Sonstiges » and where to place his field. Thats not a sign

Two thousand and six. Thats when Pakistan were last ranked second in Test cricket. Back then, in the English summer, under the calm command of Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul Haq, Pakistan cricket was powered by skill and a degree of missionary zeal - blessed, you might say, by Bob and God.But the bank of blessings emptied soon after Pakistan got to England that year. Next, a forfeited Test, Woolmers death, terrorist attacks, and spot-fixing. An unprecedented four-year spell of curses. Four years with little blessing. By 2010, Pakistan cricket was more dead than alive. It would do well to exist.In 2015, Pakistan cricket does not merely exist. They are No. 2 in the Test rankings. Perhaps the greatest second place in the history of sport?Pakistan does not merely exist. It fights. It challenges. It wins. All of this is half-miracle. Winning makes us forget the impossibility of Pakistan at No. 2. How can it be? Above the Big Three sits Pakistan, at No. 2.Pakistan do not possess wealth or facilities. The best XI may not start. The XI, whoevers XI, once pulled in misaligned directions, without common purpose or grand design. A flawed genius of a cricket team. In time the flaws grew and the genius shrivelled. Nobody seemed to care. The country was a mess. In a rotten mess nobody cares for lost genius.But something wasnt rotten in the state of Pakistan cricket. That something was the cricket boards unbroken faith in Misbah-ul Haq. Misbah, inheritor of AH Kardar and Imran Khan. Misbah, an acquired taste, a sophisticated pleasure, a captain made for the deeper thought that Test cricket demands. Misbah created a team in his image: hard to beat, patient in adversity, capable of rapid transition from defence to attack. Misbah, Pakistan crickets greatest asset in this age of slings and arrows, its last hope.Misbahs leadership developed, his team acquired strengths. The batsmen now play with method, plan to build an innings. They defend James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and attack Englands spinners. Misbah leads from the front, other than to doff his cap to Younis Khans mastery. Asad Shafiq is the chief disciple, the next middle-order champion.The bowlers deliver uncanny accuracy. Yasir Shahs magic is exceptional control and subtle variations. He is patient and consistent, unusually so for a legspinner. He seems innocuous. No such thing. He is ever-probing, attacking, even without the elaborate variety of his predecessors.Wahab Riaz, early career blighted by loose deliveries, displays impressive control and stamina, enhancing the danger of his raw pace. Ancient skills, legspin and speed, bent to Misbahs will, and to the will of Waqar Younis and his coaching team.All this requires work and commitment. As does the progress of a wicketkeeper who scoops difficult chances, swallows straightforward ones, and offers quick runs in the lower order. Sarfraz Ahmed is fundamental to the success of a team known for its keepers generosity. Application, commitment, stout defence, and sudden aggression, all features of Misbahs Pakistan, embodied in his little wicketkeeper.None of this implies perfection. Pakistans troubles in the top order are clear enough. Azhar Ali is one long-term solution. The others are less certain. A series played with Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in the top three is a gamble. Having no batsman after the little wicketkeeper, after No. 7, is a gamble.The ageing limbs of Zulfiqar Babar, a gamble. Misbahs Pakistan gambles on the mettle of its middle order. On the discipline of its strike bowlers. On the hands of its keeper. On a surprise attack in the thick of battle. On the chance that one or two of the support acts defy the odds.Of the support acts, Malik will be gone in Test cricket. A double-hundred and vital wickets said farewell. Do these performances vindicate a wronged man? In Pakistans four-bowler model, Malik plays as a batsman. His feet entirely rooted, his bowling not entirely trusted. Even the final highs do not lead to vindication.Once, he promised much more. Once, a prince of Pakistan cricket. A true allrounder, adaptable to every format. A supreme fielder. A hero in preparation. A captain in waiting, then a captain ahead of his time. But a modified action and unmodifiable footwork put paid to any lofty ambitions. Never doing quite enough to master his flaws. Never quite convincing in front-line action after over a decade of effort. In that decade, the prince made better fortune of Sania Mirza, Princess of India, than in Test cricket.That same decade examined Hafeezs credentials. The prince and the professor joined at the hip. Offspinners with suspect actions. Batsmen with leaden footwork. Middle-order talents forced to front an innings. Minds playing a game beyond their abilities. The prince and the professor, seeking greatness, seeking a role, uncertain of their futures. Of the two, the professor succeeded, mastered his limitations, found a game to suit his talents. More determination on the front foot, less abandon outside off stump. A grit and sporadic aggression to please his captain. A method that still comes unstuck against the quickest bowlers, and will be vulnerable in England. A method, nonetheless.But as Maliks Test career finds a bittersweet ending, a last hurrah of life before death, Hafeez is surging, more formidable than ever, a surprising winner in their struggle, a painstaking professor victorious over a purring prince.Back in the day, your money was on the prince, not the bits and pieces of coursework that the professor assembled. That the professor flourishes and the prince fades is entirely