Always Playing Catch Up

[Saj]

Below are some interesting stats. They are the first day scores from the 1st test of the last 5 series that Pakistan have played :-

Pakistan 210 for 8 versus India. Delhi November 2007

SA 294 for 3 Karachi. October 2007

West Indies 206 all out, Pakistan 39 for 1. Lahore November 2006

England 309 for 3. Lords July 2006

Pakistan 244 for 6 versus England. Multan November 2005


Barring the West Indies score in Lahore in November 2006, the rest are shocking to say the least.

Why do you think this is, lack of preparation, lack of planning or something else?

It seems that too often our team are playing catch up after poor first days.

[cornered tigers]

ur right, i think its the way the guys apply themselves out their, they are going about it the wrong way, too laid back thinking if i wont do it the guy next in will do it and international cricket doesnt work like tht!

Also i think its to do with the man managmentfrom day to day things, look at the way the aussies or english are they are professional in every aspect of the game!!

[Monsee]

One more observation, I think in most cases as mentioned by Sajid, YK fell for a very low score...usually in our first innings of the first match of almost every new series; and in most cases he lost his wicket playing a similar and audaciously poor shot like yesterday!

He has especially lost his wicket to hooking/pulling so many times that he should have at least given up playing such shots at the start of his innings

[kablooee87]

My feeling is that the Pakistani top order doesn't have the resolve to play through tough situations and move to a position of strength. Never do we see tough batting conditions which the openers work through without giving up a wicket and then the runs start coming.

By the way, you skipped the 1st test of the India series in 2006:

Pakistan 326 for 2

[Neighbourhood policewala]

My opinion is a lack of controlled aggression whether in the batting or bowling dept on the first day. It seems to be a case of all or nothing with Pak especially when batting, if we are doing well the first session will yield in excess of 130 runs or if bad then it will be like today's situation.

I don't think physical planning is an issue but the execution of that planning is where we go wrong...Salman Butt was a prime example today. At each cricket level that you play as a batsman, initially you play in the V till your eye is in. This itself is a discipline and far too early do we find Pak players going for the cross bat shots.

Why can't we play simple, disciplined cricket whereby the batsman look to settle in the first hour, disciplining themselves to play in the V.

It's sad to say that the mentality still remains of "koi baat nahin" it's only a game. I appreciate that it's not life or death but these players are representing their nation and should "wear the hearts on their sleeve for daws to peck at" (shakespeare qoute)

[swaziboy]

its just typical pakistan...

[tradecars]

because we have no fighting qualities. in bowling. batting and fielding if we are on a roll due to a good start the confidence is high . otherwise forget it we roll up and die.

[CricketBuff]

A good batsman always puts a heavy price on his wicket. The only Pak player who comes to mind who did just that were Hanif Mohammad and Javed Miandad. The others take it way too casually. YK playing the pull/hook shot too early in his innings and paying the price. We all know he is very susceptible in playing such a stroke and yet he persists with it.

Both Butt and Yasir were out to poor strokes.

I do not know whether there is any planning but the execution is surely faulty.

[lodge_boy]

it's becuase of our team body language and no aggression at all !!!
and the captain is a bit too shy lol

[Saj]

By the way, you skipped the 1st test of the India series in 2006: Pakistan 326 for 2

Yep good spot, thats 2 out of 6 matches that we were in a decent position in.

[Luton Bad Boy]

Always playing catch-up because our of non-performing openers, just imagine if we had a solid opening partnership some of those stats would be so much more different, India flourished in England because their openers out-performed England's 'settled' openers.

Also I think we are just slow-starters and play best when our backs are to the wall, my question is has there ever been a start of a test match where we had a solid opening partnership or good burst of wickets to stifle the opposition in the recent past (this does not include the forfeited test in the Oval)???

[cornered tigers]

they should all take a leaf out of misbah knoch today and to an extent samis, if you apply ur self correctly it is very hard to remove you!!

[Amir]

Originally Posted by Saj Yep good spot, thats 2 out of 6 matches that we were in a decent position in.

That match doesn't count. That was the deadest wicekt ever, worst than Multan 2004. If we weren't in a dominant position after the first day on that wicket.....thenI might as well start thinking oru abtting is good as Bangladesh.

[Saj]

That match doesn't count. That was the deadest wicekt ever, worst than Multan 2004.

So we are back to one decent day 1 of the series, out of 5 series.

Steve Waugh was a captain who always wanted his team to come out of the blocks fast and show intent right from the start of the series. Waugh quite often felt that the first session of a series was the most important one.

[Momo]

One would have thought that the Pakistanis would try and delay the "piddi" at the hands of the opposition batsmen as long as possible but they cleary dont (because they dont have to bowl).
But Sami knows how hard it is to bowl to batsmen in subcontinent so he is doing his best to continue batting as long as he can.
I think batsmen should be less selfish and start thinking about their bowling colleagues.