Cricket Tournaments

It was a game that was Pakistan’s for the taking. But, four crazy overs of slog over bowling and some childish fielding from the unpredictable Asians turned things around 360 degree. Ross Taylor, who was dropped twice at the start of his innings, one being a simple, straightforward chance to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal and one going between the keeper and slips, went on to play the innings of the lifetime. Until the last five overs of the innings, Pakistan were in control, courtesy Umar Gul whose tight bowling and wicket-taking kept New Zealand’s score under check.

Unfortunately for Pakistan, it was actually the silence before the storm. Shoaib Akhtar bowled a plethora of full tosses and was treated by the well-set Taylor with the least of respect. All those deliveries found their way over the ropes as Akhtar could do nothing but watch in embarrassing amazement. Taylor threw his bat at everything and was rewarded suitably as he also brought up his birthday century. There was more come in the innings of the lifetime as Taylor dished out similar treatment to Abdul Razzaq. Like Akhtar, Razzaq was also guilty of bowling a number of full tosses. And not surprisingly, those deliveries were dispatched easily over the ropes. And even when the bowler managed to land the ball on the pitch, the ball was creamed to the fence along the ground. The bowlers had absolutely no answer to the Taylor assault. Inspired by Taylor, Nathan McCullum and Jacob Oram also played wonderful cameos as Pakistan bowlers succumbed to the pressure.

Taylor’s was the kind of innings New Zealand needed to lift themselves up following some disappointing efforts in recent times. Taylor hadn’t been the greatest form going into the tournament. In fact, he had been struggling for quite a while. Also, his record on the sub continent had been below par prior to this tournament. In spite of all this, Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori had backed Taylor to come good sooner rather than later in the tournament. And that’s exactly what happened. Taylor went from strength to strength as the innings progressed and hurt Pakistan badly for their misdemeanours with both the ball and in the field.

Once Taylor and co had blasted Pakistan in the manner they did, there seemed to be no way back for the Pakistanis. So shell-shocked were they that in time the Pakistanis had lost six wickets and the game was all but over. It was only a blazing counter attack by Abdul Razzaq that the Asian giants something to cheer about. He got some good support from Umar Gul towards the end. But, that was only a case of too little too late.

Apart from Taylor, Martin Guptill’s half-century will also give assurance to New Zealand at the top of the order. He has been in good form of late and the Kiwis will want him to continue that in the coming matches as well. What they need now is for Brendon McCullum to find his groove. He did perform well in the previous game against Zimbabwe. However, New Zealand will need McCullum to be more consistent in the coming games. Among the other worries, the injury to skipper Vettori will be a bit of a worry to them.

From Pakistan’s point of view, they will need to get their bowling act at the death right. Also, their fielding needs to go up by a few notches. And, of course, their batting under pressure needs to improve. They have been caught napping on more than a couple of occasions now and were bailed out by Shahid Afridi. The business end of the tournament is just about to begin and Pakistan need to put the past victories behind them and look ahead to the bigger battles that are ahead.

Mohammad Aamer is today one of Pakistan’s best pace bowlers, despite having played only 8 Tests and 13 ODIS over the last one year. If there is any one bowler who can restore Pakistan’s status as a top cricket nation, it has to be Aamer.

His bowling consists of raw pace, something which bowlers these days lack perhaps due to wickets being more batting-friendly. His skills were very much present in pace greats such as Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar. Bowling at 150 kmph regularly is no mean task for a 17-year old.

He is a left-arm bowler whose action is reminiscent to that of his idol and one of the highest wicket-takers in ODI cricket, Wasim Akram. Akram has been accountable for Aamer’s success at the international level so far.

He spotted him at a fast bowlers camp in Lahore in 2007, and considered him as a huge bowling prospect who could play for the country soon. Aamer had done reasonably well in England in the same year and in 2008, he helped Pakistan win a U-19 triseries in Sri Lanka.

He could have played the U-19 World Cup in 2008, but had a dengue virus. However, as Aamer grew stronger and older, his health and bowling too improved.

In 2009, in his debut season for the National Bank of Pakistan, he was one of the top wicket-takers with 55 wickets to his name. This wonderful performance at the domestic circuit earned him a place in the final squad of the World Twenty20 team.

