Pakistan can win the world cup?

Pakistani cricket team is considered to be an unpredictable side possessing ability to beat any team on their day and submitting to weakest opposition the very next day. The fall of favorite and potential winners have made the tournament a wide open opportunity for teams like Pakistan. But they would need to change their approach and poor strategy off and on field to pull a miracle. Talking realistically Pakistan is a team with a tame top order, woeful fielding and toothless bowling but these weaknesses can be overcome with positive approach and better startegy.

The weakest link is the top order with a rocky batsman Ahmed Shahzad with 12 ODIs under his belt and no experience of playing in subcontinent. The other opener Mohammad Hafeez is playing cricket since 2003 but still he has not justified his talent or fulfilled expectations. Both openers form is worrying for Pakistan. Adding to opening woes we have Kamran AKmal at number 3 who is a wicket keeper batsman. In each of three matches played so far our top three failed miserably, if we did not have Misbah and Younis we would have lost to Kenya and Canada as in both matches the score was 12/2 (7 overs) and 55/3 (13 overs), it was Misbah who handled the situation and Pakistan posted a respectable total to win.

If we want to win we need to stabilize our top order, the best option is dropping Mohammad Hafeez or Ahmed Shahzad and adding an extra bowler to the squad. Kamran Akmal should be given bigger responsibility with bat if we have to bear his glove work. I personally feel that Umer Akmal should bat at number three; he can lift Pakistan?s hopes with his talent and style. Misbah and Younis are okay at 4 and 5 but any of them can be promoted to 3 if Pakistan found them where Canada was yesterday. Given his bowling woes the only quality justifies Adbul Razzaq be in team is his breathtaking batting but he bats at number 8. Is it not pathetic that we are wasting two of the best hard hitters in world cricket at 7 and 8? Taking an opener out would automatically help Razzaq getting up the order but he can be promoted to 3 or 4 if match situation demanded specially in big scoring games.

Team selection is also debatable and full of questions. Except Afridi and Shoaib our bowling performance in tournament so far is pathetic. We have only one complete fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar but he has some fitness issues, either Umer Gul or Wahab Riaz can not use new ball effectively thus we use Abdul Razzaq wasting new ball in this way. Uncapped fast bowler Junaid Khan has been included in the squad, but he has not been given an opportunity against weaker teams. I fear what would happen if the situation appears like 1996 Quarter Final against India when Waseem Akram pulled out at the last moment due to an injury and Pakistan lost the match. If Shoaib or Umer gets inured who would replace them? this is a million dollar question. Team management should give Junaid Khan an opportunity in upcoming matches against NZ and ZIM, he has the talent to perform at the highest level but needs some exposure. Team should include two spinners against NZ and Australia but this luxury can not be

afforded against India, South Africa or Sri Lanka. Team management should not stick to one strategy it needs to be reviewed against different teams at different stages keeping in view their weaknesses and strengths. 

The fielding and wicket keeping in the tournament so far is miserable I would say. We have a wicket keeper batsman Asad Shafiq he should have been given an opportunity as he can be a replacement for woeful Akmal. Fielding can not be improved overnight but coaches need to do more work on the fitness and technique of the player.

Another fact that can be more significant then above is the final position of Pakistan team in their pool as if they end at number 2 they would play in India against number 3 of pool B most probably England or West Indies. They should win at least two games with big margins and see Australia lose to Sri Lanka for getting number one position in pool A, which will lessen the pressure as top team of Pool A would play fouth of pool B (weaker opponent) at Mirpur, our old city.

Pakistani batting line for the next match should be

Ahmed Shahzad, Kamran Akmal, Umer Akmal, Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar (if fit), Umer Gul, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal or Mohammad Junaid (considering the wicket)

A World Cup or a Qualifying Tournament?

ICC is getting some unwanted feedback from fans all over the world for such a miserable start of the mega event amid mismanagement in tickets sale, poor planning and match fixing allegations. Almost two weeks have passed but the much hyped cricket mega event has yet to make an impact on the sports loving fans. It look more a qualifying tournament than a cricket world cup, with records tumbling, thrashing of minnows and one sided and boring contests. Current week’s matches are an example as how poorly the mega event has been planned by the cricket’s global body. To lessen the harsh feedback ICC has leaked the rumors that associate nations would not get a chance to play in the next world cup, as 2015 mega event would be restricted to only the test playing nations.

Only 4 out of 14 matches played so far have justified the definition of a match all others have been miserable mis-matches. Irony is that this would not end soon as we have 4 more mis-matches in fixtures for the week with England taking on Ireland, South Africa playing Netherlands, Pakistan clash with Canada and New Zealand vs Zimbabwe to follow. I do not understand the logic behind the inclusion of associate teams in the biggest event of the game. ICC argues that their inclusion is an effort to make cricket more popular by involving more and more teams but do they really care about the future of cricket? If they have to give minnows a chance to play at the top level then why did they not include their matches against gibber opponents in ICC calendar? ICC is aiming for just making money and more money; they are concerned with wealth and more wealth nothing more than this. The example is the bookie’s sponsored IPL which was exposed by Lalit Modi case.

