Three years of “fucking fitna” only for one Test match captaincy
on July 17th, 2010 at 8:14 amShahid Afridi announced his retirement from test cricket once again after suffering a comprehensive defeat from Australia. I was travelling all day long and just got the news and I am in complete shock.
Since Inzamam retired Afridi has been very vocal regarding his desire to lead Pakistan team in all formats of the game, his fans were even more vocal than him, by their relentless criticism they brought down the captaincy of three captains and finally after three years of relentless lobbying and “fitna” he got the job in all three formats, all the other contenders for the job were sidelined and for a moment Pakistan cricket fans felt that finally we will have some stability in the team as there will be no more dirty politics and leg pulling in the team.
After leading the team only in one match he realized that he made a stupid mistake of coming out of test retirement which will risk his career in all formats, he knew that the team he was leading wasn’t good enough to win a test match against any team in the world, his style of cricket doesn’t suit the longer format and he always becomes a burden on the team, and had he lost the series against England too then it will be hard for him to remain in the team in all three formats. I don’t know if I should call his move smart, honest or selfish.
I think it’s nothing more than a joke, he knew his bowling will not work in test matches and as a batsman he has always failed in test cricket barring a few good innings. He betrayed his fans and all those who supported him and he betrayed his team mates in the middle of a difficult tour and is now trying to dump his responsibility on somebody else that is just unacceptable.
His fans always told his critics that he is a “Pathan” a natural fighter with a never say die attitude but after just one loss he has completly melted down and has decided to abandon his troops in the middle of an important tour. What a wuss he turned out to be.
Shame on You Afridi, you have been completely selfish here and your retirment proves that you are a coward.
Earlier today Australia beat Pakistan by 150 runs, except Azhar Ali and Umar Amin all the rest of the batsmen threw away their wickets on ordinary balls and due to there own mistake. The margin of defeat was 150 it is the same score which Australian tailenders snatched from Pakistan, Afridi never tried to make life difficult for the tailenders, the field was spread out and the bowling was without a plan and a desire to finish off the opposition. After day 2 the body language of our captain suggested that he accepted defeat and gave up the fight after Pakistan’s first innings.
Nobody expected this team to win from Australia in a test match, the bowling was ok but nobody expected a solid performance from this weak batting lineup everybody knew and accepted that we are in the rebuilding phase and we might lose for a while, there was not going to be any serious backlash for Afridi except for his personal performance. I think Afridi wasn’t willing to take the risk and decided to save his ass by quitting, which has become a proven exit strategy for all the seniors since it has been successfully used by Yousaf and Younis on several occasions.
PCB will be looking for a new captain, I doubt that they will find many volunteers as nobody wants to captain a sinking ship. Salman Butt is an option but PCB says he is not an automatic choice, well more blunders are in the making, he is the only guy who is in form and if PCB snubbed him for the job for the second time I don’t think it would motivate him positively.
There is a rumour and it’s denial that Yousaf has been asked to join the team. Younis is still in England and as far as I know poor guy is trying his best to get back in form by playing county cricket but PCB morons again decided to ignore him. Malik is sitting on the sidelines they say he is out of form, but the question is that barring Sakman Butt who is in form?
15 months ago when Malik was removed from captaincy, I wrote that nothing will change, and things will become even more worse, now those who criticised his role as a captain can compare his international and domestic captaincy record with those who preceeded and followed him.
He was criticised for his place in the team, well YK, Yousaf, and Afridi all flopped in test matches as players during their captaincy tenure.
PCB is in huge trouble, they won’t make Younis the captain, Afridi just retired Yousaf might not accept it, and Malik won’t be accepted by majority of fans. Even if Younis accepts it he is out of form and has serious differences with the board and a large number of current players, Yousaf just can’t lead so it wouldn’t do any good. Malik right now is the most hated cricketer in the nation. Salman Butt is the only choice they have.
Kamran
I am not aware if Kaneria is going to get replaced or not but it will all depend on the nature of pitch, Ajmal might get a chance but I would like to see Rahman in the team.
I am really liking the look of this Pakistan side with the 3 clever seamers..even Amin looks like a decent operater with his awrkward angle. Kaneria is the only problem and I know his test record is good but he will not be useful in these conditions against England. If we can kick him out an replace him with a batting all rounder like hafeez that would be my pick. If not a batsmen then even ajmal would be a better choice than kaneria..ajmal Is more accurate and has more variation and is a smarter operateR. I’m positive we will see a different Pakistan under salman butt..the guys look hungry and they are starting to ptoduce more consitantly. England batsmen will get a shock because it seem like from their quotes that they don’t rate the Pakistan attack that high. If we bowl first tommorow expect fireworks. Wasim any news on if kaneria will be replaced?
