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Butt
of jokes Pakistan’s
loss is Hampshire’s gain It’s time for a change! Squashed hopes Pakistan hockey flops
after showing promise Something special Butt of jokes In a television interview last week, Pakistan’s cricket chief claimed he is running the sport successfully! By Khalid Hussain “Alas, the worst remain in office in so many places, with Ijaz Butt running amok in Pakistan...” Thus wrote Peter Roebuck, the noted cricket writer and commentator, in an article that highlighted the plight of cricket around the globe. A vast majority in Pakistan and abroad agrees with Roebuck. With Ijaz Butt as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, the sport has really suffered huge setbacks. There isn’t much light at the end of the tunnel either as international teams continue to avoid Pakistan like the plague. Player bickering and the PCB’s double standards in dealing with it only compound the woes of Pakistan cricket. But ask Butt and he will tell you a completely different story. It seemed quite farcical when the 73-year-old PCB chief, who played eight Tests for Pakistan almost five decades ago, boasted in a lengthy television interview last Thursday that that he has worked hard to put Pakistan cricket back on track. The PCB chairman talked about how he has managed to replenish the Board’s coffers in spite of all odds. He talked about rogue players like Shahid Afridi and how he has managed to completely erased ‘player power’ from Pakistan cricket. In a nutshell, Butt managed to find flaws in everybody else but himself. But a comprehensive report prepared by a team of experts assigned with the task of saving Pakistan cricket should show Butt the mirror. In many ways, the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT) is barking up the right tree in its recommendations for sweeping changes in Pakistan cricket. Cricket or for that matter any other sport has seldom been run professionally in Pakistan. But Ijaz Butt and his team have taken incompetence to new heights during a three-year period which is precisely the reason why the PTT has recommended major changes in how cricket is being run in Pakistan. In what is a meticulous report spread over 38 pages, the PTT has even discussed issues such as selection of national teams and the standard of cricket balls used in domestic tournaments in this country. The report has surely fired a few blanks too but overall it aptly underlines a lot of reasons that dog Pakistan cricket. The chief villain is Butt himself. A lot of questions are being asked at international cricket forums about the ‘political’ appointments for the post of PCB chairman. In 2008, Ijaz Butt was handpicked by President Asif Zardari — PCB’s chief patron — for what is seen as the most prized job in Pakistan sports. It’s an open secret that Zardari didn’t pick Butt because of his credentials but because of his political connections. The PTT has also raised the issue of PCB chairman also holding the powers of Chief Executive Officer. “It is highly unusual that the President of the country is entitled to appoint both the Chairman of the PCB and over half of the Governing Board. It is also inconsistent with the demands of modern sports administration that the Chairman also holds the powers of the CEO. “The PTT believes there should be a wholesale (internal) review of the PCB’s governance structures, including its constitution. While recognising that changes may not happen overnight, the PTT believes that preserving the status quo will constrain the development of Pakistan cricket in the long-term and is not in keeping with international best practice in sports administration.” In its report, PTT has also questioned why Intikhab Alam, one of Butt’s closest aides, is serving as the national team manager, the chairman of the cricket committee, director game development as well as a member of the PCB governing board. It has also highlighted PCB’s reliance on Taffazul Rizvi, the Board’s lawyer. The criticism is certainly not off the mark as Rizvi certainly yields a lot of influence for a legal advisor. Intikhab and Rizvi have emerged as key players in the current PCB set-up which couldn’t have happened without Butt’s blessings. Butt, meanwhile, spoke about the disappointment of last year’s spot-fixing scandal. He talked about how the scandal that resulted in international bans for Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir still ‘hurts’ him. “It really hurt a lot when I learnt the details that they were responsible for spot-fixing. Although initially when we spoke to them they swore on oath they were not involved and were innocent,” Butt said in the interview with Geo Super. Butt made it sound as if the scandal just happened and that nobody could have prevented it. But facts will give you a different picture. It all happened under Butt’s watch even though