WHILE there can be little doubt that Pakistan would register a much better performance in the second Test owing to the return of captain Inzamamul Haq to the fold, what happened in the first Test must have been a great dampener to the spirits of the followers of Pakistan Cricket. To have lost a Test match by such a huge margin as was the case at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, and that too against a side as weak as the present West Indian outfit, was certainly embarrassing.
That Inzamam would be missing was known even before the tour had started. As such, there was sufficient time for the boys to prepare mentally for the task ahead. It is somewhat disappointing that the youngsters in the unit, specially Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Bazid Khan and Asim Kamal, could not make the most of this opportunity to cement their place in the side. Not that the seniors like Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq were any better, but at least they were able to put some runs against their names. In fact, Afridi was able to hit his way to a merry-making century, which would have done his own confidence some good, but by then the team’s cause had already been dented beyond repair.
There were times when anyone overcoming the initial jitters, which means a score of around 20-25 runs, was generally expected to go on and capitalize on the initial hard work. With an overdoze of One Day cricket and the mental incapacity of the players to plan and execute a long innings, things have gone the wrong way. Watching youngsters play, it appears that they take a score of 25 runs as not the beginning of a long innings but rather as a quarter century! If things continue on this plank, I won’t be surprised if some day a Pakistani batsman is seen raising his bat and acknowledging the crowd after having scored a wonderful quarter century.
Inzamam’s return to the fold will restore a certain level of sanity and spine to the team, and their will hopefully be a much improved performance by all and sundry, but the team management and the Pakistan Cricket Board need to work on the mental side of the young players. When the opportunity comes their way, they need to be mentally fit to grab it, which is not the case right now.
Before I sign off for the day, just a quick word about the Fazal Mahmood, the cricketing legend who died recently in Lahore. While everyone knew about his great bowling skills, it is a pity that successive PCB administrations preferred not to make proper and extended use of his experience. Cricketing administrations around the world go out of their way to utilize the experience of former players in one way or the other, but PCB is an unfortunate exception, and the trend continues even today. It is rather sad, because players like Fazal Mahmood don’t come along every day. They are a rarity and it is in the national interest to involve them in professional activities to groom the country’s future. Fazal is no more, but if his death could jolt the PCB into re-thinking its approach, it would be a fitting tribute to his achievements.
On a personal note, I also lost a friend recently who was a great cricket follower. Sunil Dutt, a known name and face to cinegoers across the subcontinent, was one of the most genial souls I ever came across in my years and years of globetrotting. I met him last only recently during Pakistan team’s tour to India, and he was his smiling self even as he cooked the traditional karhahi gosht for me and a few others at his home. The news of his death came as a rude reminder of man’s inevitable journey to eternity.
WHILE there can be little doubt that Pakistan would register a much better performance in the second Test owing to the return of captain Inzamamul Haq to the fold, what happened in the first Test must have been a great dampener to the spirits of the followers of Pakistan Cricket. To have lost a Test match by such a huge margin as was the case at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, and that too against a side as weak as the present West Indian outfit, was certainly embarrassing.
Inzamam’s return to the fold will restore a certain level of sanity and spine to the team, and their will hopefully be a much improved performance by all and sundry, but the team management and the Pakistan Cricket Board need to work on the mental side of the young players. When the opportunity comes their way, they need to be mentally fit to grab it, which is not the case right now.
