Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

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Sources said that rifts within the Pakistan team let to their rout in Australia.

Shocking instances of bickering and in-fighting surfaced to suggest that Pakistan’s rout in Australia was partly because of rifts within.

Sources close to the team revealed to PTI shocking instances of how a handful of players fought petty battles to secure personal career while the team’s interest became the obvious casualty.

"Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt – these players caused problems and headaches for everyone at different stages of the tour and their actions confirmed they were more interested in personal issues rather than putting national and team interests above everything else," one source said.

He also said that captain Mohammad Yousuf watched helplessly as things went out of control since he lacked the strength of character that was needed in such a situation.

“Yousuf himself was under immense pressure throughout the tour and it reflected in the way he handled issues,” the source said.

Giving details, he said that during the Test series in New Zealand, when Yousuf and coach Intikhab Alam sent Umar Akmal to bat in at number three, his elder brother Kamran threw a tantrum.

“It was astonishing the way Kamran behaved. He went after Yousuf and Intikhab for allegedly trying to hurt his brother’s career by sending him at number three. Kamran’s tantrum virtually forced Yousuf to go and bat himself at number three in the second innings of the Test,” the source said.

He said throughout the New Zealand tour, no player was willing to bat at number three and Faisal Iqbal did it in the final Test only because he was desperate to play.

“But even Faisal told Yousuf and Intikhab that he was willing to bat at number three but he must be given a fair chance and not made a sacrificial lamb,” the source said.

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

He said Misbah was another problem but Shoaib Malik was the worst of the lot.

“Shoaib Malik was the worst when he was not playing and sitting in the dressing room. He created a vile atmosphere with his attitude running down the players and passing snide remarks. He also complained a lot. The board should ensure if he is not playing he should not be in the dressing room. He created differences in the team,” the source said.

He said after the Sydney Test, Umar Akmal tried to fake a back injury when he came to know that his brother Kamran was being dropped from the team.

“Umar, four days before the Test in Hobart, said he had a back problem and couldn’t practice or play. The management sent him for an MRI scan when the reports came clear, Umar claimed he had developed a stiff back because of the weather,” the source said.

The source said that Yousuf had failed miserably to control things and the management also seemed helpless.

"Players dictated terms to the management. In Tasmania during a side match, Salman Butt refused to open in the second innings, insisting he had scored a hundred and wanted a rest.

Kamran also didn’t keep wickets," the source said.

“These were the** same group of players who had ganged up against Younus Khan **when he was captain and they are causing harm to Pakistan cricket with their behaviour,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the Wasim Bari-led six-man panel, which will probe the team’s performance, has been directed to complete its hearing and submit its recommendations by end of February, Pakistan Cricket Board’s legal advisor and panel member Tafazzul Rizvi told PTI.

“We have to complete our proceedings and give our report because of the heavy international commitments of the Pakistan team this year,” Rizvi said.

He said the hearings with the team players and officials would be held in-camera and terms of reference of the committee would be finalized in next few days.

Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

Whenever a team is in downward spiral such 'rifts' do occur esp when you have 'ex-captains' in the camp. These rifts are no different than a street-mohalla team which starts in-fighting after losing a game or two. However, this should give a clear view of who the troublemakers are, kick them out for ever and revisit 2003. Whether next WC is 1 year away or 2 years shouldn't matter, our team will not go anywhere with the captain we have, with the troublemakers we have.

It has always been the batsmen causing such rifts and batting has always been batting our weakness, what are they fighting for? They need to prove their worth first! Piece of junk.

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

Misbah is out for good. Kamran and Malik both deserve a proper 'outing' now. I know both are idiots and big mouths. Umar and Salman needs to be given proper and hand written warnings. Umar specially for being the idiot who simply throws his wicket whenever he likes to. and Salman for showing unnecessary attitude.

Faisal should be commended for his actions and yes he deserves a fair chance in the team.

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

Kamran sucks ..........he is showing attitude like he is one of the top player of the team
thar jerk dont even know how to catch a ball
sack him ASAP

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Why I'm not surprised, Kamran Akmal and Malik involved in almost all of the team rifts.

Chota Akmal won't go down alone, he will take his brother with him too. It's time to clean up the mess and start with K.Akmal and Malik. Misbah is done for good and Salman Butt isn't going to stick with the team for long either. We need to keep Umer Akmal for obvious reasons. The rest of the players are garbage!Sack there arrogant asses. Seriously these two guys (K.akmal and Malik) are cancer to the team and definitely it will affect our talented youngsters. It is sad to see U.akmal is already getting into team politics.

