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Twenty-nine centuries and an average of over 53 in Tests. Where do you think Younis Khan figures in the list of Pakistan's batting greats? I think unrelenting Javed Miandad was the greatest that I've seen, he swung many a game, so did Inzamam-ul-Haq, a complete batsman in all senses. Mohammad Yousuf was perhaps one of the most technically sound batsmen they've ever had. The elegant stroke-making of Zaheer Abbas, one hears, made him a joy to watch. Younis makes it to the top-5 with the weight of sheer numbers and consistency. Saeed Anwar maybe just misses out on the top-5 despite his numerous match-winning knocks and effortless strokeplay.
Showing posts with label Inzamam-ul-Haq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inzamam-ul-Haq. Show all posts
Crazy little thing called Pakistan cricket
For years, Imran Khan whined on TV networks that Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf should bat up the order. Imran would often cite Tendulkar’s example - that he was India’s best batsman, opened the batting where he had his best shot at scoring a century whereas Inzamam and Yousuf were languishing at either five or six. Then politics went up the order for Imran, Inzamam retired after playing 378 ODIs, scoring ten centuries, Yousuf retired after playing 288 ODIs scoring 15 centuries.
Sachin Tendulkar retired after playing 463 ODIs, scoring 49 centuries.
Inzamam turns 45 today, Yousuf is 40 and Pakistan’s current captain, Misbah-ul-Haq is older than him. Misbah has played 158 ODIs, scored 40 half centuries. He is yet to score a One-Day century. Like Inzamam and Yousuf before him, he’s spent most of his career in waiting at five or six.
On February 15, 2015, the entire Pakistani team had 21 one day centuries between them - the same as Virat Kohli. Even before India beat Pakistan, Virat Kohli had beaten Pakistan by scoring his 22nd century - 15 of these were made batting at three, the other seven at number four.
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It’s tough to keep track of when a player is dropped and reinstated in Pakistan cricket - and with Younis Khan this becomes doubly difficult, especially when you consider all that cross pollination between formats. Last year, Younis (263 ODIs, seven 100s) had just been dropped from the One Day side so he got all angsty and made a truckload of Test runs against Australia. Based on those Test runs, we have the pleasure of Younis’ company in the World Cup not scoring any One-Day runs. After two failures, one of Pakistan’s senior most batsmen is made to sit out. If this can happen to Younis, how insecure must Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed be feeling?
It shows in the binary opening partnerships of zero and one in the last two games. The best so far, 11, was when Younis opened; so based on some quick research, (throw of dice in a casino) don’t be too surprised if Younis reopens against South Africa. Or who knows, if the dice lands on Haris Sohail or Sohaib Maqsood? And after that, just for a lark, Afridi? Hell, with all those voices back home, they may even make Misbah open, hoping to force-feed him that hundred.
But even before the World Cup, first-choice opener Mohammad Hafeez and his nine hundreds were lost to injury or controversy or both. And even before that, Mohammad Hafeez, the second choice spinner was lost to the bent elbow. That very bent elbow that felled their first choice spinner, Saeed Ajmal.
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After the defeat to India, Yasir Shah was dropped and Shahid Afridi became the first choice spinner. Imagine not playing your leg spinner against the West Indies. They lost by a round 150 runs. Not to be deterred, they didn’t play him against Zimbabwe either, barely won that. Don’t be surprised if they play him in the next game instead of Afridi – with a leggie for leggie rationale. No, seriously. Waqar Younis is coach and chief selector Moin Khan was packed off to Pakistan after being spotted in a casino. Before selection duties, not too long ago, Moin was coach and team manager. Going by the make-shift arrangements behind the stumps, it’s a wonder he wasn’t called to keep wickets. But for that there’s Umar Akmal. Not quite Kamran, he shamed the family name by catching five in a game – though all five were of the quicks and he’s still suspect keeping to the spinners. But what about Umar Akmal the batsman, Pakistan’s equivalent of our underachieving Rohit Sharma of not too long ago. Again, he’s played most of his 100 plus games batting lower down at five or six, scoring two centuries – how does Pakistan pull this off, how many five and six positions do they have?
But can Umar play. Not always with his head, but when his disparate worlds are aligned, there is no Pakistani batsman who can fly and swoop on the bowling like him. And yet he’s caged with the keeping duties. That’s like telling Rohit you want ten overs from him, possibly worse, considering the millstone around the Akmal name.
There is something magical watching Umar-Afridi partner each other. Nobody quite presses Umar’s buttons like him; Afridi inhabits many roles, father, elder brother, concerned friend, crazy uncle, chatty aunty. There is such love and levity in the middle, you’d think Robin Williams was entertaining a ward full of sick kids.
And that’s what Afridi must do – make Umar forget, set Umar free, plant the seed of hope in Umar, give Pakistan hope.
Why Stats shouldn't be Worse than Lies and Damned Lies.
Cricket is a sport for those obsessed with numbers. A debate about the greatness of players invariably ends up as a comparison between their numbers. Fans then get into details such as the team a player was on, the era he played in, his matchwinning ability, overseas performance, and a lot more. So while Murali shouldered the bulk of Lanka’s bowling duties, Warne had the likes of McGrath, Gillespie and Lee to soften up the opposition. While Lara and Tendulkar scored their runs in the era of Ambrose, Waqar and Donald, Ponting has made merry in the golden era of batting. Tendulkar might have the most hundreds but Inzamam was a better “matchwinner” since he performed a lot better in matches Pakistan won.
I could go on with such examples but I won’t. The point I’m making is, and such debates reveal it quite well, for every such argument there could be a counter argument. But there are certain aspects of batting and bowling that will always remain important. Here’s a look at them.
In an ideal world, you would like a batsman who makes big scores and does it fast. He doesn’t get stuck at one end if his partner is going well, and can also dispatch the ball to or over the boundary. In statistical terms, he should have a high average and strike rate, shouldn’t play out a lot of dot balls, and should hit a lot of fours and/or sixes. Similarly for bowlers, they should have a low strike rate and economy rate (consequently a low average), should be able to tie an end up by bowling maiden after maiden, and should restrict the number of boundaries off his bowling.
Now anyone who has used the statsguru function on cricinfo will be able to pull up the averages and strike rates for any player. But is that really enough to judge how good a player is? Don’t we need to dig deeper to find out how a player is scoring his runs, or how good a bowler is in building pressure or bowling at the death?
Baseball is the sport that comes closest to cricket in the way it’s played. It’s also similar in that statistics are considered sacred in that game. It took baseball pundits decades to realize the statistics they were working with were incomplete and they needed to dig deeper into the numbers to evaluate players. Cricket is well and truly into the era of Twenty20 and maybe it’s time the powers that be realized the need to modernize cricket statistics.
by Mahek
You can read more of Mahek at his blog Confessions of a Forced Spectator
Cricket on a high: Dharamsala
The first thing that strikes you is -- you just can't play cricket here.
I was more or less convinced that those who have Nature in their nature, would make dangerous non-striking partners.
To give you an idea, you might be so lost in your admiration that you would require a substantial nudge to come out of your trance to find your striking partner breathing through nostrils from handshaking distance, failing to appreciate the fact that you stood your ground come what may.
Worse, in case of a skier, the poor fielder simply stood no chance.
With the mighty Dhauladhar hulking in the backdrop, it’s simply breath-taking. No wonder, elderly visitors occasionally complain of breathlessness there.
In one of my first outstation assignments, I went to the stadium in 2005 to cover Pakistan's practice match against Board President's XI.
The day I reached, it rained. The day I returned, it rained. And in between, it rained. That's it.
Quite a Machiavellian ploy by BCCI to deny Inzy & Co some valuable practice, I told myself.
On Day One I think, I had buttonholed Shoaib Malik outside the dressing room for an interview when I saw Inzamam emerging.
"Happy birthday, Inzy bhai". I was eager to prove that I had done my home work.
"Thanks, par birthday ji kal hai". He looked rather amused.
I did not like his fussing over details and ignoring the spirit. But I had the face-saver quite at hand.
"I'm not sure if I would meet you tomorrow. So, wishing in advance."
It was a strange sight next day. The entire stadium had become one big birthday party with banners and chorus of 'Happy Birthday' making it anything but a cricket match.
In between showers, probably a couple of hours' play was squeezed in before the party began.
The organizers, the chief being the Chief Minister's son, had arranged some 20,000 laddoos that was distributed among all.
Lack of cricket was thus compensated with loads of bonhomie and Inzy never looked tired of shaking hands with whoever crossed his path.
But as I had told you, you just can't play cricket there.
Of course you can't find a fault with the stadium. But an equal truth is, you can't have Test matches there and possibly not even ODIs since the sky there has a permanent leak.
A match just can't go the full distance. At best, it would be a Duckworth-Lewis' delight.
It's boring without Sehwag
Watching the Indian team without Sehwag is a little boring. He provides the tadka to the Indian team's dal. But looking at the brighter side, Yuvraj the JATTMAN, the other batsman I love watching, is finally getting into his stride.
Interestingly, Rohit Sharma reminds me a bit of Inzamam - aloo - Haq. Rohit has all the time in the world to play his shots and has that lazy demeanour, both qualities reminiscent of the Gentle Giant of Multan. Rohit like Inzi is also very "casual" in his interviews.
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