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southasian cricket Shaharyar M
Khan or Inzamam-ul-Haq: Whose time to leave? games Is winning 43 South Asian gold medals a matter to rejoice? Pakistan were placed second behind their neighbours on the eight-country table -- with 43 gold, 44 silver and 71 bronze -- but what does that really prove? By Gul Hameed Bhatti While several sporting
organisations in Pakistan were in a mood to rejoice -- and rightly so --
following the recently-concluded South Asian Games event in the The reason given was simple
and obvious. Players Still, Pakistan returned home from Colombo with a record number of medals gained in the South Asian Games. Their 43 gold was a new record for the country, as was the overall total of 158 medals. But is it really an achievement to be proud of? Pakistan eventually fared
quite well in the martial arts disciplines of karate-do, taekwondo -- which
has its roots in South Korea -- and wushu, which is another name for the
Chinese art of kung fu. Ten gold medals were picked up in The POA chief has, naturally, developed an affinity for players of these arts and said "The number of players in the martial arts will be enhanced to fill the places vacated by the other under performing sports (for the forthcoming Asian Games)." The POA has also asked the
"under performing" federations to explain their position for the
poor show in Colombo. "I am still thinking about withdrawing the rowing
and swimming teams also but they have a few plus points which favour their
participation," General Arif is said to have stated. According to a newspaper report, he said that rowing had a good history and its players had been winning medals in the Asian Games while the swimmers face a lack of opportunity. "This is what convinced me to send a few athletes of these sports to the Asian Games with a hope that they may win medals in the upcoming event," he said. He had added that Pakistan
swimmers still needed exposure and this was why the authorities would send a
top performing girl and NUMBER OF MEDALS MISLEADING In spite of Pakistan's
"record breaking" performance in Colombo, the number of medals
could actually be misleading. Just look at India's tally -- a total of 234
medals with as many as 118 gold in addition to 69 silver and 47 bronze! True,
Pakistan were placed second behind their neighbours on the eight-country
table The South Asian Games, the 10th in line since being introduced back in 1984 and first held in the Nepal capital of Kathmandu, were known as the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in its previous nine editions. The original seven members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were its participants.
In their 181-strong
contingent at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, Pakistan included
12 female players in addition to the 124 men. Pakistan was represented in as
many as 23 disciplines, sending players in the relatively new The lion's share was captured by the country's boxers, including the lone gold -- by Meherullah Lasi in the 57kg event. Six medals in all were taken, the others comprising four silver and a bronze. A silver each was attained in sailing and squash while two bronze medals were picked up by the snooker players and one each was gained in kabaddi, rowing and squash. If the Pakistan athletes, following their show in the South Asian Games believe that they are now ready to take on the world, they should first prepare to conquer Asia for starters. The Asian Games are surely going to be dominated by countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the fast emerging Central Asian republics and the SAARC challenge is going to be just brushed aside... as always, as has been the norm in previous years. STRONG OPPOSITION AT THE ASIAD Of course, there was a time several years ago that Pakistani athletes acquited themselves quite well at various multi-nation, multi-sport events internationally. In the first three Asian Games that the country was represented at -- Manila 1954, Tokyo 1958 and Jakarta 1962 -- of the 65 medals that it picked up, as many as 19 were gold. In the next 10 editions of the Asiad, only 21 more gold medals have come their way. At Hiroshima in Japan in 1994, Pakistan failed to pick up even a single gold medal. Two were gained at Bangkok 1998, but then the total slipped to just one at Busan 2002. Similarly, of the 10 medals of all colours attained at the Olympic Games since Pakistan's first participation at London 1948, only three have been gold, all won by the national hockey team. But there have been no more gold medals since the 1984 Olympiad at Los Angeles and no medals at all since Barcelona 1992, where Pakistan had to be content with a solitary bronze. Pakistan's grand total of medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne earlier this year was a poor five. Only one of them was a gold, claimed by weightlifter Shujauddin Malik in the 85kg category. Malik carried on with his good work at Colombo in August when he picked up another gold medal, in a total of