Yousuf’s feats, Shoaib-Asif exoneration — the two faces of Pakistan cricket

Rarely has an entire series been revolved so much around the actions of one individual. There have been contests that have been shaped by the performance of a batsman or bowler but never has one man’s every stroke carried with it such possibilities. Mohammad Yousuf’s multi-record breaking year has come to an end, but the series against the West Indies was defined by his bat and will be remembered not for the result, but for his accomplishments alone. His tally of 1788 runs, nine centuries and six hundreds in five matches says it all but there is still much to be written, debated, and decided about a man who was once considered no more than a flat-track bully.

Tony Greig has placed him among the top five batsmen of all time by applying a formula that shows Yousuf’s conversion rate is behind only Donald Bradman, George Headley, Clyde Walcott and Herbert Sutcliffe. Ian Bishop, on the other hand, argues that his achievement is not as great as Viv Richards because of the standard of modern bowling. If Yousuf keeps up his current form, however, history will side with Greig because cricket history is defined by numbers. Despite the achievement, Yousuf’s record also seems to have spurred on the Pakistan batting. The openers – Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hazeef – were both amongst the runs and Inzamam found his touch in the last Test. Pakistan’s batting woes seem to be disappearing, although this happened on many a previous occasion. But as long as the middle order is firing, the inadequacies of the others can be masked. In the one-day games, short cameos from the likes of Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi have long seen Pakistan march from one victory to the next.

After the drugs ban slapped on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, it was the death of the bowling attack that the entire country was mourning. Umar Gul has been a diamond amongst the rough these past few months but his back-up has been decidedly mediocre. That is a thing of the past now. Shoaib and Asif have been cleared and for those exclusively concerned with the fortunes of the Pakistan cricket team, there could have been no news more welcome. And while this will certainly return the team to the favourite’s column at the World Cup in March, it will also tarnish the image of cricket and Pakistan cricket in particular for many years to come.

There can be no greater sight than to finally watch Shoaib, Asif and Gul bowling together. This will possibly be the second strongest bowling attack Pakistan has ever possessed after the halcyon days of Wasim, Waqar and Aaqib. But at what cost are the team’s fortunes being revitalised? There will be much mockery accompanying the decision to acquit the two, and the PCB deserves every word. Not only has the board neglected taking care of the players by providing them adequate information about what supplements and medication can be taken but they have shirked all responsibility for this as well. Then, in an effort to appear over-efficient, they set up a shoddy tribunal to hand out a speedy verdict without considering the fact that two individuals’ careers were on the line. And now, after tarnishing their reputations forever, the PCB has acquitted them by conducting an equally suspect trial and investigation.

Certainly, this entire process has proven nothing except the PCBs incompetence. Shoaib and Asif have not been proven innocent and until Danish Zaheer’s, the dissenting adjudicator, recommendations are considered, they will remain guilty in the eyes of the world. But the PCB would not want that to happen, for if the duo are innocent, then only the board’s ineptness will be exposed. Arif Abbasi has long said that ad hocism is the greatest enemy of Pakistan cricket. In the past few months, his words have been as pertinent as ever. Until the cricket board accepts responsibility for its actions and has to provide answers for its deeds, player reputations will continue to be tarnished and records such as Mohammad Yousuf’s will be overshadowed by controversy.