Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Pakistan - Do You Have It In You ?

S. Jagadish rather cynically (but perhaps with good reason) writes here that Pakistan have earned the right to be walloped 2-0 by Australia, by defeating the West Indies last night. I would have to agree that Australia are overwhelming favourites but would hope that Pakistan believe they stand a chance. After all, this Pakistani Team is playing really well - much like the Pakistan of the middle-to-late nineties with a lot of flair coming from the likes of Inzy, Youhana and Afridi and some superb performances by a born-again Razzaq.

If Pakistan manage to beat Australia in the finals of the VB Series it would be a great tonic to the dying game of One Day Cricket. Yesterday's match against the West Indies was a really good win - made all the more enjoyable because it followed the old-fashioned pattern - slow and steady start, gradual shift of momentum and explosion at the end. The chase was also maintained for a reasonable period to sustain interest. I'd rather have these matches with slow starts and a push in the middle overs than the modern day style that involves a dreadful 15-40 over period.

Again, I am in a dilemma who to support here - so I just call on for good hard old-fashioned cricket - and may the better team on the day win.

1 comment:

Atul said...

It has probably become a norm that Australia like to lose a game here an there in the VB series, just to pump them up for a routine 2-0 drubbing of whichever team scraps its way to the finals. Another of Buachanan's ways of self-boasting (like the desire of scoring 400 in an ODI)?