The Pakistan Cricket Board has barred former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan from the national team indefinitely for behaviour they say contributed to Pakistan’s poor performance on its recent tour of Australia.
PCB on Wednesday also imposed one-year bans on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved after implementing the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistan’s dismal performance against Australia in December and January.
Malik and Naved were also fined two million rupees, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was handed a fine of three million rupees and Umar Akmal, younger brother of Kamran, was fined two million rupees.
Shahid Afridi was fined 3 million rupees (US$35,200) for ball tampering during the one-day series against Australia.
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For the time being an average fan will be satisfied that finally justice has been done and player’s power has been eradicated from Pakistan cricket.
In my opinion the whole inquiry process has been a huge cover up and in a few months all of these players will get restored and their fines will be overturned because of the following reasons.
- The inquiry process was carried out by an in house committee rather than an independent Judicial inquiry like the Justice Qayyum inquiry. After Qayyum’s inquiry all the statements given by players, the whole proceedings of the inquiry alongwith the evidence presented were made public as a result nobody had any doubt about the fairness of the process and nobody had any sympathy with the players. Even though the recommendations of the current inquiry committee have been implemented but their are several loop holes deliberately left in the report because of which I strongly believe that all the players will be able to make a come back. The central contracts expired on Dec 31′st legally the players can go to the court and get the fines revoked because they were no longer employed by PCB when these fines were announced. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousaf can get their bans over turned from any court as their stance has been vindicated by the inquiry committee’s report so why they are being punished? It is not clear as of yet.
- Questions will be raised in the media why PCB didn’t nipped the evil in the bud when these players were showing rogue behavior on different tours and were under performing to pull the legs of each other, Since the details of the statements made by the accused have not been made public, does it mean that the top brass was also involved in promoting factionalism for their own vested interests and tried to cover up their own role by keeping the proceedings of the inquiry secret.
- Through out the last year several players of Pakistan team and at times the whole team has been accused of match fixing, even Mr Butt acknowledged that match fixing is prevailant but can’t be proved, since the inquiry committee was not independent and it’s proceedings have been kept secret and the fact that PCB didn’t do anything to curtail player’s power in the last two years, in fact on many occasions they encouraged it and protected the rogue players, hence it is fair to believe that the top management was itself nurturing a corrupt culture, hence it is fair to believe that PCB deliberately covered up the evidence regarding the involvement of it’s executives in various mutiny’s and their role in mismanaging the serious situations on several occasions.
- Younis Khan refused to be a part of a corrupt setup and is only getting punished for that sole reason. In his case only PCB officials were guilty, they never supported him because apparently it didn’t suited their vested interests and now by punishing him they have covered up their own role. It is quite evident from Younis Khan’s case that PCB’s top brass itself was accomplice with some of the rogue players and was encouraging them against Younis Khan.
- Apparently Afridi has been punished for his ball tampering but I think legally they can’t punish him for one offence twice, I think behind the scenes their is more to it than what meets the eye he has been a central character in all the revolts and mutiny’s since Inzamam.
All the players except Younis Khan deserved this harsh treatment, the players are only puppets they could not have carried out their plans if they didn’t had any official sanction from PCB’s top brass. Justice has been served to the players but the main culprits (the board officials) are still unpunished and are still controlling the affairs of PCB. The board officials won’t get away with it as very soon the players will hit back at the board and will try to take them down along with them.
The people of Pakistan should demand from PCB to release the full minutes of the proceeding of the inquiry committee alongwith the statements and evidences furnished by all the players and officials.
We deserve to know what was the role of the current management in prolonging this issue, people also deserve to know the real reasons behing the bans imposed on Younis and Yousaf.
I would appeal to the Chief Justice of Pakistan that he should take a suo motto notice of the situation and set up a special judicial commission for this purpose.
Omer
On several occasions during the debate you also didn’t picked up correctly what I wrote. Did I called you retarded or suffering from downs syndrome. You accused me of supporting Misbah for captaincy when at least 5 times in the above post and my comments I clearly wrote that Afridi should lead the team.
In your last post you wrote:
“If you are alluding to the fact that I called your analysis retarded or reflective of Down’s Syndrome, it was because, I felt I had written one thing, and you were changing it on purpose to put words in my mouth. How is that remark racist?”
And this is what I wrote earlier
“I would have refrained from using the racist remark if you had not used the downs syndrome remark it was highly offensive and uncalled for”
Where did I wrote that your remark was racist.
And you are telling me that I am the one who is suffering from Downs Syndrome:) I think you are behaving like a 9 year old girl changing statements and getting rude for no reason.
And when did I put anything in your mouth, You said Afridi is a better hitter (obviously in comparison to Misbah) and Razzaq is a better pressure player who wins matches also in comparison to Misbah.
And I said in response “there is no comparison between Afridi and Misbah’s batting” how does this tantamounts to putting words in your mouth.
I have no time for your childish and stupid mind games as I know the end result.
Wasim,
Which remark are you referring to?
If you are alluding to the fact that I called your analysis retarded or reflective of Down’s Syndrome, it was because, I felt I had written one thing, and you were changing it on purpose to put words in my mouth. How is that remark racist?
I don’t understand how anything remotely racist has been said here?
Anyway if you feel so sensitive about your analysis, then I apologize for that remark.
Misbah, imo, has an inflated one day average, and that is because of the not outs. That is what I tried to show– whether he is as good a player as Bravo might be debatable, but there is some inflation in his averages without doubt. Usually people who average around 40 win many matches, but if he made 20, 30 runs in Australia, whether in the Sydney test or some of the one days, the outcomes might have been different. But, as test cricket establishes, he has problems when the ball is a bit too fast or moves around a bit.
Omer
Let me sum up again.
I don’t dispute your arguments against Misbah in the test format but I think it is unfair to call him a nothing player in Odi’s and T20 a point from where we started our argument.
I can understand your point of viewing Misbah’s performance after excluding his performance against India, because the bench mark is against Australia. But I think your analysis of Odi average was not fair.
we had an opportunity to add quality to the discussion when I presented an alternate method of evaluating average but you never responded to that, and in fact the alternate you presented was childish which perhaps you wrote to irk me:)).
You have every right to get offended by the racist remark but I didn’t initiated this sledging match you did.
I would have refrained from using the racist remark if you had not used the downs syndrome remark it was highly offensive and uncalled for also if you had shown a bit of flexibility in understanding the facts and figures I presented to you in my arguments and had not used double standards in some of your arguments, the debate could have been much more interesting.
I am not interested in any debate which will end in personal attacks, this is the main reason I parted my ways with people we both know. We should learn to respect each others opinions and in case of extreme disagreement we should just agree to disagree without disrespecting each other.
I do not agree with your sweeping statement that Misbah hasn’t won us any T20 match thats not true. Statements like these and the trimming of statistics to prove your point turned this debate into a juvenile one.
I apologise for offending you, I didn’t wanted to, but your remark was very offensive.
You are more than welcome to join any debate here.
Anyway, this is turning out to be a juvenile argument, when the intention was to have a productive discussion.
Let me clarify this: Race/ethnicity has zero relationship with this. Razzaq is Punjabi and I highly regard his skill. Wasim and Waqar are my favorite players and they are both Punjabi. Aamer and Asif, both Punjabis, are in my view the backbone of Pakistan team now.
What irks me is the emphasis on nothing players and lack of specialist players. Two people can have a difference of opinion on what constitutes a good player. I suspect this is the reason why end up disagreeing pretty often.
If you felt I was indiscreetly offensive somewhere, then my due apoligies. I hope we can continue our discussions in good spirit and good stead, as ultimately we both wish good to Pakistan cricket.
Wasim,
Why are you ranting and raving, and getting so emotional.
What I have pasted above holds true of Misbah, his averages are worse than Mitchell Jhonson if you take out India. How is that racism? And, how the heck does racism come in here? In fact I’d like to ask, what do you think racism is, are you suggesting that questioning a player’s calibre is racism?
I am sorry to say, but this is retarded. Your pulling a couple of statistics of Fawad Alam (who has been given a C grade contract) and Younis has nothing to do with Misbah, because we are discussing Misbah’s calibre, and you are suggesting that it is racism to discuss Misbah’s calibre. Wow, I mean seriously, what a way not to be able to convince the other of your point, accuse him of racism— tantamount to political mudslinging. In extreme cases and in a more public context, this would amount to libel, because you are calling me a racist when there is only one race here.
If you look above, I have said Misbah is passable in 20/20. A test match is 450 overs of cricket and it is a fairly good indicator of a player’s worth (at least much better than going the other way around, juding the players test performances based on 20/20). Misbah hasn’t won a 20/20 match so far, he isn’t a specialist hitter, therefore I don’t consider him a very good 20/20 player. A strike rate of 120 is pretty darned bad in 20/20 and it shows that he is consuming too much time on the crease, especially for a fairly late order player steering the innings towards its end. That is the crucial aspect in 20/20 and Misbah is not as good an ideally 20/20 specialist hitter ought to be and that shows in the lack of matches he has won.
Reverse, AHBD, Stani and Maz where are you guys Wake up.
Congratulations to Shahid Afridi on becoming the captain of Pakistan team. We hope that Shahid this time around will act responsibly both as a captain and as a batsman and will successfully defend Pakistan’s . Our best wishes and prayers are with you.
Omer
So why don’t you take out Mitchells not out’s and then compare him with Misbah or take out his performance against South Africa where he scored 123 and remained not out which inflated his average against that country. I think it is retarded to trim a player’s performance to prove a point. India is #1 ranked team in the world I don’t see how a performance against them can be taken as a negative.
Why I called your persistence to declare Misbah mediocre as racist?