the PCB had received prior warnings that the three players were flirting with disaster. But the Board did precious little as the trio continued to spend a lot of time with suspicious characters during the ill-fated tour of England in 2010 disaster finally struck. Butt should have been asked about why he claimed that England’s cricketers were involved in match-fixing and also if he was sure about that accusation then why he retracted those remarks. Speaking about his future as PCB chairman, Butt claimed how his other interests have been affected because of his responsibilities as the Board’s chief. “I have interest in cricket that is why I am working as the chairman of the PCB but it is also a fact that I have suffered a lot as I hold certain important assignments and they have been affected,” he said. One didn’t know whether to laugh or cry over that comment. Either Butt is actually naive or he has his head deeply buried in the sand. Khalidhraj@gmail.com Pakistan’s loss is Hampshire’s gain Shahid Afridi makes waves in England after being snubbed by the PCB By Qutub Mulla The flamboyant Shahid Afridi, who retired from international cricket in protest, has been in sizzling form since arriving in England; conjuring up three man-of-the-match performances in his first six games. His arrival was delayed due to a legally questionable stance of the PCB to restrain his cricketing career but the star allrounder eventually arrived in England having won his battle with the PCB by getting his NOC cleared, which he believed to be his right as a professional cricketer. Hampshire, who had stood by the all-rounder throughout his ordeal and showed exemplary patience were rewarded for their stance too as Afridi showed great form right away. The former Pakistan captain has over the years built a fearsome reputation as a bowler in limited overs cricket, especially the T20 format, and his form in England thus far has been a testament to that. He had a quiet start to the campaign in a losing cause against Essex in an away fixture, where he took a wicket for 23 runs and could not do much in restricting Essex from posting a formidable 162-7. Hampshire Royals in reply could only muster 136 all out. But since then, Afridi’s performances have taken Hampshire to the top of the table. In the very next game Afridi hit form as Hampshire Royals defeated Gloucestershire Gladiators by 16 runs (D/L method), courtesy of a five-wicket haul in which he took key middle order wickets of Gloucestershire captain and top scorer Kane Willaimson, Ian Cockbain and Chris Taylor. Afridi’s figures of 5-20 helped bowl out Gloucestershire for 107 in 16.4 overs, chasing a target of 124 from 17 overs after the game had been reduced due to rain. His performance overshadowed that of wily Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who had done well to restrain the Royals to 139 from 20 overs with two wickets. Hampshire captain Dominic Cork, in order to get maximum utility from Afridi, promoted him to open the innings in the very next game against Sussex Sharks. And the pinch-hitter did not disappoint as he top-scored with 29 runs of just 17 balls blasting two sixes as Royals posted a total of 126-8. It was a match that saw Afridi face former Pakistan teammates Rana Naved ul Hasan and Umar Gul who both picked two wickets to restrict the Royals to a competitive total. In reply, the Sharks were bowled out for a paltry score of 91, largely undone by Hampshire’s spin trio of Afridi, South Africa’s Pakistan-born leggie Imran Tahir and Danny Briggs. Afridi was again the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-10 ten off three overs. The trio bowled 11 key overs and collected 7 wickets for just 41 runs between them. In the next match against Kent Spitfires, Afridi faced off against two of his former teammates again in Wahab Riaz and Azhar Mehmood. The Royals gave the Spitfires a target of 141-6. Kent were all out for 72, with their top three batsmen getting out for a duck. The Hampshire bowling was led by ex-England all-rounders Dimitri Masheranhas, who took three wickets, and Cork. Against Middlesex in the next match, Afridi performed remarkably well with the ball for his third man-of-the-match performance in four games with figures of 3-16 as the Royals restricted them to 121 for 9 in their 20 overs. In reply, Hampshire achieved the target in 17 overs for the loss of just three wickets. In Afridi’s sixth match, Hampshire chose to bat first against Essex and set them a target of 152. Mascarenhas then picked up three wickets in his first twp overs as Hampshire won the rain-interrupted match comfortably by 9 runs. In six matches, Afridi has taken 14 wickets and is only one behind the leading wicket-taker Mascarenhas, who has taken 15 wickets in 12 games. It seems that most batsmen are playing Afridi as a traditional leg-spinner even though his stock delivery has largely