Naveed Zadran has really come of age. A memorable List-A debut engineered by a 3-fer yesterday triggered an epic Oman collapse which seemed improbable for most part of the chase. Oman was cruising at one stage and from 160/2, they bundled out in a heap adding another 35 runs, falling short by 28 runs.
Naveed is a much improved bowler
Both Naveed and Bilal started off together in the U19 world cup last year. Although Zadran had the vicious in-swing under his armory then but clearly lacked pace as compared to Bilal. He went back to domestic cricket. Toiled hard for two seasons. Worked on his fitness and body. And now it seems as if he has added an extra yard of pace. His channels of attack have gone better. In the recently concluded first class season, Naveed claimed maximum wickets for his region. So, apparently there was no doubt about his selection on this tour.
With improved pace and accuracy, Naveed enforced a hostile spell
Although he went for few runs in one over but overall has not given free runs easily to the Omani batters. On a pitch where rest of the fast bowlers couldn’t stamp their authority, Naveed stood out the best amongst the lot. The batters have got beaten on numerous occasions but that didn’t deter Zadran a bit. His body language has been very aggressive and looked confident from the onset. The hostile spell of 3/47 on his maiden List A appearance has been really impressive. Personally in my opinion, Naveed was the linchpin of yesterday’s victory in the bowling department.
Zubaid and Ishaq impresses with the bat
In other notable performances comes the opening partnership between Zubaid and Abdul followed by a late cameo by Ishaq Rahimi, another prodigy of U19 cricket. Zubaid paced his innings nicely until he was run out due to a poor mix-up between him and Kamal. After he departed for 76, the middle and lower order got demolished like a pack of cards until Ishaq unleashed his attacking mode with Naveed as his braveheart partner. Both of them carried the team from 171 to 223 to give some respectability to the total.
Zia Akbar and Shahidullah applied brakes on scoring
Oman were off to a steady start as their openers built a 116 run stand to give them the platform to chase the target quite easily. But some electrified ground fielding slowly changed the momentum in Abdalyan’s favor. Four run outs were inflicted which changed the course of the match. Seasoned slow left arm orthodox Zia Akbar kept it reasonably tight along with skipper Shahidullah. They build the pressure with a lot of dot balls and ultimately the inexperienced middle order of Oman enforced an array of suicidal errors.
Absence of allrounders muddles the balance of squad
The balance of the team doesn’t look good. The likes of Nangyalai Kharoti could have given the team an option of a good utility allrounder. That would have definitely strengthened the tail. Sediq Atal who played a few big knocks in the Green List A Cup earlier was ignored in this format too. There are reports that Izharulhaq Naveed has been replaced by Abdul Baqi in the one day squad although no official statement has been given by ACB so far on this subject.
Fragile and long batting tail is the weak link
The present batting tail of Abdalyan is too long and fragile. Bowlers can’t bat at all. Getting six down eventually means all out in the matter of minutes. Modern day cricket demands bowlers to bat a bit and that’s a necessity. There shouldn’t be more than two bowlers who are unidimensional in skills. But you can’t expect ACB to be so progressive and rational as they have to make a few checks and balances on every tour to keep everyone interested. With Afghanistan A going up by 1-0 in the series, the deciding one day fixture against Oman is scheduled on 15th at the same venue.