Most ODI Career Runs without a Hundred

Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq became the only batsman in the history of One day International cricket to complete 4000 ODI career runs without scoring a hundred. He completed his 4000 runs in the first ODI against South Africa at Sharjah during his innings of 31 on 30 October 2013.

A total of 87 batsmen from nine countries have completed 4000 ODI career runs. They include 15 from Australia, 13 each from Pakistan and India, 9 each from West Indies and Sri Lanka, 8 each from England, South Africa and New Zealand and 4 from Zimbabwe. No Bangladeshi batsman has scored 4000 ODI runs so far.

Misbah-ul-Haq made his ODI debut against New Zealand in April 2002 at Lahore and has played 130 ODIs for Pakistan. His aggregate of ODI runs is 4028 at an average of 44.75 with the help of 31 fifties. His highest score is 96 not out against West Indies at The Oval in June 2013.

Misbah-ul-Haq’s ODI batting average of 44.75 is the best among 13 Pakistani batsmen and placed 10^th in the overall list of 87 batsmen with 4000 ODI career runs. Nine batsmen having ODI batting average higher than Misbah-ul-Haq include 3 each from Australia and India, 2 from South Africa and one from West Indies.

Wasim Akram 3717, Moin Khan 3266 and Shaun Pollock are only three other batsmen with more than 3000 ODI career runs without a hundred.

Most career runs without a Hundred for each Test playing country read as following:

Pakistan               4028       Misbah-ul-Haq

South Africa        3193       Shaun Pollock

Zimbabwe           2947       Elton Chigumbura

New Zealand      2784       Andrew Jones

England              2380       Graham Thorpe

West Indies        2204       Jimmy Adams

Bangladesh        2168       Habibul Bashar

Sri Lanka             2048       Angelo Mathews

Australia             1968       Kim Hughes

India                    1544       Irfan Pathan

 

Oldest ODI Players

Pakistan’s cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi became the oldest player to appear in a One Day International cricket match for Pakistan. His age was 39 years 155 days in the first ODI against South Africa at Sharjah on 30 October 2013. 

Misbah-ul-Haq broke Younis Ahmed’s record who was four days younger when played his last ODI for Pakistan. Left-hand batsman Younis Ahmed was 39 years 151 days old when he opened batting for Pakistan against India on 20 March 1987 at Hyderabad Deccan’s Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.

Misbah-ul-Haq also broke Imran Khan’s record of oldest ODI captain of Pakistan. Imran Khan was 39 years 121 days old on the victorious day of the World Cup final on 25 March 1992. He became the first and so far only captain to win World Cup for Pakistan.

Now Misbah-ul-Haq holds both records of being the oldest player and the oldest captain for Pakistan. He is still eight years younger for the world record of being oldest ODI player. Netherland’s Nolan Clarke holds the world record of being the oldest ODI player when he played against South Africa at Rawalpindi at the age of 47 years and 247 days in the 1996 World Cup.

Misbah-ul-Haq is still five years younger to beat the world record of being the oldest ODI captain. England’s slow left-arm orthodox bowler Norman Gifford captained England at the age of 44 years and 361 days against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1985 Rothmans Cup.

OLDEST ODI PLAYERS FOR PAKISTAN

Following 12 players have played ODIs for Pakistan after the age of 36:

Player                   Age        Opponent           Venue                  Batting                  Bowling

Misbah-ul-Haq  39-155   South Africa       Sharjah                 31(49)                                                   30.10.2013

Younis Ahmed   39-151   India                      Hyderabad          26(69)                   —                             20.03.1987

Imran Khan         39-121   England                                Melbourne         72(110)                 1/43(6.2)              25.03.1992

Javed Miandad 38-271   India                      Bangalore            38(64), 2 ct          —                             09.03.1996

Zaheer Abbas    38-102   Sri Lanka              Hyderabad          26(27)                   2/26(7)                 03.11.1985

Abdul Qadir        38-048   Sri Lanka              Sharjah                 7*(7)                     0/35(7.2)              02.11.1993

Mohammad Nazir 37-308 Australia           Sydney                 2*(8)                     0/67(9)                 10.01.1984

Inzamam-ul-Haq 37-018                Zimbabwe          Kingston              37(35), 3 ct          —                             21.03.2007

Wasim Akram    36-274   Zimbabwe           Bulawayo            DNB                       —                             04.03.2003

Mohammad Yousuf 36-073 SA                   Dubai                    3(5)                        —                             08.11.2010

Saleem Malik     36-053   India                      Manchester       6(19)                      —                             08.06.1999

Asif Iqbal             36-014   West Indies        The Oval              17(20), 1 ct          4/56(11)               20.06.1979

OLDEST ODI PLAYERS FOR EACH COUNTRY

Following is the list of the oldest player for each country that has played One Day International cricket.

