Inzamam has 8813 runs at a staggering average of 50.07 after playing 119 Tests and is just nineteen runs short of Miandad's tally of 8832

Former captain of the national side and Pakistan batting maestro Inzamam-ul-Haq is all set to say goodbye from international cricket, finally, when he plays in his last Test match, at home, against South Africa from Tuesday.

Inzamam, who has been a prominent figure for Pakistan, both internationally and locally, has been surrounded by controversies for quite a while now.

From the 1992 winning performances in Australia, when he emerged as a superstar, to failures in the proceeding World Cups; from The Oval Test incident in 2006, which doesn't seem to die down, to the Caribbean disaster this year and other events, Inzamam has seen many ups and downs in his glorified yet stained career.

The burly looking 37-year-old, who surely lacks match-fitness, has finally been given one last chance, which some would say is an opportunity for him to break Javed Miandad's Test record for most number of runs for the country.

Inzamam has 8813 runs at a staggering average of 50.07 after playing 119 Tests and is just nineteen runs short of Miandad's tally of 8832.

And his selection for the Lahore Test, the last of the two-match series against the Proteas, would face huge criticism from cricketing circles after what has happened in the past.

After Pakistan flopped severely in the 2007 edition of the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies, Inzamam was targeted for all the criticism and the burden of team's lame defeat to Ireland, which resulted in their ouster from the tournament, came on his shoulders.

A committee was created by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to inquire into the matter, which in result 'almost' proved that Inzamam was the villain behind the team's poor performances and he was to be blamed 'totally'.

Though many would agree to that, including me, that Inzamam had a fair enough say in team matters and he didn't like anyone's involvement and liked to deal with all the matters himself. He, sometimes, treated his teammates very harshly and only supported players who backed his so-called lobby.

Consequences had to be very severe after that for Inzamam. And eyeing that, he took few steps which if he wouldn't have taken, might have been implemented by the national cricket authorities themselves.

Inzamam said farewell to One-day International (ODI) cricket after returning from the Caribbean, which created a vacancy for a new ODI captain, and in the process also resigned from his Test skipper role. Inzamam's celebrated ODI career, in which he scored a massive 11739 runs at a healthy average of 39.52 came to an end after a journey of 378 ODIs. He is the highest runscorer for Pakistan in limited-overs cricket and only second in international standings behind India's batting living legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Inzamam, who according to some of his critics, wants to earn more and more even at the twilight of his career and is a very money-hungry person. Phew! If that was to be proved true, Inzamam did it.

First, he should have said goodbye to Test cricket as well but he didn't. He must've thought if he will do so, he'll lose the PCB contract and hence the money. Though he wasn't awarded the central contract back in July, he still insisted he wanted to play Test cricket. The hunger kept going on and on after being so embarrassed.

Secondly, though he said he did so to keep himself fit and in rhythm, he joined county cricket and played for Yorkshire for a few matches. If he wanted to keep himself physically fit, why didn't he opt to stay in Pakistan and do the same? If the readers have good knowledge about county cricket, they surely must know how much counties pay to foreign stars.

Thirdly, Inzamam stunned the whole cricketing world by joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL). Wahoo! The ICL, a Twenty20 tournament, offered big money to Inzamam and although he had retired from the one-day game and wanted to concentrate on Test cricket, he joined the league, which is sponsored by an Indian TV group.

When a player like Inzamam, who is considered the poorest runner among the wickets around the globe and is surely not a very good fielder, wants to play T20 cricket there can be only one reason behind that: To earn more!

What Inzamam surely would have in his mind at the time of joining ICL that his Test career would surely come to an end totally because the PCB had said: "We would impose life bans on players who join ICL".

There are two things for which the PCB has got to be criticised now.

First, Inzamam didn't listen to them and went on to sign up with the league. Now if PCB were to keep their word, they surely wouldn't have allowed Inzamam to play in Lahore Test. Where did their threat go? In vain! It has been said that the PCB chief has given a nod to select Inzamam for the final Test. What a u-turn that is.

Secondly, the PCB had also made it clear that Inzamam will have to prove his form and fitness if he wanted to resume his Test career.

