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| February 19, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 20, 1427 |
Reputation at stake for Pakistan in final ODI
KARACHI, Feb 18: With the series already lost, Pakistan’s injured pride is very much at stake when they face a confident India in the fifth and final One-day International at the National Stadium on Sunday.
In an ideal world Pakistan would have overtly wanted to head into the series finale with a different frame of mind after starting the rubber with victory in Peshawar and after wrapping up the Test series 1-0 here 18 days ago.
But India vanquished Pakistan’s aspirations to complete one of their most successful international seasons at home with some wonderful cricket in the subsequent one-dayers at Rawalpindi, Lahore and Multan.
Pakistan changed gear dramatically and just went from bad to worse as the series progressed. Their cause, of course was not helped by injuries to key players such as Shoaib Akhtar (who sat out the entire series with ankle problem) and the flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
What hurt most was the manner in which Pakistan lost. There was no game-plan as the whole unit appeared disjointed and despondent.
No doubt India outplayed Pakistan in every department, but the kind of cricket the home team exhibited, had something badly missing –- the will to fight all the way.
At times, it was clear that the Pakistanis took the field just to go through the motions as India won convincingly. They sealed the second game with 41 balls to spare and third with 14 balls left while chasing 292.
In the decisive fourth encounter in Inzamamul Haq’s former hometown of Multan, India delivered the coup de grace emphatically when Pakistan were shot out for 161 inside 42 overs. The tourists then reached the small target within 33 overs.
The bright aspect of Indian triumph has been the telling contributions of their young players. Left-arm seamers Irfan Pathan and the fast emerging R.P. Singh made incisive breakthroughs while Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni carried the batting admirably in pressure situations.
The same can’t be said for Pakistan. Experimentations caused the batting order never to settle throughout the series, a point on which Imran Khan had expressed his reservations in no uncertain terms.
For instance, Rana Navedul Hasan, such a revelation on the Indian tour last year when he was crowned ODI Man-of-the-Series, has inexplicably lost confidence and the knack of picking up wickets when it mattered most.
Obviously, it is the duty of the team management to lift the morale of the players. Both Inzamam and coach Bob Woolmer are perturbed at the lack of positive body language, but it is their job to reignite the fire.
Indications are that both teams would want to use the final match to give untried players a rare chance to prove their worth.
Pakistan are contemplating playing Faisal Iqbal on the very ground where he resurrected his Test career just over two weeks ago with a magnificent match-winning century.
India, meanwhile, may give highly-rated Suresh Raina the opportunity to bat higher in the order.
The pitch here has generally been kind to the batsmen as England bowlers found out when Pakistan amassed 353 barely two months ago. This time, Ahsan Arain, the NSK chief curator, has come up with another decent strip to make sure the toss does not become the focal point of discussion at the 9.30am starting time.
This match may not have the aura of that incredible opener of the 2004 series when India launched the ground-breaking tour with a five-run win after piling up 349. That was the time when Pakistan fought tooth and nail and made the emotionally-charged encounter probably the finest match that these two great rivals ever played before or since.
Crucially, Pakistan would like win this match because a 4-1 series defeat could jeopardise their ICC Champions Trophy campaign. Currently fourth, Pakistan must stay among top six when rankings are assessed on April 1 to earn automatic entry.
Teams (from):
PAKISTAN: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Navedul Hasan, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Yasir Arafat, Arshad Khan, Rao Iftikhar.
INDIA: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sri Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar.
UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies).
TV UMPIRE: Asad Rauf (Pakistan).
RESERVE UMPIRE: Afzaal Ahmed (Pakistan).
MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (England).
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