consistent with Misbahs rule. Method over magnificence. Discipline over dash. Reaching No. 2 requires method and discipline.Staying there demands success overseas. At their best, Pakistan dominated England home and away, which is the next series, a forlorn eight months away. Thank you, ICC. Thank you, Big Three. Thanks for nothing. The measure of this team will be in England and West Indies. In Australia and South Africa. Yet those away series dont come round fast enough. India turns its back. How do we measure this Pakistan deprived of Test cricket?In truth, Misbahs Pakistan seem a little unready for those tussles, at venues where gambles will be busted, where the support act will struggle, where the Professors method will be exposed, where the mettle of the middle order and the discipline of strike bowlers may not be enough. But those are challenges to relish. Opportunities to learn, grow stronger. Tours that must be granted, tours being denied.For now, we celebrate the virtues of this Pakistan team, at No. 2 in the world, blessed by the dead hand and the lively mind of Misbah-ul Haq, cursed by the ICC, denied the chance to challenge for No. 1, denied the chance to assert the superiority of old virtues over new money.In 2006, the last Pakistan team to be second, the team of Bob and God, played a pragmatic, sometimes ill-disciplined, but ultimately soulless song. The team of Misbah and Waqar is equally pragmatic, more disciplined, and yet pleases the soul with the simple joy it finds in runs, wickets, and victories.Fake Air Max 90 2019 . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Fake Air Max 90 . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. 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It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start.Virat Kohli and Steven Smith are both very successful young batsman-captains.Its interesting to debate which is more important: the batting or the captaincy?Theres one major reason why most captains are batsmen rather than bowlers. Its easier for them to separate their primary skill from the leadership role. A batting captain has little else to concentrate on, when hes batting, other than scoring runs. Its only when a declaration is in the offing - and then only if hes at the crease - that he has to concern himself with other matters. When the batsman-captain is on the field, he can concentrate solely on bowling changes and field placements.Not surprisingly, a few of the captains who have been good bowlers have enjoyed great leadership success. Richie Benaud and Imran Khan are two who readily leap to mind. Imran believed that to be a good captain you must understand bowling, and its hard to refute his logic. In the cases of Kohli and Smith, they are at least part-time bowlers, which helps them understand and have sympathy for what the bowler is trying to achieve.This is where a captain can veer off the rails. Its not his job to tell the bowler what he should be doing and where to place his field. Thats not a sign of a strong captain, rather of one lacking understanding. The captain only need ask a bowler how hes trying to dismiss the batsman and the field placings should then easily fall into place.Field placement, especially as it relates to a spinner, is something that needs to be sorted out prior to going onto the field. Its counterproductive for captain and bowler to be having serious debates over where the field should be while the match is in progress. For a captain who understands bowling - and especially in relation to spinners - the original placing of the field and any resultant changes should come fairly naturally. If it doesnt then the bowler and the team are in trouble.Both Kohli and Smith have been more successful batsmen after they assumed the role of captain. This indiccates the selectors have chosen wisely, as its crucial to anoint a player who will be buoyed, rather than weighed down, by the extra responsibility.ddddddddddddThis makes the Indian and Australian method of choosing the captain far better than the one England employed in the days of amateur and professional players. Back then, England often chose the captain (usually an amateur) first, followed by the rest of the team. Nowadays its commonplace to appoint the captain from the chosen XI.Both Kohli and Smith have successfully managed the priority of being batting captains. Never forget that making a mountain of runs is a sure way to lead by example. Kohli has displayed the ability to lift his already high standard in times of need, and there was no better example than his second-innings century against Australia at Adelaide Oval. Not only was it an inspirational innings, it firmly declared his hand as a captain who would try to win the game for as long as humanly possible.Even when his team was going through a horror patch of five successive Test losses, Smith remained the sides most consistent batsman. His defiant 48 not out in Hobart, when everyone around him succumbed to the relentless South African attack, was a great example of a captain who refused to wilt.One area where Kohli has shaded Smith is in the handling of spinners. Under his leadership R Ashwin has prospered as the leader of Indias attack. In contrast, there have been times when Nathan Lyon has struggled to the point where his selection was in doubt until he produced a much-improved effort in Adelaide.It should be a fascinating contest between these two evolving captains when they clash in early 2017. With both aspects - batting and captaincy - of equal importance, it will be the one who provides plenty of runs and inspiration for his bowlers who will be holding aloft the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. ' ' '