'Official' Pakistan in West Indies

[Jigga988]

End of the 4th day's play

Bravo compiled what, I thought, was a very good half-century in difficult conditions. Yet again fell LBW to the left-arm pace bowler trying to flick the ball behind square-leg with his head falling away terribly. It was kinda disappointing because he looked very good while he was at the crease. Clearly, a fundamental technical shortcoming coming back to bite his arse there!

Star of the day: Abdur Rehman, IMHO!

Agree, seems to have done that a few times during the course of this OD and test series, also, not sure why he went so far in to his shell after looking so fluid before tea, he definitely looked more vulnerable when he was prodding around, yes a couple wickets went down, but if you go completely in to your shell, you're a sitting duck against a responsive piitch and a solid spin attack... It was Riaz that got him, but he could've been out a few times before that against the spin

This about to be loss should open selectors eyes to the fact that four bowlers and zero all rounders, or even a part timer is not enough to win a test match. The fact that Bishoo is having to do the brunt of the work is a sad state of affairs for a man who is most definitely finding his feet in the test game... I dont think I've seen Bishoo bowl a googly, and only seen him bowl a couple top spinners, the fact that he hasn't confidence to mix up his deliveries/give it flight shows he's far from ready to have the responsibility that's been forced upon him. Having said this, without a good wicket keeper batsmen or an allrounder in the Windies, this situation cant really be helped...

Whilst the Windies is improving in terms of individual batsmen and bowlers, the set up of the team is still a problem. I know we won the first test, but one shouldn't gloss over these problems... I think I probably prefer playing five batsmen a keeper and five bowlers (assuming Sammy stays in the side and Edwards is the bowler) at least that way we give ourselves a fighting chance of winning test matches on flatter pitches against more proven batting line ups... Would create selection issues with batters though, ideally top six is probably: Gayle, Barath, Simmons, Bravo, Chanders, Ramdin... If Gayle remains unavailable which is the more probable case then one of Sarwan or Nash can slot in, and Simmons open... five specialist batsmen and a keeper is the way to go IMO.

 

[GotSpin]

The Windies batting looks so fragile when Shiv is out and Sarwan and Nash seem to be in the worst form of their lives

 

[Spark]

Ashocker de Silva etc. etc.

 

[shivfan]

Rehman has bowled really well, and Pakistan are on their way to a well-deserved victory....

However, Ajmal's doosra is extremely dodgy - the elbow looks more like 45% than 15%!

If Samuels and Shillingford can be banned for bowling, I don't see why Ajmal's still permitted to bowl. Neither of these guys had the amount of bend in their arms as Ajmal clearly has when he bowls his doosra.

 

[Prince EWS]

Rehman has bowled really well, and Pakistan are on their way to a well-deserved victory....

However, Ajmal's doosra is extremely dodgy - the elbow looks more like 45% than 15%!

If Samuels and Shillingford can be banned for bowling, I don't see why Ajmal's still permitted to bowl. Neither of these guys had the amount of bend in their arms as Ajmal clearly has when he bowls his doosra.

Samuels's quicker ball was a disgrace to cricket tbf; definitely looked a lot worse than Ajmal's doosra to me.

 

[Spark]

Fairly representative of WI's performance in general in this match, that.

 

[Blaze 18]

Congrats Pakistan on a well deserved win.

 

[Fusion]

Happy for leveling the series, but I have to feel that we lost our best chance in ages to win a series here.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

There should have been 3 test matches instead of having 2.

 

[Borges]

There should have been 3 test matches instead of having 2.

+1

Hugely deserved win for Pakistan; Congrats.

A third test as the decider would have been an interesting prospect.

 

[Nigel Benjamin]

To be honest the West Indians were outplayed. Their batting line up looks very fragile and they were tormented by the Pakistani spinners especially Rehman.

 

[Austerlitz]

Congratz pak for levelling the series,congratz WI for drawing the series and winnng a test after a long period.
Pak will feel they lost out big time though.

 

[salman85]

2 match series should be banned TBH.

A team that wins the 1st match in a 2 match series is going to be more defensive than a team that wins the 1st match in a 3 match series for the next game.Just when the series gets interesting you get hit by the 'Oh wait.This was only 2 matches.See you next time'.

 

[Prince EWS]

2 match series should be banned TBH.

