What’s this? Pakistan spotted playing cricket at home? Surely not! Today marked the return of international cricket to Pakistan with the visit of Sri Lanka. Pakistan ran out winners in the first of three ODIs which will be followed by two Tests in February when Sri Lanka return after a ODI series with India.
What was particularly pleasing was the manner of the victory after being starved of cricket at home for over six months. Talk in lead up to the game was about the undeniable threat of Ajanta Mendis who ended up wicketless even though he had taken a total of 7 weeks in his previous 14 overs against Pakistan. It was clear that the strategy employed by the Pakistan batsmen against Mendis had worked and it will be interesting to see how this battle develops throughout the series. Sri Lankas smiling assassin Muttiah Muralitharan – who’s not bad either, was also kept relatively quiet taking one wicket. He now needs just 8 more to pass Wasim Akram’s record ODI wickets tally. How fitting would it be for him to do it on Pakistan soil.Of the Pakistan’s bowlers, the performances of both Umar Gul (3 wickets) and Rao Iftikhar Anjum (4 wickets) were pleasing particularly of the latter as he is not really considered as an attacking bowler but rather someone who contains and just gets on with it. Had it not been for Mohammed Asif’s escapades, Rao would probably not have even been in the team. More of a concern for Pakistan, the team and fans alike, was the fruitless performance of Shoaib Akhtar who went for over 6 an over in his 7 overs without a wicket. May be it was a case of trying too hard but with the next game tomorrow, he will have to come up with a solution very quickly.
Pakistan’s chase was well paced, the highlight being the century by Salman Butt, the first by a Pakistani against Sri Lanka for over four years. The target of 220 was reached relatively easily but Pakistan must be warned that it was a below par performance from a very good Sri Lankan batting line up in the first place who are not in the habit of stringing two bad performances together.
But I guess the result or even the performances do not really at matter right now as finally the focus shifts from cricket and terrorism to cricket and tourism. The Pakistan Nation and its supporters around the world are very much thankful to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and of course their former Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga – a great friend of Pakistan cricket.
The PCB had said that it will invite ICC officials and Cricket Australia’s Chairman to witness the tour and we sincerely hope this happens. Hopefully, the two-part tour will go by without a hitch as did the Asia Cup last year and help ease Australia’s apprehension about touring in April-May of this year. Hopefully it will also prompt other Cricketing boards, after the cancellation of the Champions Trophy and India’s tour, into taking a more realistic cricketing view on touring Pakistan.
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