What has Misbah done to deserve captaincy
on October 9th, 2010 at 6:14 amPCB has once again surprised the world by naming Misbah Ul Haq the test captain for the upcoming two test series against South Africa.
Test squad: Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah ul Haq (capt), Umar Akmal. Azhar Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Danish Kaneria, Abdur Rehman, Zulqarnain Haider, Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir (subject to fitness).
PCB dropped Misbah from all formats of cricket almost a year ago and since then Misbah hasn’t played any competitive cricket a few months back Misbah said that he was contemplating to retire from international cricket.
But the recent spot fixing scandal opened the doors of selection for Misbah once again, PCB was never going to select Younis Khan apparently because of his differences with Ijaz Butt, Yawar Saeed, and a few key players therefore he was out of the equation, Malik is highly unpopular, Afridi refused to lead once again and Yousaf was never going to get considered for the job after the disasterous tour of Australia under his leadership.
I am not sure why PCB didn’t considered Shoaib Akhtar for the job maybe because like Younis he is free of corruption and a difficult person to be controlled as a puppet, PCB wanted a puppet and they picked one out of their trusted pool of players.
I have been against the selection of Younis, Yousaf and Misbah in the recent past because of their form and age but I think out of the three if any player could have made a positive impact on the team and pulled it out of crisis it was Younis. If PCB has back tracked from it’s policy of moving forward from the ageing players then it is highly unfair not to recall Younis.
PCB dropped Kamran Akmal and Umar Amin because they were considered to be under suspicion but then why they selected Wahab Riaz? Umar Amin was only in the frame of the movie in which Riaz was seen recieving a jacket stuffed with $10,000 from Mazhar Majeed the man who actually recieved the money gets selected and the bystander gets labelled as under suspicion thats just laughable.
Umar may not have earned a place in the team on merit but the fact that he has been dropped from the A team also clearly shows that PCB is punishing him, he was an upcoming player with a lot of potential and could have performed well on slow pitches in Dubai.
PCB has also recalled Sami, Kaneria and Taufeeq Umar. I don’t think they had any choice there but they should not have selected Kaneria as these days he just bowls rubbish.
With this bowling line up Pakistan can’t even beat Zimbabwe they can only dream of beating South Africa in the upcoming test series.
A month ago Pakistan was ranked amongst the top three teams having the best bowling line up they had depth and variety in their bowling department but with Asif and Aamer gone all of a sudden our test bowling line up looks third class.
Thanks to Ijaz Butt and his administration through corruption and poor administration they have created a situation where Pakistan will get humuiliated in cricket for a long time to come.
Stani
I don’t know about that because he has been clearly a part of that gang of players whose performance has been extremely suspicious and that makes his appointment very wrong especially when he was dropped from the team. It sends a wrong message that there is no merit in selection and players who have been irresponsible for a long period of time they can make a come back without proving themselves in domestic cricket all they have to do is to remian in the good books of Ijaz Butt.
Wasim,
But we can’t accuse Misbah of match fixing without concrete evidence
An excellent piece on Younis by Farooq Nomani:
http://blog.dawn.com/2010/10/13/the-story-of-younis-khan/
I agree on Waseem’s point of view wrt Misbah.
I am not watching the tournament.
I have included Malik and Akmal because they are innocent until proven guilty. There is no evidence to say these two players took part. In my opinion, there is enough evidence against Butt, Asif and Amir. If Butt and Asif do not receive life ban from this scandal, cricket will never recover. Amir should be given leniene with the minimum penalty.
I picked Mohammad Rameez and Junaid Khan because I think they are the best two young fast bowlers in the country and both have potential to be top fast bowlers (and both have A team experience). I remember Rameez opening the bowling with Amir when they toured England with the U19′s in 2007. Both were opening bowlers. I think with the (experienced) batting line up that I picked, now would be the best chance to introduce them to international cricket.
Stani
How can one differentiate a poor performance from under performance without having concrete evidence.
Its very hard to differentiate under performance from poor performance in the absence of concrete evidence should we allow these culprits to get away with every thing. I don’t think so.
It’s a fact that match fixing related corruption exists in Pakistan cricket.
How can we identify the culprits in the absence of concrete evidence?
We can only rely on the patterns.
There is a pattern in selection policies. There is a pattern in batting and bowling performances there is a pattern in fielding lapses.