Wasim,
True, I agree with your Afridi point and I hope our team now really believes they can beat Australia although put them back in a tight game against them, I cant help but feel the demons will return.
Stani
Didn’t we all knew that our team will lose its nerve just before the finish line,
They always have this lack of self belief against Australia.
I had to reasons to celebrate one because the team proved Afridi wrong and secondly they overcame their mental demons against Australia
Pakistan to win the England series 3-1:) I’ll tell you why tomorrow in going to get some sleep now LOL.
The only way Australia could’ve won was if their ballers balled and their batters batted…….al pakistan did was put pressure on them….good luck Paki
Wasim,
To be honest with you, the way we did it in the end, I don’t even feel like celebrating. There was no glory in it. But I’m glad we didn’t lose or we would have been mentally finished.
We’ve been reasonably good here so far, which seems strange why our next home tour is in UAE. They should have all our home games here.
Scores are levelled Pakistan need only 1 to win, Kamran Akmal almost got out caught in the slips but the replay was inconclusive and he got the benfit of doubt.
It will be a great win for Pakistan and a dream start for Salman Butt as a captain. A lesson for all those who doubted him and doubted the young players and kept on criticising PCB to include out of form and underperforming star players in the team, Azhar Ali and Imran farhat’s innings was the difference in this match, alot of criticism was hurled at Imran Farhat, I was also not happy about his selection in the team but he played beautifully in both innings in this match looked better than most players. But Young Azhar Ali has done really good and has been a find of this tour, Omar Amin failed once again but Pakistan should continue with him until his nerves are settled he is also a good player.
There are three young players, Naved yasin, Ahmed Shahzad and Asad Shafiq who have the class to replace Malik Pakistan should give them a chance.
Pakistan’s middle order is really weak, with Malik, Kamran Akmal and an out of form Umar Akmal. They need to strengthen the middle order.
This win is going to give a huge psychological advantage to Pakistan, they were demoralized when Afridi ditched his team feeling it wasn’t good enough to win against Australia it was a self centered move by him but it worked out for the best for Pakistan.
The main Hero for Pakistan was Aamer whose three quick wickets put Pakistan in total control he has really transformed into a great bowler. Kaneria disappointed every one, the inclusion of Rahman will strengthen the batting and he will definitely take more wickets than Kaneria.
Congtratulations Pakistan team and it’s fans.
14 runs required for Pakistan and Australia require four wickets. 40 runs were required and Pakistan lost three quick wickets Umar Akmal was poking on every ball just like his brother is poking on every ball and playing it through slips or missing it clearly there is a lack of technique, which created this whole drama.
Malik is gone what a catch by North. Once again Malik failed this should cause a serious concern in Pakistan’s think tank the guy is simply not good enough for test cricket.
Two wickets have fallen down and 30 runs are remaining Australia has a clear plan and Pakistan are nervous one more wicket and this target of 30 will become 100.
Umar Akmal again flopped, I think like Afridi he can only play one way and that is aggressive the early indications that he has good defense and good technique were just an illusion.
Kamran Akmal is living dangerously out there, clearly it’s the pressure which has gotten to them the bowling is good but nothing which they haven’t dealt with before.
All hopes are pinned on Malik to take Pakistan across the line.
Yousaf
I know Younis Khan’s record but don’t you think that for current selection the current form with in last 14 to 15 months should be taken into account. I do agree with you that during the SriLankan tour and after it a lot of things disturbed him mentally but he took his time off and when returned for the Odis in Australia he was still out of form and recently his performance with Surrey also showed that he still hasn’t recovered fully from that bad patch so what impact he will have on the teams performance if he gets selected?.
I would love to see him back in form and play for Pakistan but I think we shouldn’t rush him back. But his ban should be lifted unconditionally.
I absolutely don’t want to see Yousaf back into the team no matter what you say I won’t get convinced regarding him, the guy is a greedy and very selfish person who has caused a lot of problems in the team. He only wants money and more money he was my favorite player but after the Sydney debacle and after coming to know that he was the one who took Oath from players on the holy book to underperform I would never accept him in the team. We should draw a line based on a simple principle that a player who deliberately underperforms or prompts other players to underperform whether for betting or for dirty politics should be kicked out of the team forever regardless of his stature.
