cricket
Shoaib Malik as captain: Is this the dawn of a new era?
Many believe that it is a step in the right direction. But with the 'seniors' factor in the team, things can go against Malik as well
By Muhammad
Shahbaz Zahid
The Pakistan cricket team along with its management will soon be entering a new phase. A new life will be brought into the squad after the World Cup disaster in the Caribbean. Pakistan went out of the World Cup in the first round after a series of pathetic results -- losing to the hosts West Indies and minnows Ireland in successive matches -- and later faced another shocker when their coach -- Bob Woolmer -- was pronounced dead.

Indian cricket well and truly destroyed by Chappell
How shameless Greg Chappell has proved by not making a single expression of remorse over the Indian failure
By Waris Ali
At last, Greg Chappell has succeeded in his mission; he insists he has done an excellent job as the Indian coach and the first-round ouster of the Indian cricket from the apex cricket event, the World Cup 2007 tournament, was caused by internal strife in the team.

Preparation of war is done in time of peace
The talent is there but the problem is that a talent has to be identified for which a dedicated and salaried selection committee is the need of the hour
By Muhammad Asif Khan
March 21, 2007: the world saw the burly Inzamam-ul-Haq for the last time in the ODI arena. The poor captain of the Pakistan cricket team was under immense pressure due the dismal show by the team in the 2007 World Cup, but did he really deserve all the heat?

cricket
Pakistan cricket appears to be in a complete shambles
One is worried about Younis Khan's hesitancy to take up the captaincy. It was coming to him naturally with Inzamam-ul-Haq quitting willfully. Inzamam actually made things easy for the PCB. They would have replaced him anywa
By Dr Nauman Niaz
So the soul searching starts again; Pakistan out of the World Cup at the first hurdle, and another high profile failure to deal with. It's hard to know which emotion bubbles first to the surface for the public... disappointment, anger, frustration, embarrassment, or sheer resignation. Perhaps it's a little of each. Who's to blame or what's to blame? One does not see why failure in a World Cup should mean changes, and want the Pakistan side judged on its ability alone.

West Indies cricket is unlikely to miss
Brian Lara!
Lara, they say, has never allowed the team to settle down, and worse, done his best to undermine any player who has crossed his path
By Sambit Bal
Saturday may have been the last time we watched Brian Lara in an international match. Anyone who has a feel for cricket will mourn his loss, for no batsman in the last 15 years has brought more joy to spectators. But paradoxically, West Indian cricket is unlikely to miss him.

The captaincy dilemma and afterwards
When you have one captain the players are also comfortable in both formats of the game, as they know their captain's style and thinking. It is not easy adjusting for players to playing under different captains in different forms of the game
By Gul Nasreen
It's heartening to note that our cricket Big Brothers have finally come out with a recipe for solving the so-called dilemma of captaincy in this critical phase of cricket when persisting uncertainty and despondency have become the order of the day in the post World Cup scenario in Pakistan cricket.

 



cricket

Shoaib Malik as captain:

Is this the dawn of a new era?

Many believe that it is a step in the right direction. But with the 'seniors' factor in the team, things can go against Malik as well

By Muhammad

Shahbaz Zahid

The Pakistan cricket team along with its management will soon be entering a new phase. A new life will be brought into the squad after the World Cup disaster in the Caribbean. Pakistan went out of the World Cup in the first round after a series of pathetic results -- losing to the hosts West Indies and minnows Ireland in successive matches -- and later faced another shocker when their coach -- Bob Woolmer -- was pronounced dead.

His death has been treated as a murder and the investigations are still being carried on in spite of the fact that it has been over a month now since the Pakistan team along with the cricketing world lost an inspiring member.

As few resolutions have been passed with a new revolution expected to occur, Team Pakistan is likely to get into the groove and would like to make up for their mistakes which they made in a space of last nine months. A new coach will be at the helm; so will be the captain. Besides that, a new three-member selection committee has been announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which has vowed to bring ground-breaking changes in the team.

The PCB announced this new committee a few days back (on 18th April) which replaced the previous one headed by former Test wicket-keeper Wasim Bari. This new committee comprises of veteran selector Salahuddin Mulla Ahmed (popularly known as Salahuddin Sallu), Shafqat Rana (also a previous member of the committee) and former Test left-arm pacer Saleem Jaffar.

This newly-appointed committee surely doesn't lack experience. Salahuddin, who has been appointed the chief selector, has been on the selection committee no less than 13 times before this latest tenure. He has also headed the committee before. Rana has been on three previous committee as well.

Coming back to the team itself, not many would know what the future holds for them. With Shoaib Malik being appointed as the new captain (confirmed on 19th April) of the national team, many believe that it is a step in the right direction. But with the 'seniors' factor in the team, things can go against Malik as well.

After vice-captain Younis Khan declined to accept the captaincy role which Inzamam-ul-Haq had given up following his retirement from One-day Internationals (ODIs), quite a few members of the national team showed up their interest to get themselves honoured in this time of crisis and help out the unit.