They had said that Inzamam will have to pass a fitness test before being considered for selection. But this criterion for selection has also been ignored as Inzamam will be inducted in the playing line-up without undergoing any such formality. This is what you call total monopoly of the authorities. They say whatever they want, they do whatever they like. Good going.

And when a board official, on condition of anonymity, was asked by 'The News' cricket correspondent Khalid Hussain that how will the PCB chief justify his decision to select Inzamam after taking a u-turn, the official said: "There is a general feeling in the national cricket fraternity that the player (Inzamam) should get a chance to retire with a bang".

"Inzamam has served Pakistan cricket for over 15 years and proved to be a match-winner on several occasions. Most of us believe he deserves to play one last Test," he added.

The Lahore Test will be Inzamam's last. And to honour the occasion, a reception will be given to him where he will also be given a cash reward, a substantial one. This is what you call 'how to make more money'.

It has also come to the equation, according to the official that the PCB chief will have to find a way to justify his u-turn on the ICL issue. "The ICL issue is certainly a hitch in this case," he said.

By the time this article was filed, the only thing that came to my knowledge was you cannot trust the cricketing board and its policies. They say something and implement totally different policies. They are so threatened by players' calibres that they fail to take a decision on their own. One feels they lack the intelligence to do so and a will to improve things.

Inzamam's journey surely wouldn't end here. The umpire in the controversial Oval Test, Australia's Darrell Hair has filed a case against the International Cricket Council (ICC) for racial discrimination. And Inzamam is one of the people who have to appear in the hearing.

Though he hasn't appeared in one yet and has asked to be excused because he wants to play for Pakistan in Lahore and is concentrating on that at the moment, he will have to go there (in London) and take part in that hearing anyways. He might as well face some charges upon himself as well there. Who knows!

Since Pakistan joined the international cricket fraternity in 1952, there has been a long list of world-class players produce by them in well over fifty years. In the batting department Hanif Mohammad, Nazar Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf, etc. are the few names that received world recognition.

Fast bowlers also dominated the world of cricket most of the time. Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar rocked the world with their fiery bowling.

But there are very few in the spin department who got acknowledgement at the international level. Abdul Qadir (236 Test wickets) was the first Pakistani spinner who took over 200 Test wickets for Pakistan. Qadir got fame with his unique bowling style. He kept alive wrist-spin bowling in Pakistan.

Other prominent spinners after Abdul Qadir who played for Pakistan were Mushtaq Ahmed (185 wickets in 52 Tests) and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq (208 wickets in just 49 Tests). After Mushtaq and Saqlain, Danish Kaneria cemented his place in the Test side as the lone leg-spinner.

In the just concluded first Test against South Africa at Karachi, Pakistan leading leg-spinner Danish Kaneria completed his 200 Test wickets when he took a return catch from Ashwell Prince for 36. It was Danish's 47th Test match.

Danish Parabha Shanker Kaneria is the 53rd bowler in the world to take 200 or more wickets in Test cricket. Australia spin legend Shane Warne leads the list with 708 wickets in 145 Tests while Sri Lanka's master off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is just behind him with 700 wickets in only 113 matches.

Danish Kaneria, 26, has become only the sixth Pakistani bowler to achieve the feat. Before, him Wasim Akram (414) Waqar Younis (373), Imran Khan (362), Abdul Qadir (236) and Saqlain Mushtaq (208) were the leading Pakistani wicket-takers.

Danish Kaneria made his Test debut against England at Faisalabad in 2000 and dismissed Marcus Trescothick as his first wicket. His first match figures were 2-119, which was not encouraging. But only in his third Test, against Bangladesh at Multan he received the Man of the Match award with his match winning performance of 12-94. In the same match the present Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and left handed opener Taufeeq Umar made their debut.

In the next match also against Bangladesh at Dhaka Kaneria's match tally was 9-113.

In May 2002 against New Zealand at Lahore Kaneria took 5-110 in the second innings which was his first five wickets haul against any major team. In that Test former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq scored his first triple century (329) and Pakistan won convincingly by an innings and 324 runs.

Of his 47 Tests, Kaneria played 22 matches in Pakistan, 21 Tests abroad and 4 Tests on neutral venues. Mostly players perform better on their home grounds, but Kaneria's bowling performance remains almost similar at home and abroad. He has taken 99 wickets in Pakistan at an average of 29.98 while in away series he has taken 97 wickets with the average of 33.14.

