Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Pakistan’s resurgence in Test Arena

The moment Abdur Rehman scalped Monty Panesar leg before on Day 4 of the third Test against England in Dubai, there was a sense of disbelief. Disbelief amongst the players themselves, the cricketing legends and the cricket fans, especially Pakistanis. Yes, their team had achieved something incredible, a 3-0 series whitewash of the No.1 side in Tests, their consecutive and that too in a resounding manner.  

Disbelief? Yes, because the same team was at its lowest ebb and down in the dumps two years ago going through a horrendous phase. The terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan side in Lahore made sure that they did not have any home advantage going further; Pakistan’s very own poster boy, Shahid Afridi, relinquished Test captaincy owing to poor form in the longest format; the new captain Salman Butt along with two of the finest talents, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, was jailed on charges of match fixing which brought disgrace to an already grief-stricken country.

Pakistan’s Performance in 2010 in Tests

The year 2010 saw them lose six of the 10 Test matches played, including two series losses against England (1-3) and Australia (0-2) away. They won just two matches through the year and the after-effects of the turmoil were clearly visible.

After Salman Butt’s ouster, Misbah-ul-Haq was named the captain of the Test team ahead of senior stalwart Younus Khan. Many eyebrows were raised regarding his selection. But Pakistan started off well under his leadership as they drew a tough Test series (0-0) against South Africa at their new found surrogate home, the UAE, in November 2010. A high scoring series saw their batting line-up put up a brave fight against a mighty South African pace attack.

Pakistan’s Performance in 2011 in Tests

A confident Pakistan side started 2011 with a bang as they won their first Test series in four years, beating New Zealand 1-0 (away) in the two-Test series. They thumped them by 10 wickets in the first Test and did exceedingly well to draw the second. Their next stop was West Indies where they hit back hard to draw the two-match series after being 1-0 down. They won the second Test in grand style by 196 runs.

The following win in the one-off Test in Zimbabwe saw the birth of two exciting pace talents in Aizaz Cheema, who took 8 wickets in the match, and Junaid Khan, who impressed with his immaculate line and length.

They carried their sumptuous form in the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE as they defeated the Lions 1-0 in the three-match series and then finished off the year in style with a 2-0 whitewash of the Bangladeshi Tigers, battering them by an innings and 184 runs, and by seven wickets in the two respective matches away. The year 2011 was prolific for the Asian side as they won six out of their 10 matches and lost just one. Being the second best team after England, winning four out of five series was a huge achievement for this newly transformed side. Two Pakistan bowlers were in the top five wicket takers list of 2011; Saeed Ajmal topped the list with 50 wickets, while Abdur Rehman was the fifth with 36 wickets.

Performances of top teams in the year 2011

The resurrection was finally complete as they recently whitewashed the No. 1 side, England, 3-0 in the UAE.

With an astute captain in Misbah, upcoming youngsters like Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal and prodigious talents like Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez in their ranks, Pakistan’s future is secure. The resurgence has indeed applied a much needed healing touch to their open wounds.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Saeed Ajmal: Pakistan’s spin wizard

The game of cricket hasn’t been cruel. Just when we thought that the off-spinners breed was on the verge of extinction and the art of off spin bowling was completely in oblivion with the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan and the ouster of the non-performing Harbhajan Singh from the Indian side, the beautiful game gave us two exciting talents, Graeme Swann and Saeed Ajmal. 

Buoyed by the 4-0 mauling of India at home, England was brimming with confidence and raring to take on Pakistan in the subcontinent. But one man stood up and took the wind out of their sails as he single-handedly chastened the entire English batting line-up, picking up career best figures of 7/55 and amassing 10 wickets in the first Test in Dubai. As Saeed Ajmal ripped through the English defenses and powered Pakistan to a thumping 10-wicket victory, the cricketing fraternity saw something special. Something special that the Pakistan fraternity hadn’t seen since the departure of Saqlain Mushtaq.

The land of Imran’s and Akram’s had seen spin bowling talents like Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Mushtaq Ahmed and Danish Kaneria but they only had one talented off-spinner in their ranks, Saqlain Mushtaq. Already termed as the “Doosra Saqlain Mushtaq”, Ajmal has breathed new life into the Pakistan attack.

After waiting in the wings for more than a decade since making his first-class debut in 1996, Ajmal finally got a chance to shine on the big stage when he was selected for the Asia Cup in 2008. He performed decently on his debut with figures of 1/47 against India. But his major breakthrough came after his performances in his debut Test series in Sri Lanka in 2009 where he took 14 wickets from three matches. His first five-wicket haul in Tests ended up in a losing cause as Pakistan lost the match by 9 wickets against England at Edgbaston in August 2010. Since then he has performed consistently in both forms of the game.

The year 2011 was phenomenal for the star spinner who ended up as the highest wicket-taker in Tests with 50 wickets from just eight matches at a mind boggling average of 23.86. He bowled more overs as compared to 2010 and produced three 5-wicket hauls, including one 10-wicket haul. Amazingly, Pakistan won in five of them, drew two and lost just one. 

Exceptional variations in his arsenal set him apart from the other spinners. He has played just 19 Tests and already scalped 100 wickets. Currently, Graeme Swann is his closest competitor with double the number of matches under his belt. What propels Ajmal ahead of Swann is the fact that the former has much more variety in comparison. Swann has the traditional off-spinner and the straighter one, while Ajmal has the traditional off-spinner, the arm ball which goes straight on, a killer ‘Doosra’ which goes the other way and the newly developed ‘Teesra’.

Ajmal’s progress as a bowler has been much better than Swann as he took 11 matches to reach his first 50 wickets in comparison to Swann’s 13. It took him just eight matches to pick up his next 50 wickets; and when he grabbed seven wickets in the second Test against England in Abu Dhabi, he overtook Mohammad Asif as Pakistan’s fastest 100-wicket taker and raced to the second spot in the ICC Test rankings. Even his mentor, Saqlain Mushtaq, took 23 matches to get to 100 wickets. Swann took 10 more matches to complete his next 50 wickets.

Ajmal vs Swann last 12 months comparison in Tests

Player	Matches	Innings	Overs	Wickets	Best Bowling /Inns	Average	Strike Rate	5 Wickets /Inns	10 Wickets /Match
S.Ajmal	10	20	584	67	7/55	21.19	52.2	4	2
G.Swann	9	17	320.1	34	6/106	30.50	56.5	1	0

In the last 12 months since January 2011, Ajmal is way ahead of Swann as he has bagged 67 wickets from 10 matches at a staggering average of 21.19; while Swann has picked up 34 wickets from 9 matches at an average of 30.50.

Ajmal vs Swann Test Career comparison so far

Player	Matches	Innings	Overs	Wickets	Best Bowling /Inns	Average	Strike Rate	5 Wickets /Inns	10 Wickets /Match
S.Ajmal	19	37	1041.5	100	7/55	27.31	62.5	5	2
G.Swann	38	69	1558.4	162	6/65	28.61	57.7	11	1

Overall, Saeed Ajmal has a slightly better bowling average of 27.31 as compared to Swann’s 28.61, while Swann has a much better strike rate of 57.7 to Ajmal’s 62.5. But the rate at which the little spin wizard has been taking wickets, we won’t be surprised if he betters Swann’s strike rate over the next 12 months. 

When Ajmal bowled that magical spell to Sachin Tendulkar in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali, the fans were momentarily taken to cricket’s zenith. With an astute brain, infinite variations and a cool head on his shoulders, he can be a nightmare for any batsman. With Pakistan recovering from the repercussions of match fixing, they have found a much needed gem in their armoury. A gem called Saeed Ajmal.