Nolan Clarke      47-257   Netherlands v SA at Rawalpindi 32(46)                   —                             05.03.1996          

John Traicos       45-312   Zimbabwe v India at Pune            4(6)                        1/50(10)               25.03.1993

Norman Gifford 44-361 England v Pak at Sharjah               0, 1 ct                    4/23(10)               26.03.1985

Rahul Sharma    43-308   Hong Kong v Pak at Colombo      1(3)                        —                             18.07.2004

Jan Louw             43-226   Namibia v Zim at Harare                DNB, 1 ct              1/60(10)               10.02.2003

Donald Pringle   43-44     East Africa v Eng at Birmingham 3(12)                      0/41(12)               14.06.1975

Donovan Blake  42-284   USA v Aus at Southampton         0(2)                        0/7(1)                    13.09.2004

Somachandra de Silva 42-261 SL v WI at Melbourne         5(19)                      —                             27.02.1985

Clive Rice             42-114   SA v Ind                at New Delhi                     DNB                       1/54(9)                 14.11.1991

Bobby Simpson 42-068   Aus v WI at Castries                        23(29), 1 ct          2/30(7)                 12.04.1978

Sunil Dhaniram  41-261   Canada v Neth at Rotterdam      9(18)                      0/16(3)                 05.07.2010

Iain Philip             40-349   Scotland v BD at Edinburgh          3(17), 3 ct            —                             24.05.1999

Jahangir Shah    40-283   Bangladesh v NZ at Sharjah         DNB, 1 ct              0/62(9)                 28.04.1990

Lance Gibbs        40-251   WI v SL  at Manchester                  DNB                       0/17(4)                 07.06.1975

Bevan Congdon                40-156   NZ v Eng at Manchester                                2(21)                      0/26(11)               17.07.1978

Stephen Tikolo  39-268   Kenya v Zim at Kolkata                   10(14)                   0/49(7)                 20.03.2011

Misbah-ul-Haq  39-155   Pakistan v SA at Sharjah                                31(49)                   —                             30.10.2013

David Jonston    39-130   Ireland v Scotland at Belfast        24(34)                   0/60(9)                 06.09.2013

Shaukat Dukanwala 39-40 UAE v Neth at Lahore                                DNB                       5/29(10)               01.03.1996

Mohinder Amarnath 39-36 India v WI at                Mumbai               15(47)                   —                             30.10.1989

David Hemp       38-151   Bermuda v Neth at Potchefstroom 81(101), 1 ct —                             08.04.2009

Karim Sadiq        29-228   Afghanistan v Kenya at Sharjah DNB                       2/10(7)                 04.10.2013

 

 

 

ICC’s credibility is at stake

For last quarter century, international cricket is haunted by ball tampering controversies. Latest in the list is Faf du Plessis of South Africa. During Pakistan’s second innings in Dubai Test match, he was caught forcibly rubbing one side of the ball against zipper-lined pockets of his trouser. It was fairly obvious that Faf du Plessis was deliberately tampering the cricket ball to help his fast bowlers.

The ICC confirmed that the five-run penalty and the change of ball after 30 overs was due to ball tampering. “As per 42.1.1 of ICC playing conditions, the umpires replaced the ball and fined South Africa team five penalty runs for ball tampering”.

Faf du Plessis was not given any match suspension. He was only fined 50% of his match fee. That showed double standards of ICC in dealing with ball tampering issues. On the previous occasion when a team was imposed five run penalty, Pakistan was on the receiving end and was widely accused as ‘cheats’. It was at The Oval against England in 2006.

Pakistan Cricket Board and former England captain Michael Vaughan challenged ICC over punishment given to Faf du Plessis. Pakistan has demanded explanation from ICC. Michael Vaughan has demanded severe action against Faf du Plessis and a ban of at least 10 Test matches.

The incidence caused much expected outrage in Pakistan and other Asian countries. A careful look on to the list of ball tampering controversies in international cricket, clearly suggests that ICC has double standards. Whenever an Asian cricketer was charged, he was penalized with match suspensions and his team was widely accused of being ‘cheats’, while all ‘white’ cricketers got away with the charges with minimal or no punishment at all. Let’s have a look on to previous incidents:

