"Defensive mindset snatches defeat from jaws of victory" - Imran Khan

[Antumul_alona]

Re: “Defensive mindset snatches defeat from jaws of victory” - Imran Khan

@GoldenAsif

I have had two premonitions about Pakistan’s World Cup 2007 campaign. One, that the squad was perhaps the worst prepared ever for a World Cup. Second, that Inzamam-ul-Haq was too defensive a captain to lead Pakistan to victory.
Both these points stood out as Pakistan was given a thumping by a not-too-strong West Indies in the World Cup opener. For Pakistan, it was a glorious opportunity to start the World Cup on a winning note. But Inzamam kept making those fatal mistakes that has brought our fall so many times in the recent past. He again batted himself low down the order, used his bowlers in a manner that left a lot to be desired and generally was so slow on the uptake that he failed to cash in on the opportunities that presented themselves.
Back home Inzamam had said that he would bat up the order, but here again he stuck to his number five position. The question that I have repeatedly asked is, for how long is Inzi going to lead from the rear? With three wickets gone and not many runs on the board and the pressure of a chase pinning his back to the wall, how many times can he save the side in a rearguard? This tactic may occasionally succeed, but you do not get out of such situations every other day.Then there are selection issues. The combinations that we are using are not appropriate. Take the case of Imran Nazir. He is clearly not equipped to be an opener, for he does not have the temperament or the strokes to negotiate the new ball, especially when it is wobbling around at good pace. This exactly was the reason why Shahid Afridi was pushed down the order. So why are we indulging in an experiment that has already been tried and turned out to be a failure.
And we have a world class batsman who happens to be the captain and who insists at coming at five when either others had done the hard work or to the team’s chagrin already perished.Almost similar was the case with bowling combinations, not to mention the timing and manner in which the bowlers were used.
Mohammad Sami, one of the fastest in the world and who had bowled so well in the practice games, was consigned to the bench. So was the all-rounder Azhar Mahmood. Rana Naveed was preferred over them. Naveed does not have Sami’s pace to trouble the batsmen on the Caribbean wickets and his recent form has been quite poor. In the crucial slog overs, it baffles me that while one over of our best bowler Umar Gul’s was not consumed, Naveed was brought on. He was hit all over the park as West Indies scored 57 in the last five overs.
Though vital catches were missed, yet Pakistan got three wickets for 70-odd. That was the time when Inzamam should have applied the pressure. Instead neither Umar Gul nor Danish Kaneria - who kept out from the limited-overs cricket clearly looked rusty - were used in an attacking manner. As a result, Brian Lara and Marlon Samuels prospered in a 91-run stand that made the chase that much difficult before Dwayne Smith ensured a strong finish.The champion teams do not allow opposition to get away with once they have the sniff; their captains have the instinct to go for the kill. Sadly, at such occasions, Inzamam goes into a shell and we end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. After this rather timid display, if Pakistan still harbours hope of making it to the semis, the captaincy would have to be spot on and our first choices in both batting and bowling far better. It is clear that Younis Khan - despite the utterly reckless manner in which he threw his wicket away - and Mohammad Hafeez are our best bets as openers with Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam following them in the order.
In bowling, instead of denting Sami’s confidence, Pakistan would need to back him to the hilt and use Kaneria as an offensive weapon - like we used to with Abdul Qadir in the 1970s and Australians with Shane Warne until recently - and not merely to stop the flow of runs in the middle overs. The task would still be uphill, for we would be carrying two points less to the Super Eight from this round. A setback such as this would be that much harder to overcome for the opposition we face in Super Eight is in most cases far more accomplished than West Indies.
Link: http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/mar-2007/15/sports1.php

I agree with Imran on most issues

• Inzi’s lack of aggression which was so evident during most of last year
• Sami’s inexplicable omission
• Not attacking when Windies were 70-odd for three
• Inclusion of Rana Chacha and Imran Nazir - both are useless
• Inzi not batting at no.4

I think Imran wants to see the following team play:

1- Mohammad Hafeez
2- Younis Khan
3- Yousuf
4- Inzi
5- Malik
6- Afridi (after next match)
7- Akmal
8- Azhar
9- Sami
10- Gul
11- Kaneria

This seems like the best combination in the circumstances, batting depth till 8 (Sami is no mug either), 7 bowling options - 3 seamers (Sami, Gul and Azhar) and 4 spinners (Kaneria, Afridi, Hafeez and Malik)

Imran alway makes good points. Inzi’s low batting order choice and negative post toss selection as well as bowling strategies are well taken by the general public. Why? Because cricket fanatics want Pakistan to win!!

However, he missed one important avenue of this situation that the Pakistan team finds itself in today.
Inzimam is not a Captain by choice rather by default for our current PCB.
Which in itself has a lot to do with how the team is right now. A bunch of top class gifted and talented players that can’t win against the top teams consistently. PCB egos will not allow a hot head like Younis to lead right now. If they wanted a better captain they should have removed Inzi well in advance. Inzi is Inzi. You can’t change innate behaviour. Full Stop.

Coming back to Inzimam’s leadership and the team prospect. I think he should quiet the criticism by saying he has the stomach flu or something from now on or break his back and just sit out the rest of the matches untill maybe we are in the Semis.
Let Younis lead “FROM THE FRONT” as Mr. Khan proposes. And lets see how far we get. If he takes the team to the Finals. Point made by the critics.
If he shrivels and collapses. We know there is more to this farce then just Inzi’s leadership.

Yes ppl will jump on me by saying I am suggesting suicide for the team at this stage. But lets face it. Most ppl are predicting doomsday already for Pakistan Cricket. This is not that atleast. It is a change in “STRATEGY” (tongue in cheek:hoonh: )
I rest my case.:snooty: