da bwin： Complacency will be Pakistan’s biggest enemy when they take on minnowsBangladesh in the Asian Test Championship opener at the picturesqueMultan Cricket Stadium from Wednesday
Samiul Hasan29-Aug-2001Complacency will be Pakistan’s biggest enemy when they take on minnowsBangladesh in the Asian Test Championship opener at the picturesqueMultan Cricket Stadium from Wednesday.The match itself will be the first-ever between the two countries. Itwill also be a unique incident when a Test centre will also be makingits first-class debut. This implies that the conditions to thedefending champions will be as alien as to the tourists who have lostall their previous three Tests since getting into the elite circlelast year.Irrespective of the unknown conditions, there is no reason to believethat Waqar Younis’ men will not come out comfortable winners becauseof the experience and prowess they have in their ranks and alsoconsidering that Bangladesh lack experience at this level.But while saying this, it should not be forgotten that Pakistan hadalso started as odds on favourites against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka andEngland in the last three years only to end up on the losing side.Their other home series defeat since 1998 was against Australia whiletheir last home series win dates back to 1997 when Wasim Akram’s menwhitewashed the troubled-hit West Indies.Hopefully, this season, which will also see New Zealand visit for athree-Test series, will begin on the right foot. And the key tosuccess in this season opener will be a combined team effort andthorough professional performance.The recent controversies triggered by the selectors when they playedmusical chairs with former captain Wasim Akram, or Waqar Younis’threat of quitting if not consulted over the composition of the team,or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia’sbaseless and flimsy allegations against the print media need to bekept aside.The business has started and all concentration should be on how theplayers will perform rather than blow the trumpets as to whateverhappened this month which, by all counts, conveyed negative signalsdomestically and internationally and surely left a black spot onPakistan cricket.Pakistan are likely to award Test caps to left-handed opener TaufiqUmer and off-spinner Shoaib Malik which means Faisal Iqbal might carrythe towels. Traditionally, Pakistan announce their playing XI shortlybefore the toss. But considering the pitch, in all likelihood, thereigning champions will go in with five frontline batsmen, threepacers (including Abdur Razzaq), two spinners with Rashid Latif behindthe stumps.The wicket although has a green top, but the scorching hot and humidconditions here is expected to dry the moisture underneath the surfaceand juice from the wicket as early as late first session ofWednesday’s play. It will be then when the spinners will be moreeffective than the fast bowlers.Bangladesh have decided to retain the same team that earned a draw inthe three-dayer against the PCB XI at the UBL Sports Complex inKarachi last week. Al Shariar will serve as the 12th man.While Saeed Anwar will be hoping to score the required 49 runs tobecome the sixth Pakistani to complete 4,000 Test runs behind JavedMiandad, Salim Malik, Zaheer Abbas, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mudassar Nazar,Inzamam will be looking forward to delight his home ground with aninnings which has made him the backbone of the team.Inzamam, who watched Vivian Richards blast Pakistan in the 1980-81Test here from the Qasim Bagh Stadium general enclosure, slammed acentury against Sri Lanka 11 years later in a One-day Internationaland then returned to blitz a half century against Australia in1994-95.”I still remember Richards’ innings. I would be hoping to play aninnings of that class before my home crowd” Inzamam said.Although the Asian Test Championship final is set between Pakistan andSri Lanka even before the first ball in the tournament has been bowledafter India pulled out, Bangladesh will be looking forward, to atleast, collect some bonus points which are in the offing in the first100 overs of the innings.While the team winning the match by an innings will get 16 points andan outright victory will fetch 12 points, bonus points will be awardedin batting and bowling. Scoring 250-299 runs will earn one point,300-349 will fetch two points, between 350-399 three points and above400 runs four points.In bowling, a side taking four to five wickets will get one point, sixto seven will earn two points, eight to nine three points and fourpoints for all 10 wickets.It would be gross injustice to the stadium if a couple of lines ofappreciation are not dedicated to the venue which is absolutelybreathtaking and can be easily compared with the Gaddafi Stadium. The30,000-capacity stadium is fully equipped with modern and highlyquality facilities for the spectators. The facilities for media andplayers are also excellent. But lack of proper hotels is the onlyhurdle in Multan becoming a regular Test venue.Teams (likely):Pakistan: Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umer, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Shoaib Malik, WasimAkram, Waqar Younis (captain), Danish Kaneria. 12th man: Faisal Iqbal.Reserves: Imran Nazir, Naved Latif, Irfan Fazil.Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman (captain), Akram Khan, Aminul Islam,Enamul Hoque, Habibul Bashar, Hasibul Hossain, Javed Omar, KhaledMashud, Manjural Islam, Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Sharif. 12th man: AlShariar (12th man). Reserves: Ranjan Das, Mohammad Ashraful.Umpires: Darrell Hair (Australia) and Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka).Third Umpire: Riazuddin (Pakistan).Match Referee: John Reid (New Zealand).