No spinner can receive acknowledgement from the critics until he performs against India in India. Even master spinner Shane Warne, who has an overall career average of 25.41, against India has an average unbelievably of 47.18. Muralitharan too has a career average of 21.33 while against India his average has gone down to 32.47.

But Danish Kaneria has taken 31 wickets against India in eight matches at an average of 37.29 against his career average of over 32. He showed his skill against India in the 2005 three match drawn series in which he claimed 19 wickets. With his variety he regularly kept in trouble the Indian batsmen who are comfortable with playing against spinners better than any other side.

Kaneria is little bit expensive as compared to the other spinners. If we exclude his average (16.41) against Bangladesh, his career bowling average goes up to 36. The other important concern of his bowling is his strike rate: after removing his performance against Bangladesh (36.1), his strike rate is 66.1. Leading wicket-takers Muttiah Muralitharan (53.4) and Shane Warne (57.4) are much better then him. But among the Pakistani spinners Kaneria's strike rate is better than Abdul Qadir (72.5), Mushtaq Ahmed (67.7) and Saqlain Mushtaq (67.6).

Danish Kaneria is dejected for not being selected in One-day Internationals. He has called upon the selectors to give him a place in the one-day side. "I would love to be in the one-day team and I don't know why the selectors and captain don't have confidence in me. They should do because I've bowled well for my county Essex that has a high level in the one-day cricket. Leg-spinners play a vital role in any one-day team such as India who has been putting Piyush Chawla up against the England batting line-up. I would love to play but it depends on the management, the selectors and captain. They should have faith in me in all forms of cricket."

Danish Kaneria has turned down the chance to play in the Indian Cricket League (ICL). He said that he rejected the proposal given by the ICL officials, but his priority was to play for Pakistan and that money is not everything.

"There are three teams I want to play for -- firstly my country, then Essex and my department, Habib Bank. They are the three major teams who look after me so I try my level best to give my best to them," says an emotional Kaneria.

Danish Kaneria is the only second Pakistani player who belongs to the Hindu community. Before him wicket-keeper Anil Dalpat represented Pakistan at the international level.

The writer works in the art department at 'The News on Sunday' in Karachi

khurrams87@yahoo.com

Mat O R W BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 5wi 10wm

Overall 47 2236.2 6617 203 7-77 12-94 32.59 2.95 66.1 12 2

v Australia 5 211.2 804 19 7-188 8-204 42.31 3.80 66.7 2 0

v Bangladesh 5 204.4 558 34 7-77 12-94 16.41 2.72 36.1 3 1

v England 9 447.1 1264 28 4-52 6-99 45.14 2.82 95.8 0 0

v India 8 356.3 1156 31 6-150 7-173 37.29 3.24 69.0 2 0

v New Zealand 3 115 351 9 5-110 6-129 39.00 3.05 76.6 1 0

v South Africa 6 362.5 883 31 5-46 7-111 28.48 3.35 70.2 1 0

v Sri Lanka 4 216.3 595 23 7-118 10-190 25.86 2.74 56.4 1 1

v West Indies 7 322.2 1006 28 5-46 6-131 35.92 3.12 69.0 2 0

Home 22 1041 2969 99 7-118 12-94 29.98 2.85 63.0 6 2

Away 21 1064.2 3215 97 7-77 9-113 33.14 3.02 65.8 6 0

Neutral 4 131 433 7 3-128 3-128 61.85 3.30 112.2 0 0

Kamran Akmal understandably has been under a lot of stress because he has been the sole wicket-keeper, therefore the selection committee should be looking at another option in this regard

By Muhammad Asif Khan

The Pakistan Cricket Board awarded the Pakistan cricket team which finished as runner-up in the recently concluded Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, with hefty cash prizes amounting to approximately Rs 130 million. This move of the PCB is indeed commendable and the board's chief should be given due credit in this regard, but the chairman should have also considered the services of the selectors.

I myself attended the ceremony, where Pakistani cricketers were showered with cash rewards, however, the selectors were only praised, I did not see any cash award announced for them apart from the souvenirs presented to selectors Salahuddin Ahmad, Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffer.

The performance of the Pakistan team in South Africa was great but still there were a few shortcomings which should be taken into consideration to draft a better strategy for the future. During the matches in the Twenty20 cup, the opening combinations used remained vulnerable as expected, therefore this is one area of concern, as Pakistan have not had a formidable opening pair since the departure of Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail.

Why can't we just settle down, since the 2003 World Cup we have had more than 30 opening pairs, is this the way of getting settled, this question is on everyone's lips. We need to seriously do something in this regard. Apart from the top order another slot which needs due consideration is the all important slot of the wicket-keeper. Kamran Akmal's form behind the wickets has not been impressive and it is a concern. He understandably has been under a lot of stress because he has been a sole wicket-keeper, therefore the selection committee should be looking at another options in this regard. Is finding one good wicket-keeper a difficult task?

Another major event of the week was the commencement of the Test series between Pakistan and South Africa. Amazingly we are playing only a two-match series, this is so sad that our nation waits for a home series and gets only a minimal number of matches, the management should do something and try and persuade visiting teams to play more matches during their stay, it will help both the eager cricket followers in Pakistan as well as the board in earning something substantial out of it. One unprecedented occasion in Pakistan's test history was in 1982-83 when a six-match Test series was played against India at home.

You will be astonish to read, that since the 1982-83 India series we have had 33 home series including the ongoing one against South Africa, out of these 33 only one was a four-match series against India in 1989-90, while we played 24 series comprising three Test matches and eight series of two test matches only. Interestingly the situation was not so impressive even prior to the 1982-83 series, as since 1954-55 season we played 19 Test match series out of those, only the first one was of five Test matches, while one was of four matches, 14 were of three matches, and on couple of occasions we played only one Test match in a series.

The record clearly suggests that we only played five or more Test matches during a home series twice during the total span of Pakistan's Test cricket history, isn't it amazing? By increasing the number of matches in a series only the interests of both public and players will increase as they will always have a chance to bounce back.

Apart from the number, the second worry was the state of the Karachi wicket, it was as dead as it could be, and above all, in view of the state of the track I personally felt on the first day of the match that a seam bowler should have been included in the squad in place of a spinner as we already had Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez who can bowl off-spin, although Abdul Rehman took a few wickets but I still believe that Sohail Tanvir (if he was fit) should have been included.

I know Dr Nasim Ashraf through cricket contacts and like and admire him. He is obviously a brilliant well-educated and a high-profiled man, but his knowledge of cricket, like all of us, in the broadest sense is limited to theory though sporadically he turned out in first-class matches in the late 1960s. He has been a nephrologist of the highest merit, or a 'tabeeb' as his Director HR in the PCB puts it while mentioning other physicians on television.

Dr Nasim is an enterprising gentleman, and talks candidly and smoothly generally on a social level, he touches on a couple of things regarding cricket. Quite frequently, it seems he doesn't take notice of varied opinions. He was appointed Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in October 2006 and desired to lead a corporate enterprise without the benefit of experienced staff enjoying the facility of extensive market research, as such, most of the proposals in raising the standard puzzled and upset a lot of cricket supporters.

Dr Nasim has worked with flashes of brilliance though. Unlike his Chief Operating Officer, who has attended Berkeley University and had publicly threatened to ban the players defecting to the Indian Cricket League unintentionally widening the wedge between the affected cricketers and the board. However, the Chairman PCB shrewdly and suavely convinced Mohammad Yousuf to rejoin the Pakistan team.

It was a spectacular effort. Pakistan without Mohammad Yousuf, at the moment, seems a body without soul. Regrettably, despite stirring the environment and getting Yousuf back, the entire exercise came up full of contradictions.

It looks PCB's directors, not the entire lot, have made things so complicated they couldn't work them out. Inevitably, sense turned its back on the issue, too. Dr Nasim on the contrary handled Yousuf and his problems prudently. Whenever he talks his ideas are often referred as attractive and ingenious. I suspect in the initial part of his tenure the inner circle of influence anxious to be seen to say the right thing, failed to transform his ideas in the right perspective, more than often mistakes are being made. Yousaf was quoted on television saying that he wasn't aware of a clause in his contract with the ICL that could restrict his options of playing for Pakistan. He mentioned Chairman PCB pointing out this ambiguity in the clause to him. Hours later, it was revealed by the ICL management that Mohammad Yousuf was still with them.