six such medals won by the Pakistan weightlifting team. The three silver medals in Melbourne were taken by boxer Meherullah Lasi, the Pakistan hockey team and shooter Irshad Ali, in the 25m Standard Pistol event. Weightlifter Mohammad Irfan Islam was content with a bronze medal in the 77kg category. Why does the Pakistan sports medal bank keep on shrinking? A sort of upsurge has been witnessed in some of the disciplines, which are a regular part of various multi-nation international events, but Pakistani sportsmen have actually not been able to give a good account of themselves in competitions where they come up against the best, either in the world or the Asian region. The standard in the Asian Games is, in fact, much higher than even the Commonwealth Games. In the Olympiads, Pakistan's only individual medals -- both bronze -- apart from those picked up by the hockey teams have been claimed by wrestler Mohammad Bashir (Rome 1960) and boxer Syed Hussain Shah (Seoul 1988). QUITE A COMEDOWN FROM THE GOLDEN PAST Pakistan's contribution to the sporting world, if only at the Asian and Commonwealth level, was at a time really worthwhile, perhaps even helping them dominate in certain disciplines. At the Perth Commonwealth Games back in 1962, their eight-man wrestling team swept away the medals with seven gold and a silver. Pakistan were not featured in four editions of these Games -- from 1974 to 1986 -- as they had withdrawn their membership from the (British) Commonwealth of Nations. Since their return in 1990, however, in four further competitions they have managed to collect only 17 medals, only two of them of the gold variety. Why has there been a decline in Pakistan sports over the years? Cricket, of course, is the greatest passion of the country's populace and rules the minds and psyche of the public here. This is where the big money is too. Every young boy in Pakistan wants to become a cricketer, in case he fails to make it as a highly-paid MBA or a computer whiz, and hardly anyone turns his attention towards other sports. Hockey, which was once lifted to the skies as Pakistan's 'national sport', has really fallen by the wayside and is not the golden team game that it used to be. Interest in squash has disappeared after the era where the likes of Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan reigned supreme. In spite of perhaps the best possible coaching facilities available, the younger players are simply unable to make the cut. Sport is not something that becomes the first preference of those who are physically inclined and fond of outdoor activity. Still, the increasing skills and ability of players in several sporting disciplines were on display at the South Asian Games in Colombo. The martial artists were in the forefront in winning medals, five gold being earned in karate-do and three in taekwondo, plus two in wushu and one in judo. While the boxers reigned supreme with seven gold medals and three silver -- at Islamabad two years ago Pakistan picked up as many as 10 gold in boxing before Nauman Karim was stripped of his first place due to a doping offence -- the weightlifters and wrestlers picked up six gold medals each. Without trying to detract from the superlative performances of these players, one must keep in mind the fact that India were not represented in either discipline! The shooters claimed five gold among their overall tally of 21 medals. But India's gold medals total in shooting was 19. The Pakistan swimmers won no golds at all -- they did pick up five silver and 15 bronze medals though -- but India's tally was overwhelming: 32 gold, 18 silver and three bronze for a total of 53. The athletics events were dominated by India with 15 gold medals with hosts Sri Lanka running a close second with 14. Pakistan attained 20 medals in all, but only three of them were gold. The interesting aspect, however, was the first place that Mohammad Ayub got in pole vault -- Pakistan also took silver in this event, and the gold won by Basharat Ali in discus throw. Of the 20 disciplines contested in Colombo, Pakistan didn't take part in archery. The badminton players brought home only six bronze medals and the table tennis team only five of the same variety. Rowing was worth six gold medals in Islamabad 2004 but in Colombo they took only seven silver medals. India took all seven gold and Sri Lanka all seven bronze. The Pakistan football team bagged its fourth gold at the South Asian level while hockey at last claimed the elusive gold medal. Kabaddi managed a silver and volleyball only the bronze. The squash players got two gold and a silver and bronze each. PAKISTANI WOMEN MAKE THEIR MARK Although Pakistan's woman sportspersons have acquited themselves reasonably well in the past Games, keeping in view the less than competitive environment in their sphere, the country's girl swimmers actually remained among the medals in Colombo, really putting to shame their male colleagues. The women also progressed in the shooting events. Cycling was introduced in the South Asian Games for the first time. And