This is the spring season in Asia and a lot of cricket is going around in this part of the world. The most expensive league in the World IPL has kicked off on 26th March and it is a long tournament we can talk about this later.
You can read about the IPL 2022 Squads of IPL 2022
The ODI series between Pakistan and Australia has also started on 29th March and it started with the complete domination of the visiting side. Let's talk in detail.
Babar Azam won the toss and surprisingly elected to bowl 1st on a batting paradise dew could have been the factor in bowling 1st but it was too early to say.
Travis Head's onslaught
Pakistan rested with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Australia also gave rest to some key players like David Warner, Pat Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Steve Smith got injured. But that gave the opportunity to other talented players to show their skills and Travis Head was also one of them. He has played in test matches also but his form was not too good to say. But he grabbed this opportunity from both hands and took Pakistani bowlers on the remand. He started to play his shots from ball one and that was a batting master class for him as he scored 101 on just 72 balls with 12 fours and 3 sixes.
 |
| Travis Head |
You will take this type of innings any day of the week. He got the game away in the 1st 25 overs we can say but he threw it away after just completion of his 100 but it was pretty enough for his team. Australia was almost 190/2 after 30 overs. The formula says you have to double the total after 50 overs but Pakistan pulled things back.
Spinners tightened the screws
After that great start from Australia Pakistan pulled things back really nicely and spinners bowled beautifully. They took the wickets and dried the boundaries also. Debutant Zahid Mahmood picked 2 valuable wickets in the middle overs from the other end Khushdil and Iftikhar also played their role very well in the bowling department. After that, all ups and downs Australia finished on 313 which was a really good total but they could have thought that they were at least 30 to 40 short.
The old story of Pakistan's batting
Pakistan is never a good chasing side and it was a tough ask for batters to climb that mountain. Fakhar Zaman tried to attack but couldn't succeed and that left a big hole in Pakistan's batting. After that Babar and Imam built the innings but they never ran away meanwhile Babar becomes the 2nd fastest to reach 4000 runs. Babar scored a fifty also but the required rate was always climbing up and that resulted in a wicket of Babar Azam and that was a turning point of the match. After that wicket, the old ghosts came once again and Pakistan's lineup collapsed big time. Imam continued on his way to reach 100 but he also fall after just completing the landmark.
 |
| Imam ul Haq |
That was the end of Pakistan's hopes and Australia cleaned up the tail at 225. That was a dominating performance from the Aussies as they go up 1-0 in 3 match series.
Why Pakistan's players are not global stars?
Pakistan's top order has been superb in the last couple of years by having an average in the 50s but why they still haven't become the superstars like Warner, Roy, and Rohit. The answer is Pakistan plays so often against the top-ranked teams the last series against Australia was in 2019 just before the World Cup and after that, it took 3 years to happen again. The last ODI series was against England's 2nd strength team we can say but Pakistan lost it by 3-0. Pakistan players are really good at building the innings but they can't get their team over the line and even the best of the lot Babar also misses that thing. He scored 150 in the last match against England but still, Pakistan lost that match also. Now you can compare 2 100s from either side Travis Head scored 100 so Imam did but runs from Head was more impact on the game and helped their side to get over the line. On the side yes he achieved his personal milestone but that didn't help the team. If your batting average is in the high 40s or even above 50 you will say oh man you are doing a great job but if your runs are not having an impact and helping your side to get over the line then it is quite tough to become a global star or a superstar. Because you can't go with a higher average you go there with match-winning innings and impactful runs. Pakistan team is missing that badly and after that their middle order is completely messed up. These are the top performers of domestic cricket but they are unable to make a mark on an international level. Is this the mental difference or something else?
Mental difference
the mental difference has been there in the whole series so far not only from the players but from the management also. Pakistan created a big hype about this tour of Australia after 24 years but they were never mentally prepared. They didn't want to challenge them and were hiding all the time because of the fear of defeat but as we all know that's not the way to go forward. It started from 1st test where Pakistan changed the nature of the pitch and made it too slow, then a complete selfish batting in 2 tests but Australia was brave enough to take the chances and it paid off. That was really surprising when Pat Cummins called back his batters when the lead was 350 and 120 overs left in the game on a dead wicket. But he took the challenge and tested his bowlers to claim the series in a dominating fashion. Pakistan couldn't hide enough from the defeat.
Now still 2 matches left in the ODI series will Pakistan change its approach or will go as always goes only time will tell us.
That's it from our side you can visit us at www.cric-talk.com for more information about cricket.
nice
ReplyDelete