Yousaf elaborated during a press briefing that 'I didn't know about the clause in the ICL contract that if both the league and Pakistan team matches are held at the same time I have to give preference to the league'. Surprisingly, Ashish Kaul told the local media 'the ICL will never stop him from playing for Pakistan. But that does not mean that he has revoked his contract with us'.

Now, it isn't about Dr Nasim not being clear about the whole issue, it clearly indicates the attitude of his high-salaried staff, who after having lost Yousuf due to their fault, now want to protect him. Then there was another contradiction.

Mohammad Yousuf at the last moment opted out of the first Test against South Africa at Karachi due to fitness reasons. Chairman PCB went to the newspapers saying that Yousuf would be back for the second Test at Lahore and he had missed the first game due to lack of match fitness. Now without playing any cricket in the next five to six days, how would Yousuf be able to acquire match-fitness by just being with Geoff Lawson and the trainers? It's simply bewildering.

On the contrary was fitness really the reason behind Yousuf moving out of the team? One hopes, there aren't other things in his mind and everything has been negotiated. And in case if fitness is the sole reason then we must vindicate the selectors for not picking Yousaf on the Pakistan team for the Twenty20 World Cup, though one wondered had he been there he would have definitely shown better finishing skills, unlike the buckling Misbah-ul-Haq.

When I first interviewed Dr Nasim on Pakistan Television it seemed that he wanted to rule with a rod of iron and dominated the scene. Now, the buck seems stopping with him, and everyone knows exactly where things stand. He definitely wants to promote cricket at all levels, from grassroots to the top. So far, with a large number of General Managers and Directors recruited in the PCB, they haven't been able to provide him the platform for success on the field, just as it should have been.

It surely owes much to muddled management, which has failed to come to terms with the requirements of modern competitive sports. Despite a huge number of directors none have talked about searching for real methods, no one grasped the nettle and introduced the necessary structure to run Pakistan cricket on really professional lines. A series of tentative steps over the last couple of months or so has indeed led nowhere, in fact reverting to the old impediments.

At least, now Dr Nasim Ashraf is thinking of doing something to solve the problems. Round and round in circles things are going but there is nothing else to say. Time has come he puts his cards on the table resolving biting issues such as Yousuf's revoking the ICL contract and Shoaib Akhtar's intractability. Instead of PCB directors creating a public stir, Dr Nasim needs to make an impact. He needs to be appreciated, wholeheartedly for standing by Shoaib Malik, appointing him captain in defiance of the basic norms, holding seniors in abeyance.

Shoaib has given Dr Nasim back the trust and there has been a huge success as a result of his behaviour, dexterity, self-example and youthful charm. Pakistan team has ruffled too many feathers for comfort. The team has done marvellously well; it's not the end, just a rousing flash, not even the beginning.

The self-appointed guardians of public morality may well continue to shriek their protests but Dr Nasim will be needed to put long term plans to practice. People like Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir haven't really been able to give solutions to Pakistan's chronic top order problems. Imran Farhat presumably was not treated excitingly and Shoaib Akhtar's has been an impasse. He is in a mess and the most worrying aspect of his ongoing decline is the fact that he hasn't been able to use his powers to change his attitude. He readily needs to acknowledge this basic thing. It's about him going off his rockers.

Unfortunately, he must be burying his head in the sand. Despite his reassurances, more out of the credibility part with endless incidents, it seems he has been going through 'rebuilding' and 're-development' cycles for a long time now; will that ever stop? Among Shoaib's grievances, one must also list the failure of the Pakistan Cricket Board to come to his defence, conveniently ignoring the fact that he had no defence.

Really, I am saddened by Shoaib's apparent inability to make the most of his talents, and I take no pleasure from his failures. I wish he had squared his shoulders, taken the criticism on the chin and gone out to prove people wrong, but he didn't, preferring to grumble.

His humour, his combativeness, his unashamed wish to have it his own way on the field of play, his maneuvers to accomplish this, his delight when he did, his complaints when he didn't, are the rubs and knots of an oak that has been sound through and through. Shoaib wanted to do what no one had ever done, wanted to develop to a degree of unprecedented and until then undreamed of, potentialities inherent in the game; he did lot of things undreamed of but only off the field. Presently, Shoaib is being condemned, the spontaneous, unqualified, disinterested enthusiasm and no goodwill of the community.

