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cricket Shivnarine
Chanderpaul is the backbone of
West Indies batting cricket Just
twenty more runs! What's
the mystery behind Asif's being dumped as vice-captain? Fifteen days of Army training but no etiquette acquired The boot camp, which was organised by their former coach John Buchanan in Queensland, completely revitalised the Aussies By Muhammad Shahbaz Zahid Team Pakistan recently
ended their fifteen-day cricket training camp in the northern city of
Abbottabad. Weak in stature, the team certainly needed a hard and gruelling
outing of this sort to test their players' fitness levels and stamina. And it
was also put up to improve their discipline. People working for the Army are
surely well-behaved and it was thought that the team would come out
well-mannered, at least. The Australians first carried out this sort of exercise last year, after their Ashes loss to England away from home. The boot camp, which was organised by their former coach John Buchanan in Queensland, completely revitalised the Aussies though their unusual work out faced harsh criticism from many cricketing pundits. The Aussie cricket team came back stronger than ever and won the Ashes back, 5-0, and their third consecutive World Cup title recently. The Pakistan have always had a side full of injury-prone players. And this hasn't helped their cause a lot with the consequences being seen when injured pacers Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq were left out of the World Cup squad due to injuries. Pakistan made a pathetic exit from the tournament in the first round and were left to rue fitness problems of their key players. Surely Shoaib, along with up and coming Asif and seasoned all-rounder Razzaq, would have made a stronger impact. Coming back to the scenario, Pakistan, who under new skipper Shoaib Malik recently won the One-day International series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi 2-1, welcomed back star performers Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar in the squad. And with a hectic cricketing schedule ahead, it was necessary to evaluate fitness levels of every player and having a training camp -- Army style -- was the best possible option according to some pundits. Nobody, in reality, knew what they (players) would face there. They were scared at first but somehow emerged in peak conditions after the camp ended. According to instructors there, "the players were initially frightened about the concept but once they started enjoying the exercises they did extra work". The players even demanded for similar sort of camps in the future too! And the instructors further said that the team was in far better condition than ever and they could now easily match the Australians if compared in fitness levels and mental strength. Nice joke, sir. And the star trainee in the two-week long camp was strong as an ox all-rounder Shahid Afridi. He was described as the fittest player in the Pakistan squad. The other player who was in the limelight for most of the time was pacer Shoaib Akhtar. He was touted to have benefited the most from the course because he has strength though he needs to increase his stamina and flexibility. The trainers were impressed by his determination and will to do extra work. This surely is good news for Pakistan as they left on Wednesday for their tour to UK -- where they will play in two One-day Internationals (ODIs), one against India and other against Scotland. The players, who lived in the Army mess and followed strict dress codes and timings, delighted the team manager, Talat Ali, who said "this sort of exercise would improve their discipline". He said: "It is nice to see players turn up on time for meals and wonderful too because there were no distractions for the players as in the camps held previously. We had a great time and hopefully such camps are held regularly". But all the hard work of creating a disciplined environment and having well-behaved and ńmannered players was blown away soon. Strong rumours came up in the news that Afridi, the fittest and most obedient player in the camp, had misbehaved with the team manager. Reports, though unconfirmed, suggested that Talat had a mouth spat with the all-rounder during the training camp. There were also reports that several senior players were unhappy with young batsman Salman Butt's appointment as the team's new vice-captain. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf, in this regard had earlier defended the Board's decision to appoint Salman as vice-captain saying that the player was chosen because he was fit and could play for the country, both in Tests and one-dayers. To play down the rumours, Talat on Monday said that such reports are being fuelled by elements seeking to instigate disharmony among the cricketers (referring to the Afridi issue). Talat told the cricket correspondent (Khalid Hussain) of 'The News': "There is complete harmony in my team and if some people are saying otherwise then they have malicious intentions". "These are false reports," said Talat, referring to the news that senior pros in the team were unhappy eith Butt after his being appointed as Shoaib Malik's deputy. "There have been no revolts and there would be no revolts. Our team is slowly turning into a well-oiled unit and we are looking forward our future assignments," he added. It was reported that Afridi exchanged some harsh words with Talat in the team bus last week and the bone of contention was said to be Salman Butt. Talat said that there is little truth in the 'false reports'. "Actually, it was no big deal," he explained to 'The News'. Talat explained the whole scenario as to what actually had happened. He said: "Butt had entered the team bus and all the best seats were already occupied and he had to fit himself into a small seat near the gear box. Pointing towards the side where some of the junior players were sitting, I just said that one of you should offer his seat to Salman, he is your vice-captain. It was Afridi who said that 'he can take my seat, after all he is the vice-captain'. I told him (Afridi) to stay where he is and that some junior boy would vacate his seat but he was insistent and I had to tell him firmly to stop it. That is all that happened and now people are trying to make stories of it." From his (Talat's) version, it seems that Afridi wasn't wrong in giving away his seat to Butt even though none of the other players (juniors or seniors) offered the same. But maybe he did this and said these things in envy. But the other side of the story which was revealed by some sources was that Talat asked Afridi to vacate his seat for the 'new vice-captain' and that infuriated Afridi. He then had a heated argument with Talat and later rushed to assault the manager but was stopped by some of the team members. But the team manager has laughed off this version saying that the incident has 'tremendously been blown out of proportion'. Though, Talat admitted that Afridi was a 'bit sarcastic' when he offered to vacate his seat for Butt. Whatever the reason was, this surely isn't what people had expected from the team after getting Army-style training. Though these speculations and rumours might not be true, one feels that there must be something fishy going on in the team which have given birth to such circumstances. Afridi, who previously has featured in heated-arguments and bat-hitting incidents, has always been a hot-headed player. And he also has felt the consequences because of his temperament. The previous occasion Afridi got into a rage was when Pakistan toured South Africa before the World Cup and the all-rounder, during a one-day match and after getting out, was seen waving a bat in anger towards a spectator. This resulted in a ban of a few matches for him which led to him sitting out of the opening two matches of the World Cup too. Pakistan lost both of those matches and Afridi was left to rue his bad temperament as the team crashed out of the quadrennial event. Afridi is not the only player who has been banned for such incidents. Many former players, including captains, have been banned, for a few matches, too because of their poor behaviour on the field. Our national cricket team is always surrounded by image-disrupting speculations and shocking allegations. And these sort of circumstances doesn't help in any way for the team's better progress. If the spat between Talat and Afridi was for real, that was very poor of the player. As there have been rumours that other players besides Afridi, the team's senior pros, have also not whole-heartedly accepted the PCB's decision of Salman being appointed as the new vice-captain, this surely can hurt the team's progress towards a better future. Seniors should accept the fact that the decisions are being made by the Board itself and if they have any thing against any decision being made, they should consult the concerned authority; not should they start arguing for those matters with the team players or the managing staff in that case. And if the players or the coaching staff in that case can not learn to behave properly even after getting trained in an Army camp, nothing ever can make them turn into disciplined gentlemen. The
writer is a staff member at 'The News' Karachi shehnu@gmail.com backbone of West Indies batting On the recent West Indies tour of England Chanderpaul averaged an amazing 148.66 with the bat. This included two undefeated centuries in the third and fourth Test matches For years, Shivnarine
Chanderpaul has been the backbone of the West Indian batting line-up. Always
reliable, throughout most of his career, he had consistently passed 50 and
consistently missed out on hundreds. However, in 2002 against India he
managed to score four centuries -- three at home and one away. His aggregate
of 563 runs in the four Tests in the West Indies is the highest of his career
to date. Chanderpaul's form continued in 2003 as he hit two more hundreds against the visiting Aussies. The first of the hundreds, scored in the first Test, came off just 69 balls -- the third fastest century of all-time. The latter came in a match-winning effort as his knock assisted the West Indies in their record-breaking chase of 418. His conversion rate has risen significantly, but is still considered rather low. At the age of 19, Chanderpaul received his first Test cap against England at Georgetown. In his only innings of the match he scored 62 with nine boundaries -- an indication of the quality which was to come. In the shorter format of the game, Chanderpaul has been no slouch. His career high of 150 against South Africa in 1999 helped the West Indies avoid a 12-match tour whitewash. Chanderpaul is an above average fielder and a reliable catcher. He also has the capacity to open as well as the middle order. Despite his extremely unorthodox technique, Chanderpaul would probably get into most teams in the world. In 2005, amidst contract disputes, Chanderpaul was handed the captaincy of the West Indies team ahead of the incumbent Brian Lara. He has since faced one of the toughest challenges of his career, as harsh criticism has been levelled at him surrounding his performance at the helm. Graduating to the Test arena as a teenager signifies a special talent and Shivarine Chanderpaul, a frail left-handed from Unity-Lancaster near Georgetown on the east coast of the Demerara, displayed it in abundance with scores of 52, 50 and 77 in his first three appearances at the age of 19. A diminutive 5 ft 5 in, and weighing only 120 lbs, his stature belied a maturity way beyond his tender years, a cultured technique under pinned by supreme footwork, fine placement, and nerveless, wristy stroke-play. He has been seen as a former great Alvin Kallicharran bring back, not least because of his origin, and he became the first West Indian of East Indian descent to represent West Indies since Faoud Bacchus in Australia in 1981-82. As the first teenager to play for West Indies since Elquemedo Willett in 1972-73, and only the ninth in all (the sixth youngest), he displaced Phil Simmons in the second Test against England in 1994 on home soil at Bourda, Georgetwon, a significant event for his country where a racist undercurrent still rails at the perceived 'Africanness' of the regional team. His undoubted ability as a right-arm leg-spinner, pushed through quickly with a flattish trajectory, was also a factor, but a penchant for big hundreds since his emergency at 17 supported his case admirably. He dominated the Northern Telecom Youth Championship in the Caribbean, opening his first-class career with a duck and 90 against the Leewards in 1992, then claimed four wickets and a maiden century (an undefeated 140) for the President's XI against Pakistan in 1993. On the West Indies Youth tour of England later that year he compiled 203 not out in the first 'Test' at Trent Bridge, and 153 against a Development of Excellence XI. In 1994 he was effectively the leading all-rounder in the regional Red Stripe Tournament with 389 runs at 55.57, plus a dozen wickets at 16.92. His meteoric rise was also a tribute to his utter dedication and commitment and, not least, to the selectors for appreciating precocious youth and allowing it to blossom. A senior member of the side, he has a well earned reputation for stubbornness and determination as a left-handed batsman; he scored gritty half-centuries in his first three Test appearances against England as a teenager. He is known for his very unorthodox front-on batting stance, although his footwork just before delivery shifts his body into a more conventional position by the time he plays the ball. He provides a useful contrast to the everywhere West Indian strokemakers. True to his Guyanese-Indian roots, he is all wrists when batting, scoring the majority of his runs square of the wicket. Capable of the odd cameo when it is required. † Shivnarine 'Shiv' Chanderpaul born on 16 August 1974 in Unity Village, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana. He captained the West Indies in fourteen Tests and sixteen One-day Internationals. Chanderpaul's first notable impact on Test cricket was as being the last batting partner of Brian Lara when Lara broke Garry Sobers's record of 365 not out in the fifth and final Test against England in 1993-94. Lara went on to make 375 before he was caught off Andrew Caddick's bowling, sharing a 219-run stand with Chanderpaul, who was left not out on 75. Chanderpaul made his first Test century in his 19th Test match -- after having scored 15 half-centuries in the preceding 18 matches. In the third of a five-Test series against India in 1996-97, he made 137 not out at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. He also featured with his Guyanese counterpart, Ramnaresh Sarwan, making 104 in chasing a world record 418 to win in the fourth innings of the final Test match versus Australia in 2002-03. Chanderpaul's best first-class score is 303 not out against Jamaica for Guyana, and, despite his reputation as a dogged batsman, he has also made the fourth fastest century in Test cricket, scoring three figures in just 69 balls at the GCC Ground Bourda, Guyana, also in the 2002-03 series against Australia. He was named captain of the West Indies in the first Test against South Africa in March 2005 in Guyana, after seven senior players including captain Brian Lara were dropped in a sponsorship row. He emulated Graham Dowling to become only the second player to make a double century on debut as a Test captain, scoring an unbeaten 200 and making a sporting declaration in the first Test. It was announced that Lara would return to the team for the second Test, but Chanderpaul would retain the captaincy for the rest of the series. He was named to the squad of 20 for the World XI to face Australia in the Super Test in October 2005, but when the squad was cut to 14 names in August his name was not mentioned. In April 2006, Chanderpaul resigned as West Indies captain in order to concentrate on his batting. He captained a weak West Indies team, and his record was not a successful one. In 14 Tests he won only one and lost 10 with three draws. In 16 One-day Internationals, he won two and lost 14. Later, the captaincy was restored to veteran batman Brian Lara. Chanderpaul has recently reached the milestone of 100 Test caps, the eighth West Indian to do so and the first of East Indian descent. With the Lara era of West Indian cricket at an end Chanderpaul has emerged as the West Indies' senior batsman. In the recent West Indies tour of England Chanderpaul averaged an amazing 148.66 with the bat. This included two undefeated centuries in the third and fourth Test matches. In the third Test match his 116 not out almost won the game for the West Indies. During the third Test match Chanderpaul went past 7000 runs in Test cricket, a feat only accomplished by six other West Indians -- Brian Lara, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Grennidge and Clive Lloyd. Chanderpaul along with England's Monty Panesar was jointly named Man of the Series. Chanderpaul is also the only player to have gone 1000 minutes in Test cricket without conceding his wicket. He has done this three times. Although he has often played second-fiddle to brasher, more glamorous batsmen, Chanderpaul is one of the West Indies' most consistent and reliable performers. He has struggled with both form and fitness, missing several key tours in the last three years. But he returned to his best in the home series against India two years ago, averaging 140, with three centuries. The highlight was 140 at home ground Georgetown. And he also impressed on the return tour, with a six-hour century to secure a face-saving draw in Calcutta after West Indies had lost the first two Tests. This petite player from Guyana is really the backbone of the brittle West Indian batting line-up. FACTFILE
Shivnarine Chanderpaul Born on August 16, 1974, Unity Village, East Coast, Demerara, Guyana Left-hand bat; Right-arm eg-break bowler Test Debut: West Indies v England at Georgetown, 2nd Test, 1993-94 ODI Debut: West Indies v India at Faridabad, 1st ODI, 1994-95 Tests: †104 Matches, Innings 178, Not Outs 24, Runs Scored 7182, Highest Score 203*, Average 43.31, Hundreds 16, Fifties 43, Catches 44. Balls 1680, Runs Conceded 845, Wickets 8, Best Bowling 1-2, Average 105.62 One-day Internationals: 217 Matches, Innings 205, Not Outs 27, Runs Scored 6774, Highest score 150, Average 38.05, Strike Rate 70.24, Hundreds 6, Fifties 46, Catches 61, Balls 716, Runs Conceded 617, Wickets 14, Best Bowling 3-18, Average 44.07, Economy 5.17 First-class Cricket: 204 Matches, Innings 333, Not outs 55, Runs Scored 14533, Highest Scored 303*, Average 52.27, Hundreds 41, Fifties 71, Catches 123. Balls 4562, Runs Scored 2411, Wickets 56, Best Bowling 4-48, Average 43.05 cricketOverambitious plans at the Pakistan Cricket Board If the associations are still to be kept at a distance then why was this exercise done. Was it to keep certain squabbling and babbling mouths shut? Was it so? The general feeling in Pakistan is that cricket in the country is being run abysmally. There have been recent decisions, unwanted and discordant ones. At the Oval in England in 2006, seeing Dr Nasim Ashraf participating actively in the arguments, part of the Shaharyar Khan run PCB's Ad hoc Committee, one found that the gentleman had the urge to get involved in administration and rebuilding of the national team. I thought, though not fully convinced, that he could make a difference and, with help from the right people, go a fair way towards turning things round. I interviewed him, his first on any television network and discovered that he saw the PCB chairman's job as a privilege and a chance to start to build a team that cricket lovers would respect and therefore support. He was certainly grateful for, and felt honoured to be given the opportunity to work for the betterment of Pakistan cricket. Well, every new chairman of the Board thinks that rather than just sit up in the television lounge and suffer sub-standard performances and decisions, and have to comment on them, they would like to try doing something about it. Invariably after taking over, their focus shifts as they start listening to all the wrong advisors and people with vested interests -- that's regrettably what our cricket culture is about and then don't realise, deviating from their aim, just how important cricket is to so many people. It matters a lot to cricket lovers but these chairmen, administrators become apathic or too absorbed in their selves. The ;vested' part takes toll of these mostly enterprising gentlemen. A number of people have remarked that only a fool or a brave person would take on the job of chairman of the PCB. I know what they mean. Honestly, talking to Dr Nasim Ashraf I found him a simple man, though deep and worldly wise and with his background in cricket, means he had illusions. He presumably wasn't realising he was taking on a tough job. Within a few weeks of taking over Nasim took several decisions which backed up many of his observations, which were that our key senior players hadn't measured up, were not highly regarded as role models. On top of this, the management appeared to have been lenient or incapable, the working status and structure of the PCB was awry and to have worked on the assumption that if players were happy they would perform well. He surely didn't like what he'd found. Ironically, in haste he took several decisions and then reversed them. We still see a lack of self-esteem and confidence amongst the players, petty politics and internal intrigues, poor personal standards of dress, grooming and lack of respect of people around the team; poor standards of personal and team preparation for matches (both practice and mental); some major technical problems with some players, choice of people to introduce a new corporate culture at the PCB, a lack of strong decisive leadership within the unit, a lack of respect for PCB administration and the first-class game; a cricket culture that promotes self-service, concern regarding money allocation for development and resolving the age-old cricket governance issues-honestly at this juncture, the way Nasim has gone about these things, some if not all, one is getting indications, state of cricket is not going to improve-what we have at the moment is confusion about the future directions of management of the game, a lack of respect for the role of sports science and development in terms of performance enhancement; an inappropriate mixing of team/coaching management and selection roles; confused communication lines within the PCB. Not much that one wants to disagree with there. Recently the PCB Ad hoc committee met at a plush hotel at Bhurban; there were a couple of meetings. And surprisingly, Dr Nasim Ashraf's run PCB invited 55 members and representatives of the regional, district cricket associations and departments to a meeting. Here one got terribly confused. It was about revamping game's domestic structure and also to re-identify their roles. Interestingly, whenever Ad hocism is at place, usually the constitution is either abrogated or held in abeyance. Involving the associations could point towards a fact that these were being reactivated. If associations were being reactivated then were we restoring the constitution and if it was 'technically' restored by default then what's the status of PCB's Ad hoc committee including Dr Nasim Ashraf as chairman allocating US$39.6 million (close to Rs 200 crores) for one financial year -- exorbitant and shocking!!!!!! Generally it's bewildering and thoroughly confusing how the PCB works. And in case if the associations are still to be kept at a distance then why was this exercise done. Was it to keep certain squabbling and babbling mouths shut? Was it so? Dr Nasim must realise that he along with his team has to focus on building standards and that personal responsibility for preparation and performance must be drummed into our development plans. One must reinforce the fact that Nasim needs to see the development of resource, bench-strength, streamlining restructuring plans, developing man power for execution of his over-ambitious plans to constantly check that work is done. Announcing that the cricket associations would be getting Rs 60 million each without having concrete plans means that the auditors would soon be running pillar to post. Here is an example that a president of a local association was debarred from holding any office because he couldn't produce bills having spent Rs 178,000 odd rupees and they would be dealing with Rs 60 million -- well aren't we asking one too much from set-ups with no management structure at place and where one just can stand up and question credentials of quite a few running the game in the country? All this seems not to square with my own observations on the state of cricket in Pakistan. So it's pretty clear, one thinks, what PCB expects of the team they have developed recently under the garb of turning corporate -- there is a typical 'us and them' situation. We must know and accept that we would have to be careful, fair and thorough if we are to alleviate the problems and develop fairness and trust. We should also know that it would take time to develop a proper cricket culture, perhaps more than couple of years, given the nature of problems we have at the moment. Dr Nasim is surely being over-ambitious releasing US$39.6 million, and it's most likely it's going to go down to the dogs. We would be losing both, our future and money. Interestingly without having the resource to pick eleven eligible players to formulate an internationally competitive team and with complete uncertainty over its infrastructure and management, the PCB has gladly allocated a huge sum for women cricket -- it's skewed. One must also not forget that Mushtaq Ahmad, General Manager Finance's office was first shifted from the main floor to the top floor. Then Nasim got his own Chief Finance Officer and recently there have been interviews conducted to appoint Senior General Manager Finance -- this is a little unpalatable. Mushtaq has a reputation of being honest, dedicated and a straightforward loyal employee having been at the PCB for over twenty years -- why this sort of treatment has been meted out to him. There are reports that the day to day documents and files are not going through him -- he is being bypassed -- should we be suspicious? We have a Chief Operating Officer in place whose last appointment was as Joint Secretary Ministry of Food and Agriculture, we have a medical doctor working as Director Marketing and a Director Human Resource with so much to talk about him -- are we really going corporate at the PCB? One must suggest if these are the means used to turn corporate it would indeed be better to privatise the PCB -- 'Cricket Pakistan' would be a better way to work. One must also suggest that even the top multi-nationals are having acute shortage of human resource so why should we expect that capable people will turn to a volatile organisation such as the Pakistan Cricket Board. Worst was when the PCB hired the services of Dr Riaz Ahmad as a trainer of the team. It's ironic that he holds a diploma from University of London in physiotherapy and we have swiftly changed his role -- one thinks PCB is not being really scientific. There is one hell of a difference between being a physiotherapist and a trainer. Not a long time ago, we had employed an ordinary general practitioner first as a nutritionist and then the same gentleman was sent to England with the team in 2003 as a trainer -- when are we going to learn our lessons? Team management and board administration need to confer and cooperate when it comes to the make-up of the working teams. I'm not averse to reviews, and a case can possibly be made for using consultants. Here we appoint people simply on whims. I'm afraid we have travelled from worse to worst. As management, the PCB is trying to spring things on players out of the blue, or changing tack willy-nilly. We haven't seen consistency and rationality as possible both in the field and off it. The PCB is mostly concerned about the usual raft of criticisms -- however what we have seen of the incumbent PCB hierarchy, they have taken decisions reversed them, taken U-turns, worked on personal relations and whims, uncompromising where they shouldn't be, inflexible, not good one-man management, etcetera. At times it seems Dr Nasim takes decisions in a hurry or influenced by unhealthy advice. The fact is PCB at the moment needs a hard nosed, type of a person. A man with tempered-steel hardness, and allegedly to be sensitive enough towards the needs of cricket and appointing right managers -- presently we have had none. One believes in a democratic approach and the management should be constructive as a whole lot softer than it is assumed coming from a free-handed Ad Hoc Committee Chairman. I still believe cricket is not being handled properly. With the last regime we thought they were not wise from cricket's point of view, this time it seems the stakes are much higher. Dr Nasim should be determined to see that our system of management ensures that natural justice, by that one means the right to a fair hearing and the opportunity to present one's case to a group rather than one individual. This, one thinks, would head them off at the pass, surely. It's not the case. We don't have a healthy future -- one is sad, extremely sad. Just twenty more runs!Poor Inzamam. I feel for the man. I read it somewhere that your final days determine how people remember you once you depart When I note that Pakistan's
cricket hero (you can add former before Pakistani and replace hero with
villain if you want to or you are a PCB official!) Inzamam-ul-Haq needs just
19 more runs to equal Javed Miandadís 8832-run mark and one more than 19 to
become Pakistan's highest Test scorer, I immediately recall the time when the
Indian board allowed Kapil Dev 10 Tests to overhaul Richard Hadlee's
431-wicket tally. But this is Pakistan cricket and in Pakistan we can't even give 10 overs to the great Inzamam to rewrite the record books. This is Pakistan once it is said it is over, it means it is over. No half measures, no second thoughts, no u-turns (it has nothing to do with Afghanistan and Inzamam's religious trends). It is a matter of discipline; it is a matter of opinion. You cannot challenge the board's writ. It depends completely on the board's discretion to appoint a skipper in the evening and replace him with someone else in the morning. I hope Mohammad Yousuf gets that easily. It is the government's free-will to appoint a talented, young pacer vice-captain for the ODI series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and then suddenly replace him with a struggling opener who definitely needs some time to get adjusted. The PCB could be the only board which works on whims and notions and still makes such decisions which are held in great esteem and judgment. It must have some divine hand at their end to assist them. Now we all should wait to see who gets the nod for the job of coach -- Dav Whatmore or Geoff Lawson. Maybe they are waiting for their divine hand to intervene. Foreign intervention is a norm in our professional affairs. It is the best way to clear mind of all ambiguities. Another thing which they did extremely well is asking players' feedback about candidates for the coaching assignment. And to make it far more concrete, they gather all feedback and then reject it. Maybe the will of the divine hand has something to do with it as players are asking for Lawson while the board is inclined towards Whatmore's expertise. After all, who are players? They do not know a thing about cricket. The board can take good care of cricketing affairs. Let's get back to Inzamam otherwise accolades for Pakistan cricket will consume the whole of this column. They deserve more than that. I again got side-tracked. Poor Inzamam. I feel for the man. I read it somewhere that your final days determine how people remember you once you depart. Where did Inzi stumble? Maybe in last few months, but those last few months got him dumped. However, those last few months cannot snatch away all his records and services which he registered for his country. What they have done is enough to disgrace him after the 2007 World Cup. Throwing the whole rubble of the World Cup fiasco on the man who helped immensely to pull Pakistan out of the abyss after the 2003 World Cup, another disaster in our history was one way to proclaim that we cannot respect our heroes. Our history is filled with stories where we disgraced our heroes for devastation. I cannot remember one name who quit the game with respect with the exception of Imran Khan. The same Inzamam was hugely responsible for Imran's embellished reception which could have turned out to be another embarrassing moment had Inzamam failed to play that resplendent knock in the 1992 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. By not giving Inzamam the central contract, we are not only sending wrong signals to our future generations, who like to play this game to be someone, but also to the foreigners. Both India and Pakistan are finding it hard to hire a coach. Why? May be our attitude with our heroes has something to do with it. Otherwise who would have thought of a refusal from Graham Ford over a high-profile Indian job. They -- the coaches -- are looking at coaching jobs in Asian giants as the most challenging portfolios not only because of their teams' volatile and inconsistent nature but the antipathy we show for our big names on each and very loss. The way we put the careers, peace of mind and self-respect of our superstars on the line, how we become intolerable for minor hiccups in the field and the manner we attach human frailties with scheming and match fixing are creating apprehensions for our future cricketers who want to opt for cricket as their profession, besides making foreigners reluctant in accepting any role. By allowing a few more Test appearances to Inzamam, we can salvage some pride for the great man and that for our nation as well. Negating our heroes what they deserve after toil of umpteenth daylights wearing green caps cannot redeem us in our own eyes in coming days. We definitely need someone who can steer Pakistan's middle-order batting for some time till we find a suitable replacement of Inzamam. Alright, don't give him chance for his skill, for his experience and not even because we want him dearly in longer version of the game. But can we make an arrangement for his last 20 runs at the international scene which can make him pass his great predecessor Miandad? Or we cannot be that generous to one of the greatest batsmen Pakistan has ever produced? We don't have too many who have 5000s, 6000s or 8000s and not even one who has 9000 runs. If by making place for his 187 runs (Inzi has 8,813 Test runs) we can raise the flag of Pakistan, then I do not see any harm in that. Otherwise we have to wait for Yousuf and Younis to go for that record if not another catastrophe happens at their time. We can never predict anything about any scenario keeping our cricketing culture in mind. I can bet looking at the class and finesse Inzamam possesses that it won't take him too long to get there. Don't do it for Inzamam, do it for Pakistan. Give him a Test series. What's the mystery behind Asif's being dumped as vice-captain? If captaining the Pakistan team is an honour guiding the team to historical wins is bigger than that as he has the potential to do so The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Salman
Butt as the new deputy to captain Shoaib Malik up to December 31 this year.
Chairman PCB, Dr Nasim Ashraf, while defending the decision has described it
a long-term and wise decision and also emphasised that it has been taken in
the larger interest of Pakistan cricket. But the ground realities are quite
different from what we've heard from the PCB chairman. Mohammad Asif was dumped by our Board as vice-captain after just three matches and the reason of his sacking is that the top-brass of the PCB is thinking of the future! Is Asif a veteran cricketer? Is he over the hill now? We can easily understand, considering this decision of the Board, that Asif is no longer in the good books of the management. But he should keep focus on just one thing i.e. he is a part of the team that demand the same hostile bowling performance from him that he has produced in recent past. He mustn't take it negatively or personally as he is an asset and if captaining the Pakistan team is an honour guiding the team to historical wins is bigger than that as he has the potential to do so. An unfortunate aspect of Asif's sacking is that while taking this decision, the captain was not taken into confidence nor were the senior players. This attitude of the PCB's top officials can put them in an awkward position in the future as the majority of senior players have quite a few reservations about this decision. It has been rumored in cricket circles and some pundits firmly believe that this decision was taken in haste and has left the senior players and captain unhappy. They were expecting that if a change was imminent any senior player could have been given this honor. But instead of honouring the seniors, the Board has again opened a Pandora's box by appointing Salman. Asif was strongly reprimanded by the match referee during the Abu Dhabi event and he is still awaiting the final verdict of WADA. We cannot rule out the possibility of pressure being felt by the PCB after his appointment as vice-captain. We very well know that PCB does not like pressure from the outside as we saw when despite several requests from cricket lovers and also from former players, the PCB avoided taking any action against the Jamaican police who mistreated our players after the tragic death of former coach Bob Woolmer. One is not against the appointment of Salman, but the manner which was adopted is not a very healthy one. Salman was not very impressive with the willow in the Abu Dhabi event against the islanders. He lacks consistency as I have mentioned in one of my columns and it is quite evident from his record as this 22-year-old young lad from Lahore has scored just 777 runs in 14 Tests at 29.88 while, in 36 ODI appearances, he has accumulated 1,072 runs. In this scenario his appointment despite the presence of senior players is very strange. The situation which prevails these days in Pakistan cricket is not very constructive, but the PCB is making one decision after the other ignoring the outcome of these developments as we have witnessed recently that the national selection committee announced a pool of players who will be benefiting from central contracts. But the notable omission from the said list is former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. One can question his abilities as a captain, but as a player his accomplishments are not of the sort we can forget easily. A player of his class should be given a fair chance of representing the country that he has served during the last 17 years and his illustrious career speaks of itself. But once again the PCB has acted against the spirit of the game and in a very awful manner his name has been deleted. If the Board is sincere in its tall claims of giving its heart and soul for the progress of the game across the country, it must respect and honour the national heroes as they are the ones who bring laurels to the country including that unforgettable triumph in the 1992 World Cup. As far as the appointment of the Pakistan team's coach is concerned, Dav Whatmore looks to be far ahead in this race in comparison to his compatriots, Geoff Lawson and Richard Done. But the main hurdle which can deprive him from getting this coveted post is his desire of maximum powers. He has a very bitter experience in this regard as he had made public his conditions well in advance before the approval of BCCI while he was being considered for the role of Indian coach and he had to face the consequences. He could be of great help as he is the person the team badly needs but he would have to show some flexibility while negotiating with the Board. He transformed the Sri Lankans into a winning unit during the 1996 World Cup and as a keen cricket follower one expects the same from this 53-year-old Australian. The PCB has indicated that they will consult the senior players before taking a decision in this regard and this is a very welcome move as they should respect each other and work collectively for a bright future of Pakistan cricket. The camp which was organised in Abbottabad to make the team physically and mentally strong for the coming challenges has concluded with the trainers claiming that they have worked extensively on the fitness of injury-prone fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in particular, who has said that he made full use of this golden opportunity. It will be interesting to see what happens in Scotland as he has put on a lot of flesh on the lower part of his body. Carrying this weight what would Shoaib do with the leather against the minnows and arch rivals India remains to be seen. Younis Khan will also take part in the series and his active participation is the need of the hour as he along with Mohammad Yousuf forms the backbone of the middle-order, and this young and rather inexperienced team looks forward to an excellent display from this experienced duo in the absence of Inzamam. Talat Ali has been given the additional charge of coach for the two matches and one hopes that he handles this dual role conveniently and the team performs as per the wishes of the nation and put up the same sort of unity and dedication which we saw during the series against the World Cup finalists to win laurels for this cricket-crazy nation.
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