Stani Army

Coming in to this Test series, there was concern regarding the two rookie batsmen that Pakistan were about to chuck into the deep end in their first Test at Lord’s. The irony is that the more established batsmen were the ones that let Pakistan down. Not only did Umar Amin and Azhar Ali impress with their ability, but it was clear that they have the temperament and cognitive capacity that the likes of captain at the time, Shahid Afridi, lack. So which players were a success and which a failure in the first Test?

Will Imran Farhat survive for the second Test?

Imran Farhat - FAILURE

Probably the one player on the edge of selection that does not divide opinion amongst fans. It is clear, from his second innings stroke if not from anything else, that Farhat is not suited to the Test arena. He’s been around for quite some time so had to step up and contribute in an already weak batting line up. Though he did take two good catches, he failed miserably with the bat with scores of 4 and 24. Expect him to be dropped for the next Test.

Salman Butt - SUCCESS

Recognised his importance and responsibility and was one of only three batsmen to pass 50 in the whole Test. Loss of concentration led to his downfall on both occasions but was unfortunate not to get the only century of the game when he was stumped for 92 in the second innings. We would have been embarrassed had it not been for his contributions of 63 and 92 in this Test.

Azhar Ali – SUCCESS

Showed good temperament and sound technique. Was dismissed by good balls on both occasions from Ben Hilfenhaus. Contributed 16 and 42, a decent showing in his first Test. Very able in the field also. Must look to pick up more singles off his defensive shots though.

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Misbah Ul-Haq recently voiced his displeasure at being ignored for the tour of England, and with Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf out of the picture, are the older players deliberately being shunned as the Pakistan team looks to the future?

One person that seems to have come out smelling of roses from all the troubles of the recent past is Shahid Afridi. Stanis may remember that last October, Afridi had a meeting with the Chairman of the PCB and rumours began spreading that plans were afoot for Afridi to take over as captain in all three formats. Afridi denied this at the time and insisted that he would never go against the then reluctant captain, Younis Khan, and that the meeting was purely in regards to preparation for the World Twenty20, which he was about to lead the team into.

Shahid Afridi: Power hungry megalomaniac or innocent patriot?

Fast forward seven or so months and Shahid Afridi is now Pakistan’s Test, ODI and Twenty20 captain with Younis and Yousuf nowhere to be seen and Misbah completely ignored. Coincidence? You decide. Consider the fact that prior to Afridi’s meeting with Butt last October, Younis had handed in his resignation and it was not accepted by the Chairman both at the PCB offices and later in the car. It seems strange that such obvious support of Younis by the Chairman has waned and become muted.

Certainly Afridi’s lame excuse in his recent statement in regards to the exclusion of Younis from the squad did little to allay the suspicion: “I wanted Younis to be in the team but, besides the issue of his recent form, there was also a bit of a disciplinary issue with Younis”.  The funny thing is that you can take that quote and swap the name ‘Younis’ for a number of Pakistani players. In fact, you could put ‘Afridi’ in there too and it would fit. Making excuses Shaihd? What is he hiding?

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With Shahid Afridi announcing his return to the Test scene, is he nailed on to become captain in all three formats? If the recent Twenty20 World Cup was anything to go by, he certainly still has a lot to learn as captain, but this was probably to be expected.

The good thing is that Test game is much slower paced than Twenty20 and will give Afridi time to think over any decisions and confer with other players. He would also be able to get the input of the coaching staff during drinks breaks, at the end of sessions and at the close of play.

Apart from Afridi, who else is there as possible Test captain? The only other likely candidate, Younis Khan, is still serving his indefinite ban and is waiting on his appeal to be heard. This hearing will definitely not come in time for for him to be considered for the ODI captaincy as his appeal has been adjourned until the 29th of this month with the Asia Cup captain to be named on the 25th. Chances are that the Asia cup captain will probably be Afridi, and this, along with Younis’ ban and Afridi’s desire to return to the Test side, may have made the decision to keep him as Test captain merely a formality. With Afridi’s request in the media of a quick resolution to the damaging allegations surrounding the Pakistan team, he is beginning to sound the part of captain at least.

As a player, I think his return to the Test scene will give us a much more potent and balanced side. The argument is that his batting is not up to Test standard

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Strangely, there was a chance that Pakistan, the World Champions, could have been out of the tournament just 24 hours into their defence. But a relatively comfortable win against Bangladesh has erased that fear. Barring an unexpected win for Bangladesh over Australia, Pakistan can now look forward to the super-eight stages of the competition but with a lot of improvements to make.

Though the openers did very well against Bangladesh, they became unstuck against Australia, who look like a force to be reckoned with having got their selection right this time around. Salman Butt played a nice knock in the first game but, and there’s always a but with Salman, he let himself down when it really mattered. It’s fine to do well against Bangladesh but his poor innings against Australia, a game in which Butt-er fingers also dropped catch, has made his Bangladesh innings pretty much insignificant in my eyes. The question mark is still there; will Butt deliver with the bat when it’s really needed? I’ve certainly given up on him ever improving his fielding. I just feel Imran Nazir should be here in his place, as Mohammad Hafeez could quite easily have played the consolidatory role Butt is probably in the line-up for. Added to his batting, Nazir is also one of our best fielders.

Captain Shahid Afridi also needs to step up his game. Not only has his batting and bowling been poor, but so has his captaincy. Clapping the Salman Butt dropped catch is just not good enough. Imran khan would have stared at Butt until he disintegrated into the ground beneath him. These are grown men; there is no place for these niceties. Watch an Australia drop a catch and watch the reaction of the captain and bowler, and you could bet they won’t be clapping their hands.

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As I watched Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of the PCB, stand at the after-match presentation ceremony, there was a discernible difference between his appearance after the first twenty20 against England and the second one. After the first one, you could see the worry on his face as he tried to both listen in on what the captains were saying whilst sifting through the many excuses in his head as to why Pakistan had not won a single match ten matches in a row. At the second presentation ceremony, he looked as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he stood there with his head held high.

Yes, Pakistan managed to win something eventually but this win must not paper over the cracks like wins such as this have done so in the past. The management, coaching and captaincy issues still remain, not to mention the fact that we still are yet to find a settled opening pair and a reliable middle order.

Abdul Razzaq: Single handedly stopped the run of Pakistan’s 10 straight losses in all forms

What was obvious in both Twenty20s was that they followed a pattern which has become synonymous with Pakistan’s recent performances in that they found themselves in winning positions only to relinquish their hold on the game. But for the brilliance of Abdul Razzaq in the second Twenty20, this pattern would have continued for eleven straight games. Once again, it would be easy to use this as an excuse that only a few tweaks are needed here and there but you don’t lose ten games in a row if your problems are small and easily fixed.

One interesting call which came from the guys at MTJAG, was to make Abdul Razzaq captain. Before you dismiss it, consider the fact that none of our current candidates are obviously suitable and the problems we have had in bringing back the same old faces to take over as captain in the past. Would a new face in the role be a better option? Certainly, he seems respected among the players and is increasingly becoming a vital cog in the Pakistan team since his return from the ICL. It was his call-up to the World Twenty20 team which coincided with Pakistan’s up-turn and eventually lead to us being crowned World Champions. Could Razzaq be the perfect candidate to build a new team around? Many of you may have noticed his reaction after he bludgeoned the ball for six to take Pakistan home in the second Twenty20. It was the reaction of a determined and hungry man as his after-match comments clearly showed: “I was telling Fawad we should win this one. I was saying ‘you can, you will’ and we did”. Certainly, we could do with more of that attitude from all of our players.

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So the captaincy saga has reared its ugly head again but there doesn’t seem to be any new contenders stepping up since the last time we had this problem. It did seem a foregone conclusion until Afridi decided to take matters into his own hands…and mouth.

Since our last look at the captaincy issue, Misbah, a potential contender, has been out of favour in the team so therefore cannot be considered this time around. This leaves Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan; the words spoilt for choice don’t exactly spring to mind. Any left-field suggestions are welcome. It would be interesting to see who would win a captaincy vote amongst the players. Maybe that would be the way to go in order to mend the different factions and cliques that have emerged within the team.

Since Inzamam retired, no one has managed to hold the role for any significant period of time for one reason or the other. I think whoever is chosen now, as long as he is chosen carefully, they need to stick with him for a reasonable period of time so that even if he does start off badly, he has the chance to improve

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The stupidity of Shahid Afridi’s actions was profound, there is no question. As if the two whitewashes hadn’t caused us fans enough embarrassment, Afridi had to compound it by taking a bite out of the ball with as much subtlety as that spectator’s tackle on Khalid Latif. By the way, everyone’s talking about security in Pakistan, what happened here Cricket Australia?

Captains take a bite. Maybe there was something wrong with the Australian food?

Afridi was being touted for captain in the Test and ODI formats and I would not have minded. He made a good case with his recent performances and showed signs of maturity but his actions here have got me wondering if he really has matured. Yes, every team probably does it Shahid, but I doubt they use their teeth and make it so blatantly obvious. He may as well have gone up to umpire Asoka De Silva and asked to use his dentures. And when quizzed on Pakistani television

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In his latest piece on cricinfo, titled ‘Why Modi is like Sehwag’, Ian Chappell continues his obsession with criticising Mohammad Yousuf. Yes, I know, the piece is titled  ‘Why Modi is like Sehwag’, but he does well to finish by bringing Mohammad Yousuf into it. The PCB has announced that there will be a new captain after the Australian tour so maybe Chappell should leave the guy alone now.

And whilst mentioning the run out between Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf in the 1st innings of the 3rd Test, he writes:

“This move has the potential to replicate either a brilliant attacking masterpiece by Sehwag or the chaos of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Salman Butt gesturing at each other after having failed to complete an easy single”

Inzamam Ian? You mean Yousuf right? Concentrate now, criticise one Pakistani at a time. This disease is similar to the one Tiny Greig was showing symptoms of during the ICL when he kept referring to the Lahore Badshahs as ‘Pakistan’. Very professional I must say. O the burden of ignorance!