Misbah-ul-Haq proves his worth in the ODI series against West Indies

After the World Cup semi-final loss to India at Mohali, there were many who stressed on axing Misbah-ul-Haq from the squad. Despite the odds, Pakistan’s middle-order batsman has gone a long way to redeem himself with his match-winning performances in the One Day International series against West Indies so far.
His slow style of batting was the reason many had turned against Misbah after the semi-final defeat, but the batsman seems more at home in the ongoing ODI series.
Pakistan’s batting is prone to collapsing and Misbah’s style, although criticized has helped the side in winning matches in the current series. Though he may not play a big inning, his ability to stay on the crease has helped his side out of a tight spot on more than the one occasion.
Against India in the inaugural T20 World Championship final, Misbah was the one batsman who gave his side any hope of winning the fixture. The fact is that Misbah has taken responsibility for his side many a time and that means that if Pakistan loses, Misbah is often the scapegoat.
In the ongoing ODI series against West Indies, Misbah is proving his worth for the Pakistan side. Currently the squad’s highest run scorer in the series, Misbah has hit 178 runs in three matches. His average of 59.33 goes a long way in showing his consistency with the bat.
While the ‘Man of the Match’ award went to opening batsman Muhammad Hafeez in the first ODI for his half century, it was Misbah-ul-Haq’s well-constructed unbeaten 73 runs, which eventually helped Pakistan achieve the target. While not as exciting as Hafeez’s innings, it was far more crucial in keeping the game in reach for the visitors.
The second ODI belonged to Ahmed Shehzad, who rightfully stole all the headlines for his mature and well-composed century. The veteran batsman guided the youngster through the innings, before ultimately lifting Pakistan to a victory himself, with an unbeaten 43-run knock. The fact that surprised everyone was that Misbah managed to maintain a strike rate of 100.00 during his innings.
It would not come as a surprise if reports of Misbah-ul-Haq’s fans, who could not cope after witnessing the match-winning innings, had to be rushed to hospital.
It was in third ODI in which the batsman proved his worth in the Pakistani squad. Men in Green did well to bowl West Indies out for a small total of 171 runs. Chasing the target, Pakistan were in deep trouble at one stage during the match.
After an early collapse from the top-order, Misbah-ul-Haq began the rebuilding process and steadied the ship for Pakistan. Linking up with Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam, the batsman led his side to a more stable position.
Misbah had a total of six batting partnerships in the match and his unbeaten 62-run knock, was the backbone of the Pakistan innings.
Misbah-ul-Haq has not lost his wicket in the three matches of the series so far. The Pakistan batsman seems at home in the ODI version of the game. One can expect more of the same from the backbone of the Pakistan innings in future. With the current form the team is in, Pakistan should be able to continue their winning run and secure the series in style.

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Mohsin Khan cites West Indies tour as an opportunity for Pakistan youngsters

Pakistan team chief selector, Mohsin Khan, cited the West Indies tour as an opportunity for the young players on the team to display their cricketing prowess and prove their mettle. He advised the youngsters to fully avail the chance as they are the future assets of Pakistan cricket.

“I hope every youngster whether he is a batsman or a bowler will get full advantage of the chance he is given as it will be very useful for the future of Pakistan cricket,” Mohsin maintained.

Lauding the squad’s performance against the West Indies in the ongoing One Day International series, he said that the boys are expected to perform brilliantly throughout the series. The former cricketer however said that the Caribbean side should not be taken lightly as they have the potential for a comeback in the series.

Praising the middle-order batsman, Asad Shafiq, he said that the youngs batsman’s performance curve has shown significant improvement. He further went on to appreciate opener Ahmed Shehzad who failed to make an impact on the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 but sealed a scintillating century in the second One Day International match.

“Asad is showing improvement every passing day as far as maturity is concerned, and Ahmed, after his failure in the World Cup, got another chance and his century in the second ODI was a responsible knock. He will be very useful for the team if he continues his good performance,” Mohsin Khan claimed.

The chief selector noted a positive development in the team’s progress as far as unity amongst the players is concerned. He also showered praise on the captain and the team’s management.

He acknowledged the team’s efforts of playing strictly according to a game plan in the first two One-Dayers. He cited significant improvement in the side’s batting, bowling and fielding line ups. Mohsin maintained that the fast bowlers are having a tough time on the slow Gros Islet wicket which does not have much to offer to the pacers.

Admiring the senior members, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez, he said that the cricket champions are fulfilling their responsibilities. The cricket veteran hopes that they will continue to display a promising performance throughout the series.