Just because of your constant use of double standards in judging different players and your effort to trim Misbah’s career stats to prove him a mediocre player.
You constantly call him selfish when his SR is higher then the players you praise but unfortunately Misbah doesn’t belong to that ethnic group, hence he will never get a fair review from you.
It may sound bitter to you but that is reality. I am not going to get involved in a debate on this topic as both of us know each other for quite some time through different blogs and know each other’s views in detail.
Our discussion started when you said Misbah doesn’t deserve to be in the in T20 team because he is a mediocre player. You ignored the fact that he has the highest T20 average in the world, then you started quoting his test statistics to prove your point knowing that he has not established himself in test cricket and completely ignored the fact that he has played only 19 tests in 7 years, you also ignored the fact that Pakistan never played any test in 2008 as a result of which almost every test batsman in the team struggled in 2009, in 2009-10 he played 7 matches when he was in the worst form of his life and if he had not played some good innings against some good bowling teams in domestic cricket I would have never argued on giving him another chance.
You distorted his Odi average by taking out the not outs. It’s very easy to make a player look bad by trimming his career statistics. Younis Khan has an average of 63 in last two years, if you take out his 313 against SriLanka which was made on the flatest track ever played on the planet his average is a mere 18.7. If you take out Fawad’s 168 then in the remaining 5 innings he scored @ 16.4 this is a ridiculous way of analyzing a player. Pakistan doesn’t have a batsman who can score consistently, even Yousaf and Younis since 2007 do not fall in this category.
I never said that Misbah has a decent test record and was only defending his Odi and T20 record which in my opinion deserves him a place on merit in those formats, he does not have a long enough test record and probably will never get a chance to improve it since he doesn’t have enough time.
I also admitted that he was going through a bad patch and should deserve a chance to play in the T20 WC just because he showed some form in recent domestic tournaments and his past record in that format is very imppressive.
But you had only one rant of declaring him mediocre by twisting and trimming his career stats that is not fair. I said it once before and would repeat it again you are entitled to your opinions and biases I only get convinced by plain facts and not by juggling statistics and by making sweeping statements.
Targeting players on the basis of ethnicity, I would never approve we can show such emotions while following domestic cricket but when it comes to national team we should be extremely fair.
Wasim,
By comparing with Mitchell Jhonson I am using a racist lens?
I don’t know a way to find their averages without India (and don’t want to do manual labor right now as I have to go somewhere), but here is a comparison (minus India):
Misbah averages 16.5 versus Newzealand, whereas Jhonson averages 19.66.
Misbah averages 29 versus South Africa, whereas Jhonson averages 57.28.
Jhonson has played against West Indies, but Misbah hasn’t played against West Indies. On the other hand, Misbah has played against Sri Lanka and Jhonson hasn’t played against Sri Lanka.
Misbah averages 16 against Australia, whereas Jhonson averages 14 against Pakistan. So, if you want to compare them in the reverse like this against each other, both are pretty close, with Misbah having a slight edge.
“Mitchell has an average of 26 in tests, 16 in odis, and 11 in t20 now you tell me how retarded it is to compare it with that of Misbah only a guy wearing a racist lens while comparing the two records can declare Mitchells record better. Taking out a player’s best performances and then comparing him with other players how dumb it is?”
Wasim,
Now you see why I likened your analysis to down’s syndrome? Look at where that is coming from– you are saying I am applying a racist lens? You are putting words in my mouth…what do you expect me to say. And, now you are making judgments about my character, just because I called your analysis retarted or don’t think Misbah is a international standard player?
I said minus India, Jhonson is a superior player than Misbah and the comparison was in tests. Therefore, I compared him in ODIs with Bravo (and I presented the reasons above for the comparison with Bravo, which was our ongoing discussion). There is a very fine distinction that I drew between the two forms of the game.
How can I apply a racist lens, first of all? How is Punjabi a race distinct from Sindhi or Urdu Speeking or Pathan or Balochi?
Lets settle what’s on your mind here before we move on and debate further on Misbah’s credential as a player. Because this is the first time I have heard that, Punjabi is a distinct ‘race’. You may call it a different ethnicity based on linguistic and cultural grounds (which I understand and respect), but the idea of a distinct race is a bit-over-the-top and it’d be interesting to see how you process information in this regard? Because, obviously, if you are saying I am racist against Punjabis, then you are saying that Punjabis are a distinct race.
Omer
You better not attempt to turn this debate into a personal argument by making snide and derogatory remarks because I am not interested in such an argument.
You said:
Meanwhile, I would say that, part of your analysis is somewhat reflective of a retardation reminiscent of down’s syndrome. If you read again, I said Afridi is a better hitter than Misbah. If you read again, I said Afridi is primarily a bowler who can bat. And, if you read again, I said Razzaq is a pressure player, who wins matches.
So what are you trying to say here, Afridi is a better hitter and Razzaq is a match winner but Misbah is a better batsman.
You said
Secondly, how is age not relevant, especially when mediocrity and age go together? You have this ridiculous argument of form– any player can have good years and bad years
But you don’t say this for Younis who finished completely as a batsman at least two years ago. Any players can have good years or bad years, exactly thats my point since Misbah showed good form in domestic cricket he deserves to be in the team.
Pakistan team resides in a gutter because people like you ignore the facts and target players based on ethnicity and as a result create huge pressure on the players and create an overall confusion regarding the selection of the team. Twisting and ignoring statistics while judging certain players to make them look bad, using double standards while evaluating performance of certain players.
You said
You recommend this guy to captain the Pakistan cricket team?
And then you say that my comments are reflective of retardation reminiscent of down’s syndrome. Where exactly I said that Misbah should lead the team?
You have only one answer for the facts and figures I presented in favor of my arguments.
Mitchell Johnson is a better test batsman than Misbah, again you didn’t compared the statistics and passed a sweeping judgement and then you called my analysis retarded.
Mitchell has an average of 26 in tests, 16 in odis, and 11 in t20 now you tell me how retarded it is to compare it with that of Misbah only a guy wearing a racist lens while comparing the two records can declare Mitchells record better. Taking out a player’s best performances and then comparing him with other players how dumb it is?
Is this an established way of comparing players, did you employed this technique while defending Fawad Alam because if you use this technique on him he won’t even qualify to get selected in a mohalla eleven.
Pakistan team has suffered a lot because of this jingoistic and biased criticism the groupism in the team is a direct product of this biased treatment of certain players in the media and on the blogs.
But you are entitled to your opinion, you think Misbah is mediocre and I think he is not he is better than a lot of players included in the team.
I think there is no point in carrying this discussion further if it is not going to be based on preconcieved notions and personal biase rather than facts and figures.
Wasim,
I’ll provide a more detailed-detailed response to your retort on not outs.
Meanwhile, I would say that, part of your analysis is somewhat reflective of a retardation reminiscent of down’s syndrome. If you read again, I said Afridi is a better hitter than Misbah. If you read again, I said Afridi is primarily a bowler who can bat. And, if you read again, I said Razzaq is a pressure player, who wins matches.
Secondly, how is age not relevant, especially when mediocrity and age go together? You have this ridiculous argument of form– any player can have good years and bad years. Look at Lara’s record, look at Viv Richards record…you can easily find years in which they have averaged pretty low and have been stricken with bad form. Misbah is too old for the mediocre weight of averages he carries. Minus India, Mitchell Jhonson is a superior test player and Bravo is, in a all likelihood, a better matchwinner than Misbah. You recommend this guy to captain the Pakistan cricket team? I’d think you would want to steer Pakistan cricket out of the gutter that it is residing in with a better recommendation than him, who plays as a batsman and is worse than Mitchell Jhonson as a batsman minus India.
Anyway, I’ll do more analysis on his not outs later. It is not about me being unable to accept anything– I’ll accept it if it is true, I have nothing against Misbah. I don’t hold it personally against the players, I just feel nothing players shouldn’t be in the team. For that sake, I have argued against the inclusion of Shoaib Malik as well. This is called rational thinking: If a player is very good and specialized at one thing, whether building an innings and scoring big, or hitting, or being able to spin the ball, or bowling fast with swing, and the like, you can use them in the right way and extract a lot out of them. A player who is totally unspecialized and just sticks out there is a waste of space and there is an opportunity cost for that space. If you can farm 5 tons of wheat in an hour and I can brew two litres of alchohol in an hour, and if I can brew 1 ton of wheat in an hour and you can brew 1/4th litres of alchohol in an hour, both of us won’t get much to drink and sleep hungry if I were to brew alchohol as well as grow wheat, and you would do the same. This notion of versatility without specialization is a disease in the team, the disease that started with Shoaib Malik. Misbah again is a nothing player who thrives on his “sensible approach” which is supposedly not to hit the ball, but among grafters and builders, he is the worst of the lot and it is apparent while looking at his averages without India which are worse than Mitchell Jhonson. But it is the nature of the beast that he camouflages himself under these various notions of purity and discipline to survive when he is a myriad of mediocrity, lacking self-expression and specialization. More pertinent to the point though, I will reply soon.
Omer
he shouldn’t be in the one day team or the test team. He is passable in 20/20– nothing exceptional, not a powerful hitter like Afridi or a pressure player who would win matches like Razzaq. However, he can have his day in 20/20 too.
Absolutely not he deserves to be in the team in all formats but only if he is in form, age is not relevant here as he is a good fielder and looks physically as fit as Younis. If we can give Younis 2 years to come back in form and tolerate Afridi for at least one full decade then we can also give some more time to Misbah. There is no comparison between Afridi and Misbah’s batting, Afridi is just a brain less idiot who can throw his bat on the ball their is no method no planning no match awareness in his batting, it’s been very rare that we won a match because of Afridi’s batting in last 14 years.