Pres Trump gone to grab some Moolah from KSA to fight the Mullah's of Iran!
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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

It sounds really bad..but I cant help to wonder what the authenticity of this so called "source" is?

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

^ even if this 'source' didn't tell us, were we not expecting this from the in field and off the field happenings in the long tour.

I think, we should fire all these politicians and build from scratch. We will not do worse than what we have seen in one year.

We have a keeper. Keep him, good or bad batsman, doesn't matter. Kamran is no Gilchrist.

Kick Butt's butt. Bring in new talent around Nazir, Khalid and Hameed. At the end of a series, if you sum up the totals Butt and Farhat put together, it will be no different than what other half decent openers can do.

We have other mediocre to fill the middle order, like Khurram and Iqbal. You can find dozens of likes of Maliks and Misbahs in domestic.

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From all the people mentioned, they might have international experience but they are not talented cricketers. You can find others like them in our domestic level. No one is outstanding by International Calibre that we will miss them so much in the team. In Australia, we played 5 ODIs and 3 tests and not even a single centurion from Pakistan. Khurram Mansoor played 1 game , scored 77 and that's higher than M. Yousuf managed in 6 innings. But he was criticized for bad technique. I think Yousuf highest score in tests for 63 or something.

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Butt scored a hundred I guess... Any how, I am protecting Butt. But yes a lot of clean up is required.

The source could be the aussie trainer who is not continuing with Pakistani team.

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All this does not surprise me one bit.

Perhaps from now on we should call our cricketers 'siyasi khilari'

Making up with MIL
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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

The same bunch that was involved in previous grouping. Malik has got to go so does Misbah.

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

an inevitable consequence of prolonged favoritism, and fostering an attitude of indispensability among players.

Had they been let go at the first or second instances of defiance, we wouldn't be in this situation. Currently, almost everyone in the team seems to be taking their position for granted.

Sehri
Sehri
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Younis got rid of 1 gang member (Tanvir) last year and the gang recruited new one (Umar)

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I do not entirely disagree with Yousuf's comments because you have got to have a sound technique in order to excel on a consistent basis at this level

But Yousuf's public criticism of Khurram was unfair esp. as the guy had shown great determination and application in a hopeless situation. One good innings though is not enough to say that Khurram has it in him to be a good test batsman. The 6 tests in England this summer should tell us more about his talent or otherwise

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

I am in no favour of keeping Kamran Akmal in the team as well for some time. He needs to seriously work on his keeping.. He can be good bat in T20, where he has to keep only for 20 overs. Else in ODI and Test, he is a mess..

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while I don't doubt that there is groupbaazi in the team, what I fail to understand is this disparity... when the team underperforms under Younis or Yousuf, Malik/Akmal, etc sabotaged him... but when the team lays an egg under Malik's captaincy, it's only Malik's fault. how does that work? is there no sabotaging going on there?

is Afridi (who is surprisingly not mentioned in these articles despite having a history of being involved in this kind of nonsense) an angel? if he is, then why was he constantly giving statements about Malik being a junior and needing a senior as a vice captain? also, why did he hold a press conference with Younis when Younis was reinstated the first time about the airing of grievances etc? what was Akhtar doing in the series that ended Malik's captaincy? was it the captainès fault that Akhtar is too fat/lazy/stupid/unprofessional/retarded to bend down and pick up the ball?

and for God's sake, pls do some critical thinking... if Akmal was this great villain who sabotages every captain, would every captain from Inzi to Malik to Younis to Yousuf fight tooth and nail to keep him in the team? the reason why they fight for him is because a lot of time has been invested in him... and I would think that Inzi, Malik, Younis and Yousuf combined know a thing or two more about the game than does these so-called cricket journalists/third rate afsananigaars.

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You dont have to be a genius to figure out how Kamran AKmal has survived in the team and there is no way you can say that Kamran Akmal has stayed in the side on the basis of his performance especially in the last 2-3 years. There is something which he was doing which was keeping him the side and believe me it was not his glovework.

Everyone knows he is a close buddy of Malik and Malik opposed any idea of dropping him during his tenure.

During Younis tenure, Younis openly talked about player power and politics which eventually lead to own departure from the team. He tried hard to drop some senior players but nothing happened. Want to make a guess who we are talking about?

During Yousuf short term captaincy, we all have seen how spineless he was. So much so that I'm sure any one could have insulted him in the field and Yousuf could have done nothing about it.

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very, very well said! :k:

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Re: Internal fights blamed for Pakistan rout

samb, are you THE Akmal in disguise :D You are the only fan of Akmal in 180M of Pakistanis.