KARACHI, 7 January 2005 — Pakistan’s chief selector Wasim Bari made it clear on Tuesday he didn’t back the decision to send back leg spinner Danish Kaneria from Australia and this was a decision taken entirely by captain Inzamam ul-Haq and coach Bob Woolmer.

“The selectors wanted to retain him for the one-day matches as he has been bowling well. They felt it would do him no harm to remain with the team and this would also give more bowling options to the team management.”

“But the captain and coach felt that Kaneria has bowled a lot of overs in Australia and he shouldn’t be overbowled with the Indian tour coming up. So it would be better to rest him for the one-day series,” Bari explained.

It was announced on Tuesday that Azhar Mahmood, Muhammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar and Rao Iftikhar would join the team in Australia while Danish Kaneria, Muhammad Asif, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal and Muhammad Sami would return home. Sami because he is struggling with a heel injury.

The big shocker was the decision to drop Kaneria from the one-day squad and the reason given was comical. One would hardly hear a more illogical reason for shunting out a bowler who has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few months and who is Pakistan’s most potent bowler in Australia having taken 14 wickets in the three Tests. Given the fact that Pakistan is clearly short on quality bowlers even for one-day cricket and given Kaneria’s form, one would have thought that the team management and selectors would follow the examples of Australia and India who have won countless one-day games by using the skills of Shane Warne and Anil Kumble admirably specially against a team like the West Indies.

Although Warne has now retired from ODIs and Kumble is a runner up to Harbhajan Singh in the one-dayers critics believe they became outstanding bowlers because of their exposure to limited overs cricket.

Even former Pakistan captain Imran Khan knew the potency of a leg spinner in one-day matches and used Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed regularly.

More importantly cricketing logic would tell us that Kaneria is just 24 years of age and the more he bowls in tough conditions like those in Australia the more he improves.

Bari also said the changes for the one-day matches had been made in consultation and on the request of the team management.

“We took their views strongly into consideration because they are the ones playing the team in Australia,” Bari said.

Chappell Slams Pak Team

Former Australian great Ian Chappell believes there is a lack of leadership in the Pakistan team and on Tuesday made some scathing comments on the captaincy of Inzamam ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana.

“Inzamam is not energetic and forthcoming as a captain. Although he is tactically well versed. Youhana is energetic but tactically weak,” he said on television on the third day of the Sydney Test. It is not easy for any team to lose a captain with fitness problems like in the case of Inzamam who has had fitness problems in the past,” he noted.

“Youhana is someone who believes because they are ten fielders on the field they have to be placed somewhere. He is not someone who believes that the fielders are there to be placed in positions which are wicketaking ones or that which create pressure on the opponents,” he noted. The Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan who has appointed Inzamam as captain until the tour to the West Indies in June has been a vocal supporter of the big man although recently he admitted that after the Australian tour the Advisory council would review the performance of the team and management. Shaharyar has also been quick to respond to criticism about Inzamam’s captaincy by asking if Pakistan had a viable alternate available to take over from him.

Earlier another former Australian great Steve Waugh, who is rated as one of the most inspirational captains of the modern era had also said that there was a leadership crisis in the Pakistan team which individually was not a bad team.

Incidentally both Chappell and Waugh are rated as inspirational leaders of their team by one of Pakistan’s finest captain, Imran Khan.

Other commentators and experts on Channel nine covering the test series have also been critical of the leadership qualities of Inzamam and Youhana at various times in the three tests specially when the Pakistanis have failed to deliver killer blows from strong positions.

Minor Beneficiaries of Sharjah

Cricket Fund-Raiser Raise Concerns

The absence of any international cricket activity in Sharjah since April 2003 has left many former and active Pakistani cricketers disappointed who are in line to get benefit purses as major or minor beneficiaries.

While senior players like Inzamam ul-Haq and Rashid Latif, who are next in line by order of seniority to get the major beneficiary awards at the next tournament in Sharjah, are relatively less bothered with no international cricket activity in Sharjah, the players who are nominated on the minor beneficiaries list are more concerned. Under an agreement with the Sharjah-based Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) the Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) is paid an annual fees for twice playing in tournaments in a year in Sharjah.

And apart from the participation fees, which is in the region of $300,000, the Board also nominates major and minor beneficiaries for every tournament. While the major beneficiaries get a purse of $35,000 per tournament the PCB is given a purse of around $110,000 to distribute among four or five minor beneficiaries. And it is the minor beneficiaries who require the financial assistance more than the major beneficiaries. “I have been waiting anxiously for the next event to be held in Sharjah because of my financial condition,” a former Test player, who is on the minor beneficiaries list for the next tournament,” said.

“I am now planning to send an application to the PCB to given me a loan which can be recovered when the next tournament is held in Sharjah,” he stated.

On a number of occasions, former players have taken money from the board in advance and got these reconciled when their turn has come to get benefit purses in Sharjah.

A PCB official when contacted said there had been no indication at all from the CBFS that they are planning to host any tournament this year. “So even if we get applications for advance loans we will have to review the entire situation. Because in the past one or two tournaments in a year were a regular feature in Sharjah,” he added. And a senior official of the CBFS didn’t have any good news for those in line to get benefit purses.

“No we don’t have any tournament planned in April this year so far. And even for the end of the year we have to look at the schedule of the teams,” he said.

According to him there were a number of reasons for the CBFS not hosting any tournament since April 2003 when Pakistan won a quadrangular against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Kenya.

“The major reason is the hectic and cramped international schedule of the Test playing nations particularly the crowd pullers because of the ICC future tours programme. Pakistan has always been very cooperative and willing to play in Sharjah. But it is not easy finding other teams because of the tight schedule,” he explained.

He,however, also admitted that the CBFS was not putting the pressure on tournament organizers because of the time being spent by Abdul Rehman Bukhatir on the Taj Entertainment Network (Ten) sports channel.

Bukhatir who is driving force and founder of the CBFS is also the brainchild behind the Ten sports network which has gained lot of popularity and now has exclusive television rights of cricket played in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe besides sharing/production agreements with Doordarshan in India and Sky B sports.