BLOG: Keepers in Need

Pakistan are out of the World Cup but the man who was instrumental in making the QF possible, Sarfraz Ahmed, emerged as the saviour, man of the moment and someone with captaincy material. He had also led Pakistan U-19 team to Cup win and this kind of attitude is the call of the hour for Pakistan cricket.

The current Pakistani wicket keeper has Yousuf's valour, Moin’s shots, Rashid's courage and Kamran Akmal’s love to tear apart the opposition. With Misbah gone and Shahzad and Umar Akmal too busy with selfies, Safraz can be the man of the moment.

Sarfraz was named the Man of the Match twice in the current World Cup. He is the first Pakistani wicket keeper to get the award consecutively.

Ever since the ODI Cricket turned mature, Pakistan has had the services of many all round wicket keepers. Let’s have a look at the innings that earned them their maiden Man of the Match awards.

Saleem Yousuf

It was the 9th match of the Reliance World Cup 1987. Pakistan and West Indies were playing a Pool B match on October 16. West Indies batted first and scored 216 runs.

In reply, Pakistan started with Ramiz Raja and ‘ever undependable’ Mansoor Akhtar. At a personal score of 10, Mansoor chopped one onto his stumps. 5 runs later, Saleem Malik scooped the ball to Baptiste off Courtney Walsh. After a 64 run partnership with Javed Miandad, Raja was dismissed by Roger Harper for 42 while Javed gave a return catch to Carl Hooper for 33. The hosts were struggling at 110/5 as the ‘Asking Rate’ climbed up to 7. Pakistan required 105 runs on 90 deliveries and then entered Saleem Yousuf without any protective gear. Yousuf had a personal best of 31 runs in ODI until then. Just 353 days ago, he played a match winning innings of 67 at Faisalabad against the same opposition in a Test, and in this match too, he snatched victory from the jaws of West Indies.

It was the 35th over of the innings when Yousuf took charge and started going for the big shots. Yousuf was lucky not to have been caught by Phil Simmons, the opener who scored a half century on his ODI debut earlier in the day.

In the next seven overs, Yousuf helped Imran Khan put-on over fifty runs on the board. ‘Viv’ Richards even bowled a couple of overs himself, but Yousuf was dealing in boundaries. After a 73-run partnership, Imran departed for 18 with no hit to the fence in his 26-ball stay. Pakistan’s score was 200 when Saleem Yousuf was dismissed for 56 off 49 balls by Courtney Walsh. His innings contained 7 fours. Yousuf came in when the score was 110 and left when the team needed 17 runs. Those runs were achieved by the last wicket pair of Abdul Qadir and Saleem Jaffer, involving the famous last over six by Qadir off Walsh.

Rashid Latif 

Always a team man, Rashid’s first Man of the Match Award was also for the entire team. After a 2-0 Test win in 1996, Pakistan were 2 down in the 3 match limited overs series against England. In the final ODI at Trent Bridge Nottingham, the visitors were set a daunting 247 runs to win.

A brilliant opening partnership of 93, in 16 overs, between Saeed Anwar and Shahid Anwar did the damage. Both Anwars (no relation) hit 14 boundaries which surpassed the total number of boundaries hit during the entire England’s innings.

With Saeed and Shahid gone, Ijaz Ahmed and Aamir Sohail slowed down the run flow. Shadab Kabir made his ‘famous’ debut and was out for his first of the three ducks. Adam Hollioake, after Kabir, accounted for Asif Mujtaba and Wasim Akram as Pakistan required 48 runs off 54 balls. Rashid Latif joined Ijaz Ahmed and both put on valuable 20 runs in 22 balls. Ijaz departed for 59 as Pakistan needed 28 runs off 32 balls.

When Saqlain Mushtaq joined Rashid, the latter switched gears and dispatched a couple of deliveries to the fence. The match seemed over when Rashid Latif got out on an under-arm throw from Atherton. The third umpire over ruled as it seemed the stumps were broken by Alec Stewart’s pads before the balls. Rashid survived and went on to hit the final runs. His 31 runs off 28 deliveries were better than Nick Knight’s 100 scored earlier in the day. The entire Pak team was awarded the Man of the Match award, usually given to an individual or shared between a pair.

Moin Khan 

Always known for his lusty hitting, Moin’s maiden award was given for his patient innings. It was April 9, 1997. Pakistan was playing the last round match of the Sharjah Cup. With just one victory, Pakistan had to beat Zimbabwe, who had defeated the then World Champions Sri Lanka by 50 runs a day earlier.

Wasim Akram won the toss and elected to bat in this virtual semi-final. An out-of-form Inzimam-ul-Haq was asked to open the innings, but this match could do no better for him. Sajid Ali (a Mansoor Akhtar of the 90s) Saleem Malik, Muhammad Wasim, Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi failed to reach double figures and Pakistan were soon 51 for 7.

Moin Khan and Saqlain Mushtaq joined hands and put on 77 runs for the 8th wicket. Moin scored his first limited overs’ 50 in that match and his innings consumed 97 deliveries. His innings had one six and one four, quite opposite of the innings he played at the same ground 18 months earlier, when he hit West Indian fast bowler Ian Bishop for 3 sixes and one four, in the last over of an ODI.

Set a target of 152, Zimbabwean innings crumbled by 41st over for 119, to the pace of Waqar and spin of Saqlain and Mushtaq who shared 9 wickets between them.

Kamran Akmal 

A regular with the side since 2002, Akmal was tried four times as an opener in 2002-03 before the experiment was ditched. With Moin and Rashid out of contention by the end of 2004, Kamran had the stage to perform. On January 19, 2005, It was during Pakistan’s second match of a tri series when he got his chance. Inzimam-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to field against West Indies in Brisbane.

Gayle and Sarawan took full advantage of the absence of Shoaib Akhtar who hobbled off the field with a hamstring strain after bowling 3 overs. The Islanders put on 273 runs on the board. In reply, Pakistan were struggling at 36 for 2 in 8 overs. Salman Butt and Muhammad Hafeez were removed by Merv Dillon. At 24, Kamran Akmal, from the other end, watched Shoaib Malik join him. With a personal best of 44 before this match, he was not completely sure what role he was going to play. Malik and Akmal put on 123 runs for the 3rd wicket in 21 overs and brought stability to the score. Malik was out in the 29th over after a run-a-ball 60 with six hits to the boundary. Kamran Akmal was joined by his Skipper and the former took on from where Malik left. He played shots all along the ground and completed his century in the 35th over. His century had 9 fours and was completed off 107 deliveries. Kamran Akmal was dismissed in the 41st over after scoring 124 runs. The score was then 239 and Kamran scored more than half of those. Pakistan required 35 runs off 60 balls which were achieved by Inzimam and Muhammad Yousuf with 3 overs to spare.

Sarfaraz Ahmed was a toddler when Saleem Yousuf played his match winnings innings, way back in 1987, but this boy is now as brave as Saleem Yousuf, got the shots from the book of his favorite Moin Khan, especially the sweep off a fast bowler, can challenge the opposition like Rashid Latif and can tear the bowling apart like Kamran Akmal. Best of Luck Pakistan! A keeper in need, is a keeper indeed!