Twenty20 was a huge success for Pakistan until the last three balls. Nevertheless, it doesn't give us time for complacency. These days newspapers have traded the old-fashioned virtues of balanced reporting for a more gung-ho approach. They react to results rather than performances, so that victory for any of our national teams justifies ridiculous extremes of praise, while defeat provokes howls of hysterical outrage and sparks calls for heads to roll. Realistically, each reaction is as silly as the other. In the long run the means are more important than the end product.

Success for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup does not alter the fact that there are problems, and every professional team should be constantly seeking improvement. In the first Test against South Africa up till the close of play on the second day, Pakistan's performance was at best dismal. It's true, statistics do not tell the full story, they do not lie either. Pakistan did marvelously well in South Africa still there were gaps, up down and in the centre and need readdressing.

If the issues are not addressed conscientiously, we will never a major force in international cricket until we create circumstances which foster the development of exceptional talent. Personal considerations seem to determine the choices.

Despite his management team's failure, Dr Nasim has surely taken bold and periodic honest steps; there is hope that he may well be able to turn things around; it's not about absolute darkness. We have had sporadic bright lights! 'I always like to walk in the rain so that no one can see my tears', said Charlie Chaplin. Let's hide our tears eager for a glimpse of light.

Pakistan is addicted to disappointing the whole nation by losing in the semifinal or a final of mega events, a conclusion indisputable in the light of its cricket history in the last two decades. Twenty years ago, the Imran-led Pakistan cricket team, the hot favourite of the Reliance World Cup 1987, badly lost to Australia in the semifinal played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore when they failed to chase a moderate target of 268 runs. It was a heartrending defeat for the whole nation.

While in the 1992 World Cup in Australia, the Imran-led cricket team marvellously snatched the championship from the hosts, it was much more indebted to the vigorous captaincy of cricket legend Imran Khan. A prophecy expounded at that time by an ace cricket expert that Pakistan will (almost) never be able to repeat such an integrity in its performance during the mega events has proved true at least by this time.

In the next World Cup event in the year 1996, hosted for the first time by Pakistan, in collaboration with neighbouring India and Sri Lanka, Wasim Akram bluntly refused to play in a key match of the knock-out stage against India in Bangalore, leaving the team in the lurch and eventually making the defending champions' extremely disappointing exit from the tournament. The whole nation was seriously shocked.

In the 1999 World Cup tournament, everything was going so smooth for Pakistan, but the whole struggle went fruitless when Pakistan in the final were all out in 39 overs by giving Australia a meager 132-run target, which was achieved by Australia in just 21st over for the loss of two wickets only.

The story of the 2003 World Cup played in South Africa is even more heartrending; the national cricket team led by top fast bowler Waqar Younis, set a new example by 'managing' an early exit from the tournament, leaving once and for all the headache of playing and losing cricket and disappointing the nation.

Pakistan's failure to reach the Super-6 round was prompted by its defeats at the hands of Australia, England and India; the victories against minnows Namibia and Netherlands were meaningless.

In the next World Cup tournament held in 2007 on the Caribbean islands, the Pakistan team improved their 'record' of the first-round exit; four years ago they lost to equally experienced teams of Australia, England and India and managed to beat the minnows Namibia and Netherlands; but this time, after losing to West Indies, they lost to new minnows Ireland to complete their early-exit process. Shame on the team for such disgraced defeats.

This highly inconsistent cricket team in the world has proved so consistent in its nature of shockingly disappointing the nation; this is what they did in the Twenty20 World Championship final against the arch-rivals India. India scored 157 runs for the loss of five wickets only, a target which all the Pakistani team could not achieve as the ten players failed to play all the 20 overs.

While the Indian total depended on the 75-run knock by Ghambir, none of the Pakistani players could score a fifty. While the 63-run partnership in the Indian innings speaks of stable batting by Indian players, the highest partnership in the Pakistani innings was confined to 34 runs only.

While Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi were the batting specialists and expected to lead the innings, they shocked the nation by returning to the pavilion by scoring only 10 runs collectively. The Pakistani innings shamefully comprised three ducks and two single figure individual innings.