Pakistan is leading the five-match ODI series 2-0 after winning the first two fixtures by considerable margins. The tourists won the first One-Day by eight wickets with 51 balls remaining and prevailed in the second ODI by seven wickets, with 12 balls remaining.

Mohsin informed that the roster for the first two games of the three-match Test series will be announced during the next week.

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Pakistan v West Indies - Pakistan’s convincing triumph at St. Lucia

Pakistan and West Indies camps were in contrasting moods after the first match of the five match series, which was won by the visitors by a convincing margin of 8 wickets.

Batting first the hosts limped to a total of 221 runs that too was only made possible by a late blip when it appeared that they would post a score of 200 runs at most, in reply the Pakistani batsmen made good use of a batting strip to coast home.

Three out of the four batsmen, who went out to bat scored half centuries, with Misbah Ul Haq top scoring with an unbeaten 73 run knock.

Youngster, Asad Shafiq, made another positive impression on his critics, making an unbeaten 61 studded with 7 fours.

On the other hand, man of the match, Mohammad Hafeez, scored an impressive 54 to lay the foundations of a canter of a run chase, which ended with more than 8 overs to spare.

West Indian captain, Darren Sammy, who hit some useful boundaries at the end of his team’s innings, thinks that his team was at least 50 runs short. He added that the batsmen dug a hole for themselves, as they allowed Pakistani spinners to dominate them.

Hafeez bowled an impressive spell of 10 overs, 2 maidens, 36 runs, for 1 wicket, while Afridi gave away only 40 runs in his quota. Saeed Ajmal was also equally impressive in his bowling spell.

Sammy thinks that the batsmen should have been more adventurous against the trio.

"We put ourselves in a hole when we were batting, and the spinners were bowling, so we really have to come better in the next game", he said. "We may need to show more intent in our approach. We have a new batting coach, and he has been doing some good work, but we can't lose sight of us reaching 221 coming from our position”.

On the other hand, the Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, was elated with the performance of his team. He said that the decision by Sammy to field first after winning the toss was a bonus, as he thought that the wicket was a tricky one at the start of the innings with moisture underneath the surface a sure shot problem for the openers.

 "I was very happy when West Indies won the toss and chose to bat because I thought the pitch would help our spinners", Afridi said. "I think our spinners have been doing a great job for us in the last few months, and they again set things up for us".

For the hosts the match was a disappointment, only one, amongst the recognized batsman, made an impression.

The upcoming left hander, Darren Bravo, anchored the innings with 67 before he was run out in the 45th over. His demise came at a crucial stage of the innings when the hosts had looked set for a bigger score especially if he would have batted out the quota.

The second match of the series would be played at the same venue on April 25, 2011.

Pakistan would be aiming to take a 2-0 lead in the competition and have a strong chance of making it happen. Their bowling attack has had the West Indies on the back foot ever since the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter final at Mirpur.

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Intikhab Alam sees West Indies tour an opportunity for younger players

Intikhab Alam manager of the Pakistani cricket thinks the Caribbean tour is an opportunity for young players to prove their talent.

Intikhab said this while speaking to the media about the upcoming tour of the Caribbean at Gaddafi Stadium.

Team Pakistan had suffered during the World Cup 2011 because of players not fit enough to give their 100 %.

The selection of over aged Akthar in the team playing the semi-final was a million dollar question.

The Pakistani side committed a number of blunders on the field courtesy old hands (Younis Khan, Misbah Ul Haq, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq) while the  younger players (Asad Shafiq, Umer Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad) fielded brilliantly.

Aged players failed to convert singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

Many ex-cricketers have emphasised the need to include young blood in the side. Otherwise Team Pakistan will be facing the same crisis in the next World Cup.

The PCB has decided to select several uncapped players for the tour of West Indies.

Last week, selection committee of PCB announced 16-man Twenty20 and ODI squad for the upcoming tour of the Caribbean.

They selected new players Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam, Sadaf Hussain and wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman in the team.

The Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi also wanted to rest the senior members of the team.

Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis considers the tour of Caribbean as the perfect opportunity for young guns in the side. Pakistani Coach wants new players to take this opportunity to replace seniors.

Younis said; “The tour will be important for youngsters and it will be a test for them,”

Pakistan team started their two day training camp at Gaddafi Stadium today.

Intikhab said, “We will have around four to five days before the series gets underway and that will be ample time for the players to adapt to the playing conditions in St Lucia.

Team Pakistan will reach West Indies on April 16 and tour will start with a warm up match on April 18. The only Twenty20 will be played in St Lucia on April 21. ODI series of five matches will start on April 23 and the test matches will be played in the middle of next month.

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