Younis can return © AFP

The best of times are usually followed by the worst of times. This is Pakistan cricket. Something in the Pakistani psyche will inevitably prevent a delicate flower from blooming. Cricket is so fundamental to this nation’s identity that everybody wants a slice of cricket’s luxurious pie. Politicians, bureaucrats, and administrators want their 15 minutes of fame — though infamy is more common.

Meritless chancers choose cricket as their passport to power and glory. Nothing provides a greater thrill to these self-deluded fools than the belief that they have brought a national champion to his knees.

Pakistan cricket’s history is punctuated with such insulting tragedies, the most poignant being that of Imran Khan, the Sher of Pakistan, deciding to retire from international cricket after winning the 1992 World Cup.

Imran was 40 and his bowling had begun to evoke memories of Mudassar Nazar, but as a batsman and a leader his job in mentoring future champions was unfinished. But Pakistan cast him adrift, questioning his personal motives and viewing a hero with a scoundrel’s contempt. Imran’s pride, his greatest asset and his perennial weakness, forced him to say he’d had enough.

	A full stadium makes a dull match a thriller. A mostly empty stadium makes a thrilling match dull © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting and Daniel Vettori both declared this year's Champions Trophy a success. A shorter, sharper format meant that most matches were important. The cricket has been gripping enough, though unspectacular. The underdogs met the favourites in the final, and India met Pakistan in a game that was beamed around the world. Enough ingredients, you might argue, to please the ICC? Indeed, the ICC will profess itself to be delighted with the competition. Statistics and soundbites will be used to support their case.

But the ICC should be alarmed by this tournament. What is a spectator sport without spectators? The shoddy turnouts in South Africa are only partly mitigated by the unexpectedly early exit of the hosts. South Africans, we are told, are sports crazy. Well, they weren't mad for the Champions Trophy. It is the second major 50-over tournament to be poorly supported in quick succession.

Cricket's administrators must act. The sport is bankrolled by lucrative television deals. But half the thrill of watching a match on television is that you share the excitement of a live stadium event. A full stadium makes a dull match a thriller. A mostly empty stadium makes a thrilling match dull. Inevitably, cricket will lose the battle for television and internet eyeballs if the spectacle on our screens carries the thrill of a funeral procession. Once that happens, bang goes the business model.

	It was a sobering sight watching Umar Akmal show his experienced colleagues how to nudge, pinch, and accelerate © AFP

Pakistan fell at least 25 runs short on a good batting track, a performance that could be explained by ring rustiness. An alternative explanation, however, is that Pakistan's experienced batsmen failed to master two fundamental aspects of one-day cricket.

The first of these has dogged Pakistan for over a decade, as they have become too reliant on a rollicking final ten overs. Indeed, the middle order play as if there is no need to rush as it will all come good in the final thrash. But too often the final thrash lasts too few overs and is a major contributor to Pakistan's unpredictability.

The answer is more urgency in the middle to keep the scoreboard ticking and the run-rate up. Pakistan played this game perfectly against India but have disappointed since. It was a sobering sight watching Umar Akmal show his experienced colleagues how to nudge, pinch, and accelerate.

Umar's disappointment at being wrongly dismissed by Simon Taufel was understandable. He had played with passion, pride, and good sense to establish a platform for Pakistan's final thrash. The umpires' decision to report Umar to the match referee was regrettable and pedantic. Fortunately Javagal Srinath sensibly decided to dismiss the charge of dissent.

The second mistake was Pakistan's woeful use of the last Powerplay, which was needed around the 35th over. Again, Pakistan delayed until it was too late and wickets were no longer in hand. It's hard to understand what Pakistan and other teams hope to gain by using the last Powerplay in the final few overs? Clearly, whatever the critics of 50 overs cricket might say, most teams are still well short of mastering this form of the game.

Now Pakistan must regroup for a tough winter. They should depart South Africa with their heads held high and indications of further progress on the road to recovery. But while Younis Khan has created an exciting and successful formula in Twenty20 cricket, his 50 over recipe is a little stale in the batting department.

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October 3, 2009

The balance in Pakistan's favour

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 10/03/2009 in Champions Trophy

	Mohammad Aamer is part of an almost perfect attack © Getty Images

Pakistan are confident, they are even favourites for yet another tournament semi-final against New Zealand. One simple factor puts them in that position. It is the same factor without which Younis Khan would have been unable to lead this resurgence in Pakistan cricket. Right-arm, left-arm, legspin, offspin, Pakistan's attack has it all. An almost perfect balance that makes them challengers in any contest. But balance isn't enough. All the elements must be performing optimally. And here, just as in the World Twenty20, that is the happy circumstance. Such has been the excellence of Gul, Aamer, Rana, Ajmal and Afridi that Pakistan can resist their usual knee-jerk reaction of recalling their most famous bowler. This exquisite balance should prevail again, provided the wicket is not unfairly balanced in favour of the side bowling first.

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October 2, 2009

ICC awards farce lacks real feel

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 10/02/2009 in Politics

	Aleem Dar became the Umpire of the Year, beating five-time winner Simon Taufel to the award © Getty Images

My iPhone buzzed like crazy last night in response to a torrent of emails from the ICC announcing awards winners from the big event. I didn't expect much success for Pakistan but I did believe that their extraordinary performance in the World T20 would earn one of their players a gong. Now I have nothing but admiration for Dilshan and his frying pan shot. Sri Lanka have faced adversity too.

Nonetheless the big Twenty20 performances of the last year were the ones that turned the World T20 on its head and in Pakistan's favour. My sympathies also extended to South Africa, whose phenomenal performance in Test cricket last year went unrecognised. The only triumph for Pakistan was Aleem Dar's umpiring award, which I admit is a considerable achievement and recognition for the way in which Dar and Asad Rauf have transformed the reputation of Pakistani umpires.

Overall, however, the ICC awards have left me baffled. The leading countries in two out of three formats went unrecognised. There is no relationship between the ICC awards and the ICC rankings for countries or individuals, which are recalculated regularly to maintain our interest. What then is the point of all this? There is little real feel to these awards and hence fans, and I guess some players, will be disillusioned.

It's time for a rethink.

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October 1, 2009

An opportunity missed in the middle

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 10/01/2009 in Champions Trophy

	Mohammad Asif's return gives Pakistan the option of playing an extra pace bowler © Getty Images

Pakistan blew a golden opportunity to knock Australia out of this year's ICC Champions Trophy. Ricky Ponting's team is the one you don't want to meet in the final, a more important factor for me than the sentiment of battling India again.

As much as Pakistan beat India in the middle overs, with a wonderful partnership between Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf, it was the same middle overs that cost Pakistan this encounter. Younis Khan, in particular, broke the momentum of the innings, and Yousuf and Misbah-ul-Haq did not do enough to restore it. It was a deceptively difficult batting track but those unfocused middle overs meant Pakistan's impressive bowling attack was given just too much to do.

For me, the jury's still out on Yousuf, despite the volume of support he has received in previous blogs. Cricket lends itself to statistics but numbers alone are often deceptive. A successful batsman isn't simply one that records the highest volume of runs or achieves the best average, but somebody who makes the difference between defeat and victory, especially when the going gets tough. Yousuf, for all his excellence, has not been that batsman on enough occasions for Pakistan. Once he has, he can be rightly acknowledged alongside Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. The next two years will establish his position in the hall of fame.

Continue reading "An opportunity missed in the middle"

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September 27, 2009

The Miandad effect

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 09/27/2009 in Champions Trophy

	One major effect of a Javed Miandad innings was that he would urge the best from his partners © Getty Images

As Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf built their unhurried partnership on Saturday, my mind went back to Javed Miandad sneaking singles at will during the middle overs. It is a discipline that he mastered and executed consistently as Pakistan built their reputation in one-day cricket in the 1980s and early 1990s. Now Mohammad Yousuf perfectly played the Miandad role in Pakistan's victory, and proved his critics wrong - including me - in the process.

Miandad's success was not simply down to his brilliance in the role. For his early career he was a dasher capable of throwing away his wicket with the adrenaline rush of over confidence. In later years, he banished recklessness from his repertoire. Moreover, he played the pivotal innings for Pakistan with the regularity of a metronome. One major effect of a Miandad innings was that he would urge the best from his partners, coaching them throughout their stay in the middle. He also did his best to upset the opposition.

Yousuf has the technique to fulfil this role for today's Pakistan. But upto now he has failed to deliver consistently when it has mattered. His match-winning partnership with Malik offers a glimpse of what he might be able to offer in this post-ICL stage of his career. If he can consistently make a difference in this way, allow others to play around him while he rotates the strike, he will turn his sharpest critics in his favour.

Pakistan have a beautifully balanced bowling attack that will make them competitive in almost any encounter. When the senior batsmen perform as they did against India, Younis Khan's dreams of lifting trophies become much more real.

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September 25, 2009

Pakistan seek a batting hero

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 09/25/2009 in Champions Trophy

	Mohammad Yousuf has the ability to prove any critic wrong © AFP

Earlier this year, India and Pakistan played out a 'warm up' at the Twenty20 World Cup. It had the atmosphere of a final. These old rivals have also tussled in South Africa in major tournaments, the close encounters of the 2007 World T20 being the most exciting. Yet perhaps the match of greatest importance was the 2003 World Cup clash at Centurion Park, a defeat that marked the end of an era.

For well over a decade, Pakistan had held the upper hand and approached a must-win match with a team full of the modern legends of Pakistan cricket. Unfortunately, that tournament was the twilight of the idols. India, meanwhile, were beginning to flex their muscles as a formidable international force. When the braggard Shoaib Akhtar steamed in expecting to demolish Sachin Tendulkar's defences, the little master smote him to the boundary and beyond. In that moment, Pakistan were vanquished and South Asia's baton of supremacy passed eastwards.

In the intervening years, India's cricketers have outplayed Pakistan's, while their adminstrators have given their Pakistani counterparts a sound thrashing. Clearly, the turmoil around and within Pakistan's borders has made the PCB's task difficult, although the PCB's inadequacies have also been a major contributor to the fragile state of Pakistan cricket.

