Had there been a clash between South Africa and Pakistan about 10 to 15 years ago, it would have been a much closer one as Pakistan were a much better team back then.
In fact, those were the days when international cricket was actually played in Pakistan. Because of the spate of terrorist attacks, we haven’t had a cricket match in Pakistan for over 8 years.
That might be the reason why Pakistan cricket has regressed. The Pakistani players seem to be stuck in the 1990s and playing cricket in the same manner as Imran Khan’s team used to play, while the game of cricket has moved on.
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South Africa has a team of IPL superstars and each one of them is capable of winning a game all by themselves. They have a bunch of power hitters, super fast bowlers, all-rounders, wicket taking spin bowlers, run accumulators – they are the envy of every cricketing nation in the world.
The only thing one holds out against South Africa is their propensity to choke in big matches, especially in the semi-finals or finals of major tournaments. They have always performed well in group matches, so this game should be no exception.
Pakistan are demoralized and dejected after their loss in the last game against India. It was a terrible defeat for them, and led to a wave of recriminations across Pakistan. TV sets were broken, protests were organised and there was a feeling of great anger among the public, mixed with the realisation that their team wasn’t half as good as they would want it to be.
The margin of the defeat against India was just too big. Pakistan were not even in the hunt. India versus Pakistan games have always been close, but this was the most one sided contest ever between the two countries. That was hard to take.
Pakistan discovered that their much vaunted bowling attack was just not good enough. Wahab Riaz was demolished by the Indians. He is out injured and Junaid Khan will take his place.
South Africa have this quota system wherein 6 players of color have to be picked, regardless of the match situation. So, one expects Andile Phelukwayo to play ahead of Morne Morkel for purely non-cricketing reasons. This policy is holding South African cricket back, but who is to tell the South African Cricket Board (SACB)?
The Teams
South Africa : 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel/Andile Phelukwayo, 11 Imran Tahir
Pakistan : 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Junaid Khan
Match conditions
We expect a full day’s game later this evening, fortunately, as the rains have kept away here in Birmingham for the past couple of days. The pitch should help seam bowlers, but good batsmen will do well.
Watch South Africa play Pakistan at 6 pm live on Star Sports!
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