This piece is being written before the fourth and final day of the 4-day game between Pakistan and Kent, with the second and third days having been washed out. And if Pakistan’s batting in the first warm-up game against Kent is anything to go by, the team looks set to fulfill all prophesies about them struggling in England.
On the first day, in typical overcast English conditions, Pakistan were bundled out for 168 with Will Gidman – who can at best be described as a medium pacer – taking 5 for 47. If Pakistan are struggling to cope with Gidman, the signs are pretty ominous for what lies ahead.
The highlight of Pakistan’s pear-shaped innings was, of course, the 61 scored by Imam-ul-Haq, after all the controversy surrounding his selection. And it wasn’t just the runs that he got that were impressive – it was also the way he got them.
Imam displayed the right technique for English conditions, and played with the straight bat as often as possible. Most of his boundaries came on the off-side, with a couple of cover drives especially majestic.
Pakistan should be wary of underestimating Ireland, given the current performance on display
“[Imam] looks a good player,” Gidman said. “He shapes up nicely, his balance was great at the crease. He seems to have the right sort of temperament for English cricket.”
Of course, what also made Imam stand out was the fact that he scored only four runs less than the rest of Pakistan’s top seven put together.
The highest run-getter for Pakistan after Imam-ul-Haq was Hasan Ali, who smashed two sixes and a four in his 11-ball 24.
What was also interesting to note was that Sami Aslam opened the innings with Azhar Ali, with Imam coming in one down. Haris Sohail batted at four, Asad Shafiq at five and Babar Azam at six, with Sarfraz Ahmed coming in at his customary number seven slot.
Imam-ul-Haq
The question here is: would this be the batting line-up that Pakistan would persist with against Ireland? Of course we would get a better idea once the next warm-up match is out of the way, but it is evident that the management isn’t sure about anyone’s position in the lineup.
Barring Sami Aslam – should he start – and Sarfraz, none of the top seven has a fixed batting slot. Babar Azam was tried at three, Asad Shafiq has struggled after moving up from number six – where he scored most of his runs – and with Haris among the runs last year against Sri Lanka, and now Imam impressing, it’s anyone’s guess what Pakistan’s best batting sequence is.
But what the management absolutely needs to do is to make sure that they pick a batting order and then stick to it throughout the tour, even if the personnel have to be tweaked here and there.
Gidman took 5 wickets
Even so, the struggles of the batting line-up, coupled with the manners of their dismissals were both worrying, with competitive action now just a week away at the time of the publishing of this piece.
Pakistan would today (Friday) play their second and final warm-up match against Northamptonshire, before playing Ireland in their first ever Test match. This would be followed by a two-Test series against England.
While panic should never be the order of the day, and it is perfectly normal to struggle in English conditions in early warm-up matches, Pakistan should be wary of underestimating Ireland, given the current performance on display.
It is a given that England would be a mountain to climb this summer, but Pakistan need to make sure that they don’t make Ireland look the same next week.
