LEGSLIP

Qadir is the Chief Selector and has made his presence felt due to innovative views

Abdul Qadir was a great legspinner for Pakistan who bamboozled many batsmen in his career. As Chief Selector for the Pakistan Cricket Board, Qadir has made a couple of interesting suggestions which this thread explores.

CAPTAIN APPOINTED ON SERIES BY SERIES BASIS

This is a welcome suggestion looking at the current captain, Shoain Malik. Malik has evoked mixed reaction from cricket fans during his captaincy tenure. Generally, a lot of the reaction is due to factors such as the dearth of cricket being played by the national team. However, Malik has been observed in ODI cricket and his captaincy has not

Malik has faced flak, but some argue he has fought back well

lived up to expectations. He appears a weak and uncharismatic leader who is more concerned about securing his place in the side, as opposed to improving team morale and gaining respect of players. However, consistent domestic performances in both batting and bowling and leading Sialkot and Punjab to victory in domestic competitions has altered the opinion of many of Malik’s critics, such as Inzamam.

Afridi has been Pakistan's 2nd best bowler in 2008, yet he risks being dropped, perhaps permanently

Malik’s position has benefited from the unavailability of Yousuf due to his contract with the ICL and the dip in batting form of Shahid Afridi, two players who announced their willingness to take over from Malik as captain of the team. In fact, the Malik-Afridi rivalry is no secret to most. With Younis backing Malik and Misbah not being approached for the captaincy position, it seems Malik will remain captain but if the choice is between extending his tenure for a year or evaluating his performance on a series-by-series basis, the latter option is better for Pakistan cricket.

SEPARATE TEAMS FOR ODI, TEST AND T20

This was the other bombshell dropped by Qadir, which has raised mixed response. This suggestion is certainly innovative and sensible. Pakistan cricket has seen a sharp decline of late and having specialist teams for different formats can work in many ways. Firstly, more players will be tried and fresh faces

Yasir Arafat, who is an experienced all rounder, can benefit if Qadir's proposals are implemented

will be seen. For instance, players like Yasir Arafat and Mansoor Amjad, who have age on their side as well as capability of performing more than one role, can gain if they are slotted in the T20 team, because experienced players like Afridi and Kaneria will be considered before them in ODI’s or Tests.  Secondly, Pakistan has recently relied on all rounders too much, with the result that both batting and bowling have suffered a setback. For example, Abdul Razzaq’s last few years in international cricket were nothing to write home about. He was a liability in batting, and a liability in bowling. Qadir’s ideas can help restrict players like Razzaq and Rana to a format where they can compete with top international players- Twenty20.

Under Qadir's suggestion, talented players like Nasir Jamshed can get more exposure to international cricket

One argument is that Pakistan has needed all rounders to compensate for weak openers. Surely, if openers are not performing consistently, support is needed lower down the order and people have used this argument to justify playing players like Razzaq and Rana. However, Qadir’s recommendation can also help alleviate this dilemma. Format-specific openers can be tried. For example, Imran Nazir (if his ban is overturned) and Nasir Jamshed, both big hitters, can be utilised for T20 whereas openers like Butt and Khurram Manzoor, who are more cautious batsmen, can be used in Tests.

Of course, even without format-specific teams, PCB can slot random players to play for certain formats, but the economic concepts of division of labour and specialisation can help explain why treating Qadir’s proposals seriously, might help. Players can become better by playing the same format over and over again. For instance, someone like Imran Nazir can be considered as an automatic selection in T20, and he can always be guaranteed a place in T20 cricket. This will improve his confidence and also his fitness level- since he will be playing frequently. He will also not need to worry about other openers taking his place that much, because he will have a specialist role and he will know that he will always be considered over a more defensive opener, such as Khurram Manzoor for example. This strategy will help fast bowlers even more. Bowlers can benefit from more frequent international exposure which will improve their mental competitiveness, provide them with an incentive to keep their fitness top-notch and will also help their confidence.

To conclude, Abdul Qadir’s views have emerged as a breath of fresh air, considering the lack of planning and absence of sensible decisions by the PCB for a long time. Miandad, the Director General of PCB has expressed disapproval of these ideas because he thinks it is too much hassle, but it is submitted that implementation of such proposals is beneficial for Pakistan cricket for the longer term.

Aao Dubai Chalo, haan haan Dubai Chalo, ho-ho Dubai chalo

Finally the PCB Chaudharys have decided to go to Dubai. They raised the decades old slogan “Dubai Chalo” after being bullied by the ICC and the SNPC’s (super nations playing cricket ).

In the past too they had to move the games to neutral venues to accommodate Australians and played against them in Sharjah. But, since then they have more options and Abu Dhabi Cricket Stadium has already hosted a few ODI’s but, the state of the art Dubai Sports City has built a 25,000 seating capacity most modern cricket stadium in the world. They can play night cricket in Dubai.

I am not sure how many of you remember my comments on Pakspin when Kamran wrote that thread “ICL – IPL What the Hell?” I wrote that very soon you will be seeing “Arabian Nights Cricket in the UAE.” The Dubai government has now announced that the Sports City will be ready in early 2009 and already hosting an international hockey tournament. But, the most important news is about the PCB signing a three 3 year agreement with Dubai to host their ODI and twenty20 Internationals.

Here is the latest news right from the horses mouth. It has not even appeared on cricinfo yet.

Quote:

The Pakistan Cricket Board has signed a three-year agreement to play its home one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches at the new Dubai Sports City.

The move comes with teams remaining reluctant to tour Pakistan because of concerns over terrorist attacks.

Pakistan, who have not played any Tests or ODIs against major teams this year have also invited West Indies to play two Test matches in Abu Dhabi.

Is it Abu Dhabi or Abu Dubai?

The Emirate will also host three ODIs against the Windies in November.

Only minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have played in Pakistan in 2008, while their last home Test series was against South Africa in October 2007.

The PCB has lost millions of dollars in revenue from the cancellation of matches and believe it is vital for cricket’s financial well-being to make use of the facilities in the Emirates.

Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the PCB, said the new £4.8m deal with Dubai Sports City “gives us the option of playing international cricket and also improves our financial health.”

The new 25,000 stadium in Dubai will initially host a series involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next April and a series of Twenty20 matches against various teams.

The deal comes after failed attempts by Pakistan to convince teams to tour the country after a spate of bombings in recent months.

Pakistan had sought new opponents after the postponement of a Test tour by Australia and the ICC Champions Trophy, both because of security concerns, but had no takers.

Reuters news agency quoted “informed sources” who suggested the PCB will be paid £800,000 for each event in Dubai, as well as a £53,000 appearance fee to each player for every tournament played. ” Unquote.

Has the PCB done any good for the future of Pakistan cricket or not is a question that we all need to discuss here. So, please go ahead and write your comments.