• New Zealand worked on the ball with a bottle top during the third Test match against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1990. Kiwi paceman Chris Pringle took 11 wickets in the match but New Zealand lost the Test and was whitewashed in the series 3-0.
• England captain Michael Atherton was caught rubbing the ball with loose soil kept in his pocket during Lord’s Test match against South Africa in 1994. He was fined and British press demanded resignation. Michael Atherton did not resign and kept on captaining England cricket team.
• Pakistan’s paceman Waqar Younis was the first player suspended for ball tampering. It was during a triangular One Day Internationals series in Sri Lanka in 2000. He was caught to have gouged the side of the ball with his thumb nail.
• India’s Sachin Tendulkar was also suspended for one match when he was caught scuffing the seam of the ball during the second Test match against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 2001. 
• In Pakistan’s fourth Test against England at The Oval in 2006, umpires Darrell Hair of Australia and Billy Doctrove of West Indies, docked Pakistan five runs for ball tampering. Pakistan refused to take the field and forfeited the match in protest.
• England bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were accused of deliberately standing on the ball with their spikes during a Test match against South Africa in 2010. No charges were formally laid against two fast bowlers and they got away with the charges.
• Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi tried to bite the ball in a One Day International against Australia at Perth in 2010. The third umpire spotted him and ordered the ball to be replaced. Shahid Afridi was banned for two matches.
• Sri Lankan team accused Australian seamer Peter Siddle of ball tampering by lifting seam of the ball in 2012. Peter Siddle was cleared of all charges.
• Cricket commentator and former England captain Bob Willis accused his fellow countrymen of ball tampering during 2013 Champions Trophy. Players denied his accusations and no formal inquiry was initiated.

The above list confirms that Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Sachin Tendulkar were penalized with match suspensions. Chris Pringle, Michael Atherton, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Peter Siddle and Faf du Plessis got away with whatever they did. ICC has double standards and that’s for sure. It is not players’ but ICC’s credibility that is greatly tarnished and severely at stake. Unless there is uniformity in the implementation of rules, ICC’s credibility would remain at stake.

 

 

Leg spinner is Pakistan’s latest export commodity

In March 1979, Pakistan played two hard-fought Test matches in Australia. In the first Test at Melbourne, Australia was chasing a target of 382 to win, was comfortably placed at 305 for 3 with Allan Border and Kim Hughes batting at 105 and 84. At that hopeless point, Sarfraz Nawaz bowled a magical spell and took seven wickets for only one run to finish with 9 for 86 in the innings. Australians crashed to 310 all out and were beaten by 71 runs. On the first day of the Test match, March 10, a boy was born in a remote town called Merguz in Pakistan’s North Western Frontier Province. His parents named the boy Fawad Ahmed.

In the second Test played at Perth, Australia had managed first innings lead of 50. At the end of third day, Pakistan was 19 for 1. In those days, Test matches had a rest day following the third day. Next morning, March 27, was the rest day of the Test match. Thousands miles away, back in Lahore, Pakistan, a boy was born. His parents named the newborn Mohammad Imran Tahir. Pakistan lost the Test match by seven wickets on final day and the series was squared 1-1.

More than 34 years later, the same boy born on the rest day of second Test, playing for South Africa in a Test match at Dubai, minced Pakistani batting into tiny pieces. Yes, I am talking about Imran Tahir – South Africa’s Lahore-born right-arm leg spinner. The other boy, Fawad Ahmad is also a leg break googly bowler who has started his international career for Australia earlier in the year.

Pakistan is not a great exporting country. Traditionally it has been exporting commodities like textiles, rice, carpets, leather, sports goods and manpower. In recent years, it is exporting another commodity – right-arm leg-break googly bowlers to play cricket for other countries. Two of exported leg spinners Fawad Ahmad and Imran Tahir are playing for Australia and South Africa these days. Ironically Pakistan does not have any leg-break bowler to play for its own country since Mushtaq Ahmed got retired a decade ago.

Fawad Ahmad, who had played 10 First-class matches in Pakistan for Abbottabad and Pakistan Customs, fled to Australia in 2010 as asylum seeker. He settled in Melbourne and started playing for Victoria. Eventually he qualified to play for Australia and in the summer of 2013 played three One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 International matches for his adopted country.

Imran Tahir made his First-class debut for his home team Lahore City against Faisalabad in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at Faisalabad in November 1996. Interestingly, that was also First-class debut match for Faisalabad off spinner Saeed Ajmal. Both were teenage boys at that time and both captured four wickets each in first innings against each other’s team.

Imran Tahir played First-class cricket for Lahore City, WAPDA, REDCO, Lahore Whites, SNGPL, Sialkot, Lahore Blues, PIA, Lahore Lions, Pakistan A and Lahore Ravi between 1996 and 2006. He moved to England in 2003 and played First-class cricket for Middlesex, Yorkshire, Hampshire and Warwickshire between 2003 and 2011. His final destination was South Africa where he started playing First-class cricket for Titans in 2007 and later played for Easterns, Dolphins and Lions before gradually moving up the ladder to be part of South African Test team.

Imran Tahir sunk Pakistani batting line for only 99 on opening day of second Test match at Dubai. He captured 5 wickets for 32 runs without help of any fielder – four clean bowled and one leg-before-wicket. He became first right-arm spin bowler to take five-for since South Africa returned to international cricket twenty years ago. Since then four bowlers Paul Harris, Robin Peterson, Nicky Boje and Paul Adams returned with five-wicket hauls and all were slow left-arm orthodox bowlers.

