Ijaz Butt: Needs to be harsh in his punishment of the Pakistan players

Pakistan cricket hasn’t exactly flourished under the stewardship of PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt. Described as “too old” and “physically unfit” by the senate’s standing committee on sports, many have felt that such an important role was beyond this 72 year old. On the team side, factionalism, internal bickering and a losing habit have plagued his time in charge.

Not being the most astute of operators, Butt is known to put his foot in where it does not belong. His insensitive and defensive approach in his response to the Lahore attacks was just one example. Rather than express condolences and outline the PCBs response, he went on the attack asking the ICC to ban match referee Chris Broad, for his comments on the lack of security. His most recent faux pas was the mixed messages he gave out in a press conference regarding the subject of match fixing.

Politicians are not the only people Butt has fallen out with. Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir and Aamer Sohail, ex-Pakistani greats, have all come and gone from various posts during Butt’s tenure. Despite his unpopularity, Butt is still managing to hold on to his position of Chairman for the simple reason that he has the support of the most important man; Patron of the board and President of the country, Asif Ali Zardari.

The recent inquiry into the failings of the team on the New Zealand and Australian tour have given Butt an opportunity to do some good for his popularity. It is believed that the inquiry committee recommended heavy fines and bans for some top Pakistan players, including Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved, Shoaib Malik and the Akmal brothers, for various misdemeanours such as deliberately under-performing, provoking discord and undermining the captain.

While the details of any punishments have not yet been made public, Ijaz Butt has promised to take “more than significant” action against the players mentioned in the inquiry report. Butt needs to take this opportunity to do exactly that. Not only for the good of Pakistan cricket but for himself. He needs to realise that these mercenaries have not only made Pakistan cricket look bad, but have caused irreparable damage to himself and the likes of Mohammad Yousuf who came in for some harsh criticism as captain on the Australian tour. It is only now one can imagine how difficult Yousuf’s task must have been. These players need to be made an example of.

The Pakistan players: Some would have them lined-up and flogged

Banning the big names may be a difficult thing to do at the moment, but life will go on. Someone will step into their shoes and we’ll forget about them soon enough. It is a critical juncture which will be looked back at in years to come as the defining point of Pakistan cricket’s up-turn in fortunes. This is something that needs to be done to save Pakistan cricket. The players need to feel privileged to play for their country. Even if this “more than significant” action is Ijaz Butt’s last act, it will be a noble one and despite everything that has happened in the past, it will be the one that he will be remembered for the most.

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. Yet what of the roles of the coaching staff in this? Any blame Yousuf is deserving of must surely be shared by Intikhab Alam and Waqar Younis who don’t strike me as the finest examples of human intelligence.

For Dr Abbasi to say “nothing has been more dismal than the captaincy of Mohammad Yousuf” is blatantly incorrect. If any are to blame more than Yousuf, then it’s those that have dropped catches, Dr Abbasi’s namesake in particular, and those that haven’t scored well. It isn’t Yousuf’s captaincy that has played Ponting’s batsmen into “glorious form” as Dr Abbasi says, it’s those men. Had we taken just our catches, Yousuf would look a genius right now. But what does a captain do when he’s captaining a bunch of clowns?

Mohammad Yousuf: Took over in difficult circumstances & let down by team

Dr Abbasi was also critical of Yousuf for the fields our bowlers bowled to and the manner in which they bowled. Don’t our bowlers have a mind of their own? Don’t they know where to bowl? Bowlers can demand changes to fields, you see others teams bowlers doing it so why couldn’t ours? A simple question to ask is if we were to take Yousuf out of the side and put in another captain would we have been in a much better position right now? Well, the manner in which we batted and fielded, I doubt it. How can anyone attribute most blame to Yousuf’s captaincy then?

I think what fuelled Dr Abbasi’s disgust even more was listening to the Australian commentators such as Shane Warne, Richi Benaud and Mark Taylor; men that Dr Abbasi refers to as “some of the greatest Australian minds”. I did speak about the dangers of listening to these commentators on a previous post as their blatant biasness would leave many Pakistan supporters’ judgment skewed and end up filing them with rage. Mark Taylor isn’t the best friend of Pakistan as anyone who had listened to him in the wake of Bob Woolmer’s death and the Lahore attacks would know. Richie Benaud is someone who makes sly and cocky statements and really should tone down his cockiness in his old age as it is not a way to go for someone who doesn’t have long to go. As for the great Shane Warne, is it his womanising, match fixing or illegal substance taking greatness which makes his opinion so valid? Also, there were reasons why he was never made Australian captain.

Many people may still believe that Younis is a better captain than Yousuf, and in some ways, I’ll probably agree. But to criticise him this much for our current situation is very unfair. But whatever his downfalls, at least Yousuf hasn’t run off yet like a certain someone. Mohammad Yousuf may not be the greatest captain in the world, but this decent man certainly doesn’t deserve to be shamed like this.

Waqar Younis, may soon have more to juggle

Added to this is the fact that Pakistan already have a bowling coach in Aaqib Javed, current assistant to Intikhab. There’s been no mention thus far of Aaqib taking a break for the Australian series so what is it that he will be doing if Waqar is going to be bowling coach?

Stani Army were not the biggest supporters of Intikhab’s appointment as it seemed very much an old-school, backward step after the good work done by the late Bob Woolmer and former coach Geoff Lawson. The recent series in New Zealand must have raised concerns over the coaching attributes of Intikhab as a number of catches were put down by the Pakistan players. Having said that, Waqar was not the best of fielders in his time so having him as fielding coach too, seems a bit bizarre. May be ‘fielding coach’ was put in to his title so that people would not ask why we needed both Waqar and Aaqib as bowling coaches, but I don’t think it has worked.

Intikhab Alam & Aaqib Javed, current coach and assistant

It’s interesting that Waqar’s previous coaching stint with the International side was during Bob Woolmer’s time as coach. This must have worked in Waqar’s favour this time around as he was certain to have picked up valuable skills from someone who was regarded as one of the top coaches in the world.

Young apprentice mimics his master

If Waqar does take over, it will be a very popular choice among both the Pakistan players and supporters. It will go some way in lifting some of the recent doom and gloom from the captaincy fiasco. Should Waqar come in and choose his assistant(s) carefully, we could have what may turn out to be a very successful appointment.

He ain't heavy...Kaneria is lifted by a team mate as Imran Farhat appreciates his new figure

Having picked up three wickets in each innings of the 2nd Test, Kaneria ripped out the heart of the New Zealand middle order with four wickets in the on-going 3rd Test, after the fast bowlers were finding it difficult to break through the New Zealand line up. The benefits of a fitter Kaneria are clear to see, not only with the ball but in the outfield also.

Should he maintain his form and fitness, he’d probably be a shoe-in for the Test side with Ajmal reserved for the shorter forms. At one point, Kaneria bowled unchanged throughout a whole session bringing valuable respite to the fast bowlers. It would be difficult for Ajmal to do something like this as finger spinning involves a lot of wear and tear on the hands.

With New Zealand taking a first innings lead it will be up to our bowlers to keep Pakistan in the game; Kaneria in particular.

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.

Added to Fawad’s problems will be the return to the squad of Misbah Ul-Haq for the second Test against New Zealand. With the important Australian tour coming up it would be very easy for the selectors to go back to the tried and tested, even easier if Fawad’s performances fail to catch the eye. Even Umar Akmal was omitted from the 2nd ODI against New Zealand recently despite his obvious talent and very good record. With this strange logic of selection, Fawad needs to make a stronger, more consistent case for himself.

If you were to compare him to the likes of Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer, then you would have to say Fawad has yet to seize his chances. It remains to be seen whether Fawad retains his place for the second Test. I for one would retain him for the New Zealand series so that he is given a fair chance to redeem himself. I fear that our selectors will go another route though.