He grabbed this opportunity to cement his place in the playing XI of Pakistan in all three formats of the game. He took over an out-of-form but experienced Sohail Tanvir as Pakistan’s spearhead.

In the World T-20, he bowled the final overs like an expert which eventually aided Pakistan to win the title. And his opening over in the final against Sri Lanka will be remembered by ardent Pakistani fans. Sri Lanka’s Tillakratne Dilshan was the man in form and was the highest run-getter of the tournament.

His new invention, the scoop shot was considered to be crucial in Sri Lanka getting a big total. However, Aamer got the better of Dilshan by getting him out for a five-ball duck with quick, dangerous short-pitched bowling which made him look like an amateur, nobody kind of a batsman.

He did well in Sri Lanka soon after in August 2009 when he picked 4 wickets in the final match of the ODI series to help Pakistan win 2 games out of 5. However, perhaps the best moment of his cricketing career came during the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

It was a first-round match between Pakistan and India. Pakistan had scored 300 in 50 overs, thanks to hundreds from Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik. The pitch was still good for batting when India came out to bat, requiring 6 runs per over minimum if they had to win. India’s openers were Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar.

However Aamer was undeterred very much like the World T-20 final. He struck with a magical outswinging ball which got the big wicket of Sachin Tendulkar for just 8 runs. From there on, India were never in the game and laboured to a defeat by 56 runs.

It was a dream tournament for Aamer as his career seemed to finally take off, as Pakistan finished 4th in the tournament, out of the top 8 teams of ODI cricket.
Aamer had a decent tour of New Zealand, despite going wicketless in the drawn Napier Test. However, it was in Australia when Aamer faced ups and downs.

Aamer had picked 5 wickets in the second innings of the Melbourne Test, which only showed his increasing maturity and his flexibility to play at the international level at such a young age.

However, in the 3rd Test at Hobart, Aamer dropped a simple, regulation catch at deep fine leg when an out-of-form Australian captain Ricky Ponting was batting on 0. He went on to make a double-hundred on his home ground, which prevented Pakistan from winning another Test match after the Sydney debacle.

In the ODIS, Aamer bowled modestly as Pakistan were whitewashed in the best of 5 series, therefore ending an ill-fated and winless tour. Despite all the controversy regarding IPL and the public fighting of the Pakistani team members, Aamer has been amazingly able to maintain his focus on his game and the result was another good World T-20 campaign for Pakistan.

Although the team couldn’t defend the title, yet they did make it to the semifinals. With a new captain in Shahid Afridi and a new coach in none other than Waqar Younis, Aamer’s best days are definitely ahead of him as he could be Afridi’s trump card for the World Cup 2011 in the Indian subcontinent which is just a few months away.

Pakistani selectors have finally decided to include ace pace man Shoaib Akhtar in the one day international squad that is to play the Asia cup in a month from now. The move by the Pakistani board basically signifies that the soon to turn 35 year old is still in their sights as far as the 2011 fifty over world cup is concerned which is to be played in the wee months of 2011.

Pakistani selectors have understood that Shoaib could be a major asset and his slingy action could help reverse swing on the dry wickets of the Indian subcontinent. The man with his raw pace could ruffle the batsman thus sending jitters in the opposing dressing room before the game would begin.

Chief selector Mohsin Khan said “We got an okay from the medical team and Shoaib was given a good report so he has been picked”. For a change it appears that the Pakistani selectors have decided to do away with the off field issues and have focussed more on cricket i.e. to pick their best squad for the Asia cup looking forward to the world cup next year.

Another Shoaib, recently married Malik has been added to the squad as well as he had his ban lifted as a ‘wedding gift’. Shoaib Malik’s inclusion in spite of lack of competitive cricket in recent times is a strong indicator that the PCB is going back to their more trusted blokes to bring back the cup next year in Pakistan.

It is very evident what the Pakistan cricket board wants to achieve with such a move. As a result of this Fawad alam the young Pakistani all rounder has lost his place in the side in spite of being the stand outs in the one day series down under earlier this year.

Recent news suggests that former Pakistan captain Younis khan’s ban has also been revoked. Younis also suggested that he would gladly take over captaincy of the team if given the opportunity to do so.

These are very big moves by a very volatile Pakistan cricket board and such things can only happen in Pakistan cricket. Nevertheless, for me these are positive moves as Pakistan look to build a strong core squad before the world cup to begin next year.