That is true that Younus Khan has supported Malik more than any player and Malik has back stabbed him. Read the new thread on the blog and comment there, please.

Malik has been in terrible form and he should be dropped. However, because Younis tends to use Malik in bowling, he will probably drop Alam.

How sad Fawad has his seen career suffer in this way. Malik’s bowling is mediocre and Fawad Alam and Younis bowling a few overs here and there will not be too different from Malik bowling a few overs.

Rain would be a blessing in disguise for the team whose performance is so pathetic due to petty politics and grouping in the team, it will be a face saving situation if it rains. Otherwise, this team will get a 5-0 drubbing from Sri Lanka. I have a feeling that they will even lose the T20 match and Sri Lanka will avenge the WC defeat.

With this kinda attitude and this kinda players like Malik and Misbah in the team playing dirty politics, even Imran Khan as a captain cannot win a single match.

the bottom line of your last comment “they were also unhappy with the captain and the team management.” why don’t you spell it out? Yes, it was SHOAIB MALIK the captain at that time and both Mohammed Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq openly said in front of the media that, Shoaib Malik was not only playing dirty politics to ouster them but, he also was rude towards them. If this was a secret, it is an OPEN SECRET.

Abdul Qadir, the chief selector at that time, also said twice to the media that, as a selector he wanted to kick out Shoaib Malik from the team when he was playing dirty politics in Dubai recently against Australia. But, Inti Alam the “couch” potato and Yawar Saeed the manager both prevented it from happening.

The point is Malik can always get away without getting punished for playing such dirty games and even when he is not performing he is still in the team. In fact Malik’s performance is not just bad due to bad luck but, a deliberate attempt to fail the team. And, he is a known culprit who openly admitted throwing away a domestic match and then he even reiterated openly in front of TV camera that it was a right thing to do. For that he got a slap on his wrist because of his Uncle Senator backing his ass.

I like what Cricinfo’s preview said- that instead of talking about match fixers and groupism, Pakistan must focus on the basics. They need to bowl straight, field sharply and not throw away their wickets.

Under Nasim Ashraf’s time, I admit a lot of bad things happened to Pakistan cricket. Sometimes certain events happen that are outside your control. Ijaz Butt has also seen Pakistan being marginalised internationally and he has seen other countries adopt a negative stance on Pakistan. Ashraf also went through this phase.

However, Ashraf went great lengths to ensure Pakistan develops a sound relationship with other cricket boards. Under Ashraf’s tenure PCB was hardly ever at loggerheads with BCCI. ECB and boards of other countries also dealt with more favourably towards Pakistan. That is because Ashraf is a seasoned diplomat and he knows how to deal with people. Butt is just arrogant and abusive, a laughing stock.

The second point I want to make is that for some reason people accuse Ashraf for “allowing” Yousuf and Razzaq to play for ICL. Ashraf did NOT want them out of the team. If he wanted Yousuf out of the team he would not pay Yousuf however many millions of rupees he paid, to let Yousuf remain in the Pakistan team. Yousuf and Razzaq left because their performances were below standard at that time (I think Yousuf had just had 1 or 2 poor ODI series) and they were also unhappy with the captain and the team management.

khansahab

I agree with you that the common man will say, Butt is better than Nasim Ashraf. Because, I have seen here at a small gathering people from Punjab were airing similar sentiments by saying:“Theek hai yaar Butt apna banda hai chalnay dou jiss terha chal reha hai, in Pakastan everyone is misusing the funds and their authority. So what if he is misusing the PCB funds?” The irony is every single Punjabi guy over there was agreeing with his view.

LAHORE: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt is nowadays keeping himself away from media.

After inspecting the under-construction pavilion at the Gaddafi Stadium, he once again avoided talking with media and said: “time has not come and I will talk in two or three days”.

At a time when speculations of removal of the chairman are spreading, Ijaz Butt has adopted further distance from media.

After the chairman PCB inspected on Thursday afternoon the construction of the new pavilion of the Gaddafi Stadium, which was stopped for a long time, media tried to know the PCB instance on the present situation arose from the poor performance of the national team and punters’ alleged contacts with the cricketers.

Ijaz Butt flatly refused to talk on these matters and said that he would not talk with media now and the time for talks would come in two or three days.

Whatever they decide to do, they need to act fast. Whoever comes at the helm has to have some time to work properly before the start of the Champions Trophy. Hopefully we will see a new coach, a new team manager and a new PCB Chairman, all of whom should work together and formulate the right strategy over the next few weeks so that Pakistan can be prepared and not demoralised before the major event.

If they can’t make these changes within the next 2-3 weeks, there is little point because whoever is in charge will not have ample time with the team.

I think bowlers like Rana, Rao etc should not play any kind of cricket. They need to select genuinely fast bowlers. If they leak runs, it doesn’t matter because if they are fast, they will pick up wickets which slows the run rate down anyway.

Batting wise, Afridi, Yousuf, Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal should be automatic selections. Bowling wise, Ajmal, Gul, Afridi, Aamer and 1 more bowler will do fine. Fawad Alam can bowl part time spin if need be.

The squad should look like this:

Opening: Imran Nazir, Afridi, Akmal

Middle order: Yousuf, Fawad Alam, Umer Akmal, Younis Khan (only if he can perform in the remainder of this ODI series), Razzaq (same as Younis- has to perform in this series)

Keepers: Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed (they should have 2 keepers in the squad)

Spin: Ajmal, Afridi

Fast bowlers: Gul, Aamer plus 2-3 really fast bowlers

Continuity with Shoaib Malik has proved to be a disaster. Misbah showed a lot of promise and he was kept in the side for 2 years. It is unwise to continue with him because he has shown no talent when playing on seaming tracks and also, age is not on his side.

So you can’t beg for continuity if you don’t have talent. I think if Nasim Ashraf was Chairman today, things would have been much better. However, even today if you will ask the common person of Pakastan whether he would prefer Ijaz Butt or Nasim Ashraf, he would opt for Butt.