Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

Entertainment Cricket and Other Sports
1

He is way too defensive and negative. Yousuf maybe a good batsman but he has no vision of captaincy, no vision or ability to win tests

His field placings, bowling changes and team selections - I felt Sami should have played in this test instead of Gul - make little sense to me

What’s worse he is not showing enough faith in his pace bowlers..

  • Why on earth did n’t Asif & Aamer bowl right after lunch…surely they had a decent (40 min.) rest. They should’ve come out all guns blazing and attacked Ponting (who was still looking shaky) & Clarke straightaway. That allowed Australia back into the test.

  • Asif was bringing the ball in as well as out and yet there were only 2 slips, no point, and most importantly no short leg!! How hard is that to know? Twice the ball popped off Watson’s bat at short leg but there was no fielder there!!

Ian Chappell put it correctly, ‘You can’t have a Sheep leading Lions’

cricinfo nails it here:
‘Australia’s dominance over their opponent was best demonstrated late in the day when the visitors resorted to ugly defensive tactics, i.e. the pace bowlers keeping it short and well wide of off stump’…can anyone explain this tactic to me?

2

re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

no v cant explain only yousuf can explain this crap

3

re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

Been watching Ponting since 96...never ever seen him flinching while playing against medium fast bowlers....and when someone like Umar Gul is troubling him with short balls few overs before lunch along with Asif....why would you not waana keep at least couple overs each from both ends...just to see how Ricky reacts to short balls after lunch.

To me his *lakeer kaa fakeeer-ism **was clear from the very first ball after lunch where he tossed the ball to Dani and gave Ricky message, *"Look we see you troubling with short ball, So we are not going to proceed with pace at both ends because it was not part of my game plans...which was to bring on Dani right after lunch"

4

imo, Pak fans are a little too obsessed with finding that unicorn sorry meant super aggressive captain who is somehow magically supposed to not only compensate for but overcome things like some of the worst fielding in the cricket world, batsmen who're clearly out of their depth, a keeper who drops catches as if it's a sin to catch the ball and a leg spinner who doesn't use his brain at all... and eventually lead the team to glorious victories.

firstly, not every captain is a tactical genius. what happened to Ponting the tactician in England, India, South Africa? it's easy to look like a genius when you open the batting with Hayden and Langer and open the bowling with McGrath and Lee... and have Warne follow them up. pretty much everything you try works and you look like a super captain. with bowlers like Siddle, etc, he doesn't like a genius does he?

secondly, I can't say that I've seen any amazing tacticians in the past few years. the last great captain/tactician imo was Wasim. the way he juggled his bowlers should be watched by every captain wannabe. now, admittedly he had a wicked bowling attack. but he managed it really, really well. and could almost sense when to bring on which bowler. but that of course had a lot to do with the fact that the guy was an unparalleled genius who could pick apart most batsmen's technique in a few overs. he brought that same bowling nous to his captaincy on the field.

but then again, maybe my opinion is biased because I followed the game closely when Wasim was captain and got a real appreciation for his tactical genius.

thirdly, failure is an orphan. it's easy for pundits to dump on captains. the same set of commentators who were crapping all over Yousuf's decision to bring in Kaneria at the end of the day were praising him when he initially brought him on saying that it's good that Kaneria is being given a crack at the batsmen while they try to settle into a new session. of course, it didn't work out and it looked like an awful decision. had it worked, Yousuf would have temporarily looked like a genius.

imo, you could get a professional chess player to captain the side and design tactics but if Farhat, Manzoor, Kamran, etc keep dropping catches, then Farhat, Butt, Manzoor, Butt, Kamran, Misbah keep laying eggs as batsmen and finally, Kaneria keep bowling donkey overs without using his brain, then all his tactics will be wasted.

you do the basics right and you won't need to find genius in the captain's decisions. I've seen everyone from Inzi, Malik, Younis and now Yousuf get criticized for not being "imaginative" enough or not being aggressive enough... well, maybe it isn't the captain... maybe it's the team that's playing under him?

