Seniors do the trick for Pakistan

LAHORE, March 27: Pakistani cricketers finally came off with all guns blazing Sunday, to end their victory drought in One-day Internationals. Starting from the two finals in the triangular tournament in Australia, Pakistan lost seven consecutive matches before registering a comprehensive 98-run victory against India in the return match of the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah. The victory, which kept Pakistan's hopes alive in the tournament, will also go a long way in boosting the morale of the team in the important future assignments.

The other positive outcome of Sunday's victory was that it was achieved with the help of two senior players who were recently not considered good enough for regular places in the team. Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was dropped for the one-day series against Sri Lanka and Waqar Younis, against whom a lobby was working for the last couple of years, proved their worth in the must-win match. While Inzamam plundered the Indian attack with an unbeaten 121 off 113 balls, it was Waqar Younis who dented the strong Indian batting line-up with figures of 5 for 31. With their brilliant show, the two great players not only silenced the critics but also proved to the world that form is temporary while class remains forever.

Skipper Moin Khan kept faith in his batsmen when he decided to take first use of the wicket after winning third toss in as many matches. Although Pakistan lost their openers before the 15 overs were completed they kept a decent run-rate, sorely lacking in the first two matches. The loss of early wickets some times augurs well for the batting side as it gives their best batsman time to settle down for a long innings. And that was exactly what Inzamam did. The burly right-hander hit the Indian bowlers at will to all parts of the ground. His five sixes were all matching in brilliance and the fours he hit were the real copy-book stuff. Some batting for the youngsters to watch.

Yousuf Youhana, the only experienced batsman in the middle-order along with Inzamam-ul-Haq, also made a welcome return to form with a fine knock of 56 not out. Having all the natural abilities that a complete batsman possesses, Youhana was due for runs for quite some time now and luckily for him and Pakistan that he got it when it mattered the most.

It was really painful to see Shahid Afridi gifting his wicket away yet again. After playing 12 dot balls, it was evident that Afridi has received some tips from the coach to get his eye in before going for the shots. He was well set at 27 and striking the ball nicely when he literally threw his wicket away to Kumble. Having hit him for a boundary on the previous delivery, Afridi went for an almighty heave at Kumble only to be stumped by Karim. There is no denying the fact that Afridi is an aggressive cricketer but he must be told to control his aggression and there is no better person than Miandad to do that.

One really feels sorry for the Indian batsmen as they were up against two of the greatest fast bowlers the game has ever seen. There is little batsmen can do when Wasim and Waqar are bowling together and that too in rhythm. While Waqar deceived Ganguly with a superb slower ball, Wasim Akram dealt a severe blow to Indian hopes by bowling out Sachin Tendulkar. Losing Tendulkar and Ganguly after just five overs resulted in considerable drop in the run-rate and the result was evident by the time half of the overs were bowled.

Although there was a complete transformation as far as the Pakistan batting was concerned but one cannot deny the fact that there is still considerable room for stability in the middle-order. Pakistan must go for the experience of Ijaz Ahmed for the important tour of West Indies as he is the player who has done well while playing outside the country. The return of Saeed Anwar at top of the order will further improve things for Pakistan.

Pakistan's brilliant show with the bat and ball notwithstanding, the most satisfying outcome of the match was the excellent fielding of the team - particulary the young guns. It was nice to see the likes of Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik making their mark in such an important department in which the team was lacking the most.