Stani Army

There was concern going into the World Cup about which two bowlers would take the new ball for Pakistan. And after the first game against minnows Kenya, the issue remains with Abdul Razzaq given the new ball with Shoaib Akhter. Razzaq’s timid pace is no more than adequate in friendly seam conditions such as in England and Australia, so on the sub-continent tracks, opening bowling with him is akin to giving the opposition batsmen practice deliveries to get themselves set. Against the major nations, he will set the whole team back. The dilemma is that Razzaq is primarily there for his batting, being one of international cricket’s most destructive late hitters. And it is because of his batting, that it will be very difficult to drop him from the side, even if the captain decides not to bowl him up front.

So who is the alternative option to replace Razzaq as Akhter’s opening bowling partner? Since Umar Gul has established himself as an old ball master, using him to open may see him become ineffective up front, and will also mean he has less overs to do what he’s good at nearer the end of the innings, the period where he is Pakistan’s main pace option. That leaves Wahab Riaz, the man that did not make the side for the first game against Kenya. To get Wahab in, someone has to obviously make way out of the side, but who?

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Like their near neighbours on the sub-continent Pakistan will head into the cricket World Cup with the voices of their huge passionate support ringing in their ears.

Cricket is a religion in those parts, and while that has enormous benefits it also brings with it the pressure of expectation and the glare of the media spotlight with almost everyone in the country keeping an eye on their latest scores.

Pakistan have had more than their fair share of media attention in recent months, but upon their arrival in Bangladesh the players seemed quietly confident and content to concentrate on matters on the pitch.

Certainly the mood of this Pakistan team is key to their success. They possess the talent but it is their tendency to blow hot and cold that infuriates their passionate support – they know what the players can do, they just don’t always show it.

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An irresponsible captain is a bad captain

Earlier today we saw Pakistan lose the first of three Twenty20s to New Zealand, who got home with 2.5 overs to spare. Pakistan had got themselves into at least two good positions to make a game of it, only to surrender meekly.

Chief architect of the downfall was Captain Shahid Afridi. Whilst many would disagree and say he played well for his 20 of 17 balls, it was his gormless shot that triggered a signature collapse. Going at 10 an over after the first 4 overs, Afridi did not have the nous to take advantage of a fast start and begin to rein himself in, keep wickets in hand and then to accelerate later. It was as if he wanted to finish the game in that over. That was his intention, and his shot selection was even worse.

Were it not for Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz, who both made 30, Pakistan would not have ended up with a defendable total of 143. It was at the start of the New Zealand innings that Afridi made his second mistake by opening the bowling with Abdul Razzaq. Even at his best, Razzaq was an average bowler. Having aged and lost some pace, he has become easy pickings for batsmen. Any late good work done by Gul and Wahab was immediately wasted as Razzaq went for 15 off his first over. Suddenly, 143 off 20 overs became 128 off 19. A different game already and New Zealand’s tails were up.

The strange thing is that it wasn’t as if Afridi was limited in choice of who to open the attack with. Wahab, Akhtar and Gul were playing, and we had Ajmal, Hafeez and Afrdi himself to make up any overs remaining. There was no need to bowl Razzaq, even less need to open with him

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Pakistan's new Test captain Misbah Ul-Haq showed the way with three half-centuries in four innings

Pakistan can come out of the drawn two-Test series against world number two South Africa with their heads held high. Though the argument may be that the wickets in the UAE were batsmen friendly, Pakistan’s reconstructed batting line up still held it’s own against South Africa’s, and South Africa had the better bowling attack. Let us also remember that Pakistan’s batsmen have struggled to pass 250 in Tests for a while now, batting paradise or not. Were it not for the time factor, Pakistan could have come close to or matched South Africa’s aggregated total in both the Tests, and that’s no mean feat.

The return of Younis Khan was a major factor in the ability of our batsmen to finally start playing Test match innings and setting Test match totals. The successful re-emergence of Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah Ul-Haq and Taufeeq Umar was also pleasing to watch. I have always been a big fan of Taufiq yet he is just one of many that have been the victim of selection favouritism in the past. He is a proper Test batsman.

Then there’s the emergence of the two youngsters Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. For some reason, Azhar, despite being a reserved young man, seems to really irritate the opposition, ending up at the receiving end of some hostile bowling. He did so in England and here against South Africa also. But his composure and temperament was a joy to see. Shafiq came into the ODI side in England and you could immediately tell the young man was going to be here to stay. I was hoping to see him in the Test side much sooner as it was clear he had what it took to succeed. He got his chance in the 2nd Test though, in place of the out of form Umar Akmal, and he didn’t disappoint with a well played 61 in the first innings.

The biggest positive after the performance of our batsmen was the captaincy and personal performances of Misbah Ul-Haq

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The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that it will be taking legal action against the ICC and the British tabloid paper the Sun after they made public allegations that Pakistan had taken money to fix their scoring pattern in the third ODI at the Oval.

A PCB statement read: “The PCB and the Pakistan players completely reject the allegations made by the Sun newspaper and the ICC yesterday about the Pakistan team’s conduct in the 3rd Nat West ODI at The Brit Insurance Oval.

“The allegation’s were wholly irresponsible and completely without foundation.”

“The PCB expresses its gratitude for the outstanding conduct of the Pakistan team since after the first spot fixing story broke and will take all legal and disciplinary action which may result from these allegations.”

“It remains in the best interests of world cricket, the players and in particular of cricket supporters that the tour should continue, and it would set a dangerous precedent to call off a tour based on the misguided and inaccurate allegations of an English tabloid.”

Pakistan’s recently appointed new Chief Executive said: “We are looking for an apology. If it does not come we’ll look at other options. You can’t impugn someone’s integrity without having proper evidence.”

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The News of the World Newspaper is reporting that the Pakistan team has been involved in match fixing in the final Test at Lord’s. The paper’s undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood, set up the sting after tracking down a match fixer by the name of Mazhar Majeed. Majeed agreed that he would arrange for the Pakistan bowlers, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir, to bowl no-balls at exactly the agreed point in the match in exchange for £150,000. This form of match fixing is know as spot fixing, whereby bets are placed on certain aspects of a game rather than the result.

In footage which will send a shudder through Pakistan fans, Mazhar Majeed is seen telling the reporter exactly at which point Amir and Asif will bowl no-balls in the Lord’s Test.  Majeed tells the reporter that it will be the first ball of the third over and the last ball of the tenth, bowled by Amir and Asif respectively. Shockingly, this is exactly what happens and in the case of Amir, he no-balls half a foot over the crease. If it is proved that the video was filmed before the event then the evidence I’m afraid looks pretty damning. Majeed’s other promises to the reporter that turned out to be correct were another no-ball from Amir and a maiden over batted out by captain Salman Butt.

Crooked Majeed, went on to name Captain Salman Butt and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal as two other players he has on side. He bragged that he has links with Indian bookies, manages ten of the Pakstani players and works “very closely with the PCB”

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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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