The Hindu : Sport : Farhat, Raza turn on the heat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 09, 2006

Sport

Sport

Farhat, Raza turn on the heat

S. Dinakar

Laxman, Yuvraj rattle up quick runs

— Photo: S. Subramanium

IN CONTROL: Imran Farhat was hardly troubled by the Indian bowlers as he notched up a century.

Lahore: A cold wave is sweeping through these parts. Journalists, staring into their laptops, found their fingers turning numb as icy winds roared past the makeshift media enclosure in the evening.

Heat, as such, needs to be welcomed in the scenario. The Indian bowlers could not do so though — as they felt the heat in the middle.

Stocky opener Imran Farhat and the precociously talented but grossly underachieving Hasan Raza served reminders to the selectors on the second day of the India-Pakistan `A' match at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground.

After the visitors, following half centuries from V.V.S. Laxman and Yuvraj Singh declared at 414 for seven, Pakistan `A', with Farhat (107, 162b, 16x4, 1x6) and skipper Hasan Raza (75, 62b, 11x4, 1x6) scattering the Indian attack, responded with 212 for four.

The pitch might not have offered them too much assistance, but the Indian bowlers did not always bowl with the necessary control. With the exception of Ajit Agarkar, the rest of the pacemen either pitched short or provided the batsmen width.

Agarkar, who bowled an off-stump line, snared Bazid Khan (6), pouched at the second slip by Laxman, and Irfan Pathan trapped Mohammed Wasim (1) leg-before. The Indian attack soon ran into trouble with Farhat and Raza cutting loose.

The first spells from Agarkar (6-1-23-1) and Pathan (7-2-27-1) were adequate but Rudra Pratap Singh and Zaheer Khan could not maintain the pressure. R.P. Singh's six overs cost him 33 runs and Zaheer went for 43 in seven.

No variety

There is also a sense of sameness about the Indian pace pack — three of the four pacemen are left-armers — and Dravid, as the series progresses, might realise that he could have done with some variety here.

The left-handed Farhat and Raza were not complaining. Farhat used the pull to good effect, even if he was a shade lucky to get away with a couple of miscued blows. He also unleashed glorious cover-drives off Pathan and R.P. Singh. The southpaw survived a chance on 95 off Pathan when Yuvraj Singh grassed a difficult offering at mid-wicket and soon reached an entertaining hundred.

With typhoid keeping Yasir Hameed out of the first Test (pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar has recovered from food poisoning though), there is a vacancy in one of the opening slots for Pakistan and Farhat has done his cause no harm; it was in Lahore that Farhat rattled up a Test century against India in 2004 before losing his fitness, form and eventually spot.

Gift of timing

Raza has the gift of timing. He breezed to his 50 in only 38 balls and this included a stunning straight six off Pathan, after the batsman stepped down the track. He drove stylishly and his upright leg-side strokes reflected his balance. The third wicket pair added 160 in 172 balls before Pathan combined with Dhoni to end Raza's blitzkrieg. Farhat departed, caught at point by Zaheer off Harbhajan Singh; the off-spinner has not quite settled into an ideal rhythm.

Earlier in the day, Laxman (54 retd., 106b, 9x4) and Yuvraj (59 retd, 79b, 9x4) batted fluently before retiring to allow the others an opportunity to have a knock. Dhoni biffed a quickfire 22. Not much later, the Indian bowlers were at the receiving end.

Yuvraj later denied feeling the pressure to retain his Test place. "I just go out there to play my natural game, enjoy my cricket," he said.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Pakistan selection panel, Wasim Bari, said the India-Pakistan face-off was a `pressure' series and whichever side handled the stresses better and dished out consistent cricket would emerge triumphant. Shoaib Akhtar was Pakistan's ace in the pack, he said.

The scores:

India — Ist innings: G. Gambhir c Iftekar b Irshad 53, W. Jaffer c Haider b Gul 58, R. Dravid c Raza b Farhat 63, S. Tendulkar c Haider b Arafat 74, V.V.S. Laxman (rtd.) 54, Y. Singh (rtd) 59, M.S. Dhoni c sub Muddasar b Irshad 22, I. Pathan (not out) 8, A. Agarkar (not out) 4, Extras (b-5, lb-4, nb-10) 19. Total (for seven wickets decl) 414.

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-153, 3-220, 4-279, 5-357, 6-390, 7-402.

Pakistan `A' bowling: Gul 19-3-58-1; Iftekar 15-3-62-0; Arafat 24-3-83-1; Irshad 19-2-79-2; Farhat 8-0-36-1; Amjad 19-1-87-0.

Pakistan `A' — Ist inngs: I. Farhat c Zaheer b Harbhajan 107, B. Khan c Laxman b Agarkar 6, M. Wasim lbw b Pathan 1, H. Raza c Dhoni b Pathan 75, F. Iqbal (batting) 13, A. Kamal (batting) 4, Extras (lb-3, nb-3) 6. Total (for four wkts) 212.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-26, 3-186, 4-198.

India bowling: Pathan 13-3-61-2; Agarkar 9-2-28-1 (nb-3); R.P. Singh 6-0-33-0; Zaheer 7-0-43-0; Harbhajan 13-1-44-1.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport