Johannesburg’s best – Michael Atherton’s career defining defiance of 185* from 492 deliveries goes unmatched when it comes to acts of individualism as England’s opening bat in 1995. He dug in, absorbed the pressure, plodded his way through, batted time, batted long, battled for his runs and prided his wicket with utmost care. He who was ably supported by an extreme display of determined, repetitive, cautious, patient defensive application from wicket keeper and number 7 batsmen, Jack Russel who went unbeaten for 235 deliveries for a hard fought 29* as he put the shutters down to frustrate the life out of the South Africans, ensure both ends were firmly close and bore them into submission as proceedings eventually petered out with England achieving their desired outcome. FEC was the man of the moment nonetheless, managing to stay in for 167 overs in the 4th innings when the tourists tried to dig themselves out of a mammoth hole with relentless and spirited occupation to avoid a major and inevitable defeat when they walked out after tea on the 4th day to start their act of enduring survival. The leading qualities of Athers of unflappability, gutsiness and stubbornness shone through in abundance when the situation was idealistic for a classical persevering defensive act of grafting his way to unlikely safety. If the tourists find themselves in a similar position in the series, they will be hoping their stodgy workhorses can stand up; Azhar and Taufeeq for example who have both played marathon vigils of over 440 deliveries within the last 4 test series Misbah’s men have contested. Most recently, Faf Du Plessis played an innings most reminiscent to the one of Atherton in 95. On his test debut in Adelaide he batted for the best part of 4 sessions for an unbeaten 110 as he made an uphill task seem straightforward and squeezed the oxygen out of the Aussie attack in large passages of the final day. It was a studious vigil of negotiating solidly and working his socks off. Imperatively, he lasted the course.
Presidents Trophy Final – Misbah ul Haq’s Sui Gas took the silverware. The intellectual high achieving well rounded national captain himself got the man of the match award for an 80 odd in the first innings. His innings was reminiscent of the one he played in the Abu Dhabi test last year. It was mainly real hard graft to work for his runs and set out his stall for a long vigil, however it was combined with some moments of calculated explosiveness as his innings progressed. Fahad Masood, the HBL seam bowler deserves a mention here, too. Azhar Ali spent valuable time in the middle, lasting 201 deliveries across 2 innings for some patiently compiled 30s as he prided his wicket, applied himself to the task and engaged in some significant partnerships, specifically referring to the one in the first innings which grinded down the HBL bowlers and bored them into submission as many an Azhar-Misbah partnership would. Azhar, also has had chances to captain the departmental side this season, even when Misbah and Hafeez have been playing in the side. Umar Gul, bagged 6 2nd innings wickets and with the kind of rhythm bowler he is, this was a sign of great positivity. Taufeeq Umar hasn’t had the best of seasons in the domestic arena and the final was little different for the test match opener. Shafiq, who was returning from injury, found some form in the 4thinnings, however after the 1st innings deficit a defeat was always the likelihood. Basit Ali has been coaching Sui Gas this season and saw them take the honours in his home city.
Leading Concerns: Pakistan will be playing their first test match after over 200 days. They will be playing only 1 warm up in testing conditions in a place where they have only come home once without being beaten in 4 visits since South Africa’s re-admission. They played the least number of test matches by a major side in 2012. South Africa have played the double the number of tests as them since January 2012. PCB as always continue to show a lack of preparation, focus and desire towards test cricket, especially compared with England, Australia and more recently South Africa. It’s nothing to do with the players, more of an administrative issue. They do have some serious and complete test players in their ranks though. If they can come through and out of this game without a defeat or with a less humiliating loss they’d have done well. They will have their work cut out to compete and I’d go far as saying this is their hardest challenge since 2009/10 down under. I expect a test win along the course of the series, but they will be rusty to begin with.
How fellow Asian rivals have fared in SA – No Asian side has won a test series here. India drew 1-1 in the tests here in 2010/11 and Sri Lanka won a historical test, but lost the 3 match rubber 2-1 in the previous SA home international test summer. Pakistan should be looking to match them at least, if not better.