You keep on repeating this rant that Misbah is a very selfish player and continue to ignore his strike rate which is better than Razzaq.
On the not outs thing, you have made very valid points. Misbah has a disproportionately high number of not outs, he avoids taking risk in the 49th over, and I see that as pure selfish play.
Again you made a statement without checking records. Razzaq’s percentage of not outs is 20% and Misbah’s 19%. Misbah remained not out 11 times out of which we won 10 matches his average is 47.7 % in those matches and a strike rate of 89. Has six scores anove 50 in these 10 innings, how can you call it being selfish.
Anyway, we could think of some other way of dealing with the not outs– if he made a big score, 40 plus, and Pakistan won the match, then we will count the not out as an innings. However, if Pakistan lost the match, then selfish play is, selfish play…there is no point rewarding him for his selfish play and we will not consider the innings.
10 out of 11 Pakistan won. I won’t say anything about the logic you presented about the treatment of not outs. Seems like you want to persist with your rant of declaring Misbah selfish and don’t want to accept facts and figures.
Wasim,
You said, “I agree with you he should not lead the team, but he deserves to be in the T20 team on merit.”
He shouldn’t be the captain, and, in my opinion, he shouldn’t be in the one day team or the test team. He is passable in 20/20– nothing exceptional, not a powerful hitter like Afridi or a pressure player who would win matches like Razzaq. However, he can have his day in 20/20 too.
On the not outs thing, you have made very valid points. Misbah has a disproportionately high number of not outs, he avoids taking risk in the 49th over, and I see that as pure selfish play.
Anyway, we could think of some other way of dealing with the not outs– if he made a big score, 40 plus, and Pakistan won the match, then we will count the not out as an innings. However, if Pakistan lost the match, then selfish play is, selfish play…there is no point rewarding him for his selfish play and we will not consider the innings.
You said,
“Micheal bevan’s average drops from a whopping 53.6 to 38.7 Kluseners average drops from 41.9 to 28.9 Micheal Clarkes average drops from 44.2 to 34.7. ”
So, it isi obvious where Misbah stands within this context, he isn’t as good a batsman as Klusener. Klusener was an all rounder. And, these are the extreme cases you have pointed. The thing that set Klusener apart from Misbah as a batsman was that, he was a very good striker of the ball– and he was a matchwinner. Yes, Klusener, too, was better than the specialist batsman Misbah ul Haq. Much better, because of the ability to win matches and do it under pressure.
On your last point, every batsman might be more leveraged towards a few teams and less leveraged towards the other, but Misbah is the mountain that STANDS on India. Misbah averages above 100 against India. Flat decks and spin bowling of Harbajhan Singh– he loves it. But, his average is less than 20 in tests against most other oppositions; when the ball is a bit too fast, it dramatically shows in his batting. His average without India is probably less than 20 in tests. That is not the player the team needs, in fact that is not the player that Habib Bank needs, he should be relegated to Western Punjab 3rd 11.
Omer
What do you mean, there is an established method? I don’t believe in any established method and my recommendation is, neither should you. What we need to do is, chop and churn the numbers, and see what they imply about his actual worth. There is no established method which is superior to basic logic.
So in your opinion taking out 30% of his matches will show the true picture about his worth? Completely unnfair and wrong.
If you consider him out in the matches he remained not out and just exclude the matches where he didn’t came into bat. then
Total matches in which he remained Not out 17
less DNB 6
———-
11
Runs scored in 11 matches 525
Average 525/11= 47.72
525+986
———— = 30.84
11+38
There are two flaws in your analysis. You are assuming that a player generally scores less than his normal average when he remains not out, a player can score 100 and remain not out, if we exclude his innings where he remained unbeaten our study would be flawed because we might exclude a players best innings, what you need to exclude is the extra advantage a player gets when the not out innings are not included in the denominator while calculating the average, we can do that by treating the not out innings as completed.
There will still be an error left i.e What if the player only faced a few balls and the innings was over?
A better way would be to calculate the average number of balls a player has played through out his career and multiply them with the SR of each innings where he remained not out and from the result deduct the runs scored in that incomplete innings . If a player plays more balls than his career balls played average then that innings should be considered as completed. This would cover the problem that what if the player had continued to bat.
Fawad is the one who most likely replaces Misbah so it is only fair to compare both players.
Micheal bevan’s average drops from a whopping 53.6 to 38.7 Kluseners average drops from 41.9 to 28.9 Micheal Clarkes average drops from 44.2 to 34.7.
You should also note here that the drop in the average will be the most in lower order batsmen as they have more probability of remaining not out. There general averages are less because they quite often get out quickly while attempting to score faster. The upper middle order will have far less drop as they usually manage to complete their innings and for the top order batsmen the drop is lowest because they have a very less probability of remainninng not out.
Similarly the general averages for openers, # 3 and #4 batsmen are higher because they usually have more time to play in an ODI innings.
Suppose a batsman plays 5 matches and makes 5 runs in each match and remains not out in each match, without any logic and by the established method, his average will be infinity and he would be infinitely better than the Don.
You are right but everybody would be aware of it and therefore everybody will disregard it.
You have Pakistan in mind or India/Australia?
It’s not a crime to score against India. All the teams these days use five or six regular bowlers in Odis.
His Strike rate is above 80 in ODIS so I don’t think he bats slowly or wastes deliveries he has played many innings where he has scored at SR of above 100 which is more than decent.
Through out your analysis you are only taking out things from his performances to prove him a worthless player, first you took out not outs now you are taking out his performances against India to make him look worse than Mitchel Johnson, this is no way of making doing an analysis every player has an opponent against whom they perform better than the rest. Take out YK’s performance against India and then see where he stands.
I agree with you he should not lead the team, but he deserves to be in the T20 team on merit.
Interestingly, if you take out India, Misbah is a worse test batsman than Mitchell Jhonson. Meanwhile, in one days, his batting is reminscent, and close to, that of Bravo.
If this is the new captain of Pakistan cricket, a 40-year old player who can’t match bowlers around the world in their batting, then Pakistan cricket is dead and has become hockey. They can enjoy 20/20 for awhile but with time that dominance will change. Time in 20/20 doesn’t mean a period o 5,6 years…it can happen pretty soon as other teams specialize more and more.
Dear Wasim,
You said, “I deliberately didn’t responded to your analysis of Misbah’s average in which you didn’t included the scores where he remained not out. In my opinion that argument was lame, there is an established method to determine a players batting average and it’s not rocket science to understand that every players average will drop if the scores where he remained not out are not accounted for according to the established procedure.”
What do you mean, there is an established method? I don’t believe in any established method and my recommendation is, neither should you. What we need to do is, chop and churn the numbers, and see what they imply about his actual worth. There is no established method which is superior to basic logic.
Now you have brought in Fawad Alam, when we are discussing Misbah, his worth, his age, and his captaincy credentials. I find it redundant to respond to that.
You said, “Suppose a batsman plays 5 matches he scores two centuries in the first two matches and remains not out in both matches in the last three matches he scores three consecutive ducks according to your method he will have an average of 0. ”
Suppose a batsman plays 5 matches and makes 5 runs in each match and remains not out in each match, without any logic and by the established method, his average will be infinity and he would be infinitely better than the Don.
“This argument is again lame, a batsman batting at #6 or 7 usually comes in to bat mostly during the last 10-15 overs. Usually last 10 overs are bowled by the best bowlers of a team I don’t know where did you got this Idea from that he usually comes in to bat when part timers are bowling, which team employs part timers these days on a regular basis in an Odi ?”
You have Pakistan in mind or India/Australia?
You remember that batsman in the Australian ODI side (Craig White or whatever the name was), he too used to come pretty soon at the crease, but whenever he got set, his scores weren’t these small 20s of yours– he was able to win matches. Misbah usually comes a lot sooner for Pakistan, just that he gets his first run after 3 overs, his next 2 runs in the next 3 overs, and so on….which would be fine btw if the player could hit 80s, 90s, 100s after getting set and win matches, but there is a height to his potential…and at his age he is redundant– I don’t see how they can play him in the team at his age when he is so mediocre.
Omer
Aqalmand kay liye tou ishara hi kaafi hota hey. I thought you will understand.
I am not disputing the accuracy of any of the statistics that you have posted I am only disputing what you are inferring from them while making the comparison.
I deliberately didn’t responded to your analysis of Misbah’s average in which you didn’t included the scores where he remained not out. In my opinion that argument was lame, there is an established method to determine a players batting average and it’s not rocket science to understand that every players average will drop if the scores where he remained not out are not accounted for according to the established procedure.
Your favorite player Fawad Alam
, his Odi average is 41 but if you take out the innings where he remained not out then his average becomes 21.63 and likewise almost every player’s average will fall according to your method. Your method of analyzing a player’s average is not comprehensive as you are creating a statistical bias by penalizing a player for not getting out and you are also not analyzing his total performances.
Suppose a batsman plays 5 matches he scores two centuries in the first two matches and remains not out in both matches in the last three matches he scores three consecutive ducks according to your method he will have an average of 0.
I do acknowledge that when you do not include in the denominator the number of innings in which a player remains not out it artificially inflates a players average but similarly if you completely exclude those innings and scores and just analyze a player on the basis of performances where he got out it reduces a players average and the analysis does not encompass the whole record of a player and hence the analysis is not reliable.
I also deliberately didn’t responded to your argument where you said that “When he comes down the order in ODIs, all the best bowlers have bowled there spells and he sets himself for 30 balls, while making 4 runs, against part-timers. By the time he gets set, the whole team from the other end is out because of the pressure he creates. “
This argument is again lame, a batsman batting at #6 or 7 usually comes in to bat mostly during the last 10-15 overs. Usually last 10 overs are bowled by the best bowlers of a team I don’t know where did you got this Idea from that he usually comes in to bat when part timers are bowling, which team employs part timers these days on a regular basis in an Odi ?
