Not only is Pakistan in the hunt for a new-look team, it is also on the lookout for a new-attitude captain. The only question is, will Rashid Latif be able to deliver the goods?
RASHID Latif’s remarkable career took-off with the 1992 away series in England. However, it was his remarkable flight home from South Africa and the expose that all cricket was not being played for love of the game and country that really propelled him as a candid, no-nonsense man of principle.
Now leading the Pakistani team for the second time, Rashid Latif talks of his philosophy on leadership, motivation, team strategy and what makes the young men tick.
We started off with his notion of a good captain.
“The captain must be a father figure. It used to be like that a lot in the older days. In recent times we have examples of Allan Border and Hansie Cronje. (In fact) the best captain in world cricket, in my eyes, has been Hansie. Whenever he used to walk into the dressing room, every player would respectfully welcome him”.
He then adds his own view of successful leadership, “Whether a junior player or senior, the players should know that the captain is the full authority in bringing him into the team and keeping him out. Not because of personal bias but for a legitimate reason, because of his performance”. Rashid also adds that he will always discuss his recommendation either way with the rest of the team management.
“If he’s not giving 100 per cent in the field, he should know the captain can ask him to sit out the next game. A captain’s authority should be stronger than the coach and the selectors because the performance is in the ground and it can often mean the difference between victory and defeat. The player should know, for example in a one-day game, that his three and a half hours in the field can make or break him, depending on how much he listens to the captain.”
But what remains an essential responsibility of the captain toward his players?
“Every player is not a world class player. But it is the duty of the captain to get the best out of him. Similarly from the whole team”.
He cited the example from the recent Sharjah tournament. “Take Hafeez’ case. The boy played his first One-day game for Pakistan in Sharjah against Zimbabwe. Everyone was amazed that I gave him the ball ahead of Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria. The reason was that I feared he could be the weak link in our bowling. But then I knew that I had Shoaib and Danish.
“I therefore made sure that I took the pressure off him by bowling him early. In fact I transferred the pressure on my other two spinners, as I brought them on after five overs from Hafeez. And when Hafeez bowled so well, both the other spinners tried harder and also bowled well.”
However, Rashid stresses that it is important not to overplay the confidence card.
“In the next match against the stronger Sri Lankans, I kept him back and bowled Shoaib Malik first and he bowled superbly. You see, Malik had to know that if he didn’t perform well, there was Hafeez.”
He nevertheless is conscious of the limits of each individual. “If I feel a player is not capable of getting me 70 but is capable of 40, I will ensure that I get 40 runs out of him. I will never put him under pressure to do too much more than what he is capable of.”
Asked what every captain should avoid to gain the respect of his team, his absolute reply was, “Never drop his head in front of the players. He may come across insurmountable problems but the players must never know that he is under pressure. The captain must have a broad mind and a big heart.” Rashid believes fairness towards his country should be uppermost in the mind of the captain. Rashid insists that he will not give a free hand to anyone. He feels it will be a mistake if people think we have found the players we are looking for.
“From a captain’s point of view, the player I will agree to pick will be for Pakistan’s sake, not for mine. If I find a better player I will play him”.
So what makes him warm toward the newcomers?
“I will not be impressed with a fifty here and a fifty there. I will see what his attitude is on and off the ground. Can he give me hundred per cent? Is he listening to what the captain is saying? More important, is he applying it?
“I will judge by who follows instructions and who listens quickly and is willing to learn.”
However, there is a downside to it all.
“If some player is doing the opposite of what the captain is saying, or not being able to perform as desired...well, on the first mistake I will not say anything on the field or off it. On the second mistake I can try and make him understand. But on the third similar mistake he will have no place in the side.
“This is my philosophy that I have applied throughout my career as a captain for Karachi, UBL, ABL and for Pakistan previously. And I have found it successful always.”
But Rashid points out that his self confidence should never be taken for arrogance.
“The captain is never the sole thinker. I am not alone in my planning and strategizing. Whenever someone enters cricket, he always takes advice from those who brought him into the game. No one can suggest better than them. Of course they are those that have a sound head.” Like all leaders he has confidants that at times have nothing to do with active cricket. He gives his example when he entered the Karachi side. While travelling Pakistan he met many people who understood and analyzed the game shrewdly. “Whatever important decision has to be taken by me, I always seek their advice.”
He did the same when he was offered the captaincy. “I talked to my friends, who always remain in the background, and they told me that “Everything is possible. Just don’t be afraid of failure. If you become afraid of losing, there will be problems for you.””
No one can appreciate the value of this advice than the man who was such an intrinsic part of the recent World Cup side as he admits: “Indeed, the reason we lost in the world cup was that we were afraid of failure”.
Eventually he points out the team performed and we won. So is that a vital trait that every captain needs to have.
“Instinct” he responds without blinking an eye. “It’s the first thought, that first instinct that makes for success.”
The power of positive thinking also seems to be ingrained in him. “If you want to do something and five people say you won’t and five people say you will, you will only do it if you think you can”.
So how has this self-confidence developed for cricket? According to Rashid he found it early and he remembers having this approach since he was maybe six or seven years old. “I still haven’t made cricket my profession. I play it because it is my desire”.
His exposure to young cricketers while playing first class cricket following his self-exile from the international arena, helped him identify some cricketers for Sharjah that the new selection committee had not seen close up due to shortage of time.
Yet, despite this self knowledge of domestic cricketers he says that he proceeds, and will continue doing so in future, after taking advice from the rest of the team management and selectors and from PCB management wherever required.
