November 2, 2003

FIRST thing first, congratulations to the national team on securing a Test series victory on home soil, something that had not happened for some time, and has now happened twice in succession in back to back series against Bangladesh and South Africa. Well done, boys! May you keep it up and keep it going in the times ahead.

The South Africans made a valiant effort in the second Test to get back into the equation, like they had done during the One Day series, and definitely had the upper hand in the latter half of the Test, but it goes to the credit of the boys that they somehow managed to scuttle the South African onslaught.

While the moral victory has to be handed over to Graeme Smith and his charges for pushing Pakistan on to the defensive after the latter were all set to secure the series on the third day of the Test, the fact remains that what matters the most is the scoreline, and that has remained 1-0 in favour of Pakistan, and that is cause enough for the boys to celebrate.

But the South Africans have themselves to blame for the final outcome of the Test and, thus, the series. The equation may well have been quite different had they taken the chances that had come their way in the field on the last day. One almost struggled to keep count of the number of catches the South Africans floored on that fateful day. Those that come to mind are the ones that involved Toufiq Umar, Inzamaul Haq, Shoaib Malik and Asim Kamal who was dropped thrice — once each by the gully, the first slip and by the wicketkeeper — before Mark Boucher finally grabbed one. Even such a quick count stands at half-a-dozen!

This was totally uncharacteristic of a South African side in the international arena, but it happened, and it happened within less than a couple of hours on the last day. Toufiq did not cost much, as he played a rash shot not much latter, but Inzamam and Asim — who were dropped within a few balls of each other — were crucial blunders, and so was the one that involved Shoaib Malik, because had that catch been taken, it would have exposed the tail that carried bunnies like Shabbir Ahmed and Danish Kaneria, and though Mushtaq Ahmed has played a few gusty innings in the past, he would have struggled as well in view of the new ball that was in operation at the time.

It sure was pressure that was telling on the South African performance in the field, because the onus of producing a result was on them, for Pakistan was already one up in the series and could easily afford to play for a draw, something they apparently opted to do once the South African lead in the second innings crossed the 250 mark.

Beyond that point, the Pakistanis were clearly playing a defensive game, and there were valid reasons for doing that: the series was in the pocket and they didn’t want to put it in jeopardy. But, frankly speaking, it would have been nice had they gone for it, at least initially, before pulling the shutters down had there been quick setbacks. But it was safety-first for the team management, and I do not have serious problems with that.

What indeed was funny was a little chat in the commentary box in the pre-lunch session on the last day between Dean Jones of Australia and our Chief Selector, who, as we all know, doubles up as a television commentator.

Dean pointedly asked him “in his capacity as the Pakistani Chief Selector” if the chase was on, and the Chief Selector, who loves to wear his patriotism on his sleeves, replied that it was very much the case. Interestingly, Pakistanis were scoring at that particular point at a rate of around one-and-a-half run per over, and in the entire first session, they had produced only fifty-odd runs in about thirty overs. It was clear to even a layman that safety was the top priority for the Pakistanis, but the Chief Selector has a knack of saying funny things in the commentary box that do nothing but cause embarrassment to lesser mortals like us.

But my basic argument is that once the question was put to him “in his capacity as the Chief Selector”, he should have made it clear that it was up to the team management, and that the office of the Chief Selector had nothing to do with it. Or, maybe, he had. The way the PCB is functioning these days, no one could be quite sure of such things.

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