Spirits Cricket

Alastair Cook’s ability to lead the England Cricket Team in One day Internationals has been vindicated after the side managed to win the first match against Pakistan with a margin of 130 runs at the United Arab Emirates, after they were brushed aside in the test series, being whitewashed 3-0 by a side that was not given much of a chance ahead of the series against the number one Test playing nation in the world.

Cook’s ability to captain a side of the stature of England has come under immense scrutiny from time to time especially by many former cricketers. Ian Botham showed his dissatisfaction at the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board or the ECB to appoint Cook as the captain of the One day International side last year.

He further added that Cook should be replaced by Stuart Broad, the captain of the England Cricket Team in Twenty 20 Internationals who was doing a much better job than Cook. Moreover, the 5-0 series loss to India in the subcontinent last October also did not help Cook’s cause much. But he is sure to see this win against Pakistan as vindication to all those comments on his ability to captain the side, especially since the win came after a 3-0 demolition in the Test series.

Alastair Cook also managed to let his bat do the talking with a score of 197 off 142 balls, his highest score in One day International cricket so far. Speaking in the post match press conference, Captain Cook added that it was important to get the win as a confidence booster for the side which had lost badly against the Pakistan side in the Test series and was looking forward to winning the ODI series for the England Cricket Team by leading them from the front.

The expectancy of a retirement from Rahul Dravid appears to have a lot of credibility behind it after a poor tour of Australia for him.

If he wants a few more series for the team, he is likely to be allowed them, such was the strength of his batting during 2011. However, so poor was his series against Australia that a proud man like Dravid may retire relatively near the top instead of being forced out.

The incredible trio of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman appear to be on their way out of the middle order, and fairly quickly. Laxman looks like the most likely to get the cull in the immediate future, but sadly for game of cricket, two of its stalwarts are due to depart the game fairly shortly.

Tendulkar still bats with a beautiful superiority, but in his hunt for his hundredth international century he has struggled to find form and post the big scores that are required if you are to bat at number 4 for India.

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The England Cricket team is ranked no. 1 in tests, and they have recently beaten the world champions, India, very comprehensively. They whitewashed the men in blue 4-0, and would be looking to carry forward the momentum in the upcoming test series against Pakistan, due to be held in UAE in the latter half of January. The team will be riding high on confidence as they are ranked no. 1 and have some of the best players in the world in their team.

But defeating Pakistan won’t be an easy task as they are just fresh from thumping series victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They will be looking to continue their spectacular run in the upcoming series as well. Being the underdogs in the competition can be to their advantage, as they can play without the added pressure of expectations. The same isn’t true of the English side. Being the best cricket team in the world, according to the ICC rankings, comes with its share of niggles. Every time the team goes out to play a match, the whole world expects them to win. This added expectation creates a tremendous amount of pressure on the players as well as the team management.

The pitches in UAE are expected to be similar to the ones in Pakistan, so the men in green have that added advantage as well. The sides, however, are very evenly matched in all departments. In the pace department, Pakistan have the likes of Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz while England can boast of young talent like Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

The Pakistan spin department will be headed by Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal while their English counterparts are Graeme Swann. The batting lineup for the Pakistan side consists of Misbah-ul Haq, Younis Khan and Umar Akmal while the England batting lineup consists of Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell among others. This promises to be a mouth-watering competition