Now Younis Khan's team approaches this Champions Trophy contest with a hint of momentum, and the confidence of World T20 Champions. Despite India being weakened, Pakistan will start as underdogs, which will help them. Importantly, they have avoided a potential banana skin on a difficult track against West Indies, however unconvincingly.

India have also indulged in some pre-tournament nonsense with Gary Kirsten's sex dossier urging the Indian players to indulge often, and even single-handedly, to build testosterone levels. A quick search of Google Scholar provides no reliable evidence that sex can boost testosterone levels sufficiently to enhance performance. The evidence on going "solo" is non existent. It's a study that might be difficult to conduct as most top sportsmen probably want to keep their nocturnal shenanigans to themselves. Either way, India's opponents will take great pleasure in the sledging opportunites that been showered upon them.

As ever, Pakistan supporters have no expectation that their team has a secret dossier of any kind. More importantly, they have no idea what to expect from their team but the focus of debate is around selection. The easiest one to deal with is Mohammad Asif. It would be nonsensical to introduce him at this stage, which means it's hard to see why he would be selected at all in this tournament. A couple of years ago, this young man carried the hopes of Pakistan's bowling fortunes. A privileged position that he threw away through his own stupidity.

Asif is immensely fortunate to be back in international cricket. He is also immensely short of match practice, something the Pakistan team management chose not to correct in the build up to this tournament. What's more, the Pakistan attack has a settled look to it and a balance that should suit most surfaces, especially Centurion Park.

The trickier decision is who should Younis Khan replace, assuming he remains fit? First, Younis has to play, He is captain and leader. That leaves Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, and Misbah-ul-Haq. Nazir must play too. He is the only opener in Pakistan's squad and has a destructive ability that can swing any match. I'd play Malik for his ability to lay a firm foundation but also mount an assault. He is also a sixth bowling option and a reliable fielder.

I'd also play Misbah. He is a more natural one-day player than Yousuf and despite his recent form I'd back him to marshall the lower order better than his more illustrious colleague. In truth, I'm not sure what Yousuf's role is in the one-day team? He is the weakest fielder amongst the batsmen, and his real value is in Test cricket rather than in the limited-overs variety. It's touching that Pakistan are patiently welcoming him back into the bosom of the one-day team but wouldn't it be better to back a younger, hungrier man, a player for the future? Is Yousuf a realistic candidate for the next World Cup?

Of course, Yousuf has the ability to prove any critic wrong but the signals from Younis are that he wants to leave a legacy, a formidable group to take Pakistan cricket onwards after his retirement. In that case, he needs to identify some new batting heroes, other than Umar Akmal, and he must find them quickly.

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September 24, 2009

Afridi's captaincy of luck and judgement

Posted by Kamran Abbasi at on 09/24/2009 in Champions Trophy

	Shahid Afridi was impressive in his stint as captain © Getty Images

Pakistan escaped their tussle with the West Indies with points on the board and a sense of relief. Had the West Indian captain asked Pakistan to bat first we may have been considering a nightmare scenario and a disastrous captaincy debut for Shahid Afridi. This match was something of a lottery and the team batting second would hold a major advantage.

As it turned out West Indies aptly demonstrated why their cricket requires resuscitation. A weak team requires all the help it can get, and that help ended the moment West Indies won the toss. Pakistan should also pay close attention to the pitiful state of West Indian cricket. A few more wrong calls by cricket adminstators and Pakistan could be hurtling to join Bangladesh, West Indies, and Zimbabwe in the bottom echelon of the international game.

Good fortune apart, Pakistan can take some heart from this encounter. The bowlers were outstanding, bowling with excellent control to extract maximum bounce and movement from an unsusally helpful track. Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer are becoming formidable, while Rana Naved looks in better shape and form than prior to his ICL flirtation.

But two other performances fascinated me more. First, Shahid Afridi has been an eager captain short of opportunities. A previous outing leading the 'A' team suggested that captaincy was beyond him. Nonetheless, Afridi has focused his energy and his mind to become a responsible cricketer. Individual success, as ever with Afridi, has settled him, and his captaincy was refreshing for his encouragement of his young charges and his aggressive approach as Pakistan sensed a rout. This began as an easy day at the office but Afridi excelled when the going was easy and knuckled down when the tough needed to get going.

It was, however, Umar Akmal who added most to his reputation. A stunning entry on familiar tracks has been seen before. Many Pakistani batsmen have thundered into town only to be shot down by the first serious challenge. Umar came through a tricky situation on an unhelpful track, which is a sign that he may have the right mentality to blossom. Clearly, he has a long way to go but all Pakistan fans will be excited to see how he performs against stronger opposition.

Pakistan are now well placed in the group, one good win away from a semi final. India and Australia are both strong but beatable. Once more, Pakistan's bowling offers hope that the team can be competitive while the batting remains a worry, although Younis Khan will be back to strengthen the top order.

Now for the big one.

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