Reconstruction or Destruction?

There is trouble in the paradise; the hot air balloon that took off in Sharjah is losing its air. A hurriedly put together team of “bits and pieces” players is making a mockery of the game and is alienating every serious cricket follower. The so called combination of junior players, and then not so junior players, senior junior players, and a lone senior player all put together as part of a “ reconstruction” process is not working at all. Reconstruction is the buzzword now a days; a reconstruction process is in the making elsewhere in the world, different as they may be but the idea is the same. The bad boys of Pakistan cricket were allowed to do as they pleased as long as it helped the cause of their masters; end justified the means. But once they failed to deliver what was expected of them, bringing home the cup, they became the PCB’s most wanted men and a elaborate plan was hatched to rid our cricketing world of their nuisance. Our cricketing stalwarts like Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal who could have sided with their comrades, instead chose to side with the superpower of cricket. England and Spain, if you may. Imran Khan’s was the only sane voice to be heard in the clamor of rhetoric and name-calling. “France” of our cricketing world! But even Imran Khan could not help prevent the destruction of our national team, and as it happened in Iraq, destruction was justified in the name of reconstruction.

In Iraq we have Mr. Garner, a soldier by profession, entrusted with the job of shaping the destiny of a country, destroyed by his countrymen only recently. He is to ensure that American way of life; democracy in this case, is infused at grass roots levels. In order to effectively carry out his mission, Mr. Garner is well supported by a team of Washington desk-jockeys armed with their high-tech gadgets and a well-stocked armory of relevant jargon. These men, including Mr. Garner, may not have ever run a country but they are believed to posses the governing sense, just as our cricketing bosses believe that they are blessed with cricketing sense. Both groups are mistaken; nations are not conceived at drawing boards, and teams do not evolve overnight. Sportsmen do not learn their skills on the job; they have to have the skills to get the job. To think otherwise would be foolhardiness if not downright stupidity!

It is a fact that our team performed poorly during the World Cup, but then it was not something that was unexpected. The way the team was managed for two and half years prior to the World Cup is no secret. The changes in the management were too frequent and without any just cause. Moin was unceremoniously removed from Captain’ s mantle, which was handed over to Waqar. Yet not a single day passed by when it was made known to Waqar that his appointment was conditional: till the time a suitable replacement was available. The establishment dragged its feet and sent wrong signals to all concerned, Waqar including. Lack of leadership and decision making at the top snowballed and we witnessed, with horror, the worst ever performance by Pakistan in the “home series” against the Aussies. The team no longer existed; they boys played together but the team spirit was never there. The tug-of-war for captaincy, fuelled by the incapacity of the Board in general and Chairman in particular to make up his mind, resulted in a split in the team; a breach that even the spectacular send-off could not bridge.

The African tour was a disaster from the very beginning; Saeed Anwar was not included owing to his “presumed” injury. Waqar was retained as the captain yet the clouds of doubt loomed large over his head. The public was convinced that Waqar does not have a place in the squad, rightly so, and his leadership qualities had a big question mark against them. However, Chairman, and his trusted lieutenant Ramiz Raja persisted with Waqar even after the Shahrjah debacle. Waqar, as was expected, let everyone down in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He was insipid, lacked leadership qualities and above all showed that he was devoid of the basic cricketing sense. It was in South Africa, that Wasim Akram got the green signal from the boss that on his return home from African series he would be nominated the captain for the World Cup. All Wasim had to do was to go through the motions of appealing his “conviction”; a favorable result was to be expected in the “national interest”.

Waseem Akram, as we all know is not known for his prudence, his tantrums on the field and his rather unprofessional behavior off the field is no secret. It was no surprise that the gentleman could not help putting his foot in his mouth when in a press conference in South Africa he criticized his touring captain, Waqar Younis, as being distant, lacking leadership qualities, and imagination. It was no surprise for anyone when in a hurriedly summoned press conference, following the team’s return from South Africa, that our mighty general, named Waqar as his lieutenant to lead Pakistani team in the World Cup. That announcement marked the commencement of the destruction of Pakistani team; four openers and no middle order batsmen in the squad bear testament to the fact. A deliberate and conscious effort was made by the Chairman and his lieutenant Ramiz Raja to undermine the selection process; Salim Elahi benefited from the fact; other beneficiaries included a number of foreign coaches and trainers, in addition to self-appointed “moral booster”, that were to accompany the team; an act that would be disowned by Ramiz after the despicable performance of our team in the World Cup.

