THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Pakistan suffered one of its worst tour defeats at the hands of Australia. Pakistanis were completely outplayed in Tests and ODI’s and the tragedy was that they could not even win the lone T20. Chaos ensued during and after this forgettable, yet unforgettable series and grievous flaws were identified right from the top of PCB’s management to the Pakistan team’s on-field behaviour.
Butt is the laughing stock of the cricket world and under his leadership Pakistan cricket has gone from bad to worse
There are reports of turmoil within the PCB as Ijaz Butt has failed to change the culture of the PCB and in fact internal strife, mismanagement and incompetence levels have increased. Butt is under immense pressure to resign as it is alleged he is too old, incompetent and more concerned about running his private business than managing the cricket situation in the country. Since Butt has appeared on the cricket scene, the team has gone from bad to worse. There is no vision, no planning, and like his appointor, Asif Zardari, Butt is spending more time facing flak and responding (unconvincingly) to criticism than actually doing something positive to remedy the affliction the Pakistan team is experiencing.
On one hand Butt said that Yousuf was the wrong choice as captain of
Pathetic Yousuf thinks he captained well in Australia
the team for the Australia tour, but on the other hand he said there was no alternative. What kind of decision-making is this? Why was a younger player not appointed as a temporary captain? Yousuf proved to be a worse captain than anyone thought. Not only was he completely negative in everything that he did- batting, field placement, bowling changes, managing team morale etc, he also failed to win the respect of his team-mates, unlike Inzamam who was at least senior enough to obtain some respect from the juniors. It was also disheartening to see Yousuf openly condemning Butt’s running between the wickets and Manzoor’s technique. Interestingly, Butt proved to be Pakistan’s best batsmen in Tests and Manzoor probably played the best knock by a Pakistani in the Test series.
According to many news reports, Malik is the reason behind dirty regional politics in the team
At the same time as Butt’s inept management and Yousuf’s maladroit captaincy, there were reports of team disunity. Some reports went as far as suggesting that two camps were created in the team- the Karachi camp (thought to be led by Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi) and the Sialkot/Punjab camp led by Shoaib Malik. In fact some news suggested that the team manager had created a report on Shoaib Malik using politics to advance his camp’s interests. Whether any action is taken against Malik for this remains to be seen. Indeed, Malik captained Pakistan’s T20 match and although it was known Pakistan would provide a tough challenge to Australia in any circumstance, Malik’s captaincy has been hailed as “inspirational” and “attacking” by his misled supporters. The truth is that a club T20 team from Pakistan can provide a tough challenge to Australia in T20, yet somehow Malik’s supporters have forgotten this.
In such dire times, Pakistan needs a completely new and revolutionary strategy. As far as team
Umar Akmal is a gifted batsman and has a very good cricketing mind
Fawad has some technical batting problems, but he still impresses. He is the best fielder in the side and his batting and fielding impressed the Australians
performance is concerned, in Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam Pakistan found their best 2 ODI batsmen. This firstly proves that the much maligned Pakistani domestic structure can still produce good players. Secondly, this proves that for some reason or the other, the team’s main batsmen- Younis, Yousuf and Malik, are not up to the mark and must make way for juniors. When your best ODI batsmen are not your 4 or 5 most experienced batsmen, you know something is wrong with your team.
The horror seen in Butt’s time shows that a former cricketer is not necessarily a good administrator. Pakistan should appoint a management expert with good cricket acumen to lead the Board. In fact, the best way forward is probably to fire all former cricketers who are involved in running the show as all of these cricketers seem to have shady motives and personal grudges against each other, and an organisation cannot run successfully in this way.
Inti, it is no laughing matter that under your term as coach, Pakistan has become a very weak team, especially when chasing targets
A younger, fitter coach should be appointed. Pakistan should look beyond people like Intikhab Alam and should opt for a relatively low profile coach, perhaps from some regional academy. Pakistan has suffered too much and too long under Intikhab- his failure reflects in the fact that no improvements have been seen in the players. All the technical weaknesses remain, the standard of fielding is still poor, the bowlers are still getting injured relatively easily. The worst aspect is that mentally the Pakistan team has worsened under Intikhab, whereas when Inti was appointed he said mental strength would be one of his main areas of focus. Pakistan is losing Test matches from winning positions and it is looking increasingly vulnerable when chasing even modest targets.
Mediocrity is prevalent across the squad. Being mediocre is in some
Too many mediocre performers spoil the broth
ways worse than being pathetic, because a mediocre player makes 30 runs with some consistency to cement his position in the team, but is always focusing to remain in the team because he finds it so hard to make sizable scores, especially when the situation demands some character from a batsman. Similarly, bowlers like Rana and Rao survive on picking up 1 or 2 wickets here and there, or keeping the economy rate to under 4.5. Whereas, a pathetic or substandard player gets booted straightaway from the team. Shoaib Malik must not be tolerated anymore in the lineup. Similarly, Rana and Rao must be permanently banned from playing international cricket.
He can be very stupid sometimes, but his "outside the box" gameplay may well be what Pakistan cricket needs to survive
Afridi’s ball tampering incident was regrettable. However, whereas it has caused anger for many, many also see Afridi as someone who would be willing to think outside the box and who would be desperate to win matches for Pakistan. Although Afridi is not the brightest cricketer in the squad, he is very unlikely to tamper with the ball again. Afridi has received his penalty from the ICC and he must now be forgiven by the PCB and Pakistani public. Pakistan needs Afridi’s passionate captaincy and fighting spirit, and the fans should persuade the PCB to experiment with Afridi in all formats. Otherwise, Malik or Akmal will be appointed captain and Pakistan should not reward their consistently poor performances any longer.
Now the PCB must use their initiative and build a Test team with Younis, Yousuf, Afridi, U Akmal and Fawad Alam in the middle order. In ODI’s, Afridi, U Akmal and Alam must be the main batsmen and perhaps Butt will also improve his ODI form and become a significant cog in the wheel. In Umer Akmal and Fawad Alam Pakistan has found two exciting and talented players and now the PCB must look for more players like them.
CRICKET THREATENED BY EXTREMISM
IPL ignored and humiliated Pakistani players in the most malicious manner possible. The Indian authorities gave the following reasons, however most people believe them to be petty excuses:
1) Potential difficulty in issuing visas would mean that Pakistani players should have been sidelined
2) Many of the world’s top cricketers were also left out
3) There were threats from some politicians, Shiv Sena and like minded extremists
Indian Home Minister Chidambaram has confirmed that the Indian government had no say in what happened
Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Akmal, Umar Gul etc are amongst the best T20 players in the world, so what was the justification of sidelining them in this manner? Indian government spokesperson Chidambaram clearly defended the government saying that the issuing of visas was not a problem from the Indian side.
The immense confusion and blame game makes it seem like every stakeholder, be it the government, the movie stars or the administrators, has a guilty conscience and no one is brave enough to come out in the open and declare that this was a jingoistic and politically motivated decision.
Shahrukh Khan, hailing from the Pakistani province of NWFP,
Shahrukh Khan's comments were brave considering his religion, ethnic background and place of residence, Mumbai, which is also the centre of the extremist Shiv Sena
gave the boldest statement from an Indian’s perspective saying that politics should not be involved in sport. His comments have been perceived very negatively by Hindu extremists in India, most notably the Shiv Sena who have threatened to not release his upcoming movie, “My Name is Khan”, in Mumbai. They
Extremist Shiv Sena have also threatened Australian players
have also said that if he wants the Pakistanis to play cricket, he should go to Lahore or Islamabad.
Apparently there have been negotiations between Shahrukh Khan and IPL organisers where Khan has convinced some of the organisers to invite Pakistani players. Afridi and Razzaq expressed their interest in playing IPL after this fiasco, however it was disappointing to see a player like Afridi who frequently refers to pride playing for Pakistan, succumb to the temptation of money like this.
Afridi disappointed many fans by saying he would forgive the IPL and participate in the contest
Ijaz Butt was seemed confused and directionless to begin with, but now the PCB has made the right decision by banning IPL participation by Pakistanis for 2010. This comes as a blessing in disguise because if these players had participated in IPL, a lot of Indians as well as Pakistanis themselves would have considered these players are some kind of prostitutes who have no self esteem, and can do anything for money.
It is time for these cricketers to realise that their country comes first.
Wasim, your country needs you
The travesty is that Pakistanis are so cricket crazy that all of these famous cricketers can still lead glamorous and luxurious lives in Pakistan, but they surrender themselves to greed which is why they lose self esteem. Someone like Wasim Akram can make such a huge difference if he becomes involved in academies in Pakistan, but Wasim is more interested making money in India.
This thread is not about jingoism, or an eye for an eye. It is about sending a clear message to Pakistani cricketers that they need to develop some pride. Also, this thread is a lesson for those who believe politics should be involved with sport. Pakistanis need to send a clear message across the border that they have had enough with this constant mixing of politics and sport. Cricket must never be threatened by the whims of some cowardly, hate-filled extremists.
