Hassan Cheema
Why aren't Pakistan's captaincy candidates getting the grooming they need?
Yet again, like with so much else, the PCB has missed a trick
Hassan Cheema
03-May-2016
There's much to lament about the way Roger Goodell has led the NFL in the 21st century, but he has succeeded in making the league a 12-month sport in a country with a surfeit of them. Where once spring and summer could be spent focusing on other sports, now the NFL leads the news in the US for the majority of the year. In a sense, it's a case of the NFL (and other American sports, particularly basketball) becoming more like European football - where more interest seems to be generated during the off season than during it.
It's something Pakistani cricket mastered a long time ago. You could almost speculate that the leading outlets in the country's sports media would be better off with no cricket, and just speculation and gossip filling the air waves, than them being forced to understand and report on cricket. The sport itself is the broccoli, and the infighting that is the hallmark of the game in Pakistan is the dessert.
The most recent example of this was the Younis Khan fiasco in the Pakistan Cup. It began with Younis disagreeing with a decision made by the umpire Shozab Raza (allegedly one where he refused to give Misbah-ul-Haq out), and snowballed from there, ending with rumours floating around of Younis considering retirement from Test cricket.
Full postPakistan are built to fail in T20
Their cricket culture, their selections and their approach to limited-overs cricket are all anachronistic
Hassan Cheema
31-Mar-2016
Only three times in Pakistan's history have they gone six or more Test series unbeaten: six from 1973 to 1977, ten from 1985 to 1989, and seven from 2010 to 2012. Right now they have been unbeaten for five - both in terms of time and numbers theirs is the longest streak in the world right now. Their coach is the same one who instigated the 2010 to 2012 run: Waqar Younis.
One could argue he doesn't deserve a lot of credit for this, and that Younis Khan's batting, Misbah-ul-Haq's captaincy of spinners, and the rise of a new generation of Test specialists are the reasons behind this success.
But the facts are simple: when Waqar took over in 2010, Pakistan hadn't won a Test series for more than three years; when he took over in 2014, Pakistan hadn't won one in over two years. Within six months of him taking charge, these two streaks began.
Full postWhat the Afridi-Nazir partnership reveals about memory and Pakistan
That there's a difference between truth and fact
Hassan Cheema
08-Mar-2016
The truth of a memory, as comedian Tommy Tiernan said in a recent episode of QI, is a rather different thing from the fact of a memory. The subjectivity of truth often clashes with the pure objectivity of a fact. The arguments or explanations of the minutiae of the differences I'll leave to the students of Russell (not Andre, nor Jack).
But the difference is something sports fans, perhaps more than others, can relate to and understand. And it's something Pakistani fans, in particular, seem to be concerned with. Of course, all sports fans are prisoners of nostalgia, but the lack of options for Pakistani cricket fans - both in terms of other sports to emote over, and in terms of TV channels fulfilling their needs - and the state of cricket in the country means it's a crutch they hold onto more dearly than others.
People of my generation have vague memories of Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram's match-winning sixes (or even the 1992 final, in some cases), but are those memories "real" or manufactured by later viewings on PTV?
Full postThe contrasting halves of Pakistan's T20 history
They were the best team in the format till the 2010 World T20. Since then, things have been particularly bad
Hassan Cheema
17-Jan-2016
It doesn't take much to create a ruckus in Pakistan, it seems. The latest example involved a journalist inquiring about the travails of the national T20 team and being derisively put down by Shahid Afridi, the recipient of the question, owing to one of the stories the journalist had done about him in the recent past. Thus ensued a protest from the assembled press corps and then a media storm - to do with ethics, respect and decorum, on the relationship between those covering the games and those playing it, and the manner in which they are discussed.
Within a couple of days Afridi had received support from Waqar Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq, and the general thinking was that it was the irresponsible media that was to be blamed. Through it all, you wondered if it was a mountain or a molehill, and how the involved parties would have reacted if anyone in Pakistan were to ever do a Trapattoni.
Everything was discussed but the subject of the question itself - which had more substance than any of the conversations that followed.
Full postPakistani cricket ads: what we remember
One of the best ways to gauge the evolution of the relationship of the fan with the national team is to look at the history of the country's cricket ads
Hassan Cheema
28-Dec-2015
For an insider the PSL draft (disclosure: I'm an analyst for Islamabad United, one of the franchises) was a confirmation of certain fears: sure, you could build a competent T20 team with a Pakistani backbone, but trying to market that will be a challenge. Beyond Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik 2.0, there are no universal stars in the list of active Pakistani players. Those that have led the successful Test side - the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan - may be respected, but they aren't the sort to put bums in seats or make the consumer grab his wallet.
Some of the active players have previously complained about the changing media landscape - they talk about growing up in the '80s and '90s, of fawning journalists and a state channel built to embellish accomplishments; and then finding out by the time it was their turn that the 24/7 cable-news networks were the new narrative builders. Pakistani cricket in the 21st century is one where a successful long-form team is taken for granted, and where only masala and controversy sell.
There is one other factor that is often ignored. The rise of private TV channels has coincided not only with the decline of the fortunes of the national team in the 50-over game but also with a lack of ads that are truly universal. Obviously when there is only one TV channel (as was the case till the turn of the century), every ad is bound to reach its full audience. Furthermore, beyond ICC events, it seems advertisers are happy with the boring, generic and immediately forgettable. That, quite frankly, is a disgrace to the rich history of Pakistani cricket-based ads.
Full postA tale of two Pakistani bowlers
The two Mohammads, Irfan and Amir, are a study in contrasts in terms of how they are perceived
Hassan Cheema
05-Dec-2015
Mohammad Irfan is out of form. Since the World Cup he has averaged over 40 with the ball in 12 ODIs. Questions are being asked about whether he's good enough to lead the bowling unit; whether he was ever good enough to do so in the first place.
But those questions are usually raised by those who haven't watched him bowl in this period. On the lifeless pitches of the Asian summer he has repeatedly been Pakistan's outstanding bowler, perhaps even their only saving grace. His ability to do everything but bring the ball back in to the right-hander has been on show. Often forced to partner with mediocre medium pace, this lumbering giant has shown that he may be the smartest, most complete pacer in the country.
Or perhaps the second most.
Full postThe curious case of Younis Khan's ODI career
They said he would never make it as a Test batsman, but he proved them wrong. He couldn't quite do it in 50-overs cricket, though
Hassan Cheema
13-Nov-2015
There are few better windows into the mind of a sporting genius than Diego Maradona's autobiography. A rant that illustrates his separation from mere mortals, it's also a book that rarely deals in joy - all achievements are in aid of spiting someone, proving someone wrong. It's how Maradona lived his playing life, and it's how he continues to operate even after: most famously when Argentina barely qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup under his tutelage, his response, rather than to celebrate his escape, was to inform journalists at a press conference that those that had doubted him could "suck it, and keep on sucking it". El Diego has always had a way with words.
Not even his greatest fans will equate Younis Khan to Maradona as far as ability is concerned, but his motivation, seems to have been the same. In a recent interview, his answers had something of that theme running through them, most explicitly when he said, "If someone writes something against me, I keep a cutting of that paper with me, I keep it in front of me all the time and instead of getting dispirited by it, I get motivated and tell myself that I am going to prove him wrong." Now that he has retired from ODIs, there is one notion that Younis just hasn't been able to prove wrong: he never conquered the 50-over format.
Yet his belief that he could have done makes sense too. Here's a man who was never supposed to have made it as a cricketer. He didn't have the obvious natural talent of those who came before him. After all, he debuted when the mighty '90s side was still not out of its pomp, a time when talent trumped all. It took him several years to become anything more than an ordinary international player.
Full postPakistan overachievers? Who'd have thought it?
Over the last five years they have won over half their away series and have not been beaten at home. It is a stark contrast to what went before
Hassan Cheema
30-Oct-2015
A last-gasp victory and after all the turbulence of ten days of Test cricket the result in the end has been somewhat predictable. For the sixth season in a row Pakistan will end up unbeaten in the desert. It has become such a state of affairs that even the local fan base has become used to it - almost taking it for granted. It bears repeating: there's nothing wrong with being a bully at home. Perhaps being dominant at home is worth being satisfied about, rather than being something worth denigrating as somehow unworthy, somehow Indian even.
One of the more fascinating things to come out of this series - against England, and so bound to be high-profile - is how the results affect so much and yet so little: you can change your form, your reputation, your performances, but the narrative? That takes more than mere competence.
In the weeks before the series started, most headlines inevitably revolved around Mohammad Amir (him of zero first-class matches in five years) not being back in the team immediately after his ban was lifted. The rest focused on Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman - neither of whom had played a Test match in the year prior to the team selection for this series - being excluded from the squad. It almost seemed as if Pakistani cricket might as well have been in stasis during their time between the last home series against England and this one, rather than having gone through a downfall and a revival, as was actually the case. Pakistan went from a spin-led juggernaut to a team struggling without identity, which eventually rebounded thanks to domestic veterans and batsmen playing beyond their own expectations.
Full postYoung Pakistan can find stability in anarchy
The domestic stars coming into the national set-up need to find a way to get over their initial form slumps and adapt to stay in the side
Hassan Cheema
08-Oct-2015
The end of monarchy leads to anarchy, or so they say. From the French to the Iranian revolutions, that has nearly always been the case, and Pakistan seems to be going through something similar right now. Alas not as far as the political sphere is concerned, but Pakistan cricket in the post-2015 World Cup era is all about individuals vying for vacant seats.
The departures of Shahid Afridi (only from ODIs) and Misbah-ul-Haq, the forced exclusion of Younis Khan, injuries to Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood, and the support staff's issues with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, have all led to a new-look team - particularly the batting line-up - with no one guaranteed of their places. It's anarchy, but so far it seems to be working.
Apparently having a group of individuals that isn't complacent, and is in flow, seems to work. Pakistan have been aided by selections based not merely on career numbers but form too. The adage "form is temporary, class is permanent" makes for a nice sticker, but for products of the Pakistani domestic game, class has never really been attainable until they reach the highest level.
Full postPeshawar's smart Pathan boys are challenging conventions
They may not get a franchise to themselves, but they have shown through teamwork, discipline and an unorthodox coach that Pakistan's new T20 league needs them
Hassan Cheema
19-Sep-2015
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) looms over everything in Pakistani cricket right now, and the domestic season has become an audition for the draft that is likely to take place at the end of the year.
The identity of the franchises has been a surprise - the five teams are likely to represent the four provincial capitals and the federal capital: Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad. From a purely political viewpoint that makes sense, especially in a country where all provinces are equal, though some are more equal than others. But for Sialkot and Faisalabad, that stings. They are two industrial hubs sure to have the sort of private backers who could finance a franchise, and they have been the two teams that have dominated the domestic T20 scene in Pakistan - Sialkot far more than Faisalabad. And while Faisalabad's Hollywood boys are in interminable decline, Sialkot have rebounded over the last year or so to once again become one of the top teams in the country. With its sports-industrial complex, which defines the city, Sialkot ought to be Pakistan's sporting capital. They have been the team to beat over most of the past decade.
But that is beginning to change. Sialkot are no longer the team to beat, and nor are the star-studded Karachi and Lahore line-ups. That honour goes to a team that looks deceptively average on paper.
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