More Pakistani Problems
kirby March 11, 2010
Just when you think Pakistan cricket's internal problems couldn't get any worse, this happens; the obviously jaded and fed up Pakistan Cricket Board has come out and handed down punishments to 7 of its key players in the aftermath of the recently unsuccessful tour of Australia.
Of the 7 players in question, former captain Younis Khan and (until recently) current captain Mohammad Yousuf have been given what seems to be a life ban for representing their country after their infighting over the tour; Shahid "The Fang" Afridi and Kamran Akmal have both been fined 3 million rupees and been placed on a 6 month probationary period, Afridi for ball tampering and Kamran for stating in a press conference before the Hobart Test that he would be picked (he wasn't); Umar Akmal has also been placed on probation, but only fined 2 million rupees for feigning injury before the Hobart Test in protest of the treatment of his brother; and Rana Naved ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik have both been fined 2 million rupees and been suspended from the Pakistan national team for a year for undisclosed actions on tour.
The PCB has made this seemingly tough decision under the guise of it "arresting the continuing decline of Pakistan cricket and improving the state of cricket in Pakistan", which on the surface seems like quite a rational decision. But I don't think this move will do anything in the slightest to improve the landscape of Pakistan cricket.
First of all, despite taking action against senior players and seemingly having the best intentions, the PCB is still showing signs of double standards towards its superstars. Think really hard about the incidents that each player has been cited for. I think we're all in agreement that The Fang's imbecilic biting of the ball is the worst, and yet he cops one of the lighter punishments. Now contrast Afridi's actions with Younis Khan. Having seemingly retired from representing his country prior to the Australian tour, Younis was all but begged by the PCB to come out of retirement and add some much-needed respectability to the Pakistan side, something which he reluctantly agreed to. And now he's being made a major scapegoat for a tour he was not totally a part of. If anyone should be shouldering the blame for Younis, it is the PCB who asked him to return in the first place. All this stems from The Fang being the supposedly indispensable superstar, and Younis and now rival Mohammad Yousuf being the ageing players in the side. While this favouritism still exists in Pakistan cricket, none of this "continuing decline" will be arrested.
But perhaps the most important aspect of this PCB blunder is that they are distancing some of their most important players. Yousuf and Younis are Pakistan's best batsmen since the retirement of Inzamam ul-Haq, and Shoaib Malik is a former captain who's experience should not be taken lightly. Not only do these players bring some much needed experience to a fragile, underperforming batting lineup, but they add experience around which a successful Test side needs to build around.
And those were just the former captains. Rana Naved is Pakistan's most experienced and second-best bowler at the moment, while Kamran, Umar, and Afridi seem to be players around which the PCB seem to want to establish a player core, but who have now been publically humiliated and subsequently alienated by their country's cricket board.
Although it may seem like it, I am for no second suggesting that action was not necessary against some of these players. The Akmal brothers definitely deserved a wake up call, as did The Fang, while perhaps it should have been suggested to Mohammad Yousuf that captaincy maybe wasn't his gig, and Younis Khan would have been better served by being allowed to retire in peace.
But the lessons these players (some now former players) are about to learn after their public humiliation would not have been taught any worse had the PCB simply had a team meeting telling each of them to pull their heads in, with one-on-one meetings for the more serious incidents, during which were handed out fines, and, in Afridi's case, a suspension. The public nature of the punishments has and will only serve to alienate the players and breed animosity to the board, something that will not be confined to the players in question in this particular matter.
This was a terrible move by the PCB, and one which will only serve to dig even deeper the hole that is Pakistan cricket at the moment.
Of the 7 players in question, former captain Younis Khan and (until recently) current captain Mohammad Yousuf have been given what seems to be a life ban for representing their country after their infighting over the tour; Shahid "The Fang" Afridi and Kamran Akmal have both been fined 3 million rupees and been placed on a 6 month probationary period, Afridi for ball tampering and Kamran for stating in a press conference before the Hobart Test that he would be picked (he wasn't); Umar Akmal has also been placed on probation, but only fined 2 million rupees for feigning injury before the Hobart Test in protest of the treatment of his brother; and Rana Naved ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik have both been fined 2 million rupees and been suspended from the Pakistan national team for a year for undisclosed actions on tour.
The PCB has made this seemingly tough decision under the guise of it "arresting the continuing decline of Pakistan cricket and improving the state of cricket in Pakistan", which on the surface seems like quite a rational decision. But I don't think this move will do anything in the slightest to improve the landscape of Pakistan cricket.
First of all, despite taking action against senior players and seemingly having the best intentions, the PCB is still showing signs of double standards towards its superstars. Think really hard about the incidents that each player has been cited for. I think we're all in agreement that The Fang's imbecilic biting of the ball is the worst, and yet he cops one of the lighter punishments. Now contrast Afridi's actions with Younis Khan. Having seemingly retired from representing his country prior to the Australian tour, Younis was all but begged by the PCB to come out of retirement and add some much-needed respectability to the Pakistan side, something which he reluctantly agreed to. And now he's being made a major scapegoat for a tour he was not totally a part of. If anyone should be shouldering the blame for Younis, it is the PCB who asked him to return in the first place. All this stems from The Fang being the supposedly indispensable superstar, and Younis and now rival Mohammad Yousuf being the ageing players in the side. While this favouritism still exists in Pakistan cricket, none of this "continuing decline" will be arrested.
But perhaps the most important aspect of this PCB blunder is that they are distancing some of their most important players. Yousuf and Younis are Pakistan's best batsmen since the retirement of Inzamam ul-Haq, and Shoaib Malik is a former captain who's experience should not be taken lightly. Not only do these players bring some much needed experience to a fragile, underperforming batting lineup, but they add experience around which a successful Test side needs to build around.
And those were just the former captains. Rana Naved is Pakistan's most experienced and second-best bowler at the moment, while Kamran, Umar, and Afridi seem to be players around which the PCB seem to want to establish a player core, but who have now been publically humiliated and subsequently alienated by their country's cricket board.
Although it may seem like it, I am for no second suggesting that action was not necessary against some of these players. The Akmal brothers definitely deserved a wake up call, as did The Fang, while perhaps it should have been suggested to Mohammad Yousuf that captaincy maybe wasn't his gig, and Younis Khan would have been better served by being allowed to retire in peace.
But the lessons these players (some now former players) are about to learn after their public humiliation would not have been taught any worse had the PCB simply had a team meeting telling each of them to pull their heads in, with one-on-one meetings for the more serious incidents, during which were handed out fines, and, in Afridi's case, a suspension. The public nature of the punishments has and will only serve to alienate the players and breed animosity to the board, something that will not be confined to the players in question in this particular matter.
This was a terrible move by the PCB, and one which will only serve to dig even deeper the hole that is Pakistan cricket at the moment.
thats just stupid
KEEP IT COOMING
u shud not put such topics