Mohammad Yousuf was considered as the leading candidate to fill in Inzamam's shoes but things haven't gone right his way this time around. Though he is a world-class batsman, no doubt about it, but his credentials to lead a team didn't look bright. He himself stepped up to take this job but nobody, I guess, took notice of his request.

Things haven't gone accordingly for Pakistan captains in the last decade or so. After Imran Khan's tenure as the captain -- which was one of the most successful eras of Pakistan cricket when they won the World Cup in 1992 -- none of the captains following Imran's footsteps have been able to reach the level which Team Pakistan used to on regular basis.

From Javed Miandad to Wasim Akram, from Rashid Latif to Moin Khan, from Waqar Younis to Inzamam-ul-Haq, many have tried to maintain the level of consistency in the team, with few succeeding to a extent, but there still is lack of posture and domination with in the squad and a huge path of differences between the captain and team players has been seen over the years.

With Shoaib Malik standing up tall and pencilled in to lead the national side for the upcoming tours (throughout 2007 most probably) what is in the store for the team? Will they be able to keep behind all the controversies and difficulties which they have suffered previously? Will this new generation of Pakistan cricket be able to live up to expectations? Will the senior players keep their egos down and contribute for the team under Malik's captaincy? Will this team ever turn into a powerful unit?

These questions will be answered in a couple of months time but there are a few factors which have to be kept in our minds.

In the 1979-80 season, Team Pakistan were hosted by their neighbours and cricketing rivals, India. One of the finest players Pakistan had ever produced, Asif Iqbal, was the captain of the side. Under his leadership, Pakistan lost the Test series embarrassingly to their archrivals. This brought up criticism from various circles against the skipper and made the team management opt for a new captain.

Mushtaq Mohammad was the most likely candidate to replace Asif then, after having himself led the team until 1978-79. When Australia toured Pakistan in the same season, there were strong speculations that Mushtaq would lead the side. But Nur Khan, the man in-charge of the Pakistan cricket administration, took a brave decision and announced Javed Miandad as the new skipper.

Miandad, just 22 years old, was the youngest in the national side. The team management were asked numerous questions by their critics and cricket followers for their decision to give the leadership role to such a young player who didn't had any sort of captaincy experience. But the team management had put their faith in Miandad's abilities and nothing was to make them change their decision. And Miandad, quite impressively, repaid them with his performances.

Under Miandad's captaincy, Pakistan won the first Test match here at the National Stadium in Karachi against the mighty Australians. This was the icing on the cake for Miandad who won his first Test match as a captain in front of his home crowd. Pakistan drew the remaining two matches of the three-match Test series -- at Faisalabad and Lahore -- giving Miandad his first series win as a debutant skipper. Miandad contributed with scores of 40, 21, 106* and 14 in the series.

This was the beginning of a new area for Pakistan cricket as Miandad, in the coming years, proved his worth again and again. Miandad scored 8832 runs in his 124-match Test career at a staggering average of 52.57. His one-day career wasn't bad either with 7381 runs scored from 233 matches at 41.70. He still holds the record of appearing in six consecutive World Cup tournaments.

Graeme Smith, the present South Africa captain, was appointed as the skipper when the team were bundled out of the home World Cup in 2003 under Shaun Pollock's captaincy. The team were in dire straits then. Cricket South Africa, likewise, took a brave decision to hand over the reigns of the team to Smith (just 22 years old at that time) who had the experience of playing on international level in just a few matches.

This move also paid dividend and in a space of few years, South Africa have once again, as they were in the early nineties, become a dominant force in world cricket. They recently held the No 1 spot in one-day rankings after overtaking Australia. This was the first time that a team had left Australia behind since the rankings were introduced. They haven't done badly in Test matches either. Currently, they are continuing their good run in the World Cup as well and with a semifinal spot secured, things only seem to go in a right direction for them.

All these examples show that one has got to take a few risks and keep his faith in one's abilities. Though Shoaib Malik hasn't had a outstanding career with disciplinary problems going against him -- when under his captaincy, his city team (Sialkot) lost a domestic T20 match with Malik admitting he had done this intentionally -- there are quite a few positives to look for.

He has been the mainstay of Pakistan cricket in the last few years. He is a multi talented player. He can bat up as well as down the order. His 3524 runs from 137 one-dayers at 33.56 show the true mark of his batting skills. He has played a number of match winning innings including his career-high 143 against India. His Test batting average is even better scoring at 37.64 from 29 innings. After Saqlain Mushtaq's ouster from the team, Pakistan desperately needed an off-spinner and along with Mohammad Hafeez in the team, Malik has done a good job. He has 104 ODI wickets to his name.

Although the new chief selector has declared that the national team would shed its share of bits-and-pieces players and would mostly be formed by specialised bowlers and batsmen, this goes against Malik who is a genuine all-rounder. But keeping intact the needs of international teams, and of Pakistan, these days, Malik, like always, has a role to play for his team.

Besides that, the team management, senior players, ex-players and cricketing circles need to put in their faith on his captaincy. As he has been given a chance, he might take some time to bring up the best from his team in this time of crisis. Things might take some time to get back on track and in order to do that; everybody will have to contribute for the team's betterment. Team's critics should realise the fact that players are themselves humans and they can commit mistakes as well.

