Abdullah's 100 powers us through.

Last week we came very close to winning the match but basically didn't have the energy levels to go through the finish line. Fielding in the heat and playing after a whole month took a huge toll on all of us. Before taking the field, that day, I told the team that we are playing after a long time and the expectations are for playing hard and having fun rather than winning.

This week there even lesser expectations, as we were playing without Nisar and half of the team was not fit. Anees Bhai & Bilal were recovering from flu, Ahmed was in flu and I was having back problems of my own. But then its all about how you can rise to the occassion and do the basics right.

We lost the toss and were put into bat which we wanted to do anyways. Abdullah and Rizwan opened the innings. Abdullah started confidently with a boundary on the first ball through the covers. Watching his batting was a delightful experience. He was elegant in his drives and powerful in his pull shots. The best thing about his chanceless innings was that he played according to the situation. In the end he got a 100 on the very last ball of the match.

Rizwan, rather than troubling the scorers, troubled himself by trying to be cheeky and was bowled quite early in the innings.

Adnan went in next and looked quite good initially. But as his innings progressed he decided to use power to make his way through. This became his undoing as he took a risk too many and was not able to cash in on a dropped chance. In the end he was not able to fully demonstrate his abilities.

Bilal and Samir Bhai didn't last long as well. And at that time we were facing a threat of being bowled out within the 25 overs. Their back to back wickets was also the reason of us falling 20 runs short.

Ahmed's innings was a pleasant surprise. He was not his usual self as he was not only hitting powerful boundaries but also his running between the wickets was a treat to watch. And seeing him pushing Abdullah for singles and doubles was almost like a dream come true.

The final overs of our innings were a bit thrilling as we were about to cross the team's 200 and Abdullah's 100. In the end Abdullah got the 100 but we got 199 runs.

200 in 23 overs was not a match winning but a fighting total and the only thing which was worrying me was the fitness of our quicker bowlers. Anees Bhai started the bowling and was smashed to the boundaries with much ease. The batsman he was bowling to seemed to be allowing a very small margin for error and Anees Bhai was a bit way ward as well since he either bowled full or short. The batsman went about his business but was caught on the boundary by Abdullah on the last ball of the first over.

I came in next with only one thing in mind and that was to stem the run flow which was done without any issues.

Ahmed and Amir Bhai were also given the new ball in the first 7 overs. Amir Bhai was costly but took a wicket while Ahmed took two. More than the wickets, Ahmed bowled as per the game plan of bowling wicket to wicket and hitting the pitch rather than hitting the wickets. He got bounce and seam and with the field placing batsmen were not able to find runs easily. And hence they fell seriously short of the required run rate. Rizwan and I got him wickets through good catches. And with Amir Bhai bowling another top order batsmen we had 4 wickets in the first 7-8 overs.

Samir Bhai was the first spinner to be introduced and he got an LBW off his second ball. With 5 wickets down we had a very strong position in the match. My initial plan was to bowl a combination of spin and seam to good batsmen so that they don't settle down. After the 5 wickets we were faced with a good partnership from their end. Seeing their shots, which were mainly pulls on the leg side, I felt that Anees Bhai could break the partnership with his usual body line bowling. But he wasn't able to find rhythym and bowled continuously on the leg side. Samir Bhai's next over as well saw a flurry of boundaries and we were a bit bothered. At that time the batsmen looked quite settled and it was better to change a bowler every over. Abdullah took the words out of my mouth when he asked for bowling. And the continuous change helped us as he was able to break the partnership with a wonderful off spinner which found the passage between the bat and pad and crashed the stumps. He was bowling loopy off spinners and inviting the batsmen to put their energy if they want quick runs.

Seeing his loopy slow spinners troubling the batsmen the strategy of seam and spin had to be changed and I brought our another loopy bowler Bilal. Who enjoyed the same amount of success. Incidently the partnership that Abdullah broke was their last stand and the remaining batsmen that came in were peaches. Bilal and Abdullah continued to trouble the batsmen and got us the remaining 5 wickets, with some Agile stumpings from Rizwan.

The man of the match was obviously Abdullah for his wonderful 100 and thoughtful bowling. I would give the batting star to Abdullah and the bowling star to Ahmed for bowling according to plan and field. He also got two very key wickets in the top order, which broke the back of the batting team. Fielding star to Rizwan for a very important catch and zabardust stumpings on Abdullah and Bilal's bowling.

In the end beating Mazda was quite Mazaydaar and it was good for our confidence as well.
Hopefully with the return of our reliable all rounders Wicky and Nisar in the next match and the return of the much needed fitness of the remaining players we can expect to win many more matches and have our best tournament to date.

Lastly I would thank everyone for this opportunity and bearing up with me. I would be giving a good report to the captain :)

Exit Inzamam, the modest legend

Osman Samiuddin in Lahore

October 12, 2007

A guard of honour as Inzamam departs for the final time© Getty Images

The end was not what had been anticipated, especially the hasty manner in which it arrived. Ultimately, it did not matter as Pakistan cricket bade a teary, emotional farewell to Inzamam-ul-Haq at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The board renamed an enclosure in his honour and a brief visual presentation of his achievements was shown on the big screen. As he said goodbye to "my boys", his successor as captain, Shoaib Malik, broke down. He wasn't alone.

Javed Miandad's position as Pakistan's record Test run-scorer stays intact, just, and though Inzamam regretted not breaking it, he had 16 satisfied years to look back at.

"I wouldn't say my career was zabardast (extraordinary), but I am generally happy with it," said Inzamam with typical modesty. "I wanted to break the record but Javed bhai was a much better player than me. Even if I broke it, he has played a huge part in the runs I got."

His last innings lasted all of two balls; a first-ball clip to square leg suggested something special, a second-ball dance, swipe and walk back to the pavilion told another story entirely. He did it, he said, because he wanted to win a Test for Pakistan one last time.

"I wanted to play a memorable knock, I wanted to play aggressively because that could have won the match for Pakistan," he said. "It's difficult to describe my emotions when I walked in. There was a lot of pressure and though I've hit a number of deliveries like this for sixes, today in the battle of batsman and bowler, the bowler won.

Because he is now an ex-Pakistani cricketer and there is some previous, he was asked the question that is asked of all of them: Will you reconsider your decision to retire? "No chance. The youngsters are doing well, they did well at the Twenty20. It is the right time to go and I wanted to do it at home."

The youngsters are doing well, they did well at the Twenty20. It is the right time to go and I wanted to do it at home

His last press conference was also in keeping with most of his others, low-key with the standard wit. He was asked about the most difficult bowlers he faced: "Paul Harris was the most difficult...today." Will he play in the ICL or the IPL, asked another journalist. "I'll play for both, thanks." Who was his favourite captain? "If I say one the other will get angry."

With the humour, there was sadness, at the prospect of not doing what he has done for the last 16 years. "I am sad. I love this game and have been in it for so long. I've been thinking about my last five days, my last three days, my last hour so much. It's difficult to explain the emotions, but it's sad."

If the various leagues are out of the equation, there is no immediate cricket on the cards. He is not planning an academy just yet. Instead, he wants to go down the route his first captain Imran Khan did after he retired. Like Imran, Inzamam is building a hospital in Multan, his hometown, which is almost ready. "I have more time now, so I will concentrate on that."

And on that quiet note, he slipped away from Pakistan cricket.

Osman Samiuddin is the Pakistan editor of Cricinfo

'Inzamam is Pakistan's best batting talent'

Rameez Raja
October 7th 2007

Inzamam-ul-Haq is all set to retire from international cricket after the second Test against South Africa and the world will miss a genius, so here's wishing him all the luck.

