Fielding has let Pakistan down

To win matches, a team must hold its catches. That unfortunately Pakistan seems to have forgotten. From the very beginning, I have emphasised that both India and Pakistan are poor fielding sides. But the way Pakistan have performed, they have actually managed to make India look a good fielding unit.

Both Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were dropped early at Kanpur and their 100-run partnership was the deciding factor in the game. And unless Shoaib Malik and his boys get to grips with this and improve their standards in the field, they will always be a step behind their opponents.

Another area of weakness that reared its head particularly at Kanpur was the running between the wickets by Pakistan’s batsmen. Salman Butt not only forgot to rotate strike in the middle overs when Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Murali Kartik were bowling, but he was also guilty of running out a few others.

All these suggest that there is very little coordination in the Pakistan dressing room. Unless there is understanding of a high order, and a trust between the fellow batsmen, it is difficult to score runs in tight matches, and believe me, it does not get much tighter than an India-Pakistan game.

Shoaib Malik is in trouble. I say this because he has had a very ordinary tour so far with both the bat and the ball and when that happens to a captain, it is bound to create problems. At the moment, the situation is such that if either Younis Khan or Mohammad Yousuf gets runs, Pakistan has a chance. And if they don’t, the team just seems to fail to perform as a unit.

The Gwalior game is a make-or-break one for Pakistan and they go into it under severe pressure. The opening combinations simply have not worked and both Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi have not emerged as the answer to Pakistan’s problems.

In fact, this is an area of weakness that has dogged the Pakistanis for the last seven-eight years now and I think it is time for Shoaib Malik to take up the challenge. He must lead from the front now if Pakistan wants to survive in this series. Minus performance, a captain’s position starts to get shaky and Shoaib is nearing that point. He is now in no position to ask anything of anyone on the basis of his captaincy alone.

A pitch like the one we saw in Mohali is rare on the sub-continent and moreover, there has been no international cricket in Gwalior for nearly four years now. If the track is on the slower side, India will clearly have an edge as their spinners have done very well in the first three matches. Pakistan is clearly out-classed in the area.

Pakistan’s bowlers have not done so badly and it’s the fielding that has actually let the team down. And if the dismal show continues, I fear it will be hard for Pakistan to make a come back and level the series.