The anatomy of an inconsistent team
It was 2nd time in a row that Pakistan’s star studded middle order collapsed and failed to capitalize on a good opening stand. The middle order is full of player’s who are over hyped and have inflated egos, we have a captain who thinks that he is the saviour of pakistan cricket, the most honorable and indespensable player in the team but when it comes to delivering on the ground he is the biggest pussy he simply can’t handle pressure.
Then we have a wanna be captain, who thinks he has the god given right for recklessness, he wants authority but doesn’t want to assume responsibility, nobody should expect application and determination from him the fans should change their way of thinking and should not expect him to change his style and be more responsible.
Then we have a disgruntled ex-captain who has vengeance on his mind, he would only perform enough to keep his position in the team nobody should dictate him about his role in the team he will only decide it himself which # he wants to bat on and whether he wants to bowl or not should be only his choice.
Then we have the senior most batsman in the team who thinks since he has the longest beard in the team nobody should question him, he will only show any grit and determination to finish off the job when his reputation is at stake.
Then we have two brothers who play like champions one day and the next day they play like chimps.
In todays match two young tail enders showed the nation what is meant by the honor to play for your country. What is meant by being motivated. Their valiant and high spirited attempt to win the match showed the fans that the senior players in the team are just a bunch of selfish losers who just have inflated egos and no sense of honor, no integrity and no determination.
Pakistan were set a target of 212, the openers again gave a good start but again Younis Khan triggered a collapse this is the upteenth time that Younis khan ran out his well set partner and then soon after threw away his own wicket.
Surprisingly Pakistan’s batting problems are like a balloon you try to squeeze the ballon from one side it inflates from the other side, the selectors fixed the opening problem but now the middle order needs over hauling. Why can’t we have consistency ? form does not change overnight, with the exception of Younis Khan the rest of the players have played some superb innings in the recent matches, why do we follow the same template for disaster again and again. The collective suicide of the middle order has become too predictable.
The way Malik and Afridi threw away their wickets it showed that they had no intention of staying on the wicket both of them are far to experienced to attempt such shots.
The team doesn’t look united and this problem requires immediate attention, one group has to go.
Pakistan’s B team could have given this Kiwi team a better fight.
If we look at the stats of the series.
Khalid Latif who is a newbie scored the most runs in the series, followed by Mohammad Aamer who bats at # 10 this stat tells the whole story of Pakistan’s misery. when it comes to batting average both Khalid and Aamer have the same average of 42, Kamran Akmal has 37.5 and then Saeed Ajmal who averaged 36.5.
Whether it is bowling or batting Aamer has shown a different spirit then the rest of his team mates he is full of energy and full of motivation to do better for his country.
Younis Khan with an average of 7.3 managed to beat only Umar Gul. The rest of the middle order is averaging in 20’s.
If three young players who have no name and no hype they can perform then why the fuck are we wasting time with the over hyped star players if they can’t deliver. Kick them out of the team and give chance to upcoming players.
People call Younis Khan an honorable person, I think he is an egotistical maniac, he knew he is out of form he fucked up the whole middle order through his policy of rotation just to keep himself in the team. He could have rested at least in this final match when he knew that he was out of form.
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the feeling is mutual wasim…
Ofcourse SP
On the positive, we do a have better version of Akram seriously in the making. All right maybe not as much in bowling talent as Akram but certainly overall.
What an effort by the young lad.
On another note… scorching post!
Wasim,
Our selection policy and board can take some blame for the attitudes of our players. In my opinion, their treatment of Yousuf in the past was astonishing. To drop him for this game just did not make sense. This does nothing to change his attitude but makes him more selfish and think less of the team. The guy would walk into any team in the world…..not ours apparently. If our players are treated like children, they’ll behave like so.
Thanks Scorpi,
Aamer better than Akram?
I know you were not serious but a lot of people in Pakistan seriously think that.
Right now he is inspired to become an Akram, the kind of spirit he has will certainly take him there but as a bowler as you said he has miles to go.
