Pakistan in West Indies, 2011
Tony Cozier
Test matches (2): West Indies 1, Pakistan 1
One-day internationals (5): West Indies 2, Pakistan 3
Twenty20 international (1): West Indies 1, Pakistan 0
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Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011
Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Match reports : Pakistan in West Indies, 2011 Series/Tournaments:
Pakistan tour of West Indies
Teams:
Pakistan
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The type of pitch principally responsible for the gradual deterioration of West Indian batting produced two riveting, low-scoring, but ultimately unsatisfactory Test matches, and five drab one-day internationals. The teams' average total in the Tests was 227, at a run-rate of 2.6 per over; there was only one total over 300; and in the one-day games, nothing higher than 248. Apart from the hundreds by Taufeeq Umar and captain Misbah-ul-Haq in Pakistan's second innings in St Kitts, against an attack ill-equipped for the conditions, the highest individual score on either side in the Tests was Azhar Ali's 67. A feast of batsmanship this was not.
The absence of Younis Khan, who missed the series because of the death of his brother, left a middle-order opening for younger Pakistani batsmen, yet no one grabbed it. It was the same for West Indies: with Chris Gayle omitted for disciplinary reasons, Ramnaresh Sarwan utterly out of sorts and Shivnarine Chanderpaul ruled out of the Second Test by a shoulder injury, there were opportunities for others. But the best they could muster was Marlon Samuels's polished 57 in St Kitts.
Late-order runs proved critical for both teams. In the First Test, the last two West Indies wickets added 51 in the first innings, and the final pair 48 in the second, while Pakistan's last-wicket stand of 78 in the first innings of the Second Test deflated West Indian optimism. The most damning statistic was the Test-record 20 lbw decisions at Guyana's Providence Stadium, where the bounce was so erratic that any wicket-to-wicket delivery was a threat. West Indies held their composure to win by 40 runs on the fourth afternoon, their first victory since Jerome Taylor swept England aside for 51 at Kingston two years and 18 Tests earlier - a sequence outdone only by the West Indian sides of 1969 to 1973, and 2005 to 2007, who both endured 20 matches without winning. The outcome was especially sweet for Darren Sammy, the captain, who answered persistent criticism of his very place in the team by winning the match award.
West Indies needed only to draw in St Kitts to secure the mini-series, and looked forward to the batsman's delight provided for the previous year's Test there. Instead, they were confronted with a surface that might have been ordered directly from Lahore. Their batsmen were at sea against the mesmerising mixture of Saeed Ajmal's off-spin and doosras, Abdur Rehman's nagging slow left-armers and Mohammad Hafeez's sharp off- breaks, and Pakistan won emphatically. The twinkle in Rehman's eye when he said he would like to dig up the pitch and carry it around with him, "so I can get plenty of wickets", reflected West Indies' peculiar interpretation of home advantage.
Ajmal, Rehman and Hafeez accounted for 32 of the 38 West Indian wickets to fall to bowlers in the Tests. Ajmal was the obvious Man of the Series after taking 17 wickets at 14, but the degree of flexion in his elbow, especially for the doosra, was questioned openly on television by Michael Holding, and privately by the West Indian management. The doubts were apparently not shared by the match officials.
Devendra Bishoo, the Guyanese leg-spinner who had left an immediate impression after making his international debut during the World Cup, was West Indies' only answer to such a diversity of spin. But he was unaccustomed to the long spells demanded of him, and his intensity - and that of the team - faded as Taufeeq and Misbah built the foundations of the series- levelling victory in Basseterre. West Indies' other plus point was that Ravi Rampaul, fitter than he had been in seven years of international cricket, showed impressive penetration with the new ball.
Not for the first time, the home team was distracted by off-field issues between senior players and the West Indies Cricket Board. The selectors created uproar when Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan were all omitted from the first three one-day internationals, a move presaged by the coach Ottis Gibson's unequivocal review after the World Cup and subsequent comments by the board's chief executive Ernest Hilaire. In a typically outspoken radio interview, Gayle claimed he was mistreated by the board over an injury sustained in the World Cup. He lambasted Hilaire, Gibson and the selectors, and said the uncertainty about his place had forced him to take up a belated contract in the IPL - where he battered his way to the top of the run-scoring lists and was named Player of the Tournament. Gayle refused to back down, and was omitted from the subsequent series against India as well. It was a stand-off that left his international future in doubt.
Chanderpaul was incensed to hear that the selectors thought he should retire. It turned out they were referring only to the shorter formats, with the 2015 World Cup in mind, by which time he will be 40. Even so, the issue raised public ire, especially in Chanderpaul's native Guyana, where the country's president, Bharrat Jagdeo, posed with a sign declaring "WICB is a disgrace" in the stadium during the final one-day international.
Pakistan are no strangers to internal squabbling either, and this time the fur started to fly after the tour. Almost inevitably, most of the arguments involved the one-day captain Shahid Afridi. After leading the team to the World Cup semi-final and a 3-2 win here, he was dismissed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The decision followed a tour report from the manager, Intikhab Alam, which highlighted disagreements between Afridi and Waqar Younis, the coach, over selection. Afridi's response was an irate "conditional" retirement from international cricket, as a protest at the way he had been "humiliated" by the board - which at least left the door open for an eventual return, even as captain.
Match reports for
Tour Match: University of West Indies Vice Chancellor's XI v Pakistanis at Castries, Apr 18, 2011
Scorecard
Only T20I: West Indies v Pakistan at Gros Islet, Apr 21, 2011
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Scorecard
1st ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Gros Islet, Apr 23, 2011
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Scorecard
2nd ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Gros Islet, Apr 25, 2011
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Scorecard
3rd ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Bridgetown, Apr 28, 2011
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Scorecard
4th ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Bridgetown, May 2, 2011
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Scorecard
5th ODI: West Indies v Pakistan at Providence, May 5, 2011
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Scorecard
Tour Match: Guyana Board President's XI v Pakistanis at Georgetown, May 8-9, 2011
Scorecard
1st Test: West Indies v Pakistan at Providence, May 12-15, 2011
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Scorecard
2nd Test: West Indies v Pakistan at Basseterre, May 20-24, 2011
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Scorecard
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