In search of a coach
By Aamir Bilal
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has posted an advertisement and formed a committee headed by Intikhab Alam to help find a new coach for Pakistan’s cricket team to replace the outgoing Waqar Younis.

TOUGH LUCK INDIA!
The high-flying tourists have been cut down to size by England
By Umair A. Qazi
In the recently-concluded One-day International series between India and England which the hosts dominated and deservingly won, it was sad to see India on the decline after being crowned world champions but it felt as if justice had been done.

False starts aplenty
By Zain Qureshi
The Champions League formally kicked off this past week with group stage matches getting underway. The results may have been surprising, but the performances of the leading teams were quite unlike what anyone would have predicted.

Getting better
Pakistan’s hockey team is slowly but surely improving and that’s a good sign for them
ahead of next year’s Olympic Games
By Arshad Shami
Pakistan team’s performance in the recently-concluded Asian Champions Trophy can be described as satisfactory if not outstanding. Considering the fact that the team included new promising young players, its showing was a happy augury for the future. The team lacked finesse and experience though it put up a good show.

Sports’ greatest tragedy
The Munich air disaster in 1958 left a nation in mourning
By Ijaz Chaudhry
On the seventh of September this year, a Yak-42 plane carrying 45 people collided with a communications mast seconds after taking off from an airport near the Russian town of Yaroslavl before plunging to the ground in a ball of flames.

As expected, Pakistan brushed aside a largely feeble Zimbabwean resistance to wrap up victories in a one-off Test and the three-match One-day International series.

The tour of Zimbabwe promised a lot more excitement when the hosts amassed a 400-plus total in the series-opening Test in Bulawayo but after that it was mostly downhill for Zimbabwe, who were at their best against Bangladesh at home before hosting the Pakistanis. Following their good showing against the Tigers, many expected that Zimbabwe will give a young Pakistani team a tough time but that didn’t really happen.

However, in spite of their Test and one-day series triumphs, Pakistan displayed a lot of chinks in their armour. Their bowling, that included several second string bowlers, wasn’t actually up to the mark. The way Pakistan allowed Zimbabwe to score runs freely in the initial sessions of the Bulawayo Test raised a big question mark over our selectors’ claims that the country’s cricket basket is brimming with talent. In the absence of Umar Gul, Pakistan’s pace attack seemed pretty toothless and it was apparent that any team with even a slightly better batting line-up than Zimbabwe would have destroyed the Pakistani bowlers.

Pakistan, who rested several of their key bowlers including pace spearhead Umar Gul against Zimbabwe, will now return home and start getting ready for two tough assignments. They have two back-to-back ëhome’ series coming up against Sri Lanka and England, currently world’s number one Test team.

The Pakistanis will be hosting Sri Lanka at the end of this year followed by the eagerly-awaited assignment against England at the start of 2012. Both the series will be played at various venues in the United Arab Emirates, which is now the home of Pakistan cricket.

But before the twin assignments in the Gulf, Pakistan will have to achieve the task of finding a suitable coach for their team. They need to replace Waqar Younis, who has decided to step down as Pakistan’s coach because of ‘health reasons’.

Under normal circumstances, finding a good coach for a major team like Pakistan shouldn’t have been very difficult. There are plenty of good coaches in the cricketing world and several of them are available to take over an international team.

Unfortunately, these aren’t normal times for Pakistan. Due to a highly volatile security situation, foreigners are unwilling to come to this country. Another factor that still haunts Pakistan is the mysterious death of their former coach Bob Woolmer. The Englishman was found dead in his hotel in Kingston (Jamaica) during the 2007 World Cup just a day after Pakistan fell to a stunning defeat against minnows Ireland to crash out of the tournament at the first hurdle.

Pakistan’s cricket chiefs have appointed a committee to find a suitable coach. The committee which is headed by former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam includes Zaheer Abbas and Col (retd) Naushad Ali while Ramiz Raja is assisting it.

The committee is awaiting applications from coaches from around the world till September 26 after which it plans to sit down in Karachi and prepare a short-list for interviews.

Pakistan are eyeing top coaches like Dave Whatmore and Mickey Arthur but realistically speaking they are more likely to end up with a home-grown coach like Aaqib Javed, who has previously served as an assistant coach.

Zaheer Abbas, one of the former Test cricketers entrusted with the task to find a new coach, believes that Pakistan will manage to rope in the ‘best man’ for the job.

"We will give it our best in our bid to find the best possible coach for Pakistan," said Zaheer, one of Pakistan’s most celebrated batters in Test history.

According to Zaheer, the committee appointed to find Pakistan’s new coach is keeping all options open. "We have made up our minds to find the right man for the job and it doesn’t matter whether we get him from abroad or from home," he said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has posted an advertisement and formed a committee headed by Intikhab Alam to help find a new coach for Pakistan’s cricket team to replace the outgoing Waqar Younis.

PCB is in a habit of repeating its past mistakes. It has given the task of finding a coach to a man who does not believe in the utility of full-time coach for the Pakistan team.

Incidentally I was part of the TV talk show on a private TV channel in which Intikhab Alam was also invited as a guest. The talk show was about the deteriorating situation of sports in Pakistan in general and cricket in particular. During the show I was shocked to learn from Intikhab Alam that Pakistan do not need the services of a full-time coach.

I am a firm believer that coach plays a vital role in the performance of team at all levels in every sport including cricket. Most of the sport experts believe that consistently successful coaching is usually the by-product of a team’s or athlete’s success in the preparation phase that revolves around hours of practice and training. An equally important factor is the coach’s ability to instill and inspire, in a nurturing environment, winning tactics amongst athletes; enthusiasm, courage, compassion, tenacity, desire, belief, selflessness and patience. These are the ingredients in a coach’s personality that binds a team and enable the players to sustain high levels of performance during their competitive years and beyond.

But in Pakistan, it’s quite a different story. I have heard some very senior players saying that ‘what can a coach do?’ or ëwe never had cricket coach in our times’.

This is indeed very unprofessional as cricket’s coaching philosophies and styles have evolved a great deal over the last three decades. Players now seem to be more complex and less pliable. The modern day coach need not only be a great performer of past but a person who is aware of innovative methods to develop positive and productive situations with more open communication with players and support staff, that in turn, enhances athletes performance under pressure.

The importance of coach in cricket was aptly highlighted by Ricky Ponting, who once said that besides talent he owes his success as a cricketer and a person to his remarkable coaches.

PCB is currently poised to take the most crucial decision of the appointment of a new coach for the Pakistan team, which is now in the process of rebuilding after numerous crises including match-fixing allegations. This is an extraordinary situation and the appointment of coach, foreign or local, will directly affect the performance of the team for years to come.

My experience with PCB is bitter in regards to coach’s selection process, where many factors including player power and hidden agendas of management precede merit and professionalism. The appointment of Geoff Lawson as coach of Pakistan team in 2007 is a classical example of lack of professionalism and safeguard of management agendas in PCB. Lawson, who is a thorough gentleman, was given preference a hard task master like Dave Whatmore, because his soft personality and easy style of coaching suited more to PCB management and the powerful players lobby.

In Pakistan many forces act simultaneously to mould the cricket culture. In spite of all negativism, Pakistan team is lucky to have an educated and a democratic captain in the form of Misbah-ul-Haq, who would be more open to implementing new ideas suggested by the coach. On the other hand, the situation can drastically change if an autocratic captain takes over in future.

John Buchanan, Australia’s national coach from 1999 to 2007, insists that neither the captain nor the coach should operate in isolation. "I had good working relationships with Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting which were in the best interest of the team," said Buchanan. "This was not the case when I was coaching at Middlesex and clashed repeatedly with the captain, Ramprakash. This had a negative effect on the performance of the team."

Coaching Pakistan is indeed a challenging task. The team needs a forceful, creative, industrious, technically as well as emotionally stable, self disciplined coach who can have a profound impact on players, particularly younger players. I don’t know that foreign coaches would be interested to accept this job or not in the present security situation and non professional cricketing administration of the country. This situation would certainly make the job easier for home-grown coaches like Aaqib Javed, who are in the run for this coveted position.

But who so ever is appointed as a coach of the Pakistan Cricket team will be subjected to various challenges of coaching the players who are not tuned to a coaching culture from young ages and also to deal with the tricky PCB management.

