Well done Saeed and Hafeez

Spinning a web around the opposition is a method alien to Pakistan cricket. Many of us have grown up watching the likes of pace legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis bowl their toe-crushers. Over the years, we did have our quality spinners in Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq, but for a long time there was no decent spinner in the side after their retirement. Being able to bowl fast was what really mattered and what got a bowler into the team — at the school, club or even national level. On the streets, spin, it seemed, was for the weak and ones deemed unfit for the sport.

So the ascent of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez to the top of the One-Day International (ODI) bowlers’ rankings, is most welcome. Saeed is ranked at number one in the latest ICC ODI rankings for bowlers, followed by Mohammad Hafeez at number 2. The latter player’s case is particularly remarkable given that he was initially selected to the national squad as an opening batsman, who could bowl a bit. The rise of both these bowlers is good for the national team’s fortunes because it allows for far greater variety in a bowling attack which sorely misses a penetrative and hostile fast bowler.

Ajmal overcame the loss of his father, a bout of inconsistency, the threat that was Abdul Rehman as well as a particularly bad performance against the Australians in one particular match. He also benefitted from Danish Kaneria’s absence from the national squad. Hafeez, meanwhile, fought off his doubters, his shortcomings and his mediocre show in the middle to not only provide consistency with the bat — in all formats — but also an attacking option with the ball. He was recently referred by his captain Misbahul Haq as one of the sports finest all-rounders and his performance over the last 12 months testifies to that plaudit. Pakistan rued the loss of two great bowlers to the spot-fixing scandal but such is the abundance of cricketing talent that in no time the national squad was able to find two worthy replacements.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2011.