Last right-arm bowler to take five wickets in an innings for South Africa was Harry Bromfield, an off-spinner who did that against England in 1965. Hugh Tayfield was the most famous South African all-time spin bowler. He was an off spinner who took five-fors on 14 occasions in 1950s.

Aubrey Faulkner was South Africa’s best right-arm leg-break googly bowler in its all-time history. He played 25 Test matches between 1906 and 1924 and took 82 wickets including four five-fors. He holds the record for best bowling performance by a South African leg spinner when he took 6 for 17 against England at Leeds in 1907. He captured five-for three more times in his career.

Before Imran Tahir, last leg-break googly bowler to take five wickets in an innings for South Africa was Bruce Mitchell against Australia at Durban in 1936. Xen Balaskas against England at Lords in 1935 and Quintin McMillan who did twice against New Zealand at Christchurch and Wellington in 1932 were the other two leg-break googly bowlers to take five wickets in an innings for South Africa.

Imran Tahir also holds another record that no bowler cherishes – conceding most runs in a Test match without taking a wicket. Pakistan’s Khan Mohammad held that most unwanted record for 54 years who conceded 259 runs in 54 overs against West Indies at Kingston in February 1958 in the innings when Sir Garry Sobers’ smashed world record score of 365 not out.

Imran Tahir eventually broke Khan Mohammad’s record in November 2012 against Australia at Adelaide. He conceded 260 runs without taking any wicket in only 37 overs. Zimababwe’s Ray Price and South Africa’s Nicky Boje are only two other bowlers in Test cricket’s history to concede more than 200 runs in a Test match without taking a wicket.

Imran Tahir and Fawad Ahmed, both are in action at international level. Imran Tahir became first South African leg-break googly bowler to take five wickets in a Test match innings in 77 years. It is yet to be seen that how long they can play for their adopted countries. Pakistan discarded and others embraced them. It is a question mark on the abilities of Pakistani selectors too. Notwithstanding, leg spinner is the most exciting export commodity for Pakistan these days.

 

Pakistan and a Pakistani surprise everyone

The Opening day of second cricket Test match between Pakistan and South Africa at Dubai did fetch two big surprises – one by Pakistani team itself and the other by a Pakistan-born South African bowler. Ever-fragile Pakistani batting line-up was bundled out for a paltry 99 in less than 37 overs. The wrecker-in-chief was Imran Tahir – a right-arm leg-break googly bowler who was born and groomed in Pakistan – took his career-best of 5 for 32 in 13 overs for his adopted country.

Last time when Imran Tahir bowled in a Test match, he was thrashed by Australians at Adelaide nearly a year ago. He returned with figures of none for 260 in the Test match. His comeback with a five-wicket haul against his ex-native Pakistan was even a greater surprise. Anyone could have guessed that South African pace battery can molest Pakistan but no one could have predicted about Imran Tahir’s success.

Pakistan emulated its own score when they played last Test match in Dubai – against England nearly 21 months ago. Pakistan was all out for 99 on that occasion too, but later recovered to win the Test match by 71 runs and whitewashed English team 3-0.

It was 16^th occasion when Pakistan was bowled out for less than 100 runs in a Test match innings in its all-time history; third time against South Africans. Only nine months ago, Pakistan was bundled out for its lowest score by South Africans – 49 at Johannesburg with Dale Steyn taking 6 for 8. This was Pakistan’s lowest score against any country in its entire history of Test cricket.

Another under-100 score by Pakistan against South Africa was at Faisalabad in October 1997. In fact, Pakistan had the upper edge in that Test match until last 30 odd overs when Pakistani batting collapsed suddenly. Pakistan was set only 146 to win, were crashed to 92 all out.

Out of 16 scores of 99 or less, six crashed under-100 innings were against England, five against Australia, three against South Africa and one apiece against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s lowest score against each country in Test cricket is as follows: South Africa 49 at Johannesburg in 2013, Australia 53 at Sharjah in 2002, England 72 at Birmingham in 2010, West Indies 77 at Lahore in 1986, Sri Lanka 90 at Colombo in 2009, New Zealand 102 at Faisalabad in 1990, Zimbabwe 103 at Peshawar in 1998, India 116 at Bangalore in 1987 and Bangladesh 175 at Multan in 2003. Ironically three Test matches from the above list were eventually won by Pakistan – against New Zealand, India and Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s Test match against Australia at Sharjah in 2002 was the worst in its entire history. Pakistan was bowled out for 59 in the first innings and was followed by 53 all out in the second. Only one batsman in either innings was able to reach the double figures. Interestingly Pakistan’s total of two innings of the Test match was 112. It was less than Matthew Hayden’s individual score of 119 in Australia’s only innings.