been the one that comes in at the pace of almost a medium pacer and skids on to the batsmen. Hampshire, with their formidable performances, seem like the team to beat in the English T20 circuit. Their batting is solid considering the form of local boy Jimmy Adams and the presence of South African batsman Neil McKenzie and Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Ervine in the middle order. Their bowling though is probably one of the strongest given their spin trio. Afridi, in his first six matches, has shown remarkable mental strength and exceptional enthusiasm for a man who has just been put through a month-long ordeal where he was being discriminated by his own board. He was removed from captaincy after leading a demoralised Pakistan team with great valuor to the World Cup 2011 semifinal. He had his NOC to play cricket, his bread and butter, revoked unjustly by his home board to further wreck his career. In spite of going through all that, he has returned the game in prime form and his employers Hampshire are reaping in the benefits of his remarkable cricketing ability. It remains to be seen if he will come out of his retirement any time soon. The fact that remains though is that Afridi is Pakistan’s top limited overs player and his absence from international cricket is a loss for cricket itself. Qamulla@gmail.com It’s time for a change! By Umaid Wasim It seems to be a case of history repeating itself. Pakistan’s football team takes part in the first round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in every four years — only to lose it. It is more of a formality rather than a contest. For if the country doesn’t participate in the qualifers, the hefty amount of aid that its football federation, the PFF, is receiving from the World football governing body FIFA for the uplift of the game in the country would come to an end. Thrashed 14-1 over two legs by Lebanon during qualification for the 2002 edition in Korea-Japan, the Greenshirts lost 6-0 on aggregate to Kyrgyzstan trying to reach Germany in 2006 and lost 7-0 to Iraq four years later. This year, Pakistan got the best chance to reverse that trend when they were pitted against South Asian rivals Bangladesh in the first round of the qualifiers for World Cup 2014. A thumping 3-0 defeat in the first-leg at a rain-soaked Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka virtually ended Pakistan’s chances of progressing to the second round before their goalless draw in the second-leg at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore. To PFF’s credit, they had helped the country host its first major international sporting event since gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore two years ago. The Bangladeshis were forced to play in Pakistan after their request to relocate the match was turned down by FIFA. Sadly though, that is all that the PFF did. And it guarantees them, for four years at least, a good amount of grant from both FIFA and AFC, Asia’s football governing body. On the pitch though, the state of affairs remain the same. The margin of defeat in the qualifiers might have gone down but the team is still a disjointed unit without proper leadership on the pitch and without proper guidance off it. But, that is not all. Despite the lofty claims of the current PFF hierarchy that they have vastly improved the standard of Pakistan football, statistics tell otherwise. Pakistan have won just five games since the current PFF management took over in 2007. The reason for that: the shambolic state of football infrastructure in the country. The domestic league of a country is an identifier of how good its national team is. And the Pakistan Premier Football League, which is in its eighth edition, continues to be sub-standard competition. The league lasts for just four months; not even close to being called a ‘professional’ league which goes on for at least ten months. And when a majority of the national side is made up from players plying their trade in that league, performances too are dismal. Top international teams have players playing week in-week out for ten months that maintains their fitness levels. When called up by the national team for qualifiers for the continental competitions, Olympics or the World Cup during the course of the season, they join the camp a couple of days prior to the game unlike in Pakistan where the national team camp goes on for weeks. In his post-qualifier report, Pakistan coach Tariq Lutfi has recommended the PFF to call the country’s small pool of foreign-based players for the full duration of the training camp. And it is a ridiculous demand — that too from a man who has so far been unsuccessful in guiding the team to a single victory since taking over the coaching role from Akhtar Mohiuddin earlier this year. Had the coach had some kind of vision, he would’ve asked the PFF to extend the duration of the