I HAVE often in the past talked about the rather irritating tendency of Pakistan Cricket Board officials to think in public, plan in public, and, of course, wash their dirty linen in public. I find it irritating, to say the least. Regardless of the many pros and cons of hiring a foreign coach, I hoped that at least one key official in the setup would exercise better judgment and keep his thoughts to himself, that he would allow results on the field to speak on his behalf, that he would set an example for others to follow. Unfortunately, Bob Woolmer’s recent remarks that made headlines in the print media suggest that he has decided to follow the example set by the others rather than it being the other way round.
He called Pakistan a “sleeping giant” that, in his assessment, would wake up and start delivering in six months. Setting deadlines in the mind and on the drawing board are understandable. In fact, that is one element that keeps any professional motivated. But doing the same in public makes it a hazardous exercise, and falls in the realm of making not just tall but unnecessary claims.
This is not to suggest that I doubt the claim itself. Far from it. I know that Woolmer has the right credentials to make an impact. In fact, I wish him well and hope that he would turn the tide in less than six months, but I certainly have a problem with people speaking their minds out when they don’t have to. If, for whatever reasons, he fails to meet the deadline, it would be a self-inflicted wound for Woolmer, and would do no good to the confidence of the players and, indeed, the followers.
For someone who has been an international player himself and with the kind of exposure he had with the South Africans, Woolmer should have known the basic fact that cricket is a fragile game where much more than technical skill is required to be a winning outfit. For instance, temperament, discipline, appetite, self-motivation, and so on. The team struggles on all these counts.
Whether current Pakistani cricketers happen to be sleeping giants, as Woolmer has described them, or erratic souls, as their track record suggests, is something that should have been left for the scoreline to decide. Even if they are sleeping giants, I am afraid they have been sleeping for far too long to be spoken about with such a degree of confidence that has been the hallmark of Woolmer’s claim.
The way forward, according to Woolmer, involves giving confidence to the players. “Pakistan possesses good batsmen and bowlers, and they only need confidence,” he has been quoted as saying. I find it a bit funny. The level of confidence in any team is directly proportional to the results it achieves on the field. Confidence comes from positive scorelines and by way of displaying grit, courage and determination even in the face of a loss. If the results start coming in, confidence will naturally follow. Training camp confidence counts for little when it comes to crunch time on the international stage.
Frankly, it is a tricky equation. You cannot win if you are not confident about your abilities; and, at the same time, confidence does not come till you actually start winning. It is not as easy to manage the equation as has been described by Woolmer.
The task would be even harder in the face of almost daily reports of tussle and foul exchanges between captain Inzamamul Haq and Shoaib Akhtar ever since the latter joined the camp. I am really keeping my fingers crossed.
I HAVE often in the past talked about the rather irritating tendency of Pakistan Cricket Board officials to think in public, plan in public, and, of course, wash their dirty linen in public. I find it irritating, to say the least. Regardless of the many pros and cons of hiring a foreign coach, I hoped that at least one key official in the setup would exercise better judgment and keep his thoughts to himself, that he would allow results on the field to speak on his behalf, that he would set an example for others to follow. Unfortunately, Bob Woolmer’s recent remarks that made headlines in the print media suggest that he has decided to follow the example set by the others rather than it being the other way round.