Pakistan’s batting has been very vulnerable in recent years. 10 out of 16 innings when Pakistan was crashed for less than 100 in a Test innings were played in last 11 years since October 2002. In first 50 years of Pakistan’s Test cricket history, there were only six such instances.

True, Pakistan was bowled out for 99 against England at the same ground last year and eventually won the Test match, when England was world’s number 1 Test team. Can it be repeated against current number 1 team? Co-incidences are not so common and South Africans play much more hard cricket.

 

 

What is South African batting depth minus Hashim Amla?

If depth in batting is spine for any batting line-up, South African batting is spineless without Hashim Amla. The bearded batsman with a shaved scalp is team’s most dependable batsman for last five years; so dependable that he always scores more runs than anybody’s expectations. Hashim Amla – world’s number 1 ranked batsman – may miss the second cricket Test against Pakistan starting on 23 October at Dubai.

Hashim Amla flew to his hometown Durban after the first Test match to be with his wife for the imminent birth of their second child expected at any moment leaving his team hoping him to join well in time for the second match of the Test series. He was the only centurion for South Africa in the first Test, a role he has been consistently playing for quite a while.

Two cleric-looking cricketers with long beards made great impact on game of cricket – WG Grace and Hashim Amla – having Test careers more than a century apart. WG Grace played his last Test in 1899 before the start of twentieth century and Hashim Amla played his first Test in 2004, four years after the twentieth century ended.

Not all South African batsmen have been consistently scoring runs this year. In ten months so far in 2013, only Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have scored bulk of runs for South Africa in Test matches. In fact, apart from these two, other five batsmen in South African batting line-up are not in good form in 2013.

Hashim Amla has scored 590 runs in 6 Test matches at an average of 73.75 in 2013. In the previous year, he had scored 1064 runs in 10 Test matches at 70.93 including a triple century against England at The Oval. Before that, he had already scored more than 1000 Test runs in 2008 and 2010 also, making him the most consistent batsman in Test cricket in recent years.

AB de Villiers has also been as consistent as Hashim Amla. He has scored 579 runs in 6 Test matches at an average of 72.37 in 2013. He too had a good 2012 as he scored 815 runs at 58.21 in 10 Test matches. Like Hashim Amla he crossed 1000 runs mark in 2008 and missed by only four runs in 2010.

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have been scoring heavily, but what about other batsmen in South African team? Two of their all-time greats and most experienced batsmen Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are having a disappointing year so far. Three more batsmen Alviro Petersen, Faf de Plessis and JP Duminy are not among runs too. Only two of seven-cylinder’ South African batting engine are firing.

Jacques Kallis has averaged only 19.12 in five Test matches he has played in 2013 so far. His total tally of runs is only 153 with just two half centuries. Prior to 2013, he had averaged fifty plus in almost every year of his Test career. At 38, he simply seems to be at twilight of his playing career.

Graeme Smith’s average in 2013 is slightly better than Kallis – 25.66 for his 231 runs in six Test matches with only two half centuries. Other opener Alviro Petersen has almost identical record – 24.66 for his 222 runs in six Test matches with only one century and no other fifty.

JP Duminy has played only one Test match in 2013. It was first Test of the current series in which he scored 57 and 0. Faf de Plessis has scored 275 in 6 Test matches at an average of 34.37 with only one century and no other fifty.

Alien conditions cannot be blamed for dismal records of South African batsmen. Abu Dhabi Test was the only match that South Africans played abroad while other five Test matches in 2013 were played in South Africa. It is only the form of all batsmen other than Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers that haunts South African supporters.

If Hashim Amla does not return for Dubai Test, the possible replacement would be Dean Elgar. He has played five Test matches in 2013 and scored 192 runs at an average of 48.00, but it is primarily due to his only good innings of the year when he scored an unbeaten 103 against New Zealand at Port Elizabeth in January. He too has not scored enough runs since then.

In the Abu Dhabi Test, Hashim Amla was the only centurion from South African team while AB de Villiers scored a ninety. What could be the possible depth of South African batting minus Hashim Amla? It would merely be redundant to an engine with only one cylinder firing.

Out-of-box solution for Pakistan’s batting top-order

After 22 innings, Pakistan’s opening pair posted a hundred partnership in first cricket Test match against South Africans at Abu Dhabi last week. This was a brand new pair consisting of Khurram Manzoor and Shan Masood. Khurram was playing tenth match of his career while Shan was making his Test debut. The pair added 135 runs for the first wicket. It was a rare sight to see Pakistan’s for-none for 44 overs. Pakistan’s last century opening wicket stand in Tests was between Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar against England at Dubai nearly two years ago.

One of the reasons for a century opening stand in the first innings, apart from conducive conditions in atmosphere and on the ground was some good piece of luck. Debutant Shan Masood was dropped at score of 9. Had he gone at that juncture, it would have been continuation of sad tale of Pakistani openers we are watching since ages.

