain of all time

Misbah ul Haq: Won 7 Drawn 5 Lost 1 (7.0)

Rashid Latif: Won 4 Drawn 1 Lost 1 (4.0)

Zaheer Abbas: Won 3 Drawn 10 Lost 1 (3.0)

Captaincy Record across All Formats: Played 32 Won 25 Drawn 5 Lost 2 (W/L ratio of 12.5)

Described by cricket journalist Rob Steen as one of the 5 men of the year in 2011 and for his exact quote have a read below: “Kudos for the current Pakistani resurgence, though, goes primarily to Misbah, whose calm leadership and even calmer batting have lent stability to the most storm-tossed vessel on the high seas. The contrast to his disgraced predecessor could hardly have been starker. Among the new, true allrounders - i.e. those picked across all three formats - none averaged more than his 57.20. The first 40-year-old national skipper since Imran Khan? Don't put it past him." - Rob Steen Cricinfo Mid December 2011

Saeed Ajmal was the chief destroyer of the English batting in this match, but do you know how Ajmal managed to get into the team in the first place? Misbah ul Haq recommended and pushed for his inclusion to the board and eventually when Misbah captained for a one off in 2008 he got his chance ... since then the off spinner has not looked back and dominated There is a direct link between educated... cricketers becoming outstanding captains:

Mike Brearley (who was purely in the team for his captaincy as he averaged in the low 20s)

Imran Khan

Nasser Hussain

Michael Atherton

Kumar Sangakkara

Rahul Dravid

Sourav Ganguly

Andrew Strauss

Similarly, Pakistan’s current captain has a master’s degree. You doubt an MBA at your own peril.

Player Ratings In The Last 3 Tests

Taufeeq Umar 9/10: The latter stages of the Sri Lankan test series turned out to be pretty disappointing for him after that marathon double ton in Abu Dhabi which was the 2nd highest by a Pakistani opener after the little master’s Bridgetown epic in the 1950s, but Taufeeq bounced back hard in Bangladesh with a noteworthy score at Chittagong and Dhaka to end 2011 as Pakistan’s leading test run scorer with over 800 runs at average just above 45. Taufeeq was expected to be batsmen who will struggle against England with his technical deficiencies against spin and his unhealthy habit of being trapped LBW frequently when planting down the front pad early, but with his guts and persistence some felt he will be able to get through and he did by being one of the 4 half centurions in Pakistan’s innings which gave them an invaluable lead of 146. Taufeeq was looking solid throughout and drove fluently when the opportunities was there, but received a close to unplayable delivery from Broad which he had no answer to as it shaped in from around the wicket and straightened to disturb the top of the off stump bail.

Mohammad Hafeez 8/10: scored a century in Chittagong with his pleasing to the eye timing and placement all around the wagon wheel,unfortunately he had a poor test match at Dhaka and failed to make any constructive impact there, but much to his credit he came back hard in the first test of the series at the DSC where he claimed the wicket of ICC test cricketer of the year and the first wicket of the test series, coming into the attack in just the 6th over before going on to register a crafty 88 and knock off the required runs in the 4th innings unharmed as Pakistan cruised to victory.

Azhar Ali 6/10: missed out in Chittagong where he was caught behind looking to drive a full and wide delivery, but registered a resilient half century in Dhaka and played a crucial accelerating hand in the 4th innings chase in the fading light with limited time where he expressed him, was willing to gamble and looked assertive in his strokes to ensure Pakistan got over the line. He missed out at the DSC where he was caught behind fishing at a delivery outside the off stump to nick off after just 8 deliveries. We have been used to better from him, but I’m sure he’ll come back hard and bounce back. Azhar has featured in 9 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses in the 19 consecutive test matches he has represented Pakistan.

Younis 7/10: scored a double century in Chittagong and an unbeaten one too, he fell one short of getting to the 50 mark in Dhaka where he edged behind to a sharp turning delivery in the early minutes of day 4, but ensured he got the team over the line with Misbah batting 2nd time around.
Younis only managed 37 in a total of 338 at the DSC in the first test against the Poms before getting trapped in front to the part timer Jonathan Trott who got one to nip back sharply off the seam. However, after 11 tests since Younis has resumed his career Pakistan are yet to lose with 6 victories.

Misbah ul Haq 7/10: also missed out in Chittagong when he was trapped in front for 20, but made a 70 odd in the first innings in Dhaka with some sublime strokes down the ground against the pacers and swept to the fence authoritatively, either reversed or dealt with in orthodox fashion against the spinners before getting an edge to slip which was taken as he attempted to sweep extravagantly towards mid wicket. The unstoppable stopper, irremovable barrier, electric fence and successful national captain concluded 2011 with a humungous 2nd ball mighty six over long off against the slow left arm orthodox spin of Sunny to end 2011 as Pakistan’s 2nd joint leading run scorer with fellow middle order batsmen in Younis Khan. Misbah started 2012 just as he finished 2011 by notching up a patient, disciplined, preserving, resilient, determined, resolute half century which means that he has now got 50+ scores against ALL test playing nations raging from Australia right down to Bangladesh as he delivered the goods in his first test against England in the Gulf. Misbah has now featured in 10 test wins for Pakistan and 10 defeats in 32 tests and as a captain he has 7 wins in 13 tests with only 1 narrow defeat and had been undefeated for 8 tests in a row, winning 6 of them. Misbah is eyeing a 4th consecutive test series win for Pakistan now with Pakistan 1-0 up in the series against England after seizing the initiative and putting England on the trailing button in Dubai in emphatic fashion. Misbah needs 4 more international wins for 100 wins as Pakistan player overall across all 3 formats combined in less than 150 internationals which is a reflection of the calm influence his presence has in the side.

Shafiq 8/10: scored his maiden test century in Pakistan’s run feast in Chittagong and made a 40 odd in the next innings he got. As often has been the case in the 16 months he has been in the side he was dismissed out side the off stump whilst looking to hang the bat out there as Anderson’s outswinger gobbled him up in the first over with the 2nd new ball. Nevertheless as always he brings confidence and reliability in the field with his top notch catching credentials and athleticism in general which was evident in the 2 catches he held on to as England were rolled over in no time in the 3rd innings as Misbah ul Haq’s side tasted an overwhelming result.

Adnan 9/10: Adnan did not really get a chance to bat properly in Chittagong when Misbah ul Haq decided enough was enough with a lead of over 400, but made a half century, his first one at test level in Dhaka to provide the bowlers with a lead of 132 in a test match which they went on to win relatively comprehensively. Adnan played a vital role in Pakistan’s 10 wicket triumph over the world number 1 ranked test side at the Dubai Sports City when he compiled a crucial 60 odd. Adnan came into bat when the England bowlers had their tail up, were applying the pressure and really bending their backs as they smelled blood to reduce the Pakistani deficit to a minimal and manageable one, but he hung in there and toughed it out to overcome the 2nd new ball. The following morning Pakistan had a lead of 96 with 3 wickets in hand and Adnan was left with the tail. Studio experts such as Butcher and Willis were backing England to restrict the lead to 110-120 maximum, but Adnan spent valuable time at the middle and stretched the Pakistani lead to 146. His presence and stay at the crease resulted in frustration for the English batsmen who would have been looking forward to getting back in the pavilion and just focussing on batting better 2nd time around. His innings must have disturbed their mindset. Adnan held on to 7 catches behind the stumps and hardly put a foot wrong with the gloves.

Abdur Rehman 8/10: Underappreciated, underrated. Rehman was the leading wicket taker in Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh with 11 scalps in 2tests as his slow arm spin troubled the Bangladeshis on the slow and wickets. His presence enables Ajmal to attack more and also pushes him to strive forthat extra mile knowing that he has another performing and dependable spinner in the team. Rehman produced some peaches with his left arm spinners in the 1st test at the DSC, particularly referring to the dismissal of Swann in the first innings which turned marginally to beat the bat and disturb the stumps.

Umar Gul 7/10: Gul collected 7 wickets in 2 tests in Bangladesh, but during the 3rd innings of the 2nd test the pacer claimed 2 wickets in successive deliveries in a short burst on day 4 just before tea as he removed Tamim with a bouncer and had Nafees LBW first up with one pitched up. In the first innings he produced an unplayable bouncer to Nafees in the same test which totally stunned him and denied him what would have been a well deserved 3 figure score. Although Gul went wicket less in the first innings at the DSC and was ineffective in his 2nd spell, his first 4 overs were rather tidy and he didn’t give much away. In the 3rd innings at the DSC the experienced seamer was on the money to strangle Cook and Strauss down the leg side, catch KP in a trap bowling short and provide the breakthrough of Trott just before he got to 50.

Aizaz Cheema 7/10: Cheema was extremely impressive in Dhaka where he troubled the Bangladeshis with swing and seam in overcast conditions and went on to pick up 6 in the match and 10 in the series with his fast medium pacers. Cheema strangled Trott down the leg side at the DSC and although he didn’t get any 2nd time around he looked threatening particularly to Strauss when sending down some probing lengths drawing the left hander into the stroke. With 21 wickets in 5 tests and a handful of more in LOIs Cheema has been a superb find as a late bloomer in the Pakistan ranks.

