Pakistan aim to salvage pride

Pakistan go into their second and last Twenty20 against England today, hoping for some respite following a dreadful past two weeks that have seen spot-fixing allegations rock cricket. With three regular players missing from the line-up, Pakistan still looked good on paper but yet again a below-par performance in the field let the tourists down.

Shahid Afridi, who returned to lead the side after announcing his Test retirement, repeated the cliched phrase of missed opportunities costing his team dearly.

“We missed some opportunities, like catches and run-outs. So next time I hope we will avail these opportunities. In this kind of cricket, fielding is a main weapon if you want to win,” said Afridi.

For fans, it was some respite after fuming with anger over the spot-fixing row that saw the suspension of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif followed by a video release of Yasir Hameed by News of the World.

Afridi, who apologised to his fans before the game, said the reaction of fans was good as his team was concentrated on levelling the series at Cardiff.

“It was good,” said Afridi. “The people enjoyed the game. We got some good support as well. I told the coach that we must let it go in one ear and out the other. We have to play and we mustn’t take these things with us [onto the field].”

If things bothered Pakistan cricket off the field, there remained worries on the field as well. Big hits eluded the Pakistan batsmen as they managed a paltry 126 on the board with the help of just eight boundaries and for the first time in a Twenty20 international, they failed to hit a six in an entire innings. Catches were dropped and fielding left a lot to be desired.

But even for the hosts and the Twenty20 World Champions it was a lacklustre performance as they slumped to 62 for five before Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy came to the rescue. Graeme Swann, who has been a key player for the England team in recent times, proved to be a lethal weapon once again.

With the Cardiff pitch offering spinners the help they need, Swann and Pakistan’s off-spinner Saeed Ajmal are likely to be in the limelight again.



Meanwhile, England fast-bowler Stuart Broad said that he had no sympathy for the Pakistan players engulfed in a ‘spot-fixing’ row that has sent shockwaves through the world of cricket.

“Sympathy? No."

“At the end of the day as cricketers you’ve got one job and that’s to perform on the pitch,” added Broad, “There’s always distractions in international cricket, probably more than most this week, but as players you’ve got to be able to shut things out and focus on what you’ve got to do.

“The Pakistan team, there’s a lot of hype around them at the minute but at the end of the day that’s not our problem. We’ve just got to go out there and try to win.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2010.