By Shahid Hashmi in Abu Dhabi
Pakistan were in the driving seat after day three of the second Test and with Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch giving signs of wear and tear they are in a commanding position to not only win this match but also the series.
Pakistan were 114-1 at close with Azhar Ali (52), Sami Aslam out for 50 and Asad Shafiq on five and with a lead of 342 and two days to play it leaves the West Indies with an uphill task to save this match.
Both Azhar and Sami survived leg-before decisions off part-timer Kraig Brathwaite off umpire Michael Gough. This has been an embarrassing match for the two England umpires. Seven decisions overturned in the match so far — four off Michael Gough and three from Richard Illingworth.
If DRS is good for the players, it has made lives of umpires miserable. Gough was seen giving a sheepish smile after Sami took a review and television replays shows he had played the ball.
It was Yasir Shah who once again took full advantage of West Indies batsmen’s frailties against spin, taking 4-96 to bundle West Indies out for 224. Pakistan had gained a lead of 228 but Misbah did not enforce the follow-on, fifth time in 48 Tests as captain that he did not enforce the follow-on.
In fact the culture of enforcing follow-on is fast changing in modern day cricket. You have to go as back as 2002 to remember when Pakistan enforced follow-on. It was current chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq who was the last Pakistan captain to enforce it against New Zealand at Lahore in 2002.
It seemed West Indies had little interest of scoring runs as only 118 runs were added in the two sessions. Devendra Bishoo made 20, Roston Chase 22 and Jason Holder 31 not out.
West Indies have been abysmal in Tests as they have been conceding average first innings lead of 257 in the last six Tests. When they have batted second in their last 6 Tests the deficits have been 228, 222, 128, 323, 280 and 360.
With such a big lead its tough for them to save a Test and the suggestion that they should only play ODIs and Twenty20s seem justified.