This is a crucial time for PCB to take a step in a right direction. Any wrong or hasty decision will invariably affect the performance of our team in the near and distant future.

In the recently-concluded One-day International series between India and England which the hosts dominated and deservingly won, it was sad to see India on the decline after being crowned world champions but it felt as if justice had been done.

When India won the world Cup back in April, it was picture perfect since it had happened in their own backyard and fittingly with a six by their captain MS Dhoni but most cricket lovers (non Indians) knew deep down in their heart that this was only so because the event was held at home where the Indians have always been a force. We shouldn’t take anything away from India and must praise them for their rise in world cricket specially in the last two three years where they have risen as the top team both in the one day arena and the Test matches. However, what has been disheartening to see rather watch has been India’s pompousness which has in recent times gotten the best of them.

The much talked about Indian batting line-up especially in the one-day format where in the likes of Vivender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina etc have all failed to make an impression in England. Surely India would have realized that this tour was the final frontier after having drawn with the Australians in their own backyard, this was the ultimate test against the swinging ball in overcast conditions.

A case can be made out for in India’s defence since most of their senior batsmen have either been injured or have been on the verge of right throughout the series but one example that comes to mind is that of Sehwag who in spite of making a comeback failed to make an impression in whatever little chance he got. Similarly, Gautam Gambhir who really had tough luck on the tour with regards to unfortunate injuries had a tough time settling in. Perhaps as written and praised earlier Rahul Dravid was the only batsmen who looked at home in the entire series as compared to Tendulkar and Co.

In my view no matter how much the Indian Selectors and the management may deny it, the debacles on this tour are primarily attributable to fatigue. The Indians have been playing nonstop cricket since the last two years not to mention their busy schedule with regards to their personal commitments as far as their product endorsements are concerned. The question which really requires consideration is whether the Indians have actually been fatigued or is this an excuse to cover up their complacency on the English tour. It would be fair to say it’s a mix of both.

The other side of the picture is and as has been seen in the past that once a team is on the winning road and is consistently performing well and winning series and rising as the best in the world which India have in the last two or three years, the players begin to enjoy themselves and the fatigue is somewhat overtaken by the joy and pride involved in being number one. Its like any other field or profession; once you start enjoying what you do, it doesn’t tire you but instead its what keeps you away from tiring and being fatigued.

In all fairness India has been through that run in the last couple of years and that’s why the disastrous English tour is also because of their own complacency. After the thrashing in the Test series, many expected India to capture the one-day series without much fuss owing to England’s comparatively weak one day setup but the manner in which the Indian batsmen went about their business baring Parthiv Patel it looked as if the demons that haunted them in the test series were still after them. Patel for once looked settled and matured and seems to have developed into a steady batsman knowing his strengths and weakness and his application made him the highest run getter in the series perhaps a future option to open with Sehwag. Virat Kohli after much success in the World Cup disappointed as did Raina. Kohli was deemed to be the cornerstone of India’s great batting line up filling in the shoes of Dravid which by no means is an easy task no matter what format of the game you play. Raina like Kohli was often found wanting outside the off stump playing nothing shots and struggling against the moving ball an issue India dearly needs to address. Perhaps Duncan Fletcher will look into encouraging the Indian to produce more pacy tracks than the traditional spin wickets at home.

India’s bowling has left much to be desired all summer. Munaf Patel was a huge success and an integral part of India’s world cup success and rightly so for someone who is reminiscent of Glenn McGrath in terms of line and length his success was warranted on dead Indian tracks coupled with his using the slower delivery as a potent weapon. However, even though Munaf has never been express in terms of pace, he has regularly bowled around the 80 to 80 mph mark which was lacking in this series, he was way too predictable at times and his lack of pace on bouncy and quick English wickets became his nemesis, an aspect which he needs to look into for future purposes.

Praveen Kumar impressed throughout the summer, his ability to use the conditions to the fullest was eye pleasing. He brought the ball back in and swung it out to both right and left-handers almost at will throughout the series which made him unpredictable and the highest wicket taker through the summer. It would be wrong to conclude that since India’s star batsmen and bowlers were missing and plagued by injury, India suffered such embarrassing defeats since Tendulkar and Co were anyways not in form as depicted by the Test series and Harbajhan Singh who isn’t a big turner of the ball would have hardly been a threat.