I first heard of Inzamam from my brother Wasim Raja, who had taken him with the Pakistan U-19 team to the West Indies in 1988. Traditionally the U-19 set-up would throw up names of fast bowlers, but to hear a batsman being spoken about as a genius was a pleasant surprise.

Later, at the end of the year, Inzamam attended a nets session of the Pakistan team for a try out and the rest, as they say, is history. He had to wait for all of us to finish our session, and I distinctly remember, in the dying light at the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore, he hit the Pakistani bowlers into the stands, pulling so ferociously that almost all the balls were lost. He had presence, power, a great eye, and time to play fast bowling. We had surely unearthed Pakistan's best-ever batting talent.

Inzy turned out to be a dressing-room delight as well. He had a very dry sense of humour. His fans and friends were once pestering him to describe the best way of playing [Muttiah] Muralitharan and his reply was, "The best way to play Murali is not to play him at all."

He was always in control of his emotions, which allowed him to think clearly through difficult cricketing situations. I would rate him as Pakistan's best player under pressure because some 19-odd centuries of the 25 that he scored were match-winning efforts. He had a Zen-like calmness, especially when he was batting with the tail, and that spurred everyone around him to play above their best. He never believed too much in practising, but he had this great ability to score runs when it mattered the most, under pressure.

As an individual, he weathered many regime changes to have an uninterrupted run as a Pakistani cricketer.

He has been great for Pakistan cricket. He was the ayatollah of the team and he will surely be missed.

Australian Cricket Attitude

Courtesy: http://www.harrowdrive.com/the-australian-cricket-attitude/

Batting Tips

1. Play straight with full face of bat.
2. Look at gaps not fielders.
3. Build partnerships.
4. Almost every ball that hits the pad is a run.
5. Running between wickets. Look for singles and try to convert every run for extras.
6. Almost impossible to run out if both batsmen go.
7. Take on fielders - push them into errors.

Fielding Tips

1. Want every ball to come to you.
2. Plenty of encouragement.
3. Relax between deliveries.
4. Look at the keeper, be positive but don’t ‘burn’ in throws when not necessary.
5. Outfielders, back up and come in to stop overthrow singles.

Bowling Tips

1. Don’t rush when under pressure, make the batsman wait if necessary.
2. Forget bad balls, the only important ball is the one you are about to deliver.
3. Never start to run in if you haven’t decided what to bowl.
4. Change of pace.

Sledging of a Subtle Kind

Courtesy: http://www.harrowdrive.com/readers-question-do-you-sledge/

Indirect Comments. I’ll often make a comment (just loud enough) to a team mate about the batsman’s technique. If he drives well I’ll note he likes to flash outside the off stump or seems weak on the leg side. Backing this up by moving a fielder away from the leg side or into the slips works well too.

Distractions. A great way to get the batsman in a negative frame of mind is to distract him with talk about unrelated things. The idea is to get him out of concentrating on the moment and thinking about stuff that is putting him off. It’s subtle and easy to go too far though, so take care!

Chirping. This is an easy one for the keepers when standing up. I will often go on about anything to just get the batsman thinking “shut up”! Take care not to wind up your own team too. There is a fine line between being lively and annoying.

Bluffing. This is my favourite. Telling new batsmen its turning square then putting in another close fielder is a great ploy. On the other side of the coin, you could say it’s gun barrel straight when it’s swinging all over. Less is more with this tactic though. Even the slowest players catch on quick!

Where to hide your bad fielders

In swing: cover point or third man.
Out swing: mid on, midwicket or fine leg.
Off spin: short third man, cover point or square leg (saving one).
Slow Left arm or Leg spin: Midwicket or square leg (saving one).
No swing/movement: Slips.

The principle is pretty simple: Put the fielders in places that are against the natural movement of the ball because its very tricky for the batters to hit it there.

NB. Really confident captains can also use bad fielders in a positive way. For example, if you are trying to get your opponents back in the game enough for them to go for it and get bowled out you use the bad fielders to quietly leak runs. Sneaky.