The Last Word: Poor planning cost Pakistan Samsung Cup

Poor planning and an unprofessional approach cost Pakistan the Samsung Cup. At the start of the series, I had said that India were the favourites.

However, the depleted bowling attack that Sourav Ganguly had for the series made me reassess that prediction after Karachi.

Unfortunately, the Pakistan batsmen did not plan their innings well enough to take full toll of that bowling attack.

I think the hosts lost the plot when they started their chase by attacking too much. They should have focused on preserving wickets and occupying the crease instead because, if they had learnt from their experience in the fourth game, they would have waited for dew to come into the equation.

If they had scored at a less rate in the earlier overs without losing wickets, they could have really attacked in the last 15 overs. The ball was very wet after the second drinks interval, and Balaji even lost the ball once.

Unfortunately we had lost too many wickets by then, and this meant there was no one left in the dressing room when scoring was easy.

Pakistan will have to work better on their mental discipline and planning if they have to convert good performances into series wins. Yesterday, they opted to bat so that they could capitalise on the dew factor, but they did not plan well enough to do that.

This is something a professional side like Australia would never have allowed to happen.
Looking at the series, I would say that the Indians won because they played the pressure moments better.

There was pressure when Nehra bowled that last over in Karachi and when Rahul Dravid and Mohammed Kaif came together in the fourth game. However, at both these moments and on numerous other occasions they managed to hold their nerve.

Another crucial factor was the way Sourav Ganguly used his limited bowling resources. It was tough going for him without his top two spinners.

However, he juggled his bowlers around well, ensured that they bowled a good line and length and stuck to the basics.

In the final game, I thought Irfan Pathan was superb, because it was his unerring accuracy and discipline which made the Pakistan top order resort to taking one risk too many.
He maintained pressure very well and did not tire despite being given a pretty long opening spell.

The Indians also benefited from the Pakistan batsmen because they played poor shots at the start of the innings.

All the top six wickets fell to poor shots rather than extraordinary bowling. Inzamam-ul Haq also made a mistake by not coming in at three since he was the batsman in form. It is easier to avert a crisis than to get out of one. If Inzamam had come in earlier it might have helped the top order to keep their nerve.

Finally, I was extremely disappointed with the bowling because I know that this bowling attack is capable of being a match-winning one. They need to work on the extra balls and it would be safe to say that the three wickets they took of no-balls cost them the series. I had said that the team needs a bowling coach, I think the last two games were proof of that.

Aaqib Javed would be ideal for the role since he has the right profile for the job. I have always seen that supremely talented individuals rarely make good coaches, and it is the player who maximises on limited ability who knows how to impart the tricks of his trade better.

This is why I thought Mudassar Nazar would make a good coach, and the same holds true for Aaqib. Hopefully the board will take steps in this direction as quickly as possible.