By Saj Sadiq
December 29 2002

Pakistan were thrashed by 10 wickets in the first test of the 2 match series. Pakistan's bowlers failed to put the ball in the right place and the batsmen lacked the application and concentration to turn 20s and 30s into larger scores. Its not the defeat that probably hurts most Pakistani supporters in this match, but the manner of the defeat. It was a dismal showing throughout the team with a total lack of fight, pride, concentration, mental strength and commitment.

The most important statistic that has come out of the Durban match in my opinion is the one that confirms that no Pakistani batsman crossed the 50 mark. For any team to win a test match they need their main batsman to play long innings and be involved in big partnerships, neither of these things happened in this match and this cost Pakistan dearly.

The South African bowlers enjoyed very generous Christmas presents from the main Pakistani batsman as again and again they gifted their wickets to the home team. Prior to this test match we were alerted to the fact that this would be a very fast and bouncy wicket and the Pakistani batsman would be made to struggle on this wicket. Well it wasn’t the South African bowlers who made them struggle, but instead their own shortcomings which were apparent throughout the match.

After good starts in both innings from Saleem and Taufeeq the batting just capitulated against average bowling. In my opinion only Inzamam in the first innings received a delivery which one could class as unplayable. The South Africans seemed to be in patient mode as if they knew that the Pakistani batting would eventually just cave in. Even the local commentators were in a totally relaxed frame of mind and were just expecting a South African victory.

The body language throughout the team is not good, Waqar looks like a man struggling under the burden of captaincy. He selected only 4 bowlers and went for an extra batsman, a decision which to most was obviously flawed. Inzamam seems to casual and relaxed, as if he is not too bothered at the moment. He is not supporting Waqar as a vice captain should and he is playing far too many rash strokes, instead of batting with the responsibility one would expect from him. Mohammed Sami has a lot to learn. He needs to work on his run up and sort out his no ball problem, as he is overstepping the mark nearly every over. He is aggressive and I am impressed with his efforts, but he needs to put the ball in the right place more often than he does. Razzaq I am afraid is not a first change bowler and although towards the end of the South African innings he seemed to be getting his rhythm back, his bowling still looks some way short of what it was 18 months ago. Saqlain was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers and bowled without too much luck. On a better day he could quite easily have picked up 6 or 7 wickets. In my opinion he was overused by Waqar, plainly because he had nobody else to turn to, once again a problem of playing only 4 frontline bowlers.

The batting lacked a number of components, and one can criticize the batsman for all our worth and I’m sure over the last few days we have discussed at great length on the messageboard all the batsman’s flaws, but I am more interested in what they can do to turn it around in the next test. Cricket is played in the mind and an average player with a strong will is a better man to have on your side than a man who has immense talent but is mentally weak. This can be said about a number of the current players that we are producing, they can play a nice cameo of 30 runs, laced with 5 elegant boundaries, but after that they tend to throw it away when well set.

I don’t remember a single shot that Kallis played in his innings of 105 as none were memorable, but it was the type of innings that the Pakistani batsman should be looking to emulate, dogged, resilient and 100% concentration throughout. Many have declared that the Pakistani team have natural talent, I’m afraid of late I am doubting this, as this talent is none too evident when the team needs it most. Talent in my cricketing dictionary means producing the goods on a regular basis against all types of opposition and this can’t be said about too many of our players.

As far as the captaincy issue is concerned, I think Waqar should thank his lucky stars that the Zimbabwe series came between the Aussie and SA series, otherwise he may have found himself watching the World Cup in his front room.