Archive for ‘November 16th, 2009’

2 results.
Nov16

Why Younis Khan can’t return as a captain?

by wasim on November 16th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket Pakistan

After quitting captaincy for the fourth time it is highly improbable that Younis Khan will return as captain in the Australian series.

His chance of returning as a player and as a captain hinges upon Pakistan team’s performance in the test series against New Zealand, if the team failed under Mohammad Yousaf and YK’s replacement also failed to score runs then Younis might have a chance to make a comeback.

Whether Younis makes a return as a player or as a captain it will be disasterous for Pakistan cricket unless the core issue of power struggle between players is taken care of by PCB.

I have no doubt in my mind that YK will be able to regain his form and will qualify to return as a player but if this happens then imagine the environment in the dressing room, it will be extremely tense, there wll be a trust deficit between him and the captain which will eventually result in finger pointing and a constant source of bickering. A new power struggle will begin, new groups will form and new controversies will emerge and once again Pakistan cricket will become the casuality of infighting and power struggle between the players.

If he returns as a captain it will definitely piss off Mohammad Yousaf and a few other players and again some players will not co-operate with Younis in an effort to derail his captaincy.

It’s a catch 22 situation for PCB with only one way out, they will have to break the back of player’s power and weed out the corrupt and rogue elements within the team, at least two main characters of the revolt against Younis Khan should be permanently sidelined and a clear message should be sent to the players that no rogue behaviour will be tolerated.

 PCB could have avoided this self created mess if they had taken appropriate measures after the Srilankan series. But YK’s poor personal form didn’t helped him either. It would have been extremely hypocritical of PCB to drop Yousaf, Afridi or Malik on the basis of performance as they all performed better than Younis Khan in every series played during the last one year. Personally I don’t think that Younis would have quitted this time if he was scoring runs.

To end this rift and make a new start PCB will have to get rid of the under performers they should select a backup keeper for every series and should adopt the policy of selection based on performance and not seniority. But such rationality cannot be expected of an organization which has a long history of sweeping all the problems under the carpet.

My prediction is that PCB will send Younis as a player to Australia after he refuses to take over captaincy once again, none of the trouble makers will get dropped and a fresh season of the eternal soap opera of Pakistan cricket will kick off. YK will score a few runs in Australia to prove a point, Malik will twist his ankle and will pull out from the Australian tour in an effort to save his career. The team will come back badly beaten a new selection committee will be appointed and PCB will start looking for a new captain.

Any suggesstions who should be our future captain?

 

But

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Nov16

Lalit Modi has lost his marbles

by wasim on November 16th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Posted In: Cricket, Cricket India

 

The IPL has initiated steps to ensure that all cricketers who have been contracted by its franchises are available to play for the entire season from next year, except those with international commitments. This effectively means that players in this category, and their national boards, will have to put the IPL ahead of their domestic commitments.

Lalit Modi has probably lost his marbles such a move will never get approved, the domestic cricket is played in all formats and not just T20, thats where different cricketers prepare for the upcoming international matches, it is important for every country to maintain the standard of it’s domestic cricket by ensuring that the leading players take part in the domestic matches. The high level of competition ensured by the participation of leading players helps identify the true worth of upcoming players. 

Cricket boards who send their players to IPL do not get any monetary benefit by parting from their resources, however they do generate revenue in shape of gate money and sponsorship deals from their domestic cricket which will decline if the key players do not participate in it.

However the case is quite different in case of champion’s league, all the board’s who send their team’s to participate in that tournament get a share in sponsorship revenue and also charge an appearance fee for their respective team hence they should be morally and legally be responsible to send the exact team which won the domestic tournament barring injuries and international commitments. 

It is important to note here that IPL only pays the player’s on prorata basis which means that the number of matches they miss due to injuries, international or domestic commitments they don’t get paid for those matches.

This new rule would also be totally against the spirit of the original understanding made between different boards? Which clearly states that a player can only participate in IPL if his home board gives him a NOC.

A board can be reluctant to issue  NOC to a certain player for a number of reasons. They might want to give a certain player more rest before a key series, they might want to protect an injury prone player from getting injured by playing a full IPL season or they might want to keep the star attractions of their domestic tournaments at home. IPL authorities cannot dictate terms to the other boards in this respect.

I think Modi is pushing the limits with this new rule, he should realize that the real value of his billion dollar brain child depends on foreign players and their employers he does not have a bargain chip to get this law enforced he will face stiff resistance from the foreign players and also their employers.

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