In the second innings, Pakistan was set a target of only 40 runs to win the Test match and the start was exactly what we are used to see for Pakistan. 7 for 3 with both openers and one-down batsman Azhar Ali were back in the dressing room, all three edging deliveries outside the off-stump.

Has Pakistan found a stable pair of openers because we have seen a century opening stand in the last Test match? Okay, I admit it is a bit premature to give a verdict, but my observation about Pakistani batting for many decades has an answer. This opening pair would be a failure as Pakistan has tried dozens of opening pairs in the past.

Shan Masood’s batting average is only 34.88 in 57 First-class matches he has played so far. In limited-overs cricket, his career batting averages are 33.73 in 26 List A and a paltry 12.18 in 11 Twenty20 matches. These averages are not good enough to prove someone’s talent at international level. A talented batsman does not have mediocre averages like Shan Masood’s; he performs and remains consistent.

Khurram Manzoor’s averages are better than Shan Masood’s. He averages 40.17 in 108 First-class and 45.06 in 86 List A matches while batting average in 49 Twenty20 matches is 26.40. These averages are certainly not all that great but somehow better than many other contenders for the job.

To see the trend in recent years, I have collected data of last 50 Test matches played by Pakistan prior to Abu Dhabi Test match. It was important to know what Pakistani opening batsmen had performed in the recent past.

In the last 50 Test matches, Pakistan had tried 11 opening batsmen trying different combinations but was unable to find a successful opening pair. The basic reason for failure of opening batsmen is none of these players were good enough to provide good start at international level.

There were only 7 instances in 97 innings of last 50 Test matches when Pakistani openers provided a century partnership and 12 other innings of fifty plus opening partnership. It makes a total of only 19 innings when Pakistani openers provided a start of 50 or more (19.58%). Whereas in 28 innings, Pakistan’s opening partnership was broken at a score of 10 or less. These single digit opening partnerships account for 28.86% of 97 innings in last 50 Test matches.

Statistics prove that Pakistan, a nation of nearly 200 million people, is completely devoid of talent as far as opening batsmen in international cricket is concerned. In this sad scenario, there is no other option but to find an out-of-box solution. I can assure none of opening batsmen around has the ability and technique to score consistently.

Pakistan had few famous pairs of opening batsmen in the past. Hanif Mohammad with Nazar Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmed in 1950s and some part of 1960s, Majid Khan and Sadiq Mohammad in 1970s, Mudassar Nazar and Mohsin Khan in 1980s and finally Saeed Anwar with Rameez Raja and Aamir Sohail in the 1990s, but none after them. What a drought!

Except Mohammad brothers Hanif and Sadiq; and father and son Nazar Mohammad and Mudassar Nazar who were born as opening batsmen, all the other famous openers in Pakistan’s history were promoted as make-shift openers from their original position in the middle-order batting.

Imtiaz Ahmed was promoted to opening slot when Nazar Mohammad and then Alimuddin got retired. Majid Khan played Test cricket for nearly 10 years when he was made opener and became famous as opening batsman afterwards. Mohsin Khan was one-down batsman but given chance as an opener when Sadiq Mohammad retired. Ramiz Raja played Test cricket for nearly four years when Mohsin Khan retired and he was considered as a possible replacement for the outgoing opening batsman.

Saeed Anwar was playing as middle-order batsman, mostly at number five or six, for four years in First-class cricket and had played nearly 50 matches before his Test debut as an opener. He started with a pair but gradually established as opening batsman for Pakistan. Aamer Sohail too started First-class career as middle-order batsman before converting himself many years later into an opening batsman.

Pakistan’s Test cricket history tells that only two families produced ‘born’ opening batsmen. As make-shift openers in the past had done well, any effort to find genuine opening batsman is a futile exercise. Pakistan has not produced any stable opening partnership for last 15 years and persisting with this futility will not bring any good result.

The top priority must be given to have quality batsmen in the team. Competition in the middle-order has always been fierce in Pakistan cricket’s history and there is a long list of middle-order batsmen who faded away because they did not many chances. Today, middle-order batsmen like Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Amin are far better than opening batsmen who are being included in the team only because they are opening batsmen.

Pakistani cricket think tanks need out-of-box solution to overcome top-order batting problem. The best solution is to promote two of good middle-order batsmen to open the innings as it had been successfully done in the past decades, especially in 1970s and 1980s when Pakistan had one of the best batting line-ups in contemporary Test cricket.

Misbah silences artillery barrage again

Pakistan’s ageing captain Misbah-ul-Haq heaved spinner Robin Petersen straight over sight screen for the winning six as Pakistan trounced world’s number one Test team South Africa by seven wickets in Abu Dhabi Test match. It was Pakistan’s only fourth win against South Africa in 22 Test matches. It was also Pakistan’s fourth consecutive Test match win in United Arab Emirates.