Yousuf and Akmal take on the extra responsibility in their stride

It’s clear that the PCB did not have much to choose from as captain after Younis Khan decided to take a break. But, by choosing Yousuf and Akmal, it is quite obvious that the seniority=superiority complex still exists in the set-up. Yousuf for his age obviously, and Akmal, as he’s one of the longest serving members in the side.

If, as the PCB believe, Younis is taking a break, how difficult would it have been to go back to Shoaib Malik as captain for the New Zealand Tests? I was surprised he wasn’t their first port of call as he has done it and done it well in the past. Then you have the Misbah Ul-Haq argument, whose axing looks even more strange now as not so long ago he was the vice-captain himself. Athough Yousuf has requested for him to be re-called, had he been there already then surely he’d have been a better option than Akmal as vice-captain, if not a better option than Yousuf as captain?

Yousuf and Akmal inadvertently discover a way of making Test cricket more exciting

May be Yousuf’s mellow character doesn’t tell us much about his hidden leadership skills, or neither does Akmal’s stupidity in shot selection tell us about his. It will be interesting to see how these two perform, and should they do well, even more interesting to see what happens when Younis comes back.

There was no Shoaib Malik or Rana Naved in the first ODI (not to mention Imran Nazir who wasn’t even in the squad). In the second ODI, Umar Akmal was dropped and Shoaib Malik was brought in. For today’s game, Mohammad Yousuf made way and back came Umar Akmal. Ask most Pakistan fans and very few would say we went in with our best side in any of these three ODIs.

Consistency in selection usually results in consistency in performance so why the need to make changes? These changes have basically all come about because of the conundrum that Pakistan are having with their openers. Khalid Latif, one of the openers brought in, has done very well averaging 43. His partner on the other hand, Salman Butt, averaged 28. Could we have done without bringing Butt back? Yes in my opinion, because it would have meant Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf were able to play in the same side. Kamran Akmal or Shoaib Malik opening with Khalid Latif could quite easily have given us the 28 runs an innings like Butt has, and evidently, by using fewer deliveries. It was surprising he was recalled in the first instance but to keep him and disturb a settled side was a big mistake.

Today was a big game for the Captain. Having scored 0 and 19 respectively, I was hoping he’d make a match winning century and do the honourable thing of handing over the reins to Afridi and then stepping down. Pressure is piling up on Younis Khan and some would say he brought it on himself with his resignation and subsequent demands for reinstatement. But having scored and excruciating 3 off 16 balls today, the chances are that he will not be going out like this.

Younis comes in at number three, a vital position where innings collapses are either born or die a slow death. Rather than stop a collapse today, Younis triggered one by running out a settled Salman Butt, and in the end, bringing more pressure on himself as was evident from the jeers he received at the presentation.

The final word must go to the two shinning lights of Pakistan cricket, Mohammand Aamer and Saeed Ajmal. Not only were they head and shoulders above the others with the ball, but they also were the two highest scorers in the Pakistan side, taking the game to the last over and almost snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Man of the match Aamer’s 73 not out made him the first Pakistani number 10 to reach a fifty in ODI cricket. His partnership of 103 with Ajmal (33), was the second highest overall for the tenth wicket in an ODI. They were deservedly applauded by the Kiwis.

Compared to 2007-8, Misbah has not had a great time of it this year, visibly struggling to play his natural game. Even though, his ODI average has still been a useful 33.33, better than Shoab Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and our captain at the time of writing, Younis Khan. In case you don’t believe me, click here.

The figures above show that it was a not only Misbah who struggled but for some reason he has been the one sacrificed. When looking at an individual’s performances, they must, as above, be put into context. Pakistan have played on some tough batting pitches of late in Sri Lanka and the UAE. In the 5 match ODI series against Australia in the UAE, the team batting first scored over 210 on only one occasion. Our batting performances in general have not been great of late.

Add to this the fact that Misbah usually comes in lower down the order where it is not possible to make large scores and where there is little time to settle. He also has had to often sacrifice his wicket for the sake of the team.