Saeed Ajmal 8/10: The 2011 New Road overseas star performer ended 2011 as the leading wicket taker in tests and got to exactly 50 scalpsafter picking up 9 in Bangladesh where he bowled well in patches, but wasn’t ruthless as he could have been, but fair play to the Bangladeshis who picked him reasonably well and also didn’t allow him to settle. Where do we start at the DSC? Ajmal was all over England like a rash to claim a match winning 10 for as the England batsmen were bowled out under 200 not once, but twice on a surface which aided batsmen. The hype he had generated was well justified as he spun webs around the English batsmen who were clueless and answerless to his variations in trajectories, lengths, flight, pace, angle, revs and turn. Saeed was named in the ESPN cricinfo team of the year for both ODIs and tests in 2011 and was the only one to feature in both teams which was a testimony to his performances and consistency for Pakistan in a magical 2011 where he bagged 89 international scalps for the green shirts. He started 2012 just where he finished 2011 and showed why he is regarded as the most threatening and best spinner in the world at the moment, in fact the best bowler in the world at the moment. Saeed has not only won fans like no tomorrow with his talent and game changing bowling displays, but with his comical interviews and million dollar smile. England will need to negotiate with him considerably better to stand any chance in this series as they didn’t see that one coming. Ajmal dominated and ripped England out and it wouldn’t surprise anyone whatsoever to see him going on to be MOTS here and also the leading series wicket taker. Saeed was simply in a different league to everyone else.

Saeed Ajmal Action Modification

Not sure how many of you noticed or picked up on this.

Saeed has been using the windmill action for many of his deliveries.

He has been getting his non bowling hand high in the air and using a high arm base to release his deliveries.

Similar to Mushtaq Ahmed.

Seems like something he has been working on in county cricket.

Key Observations. Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in Kandy. Now Bring on The Aussies!

Pakistan beat Zimbabwe rather comprehensively as they eased to victory in Kandy by 7 wickets in a rain shorted Group A match. Pakistan now take on Australia on Saturday in Colombo in their final Group fixture. From now on in, all games will be full of pressure, tension, intensity, anticipation, challenge as the tournament really gets into serious mode. There will be no soft fixture anymore and every match will be symbolically indescribable, full of meaningfulness and of utmost importance as Pakistan look to re-live the memorable bells of 1992 in the 10th ICC Cricket World Cup jointly being hosted by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Where Pakistan conclude in their group and who they will take on in the Quarter Final stage will be fully determined by the end of the week. It will be imperative they get much as possible going for them in order to be an ideal state and frame of mind to deliver when it matters and it does not come any better than breaking Australia's 33 match undefeated World Cup record come Saturday.

My Analysis

-Shehzad has 44 runs in 5 innings at an average of 8.8. He is really struggling for form and confidence. It will be a really brave move if they continue to persevere with him from here on in and one could not really complain about dropping him at this stage as far as form is concerned.

-Abdur Rehman averages 83 runs per wicket and just has 14 wickets to his name in 19 one day internationals . He is making his reputation clear as a really defensive average operator and is no match winner whereas we have a world class threatening match winner sitting on the bench and watching from the side lines. Do you think England will select Yardy ahead of Swann? Do you think South Africa will select Patterson ahead of Tahir? How difficult is it to select your best and most effective players? A darty left arm container who bowls on the pads or a crafty off spinner who can bamboozle batsmen, turn the screws in a match situation and attack the opposition in a unique manner? The logic behind Rehman being the main spinner is mind baffling.

-Umar Gul has notched up 10 scalps in 5 matches at an average of just 16. Arguably Pakistan's best bowler in the tournament so far? He currently stands as one of the leading wicket takers in the tournament at this point in time. He has bowled with skill, responsibility and firepower and could be a front line candidate to take the new ball as well now. He has shown he can control it and attack up front when the chance has been given which should give some significant food for thought for the skipper.

-There are areas and poor patches where Afridi's captaincy has been dysfunctional, unmanageable and negatively lacklustre. This includes the under reluctance to play a purposeful 7-4 combination, take incentive and seize the initiative by flexibility in the batting order, failing to push for Ajmal's inclusion in the starting line up, misusing the referral system unnecessarily or childishly and being incapable to control proceedings on the field when the heat is on and everything is not coming easy. This could be a front line downfall as highlighted previously before the tournament. The talisman needs to get a serious grip and share the responsibility equally with the senior men around him and utilise their highly regarded input/services as much as he possibly can or needs to because the opportunity to do well is unquestionably here and it would be rather disappointing if they fail to capitalise by being brought down within themselves.