Joel Welcome to Cricketfiles.
You can sleep tight as we are going to win this one. Rest assured.
Wasim
To answer your first question regarding Younis Khan I would suggest that you do not just look at his recent form. I just went to Statsguru on the cricinfo website so if you want you can reproduce the results. Younis test batting average against England (dont forget we are playing in England so we have to use those pitches) is 45.46; where the average for matches played in England is 52.22 (more relavent statistic). Younis’s average against AUS is 31.83 (but his average when those matches were played in AUS is 43.16). As far as his recent form specifically his tour of Sri Lanka; you have to understand that when your own team mates are conspiring to play badly (this in my books to treason and such players should be shot!) just to undermine you then one can understand that your mind may not be too clear while batting. Nonetheless, you dont drop world class players like younis on a whim unless of course there are many world class batsman available to Pakistan to take his place (which sadly isnt the case).
As far as Shoaib Malik is concerned; did you watch the testimony of Rana Naved? its available on youtube for all to watch. Shoaib is the one that started the conspiracy against Younis in the first place. This was because Younis had replaced Shoaib as a captain. Rana Naveed himself said in the video taped testimony that he and others underperfomed for the sole purpose of undermining Younis. Yes you are right that Yousuf was involved also but by that time the water had already been muddied by Shoaib.
Hey guys often read ur blog and always enjoy ur comments it is refreshing to see that finally we are at brink of win against aussies but definately not sleeping comfortably tonight cause dnt trust our batsman anything is possible when they are batting. Any way well played farhat and azher.
These two have done a good job so far, I’m impressed with Azhar this guy is a keeper. Good to see Farhat batting sensibly. Australian heads body language right now is not so great their heads have dropped I don’t think they can get back into the match unless Pakistan decides to give it away.
Butt is gone the way he was playing every ball I knew he might get out early, Pakistan should first save the match and then play attacking shots atleast these two should see off the new ball. I hope Azhar will stay on the wicket.
Stani a first wicket partnership of 50 + will take the match away from Australia, I think they should not take the target to their nerves and play according to the merit of the ball.
Farhat, Malik and Akmal brothers lets see if they play decently or play a big role in triggerring a huge collapse.
Well done for the sixes or the wicket? :
Ramiz Raja, the ultimate pitoo!
…I think because they start rushing Wasim. Tunnel vision and they stop thinking. Butt should just slow things down when this happens.
We need to watch Hilfenhaus early. The other bowlers won’t do much so we can score off them….then watch our friend Watson when he comes on later
Stani
I keep on repeating that the bowlers have been lousy in the second innings in every match that we play, they can’t finish off the tail. Waqar should look at this problem seriously.
Well done Danish
Wasim,
This is getting bloody frustrating. I think we need to look to have some run saving too. The worst thing is that no other team beats batsmen the number of time our bowlers do but no edge!
Gul needs to sort himself out. His no-balls are criminal and the number of times he’s bowled short is unacceptable for a bowler of his ability and experience. Kaneria has just been ineffective full stop.
New ball is taken and Pakistan needs three quick wickets to shut Australia out of the match, hopefully they will get Australia all out within 130 as my good friend Stani hoped.
Yousaf
I totally agree with you on Akmal brothers but didn’t the same thing happened several times when Yousaf and Younis were in the team, I think the script is the same the actors keep on changing.
From SriLankan series to this one you will find numerous matches where we squandered first innings lead and in several matches either both Yousaf and Younis were playing or one of them was playing so I don’t think they would have made any difference.
I am not defending Akmal brothers here or Malik but I found your comment a bit naive and kind of hypocritical because you are calling Malik a traitor but the guy who took the Oath from all the players on holy book i.e (Maulvi Yousaf) to underperform while playing under Younis you want him back in the team. WHY?
Can you explain your logic without getting too emotional.
I think the bowlers also have to get a bit of blame as they run out of steam in the second innings atleast this has been the pattern in the last four or five tests that we have played, even tailenders scored 150 runs in the last test against our world class pace attack. You can’t blame that on the batsmen.
And by the way, why just a bat why can’t we shove all six wickets also in his ass.
Optimism Stani Optimism.
Just pray for some overcast conditions tomorrow, we need two quick wickets and we will be back on top. I think credit should be given to the Ponting and Clarke they did batted with a lot of confidence and determination.
If Pakistan lost this match I am going to launch a campaign against Akmal brothers as only because of them we were unable to take unassailable lead.
I think anything within 200 can be achieved even without Akmal brothers.
as i said before and will keep on repeating until you are all sick of reading. We need Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan in our batting line up. For once our openers are doing an ok job, we needed both Yousuf and Younis to build on the great job our bowlers did. Sadly, morons like the Akmal brothers and the traitor Shoaib Malik squandered their chances. I have a sinking feeling that we will see a repeat of the Sydney test and we will have no one else to blame. If that happens I would surely feel bad for our bowlers because for the third time they have done a great job – all in vain. We need to shove a bat up Ijaz Butts ass – he is a fucking traitor.
200? Wasim?! Where did you get this new found confidence
Our jokers won’t get 130, especially under the kind of pressure the Aussies will exert.
All the hard work has been wasted. It’s all even again.
Stani
He should have batted till end the shot he played was horrendous and he has been getting out in similar fashion quite consistently after scoring a decent 20 or 30.
Kaneria’s bowling is toothless I wouldn’t play Ajmal, Rahman is a much better option for the longer format.
I am ok with Australia setting a target of 200 anything more than that and Pakistan will lose this match.
Muddassar
There is a difference between dropped shoulders and the wicket playing easy and theopposition playing great.
Watson bowled an excellent line and also swung the ball late he deserved the wickets, only Akmal brothers and Malik threw away their wickets the rest batted decently. It is a difficult pitch to bat on people might criticize Umar Amin and Azhar but imagine if the play on decent tracks they will definitely score more, places where the likes of Younis, Malik, Fawad, and Akmal brothers have failed.
We should definitely continue with these two.
The match is slipping away as you said, expect the Australian tail to wag again and then Pakistan to crumble in second innings every thing is going according to script.
I think less blame should go on Malik because he had to go for it as he was with the tail although his shot could have been executed better.
I agree with Mudassar that the body language is really really poor in the field already. I fear if Aus get anything 130 or over, then our lot will crumble under the pressure they will apply in the last innings.
I feel for our bowlers. Mistake not playing Ajmal?
when did ever Kanaria inspired or impressed? Even if he took 5 wickets there are only few moments when he looked like a world beating bowler. Pakistan is wasting time on him. By this time we can easily develop a spinner who can serve us in future specially when pace attack is doing well and can cope with a weak link of a young but capable spinner.
ball is not swinging , two good batsmen are playing better, does that mean end of life. Why these guys tend to drop their shoulders so early and so easily. When was test cricket easy or when was taking Australian wickets easy before? If they are not getting anything for sometime they look like giving up. Obvious lack of some serious temperament and patience which is a must to play test cricket.
But I will not take away the credit to making Australian batting line lick the dust and displaying awesome test bowling even Australian bowling attack looked rubbish after that but we have our own daemons in batting who can easily make Watsons over the moon.
Will Kaneria ever take a wicket at a time when it really matters? I don’t care if he has variety and can turn the ball a lot if he can’t deliver us wickets then he is good for nothing a fourth pacer could have been proved to be handy instead of him.
Mudassar the wicket has eased the ball is not moving and both Ponting and Clarke were due for a big one and like all great players they are rising to the occassion. Pakistan did themselves no favor when Akmal brothers and Malik threw away their wickets a lead of 200+ could have been a match winning one.
Lets pray for some over cast conditions.
just subscribing to comments keep up to date to discussion but i am speechless, horrible end of this test is waiting I think. It is slipping away. They are giving it up already I don’t know why. What is wrong with these guys?
Aamer shouldn’t be bowling round the wicket he should bowl over the wicket he was more effective from that side.
Pakistan is beginining to panic, the bowlers are not getting enough movement and are running out of steam Butt is using the bowlers in short spells, Kaneria needs to prove his worth and take a wicket here, Aamer should bowl at full pace. the lead is only 78 runs. Pontings Lbw decision is going to hurt Pakistan he looks quite comfortable now.
Aamer is bowling great and is almost unplayable, it will be difficult for the Aussie top order to survive his spell.
Rudy is determined to help the Aussies first he gave Aamer out lbw when the ball was way outside off stump and now he leased a life to Ponting who was plumb lbw on the first ball.
Poor cricket from Pakistan on the third day, Akmal brothers and Malik were the main culprits, they were in some sort of rush to get back into the pavillion, Pakistan is trying it’s best to create another Sydney like debacle the script is quite similar.
They squandered a perfect opportunity to shut out Australia out of the match, Umar Akmal was trying to hit every ball out of the park, Kamran Akmal tried to poke on every ball swinging away from him and Malik played an ugly shot to score some quick runs, the lead is 170 thanks to Asif and Kaneria.
The lead is still quite substantial keeping in view the nature of the pitch but you don’t give a team like Australia a chance to get back into the match.
Pakistan will have to get early wickets here.
If Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal cannot snap out of T20 mode then they should better be played only in that format, both players know very well how to play in test cricket but continue to play in crowd pleasing fashion and lose their wicket in 10′s and 20′s.
Lets not under estimate Watsons bowling his line was the best out of all the Aussie bowlers and was swinging the ball late, actually today all three batsmen got out on good deliveries.
As regards Ponting people are not saying anything because in Sydney test he proved everybody wrong in the second innings, he will come under fire only if they lose the match.
But our pace trio was unplayable today all the Aussie batsmen were clueless. In this series I don’t see that cockiness on their face which was always present when we toured Australia.
I think Australia have permanently dumped Clark. I am not sure about his current form because last time he played he wasn’t that impressive and then injury problems have forced him to sit out.
Stani
Both are blaming PCB in an attempt to defend Afridi. I am not sure about Osman but Abbasi was most vocal about making Afridi the captain, the sports journalists at Dawn and at Cricinfo put all the pressure on PCB to make Afridi the test captain and now when he has disappointed them and ran away from responsibility they are blaming PCB, did he told PCB that he will quit in the middle of the tour?
He gave mixed signals, first he said that they didn’t had any other choice but me and how he was heartbroken when four years ago they gave the job to someone else, he also said that he was ready and consulted his family before accepting the job, now he may have told PCB that if things didn’t work out well under him then he might leave but did he told them in the middle of the tour without taking any PCB official into confidence, to quit in the middle of the tour was wrong and unacceptable his main goal was to rebuild the team nobody wanted him to win every match, even people like me who have been his strong critics were supporting him.
My main objection with Kamran Abbasi and Osman Sami is that nobody has even brought up even once his recklessness in their article, both with the bat and decision making, he scored two centuries in Asia cup why did he batted so poorly with no match awareness, isn’t this his behavior pattern that first he involved himself in Ball tampering to avoid the T20 series against England and Australia and now he quitted in the middle of tour.
I think these quitters should be kicked out of the team permanently, they have no respect for the job and no guts to lead. Both players whom Osman and Abbasi have been supporting are certified quitters and whiners. People should also get to see the dark side of these players as the influencial media always tries to coverup their negatives.
Wasim,
‘begairat’…haha! That’s one of my favourite words…along with Shohda (spelling?)
Honestly, I haven’t read from those guys for quite some time now. I think Osman is too politically correct at times and Kamran shows too much favouritism. What were their excuses?
People can blame PCB all they like but Afridi was not forced to do it no matter what anyone says. He should have known long time ago how he personally feels about Tests, this didn’t just happen over night!
Don’t worry though, because the ODI and t20s will come and we’ll win a few because he’ll be bothered to play and people will forget everything.
I think the shot Farhat got out to was too aggressive once again, but at least he got a decent score this time.
Hats off to Salman Butt.
As for Ponting, they’re going to make excuses for him but his decision to bat first was a joke. If that had been one of our captains, he would have got it afterwards!.The fact is, Ponting likes batting first no matter what so he was blinded by the conditions and by the obvious fact that must have been jumping in front of his face of our bowlers being our strong point. It was almost funny to see him mesmerized by Asif. When the ball jagged back in for his LBW, after repeated leaving him, the look on his face was like ‘O s**t’. He almost walked off by himself. High class bowling to arguably the worlds top batsman.
I’m not sure why they pick Bollinger when they have the likes of Nannes and better still, my favourite Australian, Stuart Clark. Could you imagine him in the last two games in these conditions? And people look at Pakistan as if they are the only ones with issues and selection blunders! I’m not sure if Clark is injured or fit though.
Azhar Ali is gone after scoring a good knock of 30, it was a good ball he had to play it and it swung late.
Watson is looking good bowling better than any Australian bowler.
Botth openers are back in Pavillion and suddenly the chances of Pakistan taking a 200+ lead are looking slim, it is absolutely imperitive for Azhar and Amin to play big knocks and don’t throw away their wickets to casual strokes.
The main problem with Pakistan’s batting is that no one has the temprament to score a big 100, something which was the forte of Younis and Yousaf but since both are out of form and out of team Pakistan needs to quickly groom one or two of these players into dependable test match players. Azhar has looked good, Umar Akmal has talent but he is too cocky and takes unnecessary risks.
Malik has the temprament but doesn’t have the skill.
Australian bowlers haven’t bowled on target like their Pakistani counterparts and have been unable to control the swing, Ricky Ponting surprisingly held Mitchel johnson back and counted a lot on Bollinger and Hiffenhaus both of the struggled especially Hilfy was punished he looked ordinary.
Australia are all out for 88, so far Ricky Ponting has done nothing right first his decision to bat first was totally wrong secondly his top order batsmen were trying to go after the bowling as if they were batting on a flat track.
Pakistan bowled extremely well, Aamer and Asif were right on the target and Aamer was almost unplayable, Gul was at his lethal best. It was heartening to see Aamer bowl the right length and line and move the ball both ways he really has matured under Waqar.
Pakistan is playing Malik in place of Afridi he is notoriously a poor player in swinging conditions lets see how he bats in the first innings.
Pakistan also didn’t dropped Farhat so far the decision has paid off as he is batting sensibly so far, Pakistan are 60/0, a big lead might ensure that they don’t have to bat again in this match.
But I wouldn’t bet on it as Pakistan in recent times have always squandered the first innings initiative lets hope that this time the team will hold onto the advantage and will go for the kill.
Stani
He is a selfish and Be-Gairat person he can only bite a ball not a bullet.
I don’t know if you read Kamran Abbassi’s article or Osman Sami’s article on the issue both guys did their best to absolve Afridi of his crime.
Nobody even remembers that this guy bit the ball when he was given the captaincy in Australia and created such a crisis for Pakistan cricket nobody prompted him to do that even then his supporters invented numerous excuses for his shameful act and now once again he pushed Pakistan team into a deep crisis and again his supporters are making excuses for him that he is honest, it’s Pcb’s fault etc.
I have no issue with him resigning I knew it will happen by the end of this series but during a tour if you abondon troops its nothing short of treason, no matter what his supporters say in his defence everybody knows that he wanted this job desperately, this notion that Ejaz Butt forced him to accept the job on a gun point is BS.
When PCB forwarded the names of three candidates, Butt, Razzaq and Afridi all those guys who are defending Afridi immediately raised hell that both Razzaq and Butt don’t deserve the job and it has to be given to Afridi.
It is sickening to watch that people like Osman Sami and the sports writers of Dawn are so shamelessly trying to have both sides of the coin, they pressured PCB in every manner so that Afridi can get the Job now when there second candidate has also run away they are inventing excuses for Afridi.
What a shame these jingos are completely be-gairat and shameless.
Wasim,
I agree that he should have carried on leading. This is the one thing, no matter what he or others say, that shows it was a selfish decision. He should have bitten the bullet and carried on. He couldn’t even do it in the Test that was going on. He clearly gave up half way through when the Test wasn’t even over and thought ‘sod it’, as his shots clearly show. Disgrace.
Now he’s decided not to play in the 2nd match citing a side strain….more like can’t be bothered. Side strain was ok when he was trying to heave it into the stands.
Stani
The guy gives three different statements about one issue in one day and lies without any shame.
He has expressed it multiple times when the team was touring Australia that he wants to lead the team in all formats and is ready to come out of test retirement.
PCb was considering Butt and Razzaq also at that time, and Afridi the moment he sensed competition accepted the job and came out of retirement because at that time the ODI and T20 captain was also not announced he probably feared that Razzaq might get the limited overs captaincy and Butt will get test captaincy.
I think he should have continued to lead the team till the tour was over this is just like abandoning your tropps in the middle of a war.
Yousaf
I think you are new to Cricketfiles but I presume that we had an interaction recently at Stani Army where you were using a different identity.
You said that Afridi was my favorite candidate, well read this post written by me when Afridi announced that he was coming out of retirement also read the discussion following the post.
http://cricketfiles.com/2010/05/23/flip-flop-afridi-comes-out-of-test-retirement/#discussion
I have never been an Afridi fan especially in test match cricket but due to his recent improved batting performances and his stature in the team, I believed in the current scenario when it is practically impossible for Yousaf, Younis and Malik to lead the team he was the best man to lead Pakistan because he has a huge fan base and he is well respected within the team only if he had controlled his impulsive nature he could have taken Pakistan team out of turmoil.
