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The
plot thickens Two dictatorial regimes imposed by creating an artificial crisis, when the constitution allows for By Sohaib Alvi The institution is dysfunctional. The man at the top wants to do his job the way he pleases. He wants to sack people who he believes has let down the institution. He wants a change in the constitution to allow him to do that although it could all have been solved according to the original constitution and by democratic means. A touch of
Viv bookreview
The plot thickens Two dictatorial regimes imposed by creating an artificial crisis, when the constitution allows for By Sohaib Alvi The
institution is dysfunctional. The man at the top wants to do his job the
way he pleases. He wants to sack people who he believes has let down the
institution. He wants a change in the constitution to allow him to do
that although it could all have been solved according to the original
constitution and by democratic means. So a doctrine of
necessity is created and the institution is taken over with the cover of
a disputable clause. Unlike a previous title that officially talks of
dictatorship, a cute designation is created from the corporate world, as
if this is different sort of takeover than the previous, sordid ones. Now I ask you. Is this
the situation on October 12, 1999 when General Musharraf imposed martial
law on the institution of the government and removed Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif whom the general accused had made the government
dysfunctional? Or is this the
situation on October 15, 2013 when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has
imposed a dictatorial regime on the institution that is the PCB and
removed the Governing Board which the PM accused had made PCB
dysfunctional? In the first instance
Prime Minister Sharif had cried out, and did all through his exile, that
he had had only 31 months to run a government and needed more time. In
the second instance the same man has imposed ‘martial law’ on PCB
because it had failed to take crucial decisions in the three months it
had been given. In the first instance
Sharif had cried out that he was running the government as per
constitution. In the second he has no time for the PCB to be run on
constitutional lines. In the first instance
even his close confidants had said he had been running the government
with a few close friends (some in the cabinet) from his home in Raiwind
rather than through the official cabinet in Islamabad. In the second
instance, he feels that the PCB governing board (cabinet) was doing
nothing to resurrect Pakistan cricket. In the first instance
he claimed the designation given to himself by General Musharraf (Chief
Executive of Pakistan) was a cover name for Chief Martial Law
Administrator. In the second instance he has given a convenient name of
Interim Management Committee as in the corporate world. In the first instance
he accused the general of imposing himself by force on all those whose
acquiescence was required for him to be nominated as CEO, using the
threat of dismissal from job. In the second he has ensured that the
other four of the five-man IMC say ‘aye’ to the man who matters
otherwise it may affect their benefits and/or jobs. In the first instance
he accused the cabinet of the general as being composed of weak men who
can’t take on the general in his decisions. In the second he has
ensured that the chairman has weak people who have no clout of their
own, and are known for their ‘yes sir, anything you say sir, of course
you’re right sir’ attitude to the boss. And so the comparison
can go on. Two dictatorial regimes imposed by creating an artificial
crisis, when the constitution allows for a democratic process to resolve
the matters. So how has this crisis
come about? Well, first by delaying elections time and again by saying
they are waiting for agreement from the Election Commission of Pakistan
to supervise the elections. Yet the IHC should have known that according
to the constitution and the assigned scope of ECP is to only supervise
elections of national, provincial or local seats. What has been
disappointing is that although PCB wrote to IHC in August that ECP has
refused to conduct the elections, no answer came from the courts until
this week. The plot has become
more complex following IHC’s instructions that elections be held by
November 2 and PCB is set to go into appeal again, as by now the
Governing Board stands dissolved and a five-man IMC is in place, another
mix of the over 60’s club. But hang on, the constitution has not been
abrogated, and if it has been amended, then the question arises how it
can be if the entire BoG is not available. As things stand today,
an official of ECP has reportedly said off the record that they will do
what they have to though it is unconstitutional! I mean, if this
happens, then by ECP officials admittance everyone is breaking the law
at this high level, or at least one of them is misinterpreting it. So where are the
voters, then? In fact who will they be? The situation is the same as
when Zaka Ashraf got through the back door, in fact by breaking it. The
PCB, in the last three months, technically for no fault if its own, has
been unable to carry out elections at the regional level. So if the same
sets of voters turn up, will the court then also term the election of
Najam Sethi as illegal? Pakistan has been
lucky in that ICC continues to look the other way, having no will to
carry out its earlier threat of suspending members if they didn’t have
democratically elected Board and Chairman by June 2013. The World
Twenty20 is in five months time and suspension of Pakistan would have
been terrible controversy at such a crucial stage. The sponsors would
have cried foul too, especially the ones from Pakistan. As it is they
themselves are busy manipulating things to their advantage. Srinavasan
and Clarke met earlier to the ICC meeting to connive in dismissing the
almost agreed option of watering down the powers of the ICC Chairman.
With such arrogance at the ICC level, they would have had no face to
come down hard on Pakistan. Sohaib121@gmail.com
In his youth, Tendulkar was the kind of attacking batsman who would have set T20 ablaze, had the format existed By Sanjay Manjrekar I was
privileged to watch, from very close quarters, a child prodigy go on to
become a true legend of the game. A batsman who stunned the world with
his voracious appetite for the game and for making hundreds. Sachin Tendulkar has
only played a single international T20. His exploits in the format were
all in the IPL and at the Champions League. You will agree that his
impact on the shortest format of the game has been less than that on the
others. T20 cricket came into
Tendulkar’s life a little too late and cricket is slightly poorer for
that. Had T20 come into the game when Tendulkar was in the yo Brian Lara in a TV
chat recently confessed that he would have struggled in T20 cricket
because it just did not suit his temperament; for starters, he needed a
bit of time to get going while batting. Not Tendulkar. The Tendulkar
that I saw early in his career was as much a master in the short formats
of the game as he was in the longest. In the early ‘90s we
used to play lots of privately organised tournaments, among them various
single-wicket, double-wicket and six-a-side affairs. These were
typically two, three, or a maximum of five overs. Away from the glare of
TV and the other media, we saw some mind-boggling innings from Tendulkar
in these games. Whatever target was set, he would achieve it,
single-handed. Yes, even in a double-wicket match or a six-a-side
tournament. I noticed that
Tendulkar was at his best when he was pitted against another individual.
This happened a lot in such tournaments, where it was a battle between
one bowler and one batsman that decided the fate of a match. I have been witness to
some breathtaking hitting from Tendulkar in such events. The most
memorable instance was in a double-wicket tournament played at Salt Lake
Stadium in Kolkata, when he took Manoj Prabhakar and Kapil Dev apart to
reach an almost impossible target to win yet again. Vinod Kambli was the
lucky beneficiary as Tendulkar’s partner in that tournament. During that contest I
saw some well-aimed yorkers from two highly accomplished India bowlers
disappear over the midwicket boundary for huge sixes. It was the first
time I had seen yorkers being dismissed in that fashion. That innings
was played away from the international arena but the bowling was
international-quality and the intensity very high. The strokeplay that
night from Tendulkar left all of us in a daze. This trait of
Tendulkar’s was also seen in the nets, where too the one-to-one combat
brought the best out of him, and we would stop everything we were doing
to watch. Sometimes Javagal Srinath, towards the end of one of
Tendulkar’s batting stints in the nets, would throw him a challenge:
“Okay Sachin, last four balls from me, 12 runs to win.” Tendulkar
would come up with a counter offer: “No, eight runs in four balls.”
The negotiations would go on for a bit and then a number like ten would
be agreed upon. The stage was nicely set: four balls from Srinath and
Tendulkar had to get ten runs to win the “match”. Srinath would then set
an imaginary field, and after every ball bowled, this field would be
adjusted. All this would happen while the other net bowlers continued to
bowl normally at Tendulkar. But when Srinath ran in to bowl, you could
see Tendulkar’s demeanour change. It was not just net practice now. I saw this little
contest take place many times during my career, and I never saw Srinath
win. And the same went for the other bowlers who attempted it. Tendulkar
was just too good for Srinath. He would play around with him and his
“field”. Often, to add salt to the wound, he would deliberately hit
the ball into areas from where Srinath had just removed his
“fielders”. Tendulkar would walk off, pleased as punch, having won
another bout with a bowler, and Srinath would be seen standing in his
typical arms-crossed stance, having accepted defeat, but you could see
his eyes were full of admiration for the little fellow as he left the
nets to take off his pads. When Tendulkar was
growing up, he idolised Sir Vivian Richards, and it was obvious to us
that he also wanted to bat like him in his early days. Tendulkar was
never the showman, like Viv could be, but that is not to say that he was
less combative. I remember another
game that wasn’t on TV. Mumbai were playing Baroda in a Ranji match at
the RCF cricket ground. Tendulkar walked in at the fall of a Mumbai
wicket, and we saw as he got up that he was not looking very motivated. Baroda had this pace
bowler called Mukesh Narula who had a bit of spirit. He liked to play
hard, and in this particular innings he took that fighting spirit to the
next level. Some bouncers were
sent Tendulkar’s way, and along with them some glares and words under
the breath too. I suppose Narula wanted to show his team-mates that he
was not overawed by the man, as they were. All of us in the Mumbai
dressing room were thinking: “What are you doing, Mukesh?” The inevitable
happened. Bored till then, Tendulkar got charged up. The faster Narula
bowled, the harder the ball bounced back from Tendulkar’s bat to hit
the sight-screen. I still vividly remember the force with which the ball
thudded into the wall next to the sight-screen. This was not Tendulkar
just scoring runs, this was Tendulkar showing disdain for Narula without
uttering a single word. After the match, I
spoke to Kiran More, who was captaining Baroda. “Your best chance of
getting Tendulkar out was to keep him bored. Your Narula gave him a
reason to bat.” This was the Tendulkar
of the early days. Obviously over his long 24-year batting career, he
changed, but the Tendulkar with the ghost of Viv in him was my favourite
Tendulkar.
bookreview He delivered
the ball of the century on his first appearance in the Ashes, he spun
his team towards victory in the final of the World Cup in 1999, he
breathed life in the dead art of leg spin bowling, yet former Australia
cricketer Shane Warne is considered to be the most despicable cricketer
of the modern era. He has had his shares of scandals (including one
about match-fixing), he has been unfaithful to his wife (on more than
one occasion) and was banned ahead of the World Cup in 2003 (for taking
a drug given by his mother), an event his team won without him. For such a colourful
character, a colourful book was in the offing and after a lot was
written for and against Warne, Australian writer Gideon Haigh took it
upon himself to present the most neutral version of Shane Warne to the
public in his new and aptly-titled book ‘On Warne!’ He tells the
reader that it was Shane Warne’s first comments that made him go for
the book. “The trouble is, people I’ve never met think they know all
about me.” So here’s a book by a writer who has known ‘Warnie’
for more than 15 years and who backs him up just like wicket-keeper Ian
Healy used to, while Warne was sending down his majestic deliveries. What makes this book
different from the countless ghost biographies, an anti-biography and
numerous articles written on Shane Warne? At first look, it seems like a
book about the man behind the greatest leg-spinner of all times, but
sadly, it is more like ‘Let’s Defend Warne’. I respect Mr. Haigh a
lot since he is considered to be one of the best cricket writers in the
world. But his book fails to nullify the effects of Paul Barry’s Spun
Out in which Shane Warne was literally sent for a spin! Barry hit Warne
for continuous sixes by talking to his school friends, his academy
colleagues and his school teachers who said they didn’t remember him,
because he was that insignificant. However in his
account, Haigh tries to say that Shane Warne is not the monster he has
been portrayed and he is an ideal citizen of the world, who has done
less bad things and more good ones. While Paul Barry rates Warne’s
life as a soap opera, Haigh paints a different picture, He does give
references to Barry’s book but tries to balance it with his own
version. While Barry terms Warne as a kid who has never heard of the
word consequences, Haigh believes Warne is the ideal man! If you are thinking of
buying this book because it looks like Shane Warne’s biography, then
don’t bother because it seems more like a university paper on a
subject, this time on Shane Warne. The writer, who has been on friendly
terms with the subject, does well on examining him from as many as 4
different angles. You get to know about Haigh’s account of Warne the
celebrity, Warne the teammate, Warne the protògé (of Bruce
Jenner) and Warne the deputy (to Steve Waugh), The better part of the
book is, however, spent defending his conduct which has made men hate
him, and women loathe him! How can somebody as
renowned a writer as Gideon Haigh defend somebody as infamous as Shane
Warne? Even after his retirement, he was in the news for the wrong
reasons ñ like predicting the result of a tied match or hitching with
an already married Elizabeth Hurley. But the writer believes that Shane
Warne’s cricket career proves that he is not an ordinary person, he is
extremely gifted and talented and that’s why he backs his performance
on the field to counter his off-the-field antics. Point taken! The
writer has his reasons because he is one of the few people who lived and
loved the Warne era, ‘when the impossible was everyday and the
sensational every other day.’ His narrative keeps the fans engrossed
not because they want to hear some dirty little secret about the
subject, but because Haigh’s Warne is more human than hapless. It is Haigh’s
brilliance as a writer that saves Shane Warne from any more trouble,
because instead of writing another biography, the writer divaides Shane
Warne in The Making of Warne, The Art of Warne, The Men of Warne, The
Trials of Warne and The Sport of Warne. In these interlinked chapters,
the writer presents a different side of Warne which no one seems to
remember. Haigh talks to Warne’s mentor Terry Jenner, his friends and
people who helped make Warne the man he is today. His analysis of
Warne’s partnerships with Glenn McGrath, and his rivalry with Stuart
McGill is icing on the cake because it proves that Shane Warne was a
different entity donning the whites and the baggy green for Australia!
It is the quality of Haigh’s narrative that steals the show. The way
he describes the master bowler in The Art of Warne, even his staunchest
of adversaries would agree is remarkable. Be it bowling his first
delivery in Ashes or getting bamboozled by Indian batsmen, Haigh’s
description seals the deal. The writer tries to
counter the biographies and autobiographies of all Warne colleagues,
proving that if Steve Waugh had something against Warne, it was more
professional than personal. He uses passages from the books of Adam
Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden to show the unknown side of Warne, which
does well and doesn’t do well at the same time. If he had limited the
‘defend Warne’ policy, it would have been better because at times it
seems the book is answer to all ‘Warne critics’ rather than a book
about the greatest leg spinner of our generation. At times, he goes
overboard in defense of ‘Shane The Saint’ which is difficult to
digest, and hard to embrace. But since Gideon Haigh brings all his
experience as a cricket writer to analyze Warne — first as a human and
later as a cricketer — it sort of gets the job done. Haigh has done
something no other writer has even tried to do, considering
Warne-Bashing pays more than Warne-saving! A wonderful read if you love
Shane Warne. omair78@gmail.com
The
return of the Indo-Pak Express One would
think that after almost cementing a place in the Barclays ATP World Tour
Finals with partner Jean-Julien Rojer courtesy his second Stockholm Open
title last Sunday, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi would be in the news for winning
his second title of the year with his Dutch partner. Instead
Pakistan’s tennis ace has been making more headlines following the
announcement that he would be pairing up with Rohan Bopanna again next
season, patching up the Indo-Pak Express that was derailed at the tail
end of 2011. In Stockholm, Aisam
and Rojer played flawless tennis to beat Swedish duo of veteran Jonas
Bjokman and Robert Lindstedt 6-2, 6-2 in the final. The team is ranked
seventh in the world and with the top eight teams qualifying for the ATP
Tour Finals, they have all but sealed their place in the year ending
event in While this might be
perceived as cause for optimism, the general perception is that the
Qureshi-Rojer team has achieved all it could, with the ATP 1000 Masters
title in Miami this year being the zenith. Hence, going back with
Bopanna at this point in time makes a lot of sense. Both Aisam and Bopanna
have matured as players and maybe as individuals as well, and after
replicating the achievements that they had together with other partners
as well, they might have erased any feelings of any skew in pedigree, if
any inkling of it might’ve existed when they were together. Although the Indo-Pak
duo had got together in 2007, until 2010 they were more renowned for
their work off the court than on it. The ìStop War, Start Tennisî
initiative that made them the United Nations goodwill ambassadors, and
gave Aisam his second Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, — first one
being with Amir Hadad — was their only source of recognition. That
changed in 2010, when they gate-crashed the party at Flushing Meadows
and reached the final at the US Open, with Aisam coupling that with
another run to the final in the Mixed Doubles as well in the same year. September 2010 to
October 2011 was the apogee for the Indo-Pak Express as they added an
ATP Masters 1000 in Paris to their finals berth in New York. What made
them successful was their sudden surge to the top and the element of
surprise that they brought to the court. However, the team’s strength,
like that of any competent doubles partnership has always been how
they’ve complemented one another; and in the case of the Aisam-Bopanna
pairing it was also about translating their off-field camaraderie to the
court. Aisam’s conventional
serve and volleying and Bopanna’s monstrous ground strokes and a
mammoth serve, complement each other seamlessly. Bopanna prefers the
ad-court, since he has a strong backhand while Aisam has always favoured
the deuce court, since the backhand is not his most effective stroke
while the forehand is an obvious strength. When together they can be a
daunting prospect for even the best of the best, as their strengths
seamlessly blend together. Furthermore being
really good friends in real life also means that they stand up for one
another, make up for each other’s shortcomings and compensate with
putting in the proverbial extra mile if the partner is having an off
day. This has meant that the combined strength of the team has always
been greater than the sum of the individuals, which again has further
been shored up following stints with other partners. It’s still some time
to go before the next season starts but there is serious cause for
buoyancy. Both Aisam and Bopanna are bordering on their respective peaks
and together they might go a step further this time around. With their
respective games improving and other top teams fading, it’s really
only the Brian Brothers that might be considered to be at a level above
the Indo-Pak duo. If they continue playing at the level that they’re
playing as things stand next year, a major triumph is very much on the
cards.
Consistency
behind Amla’s growing stature Cricket is
probably the only game which has a variety of statistical attractions
and a large number of cricket fans across the world like this sport only
due to its exciting stats. It is true that
cricket is a game of records. There are a number of cricket stalwarts in
batting, bowling and fielding segments who have amazing records against
their names. Some greats excelled
in Tests, some had wonderful careers in ODIs and some in both. South
Africa’s stylish batsman Hashim Amla has had great success in both
Tests and ODIs. His astonishing and consistent performance can be gauged
from the fact that these days, he is the only batsman with 50 plus
average in both Tests and ODIs. Till the first Test
match of current series against Pakistan, Amla had accumulated 5,913
runs in 71 Test matches at an average of 52.32. In ODIs, the
30-year-old right-hander from Durban has scored 3,675 runs so far, at an
excellent average of 54.85 in 76 matches. Michael Hussey of
Australia and Jonathan Trott of England have also spent long periods
with 50 plus averages in both formats. Hussey quit cricket in
January this year with 48.15 and 51.52 ODI and Test averages,
respectively. Trott, who has an
average of 51.25 in ODIs, is playing as a key member of English team but
these days his Test average has gone below the 50-run mark. It may be recalled
here that batting maestros like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara,
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ricky Ponting had wonderful careers in both formats
but they could not get 50-run average mark in ODIs during their careers.
It requires a great
amount of steadiness in both formats to maintain top level performance
and unquestionably, Amla is enriched with this amazing ability. Overall, there are 40
batsmen who have 50-plus averages in Tests but none of them, except Amla,
has such a good percentage in ODIs. Similarly, as many as seven batsmen
enjoyed 50-plus averages in ODIs, but not in Tests. Though South Africa
lost the Abu Dhabi Test by seven wickets Amla once again showed his
class and notched up his 20th Test century. Amla, ICC’s top-ranked
Test batsman at the moment, became the 40th in the world and the fourth
South African to achieve 20-century feat. With his classy knock
of 118 at Abu Dhabi, Amla also joined a select band of Test giants with
20 or more Test centuries, 50-plus Test average and a triple century. Amla already had a
triple century (311*) and an excellent Test average of over 52.32 runs.
He had struck the triple ton at The Oval in London in July 2012 to
become the first South African to cross the 300-run mark. Pakistan has only
Younis Khan in this elite club. Younis, who hammered a triple century
(313) against Sri Lanka in Karachi in 2009, joined this group last year
when he hit his 20th Test century against England in the UAE. Inzamam was also a
member of this exceptional club before his last Test match against South
Africa at Lahore in 2007. It may be recalled here that Inzamam appeared
in only one match of the brief two-Test rubber and could not contribute
a big knock in either innings and consequently lost his 50-plus average
distinction. He capped his Test
career at 8,830 runs in 120 Tests with a highest score of 329 and an
average of 49.60. Mahela Jayawardene of
Sri Lanka and India’s Virender Sehwag also had a place in this special
group but lost it due to some shaky form that sent their Test batting
average blow 50 runs per innings. Sehwag, who is one of
the only two batsmen in Test history to play three 290-plus innings
alongside Donald Bradman, maintained a 50 plus Test average in majority
of his Test matches — 85 Tests out of 104. The dashing stroke
player was dropped from India’s Test team for the four-match home Test
series against Australia in March 2013 due to his poor form. Jayawardene also
managed to keep his Test average over 50 runs for a long time but lost
it during the series against Australia in December last. West Indian great Viv
Richards missed this feat as he was dismissed at 291 against England at
The Oval in 1976. Richards wrapped up his Test career with 24 centuries
and 50.23 average in 1991. ghalibmbajwa@hotmail.com An elite club of Test
batsmen Batsmen
Matches
Runs High Scores
Avg 100s D G Bradman
52 6,996
334 99.94
29 W R Hammond
85 7,249
336* 58.45
22 G S Sobers
93 8,032
365* 57.78
26 B C Lara
131 11,953
400* 52.88
34 M L Hayden
103 8,625
380 50.73
30 M J Clarke
97 7,656
329* 52.08
24 Younis Khan
85 7,068
313 51.59
22 H M Amla
71 5913
311* 52.32
20
jbswing Recently I had
the pleasant experience of coaching a UK-based banker of Pakistani
origin, Arif Hussain, who was in the UAE on business. He had previously
trained under an English coach in London but Arif wasn’t happy with
his game. During his stay in Dubai, he decided to take a “golf
break” in Pakistan. The reason why he opted for Pakistan is because
Arif decided to get some golf tuition from a professional USPGA
certified coach. Google helped him find
me. Arif spent seven days with me, taking two sessions daily at the
Karachi Golf Club. Later, he wrote me an
email saying: “The lessons have been excellent, and addressed the
issues in my game from the fundamentals, to building a good swing,
focusing on technique, and the psychological aspects of the game, to
succeed. I have been impressed by your progressive teaching methods that
produce immediate results.” The reason why I
mentioned Arif’s case is to stress the fact that one has to work with
professional coaches to be able to learn the game. A good coach can help
improve one’s game and make it enjoyable. Otherwise I’m afraid it is
going to be paid suffering. It’s quite a sad
sight to see many beginners playing golf with their friends and either
getting half-baked tips from them or their caddies. Such players are
placing their golf future at a very big risk. The thing is by the time
they realise that they have to get help of a professional coach, it is
too late for them. This is because they will need to unlearn everything
that they have been taught before starting to learn the right
fundamentals. In golf, the most
important aspect is to have the right swing. I agree that a good swing
never comes from coaches but by getting one’s basics right, one can
develop swing which will look and work well. Two years ago I was
visiting Islamabad when Muhammad Nazir approached me to help his golf
swing. He had been hitting low hooks. He plays at Islamabad Golf Club.
Next evening I saw his swing and showed him the video of it. Then I took
him to the driving range and fixed his wrist position at the top of his
back swing. Afterwards he won two most important and lucrative golf
tournaments — CNS Open and Pakistan Open — you can imagine what sort
of difference professional golf coaching can make. I never charged any
local Pakistani pro for my lessons. I am willing to share my knowledge
to help them improve their golf. I do all my teaching
in English golfing language with professional teaching software V1 to
show all kind of angles of the swing. A number of coaches use gadgets to
teach golf. I do not use them. I believe that the driving range is a
factory to manufacture your swing. The golf course is the market. If
your product, which is your game, is good you will get good price value
at market which is the golf course. You have to go to
specialists no matter you read books or watch videos. Books and Youtube
videos only talk about general fundamentals which are same. If I can
explain my students properly it is fun teaching golf. The most important
is using videos to show them their swings time to time. After some
progress I do swing analysis and email it to them so they can have a
record of the improvements in their game. Fayyaz Niazi, the golf
coach of Pakistan Navy, has been attached with me for last ten years to
learn how to teach golf. I can say proudly he is the best upcoming coach
in the country. Most coaches eat paan,
naswar; smoke cigarettes; don’t shave for quite a few days; teach golf
wearing shalwar kameez and sandals; and talk on cell phones during
lessons. All this is against the spirit of coaching because as a coach
one has to concentrate hard. Syed Jamal Badshah is
Pakistan’s premier golf coach. Send your queries to:
Jbgolfacademy@gmail.com Queries from readers Shahid Khan: My handicap
is 12. I am struggling to play my handicap. Jamal Badshah:
Try to play your golf hole-by-hole. If you are playing first hole, try
to par it. If you are stuck in the rough, always give one stroke to get
out into the fairway. You will be able to play trouble-free golf. Christiana Mitchell
from Washington, DC: I read your article. Being your golf student it was
a pleasure to read. You are the best golf coach I’ve ever trained
with. Now my handicap is 2 with all your great teaching. JB: Thanks a lot. Shahzad Khan from
Dubai: I was visiting Karachi on Eid holidays. I found very slow greens
in most Karachi courses. How to deal with them? JB: For slow greens
you have to use a heavy head putter. Also you keep your back swing short
and then accelerate through the putts. You may have slight wrist flick
in your stroke which is the only way to putt well on slow greens. On
your score card there is no story about how you did it. There is only
what you scored. Annie Richard from
Switzerland: We have seasonal golf in our country. Each season I get
better. Off season I lose it and again have to work all over to regain
my form. JB: You have to
constantly practise, twice a week. You can hit hollow plastic balls or
tennis balls. Hit real golf balls into nets and practise your putting on
mats or carpets. Also do dry swing with eyes shut to build imaginations.
Do it this season and let me know.
|
|
uth
of his batting career, he would have been one of the most dangerous T20
batsmen in the world. Sure, he would not have hit the ball as long as
Chris Gayle does, but he would have given the bowlers the same kinds of
nightmares.
London — for the second time in a row.
