Pak batsmen’s shot selection must be questioned

The turning point of the match came when Anwar called for the 12th man to bring another rubber grip onto the field. Saeed appeared rattled and under pressure to refit the grip to his bat handle. Umpire David Shepherd also stepped in to hurry him up. Next ball, Saeed was bowled byDamien Fleming. He didn’t have time to re-focus and switch on and at 21-2, the writing was on the wall and a low score was probable.

It was an embarrassing batting performance by the Pakistani batsmen who lacked application and their shot selection must be questioned. To make things worse the bowling performane wasn’t any better as the Australians pummelled the feared Pakistani attack into submission. It is easy to say that it was “just one of those days” but in a final every player needs to lift his performance.

Professionalism is about conforming to the technical and ethical standards of work. It is about setting high standards, showing self-belief making the most of opportunities and enjoying the rewards of success. The Australians did it all on the day relentless determination, skill and pressure and then be crowned world champions.

It was a remarkable performance by the Australians. To win seven matches in a row knowing that each match was sudden-death means they had a rare quality that mostother teams dreamed of mental toughness. When the going got tough, they responded in awesome fashion.

Glenn McGrath was outstanding in his opening spell, Paul Reiffel was steady, but Shane Warne was again instrumental in reducing Pakistan to tatters with 4-33 to equal the World Cup record of 20 wickets in the tournament alongwith New Zealand’s Geoff Allott.

Warne spun the ball and to see close-in fielders around the bat was unusual. To add insult to the Pakistani performance, McGrath bowled his final spell with three slips and one gully in place.

The Pakistanis looked looked very disappointed when they came out to bowl, understandably so, because they had scored only 132, the lowest score in a World Cup final. It needed a magic bowling spell from the experienced Wasim Akram or the explosive Shoaib Akhtar, but Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh destroyed any Pakistani hopes of a remote victory by playing sensibly and positively and hitting many boundaries.

The young lion Shoaib, who has made an impactduring this World Cup, was reduced to tears as he had no answer to the flashing blades of Gilchrist and then Ricky Ponting. Shoaib tried hard, but possibly hard to bowl too fast to live upto his reputation as the fastest bowler in the world, his line and length suffered dramatically and he was very expensive. His inexperience showed, but as time goes on he will look back and hopefully learn that when pace is an asset, the ball still needs to be put in the right place.

Steve Waugh was inspirational as captain for Australia. He used his bowlers well and his field placings were superb. Throughout the tournament he has batted very well and added the backbone and the guts to the Australian batting. But in the final, Gilchrist, Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting accepted the challenge.