At 35, the argument may be that Pakistan are looking to the future and bringing in young talent but this is not an argument I like as it has its flaws and people seem to use it as if youth guarantees success. Are we always going to be playing our cricket in the future? It seems that way. The future is in the future, what about the here and now? We must get the balance right.

Having picked such large squads, it’s even more dumbfounding that Misbah was not included. The squads have been filled with openers as Wasim at Cricket Files rightly argues, but the the middle order is left looking weak. Salman Butt who has been brought back for no reason, could easily have been sacrificed for Misbah.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said of Misbah’s exclusion: “He has been given rest because we think he is under pressure and needs time to regroup himself,”, But, when someone is out of form, they need games, not rest. A word in his ear but a vote of confidence by retaining him in the squads would have done Misbah much more good than dropping him so he could ‘regroup’

The weak Pakistan domestic leagues have attributed a false sense of ability to all the new faces included in the announced squads for the sake of the tried and tested Misbah Ul-Haq. These new faces will inevitably struggle on the unforgiving stage which is international cricket.

Squads:
Tests: Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad

One-dayers: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz

Twenty20: Khalid Latif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir

Umar Akmal does Sajda after reaching his 50

New Zealand turned up to the semi-final of the Champions Trophy and did exactly what you should do against a Pakistan side which is to stick in there, not force the pace and allow Pakistan to implode. They only made one mistake in the field that I can recall and never allowed themselves to get above their station, cruising home comfortably in the end.

Though the scars of our bowling performance will be fresh, it was the batsmen that cost us again I’m afraid. Many may argue the total was a defendable one, but it was by the bats of our bowlers that we were spared embarrassment and got to such a total in the end. Shoaib Malik and Shaid Afridi went off the same high risk shot, trying to cut fine instead of playing straight. When you’re 50 not out, you can play delicate shots but not when you just got in.

Umar Akmal played another encouraging knock (55) and was very unlucky to be given out lbw by Simon Taufel after sweeping the ball off the middle of his bat and onto his pads. Taufel is an excellent umpire who very rarely makes mistakes but this one was crucial I’m afraid and ended up costing Pakistan dearly. Had it not been for the 35 run last wicket partnership between Ajmal and Aamer then this match would have been over at the half way stage.

The bowlers, though they tried to attack, were largely ineffective due to some stubborn resistance from the Kiwi batsmen and a couple of ball changes that didn’t allow them to work on the ball. Aamer was the pick of the bowlers (1 for 32) and would have got two wickets had his captain knew how to catch. It was the simplest of chances which looped to Younis who for someone reason decided to go onto his knees and catch with his fingers pointing up. He was going to do only one thing and that was to knock the ball into the ground. Grant Elliot was on 42 at the time and he went on to make another 33 which included an over of 16 off Umar Gul. Elliot finished on a match winning 75 not out.

After the game, Younis said: “We won the World Twenty20 and reached the semi-finals here. We are improving day by day.”, but I’m afraid I saw no improvement today. The same poor shots, the same wides and no-balls and the same poor fielding. The excuses need to stop Younis, and grown men need to act like so.

Good on New Zealand for making the most of their talent. If Pakistan could only do the same they’d be the best in the world.

The chief protagonists in the fight back for Pakistan were Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved who bowled maidens in both the 45th and 47th overs of the Australian innings. This meant that not only had the Aussies have to worry about wickets but also the number of balls remaining.

Australia tied the game with a ball remaining which meant that India were out of the tournament at that point. Requiring one off the last ball they got there with a bye to keeper Kamran Akmal whose throw, had it hit the stumps, would have resulted in the game finishing tied rather than in an Australian win.

Pakistan again demonstrated why they have the world’s premier bowling attack. It had it all, spin, unerringly accurate yorkers…it was a joy to watch. Who said 50 over ODIs were boring? Well they certainly are not when Pakistan play them!

Pakistan will now play New Zealand in the semi-finals on the 3rd of October. Aamer will no doubt be back for that but Asif’s second spell would have got the captain and selectors wondering. He did well but expect Pakistan to go into the semi-finals with the side that beat India in the group stages.