I predicted in the above post that he will fail as a bowler in test cricket and his batting temprament also doesn’t suit the format.
You said” Your previous blogs have been a continuous tirade against Younis and now you are calling the PCB “morons” for ignoring him? Why the change of heart? Is it because you finally realized that Younis is the best Test captain we have available?I have never led a campaign against Younis, I have always said that his ban was unfair and if he shows his form he should be allowed to come back in the team.
I strongly believe that he cannot lead the team the way he wants unless his own form is at its best.
Never said that he was a poor captain but did criticised him for being an emotionally unstable person who has a habit of picking fights with every one and also has a habit of quitting when things get tough.
This is what I wrote when the players revolted against him.
http://cricketfiles.com/2009/11/11/one-caesar-and-nine-brutus/
Also read http://cricketfiles.com/2009/11/16/why-younis-khan-cant-return-as-a-captain/
I don’t live in a fantasy world like you, to expect that the corrupt culture in PCB will change overnight is like living in a fools paradise picking up ugly fights with the management and fellow players will only compound the problems a lot more can be accomplished if the management and the players are dealt with a little bit of maturity and diplomacy by the captain, remember he won the world cup when he extracted the best out of Afridi by using diplomacy, and everything fell apart when he offended Yousaf and a few other players due to his rotation policy and opened too many fronts for himself.
Having said that I have never doubted YK’s integrity, yes I criticised the influence of Rashid Latif and Basit Ali on him, both of these guys are highly jingoistic and often use double standards in judging players originating from different regions.
I don’t have a change of heart as far as captaincy is concerned, I would never accept Yousaf as a captain, it’s funny that you are so against Malik but the Mohammad Yousaf who took the OAth against Younis from all the players on a holy book you desperately want him back in the team.
The situation is complex and doesn’t have any simple solution, I never expected Afridi to win any test against Australia only hoped that he would be able to rebuild the team in a years time and Pakistan team will not face any new scandals, but he gave up after facing the first set back.
It is almost impossible for Younis to make a return unless he gets back into form only then the management will come under huge pressure to recall him.
Bringing back YK and Yousaf will not guarnatee that Pakistan will start winning again because we haven’t won a test match in a long time even when two years ago these guys were in supereme form.
If they are brought back without taking care of the bad blood between different groups of players things will become even worse it will be a step backwards, I hope you understand this point.
We do not need an emotional person incharge of the team we need somebody who has thick skin and can handle all kinds of pressures.
Wasim,
Interesting that your favourite candidate (Afridi) to lead Pakistan decided to run after his first test as a captain at Lords. After all the bad mouthing of Younis, you have the gall to write “…poor guy is trying his best to get back in form by playing county cricket but PCB morons again decided to ignore him”. Your previous blogs have been a continuous tirade against Younis and now you are calling the PCB “morons” for ignoring him? Why the change of heart? Is it because you finally realized that Younis is the best Test captain we have available?
What you and other pedestrians like you dont understand is that for test cricket we need both Yousuf and Younis. And yes we dont need fucking Malik because he is a fucking rat and a traitor. Anyone who underperforms wearing Pakistani colours ought to be beheaded in public. His attitude is shit, his batting technique is shit and he isnt allowed to bowl his doosra so he should fuck off. Yes Younis might be out of form but he is a class batsman and the only valid test no3 we have got. I cannot believe they had two new guys in a test match against AUS when we have Younis and Yousuf available. This is fucking treason and Ijaz Butt the cunt that he is ought to be sent to Waziristan so he can become some Talibans fuck boy. The Akmal brothers dont give a fuck about Pakistan and their batting showed it. It was like T20 practice for them. Did it occur to them that there was an outside chance that they could win and what a win it would have been.
Wasim,
I was pretty shocked too. I never expected him to do that. Yes, the feeling was that he had been longing for the captaincy.
I think the PCB have to take some of the blame for this. Afridi is basically saying that he didnt want play Test cricket but the PCB asked him to give it a shot so he told them he would but if it didnt work he would quit. Why the PCB gave him the Test captaincy then I do not know because they knew there was a danger they would have to start from square one again. Not even they would have thought they’ve have to do so now in the middle of an important series.