Poor performance- Factionalism or corruption
on July 15th, 2009 at 1:54 pmAfter losing two test matches and three batting collapses several former test players have hinted out of factionalism in the team.
Former chief selector Abdul Qadir has said:
“When I resigned as chief selector, I am on record as saying that Shoaib Malik should be punished for letting captain Younis Khan down and I maintain that there is factionalism in the team,” Qadir told AFP. “What I said was on the basis of what I saw during the series against Australia in UAE two months ago and I said that seniors were not co-operating with Younis.
“I said this before and I reiterate that the coach and manager’s reports of this Sri Lanka tour should be made public. Had the UAE series report been made public, things would have been sorted out by now.”
Inzamam said:
”The situation in the team is not good,” Inzamam said. “I can smell factionalism within the team and Younis is not doing his best to keep the team united, and that does not augur well for our cricket.”
Former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, often an outspoken critic of Pakistan cricket, said the former captain Shoaib Malik should take responsibility. He also slammed Younis, despite Pakistan winning the ICC World Twenty20 in England under his captaincy less than a month ago. Younis said after the defeat that Pakistan had been caught short due to the lack of exposure to Tests over the last two years.
“Malik, along with four senior players, is doing politics,” Nawaz said. “Misbah-ul-Haq should be excluded from the team as he has failed and should be replaced by new players.
“Younis doesn’t have leadership qualities,” Nawaz said. “If a captain is not able to handle his players’ batting failures and comes out with lame excuses of playing less Test cricket, he doesn’t have the qualities of a good captain.”
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has completely dismissed these allegations of factionalism:
“There can be no chance of factionalism in the team as I believe Younis has good relations with seniors like Misbah-ul-Haq and others,” Butt said in Lahore. “It is not a joke to change the captain again and again.”
If there is no factionalism then what is the cause of these mysterious collapses of Pakistan’s middle order, on three occasions they fell like nine pins, Yousaf scored a century on his return and after that he is getting out cheaply, Malik , Misbah and Akmal have all of a sudden forgotten how to read the line of the ball, if a young player like Fawad can bat for almost day and a half on a pitch then there is no explanation for these players not to perform.
Pakistan lost the first match after their victory was almost certain and after conceding 150 runs lead in the first innings of the second match they made a spectecular comeback and at one stage it looked as if they are going to post a huge total and will eventually win the match but again they collapsed when the odds were in their favor.
What is the reason of this poor performance and spectecular collapses? Factionalism or corruption.
If it was factionalism Malik and Akmal would not have performed the way they did in the T20 WC.
My guess is that it is corruption, UmarGul’s bowling have been quite contrasting in all four innings in the first innings of the second match he bowled like his usual self, reversing the ball and bowling in tight areas in the second innings he was up and down and wayward. Abdul Rauf faced and survived more deliveries in the first innings of the first match than any other Pakistani batsman, Khurram manzoor, Fawad Alam, and Younis Khan showed there were no demons in the pitch then why the most experienced players in the team fell so quickly, if they are out of form Kick them out, if they are playing politics kick them out if they are underperforming for some other reasons then make some wholsale changes and Kick all of these bastards out. There has to be an explanation and an inquiry should be hold.
If like in the past the main culprits escaped punishment then I will be absolutely certain that the higher board authorities are also inviolved in this corruption.
Hitman 57
Sorry for replying late.
Welcome to cricketfiles. You know we try to judge too much by superficial things like body language and overall personal demeanor, look at the record of Malik as a captain, we are willing to give all kinds of margins to Younis and are also willing to give him a longer run regardless of the results but gave up on Malik after he lost his first test series.
The first T20 World cup we could have won it if Younis had not ran out out Imran Nazir and then two balls later thrown his wicket away.
Odi series against SA we were almost going to win but Shahid Afridi could not make 12 from 3.4 overs with three tail enders.
