Pakistan team lacking killer instinct

Another good start in the second Test despite Taufiq Umar, Hafeez and Younus dropping catches again, and the debutant Indian Umpire missing out on a plumb LBW. But it was strange to rest Cheema, the performing third seamer for a spinner. Postmortem First Test; not the first time that Pakistan cricketers had their knees knocking rather than going for the kill when victory was still a possibility in the away Series against Sri Lanka. There is no one to blame but the teams lack of application, game plan and a killer instinct in that game. Any team hungry to improve its ranking would atleast have gone for the chase even though in less than time left to it. But the Pakistanis dropped anchor to show as they were far from willing to take the risk. Jayasuriya in the commentary box was disappointed with the Pakistan approach, and rubbed further salt saying that Sri Lanka in this position would have certainly gone for it. The painfully slow double hundred by Taufiq and Asad Shafiqs failure to take off caused precious time loss in the match besides six dropped catches and indifferent fielding which denied Pakistan to force a result. To the contrary, the Sri Lankans, despite their first innings disaster and a three hundred plus deficit, showed the grit and resolve of a world class side with Sangakara and the junior Jayawardane defying defeat like true fighters. Catches win matches remains the universal truth in this game of uncertainties, and when you drop a batsman of the class of Sangakara not once, not twice but three times, you are bound to pay. Earlier, when Sangakara was just past his fifty, he was dropped by Younus off Hafeez in the slips, and Jayawardane by substitute Wahab Riaz off Umar Gul when only on 12. One has never seen Hafeez, known and proven as one of the best fielders in the side, undergoing a horrendous period letting go at least two straight catches both of Sangakara off Junaid in quick succession and a third chance off Saeed Ajmal when the batsman was well below his hundred. I was reminded of Kamran Akmals mesmerized poor performance behind the stumps against Australia, which set me wondering what exactly goes wrong at times with otherwise notable performers. Could a dropped chance of Sangakara off his own bowling have upset Hafeez so much as to unnerve him to the extent of dropping three catches in a row? The worst sufferer as an individual was Junaid Khan, the left arm prodigy with a thinking head on his shoulders, who promises to be a worthy addition to Pakistans battery of pacers. Had all his chances been taken and the umpires been more discrete in the absence of the Decision Review System, the new find would have ended up with a 10-wicket haul and the match woulb had been in Pakistans pocket. With the game these days having become so competitive and the most sophisticated technology available, one is at sea to understand why it is not being used. Surely affordability could not have been the issue with the organisers or the sponsors. Both sides having been hard done, it were Pakistan which suffered the most as some plumb LBW decisions went against them. Young Junaid was often found guessing whatelse he needed to do to get decisions in the affirmative and I have never seen Umar Gul so livid on being refused another sure decision. Gone are the days of Hanif Mohammed when a triple hundred mattered more than a result which was rarely seen in a Test match. In present day Test cricket a drawn game is taken to be a non-event unless it is closely fought, and results are witnessed even within three days. Sangakara in the first Test not only made his double hundred count but also showed the way it ought to be compiled. He rightly won the Man of the Match Award as against a painfully slow double century by Taufiq Umar which proved of no consequence. During the course of the game with no devil in the wicket, messages went belatedly to the batsmen to speed up scoring as they were losing precious time. One cannot imagine that the Coach-cum-Manager and the skipper would not have consulted during the match, and particularly before going in to bat a second time to chase the 170-run target which though steep given the number of Overs left to them, was achievable. If nothing else, by taking up the challenge they could at least have made a match of it and provided some excitement to the crowd. But with his squad lacking the killer instinct, Misbah should be under the scanner as skipper since this was the first real test of his Captaincy playing against a competitive side. He has been winning so far against mediocre teams. Despite Taufiq Umars double Century, he continues to be a suspect starter, indicating that Pakistans search for an opener must still continue, as also for a wicket keeper-batsman solid like Sangakara, Dhoni, Prior, Boucher, Hadden, Taibu, Gilchrist and many more in the past. There ought to be serious rethinking on recalling either Kamran Akmal or Zuqarnain as a permanent keeper immediately on conclusion of the current tour, and inducting Yasir Hameed who has had a wonderful domestic season, back in the side as an opener. Both Kamran and Yasir are capable of serving in the openers slot in all formats of the game. Pakistan are a team in the process of reconstruction after years of mismanagement and scandals of graft and match-fixing. One can derive satisfaction from discovery of promising new caps in pacers like Junaid Khan and Aizaz Cheema, middle order batsmen Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq, and a one down like Azhar Ali who incidentally hints at turning into an all-rounder looking at the quality of his leg spin.