PPFL. His statements show his acumen of understanding the game or perhaps the lack of it. Next to the coach is the eccentric PFF secretary Col (retd) Ahmad Yar Lodhi. His mind-boggling statements that come from time to time show his limited knowledge of the game. The most recent of them were that the PFF does not get a positive response when they try to arrange foreign tours for the team. Foreign tours are more associated with the game of cricket rather than football. The fact of the matter is that even the lower-ranked Asian nations do not need to play Pakistan — even as practice. That is because their league structure keeps their players fit and ready for the small matter of the World Cup and continental qualifiers. The team does not need foreign tours for practice! All it requires is a solid domestic league in the country. And that is something that the current PFF management, unfortunately, fails to understand. While the PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat seems to be associated with both the AFC and FIFA, his decision-making, with regards to coaching changes, has cost Pakistan football dearly. Every now and then the PFF president speaks about the possibility of hiring a foreign coach to improve the standard of the national team. Unfortunately, though, a foreign coach cannot do any wonders with the team until and unless the domestic structure is improved. With the domestic structure that this PFF management has built here in the country, they can only attract B-grade coaches like Graham Roberts and Wolfgang Jerat. And when they fail to hire them even, they come up with a variety of excuses. Enough with the excuses, enough with making football in the country into a quagmire! The PFF now needs to have, in its management, people who have the technical knowledge of how the game works and what is needed for its uplift from the grassroots level. It needs a change of attitude, a change of principles and a change of ambition. And the time is now! umaid.wasim@gmail.com Squashed
hopes Back in the winter of 1993, the world’s top squash players assembled in Karachi for the World Team Championships at a brand new squash complex. In what turned out to be a memorable event for Pakistan, legends Jahangir Khan and Jansher joined hands for one last time to help the hosts achieve a remarkable title-winning triumph ahead of strong favourities Australia. Ironically, the 1993 event also signaled the start of Pakistan squash’s decline that continues unabated. The championship turned out to be Jahangir’s swan song. Even though Jansher continued to win individual titles on the international circuit for the next five years, he was never able to lead Pakistan to the title in the world team event because of the absence of any more quality players. This year, however, there are fears that Pakistan’s performance in the World Team Squash Championship will hit rock bottom. Pakistan have
overlooked two of their top players for the assignment that will take
them to Germany next month. Aamir Atlas Khan and Farhan Mehboob have
been ignored by the Pakistan Squash Pakistan No 1 Aamir Atlas Khan is ranked at No 28th while Farhan Mehboob is ranked at No 36 in the international circuit. Pakistan’s squad for the World Championships includes Yasir Butt, Waqar Mehboob, Nasir Iqbal and Hamzah Bokhari. Yasir will spearhead Pakistan in Germany as he is the top-ranked player in the team. Yasir is placed at No 105 in the world rankings with Waqar at 138, Nasir at 161 and Hamzah at 199. Because of their players’ low rankings, Pakistan will enter the World Championships as an unseeded team for the first time in the history of the prestigious event. The reason why the PSF
chose to overlook Aamir and Farhan — the only two Pakistanis left in
the top-50 world rankings — are far from convincing. Aamir has been disqualified from national as he was banned for six months after the youngster had a spat with Jansher Khan, now Pakistan’s national coach, in a television programme. The thing is that Aamir’s ban expires on July 15 while the deadline for submission of teams for the World Championships is July 25. That means that if the PSF wanted its top player to feature in the all-important event it could have delayed the trials. Farhan has been overlooked after he flopped at the national trials, losing to Yasir Butt. The Peshawar-based player claims that the PSF didnít give him sufficient time to recover as he was asked to appear in the trials soon after his return from Kuwait where he featured in an international tournament. “I was really
exhausted after playing in Kuwait,” Farhan told ‘The News on
Sunday’. “I was in no condition to play competitive squash after I
came back from there. However, the federation asked me to come and
compete in trials. I tried to convince them that I couldnít play but
they refused to listen. I played in the trials and lost to Yasir Butt.
Under normal circumstances the result would have been different.” It’s quite apparent that personal scores are being settled while the PSF is playing an active role in it. It’s an open secret that Jansher is not really fond of Aamir and Farhan, both of whom are his nephews. Aamir is the son of Jansher’s elder brother Atlas Khan. Jansher and Atlas do not get along well. Same is the story of Farhan, whose father Mehboob is Jansher’s brother-in-law. Mehboob once served as Jansher’s trainer. In those days, Mehboob was the former world champion’s closest aide. Not any more. A couple of years back, the two of them fell out with each other. Jansher, meanwhile, rejects the impression that he is victimizing Aamir and Farhan. “I’ve taken up the job as national coach to lift Pakistan squash and that can only be done by implementing strict discipline and through young blood,” he said. “With hard work and dedication we will regain our lost glory in squash,” he stressed. Whether he delivers on that promise remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: Pakistan will have to produce a miracle to finish among the top-eight in Germany. In the previous edition of World Championship, Pakistan prevailed over South Africa 2-1 in the play-off for fifth place — producing their best result since finishing as runners-up in 1995. Bilalsports86@yahoo.com Pakistan
hockey flops after showing promise Pakistan’s national hockey teams, both senior and junior, had international assignments recently. The juniors were in action at the under-18 junior Asia Cup in Singapore to defend their title. Pakistan had a very easy pool. They virtually toyed with the four opponents, slamming 53 goals without reply against minnows: Brunei, Taiwan, Kazakhstan and Singapore. However, Pakistan fell at the first real hurdle, losing to South Korea in the semifinal. Indeed, Korea are a major Asian hockey force but mainly at the senior level; their achievements at the junior level have never been very impressive. But team manager Rana Mujahid and secretary PHF Asif Bajwa described the performance as ‘satisfactory’. With teams like India, China and Japan not competing, there were practically only three contenders for the title: Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia; with others only making the numbers. The present set up of PHF takes great pride in having established 18 hockey academies for youngsters all over the country. It has been two-and-a-half year since these academies came into being. The squad included a couple of players from the academies. Another youngster Rizwan Jr was a member of the national senior team which reached the final of the Azlan Shah Cup last May. Rana Mujahid had himself stated that at least three players have the potential to be drafted in the senior squad right away. Considering all this, finishing third in Singapore was a huge disappointment. Pakistan’s senior
squad figured in two four-Nations tournaments, both in Europe but
against oppositions of completely different strengths. The first
assignment in Dublin pitted Pakistan against France, China and the
hosts, Ireland — all ranked outside top 15 in the world. The recent
show of the national team, especially in their last international outing
at Azlan Shah Cup, suggested the Greenshirts would not have much
difficulty against such an opposition. A shock awaited in the very first
match as France outplayed Pakistan 4-2. The Asian Games gold medalists
struggled to beat China 3-2 and Ireland 2-1, thus qualifying to meet the
hosts again in the final. Pakistan again had to fight hard and won by
the same margin (2-1). They faced a much bigger test in Amsterdam. Pakistan, ranked eighth in the world, were pitted against Germany, Holland and England ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. In their opening tie, against the European champions England, Pakistan were leading 2-1 with just one minute remaining but conceded a goal in the last seconds. Next they faced Germany and lost 1-2. Their opponents on the final day were the hosts Holland. The Dutch won by a big margin of 4-0 thus condemning Pakistan to the last place with just one point. Of the seven matches on the European tour, only the show against England and Germany in Amsterdam can be termed satisfactory. They struggled in all the four matches against minnows in Dublin and lost badly against Holland in Amsterdam. Some perennial problems were very much evident. A suitable replacement for Sohail Abbas is yet to be unearthed. The ageing drag flicker still finds it difficult to score against better opposition. The world record holder for the most international goals netted four goals in Ireland but only one in Holland. Forwards were also goal shy scoring just seven in as many matches. As has always been the case, the management has come out with bizarre statements. After the humiliation against France in the first match of the tour, weather was blamed, “coming from Pakistan’s summers we had to play in the cold of 6 degrees.” We are living in 2011. The management could not have been unaware of the conditions in Dublin and should have made the preparations accordingly. A single vest-like garment called ‘thermal’ is sufficient to protect the body from the cold. That was about 15 years ago. Technology must have even better protection to offer today. After the 0-4 defeat to Holland, Pakistan manager Khawaja Junaid said his team lost heart after the first goal. Pakistan were angered by the quickly taken sideline injection by Floris Evers that led to that initial goal in the 10th minute. It is not uncommon for a team to feel wronged by a goal given against them. This doesn’t mean that they become so upset as to lose their way completely; that too at the top international level. Junaid is generally regarded as a sensible person. His statement about the controversial first goal, “that was the time when it became difficult to implement our plan” is nonsensical. If a manager has no plan to bounce back after going down by one goal in only the 10th minute then he doesnít fit the bill. If Pakistan want to achieve respectable results at the 2012 Olympics and the 2013 Junior World Cup, officials like Bajwa, Junaid, Michel van den Heuvel and Mujahid have work cut out for them. And they should also refrain from flimsy excuses and ridiculous statements. ijaz62@hotmail.com
Something
special Special Athletes were hardly recognised by the government and media before their departure to Athens for the Special Olympics 2011 but their performances in the Greek capital have certainly changed their story. Even a certain bunch of people who had been looking after these athletes could not have imagined that their participants would bag an extraordinary tally of 57 medals at an event which featured 180 countries. It all started very
brightly for Pakistan, as swimmer Farah Vohra was chosen to lead the
Olympic torch at the opening ceremony from thousands of participants.
