Pakistan Vs Australia; Lord’s Test Preview
Pakistan team, victorious from the T20 series, will face off the Test cricket giants, Australia in the first test of its home series at Lords today at 9:30 GMT. Though Pakistan has won the limited-over series but the five-day game is totally a different game and this is what Afridi and his men know well.
Just six months before, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 followed by a series of bans and fines from PCB.
Though this time things are a bit different for the Pakistan side; Afridi the biggest change, as he has replaced Mohammad Yousuf as captain and the series would be played on neutral grounds of England, the Lord’s and the Headingly, but the batting line of the Pakistani side seems even thin than the one that featured the devastating Australia tour. Umar Akmal is the only batsman with a test average exceeding 40 but the strong bowling line featuring Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Asif and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 might boom in the English conditions.
Australian side will bring in two debutants, wicket keeper batsman Tim Paine and the all-round leg spinner Steven Smith. The series would help Australia fine-tune its preparations for the November Ashes. Another surprising move in the Australian batting side is that Michael Hussey has been dropped down to the Number 5 position while the leading run scorer of the season Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 has been moved up to Number 4.
Pakistan’s final XI and particularly the top order is still a mystery. All the four Shoaib Malik, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811, Umar Amin and Azhar Ali are almost equally promising for the two spots at the top order. There are some talks in the air that hosts away from home are eager to try the two debutants which opens the door for Azhar and Amin.
The captain of Pakistan; Shahid Khan Afridi would face the pink ball after a gap of four years. Afridi donned white for the last time in the middle of 2006. Ponting poses himself contented and seems as if he is not all impressed of Afridi, but the statements he has been giving since the day Pakistan handed captaincy to Afridi, illustrate a fear somewhere deep inside the Australian captain. A statement from Ponting on the eve of Lord’s test has once again proven that the Australian’s are threatened by the comeback of a player who can bring energy to any match he plays. Ponting guessing Afridi’s position in the batting line said that he might come in to bat at Number 6 but his bowlers will try to bring him in at Lord’s against the new ball by taking some early wickets, as Afridi, a danger man, becomes a real threat for opposition with the older ball.
"He's probably got to bat at six in their side, so if we get some early wickets and get in there against the newer ball and our quicks are still nice and fresh I think we'll test him out." said Ricky Ponting.
Lord’s Cricket ground offers swing in cloudy summer that would definitely help Aamer, Gul and Mohammad Asif but to bring Australia’s 12-test winning streak, the bowlers will need backing from the batting line. Australia’s winning band of twelve successive test matches started from Brisbane in November last year. Australia is the second team to clinch 12 consecutive test victories against a single opposition in the international cricket. Previously it was only http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 who has won 12 successive tests against the Bangali Tigers. A Lord’s victory would hand Ponting a record of all-time high number of consecutive successes against any team. Pakistan’s last test win against Kangaroos came in November 1995 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Although Afridi would try to give a tough time to the Australian side, and even if succeeded in doing so, the Ashes favourites would remain sturdy favourites.
There is a forecast of showers at Lord’s today. The bowlers will face difficulty in adjusting their line and length at the lord’s track due to the famous slope of the track. However a cloudy weather would help the ball swing at the crease.
Pakistan has a chance to redeem the whitewash that they faced some six months ago and they can do so if the batsmen manage a long stay at the crease scoring enough runs.
Tags: