The Pathan Bomb Strikes Again

[Roshanrocks]

First a monstrous 96 ball 123* verses NZ and now this crucial 59 off 50 balls verses the Proteas in their own background creating two improbable wins.... Looks like this mild, gentle, peaceful destroyer is hitting form at the right time for us. Hope he continues his merry ways B->

Sometimes when you have a weakness, you go out and maximise your strength, and hurt the opposition with it. Matthew Hayden did that. He wasn't a technically great batsman, but he charged at the opposition, intimidated them, making them fear he could hurt them in a short period of time. Yusuf Pathan is too gentle a person to have that sort of intimidating aura. He won't snarl and he won't sledge. He will struggle against the short ball, he will take blows on his body, but if you pitch it in his hitting area, he will make a clean connection and he will hurt you. South Africa discovered that tonight. When Yusuf came in to bat, they had the game sorted at 93 for 5 on a pitch that was two paced and had variable bounce. They wasted no time in taking off the part-timer, who had taken the wicket, and brought back Dale Steyn to dish out some bouncers. Steyn didn't bowl a great over, and Yusuf pounced on a short and wide delivery, cutting it for four. A couple of mis-fields later, he was all over Johan Botha, hitting three sixes in the same direction, over long-on, each bigger than the previous one. It is a fascinating contest. The bowling side is looking for weak moments from a technically limited, but dangerous, batsman, and the batsman is looking to create doubt in the bowling side's mind with big hits off everything pitched in his hitting area. When the target is not huge, three sixes tend to work. "If you let the bowler know you can play the shots, and you will play the shots, he will stay under pressure," Yusuf said after his match-winning innings. "I went in thinking that I will play my shots, that I won't be in any hurry to play those shots, that I will wait for the balls in my area. That is my strong point, and I have been successful doing that." This was not an easy pitch to do that on. Graeme Smith's assessment of the surface, and therein Yusuf's innings, said a lot about the effort. "Yusuf was probably the difference between the two teams tonight," he said. "Every batter struggled to score freely tonight, and he went better than a run a ball. He timed the ball sweetly, which every other batter struggled to do, so he was the real difference. When he came in they were under real pressure and he counterattacked really well. Having known Yusuf, he has that potential, so well done to him tonight." It wasn't just those three sixes, though. For, there was backlash after that. Back came the fast bowlers, back came the bouncers, and the ball did get up at Newlands. Yusuf took two blows on the shoulder too. The moment they pitched up, though, he went big. Immediately after the three sixes, he went through a spell during which one run came off 11 balls, but a pitched-up delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe was enough to end it. Over mid-off. Four. "There was bounce in the pitch," Yusuf said. "But I knew if I played a few shots, things would get easier. If you hit the bowlers, the opposition gets onto the back foot. A lot of things run through the captain's mind, and you benefit from that." His best shot wasn't one of the three sixes. That was when he cut Wayne Parnell from in front of the stumps, creating room through an open face, almost chopping on the ball and finding the gap by performing the act slightly later than his usual cuts. Yusuf's two most recent innings in international cricket have achieved similar results - improbable wins - but in completely different conditions against completely different attacks. Bangalore and Cape Town are worlds apart, so that should point to good form. A batsman like him, who is limited in terms of technique and runs mostly on confidence and intimidating the other side, will need that kind of form consistently to be successful at the international level. However, these two innings have ensured Yusuf will have a presence in the World Cup, something many batsmen with better averages fail to attain. That presence can be an abstract concept, but it is felt easily when Yusuf is there. His words sum it up best: "A lot of things run through the captain's mind, and you benefit from that."

Carnage LIST 1. 123*(96) verses New Zealand (Win) 2. 59(50) verses South Africa (Win) 3. 105(70) verses South Africa (Lost)

[flamy]

Yuppo! Yuppo! Yuppo! :mummydance:

[Jersey #10]

Now only if we can get UV to get back in form If UV gets back in form our line up looks something like this for the world cup Sehwag (Big hitter) Sachin (Best in the business) Gambhir (Calm + Composed + builds innings) UV (Big hitter + great finisher) Dhoni (weird) Raina (Hitter + finisher) YP (Huge hitter + finisher) Harbhajan (dependable tail batsman)

[flamy]

Yuvi looked in good touch today. He is getting better.

[Sir john]

pathan take a :bow:

[jf1gp_1]

Only one of Kohli and Pathan will be in playing XI, i would still like it to be Kohli

[vaibhav_delhi]

Kohli = no fear, super talent, very good fielder

[Watson87]

Kohli over pathan anyday, pathan's innings was a fluke, he's a hit or miss player just like afridi. Rather have someone who is consistent like Kohli rather than a donkey like Pathan. Good performance by Yousuf but he has no place in the wc squad. 1. Gambhir 2.Sehwag 3 Sachin 4 Kohli 5 Yuvraj 6 Dhoni 7 Raina 8 Bhajji 9 P. Kumar 10. Z kHAN 11. Nehra/Munaf

[TheWall]

A lot rests on Yusuf's form if India wants the WC....