I am running late for a dinner I will write more on the subject later on.
Wasim,
I read first half of your post (the first one), and I realized that, you are replying to me without referring to the statistics I have used. If you could say that so-and-so line of reasoning is not valid and why, it’d make the debate more solid. The way it is going, you will be providing me your story and vice versa, you in your own merry world and vice versa. So, why don’t you refer to the statistics I have posted above, and if you feel like including the not outs, say why do you think that is the case– or why what I am saying isn’t justified…or if you think number of matches played should be considered rather than the number of innings played, you should say, why that is the case. The way it is, you are all over the place– that is no way to argue.
@ Omar
I think our discussion started from your comment where you said that Misbah doesn’t deserve to be in the T20 team. I think our discussion has switched from T20 to Odis and test matches after I quoted you his T20 stats.
The problem at hand is the T20 team, it’s leadership and the composition of the playing eleven, even though I disagree with you on Misbah’s abilities and performance as an Odi and T20 player but I do agree with you that he is getting too old and should not be made the captain as it would not be a long term solution. Every player goes through a bad patch Younis Khan is going through it since last two years:)) I am not sure if Misbah’s lack of form is permanent or it’s just a phase, right now we need an experienced player in the middle order especially when Younis and Malik are not in the team we can’t have all pinch hitters.
I have stated earlier in my comments and in the main post why I want Afridi to lead the team in the World cup. If I look at his leadership credentials I get worried because he lacks in many ways.
But the manner in which the other captains were systematically targeted by the media and different lobbies I don’t think anybody other than Afridi will survive as Pakistan teams captain. With Malik, Yousaf and Younis not in the team Afridi will have an open field, the team still looks good and in my opinion if Sami and Nazir are included in the squad the team can still defend it’s title, but a lot depends on Afridi’s maturity, How he leads the team and how he handles the players.
In past he has gotten away with everything but one thing he must realize that Pakistani fans never forgive their captains no matter who they are, he is strong and smart enough to control the players, and I don’t think after all the bans and fines anybody will dare to induge in any more politics or groupism. I am 100% sure that he will be leading the team unless he himself withdraws his name.
This tournament will be a litmus test of his leadership skills. Lets hope that he delivers, but he needs Nazir or Shahzaib and Sami.
@Omer
“The difference between Afrdi and Misbah is that, one wins a match when he bats and the other doesn’t.
Out of 56 matches that Misbah played Pakistan has won 37 a winning percentage of 66% out of his 9 fifties 7 played an important role in winning the match hus average improves from 39 to 45.57 in matches Pakistan won his strike rate improves from 81 to 85.5 which is as good as any other #6 batsman in the world.
Afridi has played 293 matches his batting average is pathetic a mere 23, I remember you called Malik a poor, poor batsman who had an average of 37 or 39 then by those standards Afridi is nothing but a player who can throw his bat on the ball occasionally. Out of 293 matches Pakistan has won 166 a winning %age of 56 % lower then that of Misbah. In matches that Pakistan won his average improves to 29 but still is low enough to indicate that his batting never had any major impact in Pakistan’s victories.
Misbah’s probability of scoring above 50 is .16 where as Afridi’s probability is .11.
You were laughing at 9 fifties in just 56 matches what about 30 fifties in 293 matches compare his record with the genuine all rounders and only then you will realize the difference. Afridi just pretends to be an allrounder at best he is a bits and pieces cricketer. For a couple of seasons his bowling kept him in the team but his recent bowling performances were below par he took only 7 wickets in Australia @ an average of 39 his eco rate crossed 6 in several matches.
He is an over rated bowler, even Mohammad Hafeez has a better econ rate and a better bowling Sr than Afridi in Odis.
You compared Hafeez to Misbah without comparing their statistics, Hafeez is a pathetic batsman like Afridi having an average of just 18 his bowling average is slightly better than Afridi in Odi’s so in essence Afridi and Hafeez are quite similar. Afridi only gets precedence because he is a leg spinner and we have in Ajmal a better off spinner than Hafeez.
The way you calculated Misbah’s average why don’t you calculate Fawad Alam’s and Afridi’s average using the same logic and formula and then see where these players stand.
As regards selfishness, I think nobody is more selfish than Afridi in the whole team who never plays according to match situation never takes responsibility never shows any grit or resilience just plays to please the crowd by playing a few extravagant but high risk strokes and in the process always throws away his wicket. The whole world condemns him for being so brainless and immature but unfortunately only those who view his performance wearing an ethnic lens don’t see the truth about his game at all.
Omer
You have your own unique way of twisting statistics to prove your point.
Bravo vs Misbah
Bravo has only 5 scores above 50 from 102 Odis, has an average of just 23, has a strike rate of 83 yet you consider him superior to Misbah. And Btw way when he scored that 112 against England he came in to bat at # 3.
Where as Misbah has an average of 39.05 from 56 matches with 9 fifties, so if he had played as many matches as Bravo then it is fair to predict that he would have scored at least 18-20 fifties and maybe a few 100′s. Their strike rates are almost similar.
Yet you consider Bravo a better player even though his batting average is less than half of Misbah’s his probability to score above 50 is amost half as compared to Misbah’s but the statician in you believes that Bravo is a better player than Misbah. Wow.
Australia over the last decade has been the best Odi team and usually Brad Haddin bats at # 6 or 7 for them he also opens for Australia quiet often in Odis. Haddin has played 66 matches his average is 32.65 as compare to Misbah’s 39. Haddin has 2 100′s and 10 50′s but he has played 10 more matches than Misbah and also almost half of the times he has opened the innings therefore increasing his chance to score big. His probability to score above 50 is 0.18 as compared to Misbah’s 0.16.
For South Africa Jp Duminy bats at #6 he has played 55 Odis one less than Misbah has an average of 34 with one 100 and 6 fifties with an identical SR to that of Misbah.
For India these days Dhoni bats at # 6, now Dhoni is a far superior player than Misbah, but their SR are quiet similar, Dhoni has played almost 94 matches batting at #5-6 where he averages 45 and scored 3 centuries and 16 fifties. I am sure after 94 matches Misbah’s record given his past performance will not be far behind Dhonis given his current probability to score above 50.
And mind you we are analyzing his record in a year when he is seriously off color.
Your notion that Misbah can’t play bowlers having speed above 140 is a joke. Misbah has amost a similar batting record to that of JP and Haddin he is far behind Dhoni but Dhoni has played a lot more matches than Misbah and he is a better player.
If we continued to criticize our star players unfairly based on our own personal biases then I am afraid that even if Afridi became the captain of Pakistan team and got the players of his choice or of the choice of Karachites his team will not be able to beat Sialkot Stallions let alone the best teams in the world.
Comparing Misbah with Bravo:
Bravo has a batting average of 23.34. He has played 102 matches. In 20 innings out of those he hasn’t batted. That leaves 82 innings.
Bravo has a highest score of 112 not out. In a partnership he won West Indies the Champions Trophy from a ridiculous position (8-down). He has 5 scores of above 50, to include a 100. If we were to think of 1 100 as 2 50s (which is a reasonable way of thinking as that is what they are), then that is 6 scores above 50 in 82 innings….or close to 1 in 13 innings (not too distinct from Misbah above). However, Bravo plays relatively quickly and wins West Indies crucial matches so that is obviously different.
LOL Misbah up the order– wow, buddy, when the balls speed goes above 140, the guy starts trembling at the crease. When the ball moves slightly, he ends up in fourier space. His test record, apart from India, is a good indicator of what might have happened had he played up the order. When he comes down the order in ODIs, all the best bowlers have bowled there spells and he sets himself for 30 balls, while making 4 runs, against part-timers. By the time he gets set, the whole team from the other end is out because of the pressure he creates. Then comes the superman inside him– trying to win the match which would have been otherwise won awhile ago, only to eventually lose it.
Wasim,
The difference between Afrdi and Misbah is that, one wins a match when he bats and the other doesn’t. Mibah isn’t international level– a player at that age is too old for one day cricket….Afridi plays, more or less, as a bowler who can bat, so I don’t see how the comparison yeilds. What’s your next argument, Balaji is a better bowler than Sehwag and therefore he should be in the team?
Misbah has a highest score of 79 in 56 one day– 50-over matches. That just shows why he can’t win a match, because he is more of a Mohammad Hafeez– a 20-run dart player– than a good, solid batsmen.
A highest score of 79 in 56 matches!!!!! LOL now we should perhaps start comparing him with Mitchell Johnson.
Misbah has 11 not outs in about 50 innings.
His scores in innings where he has gotten out are:
28, 39, 50, 47, 0, 42, 21, 4, 23, 20, 21, 7, 19, 27, 49, 38, 40, 22, 20, 44, 38, 10, 35, 39, 24, 33, 2, 76, 7, 52, 1, 0, 9, 34, 9, 9, 6, 41,
Add these : 986/38= 25.9
He is a very selfish player who remains not out, breaks the momentum of the innings, and gets everyone else out– only to himself take the team to defeat.
Out of the above there are three innings where he has crossed 50– out of 38. That is around 1 in 13 innings. You can compare him with other good players…the likes of Tendulkar, yousof would be close to 1 in 2 innings or 1 in 3 innings at average. He has no 100s, not a single hundred. And, there is the rub, you win matches when players score big….these 20s, even Rao Iftikar can hit them and we could start a decent comparison between Misbah and Mitchell Jhonson by your continous 20-run barometer of judgment.
At his age it is time for him to retire. It is time to rebuild or there will be none– Pakistan will become a total pariah in world cricket. What is needed is some young talent groomed under old talent which deserves to be there. In essence, we need players like Mohd Yousof, Younis Khan to groom players in test cricket and once test fortunes turn around so will the one days.
