An Australian pitch made in Pakistan
After the first days play Australia are comfortably placed to score over 500 runs in their first innings. They won the toss and elected to bat on a surface which was probably imported from Faisalabad or Rajkot. There was no sideways movement, no pace and no bounce in it. Tailor made for a struggling Ponting who looked desperate to show the world that he has no problems with the short pitched stuff.
All the claims made by the curator that the pitch will offer pace and bounce was a load of crap, the first days play clearly showed that every time the Pakistani bowlers tried to bend their backs to bowl a bouncer the ball stayed below the shoulder height, this pitch was a Christmas present from CA to Ricky Ponting.
Pakistan received a big blow when Danish Kaneria was declared unfit for the match due to a finger injury before the match, but they shot themselves in the foot by dropping Gul and not considering Sami in place of Rauf.
Umar Gul and Sami would have extracted more pace and bounce than Rauf from this pitch and their ability to reverse the old ball could also have caused some problems for the batsmen.
Rauf looked ordinary on this pitch, he had no pace and extracted very little movement from the pitch he also erred with his length at times and was expensive reducing an already depleted
Pakistan bowling to just three bowlers.
Pakistan bowlers although controlled the flow of runs in the first four sessions but they never troubled the batsmen, Asif and Ajmal caused occasional problems for the batsmen but Ajmal bowled a bit too fast and failed to bowl a perfect line just outside off stump and at times he bowled too full. Three catches were dropped and two run out chances were missed, Misbah dropped the easiest of catches.
Mohammad Aamer will have to learn fast, he bowled too straight to cause any problems for the batsman he is just 17 and has a long way to go but he has to realize that his role is of a strike bowler and not of a stock bowler, he will have to learn how to set up a batsman and how to trouble batsmen by varying his angles and length on flat tracks.
Pakistan will have to change their strategy of going in a test with just four bowlers they will have to find a genuine all rounder, it is high time that they recall Afridi and Razzaq for the test matches. They got Sami as a back up bowler in anticipation of flat tracks but failed to include him in the squad, even Rana Naveed or Sohail Tanvir would have been a better option than Rauf, he is not the right bowler for this kind of a pitch.
All the Australian batsmen scored some runs, Watson and Katich missed their 100’s, Ponting scored an aggressive 57 and was looking to dominate the bowlers before he fell on a perfect out swinger from Asif. Hussey looked confident and was scoring runs quite easily.
Pakistan needs a few early wickets today if they have to curtail Australia below 500.
I think the Australian bowlers will hit the deck hard and will extract more pace and bounce from this pitch. But so far the pitch has shown that there is nothing in it for the bowlers, it’s a batting paradise, it will be interesting to see if Pakistani batsmen take advantage of this home like pitch or they again self destruct themselves. All it needs is a little determination and patience to bat long and score runs on this pitch.
Wasim,
I would have picked Sami too. In fact, if Gul was dropped because of form, it is an absolutely silly decision.
I did argue for Rana or Tanvir who would have been more effective than Rauf. Both of them have world class slower balls and it doesnt matter what the pitch is like, the slower ball will work.
Already looks like a defeat to me. I can see our batsmen just surrendering after the Aussies rack up 550.
Stani
This is the upteenth time that the tour selection committee made a blunder and messed up the team combination. Rauf could have been useful on a seaming track but at MCG with his pace and limited variety he looked ordinary. Sohail Tanvir is injured but Pakistan could have selected Tanvir Ahmed, Talha or Rana Naved if Gul has been deemed out of form.
Just two days ago the bowling was the only saving grace for Pakistan team but look how the combination has been messed up.
It’s just like any other subcontinent pitch I don’t see that Pakistan’s batting will fold that easily on it.
Wasim,
You know our batsmen!
I’m just really frustrated with our missed chances because this match would have been so much more interesting now.
Stani
Dropped catches disappointed everybody, but I will give up hope if Pakistani batsmen failed on this pitch.
Ponting has declared at 454 now that is an interesting move. Either he is over confident about his bowlers or he has no respect for Pakistani batting line up.
Great decision or big mistake by ricky POnting? By declaring so early he really has made the option of Pakistan ‘blocking out’ out if the picture well atleast hopefully he has LOL. Hopefully after a conservative start we can watch a few days of Pakistan playing good strokes an showing the Australians how 2 score centuries
Wasim what time is tea again?
If he was over confident he would have batted longer..he declared cuz he knows he needs atleast 2and a half to 3days to bowl Pakistan out twice on this pitch (the flattest pitch I have seen in a very long time)
Qamar sorry I was away for a while.
Even the Aussie bowlers couldn’t extract any movement from the pitch but they as I predicted were bending their backs and using the bounce something which Aamer and Rauf failed to do.
454 is not that big of a score on this pitch if Pakistani batsmen showed some patience and determination they will easily cross it they have to play straight and should leave the short stuff alone.
Pakistan should milk Nathan Hauritz and Watson.
Well Faisal will be extremely lucky if he survives this spelll of johnson he has no technique poking at every ball it’s just a matter of time when he gets the edge.
Unless Umar Akmal, Misbah and Kamran Akmal take Pakistan to 350+ Pakistan is going to lose this match by a huge margin.
The Aussie bowlers were aggressive they made the batsmen play by attacking the stumps or the rib cage,
Something which Pakistani bowlers failed to do, Pakistani batsmen should have attacked Nathan Hauritz but they were too defensive.