Intikhab, the duffer, has been called out, and I agree:
How we lost the Sydney Test (and 4 on the tour with one saved by rain) is now becoming apparent. It is said that truth always reveals itself through the very same people who are trying to hide it or remain unaware of it.
And so it has proved this time.What could we expect in terms of motivating the team when after the second Test match Intikhab Alam publically berated Danish Kaneria in the media: ‘He (Danish) has taken 250 wickets but he still can’t read a situation accurately and bowl accordingly’.
One Pakistani correspondent there claimed that he had also said that the experienced player lacks what it takes to be a great bowler.
This is not the sign of a professional coach, that he deflates the respect of his main strike bowler before the start of the third Test. Can this man look Akmal brothers in the face and say ‘young man, you shouldn’t be taking on the PCB in Australian media.’
Look how Marcus North has been shielded through the series where he averaged 10.25, showed lack of technique and a couple of times played horrible shots to get out. Ponting defended him in the media after the second Test and said not a whisper when he failed again in Hobart.
I had said enough on Inti in my last column but feel that he has been too unfair to Danish. If I don’t put some facts on the table I would be doing Danish no justice. If I have found Inti to be amiable and caring and a true gentlemen in every sense, well then I’ve found Danish the same as well.
The tables 1 and 2 in this column say everything about whether Intikhab can afford to talk the way he has against Kaneria. It lists all the recognised leg spinners that have played over the last 50 years at the start of which Intikhab made his Test debut.
I have placed both tables in the order of the best strike rates. This is because leg spinners are the attacking option of every side and how quickly they take wickets is what matters. And if other indicators are required, Inti comes in last by quite a margin especially to Danish.
Further, in the two decades in which Intikhab played, the pitches were uncovered and Pakistani umpires stood at home if someone points out that there were no neutral umpires in England and Australia.
Intikhab had the fortune to play alongside the best cricketers of the world when he played country cricket through these two decades. Imagine the opportunities to learn and hone your skills.
When Danish entered county cricket, the restrictions are one foreign player per match and the best of the world don’t need the money to play in the summers.
Danish has also played his 5 Tests in Australia with other bowlers making their debuts on Australian soil, if not in a Test, whereas Intikhab had support from experienced players like Saeed Ahmed, Mushtaq Mohammad, Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan and Wasim Bari on the 1972-73 tour.
When he toured Australia in 1964-65 his captain was the astute Hanif Mohammad while on the 1972-73 tour he was the captain himself. While Hanif was a master of tactical field placing, he was free to do what he wanted in 1972-73.
Danish played under Yousuf through 4 of his 5 Tests in Australia. Intikhab had Bari as a wicketkeeper; Danish has had Kamran Akmal. Nothing more needs to be said.
Yet the record of Danish is outstanding when compared to other Pakistani leg spinners who have toured Australia. And these include Abdul Qadir, rated arguably the best spinner in the world in his days.
To move on, the practice of blaming domestic cricket inadequacies, the flat pitches in Pakistan and the lack of grooming is an excuse that has outrun its life.
For that matter it was never an excuse. Imran Khan would lament these problems in the early 1980s and in that decade we reached the semi-finals of the World Cup twice, beat England 1-0 in England and beat India 1-0 in India, the first time any Pakistan team has beaten them at home, and that too without losing a Test in the series.
In the 1990s we rose to the top of the world with victories in the 1992 World cup and the final of the 1999 world cup, successive series wins in England in 1992 and ‘96, and beating India 2-1 in India.
So where were the inadequacies at that time, Inti? And you were always the manager in the1980s.
It’s sad they have no shame in disparaging our cricket in another country for the selfish reason of draw a veil over your own lack of coaching and strategic skills?
Why we dropped crucial catches is because we didn’t do justice with our Test match wicketkeeper options. And it’s not that fielding is just about taking catches. It’s about positioning your players. If the strategy was to get Ponting to hook again, then the best fielder should have been out there like Shoaib Malik.
When Watson was dropped on 99 it was not Rauf’s fault. The man had never fielded in what is the most difficult position in cricket. It’s his first Test.
Just because he was in the neighborhood at third man he was called up. It shows the lethargy in thinking. Malik or Butt should have been put there.
He talks of a 15 day camp. So the world is told that the reason we can’t catch is that we don’t practice for 15 consecutive days. The man has been knocking up balls for 27 years and he calls it fielding drills. If the fielding is to be blamed, then he should also mention that if he has been Pakistan’s coach for almost a year, just who is accountable?
If cricketers can be fined for speaking against the PCB, should not our coach and captain be banned for speaking against our country on foreign soil in official capacities?
This is not coaching, this is abandonment. Our domestic set up can be improved; such escapism cannot.
DAWN.COM | Sport | Coach Intikhab needs a lesson in decency, stats
