AND so, the worst fears did materialize, with the series-deciding third match coming to an end midway on the fourth day, with Pakistanis showing no inclination to prolong the misery. I heard my friend Sunil Gavaskar saying on the television that the Pakistanis were more interested than the Indians in an early finish. I find no reason to disagree with him.
Since the discussion on the way the series unfolded has been done to death, there is little for me to add. I will touch a few things quickly before moving on. First, it was amazing that for such a key match, the Pakistanis had a single-track strategy the focal point of which, it appeared, was the winning of toss! For them, a Shoaib Akhtar burst on the first day was the sole plan. The moment they lost the toss, they lost the match in their head. There was no alternative plan. None was visible at least.
Let me share an amazing piece of statistics with you. Rahul Dravid faced 495 balls during his innings, an equivalent of 82.5 overs. None of the Pakistani innings in Rawalpindi lasted that much — 72.5 in the first; and 54 in the second. There is more to it. Dravid spent 740 minutes, or 12.3 hours at the crease. The two Pakistani innings together lasted 577 minutes, or 9.6 hours. It was the resolve, skill and grit of an individual that beat an entire team. Pakistanis just did not have the mental energy to stand in the face of relentless pressure exerted by the Indian outfit. It was as simple as that.
My only regret about the series is that while cricket was tense and sometime thrilling, the quality of games was not as high as one expected it to be, with all the games ending with sessions to spare. The number of overs bowled in the entire Test series was a paltry 963, which means just 10.7 days of cricket, out of a possible 15. This sure is not a sign of a series contested intensely.
In the wake of the disaster that this has been for Pakistan Cricket, there have been two distinct reactions coming out from the official quarters. I totally agree with the approach adopted by PCB Chairman Shahrayar Khan, who has said all the right things, like making no large-scale changes in the setup, retaining Inzamam as the captain, visiting Asim Kamal’s residence to acknowledge and appreciate his grit and resolve, and hitting the nail on its head by conceding that the basic problem was with the team’s mental toughness and not with the skill level.
In contrast, CEO Ramiz Raja has been his usual self, juggling his various hats. To him, any criticism of the team’s pathetic display is ‘negative’, while he himself continues to share everything that is being said about the team, especially about the likes of Shoaib and Yousuf Youhanna. It is obvious that when he speaks to the media, he says what any CEO would say, but when he writes for a largely Indian audience, he becomes an ‘independent’ individual, which he is not. In the process, he fails to realize that a criticism coming from truly independent sources never hurts anyone. If anything, it eggs individuals on to do better. It is the criticism from within, specially when it is done in full public view, that hurts and have negative implications. A captain calling his bowlers less than world class, a CEO criticizing the captain’s strategy, a coach blaming the players for not keeping themselves fit; these are all an easy recipe for dressing-room disaster.
While large-scale changes in the setup will surely work against the interest of Pakistan cricket, something must be done to set the atmosphere right within the system and if that involves showing the door to someone, so be it.