As regards the not outs.
If a player scores 31, 66, 16, 16, 87,23, 31 and 5 and remains not out in T20 format you can’ t hold it against him especially when most of the scores are decent and were scored at a fast pace.
Is he the only batsman in the world who bats at #5 ? And Btw it’s not rocket science to understand that batting lower and mainstaining an average of 46 in T20 is a lot harder than maintaining such an average while batting up the order.
We only came back in the match in the finals of 2007 WC because of him, he just stopped short of pulling off a miracle victory, that was an amazing performance under no standards one can hold that performance as a negative against him.
How many matches have Afridi won us in last 15 years? And how many matches we lost because he couldn’t stay on the wicket for more than 2 or 3 overs? He is a highly over rated and selfish player, just look at his performance in the RBS cups final did he finished the match? He played in a highly erratic manner just to prove a point to KCCA authorities, in my opinion Sami played a better innings than him. The most alarming thing is that he showed no remorse after letting down his team and disappointing his fans, he hasn’t learned in last 15 years infact has always categorically refused to learn because he knows that he is popular only because of his brianless batting, it doesn’t matter to him whether the team wins or not as long as he remains popular thats enough for him, in my opinion this is the height of selfishness.
I don’t know if you follow domestic cricket or not but I have seen him play some good knocks against good bowlers recently which convinced me that he has regained his form to a certain extent and this is the sole reason that I am suporting his inclusion in the team.
Omer
Despite being the best domestic batsman during the last decade his real international career only started in 2007. Nobody can call him a mediocre player based on his Odi and T20 average, his test career started off fine after an initial hiccup under Inzamam but lack of test cricket in 2008 and 2009 destroyed the form of all Pakistani test batsmen. Yousaf, Younis and Misbah never performed like they did in 2007 should we dismiss all of them as mediocre.
Make Tendulkar or Lara play just eight tests in two years and then send them off to Australia to play a long test series I guarantee you they won’t succeed.
Wasim,
Fawad Alam is a relatively young player. So, him developing as a player means there is a lot of future value and expected return. Misbah is close to retirement, his bad form now means there is a dead end, and the time he spends within the team has an opportunity cost. That is the way I see it.
Everyone has a lens or a vision. This is just the way I see it. When I see a player playing for 5,6,7 years with a certain average, and that average includes all other oppositions, for me he will revert to that average after that untill he becomes like 37, 38. Yes, there are the odd occassions when it isn’t true– a low-probability event, which obviously does happen if you collect enough people.
If a player has consistently performed as poorly as Misbah has, and is around 37, it is time for him to retire and the youngster should have the opportunity to develop himself. This is because, there is no future return, and he has proved enough regarding the present to suggest that, if he does well here or there, it will be a fluke rather than the norm.
This is what I consider rational thinking– you have 11 spots in the team and you have to think about each one rationally, and for its best value, and then combine all the eleven in a way that the expected winning is optimized.
Omer
Both Mohsin and Ejaz butt clearly stated that they are not looking for a captain for all three formats.
There were a lot of not outs in Fawad Alam’s Odi average but you never saw anything wrong with that.
Neither he is selfish nor he is mediocre you are entitled to your opinion and bias he has the highest T20 average in the world just that stat alone qualifies him for selection, but I do agree that like Younis he is old and out of form the only difference is that he showed some signs of recovery in domestic cricket whereas Younis has failed in domestic cricket too. I don’t see any advantage which Afridi has over other two candidates as a player or as a leader, in fact his lack of match awareness, no sense of responsibility and harakiri style batting will prove to be detrimental for the team in the long run, but for now, just for the sake of teams stability he will be the best man to lead.
Wasim,
They want a captain in all three formats. Misbah on a scale of 1 to 10 is 1 in tests. Therefore, he shouldn’t be in the test team and he shouldn’t be the captain. As an ODI player I don’t remember him winning a match, that average probably has many not outs in it (as he is a selfish player, breaks the momentum of the game– another one to keep an eye for matchfixing). I’ll confirm the breakdown of his averages and do a thorough analysis later.
As far as I am concerned Razzaq is not a bad choice— for Misbah it is about time he retires, he is too old and mediocre for international cricket.
Omer
We are not discussing test team or it’s captaincy right now, the problem at hand is T20 team and T20 captaincy. You said Misbah is a very ordinary player and he doesn’t deserve to be in the T20 team or to lead it and in order to prove your point you are quoting his test record.
Out of all the International T20 players who have played 15 or more T20 matches Misbah has the highest average in the world 46.27 @ SR of 120. He averages almost 40 in Odi’s I don’t think he is a mediocre player in the shorter format.
Even though we all know that Younis has comprehensively failed during last two years as a batsman but we still consider him as an automatic selection in Pakistan team but we are not willing to provide the same luxury to Misbah. Don’t you think these are double standards.
In my opinion any player who has been involved in match fixing or under performance should be banned for life. Misbah’s name hasn’t been included in any report whether match fixing or groupism, I think he deserves his fair chance if he is clean.
I don’t want him or Razzaq to be the captain of Pakistan team as I seriously believe that unless Afridi is made the captain of Pakistan team it’s unity can’t be maintained.
Wasim,
The reason why Misbah shouldn’t be made the captain is that, he is a very ordinary player. He averages 16 against Australia, and under 25 against all other teams. He has an overall average of 35, largely because of his ability to play on flat tracks and against slow bowling. He averages 112 against India, the only incidence of a average higher than 30 against any reputable team.
I can’t see one year in isolation, I look at the long-term averages of the player and, more or less, the player reverts to his averages once a sufficiently large sample (4-5 years) is available. Younis averages 30-odd against Australia, 45 against SA, and above 50 against the rest. He is better against Australia and SA than Inzamam and Yousof.
On the other hand Younis was never really a good one day player and he could do himself favor by retiring. To judge his test ability based on one days is not a good idea.
There are only two test match level players imo (as far as batting is concerned) and they should be asked to continue, that is, Y and Y.
It is also time for rebuilding, so I would ask the likes of Malik, Rana, Misbah, and Kamran Akmal to retire permanently. This is the only way, in my opinion, to save Pakistan cricket, getting rid of proven mediocrity.
Stani Army,
That is a good point regarding betting, but what can also happen is that, you and I can make very big bets against each other, thus bypassing the system. This is probably how big bets are made, in millions and more.
I personally don’t think Yousof could be involved in matchfixing, but Kamran Akmal is very likely. He has been dropping catches left, right, and center since the last whatever amount of time he has played. He is one of the worst wicketkeepers to have graced the game. WKs who can bat are people like Mcullum, Dhoni, Ghilcrist, Sangkkara– who can justify their places in the team either as wicketkeepers or batsmen. Kamran Akmal is neither, and perhaps can qualify in the 20/20s as a batsman. But I have no doubt that that match was singlehandedly lost by one person and him only (perhaps I am doubtful of Misbah as well, looking at his shots and closeness with Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik since the past 3,4 years).
Rana has been losing matches since time immerorial, there is no record left for him to accomplish anymore (bowling average close 60 in tests, an economy rate of 6 in one days, 90 runs in 7 overs, 60 in 4, and on and on).
ISLAMABAD: Shahid Afridi wants Abdul Razzaq to do the job in case he is not chosen to lead the Pakistan cricket team in Twenty20 World Cup.
According to sources, the explosive batsman suggested the name of Razzaq to PCB chairman Ijaz Butt during a meeting between the two apparently on the issue of leadership.
Butt met Afridi on Saturday, who is under a probation period due to indiscipline, to discuss certain issues related to the team composition for the World Cup scheduled to be held in the West Indies from April 30.
“Butt discussed a scenario where Afridi could be captain for the T20 World Cup but also asked him who he would suggest if the board decided against making him (Afridi) captain because of his recent disciplinary problems,” cricket365 quoted the source as saying.
“Afridi suggested the name of Abdul Razzaq to Butt when asked to name a possible person who could lead Pakistan and enjoy the confidence of other players in the team,” the source added
Afridi is a regular in the One-day and T20 squads but has not played any Test match since 2006.
The names of Salman Butt and Misbah-ul-Haq are also circulating as possible captaincy candidates.
The source said at the moment Afridi still remained a firm candidate for the captaincy for the T20 World Cup but the board was still undecided on the matter.
The national selection committee has named a 15-member squad for the World Cup and according to Butt the captain will named in a few days.
It is not known whether the PCB will announce a captain just for the T20 World Cup or for all three formats of the game.
Stani
ICC’s anti corruption unit doesn’t act on circumstantial evidence and rumours they will come out when they have solid proof. I think it’s hard for them to prove anything when PCB tries to cover up every thing.
There is only one pattern the team has been losing matches whenever the odds were totally against them to lose. Whether it was a result of groupism or match fixing only time will tell but one thing which bothers me the most is why all the players are so desperate for the leadership, even though recent history tells them every one who leads the team gets totally dishonored, there must be a huge monetary incentive involved.
Welcome to cricketfiles Omer!
I have always maintained that some senior board officials are involved in matchfixing. I don’t have anything to prove it except the fact that they try their utmost to keep a certain group of underperforming players in the team and have turned a blind eye to the problems like underperformance and groupism during the last two years.
Based on last two year’s performance there is not even a single player in our team who is indispensable.
I think Younis Khan has been treated unfairly he should have been given an option to retire with dignity and honor I don’t think he deserved to be lined up and punished with a group of corrupt players.
He was charged by PCB for not picking up the phone when they were trying to contact him and also dropping key players from the team in important matches which started a rift in the team.
