Pakistan cricket - Captain Misbah-ul-Haq

If you ask me whether I had been in support of Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy or not then my answer would be a clear cut ‘No’! Frankly speaking, as the captain of Pakistan, Younis Khan had always been my choice. Misbah’s body language never impressed me at all and he lacked that aggressive spark in him which has been the symbol of Pakistani captains over the years. And in that sense, Younis Khan suited more as the captain of Pakistan team,

But the Pakistan Cricket Board chose Misbah as Test captain and I was not happy at all. Already, the Pakistan team were in a rut and they were in need of a leader who would install resolve in the team and according to me, Misbah never seemed the right person to do such.

But I think I was wrong.

Looks are always deceiving. A reluctant body language can never give you the true story. No matter how reluctant Misbah looks or how boring his batting can be, this man seems to have installed the much needed resolve within the Pakistan team. Pakistan as a team have fared well in Test cricket so far and they didn’t look mentally cluttered at all.  

Misbah seems to have gel the Pakistanis well and I think he has been able to maintain a healthy environment in the dressing room. He seems to be a very good man manager and for this he deserves enough credit as because it’s never easy to lead a team like Pakistan who are perennially factitious.  

 As a captain he might be pretty defensive but such a mindset is suiting Pakistan at the moment even though I am not a fan of defensive captaincy at all. But at times, I guess, you need to apply the best method which suits you well.

After being made the captain, Misbah’s own form has been good. Captaincy has galvanized his batting which is scripting valuable runs for his team and in fact when a captain is leading from the front then automatically the whole team gets heavily inspired.

I don’t mind to be proved wrong. One thing I can say that, Misbah as a captain will bring good results for Pakistan.

Thank You

Faisal caesar 

New Zealand v Pakistan - Astonishing stuff at Hamilton!

 The Hamilton track was still placid and batting friendly on the third day. But from nowhere a sudden havoc took arrived and left the host at sixes and sevens. What was supposed to turning out to be an intriguing contest, settled into a no-contest-affair.

Even though, the Kiwis were outclassed in Bangladesh and India, according to many, they were dubbed as favourites against Pakistan in this Test match but, the cricket thinkers simply forgot about Pakistan’s unpredictable nature.

Since the Pakistanis started their journey in world cricket, their unpredictability made them as one of the feared and beloved teams in world cricket. This unique nature is in their cricketing gene and it has been transferred within generation to generation.

The first two days gave the picture of an evenly matched contest. But in the last session of the third day reminded all of us about the staggering feats of Wasim and Waqar 17 years back where they clinched a Pakistan victory from nowhere by virtue of their charismatic bowling.

The scenario was different but the act was just the same yesterday at Wellington.

There wasn’t any Mohammad Amir or Asif to trigger a sudden collapse, even though Umar Gul is a master in doing such things in the limited over version but, Wahab Riaz or Abdur Rehman, though have talents but aren’t charismatic characters to do such.

But they did do something charismatic.

Since Abdur Rehman, who doesn’t rely on turn that much but more on varying the lengths, removed McIntosh - outfoxed by a well tossed up delivery, holding back its length and then stumped by Adnan, Akmal – an astonishing collapse started to unleash. Remember, Asif Mujataba’s reflex catch of Andrew Jones at short-leg off Waqar’s bowling in 1993 on this same ground? That sudden breakthrough triggered a dramatic collapse. The same thing happened here again.

Wahab Riaz removed the danger man Brendon McCullum while Rehman at the other end removed Guptill. Riaz then plumbed Ryder with a fast late inswing for a golden duck. Then the star batsman Taylor was run out due to the panic set up the Riaz and Rehman. Riaz then removed Kane Williamson. Vettori was trapped leg before by Rehman and 60 for 1 had become 71-7! In the twinkle of an eye the eye brows were raised, the jaws were dropped and all were stunned to see what had just taken place during the last session of the third day.

And then Umar Gul wrapped up the Kiwis innings with fast and hostile bowling leaving them clueless. Pakistan needed just 19 to win and they won it without losing a wicket.

The ability to script such thrillers is in the Pakistani cricketer’s cricketing gene. The Guls, the Riazs or the Rehmans might vanish anytime in the mysterious world of Pakistan cricket but some unknown face or some other bowler from Rawalpindi or Lahore or Sialkot will do the same thing like their proud ancestors: Fazal, Sarfraz, Imran, Akram and Waqar. As they are Pakistanis and dishing out the most unthinkable is in their cricketing gene.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

South Africa v India - Jacques Kallis' epic hundred at Cape Town

 The Cape Town Test match has already become worth watching. It has provided an ideal battle between the bat and ball and over the past few years, in South Africa, we have been treated with some fantastic Test matches and gutsy individual knocks.

South Africa’s batting was challenged heavily by the Indian bowlers on a weary Cape Town track and what South Africa needed was someone who would stood firm and dare to challenge and we all know who might be South Africa’s best man in such situations.

On the fourth day, Jac Kallis watched his partners to depart quickly. The Cape Town track was wicked – widening of the gaps and uneven bounce let Harbhajan Singh to make the Proteas batting line-up suffocate. Immediately Harbhajan removed two South African batters including the in form Hashim Amla. South Africa ended the first session with 64 for 4.

It was up to Kallis to provide South Africa stability and he did that with a side strain.

MS Dhoni packed the legside field for Harbhajan with a short-leg, leg gully, midwicket, square-leg and a man on the boundary. Jacques Kallis noticed a vacant area at the point and third man region.  And Kallis targeted that area.

Jac Kallis executed the reverse sweep with immense authority against the turn with pristine timing. The ball rocketed through that vacant point and third man region for four.  MS Dhoni was forced to change his field. Jac Kallis then countered Harbhajan staying back, moving across, playing extremely late and taking the bottom hand out of the bat while fending the ball down the legside.

Kallis saw two more wickets to fall and the lead was just 128. After the lunch, Kallis continued to perform with uninterrupted resolve. He got used with the wickedness of the track which the top-order failed to do and his calm and composed stay at the other end essayed a Laxam-like assurance that it allowed Boucher, Morkel and Steyn to flex their arms and thus, made the Indian attack, which was looking enough threatening, blunt.

Kallis stay was so brief that it made Harbhajan to loose his ideas. Though Harbhajan continued to pose threat but against Kallis it was fruitless. Each runs he took for a single or couple he could feel the pain on his chest wall, he was feeling uneasy while leaving the ball outside the off-stump due to stretching of the chest wall muscles, but Kallis never bothered to take a runner. A non-descript single to square-leg off Harbhajan Singh helped Kallis to bring up his 40th Test hundred and the first person for South Africa to score a hundred at home in each innings.

The crowd including the Indians cheered Kallis’ epic knock. What a knock it was! What a player Kallis is!

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

South Africa v India - Sizzling Hashim Amla

The conditions at Cape Town was damp. Rain and dark clouds made the conditions ideal for the faster bowlers to cash in big time. MS Dhoni won the toss and without any hesitation he chose to field first.

In no time, the Indian bowlers dismissed the South African openers. The Indian pacers were getting enough movement off the pitch and made the ball skid prodigiously. It was a testing time for the Proteas batters and enough character was needed to counter such movements.  

When the ball is moving around like a boomerang and it’s posing a threat in each minute then either you drop the anchors or counter-attack. Jacques Kallis’ batting partner Hashim Amla chose the second option.

Amla took charge after the second resumption. He drove the first ball after the break off Zaheer Khan through point and the very next delivery to wide mid-on and another between midwicket and mid-on. All went for scorching boundaries whih had been the results of exquisite timing and perfect foot-work.

A pumped up Sreesanth was smashed for four at the cover boundary. Sreesanth urged Amla to drive by the pitching out side the off and then swinging it away from Amla, but the astute technique of Amla came into play here. The hook shot of Sreesanth for a six was a treat to watch. It was all about controlled aggression.

One must notice Amla’s approach against the aggressiveness of a fast bowler. If a batsman needs to dominate over the aggressiveness of a fast bowler then he must go for the option of drastic measures: controlled aggression. And above all your skills and technique must be adequate enough to survive against the fury of pace bowlers on a pace-bowling friendly track.

At Cape Town Amla’s brief 59 on one of the most difficult of conditions proved how temperamentally and technically strong he is. One may say that he was lucky to survive the edges but if you take a look at those edges then edges were executed deliberately – an exhibition of confident batsmanship.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar