MULTAN, 19 November 2006 — After suffering a convincing, nine-wicket defeat in the first Test against Pakistan last Tuesday, the visiting West Indies team have now moved to this southern Punjab city for the second Test of the three-match series, which starts here from today.
The visitors who are still struggling to establish their credentials in the Test-match arena, will have to come up a lot better than their insipid performance in the Lahore Test where, expect for captain Brian Lara (61 and 122), no other player was able to rise to the occasion.
To some extent the visitors were unlucky as well. As many as five umpiring decisions, all by Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva, went against them. But their problems started from the very first day when Lara misread the Gaddafi Stadium wicket, did not consider the overcast sky factor and opted to bat first. And one must not forget that Lara has better fast and medium fast bowlers than Pakistan and had he put the home team to bat first he would have benefited from the moisture on the surface and the cloud cover.
But Lahore is now history. Inzamam ul-Huq and his boys are buoyed by the first Test win and must be bubbling with confidence. Inzamam’s batting failure in Lahore notwithstanding, he is sure to be more confident after he inspiring performance by his second-string strike bowlers, Umer Gul and Shahid Nazir.
Gul and Nazir, with only ten and eleven Tests experience behind them, routed a reasonably strong batting line up, and they must be feeling more sure now.
However, a comeback by the visitors is very much on the cards. Inzamam has been sounding his team about that since after the first Test.
“They been doing well in the one-day cricket(recent tri-nation series in Malaysia and the ICC Champions Trophy). They have shown that they have resources to compete evenly against any team. It is a matter of time they click at Test level,” Inzamam was quoted at saying before leaving Lahore for Multan on Friday.
But the worrisome factor for the Pakistan captain, who will be playing in his hometown, is the inclement weather here for the last few days. The sky has been heavily overcast since Wednesday with scattered rain around the city. In fact the teams could get proper net practice on Thursday and Friday due to the drizzle.
Inzamam said he hoped the weather would hold for his team to enable them to take an unassailable lead.
“It is important that we have good five days to win this Test and pocket the series,” said Inzamam, who is playing in his home town.
“This is a crucial Test for us because if we want to win the series we will have to win this important match. I hope we do well in every department and play as a team.”
With the bad light factor already causing loss of an average of 15 overs per day, rain on Saturday night could disrupt today’s play. If weather remains like it is, chances of the second Test being badly reduced are fairly high.
However, feeble sunshine during the day raised hopes that the outfield, which was quite wet on Friday, will dry out. The strip was left uncovered during the day to allow the sun and wind help go the moisture underneath.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters here on the eve of the second Test, Lara said his team wanted to celebrate teammate Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 100th Test appearance with a win against Pakistan.
“Chanderpaul is reaching a significant milestone. Every player wants to play 100 Tests for his country and we are looking forward to celebrate it with a win,” Lara said.
The 32-year-old former West Indies captain will become the 42nd player and eighth West Indian to reach the 100-Test mark.
“The pitch at Lahore wasn’t a trouble pitch but there was movement for bowlers and it lasted a lot longer than I expected. Here it seems a slow pitch but it is also very cold and a lot of movement is expected,” said Lara.
Pakistan are expected to make one change in their line up by replacing all-rounder Abdul Razzaq with uncapped left-arm paceman Samiullah Niazi.
Niazi was the second highest wicket-taker in Pakistan’s last domestic season, with 75.