His personal form has been horrible in test matches and Odis, he doesn’t enjoy good relations with a lot of players and the board therefore in my opinion it is better for him to retire right now he is just another big name player with not much cricket left in him.
Yousaf is a great player and can still play test cricket and Odi’s but I have serious doubts about his integrity.
You said that “The odds in the Sydney test were 1:100. That is ridiculous– people could make a lot of money with that kind of odds” and this is what exactly happened and it could not have been possible without Yousaf, Kamran Akmal,Umar Akmal, Danish Kaneria and Umar Gul.
Just because he supports a beard doesn’t mean that his integrity can’t be doubted. His bowling changes, field placement in Sydney test, his personal performance in the second innings of the Sydney test and his staunch support of Kamran Akmal after that match clearly indicates that he was also involved. Malik and Rana were not playing that match.
Yousaf ditched twice Pakistan team for ICL, he only came back when he was sure that the league is over, alongwith the other ICL returnees he had a clear plan to take over Pakistan team, first he played a leading role in getting rid of Malik and then he started a rift with Younis and was the leading character in the revolt against Younis, no doubt he is still the best batsman in Pakistan but if we are punishing players for groupism, under performance and corruption then he also deserves to get punished regardless of how good of a player he is.
I know you won’t agree with this but in my opinion Afridi has also been involved in groupism and under performance and has been a major pain in the neck for every captain, in fact with the exception of Younis he didn’t played to his potential under any other captain.
If we think that Younis can still play then why not Misbah? I am not sure if he has been involved in match fixing or underperformance as his name has not been included, but it is mind boggling for me that he immediately returns to form when he returns to domestic cricket, some of his recent innings have been played against top bowlers of the country so we can’t say that the competition wasn’t tough. His character is also doubtful, I would prefer Afridi as a captain than Misbah.
I think the board has been cornered to a certain extent, the latest match fixing accusations by the senators will put further pressure on the board to reveal the details of their inquiry. I don’t think only three players are involved in match fixing. In my opinion there were three groups involved.
For the time being I think PCB has kicked out the main kingpins and have made them an example for the rest. I think that the Senators and PCB should cut down on issuing statements, the players should be focusing on defending their title rather than worrying too much about inquiries and fines.
Wasim
Of course, I agree, timing is everything. They don’t need to do it now but they should eventually so that we can put an end to the rumours and guessing. They’ve presented to the senate committee so I think that is a good thing. Although, the fact that the senate committee have come out with those two words ‘match fixing’ is a concern.
Omer
It’s possible but betting patterns are constantly analysed and anything which would have deviated from the norm would have been flagged up. If they did do it and got away with it, it could have only been with a low sum of money as placing a large bet would have raised alarms. Not only do the ICC following betting patterns but the betting forms do so themselves, as it is in their interest obviously so that they do not lose money.
Has anyone wondered, if the board could itself be involved in matchfixing with the players?
The odds in the Sydney test were 1:100. That is ridiculous– people could make a lot of money with that kind of odds.
Wasim,
That is a very thorough analysis.
My gut instinct was that the PCB management was always complicit in this affair of Younis Khan’s captaincy. Primarily, they didn’t want to give him enough power. To hold a captain responsible after cutting his limbs is very unjustified.
At the same time the bans on Younis and Yousof are rather baffling. Sure, they made dumb statements to the media, but so did Kamran Akmal. So, I don’t see why they would ban two of Pakistan’s finest players in recent memory while letting go Kamran Akmal.
Shoaib Malik totally deserved it, but he has been let go with a year’s ban only, while champion players’ careers might end. This part has left me rather mystified.
But Pakistan aren’t playing test cricket soon, and if they do play without these players, it will be murder. Without Younis, Yousof felt the pressure in Australia as it virtually became a team of one high-quality batsmen. Without both of them, Pakistan test team will toil hard against Bangladesh.
The right thing would have been to ask Younis to retire from one day cricket as him playing in one days also harms his reputatiion and his overall impression as a batsman, and people consider him as an average overall player because they see the players in the whole– and within Pakistan one days primarily make an impression. Nevertheless, test cricket is necessary for a strong cricket culture. To subsitute these players with the likes of Misbah would be criminal. They have to seek more Yousof’s and Younis’s rather than banning them!
Stani
After reading the above article, I don’t think PCB should make public any information until they complete their investigation. The WC is just a few weeks away, they should not open another bag of worms before such an important tour. Hopefully everything will be clear in black and white after the world cup.
Menace of match-fixing rears its ugly head again
Senators probing into Pakistan’s disastrous performance in Australia find evidence of foul-play
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
By Khalid Hussain
KARACHI: Senators probing into what one of them termed as the ‘Pakistan cricket mess’ have found disturbing evidence that match-fixing was one of the major reasons behind Pakistan’s catastrophic tour of Australia.
Abddul Ghaffar Qureshi, chairman of Senate’s Standing Committee on Sports, told ‘The News’ on Monday that “more than one player of the current national team was involved in match-fixing”. He added that the Senate committee will pursue this issue and will push for “criminal proceedings” against the culprits.
“We grilled the PCB officials in a meeting today and have found evidence that more than one of our players were involved in match-fixing,” Ghaffar said. “It is a matter of grave importance and we believe that the PCB should do more to punish players who are bringing shame to our country. We would not only recommend life bans against them but would push for criminal proceedings against match-fixers,” he stressed.
Qureshi and fellow Senators met with top PCB officials including Ijaz Butt — the Board chairman — in Lahore to question them over Pakistan’s poor showing in Australia. Pakistan lost all their matches against the Aussies and earlier this month the Board banned or fined seven of the team’s leading members for offences ranging from indiscipline to ball-tampering.
The ugly menace of match-fixing, however, wasn’t mentioned by the PCB when it slapped players like Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal with strict penalties.
But Senator Haroon Akhtar declared that there is a strong mafia of match-fixers within the team and the players involved protect each others interests. He also feared that match-fixing could be the root cause behind the debacle Down Under.
“From whatever we’ve heard and seen during today’s meeting it was quite obvious that monetary benefits were involved,” he told ‘The News’. When asked whether the senators were given any concrete proofs, Akhtar said that the evidence was circumstantial yet convincing.
“You can’t catch them (players) taking bags full of money,” he said. “But from what we’ve gathered from the three-hour meeting, it seems that the PCB is holding back a lot more things than what they’ve showed us. Today, the Board has just shared some of their burden with us.”
Haroon said that the PCB seems willing to dismantle a match-fixing mafia which he believes exists within the team. “The players involved in match-fixing form groups and protect each other. There is a mafia within the team. It’s a mess but the Board is ready to take strong action.”
Haroon, however, also took a swipe at the PCB top brass, saying that it was evident that their weaknesses allowed such crimes to go unnoticed. “It seems that match-fixing has been going on for at least the last two years,” he said. “When the management is week, such things will happen,” he added.
Haroon said that the PCB should take exemplary action against the players involved in match-fixing. “No matter how good they are, I believe that the culprits should get exemplary punishment.”
When asked to name the match-fixing suspects, Haroon said that it was up to the Board to single them out. “But I think that they are trying to cover it up because of certain pressures,” he said referring to the fact that Pakistan are to defend their ICC World Twenty20 title in the West Indies from April 30.
“The Board is not in an enviable position,” he said. I’m sure you will see some tough actions after the Twenty20 World Cup,” he said adding that the PCB wants to delay action at least till the assignment in the Caribbean.
But he warned that it could be a bad move. “It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Haroon regarding suspicion that more than one national cricketer is involved in match-fixing. “Things, I fear, could be much worse.”
Senator Tahir Mashhadi told this correspondent that the committee made it clear that there should be zero tolerance for match-fixers. “Match-fixing, it’s apparent also led to grouping and infighting within our team,” he said.
“We’ve asked the Board to throw out such players because there is no dearth of talent in our country. We can get new Miandads, new Zaheers, new Imran Khans to replace the players who’ve been selling our country.”
Mashhadi said that the committee has backed PCB for its actions against the players. However, he said that the Board should not fine Shahid Afridi, as he has already been punished for ball-tampering. “You cannot punish some one twice for the same crime,” he said.
Mashhadi said that the committee has also managed to resolve the differences between Butt and Javed Miandad, the former captain currently serving as PCB’s director-general. “Butt has told us that Miandad is his right-hand man. They’ve shook hands and I’m sure the matter is resolved.”
Wasim,
Three things need to happen 1. The PCB need to make the reasons for their decision public 2. They need to stick by the decisions, whether people think they are right or wrong 3. The entire board needs to step down with the assurance that the incoming board will not reverse the decisions.
In regards to captaincy and selection; I think the other problem is that they have suspended the annual contracts no? With all the changes going on, they will have to formulate 3 possible squads and then select the few that deserve contracts from there. Or, they could do it on a rolling basis and hand out contracts based on the performances.
Maz
No I don’t hold any thing against U19 players, it’s just that these two players are not ready yet for the big guys league.
Wasim, I think you hold something against the U19 players.
Hammad and Raza deserved their places.
Raza took 9/74 overall against Eng A and troubled some top players. Took 4 wickets in two matches in the RBST20 comp.
Hammad is an aggressive batsmen, capable of taking the long handle and hitting sixes etc. He is ideal for T20. His bowling is useless, but that is a different issue.
Dr Nauman Niaz for PCB Chairman
Recent News : Pakistan A beat PakistanU19 in a T20 match today. Ijaz Butt was watching and Misbah was captaining the “A” side.
Afridi is the man for the job cos :
1) He has captained 3 T20s and Pak have won all of them under his leadership.
2)His personal performance rises when he is captain, he bats more responsibly and becomes more self-motivated.
3) He energises the team. He has the credentials to pump up his troops.
4)He may be brainless and do some shocking things, but he has already been dealt with and punished by the ICC and PCB. It is unlikely that he will be indiscipline again. We should forgive him, he himself was ashamed of his actions. He has been humiliated by supporters mocking him, commentators taking the”mikey” out of him etc. It’s time to move on.
However, Ijaz Butt has recently said that there will be one captain for all formats. In this case Afridi is not the man. It is either Misbah or Salman. Salman is ideal for the long term future
The key problem the board is facing right now is that they do not want to announce different captains for different formats, Afridi does not want to play test matches, Razzaq is also not an automatic selection for all three formats, only Misbah is the one who plays in all three formats but given his performance in last one year and his age the board is finding it difficult to make him the captain.
I think Afridi will be named the T20 and Odi captain and Razzaq will be his vice captain and Misbah will lead the test team.
Wes
According to the news only Afridi has met Ejaz Butt regarding the job, I think right now Afridi is only negotiating his terms with Butt the duration of his term and the formats in which he will lead and like Younis I presume he also wants more say in selectorial matters and doesn’t want to be just a puppet.
I think Razzaq or Salman will come into consideration only if Afridi refuses to lead for some reason.
Wasim I am following your reports via my mailbox. Do you have a source that states that Afridi will become the captain? As the latest news is that they are still “brooding” over four possible players…
A choice without a choice
PCB will announce Afridi as Captain today that will end the anxiety of Pakistan cricket fans and all the rumours. But they do need to pick Sami and Imran Nazir. You can’t drop one of the most explosive player in the format, true he is not in great form but he was unlucky to get run out and he did played an important innings in the finals. I am still concerned about the form of Umar Gul we do need Sami in the team in place of Yasir Arafat.
If these two changes are made then I think the current team will be better than the one which playerd last year. We would only be missing Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan both players played the role of an anchor I think Umar Akmal and Fawad can easily fill the Vacuum created by these two players.
Pakistan is in the toughest group which includes Australia and Bangladesh, In past two tournaments Pakistan always had a player who acted as an X factor. In the first one it was Sohail Tanvir in the second one it was Aamer, this year Pakistan doesn’t have a secret weapon. To me the bowling looks weak, as Gul is out of form and Afridi and Ajmal have played enough cricket in last two years, teams are not having much difficulty in reading them. They will still cause a lot of problems but if runs are scored easily of the fast bowlers other teams will be under less pressure to score rapidly against Ajmal and Afridi.
The selectors should leave no weak link in the bowling line up. Therefore Sami should be in the line up.
Not selecting Nazir, Shahzaib and Sami in the 15 is a huge mistake. Pakistan might survive without Sami but that all depends on Gul’s form. There was no need to select Hammad Azam in his place Pakistan should have selected Nazir or Shahzaib.
The selectors have shown too much confidence in Khalid Latif and Hafeez, both players have their weaknesses they rearely score in pressure situations both of them are nervous players.
Hafeez is a good utility player an excellent fielder, Latif can be used as his replacement, But Pakistan should have Nazir or Shahzaib in the playing eleven to get an explosive start.
What the fuck has Raza Hassan and Sarfraz done in RBS instead they should have picked Abdur Rahman.
I think the shock of all the bans can be easily nullfied by making Afridi the captain of Pakistan team, Mohsin has told the media that he doesn’t have the power to appoint the captain Ejaz Butt will announce the name in a few days. Salman Butt does not deserve a permanent place in the T20 format how can they make him the Captain, the choice should be between Razzaq and Afridi. It should only go to Razzaq if Afridi refuses to lead for some reason.
Pakistan’s selectors have not named a captain in the final squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in April-May but have included Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, who were fined heavily by the PCB based on the inquiry committee’s report, in the 15-man list.
There were recalls for Misbah-ul-Haq and Salman Butt while under-19 allrounder Hammad Azam was chosen after a good World Cup in New Zealand.
Pakistan are the defending champions of this tournament, having won it in England last June.
Squad: Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Khalid Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal.
Reserves: Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Raza Hasan, Naveed Yasin, Sarfraz Ahmed.
Thanks SP
I have read your post on the subject and I think we share the same views.
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According to statement made by PCB Younis and Yousaf were fighting each other and dropping players for no reason from key matches to settle personal scores, also Younis is being punished for going AWOL.
Now if you want to go back in recent history then start from when Malik was removed his record even against the good teams is still better than Younis and Yousaf, these seniors started isuing statements after statements against him in the media that he is conspiring against them he himself is a mediocre player, Yousaf especially made him a scape goat twice when he left for ICL.
These guys refused captaincy when the team was going through difficult stage after WC and just after two years when things settled down and the rebuilding process was complete they systematically started a campaign against Malik.
Both Younis and Yousaf dropped Malik several times under their leadership even though he was performing better than both of them most of the times.
I don’t think that we can just blame one or two players. The most important aspect is jingoistioc criticism on certain players by Karachites, through out Malik’s tenure even though the results weren’t that bad he was being ridiculed by Karachites on blogs and in electronic media, players were being targeted based on their ethnicity and their replacements were being suggested only from Karachi, Asim Kamal, Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif, Anwar Ali, and Fawad Alam they became household names without even playing a single international match and without proving themselves at the international stage.
And Karachites want to see only one player as captain and that is Afridi, they supported a little bit to Younis just because they wanted to see Malik’s back but soon after Younis took over he also came under attack from certain circles, they ridiculed Yousaf even more and now if Razzaq or any body else other than Afridi is made the Captain that player will also meet the same fate.
I am not exonerating Malik from underperformance he did what he has been accused of but he didn’t started this fight. And we cannot exonerate Yousaf, Afridi and Younis either.
Yousaf was leading the ICL returnees group backed by Inzi, Afridi was leading a group of few players, Younis was a one man show backed by Rashid Latif, Malik was leading Akmal, Misbah and Butt and a few youngsters.
I have been suggesting through this blog time and again that we can’t play too many ex captains in one team, some of them will have to go.
Realistically, Younis Khan’s cricket has come to an end, he was the best man to lead Pakistan but his poor personal form and his tamperament problems and his inability to tackle players and management in difficult times led to his downfall. I don’t think he has any cricket left in him but he should have been allowed to retire with honor.
Yousaf should have never been given the captaincy only for one reason he was being backed by Inzamam’s mafia he lied to everybody when he left for ICL and lied again when he came back, he is a very greedy person. I knew corruption will again come back in Pakistan cricket if he is given power.
No doubt he is the best batsman in Pakistan but I seriously doubt his integrity.
Afridi should have been made captain after Younis so that the “Fitna” created by Karachites should have come to an end.
Malik should have been dropped after he was removed as a captain, we removed him on the pretext that he is not a good enough player to be in the team then why we retained him. Younis could have succeeded if Malik wasn’t there but his problem was that all the players which Karachites thought were great did nothing, Khalid Latif,Fawad Alam , Khurram they all failed mutiple times and each time Malik made a come back he scored to make Younis look bad.
I think the bans are fair, only if they want to retain Afridi and Akmal brothers they shouldn’t have imposed such heavy fines on them as it will effect their performance in WC.
It will be ludicrous to appoint Butt as Captain, I think it should be between Afridi and Razzaq.
Younis and Yousaf have played there innings they should honorably retire.
Malik’s ban is completely just and equitable and I don’t give a damn about Rana.
Wasim
There are no further reasons. Why was Younis banned? What did he do wrong?
Why was Yousuf banned? What could warrant an indefinite ban – probably the end of him given his age? Has he ever been warned before? Has he ever faced any disciplinary action? The answers are no. So, what was so serious that he was banned? There is nothing serious, just poor discipline and behaviour.
Why was Malik banned? For causing infighting? It takes more than 1 player to cause and encourage infighting. Why wasn’t other players like Akmal given bans for the exact same offence? Has Malik ever faced any disciplinary action before?
Once again, look past the bans and think about what the rest of the world thinks about Pakistan cricket now. In my first posts on this website (Oct), when you were encouraging for Younis to be dropped, I warned of the implications of not supporting Younis. If these actions had to be taken, they should have been taken then and not now. The sooner you realise that there are no other reasons, and that the PCB has done this just to put the blame on the players, the better. Even Intikhab Alam has been promoted to director of the NCA.
once again a very thoughtful, insightful and balanced post on pakistan cricket and pcb wasim…
the waited for wound to become tumor and than amputated the arm…
Report of Inquiry Committee on performance of Pakistan Cricket Team on tour of Australia
by Pakistan Cricket Board
——————————————————————————–
Player: Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan
——————————————————————————–
DateLine: 10th March 2010
Media Release – 10 March 2010
After the dismal tour of Australia 2009-10, the Chairman PCB constituted a Committee to assess and evaluate the performance of players on the tour. The Committee consisted of Mr Wasim Bari (Chairman), Mr Wazir Ali Khoja, Mr Yawar Saeed, Mr. Zakir Khan and Mr. Taffazul Haider Rizvi as Members.
