KARACHI, 20 December 2002 — What should have been a tour to unite the Pakistan team and prepare them mentally for the World Cup is fast turning out to be a nightmare with the defeats in the one-day series coinciding with off-the field frictions between the players and the management, yet once again.
It is learned that with things not going well for the team on the field, the situation has only become worse off the field as well with the majority of the players not happy with the manager and captain and developing a mind-set that Waqar will not continue as captain in the World Cup.
“Arab News” has gathered authentic information that to add to the problems the abrasive behavior of the manager Brig. (retd.) Khawaja Nasir has also resulted in atleast two arguments with Captain Waqar Younis.
“As if things were not bad enough, we have had a situation where even the local liaison officer appointed by the United Cricket Board of South Africa has left his position with the team unhappy with the behavior of the manager,” a source confided. “The manager’s abrasive behavior has also resulted in two incidents where Waqar has had arguments with him over the fact that the former was trying to interfere in cricket matters,” the source said.
“In one particular incident the manager criticized Waqar and his captaincy after a match and the captain then told him off and asked him to leave the room.”
Sources say in another incident the team coach left for the ground from the hotel on the instructions of Waqar after the manager failed to show up on time to board the coach.
“The atmosphere has become so uncertain that in atleast two team meetings the manager was not present due to personal reasons and the players didn’t like this at all,” a source informed.
But interestingly if the manager has not had a very good time in South Africa, Waqar is also said to be frustrated and angry over the way things have gone in the series so far and is visibly upset with some of the players for preparing to accept a new captain before the World Cup. “The majority of players have mentally prepared themselves to have a new captain as they are not happy with Waqar although he has made a lot of efforts to unite the team.”
“The cause of their complaints stems with some cricketing decisions taken by Waqar.” “And the run of bad form on the field has not helped ease the situation in the team,” the source said.
What is bothering Waqar, sources say, is the fact that the players are now discussing among themselves the chances of Wasim Akram or Moin Khan being reinstated as captain before the World Cup and talk about his own form and fitness.
Interestingly the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia also repeated when asked if there were plans to change the captain, that if Waqar was fit and in form he would continue till the World Cup.
Just who is going to judge this form and fitness and what would be the yardstick to do this is anybody’s guess.
That the Board is having second thoughts on the captainship issue is clear because if it had confidence in Waqar it would have announced officially he will continue for the World Cup just to quell the many stories appearing in the press about Wasim being reinstated as captain and the uncertainty among the players.
As if Waqar is not facing enough problems he has once again been burdened with the enigmatic Shoaib Akhtar, who has now has been ruled out of the last one-dayer and test series due to a knee injury.
What is ironic is that the above scenario is not new to Pakistan cricket and it has happened before a major event.
Just two months before the 1999 World Cup in England, an otherwise winning outfit went to pieces due to differences developing between the players and then coach Javed Miandad. Things got so much out of hand that Miandad at one stage accused some of his players of match-fixing in the Sharjah tournament and when the team returned home just weeks before the World Cup, the senior players told the Board Chairman Khalid Mehmood they could not accept Miandad as their coach and he should be replaced for the World Cup.
And that is exactly what happened with Mushtaq Muhammad and Richard Pybus being flown in just two weeks before the tournament to guide the team.
So as things stand the scenario is not very good for the Pakistan team and it is fair to say the Board has not helped the cause by dragging its feet on some essential issues like reposing complete confidence in Waqar Younis as captain.
Obviously this is a situation where his survival depends on a day to day basis and how the team performs on a particular day.
Because all this talk about him continuing if his fitness and form is okay is just a smoke screen to cover the plot taking shape behind the scenes in the team and the Board.
And to create a challenging situation for Waqar, even the coach Richard Pybus, sources say is now not openly supporting him as he did in the past.
But all said and done, one can only hope against hope that the Board does not really go about changing the captain just weeks before the World Cup and try to reinstate Wasim as captain or bring back Moin because it would have adverse results.
Reposing confidence in Wasim is too big a risk to take as its implications would be wide as the international media would have a field day taking shots at the team and beating them psychologically because of the fact that a judicial inquiry constituted by the Pakistan government has left doubts about Wasim by its remarks in its findings.
But this is Pakistan and anything is possible which is why the grapevine has it that during the recent meeting held between President Pervaz Musharraf and ICC President Malcolm Gray in which Tauqir was also present, he informed Gray that the PCB was contemplating bringing back Wasim as captain and would the ICC have any objections. As far as Moin is concerned, he has not played international cricket since April 2000 and if the Board is not certain about Waqar’s form and fitness how can it be sure of Moin’s fitness and form to give him such a big responsibility.
Perhaps it is time the PCB hierarchy sat down and took some sensible decisions instead of derailing Pakistan’s World Cup campaign even before it has begun.
Pakistan’s defeat against
S. Africa raises questions
With so much natural talent at their disposal, why is it that the Pakistan team have not been more successful? Why, in fact, aren’t they unbeatable?
Friday’s capitulation against South Africa barely two days after they had outclassed the same opposition in every department, makes one wonder just what makes the Pakistan team so inconsistent?
The answer may have something to do with the fact that pride and ferocity are often accompanied by stubbornness and a refusal to look at an issue from different perspectives. You can never be quite sure which Pakistan side has arrived on the morning of any particular game. It is this uncertainty of temperament, which translates into inconsistency, which has been a feature of their play for so long now.
No wonder no one not even the Australians and South Africans are willing to write off Pakistan as a top contender for the World Cup next year in South Africa.
This is because they never know when Pakistan with their volatile talent can nip back nastily like the piranha.
But while such respect from the opposition is welcome, the fact remains that if Pakistan is to go through to the final of the World Cup and unlike 1999 win it, they have to really work hard on the mental side of the game.
Pakistan have been adept at niggling and blowing away teams generally regarded as being mild-mannered and weak, read (Bangladesh, West Indies, New Zealand and Zimbabwe this year) but it is in their performances against the big guns that they need to introduce an element of consistency.
They were outstanding in winning a one-day series in Australia in June and also giving Steve Waugh and his men the fright of their lives in the Test at Colombo with a depleted squad in October.
But since the consistency has been missing, Pakistan have been routed by the Aussies in two Tests and one-dayers in Nairobi this year.
Down 1-2 with two games to play in the one-day series in South Africa, it is going to be a test of character for Pakistan to come back on the faster pitches of Paarl and Cape Town next week.
There’s a lot at stake in this one-day series for many of the players itself because it is a series that could quite possibly play a significant part in the destination of the 2003 World Cup itself.
Senior players like captain Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Inzamam ul-Haq, Yousaf Youhanna, Rashid Latif and Saqlain Mushtaq need to pull up their socks and start carrying the team on their shoulders.
True they as individuals have given creditable performances, but as a whole they have failed to lift the team.
And this translates into the inconsistent performances that cause so much frustration among the cricket lovers of this country.
Having played so many one-dayers and Tests, it is strange that even our most experienced batsmen still lack the mental aptitude to adapt and grind out long innings on pitches with some seam movement and bounce.
