A Tale of Two Ul-Haqs and Other Stories

This South Africa-Pakistan series will be an interesting one. Apart from the cricket itself there are multiple player stories to watch for. First and foremost of interest would be the Inzamam and Misbah question. Inzamam has opted out of the first test, and it is not clear he would have been selected were he available. Misbah is at the striker's end. The erstwhile journeyman fresh returned from a largely successful campaign needs to show he can finally take on the longer form of the game. He also needs to show that he can finish things off when the pressure mounts; something that he failed to do twice in the recently concluded Twenty20 World Cup. Watching from the non-striker's end with a keen eye will be the legend of Inzamam. Misbah needs to keep the eye on the ball and not on Inzamam. In age the two men are not that far apart. The lack of emerging new batsmen has brought Misbah this final chance. There is not much room left for future chances. He will either end up the second coming of Mansoor Akhtar or a worthy replacement of Inzamam.
There are other stories. Finally, will Akhtar be put to rest? Will Iftikhar Anjum confirm himself as the mediocre bowler that he has shown himself to be so far? Does Sami still have chances left? Will Sohail Tanveer or someone else make their debut? Will Taufeeq, probably technically the best Pakistani opener, finally stake his claim. With Afridi and Razzaq out who takes on the mantle of the allrounder? How will Yousuf perform with all the termoil of the ICL situation? How will Malik's captaincy work out in tests?
On the South African side Kallis will return a little disgruntled with something to prove. Will it concentrate him more or eviscerate him? How will Pollock respond to his new role? How will Pollock's replacement work out?

How Very Wrong of You Mr. Kesavan

Mukul Kesavan's Cricinfo blog was a demonstration in how to conduct a lynching. He nudges us into believing that Shoaib Malik's comments after the final were some how sinister. He mentions what Kaneria might think without actually consulting Kaneria. We are led to believe there is a WMD of insult somewhere in his comments which on actual inspection is as hard to find as those actual WMDs that people have been looking for years. If one is to take his very path should he not be accused of doing the same thing by bringing up Kaneria as he accuses Malik of?

To quote my own reply to him, "Never has so much fiction been created out of an inocuous little phrase. Considering how cricket riles up the emotions in the subcontinent and topping that with the fact that his in-laws are there it is highly unlikely that Shoaib would maliciously make such a comment - unless he holds his mother-in-law in the same regard as Botham did his."

I have still to hear what is this ulterior motive that Shoaib is building up to. This is playing politics under the guise of rebuking religiosity.

They Came Close

Good Match. The problem for Pakistan remained with the batting. The first three or four wickets were the usual but this time the middle did not hold. Usually it had been Misbah and Malik to rescue. Misbah certainly showed he can play Twenty20 but one thing that will be questioned about him is the nerves. Twice (both against India) he took Pakistan to the brink and just when things were a possible one shot away with plenty of deliveries left he gave it away. Of course his choices were somewhat limited because he probably did not want to give the strike away. It was a baseball situation where a batter must carefully take account of the few pitches he will see and choose the right one. The ICL may be getting in touch with him if they are going to be around. The delay does not look good.

Pakistan even until the final remained uncertain of their line up. Should Afridi come at the top or Akmal or Butt. Interestingly, and tellingly, the two most consistent performers with the bat for Pakistan knew their positions. In the end probably Yousuf was missed though certainly not clearly evident. It would have been nice had the board (selectors) sat down with Yousuf and Malik and tried to see how best to fit him in. May be they did but somehow I doubt it.

Afridi's duck, Nazir's run out, in the end the mistakes just piled on enough for India to squeak through. They have appeared the most intense team. Joginder must be a relieved man; that over was not proceeding well. Pakistan's batting woes were somewhat apparent considering that the Pathans, and Joginder bowled at under five an over cumulatively; A pattern that Pakistan has repeated yet again against middling bowling. They could not produce that one fifty plus partnership that they needed. India's bowling was their huge success. In an understated way their batting was too: They kept the wickets.

India deserved their win twice holding off the Pakistani challenge. A team that had otherwise remained undefeated.

They Will Say

The victor, they will say, has a spine,
The vanquished a raw juicy chine
To be served up with some brine
For pundits, fans, rscers to dine.

When they asked him of numbers two and three,
"Only number one matters.That's just the way it is."
Shrugged Federer as they lapped it up with glee.
Spare a thought for bowed heads in a dressing room.

Will Misbah* catch fire or be doused?
Will Yuvraj* lose or build an empire?
One a journeyman roused,
One a name afire.
Victor
And trier.

*Misbah roughly means torch
*Yuvraj is a prince or heir apparent.