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.

Shoaib Malik also showed some intelligent batting although his bowling has a lot to be desired. It’s frustrating that Malik does not show this with his bat regularly enough. Someone else that also impressed and took his chances unlike in the past, was Fawad Alam. If we are to go with the ‘out with the old and in with the new’ route, then guys like him

A West Ham United flag (background) draped over the stands in Dubai

will be an integral part of the rebuilding process. With only six members of the World Cup winning squad out in Dubai, and the suspension of annual player contracts, it is clear that no one is certain of their places. With the Twenty20 World Cup around the corner, Pakistan needs to reorganise quickly if we are to defend our crown as Twenty20 World Champions.

Finally, I’d just like to send a shout out to the West Ham fans that watched the games out in Dubai and were spotted in the stands with their West Ham flags and banners. Come on you Irons!

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

Category A Rs 250,000 or £1,840 per month, £22,080 annually.
Category B Rs 175,000 or £1,290 per month, £15,480 annually.
Category C Rs 100,000 or £735 per month, £8,820 annually.

Though they were all pretty surprising, I was most surprised by the earnings of those who would fall into category C. Many of the players who were involved in Pakistan’s recent success and look to be in and around the team for some time to come, fall into this category of just £735 a month. This includes; Rana Naved, Fawad Alam, Saeed Ajmal and Rao Iftikhar. Here in the U.K, someone working at McDonald’s could earn more than that.

Inversely, there are some players in the top category who have either not played at all recently or have demonstrated that category A is one place they should not be. For example; Shoaib Akhtar, Salman Butt and Danish Kaneria.

Baffled? Well so am I. I would love to ask the meritocracy that is the PCB, how they decided on who goes in which category. Salim Altaf was quoted at the time (January 2009) saying: “The central contracts were devised by coach Intikhab Alam, manager Yawar Saeed and chief selector Abdul Qadir and the main criteria was seniority of the players”. Why seniority? Would any other professional organisation in the world, let alone cricket board, do this?

And if it was decided on performances, how do they explain Danish Kaneria? In 2008, Kaneria was in category C but without playing a single game for his nation, he found himself in category A this time around. I have nothing against Danish but I believe for someone who plays Tests only, he should be in category B at the most.

Obviously, this is just the basic wage as added to this would be match fees which players would receive for participating in a game and any awards for individual performances. Yet, this only exacerbates the situation for those in category C as they are less likely to take part in a game and earn individual awards anyway. The gap between categories C and B definitely needs to be smaller.

Taking into account the cost of living in Pakistan, there are still boards around the cricket world who take much better care of their players. I can now see why earning a better living through unofficial leagues such as the ICL did and would continue to appeal to some of Pakistan’s cricketers.

Category A (£22,080 annually)
Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Umar Gul

Category B (£15,480 annually)
Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir

Category C (£8,820 annually)
Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Abdur Rehman, Yasir Arafat, Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Sarfraz Ahmad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Amin, Azhar Ali, Abdul Rauf, Rana-Naved

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have just concluded day 2 of their first Test in Galle, a day on which Yousuf finished top scorer with 112 at a strike rate of 60.

Much had been made of Yousuf’s fling with the ICL, which all began after he had been unfairly excluded from the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup squad. Having then being brought back but rejoining the league, it was difficult to see when he would again grace the cricket field in a Test for his nation.

His comments about Shoaib Malik being chosen as captain at the time, were well off the mark but showed the mentality in Pakistan cricket and general life, where seniority is akin to superiority. But cricket has a great way of bringing people together, as it has demonstrated on a much more important level, and today we saw it again when Yousuf and Malik were at the crease together as Yousuf brought up his century.

Having achieved his first century in Sri Lanka, out of the Test nations, it is only on South African soil that he is yet to give his century sajda (prostration). But as the most stylish batsmen in cricket makes his return, this will only be a matter of time.

Sidarth Monga:

“How Pakistan would want to thank BCCI for the “amnesty” it accorded the ICL players.”

“Once the euphoria of this performance dies, Pakistan will want to thank the man returning to international cricket for allowing them to go ahead with their preferred bowling strategy.”

He is an Indian fan at the end of the day, but he should keep his bias from articles on sites where it is required of him, and expected by us, that he should be impartial. In the past, cricinfo has been accused of being favourable to England and India so I am amazed the editor of cricinfo let this article through as it was.

Since his hair transplant, Rana has been given a new lease of life emerging as a genuine all-rounder.

With the ICL having released him from his contract on request, and Shoaib suffering a skin problem, Rana should be a shoe-in for the up and coming Twenty20 World Cup.

The ICL could have quite easily have refused the requests of the players who were under contract but have shown a gentle touch befitting this gentlemen’s game that the ICC, BCCI and other boards have lacked.

The PCB may now regret withdrawing the 3 ICL players it had included in its original World Twenty20 squad.

Well it obviously didn’t work. Had they had any brains, they would have indeed not included the 3 ICL players at all rather than bringing embarrassment on themselves by including then dropping them.

These recent happenings give us another insight into the bumbling fools that are supposed to be running the game in Pakistan. In particular, the fact that the ICC meeting lasts two days yet it was decided on the very first day that Pakistan would be dropped as host, shows the lack of intelligent argument the PCB presented at the meeting. Don’t get me wrong, Pakistan will probably still be an unsafe place to play cricket in two years but the PCB could have argued that it is not necessary to make the decision so soon and also that if it is unsafe in Pakistan it would be likewise in the rest of the sub-continent. Yet Ijaz Butt and his cohorts didn’t do much, they just hoped thinking everything will be fine.

Pakistan cricket needs to clear out these leeches and bring in capable administrators who know how to run such an important organisation.

The question is what took place after the announcement of the squad to force this change and why was this not done before the squad was made public. It was said that the selectors were not aware that they required clearance from the ICC before announcing the squad but if you’re about to include players who are banned by the ICC, for an official ICC tournament, surely this would mean you may want to get clearance first right? Not to our selectors!

Had they kept the players in the squad, it would have indeed forced the ICC to take a look at the ICL situation which has been dragging on for some time now. Clearly, Pakistan would have had a strong legal case as the Sindh High Court ruling on ICL players taking part in domestic cricket clearly proved. No other team bar Bangladesh would have probably benefited from the inclusion of the ICL players as much as Pakistan which is probably why the ICC and the other boards can sit comfortable even though there is a big white elephant in the room.

It is inevitable that the ICL ban will be overturned so why not do it now? It is just frustrating that it’s taking so long and will most likely prevent talent such as Imran Nazir’s from being displayed at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup.

No doubt the BCCI will have a big say in things as will other boards whose teams may not benefit as much as Pakistan’s will with the inclusion of these exciting talents. Yet we hope the PCB stands its ground as it is only a matter of time before the ICL ban is lifted as the arguments for those against the ICL, quite simply do not stand up morally or legally.

Also included in the squad is Shoaib Akhtar. A big stage player, the up and coming five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 against Australia in the UAE will be a vital test for him prove his fitness so that his entrance to the T2O World Cup stage is guaranteed.

The final squad will be halved to 15 yet from the array of talent in the list below, it will not be something which will be easily achieved. Try picking 15 from there!

The tournament begins on the 5th of June in England.

Pakistan Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hassan, Ahmed Shehzad, Umer Amin, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Aizaz Cheema, Muhammad Aamir, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sarfraz Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Imran Nazir

Although it was a moment when Pakistan cricket fought its corner in the world of cricket politics, two consequences have caused immeasurable damage. First, the rift between Inzamam-ul Haq and Bob Woolmer became ever wider. Second, the controversy ushered in Naseem Ashraf’s disastrous reign as head of Pakistan cricket.

It was also the year that Mohammad Yousuf claimed the record number of Test runs in a year. Yousuf batted beautifully. He was easy on the eye yet his mind was tough. He was unbeatable and unswerving in his commitment to score more runs. The best years of his career were upon us. But the plummeting trajectory of Pakistan cricket has claimed him as a major victim.