The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Momentum clearly with Pakistan

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Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Momentum clearly with Pakistan

The area in which India could do with some help is spin, writes Imran Khan

As the teams square up against each other in Rawalpindi, the momentum is clearly with Pakistan. India has bowling problems and they basically rise from the indifferent showing of Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan. Zaheer has been plagued by injury for many years now, and these successive breakdowns have made him tentative. He has lost pace because he does not extend himself for fear of injury. This initial fear stays on as a bad habit because, after a point, the bowler becomes habituated to cutting down on pace. The result in this case is that Zaheer has become a medium-pacer who rarely touches 83 mph.

Wrong wrist position

As far as Pathan is concerned, I think he is not as sharp as he used to be because of wrong wrist position and also he seems to have a niggle, which is making him hold back. It is good that Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell are using his batting potential because this will only help his confidence since he knows he is contributing even while he is remedying his bowling problem. It also helps the team since they can play another specialist bowler because that's the area in which the Indians are struggling.

Workload

Experts who claim Irfan's batting is coming in the way of his bowling don't really know their cricket well. Most times, a good batting performance lifts the bowling of a player, and I am sure that this will happen with Pathan as well. There is no question of the workload increasing, because we too used Wasim Akram similarly in the late 1980s, and it did not hamper his bowling at all.

The area in which India could do with some help is spin. Finger spinners are easier to milk in a one-day game, and that's what happened to Murali Kartik in Peshawar.

The Indians were wrong in not getting Anil Kumble for the ODIs, and even if they are looking beyond the great leg-spinner I am sure there is some rookie leggie who can come into the team. Surely he won't fare worse than the finger spinners in the side.

Sreesanth impresses

The bowler who did impress me was Sreesanth. He had reasonable pace and bowled with great passion. It was great to see him try and bounce Naved Rana, and though that ball was hit for a four, it showed that the lad was still trying. He might have helped India's cause in the Tests as well because he would have relieved the monotony of three left-armers.

If India has bowling problems, it is only highlighted by the fact that Pakistan has an abundance of talent in that department. In fact, they are still not utilising their bowling resources to the fullest.

Crucial decision

The hosts were lucky that Sachin Tendulkar was given out just when he was about to start slogging. At that stage Nasser, Sanjay and I thought India were heading for at least 350. That decision was crucial in the context of the match because it helped Pakistan get away with playing an all-rounder instead of Akhtar. Had the Indian lower order clicked, Pakistan would have been chasing 350-plus instead of 328. Incidentally, one hopes the obituaries to Tendulkar's career have disappeared from the media. He was tentative at first, but as his innings went on he grew in confidence.

The Indian batting is looking great, but how much they need to score for this bowling attack to defend is a moot point. I was once again impressed with Dhoni, who along with Kamran Akmal, is a worthy successor to Adam Gilchrist's mantle. Both combine audacious strokeplay with solid temperament. I thought Dhoni was looking really dangerous at Peshawar, and it took an excellent catch to dislodge him.

The rub of the green went against India right till the end. In fact the Indians were defeated by a superior team using inferior tactics. Rahul did all he could with his limited resources, while Pakistan got away with poor team selection, poor shot selection and patchy fielding only because of India's off-colour bowling effort. The Indians will be hurting after their back-to-back losses, and unless they address their bowling problems, the defeats will continue to mount. (Gameplan)

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