But what I like about him is his overall energy and his spirit to win. No doubt he also has good talent but a lot more is required before we even start comparing him with Wasim Akram.
Stani
I don’t know whether to agree with you or disagree on this one such is the confusion in my mind right now. The issue is not as simple as it looks.
If our players are treated like children, they’ll behave like so.
Absolutely you are right there but you will agree with me that if the players behave like childern they should certainly deserve to be treated like childern.
Nobody has criticized Younis Khan more than me and I am still not a fan of his way of leadership but these players are no saints.
We as bloggers don’t have any personal vendetta against any player so lets look at things from YK’s perspective.
YKs own performance we don’t need to discuss it as you and me we both have said enough about it.
But you will agree that the senior players are not giving there 100% under Younis.
Malik and Yousaf performed in SriLanka only when they were warned that they will be dropped.
Malik scored a 100 in the last test and then got included in the Odi’s and seriously underperformed in the first two Odi’s.
The performance of Yousaf also doesn’t justify his class and stature in the team he has been either getting run out or throwing away his wicket after getting well set.
Both these players gave their best performance against India because they knew an underperformance against India people in Pakistan never forgive and forget and it carries a lot of goodwill points for the player.
But what happened after that we are all witnessing. These guys don’t show up when the situation demands a good performance from them. Younis lost his trust in these players and is only trying to rotate them in desperation.
Do these players deserve to be left out. Absolutely yes. But in YK’s case it’s not so easy as he himself has not been able to perform so it becomes hypocritical of him to rest others but not himself.
See my point is that it will be a never ending story if one group keeps on underperforming to pull the legs of the other group.
After yesterday’s match I have come to the conclusion that one group has to go.
Yousaf no doubt is the best batsman in the Pakistan side and deserves better treatment, but he is also expected to deliver according to his reputation.
A few things should be done.
In my opinion the chairman should make Younis realize that he is not an almighty he is just another ordinary player who is given the honor to lead the team, he will have to treat other players with respect and will have to maintain good communication relations with all the players both on the field and off the field. If a player is not co-operating he should be given the right to go in public about that player.
Right now he is sending messages through the manager or the coach and is not on talking terms with a few seniors.
The kind of shots which Afridi and Malik played yesterday to get out has changed my whole opinion about the whole scenario, these guys are not playing for the country they are playing for their self interests, Malik should be dropped from the test team and Afridi should be given a warning.
Now this stupid Quota policy of Younis to make everybody happy is not only working against him but also hurting Pakistan team, The team should be selected keeping in view the conditions and a player’s form.
Why did we selected Razzaq in the third match when he failed miserably in the first and second match why didn’t we gave chance to Rao, Rana or Riaz in the thrid. I am not saying permanently dump Razzaq it’s just that he can’t bowl on flat tracks he needs a little bit of juice in the wicket to be affective.
Why did we brought in Salman Butt ? Probably Younis doesn’t trust Kamran Akmal as he was also one of the players who went against him.
I think both sides are at fault to some extent, the players need to support their captain regardless of his personal form as YK lifted the burden on his shoulders for a very long time when the openers and the rest of the middle order used to fail so if he can’t be dropped or can’t be rested then others must step up to the cause. Thats how one should prove his worth not by playing petty poilitics.
They should all learn from Aamer and Ajmal.
Drama Khan Younis has decided to withdraw himself from the NZ test series. It’s not a retirement announced he only decided to take some time off to sought out his personal form. Something which he should have done before the CT semi final.
As a bowler far from it. As a batsman, a bit of a Wasim in him eh… nice start? Wasim wasted his batting talent. I agree comparisons too young only leads to Irfan pathan :)… Cheers
Scorpi
Irfan was a much better batsman than Aamer, but as a bowler not even a young Irfan was any way near Aamer’s class. Irfan never touched 140’s not even when he was young, this guy is consistently bowling in 140’s. A bit more mastery in reverse swing and this guy can hold Pakistan’s bowling for a long time to come.