What a history was created in Lahore yesterday! The Indian team won their first ever ODI on the Pakistani soil. But this time it was not the batsmen but one young new Indian bowler, Irfan Pathan who created history!
The Match:
Although India did manage to make 293/7 when they were put to bat by Inzy, the Indian top order batsmen did not contribute much in that innings. It was Laxman, Balaji, Pathan & a few credits can be given to Ganguly for his 45 runs who were the real run makers. As usual Tendulkar, Sewhag and this time even Dravid failed to deliver.
The score of 294 was not such a great total to chase on the pitch as confirmed by the Pak captain after the match.But Irfan Pathan struck back right since the start of Pak’s innings and took 3 crucial wickets, that of Taufique Umar, Yousuf Youhana& Abdul Razzak. But I must praise Moin Khan(who proved that experience counts when there is extreme pressure) and Shoib Malik’s patience who did manage to take Pak well above the 200 mark. These 2 batsmen along with Sami played very well and proved that even the Pak tailenders can play extremely well!! I congratulate the 3 batsmen and hope to see more such performace from them in future!
The verdict:
Irfan Pathan was the Turning Point of the match.If not for him, I don’t think India could have won the match as the other bowlers didn’t have the ability to take much needed crucial wickets! Pathan has a very bright future and if he continues to play like this he might become one of the best bolers in the world and the Indian team should be proud of him. He was the man who really deserved the Man of the match award for his 3 wickets &20 runs! Keep it up Pathan, you created a history yesterday & wish you all the very best for your future!