The Champions League formally kicked off this past week with group stage matches getting underway. The results may have been surprising, but the performances of the leading teams were quite unlike what anyone would have predicted.

Last year’s champions Barcelona will have had a lot to think about in the wake of their 2-2 draw against a visiting AC Milan side. While the statistical victory clearly belongs to Barcelona, with Xavi and co controlling almost 75 percent possession, Barcelona were unable to make the most of the opportunities that fell their way.

Milan, on the other hand, will take heart from a win against a team that most would have expected to simply blow the Rossonieri away with the pace of passing and movement that Barcelona employ. Ironically though, it was a burst of speed from Pato that saw the Catalans concede a goal inside the first minute. For a long string of matches last season, Barcelona were able to make do with playing a makeshift defence, using defensive midfielders Mascherano and Busquets as the defensive pairing. Behind an attack that stifles out all opponent attacking moves, this was a workable strategy. However, the lack of pace in both men was exposed brutally by Pato.

Busquets’s defensive shortcomings were highlighted both at the beginning and near the end of the match, with Thiago Silva outjumping the tallest Barcelona player to thump in Milan’s second goal, in the process showing the world beaters what Guardiola had missed out on by not completing the Brazilian’s signing. This may be a little too soon for alarm bells to start ringing in the Barcelona dugout, but, as the match against Sampdoria in La Liga also showed, Guardiola has to get his defence in order if Barcelona are to make the most of their attacking prowess.

Barcelona’s eternal rivals Real Madrid also put in some less than assuring performances, both against Getafe in the domestic league and then against a resilient, if fortunate, Dinamo Zagreb.

The Croatians were lucky not to see any one of the multiple Benzema shots hit the back of the net. The Frenchman was industrious throughout the game, and was denied a goal by the woodwork and some sloppiness of his own. Going forward, it was encouraging for Real that the front line was all active, with adequate support from the midfield in the form of Coentrao and Ozil, who were always available for a pass.

Still, the Croatian side were not without threats of their own, and on a couple of occasions it was the same old case of a sloppy Madrid defence being bailed out by Iker Casillas, who is celebrating his 12th year in the Real shirt. Mourinho needs to drill more discipline into his back line, who are prone to complacency.

The obvious sore point for Real will be the red card to Marcelo, and I am confident an appeal to UEFA to reverse the Brazilian’s consequent suspension will hold up. Replays showed there was clear contact by the Zagreb defender as Marcelo slid went for the ball. All in all, Madrid have shown in their early games that they can win ugly, but they will hope not to be forced into this situation often.

Arsenal, whose ego is still in a process of recovery from the humiliation dished out by Manchester United a fortnight ago, took a trip to Dortmund to face the reigning German champions in what was expected to be a high tempo game of quality football. The match ended 1-1, and neither side truly impressed. The display from Arsenal was one of dogged determination, with the outstanding performers Alex Song and Szczesny, the latter responsible for keeping Arsenal in the game with some crucial saves.

Song was given the task of marking Dortmund’s key playmaker Mario Gotze, the young left footer with incredible talent at finding the perfect pass forward. While Song did an admirable job of not harrying the German, Gotze was on a number of occasions, able to gain a couple of yards on his marker and dink the ball forward. Unfortunately for Dortmund, their main striker Lewandowski did not make the most of the chances that fell his way.

All in all, both sides have much to address this term, both domestically and in the Champions League. Arsenal will have learnt the virtues of having a strong defensive base rather than pure emphasis on attacking play. The Gunners do have some serious worries in terms of a dearth of creativity on the pitch with their midfield plagued with injuries. Indeed, had it not been for a very poor touch by Sebastian Kehl to give away possession, Arsenal would not have gotten on the score sheet. Dortmund should take note that the Champions League can be a cruel experience if goal scoring opportunities are not capitalised on; This Arsenal side are among the more forgiving Champions League participants, and one can easily imagine the likes of Real Madrid, Milan, or Dortmund’s domestic rivals Bayern Munich, of being far more punishing.