Based on past experiences we have to monitor every move of the current administrators and players and will have to look every thing a critical eye, because right now
One can easily dismiss everything by calling it unprofessionalism or lack of form.
Form doesn’t change overnight, the inherent ability of a player also doesn’t change overnight.
When a senior player blocks unneccesarily and puts his team under pressure and then throws away his wicket to a poor shot such behaviors should be closely monitored under the current scenario as the risk of foul play has increased.
Having closely monitored these players for the past four five years I have seen different patterns of behaviour consistently emerging, the management has been protecting a certain group of players, no matter what their performance has been they remained an integral part of the team for the past three years. they show great form in domestic matches but look completely out of sorts in international cricket but in dead rubbers they again show form so that they can make a case for themselves to get selected again.
There is a inherent capability of every player based on his experience and abilities when players do not perform consistently or do not fullfill their roles during a match or a series repeatedly and still get selected for the next series then something wrong is going on.
In past we were attributing all the underperformances to groupism in the team, I think PCB did a clever job there. But now we will have to look all the poor performances of past three years with a different angle.
Misbah performed poorly in SriLanka and was dropped but then he scored 283 in a domestic match and again made a comeback but in subsequent international matches he wasn’t even able to pick the line of the ball, but then again in dead rubbers he again showed some form.
Whether Misbah is clean or not is inconsequential, the decision to appoint him and ignore Younis is of utmost importance. The decision came from Ijaz Butt who is running this match fixing mafia he again ignored Younis who has not been involved in any corruption and probably that is the main reason he is being ignored all the match fixers have been pardoned.
How can Ijaz Butt justify his decision to appoint Misbah as captain when he was dropped from the team for being “out of form” and he is still out of form there are plenty of other cricketers who are performing way better than those who are selected.
Aamer and Ajmal were the shiniing light in Pakistan cricket, the way they performed in Newzealand both with bat and ball one could easily see that they were playing for the country but Aamer was dropped against the series against England and was forced to join the mafia, Zulqernain Haider is another example. The guy came out of no where performed superbly and was sent home declared injured.
This clearly shows that the management is selecting players who are willing to act as dummies. Misbah is also one of them.
But Wasim, there is a difference between the match fixers pain (Kamran Akmal), who instigates clandestine ways of gettig back in such as asking his brother to refuse to play
, and the pain Misbah expressed. I fail to see any evidence of Misbah being involved with the match fixing mafia apart from his loss of form. And anyone can lose form, it’s allowed.
What was the logic behind announcing the T20 and ODi team before the conclusion of this Faysal bank T20 tournament? What incentive does any player has to perform out of his skin if he already knows that no matter what he does he won’t get selected.
123/PCB
Sorry your first comment got caught by the spam blocker for some odd reason.
Let me ask you first are you watching the ongoing Faysal bank T20 Tournament?
If Yes then how many players you have noticed that who can bat or bowl better than those who are already in the team. I couldn’t find many bowlers but batsmen there are several. After this tournament I am going to write a special thread for each one of them. I have already spotted several players who can bat better than,
Malik, Fawad, Farhat, Khurram, Lateef, Kamran and Misbah.
But meanwhile can you tell me why you are including the alleged match fixers in your line up?
Mohammad Rameez is too slow and Junaid needs atleast six months with Waqar Younis before he is given a chance. He has a potentail to be the next Aamer.
Stani
Everybody who gets dropped gets hurt regardless of the reason of which they got dropped.
The following 6 are the match fixers:
1. Salman Butt
2. Kamran Akmal
3. Mohammad Asif
4. Shoaib Malik
5. Umar Amin
6. Mohammad Amir
http://www.cricinfo.com/asia2010/engine/match/455231.html
This match has all the proof. Butt, Amin and Malik all blocked and then threw away their wickets:
Butt – It landed full in length, landed on the off and middle line and seamed in to go through the bat and pad gap. Butt went neither forward or back and groped blindly outside the line. (0 runs off 3 balls)
Amin – It climbed rapidly on Umar Amin who went for the pull but was beaten by the pace. (7 runs off 26 balls)
Malik – Shoaib Malik rushes down the track, looking for the big hit. (8 runs off 14 balls).
Kamran Akmal was involved in a run out, but was scoring at a very slow rate (14 runs off 26 balls).
Mohammad Amir had a good delivery, but was also scoring slowly (5 runs off 14 balls).
Mohammad Asif got out on his second ball, ‘as he stabbed in thin air’.
In the bowling, Amir and Asif went for 112 runs in 19 overs.
In a game where most of the other Pakistan batters scored well, and all the other bowlers (including Razzaq and a Shoaib Akhtar returning to the team) bowled better than these players, it is obvious there was math fixing.
In the following games, the players had the following figures:
Salman Butt – 74 off 85 (vs Ind)
Umar Amin – 5 off 9 (vs Ind), 22 off 24 (vs Ban)
Shoaib Malik – 39 off 46 (vs Ind)
Kamran Akmal – 51 off 41 (vs Ind), 23 off 16 (v Ban)
Excluding Butt, Amir and Asif, I believe the following teams are the best for Pakistan:
TEST
1. Azhar Ali
2. Fawad Alam
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan (capt)
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Umar Akmal
7. Kamran Akmal (wkt)
8. Umar Gul
9. Saeed Ajmal
10. Junaid Khan
11. Mohammad Rameez
ODI
1. Imran Nazir
2. Kamran Akmal (wkt)
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Younis Khan
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Umar Akmal
7. Shahid Afridi (capt)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Saeed Ajmal
T20
1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Imran Nazir
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Shahid Afridi (capt)
6. Umar Akmal
7. Kamran Akmal (wkt)
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Umar Gul
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Saeed Ajmal
Wasim,
I’d be very surprised if he was the one of the ones who deliberately underperformed. Judging from how much he was hurt when dropped, his comments seem to indicate he is one of those guys that would not get involved in something like that. I think he was sidelined for the same reasons Yousuf, Younis were made to look bad and that’s because they were not as bent as the others.
Yusuf
Why a journalist? Why can’t the members of National assembly and the Senators instead of black mailing PCB for bribes set up a judicial commission for inquiry.
We need some ballsy journalist to do a thorough investigation of the match fixing cases in Pakistan. Given the amounts of money involved I think this may go way up.
YUSUF
We can only expect coverups from those who nurtured corruption and corrupt players in the team we can’t expect rational steps to control the crisis and to put the team back on track.
Butt won’t go until Zardari is there or he won’t get fired until Zardari finds another puppet like Butt.
there were some rumours in the Pakistani press about Butt being replaced by Mani – what happened? This guy Butt is doing to Pakistani cricket what Zardari is doing to the country. Both need to go.
Whatever happened to the match fixing investigation after such damning evidence presented by NOTW? Why don’t they give amnesty to M Amir so that he can spill the beans on the other two and possibly a few more in the team? Is Butt involved in this? Did you guys read that the president of the Croyden Football Club (partner of Mazher Majeed) was found dead in his garage with a bullet wound to the head. Are we supposed to believe that this was suicide?
Bring YK back – give him the charge so he can clean up Pakistan cricket for God’s sake. This is driving me crazy
Dean/ Stani
Misbah’s captaincy record both domestic and international is not bad, even his form doesn’t concern me that much my main objection on him is that he belongs to the same gang of players who revolted against Younis and have been underperforming for a long time.
Misbah during last year was scoring big time in domestic cricket against all oppositions and in all formats of the game but in international cricket the way he performed last year it was clear that something else was going on, form doesn’t change overnight for players of his experience, there were many matches where he was missing straight and simple deliveries by a foot and threw away his wicket after wasting too many deliveries to a horrendous shot. But surprisingly on many occassions he came back in form in the last match of the series.
He was very close to Malik and Salman Butt. And was one of the key players in Butt’s circle of trust.
Hi Wasim,
Great article.
I think everybody who has contributed on this article seems to be off the opinion that Ijaz Butt is the biggest problem and I totally agree with that.
Until he is out of the way and hopefully replaced by a credible figure, almost anything that PCB does is going to be viewed with cynicism and mistrust.
For the good of Pakistan cricket and also for world cricket, this man needs to be removed from his post. Until he is, it is hard to judge any of these decisions on team matters as no one knows or trusts the real reasons behind them.
It looks like Misbah is a safe pair of hands and thats what Pakistan needs at the moment. I also think that Younis could have done the job if they could have sorted things out with him. From a selfish point of view, as a Warwickshire fan, I am delighted to see that Younis has signed to play for us next season, he will certainly improve our county championship batting which was a disgrace last season.
But getting back to the Pakistan team, the signals coming out are just totally mixed and the buck stops with Ijaz Butt. At the start of the tour of England, Pakistan were this young and fresh looking team who had removed the old guard and were building for the future.
