21
Pakistan Beat India By 54 Runs
By TJ for Stani Army in International Cricket, Pakistan Cricket
This eagerly anticipated contest didn’t disappoint, at least from the Pakistani point of view. And they say the Australia England rivalry is bigger in cricket? I don’t think so.
Pakistan’s victory was set up due to a brilliant partnership of 206 between Mohammad Yousuf (87) and man of the match, Shoaib Malik (128). The pacing of the partnership left MS Dhoni scratching his head but you have to feel for the guy as only Ashish Nehra and Yusuf Pathan did anything of note with the ball for them.
It is a well held belief that if Pakistan’s batsmen fired then they’d be a force to be reckoned with as the bowling usually takes care of itself. Unfortunately for India, their bowling was their weak link and many of their bowlers looked devoid of ideas and played into Pakistan’s hands. The most frustrating of them for Indian fans must be Ishant Sharma. After bursting onto the scene he has flattered to deceive even though he posses all the attributes you’d need to be a top quality fast bowler. India’s main selection conundrum is the bowling all rounder spot. It means that their bowlers have to do their job and their batsmen likewise. If either fails, then it becomes difficult for them to make it up.
Of Pakistan’s bowlers, the normally reliable Umar Gul had a surprisingly off day giving many extras and conceding 55 of his 6 overs. It must be said that Younis should have dragged him out of the attack earlier as it was quite clear he was having an off day and there plenty of bowlers to make up his overs. The captain himself had a relatively poor showing after all the build up about him playing with a fractured finger although he must be given credit for persevering with an unconventional slip for the dismissal of the dangerous Yusuf Pathan in the 39th over of the Indian innings. A special mention must go to Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi who bowled superbly well in containing India at vital times and on a pitch where Harbhajan had a shocker.
But this day belonged to Mohammad Yusuf and mainly to Shoaib Malik with their match winning 4th wicket partnership which is the highest of the tournament thus far. Shoaib Malik has recently been criticised, some fair, mostly not, but I’ve always felt he has a mix of attributes that our other batsmen, current ones or those waiting in the wings, do not possess and therefore is a vital team member. The most obvious is his cricketing intelligence and ability to play according to the situation. The reassuring thing about Malik is that when he gets in he looks twice the player he looks early in his innings. If he could be more consistent then it may get some critics off his back but today he played the perfect ODI innings.
Congratulations to the Pakistan fans and commiserations to the Indian fans who are not yet out of it and still have lots to play for.
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September 27th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Mubrook =)
September 27th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Khair Mubarak Sis!!!
September 27th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Congrats guys! Truly well deserved! India has a long, long way to go, lots to work on. They didn’t look menacing at all. Beautiful innings by Malik and Yousuf!
September 27th, 2009 at 6:24 am
This game was awesome. Congratulations Stani, Shoaib Malik, & Mohammad Yousuf. It was truly worth watching. Your boys have an exceptional talent and deserve to win the trophy.
September 27th, 2009 at 8:44 am
you forgot to mention – Shoaib Malik is v good looking too
September 27th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Stani… Good match yesterday. Well played Pakistan.
Funny isn’t it… Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, sworn enemies kicking mud at each other in public some time back, could come together on the pitch, playing beautifully and more importantly communicate this well on the singles.
That’s why I hate Yousuf… He bit the bullet too soon to walk away from Pakistan cricket and thankfully got back. He’s got nine lives all right.
September 27th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Scorpi
Malik never kicked mud on Yousaf and never showed any sign of anger or vindication toward Yousaf probably thats why they still communicate.
Most of the batsmen in Pakistan team look toward Yousaf as a mentor because he does help them a lot. Going to ICL and coming back was a pure business decision never had anything to do with his place in the team.
September 27th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Stani
I think we are the only two bloggers who have been supporting Malik. I think with this performance he has shoved his ???? in the mouths of certain jingos who were after his head.
What I liked the most about Malik- Yousaf partnership was the fact that it hurt Indian team the most but they only felt the pain after the 37th over. Dhoni was not alarmed by the Partnership until the 37th over he looked quite comfortable with the slow run rate and was not expecting them to last that long he was hoping that as soon Malik and Yousaf will accelerate they will lose their wickets that is the main reason he kept on bowling his part timers and allowed the partnership to flourish.
I think Pakistan has exposed the Indian team’s main weakness, I don’t see them qualifying for the Semis with this kind of bowling. I think all the hype surrounding their team has vanished the aura of tournament favorites is also not there anymore , there will be no extra pressure on the other teams when they face them.
September 27th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Soory Wasim, but you forgot to mention me. I’m Malik’s biggest supporter
September 27th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
MTJAG,
Thanks! They were hampered by injuries but I still think Indian would have had bowling problems even with a fully fit squad. Ishant and Harbhajan were really disappointing. Zaheer would have made some difference though with his experience.
Bon,
Thanks Bon and I’m glad you was attracted to the game as a neutral. I agree about the talent. Even if I was not a Pakistan fan I would still watch them because of the skill they produce. Shame that Purna doesn’t share the same views as you, a real cricket fan.
Humaira,
O dear. Good looking in terms of the style in which he bats Humaira? Say yes and redeem yourself to the cricketing community as someone who is not just another girl watching cricket for the hunks on show.
Scorpi, Wasim,
Yes, cricket has a wonderful way of bringing people together the most obvious example is of India and Pakistan matches, but in this case Yousuf and Malik. What also helped here was that Yousuf is very religious and grudges are not something he’d entertain for very long. The most important thing, as suggested by Wasim, was Malik’s reactions when Yousuf was making critical statements about him in public. Malik’s responses were always respectful and left the door open for reconciliation.
At the end of the day, for the greater good of the team and for their individual careers, they knew they had to get along in order to play in the same team.
As for Yousuf or the other guys heading for the ICL, I think the lack of pro-activeness by the PCB to advise and keep its stars was a large contributory factor. Yousuf is one of the top batsmen in the world but the PCB did not treat him like that I’m afraid.
Wasim,
I think many criticisers of Malik were more frustrated than anything. Obviously some had a vendetta against him and were quick in quoting his recent record but sometimes looking at stats don’t tell you everything about a player. We have to take into account that many of his innings were played unselfishly and he came into the middle in some difficult situations. Let’s hope he becomes more consistent and wins more people over.
You make a good point about how the partnership hurt in the end. To some extent, Dhoni had no other choice but to try and get his part timers out of the way in this period but yes, even he would not have expected the partnership to end up hurting so crucially. Maybe this had a little to do with his main bowlers letting him down along with Yousuf and Malik’s planning. We would have to say that it was the perfect ODI partnership with Malik making the perfect ODI century. When a batsman gets a century in and ODI then it becomes very difficult for the opposition team to be victorious.
The Indian bowling/all-rounder department has always been a concern. I’m not sure why they don’t go with the likes of Chawla, Trivedi, Mishra, Ojha and Jadeja. The fact that their batting has been so good has masked this problem to some extent. Amit Mishra was really impressive in IPL1, at a time when Chawla was in posession of the 2nd spinners spot behind Harnhajan. Sometimes I find the Indian squad selections strange.
….and it’s good you excluded Humaira, she supports Malik for other reasons which have nothing to do with cricket, if you know what I mean.
September 27th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
“Shame that Purna doesn’t share the same views as you, a real cricket fan”.
Based on what? Where do you draw your conclusions from Stani? Because they are baseless. Like you.
If you have to talk rubbish about me I suggest you don’t talk about me at all. Think you can do that without collapsing and dying?
September 27th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Purna,
Anonymous told me.
Leave your sense of humour somewhere? Don’t worry, I’ll help you find it.
September 27th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Humaira I apologise.
September 27th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Stani
Dhoni thought that he will use his regulars when Malik and Yousaf will try to accelerate, I think he failed to provide proper cover in the field to Harbhajan and Pathan. Malik and Yousaf scored at least 60 runs in boundaries in the third man region.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I see what you’ve read but somehow all I’m able to read is “Hahahahaha India” :p
September 27th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Wasim,
No need to apologise to Humaira.
I do think Dhoni’s main bowlers let him down but with what bowling he had available, I would not have liked to have been in his position.
Kitkat,
Come on mate, give us a break.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Just off-handed buddy, no offence meant.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Will you guys stop using your hands? Kirsten was wrong
September 28th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Hi Wasim. Im shallow, how are you?
September 28th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Congrats to Pakistan on the match. Mohammad Yousuf is an awesome batsman. Enjoyed watching him bat.
As for Indian Bowlers, its incredible – no variations, no slower balls, no yorkers, no nothing. I knew this would happen when Venkatesh Prasad was made our bowling coach.
I am backing Pak to win the Champions Trophy as well. I predicted either Pak vs SA or Pak vs Aus in Q’s blog last week. Now that SA are out, I think its going to be Pak vs Aus in finals.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Rayden,
Thanks mate! Yeh I did wonder who the bowling coach was and Scorpi at CricketFizz told me it was Prasad. From what I could remember of Prasad he wasn’t too fiery a character. Maybe India need someone with a bit oomph as bowling coach.
It has been surprising how poor SA and India have performed especially as they are ranked top. That’s two bad tournament showings in a row for India now.