Back to Back wins for India in Lahore

The Skippers
By Saj
March 25 2004

India took the one day series with consecutive victories in Lahore. The more disciplined Indian team edged Pakistan in the final match by 40 runs, despite a late fightback from Moin Khan and Shoaib Malik.

Two painful defeats for Pakistan in Lahore and the series was taken by the Indian team.

The easy option is for all and sundry to blame individuals and kick them while they are down, I would much rather examine the balance of the team and how good they were collectively.

In my honest opinion and this is going to hurt a lot of the die hard fans out there, in one day cricket we are simply not good enough. I believe that in order to be a commanding one day team, your top 5 in the batting order have to be potential matchwinners. When I say potential matchwinners, I mean have the ability to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and to either lead the side to victory batting second, with a score of 70 plus or to have the ability to bat with the lower order and post a good score when batting first. The current top 5 of Pakistan do not have that ability. It does not take a genius to work out, which of the current top 5 do not fall into the matchwinners category, whilst one or two of them only perform on an occasional basis which again is simply of no value to the team. Making one big score in every 4 or 5 matches is frustrating for the skipper, the selectors and also the fans, because this shows that the player can do it, but not often enough.

Too much responisibilty and onus was on Inzamam ul Haq. Unfortunately his lieutenants let him down, when the going got tough and it was inevitable and also the law of averages that he was going to "fail" sooner or later. Inzamam is a class apart, both mentally and in terms of class from the rest of the Pak batsman. Here is a man who can fight it out in the middle and handle the pressure. Too many of the support staff to Inzi did not have that bottle or that skill.

In Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq we have 2 batting all rounders, both very capable individuals who can hit the ball to all areas of the park when it is their day. However both these individuals have been struggling with their bowling and are prone to bowling one loose delivery per over throughout their spells. The strength of the Indian batting needed no second invitation to the kind gifts both our all rounders were providing them. Again, in my opinion, the balance of the team and with of course the benefit of hindsight it would have been better if the team consisted of one batting all rounder and one bowling all rounder.

One knows ones team has a problem when the speed gun rules over line and length. Whilst the Indian bowlers concentrated on bowling a tight line and pitching the ball up to our batsman at key times, unfortunately our bowlers forgot the basics and decided to have a "who can bowl the fastest" competition. There is simply no excuse in my opinion for the number of no balls, wides and loose deliveries all our bowlers bowled. They were well prepared, with the first class season in full swing, a training camp and also a match against homegrown opposition. Whilst a captain may say to his strike bowler, go for it and bowl flat out in your first spell, this is not a license for him to bowl all over the place and ignore the no balls and wides he is conceding.

Pakistans bowlers have always been attack minded, but sometimes defence is the best form of attack. Sometimes one has to pack the off side field and try and tempt a player into playing a loose shot, when he cannot pierce the field. However if the off side field is packed and the bowler bowls 2 out of 6 on the leg stump, what can the captain do ? At times it seemed as though the bowlers did not know when to slow their pace down and solely concentrate on rhythm, line and length.

One day cricket is all about combining flair and discipline. Indiscipline means defeats and this is what has happened. Series defeats to South Africa, New Zealand and now India are a worrying trend and one that needs to be rectified by the selectors, coach and players.

A fresh approach to team tactics, to the balance of the team, some fresh faces, but old disciplines are the way forward.