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Pakistan - A True Professional Team?

© Ahmad Nawaz

Pakistan is considered as the most unpredictable team in the entire cricket playing nations. On their day, they can do anything just like on 10th of January 2000, they defeated Indians from no where as their tail-enders scored all the runs while on their bad day, even Bangladesh can defeat them quite easily.

Pakistan team at the moment, on the paper, looks like a true champion. In bowling, which is their main strength there are Wasim, Waqar, Saqlain and Shoaib. The support bowlers are really one of the best in the whole world in shape of Razzaq and Azhar. In batting, there are Saeed, Inzi, Ijaz, Youhana and Mohammad Wasim who is an under-rated player but I think that he is the man with the best technique in whole Pakistan. Fielding is relatively week but they have improved by quite some margin recently and without any doubt they have the best wicket keeper in shape of Moin. They have few unpredictable players like Shahid Afridi, etc.

Starting from 1999, Pakistan drew test series against India - they could have won it but it was courtesy of Indian umpires that Indians managed to win the second test match and draw the seires. Then Pakistan won the Asian Test Championship, a One-Day series in India, then in Sharjah. The all important World Cup came, Pakiz were the runners-up, then they won 3-0 One-Day series against West Indies at Toronto and then they managed another victory at Sharjah. Pakistani team went to Australia with high hopes of winning the test series over there, they had a good year of cricket at their backs and everyone was hoping if not victory then atleast some good results but they lost 3-0.

Apart from the 3-0 test series loss, Pakiz are undefeated in One-Dayers as they have won all the ODIz after the World Cup Final at The Lords on 20th of June 1999. There was a tie match between them and Sri Lanka.

In the start of 2000, they have won both of their first two matches against Australia and India but the thing which has really forced me to write on this topic is their unbelievable win against India on 10th of this month which was surely unbelievable. Saqlain and Waqar taking Pakistan to an unexpected and unbelievable victory. How on their day, all the batting line-up fails, all the supporting batsman (like Moin, Razzaq and Wasim) fails but the tail do a great job as did Saqlain and Waqar who had a partnership of 47 runs of 37 balls which paved the way for an unbelievable victory