New look Pakistan makes England sweat

England in a famliar situation, what they are used to couple of years back, before their revival of sorts. When England is pushed to the wall, they give up. So far in the series, they have been a monopolist, winning each of the game in a fair margin. Now there is a new look Pakistan, as each one of them wanted to carry them to the next level. Yes, the likes of Hameed, Yusuf, Kamran Akmal and Wahab has given a new lease of fresh injections to this suffering team. What this injection has made is that the entire team looks motivated on the field. Also, each of the 4 newcomers in this test has contributed to the cause of the team and this will leave others to have a play in domestic matches till such time another another fresh crisis in Pakistan is evoked.

As I have mentioning in my earlier column, Pakistan has got the best talented team in the world, but is ruined by dirty politics. Their exihibition of talent was also seen in the new raw in the form of Wahab Riaz. But no matter what the state of their overall team may be, Pakistan have never been short of fast-bowling reserves, and Wahab tore onto the offensive with four wickets in his first nine overs as a Test cricketer, and 5 for 63 all told. One cautionary footnote, however. He is the ninth Pakistani to claim five wickets on debut, but with the exception of Shahid Afridi, who was primarily selected as a batsman, none of them went on to achieve greater deeds.

Goodness me, what is going to happen to test cricket when Mohammad Yousuf, Sachin, Ponting, Kallis and the like are all retired? There doesn't seem to be anyone else left with anywhere near that sort of class and/or consistency. These young guys have all been raised on the madness of Twenty 20, they only seem to be good for five overs or so at the crease and the fact that Pakistan finally posted a decent score in Yousuf's first match back from his ban is no coincidence. It's hard to fathom that the PCB actually thought this batting line-up could function without him. See what a difference Yousaf has brought into the team not just by scoring himself but also making Wahab and Ali play well. I still remember the impact of Inzamam on the pitch. He can very easily be nominated as the best player when playing along the tail enders. Not at that level but definitely Yousaf and Younis also falls in that category. So i still believe that Pakistan Test Team is not complete without Younis Khan.

Azhar Ali showed his true talents at The Oval as his outstanding, unbeaten 92 earned Pakistan a valuable lead of 75. Mohammad Yousuf played his part with a composed 56 before becoming Graeme Swann's 100th Test wicket and, though the visitors would have liked a greater advantage, it grew in significance when Andrew Strauss fell before the close.

With England having lost Strauss, the rejuvnated Pakistan, would go for the kill. Except, ofcourse, Pakistan should ensure they do not crash in its second innings.