3 Pakistan captains failed but SA captain sailed.

New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg was the venue for 3^rd One day where yesterday Sunday 17^th March, 2013 Pakistan lost to South Africa with a margin of 34 runs which is shocking but what could we do when we play so irresponsible game and too that when the things are already against us.

Undoubtedly only one team is to win and not both but it does not give us a license to be defeated in each match except 2 and this is what one ought to figure out and find a solution if we are serious and loyal to our beloved country. Yesterday South Africa lost the toss but Misbahul Haq who had won the toss elected to field instead of batting which was a mistake because we have seen that normally we are toned to chase big total and therefore it is advisable that we must bat first and build up huge score so that the opponents do not achieve the target so easily. Our start was good because Irfan had bowled Smith when his individual score was 3 and team’s total was just 4 and again Irfan came on top by removing Ingram who played 50 balls and scored 17 runs and South Africans were 42 for 2. Then came the captain AB De Villers who really played captain’s innings and scored 128 runs and during the course he hit 3 sixes and 12 boundaries and with Amala who himself scored 122 runs he paved the way to big score and eventually South Africans had scored 343 runs in allotted 50 overs with an average of 6.86 runs per over which is challenging in any case. Plesiss was their 3^rd highest scorer with score of 45 runs. Total 7 sixes and 27 boundaries had been scored in this total of 343 runs which includes as many as 22 extra runs as well. Irafn had been our best bowler taking 2 wickets and giving away 32 runs and spell of 7 overs while Wahab Riaz is the other bowler who also took 2 wickets after bowling 10 overs and conceded 93 runs which is very bad because he has given ever biggest runs in One Day game. Saeed Ajmal is the 3^rd bowler who took 1 wicket while Hafeez, Afridi and Junaid are other three bowlers who did not get any wicket whatsoever. It is not understood that when Wahab had already given almost 9 runs per over why he was not taken off instead of asking him to bowl all 10 overs which were too expensive. Asif and Afridi both had bowled only 7 overs so both of them or anyone of them could have been brought in to save some runs which Wahab conceded. It also proved that our bowlers lacked in threatening batsmen otherwise two could not have scored centuries as they did not allow our batsmen to score at will and at ease.

Pakistan started at good run rate but Nasir Jamshed had to go back when his personal score was just 10 and total stood at 15 but then Kamran Akmal who replaced Nasir played nicely along with Hafeez and when our total was 97 runs Kamran was out after scoring 30 runs. This pair was doing very well and had they batted a bit longer we were very much in the run but after his departure our batsmen were returning after very short stay resulting that we slumped to 132 for 5 and now it had become too difficult to grip the match. However we had hoped that Misbah will play real captain innings not because his opponent captain has scored more than a century but the situation itself demanded of him to steer us out of the muddle and puddle but alas he is not up to the mark and went back after scoring only 28 runs which is peanuts and mocking. How the hell captain if the team could expect anyone else to deliver when he himself cannot deliver and that too at such a critical juncture when country’s honor is at stake and that too in a foreign country? Shahid Afridi was our only hope to get us the required number of runs and though he failed to take any wicket while he bowled 7 overs but with bat he did not disappoint. He thrashed all the mighty South African bowlers all around the ground as he raced to score 88 runs from 48 balls which included more sixes than boundaries as he hit 7 sixes and 5 boundaries averaging 183.33 which were the fastest score from any Pakistani in the innings. Afridi had hit such a big six that the ball had even been lost and while he was on the crease there was a possibility that may be we win the game but after his departure we had lost our hopes and it was a matter of time only as to when eventually our innings folds up. However Wahab who had been the most expensive blower just came out of blue and hit very valuable 45 runs and became the 3^rd highest scorer of the innings which incidentally equaled to Plesiss who not only scored 45 runs but was 3^rd highest scorer also for South Africans. The only consolation for us is that 12 sixes and 28 boundaries were hit in our innings as against 7 sixes and 27 boundaries scored by our opponents.

Isn’t it proved that our 3 captains namely present Misbah and past Younus and Malik could not deliver what AB Dr Villiers captaining South Africans could do single handedly?

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait