Khawaja Shujauddin: Pakistan's Cricket plans for World Cup (24 Aug 1998)

24-Aug-1998

24 August 1998

Cricket plans for World Cup

Khawaja Shujauddin

There is no doubt that individually, our cricketers are world class but they do not form a world class team, which includes at least six world class players in Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Inzimamul Haq. No other team in the word has a galaxy of world class players like ours but still their performance is better than the Pakistan team.

In my humble opinion, the cause of the poor performance is the mismanagement on the part of the PCB officials.

The players of today are to be handled professionally in order to get the best out of them. And that requires planning and professionalism. Both these elements are missing in our cricket officials. If the following measures are taken Pakistan has very bright chances of winning the next World Cup.

The team should be selected at least 3/4 months before the commencement of the tournament. Initially 20/22 players should be selected and finally the required number of players should be selected.

Wasim Akram should be appointed captain with full responsibility, who is experienced and mature enough to handle the young players. Although Aamir Sohail has been appointed captain for the Sahara Cup but for the World Cup, he should be made vice-captain. Wasim is reluctant to accept the captaincy because of the traumatic experience at the hands of the previous management and some of his team-mates. He has all the qualities of a winning captain. This he has proved against the West Indies team by winning the series 3-0.

Salim Malik should be selected for the tournament.

If Waqar Younis has lost his speed or effectiveness he should be dropped from the team and replaced by Mohammad Zahid or some other young player.

Selectors should not be vindictive and biased.

Hasib Ahsan or Dr. Zafar Altaf should be sent as manager. They know the art of getting the best out of every player. They also know the art of maintaining discipline without annoying the players.

If there are some personal differences between The Management and some other people, these differences should be set aside for the time being in the larger interest of the country. We should, therefore, not miss this opportunity of winning the World Cup scheduled to be held in England in 1999.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)