The heads of the Pakistan delegation could not have asked for better to
boost the morale in their camp. The momentum that was gained by Farah’s selection was transferred into a roller-coaster campaign by the rest of her friends, who went on to claim 17 gold, 27 silver and 13 bronze medals. Those who left as unknown commodities on their departure returned as national heroes as they received a rapturous welcome. ‘The News on Sunday’ had a chance to explore what it takes to groom people, who are largely thought of as liabilities. Ronak Lakhani, the delegation head of Pakistan at the games was asked how the athletes are brought up to a certain level where they can be inducted into the national team. “We have a certain programmes through which theses kids are brought up. The young ones under the age of seven are inducted in a young athletesí programme, where the foundations are laid for them to become athletes,” she said. “Our coaches look after them while they are supervised by international coaches like Simon Coe from Singapore, who was assigned to travel to Pakistan in order to look after young athletes programme on a short period. “When they grow older, competitions are held at school and college level, while their final selection is dependent on their performances at the National Games, which are held once or twice a year sometimes.” And Ronak believes that her lot of mentally-challenged athletes has brought a lot of joy to their parents. “It is not easy to get joy from mentally-challenged kids for parents but we try to groom them in such a manner that could provide their parents pleasure through their achievements on the circuit and I am sure the recent performance would have certainly made such parents proud of their kids,” she added. The Special Olympics is a global sporting event held every four years. Unlike the Paralympics, which showcases athletes with physical disabilities, the Special Olympics are held for athletes with intellectual disabilities ranging from moderate to severe. The Special Olympics programme, which according to Ronak in being run in 200 countries include 28 disciplines but Pakistan is currently following eight of them (athletics, cycling, football, basketball, aquatics, badminton, table tennis and bocce) and has done well to prepare the athletes for the games on offer. She revealed that until now coaches are working voluntarily and have never backed out from the duties they have taken. “Our coaches across the country are working voluntarily, which certainly deserves unlimited appreciation because it is not easy to spend your time for the betterment mentally challenged people without any financial support,” she said. Meanwhile, the
government which was largely indifferent towards special Olympians has
also finally changed its stance following the Athens event. Last Friday,
Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani honours the special Olympians and rewarded
the medal winners with cash prizes. The most successful athlete of the mega event was Adeel Ameer, who won gold in the 100m sprint, long jump, 100x4 race and relay race. Among the rest, who starred were Abdul Nasir and Zulfiqar Ali, who won gold medals in Bocce double game. Rahimullah won the silver in 1,500m race and Misbah Tariq in 200m sprint. And Ronak has pleaded to the private sector that it should come to the support of the athletes, while requesting the media to broadcast competitions of these athletes. “If these two things can happen then, it would be wonderful for the players because it would give them the added impetus. In addition they would get exposure which would result in better performances in the future,” she stressed. This is a perfect occasion for the public, the government and the media to appreciate the achievements of the special athletes. Out state heads should ensure that the best facilites are provided to them so that the organisers and the staff associated with the programme should not have to beg people in order to raise funds for improving infrastructure. It is high time that the government steps in and releases funds. Special Athletes are from us and we shouldn’t neglect them and instead we need to accept them as a precious gift from the creator of this universe. nabeel_h88@hotmail.com |
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Federation (PSF) as it has mostly picked rookie players to represent the
country in the World Championships. Neither of the Pakistan team players
is placed in the top-100 world rankings. It is a sad situation for
Pakistan, which used to have five to six of their players in the top-10
world rankings in the eighties and even early nineties.
