India team's tour: Stiff challenge ahead
Though India and Pakistan are traditional cricketing rivals and the outcome is usually great cricket whenever the Asian giants clash either at home or in away series, yet India are better poised to dominate them
By Gul Nasreen
Though Pakistan played magnificently in the recently-concluded away series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi, which they won by 3-0 in style, and hence those at the helm of affairs are 'absolutely' right in eulogising the 'ultimate triumph' to the extent of calling it a 'back on track' activity, yet to independent observers it is not the one to prove a prologue to future triumphs as well.

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is part of a phrase attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and popularised in the United States by Mark Twain: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Disraeli (1804-81) was a British Conservative statesman and literary figure. He served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humourist, satirist, lecturer and writer.

The statement refers to the persuasive power of numbers, the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions.

How true this situation is regarding cricket, where statistical research and a host of figures and tables play such a persuasive role in developing the attitudes of people towards the sport. This can be judged by the fact when statistics are pushed into one's face to invoke a tilt towards a particular player and the same figures are used to run down the credentials of another player.

For at least a couple of centuries, cricket enthusiasts and administrators alike have dwelled on the power of statistics to further their respective causes. The first game of cricket ever played needed someone to keep score, though the initial procedure was said to be cutting notches on a long piece of wood to show the number of runs scored. When the system became more sophisticated and 'scorecards' were invented, facts and figures immediately became part and parcel of cricket.

On a personal front, I love dabbling in the world of cricket statistics, specially because they keep transporting me back into history and get an insight into what the sport was like in the olden days. Generally, they help me in being in touch with the past. But, sometimes I too succumb to the temptation of using the persuasive power of statistics to end a conversation or to start a brand new controversy.

Thus I am not in the least surprised when the national cricket selectors use the power of statistics to support the choice of a particular player but completely ignore another one saying things like "his performances were attained in matches of a lower standard and against opposition of a dubious strength". The credentials of certain other cricketers are, however, at most times not even taken into consideration.

I don't blame the selectors or the cricket administrators, because in the long run they may be correct in their assessments. What really surprises me is the process of 'public opinion' that gets unleashed as a result.

Ever since our television screens were bombarded with information from a host of private channels, their sports programmes falling over each other to score more rating points than the rest, a virtual Pandora's Box of half-truths and misleading information has been opened. 'Public opinion' goes overboard in upholding the cause of certain ignored players and doesn't rest easy until they are painted as 'martyrs' or the powers-that-be give them a chance or two to keep the tongues from wagging.

It was thus quite amusing for one to hear a statement from Pakistan's ace leg-break and googly specialist Abdul Qadir, soon after it was announced a little over a week ago that he was appointed as the new head of the national selection committee. The firebrand cricketer of the not very distant past had said:

"It's an honour for me to be selected for this important job. I see it as a challenge and want to introduce a 'justice-based' selection policy that gives a fair chance to each and every first-class cricketer, with a good enough showing in domestic events."

Qadir certainly didn't appear to have crashed head-on into his new assignment. When he says that a fair chance will be given to every first-class cricketer 'with a good enough showing in domestic events', he is treading softly on uncharted territory. His 'justice-based' selection policy statement also shows that he is being extra careful.

Qadir, who played 67 Tests taking 236 wickets, and 132 scalps from 104 One-day Internationals, said that once he takes over as chief selector he would bring a world of a change in the selection procedure.

"I've never liked the way (national) teams were selected in the past," he said. "There were always question marks on some selections. But I will have an open policy. We will select a total of 44 players from first-class and junior cricket and hold trial matches before selecting the team," he said.

Qadir made it clear that he doesn't like holding camps and said that the idea is to select 18 batsmen with three or four wicket-keepers, nine fast bowlers and nine spinners from first-class cricket on the basis of their performances.

Eight players from the Under-19 sector will also be picked and then the pool of players will compete in a series of trial matches. "That way we will also be able to prepare a solid second string," he said.

Qadir has always been a man with strong convictions but also a cricketer with uncompromising opinions. As a national selector, he will have to show the more flexible side of his character too. He is, I am sure, well aware of the fact that his team's performance will be scrutinised very minutely and, if there are a few bouquets coming their way, a lot of brickbats will be hurled at them too.

I have been a rather uncompromising advocate of first straightening out Pakistan's inter-district cricket system. For the last six seasons, since the district teams were introduced into our national domestic cricket, the 82 teams have been playing separately in the 11 regions according to their geographical location. I would suggest that the same 82 teams be divided into 11 'grades' instead according to a seeding system, with the promotion and relegation idea put to a meaningful use.

As proposed in an article in these pages last month, I had given the seedings of the various teams in the last six Inter-District Senior Championships according to their performances, with extra points awarded for winning their respective regional titles. Although the seedings brought up some unusual results, I believe that once teams start getting demoted and elevated, eventually the best would get together in the top group, which will be called Grade 1.

Just to give an example of a player who has been a little more well known than hundreds others on the inter-district circuit. Quetta's middle-order batsman Taimur Ali, who turned just 17 years old last June, has churned out runs as usual this season too as he has for the last years. But, realistically, his performances really don't mean a thing in the larger context of national selection.

Taimur has played under-19s cricket for Pakistan. In 2006-07 he made the tour of Australia with them and then went to England in 2007, giving quite a good account of himself. In October last year, he scored a hundred (110) on his first-class debut, for Quetta against Karachi Blues at the Bugti Stadium Quetta in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship.

Taimur should have remained a Pakistan under-19s regular. He couldn't. He has got into the Balochistan side for this season's Pentangular Cup but, although they played in the final of the competition, Taimur didn't make any playing eleven. Thus, his outstanding inter-district record didn't manage to throw him into the eyes of even his own regional selectors.

Taimur, who plays for Naseerabad in the Quetta region, scored 526 runs in four inter-district senior matches at an average of 87.66 with one hundred and five further half-centuries in a total of eight innings.

Does this kind of performance guarantee a player like Taimur an automatic entry into the selectors' good books? I doubt it. Perhaps, they wouldn't even notice him. Unfortunately, the selectors' stance would be justified.

Taimur made his runs against some of the weakest teams in the Inter-District Senior contest. He scored 40 and 53 against Sibi, 65 and 128 not out against Naushki, 97 not out and 71 against Pishin and 4 and 68 against Quetta in the Quetta Region final.

Quetta, surprisingly, stand on top of the seeding system that I have devised because, in a regional contest of very poor standard opposition, they have been champions on all six occasions in the past. Naseerabad only gets the 37th seeding in Grade 5 of my evaluation.

Here's how the other Quetta region teams are placed: Pishin 29th seed Grade 4, Sibi 42nd Grade 6, Turbat 45th Grade 6, Kalat 46th Grade 6, Killa Abdullah 49th Grade 7, Naushki 54th Grade 7 and Loralai 66th Grade 9.

Just to prove how misleading statistics can be, now let's take the example of one of Pakistan's most outstanding cricketers. Shahid Afridi has the highest strike-rate in all One-day International history with a current figure of 111.20, but his total of 5,517 runs in 268 ODIs has been made at an average of just 23.37.

His recent record is quite contrary to his reputation, to say the least. In calendar year 2008, Shahid has made only 278 runs in 19 ODIs but his strike-rate is still a very high 136.27 runs per 100 balls! Two of these innings, 43 not out and 85, were made against Zimbabwe in January early this year.

In his other 13 visits to the crease, he has scored a mere 150 runs with a highest of 28, but as he has made these runs off 125 deliveries he still maintains a strike-rate of 120.00. Of course, Shahid has managed to hold his Pakistan place as in these same ODIs, he has picked up 30 wickets at 28.36 apiece with his brisk leg-breaks.

In all twenty20 matches, international as well as domestic, Lahore's opening batsman Ashfaq Ahmed has a superior strike-rate as compared to Shahid Afridi's. Ashfaq, with 425 runs in 17 matches with a highest of 99 not out, has a figure of 162.21. Afridi is two rungs below Ashfaq in the ranking. In 39 matches, with 483 runs and a highest of 49, he has a strike-rate of 161.00.

But there's no way that a batsman like Ashfaq Ahmed would get the selectors' nod ahead of a tremendous crowd puller like Afridi. Which goes to prove that statistics are not the only yardstick in evaluating the status of a sportsman, especially a cricketer!

India's off-spinner Harbhajan Singh got a double landmark within a month's time when he completed 300 Test and 200 One-day International wickets.

On the second day of the fourth Test against Australia, when Harbhajan dismissed Australia skipper Ricky Ponting he became the third Indian after Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble and 22nd in the world to bag 300 Test wickets.

He is the fifth spinner -- Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble top the list of wicket-takers for all bowlers, and Lance Gibbs is the only other spinner in the list of 22 bowlers.

Harbhajan's 300th Test wicket was also his 200th at home. His average at home is 26.74, while his 100 wickets away have come at 39.69 apiece.

Last week once again Harbhajan came into the headlines when he removed Owais Shah during the third ODI against Englnd and became the sixth Indian and 30th in the world to take 200 wickets in One-day Internationals.

With a tally of 202 wickets in 180 matches, he is now behind Anil Kumble (337), Javagal Srinath (315), Ajit Agarkar (288), Kapil Dev (253) and Zaheer Khan (218) in the list of highest Indian ODI wicket-takers.

Harbhajan's inclusion in the Indian squad at the age of 18 in 1998 was a surprise for everyone, as he was not very well known outside Punjab.

Harbhajan Singh made his Test debut in March 1998 against Australia at Bangalore. In his first Test he failed to impress as his match figures were 2-136 and India lost the Test by eight wickets.

Just after one month he also made his One-day International debut against New Zealand in April 1998 at Sharjah in which he took one wicket for 32 runs.

Bowling with a high arm action with good bounce and great turn on good Test wickets, Harbhajan destroyed the Australian batting by taking 32 wickets in the three-Test series in 2001 and beating the previous record of left-arm spinner Bishen Singh Bedi's best wicket tally for an Indian in a Test series against Australia of 31 wickets in 1977-78.

Harbhajan has taken 202 wickets in 180 One-day Internationals for India. His wickets have come at an average of 32.90. His most dangerous delivery is called the 'doosra', which spins the other way. He has taken many wickets with this delivery.

His overseas average is nearly 40 per wicket outside India, while at home he averages just over 25. He can be occasionally explosive with the bat and has scored over 1300 Test runs including six fifties.

After the retirement of Anil Kumble, Harbhajan is the leading striking spinner in the Indian attack. Interestingly among his 300 Test wickets over 200 wickets have come in Tests where he has played along with Kumble. While Kumble averages 28.36 in those games, Harbhajan's wickets have come at 32.60 apiece.In the absence of Kumble, Harbhajan showed more responsibility as in 18 Tests without Kumble, Harbhajan's average improves to 26.81.

In Apil this year Harbhajan Singh faced a ban for five one-dayers after his alleged slap on the face of fast bowler Sreesanth during an IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Super Kings XI.

The BCCI took serious note of the incident and IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter. Modi forwarded the complaint to the match referee Farokh Engineer for more details. After an inquiry the Indian board banned Harbhajan for five One-day Internationals.

Harbhajan's relationship with the Australian team members specially skipper Rickey Ponting has never remained friendly.At one stage after the Test series he said that he hates to lose to Australia and that's why "all my best performances have come against them". His 73 wickets against Australia is his best against any team.

Thirty-two of those wickets came in the three Tests at home in 2001. Harbhajan Singh has also claimed that the Australia captain is not a complete batsman he he can get him out any time, "even if I come to play after a six-month gap".

The tussle between Harbhajan and the Australian team started since they first played against each other around ten years back.