Apart from mis-matches the rumors of match fixing are also of great concerns for the mega event. There are reports suggesting ICC ACU is investigating into Australian team slow start during AUS-ZIM match. Mahela Jayawerdene has been suspected for spot fixing by Sril Lankan press. England India match is under spotlight as Shane Warne tweeted before the match that it would end in a tie. I was quite confused at the way English team played from a position of 280/2 needing 59 to win from 7 overs. Given the misery of Indian bowling attack they should have easily got the target but they were content to play a tie.

Although a tie ends the match fixing chances but ICC should investigate the match to keep the tournament as transparent as possible. It should also be taken into consideration that Shane Warne pre match prediction was prediction of man who faced bans for alleged match fixing, currently involved in IPL thus he would surely have links with bookies till now.

The big questions looming over world cup are why the mis-matches have been planned in the very beginning of the tournament? Would ICC investigate the allegation of match fixing as the same ICC has done it successfully against Pakistan trio? Would the world cup be successful if Sri and India got an early exit? What would happen if Pakistan got to play in Semis at Chandigarh against India?  

Lows and Highs of Pakistani cricket in 2010

Year 2010 was one of the most eventful year for Pakistan cricket. International cricket remained out of Pakistan for whole year as a result Pakistan played his home series against South Africa, England and Australia in away countries. The lack of cricket at home is painful not only for the cricket spectators but also for the local players but more painful was the outcome of away tours of Pakistani cricket team in 2010. Below are some of the highest and lowest points of Pakistani cricket.

Highs:

Leeds Win:  2nd Test: Australia v Pakistan at Leeds - Jul 21-24, 2010

Pakistan won Leeds test to register first test against Australia after 15 years to level the test series. Mohammad Aamir was the hero of Pakistani win who reduced Australia to 88 in first innings.

 Umar Gul's Heroics: 3rd ODI: England v Pakistan at The Oval - Sep 17, 2010

Pakistan was under immense pressure after spot fixing controversy and defeat in first two ODI's. England was 201-5 with Morgan at the crease, Gul took career best 6-42 to fold English innings on 218 handing Pakistan a moral boasting victory after the Lords debacle. It was one of the best swing bowling display under pressure in the recent history of Pakistan cricket.

Razzaq's Blitz: 2nd ODI: Pakistan v South Africa at Abu Dhabi - Oct 31, 2010

 Pakistan was tottering at 136-5 in 29 overs when he entered the ground. He kept calm throughout his stay leaving balls outside off stamps while the req run rate went up and up. But he did not get panic, needing 53 from last Four overs with a tail ender at the other end. He launched a full scale attack on the inept bowling of South Africa and stole an incredible win for Pakistan. His innings of 109 off 72 balls will be remembers for years for his breathtaking stroke play.

Lows:

Disastrous Tour of Australia Jan-Feb 2010

Pakistan lost Sydney test by a narrow margin of 36 runs, although they have bowled out Australia on 127 in first innings before piling up 333 in first inning and have Australia reeling on 257-8 in second innings at one stage. It was the turning point of the worst ever tour of Pakistan, who were humiliated by 3-0 in tests and 5-0 In ODI's loosing the only T-twenty. PCB arranged an inquiry and afterwards handed strict punishment to players. Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan were banned for life from all types of cricket while Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved,Shahid, Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal had been banned and fined for different reasons.

Again Australia: 2nd Semi-Final: Australia v Pakistan at Gros Islet - May 14, 2010

Pakistan reached the semi-final of world twenty-20 played in West Indies but lost to Australia in a controversial manner. Australia required 87 from 7.3 overs when M Hussey arrived at crease with half of Australian team gone back to pavilion. Australia made 48 runs required from three overs to reach final. Saeed Ajmal conceded 23 runs of last over, while Hussey single handedly snatched the game from Pakistan.

Lords Fiasco and Spot Fixing Controversy

Pakistan had England at its toes in Lords test as they were reduced to 102-7 in their first innings when Stuart Broad and IJL Trott produced 332 runs partnership for 8th wicket to defeat Pakistan. Later it was disclosed by The News of The World that Pakistani cricketers were involved in spot fixing during Lords test. ICC took immediate notice of the reports and suspended Seven Pakistani cricketers from cricket, four of them were released to play cricket but Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt are still facing bans. The debacle added to the dark clouds hovering over Pakistani cricket after attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Pakistani cricket facing tough decisions

A preliminary squad of Pakistan cricket team for world cup 2011 has been finalized, and some media reports suggest that Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik have been dropped. Kamran Akmal is one of seven cricketers allegedly involved in spot fixing during the tour of England, three of them are already facing a ban from all types of cricket. World cup cricket tournament is only Two and a half months away and cricket board is still not sure what should be the final squad for the cricket. Most teams have a settled 15 or more players for cup but Pakistan are not able to complete 11 of them.
Media is creating a lot of noise on expulsion of Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria from preliminary squad but none of them was an automatic selection for the world cup keeping in view their recent form and fitness. Kamran Akmal is one of the suspects of spot fixing in England, but he has already been spotted deliberately missing stumping, run-outs and dropping crucial catches during Australian tour. He and some other cricketers were reported by team management and bowling coach for their suspicious performance throughout the tour. Shoaib Malik is also a culprit of conspiring against Younus Khan's captaincy and deliberately throwing his wicket at some critical times under his captaincy. These are the facts which have been discussed over and again and it is quite obvious that they are not crystal clear and clean. As far as the case of Kaneria is concerned, he was suspected and interrogated for spot fixing during a county match, later he was cleared but his county Essex discontinued his contract afterwards. Kaneria may not get into the ODI squad on merit due to his impotency as an ODI bowler, but he should not be expelled on pretext of the crime for which he has already been investigated and cleared. Although the decision to expel these players has not been officially announce yet but they are unlikely to get a chance.
The time has come to make some strict and tough decisions, and this may be the first one. We need to get rid of the tested and underperforming players and induct new blood into our cricket to get better results in future. Pakistan cricket board recently announced the Test and T-Twenty squad for New Zealand, this is the last tour before the world cup and probably the final 15 for world cup will be chosen from the New Zealand touring team. But they are a lot of question marks on the line up. I can't understand who is behind Akmal brothers, one facing spot fixing ban, other showing suspicious irresponsibility in the middle and still Adnan Akmal is selected for the tour. What is the criterion for the selection of Adnan Akmal? Sohail Tanvir, Tanveer Ahmed and Abdul Rehman are mediocre players; they should have not been selected for this crucial tour. Mansoor Amjad should get an opportunity; he has shown great signs as an all-rounder. Rana Naveed is showing a great commitment in the domestic circle, considering his experience of playing on dry tracks in India and Sri Lanka and his ability to reverse swing; he should have been given another opportunity. Rana Naved has got 557 first class and 261 Domestic ODI wickets, he is as old as Tanvir (32 years) but selection of Tanvir Ahmed ahead of the big tournament instead of Rana is a ridiculous. Sohail Khan has performed better than Tanvir Ahmed in domestic cricket, if they are going to introduce new faces Sohail should have been selected as he is 6 years younger than Tanvir and is performing better than him in domestic cricket.

 My squad for Cricket world cup 2011 is as under.
Batsmen: Ahmed Shahzad, Shahzaib Hassan, Asad Shafiq, Younus Khan, Fawad Alam, Umer Akmal, Azhar Ali, Misbah ul Haq
All Rounder: Shahid Khan AFridi (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Abdur Razzaq, Mansoor Amjad
Bowlers: Umer Gull, Wahab Riaz, Saeeed Ajmal, Rana Naveed, (any good spinner)

Suspension of Pakistani cricketers

As a nation we always believed in conspiracy theories whether it is law n order situation of our country, declining economy or the miserable position of our country in the sports which once we ruled, we always put the blame on outer hands which do not want to see us making progress. The recent spot-fixing scandal is one of such cases, recently ICC upheld its decision of Pakistani players suspension after they were allegedly caught through a mock bookie. Slaman Butt and Mohammad Aamir clearly denied the allegations and blamed the ICC for double standards, in a recent TV appearance, both of them said that it is a conspiracy against Pakistani cricket. Some of Tv channels telecasted viewpoints of general pubic and every one was saying that Pakistani players are innocent and it is a conspiracy against our cricket.

The role of our cricket board, our media and our government in the scandal was very controversial and questionable. One of our parliamentarians suggested the death penalty for the players involved, our media repeatedly made fun of the situation and played objectionable videos and songs making the matter worse for our players. More disgusting was the role of our cricket board, the chairman PCB did not show any stance on the spot fixing issue and let the players and ICC handle the case. ICC immediately suspended the players without any hearing or solid proofs but our board did not dare to fight for the players until proved guilty.

Now when players appeals against suspension have been rejected, they are boldly speaking against ICC and other boards which is again a mistake, they paid the price immediately as board suspended their central contracts.

As far as my limited knowledge about cricket concerned, I personally think there are two types of match fixing, paid or unpaid both need underperforming. Our players bluntly fixed almost whole series in Australia when we failed to win a single match in the recent tour, Pakistani cricket board took action on the basis of manager's report and players were handed fines and life bans. What happened afterwards is a different story but it was proved that some of our players intentionally underperformed (manager claimed they took oath on Quran to not perform under Younus). If our board have shown some credibility and responsibility, the matters would have been easily sorted out and Pakistani cricket might have been cleaned of the black sheep. But it never happened in the history and no different this time too, they all were forgiven one by one and now they all are playing again.

Believe me no one is our enemy, we are enough for us, "Huay tum dost jis kay dushman us ka aasmaa'n kyun ho", this is the time to clean our cricket from these black sheep, who knew Mohammad Aamir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif some years back when they were not playing cricket. This is the game of cricket and our country which gave them name, but most of them used for their own. We need to be realistic and accept the fact that no one is conspiring against us but the people who are from us and a part of us.