The big match that had been billed as the match of the tournament turned out to be a farce, characterized by the Pakistani Captain’s woeful lack of resolve to try to win.
I think persisting with Wahab Riaz after his dismal performances in the recent matches, and preferring him over Faheem Ashraf, a recent sensation, was a gamble. The way Faheem had batted in the warm-up match against Bangladesh, one thought Pakistan had atlast discovered a worthy successor to Abdul Razaque. And Faheem wouldn’t have bowled more disastrously than Wahab. This sounds cruel. But even the finest can slump into ‘bad form’. Wahab seems to have gone past his best. And his best was majestic.
Then everyone thought the captain winning the toss would not think twice before opting to bat first on a day likely to be hit by rain. Batting first meant passing on the disadvantage of L/D method the other team. Batting first for Sarfaraz would have meant avoiding the pressure on the batsmen that comes when chasing a substantial score. Every pitch expert said the pitch would be full of runs once initial few overs were seen off.
But Sarfaraz chose to bowl first as though he had the most reliable batting line-up under his command that would make a mockery of any big score while chasing.
Kohli infact was grateful to Sarfaraz when gifted the option of batting fist.
One had thought Sarfaraz would remember he had the services at his command of the second or third best ODI allrounder in Hafeez whose bowling skills have been game-changers more often than not. Even in Bangladesh match Hafeez after bowling three excellent overs had been taken off. This leads me to believe Sarfaraz in his mind regards Hafeez a rival. When Hafeez bowls well, he also bats well because he is under no pressure to perform for selection.
The most woeful lack of cricketing knowledge was displayed by Sarfaraz when after Dhawan’s dismissal he failed to bring Amir on immediately for Kohli. Kohli was allowed the luxury of settling down for two to three overs.
It was a nightmare having to see a spinner bowling the last over to run-hungry Indian master-blasters.
Sarfaraz needs coaching. He also needs to lead from the front. He is not in the side purely for his wicket-keeping skills. We all know how good a batsman he HAS BEEN.
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