Sachin needs to get back that old hunger for runs

I am full of admiration for Rahul Dravid. He has strived to improve himself all this while. His career is a reflection on what a man can do ...

I am full of admiration for Rahul Dravid. He has strived to improve himself all this while. His career is a reflection on what a man can do if he sets out to challenge himself. From a dodgy, stoic batsman Dravid is now good enough to hold his position in both Tests and one-dayers and what8217;s more, score at a reasonable clip. He, along with VVS Laxman, looks the best batsman of the Indian team.

Sachin Tendulkar has appeared a bit subdued to me in recent times and he doesn8217;t look pretty or secure when he is on a mission to block most of the deliveries. He needs to play more aggressively and more like his natural self. He is not doing the same and probably needs to show his old hunger.

However, this is not the time to pick on individuals. Rather, it is time to celebrate a team8217;s unique achievement in Pakistan. It looks a very good team to me which combines well and plays for each other. It has also begun to have good all-rounders. Along with seniors, quite a few junior cricketers have begun to prove themselves at this level.

Laxmipathy Balaji has been the find of this tour. He was prepared to swing even when he was going for runs. He wasn8217;t looking to bowl defensively. He bowled a regular line and always gave himself a chance to be among wickets. As a result, most of his wickets in the series were top order scalps.

The contrast couldn8217;t have been more glaring with the Pakistan team. In my experience of playing and watching international cricket for close to a quarter of century, I have never seen a weaker Pakistan team. Their young batsmen looked out of depth and the inspiration wasn8217;t coming from seniors either.

Shoaib Akhtar was a huge let down. His counter-attack with the bat in the dying moments of Pakistan team only served to inflame the seething anger of well-wishers of Pakistan cricket. Nobody really knows what his injury was. He has spoken about wrist and back injuries but none of it was evident when he batted out in the middle on Friday. Even if he was injured, he needed to go out and give himself a fair chance. An over or two to check himself out couldn8217;t have hurt him that badly.

Shoaib did himself no favour, least of all to his team, by sitting in the dressing room when India was piling runs by hundreds. Pakistan needed its spearhead in its dire hour but the man chose to cool his heels 8212; or his wrist 8212; in the dressing room. It was put in perspective by the brave innings of Asim Kamal who didn8217;t let his pain come in the way of his duty. The youngster didn8217;t allow India to walk over him. That8217;s the spirit of defiance which Pakistan needed.

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Pakistan8217;s young talent needs to sharpen their games. I didn8217;t see a single backfoot punched drive through covers from them throughout their innings. They were very ill-equipped to handle swing bowling. I also suspect they are playing with very heavy bats which restrict their options in strokes. They were either falling over or playing round their front foot or chasing widish deliveries. They didn8217;t learn from their mistakes, and that could be critical if you want to survive in the ruthless world of international cricket.

Pakistan have their task cut out. They have always produced talent and there is no reason why the present lot can8217;t be harnessed. Young batsmen must seek out contracts in English league and sort out their technique against moving deliveries. Still our neighbours deserve every word of the praise which is coming their way for organising a sensitive series so well and playing the perfect hosts. They have set standards to which Indo-Pakistan series must conform in future.

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