Stani Army

Dr Kamran Abbasi has posted his latest article on cricinfo and it has provoked a lot of debate. The article is very critical of Mohammad Yousuf’s captaincy. His articles are usually very balanced yet this, which comes across as an emotional outburst, is a fair bit different from his usual posts. I don’t usually like posting long articles but I felt this was an important issue so do bear with me.

Result! My stock’s risen and I didn't even play!

As Pakistan supporters, we’re all frustrated and upset by the meek manner in which our team has surrendered to an Australian side that runs more on mental toughness than it does cricketing skill. Yet, to blame Mohammad Yousuf’s captaincy for the situation our team currently finds itself in is quite unfair. Dr Abbasi has been an outspoken supporter of Younis Khan as captain in the past and maybe his overly harsh criticism of Yousuf this time has something to do with this.

Yousuf has taken over at a difficult time with very little captaincy experience. We mustn’t forget that it was Younis who chickened out of the tours to New Zealand and Australia. Maybe he knew that staying in the background while Pakistan lose in Australia would make him look a better captain. Sadly, through the eyes of some it has.

It is extremely difficult to set fields or captain when your players cannot do the basics in the field or their job with the bat. A captain is only as good as his players. Until the last innings, Ponting hadn’t done much, he even made the mistake of batting first in the 2nd Test, but he’s soon going to find himself as the winning captain in a 3-0 series whitewash. Why? Because he could rely on his players. Yousuf, on the other hand, had nothing to fall back on. Nobody questioned Yousuf’s captaincy in New Zealand. Nobody questioned Yousuf’s captaincy in the 1st innings of the second Test. The difference was that the players were performing to some degree

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Something is going on with Pakistan’s catching. Having dropped seven in one Test against New Zealand, here against the Australians, they’ve started where they left off. The first dropped catch, which flew to Umar Akmal, was travelling at pace but should have been grasped at this level. The second, a superb, mesmerizing doosra from Saeed Ajmal to Shane Watson was even easier, dropped by Misbah at slip after taking a touch off the keeper’s gloves.

Catching's not easy when you can't see properly

It is a serious issue and Pakistan are beginning to pay the price for not taking these chances. Though they do have their new fielding and bowling coach Waqar Younis with them, it may have been better to have asked an optician to have accompanied the team to Australia. I think an eyesight test now has to be a must for each player, seriously.

You have to feel for the bowlers. Not only do dropped catches give the batsmen extra chances but they demoralise the bowlers and put the rest of the field under pressure. What a start to 17 year old Aamer’s first Test in Australia it would have been had Akmal held onto that catch? The last team in the world you should be giving opportunities to are the Australians. Katich was on 8* when he was drooped, Watson on 43*, they went on to make 98 and 93 respectively. It would not be too early to suggest that those two drops look to already have cost Pakistan the Test with Australia now in such a commanding position.

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On a classically placid pitch, one has to ask if the curators went too far in trying to prepare a pitch to counter the threat of Murali and Mendis that they’ve made their own bowlers suffer. Yet this type of pitch is nothing new though as any Pakistan fast bowler will tell you. Again and again we hear of captains and coaches speak of our pace attack as being our main weapon yet again and again they are given dead pitches to bowl on.

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