Pakistani cricket marred by problems

The third test has yet to be played with Sri Lanka who are looking for a whitewash. Maybe this statement would have been hard to believe at the start of the series, but does not truly reflect how closely the tests have been fought so far. Sri Lanka are a fast improving side that cannot be underestimated anymore and I take nothing away from their success. As usual there are excuses and scapegoats to look for and 'tis a sporting tradition for the losing side. There are several areas to discuss, argue and improve upon which I write below:

Captaincy: Moin Khan was the preferred captain over Saeed Anwar but he refused stating seniority respect to Wasim Akram. So far the heartening matter for the PCB has been that the captaincy did not affect Saeed's form and has scored the most runs so far. He has had to cope with several problems throughout the series and I feel despite making some mistakes, he made sure the team gave a fight regardless. This is evident in the 1st test match when Pakistan had to play with only 2 fit bowlers and in the 2nd test when he came out to bat whilst being injured.

I feel Moin Khan is still the best option. But Saeed has to be given a chance as he can only learn from making mistakes. The PCB is correct in giving him a 4-month testing period. Why Wasim was demoted is still not officially clear since there were different versions from the PCB and the former captain himself. However, one thing is clear and that is the players were finding his frustrations and anger hard to accept in Australia. I strongly believe a captain has to be cool at all times as the team players look towards someone who can lead them in the bad times and be positive.

New/old players: There is no hiding the fact that the policy to try young players failed, barring one new player, Younis Khan. The reason for its failure was due to the lack of administering this policy in a consistent and intelligent manner. A strange contradiction was why Mohammad Wasim had been dropped when he has been hailed as a young upcoming talented player who has played several innings under pressure. Hasan Raza is another batsman who has been groomed for the past few years to play for the senior team who lead the U-19 Pakistan team to the semi-finals of the junior world cup in Sri Lanka. Both were ignored totally and a new crop of young and untested young players was brought in and given a chance in the ODI's which Pakistan badly lost.

Younis Khan looked the most promising and rightly so is being given a chance to play in the test series as he nearly helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the 1st test, scoring a debut century under pressure. What is confusing is the reason why Afridi was dropped in the ODI's and then included for the test squad. Similarly there were several young players who have tagged along the test squad but never tried e.g. Faisal Iqbal, Bazid Khan, Imran Abbas, Irfan Fazil, Imran Nazir and Naved Ashraf.

I believe you cannot, overnight, try young players to replace experienced players. It has to be a gradual process without affecting the overall team balance. The other mystery of the tour is why Arshad Khan played ahead of Mushtaq Ahmed when the former was not even part of the test squad. The Sri Lankans play off-spin really well because in their midst lies probably the current best off-spinner, Muralitharan. So it was logical that Mushtaq should have played, who would have been very effective in the 2nd test match which favoured spin. Now a backward step has been recalling Ijaz Ahmed who will probably play instead of the out of form Aamer Sohail. Seems the PCB has sent a positive indirect message to all players that they will have to play consistently for their places from now on.

The other fiasco was ignoring Rashid Latif in the 2nd test match. Although he may not have a long future with the team, he was still the ideal replacement for Moin Khan. The problem arose when the players refused to play with Latif, stating disciplinary problems. This may be connecting Latif to his statement concerning the betting scandal many years back. Definitely, this is not the right way to honour a player for his honesty by ignoring him when his selection was automatic. This seemed more so silly in the light that he scored a fighting knock for the Pakistani select XI in an earlier arranged game against the Sri Lankans.

For the Sharjah tournament squad, The Management may want to try giving chances to the younger players if the next world cup is a target, they might as well plan whilst trying out these youngsters. Personally, I have never rated ODI's over test cricket and would not lose any sleep if Pakistan find some real talented players at the expense of losing meaningless ODI tournaments. Some of these tried and tested players may be then utilised for future tests.

Wickets: I fail to understand why PCB feels shy in creating wickets that aid the home team. The Australians know most teams' weaknesses in playing on bouncy seaming wickets and make visiting teams play on them. Recently, when Pakistan when to Australia, Sydney did not feature as a test venue since it favours spin and batting. It is a place where Pakistan has done well in the past.

The 2nd test in Peshawar was a wicket favouring spin, which was a ridiculous ploy since Pakistan did not have a single reliable spinner with Saqlain missing and Mushtaq dropped for Arshad Khan. Sri Lanka's match winner was none other than Muralitharan which anyone could have guessed with Pakistan batting 4th. With bowlers like Wasim, Shoaib, Waqar, Razzaq and M Akram in the team, the PCB should have gone for pacy wickets. It is time The Management to start considering taking interest in making all types of wickets for domestic and international cricket. The national team should be allowed to play on wickets that would give them the added advantage over the visiting team.

Injuries: This is becoming an alarming regularity in the team. Some injury or the other has affected all Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Azhar Mahmood, Moin Khan and Saqlain Mushtaq. This has also contributed to Pakistan's inability to put out a full strength team. I am sure a fit Saqlain could have been useful in the 2nd test. I am sure the PCB is dealing with this and is in the process of employing a full time physio. Fielding is still a shambles. There have been rumours that Jonty Rhodes' services are being acquired temporarily to improve fielding. Surely an excellent idea but a full time expert may be required for the likes of the Pakistani team.

Coaching: This was another on-going issue until the PCB announced choosing Javed Miandad as the next coach for the 2nd time. Intikhab Alam was always going to be a stop gap solution but he was disappointed when his demotion was announced midway through the series. Last time round the team was doing very well with Javed as coach. Surely his advice on team tactics and batting had an affect with the likes of Afridi scoring a century in his first test against India. Miandad has 4 months to prove his worth and 2 forthcoming test series to resurrect Pakistan's failing fortunes.

Home advantage: Pakistan has not won a test series since 1996, barring their 3-0 romp against the West Indies, a shocking fact which has continued with this Sri Lankan defeat. The next visiting team is England later on this year. However, to show Pakistan's credibility, they have never lost a series abroad except Australia since 1994, which seems strange when the home record is viewed. These statistics link up with my early claim that the PCB should start paying attention to the type of wickets produced. If the team does well on foreign conditions, then why cannot we perform even better at home?

Future Squad: Talent is definitely not the issue. Pakistan has several other problems that need to be addressed. This whole argument of trying out young players has probably confused some people, especially with yesterday's announcement of recalling Ijaz and Mushtaq Ahmed. I believe there should be an open policy towards choosing players. The best players have to be chosen, simple as that. Former tried and proven young players like M Wasim should not be messed around. Old players need to perform for their places and Ijaz will surely be playing for a place for the West Indies tour.

Players like Saeed Anwar and Inzamam should be the nucleus around which the batting should revolve. Younis Khan will feature from now on provided he displays the same promise with which he batted in his debut test. We still do not have a permanent opener with Anwar and a No. 3 player. It is time Afridi is taken seriously and coached to improve his temperament. At No. 3 could have been M Wasim with Youhana and Younis Khan take up the middle order batting. Bowling will not be a problem once most of the players are fit. Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, M Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed will consist of a strong bowling lineup. With 3 all-rounders in Wasim, Razzaq and Mahmood the chosen final XI can be very flexible.

We await and see how Pakistan fares in the 3rd test match with the result deciding the next squad.