It might not be the case that Malik would start his tenure in the same manner as Miandad did. He might take some time like Graeme Smith or even Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi -- the Nawab of Pataudi -- who was appointed the Indian team captain at the age of 21. He and his predecessor Nari Contractor lost the 1961-62 Test series as captains 0-5 against the West Indies. But the Indian selectors kept faith in the Nawab and he went on to captain the side for 37 more Test matches.

He led India in 40 of 46 Tests he played and won 12 of them. He still is arguably India's greatest captain ever. But in whatever way Malik starts his stint, one always hopes that this might be the dawn of a new era which would work wonders for Pakistan cricket.

 

The writer is a staff member at 'The News' Karachi

shehnu@gmail.com


Indian cricket well and truly destroyed by Chappell

How shameless Greg Chappell has proved by not making a single expression of remorse over the Indian failure

By Waris Ali

At last, Greg Chappell has succeeded in his mission; he insists he has done an excellent job as the Indian coach and the first-round ouster of the Indian cricket from the apex cricket event, the World Cup 2007 tournament, was caused by internal strife in the team.

In other words, he means to say that he had left no stone unturned in his mission of winning the world cup for India. And how irrefutable he considered his this claim can be understood from the fact that, despite a tragic debacle to the Indian cricket, he straightaway refused to resign and expected two years extension in his tenure.

But in our words, he has succeeded in his 'mission' of destroying the Indian cricket. Throughout his period as coach of the Indian team, the Indian cricket remained mired in turmoil, discontentment and suspicions.

Defeats and failures prevailed throughout his reign, as the Indian team lost badly on a number of occasions, and the performance graph kept falling persistently, but he remained adamant to any demand for giving better results. The result is that the Chappell-led Indian team is back to home, while the tournament is still in progress, and the pride-driven Australian Greg Chappell is also back to home.

When he had started the job, it was his first experience of coaching at international level, and when he had left the job, it must have proved his last experience of coaching at the world level.

While Greg Chappell is remembered as a batting great with 7110 runs at an average of 54 with 24 centuries, he will also be remembered for being a flop coach. Chappell, who played the last of his 87 Tests in 1984, also played 74 one-dayers, scoring 2,331 runs at 40.18.

But soon after assuming his charge as the coach, he started gaining individuality in negative terms. He had been a focus of criticism during the period, mostly because of his controversial comments, and inelastic attitude towards the situation.

In an interview to an Indian channel, Greg Chappell tried to stir a debate about Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action, saying there was "seriously something different about it" after the speedster struck Tendulkar and Kumble on the head during the Karachi Test.

Chappell, in a virtual attack on Shoaib, said he would not recommend anyone to follow his action, especially with the bouncer he calls his 'effort ball'.

"The ICC has some new software they are using to scrutinise actions and everyone who is playing at the highest level, including Shoaib and Muralitharan, should be checked," he said.

The comments attracted harsh criticism from almost all quarters and Chappell had to seek shelter into an apologetic attitude by clarifying that he had been taken out of context. The West Australian biomechanics expert Bruce Elliott, Pakistan Cricket Board, International Cricket Council, Pakistan cricket team and Shoaib Akhtar himself could not help criticising the narrow-minded approach of Chappell. Bruce Elliott, who carried out the testing of bowlers such as Akhtar and Muralitharan, said it was unnecessary to re-examine the Pakistani paceman and the Sri Lankan spinner.

"They have already been tested and cleared." PCB, however, confined his protest to writing a letter to the match referee Ranjan Madugalle to investigate Chappell's reported comments, and later resorted to closing the issue when Chappell clarified to the match referee that his comments about Shoaib had been taken out of context.

Expressing its displeasure over Chappell's comments about Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistan cricket camp said it was a reflection of the arrogant attitude prevailing among the Australians these days because of their top position in the world of cricket.

Shoaib reacted to the Indian coach's comments by saying he should respect the ICC decision on his bowling action. India's cricket board BCCI also issued a warning to coach Greg Chappell for his comments, this time, about former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

Chappell was quoted in The Guardian's online edition as saying that while Ganguly had helped him secure the coach's job, he had been clinging to the captaincy for financial reasons.

"We have asked him to confine his comments to the team and its performance. We expect there would be no repetition. We have sent him a letter saying that the comments were unwarranted," board secretary Niranjan Shah said, adding that BCCI will issue guidelines to Chappell.

Chappell, 58, was selected by a panel that included former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Srinivas Venkataraghvan as India's coach with special assignment of the country's campaign for 2007 World Cup. Australia's Tom Moody, India's Mohinder Amarnath and West Indies' Desmond Haynes were the other contestants.

Chappell hails from an illustrious cricket family with grandfather Vic Richardson and brothers Ian and Trevor as great cricketers. Chappell took over from India's first foreign coach New Zealander John Wright, who was preferred over Chappell seven years ago in 2000.

Chappell emerged as an iconoclast by taking a harsh decision Ganguly must not remain as captain because of his poor form, injury and spat with the new coach. This overthrow of India's most successful captain triggered a wave of protests from all quarters of society including former cricketers, politicians and film stars.

In various incidents, fans blocked roads and rail tracks at several places in Kolkata. Hundreds of people rallied behind Ganguly. Effigies of Greg Chappell and chief selector Kiran More were burnt and their pictures were garlanded with shoes.

In a similar fit of anger, the Dravid-led team was jeered off the field by fans of Ganguly after South Africa crushed the hosts by 10 wickets in the fourth one-dayer. A section of the 90,000-strong crowd taunted the Indian team after the match and raised slogans against Chappell and the selectors.

The whole spate of protests and demonstrations gave birth to another controversial incident, when Chappell was prompted to hurl an insulting gesture to fans who were taunting him for excluding Ganguly. He had pointed his middle finger towards the crowds outside the Eden Gardens before the fourth one-day match against South Africa. A team spokesman said he did not gesture at anybody, but Chappell insisted he had done nothing wrong.

According to one version of reports from Kolkata, Australian cricket coach Greg Chappell made an obscene gesture with his finger to the crowd when they booed him for not including former skipper Sourav Ganguly in the one-day team. The Indian coach, throughout a talk with The Telegraph, did not adopt an apologetic tone. He, instead, justified each of his gestures, bluntly refusing to go into the detail of their nature.

The fact is that Chappell is an Australian and has his own mental make-up; his comments about Shoaib and Ganguly were an expression of arrogance, his finger gesture must be insulting, and the decision to overthrow Ganguly was nonsensical, a fact that was proved by a welcoming return of the Indian captain.

The point that the coach is not wholly responsible for a defeat holds effect, but shifting whole of the responsibility on others is a show of sense of irresponsibility. How shameless Chappell proved by not making a single expression of remorse over the shameful failure of the team coached by him.

 

Preparation of war is done in time of peace

The talent is there but the problem is that a talent has to be identified for which a dedicated and salaried selection committee is the need of the hour

By Muhammad Asif Khan

March 21, 2007: the world saw the burly Inzamam-ul-Haq for the last time in the ODI arena. The poor captain of the Pakistan cricket team was under immense pressure due the dismal show by the team in the 2007 World Cup, but did he really deserve all the heat?

The defeat at the hands of Ireland was a shocker no doubt, but to me the loss to West Indies was the beginning of the end. Had Pakistan played to its potential the scenario could have been reverse. Was Inzi the only one responsible? The answer is a big "No".

Looking back at the match against the West Indies where Pakistan had to chase 242 which was not that difficult a target but as expected the opening pair did not provide us with the base that was required, then Younis Khan, the vice-captain, failed to take responsibility and played an unnecessary shot and the burden fell upon the shoulders of the captain, Inzamam and the highest Test runs getter in 2006, Muhammad Yousuf, both were playing steadily and the game was in Pakistan's control until Yousuf went crazy and threw his wicket away after getting settled at the crease with 37 runs, just to remind you all that it was not the first time Yousuf did so, he very seldom takes responsibly in crunch situations.

Anyway with the departure of Yousuf, the one man, Inzamam was encircled by the pressure to achieve the target. The asking rate was creeping all the time and Inzi was left with no other option but to attack and he eventually got out in his effort. Therefore, to me blaming him only, is totally unjust.

In the second match, again the openers failed and the middle order had to face the new ball on a challenging surface. The stiffness of the task reflected in the final score of the Pakistan team. Even after the minimal target of 132, Pakistani fast bowlers I believe bowled well, but they obviously had a slim chance. The surface with a lot of grass was blamed for Pakistan's defeat but the question arises that Why are we not capable of negotiating well with challenging surfaces? The answer is that we at home do not train our youngsters on such surfaces, therefore we should prepare different types of wickets at the domestic level to produce quality batsmen, because "Preparation of war is done in peace".

In both the matches the openers let us down. Along with the players the selection committee should share the blame for not picking the set opening pair for the all important event. Prior to the world cup at least 20 different opening pairs were tried and the selectors ended up with a completely new pair in the World Cup.

Imran Nazir, who had not played for years, was picked as an opener. Bringing him back during such a huge occasion so suddenly was unfair both to him and the team.

Now coming back to the great Inzamam who had called it a day right after the tragic defeat against Ireland, Keeping in view the tremendous agony of losing the coach as well as the pain of getting out of the World Cup which surely hurt Inzi a great deal, his decision seemed truthful but it is still a debatable issue.

Many believe that one should take retirement at his peak, but I disagree and would try to prove my point. Taking the case of Inzamam who has played 378 ODIs should stay at least for a year to give the morally devastated team a bit of support, moreover, with the amount of experience who could be better than Inzamam to guide a youngster, like Javed Miandad guided him.

Miandad, who could have left after the 1992 World Cup as he was at his peak then, but he stayed, many criticised him but I feel he was absolutely correct as his presence gave people like Inzamam the confidence and steadily Inzamam replaced Miandad. Therefore, Inzamam should take the leaf out of Miandad's book.

Whatever happened in the West Indies, we should not forget the services of Inzamam who is undoubtedly the best batsmen produced by Pakistan along with Miandad. He often is compared with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara but I think his Test record suggests that he is far better than the two gentlemen when it comes to winning matches.

It's time now for the big guns of the past to sit together and find a way out, they should together draft a policy to pull the national side out of a deep hole. They all are giving statements individually on TV channels and forwarding names for captain and vice-captain, which is indeed not helping the Pakistan cricket, whoever would be appointed captain and vice-captain, I am sure these stars of yesteryears would criticise it too.

Therefore they should come up like India did after their team's dismal performance in the World Cup. Instead of passing comments in the media former Indian captains sat together to iron out the issues confronting the Indian team.

 

cricket

Pakistan cricket appears to be in a complete shambles

One is worried about Younis Khan's hesitancy to take up the captaincy. It was coming to him naturally with Inzamam-ul-Haq quitting willfully. Inzamam actually made things easy for the PCB. They would have replaced him anyway

By Dr Nauman Niaz

So the soul searching starts again; Pakistan out of the World Cup at the first hurdle, and another high profile failure to deal with. It's hard to know which emotion bubbles first to the surface for the public... disappointment, anger, frustration, embarrassment, or sheer resignation. Perhaps it's a little of each. Who's to blame or what's to blame? One does not see why failure in a World Cup should mean changes, and want the Pakistan side judged on its ability alone.

One believes, talent is still around in Pakistan cricket, but that the side chosen for the World Cup did not reflect the bet we had. One agrees that the real reasons behind Pakistan's poor showing in the World Cup are also to be found in the way the game is structured. There is a piece of advice for Dr Nasim Ashraf. We need to revamp the cricket structure and not the team. What we need to do is keep that going. If we make wholesale or unnatural changes to the Pakistan set-up now then in next three years we will be having the same sort of discussion again.

One is worried, particularly about Younis Khan's hesitancy to take up the country's captaincy. It was coming to him naturally with Inzamam-ul-Haq quitting willfully. Inzamam actually made things easy for the PCB. They would have replaced him anyway. There was a lot against him. He had been condemned for diverting the youthful players towards religious preaching and congregations, for high-headed attitude, power-share and his inability to help bring sustained success.

His altercations with authority, his fragile relationship with Bob Woolmer who actually had begun to criticise the strong top of the Pakistan team and the clear cut division between the royalty and youth of the side also harmed his future prospects. Nevertheless, Pakistan's failure in the World Cup was enough to end his reign.

Days after the World Cup our vision came crumbling down; there were ex-cricketers saying that the team debacle required a thorough investigation and many issues were there to be addressed; the same old nut, mostly hard to crack. We were again ready to befool ourselves. One must be candid to express that instead of being driven by knee jerk reactions, it is time to learn lessons from the mistakes and to find ways moving forward. We must know, it is always hard to learn and rebuild in defeat. One can only develop during a period of success. Short-term policies, the exaggerated responses and emotional outbursts to an early World Cup exit are not going to solve our problems.

Inzamam's angered press conference won him sympathies of the masses however Knights have to be bold. He had to take the brunt; it's deeper than that. Abrasively and inarguably one must believe that blaming the individuals would not change Pakistan's current status. Casting aspersions and putting blame on this area, that area, this individual and that individual is not going to change the scene. We need to do a through exploration into all aspects of what has led to this happening and if we can do that we can move forward.

There is no doubt that there are lessons that need to be learnt, but one is not going to pick one particular aspect of it. There are many issues that need to be addressed.

Pakistan's embarrassing defeats to West Indies and Ireland saw them out of the World Cup's preliminary round. It is very disappointing, it is very sad for all of us and for those who were involved and it was a sad day obviously for people who support Pakistan cricket. One has no reason to acquit Inzamam-ul-Haq of the outcome but realistically one must acknowledge that he has been used as a fall guy for Pakistan's dismal performance at the World Cup; being the captain he had to take the responsibility though there were other heads those needed to be steam-rolled-how one could exonerate the previous cricket regime.

One needs to stand up, upfront and ask them about the absence of player-pathways, about why he couldn't create a cricket culture within and how Inzamam was made one too powerful. It's a shame that Inzamam, presumably one of the greatest Pakistan batsmen of all times had to leave like this. And regrettably, Bob Woolmer died mysteriously. He was one man, though compromised towards the end who tried to bring to Pakistan cricket a shift of emphasis from individual flair and brilliance. He made efforts to bring in team work, which top teams such as Australia are so good at.

It doesn't really matter whether Inzamam wanted to bat at number five or four, or he didn't take the responsibility up in the order. One has to believe that he had to go where his team thought, his coach thought where he needed to bat. One must view Pakistan cricket's recent chaos. It has been in turmoil since Younis Khan quit as captain couple of days before the start of ICC's Champions Trophy in October 2006. There were endless blame games and bad vibes which the Shaharyar-run PCB put under the blanket.

Since the World Cup debacle and Bob Woolmer's death has left Pakistan cricket fraternity with mixed feelings. The hard stats suggest that he was not successful as Pakistan's coach but the PCB and independent observers believe that he made significant contributions. Inzamam on the other end, though not made a scapegoat took the responsibility. He must have known, the daggers were already drawn against him and he had to go anyway. He managed to take the flak away from a very abysmal performance in the world cup by resigning and the focus somewhat shifted from other players who failed too.

We have failed in one aspect. World Cup 2007 should now be history. We need not to overhaul the team, but we must first solve the issue of leadership. There was always a clear cut indication that if Younis Khan declined to take over the captaincy relinquished by Inzamam, though his natural heir to the throne, the PCB would go for a youthful Shoaib Malik. One differs here with the administration. We don't have the cricket culture, the educated players, the more knowledgeable public and even the sports workers aren't well-equipped to imbibe radical changes. There are a plethora of examples such as New Zealand in the 1990s picked Lee Germon to captain their team. Germon made his Test debut as captain. Then, we have an example of Graeme Smith chosen to lead South Africa. Even Smith had his share of problems. He took lot of time to advance to the maturity to handle people like Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher. Shoaib's ascendancy to country's leadership may take us back into history. In the presence of Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan and a cluster of other stars, Air Marshal Nur Khan appointed Javed Miandad. Despite him being an outstanding batsman, he had to yield to the senior-player politics.

This time around, Shoaib Malik will be operating in an environment where the team has been on a losing spree, a team without the most dependable Inzamam-ul-Haq, a side with eccentrics such as Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. One must also not forget that Mohammad Yousuf, though benign and recessive has also shown his interest to captain Pakistan. He even went onto an extent of saying that being the team's most prolific scorer and also the senior most he was eligible to ascend to captaincy.

One must believe, Shoaib is a fantastic bloke, mature and sedate and also possesses the right temperament but captaincy may well be coming to him two years in advance. It will be a real test of character. Intelligent it would have been had Mohammad Yousuf been named the captain and Shoaib his apprentice until a natural shift would have seen the desired change in team's leadership.

And in case the PCB were convinced that it was time for the youthful legs to take control then they should let go people like Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar; here one means a complete overhaul. In this case, the results shouldn't be the gauge of assessing the process of rebuilding. Now, with all of them in, we may well be pushing Shoaib Malik in a deep hole.

Second bigger issue is finding a coach. One would indeed be at loss. When you get to a certain level the only adjustments you might need to make are very small ones, little things. Overall, you know what you can and can't do. And once you have been successful you should gain in confidence from knowing you can do it. Coaching aside, the Pakistan A team and Under-19 tours are a help, because they give young players international competition, but the way players are introduced to the senior game is a concern.

You have club cricket and dry cups of tea in this country, and in no other major cricketing nation in the world does a player get introduced into first-class cricket like that. So many of our talented youngsters are big fish in little pools and then suddenly, when they get into the international arena, they have to deal with failure at too early an age. One agrees with an early blooding of young talent but not before we have identified the player pathways. One sees no reason to protect youngsters, and by under-19 level they should be playing representative cricket, organised under the auspices of the National Cricket Academy, to learn how to win as much as how to play. And learning to win means much more than learning to win just one match. There has to be a consistency of performance over a long period of time.

The reason for our failures has been the fact that no one is accountable these days. What any team needs is one man who is accountable, working with the captain. Then you can have your back-up staff. Cricket is no different to football and rugby in that respect.

Last but most important, the game in Pakistan will not grow until cricket becomes the focal point. Ironically and incessantly appointments of the administrators, player-power, in-house politics, lack of systems, dearth of creativity, obliging friends and victimising people of the previous regimes often see cricket becoming a very small part in an overall view. It's not how we can imagine coming out of a subterranean pit, as Australia did in the mid 1980s.

Very recently it is that the PCB sacked eighty employees including at least three General Managers in their attempt to recreate opportunities for skilled and professional people to take a step towards corporate governance. The bottom-line is just sackings and recriminations won't get us anywhere.

 

The writer is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), official historian of Pakistan cricket, former assistant manager/cricket analyst of the Pakistan team, former media manager/cricket analyst of the PCB, ex-Manager Coordination of the ACC and former selector of the now defunct PCA

 

West Indies cricket is unlikely to miss

Brian Lara!

Lara, they say, has never allowed the team to settle down, and worse, done his best to undermine any player who has crossed his path

By Sambit Bal

Saturday may have been the last time we watched Brian Lara in an international match. Anyone who has a feel for cricket will mourn his loss, for no batsman in the last 15 years has brought more joy to spectators. But paradoxically, West Indian cricket is unlikely to miss him.

Lara's legacy will be deeply flawed as he has been the most mortal of geniuses. Any human, however talented, must be granted his indiscretions, and Lara has always been a complex character. His batting, a hostage to his moods, has touched extraordinary highs and inexplicable lows. But that's the essence of Lara and the peaks have been so rewarding that it's been easy to overlook the troughs.

To judge Lara's contribution to West Indian cricket, it is essential to separate his batting from his leadership. Lara the batsman is peerless, light years ahead of his compatriots who have struggled to match the deeds of their predecessors. Lara the leader has been diametrically opposite. Aloof and whimsical are the mild words used to describe him. The stronger ones are selfish, vindictive and unbecoming.

