Well well, a beautiful win by Pakistan. Call me Mr.cliche but the better team won. Pakistan simply outplayed India just as India had simply outplayed Pak in Multan. It sets up the series nicely for a final showdown. I just hope it wont turn out to be a boring draw. Some comments by Indian fans such as Pakistan beat a stronger team etc are not really accurate. Both teams appear to be fairly well matched. I have also seen various debates around umpiring, to be fair there have been some dodgy decisions throughout the series so no excuses please... I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Kumble *was* out. His heal was off the turf as there was a little shadow which could be seen when the bails came off
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As far as individual performances go obviously Umar won it for Pak but that does not detract from the fact that he is still an average medium pacer. I saw a comment earlier that he is more like the Indian bowlers and I tend to agree, he is an average medium L&L bowler.
Shoaib got a couple but still I dont think he is performing to his potential yet and looked out of sorts and yes we know he is no angel...He needs to bowl like a demon not prance around like a fairy.
Sami umm is still Sami, apart from giving the batters mean looks he should aim to bowl a little more meanly
Inzy ofcourse played a magnificent innings along with Farhat with a good fight from the tail. All in all it was a satisfactory Pak performance. I wouldnt say they fired on all cylinders though. They still allowed Indian's a few chances to come back into the game. Inzi's captaincy is not exceptional in any way but I hope the guy will learn through experience. Did anyone catch him being asleep at first slip with his mouth open?
Kamal did well and Kaneira was Okayish! I still prefer Saqi above him. Taufeeq will be lucky to keep his place IMO!!!
Tough decision for Pakistan now regarding Razzaq!! Shabir is in no kind of rythem so his drop is a sensible move.
Indian batting did not click obviously with the exception of Yuvraj in the first innings and Sehwag's fighting 90. I am actually beginning to develop some respect for the guy after he showed some resolve in the second innings.
I felt a little sorry for Dravid, my favourite batsman after Inzi by the way. He has been unfairly criticised for his decision to bat first. I do not think it was a bad decision, just that it was Umar's day and Pak won the match rather than India losing it. Yuvraj proved his decision was not bad. I was a little disappointed that in the interview after the match even Dravid seemed to be regretting his decision to bat first and my opinion is that he should not regret anything and back his decision. He has done a great job for India in Multan and is a very composed guy. I personally have a huge amount of respect and admiration for the guy's batting. I think he is just as good a bat as tendulker and will make a better captian than Ganguli. He needs a little fire in him though and he should not doubt his own instincts and he will be a great captain.
The series has certainly lived up to the hype and I hope the politicians from both sides will stop being the ass***** that they are and not deny us the pleasure of watching both these teams play each other with the passion and emotion that they do. wait what am I saying!!..politicians can never stop being ermm what they are.
Agarkar!! why is he in the team? I had never seen the guy play before but he looks ordinary...
Game on!!
rgrds