South Africa suffered first defeat in 16 Test matches since loss against Sri Lanka at Durban in 2011 – longest undefeated run in its history. On paper, it was a contest between world’s number one ranked team versus sixth.

No other player in Pakistan’s history had to lull opponents’ criticism within his own country than Misbah-ul-Haq. He had done it many times before, hushing them by his sheer performance. Once again in his career, Misbah-ul-Haq has silenced a barrage of artillery.

It was Misbah-ul-Haq’s 11^th win in 23^rd Test match as captain of Pakistan cricket team. His 11 wins as captain have placed him at par with Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 11 wins in 31 Tests. Only Imran Khan (14 wins in 48 Test matches), Javed Miandad (14 in 34) and Wasim Wasim Akram (12 wins in 25 Test matches) have won more Test matches for Pakistan. Misbah-ul-Haq has never captained Pakistan on his home soil and all his wins have come outside Pakistan.

Misbah-ul-Haq became the first Pakistani captain to score a century against South Africa in 22 Test matches between two countries. Two previous captains had scored in 90s but none was able to score a century – 99 by Salim Malik at Johannesburg in 1995 and unbeaten 92 by Inzamam-ul-Haq at Port Elizabeth in 2007.

In Abu Dhabi Test, Misbah-ul-Haq became one of the oldest batsmen to score a Test hundred. He was 39 years 141 days old when he slammed his hundred in the first innings. The last batsman to score hundred, older than this age was England’s Graham Gooch nearly 20 years ago who was 40 years and 314 days old when he scored 210 against New Zealand at Nottingham in 1994. The oldest batsman to score a century in the all-time history of Test cricket was England’s Sir Jack Hobbs who scored 142 against Australia at Melbourne in 1929 at the age of 46 years and 82 days. A total of 17 centuries have been scored in Test cricket by a batsman older than Misbah-ul-Haq.

Misbah-ul-Haq has always been victim of injustice due to politics in Pakistani cricket. He could not make Test debut until he was nearly 27 years old. After his debut Test at against New Zealand at Auckland in March 2001, he was dropped for nearly 18 months. He could play only four more Test matches in a brief comeback and then was dropped again for more than four years.

Inzamam-ul-Haq who captained Pakistan in 31 Test matches between 2003 and 2007, always considered Misbah-ul-Haq as a potential threat. Misbah-ul-Haq was never included in Pakistani team and only got a comeback chance after retirement of Inzamam-ul-Haq in October 2007. His successor captains also ignored Misbah-ul-Haq on regular basis despite of good performances whenever he had a chance to play for Pakistan.

Misbah-ul-Haq could become a regular member of Pakistani team when he became captain himself in 2010 at the of 36 years. Pakistan has played 103 Test matches since Misbah-ul-Haq made his Test debut in 2001, but has played only 42 matches and was sidelined in rest of 61 Test matches. Similarly in One Day Internationals, Misbah-ul-Haq has played in only 128 matches out of 288 played by Pakistan since then. Had he been a regular part of the team, Misbah-ul-Haq would have been in Pakistan’s five all-time greatest batsmen.

Apart from former Pakistan captains who thwarted his career for their own vested interests, an artillery barrage spared no opportunity to blast Misbah-ul-Haq throughout his career. Their guns never stopped firing whenever Misbah-ul-Haq failed in a match as a batsman or captain. It is only his resilience and tenacity that Misbah-ul-Haq is still the captain of Pakistani team. His exemplary performance as batsman and captain against South Africa in the Abu Dhabi Test match has silenced artillery barrage once again like several times in the past.

 

First time for everything…

First time for everything….

150 Test wickets for Saeed Ajmal

Pakistan’s off spin bowler Saeed Ajmal became 12^th Pakistani and 93^rd in overall history of Test cricket to complete 150 wickets in Test cricket. He achieved this feat in South Africa’s second innings of the first Test match at Abu Dhabi. His 150^th victim was South African captain Graeme Smith, stumped by wicket keeper Adnan Akmal on second attempt as he missed the ball on the first attempt but recovered soon to complete the dismissal.

93 bowlers who have captured 150 or more wickets in Test cricket include 22 from England, 20 Australia, 12 each from West Indies and Pakistan, 11 India, 7 South Africa, 5 New Zealand, 3 Sri Lanka and one bowler from Zimbabwe.

Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan holds the World record for highest aggregate of wickets in Test cricket with 800 wickets in 133 matches. These include 795 wickets for Sri Lanka and 5 for ICC Test team. The top three wicket takers in history of Test cricket are great spin bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble.

Pakistan’s record of aggregate of Test career wickets is held by Wasim Akram who took 414 wickets in 104 matches. The top three wicket takers for Pakistan are great fast bowlers Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan.