It is hardly a secret that Lara was foisted as captain by Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board and a fellow Trinidadian, after the infamous row between the board and the players over sponsorship in 2005. A majority of the then selection committee didn't want him and none of the members of the present one want him either.

But Gordon, in a move that will be familiar to most cricket fans in the subcontinent, imposed his will on them, and might want do so again. However, his hold on the board has been weakened following the World Cup debacle, and if the selectors have their way, Lara will not make the West Indian touring party for the trip to England in May. Not as captain, not even as player.

While it would be unfair to blame one person, however powerful, for the abjectness of an entire team, those in the know firmly believe that the rot begins right at the top. Lara, they say, has never allowed the team to settle down, and worse, done his best to undermine any player who has crossed his path.

Of course, barring occasional outbursts against the selectors, he has been a model of rectitude and decorum in public, always choosing the right words, and hitting the right notes. In his press conference before the game against Bangladesh at Kensington Oval on Thursday, he repeated his apology to cricket fans and talked about the disappointment of the Caribbean nations. "The need to show character" was a phrase that came up repeatedly.

Yet, Lara, who will retire from One-day Internationals after the tournament, stands accused of destroying the character of the team more than anyone else. On the field, he has been eccentric and unpredictable and some of his tactics have bordered on the bizarre. Some of his improvisations, like opening the bowling with Wavell Hinds and Dwayne Smith, have borne fruit, and he has been persuasive in arguing that he has used innovation as a surprise weapon due to the lack of too many real ones at his disposal. "I wouldn't have needed to experiment if I was leading Australia," he said during last year's Champions Trophy.

But some of the selections defied logic and cricket sense. For much of last year, Ian Bradshaw and Jerome Taylor were the team's best one-day bowlers. Bradshaw was outstanding with the new ball, often bowled his overs through and conceded about 40 runs. Taylor was beginning to master operating at the death, delivering at pace and firing in yorkers. Both have found themselves dropped repeatedly and Bradshaw has been used at first change and sometimes even at the death where he has been easy meat at his pace.

Lara picked the rookie Lendl Simmons as a batsman in the World Cup and put him at No. 8, and in the crucial, near knock-out match against New Zealand, he chose to hand a one-day debut to the 19-year-old Keiron Pollard while dropping Marlon Samuels, in whom he had expressed faith only a few weeks earlier.

Off the field, he has set a poor example to his team-mates when it comes to behaviour and personal work ethic. Genius must receive an allowance, and tales of Garry Sobers turning up at a match after a night of revelry abound in these parts. But Sobers played in a different era and he was captain for only a short part of his career. Lara has led a bunch of impressionable and far less talented individuals much prone to the risk of being led astray.

And he has been severe on the players who he has come to dislike. Ramnaresh Sarwan, a captaincy candidate who has a far better record in both forms of the game than most current players, had the mortification of being dropped on the tour of Pakistan and others have had their batting positions shuffled. Some are believed to be dead against him, while many others live in fear. It is not only a team lacking faith in its own ability, but lacking faith in their leader.

The cricket world will be poorer for Lara's departure, but for West Indian cricket it could be the way forward. It's a tragedy. Lara ought to be remembered as one of the most special batsmen in the history of the game and not a captain whose whims and sullenness destabilised an already feeble team. -- Sambit Bal is editor of Cricinfo

 

The captaincy dilemma and afterwards

When you have one captain the players are also comfortable in both formats of the game, as they know their captain's style and thinking. It is not easy adjusting for players to playing under different captains in different forms of the game

By Gul Nasreen

It's heartening to note that our cricket Big Brothers have finally come out with a recipe for solving the so-called dilemma of captaincy in this critical phase of cricket when persisting uncertainty and despondency have become the order of the day in the post World Cup scenario in Pakistan cricket.

The nation was in shock after the team's first round exit from the ongoing World Cup 2007 and the 'unexplained' death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. As such, it was ironical rather painful that the cricket bosses as also some senior players made captaincy an issue. Indeed, the captaincy fuss was the latest example of how a routine affair has been transformed into a dilemma.

There needed to be a quick decision on the captaincy to help restore confidence to a team, which was still suffering from the double shock (Bob Woolmer's murder and their first round World Cup elimination). Anyhow, now that the PCB has appointed all-rounder Shoaib Malik as captain of the national cricket team is a sort of temporary relief to the grief stricken cricket circles and Pakistan fans to certain extent.

All-rounder Shoaib Malik has become the new captain in succession to his 'all powerful' predecessor Inzamam-ul-Haq. Malik, 25, has played in 18 Tests and 137 One-day Internationals (ODIs).

It is also heartening to note that Malik is named captain for both Test and one-day squads for practical reasons. Cricket analysts were not in favour of having separate captains for Pakistan's Test and one-day sides as other countries had experimented in the past but failed.

