Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan

And now Rana Naved has expressed his willingness to quit the ‘rebel’ ICL and make his services available to the Pakistani team. MoYo said he had resigned, Razzaq said he, too, would like to play in the national greens again.

No doubt this is great news for Pakistan, especially as it follows the humiliation in UAE (yes, despite losing 3-2 I’d call it a humiliation judging by the manner of defeats). However, the trio, and the rest that made their journey across the border, knew fully well the consequences – omission from the national squad – before putting pen to paper. Despite this, it was deemed a noble act, for the sake of ‘earning their livelihood’.

Are they then, especially MoYo (or yoyo considering his flip-flops with PCB and ICL), justified in asking PCB to ensure they have a guaranteed place in the squad upon which they will quit the ICL?

I don’t think so.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Faras Ghani.

So the CT has been ‘postponed’..South Africa has expressed their reluctance to host the tri-series, the Sri Lankan series is looking doubtful due to a ‘ridiculous amount’ quoted by the television sponsors (or something to that effect)..and in search of cricket, and revenue, the board and the players are hoping for something to drop out of the sky.

Why, since there is nothing else on the horizon, can’t they schedule the long overdue domestic Twenty20 tournament in this barren period then? It was scheduled for start of the year, then got postponed due to elections and the Pentangular Cup as well as Geo Super’s stint off-air, then due to the Asia Cup and as fate had it, Pakistan’s most popular domestic competition was never held in the 2007-08 season.

It’s not the ideal substitute for an international series (but is a Twenty20 quad tournament in Canada??) but it will atleast give the players something to do as well as the Pakistani awam and will no doubt take pressure away from the ridiculous situation the PCB finds itself in…

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Faras Ghani.

He may be a bit of a psycho when it comes to ODIs and T20 cricket. However, with the current circumstances that Pakistan team finds itself in – lack of firepower int he bowling department and no allrounders to speak of – the stage is set for Shahid Afridi to be handed his Test recall. Why he was sent back from India post ODIs is anyone’s guess, and why Yasir Arafat was prefered over him is someone else’s (maybe with the injuries to pacers, Arafat was deemed a smarter choice. Fair enough).

Afridi may not be as reliable as Misbah-ul-Haq or Faisal Iqbal even, but he does provide a)flexibility, b)a bowling option, and a good one at that, and a handy backup to Danish Kaneria who seems to be bowling throughout the innings once the shine comes off the ball, and c) an attacking option in the batting order.

His recent record isnt that bad either. Last 10 Test matches, he has scored 757 runs with 3 centuries and 3 fifties. Against India, his last five innings have yielded 2 centuries and a fifty. Add a few wickets here and there and we might have seen a different outcome to the Pak-SA series if he had been selected over Abdur Rehman (who did emerge as Pakistan’s most successful bowler, however).

Being sat at “silly-point” to Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector, as he announced the team for the Twenty20 World Championship, I couldn’t help much notice he had come prepared to face the reporters’ wrath. Why? Because he, along with his fellow selectors (and unwanted peers) had decided to “rest” Mohammad Yousuf and omit his name from the plane to South Africa.

This Mohammad Yousuf is the same MoYo who had simply blasted opposition bowlers to every inch of the boundary rope last year. The same MoYo who had surpassed Viv Richards’ record for most number of Test runs in a calendar year and had broken (or equalled) many a records. The same MoYo who received praise and financial rewards never levied on any Pakistani cricket before.

The decision sounded all the more fishy when Sallu commented that “we have decided to rest Yousuf and bring in young and new players” and that “Twenty20 isnt all throwing the bat around and we need someone who can stay round for 20 overs”. How does Misbah-ul-Haq, Yousuf’s replacement fit the “young and new” bill (he’s actually older than Yousuf) and couldn’t Yousuf be a better choice to “stay around for 20 overs”…?

Danish Kaneria, as eager as he is to don the greens of Pakistan, just isnt an ODI bowler. And for him to be in the 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship is just surprising. More so because after being sent home before the ODIs against South Africa, he was picked to represent Pakistan at the World Cup (we should be used to the turnarounds that our selectors are so notorious for). He was then omitted for the Abu Dhabi tour (perhaps due to his county commitment?). And although Kaneria picked up a brace against Zim at the WC, he was smashed for 48 off 4.

He’s taken 15 ODI wickets at over 42 each and although his Test performance (ave 32) isnt amazing, he still remains our top spinner in the longer version. However, question remains: why choose him for Twenty20 when he’s not deemed worthy of a place in the 50-over format? And I know the team will be trimmed to 15 by mid-Aug, but why have someone in the squad at all when he will not (and should not) be selected.

The Pakistan team management is in disarray. We have a new-ish captain with a command of English as good as a fourth-grader. We have a new vice-captain who is yet to establish himself as a regular. Our manager-cum-coach (for the previous 2 tours at least) keeps his distance from the press while enforcing gagging orders on the younger lot (including the vice-captain). We have, give or take a couple, the same team that performed abysmally in the world cup. And we don’t even have a coach yet.

In times like these, we need a strong leader. Time for Nasim Ashraf to take a lead, perhaps? While the coach-hunt was on, it was announced time and again that Pakistan will have a coach before the team leaves for Scotland. Didn’t happen. Then came the news that Pakistan will have a coach by July 1. Didn’t happen. And while the deadline was in the air, our very own chairman was spotted on the sodden fields of Edinburgh where, as we all know by now, no action on the field was witnessed. The chairman was back amongst the players two days later in Glasgow where, again, no play was possible.