Re: Its about time we agree on,,,,
I am still furious at our despicable and vile loss. You ask the reason, I will tell you.
Openers, openers and openers. Time and time again, we are fluxed with this disease and God knows the time when we actually settle with two decent openers with a long-term partnership in-between. Series after series, garbage statements are made on behalf of Salman and Imran and the sole purpose is to hand them reassurance from the empty-tank that regardless of whether they drop ten straight catches or preposterously fail to stay at the crease for longer than a bathroom break, they will be selected just because......well, your guess is as good as mine; Either we do not have a good supply of specialist openers from domestic cricket who are able to hold their position in the team or we are simply too keen on bringing back the likes of Farhat while slapping the rest in process.
As stated before, Inzamam-ul-Haq, I do not have any kinds of complaints when it comes to his batting. Captaincy, that is a whole separate issue and this topic has been tormented into pieces. It is clear that what Younis Khan has so far achieved in the field during his short-term captaincy reign is of much higher proportions than what Inzamam has accomplished. Test victories aside (which, again, was solely due to one man's show rather) but Younis Khan possesses a killer streak. There is something about him which makes you think that whenever he steps onto the field, something drastic is going to happen. All of a sudden, that street trash Sami will find a way to get his line and length back, Danish will be seen as a lively entity when bowling, someone who thrives to get wickets to satisfy his hunger. The players are energetic, the environment automatically gets filled with electricity, all because the captain leads from the front. From my point of view, I can safely attest that after Imran Khan, Younis Khan is the most animated, most frisky and most spirited captain in the palm of our hand. When that actual time will come, I am positive that the torch will be passed from one generation to the next.
I do not wish to see Inzamam go at all, neither do I want any axing of players who have at least put an effort in their performance by getting their performance upto par or above. My issue is simply this - Imran Farhat, the guy just does not have the temperament to stay at the crease for a longer period of time. He comes and goes as he pleases, drops catches like they are in fashion and just does not contribute his share at all. I have no idea on earth why he keeps getting selected overtime. This sifarshi will play for the next ten years and you just know that for the life of him, he is just not going to be any better than what he is today.
Even if he does gets to play, clueless, clueless Inzamam. Common sense would prevail, screaming into your right ear to have Farhat removed from that position and place him someplace else. Let another player take the role of a slip catcher. It is a known fact that most of the major team's front-line players and openers purposely take up that role because they want to see the bounce of the wicket. They want to access the situation better when it is their time to play. Their intention in mind is to evaluate and determine as to roughly how will the pitch play out. They are the first ones to get the feel for the pitch, after the batsman. This guy just does not get it, at all.
If he would have held onto those three catches and at least made an effort to score more than 33 runs, who knows. There is always one culprit in the team who simply takes it as his birthright to be in the team after a series of failures after failures. Mohammad Sami - I am speechless. One session does not, repeat, does not, and should not be a criteria for selection. It should be judged on the basis of the entire series. Apparently, his fifteen minutes of fame when he ran and bowled an over or two in the third test with the crowd's reactions of "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs" are being judged when picking the team for next test. "Extra baggage" does not even do him justice, the sifarshi of his calibre. Chamcha-geeri will continue to run amock despite the differences.
It is just one or two players that disrupt the entire team. In this case, unfortunately, we have more than just one or two. Farhat, Butt, Sami, Kaneria, the beloved Afridi and yes, at times, Iqbal. In the moment of madness, I was about to be ready to hang Akmal as well, and I admit, he has been brilliant for us in the past. The sloppiness was pretty much due at this stage, but others......Salman Butt, I mean, when? For God's sakes, tell me when? When will he learn? Why he hasn't made a tiny bit of progress? One bad test, and the management is ready to sack him at the expense of forcing Akmal move to the top order. That was such a bad, bad mistake in the second test. Akmal at opening, nobody dreamt it in their wildest dreams. Absurd and nonsensical, if anything.
If the things described above could have gone the way they were supposed to in the first place, we could have seen the 'fighting unit'. There was this element missing, most knew and pinpointed exactly what it was. Trash management, continuous garbage selections and sifarshis enjoying the beaches while the home-grown merit talent is left behind. The ship has already been burnt, no point of going back. Tell, where have their brains been dislocated to?
Bah. Off-topic most likely, but I just needed a suitable venue to lash my distress and anguish out. In the manner we have ultimately now lost the series was completely shameful, no more, no less. Disgraceful, abominable and atrocious behaviour was on display from the above individuals. Yes, they need to be hanged straight away!
- Merged with another thread *