03-09-2007, 03:13 PM
[CENTER]One more bites the dust[/CENTER]
By Zaheer Abbas
YOU would know better by the time these lines come out in print, but as I write Pakistan looks to be in trouble to name a possible twelfth man for its initial match of the tournament. Of the 15-man squad announced, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif are doubtful, Abdul Razzaq has been declared unfit, and Shahid Afridi has to serve out the ban that he got imposed on himself while playing in South Africa. That leaves the squad with 11 available players, which is good enough to start a game, but what about the twelfth man?
But that should not be particularly surprising because we yet do not know who are the best 30 players, as Azhar Mahmood was added to the list after the initial announcement and beyond the official deadline. And, we also do not yet know who our best 15 players are for the World Cup because there is more than a cloud hovering over Shoaib and Asif. The latest casualty, as I write, is Abdul Razzaq who is now ruled out of the World Cup on account of some injury.
This is as bad as it can get, many would say. But the fact is that it is worse than just that. If we take into account the still unclear situation regarding the fitness of Umar Gul, the team would be struggling to name even the playing XI for the first game. Of course, the ICC technical committee would be brought into the equation and replacements would be named and flown into the West Indies, but will they be in the right frame of mind to take up the challenge? If our experience during the recent tour to South Africa is anything to go by, it is difficult to answer in the affirmative.
Besides, we are not clear about the opening pair even though I have read a statement from some official that it would be Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez getting out on the park upfront. Pakistan has invested much in Kamran Akmal as a One Day International opener as part of its World Cup plan to just change it on the eve of the big day. If it does, it will be one more major U-turn on the credit of the high-profile and accountability-free foreign coach.
I have also read a statement by captain Inzamamul Haq that he would be batting at the two-down position because he is willing to “do anything for the good of the team.” While his intentions are laudable and must be praised and applauded, the problem is that he could not think in such terms while Pakistan was preparing for the World Cup; not even on the South African tour which was the last assignment before the Cup. Now changing tracks during the event itself means even the last bastion of stability in the side, the middle order, would stand destabilised; destabilised by the captain himself!
I am not saying that he should not do it. All I am saying is that he should have done it earlier. The truth should have dawned on someone in the team and the team management much earlier. After all, it was not a matter falling in the realm of rocket science. It was a pure and simple case of routine cricketing intelligence. You want your best player to get out there early so that he may have time to adjust to the conditions and play a long, meaningful innings for his side. People have been doing it for long. Sachin Tendulkar of India, and Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist of Australia and several others for several other sides have been doing it, but Inzamam was going backwards — from two-down to four-down. Now when he has chosen to do “for the good of the team”, he has chosen the wrong time to do that.
I still hope that the national team would be able to somehow pull it off when it matters, but even if Pakistan goes all the way and lift the Cup, that shall not be allowed to cover up the kind of mess that we have created in our cricketing management. The chaos that marks our present cricket setup has never been worse.
Courtesy: DAWN.
By Zaheer Abbas
YOU would know better by the time these lines come out in print, but as I write Pakistan looks to be in trouble to name a possible twelfth man for its initial match of the tournament. Of the 15-man squad announced, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif are doubtful, Abdul Razzaq has been declared unfit, and Shahid Afridi has to serve out the ban that he got imposed on himself while playing in South Africa. That leaves the squad with 11 available players, which is good enough to start a game, but what about the twelfth man?
But that should not be particularly surprising because we yet do not know who are the best 30 players, as Azhar Mahmood was added to the list after the initial announcement and beyond the official deadline. And, we also do not yet know who our best 15 players are for the World Cup because there is more than a cloud hovering over Shoaib and Asif. The latest casualty, as I write, is Abdul Razzaq who is now ruled out of the World Cup on account of some injury.
This is as bad as it can get, many would say. But the fact is that it is worse than just that. If we take into account the still unclear situation regarding the fitness of Umar Gul, the team would be struggling to name even the playing XI for the first game. Of course, the ICC technical committee would be brought into the equation and replacements would be named and flown into the West Indies, but will they be in the right frame of mind to take up the challenge? If our experience during the recent tour to South Africa is anything to go by, it is difficult to answer in the affirmative.
Besides, we are not clear about the opening pair even though I have read a statement from some official that it would be Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez getting out on the park upfront. Pakistan has invested much in Kamran Akmal as a One Day International opener as part of its World Cup plan to just change it on the eve of the big day. If it does, it will be one more major U-turn on the credit of the high-profile and accountability-free foreign coach.
I have also read a statement by captain Inzamamul Haq that he would be batting at the two-down position because he is willing to “do anything for the good of the team.” While his intentions are laudable and must be praised and applauded, the problem is that he could not think in such terms while Pakistan was preparing for the World Cup; not even on the South African tour which was the last assignment before the Cup. Now changing tracks during the event itself means even the last bastion of stability in the side, the middle order, would stand destabilised; destabilised by the captain himself!
I am not saying that he should not do it. All I am saying is that he should have done it earlier. The truth should have dawned on someone in the team and the team management much earlier. After all, it was not a matter falling in the realm of rocket science. It was a pure and simple case of routine cricketing intelligence. You want your best player to get out there early so that he may have time to adjust to the conditions and play a long, meaningful innings for his side. People have been doing it for long. Sachin Tendulkar of India, and Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist of Australia and several others for several other sides have been doing it, but Inzamam was going backwards — from two-down to four-down. Now when he has chosen to do “for the good of the team”, he has chosen the wrong time to do that.
I still hope that the national team would be able to somehow pull it off when it matters, but even if Pakistan goes all the way and lift the Cup, that shall not be allowed to cover up the kind of mess that we have created in our cricketing management. The chaos that marks our present cricket setup has never been worse.
Courtesy: DAWN.