Pakistan failure a major setback to cricket: Sarfraz
I don’t really have any respect for this guy, but he makes one or two interesting observations which make this piece worth reading:
Pakistan failure a major setback to cricket: Sarfraz
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Test cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz has said that Pakistani team’s failure in the World Cup is a major set back, not only for national cricket but for the game too.
In a panel interview with the PPI sport correspondents Irfan Ghauri and Jahanzaib Ali, the fiery fast bowler rejected probe body constituted by the Pakistan Cricket Board and demanded a probe by** impartial experts.**
He said due to failure of Pak team, cricket lovers across the world had lost faith in a top team. He, however, made it clear that the board and selectors were equally responsible for the blunder.
He said it was unfortunate that cricket lovers in the world would miss four top teams of Pakistan, West Indies, England and South Africa in the World Cup as all of them could not qualify for the second round (Super Sixes).
He said in the ICC World Cup, 2003 the teams having young blood turned successful as opposed to the teams having experienced players.
Commenting on the Australian cricket team, Sarfraz said that the ACB had dropped Waugh brothers and included many young players and made their way to the Super Sixes. Similarly, he said, Kenya, Zimbabwe and New Zealand had also included many young players in their teams and reaped the harvest. “No doubt there is no substitute for experience but young blood is also a very important part of every sport,” he said.
While explaining the reasons behind the worst ever performance of the Pakistan cricket team in the World Cup, hero of the 1979 Melbourne Test, said that the main reason for not qualifying for the Super Sixes was that captain Waqar Younis and Coach Richard Pybus did not give any chance to the younger players.
He said Azhar Mahmood, Muhammad Sami and others could not even play a single match due to apathy of some senior players. He was of the view that these junior players had the ability to bring off some upsets.
When asked about the collapse of batting line in the World Cup, Sarfraz said that batting had flopped because the senior players had taken their places in the team for granted.
“The senior batsmen do not always accommodate the junior players and axing of Imran Nazir from the national side is an example of it,” he added.
He asked Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar to voluntarily resign from the national side for the better future of the Pakistan cricket.
He said there was a lot of talent waiting at the doors of the cricket Board and they could replace these players well.
He asked the chairman of PCB General Tauqir Zia to immediately resign from his office after the worst-ever performance of national cricket team in World Cup history.
“This is the right time for PCB Chairman to voluntarily resign to save the future of cricket in the country,” Sarfraz said. He recalled that earlier when PCB Chairman had tendered his resignation to General Pervez Musharraf, the Patron of Pakistan Cricket Board, there was no option but to reinstate his services as there was no time left in World Cup.
Sarfraz said he had been apprising the nation regarding the PCB’s poor policies for the World Cup 2003. Former cricket star said he had been sounding warnings that people like Ramiz Raja, Zakir Khan, Brig. Munawar Rana and Chisti Mujahid would destroy cricket in Pakistan. “They have limited knowledge about the game and were stuck to the Pakistan cricket for their perks and privileges,” he added.
He lashed out at the inquiry committee formed by the PCB Chairman to review the performance of the national team and said that the members of the committee were incompetent to investigate the blunders committed in the national cricket.
“It is a joke played with the entire nation that the people sitting in the board were conducting accountability of their own selves. Gen. Tauqir Zia should realize that the whole nation and the world has witnessed the worst performance of the national team live.”
“Being selectors of the team, they must accept responsibility and go home, paving way to save Pakistan cricket” he added.
He said people like Naushad Ali who played few matches from national side, Sultan Rana and Aqib Javed who was the junior player could not handle such high level matters.
He opined that the PCB inquiry committee should have included the people like Justice (Retd.) Nasim Hassan Shah, Justice Ijaz Yousaf a panel of senior sports journalists and two senior test cricketers.
He demanded the President of Pakistan or the Prime Minister who himself is a sports man, should conduct an inquiry at the highest level as the Cricket Board had lost its credibility and confidence of the nation.
He accused the Chairman PCB of imposing his own decisions in all matters and holding others responsible for his own mistakes.
Commenting on the reasons for failure he said there was no planning for the World Cup, there was no discipline, incompetent officials, wrong selections and lack of physical fitness and top form were the main reasons for the worst-ever performance in the world cup.
“There was no match winning strategy and anti-Waqar element was another factor for the failure of the national team,” he said.
“There was no need of foreign coaches as the coach Richard Pybus has been getting 1500 pounds per day for the last five months and the performance is still zero,” he said.
He recalled that in the previous World Cup, the national team made its way to the finals with the help of their own coaches.*** NOTE: in fact I’m pretty sure that Richard Pybus was the coach in that campaign - Xtreme]**
Most of this article is the usual Sarfraz wind machine in action, but I agree with the part about including senior test cricketers in the enquiry panel(bolded). Army general’s expertise lies elsewhere and maybe they should stick to what they know best.
It’s cricket for God sake.