Stani Army

Asad Shafiq; looks to be made of the right stuff

Pakistan may find themselves 2-0 down in the ODI series against England but Stani fans can take some hope from the two performances, particularly today’s one. In the first game which Pakistan lost by 24 runs, the difference ended up being Umar Gul and his bad day at the office with the ball. Today it was the failure of the Pakistani batsmen to accelerate near the end of their innings and get the total up and around a challenging 310.

The most pleasing aspect was the emergence of what seems like another little gem for Pakistan in Asad Shafiq. He looks a ‘busy’ type of cricketer that keeps the scoreboard ticking by just dropping the ball and picking up vital singles. As he showed in the first ODI, and at certain times today, he can also attack and do so quite effectively.

With the  3rd ODI on Friday, Pakistan should look to make a couple of changes at least with Fawad Alam and Mohammad Irfan failing to impress. Though Fawad’s strike rate was good today, he still found it difficult to get the boundaries when they were required nearer the end of the innings.  I would certainly consider bringing in Azhar Ali in place of him, who showed in he Tests that he can certainly power the ball over the boundary.

As for Mohammad Irfan, I think he has a long long way to go. Though he does have the very useful physical characteristic of height, he doesn’t make the best use of it and was a liability in the field today. He certainly shouldn’t be discarded and forgotten about, but should be worked on closely back in Pakistan at the academy

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No Shahid, it's not your fingers that are the problem, it's your brain

Pakistan have come full circle. From being the best team in international Twenty20 to looking like an amateur, disjointed club side as they surrendered to defeat in their second Twenty20 against a well drilled England. Bowled out for 89, their lowest Twenty20 total yet, Pakistan continued with their batting woes that were so evident in the recent Tests. The wrong team selection and lack of planning and execution in addition to the batting troubles, means the upcoming five match ODI series doesn’t look as if it will be much of a contest.

Whilst they added Mohammad Hafeez to the team, persisting with Fawad Alam meant that the team selection was still wrong. Fawad’s shot on dismissal showed that he had learnt nothing from two days ago. No balance, no technique, simply awful. Since they aren’t bowling Fawad, they could have gone in with Azhar Ali, a proper batsman, with the added benefit of him getting a sighter of the white ball before he is thrust into the in the ODIs, first of which is this Friday.

Today, much hinged on captain Shaihd Afridi’s innings as he came in with Pakistan three down for 20, with plenty of overs left (16) to recover and set a decent target. Yet Afridi failed to recognise the importance of his wicket and played an utterly foolish shot. The look on coach Waqar Younis’ face on Afridi’s dismissal said it all. You cannot be a captain of an international side and play as carelessly as that. It’s becoming more and more evident that he will not be the one to lead Pakistan cricket out of this mess on the field. I wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves the One Day fold as abruptly and selfishly as he did the Test one.

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Pakistan have announced the squad for the upcoming ODI series and Twenty Internationals against England and there are a few interesting changes. It does seem that one squad of 16 has been announced for both formats with the likes of Abdur Rehman and Shoaib Malik who had made  the 14 man Twenty20 squad that beat Australia 2-0 earlier on the tour, missing out this time around.

The fortunes of Yousuf and Malik seem to be going in opposite directions

Shoaib Malik’s exclusion for the last Test against England came as no surprise but his exclusion from this limited over squad is slightly more surprising. With Fawad Alam and Mohammed Hafeez coming back in, maybe Malik’s role would have been seen as being covered adequately enough. Hafeez’s inclusion also means that there is no place for Imran Farhat, who strangely enough, is probably more suited to the shorter form.

Most interestingly, Mohammed Yousuf has completed his come back by being named also. One would think that he’d only be used in the ODIs but I for one am certain he could do a job in the Twenty20 see-ball hit-ball form of the game. Younis Khan was overlooked because, according to captain Shahid Afridi, he has not sorted out his dispute with the PCB. In what seems a very unsympathetic and ruthless statement, Afridi said: “I asked the chairman PCB about the situation with Younis twice. But the clearance wasn’t given by the PCB. I did what I had to do”. Make of that what you will.

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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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Chasing just 128, Pakistan allowed Australia to bowl three maidens in their 20 overs; played three stupid shots when in good positions themselves; and ended up falling short by three runs. I can’t help but think that had Australia been chasing that target, they would have got there cruising with the loss of just one or two wickets.

So what was the Pakistani mindset from the beginning? Well it was one ‘hero’ after the other. Each buffoon of a batsmen that followed the previous one thought that a few quick boundaries here and the game would be over. But boundaries come with high risks attached, risks Pakistan did absolutely not need to take with a target like that. Not just once, but on many occasions throughout that innings they could have held themselves back and have gotten home comfortably.

After smiling about the recent security breach, Pakistan continued with their niceties by gifting three maidens (two wrapped in wickets) to Australia and effectively turning a chase of 6.4 per over into 7.5 an over.

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There are some youngsters like Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer who burst onto the scene, and then you have the likes of Fawad Alam who show glimpses of their talent, stumble, and then try to get back up. There are many admirers of Fawad who have long since called for him to be a regular in the Pakistan team. It was clear Geoff Lawson liked him as he was always in and around the squad during Lawson’s stint. I for one have questioned in the past where Fawad would fit in and whether he was a better spinner or a better batsmen than what we already had in his position.

The contrasting fortunes of Fawad Alam (top) & Umar Akmal

The recent tribulations of our top/middle order, the dropping of Misbah and the resting of Younis, has given Fawad a chance to stake his claim. His opportunity came in the first Test against New Zealand, coming into bat in the important position of number three. Fawad scored 29 in the first innings and just 5 in the second. The fact that Pakistan lost the first Test by only 35 runs, or to look at it another way, a decent knock by a single batsmen, then the three that failed at the top, Manzoor, Farhat and Fawad, had to have been scrutinized much more closely.

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Rana Naved was recently awarded a central contract by the PCB after he turned his back on the ICL. He was placed into category C of the contracts, which would see him earn 100,000 Rupees a month. Since most of the ICL players were wholly blamed for joining the unofficial league and criticised for it; here we’ll take a look at what the Pakistan players are earning and whether this is enough to stop their heads turning.

Below is a list of the value of the contract in each category and it makes for some interesting reading

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Well the Twenty20 Champions couldn’t even manage that in the first innings of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the 1st Test, today’s batting performance must have left Pakistan’s coaching staff seething. I suppose this would have been mainly to save their own skins as what ever they would have told the players in between the last Test and this one, quite clearly has not worked. It is difficult for the coaching staff to have much effect whilst a match is on going yet in between matches is where they must have an influence. But with four ducks and just three double figure scores (the highest being 39), it seems as if the Pakistani players did not come into this match with a single thought of what had transpired in the last.

Another change to the opening pair saw Fawad Alam come in for Salman Butt. Many had asked for Fawad’s inclusion yet he could only manage 16 runs having being sent in to open which was something he had never done before in an international game. This decision seemed even more bizarre than when Alam was asked to bowl the very important 15th over of the T20 semi-final having not bowled at all in the tournament previously. Sure, Fawad would have been asked if he would like to open today but as a youngster desperate to play for your country, you just say yes, whether its opening or coming in last.

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