PAK v WI, 3rd Test Day 1 Review: Devendra Bishoo once again derails Pakistan

Devendra Bishoo was the shining light for the West Indies towards the close of play as Pakistan’s plight against the Trinidadian spinner was well-documented on the dry track at Sharjah. However, in spite of this, there were three half-centurions in the Pakistani batting ranks with Sami Aslam making it count yet again.

The day began with Misbah-ul-Haq calling the toss correctly yet again and putting faith in his batting unit to last out the entire first day’s action. Although his prophecy would eventually come right by stumps on the day, it was quite clear that Pakistan were not where they would have liked to be.

Azhar Ali’s predicament with the bat is quite a peculiar one at that. If he gets going, he makes it a big one. If not, he fails miserably and gets dismissed for a paltry single-digit score. Unfortunately as far as Pakistan was concerned, it was the latter case as far as Azhar was concerned.

The Windies were on a roll with Shannon Gabriel well and truly on fire as he picked up his second wicket when Asad Shafiq fell soon after. Two wickets for the West Indies and one run for Pakistan did not paint a pretty picture as far as the hosts were concerned.

However, with this issue came in Younis Khan. Ironically, the 39-year old had stated that it was somewhat of a responsibility for the older players to guide the youngsters in the upcoming encounters. And be responsible was exactly what he did.

He stitched a slow and steady partnership with Sami Aslam and Younis got the hosts to lunch without the loss of another wicket as they went ahead and stitched an important 100-run partnership. The partnership then went on to add a much-added value for the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed who made amends for their previous performances in the upcoming innings.

Sami Aslam was out to cricket’s most dangerous shot when his attempted reverse-sweep went off the top of his helmet and landed in the safe and secure hands of Jason Holder stationed at first slip.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfraz Ahmed, captains in their own right went on to impress with some impressive batting and dug the Pakistanis out of the rut they were in at the time. The sweep shot this time was used to much use as they impressed with some impeccable batting acumen, something they had showcased time and again.

Misbah and Sarfraz smashed 53 and 51 respectively before Bishoo once again dismissed the Pakistan skipper. Shannon Gabriel breached the defenses of Sarfraz Ahmed as the Pakistan tail was well and truly exposed. Devendra Bishoo however, was not done just yet.

He quickly dismissed Mohammad Nawaz and Wahab Riaz to ensure that the Windies stood on the brink of polishing off the Pakistani tail by the following morning. Thus, by the conclusion of play, it was the simple matter that both sides had shared the spoils quite effectively.

Brief Scores: 

Pakistan, 1st innings: 255/8 (S Aslam 74; D Bishoo 474)