Stani Army

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.

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You’d think it was impossible for something negative to come out of Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliant World Record 200 not-out, but it seems to have started slanging matches everywhere. Pakistan versus India, Tendulkar versus Anwar, Tendulkar versus Bradman…Ponting, and the rest. For Tendulkar’s fans, it was proof he’s the greatest, for his critics, proof that he’s just an accumulator of runs.

There is no doubt that these comparisons with other cricketing greats would have been made as the record went but what is the need to bring one great down in the name of the other? Those that do, have to seriously reconsider their adherence to this sport. Certainly, even those with the burden of responsibility such as cricinfo.com, have erred when it comes to not adding fuel to the fire by describing the achievement as having “eclipsed” Saeed Anwar’s 194. They also happened to have ignored Charles Coventry’s 194* in this instance, demonstrating an undercurrent of an India/Pakistan clash of bragging rights.

The fact that so many are turning this into an Indo-Pak battle shows the mindset of many. You would wonder what these people would do if Saeed Anwar wasn’t Pakistani and Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t Indian. No doubt they’d find something to argue about.

Tendulkar’s critics maintained that his record was on a flat track and a small outfield, and Anwar’s was against the big rival Indian, in India. His supporters respond by saying Anwar needed a runner (he was unwell, so this makes it easier?), and that Tendulkar done it against a better bowling attack and remained not out

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Stani Army was recently approached by the guys at MTJAG, who are avid Indian fans, to take part in a question and answer exchange. They asked if I would ask them questions on Indian cricket for which they would provide answers for, and they would in turn do the same on the subject of Pakistan cricket for which I would provide the answers. We had hoped to have it done and posted on the respective sites before the India v Pakistan game but …errm, just like the governments of the two countries we had a few communication problems but obviously not of the same nature, thankfully.

‘MTJAG’, though it may sound like a luxury car that’s run out of petrol, it does in fact stand for ‘More Than Just A Game’. They occupy a pretty unique niche among sporting blogs covering both football and cricket, something many sports fan, including us at Stani Army, can identify with. Big shout out to all West Ham fans across the world, come on you Irons!

You can find their answers to my questions on Indian cricket below. You will find their questions and my answers on Pakistan cricket at More Than Just A Game any time soon so be sure to visit their great blog!

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Was I the only one who thought Umar Gul was darn unlucky not to get the player of the tournament award? It went to Tillakaratne Dilshan for scoring the most runs in the tournament. But in a batsmen’s game, surely a bowlers achievements should be recognised more? Shorter outfields and flatter wickets; certainly it was easier to bat well than bowl well no?

Of course, Gul’s was not just any achievement but a record, a first ever 5-wicket haul in International Twenty20s with his spell of 5 for 6 in three overs against New Zealand. Maybe the ICC didn’t want a Pakistani clean sweep so decided to spread the awards out. It’s either that or Daniel Vettori must have been on the ICC judges panel.

The other issue I had was the fact that the next Twenty20 World Cup is going to be held in April 2010, meaning that we will not even hold the title for a year. I will not go over it in detail as to why as Q has done a fine job of this over at Well Pitched, but it all stems from the cancellation of the Champions trophy in Pakistan in 2008. I suppose it does make sense but it’s just sad we will probably be the shortest holders of the World T20 title

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As Pakistan clinched the Twenty20 World Cup, Lalit Modi’s business brain must have went into over drive about how he could use the Champions to make more money. Well Lalit, you and your honchos at the ICC should have been more fair on the Pakistanis shouldn’t you? First of all, let’s make it clear that the argument that it was the Pakistan government that prevented it’s cricketers from playing in the IPL, doesn’t hide the fact that they would have been banned by the IPL and/or the Indian government anyway. Anyone who thinks this would not have happened is just fooling themselves. In fact, the Pakistan government did the IPL a favour and Lalit must have breathed a sigh of relief.

The above view is strengthened by the fact that the IPL did nothing to try and reinstate the Pakistani players with their respective franchises when the tournament was moved to South Africa. Yes, it would have been difficult as the franchises had spent on other players and there was not much time. Yet no attempt to include them or even a suggestion was made. As for the time excuse, Modi was commended for organising a tournament in such a small space of time so that doesn’t hold much water.

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With an emphatic win over Ireland, Pakistan do not now have to worry about run rates becoming a factor in qualification for the semi-finals.

Batting first, it was a weird kind of innings with Pakistan always threatening to charge but not quite getting away. Credit must go to the Irish bowlers, in particular big Boyd Rankin who gave a measly 11 runs off his four overs.

Kamran Akmal had another brilliant game both with the bat and with the gloves. With his 57 off 51 balls, it was the perfect innings for the batsmen coming in at the other end to have a go. Afridis 24 off just 13 balls was probably the other valuable innings because of his strike rate.

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It was said to be the more difficult group and so it proved as the current holders India went out of the tournament. It was sad in a way as the favourites, and rightly so, did not manage to quite galvanise themselves when it mattered after two easy pre-tournament games. The loss of the brilliant Sehwag and talk of unrest behind the scenes can’t have helped.

There’ll be lots of ifs, buts and maybes from the Indians; would India have did it had Yuvraj stopped the 5 byes in Harbajan’s last over? Yuvraj himself would say that he made up for that with a ridiculously good first ball 6. Then there’s Jadeja who faced 3 overs of dots. Many said that he played too slow yet he will argue that he got two important wickets including that of Pietersen’s and took an important catch.

It was clear what Pietersen and Collingwood felt fired the English up and that was the booing their team got at the beginning of the game. It was a strange thing to have occurred

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Pakistan set the tournament alight with a brilliant victory over a very good New Zealand side.

The game marked the return of Abdul Razzaq to the international side and his breakthrough early in the New Zealand innings was vital in what was to follow and thus cannot be underestimated. He had a good day with the ball (2 for 17) although he didn’t get going with the bat; still not being able to play spinners the poor sod.

The star of the show was obviously Umar Gul with his record breaking figures of 5 for 6. It was the first time anyone has taken a 5-for in International Twenty20. Amazingly, he was on a hat-trick twice but never managed to convert either. In his interview after, he spoke of working on the yorkers and slower balls with coach Aqib Javed and said that he watched videos of Waqar and Wasim and boy did it show. Those figures will take some beating, and the fact that he is also number 3 and 7 on the Twenty20 best figures list, shows it wasn’t just luck.

Afridi was once again mesmeric with the ball and took, in our opinion, the best catch of the tournament so far.

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