While Chelsea are the only English team to register a first match win in the tournament this year, both Manchester clubs were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli and Benfica, though Alex Ferguson will be much happier with his squad rotation paying off, in as much as getting a point away from home is concerned. City, on the other hand, were taught a lesson in counter attacking football. Napoli were pushed against the wall in the first half, with Nasri, Aguero and Silva making mayhem around the Italian side’s penalty area, yet they would not concede. Both goals were excellent from a technical standpoint, though Napoli’s goalkeeper De Sanctis was perhaps rightly upset at his wall for not jumping to block Kolarov’s free kick.

A quick word for Inter Milan, who are giving evidence of a continuing decline from the highs reached with Mourinho as manager. The loss to Turkey’s Trabzonspor at home has shown that while there may be solace in thinking that Inter are currently in a state of flux, with the team being rebuilt, the fact remains that if not halted immediately, Inter’s decline could see them suffer exit from the Champions League and its purse strings tightened further.

zainhq@gmail.com

Pakistan team’s performance in the recently-concluded Asian Champions Trophy can be described as satisfactory if not outstanding. Considering the fact that the team included new promising young players, its showing was a happy augury for the future. The team lacked finesse and experience though it put up a good show.

Going down to India twice may call for some criticism but the fact of the matter is that the young team improved and in the final did not allow the Indians to score, the match extending to full length with extra-time. The fate of the match was decided on conversion of penalty strokes and India proved lucky scoring four goals as against Pakistan’s two. It was here the team lacked the will and experience and two of its players wasted their strokes thus giving India victory in the inaugural tournament.

Judging from the showing of the team in recent outings and tournaments one can deduce that the team is on right course and given some luck and more exposure may become real winner. Pakistan Hockey Federation has stated on several occasions that it was building the team for the forthcoming Olympic Games and it is natural that new promising players be given ample time to groom and gain the experience for the big occasion.

It is heartening to see that the team has come out of its old shell and is on a course to regain credence and recognition as the world’s leading team which it has proved in the past by winning all major titles. The team suffered for a long period of time but it now shows it has cast of the scar of defeats and is heading to regain its old place in the world of hockey.

India have also improved a lot but still both the Asian giants are afraid of top teams like Australia and Germany. The several changes made in the rules during the last twenty years have helped the Europeans to dictate terms to the Asians who dominated the game with old rules. They displayed magical stick work, combination and attack from the right flank which kept the Europeans flabbergasted as they could not offer them real opposition.

The change in turning rule and off side has helped the Europeans to outwit the Asians who have followed them in tactics, the most prominent being back passing to the defenders instead of going ahead with the inner trio supported by an efficient centre-half who at times acted as the sixth forward.

However, we must give credit to the team for its showing and let the players not think for a moment that their defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India has earned them criticism of the people of Pakistan for whom match against India and a victory is the only outcome acceptable. The match between these two giants is always considered a do-or-die affair and each player also is cognizant of this and puts up his very best.

The spirit that guides the team against India is altogether different from the one it displays against any other team in the world. Question is whether Australia, Germany, England or Holland are unbeatable?

Another factor which has badly hampered the prowess of various teams is the fact that none of the foreign teams are ready to come to Pakistan. Pakistan’s grounds and stadiums have been deserted and our players hardly find sufficient exposure against other teams. The only option them left to the government body is to send out the team to other countries. This is both expensive as well as impossible as other countries are not ready to accommodate the Pakistani team most of the times.

At home also we have not taken measures to provide the team with competitions which may take the players to various parts of the country thus helping them to play under different conditions. One remedy is to start more competitions organising national level tournaments. This will help a great team to prepare the team for international competitions. However the team’s showing in the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy was satisfactory and can lead it to improve further eliminating its mistakes.

malikgilani2002@gmail.com

On the seventh of September this year, a Yak-42 plane carrying 45 people collided with a communications mast seconds after taking off from an airport near the Russian town of Yaroslavl before plunging to the ground in a ball of flames.

On board was the town’s ice hockey team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, for their first match of the season in neighbouring Belarus.

The team was one of Russia’s best having won the Russian championship three times and boasted star players who had appeared in North America’s prestigious NHL including three Czechs, one Slovak, and a Swede.

The disaster prompted the authorities to postpone the start of Russia’s ice hockey season, while hundreds of fans at a suspended match in the city of Ufa broke down in tears.

There have been quite a few air disasters taking lives of members of notable sports teams but the Munich Air Disaster is the most recalled mishap in the history of sports.

The Munich air disaster occurred on February 6, 1958. The British European Airways Flight 609 crashed while taking off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich airport in West Germany. The plane was on its way back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade. On board was the Manchester United football team, supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 passengers died.

Manchester United were the best-known team in England. They were popularly called the ‘Busby Babes’ because of their manager Matt Busby and age of the players which was unusually young.

Among the dead were eight United players, four of them, Byrne, Edward, Pegg and Taylor had all been capped by England, and Whelan was a Republic of Ireland international.

BUSBY BABES WERE SPECIAL

‘Busby babes’ was based on Matt Busby’s visionary concept of youth scheme in which older players were replaced by youth team products, rather than follow the traditional approach of picking established players from other sides.

Back from the Hitler’s war in 1945, he initiated his scheme of recruiting boys straight from school. His ideas immediately paid dividends as the lads won the FA youth cup all the first five years after its inception in 1952.

Now the time had come to implement the actual master plan at the bigger stage.

The Manchester United manager had displayed great courage in throwing away the old boys. It is worth mentioning they had not done badly; had won him the FA Cup in 1948 and the League in 1952. But the 1952 champions had grown old together and the decline was dramatic. The next season, they lost six of their first 11 matches. At this stage, Busby started promoting more and more of his youth team.

Within three years, the show was set for Busby Babes. The squad with average age of just 22, won back-to-back Championships in 1956 and 1957.

Prior to the disaster, they were placed 4th. However with just one defeat in last 11 games, a hat-trick of the titles could not have been ruled out.

IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH

Seven of Manchester United’s players died immediately while the most talented of them all, Duncan Edwards succumbed to injuries after two weeks of heroic struggle at the hospital in Munich. For Johnny Berry and Jackie Blanchflower, severe injuries meant that they never played again. Busby himself suffered multiple severe injuries and remained in hospital for two months after the crash, most of the time in Oxygen Tent. He even had his last rites read twice.

There were speculations that the club would fold, but a United team mainly jumbled from reserve and youth team players completed the 1957-1958 season. United only won one league game after the crash, finishing ninth in the league. However they were able to reach the final of the FA Cup.

ENGLAND’S LOSS

Manchester United managed to revive after a few seasons but England’s loss was greater. At least three players would have been invaluable for England’s national team. Taylor was the finest all-round centre forward in the country with ratio of goals per game more than any other United player in the 20th century.

Byrne was widely regarded as the best full back in the land while Duncan Edwards was undoubtedly "the best footballer" in England. Colman and Jones were exciting prospects and left-winger Pegg who had already played for England would have served them for a long time.

Had they been available for the 1958 and more particularly 1962 World Cups, England would have definitely shone better. Former England captain, Jimmy Armfield has even said, "There is no doubt with Edwards, Byrne and Taylor we would have won the World Cup in 1958 and 1962."

BUSBY MASTERMINDED THE REVIVAL

Busby was back very next season (1958-1959) and remarkably rose a second generation of Busby babes which included legends like George Best and Denis Law. After a build up period of a few years, Man U were back with a vengeance. They restarted their success story by lifting the FA cup in 1963 followed by two league titles in three years in mid-sixties. And a decade after the great tragedy, Manchester United became the first English club to claim the biggest prize of them all, the European Cup in 1968. Two of the crash survivors, Bobbly Charlton and Billy Foulkes starred in that victorious campaign; Charlton scored a brace in the final while Foulkes had netted a vital goal in the semifinal.

Charlton had already achieved the highest glory. He played a stellar role in England’s finest hour, winning the World Cup in 1966. A year, he also won the coveted "European Footballer of the year" award.

Both Busby and Charlton were later also knighted.

Munich Air Disaster is a saga of struggle, success, tragedy, heroism, hope, resilience, resurgence and glory (individual and collective); the greatest of all the fiction writers could not have envisioned.

ijaz62@hotmail.com