The ART of giving it away...

If you are guessing this is going to be a SARCASTIC piece of writing...YOU ARE RIGHT!!

Second Test Match, PK vs WI, DAY One.

The openers are settling down, good to see. Both of them played well, got runs on the board. The pitch wasnt really helping the bowlers either but they played well. The heart of the batting lineup followed, everybody chipped in with something. The day ended with Pakistan 263/4. Doesnt look that great now does it?

What went wrong, everyone chipped in with a few runs but NOT ONE out could be called a beauty from a bowler or the bowler beat him with mind games or something of the sort. It was economical bowling to say the least, nothing special. No such thing as a classy spell. All outs were GIVEN away by the batsmen. Lack of mental strength. Thats the problem.

The last score I heard today was 338/7. A batting wicket, a good toss to win, a long batting lineup and a mediocre total as yet. Unless, there is some magic by Razzaq and the bowlers Pakistan should be bowled out near 400. Mediocrity on such a pitch especially after a great start. I was expecting at least 5 sessions of batting and a score near 600 but not to be.

You expect your big guns to score big also and batsmen live for playing on such wickets to get the big ones, get back on track. Its not only about giving your wicket away, its all about a change of attitude I suddenly noticed in Younis Khan when 2 wickets were down. He suddenly was looking to quicken the rate. They were going along fine. If they had ended the day at 200/2 (even though thats not possible) they wouldve been better off rather than losing crucial wickets of the two Y's of Paki lineup. Sometimes you need to ask them WHY oh Y?? Whats the hurry? Look for the big one.

The headline today says, 'Farhat Leads batting dominance'. Firstly there was no DOMINANCE if you ask me. 263/4 doesnt say dominance anywhere and secondly 74 is not a dominant Test Score. Appreciating MEDIOCRITY is the worst that one can do.

Have a simple attitude while batting 'Let them get you out, DONT GET OUT YOURSELF!!'. How difficult is that? The talent prevails and you will score runs naturally. I think all batsmen have natural talent to do that, but you dont give your wicket away and if you think you runs would not come naturally, well you shouldnt be part of a international cricket side. We have a long way to go. This Paki batting lineup needs a lot more mental strength to play in Test matches. I dont know how you build that up, but we need that bad.

People can now looking forward to a batting coaching lesson from Brian Lara when he comes in to bat. Being a PAKI fan, I would hope that doesnt happen and our 3 man bowling attack can do the same they did in the previous test. But I think they should miss that extra bowler they could have had in this match.

Anyway, comments are comments. They arent there to offend anyone, its just how I feel about things and they are just not right at the moment. Mental toughness is the ask of the hour. I dont know how you develop that but one way to do it is change of attitude,

"DONT GIVE IT AWAY...Let them TAKE IT!!!"

Formally published at SPORTINGO.com