Pakistan, Australia, Cricket and the Arabian Peninsula ? Opinion ...

Pakistan, Australia, Cricket and the Arabian Peninsula ? Opinion

With Pakistan eyeing redemption, Australia seeking salvation, the Arabian Peninsula is getting all set to watch both countries go at each other in three-ODIs and three T20Is, a tour which would begin from August 28, at Sharjah.

Sharjah is not an alien land for cricket, but with the new facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this cricketing oasis is hoping to attract fans from all over the world by hosting the two out of the three ODIs.

For Pakistan, the series holds great importance as they have missed playing against the mighty teams in the world of cricket due to the consistent refusal by foreign teams from touring the war ravaged Pakistan.

Pakistan has for now, no other option than to play home series at neutral venue in order to maintain the match fitness of the national players.

A country, hungry to face some tough competition is without a doubt holding this series for all it's worth.

However, the major concern for Pakistan is the lack of sting in the bowling arsenal, and against the Australians, Pakistan can only prevail by their unplayable bowling attack.

If officials in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are somehow delusional enough to believe that Pakistan can actually beat Australia by their batting, they seriously require a reality check.

There is no way in the world, that Australian pace attack would ever allow Pakistan batsmen to chase down a target or even post something near to impossible for the Australian batsmen to overcome.

Most of its history clearly shows that Pakistan has prevailed against the top teams of the world by its bowling and not by batting the opponents to an ultimate demise.

However, the PCB selection committee has failed to boost the bowling attack. And the biggest mistake is the dropping of seamer Umar Gul for the ODIs, which has now further depleted Pakistan bowling attack.

To send youngster, Junaid Khan, against the likes of Michael Clarke and co is almost stabbing the left-hander?s career.

Getting bulldozed by the Aussies will surely shatter Khan?s confidence and he might never be the same bowler again. He has not matured enough to take the burden of forging a winnable bowling strategy against a big team, and in the absence of Gul, he is not going to get any good advice either.

The ouster of Mohammad Sami was also not an idea well thought of, as in the absence of Gul, perhaps retaining Sami would have been a better call.

Then there is the case of the batting order, the exclusion of Younis Khan, has left everyone in limbo. The big question is how a seasoned batsman can be overlooked in a series of such high magnitude.

Regardless of Khan?s recent dip in form, he is still an asset for the Men in Green, and with the prevailing lack of quality batsmen in the squad, Khan?s departure was the last thing Pakistan needed.

The Greens certainly look a weaker unit, and perhaps the only advantage they have on their side is that they will be facing the Australians on favourable pitches.

The weather will certainly help the Pakistanis, as the Australians are going to struggle with the heat in that part of the world.

The inclusion of Kamran Akmal, however, is a good sign as the wicketkeeper is a handy batsman, who can clobber the Australians out of town anytime.

Nonetheless, his wicket keeping might be rusty and could become a problem for Pakistan. Shoaib Malik is also an experienced operator and if he gets going he will surely make the Aussies bleed.

This might be a make or break series for skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who was relieved from skippering the T20 squad and if things go bad against the Aussies, he might be limited to captaining the Test squad only.

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Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Pakistan,-Australia,-Cricket-and-the-Arabian-Peninsula-Opinion-a180448

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