Born in Pakistan’s third biggest city Faisalabad, Saeed Ajmal turned 36 on the opening day of Abu Dhabi Test. He took 29 Test matches in little over four years to reach the milestone. His Test career started quite late at the age of 32 but has been very consistent since then. He has not played any Test match on ‘home’ soil and hence is the only bowler in history of Test cricket to take all his 150 wickets in other countries. His bowling average is 26.78 with 7 for 55 as his best bowling performance against England in Dubai. United Arab Emirates is his happiest hunting country where he has taken 48 wickets in 8 Test matches so far.

Following is the complete list of 93 bowlers who have captured 150 or more wickets in Test career.

England: 22 bowlers. Ian Botham 383 wickets in 102 Test matches, James Anderson 329 in 87, Bob Willis 325 in 90, Fred Truman 307 in 67, Derek Underwood 297 in 86, Brian Statham 252 in 70, Graeme Swann 248 in 57, Matthew Hoggard 248 in 67, Alec Bedser 236 in 51, Andy Caddick 234 in 62, Darren Gough 229 in 58, Steve Harmison 222 in 62, Andrew Flintoff 219 in 78, Stuart Broad 217 in 62, John Snow 202 in 49, Jim Laker 193 in 46, Sydney Barnes 189 in 27, Angus Fraser 177 in 46, Tony Lock 174 in 49, Monty Panesar 164 in 48, Maurice Tate 155 in 39 and Fred Titmus 153 in 53 Test matches.

Australia: 20 bowlers. Shane Warne 708 wickets in 145 Test matches, Glenn McGrath 563 in 124, Dennis Lillee 355 in 70, Brett Lee 310 in 76, Craig McDermott 291 in 71, Jason Gillespie 259 in 71, Richie Benaud 248 in 63, Graham McKenzie 246 in 60, Ray Lindwall 228 in 61, Clarrie Grimmet 216 in 37, Merv Hughes 212 in 53, Stuart MacGill 208 in 44, Mitchell Johnson 205 in 51, Jeff Thomson 200 in 51, Alan Davidson 186 in 44, Geoff Lawson 180 in 46, Keith Miller 170 in 55, Terry Alderman 170 in 41, Peter Siddle 167 in 46 and Bill Johnston 160 wickets in 40 Test matches.

West Indies: 12 bowlers. Courtney Walsh 519 wickets in 132 Test matches, Curtly Ambrose 405 in 98, Malcolm Marshall 376 in 81, Lance Gibbs 309 in 79, Joel Garner 259 in 58, Michael Holding 249 in 60, Garry Sobers 235 in 93, Andy Roberts 202 in 47, Wes Hall 192 in 48, Fidel Edwards 165 in 55, Ian Bishop 161 in 43 and Sony Ramadhin 158 in 43 Test matches.

Pakistan: 12 bowlers. Wasim Akram 414 in 104 Test matches, Waqar Younis 373 in 87, Imran Khan 362 in 88, Danish Kaneria 261 in 61, Abdul Qadir 236 in 67, Saqlain Mushtaq 208 in 49, Mushtaq Ahmed 185 in 52, Shoaib Akhtar 178 in 46, Sarfraz Nawaz 177 in 55, Iqbal Qasim 171 in 50, Umar Gul 163 in 47 and Saeed Ajmal 150 wickets in 29 Test matches.

India: 11 bowlers. Anil Kumble 619 wickets in 132 Test matches, Kapil Dev 434 in 131, Harbhajan Singh 413 in 101, Zaheer Khan 295 in 88, Bishen Bedi 266 in 67, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 242 in 58, Javagal Srinath 236 in 67, Erapalli Prasanna 189 in 49, Vinoo Mankad 162 in 44, Srinivas Venkataraghavan 156 in 57 and Ravi Shastri 151 in 80 Test matches.

South Africa: 7 bowlers. Shaun Pollock 421 wickets in 108 Test matches, Makhaya Ntini 390 in 101, Dale Steyn 335 in 66, Allan Donald 330 in 72, Jacques Kallis 287 in 162, Morne Morkel 176 in 50 and Hugh Tayfield 170 wickets in 37 Test matches.

New Zealand: 5 bowlers. Richard Hadlee 431 wickets in 86 Test matches, Daniel Vettori 359 in 111, Chris Martin 233 in 71, Chris Cairns 218 in 62 and Danny Morrison 160 wickets in 48 Test matches.

Sri Lanka: 3 bowlers. Muttiah Muralitharan 795 wickets in 132 Test matches, Chaminda Vaas 355 in 111 and Rangana Herath 200 wickets in 47 Test matches.

Zimbabwe: 1 bowler. Heath Streak 216 wickets in 65 Test matches.

No bowler from Bangladesh has reached to 150 wickets milestone in Test cricket. The highest wicket taker is Shakib Al Hasan with 108 wickets in 31 Test matches.