The team's performance in the whole tournament had strong indication of its highly instable batting in the final; the unimpressive victories against Scotland and Bangladesh are major examples, while a simple analysis exposes a number of its batting weaknesses.

Only in two of the seven matches Pakistan played in the tournament, the opening partnership could score a fifty; 59-run partnership against Bangladesh and 60 runs against New Zealand. In the remaining matches, it scored 2, 9, 12, 22 and 25 runs.

India and Australia remained far more consistent. With one century partnership and one fifty partnership, the record of the Indian opening stand comprises 30, 32, 76, 136 and zero and 11. The world champions Australia emerged far stronger with their record -- 36, 78, 102, 104, 7 and 8 -- comprising two century-partnerships and one fifty-partnership.

In the seven matches Pakistan played during the mega event, Pakistan lost 46 wickets in total at an average of 6.5 per match, while India in as many matches lost 37 matches with 5.3 wickets per match. Australia though failed to reach the final, lost only 26 wickets in six matches at an average of 4.5 wickets per match.

The fact that Pakistani bowlers dismissed 58 players in seven matches, nine more than the 49 wickets Indian bowlers got in as many matches proves that Pakistan have a strong bowling and a poor batting.

Meanwhile, two Pakistani batsmen, Imran Nazir and Younis Khan, failed to reach double figure scores three times during the tournament, while three batsmen including Boom Boom Shahid Afridi failed to score a single fifty. While Misbah and Shoaib Malik scored two fifties each, Imran Nazir and Younis Khan could score one each.

Interestingly, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, who was expected to delight the fans with his aggressive batting, could score only 91 runs in six matches with an average less than his One-day Internationals average of 23. In the final against India, his 'deed' of playing a nonsensical shot at a critical point when Pakistan direly needed a responsible but run-producing innings must be the most abysmal point of his batting career.

The ICC decision to declare him Player of the Tournament is an equally nonsensical judgment. Very ironically, he stood out second among the top wicket-takers with 12 dismissals in the tournament. Bowling specialist Asif remained far behind him with his nine wickets claim.

This utter failure of Afridi in this tournament has reverberations of his past performance during the world cup events. Shahid has so far played three world cup tournaments, of 1999, 2003 and 2007, during his career, and has failed to score a single century or half-century in the 11 World Cup innings. During the

1999 World Cup in England, Afridi batted in seven of the eight matches he played but could score only 93 runs with 37 runs as highest at the batting average of 13 runs per innings.

In three of these matches, he could not score runs in double figure. In the three matches he played in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, Shahid Afridi could score only 16 runs in total by miserably failing to achieve a double figure; the 2007 Caribbean World Cup tournament was a 'better' event for him when he could score 16 runs in one innings only.

The World Athletics Championships were recently held in the Japanese city of Osaka. A total of 1078 athletes (1050 male and 928 female) from 200 countries participated. As many as 46 of these 200 nations won at least one medal.

Pakistan also had token representation of one male and one female athlete who got eliminated in the first heat. Both did not have to qualify as every country is given one wild card entry each in the men and women's events.

It might seem unbelievable to most of us but there was a time when Pakistan athletics had world class performers!

It was about half a century ago, in the 1950s and early sixties. One would immediately point out that Pakistan has never won an Olympic medal in track & field events. It is pertinent to mention that in those days Olympics were the only stage where athletes from all parts of the world used to compete against each other. The world athletics championships only started in 1983 and there were no grand prix athletics meets either.

Yes, we have never won an athletics medal at the Olympics. However, in that era not one or two but a number of Pakistani athletes produced "world class performances".

Subedar Abdul Khaliq was the fastest man of Asia winning the 100 metres twice in the Asian Games (1954 & 1958). Short but beautifully muscled, Khaliq excelled at Olympics as well. In the 1956 Olympiad, Khaliq was at the peak of his sprinting. He reached the semifinals of both 100 and 200 metres. And narrowly missed qualification for the final in both the sprint events.

His best timing in 100 metres was 10.4 seconds which was equivalent to the last Olympics (1952) gold medal winner's. In the 200 metres, his performance was even more astonishing. He won both the first two rounds clocking 21.1 seconds. Unfortunately, Khaliq failed to repeat the same time in the semifinal. In fact 21.1 seconds was the best timing for all the rounds except that in the final.

