Pakistan lose to Australia - how predictable
It isn't entirely clear to me why Pakistan is described as an unpredictable team. For when it comes to Australia, one thing is entirely predictable: Pakistan will lose. Badly or well, it doesn't matter. Pakistan will lose. They might start well, or end badly, but they will contrive to lose. There might be five-wicket maidens or three sixes in the last over, but they will end up with a L and the Aussies with the W. Whether its the fifth day or the twentieth over, if its Pakistan v. Australia, it's the Pakistani players that are muttering the quiet "well-played"s at the end of the game.
In terms of losing streaks, this is turning into an epic. It includes test matches, one-day internationals and T20s. It includes blowouts, last-over thrillers, fourth-day collapses, weak-kneed implosions, flaccid surrenders, team revolts, captaincy dramas, managerial abuse, board intervention.
But at the end of the day, the Kangaroo and the Emu continue to stare down the Crescent and keep on making it wane. For when it comes to bat and ball, if there is one thing predictable about a Pakistan-Australia contest it is that Down Under is on Top.
In terms of losing streaks, this is turning into an epic. It includes test matches, one-day internationals and T20s. It includes blowouts, last-over thrillers, fourth-day collapses, weak-kneed implosions, flaccid surrenders, team revolts, captaincy dramas, managerial abuse, board intervention.
But at the end of the day, the Kangaroo and the Emu continue to stare down the Crescent and keep on making it wane. For when it comes to bat and ball, if there is one thing predictable about a Pakistan-Australia contest it is that Down Under is on Top.
posted by Samir Chopra at 8:35 AM
8 Comments:
True. It's been said over and over, but the main difference is of course, not the quality of players, but the quality of senior management, particularly the board.
These jokers go about their business and leave the players to be criticized.
Australia on the other hand has such good management (tho conservative) that the players consistently play above themselves. Winning starts from the top ... so does losing!
I agree with Peter. To give you an example, we have a joker called Ijaz Butt who enjoys waking up,
having his morning coffee with 5 teaspoons of cream, and then proceeding to map out how he will destroy the team...
{"Hmm...Ban or fine this week? Heads, ban the only good captaining material we have...tails, accuse of match-fixing.
Reject the captain's team selection, or the coach's? Back up my nephew who sucks, or the poor villager who rocks but is neither rich nor related to me? Hmm...so many easy decisions...so little time to demolish Pakistani cricket and finish this pumpkin pie simultaneously"}
Australia deserve all the praise. As for Pakistan, they played with honour and fought well. But they cannot continue like this, broken and still fighting. They need to be on both legs, standing, with a COMPLETE team, and someone WILLING to become captain, not forced to like Afridi or Malik. Younus needs to come back.
CRICKET is the single most hope-giving and happy-making...institution, i should call it....that is present in this war-torn, poverty-struck, third-world nation. And it seems like certain corrupt people are bent over destroying that, too. The politicians think: "Anything that makes the people dance in the streets...kill it!"
We can yell "Pakistan Zindabad" forever, but we need to learn from our defeat and make positive change.
As Imran Khan said recently:
"We have thrived on our natural talent. But I feel sad that if we had a proper system to use this talent more effectively, we would have been unbeatable in the world. Look at Australia they are champions because they have system that works right down to the club level"
Samir, their unpredictability lies in which Pakistan comes to the fore...one day, you see the bumbling Pakistan, which drops catches, loses wickets in a heap and can't take wickets. On another day (the semi-finals being a good example), you see an ultra-competitive Pakistan coming out, which can only be beaten by the typical "Never-say-die" attitude of Australia.
Therefore, your post, which doesn't appreciate how out-of-the-ordinary Michael Hussey's innings, comes across as..... [I don't know, just can't find the correct word :( ]
Peter, PakGal, Thiru: My post was partly tongue-in-cheek. Having said that, it is worth pointing out that Pakistan, like other fair-to-middling teams, as opposed to teams like Australia, find it hard to close the deal. This is not an affliction unique to them. They've just found new and interesting ways to put a spin on it in recent times. I appreciate Michael Hussey's innings; no doubt. Yet, I'm not surprised it happened against Pakistan.
Oops...now that must be the first time I've confused a satirical post with a real one! Samir, you have some way to go to improve your cricket satire skills! :P
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true true
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