Harbhajan has claimed Ponting's wicket 10 times in 12 Tests at an average of 22.3, compared to his career average of 58.8. No other bowler has been as successful, in terms of dismissals against Ponting

The Australians called Harbhajan as "Turbanotor", Harbhajan never liked this title though. "I don't know but I never liked it. My name is Harbhajan Singh and I want to be addressed as Harbhajan Singh," he said.

Pakistan cricket has had its share of ignominy and sporadic lights in between -- nothing has been constant. There is, it is said, a season for everything, and 2008 apart from three successive wins against the West Indies at Abu Dhabi and Ijaz Butt's coming home as the new Chairman of the PCB, there hasn't been any colours and optimism for a Pakistani cricket fan. It hasn't been regarding the losses or in-house defeats or the top tier teams refusing to tour Pakistan that makes this a time to forget, for there have been many of those in our history but the loss of hope.

The Pakistan team and PCB have achieved much in the last few years, culminating in absolute chaos with Dr Nasim Ashraf resigning and leaving behind remnants that Mr Butt at 70 needed to clean with a huge broom. Amidst hopelessness, suddenly a democratically elected President of Pakistan and Patron of the PCB His Excellency Asif Ali Zardari picked a seasoned and well-bronzed Ijaz Butt to lead Pakistan cricket into 2009 with a renewed spirit.

Butt didn't take much time to handpick top ex-players Saleem Altaf (COO), Javed Miandad (Director General PCB), Aamer Sohail (Director National Cricket Academy), Wasim Bari (Director HR & Administration), Yawar Saeed (manager Pakistan team), Intikhab Alam (coach Pakistan team), Abdul Qadir (chairman selectors seniors) and Mohammad Ilyas (chairman selectors juniors).

Pakistani fans, like never before, had reason to believe that Pakistan could evolve into the best team in the world. But the illusions lied shattered, like so much wood when people like Dr Nasim Ashraf and Shafqat Naghmi were leading cricket into 2006 and 2007. Where were we wrong? It was often when things fall apart they are truly seen for what they are. We need to identify the cracks in the edifice that are showing today and staring challengingly into the eyes of top ex-players now given the responsibility to pick not only our national game but the pride too.

There has been plentiful of rhetoric, talks of cricket's philosophy, development plans, divinity and a loaded hymn-sheet. We have had great leaders imbuing management teams at the PCB with their qualities, with different set of values and ethics. Some were assertive, abrasive, aggressive but sensitive to criticism, tempestuous men of passion and some portraying to be diligent, methodical, bureaucratic and professional, calm men of reason.

Nevertheless combined together they forged confusion and Pakistan's downward slide in cricket. One chairman left the NCA defunct and the other added surplus liabilities. Who was right? Pakistan cricket alternated between the two. There was no clarity. Consistency in thought and action was needed. A dog with two leashes being pulled in different directions was always an unhappy animal.

Two chairmen in succession were brilliant speakers. Pakistanis over react to cricket and amid all the hype around rhetorical chairmen, the team lost touch of reality and went in denial about its fault? Whether the players fell prey to this, their fans certainly did. Pakistan team has been inconsistent during this period, toggling between the sublime and the pedestrian. Money was squandered, losses incurred and Pakistanis kept on living in hope.

A foreign coach, manager, trainers, physiotherapists and experts couldn't make the national team a professional unit and rest of the country was also in a mess. A quest for sporting excellence can only succeed if it begins at the grass roots. Australia, with their academy and their excellent first-class structure, are a case in point.

In Pakistan, on the other hand, players have to make it to the top despite the system, and receive little quality coaching or physical training until they break through at the highest level. And players who are dropped from the national side often disappear from the reckoning, with no system in place to nurture them and help them rebuild their confidence. One can only wonder how much talent is lost by then.

The system is flawed because the men who ran it were not accountable. Pakistan cricket was run much like the public sector in the country, which attested to the failure of democracy. Bureaucrats and doctors were installed to run national cricket and were given enormous discretion, and their power was not accompanied by responsibility. There were reeks of incompetence. It was not merely Pakistani bureaucracy that was mirrored in the PCB, but also politics.

