LEGSLIP

Normally patting someone’s butt is considered sexual harassment/abuse, or a depraved act due to the part of the body that is patted/felt. We have often discussed kicking Salman’s Butt, bakaouz of

his inconsistent batting and failure to assume more responsibility, but now the time has come to pat Salman’s butt bakaouz under his captaincy Pakistan has beaten Australia in what is generally being termed as a “historic” victory.

This victory is special for many reasons. First, the class of

Mohammad Aamer has been revealed. Aamer has pace, control, ability to swing both ways, ability to reverse swing and he is also a thinking bowler. In his relatively young age he has learned to identify the batsman’s weakness and trap him. Suddenly, Wasim Akram’s recent statement that Aamer is more accomplished at 18 than Akram was at that age, permeates the mind. It is encouraging, but also haunting in one way. Pakistanis are an emotional and biased people. Will they be able to control this precious, special resource? Or will Aamer become another Shoaib Akhtar?

Much of this is in Aamer’s hands, however, his senior players and the team management must support him. At the same time, Aamer has shown in the dawn of his career that he is largely an independent thinker. The biggest favour senior players and commentators can do to him is to leave him alone. Wasim, Ramiz and other players have started offering him tips which he does not need. If it ain’t broke, it should not be fixed.

Another revelation on this tour has been Azhar Ali. He has made his debut at the right time and appears solid at no 3. After the departure of Younis Khan, Pakistan was looking for someone who could stabilise the top order. Azhar needs to be persisted with as he has shown he has the talent and temperament to thrive in the longer format of cricket.

Umar Amin on the other hand has not impressed. The fans had high hopes with Amin, especially considering a certain segment of the Pakistani population wanted Fawad Alam to be out of the team. However Amin has not been able to stand his ground and make good scores. Pakistan will probably offer him more chances, although once again the PCB’s choice of treatment of players who hail from outside Punjab will come to light, as Fawad Alam’s Test career is in doldrums after playing only 3 Tests although in his first he performed exceptionally, scoring one of the finest centuries seen from a Pakistani batsman.

This victory opens a new chapter in Pakistan cricket. A new captain, relatively new team management and some exciting new players are the stars of this new chapter. Shahid Afridi has left the stage and has also indirectly suggested to Shoaib Malik to retire from Tests. Afridi’s decision has resulted in diverse reactions, but his leadership has fuelled a unique spirit in these players.

Pakistan cricket thrives on extremes, extremes that are entangled in a web of fairy tales. Miandad’s last ball six which enforced mental strength in the team and changed the landscape of Pakistan- India contests; the World Cup victory when the cornered tigers surprised everyone to beat a strong team in the final;  Imran Khan’s heroism spanning two decades that transformed a bunch of difficult, egotistical individuals into an unbeatable unit; Wasim’s unique ability to “make the ball talk”; Waqar’s ability to swing the ball at high speeds and crush toes; Afridi’s fastest century in his first international batting innings which changed the art of modern batting; Fawad’s 168 on debut which surprised everyone as he had never opened in his life and was ignored by selectors for 3 years- these are a few examples of these fairy tales. The stars of this Test team are not Shoaib Akhtar, Yousuf, Younis and Afridi any more. They are Umar Akmal, Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Azhar Ali.

What we have seen in this Test will be captivated in legend forever. Now it remains to be seen how many fairy tales these young stars will create for Pakistan.

Pakistan faced defeat in the Asia Cup at the hands of India and Sri Lanka and as is the convention, they beat minnows Bangladesh by a substantial margin. There are whispers that the team is somehow improving under the new captain and coach. It is difficult to examine just how Pakistan improved, when their key bowlers Asif, Akhtar and Aamer failed to make a memorable impression. In terms of batting Pakistan were predictable- the openers were not up to the mark, Shoaib Malik was mediocre and Umar Akmal demonstrated his usual signs of measured competence. Pakistan’s main weakness was their fielding as usual.

