Kamran Abbasi
Compete now, experiment later
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan’s immediate future hinges on Australia’s ruthlessness. Luckily for Shahid Afridi’s team ruthlessness is second nature to the Aussies. On the evidence of events in St Lucia and the relative merits of Pakistan’s opponents, Bangladesh require a near miracle to progress in this tournament. Miracles are least miraculous in cricket’s shortest format, especially if Messrs Duckworth and Lewis intervene, but Pakistan should be able to continue the defence of their title.
Pakistan have problems. The tour management are struggling to juggle a squad that they didn’t entirely wish for, and a couple of their early calls have been questionable. Choosing Mohammad Hafeez, a non-specialist spinner, to open the bowling against Australia was unwise, and it was worse to persist with him. It also exposed Pakistan’s lack of bowling depth and the extent of their previous reliance on Umar Gul.
West Indian wickets have thus far suited batsmen and Pakistan could add another specialist bowler to their starting XI. Pakistan’s excellence in T20 cricket has largely been thanks to attacking, specialist bowlers. Wicket taking has forced their opponents to lose momentum, and Gul has been the best practitioner of this strategy.
Full postWounded champions in group of death
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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A defence so soon is unfortunate for Pakistan's wounded champions and finds them in another difficult moment. Last year, Pakistan rose out of adversity to conquer. It was an uplifting experience but the joy has been short lived.
Now Shahid Afridi's team face a make or break weekend. They could be out of the tournament by tomorrow evening, such is the danger in this group of death. Australia have spent all winter pummelling Pakistan, and Bangladesh are more than capable of pulling off a smash and grab raid.
Pakistan have terrible memories of playing a World Cup in the West Indies. But they must use that experience, and the hurt of 2007, to inspire them to put up a spirited defence of their title. And spirit is the key. There are no certainties in T20 cricket and all Pakistan fans can wish for is that their embattled team plays with pride and passion.
Full postWho is Pakistan's chief selector?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan’s version of Big Bird, Mohammad Irfan, was all set for a last minute entry into the T20 World Cup. Big Irf’s story would have been a traditional and modern day triumph. Traditional in the sense that Pakistan cricket is known for launching unheard of fast bowlers onto the world stage. A modern triumph, too, as Big Irf was discovered by a fan who championed his cause via website Pakpassion.net and then continued his story on another website, Cricistan.
Pakistan’s newly installed captain, coach and chairman of selectors—let’s be clear, men with considerable international experience—decided that they wanted Big Irf to replace one of their injured pace bowlers, a surprise package indeed. Such instinctive decisions set Pakistan cricket apart from others. They lift the gloom of failure and inject hope and curiosity. This one had an added twist of incredible height. Whether Big Irf is just under seven feet tall or just over, bizarrely, nobody seems quite sure.
Mr Butt, chairman of the cricket board, galumphed into this glowing scenario and turned a fascinating decision on its head. The simple point here is that the selection process should be autonomous from the chairman of the cricket board. If he doesn’t like the decisions, he should sack the head of selectors and his panel. Mr Butt’s meddling has immediately undermined the authority of Pakistan’s new management team. A wise chairman would have supported his chosen leaders. Typically, Mr Butt decided on a show of strength, a slap down for Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis, and Mohsin Khan.
Full postA union of the spirits of cricket and commerce
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the needs of commerce have invented a new form of cricket sponsorship
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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| England, whose multicultural credentials are reinforced each day, is the country most able to support neutral internationals © Getty Images |
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the needs of commerce have invented a new form of cricket sponsorship. Gone are brewers, banks, and airlines. Enter the Marylebone Cricket Club, the most illustrious club in the world of cricket, the owners of the home of cricket, and new best friends of the Pakistan Cricket Board; egg and bacon ties sponsoring the egg and paratha loving cricket team.
First, a reservation: a sponsorship deal is never an act of pure charity. There has to be something in it for the sponsor. In the modern era of international sport, that something has to have a component of financial gain. The MCC has seen the commercial opportunity of hosting more international matches at Lord’s. A new honours board for neutral matches and soundbites from the media launch suggest neutral Tests will become a regular feature of an English Summer. This sponsorship is under the banner of the spirit of cricket but is also in the spirit of commerce.
Unless additional use turns the Lord’s turf into the ploughed field of Wembley, this is a commercial move that must be welcomed. One or two international matches each season are insufficient opportunity for spectators to view the highest standard of cricket at the most appealing venue. England, whose multicultural credentials are reinforced each day, is the country most able to support neutral internationals. Lord’s is a venue that puts the deserts of Arabia and the skating clubs of Canada to the sword.
Full postYousuf, wait a while
He may have performed below his usual high standards
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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| Mohammad Yousuf had another two years of productive Test cricket left in him © Getty Images |
The purge of Pakistan's cricketers has claimed an unexpected victim. Mohammad Yousuf may have captained the team poorly in the recent series in Australia and New Zealand. He may have performed below his usual high standards. He may have fallen foul of his fellows and the cricket board. But there were still Test runs in his cricket bat.
It is a dreadful situation that Pakistan's most exquisite Test batsman feels compelled to retire from the game that made him. Pakistan cricket still needs its MoYo, especially with a testing summer of cricket in England to come. Without him, and perhaps Younis Khan, Pakistan's middle order will be a horror show.
Yousuf could have stuck it out, fought the ban, but why should he? The PCB's mismanagement has wrought this outcome. Yousuf was elevated to a captaincy that was beyond him - he didn't appoint himself captain. Indeed, if the PCB was unhappy with his behaviour it should not have rewarded him with the captaincy.