When you have one captain the players are also comfortable in both formats of the game, as they know their captain's style and thinking. It is not easy adjusting for players to playing under different captains in different forms of the game. So it's again a welcome step to maintain same captain for the both genres of cricket at least till the end of 2007.

Moreover Malik has been appointed till the end of 2007 with his first assignment not until the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Cup in September. This would help contain the trend of Players Power in the team, as the system of 'checks and balances' will be in vogue.

Pakistan's former captain cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup triumph in 1992, and Intikhab Alam had earlier said that it would be tantamount to taking a risk to choose Malik as captain because of his age.

However former PCB chief Tauqir Zia had backed him saying, "It appears to be a good choice. He is not very new, he has been playing for quite some time," he told a private television channel. Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia had also termed Shoaib as a best choice in case the Board opts for long term policy in cricket.

However, independent observers are of the view that the Board should have opted for a short-term policy and must have chosen Mohammad Yousuf to take the team out of the chaos. Once things were set right and the youngsters like Shoaib Malik groomed, a change in captaincy should have introduced at right time.

Star batsman Yousuf has experience of successful captainship was a good choice but he was ignored despite his willingness to lead the national side and do justice with the job.

Yousuf was a worthy candidate as has captained Pakistan in three Tests, winning one against South Africa at Lahore and losing the other two to Australia in 2004-05 at Melbourne and Sydney.

Until Younis Khan took over as vice-captain, Yousuf had held the post since the 2003 World Cup. He is the senior player now and has previous leadership experience.

Yousuf has appeared in 75 Tests with 6,553 runs and scored 7,908 runs in 236 One-day Internationals. He has never been greedy and he has always wanted to serve his country, whether as captain or as an ordinary player, that's enough honour for him. Yousuf is also one of the Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 2006.

It may be mentioned here that Jamaica police will reveal the facts concerning Bob's death after the World Cup is over, as they do not want to sabotage the World Cup matches with the findings into Bob's killings. It means that uncertainty, despair and despondency will continue to grip the national cricket for quite some time.

The Board, the captain and the players should now immediately concentrate on a plan to carry out the cricket affairs for a while and put some meaning into the transitional yet critical phase to steer the nation out of the situation.

The Board wants to stick to its policy of introducing a strong system of check and balance within the team both off and off the field. It wants to put in place a new code for players and the captain and to introduce new strategy, which might envisage strong checks and balances on the captain to curtail his role in selecting players and dictating terms to the coach and the management, as has been the practice in the past.

Now, all this needs a thorough planning and long term strategy, but the situation persisting right now needs short-term plan at hand.

Ideally, a good step would have been to appoint an experienced player for a short term and allow him to groom a youngster for the role. But the attitude problems of Younis Khan and his run after 'power' seem to have denied the team an experienced captain. As also the PCB move to ignore Yousuf for the slot has led to pursuing of long term plan.

As far as Younis Khan is concerned, he was deputy to former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq for nearly two years, but he was demanding full powers like his powerful predecessor, a condition unacceptable to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). But had the Khan ever wondered that power is not the key to success.

After all his 'all-powerful' predecessor Inzamam turned the tables on the nation when his team made a first round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean. One wonders why our players are after power. Performance should be their goal. Younis Khan's refusal to accept curbs is a practical example of the players' power that has gnawed at the roots of our cricket.

Not only the PCB but also the cricket loving Pakistanis would want to contain rather eliminate "player power", which it believes has been responsible for the poor showing of the national team in big tournaments.

Younis was offered the top slot only on the basis of seniority otherwise he definitely lacked leadership qualities. It may be mentioned here that Younis Khan was appointed as Pakistan captain for the Champions Trophy in India in October last when Inzamam was banned for bringing the game into disrepute during the Oval Test ball-tampering controversy last year.

Younis had initially refused the role at the time, saying he did not want to be a "dummy captain", apparently over differences with some of the senior players and over some selections. During the Champions Trophy Pakistan did not fare well. Rather their performance was a pathetic one. Thanks to the lack of spark in the leadership qualities of the then captain-Younis Khan.

As far as Younis Khan's refusal to lead the national side is concerned, his behavior is beyond apprehension. The matter of the fact is that if he didn't want to be captain he should not have accepted the vice-captaincy for the last two years. One wonders why this uncalled for reaction from a senior player, who instead of knitting the team into a unit, opted for causing fractions in the team in the name of gaining power. It sounded a bit selfish.

This episode is a reflection on the sort of discipline prevailing in our cricket set-up. It is disappointing that someone should turn down the honour of being asked to captain a national team. It is not a good sign for Pakistan cricket. What he did is wrong and no one would appreciate such a move from a player of his caliber.

Anyway now that Shoaib Malik has become the new captain, Younis Khan should not be named his deputy As we know that the Board has opted for a younger person to lead the side as according to the PCB chief, "he is a unanimous choice. He is the best man to lead the team", his deputy should also be a younger cricketer.

It is also apprehended that some aspirants for the captainship would create hurdles for Shoaib but one would advise the seniors to rather concentrate on their game and 'sparkle with pillows and shine with leather'. The cricket is passing through a critical phase and they all should back Shoaib in the larger interest of the game.

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