5

re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

^^ Samby Yaar Aisee Taqreer Kaarney Waaley Kou Golli Vajti hey Pak Main...:D

Itni Gehri baatin mat keya karou...

6

Some points I agree with

True a captain is only as good as the team or the players that are available to him but a great captain is one who is able to bring out the best in his players. Qadir for example struggled in tests until Imran took him under his wing and gave Qadir his full support and backing.

The great captains are positive and always thinking two (or in Benaud's words two overs) steps ahead of the game and I don't think Inzi/Malik/Yousuf/Younis fit that description

Wasim Akram was an able captain but he had too much baggage of personal likes and dislikes (Waqar lost 2 years as a player because of Wasim's dirty politics) and other controversies/match-fixing etc. Hence never got the same respect as a leader as say Imran

7

^^^

Waqar lost two years as a player because he was not bowling well enough to be selected ahead of Shoaib Akhter who was then in his prime. Anyway it was Waqar and his own 'dirty politics' that instigated the revolt against Wasim in 1993 so he could himself become the Captain.

Back to Yousef...

No doubt Yousef has been very defensive with his field placing. Maybe he knows how brittle the batting line up is and automatically resorts to saving runs when he should be going for wickets.

Anyway, my question is...what are the 'geniuses' in the dressing room doing? Intikhab, Aquib and now Waqar are all drawing hefty salaries and benefits from the PCB....if the captain is making a mess of things in the field....then why are they not pointing this to him - either during a drinks break or lunch or tea break ?

All of them seem to just be sitting in the dressing room....eating and downing cups of tea all day.

When the late Bob Woolmer was the Coach....you never saw him take his eyes of the game...he would continue to write and make notes and would even send out instructions to the Skipper if need be...

What the hell are Intikhab and Aquib and Waqar doing?

8

Kamran Abbasi:** A captaincy to forget**

With the entire world against it, the Pakistan cricket team has conspired to ensure that its deepest wounds are self-inflicted. We’ve seen some of the worst fielding from an international cricket team, something nobody can do anything about apparently. And now, just when we thought we’d got away with it, farcical run-outs have returned to remind everybody that Pakistan cricketers are only ever one step away from schoolboy errors.

It’s been a dismal effort in Hobart, and nothing has been more dismal than the captaincy of Mohammad Yousuf. One of the great fascinations of cricket is the importance of leadership and how different styles of leadership can dramatically influence performance and results. We can’t, however, expect every captain to have the psychological skills of Mike Brearley, the guts of Steve Waugh, or the warrior ways of Imran Khan. But we can expect competence, especially from somebody who has been an international cricketer for over a decade.

Yousuf’s plea that ex-captains should stop criticising him and offer guidance is simply pathetic. You should never stop learning but if you’re struggling with the ABCs and times-tables of cricket captaincy at the age of 35, you might as well give up. Yousuf’s defensive approach has cost Pakistan in each Test match in Australia. Release the pressure from Test batsmen and they will plunder you. Ricky Ponting must be laughing his pants off. Yousuf has played his batsmen into glorious form.

At key moments in Hobart, Yousuf has decided to set a field for the scoreboard rather than the match situation. Captains must be able to read the ebb and flow of a match, and seize the initiative. Yousuf reacts to some inner instinct that isn’t the instinct of a match-winning cricket captain. Today we endured a first session of Mohammad Aamer bowling round the wicket, wide of off stump with one slip. Pakistan had the new ball and needed wickets.
The message was simple: our bowlers aren’t good enough to get you out, please get yourselves out. It’s a message that has been a recurring theme of Yousuf’s captaincy. The message couldn’t be further from the truth. Yousuf is blessed with an outstanding pace attack at his command. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s tactics have rendered the attack impotent at times.
It isn’t just ex-Pakistani captains who are maddened by Yousuf’s captaincy. Some of the greatest Australian minds, Richie Benaud, Mark Taylor, and Shane Warne, have been exasperated by Pakistan’s tactics. They want Australia to succeed but they want to see a contest. They are excited by Pakistan’s bowlers, described as the best seam attack to visit Australian shores for many years, but have witnessed natural resources squandered by Yousuf’s gutless instincts.

Danish Kaneria has suffered too. He hasn’t helped himself in Hobart but how does a legspinner exert any pressure in a Test match when he is bowling to a limited-overs field? Richie Benaud described the field set for Kaneria as possibly the worst he has ever seen for a Test legspinner.

Yousuf’s captaincy and Pakistan’s tactics have become an embarrassment. It’s rather tragic that such a glorious batsman has been exposed so quickly as a leader. Yousuf might be a reluctant captain of sorts but he has coveted the job. The PCB in the days of Rameez Raja did not consider he had the qualities for leadership. Bob Woolmer had Younis Khan as his preferred captain, above Inzamam-ul Haq and Yousuf. Judgments that I would trust, judgments that have been vindicated.

Selection of the captain is the most important decision and the PCB has horribly mismanaged this situation. Instead of backing Younis Khan, the PCB bowed to player power and aided the marginalisation of Pakistan’s most likely captain. Now Younis says he would not consider the role. Yousuf has been blessed by failure and awarded the one-day captaincy as well, which is a nonsensical decision. Shahid Afridi should be given an opportunity as one-day captain, with a view to taking over the Test captaincy unless Younis can be persuaded otherwise.

Pakistan are short of options because of chronic poor planning, but they need to make the best of the options available - and they need to act fast. Pakistan supporters never expected miracles from their team but they expected to see an approach worthy of support. Attack, spirit, battle. But the current approach has gone beyond ridicule and is provoking outright disgust.

Cricinfo - Blogs - Pak Spin - A captaincy to forget

I say no harm in making Shahid Afridi T20 AND one-day captain…

9

re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

^ Good read. He's right on the money. Australia would have tougher time winning from a club team than Pakistan. Yousuf is way too defensive, our fielding is a mess, and PCB is gutless to do anything about it. Just like Yousuf's answer to everything, "what can you do."

10

This video gives you the mindset of our captain…

11

What mindset? He is not a captaincy material, period.

He also doesn't like confrontation.

He is a GOOD PLAYER, a delight to watch and I feel sorry for him that management put him in this spot when they know his abilities as a good player but that doesn't necessarily translate into good leader.

PCB leadership (if there is such thing) is at fault here.

Lahore Metro Train : Orange Line
12

Re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

Inti is the person to blame. He is the architect of this defensive approach. His fielding/catching practice is a joke. Fielding has been miserable under him and he is still against having a proper fielding coach. I hope this is his last tour with Pakistan.

13

Re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

Kamran Abbasi's writing is consistently going downhill...

14

I agree -- he was never a full journalist anyway but even as a blogger he's beginning to look more and more like a superficial fan upset at the proceedings than a learned blogger capable of offering any valuable insight.

15

Yousuf is not a captaincy material but he has a point

Even Pakistan’s best batsman Miandad (who scored tons of runs in NZ and England incl. big double hundreds) averaged just 38.07 in Australia incl. two hundreds at Perth and Adelaide - 47.29 against Australia overall, 6 hundreds - which is lower than his career average of 52.57

