It was a treat to watch Asif Iqbal batting. He was known as a man of crisis on the field. Period! Off the field he has been a master of intrigues and caused many revolts in the team. He has shown the same subtlety of his ‘late cuts’ in causing revolts and coming off unscathed. His latest article “Do we really need a coach for the cricket team?” is not only shocking in naiveté but full of untruth. He cites that “In the olden days, senior players would try to spot and sort out small technical deficiencies in their more junior colleagues.” May I ask how many junior players has he corrected? Secondly, with the amount of cricket being played nowadays the senior players don’t have that much time to observe and correct flaws in the technique of junior players. Now that we have all electronic help, a full time coach is needed, whose only job is to analyse the players and correct their technique. Then his contention that, “because it was presumed that by the time you got to this level, there should not be any major problems in your technique that require sorting out” is totally childish. If this was so, why is there a coach in every team and in every sport. Even the great Muhammad Ali had a coach. Coming back to cricket, even great players some times develops a flaw unknowingly. Even the master batsman Tendulkar had developed certain which the great Gavaskar corrected.
He quotes the example of Imran Khan, “Imran’s success as captain was largely based on this personal authority”. No doubt! The players under him gave their best because Imran had assumed total authority and destroyed careers of many players he did not like. So the players couldn’t afford to anger him. He is the only player in the history of cricket who had the authority to sack the entire selection committee due to his ‘links’ because it had dropped him from the team on medical grounds. Now, who can give a captain such authority? No, Mr. Asif, the biggest problem in Pakistan Cricket is the menace of ‘player power’. Asif should be able to understand this because he has been a master in this game.
He has been dishonest and untruthful when accusing Miandad as a coach not being able to deliver. The records are with us and when Miandad was a coach we have won all tournaments. Playing in India in front of their hostile and partisan crowds is the biggest test, and our team’s sterling performance when we defeated them in two tests was when Miandad was the coach. Miandad’s role was acknowledged by cricketing greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Geoffrey Boycott. And Asif should not so easily forget that after ‘dethroning’ Mushtaq Mohammad as captain he led the team (of superstars) to humiliating defeats in India in 1979.
Either Asif Iqbal has his facts all confused or has some ulterior motive. In the interest of Pakistan cricket, I request Asif not to resort to his intrigues and to please keep out of Pakistan Cricket.
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*Originally posted by a1kashur: *
any source???
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I'm old enough to be your father. No need of any source. All the records are there for check. And please, [for whom it may concern] don't put ypur a$$ on line! Some body may take it.
Was it while you was playing in your garden on a bright cold sunny sunday with your shorts on the wrong way round and your slippers on your hands because it was too cold and you didnt have any gloves?
Great article. Right on money. I was really surprised to read Asif's comment about not having a coach at all. This is the dumbest thing I heard from a former respected cricketer. So who will correct the technique of the seniors when they themselves are struggling with footwork? Juniors? lol.
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*Originally posted by sherrybaba: *
So who will correct the technique of the seniors when they themselves are struggling with footwork? Juniors? lol.
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Although I dont Agree with Asif Iqbal, I dont think it's coach's job to fix a player's footwork or fault in a player's technique. If a player is having a problem with his footwork or has a flaw in his technique - He shouldn't be there in the National Team , He should be working on is technique of any other problems. Only those players who are confident of their technique should be selected.
From street cricket to club cricket to first class cricket. These are the times when players learn their technique and develop a temperament. When one is selected in the national team, it means he is best of the best. The 11 who represent the 140 million. At that point, if he is struggling with the technique, then there is something very wrong in our first class cricket structure and/or team selection process (or both).
At the highest level, international calibre players don't (or shouldn't) need to be guided on foot-work. What they should be spending time on is focusing on the strategy, finding weaknesses in the opponents, using the latest technologies to develop a winning plan. New and junior members of the national team may require some tweaking in their approach to the game to get them up to par with international cricket, but if they are struggling with their technique, then that really speaks volume about the dismal state of affairs.
Although I dont Agree with Asif Iqbal, I dont think it's coach's job to fix a player's footwork or fault in a player's technique. If a player is having a problem with his footwork or has a flaw in his technique - He shouldn't be there in the National Team , He should be working on is technique of any other problems. Only those players who are confident of their technique should be selected.
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Well Pakistan aint Australia. The players come from street and you don't expect them to be like Aussies where each shot is a book shot. We need someone to keep a constant check on them. If you take a close look at our players, no doubt they are great and talented, but still some of them has unuthrodox game. This is a weakness and can be exploited. Javed Miadad was a player who always had best shots selection even though he wasnt a product of a professional acedemy but made sure that he doesnt leave any weak spots. When he was a coach he did the same with the batsmen and corrected their flaws. A coach job is to look at every aspects. We are having a very young team and obviously they will struggle with their footworks. Javed is the man for this job.
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