James McKeown
The Master In Action - One of Inzy's best knocks
January 22nd 2007 07:18
If there is one man who is an expert when batting under pressure with the tail, its Inzamam ul Haq. Bangladesh, Australia, West Indies, India, England and now South Africa will undoubtedly agree with him.
I have always beleived that Inzamam has not done justice to his talent and skill! I always considered him no less than Lara or Tendulkar in terms of talent and ability but Lara and Tendulkar have always been rated higher than him because of their track record and performacnes! Inzamam on the other hand has often been accused of being lazy, not taking his batting seriously, not running efficiently between the wickets etc.
These are claims that he has had to live with since he first started playing cricket! But ever since became a captain in 2003, actually, I'll go a bit before that, ever since he was dropped from the World Cup 2003 squad and then came back with a bang with a superb knock against Bangladesh (once again batting with the tail and saving Pakistan the match), he is a totally different character! His running between the wickets has improved and so has his consistency with the bat! I wont be wrong to say that in terms of performances, he has been a better batsman than Tendulkar over the last 2 years or so!
His match saving centuries in West Indies, in Pakistan against England in the second tes tin 2005, and yesterday at Port Elizabeth will only strengthen the fact that he is an immensely talented batsman and an expert at batting under pressure with the tail!
The way he devised a clever strategy of protecting Asif from Ntini, Pollock and Nel and yet at the same time making sure that Pakistan scores runs at a decent rate prove that on those broad shoulders lies a a very very good cricketing brain!
The 141 run lead that Pakistan managed in the end will prove to be invaluable in the course of the match and will help them level the series!!
I have always beleived that Inzamam has not done justice to his talent and skill! I always considered him no less than Lara or Tendulkar in terms of talent and ability but Lara and Tendulkar have always been rated higher than him because of their track record and performacnes! Inzamam on the other hand has often been accused of being lazy, not taking his batting seriously, not running efficiently between the wickets etc.
These are claims that he has had to live with since he first started playing cricket! But ever since became a captain in 2003, actually, I'll go a bit before that, ever since he was dropped from the World Cup 2003 squad and then came back with a bang with a superb knock against Bangladesh (once again batting with the tail and saving Pakistan the match), he is a totally different character! His running between the wickets has improved and so has his consistency with the bat! I wont be wrong to say that in terms of performances, he has been a better batsman than Tendulkar over the last 2 years or so!
His match saving centuries in West Indies, in Pakistan against England in the second tes tin 2005, and yesterday at Port Elizabeth will only strengthen the fact that he is an immensely talented batsman and an expert at batting under pressure with the tail!
The way he devised a clever strategy of protecting Asif from Ntini, Pollock and Nel and yet at the same time making sure that Pakistan scores runs at a decent rate prove that on those broad shoulders lies a a very very good cricketing brain!
The 141 run lead that Pakistan managed in the end will prove to be invaluable in the course of the match and will help them level the series!!
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