Word on Indian tour (I didn’t cover it) – 3/5 wins is an overwhelming success. I said 2 would be reasonable and that’s what I anticipated. However, sterner challenges were always ahead of them which should warn them against any degree of overconfidence or complacency. The resumption of Indo-Pak ties were exciting times for both sides, but more so Pakistan who tend to more passionate about it as many Indians feel the contest has been watered down. It was the PCB who did the running for this tour and the series win in the one dayers was yet another feather in the cap for Misbah’s captaincy profile and among his biggest captaincy achievements in ODIs along with beating Sri Lanka 4-1 and winning the 11th edition of the Asia Cup. It was the first time Pakistan have beaten India in a series in India since 2005 and the first time they have beaten them in any format home or away since 2006. Hence, it’s after the Inzamam era, the first time Pakistan have got one over India and the likes of Misbah, Hafeez and Whatmore deserve their due. It’s always bigger when it happens in their back yard, especially.
Jamshed was a revelation and I think it’s only a matter of time before he will play the longer form of the game, too. At some point or another he will have the get a chance. 3 successive 100s against India and 4 100+ stands for the opening wicket in 10 ODIs since returning are top numbers. Junaid was a talking point, regularly troubling Virat Kohli with his pace, movement and whole heartedness to the task. If anyone now deserves the chance to bowl on seaming wickets it’s him. 8 wickets in 3 ODIs, taking the key wicket of Kohli in each one of them should give him plenty of confidence. Jamshed is a touch reminiscent of Graeme Smith given his favourability towards the on side. Coming back to the bilateral ties, here’s hoping we get to have a crack at them in test matches, home, away or neutrally sooner than later, because we have a top chance given how settled our side are who have been one of the best we have ever produced and produced for a very long time whereas they are going through a transitional re building phase.
Mohammad Akram – Appointed bowling coach in August. This is his first test series in charge. Seems to be working well given the vastly improved seam bowling performance in India. Conditions were helpful given the time of the year they were playing. They were up against a top batting outfit and made them look ordinary which compensates it out. Junaid and Irfan formed a mouth watering new ball pair for Misbah and both were men who could be trusted. Gul is still there or thereabouts as the more experienced seamer.
Warm up
Day 1: Misbah won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers posted 100 for the opening stand. Jamshed was played ahead of Taufeeq due to Taufeeq sustaining an injury while warming up prior to this first class fixture. However, the middle order could only post fewer than 20 between them and the run rate dropped significantly as the day progressed. Pakistan concluded on 168/6 with Gul and Safraz unbeaten overnight.
Day 2: Safraz and tail wagged to push Pakistan’s total to 329. Safraz fell 7 short of a first class century for his country while Gul and Junaid both scored quickly and played aggressively. Pakistan were bowled out in just over 100 overs. South Africa’s side XI were 213/7 at stumps with the experienced Martin Van stealing the show with the bat. Saeed Ajmal bowled economically and Irfan fielded impressively.
Day 3: Ajmal and Junaid cleaned up the tail to provide Pakistan with a lead of 79. Both had 3 a piece in the wickets column. Hafeez and Jamshed posted their 6th 100+ partnership in 12 innings as an opening pair for the greens at all major levels combined. Azhar Ali and Younis Khan missed out, however Misbah ul Haq continued his splendid touch that he had shown in the PT final as he was unbeaten on 52 at stumps with Pakistan leading handsomely by 312 with 5 wickets in the tank.
Day 4: Once more Misbah gets out in the first 30 minutes of the day after being well set the previous evening and not out at stumps. Pakistan declared, setting the invitation XI 323 to take the first class encounter. The visitors had around 80 overs to try and knock them over. SA concluded on 190/5 as both skippers shake hands. Winning draw for Misbah.
Extra Stat – Both captains are undefeated in 12 consecutive test matches. South Africa have won 5 test series in a row. They are undefeated in 11 series in a row.
Hafeez has been involved in the most 100+ opening stands for Pakistan in both tests with Taufeeq and in ODIs with Jamshed
Fielding first – WAY TO GO
1) Traditionally the way they (visitors) have won tests
2) The way Misbah has won most of his 9 tests
3) All 3 tests in 2007 were won by the fielding side on this tour
Congratulations Saeed Ajmal – Leading international wicket taker 2011 with 89 scalps, leading international wicket taker in 2012 with 95 scalps and already has 8 wickets in 2 ODIs in 2013. He was the only player to feature in ESPN cricinfo team of the year for all forms of the game for 2 years running which is a testimony to his performance and versatility. As the Sri Lankan captain who has recently departed from the job said last year, he’s sheer class.
