Don’t lose hope, there is life after World Cup!](http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/mar2003-daily/17-03-2003/sports/s15.htm)
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI: Since returning from South Africa one has not been surprised to see the strong reaction and disappointment among the masses following the poor performance of the team in the World Cup.
But one has been surprised at the total loss of objectivity prevalent everywhere while assessing the reasons for the team’s poor performances. Agreed…
It has been a torturous exercise listening, watching and reading everyone humiliating the players, the cricket board, the selectors and what not and calling for heads to roll.
In the midst of all this there have been some sane and logical voices but very few to be honest. One has watched television programmes on which the sole objective of the presenter, anchor or participants has been to ridicule the players and board and some harping upon the ‘big change’ without getting their facts right. ditto my feelings…
True, the extent of disappointment among the masses after the disastrous World Cup campaign cannot be compensated in any way, atleast not immediately. Some of the senior players have also not helped their cause by refusing to retire gracefully. But the harsh reality is that what is done is done. We now have to look to the future and try not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Other teams have had similar bad experiences in the World Cup in the past and have bounced back to do very well in the next edition by learning from their mistakes. There is life after the World Cup.
One can accept that everyone has a right to his opinion but it should not be biased or tainted by emotions. **Imran Khan for one has to stop playing Pakistan cricket’s ‘god’. He has done a lot for Pakistan cricket and he is revered for that and is still respected for his achievements.
But please spare us the constant talk about how only by converting our domestic cricket to a regional set-up can we do well at the international level or produce quality players.
One has been covering domestic cricket for the last many years and the truth is no one has the time, money or interest in following it.
Even the ardent cricket lover is only interested in international cricket.
As far as regional cricket or even experience of county cricket promoting quality players is concerned, it is not going to happen.
And the only reason we don’t pick the right players from our domestic circuit is because neither our selectors, former players or even critics have the time to watch domestic matches properly by going to the grounds. Whether Imran likes it or not, for the last many years starting from his own time as captain majority of Pakistan’s best players have come straight from either under-19 or from departments.**
Ijaz Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Saleem Yousaf, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Mohsin Khan, Rameez Raja, Saeed Anwar, Aamer Sohail, Aaqib Javed, Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Inzamamul Haq, Youhana, Saqlain, Basit Ali, Salim Malik, etc were all direct products of our domestic cricket based on the format of departments.
And the ones who went onto play county cricket only did so after having already made a name for themselves for Pakistan.
As far as the 1992 World Cup or his other triumphs are concerned, what Imran conveniently forgets to mention is that he enjoyed the sort of power and influence as a captain because of his family links and background that no other captain has enjoyed perhaps with the exception of Abdul Hafeez Kardar. During his days as captain he ruled the roost and no one could challenge him, even on some of his biased decisions.
For example it is no secret that he sacrificed a lot of talented players at the altar of his personal likes and dislikes. Asif Mujtaba being one glowing example. And it is because he enjoyed such unlimited influence and power that he also had the capacity to turn players into gold with the sort of confidence and backing he gave them.
And to be blunt one doubts Imran would have enjoyed the sort of success which he did if he had not had the presence and support of someone as committed as Javed Miandad.
Having been in South Africa one can only say this Pakistan was let down by poor captaincy, wrong cricketing decisions and pure bad luck.
One has no axe to grind with Waqar Younis because he has given Pakistan cricket yeomen services in the last decade and so. And it is also an undeniable fact that he took over as captain in April 2001 at a most critical period of Pakistan cricket and went on to do a decent job of the task given to him.
But he was not just the same Waqar in the World Cup; the confidence was not there neither the stomach to go ahead with brave decisions.
We simply relied on the wrong players to help us win the World Cup.
The truth is most of our seniors are now past their best and they struggled against younger and fitter teams. And we should have realized this one-year ago. India beat us fair and square in a match that has caused the most heartburn among the masses. But why not? Can Pakistan today claim to have youngsters with the skills, commitment and desire to work hard as Muhammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra?
Make no mistake, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly or Rahul Dravid might be the stars of the Indian team but the youngsters have infused a new life and sense of purpose into their team and it is showing in the World Cup.Unfortunately, our captain was neither willing to put too much faith in his younger players and they also lost the will for a good fight, having been constantly shunned for selection on one excuse or the other.
It was simply a case of survival of the fittest.Having changed its playing eleven in every match only a miracle could have ensured a good show from Pakistan and this time that didn’t happen.
We made mistakes and we paid for it dearly.** But does that mean that we forget the achievements, joy and laurels that these senior players have brought for us in the last so many years and start ridiculing them?** right :k:
The most dangerous thing the Pakistan board can do is come under pressure by the reaction from the masses and attempt a complete sweep in the team.
If Pakistan cricket is to rise like a phoenix from the ashes than even future selection has to be done logically and sensibly.
Many teams have paid before for taking hasty decisions and the Pakistan board should not fall into the same trap.
The PCB Chief Lt. General Tauqir Zia has nothing to feel ashamed of. He gave the best facilities to his players and they didn’t deliver. Cricket is like that you win some you lose some, no use trying to compare ourselves with either Australia or even South Africa
They have different cricket set-ups, different temperaments and approach to the game, and most importantly, there the mass reaction is not so fickle.
Pakistanis simply can’t compare themselves with people of most other countries when it comes to tolerance, civic sense, respect for authority and discipline.
So why expect our players to be different?
As far as all this talk about his interfering in team selection is concerned this correspondent was present in South Africa in 1998 when former Chairman Khalid Mehmood pressurized Rashid Latif, Aamer Sohail (Captain and Vice Captain) and coach Haroon Rasheed into allowing Wasim Akram to join the team midway through what had been a successful tour when circumstances at that time dictated that Wasim should not have been in the team.
The result; as soon as Wasim joined the team everything went to pieces and we still have not recovered from that.
Only the uninitiated remain clueless about the extent to which our Board officials interfere in team affairs. So Tauqir is no different but the one difference with him is he has tried his best to give the players whatever they wanted to get results and at the same time has made concrete efforts to improve the grass root level cricket.
So lets stop this witch-hunt and look to the future. Pakistan cricket is not dead.* i certainly believe so…*
For those who say or preach that Pakistan is now only capable of beating Zimbabwe or Kenya, to set the record straight since 2000 Pakistan is the only team to have beaten the world champions Australia in a one-day series.
And surprise surprise, it was this very team that achieved this just eight months ago and that too in Australia. So there is definitely hope, lots of it.