These achievements placed him in top seven sprinters of the time.

Similarly Ghulam Raziq was a world class hurdler who won every honour other than an Olympic medal. He collected two golds and a silver in his three Asiad appearances (1958, 1962 & 1966). In addition he won gold at the Commonwealth Games (1962), an honour which even eluded Khaliq.

The long limbed Raziq had ideal physical attributes for a hurdler -- speed, agility and flexibility of joints. Raziq also shone at the Olympics, reaching the semifinals in two Olympics, 1956 and 1960.

Then there was the giant figure of Mohammad Iqbal, the hammer thrower. Iqbal won a complete set of medals -- gold, silver and bronze in this three Asiad appearances (1954, 1958 and 1962). And in the more competitive environs of Commonwealth games (especially in those days), he won gold in 1954 followed by silver in the next edition, four years later.

He too distinguished himself at the biggest stage by finishing at 10th place in the Melbourne Olympics of 1956.

Another great Pakistani athlete who attained remarkable heights in the throwing events was Mohammad Nawaz whose event was javelin. Like Raziq and Iqbal, he too won medals in three consecutive Asian Games. In fact, Nawaz narrowly failed to achieve a hat trick of Asiad golds. Having won the title in both the previous editions, he was narrowly beaten to second place in the 1962 Asian Games. Nawaz's Asian record stood for about two decades! At the Commonwealth Games, he won a silver in 1954. At the Olympics, Nawaz attained a creditable 13th position in 1956.

The saga is not restricted to sprints, hurdles or throwing. Pakistan also produced a remarkable long distance athlete by the name of Mubarak Shah. He achieved a distinction which no Pakistani sportsman (in any discipline) has ever succeeded to do -- winning two golds in a single Asiad!

In 1962, Shah won the 3000 metres steeplechase as well as 5000 metres, creating new Asian records in both of them! He also had a good chance in 10,000 metres as well but the tight schedule forced him to withdraw from that event. Add to this, the steeplechase gold at the 1958 Asiad and Mubarak has another unique record for a Pakistani i.e. three individual Asiad golds!

Once again to emphasise the magnitude of their achievements: How would it be to have a Pakistani tennis player in the world's top 7-12 rankings? Won't it be awesome? Yes! Khaliq, Raziq, Nawaz and Iqbal attained somewhat comparable status. Track and field has always been the number one attraction of the Olympics. And world athletics championships are the most followed sporting event after Olympics and soccer world cup. Athletics is called 'mother of all the sports' as running, jumping and throwing are the most basic of all the physical activities of human being.

However after the era of these 'golden five', Pakistan failed to produce a real world class athlete. A couple of them did shine at the Asian level. Mohammad Younis in fact performed consistently well at the Asian level, winning silver, gold and silver in the 1970, 1974 and 1978 Asiads.

Then Ghulam Abbas (400m hurdles) won gold in the 1990 Asian Games. But neither of them could even go beyond the first round in Olympics/world championships or even the Commonwealth Games.

So what was special about the athletes of the fifties and early sixties?

They were all Army jawans. They all came from the Potohar area of the Punjab. They were lucky to have a mentor like Brigadier Rodham who ensured proper coaching as well as regular international competition for them. But perhaps more importantly they were all primarily kabaddi players before joining the Army. Kabaddi, the traditional sport of villages of the Punjab is regarded by many as the nearest thing to a complete sport. It builds all the major attributes-speed, stamina, strength plus the vital killer instinct.

Will Pakistan be able to produce world class athletes in future?

Athletics is one sporting discipline which does not require many resources. Poor countries like Kenya and Ethopia are major athletic powers.

In Kenya, in the sixties, the European priests were amazed to observe that the local children daily walked and ran miles on the hills to reach school. They thought about utilising this immense stamina of poor children into something really beneficial. Hence they devised the plan to groom these kids as long distance runners. And the rest is history. Kenya has been a dominating force in distance running for last four decades.

Hence all that is required is concerted efforts in the areas of identifying talent and then putting it through paces by providing proper training and suitable competition.

The task is difficult but not impossible.