Panic and hurry -Pakistani cricket these days

Panic and hurry is what seems to be the mantra of Pakistani cricket these days. When they win, there is a drama and when they lose, well, none that need be said. The huge margin loss to England last week prompted the confused Pakistani setup to recall the ever confused Mohammad Yousaf. It seems ironic in the light of the fact that the justification given to recall him seems to make no sense since he and Younas Khan were handed out exactly the same punishments for exactly the same reasons. While one still seems to be caught up in the legal tango of the PCB, the other has been vindicated and recalled to the national side. One would only be very ignorant to look beyond that fact of favoritism.

No one can deny the talent and the calmness that Yousaf can bring to any side in the world, let alone Pakistan. His record speaks for itself. It was a very tough decision that the PCB took in axing and punishing 7 of the senior members of the cricket team. They should have moved on. Well, they tried to but couldn’t hang on to what they started. One loss and they get back to their old methods, panic and hurry. They fail to recognize that their system is not yet to the mark where they produce players which are superior in training, fitness, match practice, skills etc that they can be plucked and sent alongwith the team from the domestic circuit. Pakistan is one of the very unfortunate nations in the cricketing world where the first interaction that a player gets of the international match is in the international match itself. Their practice sessions are traditional, their team talks are moderate, their application is inferior. The hastened recall of Yousaf only strengthens the notion of a critic that the Pakistani cricket is anything but in the right direction. It gives an impression of a board under crises, a team under huge panic and severe lack of mismanagement. It was very admirable of Butt to back his young guns despite the heavy loss for he knows that it is a team under rebuilding process and it will take time. What seems to matter in Pakistan cricket, only, is the wins. They forget to note the team development and how the youngsters are shaping up for the future. Their goals are not long term but match or series based. This they need to come over and realize that teams are not built by hasty decisions but only a good system can provide good players and, hence, a good team.

Written By Razi Bilal

Tagged as: cricket, england, lose, pakistan