Sad News – Passing away of Tony Greig and Christopher Martin Jenkins in their mid 60s between the last time I wrote. Fitting tributes have poured in, in abundance for two influential men in the game. They will be deeply missed and condolences go out to their respective families at this time of great sadness.
Bangladesh – One aspect I struggle to comprehend is why Zaka Ashraf was as angered as he way upon Bangladesh’s refusal to break the drought when he went on to say that QEA Trophy and South Africa series is more important than their tour. If it’s not that important, why show such anger over the cancellation? It would have only been a limited over series in any case and not the best of ways to prepare for South Africa by any stretch of the imagination so on cricketing terms it mightn’t have been a bad thing to see the tour cancelled and players can prepare for South Africa by playing the QEA, PT final or training in camps by focussing on their long format skills. His lack of prioritisation on priding and protecting Pakistan’s top 4 test status doesn’t feed well with me.
New Zealand beating SA in an ODI series – don’t read too much into it at all
Concluding
We will provide a harder challenge to South Africa than Sri Lanka did in their last international summer and what New Zealand have given them recently. Having seen the way Irfan and Junaid bowled in India I am now more confident of the team’s chances than say 3 months ago when I previewed the series well in advance.
Playing the number 1 ranked side once more, but a better number 1 ranked side than India or England in recent times, the best ever South African side and in their own backyard where no Asian side have won a test series. They are undefeated in 11 series in a row with 5 series wins in a row including series wins in England and Australia. I expect Smith’s men to win the series if they play to their potential, but Pakistan might be able to do as well as India did in 2010/11 (1-1) mainly thanks to Dravid and Tendulkar’s final day resistance or Sri Lanka (lost 2-1) in the last South African season. Given they are playing their first test after 200 days you’d expect them to be rusty to begin with (in same time SA have played 3 more series). Probably, it’s Pakistan's hardest series since Australia 2009/10. It is their first major series outside Asia against a better ranked side since England 2010. Both teams have beaten England in 2012, and have captains who are unbeaten in 12 tests in a row.
However, apart from Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the hosts haven't beaten anyone major at home since 2009. Australia, England and India have all drawn in their previous visit. They are stronger on paper, though their home record is not a ruthless one in recent years.
Misbah’s Pakistan have won series in the sub continent (Bangladesh) and won series/drawn in the Middle East against higher ranked opposition (Sri Lanka, South Africa and England) along with defeating or drawing average test sides outside the sub continent (Zimbabwe, West Indies and New Zealand). His record against them is as good as it can get and he’s done everything possible on that front. However, now he will be up against a higher ranked opposition outside Asia for the first time. As well as he has done and as great a reputation he has gained, you’d have to fancy South Africa beating Pakistan here, but history is always there to be created and re-written.
Misbah’s philosophy
Slow and steady wins the race
It is better to win defensively than lose play aggressively
Predictable boring consistency is not a bad thing
Sports is a results business first and foremost
It is a game of focus and patience, these qualities are promoted and encouraged in a time consuming sport
You can do wonders with a simplistic, conventional, uncomplicated method to batting
Self belief, mental toughness, self determination, methodology and a principled attitude are key ingredients to success
You can pride you’re game on discipline, perseverance, reliability, consistency, statistical landmarks and make a healthy reputation out of it
Flair, instinct, glamour can only take you can so far
Every great captain has an element of uniqueness attached with them. Misbah’s prosaic and stoic nature has orchestrated a chapter of terms that are never being associated with Pakistan, being associated with them and more importantly resulting in consistent success through them. This includes dogged batting, reliance on spin, channel bowling from the seamers, experience and youth balance, stability in selection matters, better fielding unit, well conducted side, no in house fighting and more focus being invested in the ‘thinking’ aspect of the game as opposed to just going for instinct first.
Best Captain since Imran based on:
Statistically high achieving
Stable
Intellect
Well-roundedness (off field accomplishments)
Individually performing (while captain)
Respected (by team-mates, commanding but approachable presence)
Credited (Western journos etc)
Influential (handling adversity, changing the dynamics of the side, reviving the broken side with an unbelievable success rate over a sustained period of time)
Continuity (being in the job for long enough)
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