Watching India and Sri Lanka decide the fate of Pakistan on Tuesday night was similar to reading an exciting thriller. I wanted to turn to the last pages before reading the whole book. Ultimately, it was a great disappointment to see the game snatched from Sri Lanka's grasp by some inspired last minute heroics, first by Virender Sehwag and then Zaheer Khan, who the pundits thought should not have taken the final over.
A journalist asked me after the event if I thought it was a good move? My reply was simple: "If it works it is a good move!"
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Pakistan face a herculean task
For a large part of the Sri Lankan innings Sanath Jayasuriya was a hero to all Pakistan fans; by the end, he was the villain!
One of the great pleasures of batting is to be there at the end, steering your side to victory. There are not too many feelings like it, I can assure you. It gives you a great feeling of achievement and it is a skill that few players have.
Amazingly, panic set in and a great penultimate over by young Pathan (what a find he is) ensured that India would win. Eleven off the final over is usually sufficient to win a game.
This, of course, brings me nicely into the bonus point system, which, in effect, cost Pakistan a place in the final.
The rule is clear and we all had to play under the rules. Yet, in my opinion, the rule is flawed and needs to be looked at. For instance, should a losing side be awarded a bonus point at all? I think not. I do believe good play should be rewarded and my first instinct would be to suggest that if India had beaten Pakistan, scoring 301 off 45 overs, then they would deserve a bonus point for batting, and indeed if we had bowled out India for 260 in 45 overs, then Pakistan should have received a bonus point.
To receive a bonus point for losing seems quite ambiguous to me. Sri Lanka, for example, deserved a bonus point when beating Pakistan comprehensively on the previous Wednesday, but I am not sure that India deserved a bonus point for settling for defeat.
Certainly, the bonus points system needs looking at seriously.
Having played so badly against Sri Lanka it was good for me to see how well the Pakistan team can perform against a powerful batting line-up such as India. We have come to this tournament and, Inshala, if we can beat Bangladesh we will have played five, won four and lost one. This is a good performance and there are real signs that the Pakistan team can move forward from this tournament.
Obviously, there have been some good performances and positives can be taken from Shoaib Malik and Shabbir Ahmed while the fielding has been above average and the practice sessions and general team attitude has been excellent. This, of course, will be tested on Thursday because the result against Bangladesh is academic in terms of the tournament although I am sure that Dav Whatmore will say to his team that Pakistan may just take this game too easily and that the complacency will be to our advantage.
I am aware that it will be difficult for the team to get themselves up for this game. However, we will be making sure that everyone realizes that from now on every game is an important game. If we are to continue the progress we are making, it is important that every game is played with high intensity levels.
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