By SS
December 7 2003

Pakistan put the inexperienced Kiwi tourists firmly in their place, as they hammered them once again to complete a 5 nil series. Once again a solid opening partnership was the cornerstone as Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat set a new world record for consecutive century opening partnerships. 5 wins out of 5 for the Pakistani young guns as they completed a whitewash today in Rawalpindi.

One can only congratulate the Pakistani players, selectors and coach on a thoroughly professional performance throughout this 5 match series. It could have been so easy for the Pakistani players to look at the New Zealand squad list and play these matches only at 80-90% effort, but this was not the case and a number of players enhanced their reputations during this series.

From the word go, a 5 nil outcome was the only thought on Javed Miandads and Inzamams minds and his team fulfilled their ambitions. Although most fans expected a one sided series, the way the team achieved its goals deserves praise. Solid opening partnerships, a versatile middle order and explosive hitting at the end, more often than not by the rejuvenated Abdul Razzaq provided a nice blend in the Pakistani batting. Early inroads by Mohamed Sami, Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed, meant that the Kiwis were always on the back foot and playing catch up. The loss of early wickets generally meant that they were never in a position to attack the Pakistani second string bowling of Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Malik. Cairns and Marshall were the main threats to the Pakistani bowling, but a lack of support from the other batsman meant that they never really dominated for long periods.

For quite a long time now the selectors have tried to find the right combination at the top of the order in both forms of cricket, without too much success. Player after player was brought in, given a chance and then dumped, then brought back again and given another chance and then dumped again. It is safe to predict that in Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat, Pakistan have found two excellent opening batsman who, given the correct support can only get better and better. Add to this, Taufeeq Umer at test level and Pakistan have 3 young and gifted openers. It is too early to say that the three of them will be world beaters and will break lots of records, but it is heartening to see progress being made in the opening positions.

Abdul Razzaq is a player who the fans love one minute and hate the next. He is generally a player who has a very high reputation around the world, rather than from Pakistani fans. Generally the Pakistani fans view is that he has the talent, but is lazy and does not fulfill that talent. Well, Mr Razzaq is now an experienced player and it is about time he started to show just how far he wants to go in international cricket. He tore to shreds the Kiwi bowling in late order massacres with his lusty hitting and his bowling economy was also very acceptable throughout the series, add to this the fact that he took wickets and he can be well and truly satisfied with his performance. The true test though for the likes of Razzaq will be his consistency and whether he can follow up a good series at home, with a good series away from home.

Mohamed Sami, Shoaib Akhtar and Shabbir Ahmed have the potential to cause all sort of problems in New Zealand. On predominantly flat tracks they caused enough concerns with their mixture of bounce, reverse swing, outswing and subtle variations in pace. At no time except for a few overs in the first one day international did any of these 3 bowlers allow the opposition to control things out in the middle.

All in all a job well done by the Pakistanis and just like any other team, you can only beat what is put in front of you.