[urbestfriend]

Kohli is much better batting talent than Yusuf, agreed. But Yusuf will add a balance to the team with his bowling abilities so Yusuf for me. But its very unfortunate that talent like Kohli has to miss out.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Kohli over pathan anyday, pathan's innings was a fluke, he's a hit or miss player just like afridi. Rather have someone who is consistent like Kohli rather than a donkey like Pathan. Good performance by Yousuf but he has no place in the wc squad. 1. Gambhir 2.Sehwag 3 Sachin 4 Kohli 5 Yuvraj 6 Dhoni 7 Raina 8 Bhajji 9 P. Kumar 10. Z kHAN 11. Nehra/Munaf

i disagree on the afridi comparison. afridi couldnt have played the knock yusuf did today. the key difference here is that yusuf has brains and isn't retarded like afridi is. you could see this from the way he showed immense restraint when playing the quicker bowlers and he only went after deliveries which allowed him to free his arms. he played a lot of dot balls, and about half the runs he scored came in one over off botha. he wasnt batting like a retard, he played a very controlled innings. at the end, it took an amazing catch by morkel to get him out, otherwise he would have taken india home. yusuf is pretty limited in what he does, but i think he has already won the race to play in the team ahead of kohli. he is a perfect fit for number 7, and he can kill spinners at any stage of the innings. these two knocks have shown that he has improved a lot kohli is too good to keep out, but india already has batsmen like him who can do what he does. yusuf is unique in the way he can walk in and score a quick fifty. kohli is gona have to wait his turn. maybe someone will get injured and he will find a place? but he is the 12th man now for sure...

[Ranjha]

Well played Yusuf. He can be more than handy in wc. Will also keep kolhi in thick of things but give yusuf a first go in the wc.

[Watson87]

i disagree on the afridi comparison. afridi couldnt have played the knock yusuf did today. the key difference here is that yusuf has brains and isn't retarded like afridi is. you could see this from the way he showed immense restraint when playing the quicker bowlers and he only went after deliveries which allowed him to free his arms. he played a lot of dot balls, and about half the runs he scored came in one over off botha. he wasnt batting like a retard, he played a very controlled innings. at the end, it took an amazing catch by morkel to get him out, otherwise he would have taken india home. yusuf is pretty limited in what he does, but i think he has already won the race to play in the team ahead of kohli. he is a perfect fit for number 7, and he can kill spinners at any stage of the innings. these two knocks have shown that he has improved a lot kohli is too good to keep out, but india already has batsmen like him who can do what he does. yusuf is unique in the way he can walk in and score a quick fifty. kohli is gona have to wait his turn. maybe someone will get injured and he will find a place? but he is the 12th man now for sure...

Coach and the selectors will certainly chose Kohli over Yousuf Pathan. I hope they do, we already have enough big hitting match savers in our squad in Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni and even Bhajji is very destructive. I don't think Yousuf will find a place in the final 11 for wc, hope not.

[Ranjha]

Watson87, Yusuf will definately be the first choice pick over kohli in wc...not to say kohli doesnt deserve it..he has done good but yusuf has the ability to change a game in subcontinent. Buy if he fails, then kohli will come in.

[vaibhav_delhi]

Ranjha : I think Kohli will play over yusuf. that would make a dream top 7 for india.

[Guest Hiten.]

Seriously ? Pathan Bomb ? That's totally gay, dude :WTF:

[yoda]

Picking Yousuf over Kohli will be a bad move, IMO. I am with Mr. Watson and think that Pathan is more of a hit and miss type although his bowling is definitely a nice addition.

[mhr123]

TBH YP shud be in XI i/o Kholi... as stated by transparent above Sehwag (Big hitter) Sachin (Hitter + Build Inngs) Gambhir ( builds innings) UV (Big hitter + great finisher) Dhoni (Hitter + Build Inngs) Raina (Hitter + finisher) YP (Huge hitter + finisher) Harbhajan (dependable tail batsman) We have 3 who are capable of building an Inngs (SRT,GG,MSD) + they can change gears when required. U dont need more than 3 who care capable of building Inngs... even the like of Raina + UV can build an inngs in Sub continent pitches... Playing Kholi wud be a luxury.... I wud prefer YP because he can change the game situation in a couple of overs (this cannot be said abt Kholi).. YP inngs can boost a modest total of 270 (in subcontinent) to 300+ ... and YP is a damn hard hitter against spinners (Most of the teams wud play spinners in Sub continent pitches)... he can be also deadly against medium pacers (as we saw him going after K Mills recently)... therefore YP wud be an important factor for us...

[flamy]

Yep, Yuppo brings in a whole new dimension and surely is a cinch to play, especially in India What Kohli has going for him is his batting form and excellent fielding. Either way, great competition for places.

[Pak_Fan_4_Eva]

Impressive innings by Yusuf last night but I doubt he'll be a regular member for long. As yoda said, he's more of a hit and miss type and can't guarantee a similar performance each time India have too many big hitters of the ball. Kohli should be played up to bring stability to the batting order