This thread is also not an attack on India. Like most Pakistanis, most Indians are also peace loving people who want to build strong relations with others. Whoever was behind this devious scheme to humiliate Pakistan has received a slap on their face, since most Indians even have criticised this decision.
WAYLE BOLD DANiiiiiii
Wayle Bold Daniiii
KAMRAN YOU HAVE A GREAT FUTURE LIKE INZAMAM
When you hear this phrase ‘well bowled Dany” in desi accent it is no one else but, Kamran Akmal trying to perk up Danish Kaneria after he has dropped a simple sitter. One can easily say that he is a bad keeper and a good baby sitter. He was baby sitting his child all night while his wife was sleeping in the hotel room. When I first read this on a cricket blog, I did not believe it, but here it is: “According to sources, Kamran was often seen pacing up and down the corridor of the Inter Continental Hotel in central Sydney with his baby in his arms.” http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/babysitting-affected-kamrans-sydeny-performance_100301332.html#ixzz0cKG4FfSw
Inzamam you succeded in getting Kamranin the same profession
Bringing wives on foreign tours is something that has become a fashion these days It is a point to prove that you are committed and devoted to your wife (whereas, you are supposed to be committed and devoted to the game) and not being distracted by the cheer leaders. Also, to show to the conservative nation that you are not a playboy but, a boy who plays. He who plays, and plays for his wife is Akmal. He who plays and, betrays his team and nation but, pleases his wife by babysitting is Akmal. He who plays behind the wickets and drop simple catches is Akmal. He who drops a catch is a wicketkeeper, ignore him. But, he who drops a hat-trick of simple catches, is Akmal, play him again and again, so that the team never wins. This is the result of having an extra baggage or a drag in the team. He brings his extra baggage on the tour and he dumps it on the ground.
It is about time that Kamran Akmal is dropped from the team. He needs a sabbatical, perhaps a year or two. If he wants an extra pair of hands to babysit his child who could be better than his own brother or uncle of the baby? Take him along Mr. Akmal, but stop black-mailing the board or the nation. Don’t use pressure tactics and don’t consider your younger brother as a trump card. You have ruined your career don’t ruin his. He has just started his career and doing well, if you drag him in this mess of politics, he will not grow up as a cricketer but, a petty politician. He will be better off if you take him along and join a political party and groom him over there.
Every time the Pakistan cricket team steals the headlines but, not for good reason. It is either about ball tampering, drugs related, discipline related name a controversy and they are not behind. This time, it is an administrative issue and that too a simple one. A player who is not performing well, gets some rest. But, Kamran Akmal is so adamant to play in the third test that he is playing the dirtiest of games by not only being disobedient by refusing to back off, he is talking to the media, telling that he is definitely playing, calling Sarfaraz Ahmad “a rival” and citing Ricky Ponting’s current batting form to defend his own weaknesses and follies, rather blunders. And, the irony is, he is not ashamed, he appears to be very proud about his past performance, which he thinks is excellent? As if no one has any brains to remember how “disgustipatingly” pathetic a wicketkeeper he is.
MOYO THE GREAT BUILDER
His records may only show the number of runs he scored or number of catches he held. But, there is no record of the century or catches that he dropped in ALL forms of the games i.e., test, ODI and T20. Some people are used to seeing him dropping catches and take it for granted, some are sick of it and want to see his back. Unfortunately for Pakistan, all those who have criticized his bad performances their voices have disappeared in oblivion. Kamran Akmal is there for the last one decade, constantly dropping catches like bird droppings which are unhealthy and potentially fatal. Likewise, Kamran dropping catches alone has resulted in defeats for the team, which otherwise could have won at least 25-30 test matches and 30-40 ODI’s during the last ten years. This is not an exaggeration, if there is any source that records the number of catches dropped, Kamran Akmal must be topping the list, he must be head & shoulders above the rest of the wicketkeepers in the world.
So much has been written and said about his pathetic wicketkeeping since the shameful defeat at Sydney Cricket Ground last week when he dropped 4 simple catches of Mike Hussey, three in a row and another one the next day that people are sick of discussing it anymore and many Pakistanis I have encountered and asked their opinions, they said, they are not interested in cricket anymore. Especially, as long as Kamran Akmal is playing, as long as Mohammad Yousuf is the captain, as long as Intikhab Alam is the coach-cum-manager of the Pakistan team.
intikhab-alam good for nothing - go home
ONE WAY TICKET TO YOUR HOME
For the sake of 170 million population Kamran Akmal, Mohammd Yousuf and Intikhab Alam PLEASE GO HOME, I AM READY TO PAY ONE WAY TICKET TO YOUR HOME.
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