At this precise moment in the ICC Cricket World Cup no one doubts the abilities of the dark horse of the tournament, the Pakistani team. The team has demonstrated their capability and prowess quite clearly in their win against Sri Lanka. They have beaten one of the hosts of this World Cup in front of a packed crowd, on their own turf.
Now since our captain has made it clear after the match that this is everyone’s team, I feel that as a nation, we need to give him a few suggestions.
First of all, anyone who watched the Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka match, one member of the team clearly stood out, and not because of his skills. He was responsible for most of the mishaps on the field that day; from the comical run out to the missed stumpings and the dropped catch – one Akmal was always in the equation and it wasn’t the one named Umar.
See, it is quite simple – with the Sri Lankan top order removed at 96/4 in a 277-run chase they should not have been able to get as close to the target as they did towards the end of their innings. They could have done what England did to India (had to mention it!). For that to happen, our team needs to be quicker and faster in the field, with no excuses for shoddy fielding. Yes, Shoaib Akthar was brilliant in bursts and yes, you our captain, rocked the ground with your bowling but it was not totally our hard work that won us the match, it was more a combination of chance and circumstance. Thus we need to remove the chief bungler, Kamran Akmal – trust me, the team will be better off without him!
In this match, Abdul Razzaq, who has the ability to knock any team out of the match with his cudgel of a bat, only faced four balls in the Pakistan innings. Now I understand that this was due to the fact that Misbah-ul Haq and Younis Khan had to pull a Miandad-esque effort to repair our innings – which I might add, they did to perfection –but Razzaq should have come onto the field sooner than later. In fact, here is an idea: since Misbah has picked up a hamstring strain (I have chewed all my nails off while watching him play with an injury), why don’t we let him rest for the next match that is against Canada and have Razzaq play in his position? Imagine what he will do to the team from the Great White North.
Thirdly there is one talented bowler in our dressing room called Junaid Khan. Obviously the match against Sri Lanka demanded the senior, experienced players. However, Umar Gul has yet to show us his magic, so why don’t we give Junaid a chance? Maybe Shoaib Akhtar can pass on some tips (cricketing one’s, please) to the younger talent as they bowl side by side? We will need someone in the future to lead the bowling attack.
Last but not the least, Lala we call you ‘Boom Boom’ for a reason, and if you are wondering why the crowd goes crazy when you walk out on the field, it is in expectancy of what is to happen. So can you make it happen, preferably in all the matches, including the Semis and the Final? Please?
Faisal Kapadia is a Karachi-based entrepreneur and writer. He blogs at Deadpan Thoughts.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