Pakistan's Raheela Bano made her indelible mark in Sri Lanka when she won the silver medal in the 20km individual time trial. Later, she also took bronze in the 60km road race. The men picked up a gold medal in the 50km time trial. The Pakistani girls showed that they have a penchant for the martial arts, with the British-born Carla Khan injuring herself early the squash team only got a bronze and the female athletes just fell below expectations this time round. But where does Pakistan stand currently, especially in the context of the forthcoming Asian Games competition? Naturally, the stress for staying ahead in the race for the medals will be placed on the boxers. Hockey should be able to bring in a medal, hopefully the gold now, the rowing, shooting and swimming teams could change the medals complexion, Pakistan could do better in the martial arts and snooker could yet bring in a medal or two. The POA as well as the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), however, should not only be looking for medals. They must though inculcate in the players the will to do their best and even if they don't win anything they should be able to return home from Doha with their heads high and their reputations enhanced. Gul
Hameed Bhatti is Group Editor Sports of the Jang/The News Group of Newspapers gulhbhatti@hotmail.com ghb52@yahoo.com PAKISTAN'S MEDALS TALLY AT ALL SAF/SOUTH ASIAN GAMES Discipline Gold Silver Bronze Total Athletics 41 46 76 163 Badminton 0 1 11 12 Basketball 0 3 0 3 Boxing 61 20 9 90 Cycling 1 1 3 5 Football 4 0 1 5 Hockey 1 1 0 2 Judo 1 4 6 11 Kabaddi 1 4 3 8 Karate-do 13 5 10 25 Rowing 6 8 0 14 Shooting 9 33 27 69 Swimming 7 38 54 99 Squash 6 3 4 13 Table Tennis 3 14 25 42 Taekwondo 4 9 13 26 Tennis 1 2 15 18 Volleyball 2 5 2 9 Weightlifting 47 83 12 142 Wrestling 26 35 10 71 Wushu 2 4 1 7 TOTALS 236 319 282 837 PAKISTAN'S MEDALS TALLY AT EACH SAF/SA GAMES Year G S B Total 1984 Kathmandu 5 3 2 10 1985 Dhaka 21 26 12 59 1987 Calcutta 16 35 14 65 1989 Islamabad 42 33 22 97 1991 Colombo 28 32 25 85 1993 Dhaka 23 22 20 65 1995 Madras 10 33 36 79 1999 Kathmandu 10 36 30 76 2004 Islamabad 38 55 50 143 2006 Colombo 43 44 71 158 cricket Pakistan's openers: Crisis entering the danger zone So has Bob Woolmer been able to set a proper opening couple for these major competitions? The ground reality expresses, 'No, not at all' By S M Ibrahim Farooqi Though Pakistan earned a well-deserved victory in the third one-dayer at Southampton to make the series 2-0, the visiting side's openers yet again must have taken their dinner 'quite early' last Tuesday. Inzamam-ul-Haq and his
men's two-wicket victory at the picturesque Rose Bowl If vice-captain Younis Khan hit a match-winning 101 in the day-night One-day International (ODI) at the Rose Bowl, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez -- the 'brand new pair' of openers -- kept their contributions scanty, yet again, with individual scores of 1 and 20 respectively. Younis and Mohammad Yousuf (60) did their jobs at the Rose Bowl before the task was ably completed by Inzamam (44 not out). But the burning question remains defiant: For how long will Pakistan's middle-order batters be able to carry on the extra burden they have been experiencing due to the unsettled opening pair? The Pakistan squad, named on September 6, will endeavour to grab the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, to be staged next month in India. The 2007 World Cup is now just months away and before setting off for the prime mission in the Caribbean, the Green Blazers will also visit South Africa for a full Test and ODI series. Before the beginning of the
ongoing ODI series in England, Pakistani fans got some good news regarding
their national team. The return of the frontline pace trio -- Shoaib Akhtar,
Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan -- along with that of a versatile Shoaib
Malik; plus the situation moving in a direction that is If Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal took turns in England this summer to open Pakistan's innings in various combinations, many more including Yasir Hameed and Shahid Afridi have also got the opportunities, in the last two years, to start Pakistan's show with the willow. With the Champions Trophy just round the corner, an ardent Pakistan supporter becomes quite upset to see his team's chances in the knockout global event in the balance, mainly due to unresolved opening crisis. Very simple is to understand that a concrete middle-order batting line-up, comprising Inzamam, Yousuf, Younis, Afridi and sundry, no matter how consistent and able the set may be, will, at least, have an off-colour day at the ICC Trophy. Out of the three matches, while following the plain concept of probability, it is strongly expected that the openers will have to prove their worth in one game, if not in more because if the four middle-order batsmen come out successfully in two games i.e. 66%, the two openers, logically thinking, should carry out 33% of the entire job. But the intuition is disturbing us here. The actual situation, at present, seems poles apart from general expectations. Looking at the wider picture, the ground reality says that the Pakistan openers' crisis, from conventional zone, is too close to entering the danger zone. With no set opening duo, the odds are not in favour of Pakistan for the ICC event. We may win matches, six out of ten, or may be seven but the early dismissals of openers in the games against big teams like Australia and South Africa, will allow the opponents to take control of the proceedings, quickly, as we can get away from 29-2 to 196-2 against England but the Ricky Ponting-led Aussies will seldom give us a let-off like this. And after all if Pakistan succeed in reaching the next stage of the ICC Trophy, they, most probably, will face Australia or South Africa in the semifinals/final. So are our openers prepared for those tough encounters? For Pakistan, now there remains no room for experimentation, as the ICC Trophy, the tour of South Africa and certainly the 2007 World Cup, are not the competitions for the players' preparation or their test; instead, these are the challenges teams wait for. So has Bob Woolmer been able to set a proper opening couple for these major competitions? The ground reality expresses, "No, not at all". Every world-class cricket squad's management always keep a sharp eye on its openers and one of the primary reasons of an excellent rate of success Australia and South Africa have enjoyed in the 1990s and beyond has been exceptional opening pairs these teams have possessed on permanent basis. Blaming Woolmer entirely for the openers' tragedy, without holding the players themselves responsible would unquestionably be injustice. Had any two (or three) of our openers performed with a reasonable degree of consistency in the games they were given chances, the Pakistan team would not have reached the state it is in presently. However, the coach, being an integral member of the team management, along with the captain, should face the bulk of the blame for changing openers more than frequently, giving relatively less time for any talented batsman to settle down and develop his flair gradually in different circumstances against oppositions of various characteristics. Not finding the left-handed
Salman Butt in the ICC Trophy squad leaves one amazed. If he was not worthy
of playing in the ICC Trophy, then why was he And connected to this seemingly unending-cum-gloomy saga of openers, Pakistan might face one more setback in India next month. Shoaib Malik, having given great performance as a number three batsman in 2004, has been tried as an opener in England with the highly potential character failing miserably. On one hand, this move is augmenting the openers' puzzle and on the other it will now be a test for the team management as to where they fit Malik in the batting order in India in October, after the emergence of Younis as a reliable one-down batsman in ODIs. With Inzamam, Yousuf, Afridi being 4, 5 and 6, accommodating Malik in the top six will be very difficult and sending him after Kamran Akmal at number 8 or 9 will be great unfairness with a player of the class of Malik, who had enjoyed a memorable tour of India last year in the ODI series. Glancing at the calendar, with the 2007 World Cup fast approaching, one feels the time and the games have not been utilised to furnish Pakistan with a good, solid set of regular openers since July 2004. With the ICC Trophy to be the acid test for all the major teams for the 2007 Caribbean gala, one desires for a consistently solid show from Inzamam and company in the 'Mini World Cup', so that enhanced expectations can be made from them for the 'Major'. The
writer works as a sub-editor at 'The News' (Karachi). His e-mail address:
pakshaheen65@yahoo.co.uk Shaharyar M Khan or Inzamam-ul-Haq: Whose time to leave? The Inzamam-Woolmer nexus is evidently broken. Now the
removal of Inzamam and the engagement of such passing meteors as Zaheer Abbas
will compound the problems. By Dr Nauman Niaz In almost three years, the Pakistan Cricket Board has gone from a set-up with a real future to being a butt of all the jokes. At the PCB that is being run by a graceful Nawab from the princely state of Bhopal before its December 13th, 2006 deadline (the PCB chairman's tenure ends on December 13th, 2006), strange doings have cropped up near the check-out aisle: the PCB bosses are pushing a broken cart. A year ago, the left-for-dead PCB hierachy was on the top
shelf trying to hurl some ex-cricketers into the wagons of contenders for
team manager's slot, in return for a few prospects with which to build their
future. Well, the future didn't come at a pretty good clip and these days the
