LEGSLIP

Aaj Kal Imran Khan kay charchay her zubaan pay …… 
Nawaz ko maloom hai aur Zardari ko khabar ho gayee …

Everyone in Pakistan and most countries in the world are focusing on Imran Khan’s growing popularity.  They are all talking about the rising of a “Son of the Soil” arising from the East, who is going to change the face of Pakistan? And we, on this blog are more concerned about Imran’s success as a new elected leader, hoping Imran will overhaul the cricket industry of Pakistan.  Obviously, there is no better person in Pakistan who understands cricket and as head of the State i.e., if Imran is elected he will certainly bring a revolution in the PCB its, management, selection process and in the grooming of the players and finding talent at the grass root level.  Therefore, we are very interested in Imran Khan winning the elections based on the facts that there is no other suitable candidate because of his educational background, his honesty, loyalty, dedication and straightforwardness.  He has the charisma and he is using it well so far, yet it is a very farfetched goal.

On this cricket blog we would like to analyze what Imran Khan can and, must do in order to succeed?  He definitely needs to plan rather than say, “we will cross the bridge when we will come to the bridge.” He should have planned long ago in making a team of young, dynamic, educated people who are honest and loyal and not just a few workers in his party. He need people with vision and he need people who already have some political background, by inviting Shah Mahmood Qureishi in his party is the first good move he has made so far in expanding the horizons of his political career.  Otherwise, so far people have been saying that his party is only a one man show.  Its a fact, there are no big names in his party.  As a leader he should not be at the top of the pyramid but, he should be at the center, in the core and in the hearts of people and his party.  People should be revolving around him rather than waiting for their turn to reach at the top to meet their leader.

Considering the political setup in Pakistan it is extremely difficult for Imran Khan to get a total majority or, even significant votes to form a coalition government. Seeing half a million people in his public rallies and gatherings in Urban areas means nothing to me. Because, All those who have attended his “Jalsa” may have come from different riding and different electoral sectors and, their votes will be scattered and get wasted.   And, most importantly what he should (I am sure he does) know that almost 80% of Pakistan’s population is in the rural areas and these are the hardcore votes and these voters are simply loyal to their masters i.e., the Chaudhries, Wadheras and Sardars.  And, these feudal lords are controlling them like their slaves. The masses are told by their masters that they have to vote for them and not anyone else and they obey their master’s orders.  And, most of the ignorant poor people in the rural areas have no knowledge of Imran Khan or his party and nothing about his party’s manifest or the “Manshoor.”  Some of them may not even know who Imran Khan is? And those who have heard his name may think he is “that” cricketer – Imran Khan?

In the big cities like Lahore, Islamabad and Multan he can win his seats but, in Karachi its very difficult that is because of MQM’s Fort Knox they have a total control over the city and no one can win against their candidates and same is the case in interior Sindh especially in Larkana, Sukkur, Khairpur etc. 

How can Imran Khan break this wall and penetrate into their territories and get the votes? He should go back and read QeA M. A. Jinnah’s strategy in winning the constituent assembly elections of 1946. The All India Muslim League won 425 out of 496 seats reserved for Muslims (and about 89.2% of Muslim votes). How did this happen? I don’t think it is mentioned in the history books but, people who are still alive from 1925 onwards remember that. Jinnah appealed ALL the Muslim educational institutions of India i.e., including Aligarh University to shut down their institutions for 2-3 months prior to the elections and asked them to send their educated young Muslims to the rural areas to create awareness about the elections and the need to create a Muslim state called Pakistan.  There was a famous pamphlet that was distributed among the Muslims was titled, “Now or Never.  Are We to Live or Perish Forever?”

So, Imran Khan should ask not only his party workers but, appeal the educated students to come forward and take the responsibility as the torch bearers of the New Pakistan that will emerge after the elections under Imran Khan’s leadership. They should not only be going to the rural areas to deliver a speech like all the leaders do, because they are not the leaders, they are the ambassadors of The Justice Party or the Tehrik-e-Insaaf and they should stay there for a good period of time and mingle with the people and explain to them what was going on in the past and where Pakistan stands or is lagging behind other small nations due to the lack of leadership and and growing corruption.  And, these young ambassadors have to create awareness and pave the way for their leader to address them, then Imran Khan should address the mass gatherings rather than rushing and hurrying a “Jalsa” at the 11th hour. With awareness comes the knowledge and the ability to distinguish between the right and wrong and it helps in decision making rather than acting like a herd and vote without any awareness of what they are going to get from their leaders?

Imran, you are no more the captain of Pakistan cricket team, you have grown up, you are more matured now and you have a vision and you need to accomplish your goals and no one alone can accomplish such goals, you have to rely on others who share the same vision as you and who are as honest, dedicated and committed as you. Your team is not of 11 players but, the whole country must be your team or at least a majority of the people must share your vision and that should be your aim.

So, remember the strategy of Jinnah and follow his footsteps because, never in the history of the sub-continent there was such a big turnout in elections as it was in 1946 and that is why his party won the elections with absolute majority. SEND YOUR TEAM TO THE RURAL AREAS  it is “Now or Never” situation for you.  People are sick of Zardari and Nawaz and they also dislike the Army. So, this is your golden chance to win this “Election Cup,” which is much, much bigger than the 1992 World Cup.  Win it or lose it forever.

On this cricket blog we are very blunt, straightforward and very selfish, the reason we are supporting you is because, we want a better PCB administration, we want NO corruption in the PCB and we want the players to be groomed, educated and aware of the the rules as well as their roles. A player who is uneducated, uncouth, ignorant cannot and shall not be a role model for the youngsters. Hoping that you will certainly do what is needed to be done in to the development and the improvement of cricket in Pakistan.  Our bloggers are going to share their views through brainstorming and may be able to suggest even better ideas. So, I am wishing you all the best in your future endeavors.

Younis could have achieved a lot more in his ODI career

Recently there was some discussion on this blog regarding Tendulkar. Tendulkar’s performances of late have been below average and although he has been amongst the top 10 scorers in Test cricket in 2011, by his own standards he was a disappointment, especially in England. Throughout his career Tendulkar has been accused of selfish batting and inability to rescue the team of a situation of crisis. This can be debated by fans endlessly but there is little doubt that whereas one remembers players like Lara playing out of their skins to rescue West Indies, Tendulkar has perhaps never played knocks with such determination and pressure handling ability.

The Australian cricket system helps in producing match winners like Michael Clarke

Speaking of determination and pressure handling ability Michael Clarke stunned the cricket world by producing a career best knock on a difficult pitch against Steyn and Morkel. Clarke refused to bow under pressure and adopted an attacking approach. It was a magical knock by Clarke because he treated South Africa with disdain and beneath his extravagant strokeplay you could see this Australian psyche of, “Never say die,” which we have mentioned many times on this blog. This psyche is a product of the Steve Waugh era where Australians decided that the only way to dominate was to attack and refuse to give up.

Speaking of attacking, Pakistan cricket refuses to creep out of his abyss of negativity that years of poor selection and management have left behind. At the moment PCB is talking about rebuilding and somehow they have discovered that, defensive batting and defensive field placements will lead to rebuilding. Misbah is nearing retirement and luck has favoured him because he might never play Tests on green tops or against good bowling teams. Misbah did well against New Zealand some time ago where the pitches are often green and conditions are conducive to seam and swing, but NZ bowling is mediocre and other batsmen considered lesser than Misbah also made an impact on that tour.

This thread is centred on Younis Khan’s ODI career. How ironic that Imran Khan, an individual who

The PCB is more to blame than the players for Pakistan's failure to produce good openers

bemoans poor decision making and “ad-hoc ism” in PCB suggested that Younis should bat at no 3. This worked to an extent in Tests but it just did not work in ODI’s for various reasons. Younis bats between batting position 4 and 6 in domestic cricket and this was his natural position before he was promoted to no 3. Younis can hit big shots, but his expertise is in building innings whilst occasionally preferring to take the aerial route with his strokes. Expecting Younis to adopt the role of makeshift opener, which he has now done for most of his career, was total folly on part of the PCB. The reason why Younis has stuck to this no 3 position is that barely anyone else will vouch to play in that precarious position.

Pakistan has always juggled with the likes of players who play riskily (Afridi, Hafeez, Imran Nazir), players who can defend but just don’t defend well enough (Taufeeq, Butt) and players who can’t do anything well enough and play because of nepotism (Farhat) as far as the openers’ slot is considered. Due to this pathetic situation they needed a scapegoat and patsy who would play the role of semi attacker, semi makeshift opener who sees off the new ball and semi innings builder. They got Younis Khan to perform this strange role and because Younis is expected to do so many things, he has never been able to excel in any one area as far as ODI’s are concerned.

Younis Khan is a proud Pathan and has few enemies because of his easy going personality. But, sometimes you have to put your foot down and put people in their place. Younis is a yes man and this is apparent from the way he is subservient to every cricket administration (except for when he is captain, as the incident with Shaharyar Khan proved). A person is the best judge of his own ability so my question is, why could Younis not put his foot down and demand to play below no 3? Doing so would mean that he becomes a politician and loses his selflessness, but ultimately Pakistan cricket would have been the winner because someone more suited to that position would have been utilised.

Pakistan never had a specialist ODI batsman at no 3- this is because of the complicated and overly demanding nature this role has in Pakistan cricket. PCB is looking for candidates who can fulfil dual or more than two roles in the opening position. They are not happy with attackers (Afridi, Nazir) and they are not happy with defenders which is why they will not use someone like Azhar Ali in that position. Unfortunately Pakistan cricket is not so developed that you can have the perfect dangerous combination like an attacking Sehwag and someone like Gambhir who can attack and defend according to the situation. Australia also use such an approach with Watson and Hughes. They also used this approach with Gilchrist and Hayden. South Africa have Smith and Amla. Every young batsman England is producing seems to know how to hit boundaries and they have Cook and Strauss to absorb pressure and defend from the other end.

So, why not use this approach?

These problems circulate in a vicious circle and the end result is that someone like Younis, who is talented, ends with an average of early 30s in ODI’s. Younis could easily have averaged 40 if he was allowed the same liberty that was afforded to Inzamam and Misbah, of having a much clearer objective when they come out to bat. Younis can play swing and spin better than Misbah and Inzamam and unlike them, he likes to take the fast bowlers on. Inzamam may have been very good against raw pace but he never looked convincing against swing.

Umar Akmal should not have been admonished in such fashion because his scores of 30 were scored quickly and were certainly more useful to the team than Misbah's scores

The treatment of Younis has been a disaster for Pakistan cricket because firstly, had Younis been handled appropriately he would have made a lot more runs and secondly Pakistan would have had a very good run accumulator/match winner in their ODI middle order.

Umar Akmal may have attitude problems but PCB started admonishing him too early for his aggressive approach (the downside of which was that he could not bat responsibly) and the result was that U Akmal’s performance declined further. It would have been better to let him figure out his flaws because he could make 30-35 runs quickly and this sort of performance is crucial when someone is batting with the likes of Misbah and Asad Shafiq who find it hard to score quickly.

Due to lack of education and nepotism the decision makers have ruined Pakistan cricket. Somehow these ex cricketers who are uneducated and uncouth with a big question mark over their integrity and ability keep obtaining positions of responsibility and the result seems to be constant decline for Pakistan. There is no imagination and no aggressive mindset. What a pathetic situation we have seen recently with Misbah’s captaincy that matches that could have been won turned out to be draws!

To conclude, it is accepted that Pakistan don’t have a Tendulkar or Lara and their cricket is not developed enough to produce a Clarke, but with given resources they can perform much better. It just takes some good intent, unbiased decision making and some imagination. The example of Younis Khan should teach the PCB to opt for educated administrators and managers who can steer Pakistan cricket out of disaster by favouring aggression over defence and imagination over inactivity. This means getting rid of Misbah and Mohsin Khan, getting rid of Imran Farhat and Malik etc. If you look at the successful captains of the modern era- starting with Nasser Hussein, then Vaughan, Ganguly, Dhoni, Afridi etc, they always used the aggressive psyche and they were extremely imaginative and proactive with batting orders and field placements. What we are seeing with Pakistan cricket is just a temporary calm and some stability using a defensive approach to battle minnows, but this plan of action will not “rebuild” the team and it is not a step forward.

IJAZ BUTT

FOND MEMORIES BRINGS THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS AROUND ME - THE SMILES THE TEARS OF BOYHOOD YEARS - 10-DULLKAR OR 100KAR?

The century that Tendulkar will perhaps never make is creating more noise than the ones he made.  Why is this happening? Because he is a player who plays for records, a great player who plays for himself and not for the team or the country and what do you call such a person? “It is below his so-called DIGNITY to call him a selfish player”  his dignity, his vanity and his pride is much higher than the country’s pride and that is because he is considered as a deity in his country. When a man is worshiped like a deity then instead of him becoming strong, he becomes weak.  At a time or, at a level he gets scared that he is failing his followers and his fans and tries very hard to get or achieve the goal and keeps on failing every now and then. That makes everyone believe that he is afraid of reaching the milestone -  there are already many milestones in his life and yet he is afraid in achieving this.

Shoaib asks Tendulkar - why don't you admit you were afraid of me?

What was wrong in Shoaib Akhtar writing a line in his controversial book that Tendulkar was once afraid of him? It was like Akhtar throwing a stone in a beehive, the whole of India was after Akhtar and not only they attacked him, but they canceled the launching of his book in 5 major cities of India even, people like LataMangeshkar the squeaky singer tried to wrestle with her dead vocal cords and blabbed out that Akhtar has no right to pass such derogatory comments about their god? What was that derogatory comment? He only said, Sachin was once scared of him.  If a 5.7 ounces red cherry weighing about 160g. in weight zoom pasts your head at 100 miles per hour speed, one is likely to take evasive action, it is normal. Just because Tendulkar is considered as a god he is above all these trivialities? If he is such a great maestro then why is he struggling against so many teams since the last one year to accomplish his life time goal? His strike rate is pathetic, his scores are pathetic and yet he is getting a chance to play because he is 10 – DullKar and he is in the team because of his past glories.

He is Controversially Ours

I am not saying he will not make his hundredth hundred, eventually he will but at what expense? Is there any respect left in telling that this great little master-bater is struggling for runs and that is because he is afraid in his nineties.  Even his son told him, Dad why do you get stuck into 90′s? Are you scared? I will tell you something: don’t stay in the 90′s just hit a couple of fours and a six and you will be out of the 90′s.  These may not be the exact words but, he did say something on those lines and I wonder what Tendulkar must have told him? May be he said, my son I am not your uncle Sehwag or that Crazy Afridi and I don’t have those guts!

When Kapil Dev was close to breaking Sir Richard Hadlee’s world record, he was totally out of form in fact his bowling was “Disgustipatingly” Pathetic and in some matches he was not even getting a single wicket and yet they continued with him till he broke the record. There is something called grace, which is lacking here in case of Kapil Dev and Tendulkar both, one was and the other is still struggling and only God knows how much pressure they carry when there are so many and so much expectations from them?

Instead of scoring 76 at a strike rate of 51 if Tendulkar has scored that 76 in 51 balls, I would have said, at least he tried, he tried to play for the team and the country and did not bother about his records but, it was so obvious from the way he played in the first innings he was shaky and got out at 7 and to rebuild his image he went back into his shell ………… THIS IS NOT CRICKET…… this is MisBAket.  If Misbah plays like that I can say that is what he is but Tendulkar has once again disappointed.

People specially Indian fans may not like my criticism because, it is not coming from within but, from outside.  I am sure there are more Indians who are more disappointed then us and they follow him like a Ishwar and Parmeshwar and in the recent WC in India, one of his fans committed suicide by hanging himself only because Tendulkar did not score a century and the deceased has high hopes that his master will score a century and when he failed him, he was so ashamed that he took his own life.

In my opinion, neither the people nor the player himself should take this seriously, a game is a game is a game – its not everything, its not your life, it is not somebody’s else life that he kills himself for a trivial thing.   One thing is for sure, the BCCI and its selectors will keep on selecting him till he makes that 100th 100.   I hope Tendulkar is not suffering from primary or secondary hypertension but, he is suffering from the “white coat hypertension” which happens to patients when they see a doctor their BP goes up, in his case it is the umpires who wear white coats, when he sees them his BP goes up.

The more Tendulkar will delay in achieving this milestone, the more his ratings will go down among those who say Lara is better than Tendulkar or, Viv Richards is better than Tendulkar and even those who compare him with Sir Don Bradman would be compelled to believe that Don was Don and he cannot be compared with anyone because of his strike rate and his average.

It is time that our Indian fellow bloggers to come out and comment on this, defend him or curse him it is up to you but, silence is not the answer.