The men who held the positions in the PCB were the men who controlled, and pandered to, echelons of power. A scary indication of how far the things went and how horrible they became; Chairmen despite introducing new constitutions and formulating Board of Governors kept on meddling and their eccentricity determined a lot of decisions including the selectorial ones. Shoaib Malik was persisted with in a time when our cricket was at crossroads.

Ironically, Malik hardly merited a place in a Test team and his captaincy had been counter-productive and he was still the captain. That decision was certainly made on the basis of reducing player-power, and not cricket. Player power was seemingly curtailed but it bred politics within the dressing room and inside the hearts.

Barely a month in office, at times acting coy, Ijaz Butt has made as bold a statement as possible, parading at least four top ex-cricketers and naming quite a few others who will form the backbone of the PCB. It is as much a statement of intent as a challenge to his predecessors, who shadow-boxed during their tenures.

Butt seemingly has taken a clear stand, not wishing away. He is faced with a situation he must deal with, and swiftly. He must size up the pros and cons of his current hard line with one eye on the longer term, something people are not always adept at doing. Conventional wisdom says he will not shift from his stand yet this may be the time for some unconventional thinking.

Ijaz Butt must have seen that at stake is not just the future of fifteen Pakistan cricketers, though that is weighty enough; an entire domestic circuit is held hostage to incompetent planning -- the effects could be crippling.

Reforms that need to be introduced to lift and fine-tune country's domestic cricket should be Mr Butt's greatest challenge: Playing out his role as the custodian of Pakistan cricket and ignoring his natural instinct to be a hard-liner and slightly aggressive, he needs to be calm as he chalks out his long-term plans.

Prior to Butt's taking over the PCB it has been a monopolistic institution that has not modernised and has, till very recently focused its attentions on international cricket. Butt needs to keep in picture those who keep the wheels of Pakistan cricket moving -- the journeymen first-class players, the umpires, the scorers, the faceless people who perform thankless tasks so that, ever season, a Mohammad Yousuf or an Umar Gul comes along.

Grassroots is the originating point and it provides the player pathways. Aamer Sohail should play an integral role in getting the act together. He must realise that the mission of the National Cricket Academy should be to provide for the training and development of cricket resource and to foster quality programmes, facilities and services for diverse population of cricketers.

The NCA should demonstrate, unlike in the past, its commitment to excellence by utilising resources that promote ethical and healthy player development choices. The National Cricket Academy should be committed to be recognised not only country-wide but internationally as the leader in sports/players development programmes with higher technical education, dedicated to excellence in professional expertise, education, research and standards.

The NCA's commitment, creativity and strategic partnerships should be consistently demonstrated through outstanding programmes, facilities and services.

To explore the question 'what is cricket?' However one must dilate that play is not just prior to sport, but also to culture and civilisation. Play, in one aspect is characterised as not serious, not necessary (i.e. for survival), and separate from ordinary life. Modern cricket could be explained as an intersection between a non serious play and the very serious contests found among ancient Greeks. Cricket could be delineated as 'non-utilitarian contests which include an important measure of physical as well as intellectual skill'.

There is evidence at hand that the Ijaz Butt-run PCB will address the problems. It is, after all, a stated fact. Mr Butt has a plethora of challenges ahead since he has inherited a vacuum created by previous board's inability -- unwillingness, even-to see cricket in terms of a sport to be nurtured.

The cloud currently hovering over Pakistan cricket has a silver lining. It offers a chance to scrap the game as it exists in Pakistan today and start afresh. Change the way domestic cricket is treated, change the star system of the international team, change the way top teams of the world have refused to tour our country. Change the way the PCB runs the game, its vision both myopic and blinkered.

With Mr Butt and a handful of top class cricketers now given powerful jobs in the PCB some of it is going to happen. Yet there is one area where change, if not carried out, will actually impact their bottom line and that concerns the execution of plans, some realistic and some over-ambitious.

Now a variety of technocrats have been inducted in the system and the responsibility is now doubled; they could make it or break it. It's time for them to do the talking. If they fail, Pakistan cricket will be like shriveled wood. People like Ijaz Butt, Saleem Altaf, Aamer Sohail and Abdul Qadir have to stand up to the challenges; they could and they must.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that they have sold their television rights for one hundred and forty point five (140.5) million dollars as compared to just 42 million some five years ago for a similar period of five years. If this is the money the PCB stand to receive then they deserve our heartfelt congratulations.

It is even more creditable when we consider that these times are very much the same as when they were awarded to the same company some five years ago when India's visit was also under question. Thus in comparison to the present figure, the English might say to the Company, 'last time you got it for a steal'. Ehsan Mani who was also involved then was as pleased last time as he is thrilled on this occasion.

The lacuna that presents itself is the statement by the PCB Chairman which indicates that the production cost is included in this figure which the last time was quite rightly the problem of the rights buyer. This is most unusual as it is the rights buyer who sells the product to the broadcaster and guarantees the quality of the signal.

It would appear that the PCB is now going to be always tendering the production at each event and then having to guarantee this to the broadcaster. Television production is not usually the expertise of any cricket board and will reflect on the amount the rights buyer will pay the PCB. This system is normally followed when a rights owner sells the rights for a minimum guarantee and also has a demand on the amount above the minimum guarantee less of course the production cost and commission of the contractor and thus of critical interest to the seller.

When television rights are sold on a buy out basis, as on this occasion, it is best to be assured of getting the figure that is announced. One can always insist on quality production which effort appeared missing the last time.

The matter is more open to conjecture as another person in authority in the PCB is quoted as saying that "the PCB is earning almost double of what they contracted the last time" i.e. some 85 million dollars. The gap between the two figures of some 45 odd million Dollars is rather large and does bear clarification. One hopes that past experience has not once again been ignored.

The PCB has quite rightly appointed a number of high profile and experienced cricketers to critical tasks in the development of the game in Pakistan. All the appointees are household names and cannot be faulted. All top level players have great belief in themselves which quality allows them to rise to the top of the game. This quality does come with the price of individualism and does thus need cautious management if corporate wrangling is to be avoided.

It is hoped that precise job descriptions have been put into place to ensure minimum overlap and thus unnecessary friction. It is fortunate that the COO is himself a senior cricketer and a seasoned manager so that all the coordination will be done by an individual who is hopefully respected by all.

The PCB constitution continues to be under discussion. Past experience indicates that involvement of civilian and ministerial bureaucracy in sports has been less than successful. The standard and success reached in games that have such patronage are ample proof that this is best avoided. It would seem that the outgoing COO and the previous Chairman of the PCB have left this most unfortunate legacy.

It is imperative that the PCB extricates itself from this unfortunate position. One feels certain the Patron would certainly appreciate this sentiment. May one remind all concerned that the associations and institutions who elected their representatives and who went on to make the general body of the PCB had enough experience and know how to make any needed changes to bring the current document in line with the old system and also include any improvements that they consider necessary.

One has yet to hear from the many experts that existed in the last three successive managements of the PCB exactly what was wrong with the old constitution. It produced great results. If our Country can put its faith in democracy should this not also be brought back into Cricket and the PCB?

India team's tour: Stiff challenge ahead

Though Pakistan played magnificently in the recently-concluded away series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi, which they won by 3-0 in style, and hence those at the helm of affairs are 'absolutely' right in eulogising the 'ultimate triumph' to the extent of calling it a 'back on track' activity, yet to independent observers it is not the one to prove a prologue to future triumphs as well.

There is no denying the fact that a 'win is a win' after all and hence the team should get its fair share of appreciation for putting some sense into their game, but closely analysing their play, the win can more be attributed to the West Indies' inability to finish off the games rather than Pakistan's capability to notch wins from the jaws of ultimate defeats as it used to do in the past, particularly under the leadership of Imran Khan.

