Why not Mohsin?
After his charges cruised to back-to-back series triumphs against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mohsin Khan is asking 
for a long-term stint as Pakistan coach
By Khalid Hussain
When Mohsin Hasan Khan left his job as Pakistan’s chief selector to serve as national team’s coach ahead of the ‘home’ series against Sri Lanka in the UAE earlier this season, many saw it as a bad move by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The power of 20
We must not forget as cricket lovers and followers that the T20 format has made 50-over One-day Internationals even more interesting
By Umair A Qazi
There is not a better sight in contemporary modern day cricket than Virender Sehwag in full flow, bashing the best of bowlers all around the park. Perhaps Chris Gayle may also be added to that list in terms of power and clean hitting. It is rather unfortunate that Gayle was not able to feature in the recent one-day series between West Indies and India for surely there would have been an attempt to match Sehwagís majestic 219 if not the setting of a new record. 

Target: Novak
Djokovic’s opponents are gearing up to attack the cracks in his game
By Shaun Assael
From his gluten-free diet to the CVAC pod he reportedly used to jack up his red blood cells, Novak Djokovic spent the past two years re-engineering himself.

Hockey’s shattered hopes
Pakistan’s poor Champions Trophy outing in Auckland has dimmed their hopes of winning an Olympic medal in London next summer
By Bilal Hussain
Hope were high but apprehensions abound when Pakistan left for Auckland to make their first appearance in the elite Hockey Champions Trophy in four years.
The reason why hopes were high was that the national team had performed pretty well in the lead up to the eight-nation event and even defeated world champions Australia, top seeded in Auckland, in a tri-nation final in Perth just a few weeks before the Champions Trophy.

The Auckland debacle
By Ijaz Chaudhry
Pakistan featured in this year’s Champions Trophy after missing the last three editions. Their presence owed to the FIH decision to increase the number of participating sides from six to eight. After the humiliation of the 2010 World Cup, it was Green-shirts’ first appearance in an event featuring all the top teams of the world.
Since the World Cup, Pakistan have had mixed fortunes. After the pathetic show at the Commonwealth Games, the gold at the 2010 Asiad was indeed commendable. Not only the team won a mega title after a long time but also qualified for the 2012 Olympics by virtue of the success.

 

 

Why not Mohsin?
After his charges cruised to back-to-back series triumphs 
against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mohsin Khan is asking 
for a long-term stint as Pakistan coach

By Khalid Hussain

When Mohsin Hasan Khan left his job as Pakistan’s chief selector to serve as national team’s coach ahead of the ‘home’ series against Sri Lanka in the UAE earlier this season, many saw it as a bad move by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Mohsin’s critics rejected him as a has-been Test cricketer with little or no credentials as an international coach. Some even questioned his work ethic, arguing whether he was up to a job that demanded the sort of hard work and commitment that can only come from a task master like Australia’s Dave Whatmore, widely regarded as PCB’s number one choice to become the next Pakistan coach.

At the time of his appointment as Pakistan’s interim coach, Mohsin was merely seen as a compromise choice, who was given the important job on a temporary basis after a coach-hunting committee appointed by the PCB failed to rope in a candidate good enough to put Pakistan’s under-achieving team back on track.

But within a span of a few weeks, the 56-year-old Mohsin has emerged from a short-term solution to Pakistan’s coaching needs to one of the top candidates for the job of the country’s permanent head coach.

With Mohsin as coach, Pakistan trounced better-ranked Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game in the United Arab Emirates. Just days after conquering Sri Lanka, Pakistan landed in Bangladesh and carried on from where they left in the UAE. They have won all their matches quite convincingly with the second and final Test against Bangladesh still under progress in Dhaka.

Whether Mohsin has played a major part in Pakistan’s accent as a match-winning unit might be debatable. After all, Pakistan were showing signs of improvement under Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan Test pacer who stepped down as Pakistan’s coach ahead of the series against Sri Lanka due to health issues.

There is also this reasonable argument that under Mohsin Pakistan are yet to come across a formidable opposition.

Led by Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka are hardly a tough team to beat without Muttiah Muralitharan and minus the sort of spirit that transformed the islanders into world beaters under the leadership of Mahela Jayawardene and later Kumar Sangakkara.

Bangladesh, too, are easy opponents even in their own backyard. Playing against them seems like a piece of cake when compared to Pakistan’s next assignment — a ‘home’ series against England in the UAE early next year.

But all said and done, Mohsin deserves accolades for getting the best out of his team. During his stint as Pakistan’s coach, the boys have appeared to be really focused in all three formats of the game. Perhaps, more importantly, they have appeared to be enjoying themselves on the field and that’s a significant development for a side like Pakistan that is known for its volatility.

And now that the man is asking for a long-term assignment, then the people at the helm of affairs should take him seriously.

“We have done a good job so far, haven’t we,” Mohsin asked me during a telephonic conversation, a day before the second and final Test against Bangladesh go underway in Dhaka the other day.

“Our team is playing like a team. The captain is doing a good job. The seniors are playing a huge role and the youngsters are responding well,” said Mohsin.

Mohsin revealed that when he took up the assignment last fall, he wasn’t sure about doing the job on a long-term basis. “But the way my boys have responded to my coaching has really motivated me to think about staying on as their coach for a longer stint,” he stressed.

So has he talked to the Board about the possibility of a long-term contract yet?

“I haven’t had any formal talks so far,” said Mohsin. “But during the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, I was told by the PCB chairman (Zaka Ashraf) that the Board is very happy with my performance and would like me to continue as coach.

“Initially, I was reluctant about going to Bangladesh but the chairman’s encouragement helped me change my mind.”

Mohsin said that after meeting Ashraf, he got serious about getting into a long-term arrangement as Pakistan coach. “I believe that in that role (as national coach) I can play my role in the betterment of our cricket.”

However, in spite of the success the team has achieved under Mohsin, he is not believed to be PCB’s number one choice as Pakistan’s long-term coach. It is widely believed that Whatmore remains at the top of PCB’s wish-list. For Mohsin, the Board might reserve the post of batting coach. However, Mohsin is unlikely to accept what he believes would be a demotion.

Mohsin, who played 48 Tests and 75 One-day Internationals from 1977-86, is now waiting to have a meeting with Ashraf. The PCB chairman is currently in Bangladesh but Mohsin would prefer a one-to-one meeting with Ashraf at the Board headquarters in Lahore soon after the tour of Bangladesh ends on December 21.

One big factor that goes in Mohsin’s favour is that most of the leading players in the national team are strongly backing as a long-term choice.

Take for example Shahid Afridi. The former Pakistan captain spoke highly of Mohsin on his return from Bangladesh after the limited-overs series.

“Mohsin communicates well with the players, treats the seniors with respect and manages things well. It felt good to play for Pakistan again in a more positive and cheery environment,” Afridi told reporters.

Mohsin is pleased to know that players like Afridi are happy with him around in the dressing room. “Actually I’m thankful to senior players like Afridi, Younis (Khan), Umar Gul and (Mohammad) Hafeez for the way they have responded in UAE and Bangladesh. They have served as role models for the youngsters and that’s the biggest reason why we have managed to extract positive results.”

 

khalidhraj@gmail.com

 

The power of 20
We must not forget as cricket lovers and followers that the T20 format has made 50-over One-day Internationals even more interesting

By Umair A Qazi

There is not a better sight in contemporary modern day cricket than Virender Sehwag in full flow, bashing the best of bowlers all around the park. Perhaps Chris Gayle may also be added to that list in terms of power and clean hitting. It is rather unfortunate that Gayle was not able to feature in the recent one-day series between West Indies and India for surely there would have been an attempt to match Sehwagís majestic 219 if not the setting of a new record.

Few would argue with the fact that currently there are only two players capable of going past 200 in ODIs or rather were as Sehwag went past the 200 set by Sachin Tendulkar against South Africa a couple of years ago those being Sehwag and Gayle. The development of the game in terms of it becoming fast and scores of above 300 or on average 300 in ODIs have become a norm due to the T20 version of the game.

This is of course owing to the fact that there are more T20s played during the year than ODIís and with the advent of leagues such as the IPL, the Champions league and local domestic T20 competitions. The fast-paced nature and the entertainment value of a T20 is akin to that of a football match in terms of consuming time and is preferred by the audience compared to Test and ODIs. The thin crowds in Test matches all over the world are a prime example of fans losing interest in longer format of the game but having said that Tests remain the ultimate tests and the advent of T20ís increases the burden on a player to display their skills in terms of changing their game to adjust according to the required format. Perhaps this is why players these days opt to choose one format of the game which is made easier by the amount of money involved in the shortest format of the game. Teams are now focused on having T20 specialists, who are made for that version and bring success to their national or league teams accordingly. One may attribute the street cricket culture in Pakistan to their rise in the T20 format of the game since most players grow up playing 10 over street cricket.

Itís this rush of blood and innovations introduced in the game by way of T20 that players have now gotten used to playing at a faster pace in the 50-over format. Much has been said about scrapping the 50-over format of the game with the advent of the T20 game since an ODI consumes a whole day to complete. However, we must not forget as cricket lovers and followers that T20 has made 50-over One-day Internationals even more interesting. New rules have now been introduced one such rule being that of using a new ball from both ends something that used to be practiced in Australia back in 80ís. More importantly the introduction of the rule makes the ODI version more entertaining in terms of the balls being hard at most times allowing batsmen like Sehwag to capitalise on it and at the same time puts the onus on bowlers to use their new ball skills in order to trouble batsmen. It all comes down to how teams manage and take care of the balls for their own benefit.

Another rule that helps aid the one-day game is that of the powerplays which allows batsmen to capitalise on an innings that they have built and at the same times allows bowlers to display their bowling prowess by keeping runs down to a minimum. All these rules are a result of the T20 version in order to make the one-day format more interesting and entertaining. Another plus point of the format remains that even though huge totals maybe scored it allows equal opportunity and time to the other side to chase down huge totals and build an innings making the format all the more interesting. The World cup held earlier in the year was a prime example of the ODI format still being a favorite amongst fans around the world.

In the midst of this discussion one must not forget the real stalwart who set the tone of things back in 1997, the majestic Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar. What Saaed Anwar achieved on that humid afternoon in Chennai was nothing less than a miracle. Flaying around a decent Indian attack especially Anil Kumble whom he hit for three consecutive sixes was no small feat. It was the beginning of the change in ODIís when such high individual scores were imaginable and conceivable by batsmen all over the world. It also encouraged teams to chase high totals and made them believe that totals of 300 were chasable and did not mean a sure shot victory for the side setting such a high total. Anwarís innings stands out because he hardly played any T20 cricket during his days at the international level and yet he imbued a class and technique which allowed him to score 194 with utmost ease. It has taken Tendulkar and now Sehwag more than ten years to break that record after having played plenty of T20 games allowing their game to develop something Anwar achieved almost effortlessly.

It can safely be concluded that although T20s are the ëiní thing and are more fashionable in terms of fan following due to the hype created by the IPL and other leagues following suit, the ODI version remains equally entertaining and skilful with the introduction of new rules allowing the game to develop further. Like its counterpart the ODI version remains a classic and calls for abandoning the format are totally unwarranted and uncalled for. 

 

The writer is a practicing Barrister in the High Courts of Pakistan.

 

umairkazi@gmail.com

 




Target: Novak
Djokovic’s opponents are gearing up to attack 
the cracks in his game

By Shaun Assael

From his gluten-free diet to the CVAC pod he reportedly used to jack up his red blood cells, Novak Djokovic spent the past two years re-engineering himself.

The result? A 70-6 record in 2011 that made everyone else look slow.

While Djokovic credits confidence, not training, for his wins, the real question is whether his rebuilt game is built to last. The Serb staggered to the end of his historic year, pulling out of the Paris Masters in the quarterfinals with a bad shoulder in November and then losing in the ATP World Tour Finals to David Ferrer two weeks later.

“My body says it’s overloaded,” he conceded. Less sliding and taking returns a little later can save Djokovic some wear and tear, but he will have to fight to keep his top spot, especially if his rivals can make a few key adjustments.

Roger Federer (No 3 in the world) has the best record against Djokovic (14-10) and the least respect for his style of play. After Djokovic returned a match point against in the US Open with a cross-court crusher that led him to victory, Federer was almost haughty in defeat. “Are you kidding me?” he balked. Djokovic is a master of redirecting apparent winners, so Federer will need to match him surprise for surprise, wrong-footing Djokovic wherever he can. He also has to find the serve that made him No 1 for 237 straight weeks, not the one that trailed from weary legs in Flushing. A word of warning to Novak: Federer took six weeks off after the Davis Cup in September and is taking a 17-match winning streak into 2012.

Rafael Nadal (No 2) has 10 Grand Slam titles courtesy of his topspin bombs that force opponents back and make them hit short returns. In response, Djokovic spent 2011 stepping closer to the baseline and putting Nadal on the defensive. It worked. Djokovic spent last year sending balls where Nadal has never seen them go, defeating the Spaniard six times. Nadal spent November talking about getting his motivation back, but he’ll need to shorten points against Djokovic. In that high-torque matchup, the best shoulders and knees will win.

Andy Murray (No 4) appeared to be on a roll with one Slam final (Australian) and three semis (French, Wimbledon and US). Emulating Djokovic, he went gluten-free in August. He then won 13 matches in 18 days on the Asian leg of the ATP Tour, only to pull out of the World Finals with a groin injury. The buzz now is who will be his new coach. Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors were names being floated. Both can teach Murray what he really needs to copy from Djokovic — confidence.

Yes, Ferrer (No 5) beat Djokovic at the World Finals, but credit Djokovic’s 33 unforced errors as much as Ferrer’s speed and consistency. Against a fresher Djokovic, Ferrer will have to make his serve a weapon instead of the start of a long point.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No 6) is a crowd favorite for his high-risk, high-reward attack. He fell to Djokovic at Wimbledon, but adding just 10 percent more consistency to his return game will make him trouble for the Serb — assuming that Djokovic hasn’t already rebuilt himself again.

 

 —ESPN The Magazine

 

Hockey’s shattered hopes
Pakistan’s poor Champions Trophy outing in Auckland has dimmed their hopes of winning an Olympic medal in London next summer

By Bilal Hussain

Hope were high but apprehensions abound when Pakistan left for Auckland to make their first appearance in the elite Hockey Champions Trophy in four years.

The reason why hopes were high was that the national team had performed pretty well in the lead up to the eight-nation event and even defeated world champions Australia, top seeded in Auckland, in a tri-nation final in Perth just a few weeks before the Champions Trophy. But there were also apprehensions that the Green-shirts, who had not played in a major event since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, would be thrashed by higher-ranked teams like Germany, Australia and Spain.

In the end, the skeptics turned out to be right. Baring a couple of wins against Asian rivals Korea, Pakistan received a drubbing in all their Champions Trophy matches before finally slumping to a poor seventh-place finish in the tournament that was played from December 3-11.

In a way, it’s a blessing in disguise as Pakistan now know where they actually stand in international hockey. Following a series of commendable results including a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou (China), hockey fans in Pakistan believed that their team has finally regained its mojo and is now ready to take on the world. But after a series of morale-shattering results at the hands of top teams like Australia and Germany in Auckland, it has become quite evident that Pakistan still lag far behind the top teams in world hockey.

So what do we do now? The 2012 Olympic Games are less that eight months away and we cannot afford a similar thrashing at the hands of the top sides in London. Pakistan’s hockey authorities will have to find ways and means to put their team back on track and they will have to find them fast.

Asif Bajwa, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary, says that the PHF is ready to do that. “It’s very difficult to defend our seventh position in the Champions Trophy because it is a poor result,” Bajwa, a former Olympian, told ‘The News on Sunday’. “What happened in Auckland has served as a wake-up call for us and now we are ready to rethink our plans for the Olympic Games, which is our biggest target for next year,” he added.

Bajwa and fellow PHF officials are planning to go back to the drawing board in a bid to figure out why Pakistan were unable to beat teams like Great Britain, against whom they performed pretty well. “One of the biggest problems with our team is that it creates a lot of goal-scoring opportunities but fails to really capitalise on them,” says Bajwa.

Bajwa and other top PHF officials are under a lot criticism from several former stalwarts and not without reason. Also under fire is Michel van den Heuvel, Pakistan’s Dutch coach. PHF’s critics allege that the Dutchman has failed to deliver in a major tournament. Some of them are even calling for his head, saying that the coach is costing too much without giving good results.

But Van den Heuvel is not intimidated. Soon after the Auckland debacle, he made it clear that his sights were set on the Olympic Games. The coach has stressed that his first goal after starting his stint in Pakistan was the Asian Games in China where his charges won the title. “Now my next target is the Olympic Games,” he said in a recent interview.

National hockey officials have promised that their team will go all out for an Olympic medal in London next August. Pakistan, three-time Olympic champions, have not won an Olympic medal since 1992 when they clinched a bronze in Barcelona. Team officials believe that the medal drought will end in London next summer though such promises sound hollow after the team’s poor showing in Auckland.

But ask Shahid Ali Khan, one of the coaches assisting van den Heuvel, and he will tell you that nobody should write off Pakistan’s chances of winning a medal in London.

“What we have is a good team that is capable of producing good results,” says Shahid, a member of the Pakistan team that won the 1982 World Cup in Bombay. “In Auckland, we had a few off days and were unable to convert our chances. The boys will work hard in the coming months and I’m confident that they will have a good chance of reaching the Olympic semifinals.”

Whether Pakistan can win an Olympic hockey medal remains to be seen. But one hopes that the national players and officials take all possible steps in the coming months to make it sure that our contingent doesn’t return home empty-handed from the London Games. Hockey, after all, is our only hope of winning an Olympic medal next year.

 

bilalsports86@yahoo.com

 

The Auckland debacle

By Ijaz Chaudhry

Pakistan featured in this year’s Champions Trophy after missing the last three editions. Their presence owed to the FIH decision to increase the number of participating sides from six to eight. After the humiliation of the 2010 World Cup, it was Green-shirts’ first appearance in an event featuring all the top teams of the world.

Since the World Cup, Pakistan have had mixed fortunes. After the pathetic show at the Commonwealth Games, the gold at the 2010 Asiad was indeed commendable. Not only the team won a mega title after a long time but also qualified for the 2012 Olympics by virtue of the success. Their show at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup this year, second position, was also good though most of the leading European nations were absent. However, they flopped badly during their Europe tour where they came against the top teams of the continent.

In the tri-nation event in Australia, Pakistan were able to redeem themselves by winning the final against the hosts after having been humiliated 2-8 by the same side in a league game.

The Champions Trophy was the real test before the 2012 London Olympics. To term it a failure would be an understatement. Any hopes of an Olympic medal seem to have completely vanished. Leaving aside the results, the team showed glaring grey areas in almost every department of the game. No need telling, physical fitness is the prime requirement in today’s hockey. Apart from the two games against Korea, Pakistanis were visibly fatigued in the latter parts of the game; not only the old legs of Waseem, Abbasi and others but even the younger boys.

Then there is the perennial excuse, “we created chances but there was a lot of missing”. But why all this missing? It was really astonishing to see the goal-scoring opportunities go waste through the use of long handle. Forwards’ high back lift while taking a shot at the goal meant that the opposition defence, especially the goalkeeper, got enough time to get in a  proper position. The strikers of almost all the other sides employed quick and strong shots/flicks giving the rival defence very little time. Apart from the game against Germany, where they were completely outplayed, Pakistan did play well in patches but consistency was lacking; perhaps again down to the poor physical condition of the players. One could also deduce the lack of any ‘B’ or contingency plan. Once plan ‘A’ failed they appeared at a loss of ideas. Unforced errors both in defence and attack were a norm. In fact, during the tie against Germany, one of the commentators observed, “Pakistan just having a walk in the field”.

After the 2010 Asiad, almost everyone related to hockey opined that since Pakistan now have breathing space till the 2012 Olympics, veterans like Waseem, Sohail and Salman should be replaced. That would have given the younger boys necessary experience and confidence, and also helped gel them into a fine combination.

The decision to persist with the old horses completely backfired at Auckland. Salman made a lot of errors conceding a number of soft goals. His replace young Imran Shah fared better. The oldest member of the side, Waseem Ahmed, was the playmaker! At times, he was clearly out of breath. Apparently his prime task was to communicate with the umpire whenever the team needed some clarification over a decision or wanted a video referral. Sohail Abbas unfortunately got a nasty injury during the second game and missed the rest of the tournament. It seemed the management had no idea how to deploy Sohail: as a deep defender or a midfielder. He was seen out of place in the field. Among the established members, Abbasi was one of the disappointments. He did show his patent flair beating a defender or two but mostly spoilt the good work through poor passes. The skipper Muhammad Imran converted a few penalty corners but as a deep defender his show was below par. Quite a few times, he lost possession close to his striking circle conceding penalty corners and even goals. Among the younger forwards, Rizwan Senior was hard working but does not possess any special technical skill. Shafqat Rasool only shone in the games against Korea. Centre-forward Haseem gave some glimpses of close control in front of the goal and managed to find the target thrice but mostly he was totally dependent on others to feed him.

In the midfield, only left-half Rashid gave an above average performance. Players like M Zubair, Waqas Sharif, Fareed, M Irfan, who have been around for quite a while, appeared to be mere pedestrians most of the time against the tougher opponents. Among the juniors, only Tauseeq showed some spark.

Here, one must mention the fact that that most of the big teams have been following a policy of rotation. Legendary Ric Charlesworth, coach of the Australia, revealed quite some time back, “I have 52 hard core players and would test all of them before the Olympics”; Kookaburras were without at least five first choice players in New Zealand. Likewise, the German team-sheet also didnít show many front liners including the famous Zeller brothers. Pakistan were one of the few sides with their first choice line-up.

PHF President Qasim Zia’s political standing means there is no dearth of finances for the federation. They have hired a very expensive Dutch coach for the national outfit and the team has made a number of foreign tours. Yet, the performance at the biggest event of 2011 was miserable.

 

ijaz62@hotmail.com


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