'India Match Aussies In Crisis'

I am afraid Pakistan's performance in the fourth one-day international has not gone down well with their fans. The bowlers were flat, the field placements a matter of debate. As if this was not enough, the bowling changes too did not find muster. But for Inzamam-ul Haq, the rest did not pull their weight. The captain fought like a general but there were not enough men around him to turn the charge into a victory.

Now the series is down to the wire and Pakistan hasonce again shown they remain an inconsistent side.

India, on the other hand, have exhibited they remain,along with Australia, two teams which can come out of a tight spot. They did itin the NatWest Series and they did it in the Adelaide Test during the recentseries Down Under. Australia too, like they have shown in the first two Tests ofthe series against Sri Lanka, can make a bad start but still recover quickly towin by big margins.

Pakistan is still to learn this art -- however, theyneed to do so quickly and in time before the big one on Wednesday.

Shoaib Akhtar bowled genuinely quick in the first spell. But as we all saw, hewas struggling for pace and rhythm in subsequent spells. Apparently, the firstspell took too much out of him. His line was also poor. He kept bowling at theleg-stump even when it was a predominantly off-side field.

The rest of the bowlers too failed to maintain pressureon the Indians. The profusion of no-balls and wides meant the Indians never hadto worry about raising enough runs during an over, it was coming all the time!It also meant extra balls which is an important asset when you are chasing atarget in the vicinity of 300. No-balls also cost Pakistan at least two wicketsin the field. This was a sure recipe for disaster.

The bowling changes too left a lot to be desired.Shahid Afridi was brought in too late. India had lost too many wickets in thefirst 15 overs and Pakistan needed to quickly press their sixth bowler into theattack.

In the final overs, they needed their top bowlers tohave overs in hand. But we saw off-spinner Shoaib Malik operating till late inthe Indian innings. The Indians just needed to milk him around to inch closer totheir target and they did it with ease.

The field placement too did not look as if much thoughthad gone into it. If Saurav Ganguly was wrong in removing his slips at acritical stage in Peshawar, Inzamam did the same in Lahore and we saw aprofusion of runs conceded in the third-man region.

It was also difficult to fathom whey there was no fielder behind point. RahulDravid took a heavy toll in this area, particularly against Shoaib Malik, andthe Indians must have been pleased with these bonus runs.

There were far too many boundaries conceded by Pakistanunder lights. I can understand the batsmen making the most of the fieldrestrictions in the first 15 overs but the amount of boundaries concededthereafter, begs an explanation.

Pakistan had one brilliant performer in their captainInzamam, who once again was in brilliant touch. The rest did not support himwell enough though I am not criticising Younis Khan. He is not flashy orflamboyant but he is a man of tremendous utility in this line-up of Pakistan.

I have just checked his figures in one-day cricket asagainst those of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif and Younis, to my surprise, hasdone better than them at the number six or seven in the slot. He gets his 30sand 40s regularly whereas with others there is a hundred in one innings followedby six or seven failures. Younis, though, has still not mastered the art offinishing an innings.

I am also a little disappointed with the performance ofMoin Khan. He is usually of tremendous value to the side but in this series hedoes not look his usual self. He is a great asset in putting pressure on theopposition both in front and behind the stumps. But he looks a little out ofsorts, I hope it is not an issue of fitness with him.

PTI