house is in a shambles. As reported, the PCB were contemplating to go to the ICC Champions Trophy without Inzamam. Yes, it's early, and the PCB are quaking in their cleats, but as turnarounds go, Inzamam has actually stood up, up-front with all the blokes favouring him and their show of soldarity has been an impressive one. It's hard to overstate what a Laurel & Hardy prototype the PCB has become this year. With media and press in their control, for whatever reason, the PCB were coasting, flying high unconcerned until The Oval fiasco stung them hard; they were opened to the elements, thoroughly exposed. Their helplessness and lack of homework in the post Oval sequence was so bad even sweet and balanced people like Asif Iqbal felt sorry for them. This is no small thing. One decision, of not taking the field by their team was actually like giving mothers hell on Mother's Day. Since the fireworks of their forfieture at The Oval, as alleged, the PCB in order to salvage their honour are creating sparks only by blowing up Inzamam. They intend to go to the ICC Champions Trophy without the burly, beareded top batsman. The PCB are whining for a new captain, intending to make Inzamam a scapegoat, so it seems regardless of the post Oval effects on the World Cup 2007 preparations. The Pakistan team's future †seems to be on their list of civic priorities somewhere behind cleaning out the garage. The Bhopal progeny has achieved something, which even the service in Foreign Office failed to get -- front page treatment in England, Pakistan and even in America. He is a famous man. He has become known for a quick appearance in the Sky Sports live presentation. Other friends in the PCB have mostly been giving a multi-coloured look; some absolutely white and some grey. The fracas over Test history's first forfeiture in 129 years echoed in United States of America which is otherwise alien to cricket. Normally in America one tends to read a handful of articles and reports on basketball, baseball, rugby, gridball, ice hockey and George Bush playing golf or wrestling in the White House. Cricket hardly finds a place. There was a caption 'A Battle of National Pride, Fought on the Cricket Field' appearing in 'The New York Times'. The way wheels into wheels are being uncovered it seems soon in one of the local newspapers we will have a caption 'A Battle of Survival, Fought in the PCB'; the way things have shaped up, it may well truly happen. The Oval paranoia has struck a chord with everyone. There are contradictory reports. On the face of it, the PCB stands firm behind their captain and are also frantically trying to get the ICC law(s) amended. They have also been seeking support from India and Sri Lanka. The Chairman PCB has also been attempting to convince the ICC to install an independent inquiry. Then there is chitchat that Pakistan Cricket Board hierarchy has not been at ease with Inzamam since he had started to concentrate power. And for them, the Test forfeiture and its follow-up have come as a piece of good fortune. Now they can appoint Younis Khan and part with Inzamam.†† The analogies sounded far fetched but in a sporting sense
the behaviour of It is simple to write with as much punch as an M.O.D. statement. But the situation of the Pakistan team at The Oval needed to be analysed -- the rise of Pakistan in the post World Cup 2003 came after their success in India in 2004-05. It was, to one's mind, not just a coincidence that the apathetic looking Inzamam-ul-Haq still loomed large when in 2003-04 sequence of victories turned to Pakistan. Matches were won with a collection of contrasting talents which became a superbly integrated team. Inzamam emerged as a top batsman threatening to be rated as one of the best in the world. Captaincy matured him as a batsman. Their record of going through 2005 almost undefeated was previously unparalleled. Inzamam unlike Imran Khan was not thirsting after success but was impatient of failure. To counterbalance this, the team needed him to develop breadth of vision to act as a role model to shield the often sensitive nature of a well-run, winning team from PCB's often scathing in house politics. Things remained unruffled as Inzamam evolved taking over captaincy at its strongest. Yielding power he at times was overbearing be it selectors or the PCB policy makers. Success made him strong and his personal form added strength. PCB bosses though not entirely convinced and easeful ignored Inzamam's concentration of power; the team was winning and their administrative frailties were being well-masked. Suddenly, with Inzamam not available on fitness accounts, Younis Khan was seen in the middle. This being a positive sign instead it irked one too many in the dressing room. Pakistan truly is fortunate to have captains whose careers are overlapping but within the camp this has been creating a wedge between Younis and Inzamam, so it looks. Inzamam has never been a stirrer as captain, like cementing up the wreckage in a fit of pique. Nonetheless, his adamancy has shown enough concrete in his make-up to counter as equals of The Oval sequel, the outbursts and an uncertain future. In the last three years with cricket being run bureaucratically, amidst an upheaval, electricity has been notably absent from the working machinery of the PCB. There has been a lack of purpose and direction. Appointment of Waqar Younis as the bowling coach and Zaheer Abbas as manager was an