A team that wins the 1st match in a 2 match series is going to be more defensive than a team that wins the 1st match in a 3 match series for the next game.Just when the series gets interesting you get hit by the 'Oh wait.This was only 2 matches.See you next time'.

At least we didn't get the traditional second Test road we invariably see in all two-match series after the home side wins the first Test. Given Pakistan's squad/team compared to that of the West Indies, the pitches for both Tests were really quite surprising.

 

[vcs]

It's really baffling that WI keep preparing spin-friendly tracks given how poorly their batsmen play spin. Yes they have found Bishoo who benefits from them, but surely it's a net loss. I hope they do it again for the India series though.

 

[salman85]

The WI curators have foresight.

They have a plan rolled out for Bishoo for the next 15 years.

 

[shivfan]

To be honest the West Indians were outplayed. Their batting line up looks very fragile and they were tormented by the Pakistani spinners especially Rehman.

Pakistan's batting was much better than the Windies batting....

But in terms of the bowling, the Windies had a better allround effort. Ajmal and Rehman took wickets for Pakistan, but they were let down by their pacers. For the Windies, Rampaul, Sammy and Bishoo all bowled well.

I think Pakistan might've led on points, but in the end, each side won a Test, and the series ended 1-1, which is a result I might not have expected at the start of the series, with Gayle and Barath ruled out....

 

[Outswinger@Pace]

2 match series should be banned TBH.

A team that wins the 1st match in a 2 match series is going to be more defensive than a team that wins the 1st match in a 3 match series for the next game.Just when the series gets interesting you get hit by the 'Oh wait.This was only 2 matches.See you next time'.

That post makes perfect sense. This is one of the reasons why I positively loathe 2-test series. Any momentum gained/conceded by a side is completely nullified. To me, it is not a complete test of players' skill, temperament, fitness and courage.

As a batsman when you know you're going to be facing Lillee and Thomson for nine weeks on the trot over a course of six Tests in foreign conditions, that is the real test! I wonder how many of our current crop of fast bowlers would have the fitness to play six tests on the go!


On the whole, it was a fine, evenly contested series. Whenever a visiting team secures a series draw, they have invariably been the better performers. So, I think it was advantage Pakistan in the recently concluded series. Be that as it may, both teams have to take a long, hard look at their batting and analyse why such frequent collapses occur.

PCB would do well to swallow their pride and get back the best men for the job - Yousuf and Younis. Bowling stood out and this spin trio should be a genuine force in international cricket. I can foresee Ajmal coming under the microscope for his action after this Test and maybe the ICC should take a final decision on the doosra's place in the game. Let's face it - the delivery cannot be bowled with a straight arm. The degree of straightening may differ for different bowlers and I feel we are going down a slippery slope here by allowing some and banning the others. Who is to say that a "legal" off-spinner who hitherto keeps to the norm in match conditions, doesn't go over 15 degrees for the occasional doosra?

As for West Indies, 4 bowlers + an all-rounder is the way to go. Sammy cannot be the fourth main bowler against the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Laxman and even an out-of-sorts Dravid. They'd shred him to pieces. Darren Sammy looks to have a decent technique and should back himself to bat at no. 6. That way, Edwards with his raw pace can be fitted into the team. With Shiv, Gayle and Edwards, hopefully the team would give a much better account of themselves.

 

[salman85]

The Doosra issue really does need to be sorted out.But banning a bowler from bowling a delivery is not the way to go.I think it's completely ******** that you ban a bowler from bowling a particular delivery.You either ban him from bowling completely,or you allow him to bowl completely.

There was a very good point in an article that i was reading on Cricinfo about how you cannot be sure if a bowler is bending his arm enough during match situations.The degree would vary in matches and during the medical tests conducted by ICI.Bowlers would be on their 'best behavior' to use a naive expression,during the medicals.But it all changes during matches when a lot of other things come into play and the 15 degree bend witnesses much more variance.

I think unless the ICI somehow comes in with technology that allows the onfield umpires to know the exact arm bend of a delivery during matches,you either alter the 15 degree rule to accommodate bowlers who bowl a particular illegal delivery,or ban the bowlers completely,or allow the bowlers to bowl every thing without any fuss.

 

[Spark]

Errr what? If a delivery isn't legal, he can't bowl it. Just because the rest of his repertoire isn't legal doesn't make the illegal delivery OK.