For almost a year, since they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in an away Test series, it’s been nothing but an unending series of defeats that have come Pakistan’s way
Agha Akbar21-May-2001For almost a year, since they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in an away Test series, it’s been nothing but an unending series of defeats that have come Pakistan’s way. The latest in this series was their second successive setback by an innings margin, after the recent debacle at Hamilton in New Zealand.And as a result Pakistan, at the top of the Test ratings in 1997, has been relegated to almost the bottom of the table, only ahead of the flyweights Zimbabwe and babes Bangladesh.True, the Pakistan cricket team is notorious for its unpredictability – winning against all odds and slumping to defeat when it was considered a favourite to walk away with honours. No longer so. Now it is quite predictable – it would lose, regardless of venue or opposition. Against England at home, it would post 400-plus in the first innings at Karachi and then contrive to somehow lose the Test. It would beat New Zealand in the first Test – with all its main batsmen scoring centuries and in the one that follows, only to stumble for a little over 100 runs in both outings, to lose by an innings and 200 runs. They’d overcome Sri Lanka, not once but twice in the league at Sharjah, and when it matters most, in the final, quite inexplicably capitulate.It seems that the Pakistani cricketers, universally hailed as a most talented lot, have totally forgotten how to win!And at Lord’s, the tour selection committee for its part had dealt Pakistan a mortal blow by excluding Saqlain Mushtaq from the playing XI. And they cannot even offer the excuse of reading the wicket wrong, for Saqlain is a match-winner on any surface. On a wicket, which was totally shorn of grass, leaving him out was nothing short of criminal.Then having won the toss and putting England in, the Pakistani bowlers consistently bowled an atrocious short length. All of them but Azhar Mahmood, and he was the most successful with 4 for 50 in the only England innings. That length did not allow any deviation of the ball, and the England batsmen capitalised on it. It seemed as if Wasim and Waqar had forgotten the fundamentals of pace and swing bowling, and looked total novices. It was uninspiring stuff from these two champion bowlers who between them have an unprecedented 1,500 international wickets.The fielding was its own sorry tale, but the worst was yet to come: The Batting. The Pakistani batsmen, it seemed, had assumed the duty of providing catching practice to the England fielders behind the stumps. It can be argued that Pakistan may not have been condemned to an innings defeat had they not been victim of two rather questionable umpiring decisions by Peter Willey, which accounted for Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, the former genuinely trying to come to grips with the situation and the latter in sparkling form. Not that these would have changed the final outcome much, the way the batsmen were playing.The fact is that the three most experienced of our batsmen, Saeed, Inzamam and Yousuf, were all guilty of gifting their wickets away. Of these three, Anwar and Youhana were the worst culprits. Youhana by now is senior enough to remove serious chinks in his technique – shuffling across and falling on the off side while essaying shots to the on side. And, by the way, does anybody remember when was the last time Anwar played a significant innings in a big match? At Lord’s, this was his third dismissal in identical fashion, if you include the `99 World Cup final – hanging his bat outside the off-stump and leaving the rest to fate. And fate is never kind to people who refuse to learn from their mistakes!Reviewing the home scene, other than a spending binge on improvement of facilities, launching of various academies (the latest buzz word across the cricketing world, following the success of the Aussies and a keenness to ape their ways) coupled with almost total `militarisation’ of Cricket Board, the Chairman Gen Tauqir Zia has precious little to show in terms of success on the field.In the last nine years, in what can be called as the post-Imran Khan era, Pakistan cricket has seen many a controversy and quite a few reverses. But none matches the current and persisting inability to win. Previously too it used to lose, but it used to bounce back quickly to redeem its prestige. At the expense of sounding repetitive, one has to mention that this no longer is the case. And when failure persists in the manner that it has in Pakistan cricket, and then it cannot be passed off with such clichés as reverses being part of the game. Because, it certainly reflects a far deeper malaise.Perhaps there is something wrong in the way the Board is being run, and nothing reflects it more than the statement of the PCB Chairman, that he was “helpless against the seniors” in the Pakistan squad. Talking to journalists in Peshawar the other day, he said: “I can write a book about the wrongdoings of each and every player… No doubt that senior players like Wasim Akram are violating the discipline and do not follow the prescribed rules but at the moment the Board has no other option”.Kowtowing to prima donnas has yielded Pakistan cricket nothing but debacles and opprobrium. And the Generals candid admission that he can do nothing about it should be taken as enough proof of his inability to lead Pakistan cricket out of this mess. No wonder, Pakistan’s success rate under him is as low as it is.Chronology of defeats under the present Board:
1999-2000: World Series Cup in Australia – Pakistan ends up second behind the hosts 1999-2000: At home against Sri Lanka – Pakistan was blanked out in one-day series 3-0 1999-2000: Pakistan loses the Test rubber 2-1 to Sri Lanka 1999-2000: In the West Indies, Pakistan loses the three-Test series 1-0 2000-01: Ends up third in a three-nation event in Sri Lanka, involving hosts and South Africa 2000: Loses a three-way one-day tournament at Singapore 2000: Loses in the semi-final against New Zealand of the ICC knock-out tournament at Nairobi 2000-01: Loses a Test series at home, its first in about four decades, against England 1-0 2000-01:Loses the one-day series in New Zealand 3-2 2000-01: The three-match Test series against the Black Caps is drawn 1-1 after Pakistan is beaten by an innings in the third Test 2000-01: Defeat in the final of the three-nation ARY Gold Cup against Sri Lanka 2001: First Test of the two-match rubber is lost at Lord’s by an innings and 9 runs – the first loss by an innings margin against England since 1978 and the second successive one by Pakistan….and successes:
1999-2000: Pakistan wins the three-nation one-day tournament in Sharjah in April 1999-2000: Pakistan wins the three-nation one-day tournament in the West Indies – their first victory in one-dayers in the Caribbean 1999-2000: Pakistan triumphs in the Asia Cup – its first continental trophy in seven attempts 2000-01: Pakistan wins the away Test series in Sri Lanka 2-0 2000-01: Pakistan beats England 2-1 in the one-day series at home