Even though players like Razzaq, Butt, Ajmal, Malik etc have shown some improvement compared to how they used to field years ago, the problem Pakistan is facing is that the standard of fielding is not improving in line with how fielding has improved in countries like Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. This is sadly again due to the fact that, other teams are selecting players on the basis of their fielding ability and

then giving them exposure to cricket so that they can get better in other departments. At one time Pakistan could dismiss this strategy with minimal fuss because they had match winners like Anwar, Inzamam, Wasim, Waqar etc. But now for whatever reason the same calibre of players is not emerging, and therefore Pakistan needs to rethink its strategy. For example, Sri Lanka played Dilshan whose bowling was like Shoaib Malik’s when he started, and batting was like a tailender’s. But, he was in the team mainly due to his fielding and now he is one of the best batsmen in limited overs cricket. India used Suresh Raina who was also an expert fielder but then he improved his batting and has now become one of India’s most reliable players. Pakistan introduced Fawad Alam three years too late and he responded by playing some match winning knocks in T20, and an unprecedented century on a seaming track in Tests, but he has been sidelined due to politics. As a batsman and fielder both, Fawad was miles better than Dilshan and Raina (keeping in mind how they were when they started) but now his international cricket future is uncertain, simply because his countrymen would prefer to see someone like Shoaib Malik in the team rather than him.

The Pakistan think tank cannot impose a system where merit is the main factor in selection, and Pakistan cricket is suffering because of this. An important tour lies ahead for this underperforming team, and if predictions are anything to go by Pakistan is likely to lose the Test series against England and Australia.

The summer weather in England so far this year has been drier than normal, and how much that would impact the pitches remains to be seen. It goes without saying that Pakistani bowlers would prefer bowling on England’s pitches compared to how they would have

felt bowling on Sri Lankan pitches, but their batting on England’s pitches has never been satisfactory. The batting card for Pakistan on the tour of England should have read- S Butt, Yousuf, Younis, U Akmal, F Alam, S Afridi, but now three players from that card are not playing, which means that the batting has halved in strength. Naturally with drier weather, spin bowling becomes a useful option but Pakistan does not need to worry as much regarding their spin attack because Kaneria has experience in England, and Ajmal and Afridi are reliable.

Australia has shown improvement in T20 and this was clearly visible in the last T20 Cup. Pakistan showed some signs of concern in that Cup as they seemed to excel in neither bowling, batting or fielding. The signs are clearly ominous for Pakistan because they are not a force to be reckoned with in T20 anymore, they are worsening in ODI’s and they are weakest in Test cricket.

Pakistan plays some country matches before their first T20 against Australia on 5th July. They will probably win the county matches and they may win against Australia in T20, but they need to put up a good fight in Tests. In fact they will probably be treating the Tests against Australia as a testing ground for the Tests against England.

What Pakistan should have learned for the T20 Cup and the Asia Cup, is that it needs an improvement in all areas- batting, bowling and fielding. Improvement does not come overnight, but ratings do not change overnight too and Pakistan has constantly plummeted in international ratings. After watching Pakistan lose to India in the Asia Cup, one should realise that Pakistan- India matches are not “50-50 chance” contests anymore- one team is clearly stronger than the other. Shahid Afridi will have to work some miracles to make his team put up a decent show against Australia in Tests- and to his misfortune he is pitted against the deplorable standard of fielding, political selections of undeserving players and pathetic management of the PCB of over a decade.

The Football World Cup has shifted focus from cricket to football to some extent, but the Asia Cup commencing in 2 days will redirect the interest of Asian fans towards cricket. 4 teams are competing in this Cup and it is expected to be a competitive contest as none of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have a significant advantage over the other in ODI cricket.

India is ranked no 3 in ODI cricket compared to Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s unimpressive rankings (6 and 7 respectively) but they are without two star players, Tendulkar and Yuvraj. Also, India’s bowling has only two consistent performers- Harbhajan and Zaheer. As expected India is carrying a strong spin attack- they have Ojha, Ashwin, Jadeja and of course the reliable Harbhajan. It seems the bowling attack could comprise of Zaheer, Nehra, Praveen, Harbhajan, Jadeja/Ojha and of course Sehwag can assist with a few overs. India is going ahead with a balanced line up- they have a decent amount of all rounders, their wicketkeeper is one of their best batsmen and they have a young, athletic side. What I consider to be a huge advantage from India’s point of view is that, Zaheer and Harbhajan can contribute with batting whereas Sehwag’s bowling form has been impressive over the past 2 years. So, unless the key players fail to perform it does not appear India will miss Tendulkar or Yuvraj.

