LEGSLIP

The media says that the Pakistan team took sweet revenge by beating Australia twice in a row at Edgbaston in the two T20 games.  Whatever one may call it, these two wins will boost Pakistan’s confidence when they move on from the three hours game to five days.  Playing test matches is a different ball game and it not only requires skills, techniques, strength in every department of the game but, it also requires patience and perseverance, which the Pakistan team is lacking without their two middle order stalwarts Yousuf and Younus.

THE BOOM BOOM MANIA IS HELPING THE PAKISTANIS

The Boom Boom mania in Birmingham was obvious from the crowd that came to cheer up their wounded and beaten up heroes and they got their monies worth when their so-called favourite team won both the matches in a very convincing manner.  There will be similar kinda support at Lords and Leeds when they play the two test matches starting July 13th, 2010.

The winning virus may soon die off if the young and inexperienced team flops and lose badly against the mighty test playing nation which dominated the world arena in test cricket for over a decade.  They may be number two, just a few points behind India but, that is temporary. Ricky Ponting is a mean captain and Michael Clarke is no less than him in test matches. And Mike Hussey is as dangerous in test as he is in any other form of the game.  Therefore, Pakistan may find themselves in really awkward position if their batsmen try to play the T20 shots and want to reduce a test match from 5 to 3 days. It is possible but, they would be the only losers if they play in haste.

No one understands the logic of keeping Yousuf and Younus out of the test squad except for Ijaz Butt.  While I am writing this thread, the DAWN newspaper reports today that Ijaz Butt is as adamant as before in granting permission to these two great batsmen.  He says, “Yousuf has announced his retirement so there is no question of him coming back.” And for Younus Khan he says: “Younis and his lawyer have given inappropriate statements. There is a players’ code of conduct in place and we will not spare anyone who violates the code.”

Can anyone ask this Adolph Buttler what is the code of conduct and where is it available for anyone’s reference?   Younus Khan who is in the UK says, he is available to play for his country and is ready to play at anytime.  But, Butt thinks that he is at war with Younus Khan, who has been raving and ranting that, “I have no fight with the PCB nor can I think of it. I am a known player because of Pakistan and the PCB.”

But, Butt has no consideration for the player or for his country, he has an inflated ego which is as big as a hot air balloon and it is obvious from his posterior end. The top is totally empty because everything drained down to the Butt.  The unfortunate thing for cricket in Pakistan is there is no one who can kick his butt and ask him to leave.  And, he is such a coward person that where he is supposed to speak and resent against the comments made by Malcolm Speed, he has fixed a silencer to that end from where he mostly speak.

To me the Pakistan test squad seems to be very weak in all departments, except for the spin bowling with Afridi, Ajmal and Kaneria. As regards fast bowling department it is only Aamer.  There is something wrong with Asif he is back in the team and did nothing during the T20 WC in the Caribbean, did nothing in the Asia Cup and bowled pathetically against the counties, hence he did not get a chance in the T20 against Australia.  If he comes back to form and bowls the way he used to bowl then the entire bowling department would appear to be balanced.  Wahab Riaz’s inclusion in the squad baffles me, he failed on many occasion, they should have included the tall Mohammed Irfan in his place and tried him in one of the county matches to test his abilities.

As regards opening batsmen there will be a tussle between Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed, initially Farhat will get a chance because of his father in law and a lonely century he made during the NZ Australia tour a few months ago.  Yasir Hameed will be shaky and may not play his natural game in an effort to cement his place, hence there will be a negative impact, although slow batting may not effect the game in test matches as long as he contributes with his bat and score big.

The middle order with Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Afridi is not so reliable because they are all experts of the short version game. I have no clue about Azhar Ali or Umar Amin.

The team looks very united and that is a good sign

The only good thing that I see in this team is there is a good camaraderie and Afridi has earned some respect by winning these two T20 matches by leading from the front. Although he failed with the bat but, he bowled, fielded and lead the team very well.

I will be very surprised if Pakistan wins even one test match and draw the series.  Please express your views and comments about how you feel now after Pakistan has won these two T20 games against Australia.

John Howard former Australian Prime Minister

While the PCB is playing Butt politics and trying to clear up the mess they have created after the comical and farcical banning and imposing fines on their key 7  players  who were touring Australia a couple of months ago and, now the COO of the PCB - Wasim Bari – once a very trusted man of Ijaz  Butt is placed under the microscope on the suspicion of leaking or, selling the information to the media, a local TV channel, there are a couple of series going on in the UK and across the Atlantic and neither of them are hitting the headlines.  But once again it is Butt who is gyrating his Butt at the international level as well too.

Perhaps most of us are aware of Australia’s former Prime Minister John Howard’s nomination to the ICC for the post of “president designate” which is hitting road blocks at the moment because, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and South Africa have decided to block Howard’s nomination and to do that 4 member countries are needed. Already three are determined and only one country’s boards’ decision is needed.

India is not going to vote against because, it is BCCI’s Pawar, who will take over as president in June 2010, backed the process that threw up Howard as a candidate so neither Australia nor, England or even the West Indies (because of being a common wealth country) will oppose his nomination.  So, Butt is left alone and he cannot take this important decision without the Pakistan’s government approval, if he does then Butt would be on Surgeon Asif Ali Zardari’s table for a colonoscopy.