I’m willing to take advice on captaincy - Yousuf

Five of Mohammad Yousuf’s nine Tests as captain have been against Australia in Australia. Each one of them has been lost and the latest defeat in Hobart, to seal yet another whitewash - Australia have four 3-0 series wins on the trot now against Pakistan - is demoralising enough for the inevitable movement to begin in Pakistan demanding his removal.
Though Yousuf has been an amiable, well-liked leader of his men off the field on this tour, his on-field captaincy has led to much criticism, particularly in its essential defensiveness; his timid tactics on the fourth morning at the SCG was the worst embodiment of it, allowing Australia to sneak in and win a seemingly lost Test.
Yousuf’s batting returns as captain have been poor; he averages under 34, with a solitary hundred in nine Tests. In this series, where much has depended on him, he hasn’t scored big, averaging less than 30 and making just one fifty in six innings. He conceded that leadership may have affected his output, but insisted that he would like to continue as captain.
“Maybe [it has affected my batting]. I have good form but I don’t know, I am just not making runs,” he said. "I’ve been in better form on this tour than in my last two tours but just not making enough runs. I enjoy my job and I would like to keep doing it. I am trying to do it sincerely. Maybe my captaincy is affecting my batting. Maybe. There is a lot of pressure on me, to speak to batsmen and bowlers, but somebody has to do the captaincy. I have just started it and have only done six Tests so far and the circumstances I took it up in, nobody wanted to do it. I have done ok I think.
“I am a new captain and captains are not born. It takes time. I am willing to take help from anyone. They say I made mistakes. I probably did, for sure. It can happen. But tell me what to do, and then if I don’t learn or am not listening, then criticise me. I am ready, I will speak to anyone about it.”
Right through the series Yousuf has insisted that expectations about his side - “young and inexperienced” - have to be realistic, even if this Australia side was beatable, more so than past sides this decade. Australia, he said, were still the top side in cricket but bigger names have come in the past and returned vanquished.
**“Australia looked a beatable side people say, but what about ours, how beatable did we look?” Yousuf asked. “We could’ve been better than them in Sydney but the pressure got to us. We’ve been bowled out chasing 120 before with bigger names in the team, like against South Africa in Faisalabad [in 1997-98]. That had such big names in it, you name me one here, in this side. **
"What happened to past Pakistan teams here? Yes Australia was strong but we were strong as well back then. Think of the names we have had, the biggest names in Pakistan cricket, who have been part of losses here: Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, Shoaib, Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Azhar Mahmood, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan.”
Pakistan’s next Test assignment will be Australia again, but this time in England in July this year, for what is a two-Test ‘home’ series. Things might change by then, but patience and a few changes in the side might make for brighter prospects, said Yousuf.
“If we are honest, all of us stakeholders, if we put together an honest team, we can have a good team. It will take time. It took India time as well, a lot of time. We can make this side better. We are weak in a few areas. We lost the series and are disappointed. But the way they played, a young side, inexperienced, I am happy with that.”

(http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/444845.html)

16

Re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

^ Yousuf hits back :)

personally, I think fielding is the single biggest failure and contributer in failure even before batting failure. Pakistan's batting was never dependable after the departure of malik, Miandad etc and other than Inzi and yousuf but we never had this standard of catching. 30 catches dropped in 6 matches average of 5 catches a match not counting half chances that Aus and SA (and even Ind and Eng) converts easily.

17

Re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

Who is he gonna learn from? Intikhab? They both suck at what they are required to do.

18

I think we saw the worst fielding performance by any Pakistan team during the last 2 months. But Yousuf sahib is constantly claiming that Pakistan team doesn't need a fielding coach. If this pathetic display of fielding cannot make Yousuf and PCB realize the importance of fielding then I have serious doubts if he has got any vision of captaincy.

19

Few lessons learned, plenty of homework - Kamran Abbasi

Mohammad Yousuf wants to learn how to captain. Intikhab Alam wants his players, especially the seniors, to learn from their failures. Pakistan’s emphasis on learning is admirable, but it is also baffling. A learning culture does not exist in the Pakistan team, an excuse culture does. In fact, the calls for learning sound like just another excuse to deflect criticism from the leadership and management of the Pakistan team.
Pakistan have been taught much over the last two tours, particularly by a professional Australian team, but they have learned little. The mistakes are the same and the captaincy no better. The same problems that existed before the New Zealand tour still exist today. No progress in the areas of concern.

- Have Pakistan learned who should partner Salman Butt? No.
- Have Pakistan learned who is an alternative to Younis Khan at number 3? No.