India’s problems would be too much reliance on young players and lack of mental strength in

pressure situations. India still lacks reliable finishers, and one of the reasons for this has been the mastery of India’s top order with players like Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar- because these players have almost always been in decent form, the lower middle order has remained relatively underexposed to pressure situations. It is interesting to see that the average age of this Indian squad is only 25, which shows the emphasis of the BCCI on grooming youngsters and getting them ready for World Cup 2011.

Sri Lanka has proven to be an unpredictable side, much like Pakistan. Sri Lanka has often been accused of carrying players who have talent, but do not have the propensity to develop this talent into consistent match winning performances. Sri Lanka is going into this Cup with mostly experienced players; certainly the only 2 players who have played less than 15 matches are Welegedara and Randiv. However experience is a big advantage that Sri Lanka have, and it remains to be seen whether the batting prowess and experience of Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawerdene

can dominate the Indians and Pakistanis? However, India can argue that Sehwag, Dhoni and Gambhir are no less than the Sri Lankan batting stalwarts.

In bowling, Sri Lanka appears to be the weakest of the 3 main sides. They have the experienced Murali, but everyone knows he is beyond his best. Maharoof, Samaraweera, Malinga, Kulasekara can all be effective on their day, but are prone to inconsistency. The Sri Lankan team, as always, will have to rely on a team effort as they always do when they want to win. Provided their bowlers maintain discipline and their key batsmen contribute with runs, they can win this Cup. They are probably the best fielding side in the tournament. The average age of the Sri Lankan squad is 29.

Pakistan is the most mercurial side in this Cup and they have a new captain who does not have immense captaincy experience in ODI’s. Pakistan is also without its star batsmen Yousuf and

Younis but has been bolstered to an extent by the return of Shoaib Akhtar. I say, to an extent because if Akhtar gets injured or does not show form he can prove to be a big liability and affect the team morale badly. In fact the egregious error of selecting Akhtar and Malik has

saddened many fans, many who were looking to the future and hoping that underperformers would be sidelined from the team. There have also been question marks over the omission of promising batsmen Fawad Alam and Hammad Azam. Politics has clearly played its part and Pakistan is not going ahead with its premier squad.

Batting wise Pakistan remain as unstable as ever. Umar Akmal, Salman Butt and Malik are going ahead has Pakistan’s main batsmen in this Cup. Whereas Malik and Butt have still not been able to convince the fans that they deserve selection to play international cricket, U Akmal is

some cause for optimism. He is aggressive, reads the situation well and is very good at playing cross batted shots, which is often a rarity in international cricket. However, already U Akmal has been involved in controversy and this Cup will test his demeanour as to whether he can focus on his game and detract from dressing room politics. The biggest advantage that is held by Pakistan is that that their main batsmen- Malik, Butt and U Akmal have stellar records against Asian teams, particularly India.

In bowling, Pakistan is going ahead with the strongest line up on paper. Asif, Akhtar, Aamer and Ajmal are considered to be amongst the best in the world. However if one considers Akhtar’s normal fitness problems and Asif’s mediocre form over the past few months, then the Pakistani bowling appears vulnerable. Since Pakistan rarely ever plays as a team unit, they will be looking up to their potentially match winning bowlers and players like Afridi, Razzaq and U Akmal to swing matches in their favour.

In conlusion, the Asia Cup ought to be an exciting tournament with balanced teams. India can be beaten if their top order is dismissed cheaply, Sri Lanka can be beaten by performing basic tasks right, and Pakistan can be beaten by any means, by anyone at any time. Now it remains to be seen who exploits the other’s weakness best and who utilises their strengths in the best possible manner.