The test series against India do you remember both Shoaib and Gul got injured during the match and Pakistan were left with only two regular one part time bowler. The series against SriLanka do you remember how Younis and Afridi failed miserably and I was surprised that YK was rewarded for his poor performance.
A captain is only as good as his team, we are willing to give this margin to YK but not Malik. You don’t win four straight domestic titles if you are a lousy player and a lousy captain, I think the senior mafia never accepted him as a leader that was the main problem and I don’t have any problem as such with Younis being a captain. But for god sake use the same yard stick to judge him too.
I think your comment about Yousaf was not fair he is playing competitve cricket after 14 months and we all know how he performed in 2006-7 century after century and even now he has played two good innings, the problem is with Misbah and Younis, since Afridi and Razzak are not in the team there isn’t much depth, the tail is too long. If Nasir was selected then Misbah could have been replaced by Fawad and all the problems would have been solved.
But all these loop holes have been left for some strange reason.
I can’t understand the whole team gets out under 100 twice and we are putting the sole blame on the # 6 and #7 player what about the top 5 they were not playing that match they didn’t had any responsibility. And even if we replace Malik or Misbah with Faisal Iqbal will it solve the problem of the top 5 failing on 75% of the time.
Some say Malik and Misbah are conspiring against Younis, but is Younis also conspiring against himself by not performing these are just theories, the main problem is that these players no matter how they perform retain their place in the team, when nobody expects them to win they win and when nobody expects them to lose they lose, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to judge this pattern. The final 11 are selected by YK if he knows Malik and Misbah are conspiring against him why doesn’t he drop them.
He said he is not a dummy captain but all of a sudden now he is saying that PCB administrators are not letting him drop those players, its all a load of crap.
Wasim
I don’t know what you’re thinking, the difference between losses under Malik and those under Younis is of captaincy and the manner of losing them. Malik never came across or looked like a captain, staying idle, looking for things to happen for him rather than making things happen. Younis is a proactive captain, he uses his bowlers well and had Sri Lankan batsmen dismissed early in both tests by his and his bowlers’ planning when every one was expecting a huge score from them, sadly the batsmen did what they always do and wasted bowlers’ efforts. I’m not defending his poor performances in three innings out of four in the series though, he played poorly in them and when finally he had a score in fourth innings of the series he threw it away by playing a bad shot.
Also, I’m watching with amazement that one player is making his way out of all this mess unscathed. Mohammad Yousaf, has he ever played an innings under pressure or when other batsmen weren’t scoring? Now he’ll score in another flat tracked, dead rubber match and be called a great batsman, unjustified.
Younis Khan says
‘I just inherited these players. I mean what can I do if players like Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq are failing regularly.’
‘If I just throw them out of the team, the whole of Pakistan will blame me for running the show on my whim and fancy. It is up to the authorities to decide what should be done about it,’ he said
Didn’t you and Afridi underperformed in key matches and when Malik the selectors tried to drop one player you guys openly accused him of conspiring.
And btw didn’t you and Yousaf failed in three innings out of four played?
“Give this team time before you judge us – Younis”
My question is why?
Malik lost two test matches and all hell broke lose on him so whats so special about you that we should give you more time.
You openely rebelled against the last captain even underperformed in some key matches to bring him down, so why should we give you more time.
I never pay any attention to what Sarfraz or any other Ex-cricketer says but these sudden collapses have been mind boggling for me there has to be some reason behind it.
I just think they don’t give a damn Wasim. The factional mentality will always be within our people but I don’t think it’s the cause of our bad performances recently.
As for our former players, they should just keep their mouths shut unless they have something useful to say. We never hear of any other of the teams former players make immature and baseless comments.
I don’t think it’s either factionalism or corruption at this point. I think if it was factionalism, it would show in other ways apart from just the bad batting displays. We would detect it in mannerisms, comments etc.
If it is those two things you have put forward, then it is the reason I have never been in favour of a board and coaching staff made up of ex-players or even Pakistanis. They are just not professional, trustworthy or squeaky clean enough.