Another Dull Draw.

India and Pakistan go into the third test in Karachi from 29th January with the series tied at 0-0. We just had another cricket match which really served no purpose at all, except enabling many batsmen to better their career statistics.

The figures tell their own story - 1701 runs for 28 wickets, five of them when Pakistan were just throwing their bats around. And at the end of two Tests, the four bowlers most expected to have an impact on the series - Shoaib Akhtar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Danish Kaneria - had combined figures of 10 for 1181, with Kumble, who has gone at 4.65 per over while conceding 446 runs, accounting for six of them. This hasn't been a contest, it's been akin to a boxing bout where one man fights blindfolded and handcuffed. [Link]

Some more mind-boggling stats can be found here. One sane thing to be found in this test is RP Singh getting the Man of the Match award. That was a good choice, resisting the temptation to give it to one of the many batsmen who scored lot of runs.

One hopes for a better pitch in Karachi and that we will have some meaningful cricket.