Experiments backfire on Pakistan as India win

It was a day of experiments. Experiments the team management vowed to stay clear of during the build-up to the warm-up match against India at The Oval on Wednesday.

While skipper Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam reposed much confidence in Salman Butt’s ability at the top of the order, it was the 19-year-old Shazaib Ahmed who was drafted in the team in place of the former vice-captain.

Shahid Afridi was promoted up the order — a move cleverly off-set by MS Dhoni as he brought on Irfan Pathan — and Umar Gul was assigned new-ball duties as India set off chasing a defendable 158. Mohammad Aamer, too, was provided a much-awaited outing. From the performance on the field, the experiments clearly failed to produce the required results.

While the danger signs were obvious from Pakistan’s inability to pose any serious threat against a formidable Indian line-up, Intikhab refused to be concerned. “We were off to a good start and I thought 158 wasn’t a bad score,”’ Intikhab said while representing his side at a press conference for the third time running.

“However, we failed to perform with the ball, especially our spinners. Despite the loss, I see no reason to be concerned. It’s still early days and with the talented individuals we have in the side, I’m sure they will come good when it really matters.”

Contradicting his comments after the side’s loss to South Africa on Monday at Trent Bridge where Intikhab made it clear that “we are not keen on experimenting”, the match against India was an experiment without excuses with the hope that the team performs when it matters the most.

Pakistan take on England on Sunday in their first match of the tournament proper and Intikhab wants his team to put the two defeats behind them and learn from their mistakes. “Our batsmen got out to wrong shot-selection and our bowlers failed to deliver, for which they will be given a pep-talk to. We have enough talent in our bowling line-up to ensure a repeat of today doesn’t happen and although things can go wrong, it is my job to ensure mistakes are rectified.”

Intikhab was full of praise for young pacer Aamer — though he kept referring to the left-handed bowler as “the new youngster” — and predicted a bright future for him. However, he also gave credit to the India team for the way Aamer, as well as the rest of the Pakistani bowlers, were handled.

“India has become a very good side, a side that has gelled well under Dhoni’s captaincy who himself is doing a very good job. You need to give them credit for the way they played, especially Rohit Sharma [who was opening in place of the injured Virendar Sehwag].”

Despite the coach’s reassurances, it remains to be seen how Pakistan will regroup following back-to-back losses after arriving in England with high expectations. Heads looked to have dropped early during India’s reply and the bowlers, including Afridi who is a key to a rather inexperienced bowling line-up, seemed to have resigned to the inevitable after failing to achieve early breakthroughs.

Intikhab, however, seemed to have the playing eleven finalised and has vowed to work towards ensuring an improved performance at the same venue on Sunday.

Meanwhile, M S Dhoni, India’s captain, was truly delighted with India’s nine-wicket win over Pakistan at The Oval, labelling it “one of the best performances despite the match being a warm-up.”

“Although this was a warm-up match, a victory is a victory,” Dhoni said after the win. ‘Since we lost the last game it was important for us to win this one because we wanted to go into the tournament high on confidence.

“It really was one of the best wins we’ve had so far and although it will a difficult performance to replicate, it was a brilliant performance by the team on the whole.”

© Faras Ghani 2009
Published in DAWN newspaper June 5, 2009