  • **Have Pakistan learned the identity of their first choice to bat at number 6? **No.
    - Have Pakistan’s batsmen learned how to balance attack and defence in Test cricket, despite plenty of first-hand lessons from the Australian batsmen? No.
  • Have Pakistan’s tail-enders learned how to put a price on their wickets? No.
  • Have Pakistan learned that Danish Kaneria can make the difference against the best teams? No.
    - Have Pakistan learned how to hold important catches, despite how much the drops have cost them? No.
    **- Has Yousuf learned anything of the art of captaincy and leadership, despite Ricky Ponting’s masterclass in man-management and aggressive tactics? No. **
    Australia fully deserved their victory, although Pakistan handed it to them too easily. And that’s the crux of the disappointment among supporters. The buildup to this tour generated great excitement, not because Pakistan fans expected their side to win. But because there was a real expectation, perhaps misplaced, that Pakistan were capable of putting up a fight and emerging stronger. Sadly, there was little fight, except from the bowlers until their wings were clipped by the defensive tactics.
    The problems in Pakistan cricket run deep and some of them are beyond the control of the team management and the cricket establishment, but is this really the best we could have done? Ponting’s Australia isn’t yet a great team, even this confused Pakistan team almost stole a Test from them.
    Despite the disappointment of a poor preformance, what positives can Pakistan take from this season of Test cricket? Here’s my list, add yours:
    1 Mohammad Aamer confirmed his ability and potential at Test level.
    2 Mohammad Asif is back to his international best, but like Aamer he suffered from the negative field placings.
    3 Mohammad Sami was a pleasant surprise and adds useful bench strength, provided he can maintain his Sydney form rather than returning to his bad old ways.
    4 Umar Akmal is a star batsman in the making, but he isn’t yet ready to shoulder the burden of the batting. He needs more guidance on how to build a Test innings, although who would he ask for help?
    5 Sarfraz Ahmed is a better gloveman than Kamran Akmal, but he needs to quickly convince with his batting. At least Pakistan have a genuine alternative.
    6 Salman Butt is the more secure of Pakistan’s openers and deserves a decent run. He needs to work on the rest of his game. His failings are well known although undeserving of public abuse.
    7 **Khurram Manzoor was the revelation of the series, which signifies the extent of Pakistan’s failure. His attitude and application in a crisis were refreshing. **At one stage, he was prepared to take all the responsibility for saving the Hobart Test for Pakistan. He seemed to relish the challenge. A shame that he saved it until the final day, but it was a brave effort that deserves to be rewarded with more opportunities
    The one-day series offers Pakistan a chance to regroup and finish on a high. Limited-overs cricket is less of a tactical challenge, although attack is again the best form of defence. The shorter game will suit Pakistan’s players and hide their deficiencies. And returning players will give the team a different complexion and personality.
    But the disappointment of the performances in this Test series will be hard to forget for Pakistan fans. Their team has not even stagnated, it has **gone backwards in three important areas: batting, fielding, and captaincy. Pakistan’s approach is a relic on the international stage, ill-suited and ill-prepared for the rigours of modern Test cricket. **
    Most disappointingly, few lessons have been learned over this season of Test cricket, and there is plenty of homework for Mohammad Yousuf and his men. But the first step is an honest appraisal of the state of the team and Pakistan cricket more broadly. Will the cricket board, coach and captain have the wisdom for such an assessment, and have the guts to do what’s best for Pakistan cricket rather than themselves?
    Follow me on Twitter during the Australia series: Kamran Abbasi (KamranAbbasi) on Twitter

Cricinfo - Blogs - Pak Spin - Few lessons learned, plenty of homework

Excellent analysis by Kamran..

20

Re: Yousuf's vision (if any!) of captaincy

^ at one point he is saying **Pakistan did not find the alternate of younus at no 3 *but on other side he is saying that "Khurram Manzoor was the revelation of the series, which signifies the extent of Pakistan's failure. His attitude and application in a crisis were refreshing*"

otherwise, I do agree