India at par with Australia in crisis

I am afraid Pakistan's performance in the fourth One-Day International has not gone down well with their fans. The bowlers were flat, the field placements a matter of debate. As if this was not enough, the bowling changes too did not find muster. But for Inzamam-ul Haq, the rest did not pull their weight. The captain fought like a general but there were not enough men around him to turn a charge into a victory.

Now the one-day series is down to the wire and Pakistan has once again shown they remain an inconsistent side.

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Pakistan is still to learn this art however; they need to do so quickly and in time before the big one on Wednesday.

Shoaib Akhtar bowled genuinely quick in the first spell. But, as we all saw, he was struggling for pace and rhythm in subsequent spells. Apparently, the first spell took too much out of him. His line was poor also. He kept bowling at the leg-stump even when it was a predominantly off-side field.

The rest of the bowlers too failed to maintain pressure on the Indians. The profusion of no-balls and wides meant the Indians never had to worry about raising enough runs during an over; it was coming all the time!

It also meant extra balls, which is an important asset when you are chasing a target in the vicinity of 300. No-balls also cost Pakistan at least two wickets in the field. This was a sure recipe for disaster.

The bowling changes too left a lot to be desired. Shahid Afridi was brought in too late. India had lost too many wickets in the first 15 overs and Pakistan needed to quickly press their sixth bowler into the attack.

In the final overs, they needed their top bowlers to have overs in hand. But we saw off-spinner Shoaib Malik operating till late in the Indian innings. The Indians just needed to milk him around to inch closer to their target and they did it with ease.

The field placement too did not look as if much thought had gone into it. If Sourav Ganguly was wrong in removing his slips at a critical stage in Peshawar, Inzamam did the same in Lahore and we saw a profusion of runs conceded in the third man region.

It was also difficult to fathom why there was no fielder behind point. Rahul Dravid took a heavy toll in this area, particularly against Shoaib Malik, and the Indians must have been pleased with these bonus runs.

There were far too many boundaries conceded by Pakistan under lights. I can understand the batsmen making the most of field restrictions in the first 15 overs but the amount of boundaries conceded thereafter begs an explanation.

Pakistan had one brilliant performer in their captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who once again was in brilliant touch. The rest did not support him well enough though I am not criticizing Younis Khan. He is not flashy or flamboyant, but is a man of tremendous utility in this line-up of Pakistan.

I have just checked his figures in one-day cricket as against those of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, and Younis, to my surprise, has done better than them at number six or seven

in the slot. He gets his 30s and 40s regularly whereas with others there is a hundred in one innings followed by six or seven failures. Younis, though, has still not mastered the art of finishing an innings.

I am also a little disappointed with the performance of Moin Khan. He is usually of tremendous value to the side but in this series he does not look his usual self. He is a great asset in putting pressure on the opposition both in front and behind the stumps. But he looks a little out of sorts, I hope it is not an issue of fitness with him.