Misbah quick to move on from heavy defeat

After the celebration invariably comes the headache.

For Pakistan and their skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, the inevitable consequence of their 76-run defeat to arch-foes India will run deeper than a regulation defeat in the opening days of a six-week Cricket World Cup campaign.

So it was little surprise to hear Misbah consign his team’s encouraging bowling effort but stuttering run chase to the past within 15 minutes of the game ending, and the noise of celebrating Indian fans still wafting into the media conference room in the cavernous concrete bunker beneath Adelaide Oval.

"I think the game is gone now so we just have to concentrate on the next one," Misbah responded when asked to explain why Pakistan had fallen short and how it is that India maintains such a stranglehold over their neighbour in the ICC’s showpiece ODI tournament. 

"I don’t know (why India now lead the head-to-head battle six-nil).

"This is happening.

"You can’t do anything about that. 

"Today was a thoroughly professional performance from them."

Pakistan's next encounter will be against West Indies in Christchurch on Saturday while India face the prospect of another high intensity affair, this time against South Africa the MCG the following day.

For India’s victorious captain MS Dhoni, who until this evening was under mounting pressure to record a win on Australian soil and to rescue a World Cup defence that was apparently over before it had started, the problem is less urgent.

Any throbbing of the skull he felt in the wake of a performance he described aptly as being "a benchmark" was likely to be caused by the lingering noise from Adelaide’s heaving grandstands, and those euphoric fans who took their celebrations back to the team’s hotel foyer.

But there were issues on Dhoni’s mind when he was called on to explain why India’s surge towards an unreachable total of 340 or more was quelled in the final five overs when a now familiar middle-order collapse saw five wickets tumble for 27 runs.

Dhoni cited the shift in tactics away from the traditional 'death' bowling practice of block-hole yorkers to slow bouncers and short-of-a-length tactics as a change that will be significant as the tournament progresses.

"Most of the teams what they are doing is just bowling back of a length and asking the batsmen to clear the boundaries and irrespective of how good a batsman you are that’s one strategy that almost all of the team have deployed and it is working," he said.

"But in some games we will someone really middling their shots and if it goes outside the boundary then they will have to revert back to their other plans of bowling yorkers and everything.

"As far as the tournament is concerned so far that’s a strategy that has been working and most of the teams are falling for that.

"What we have seen is that it can be difficult to contain because of the pace of the wicket and also with that extra fielder inside, at times you don’t know really where to bowl in order to contain the batsman."

He's also not convinced, despite the first four matches of the tournament being comfortably won by the side that bats first and posts totals of 300 or above, that getting first use of Australian pitches is such a benefit.

"I’ve realised after playing a few games (in Australia) it’s not easy to play in the afternoon, especially with the new ball," he said.

"There’s variable pace to deal with initially and it does a bit off the seam but as the game progresses it gets better and better and in the second half there’s not too much of swing.

"I felt the pace gets slightly better, it comes on nicely, there’s a bit more bounce but actually the swing disappears to a lot of extent."

Misbah offered supporting comments, claiming the pitch that century-maker Virat Kohli had described as a little two-paced when interviewed during the innings break had become perfect for batting come the evening session.

And India’s 300 total was therefore achievable if only Pakistan had been able to fashion a few substantial partnerships, and not lost three wickets in the blink of an eye mid-innings.

"We felt they were going to score 340 or 350, but then we pulled them back and 300 was pretty much chaseable the kind of pitch that it was," Misbah said.

"The ball was really coming well on to the bat.

"But it was all about making partnerships and just finishing the game but we just lost wickets in a regular basis and we lost three wickets in six or seven balls.

"And that really hurt us.

"Still the confidence is not down after today.

"There were a lot of positives, with the bowling in the death overs especially the way we bowled.

"We really just need to improve a little bit on taking wickets in the middle overs and then we need to really bat well."

The problem for Pakistan, as their captain sees it, is they no longer have the quality allrounder of Imran Khan or Wasim Akram’s stature, or even the more contemporary models such as Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood.

And as Australia has discovered, as well as those teams to have run up against them of late, the balance those allrounders provide is invaluable in Australian conditions and given the new playing restrictions of 50-over cricket.

"With these restrictions in the field now we are not actually getting the balance right because you need a fifth bowler, so that's why sometimes you just have to sacrifice another batsman," Misbah said when asked if he would persist with veteran batsman Younus Khan in the role of opener.

"So let’s see in the coming games we just think about that."

And while Dhoni was reluctant to speculate on precisely why India has the wood on Pakistan in World Cup fixtures when Pakistan holds a decisive advantage in overall ODIs against their fierce rival, he did concur that team balance can be compromised without genuine allrounders.

Therefore, Pakistan is struggling by having to play three genuine seamers and two specialist spinners.

"I don’t want to get into it (India's dominance) because there will come a time when we will lose (to Pakistan), irrespective of whether it happens this World Cup, next World Cup or four World Cups down the line,” Dhoni said.

"It’s not something that will stay until the world (no longer) exists.

"They don’t have the kind of players that they had.

"I feel their strength was allrounders and now they don’t have that luxury of that, so they have to go in with a three-two combination.

"And if you don’t have a seam-up allrounder it actually affects the composition of the side."