illustration of bad management and long term lack of planning. It's not about Waqar or Zaheer's ability, it's about the personalities fitting into a Bob Woolmer -- Inzamam dominated environment. Coming in of Waqar must have irked Woolmer, shorn off of powers. † Woolmer must have been left in chilled isolation. The Inzamam-Woolmer nexus is evidently broken. Now the removal of Inzamam and the engagement of such passing meteors as Zaheer Abbas will compound the problems. With Inzamam's influence as a world class batsman waning and certain people in the PCB willing him into retirement, the buck carrying lorry for Pakistan's current sorry plight needs to offload the bulk of its cargo outside the door of the cricket headquarters, Ferozpur Road Lahore. The current PCB regime has failed to deliver. We are on the verge of seeing history repeating itself. In the post Oval scenario Inzamam is likely to be left out with Younis Khan leading the team in the ICC Champions Trophy in India. Take, for example, the case of Inzamam-ul-Haq. It was General Tauqir Zia's decision to recruit the pleasant, amazingly talented batsman who had practically no first-class experience as captain. The decision to engage him was pushed through a disciplinary committee which promptly banned Rashid Latif for unfair play against Bangladesh in 2003. There are suggestions of replacing Inzamam as captain, another virtually senseless contemplation. Again the persuasive PCB hierarchy tends to have his way over a largely comatose selection committee. The Rashid Latif lesson had obviously not been learnt. Pakistan team, in a quandary with their captain likely to be admonished by the ICC for triggering The Oval forfeiture needs no changes; for the back support was not as gifted as the ones selected for the tour of England. Wise people asked questions; how could a team, which midway through the series in England was in a shambles, their star cast absent. It has been about bad management and not Inzamam's out right failure. Inzamam, to one's mind has done a pretty good job. One odd overreaction shouldn't see his end. Even if he is castigated for triggering Oval Test's forfeiture he should return to lead Pakistan into the World Cup 2007. Now if we waft to cricket management in the country. Think of the great cricketers of any previous age who have passed on, viewing the earthly happenings of couple of winters from their celestial fields, and it needs little enough imagination to picture their feelings. Anger and hatred, we must believe, are for them forbidden passions, but if human emotions are still to be felt how deep must be their grief, how great the mystification as they behold what passes for the game they knew and loved! The senseless reaction at The Oval must not the least of surprises, the managerial incapacity and works to survive, the constant managerial slip-ups and not infrequently the obvious dissent of the captain with regard to the uncertainty fixed with his future, ex-officials and the incumbent kicking another and cricket's present high-ups trying to settle down the dust... how they must deplore the evident intention of being castigated for not producing results... desiring to be unchecked. How the unfamiliar gripping of facts and the shortage of valid arguments puzzle the theoretically minded? The Pakistan Cricket Board's hierarchy and Inzamam-ul-Haq have just a couple of matches to adjust to the end of another era; it is a general consensus and these days a topic for almost all the post lunch and in-office conversations. It will be an amazing feature of country's cricketing history if by the start of the ICC Champions Trophy in India there is a settled board and the captain, one that would role off the tongue as easily and give as much confidence as before. That the Inzamam-ul-Haq era as captain is over, one is afraid, but not seriously doubts. At the eleventh hour Inzamam wants to stitch himself back. Realistically by overreacting to the ball tampering allegations and his unwarranted naivety and stubbornness may well have seen his fingers reaching out and touch the self-destruct button; it is the fatal attraction of the moth for the flame. Such a death can be sad. In today's world where zappers, the insect world's electric chair, protect the night-time diners, it can also be a pitiless one. There are people in the PCB secretly writing an apologia. Inzamam has revealed himself as a man who wears simplicity and foolhardiness. His crime is his simple looks and the laid-back expressions and failure to achieve common objectives, pleasing the present PCB hierarchy at all costs. He hasn't committed a sin; if he was unaware of the ICC Laws and bylaws, the holidaying PCB executives should have interrupted. Unless the ICC backtracks their set of rules and takes The Oval fiasco as a rare happening, Inzamam is likely to be punished. When one surveys what could prove to be a final wreckage of this great cricketer's career one could understand the old diamond dealer in Hatton Garden as he spotted the flaw in the perfect stone. One is right when one