Stani Army

Blind support for Afridi will only encourage bad behaviour

Fans of Shahid Afridi are beginning to portray him as a hero, someone that has sacrificed himself to get rid of the big problem in Pakistan cricket today, Mr Ijaz Butt the chairman. The question is, was Afridi really motivated by getting rid of Butt or has it always been about Afridi and his bitterness over being removed as ODI captain?

When Afridi was removed as captain, Butt stated that he had good reasons to do so and would reveal them in due course. It seems now, from statements made by coach Waqar Younis and manager Intikhab Alam that the reasons were to do with Afridi’s attitude and behaviour both on and off the field. Afridi responded to his sacking  as captain by announcing his conditional retirement, the condition being that the current Pakistan board be removed. His reason for retiring was that he had been humiliated by them. Losing the captaincy for reasons not made public is hardly a humiliation. Supporters of Afridi should remember that it was in fact just him losing the captaincy and that he wasn’t banned from playing and representing his country, and was in fact in the squad for the two ODIs against Ireland. Afridi chose to abandon his country on his own accord. It is why his later excuse that he’d play under any captain doesn’t quite wash.

Of course he did not quit immediately after being stripped of the leadership. He chose to sit out the Irish games using the reason that his father was ill. The problem was that he then turned up a few days later in England, ready to take up his county stint with Hampshire. In Afridi’s head his plan seemed to be going well, that is until the PCB decided to suspend his contract and revoke his No-Objection Certificate (NOC) after he announced his retirement on television with a few scathing remarks towards the board and coach. The revoking of the NOC caused Afridi to run home to Pakistan with his tail between his legs begging for it to be reauthorised. As soon as his NOC was revoked, all of a sudden he was ready to admit breaking the code of conduct and was keen to participate in any other action from the board, whereas before, he couldn’t care less.

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Shoaib Akhtar - The ultimate fast bowler

Today came the much expected announcement that Shoaib Akhtar would be retiring from cricket at the end of the World Cup. Before the tournament in the sub-continent, we mentioned on Stani Army that should Shoaib play any significant role in Pakistan’s campaign, it may lead him to decide to call it a day and go out of the game on a relative high. Today Shoaib took the step and made the emotional announcement to a packed media room.

Whilst it would be easy to concentrate on Shaoib’s run-ins with the law, it would be unfair to do so at this moment. Since early 2010, you could see a contriteness and maturity come over him, but sadly, it had only now come when his body was gone. Despite all his misdemeanors, he still provided cricket fans with box office entertainment and brought undescribable joy to millions of Pakistan fans. When he played, he was the envy of every supporter of every opposition team Pakistan faced, yet at the same time, was respected by these same opposition supporters for his unrivalled brilliance.

Not only did he have exceptional pace, but he also exhibited cricketing intelligence that made him stand out from the other out-and-out fast bowlers of his era. Like the design of the modern sports car, even when standing still Shoaib looked fast. With a long and aggressive run up, the Rawalpindi express charging in at full pelt was a sight to behold, as he made the best batsmen in the world look like tail-enders. Cricket is generally known to be a batsmen’s game, yet when Shoaib was bowling, it was a bowlers game.

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Well, Shahid Afridi has decided to quit Tests after just one game in charge, a  reign that lasted the captaincy equivalent of one of his Test innings. Surprising though it may seem, it now seems clear that through his body language and two innings in the Test against Australia, Afridi was always telling us that he didn’t really want to be out there.

So what now? Both Afridi and Manager Yawar Saeed intimated that it would be Salman Butt to take over. Yet after being the only batsman to perform in the recent Test, should we be hurling such a responsibility on him? It is likely Butt’s personal performances will take a hit should he be burdened with the extra responsibility of leading the side. It also must have come as something of a shock to him therefore it cannot be easy for him to just take over where Afridi left off. Three of the other four realistic candidates, Yousuf, Younis and Malik

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The PCB has once again demonstrated it’s pointlessness in almost retracting every punishment they handed out to the seven players after the Australian tour. At the time, Ijaz Butt came out with some tough talk saying that he was going to hand out harsh punishments. Indeed, he kept his word at the time with life bans for Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan, one year bans for Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved, and heavy fines for the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi. With Rana Naved’s hearing still to be concluded, all punishments have been retracted except for the fines the Akmal brothers received which have been reduced by two thirds. It thus goes without saying that If Mohammed Yousuf should come out of retirement, his ban would also have to be lifted.

Untouchables of Pakistan cricket: Innocent when proven guilty

With all that has come out of the inquiry and various player statements, it is clear that Shoaib Malik was one of the worst culprits. Unfortunately, with Malik still around, I can’t see Yousuf changing his mind and returning to the side. I know who I’d rather have back if I had a choice between Malik and Yousuf.

In some ways, the return of the players is evidence of the dearth in Pakistan talent with hardly anyone from the domestic game being trusted to be able to step up into the international side and keep these criminals out.  Many would say that this is something the punished players know and have been taking advantage of for some time. It is why, for most of the seven, it was important that the punishments were upheld, if not entirely, at least to some worthwhile degree. Right now the players must be inwardly laughing at the administration which governs and disciplines them. Ijaz Butt has denied that this will make the PCB seem like a soft touch to the players, but if everyone else thinks that is how it is looking then I’m certain the players are thinking likewise.

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I was wondering what to make of Mohammed Yousuf’s decision to turn down the recent request by Shahid Afridi to come out of retirement. Was he being dignified and standing up for what is right or was he just sulking and being stubborn? Of the players that were recently punished, Yousuf was the only one not to file his appeal against his ban. With many fans rightly requesting the PCB administration to go along with the punished players, it seems Yousuf felt his appeal would have been futile.

In my opinion, I think Yousuf is showing that he has truly been hurt and feels he has been wronged by what I felt was a harsh punishment given out to him after the disastrous tour of Australia where he had to step in as captain because there was no other option. The other punished players, in which I will not include Younis Khan, have filed their appeals and look to jump at the chance to get back into the international side and begin where they left off, at their trouble-making best.

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Has Yousuf waved goodbye to Pakistan cricket once and for all?

Mohammad Yousuf has decided to retire from international cricket after being banned indefinitely by the PCB. Whilst I felt harsh punishments were needed for Pakistan’s various dissenting players, I was surprised not only that Mohammad Yousuf was one of the players to be punished, but that he was punished so severely.

Both he and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely for “infighting” and “attitude”, which had a “bad influence” on the team, the PCB said. A reaction was expected from Yousuf and Younis, and of the two, it was the temperamental Younis who I expected to just give up and retire. But it seems that he is the one putting up the fight after lodging his appeal against the ban, whilst Yousuf has just given up and decided to quit.

Now that Yousuf has made his move, it is time for the PCB to respond. I do believe that by giving him an indefinite ban and not a permanent one, the PCB has left themselves an opportunity to respond. If they are to persuade him not to quit, they will have to either overturn his punishment or turn the indefinite ban into one which will run for only a short duration of time.

I can imagine that Mohammad Yousuf must be hurting at the moment. After being forced to take over the reins when there was no one else willing to, he was harshly criticised for the losses in Australia. The subsequent ban and his exclusion from those centrally contracted must have hit him hard.

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