BY the time the curtain fell on the first Test between Pakistan and New Zealand, the Pakistanis were able to gain some momentum in the series. Having reached that point after being on the backfoot for the first four days was a bit too late to be particularly cheerful about, but better late than never, goes the saying, and I tend to find myself in agreement with that.
The happenings on the last day of the Test once again proved the point that in modern cricket, no side can afford to relax even for a single session. With a sparkling performance in the first innings, both with the bat and the ball, the New Zealanders clearly had visions of a relaxed afternoon of batting practice when the match finally started after lunch on the last day, and that allowed the Pakistanis to end on a high note, and this momentum would clearly help the side going into the second Test.
While the last-day proceedings were heartening from a nationalistic point of view, it has to be kept in mind that the honours on each of the first four days had gone to New Zealand, exposing a number of weaknesses on the part of the national team. What we saw on those days could not be simply pushed under the rug as a result of lack of acclimatization. That would be an oversimplification.
The fact is that the team played badly, and paid the price. It was a close call, and Moin Khan had to play the innings of his life to lead the team out of a tight spot. For Moin, the innings certainly came at the right time. It not only has strengthened his return to the team, but would have surely taken care of the demons of self-doubt in his own mind. So that was a thing to feel happy about. However, from a team’s point of view, you do not leave it to your No. 7 and No. 8 to save the day for you.
I have been pointing this out even during the home series against Bangladesh, South Africa and New Zealand that Pakistan relies too much on unplanned individual brilliance instead of planned team effort. On days when no single individual excels, the team finds the egg on its face.
As far as I am concerned, this is not the most ideal way of playing international cricket. There has to be a team strategy and alternative plans to cover for periods when things stop going according to the main strategy, and within that planning every individual must know what he is supposed to do. Failure to execute such plans is acceptable to a certain extent, for that is an integral part of the game, any game. But the main thing is the intention to carry out those plans. In Pakistan’s case, that intention, that commitment and, may I say, that after-the-event accountability appear to be missing.
For instance, how would you justify the kind of start that the Pakistani openers tried to give to the innings? They were facing 563 runs, 364 to avoid follow-on. The team needed a solid start, not a blazing one. Yet, they opted to go for the shots even when they were shaky in their footwork and had little idea of the wicket’s pace and bounce. It was a simple case of their inability to shed the One-Day mould and play a Test innings. I know the openers are young and would, hopefully, learn with time, but it was upto the team management to counsel them, and make them do what was required rather than to leave it to them to take their own decisions in the middle.
BY the time the curtain fell on the first Test between Pakistan and New Zealand, the Pakistanis were able to gain some momentum in the series. Having reached that point after being on the backfoot for the first four days was a bit too late to be particularly cheerful about, but better late than never, goes the saying, and I tend to find myself in agreement with that.