Now, one by one, all the old guard seem to be returning, first Yousif, now Misbah and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to also see Younis return again.
It’s becoming a joke and it is such a shame as Pakistan has some exciting players and could be a decent team if they could get some direction and proper leadership.
Regards
Dean
I think Misbah is the only safe choice there is. I called for it on Stani Army and this should have happened a long time a go. The reason he didnt get picked and the reason he got dropped is because he is straight. After the latest goings on, thats good enough for me. But. the strange thing for me is that the only reason they did it is because they couldnt get clearance for Younis. Not the right reason.
The worst thing for me is seeing Intikhab back.
SP
Last year when he got dropped everybody unanimously said that his career was over as he could no more see a ball and he hasn’t played any competitive cricket since then but I guess it didnt mattered if he can’t see a ball on the ground if he has been seeing Ijaz Butt’s balls on a regular basis then thats all what he needed to get recalled.
Hi Asim!
You raised some valid arguments, under the current scenario I believe YK or Shoaib Akhtar were the only two players who were legitimate candidates of leading Pakistan. They ignored Shoaib because they don’t think he can play test cricket but think Sami and Kaneria can
It’s just amazing how the brain of our selectors does reasoning.
Sami on any track is a spent force so I don’t think it was a conspiracy against him. Irfan is not ready yet, there are a few youngsters who deserved a chance ahead of him but he got selected only because of his height and hype.
Imran Farhat only gets selected because he is one of those cricketers who is in the circle of trust of Ijaz Butt. If you know what I mean.
Raza Hassan is also over hyped and no match of Kaneria or Rahman. Trust me on that. But he should have been a part of the A team.
Naveed Yasin has done nothing with the A team, Aamer Sajjad deserved a chance. Taufeeq Umar got selected just because of Aamer sohail’s propaganda for him.
Yes Yk will have to marry Ijaz Butts great grand daughter to get selected I think his daughters would be too old for YK.
what has misbah done to deserve captaincy…?
nothing… and this is precisely the reason he has been given captaincy coz he is the only player (left) who has not done anything…
Agree with most of the points that you have made and I want to add few more selection policies that have surprised me because I think there is too much politics involved in the selection of these teams too:
1. Imran Farhat is part of both the teams …. is it just because of his father in law? because apart from that he has done nothing noteworthy that made the selectors chose him for both the squad let alone ONE.
2. Fawad Alam should have been first selected in Test team, but instead selected for ODIs and T20 – not tests ?!?! … his selection for ODIs is open for debate but T20 is definitely questionable.
3. Rana Naveed cleared to play, a day after the team is announced, now how can he be part of any team against south africa? similarly announcement of ODI captain was delayed ?!?! PCB chairman loves creating controversies by playing with timing of these announcements … can someone please please kick ijaz butt out so that pakistan cricket can be saved.
4. Not selecting Younis is just mind boggling, he was the only person who could lead us in the test matches and Mohsin Khan his puppet chief selector has again passed the blame to PCB chief.
5. Also what happened to the much heralded left arm pace bowler Mohd. Irfan? where did he go?
6. Selection of Sami on dead UAE pitches, is it part of the plan to end his career for good? he was a much better choice in english conditions.
7.What happened to the left arm spinner who played for pakistan in U-19 worldcup ?!?! he is not even part of A team, south africans have played abdul rehman quite a few times already so this young bloke was a much better choice then abdul rehman.
8. What grounds have they selected Taufeeq Umar and Danish Kaneria … so that deserved players like Aamer Sajjad and Naveed Yasin can follow … probably marry ijaz butt or some high up politicians daughter like Imran Farhat did so that they are automatically part of hte team.
Breaking news
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board has lifted a one-year ban from medium fast bowler Rana Naved and has allowed him to play cricket again.
After the Australia tour earlier this year, the PCB had banned Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik for indiscipline.
Naved had been banned from playing cricket for a year.
After the ban was lifted, Naeed, while talking to the media said that he was thankful to the PCB for lifting the ban and that after performing well in domestic cricket he will earn his place in the national team.
This move was expected after the spot fixing scandal, Rana will get to play in the Odi series and the T20′s, I’m not sure how PCB can pardon a player who openly admitted of under performance during the Australian tour.
But I guess PCB’s motto is if it’s ain’t wrong it’s not right.