The fact is that the Caribbean players were not able to take anything away from Pakistan, rather they easily succumbed to pressure and yielded the way to advances from Pakistan players like the one made by Kamran Akmal, who made 17 runs in an over to fetch an otherwise difficult if not impossible win from the West Indians.

Similar was the case in the second match and in the third outing, the Windies turned to be completely 'down' with drooping spirits following their earlier defeats. The purpose to say is that Pakistan have pulled off unlikely victories and hence it may be by-chance as well.

Secondly, the Abu Dhabi ground has always been a good hunting ground for Pakistan, where they have not lost a single series either for years. So, psychologically, the venue too counts and influences upon the results of the game to a certain extent.

What matters the most is consistency in form and approach to the game in a number of events. Just one event is not enough to be made a touch-stone for determining the class of an 'inconsistent' outfit. That's why some sports critics have termed the Abu Dhabi win as 'flash in the pan', because in the past too, it has been noticed that the team played well in one event and then turned topsy-turvy in its approach to the game in its very next assignment, particularly when the next outing was against a tougher side.

A similar situation is once again facing the national cricket team, whose next assignment is against the 'in-form' India, who are already on a rampage and have outclassed the mighty Australians as well as Kevin Pietersen's men in almost all departments of the game in their recent outings. They have won back-to-back series.

The reality is that India are going great guns these days. They are upbeat and in high spirits following some great triumphs against Australia and then against England.

Though India and Pakistan are traditional cricketing rivals and the outcome is usually great cricket whenever the Asian giants clash either at home or in away series, yet India are better poised to dominate them.

Secondly, the win in Abu Dhabi does not make one feel elevated or optimistic as Pakistan have lost quite a good number of players, mostly to the Indian Cricket League, due to wrong policies by the predecessors of the current PCB bosses. The available lot of players needs a lot of hard work to fill the void, particularly created by the exit of players like prolific Mohammad Yousuf. Indiscipline has also deprived the team of some good cricketers like Mohammad Asif, who is talk of the town for his 'opium carrying' moves.

In this backdrop, we will have to wait and see and scrutinise and analyse things minutely. We definitely need some solid performances in the coming assignments from our 'fragile' outfit to make us believe that the team is back on track.

Currently, there are seemingly no adequate replacements for players like Mohammad Yousuf. To avoid such a situation in the future, Pakistan should have a strong 'A' team that will serve as a pipeline for the seniors to fill the void as the need arises.

And last but not the least, the coming series against India is also a litmus test for the abilities of the new bosses, selectors and team management and officials, as to what strategy they come forth to meet the many challenges confronting Pakistan cricket in the form of security concerns being spelled out by foreign teams and loss of some prolific players to the ICL as well.

In the long run, they will have to follow an arduous rebuilding procedure with an eye on the 2011 World Cup. For that they must ensure that there is consistency in their policies so that the past practices of sacrificing merit at the altar of personal whims and caprices can be done away with.

Intikhab Alam is a seasoned coach and his abilities in the past have helped Pakistan to its first and only World Cup glory way back in 1992. His ability as a coach also made difference for the nation in Abu Dhabi series with a visible change in team's approach to the game.

The new selectors chief Abdul Qadir is also sounding loud, talking merit all the time. Similarly, Javed Miandad, Director General, has got a second chance to give back to the nation. No one questions their integrity, abilities and sincerity. But the thing is that the circumstances rights now are challenging ones and to cope with them, they need to come up with extraordinary formula to let the game return to normalcy in the prevailing crisis-like situation.

All said and done, with security concerns still spelled out by foreign teams about visiting Pakistan and with the plenty of changes all around in the PCB combined with loss of players to the ICL, the air of uncertainly still grips the cricket atmosphere. So it remains to be seen how the game of cricket proceeds in this 'cricket-crazy' land.

Anyway, one can only hope for the best as cricket is the most popular game in Pakistan and any sad development on the game's front make millions depressed and deprived.