Pakistan vs. India March 2005

I just found an old article I had written up on omarhaq.com a year ago. Crazy....Here it is

A Pakistani View

And so it begins...Pakistan in India - Series Previewby Omar Haq


Here we go again. Cricket's fiercest rivals, Pakistan and India are about to face each other for their second series in less than a year. After a stagnant period, during which politics imposed itself into the equation, it seems like these two nations are competing against each other quite a bit now. But does that make it just another routine series? Does the banner of ‘friendship’ quell the impassioned emotions of more than a billion strong? Not so, my friend! More eyes will be glued to this series than any other competition in town. Kids will be tossing their schoolbooks; grandmothers will be dropping their knitting, and me? Well, here in Boston, the games start early in the morning and my colleagues know that in the schema of my life, cricket is all absorbing, encompassing me with its every stroke. So I’ll be up late too and probably skipping work! It promises to be another epic encounter between these two cricket obsessed nations and I can’t wait for it to start. The players have changed, the power of balance, which so heavily favored Pakistan in the past, has shifted, and another chapter in this saga about to be written.

I'll get straight to the point. Contrary to media reports, I don't believe the Indians hold the upper hand...by a lot. I do agree they are the favorites though. Their batting line up is spectacular. Dravid is unbeatable; Tendulkar, not in the best of form, is still a man with more centuries than any man on earth; Sehwag, when he gets going, will smash the inexperienced Pakistani bowlers over cover, over point and well over the ropes. Laxman, Ganguly, Kumble, Zaheer, Pathan…are all match-winners. We, on the other hand, have been playing with an off-break bowler at one down position (Malik) and up to three allrounders saving our skin up the order. With Shoaib out, do we have the batting prowess or the bowling penetration required to match up to India? Our batsmen have achieved nothing brilliant this past year to be proud of. But then why am I still quietly confident? Why are the Indian players themselves careful in their comments to the media? Why not exude over-confidence? Surely past results, and I mean the last five years only, put India in a favorable position.

The reason is this: Pakistan is just as unpredictable as ever and as a result pretty dangerous as the underdog. Adding some fresh faces to the fold gives India every right to be hesitant. Every outbound Pakistani squad, it seems, has that one guy who has nothing to lose, everything to gain and with only one chance to prove it. That spells danger! Salman Butt popped out of the woodwork and led Pakistan to an ODI victory late last year with a smashing century spoiling India’s jubilee match. Then Umar Gul made the Indian top order dance (as did Balaji and Pathan to us) in the last series. That one ball he bowled to Laxman, which straightened after hitting the wicket is still etched in my memory. Breathtaking ball and I wish he and Shabbir Ahmed were around.

It is this ‘potential’ that has been mentioned more often than not when describing the Pakistanis. Now can these ‘one-hit wonders’ deliver and prove to be consistent? Let's take the opening for example. We have not seen stability with a pair since Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar retired. Farhat came with a bang and soon departed without a fuss; Hameed, who can only play flashy cover drives, is laying low on the sidelines and is another unlikely start for the first test. Salman, the most consistent of the bunch, also lacks patience and gets out cheaply.

The batsmen on the whole also seem to have never heard of the seaming ball. Balaji and Pathan embarrassed us in Pakistan, while McGrath’s very sight scared the living daylights out of our fragile lineup. This I believe is our batting’s biggest technical weakness. Our surprising inability to play seam and swing at this level of international cricket is an incredible deficiency and a big wound which other countries are happily taking advantage of. The second batting issue that I have is that our batsmen are constantly in the ODI state of mind, which has ruined their ability to play for long periods of time. Patience is a word that is not in our dictionary anymore. Although I think the test series will be hard fought, I believe the difference between the two sides is India's ability to occupy the wicket, camp, and accumulate runs while wearing down the bowlers.

Pakistan needs to get those early wickets and prevent the Indian strokemakers from getting big scores. If Sehwag, Laxman, Ganguly, Tendulkar or Dravid get going, it’s pretty much curtains for the inning in question. Rana, who’s been so impressive in Australia, really needs to lead from the front. He is a clever cricketer and a tough competitor and needs to be aggressive throughout. His strategy should be to bowl along a consistent corridor, with quick, seaming, shortish deliveries. Tall order, but I know he can do it as he showed us in Australia. If the ball is moving off the wicket, then Pakistan needs to capitalize on that as Indian batsman seldom make mistakes. Apart from that, only great fielding and passion on the field can help us. I still have no clue how to get Dravid out!

As for the ODI's, I am convinced that our squad, which is so accustomed to the one day format, will prevail. Pakistan will, as usual, play more batsmen stretching the allrounders to Afridi at number 9. This volatility down the order especially in the last 10 or so overs is something India does not possess. Bhaji can hit once in a while, but if Pakistan can pierce the armor till Yuvraj, then we can expose the Indian tailenders and keep things quiet till the end. I am not very fond of past statistics when it comes to these two sides, but we have beaten India in the past 4 ODI’s…convincingly. But predictions can only go so far. Let the games begin.