Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Curious Case of Pakistan Cricket Team: Part 3

We ended the last part at Pakistan's humiliating first round exit from the World Cup. So, as has been the norm, an operation clean up was undertaken and Waqar and Richard Pybus were sacked. Rashid Latif was made captain and Miandad was named coach for a third time. Senior players like Inzimam and Shahid Afridi were not included in the Cherry Blossom Cup that followed. Pakistan won the Cup after beating Zimbabwe (tournament also featured World Cup Semifinalist Sri Lanka). Next was a tri-series in Sri Lanka also involving New Zealand. Pakistan were beaten by the Blackcaps in the final. Pakistan headed to England for the Natwest Challenge which the Greenshirts lost 2-1.
In the following series, Pakistan hosted Bangladesh. Inzimam saved Pakistan from embarrassment by winning the the third test by a wicket. As if fate was on his side, Rashid Latif was banned for five ODIs for claiming a dropped catch and Inzimam was made captain (first temporarily but eventually permanently). Rashid never played a game for Pakistan again. The ODI series was whitewashed by Pakistan.
Pakistan hosted South Africa next. A closely contested ODI series was won by the Proteas 3-2 but Pakistan came back strong and won the test series 1-0 (Pakistan's first test series victory against SA).
Next NZ was mauled by Pakistan 5-0 in the ODI series in Pakistan. In the return series to NZ, Pakistan won the test series 1-0 but lost the ODI series 4-1.
Next Pakistan faced India after a long time. The ODI series was tightly contested but Pakistan lost 3-2. India went on to win the 3 test series 2-1 after lacklustre performance by Pakistan in Match 1 and 3. Miandad was removed as coach and Bob Woolmer was inducted.
Asia Cup followed in August 2004. Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, beat India but did not qualify for the final. Pakistan faced Australia and India in the Amstelveen Cup where Pakistan beat India but were defeated in the final by the Aussies.
ICC Champions Trophy saw Pakistan beat Kenya and India to qualify for the semifinals. Inconsistency came back to haunt Pakistan during the semifinal against West Indies. The whole team was bundled out for 130 odd.
Next was Paktel Cup in Pakistan which Pakistan lost in the final to Sri Lanka. The corresponding test series was drawn 1-1. Pakistan faced India in a one-off ODI to commemorate BCCI's 75 years, and spoiled the party for Indians by winning comprehensively.
In December, Pakistan toured Australia and were drubbed 3-0 in the test series including a 491 run loss. In the VB series that followed, Pakistan grudgingly qualified for the finals, getting beaten 2-0 by Australia.
The Indian tour followed this horrendous defeat. Pakistan drew the first test match courtesy Kamran Akmal and Abdur Razzaq's famous stance at Mohali. They were not so lucky in the second test but went on to draw the series 1-1 in the third. The ODI series was a great boost for Pakistan. Greenshirts won 4-2 after losing the first two games.
The next series was in the Caribbean where Pakistan won the ODI series 3-0 but went on to lose the first test due to the same inconsistency of the batting time up. The second test was won and series drawn 1-1.
England toured Pakistan in November 2005. The English team was fresh from a great Ashes victory but were mauled 2-0 in the test series by Pakistan, only because the second test was drawn due to insufficient light. Pakistan dominated the ODI series winning it in the 4th game (3-1) but went on to lose the last game.

-- to be continued  

No comments:

Post a Comment