writes that the overriding emotion is compassion. It is a feeling that comes in bigger waves as one realizes that this or that man of ability could never relate to others, lurching backwards and forwards between the unfortunate remark and the ill-judged action until alienation is complete. Then the world's sentence is isolation. At the moment it's not Inzamam but the PCB top bosses who are in trouble; in trouble anyway. Regrettably, if one digs deep the present PCB has been bad look for cricket. Inzamam should be preserved. Let him be out of one odd tournament and then back to take Pakistan to the World Cup. It's not his but Shaharyar Khan's time to relinquish the office; may we call it an aftermath of The Oval disillusionment. It was not the captain who failed; he was overreacting. It was the Chairman PCB waffling when the things were happening fast. A Test has been forfeited for the first time in cricket history and Pakistan is in the middle of it. To add to our embarrassment, Chairman PCB's croons that the team was protesting for few minutes made mockery of one's sense of timing. It was not Inzamam's but Shaharyar sahib's failing. One has to give credence to Masood Hasan's opinion. He ended his article 'Tweeduldum and party' ('The News' September 3rd, 2006) by writing: "They are simply not qualified to run the game". One believes that. The writer is the former Media Manager of the PCB, former assistant manager of the Pakistan team, official historian of Pakistan Cricket, ex-cricket analyst of the PCB and the Pakistan team, former manager coordination of the ACC and ex-selector of the now defunct PCA |
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Sri Lanka capital of Colombo, the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA)
President, Lt Gen (retd) Syed Arif Hasan, was quick to put a dampener on the
celebrations. He announced while talking to some sports reporters in
Islamabad that Pakistan will not be represented in disciplines like
badminton, table tennis and volleyball in the Asian Games that are being held
in Doha, Qatar, later in December this year.
and
teams in these outfits "failed to perform at a reasonable level" in
the South Asian Games. General Arif was also on the verge of axing the rowing
and swimming teams altogether for the Asiad, but it appears only the number
of players in these two disciplines will be curtailed. Absolutely no gold
medals were procured in the five mentioned events, in some cases even a
silver medal proved too difficult to get.
these
three events out of a total of 30.
a
boy to participate in the coming Asiad. Meanwhile, the General is adamant
that he'd find the causes behind the debacle in certain disciplines in Sri
Lanka, where Pakistan in fact did better than in all previous years before.
-- with 43 gold, 44 silver and 71 bronze -- but what does that really prove?
Afghanistan
joined in as the eighth member in the SAARC fraternity and they made their
debut in the 2004 SAF Games in Islamabad. But, apart from India, the virtual
sporting powerhouse in the region, only Pakistan and Sri Lanka come up to
anywhere near real international standards. Nepal and Bangladesh have their
moments and Afghanistan too have shown some promise but Bhutan and The
Maldives remain the poor cousins in the SAARC brotherhood.
events of judo, taekwondo and wushu also, but how many medals did they bring
back home? A grand total of 13 -- just one gold in addition to six silver and
an equal number of bronze!
venue while chasing a testing 272 deserves due credit nevertheless, one area
still continues to haunt the tourists -- the openers.
apparently
going to clear Inzamam and his team of the ball-tampering accusations Darrell
Hair made in The Oval Test, and connected with this is Inzamam's selection
for the ICC Trophy, amid concerns of an ICC ban over The Oval game. But
despite all these pluses one thing is for sure: the openers' crisis has also
accompanied Pakistan throughout the English summer 2006; in fact, this story
is much older and indeed, now has become, way too serious, if analysed
simply.
taken to England for high-profile Test and ODI series? A batsman, who has
scored hundreds on his very first trips to India and Australia, must have
something extra in him, identification of which is the job of the coach, and
the captain. Sending Salman back home from England after the Test series was
perhaps a decision made hastily by the Pakistan team management. If Salman
failed in the England Test series, then what about Imran Farhat who, apart
from failing with the bat, fielded pathetically on number of occasions in the
Tests? And if Imran can be retained for the ICC Trophy, then why not Salman?
With everyone off-measuring Inzamam-ul-Haq's utility, the PCB have popped
themselves into trouble. †
Pakistan
captain and management one very much of the situation which faced the
Argentine forces defending Port Stanley! Out-generalled, outgunned,
inadequately resourced and woefully short of knowledge of the ICC rules. All
that awaited them was forfeiture. This is a painful thing for one to write.