First of all, I would like to convey my heartiest condolences to Bob Woolmer's relatives for the irreparable loss.
Just a few days back I published a blog as a prayer for the national cricket team. But, now we stand isolated after exiting the World Cup in such pathetic fashion. We still have to play Zimbabwe though in order to fulfill the official requirements of the cup. The team will be glad at this point in time to have more time to come back to their country as people are eagerly waiting for them. I believe that most of the responsibility lies on Inzamam Ul Haq, who clearly did whatever he could to make us into a laughing stock. We lost to a team which was playing its first World Cup. Why is that we care so much for these teams that we want them to get the test playing status? I am shocked at the fact that Inzamam Ul Haq did not completely retire from all forms of cricket. Its such a disgrace that he is still justifying the loss by saying it was 'kismat' (luck) which was not on his side. Come on Inzi, luck favors those who help themselves. It does not favor someone who selects the team based on the amount of beard one has on their face.
If after Imran Khan there ever was a captain who was given the complete authority for team selection, it was Inzamam. But this is where the problem lies. He believed that he was another Imran Khan. This is where his downfall came. Our team can only lose to Ireland if our players are headed by brainless captains. After all this authority, where were the Under-19 players who made us win the U-19 World Cup last year in Sri Lanka? Why did not Inzamam pick even fast bowler from the 'real' Pakistani squad. To be honest, neither Iftikhar Anjum or Rana Naved are match winners. If there is a person who is a match winner it is Anwar Ali who made the difference in U-19 WC Final against India. And, why did Inzamam keep a leg spinner as a bowling coach when the world knows that Pakistan created the most devastating fast bowlers of all time? It is just sad to talk about all this.
Now, I think that it is high time that a change in system is brought about. First of all, PCB should be injected with a new constitution which clearly has paid selectors. If we have exited 2 World Cups in an embarassing manner under the selection of Mr. Wasim Bari then that means there is a serious problem with him. He also works for the PIA and takes a seperate salary for them for providing his invaluable services to our cricket. In addition, Dr. Nasim Ashraf also needs to decide if he is a minister for state or the chairman of PCB. We need to build more green tracks in our country so that our batsman who come out for the flawed domestic system are able to handle extra pace and bounce on the wickets. In addition, politics should definitely be kept aside for a moment so that the real talent prevails in our team. We need to cut down on the number of teams which play at national level. Instead, there should be one team from each province or six teams in all so that the most competitive cricket is played amongst them. In our system we have players who make double hundreds in domestic tournament. But, when they come to international level we are just surprised at the way they place their ball right into the fielder's hands.
It definitely will take a long time to recover from this loss. The great Inzamam Ul Haq has left us with so many problems. He is the biggest culprit in Pakistani cricket right now who did whatever he could to make us disgraced. However, let us hope that some sense prevails in our decision makers so that our 160 million people are not disappointed to higher levels. At the end, I would like to pray for our people to have strength and patience so that we are able to pass through this difficult time.
Just a few days back I published a blog as a prayer for the national cricket team. But, now we stand isolated after exiting the World Cup in such pathetic fashion. We still have to play Zimbabwe though in order to fulfill the official requirements of the cup. The team will be glad at this point in time to have more time to come back to their country as people are eagerly waiting for them. I believe that most of the responsibility lies on Inzamam Ul Haq, who clearly did whatever he could to make us into a laughing stock. We lost to a team which was playing its first World Cup. Why is that we care so much for these teams that we want them to get the test playing status? I am shocked at the fact that Inzamam Ul Haq did not completely retire from all forms of cricket. Its such a disgrace that he is still justifying the loss by saying it was 'kismat' (luck) which was not on his side. Come on Inzi, luck favors those who help themselves. It does not favor someone who selects the team based on the amount of beard one has on their face.
If after Imran Khan there ever was a captain who was given the complete authority for team selection, it was Inzamam. But this is where the problem lies. He believed that he was another Imran Khan. This is where his downfall came. Our team can only lose to Ireland if our players are headed by brainless captains. After all this authority, where were the Under-19 players who made us win the U-19 World Cup last year in Sri Lanka? Why did not Inzamam pick even fast bowler from the 'real' Pakistani squad. To be honest, neither Iftikhar Anjum or Rana Naved are match winners. If there is a person who is a match winner it is Anwar Ali who made the difference in U-19 WC Final against India. And, why did Inzamam keep a leg spinner as a bowling coach when the world knows that Pakistan created the most devastating fast bowlers of all time? It is just sad to talk about all this.
Now, I think that it is high time that a change in system is brought about. First of all, PCB should be injected with a new constitution which clearly has paid selectors. If we have exited 2 World Cups in an embarassing manner under the selection of Mr. Wasim Bari then that means there is a serious problem with him. He also works for the PIA and takes a seperate salary for them for providing his invaluable services to our cricket. In addition, Dr. Nasim Ashraf also needs to decide if he is a minister for state or the chairman of PCB. We need to build more green tracks in our country so that our batsman who come out for the flawed domestic system are able to handle extra pace and bounce on the wickets. In addition, politics should definitely be kept aside for a moment so that the real talent prevails in our team. We need to cut down on the number of teams which play at national level. Instead, there should be one team from each province or six teams in all so that the most competitive cricket is played amongst them. In our system we have players who make double hundreds in domestic tournament. But, when they come to international level we are just surprised at the way they place their ball right into the fielder's hands.
It definitely will take a long time to recover from this loss. The great Inzamam Ul Haq has left us with so many problems. He is the biggest culprit in Pakistani cricket right now who did whatever he could to make us disgraced. However, let us hope that some sense prevails in our decision makers so that our 160 million people are not disappointed to higher levels. At the end, I would like to pray for our people to have strength and patience so that we are able to pass through this difficult time.