“I cannot be hundred per cent right all the time. Javed bhai and Aamer bhai are senior players having played so much cricket. Life is about compromises. And I must think of Pakistan always,” he says pragmatically.
“I have been with Javed bhai since 1992 and have a learnt a lot from him. I have also learnt a lot from Basit Ali, who was a brainy cricketer. I am still learning from him,” he says frankly.
The topic turns to motivation, something that Richard Pybus and the PCB’s own analysts have said was lacking during the World Cup. What does Rashid intend to do about raising the passion level? He smiles as he points out that it has been a tradition in our cricket that as the team is assembling in the lobby or getting off the team bus there are cries of “C’mon, boys. C’mon. C’mon.”
“There has to be months of effort behind it. Most important, what has been the attitude of the captain; the communication with the players over a long period of time. That impacts on it a lot. If I am not available to meet a player in the hotel or in the nets, and I come to the bus and say “C’mon” without knowing what his current compulsions are, what personal problems he is going through then he may perform for me short term but not long term.”
He believes that to motivate the team, the captain must know about the personal problems of the players and what difficulties he is passing through. “There have been tours where the captain has not known about personal problems that some players have carried. It is the duty of every captain to have ears out for such a situation.”
The Pakistan team has mostly been a case study for conflict management. Despite denials from every player, there have been rumblings of dissent, or at least misgivings, in some members of the side. Does Rashid feel it should be the captain’s job to step in and resolve?
“The captain’s role is paramount,” confirms Rashid. “This is especially if there is a takrar between a junior and senior player. This should never be allowed to linger on. Because if the upper management steps in, it might get more complicated. The captain knows everyone closely and is linked to them like a father. He can help thrash out the issue. You have to sit down and talk with them, maybe one-to-one.
“If there is a joke that any one player does not like, then I ensure that no one mentions it,” says Rashid. Once again he says that the rule-breaker may be cautioned twice but third time he’ll pay with his place in the side.
“If we keep forgiving you’ll never form a team. In our tradition we don’t normally punish players. But we’ll have to bring this in.”
But he again says that whatever is the sentence it must be through the management.
Some captains, worried that confronting a junior player would scare him, sometimes indirectly direct the new entrant through another senior player. But Rashid feels this is the wrong approach.
“The mistake that Waqar made (meaning no harm to anyone) by keeping me in the front with the juniors with whom I always had a warm relationship, I will not repeat. You see, I’ve spent a lot of time with the juniors. Sometimes the seniors get worried that I may make them too independent minded. But the thing is that cricket is a profession to all of us. They’re also earning from the game and so are the top players.” He goes on to emphasise that respect has its own place but everyone is equal. “All are playing for Pakistan. Therefore it should be my responsibility, and I will never delegate it, that one player is attended to by me and another by someone else. All 14 players, in fact the entire management, mean the same to me.”
He admits that all players have to be handled differently but all must know what the captain’s plan is, especially in selection. He gives the example of one game in Sharjah, where Younis Khan and Abdul Razzaq, sat out the match. “I can guarantee you no captain would have made such players together sit out any game. But the thing is, they know my nature and trusted me when I communicated that all players have to be tried out in this tournament. You see, it would have been very easy for me to play an unchanged eleven and be assured of a win. But this is a matter of rebuilding for Pakistan. We need to groom backups for our top performers.”
Rashid also feels there has to be togetherness off the field also. He does so by ensuring two hour practice sessions and that the boys train for upto five hours. He is trying along with the coach and manager to instil the realization that their job is to play cricket. There is not necessarily a hard session but the team management gets everyone together for an hour just to discuss each other’s problem area.
“The more a player spends time on the field, the more he understands cricket,” he points out.
Just how much he is willing to learn from everywhere can be gauged when he answers to the question as to what instance or player has made a lasting impact on him and inspired him to try harder.
“Kenya’s spirit in their match against Sri Lanka,” points out Rashid. “You pick up the video of that game and see them fielding and celebrating after each wicket. Going to Sharjah it was the Kenyan fielding and spirit that I felt we should aim for. I told the boys that if Kenya can do it we are a far better team.”
Rashid also feels there are team gestures that they should bring back. He points to the circle the Indian team made and says that Pakistan started the tradition.
Similarly he points out that every time a Pakistani bowler took a wicket he would put his arms around the fielders. He sees Australia doing that since the last two or three years and didn’t do that before. He feels piqued that other teams have adopted what they started and they themselves later became casual about it.
So what was it that did not allow our team to become a family, to bond like brothers?
“It is our fault. It’s the players’ fault. Because we did not give room to others”.
With a fair amount of reflection he says that everyone makes mistakes and he will try that such mistakes are not repeated. “We must develop reserves,” he insists.
So what is it that a new player into the side must do to get the captain’s eye?
“When he is selected in the fifteen he must make himself look different. He must try 10 per cent harder in the field when he comes out as a substitute. When the captain sees a boy trying harder, his sympathies will automatically go to him.”
And what, in his opinion, does the new inductee expect from a captain?
“He wants reward for the hard work he is doing. Whenever he is trying he will look at the captain and nowhere else. And the captain must be able to read what he wants from him. He does not always want immediate inclusion. All he wants is for the captain to be honest with him. To tell him when he is likely to get a chance and to be ready for that.
“And when the time comes, no matter how problematic it is for the captain, he must give him that promised chance. He must have faith in the captain’s words.”
And if anyone can bring back the faith, it seems to be this man. But for that to happen the PCB must continue putting faith in him.
Not only is Pakistan in the hunt for a new-look team, it is also on the lookout for a new-attitude captain. The only question is, will Rashid Latif be able to deliver the goods? 