TERMS OF REFERENCE:
The Terms of Reference of the Committee were as follows:
1. Team discipline during the Tour
2. Team performance during the Tour
3. Ball tampering incident involving Shahid Khan Afridi and its possible consequences under the Central Contract.
4. Any other issues arising from the Australia Tour.
5. The Committee shall present its report by the end of February, 2010.
SESSIONS OF COMMITTEE:
The Committee held marathon sessions on 12th, 13th and 27th February 2010. Following persons were called in for personal appearance by the Committee:
1. Mr. Abdul Raqeeb, Manager Pakistan Cricket Team
2. Muhammad Talha Ejaz Talha, Cricket Analyst, Pakistan Cricket Board
3. Dr Faisal Hayat, Physio, Pakistan Cricket Team
4. Mr. Shahid Khan Afridi, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
5. Mr. Umar Akmal, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
6. Mr. Kamran Akmal, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
7. Mr. Mohammad Yousuf, Capitan Pakistan Cricket Team
8. Mr. Shoaib Malik, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
9. Mr. Intikhab Alam, Coach Pakistan Cricket Team
10. Mr. Salman Butt, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
11. Mr. Younis Khan, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
12. Mr. Aaqib Javed, Assistant Coach Pakistan Cricket Team
13. Mr. Rana Naveed ul Hasan, Member Pakistan Cricket Team
REPORTS PRESENTED TO THE COMMITTEE:
Following Reports were made available to the Committee:
a. Coach Report – Pakistan tour UAE / New Zealand and Australia 2009-10 by Mr Intikhab Alam.
b. Manager Report – Pakistan tour UAE / New Zealand and Australia 2009-10 by Mr Abdul Raqeeb.
c. Report of Bowling Consultant Pakistan tour in Australia 2009-10 by Mr Waqar Younis.
The Committee conducted detailed interactive sessions with the persons appearing before it and confronted the officials and the players of Pakistan Cricket Team with the reports submitted to it and other material available on print, internet and electronic media. The transcripts and team management reports mentioned supra form an integral part of the Committee’s report.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
After careful and detailed analysis of the events, the personal accounts of the team management and players and examination of record, videos and statistics, the unanimous recommendations of the Committee were as follows:
1. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan keeping in view their infighting which resulted in bringing down the whole team, their attitude has a trickledown effect which is a bad influence for the whole team should not be part of national team in any format.
2. For the shameful act of Shahid Khan Afridi, which has brought the game and country into disrepute, he be fined Rupees Three Million. A warning be issued to him by the Chairman PCB and he be put on probation for 06 months, during which his conduct be strictly monitored.
3. Kamran Akamal be fined Rupees Three Million. A warning be issued to him by the Chairman PCB and he be put on probation for 06 months, during which his conduct be strictly monitored.
4. Umar Akmal be fined Rupees Two Million. A warning be issued to him by the Chairman PCB and he be put on probation for 06 months, during which his conduct be strictly monitored.
5. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik be fined Rupees Two Million. They should not be part of national team in any format for a period of one year.
Recommendations of the Inquiry Committee have been accepted by PCB in totality.
The recommendations of the Committee will go a long way to arrest the continuing decline Pakistan cricket and improve the state of cricket in Pakistan. It is a landmark exercise which is an outcome of labor and hard work of the members of the Committee.
Rana, Malik and Afridi have said that they will decide their course of action only after recieving the official notice from PCB. Obviously the players are contemplating legal action against PCB. Legal experts are saying that PCB will have to face a lot of trouble in imposing these penalties.
The transparency of the Inquiry committee will be challenged and the procedure through which PCB announced the penalties without properly making a chargesheet and without affording the accusers a chance to defend themselves it is more than likely that the courts will revoke all the bans and fines.
Wes
Why we always take Shoaib Akhtar back? why we took Asif back? Why we took the ICL rebels back?
Osman Sami should know that nothing predicts behavior like behavior.
Not even 24 hours have passed and Butt has already taken back the life bans on Younis and Yousaf now they are for indefinite period of time but they still will be available for selection.
As regards Sami only God knows what the selectors are upto.
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Didn’t you noticed that even with those players in the team we lost 10 straight matches we didn’t won even a single Odi or test series, so what difference it would make if these players are in the team or not, we were not going to win the T20 WC this year anyways.
The reasons mentioned are too general in nature, the players took an oath on the holy book that they will go to Butt and complain about Younis, which they did later on. But the question is did they took an Oath to underperform or just took an Oath to file a complaint against Younis? Which players took that Oath? Why the manager didn’t sent those players home, I believe Yawar Saeed himself took the players to Butt and ironically he has been reinstated as the manager. Does it make any sense?
Afridi was already punished for Ball tampering but has been fined now for What? There is definitely something else.
Akmal and Yousaf threw away a test match, whose leg were they pulling they were incharge?
Akmal was definitely involved in that Oath so why he is not banned. Too many things have been covered up. But these guys deserved all this.
WTH why is Sami not in the squad? OK I will go to bed and hope tomorrow when I wake up it was all just a bad dream
Well to be honest…. cross out “in danger of”
I think it happened after the Sydney Test.
Good summary Wasim but really only time will tell. I am waiting for bans to be lifted or players taking action, but even then as Osman Samiuddin writes, no one can force the PCB to select them.
In the meanwhile…
Yousuf contemplates retirement
According to Daily Jang Imran Nazir, Shahzaib Hassan and Sami are not in the T20 squad if this is correct then I think the selectors are again committing a stupid mistake, in my opinion it is absolutely essential to keep either Shahzaib or Nazir in the squad, these guys score a quick 20-30 runs in the first three or four overs which Salman Butt will never be able to do, we already saw that in IPL and last WC.
Hafeez scored one century against a reasonable pace attack which was having an off day but other then that 100 he did nothing off note in batting. Khalid Latif looked good but we all know he can’t play an outswinger.
It is also too risky to include three medium pacers in the team, Sami did performed well in the RBS cup he should be in the team. What has yasir Arafat and Hammad Azam done to earn a place in the team?
Hammad is not ready yet for international matches, Yasir is tested and tried and way past his sell by date.
Wasim
I believe that the PCB has tried to keep it secret because they know that these bans are unjustifiable. However, with the exception of Rana, all the reasons stated in my earlier post are the reasons for the actions. I respect with your opinion, but it is one I disagree with. All I have to say is in my earlier post, which I stand by. I reiterate, I fear that this is the end of Pakistan as a major cricketing force and fear that they will descend like the West Indies have over the past 20 years, albeit more rapidly with the lack of cricket, especially at home.
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You haven’t said anything about why PCB is keeping the proceedings secret, they havent even outlined the charge sheet for all the players.
Anyhow, I think the bans are fair with the exception of Younis and only if PCB is banning him for standing up against them and withdrawing himself from selection but if there is anything else out there of which we don’t know then he too should get banned.
This has been our perennial problem as a nation that we want these players to get punished and yet at the same time retain them in the team. We pressurize our board to flip flop in their disciplinary action, we kicked out all of the ICL players because of their poor performance in the WC but called them back within one year, did anything changed with there return? We kicked out Akhtar so many times only to recall him after a few months. Did he changed?
If we had punished Asif on his first drug abuse, he would not have committed the same crime again.
Now these players you are admitting yourself were playing for self interests and to settle their personal scores against each other, how in god’s name anybody can even think to retain them after hearing what they have been doing.
Monetary fines won’t hurt these players or change their attitude they will throw away one match and make twice the money which they paid in fines. You are also ignoring the fact that there behavior was infecting younger players, Ajmal and Aamer also went against Younis, Umar Gul who used to give his 100% in every match has now a totally different attitude. It’s hard to name a single player who has kept himself away from this infighting. You can’t let such indiscipline to continue.
These guys have made Pakistan cricket a laughing stock in the world. They won a match after losing 10 in a row and they won it only because Malik wanted to prove his point, even if we send our A team to play outside even they will win more than one match out of 11. You can’t keep on compromising on principals and then expect everything work out for the better in the long run.
I think underperformance while playing a match for your country is equivalent to treason. These guys are traitors and if I had the authority I would have publicly flogged these mother fuckers besides monetary fines and bans.
Players come and go nobody is bigger then the game, it’s just that we turn these players into idols and start worshipping them, I can bet you any money Pakistan will win more matches without these players.
They made our team only look good on paper but never justifed their star status through their on field performance during last 1.5 year.
I think the younger players needed this example, nobody will dare to underperform for quite sometime in future.
These actions were given the go ahead by the President and the Sports Ministry before being announced:
- Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan banned for an indefinite period from the national team
- Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved banned for 1 year and 2 million rupees fine.
- Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi fined 3 million rupees and 6 month probation
- Umar Akmal fined two million rupees and 6 month probation
I will start with Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. I disagree entirely with any sort of action taken against these two players. The reason why the PCB banned them is because they were putting their personal egos and interests above team and national interest while trying to settle personal scores with other players during the tours to Abu Dhabi, New Zealand and Australia. In my view, this does not warrant a life ban even if it is true, which I highly doubt.
I also disagree with the ban against Malik. The reason why he has been banned is because he was part of a group of players (which included Kamran Akmal) to take an oath on the holy book during the Champions trophy in South Africa last year that they would not support Younis Khan as captain and to collectively complain to the board to remove him. Shoaib Malik was one of the main characters in the infighting. Malik was responsible for not only instigating other players not to cooperate with the team management but also kept on encouraging groupings and running down players who just wanted to concentrate on their cricket and not be part of the groupings. If this is true, I believe a fine of 7+ million rupees should have been imposed and a ban of no more than 3 months. A one year ban along with a hefty fine is very significant.
I do not have enough information about Rana.I think the two Akmals and Afridi had fair punishments.
In general, I am very disappointed with the action taken by the PCB, and so I am not of the same view as Wasim. I fear that people are not realising the wide consequences as a result of these actions:
- have these players ever been officially warned about such actions before? Can we move from a clean record to indefinite and definite bans? How will junior players feel on hearing the way the board has treated such respected players – will they feel more/less motivated?
- what about our cricketing future? Once again Pakistan cricket is in the headlines for the wrong reasons. We are being made a mockery of – read any foreign article. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/diffstrokes/
Will other countries want to even attempt to consider playing in/with Pakistan?
- what about youngsters? Will they even bother to follow the game any more? 9 losses in Australia was enough for some people. How about a team without the 3 best middle order batsman?
Quite simply, Pakistan is in danger of no longer being recognised as a serious cricketing nation.