WITH Pakistan winning its match against Sri Lanka quite convincingly, it is indeed politically incorrect to talk of the team not doing too well. With the authorities even praising the team to the proverbial skies even after miserable losses, I can imagine what the scene would be like after the win.
I read with great interest the recent complaint of Inzamamul Haq about the general criticism of the team and the team management not being constructive. Frankly, I am at a loss to understand what is so unconstructive about the phenomenon. The team, for sure, is not performing well, and to say it in public does not entail anything negative. If the PCB and the team management try to make much of meaningless victories over the likes of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the fault lies with them.
In his defence, Inzamam, otherwise quite a rational self, cited the public comments about Shoaib Malik being used as a one-down player, insisting that regardless of what people say, the team would continue to use him in that role. Ironically, the very day on which his comments were carried by the newspapers, Shoaib Malik was being played at No. 4. In fact, I was reading his comments just when Shoaib Malik was batting against Zimbabwe.
I don’t want to suggest that the captain and the coach may not be sharing thoughts on such issues, but matters were not much helped by the comments made by Bob Woolmer the very next day when he said he had never meant that Shoaib Malik was the final choice for the one-down slot. This malaise of indulging in unnecessary cross-talk in public is pretty chronic in PCB headquarters. Equally chronic is the tendency to cry foul every time someone points out such contradictions. The irony is that instead of being different, Woolmer is turning out to be more of the same.
I have repeatedly pointed out the PCB folly of experimenting on the international stage. The coach, who has a huge burden of reputation on his shoulders, however, thinks otherwise, emphasising recently the virtues of being unpredictable. The PCB would do well to recall that it is exactly the attribute — being unpredictable — that it wants to get rid of, and has hired Woolmer to do the job for it. Now if the coach wants the team to be unpredictable, where does it leave the PCB bosses?
The fact is that the coach is coining various terms and phrases to cover up the team’s failure to remain as inconsistent as it was before his grand arrival on the scene. He has now come up with the sublime idea of trying out fresh faces in the lineup, which is nothing but a tool to earn some more time. The international stage is not the right place to inject fresh, unscreened blood. Yes, teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have to do that because they do not have an option, but it is not something that is very popular with major sides, and for good reason. An international career should be the culmination, and not the start, of one’s dreams. The coach, however, thinks otherwise.
Exposure to the domestic circuit and engagements with junior strings are the two ways to make progress towards donning the national colours. Woolmer has made much of his inability to spend time with players on the domestic scene, and has repeatedly cited it as one of the reasons he has to experiment with the national side. To put things in perspective, it might be pointed out to him that, first, he should let the selectors do the job, and, second, it is not a coach’s assignment to go on a talent-hunting spree. It is, again, part of the selectors’ profile.
And, lastly, Woolmer is a product of a system that puts much stress on the players coming through the grind. In contrast, teams like Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka are known for plucking out talented individuals and throwing them at the deep end. Woolmer does not have the eye to pick up a talent like, say, Wasim Akram. It is a Pakistani specialty. Woolmer’s strong point has been the introduction of professionalism and stability in a side. He has already done away with the stability part by highlighting the virtues of being unpredictable. Let’s keep an eye on the other half of the equation.
WITH Pakistan winning its match against Sri Lanka quite convincingly, it is indeed politically incorrect to talk of the team not doing too well. With the authorities even praising the team to the proverbial skies even after miserable losses, I can imagine what the scene would be like after the win.