Full postAfridi brings hope and uncertainty
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan cricket, impulsive by nature, has appointed its most impulsive captain. Shahid Afridi, chosen for now to lead Pakistan's defence of the World T20 title, brings hope and uncertainty. Many Pakistan fans have lived an odyssey with Afridi, mesmerised by every twist of fortune and wishing him to grow into a player of genuine stature. Mr Boom Boom has been handed an opportunity to live their dream.
Afridi has been a box office cricketer for over a decade but when you analyse his career there are few moments of greatness. A record breaking first hundred in Nairobi, a match-winning Test century in Chennai, and then the World Twenty20 victory. The last two events were a decade apart. His career has been one of spasms of joy punctuating long pauses of disappointment for him and his supporters. Afridi has often thrilled but he has rarely transcended.
His critics, many of whom are Pakistan supporters, will be disappointed at this appointment. Afridi's temperament can be as erratic as his batting. He has had bust ups with team mates, scuffed a Test wicket with a dancer's swivel, and, in perhaps his maddest moment, gnawed a cricket ball when he was captaining his country. Afridi, say his critics, brings uncertainty and every chance that he will further dishonour his people. I beg to differ.
Full postSinners cast the first stone
The PCB committee of inquiry wants to punish Pakistan’s cricketers
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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| PCB’s latest investigation that has come down heavily on the players is a brazen attempt to save the skins of senior board members © Associated Press |
The PCB committee of inquiry wants to punish Pakistan’s cricketers. The reasons are several, some known others only to be guessed. Unfortunately the whole episode is an exercise in passing the buck. The architects of the disastrous failure of Pakistan cricket have investigated their own performance and decided to blame some other people, the players.
When it comes to sympathy I have none for failed administrators and bureaucrats, who cling on to Pakistan cricket like leeches sucking every drop of lifeblood from a once vibrant national enterprise. These inquirers have a misplaced sense of justice: he who has sinned has cast the first stone. Isn’t the PCB’s latest diversionary investigation a brazen attempt to save the skins of senior board members?
Let’s take the accusations and the punishments. Shahid Afridi has already been punished by the ICC. The Akmal brothers could easily have been fined and disciplined without the hoopla we have had to endure, a self-inflicted public relations disaster. What Rana and Malik have done, nobody is yet sure? If it is match-fixing then how can one year bans suffice? It can’t be that.
Full postToecrusher and the Eagle
Amid the machinations among players, administrators, and politicians, two important decisions have been taken
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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| As a modern great Waqar will have some leeway to establish himself and his methods, although any presumption that he will still be in post at the end of 2011 is ill founded © Getty Images |
These have been a particularly bewildering few weeks in the bewildering world of Pakistan cricket. And who knows what thunderbolt will strike next? Some issues are better put to one side until some evidence emerges. Match fixing is a prime example. Cricketers, like their fellow humans, are ever fallible and inconsistent, hence accusations about match fixing based solely on mistakes and decisions during a match are invariably impossible to prove.
My own brief inquiry into the latest flurry of claims revealed that, according to an ICC spokesman, no information has been passed by ICC to the PCB. In these circumstances, it would be helpful, nay obligatory on the PCB, to provide clarification about the true nature of any concerns.
Amid the machinations among players, administrators, and politicians, two important decisions have been taken. Waqar Younis is head coach and Mohsin Khan is chairman of selectors. A third, appointing Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s new captain is more pressing and more needed.
Full postNo wins but finally some pride
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Nine defeats out of nine, a depressing outcome. Yet Pakistan leave Australia with the knowledge that they can challenge in world cricket, especially in the limited-overs format. As much as anything, the last two defeats have shown that Pakistan have forgetten how to finish off a match.
This confidence-sapping Australian summer has exacted a heavy toll. But there is spirit in the camp, which is often brought out by adversity--although it is no coincidence that Pakistan's best performances have been in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf. Despite his surreal claims about Pakistan's great achievements, the captain's time must be up to be replaced by the double act of Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.
Pakistan don't play a Test for some months, hence all they need do is confirm that Afridi will lead in limited-overs cricket with Malik his deputy. Younis looks to be out of any reckoning. Afridi can hold his place as a bowler, any batting is a bonus. But Malik cannot justify his selection as a batsman. He should play as an allrounder, which is also better for the balance of the team.
Full postAfridi bites back
Shahid Afridi left his mark on Pakistan's final 50 overs match in Australia - and on the cricket ball
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Shahid Afridi left his mark on Pakistan's final 50 overs match in Australia - and on the cricket ball. First, he demonstrated how he could galvanise this Pakistan team into a fighting unit again. For the first time in weeks, Pakistan's players relished the fight and played with some belief. Afridi was at the heart of this, and his colleagues looked to be behind him.
But then we saw the daft side of Afridi, his ill-disguised bite of the cricket ball, a white and rather scruffy cherry. Pakistan were in with a shout, Afridi leading impressively, but he never looked the same after his appetite got the better of him and he was reprimand by the umpires. Afridi can expect a lengthy ban, which is ill-timed as he was about to offer a solution to Pakistan's captaincy problems.
He isn't the first international captain, of course, to tamper with the ball. Mike Atherton, for example, was relatively unscathed after his 'dirt in the pocket' incident. And you would judge Atherton to be more cerebral than Afridi by many tens of kilometers per hour.
Full post