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Hafeez-Taufeeq Hunt in pairs

Omair Alavi on 19, Jan 2012 | 8 Comments | in Category: Sports Sprit

Omair Alavi

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Pakistan might not be the best team in the world but it has all the right ingredients to become one. It has Saeed Ajmal, who according to legendary English batsman Geoff Boycott, is the best spinner in the world at the moment. Younis Khan is currently one of the most dependable batsmen in world cricket and luckily he is part of the national cricket team. Same can be said of Misbah ul Haq who has grown into an excellent batsman since becoming captain of Pakistan. But the foundations of any batting line up are laid by its opening batsmen, and no pair in Pakistan’s cricket history has been as successful as the dynamic duo of current openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar.

They say that Hawks hunt in pairs. Same can be said of the best openers in world cricket. The reason why no opening pair in Pakistan’s cricket history had scored more than Hafeez-Taufeeq’s 5 century partnerships is inconsistent selection throughout the 60 years. The country has seen world-class openers like Hanif Mohammad (337 runs against West Indies), Nazar Mohammad and Mudassar Nazar (carrying the bat through a completed innings), Majid Khan (one of the four players to score century before lunch in Test cricket), Mohsin Khan (200 runs at Lord’s), Aamir Sohail (205 at Manchester in only his 3^rd Test), Saeed Anwar (carrying the bat against India), Shoaib Mohammad (two double centuries in Tests) and many more but none have been consistently paired with a partner with whom he shares the cricketing understanding.

The taboo was broken by the current management who are persisting with Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar and by scoring as many as 5 century partnerships for the first wicket, they have proved their mettle. They have outsmarted Aamir Sohail-Saeed Anwar and Majid Khan-Sadiq Mohammad who had provided as many as 4 century partnerships during their careers. While Saeed-Aamir did so in 37 innings, it took Majid-Sadiq 26 innings to provide Pakistan with an ideal opening start of 100 runs for the loss of no wicket.

A look at the most successful opening pair ever in test cricket would be worthy at this moment. The title of the Best Opening Pair belongs to West Indian openers Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. They first opened the batting together in 1978 for 13 years, they were inseparable because they were part of a winning squad. In 148 innings they opened, they scored 6482 runs at an astounding average of 47.31. They had taken the score past 100 runs without being dismissed on 16 occasions which has not been bettered since.

The English pair of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe come second in terms of century partnerships. Between 1924 and 1930, they scored 3249 runs at an amazing average of 87.81 with as many as 15 century partnerships. In terms of runs, Australian pair of Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer come second. They scored 5655 runs in 113 innings together at an average of 51.88 per innings. They had 14 century partnerships to their name which helped a lot in Aussies domination of Test cricket during the first decade of the current millennium.

Alistair Cook and Andrew Strauss of England may not have been opening for a long time but they are in their 6th year as a pair and have scored 4157 runs in 98 innings at 43 runs per innings, with 11 opening partnerships. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir of India have opened in 76 innings together and have scored 3939 runs at 53.95, with 10 century partnerships. They have bettered compatriots Chetan Chauhan and Sunil Gavaskar who, during 1973 and 1981, scored 3010 runs in their 59 innings as openers with 10 scores of 100 or more. Australia’s Michael Slater and Mark Taylor are the last pair to feature in this list of 10 or more partnerships as openers. Between the 1990s, they opened in 78 innings and scored 3887 runs at 51.14 runs per innings.

Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar may not be the best in the world but they are Pakistan’s best. The way they are playing and scoring runs against tough oppositions, it seems that one day they will feature in the list of those who terrorized bowlers around the world and provided ideal opening start to their team.

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