The sacrifices had to be made after the cup, however the scalps would be of the commoners and not that of the “benefactors’; after all who would remember Rumsfeld’s trips to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and even when Iraq and Saddam was declared persona-no-gratis by the rest of the world. Our general, the one responsible for the catastrophe in the Africa, instead of admitting defeat, went on an offensive; against the heroes of the past who for one reason or another could not satiate general’s desire to be the first non-civil administrator to have brought the coveted Cup home! His dream was shattered, not by design, but by his own devices; naming Waqar Younis the captain and showing the carrot to Waseem were his major omissions. Yet he got away with it because he bears a cross-sword and a crescent and a star on his shoulder; and so did his lieutenant Ramiz Raja.

Ramiz Raja has been the only beneficiary, of the “destruction” of our national cricket team; he ended up as the CEO of our Board without ever comprising his position as a commentator with Sky Sports or Ten Sports. How many CEO’s of the cricketing boards that we know of serve as commentators as well as CEO of their respective national cricket boards; Pakistan has made a record there as well! It was no surprise to hear Ramiz Raja, abstaining to further his fellow commentator’s suggestion that Waseem Akram was one of the fearsome batsman Pakistan has ever produced to ball in the dearth overs; Ramiz preferred Razzaq, never acknowledging Waseem’s contributions as one of the finest all-rounder Pakistan have yet to produce.

Pakistan’s cricket team was thoroughly destroyed by General Tauqir and Ramiz Raja only to be” reconstructed” later on. These gentleman backed wrong people, made wrong choices, and in the end they ditched everyone else only to save their own hides and careers. The post-destruction, pre-reconstruction teams that have emerged consist of an insipid leader in the form of Rashid Latif, whose body language is anything but inspiring. The coach may be rated as wily and street smart with a shrewd cricketing mind, but when it comes to managing the boys he has failed more than once. Let us not forget what happened at Shahrjah a couple of years ago.

Everyone was excited about the Shahrjah win by our “new look” Pakistani team; it was thought to be the first step in the right direction. Maybe may be not; they were up against hapless Zimbabweans and a very tired Sri Lankans lead by a reluctant captain. However, the exuberance did not last very long. The defeat at the hands of a depleted Kiwis side in Bank Alfalah Cup should be an eye opener for the Chief Selector and management alike; and for the those illustrious analysts who are already dubbing this as being the year of the coach Javed Miandad and his team. A number of counter arguments can be presented in favor of the present cricket team: statistics, pitches, difficult playing conditions, and performance of the other teams, and the fact that the Pakistani team is going through a rebuilding process. These are all valid points to a certain extent but do not justify the inconsistencies and discrepancies so obvious in the building up process.

All is not well despite the early breakthroughs that this team has made; inconsistency in team and playing eleven selections continues to mar everyone’s run up. Mohammad Zahid was selected for the Shahrjah tour and for some unknown reasons was dropped from the side for the next tour. Athar never played a single match in the entire Alfalah Cup tournament and yet he made to the finals. Faisal Iqbal has demonstrated time and again that he is not a one-day material; his strike rate is alarmingly low and every time he tries to play fast he invariably gets out, yet he consistently finds his place in the playing eleven. Taufiq Umar has little to show for in terms of improvement in his skills or temperament. Umar Gul, well now you see him now you don’t!

It was definitely a valiant effort to pitch an inexperienced team against more seasoned teams, however this experiment is bound to fail because there is not a single batsmen in the line up who can play the anchor role while the youngsters play around him. Youhanna has been struggling with his form of late and can hardly be considered a role model for the youngsters. The same is true in the bowling line up; there is not a single bowler that has enough experience to guide and encourage the less experienced bowlers to bowl their hearts out. These youngsters need encouragement and guidance on the field as much as off the field and a wicket-keeper captain can hardly afford to offer a word of encouragement or advice to his younger bowlers as often as he would like.

The team needs players like Saeed Anwar, Inzamam and Waseem; legends in their own right; players who enjoy respect of their younger colleagues. If Rashid could be engaged for a year to help reconstruct the team, why can’t we engage Inzamam and Waseem on similar conditions? One would assume that these men have some self-respect left in them to behave for a year or two in order to make a graceful exit. And what about Imran Nazir? His statistics are far better than those of Taufiq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez. Why is he not playing? Is it all about settling old scores? Rashid’s and Aamir’s differences with the axed seniors are no big secret. I would say that this is the time to bury the hatchet; let the bygones be bygones and focus on the issues and nor personalities, or we risk losing public interest in the game of cricket. The comings and goings of all these players is hardly winning any favors with the public. The award of “national caps” does not have be a free for all thing based on whims and intuitions. These awards have to be based on facts and merit. And lastly, nations do not ditch their heroes; they are preserved for the generations to follow.