Latif, as a seasoned player, knew he dropped that catch, yet, was bold in claiming it inplay and afterwards. Why was he so confident? Had he gotten
away with something else earlier?
Let's take a look at the peshawar test. In the first innings, BD came down to 320/8 at 126th over from 310/2 at 121st over. The chains of events
that led to the premature demise of the BD innings may raise some eyebrows and even lead to some answers.
85 Over: New ball taken by Latif.
102 Over: Swing was seen on this ball for the last time before lunch.
108, 110 & 112 overs: Bowling by Shoaib Akhtar but no sign of swing at all.
104 & 106 overs: Bowling by Sabbir but no sign of swing at all.
116 & 118 overs: Bowling by Gul but no sign of swing at all.
Lunch was taken after 119 over.
The ball was just 35 overs old.
Bangladesh 302/2
Javed Omar 118* (351b 17x4) Mohammad Ashraful 70* (186b 7x4)
120 over: Dangerous swings were produced 4 times by Shoaib Akhtar
122, 124, 126 over: 4 batsmen were out from Shoaib's swings. (rajin by spin and Ash by pull)
120-126: Ball is not new enough to produce serious traditional swing and also not old enough to produce dangerous reverse swing. Reverse swing is
known to occur after 40 overs of play (usually after 45 overs)
Now, the question is how come all on a sudden an apperently innocent ball became so violent? What happened to the ball at the lunch time?
The Daily Stars already questioned the possibility of reconditioning the Multan pitch on the final day.
All these are just mere coincidence? Or just another cause to inspire Latif to go for yet another big one and remain confident on a high note only to
be caught unfortunately?
Raising eyebrows and questions are not merely a quest to find refuge for the tiger's loss. Indeed, for a nation, not naive in scaldals by
it's national figures, if any of the doubts hold some thruth, the tigers must include yet another menu to their already overfilled net sessions
if they even wish for a remote hope to win matches against such nations.
Qoutes from Wisden archive:
84.1 Shabbir Ahmed to Mohammad Ashraful, no run, angling away outside off, left alone
New ball has been taken by Rashid Latif
101.1 Shabbir Ahmed to Javed Omar, no run, good outswinger, with some bounce, tries to defend it, beaten outside off stump
End of over 119 (maiden) Bangladesh 302/2
Danish Kaneria 33-9-85-0 - College End
Javed Omar 118* (351b 17x4) Mohammad Ashraful 70* (186b 7x4)
Please join us again in 40 mins at 7:40GMT
Match State: Lunch - Day 2
Hello and welcome back to Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar. The after lunch session about to start
Shoaib Akhtar to bowl to Javed Omar
119.1 Shoaib Akhtar to Javed Omar, no run, short ball, defended to leg
119.2 Shoaib Akhtar to Javed Omar, one run, pitches up, swings in, off
the edge to third man region
119.3 Shoaib Akhtar to Mohammad Ashraful, no run, bit of in swing in the
air, pitches on legs, tries to play on the on side, misses hit on
pads to short leg
119.4 Shoaib Akhtar to Mohammad Ashraful, one run, on target, swings in,
tries to play across the line, inner edge onto pads, hudge appeal
for lbw, declined by Tiffen
119.5 Shoaib Akhtar to Javed Omar, no run, good length ball outside off,
left alone
119.6 Shoaib Akhtar to Javed Omar, no run, again good ball, pitches just
outside off, came in sharply, hit on pads, just outside off, appel
for lbw, declined again by Tiffen
121.4 Shoaib Akhtar to Javed Omar, OUT: Gone! good fast swinging full toss, Javed Omar tries to drive it, beaten between bat and pad, ball hit the
legstump, a great innings
comes to an end
Bangladesh 310/3, Partnership of 130
Javed Omar b Shoaib Akhtar 119 (357b 17x4 0x6)
Mohammad Ashraful 77* (196b 7x4) Shoaib Akhtar 18.4-2-40-1 (3nb)
Rajin Saleh is the new batsman
End of over 122 (6 runs) Bangladesh 315/3
Shoaib Akhtar 19-2-45-1 (5nb) - Pavilion End
Rajin Saleh 3* (1b) Mohammad Ashraful 77* (199b 7x4)
122.3 Danish Kaneria to Rajin Saleh, OUT: tosses up on middle stump, tries to defend it on the front foot, gets a faint outer edge in the hands of
Rashid, huge appeal for
catch behind, Bucknor thinks and raises his finger up
Bangladesh 315/4, Partnership of 5
Rajin Saleh c Rashid Latif b Danish Kaneria 3 (4b 0x4 0x6)
Mohammad Ashraful 77* (199b 7x4) Danish Kaneria 34.3-9-90-1
Kapali comes in
End of over 123 (maiden) Bangladesh 315/4
Danish Kaneria 35-10-90-1 - College End
Mohammad Ashraful 77* (199b 7x4) Alok Kapali 0* (3b)
123.2 Shoaib Akhtar to Mohammad Ashraful, OUT: short ball again, tries to pull it from outside off stump, top edge and an easy catch in the hand of
Rashid
Bangladesh 315/5, Partnership of 0
Mohammad Ashraful c Rashid Latif b Shoaib Akhtar 77 (201b 7x4 0x6)
Alok Kapali 0* (3b) Shoaib Akhtar 19.2-2-45-2 (5nb)
Khaled Mashud in
123.5 Shoaib Akhtar to Khaled Mashud, OUT: Gone! good inswinging delivery, Khaled missread that one, offers on stroke, rapped on pads in front of
middle stump, huge
appeal for lbw, umpire raises his finger in a flash
Bangladesh 315/6, Partnership of 0
Khaled Mashud lbw b Shoaib Akhtar 0 (3b 0x4 0x6)
Alok Kapali 0* (3b) Shoaib Akhtar 19.5-2-45-3 (5nb)
Skipper comes into bat
End of over 124 (maiden) Bangladesh 315/6
Shoaib Akhtar 20-3-45-3 (5nb) - Pavilion End
Alok Kapali 0* (3b) Khaled Mahmud 0* (1b)
125.3 Shoaib Akhtar to Alok Kapali, OUT: good inswinger, Kapali tries to defend it, got the inner edge of the bat, Rashid dives towards his left and
takes a very good catch
Bangladesh 320/7, Partnership of 5
Alok Kapali c Rashid Latif b Shoaib Akhtar 4 (10b 1x4 0x6)
Khaled Mahmud 0* (3b) Shoaib Akhtar 20.3-3-45-4 (5nb)
Match State: Drinks
Mohammad Rafique in
125.6 Shoaib Akhtar to Mohammad Rafique, OUT: swinging yorker, batsman tries to defend it, beaten by pace and swing, ball hit the off stump, Shoaib
got his 5th wicket
Bangladesh 320/8, Partnership of 0
Mohammad Rafique b Shoaib Akhtar 0 (3b 0x4 0x6)