Batting the Batsmen out
“Jab tak ap ka balla chalay ga tab tak ap k thaath hain. Balla chalna rukay ga toa……………..”
These were lines delivered by Virendar Sehwag in a television commercial for an insurance company of India. These lines have demonstrated the fear in them in reality as Verinder Sehwag is not in the team despite the fact that he is one of the most successful batsmen in the Indian cricket team. He holds the record of scoring highest runs in an ODI i.e. 219. He also holds the record for highest number of double centuries by any Indian. He is the first Indian to score 300 in a test match which came against Pakistan in Multan. Now he is out of the playing 11 since February this year not due to poor form but mainly because he couldn’t find his place in the current Indian side due to younger batsmen’s fine display of cricket.
Pakistan Cricket Board should also adopt the same strategy giving new and younger batsmen, who have shown good performances in first class cricket, a fair chance. After all a player is not big due to his name but due to his game. Contrary is true in case of Pakistan team where till now names have dominated the field instead of their poor game. Above mentioned ad should be shown to the batsmen of national cricket team repeatedly so that they can learn some lesson and implementation should also be there of the above mentioned line.
The substitution of the players is very inimitable in the national team as one big name is replaced with another name and no attention is paid to their game. Young guns are not getting enough opportunities to position themselves in the playing XI. They are tested in one or two matches and then forgotten for a long period of several months to be again dismissed after one or two stints. We have a very talented lot of batsmen waiting on the benches for their turn. Let’s look at some of them:
Khurram Manzoor is a right handed batsman who has played only 7 one day international matches for Pakistan national team with an average of around 34 scoring 3 fifties. Recently he scored 146 in a test against South Africa. In first class test cricket he averages at 40 and in one day matches, 47 with a strike rate of 78.
Another player worth mentioning here is Shan Masood Khan who instead of his equally good performance in one day internationals was only chosen for tests against South Africa in the ongoing tour. Aging 24, Shan Masood had an excellent home season in 2012-13 scoring 543 runs at an average of more than 54. He averages at 33 with a strike rate of 71 in domestic one day matches and in first class tests he averages at 36 with a highest score of 199.
Haris Sohail has been an outstanding batsman for in domestic cricket with his exceptional batting technique. He has proven himself match winning player for the team of Sialkot Stallions by scoring in almost every match. He was only given chance in 4 one day international matches and now he is once again waiting for his turn from sometime. With an excellent average of 52 in first class test cricket and an average of 36 with a strike rate of 91 in one day domestic one day competitions, Haris is most worthy of a place in the national cricket team. His performance in domestic T20s is more terrific than any other form, averaging at 62.57 with a highest score of 69 in 15 matches.
Sohaib Maqsood is also a brilliant performer in the domestic cricket. He was inducted in the national side for just two T20s batting in only one and scoring 26 runs of 16 balls. His career show remarkable stats as he averages 52 in domestic one day games with a strike rate of 97.35 in 32 matches. In first class test matches he averages 43 which is praiseworthy.
These are only few examples from a talented lot. Confidence should be given to them with a fair chance by making them play for national side for some time. Sachin Tendulkar was also dismissed on duck in his first ODI and his first century came in on 79th ODI.