By Saj
April 8 2004

Pakistan emphatically got rid of the Multan nightmare as they crushed India by 9 wickets in Lahore. It was a dominant and tremendous all round performance from the green machine, as they displayed their true potential. The two recently concluded test matches at Multan and Lahore explain to all and sundry the reason why fans of both teams are always ready to tear their hair out in anguish and despair. India, went from champions to looking a very ordinary team in the matter of days, whilst Pakistan went from a team lacking spirit and direction to a team of world beaters. Even the most die hard of Pkaistani fans like Amjid could not have predicted such a dramatic turnaround.

Pakistan who went into the second test under immense pressure from within the camp, from the press and from the fans, produced the goods when it really mattered. Credit to the whole team and management in the way they fought back and I do not think too many teams would have bounced back the way they did, after the manner of defeat in the first test.

Pakistan having lost the toss dominated from day one which saw the Indians compile a meagre total of 287, thanks largely to an excellent partnership between the stylish Yuvraj Singh and the ever improving Irfan Pathan. In my opinion the Indian batting line up underestimated Umer Gul, who they thought would go the same way as Shabbir Ahmed in the first test. Whilst Sami and Shoaib continued to display patchy form, Umer took the bull by the horns and found an excellent line and length. Within the space of a few overs he had caused the disintegration of the Indian top order.

287 was no doubt a total the Indians were going to rue and when Pakistan closed on 355 for 3 after 2 days, the total looked even worse. Imran Farhat and Inzamam ul Haq laid the foundations for a formidable total and a healthy lead looked inevitable after day 2. Imran, who played a very disciplined and unnatural innings seemed to be helped by the fact that he was batting with skipper Inzamam. The skipper in my opinion is batting as well as he ever has throughout his career. Precision, responsibility and a thoroughness reflect Inzi these days when he is at the crease.

The third day as predicted by a number of PakPassioners started with the predictable barrage of wickets as Inzi, Yousuf and company came and went back to the pavilion. Slowly but surely the Indians were clawing their way back into the game, with Pakistan as so often is the case, pressing the self destruct button from a position of dominance. Up stepped the solid leftie Asim Kamal, who on debut against South Africa scored 99. Asim batted with a responsibility and authority that belied his inexperience at test level. Together with Shoaib Akhtar, Umer Gul and Danish Kaneria, he took the Pakistani lead to 202 runs. The fact that it was over 200 runs must have presented quite a large psychological blow to the Indians.

It was now the perfect time for the high profile Indian top order to show their worth, wipe out the deficit and then set their hosts a challenging target in the fourth innings. However, they failed miserably with Akash Chopra plumb in front, Dravid self exploded and ran himself out without facing a ball, Tendulkar plumb in front, Laxman beaten by a fantastic delivery from Gul that seamed in and then left him at the last minute and Yuvraj playing loosely outside off stump to a delivery from Sami.

Sehwag was the key wicket for Pakistan and after Shoaib snared him early on day 4, it was only a matter of time before the Pakistan skipper would be smiling away on the victory podium. Patel and Agarkar merely delayed the inevitable, whilst Danish Kaneria cleaned up the tail.
7 overs was all it took Pakistan to chase down the total of 40 they needed for a massive morale boosting victory as the series heads for a finale in Rawalpindi.

Whilst some fans will point to the umpiring in this match, which in my opinion is a rather lame excuse. The genuine and knowledgeable fans will point to the fact that the better team in Lahore won this match at a canter.