CRICKET
reason and the result is in front of all.
No wow on expected woes
Since the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s
middle order has become a joke; they used to be bad
chasers but now they are known as those who can’t set
a target. They have a batsman who has all the ingredients to become World Class (I mean Sarfraz Ahmed,
not Umar Akmal) but they don’t utilise him because the
Coach and the Captain don’t like him much. But when
your captain can’t read the pitch after 20 years of playing
international cricket, you can’t blame him but feel sorry
for him.
Then there was the person who promoted Khalid Latif
to one-down position when Shoaib Malik was also in the
XI this should be considered a crime because everyone watching the match knew Khalid would falter and he
did. His dismissal against New Zealand dented Pakistan
as much as the slow batting of Ahmed Shehzad, Umar
Akmal and Shoaib Malik. It is time India’s Son-In-Law
quit Cricket and played Tennis because he loves hitting
Tennis-type shots and missing the ball in the process.
Then there was the performance of Mohammad Amir in
the match against Kiwis. The left armer didn’t look fit in
the match and should have been rested but the management decided to go ahead with him and he went for
40 odds runs. The fans of Mohammad Amir were hurt
but then they should have been ready because there are
two more left armers in the team who usually go for that
many runs every day. One of them is 7 feet tall Mohammad Irfan who delivers really loose deliveries when he is
not in the mood; the other’s name is Riaz, Wahab Riaz
and the coach Waqar Younis should be questioned for
persisting with this out-of-ideas bowler. With two spells
in two separate World Cups being his only legacy, Wahab Riaz needs to go back to the domestic structure and
improve his conduct, his technique and his temperament. It would have been much better had Junaid Khan
been used in his place because he is a talented cricketer who needs the push, something Wahab and even
Irfan have been getting for a long time. When you fail to
deliver when it matters the most, you are considered a
failure despite the record you may have.
Then there were spinners
Thank God the ban on Yasir Shah is near its end as
Pakistan missed him big time on tracks supporting slow
bowlers. Instead of playing a regular spinner in the final XI, Shahid Afridi decided to use himself and Shoaib
Malik as full time spinners in India and the move backfired as expected. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who was
giving his views on TV during the event was stunned on
the bowling performance of his former teammates who
didn’t turn the bowl, didn’t test the batsmen and went
for runs when the going got tough. For a country that
has produced world class spinners, Pakistan’s performance in India was shameful, disgraceful and pathetic
but when you select incompetent individuals, incompetent performance is all you get.
Bottom below rock bottom
Before the World T20, I pointed out that it would be a
bonus if Pakistan managed to reach the last-4 stage of
the event without a specialist spinner, without a batsman who can build the innings and with a captain who
has nothing to lose and who cares about nothing. Trust
me, nothing will change as the team will return amidst
protest from the fans of the game, the Head of the Selection Committee (the Selectors will not be changed,
trust me) will be sacked in a ceremonial gesture. The
pathetic run in Limited Overs Internationals will continue
until and unless someone with a good Cricketing Brain
and Love for Pakistan takes over the Board. I don’t see
anyone from the Board (or PSL Committee) resigning
after the debacle so things will go on as they have been
for the last 20 years. The ‘Boys will do well; will try to
beat India’ mentality will have to be replaced with ‘You
Can Win Them All’ approach. Otherwise many people
will start supporting the Smart Afghan team which may
have lost its matches in World T20 but won the hearts of
all those who saw them play.
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