India vs Pakistan—Ashes Redefined
Since it’s that time of Year once again when rookie Indian team will be battling against ferocious Pakistan team, so I thought of writing something related to cricket. The pre-series comments analyzing the outcome of this historic series have started pouring in from both sides. I read an article by Moin Khan, who is more known for his wicket-keeping skills than his talking skills. Moin khan’s analysis of Indian batting is somewhat distorted. I wonder if he is really trying to analyze the Indian batting or just trying to point out some pointless deficiencies in the Indian batting. Moin feels that the surprise tactics of playing around with batting-order could back-fire on Indians. But I feel that the flexibility that Indian team enjoys right now with respect to their batting order gives them a slight advantage as far as the batting is concerned. Players like Dhoni, newly discovered Irfan, old horse Saurav, the wall Of Indian team Rahul, Youngster Yuvraj can play at any place from a Solid opener to the place where they need to fire with the bat. Moin’s comments on Sachin, Laxman are totally stupid if not rubbish. It goes without saying that once a player is out for a while,it takes time for a player to get back to it’s rhythm. However, Players like Sachin ,Laxman doesn’t have to play a lot of matches before they get back to their peak form. It is evident from their recent scores in the just concluded Practice match.
By comparing Sehwag with Shahid Afridi, Moin khan is placing his position of being a knowledgable and intelligent cricketer in jeopardy. There is no doubt in my mind that Veeru Sehwag is more stylish, more attacking, more classy, more dependable than the amateur and unreliable Afridi. No doubt they play the same kind of game, but it is pointless to compare them. Sehwag has come a long way from being a Hard-Hitter who can bowl a bit to someone who does controlled attack and has the skills and expertise to take on the best of the lot.
If someone asks me to predict the outcome of the series, It would be difficult for me as we all know how close these two teams have fought in the past. But I feel that Pakistan enjoys an upper hand in One-dayers whereas Indians are at an advantage in Tests. The reason for Pakistan being a better team in One-dayers is that they have better All-rounders(or I should say they have all-rounders while Indians are still searching for one). Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak are the players to watch out for and we all know when it comes to playing against India, Pakistan players raise their game to it’s highest level. The Classic example of that would be Shahid Afridi. He is one player who finds it hard to be a permanent member of the team but if you see his recent record against India, It is very apparent that on many occasions he is the one who has made the difference between winning and losing. Some people point out that Pakistan’s Bowling attack makes all the difference in One-dayers. Even Moin mentions that in his recent evaluation of this series by referring to Shoaib’s fast bowling skills. I don’t agree with them. Indians have successfully encountered their bowling attack in the past and there is no reason why they can’t do it now. The only way Indians can come out victorious in One-dayers if we see some Fireworks from Indian batsmen especially from the top-order. If Indian top-order clicks, then it doesn’t matter who the opposition is, they have to be on the losing side. So, we have to wait and watch.
Now regarding the Test series, as I said Indians hold an upper hand because I seriously feel that Pakistanis Bowling attack doesn’t have that experience of bowling out Indians twice. Also, Pakistanis Batting is less experienced, less patient, lass classy than Indian. But we should not forget that the series is played in Pakistan and home-support can work wonders for any team.
So, in short this series is definitely going to be a closely-fought one.