The main issue for Pakistan or the PCB is to view this process from a higher ground and look into the consequences that will affect its future position as a member board within the ICC.  As far as Pakistan’s foreign policy is concerned, be at the official diplomatic front or, at the sports level it has been very pathetic. They take irrational, emotional and erratic decisions where people’s sentiments are always running very high and emotional. Pakistan is quick to take a stance and supports the underdogs especially those who were considered as villains by others become heroes for Pakistan, e.g., Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Ladin.

We all know that the former Australian Prime Minister is an ardent fan, a great supporter and lover of cricket and he called, Murali a Chucker not once but twice.  For that reason Sri Lanka is opposing his nomination and the South Africans are opposing on some other political reason but, what has Pakistan to do with it? Why do they need to alienate themselves from Australia? Especially in view of the fact that, a few years ago when there was a  massive earthquake in Pakistan, John Howard visited the earthquake effected areas and met the victims.

Pakistan’s relationship with the ICC is also not so rosy especially when BUTT opened his mouth and challenged to sue the ICC not once but twice, once when the venues were taken away from Pakistan for hosting the ICC WC 2011 and also when Chris Broad the ICC official complained about the serious lapse in security in Lahore when the Sri Lankan players were attacked by gunmen and Chris Broad narrowly escaped he blamed the PCB for not providing adequate security and, Butt did not apologize to anyone instead he threatened to sue Chris Broad and the ICC.

Whether Murali is a chucker or not is another issue, from Bhishen Singh Bedi to a few hundred million others he is. Still, India is supporting Howard’s nomination. During the Oval debacle between Inzamamul Haq and Darrel Hair, BCCI’s Niranjan Sharma was quick to reply to the media that whatever happens we are with the ICC.  There was a clear message to Pakistan that we are not on your side but, we are with the ICC.  However, things changed when Geoff Boycott and others ruled out the ball tampering as baseless and Hair lost his air like a hot-air balloon and the BCCI changed their stance.

Instead of me giving my opinion here on this thread, I would like our bloggers to give their views on whether John Howards should be nominated for that post in the ICC or not? If not, why? And, how his nomination would affect the other boards in the ICC management affairs?  Whether the PCB say YES or NO, it is a question that most of us would be waiting to see whether Ijaz Butt is a diplomat or not?  A good diplomat thinks twice before saying nothing.  Ijaz Butt says twice before thinking nothing. So, what do you expect here? Yeah or Ney?

When it comes to leadership, he is serious

The reason Pakistan cricket team’s performance is inconsistent is because, the PCB, its chairman and selectors themselves are incompetently inconsistent and they are a bunch of incapable bureaucrats who do nothing except “wagging their tongue” and Ijaz Butt especially has a forked tongue. Ever since he became the Chairman he has been prevaricating and equivocating his statements, deceiving and telling lies, denying what he has said earlier and then he loves to create uncertainty, suspense, drama and the outcome is always a bad result.

Apart from banning Yousuf and Younus for no reason he is now creating this captaincy issue and turning it into a drama for no reason.  The captaincy issue is the only card that the PCB keeps playing after every series, every tournament, every quarter if not every month.  In good old days, captains were made for a good number of years and the role of leadership is well defined.

If the PCB creates this suspense and drama each time before a tour or a major tournament then, there will always be disunity within the team. The younger players or, those who want to take revenge against others deliberately under perform to make the existing captain a failure. They know that if the team loses, perhaps they will get a chance to step in or get someone in his place who is more dear to them. If this kinda atmosphere is allowed to breed within the team, there will no end to it, because grouping and creating trivial politics within the team is a disaster recipe.  By now we all know that there were groups in the team and a group of players vowed and pledged to ouster Younus Khan from his captaincy by deliberately under-performing and Rana Naveed has confirmed this.

Shoaib Malik is the key figure or, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the father of creating trivial politics within the team especially since he has a history of doing such things at domestic and international level.  At domestic level he himself agreed on losing the match deliberately and was fined, at international level the coach, captain and manager of the team have given their statements in front of the inquiry tribunal that he was like a termite in destroying the team spirit and team unity.

Kamran Akmal dropping Husseys’ catches or missing a run out may not be the result of match fixing or betting but, it is very likely that it is due to the pact or the oath they took to ouster Mohammed Yousuf as a captain.  For this he definitely needs to be penalized and the reason must be given by the PCB instead of denying, delaying or keeping such decisions in pending. It is not good for the player and it is not good for the team.

It is good to see that Salman Butt was batting well after a long time. By appointing him captain it is very likely that he may not perform with the extra burden.  Besides, a player is not a Dolphin or a Whale that needs a treat after every performance.  Now, Salman Butt performed well lets give him the captaincy role.  The PCB is sitting there with a carrot and a stick all the time. They need to give time for the captain to breathe and lead for a few times. You cannot judge a player’s performance from one appearance be it as a bowler, batsman or a captain.

AFRIDI MUST BE THE  CAPTAIN FOR ALL THE THREE FORMATS, IJAZ BUTT MUST STOP PLAYING THIS GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS.