- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,541
Many thanks to [MENTION=145403]Extra_Cover[/MENTION] for taking the time to answer questions from our members. A very enjoyable read for sure!
PakPassion.net: What brings you to PakPassion and the reason behind your name?
Extra_Cover: As an avid cricket fan and especially a Pakistan cricket fan this was natural that I was going to find my way to this forum. In fact, I remember quite vividly that in 2004/2005 I was browsing the internet and trying to find HD videos of Pakistan matches and highlights. There happened to be a poster on PakPassion who used to record and upload HD cricket videos that eventually led me onto this forum, and I became a member on here in. Since then, this has been the first website I load when I start my day.
As far as my username is concerned Extra_Cover, this is purely the go to shot for me. Growing up playing cricket in gullies we are naturally playing in the V hence this was the shot that I got most comfortable playing.
PakPassion.net: Where did you play your cricket and at what level?
Extra_Cover: Ironically, I haven't played much cricket. I used to play at school level and post school I never had the chance to play much cricket. In recent past when I moved to UK for work purposes the first thing, I did is register myself with a cricket club and since have been playing in Saturday leagues in UK.
PakPassion.net: Why has Haider Ali regressed in your view having shown so much initial promise on debut?
Extra_Cover: I personally don't believe that Haider Ali has regressed. In my opinion the early success that Haider got was not the best thing that happened to him. Haider is unfortunately a result of fan hype brigade and media pressure. There was not enough justification to have Haider in the line-up after just few PSL glimpses and a good U-19 tournament. In my opinion Haider should have player 2-3 First-class domestic seasons. The domestic games would not have improved his technique but would definitely have improved his mental ability in the game, this is precisely what is lacking at the moment as the guy has zero iota of match awareness in him. I still feel with 2-3 seasons of grind in domestics and if he can overcome his mental block then we would have a batter at hand from whom we can muster 8+ years of good cricket.
PakPassion.net: How do you rate Pakistan’s chances in the 2023 World Cup?
Extra_Cover: This may be difficult for most posters to digest on here, but I honestly don't rate Pakistan's chances very highly for 2023 World Cup. The simple reason is that we are lacking a genuinely world-class spinner that would help us lift the trophy. Further to this we also still lack a very good number 5 batter in ODIs (someone in the Inzi zone) that can hold his nerve and win us matches in those big chases (we are likely to have 300+ chases in most games). Given we don't have number 5 slot and genuine spinner locked in with less than a year to the World Cup I see us falling short at the semi-final phase.
As fare as our journey is concerned, I expect Babar to dominate this World Cup. ODIs is his territory, and he is a different beast altogether in this format. Similarly, Shaheen Shah Afridi would lead fast bowlers who together with Shaheen would carry most of our bowling throughout the tournament. With everything I still expect a semi-final finish. I hope I'm wrong and we go all the way.
PakPassion.net: Fondest and most painful memories of Pakistan cricket?
Extra_Cover: Ironically my fondest and most painful memory relates to the same summer of 2010 that changed Pakistan's cricket for a long time. My fondest memory obviously related to a young Pakistan team led by a young captain in Salman Butt (who I used to like a lot before controversy) defeating Australia and England in SENA conditions. This was unheard that Pakistan can defeat Australia outside of UAE and they did that with a young team at helm. This Pakistan team had a bright great future ahead of itself. Then came through the spot-fixing scandal (most painful memory as a fan). The entire dream came crashing down in reality with this scandal. The days were dark, and we had some of our finest talents getting banned altogether from cricket. Undoubtedly this was the most painful memory ever as a fan. I can't thank Misbah-ul-Haq enough who helped reviving Pakistan cricket.
PakPassion.net: A cricketer whose debut you are awaiting the most from Pakistan?
Extra_Cover: I'm not the one who jumps on hype brigade as I don't like hyping players. Having said that the player I'm looking forward to seeing is Kamran Ghulam. I personally believe he is in the same mental zone as Younis Khan and is mentally strong player. We don't have many mentally strong players in Pakistan Test team so he would be an ideal fit in there. He may not have the best technique going around but he has the mental ability so fight it out.
Apart from Kamran Ghulam we have other youngsters like Mohammad Hurraira, Haseebullah Khan and Israrullah that might have a Test career in them as well.
PakPassion.net: What gets you boiled up as a Pakistan fan?
Extra_Cover: From this list clearly the one that gets me most irked up is dropped catches. This is simply because catches are a basic part of the game, and it irks me when we are not doing the basic things right. This shows callous attitude to the game, and we should be respecting the game. Given we don't respect the basics of the game and drop simple catches the game comes back to bite us and there are more than enough examples where we have snatched defeat from a famous win simply because we couldn't get our basics right. Remember Kamran Akmal in Sydney?
Batting collapses don't irk me much this is because most of the times the collapses are triggered by good bowling rather than brainless batting. For a fact Pakistan bowlers have been responsible for many batting collapses however in these cases we appreciate the bowling rather than criticizing the batting. The same should be applied when good bowling triggers a batting collapse and should be appreciated.
As far as bizarre selections are concerned it does irk me, but I do believe that everyone has their own reasoning for selections and have a rationale for certain selections. Eventually when the game starts regardless of the selections, we are supporting Pakistan, and this is not in the back of the head anymore.
PakPassion.net: Would it benefit Pakistan cricket to have a professional foreign coach like Andy Flower?
Extra_Cover: Definitely yes. This is where Pakistan cricket is currently lagging behind. We have absolutely no brains in our think tank and I'm not expecting much from Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Yousuf in driving strategies to win us games. The role of coaches in international cricket is driven more by strategies now rather than technical assistance in game play. Hence technical coaches should stick to U-19 or A team tours whilst strategist should take over international coaching roles.
We need multiple plans which is lacking in from what I can see in recent couple of T20 World Cup's. Babar has used the same plan in each game which is not the way forward. For example, as per Babar each fast bowler would get 2 overs in the first 6 and this didn't change in any match regardless of match conditions or requirements. Similarly, Babar lacked the proactiveness in setting the correct field to respective batsmen. With a strategist like Andy Flower, we can overcome situations like these which will only make our team stronger. I don't have a special requirement for Andy Flower, anyone of that mindset would be fine in here.
PakPassion.net: Should Babar continue as Pakistan’s T20I skipper and your reasons why or why not?
Extra_Cover: Definitely yes. After a long-time we have a team which is free of back-stabbing, internal politics and groupism. This is all down to captain. Babar is the player that is accepted as a captain by everyone in the team which helps in gelling the team together and help them perform as a team. The moment Babar steps down or is shown the door then the politics will start again and soon we will have groups favoring one over the other. We have been struggling internally with politics and now we are free of it so let's extend Babar's tenure and, in this time, it’s up to PCB to drill professionalism in the players to ensure that such internal politics do not happen again once Babar is gone too.
PakPassion.net: Your thoughts on Mohammad Wasim as Chief Selector?
Extra_Cover: Neutral. I don't think he is super bad and neither I think he has set the world on fire. Please note that this is more of a Babar's team rather than that of Mohammad Wasim. In terms of selections What I would say, though, is that Babar should be held more accountable than Wasim in most instances.
PakPassion.net: The finest Pakistan bowling /batting /all-round performance that you have seen?
Extra_Cover: Immediately Abdul Razzaq's innings against South Africa in Abu Dhabi comes to mind. Apart from Razzaq's sensational innings there have been many glimpses of Pakistan's brilliance over the yeasr be it Inzamam-ul-Haq against Bangladesh in Tests or Shoaib Akhtar against New Zealand in New Zealand or even Fakhar Azam against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Even Mohammad Asif clean bowling the world’s best batters in their home conditions all over the world is a brilliant memory too. The good thing about Pakistan cricket is that the brilliant moments never end, always expect the unexpected which includes brilliance too!
PakPassion.net: Has the T20 format ruined cricket as we know it?
Extra_Cover: Definitely not. If anything T20 has potentially helped in the expansion of the sport. I wish that one day I see T20 part of Olympics as well which would help the sport expand immensely. People do say that T20 ruined the purest form of cricket but that still exists in red-ball cricket. In my opinion T20 has helped getting cricket on the global map of sports.
PakPassion.net: When will Pakistan middle order have proper batters instead of bits and pieces players?
Extra_Cover: I don't know when this drought would end. The domestics are not throwing any such names that you can say will end this drought either. So, all we can do is hope.
PakPassion.net: Verdict on the Rizwan-Babar partnership - Good or bad for Pakistan cricket?
Extra_Cover: Definitely good. There is no doubt in my mind that RizBab have bought so many good things to Pakistan cricket. To top it all they bought the concept of consistency to the forefront which raises bar for rest of the players as well. They also bought discipline and their partnership has raised the bar for the other team members.
Having said the above, I believe everything good has its time and purpose. The purpose of RizBab partnership was to win a World Cup and they had a go at 2 World Cups and an Asia Cup where unfortunately they fell short. Therefore, it’s time for a change for the next tournament. Although they have been supreme and I'm happy for them but its time another combination is given a go in their place now.
PakPassion.net: What brings you to PakPassion and the reason behind your name?
Extra_Cover: As an avid cricket fan and especially a Pakistan cricket fan this was natural that I was going to find my way to this forum. In fact, I remember quite vividly that in 2004/2005 I was browsing the internet and trying to find HD videos of Pakistan matches and highlights. There happened to be a poster on PakPassion who used to record and upload HD cricket videos that eventually led me onto this forum, and I became a member on here in. Since then, this has been the first website I load when I start my day.
As far as my username is concerned Extra_Cover, this is purely the go to shot for me. Growing up playing cricket in gullies we are naturally playing in the V hence this was the shot that I got most comfortable playing.
PakPassion.net: Where did you play your cricket and at what level?
Extra_Cover: Ironically, I haven't played much cricket. I used to play at school level and post school I never had the chance to play much cricket. In recent past when I moved to UK for work purposes the first thing, I did is register myself with a cricket club and since have been playing in Saturday leagues in UK.
PakPassion.net: Why has Haider Ali regressed in your view having shown so much initial promise on debut?
Extra_Cover: I personally don't believe that Haider Ali has regressed. In my opinion the early success that Haider got was not the best thing that happened to him. Haider is unfortunately a result of fan hype brigade and media pressure. There was not enough justification to have Haider in the line-up after just few PSL glimpses and a good U-19 tournament. In my opinion Haider should have player 2-3 First-class domestic seasons. The domestic games would not have improved his technique but would definitely have improved his mental ability in the game, this is precisely what is lacking at the moment as the guy has zero iota of match awareness in him. I still feel with 2-3 seasons of grind in domestics and if he can overcome his mental block then we would have a batter at hand from whom we can muster 8+ years of good cricket.
PakPassion.net: How do you rate Pakistan’s chances in the 2023 World Cup?
Extra_Cover: This may be difficult for most posters to digest on here, but I honestly don't rate Pakistan's chances very highly for 2023 World Cup. The simple reason is that we are lacking a genuinely world-class spinner that would help us lift the trophy. Further to this we also still lack a very good number 5 batter in ODIs (someone in the Inzi zone) that can hold his nerve and win us matches in those big chases (we are likely to have 300+ chases in most games). Given we don't have number 5 slot and genuine spinner locked in with less than a year to the World Cup I see us falling short at the semi-final phase.
As fare as our journey is concerned, I expect Babar to dominate this World Cup. ODIs is his territory, and he is a different beast altogether in this format. Similarly, Shaheen Shah Afridi would lead fast bowlers who together with Shaheen would carry most of our bowling throughout the tournament. With everything I still expect a semi-final finish. I hope I'm wrong and we go all the way.
PakPassion.net: Fondest and most painful memories of Pakistan cricket?
Extra_Cover: Ironically my fondest and most painful memory relates to the same summer of 2010 that changed Pakistan's cricket for a long time. My fondest memory obviously related to a young Pakistan team led by a young captain in Salman Butt (who I used to like a lot before controversy) defeating Australia and England in SENA conditions. This was unheard that Pakistan can defeat Australia outside of UAE and they did that with a young team at helm. This Pakistan team had a bright great future ahead of itself. Then came through the spot-fixing scandal (most painful memory as a fan). The entire dream came crashing down in reality with this scandal. The days were dark, and we had some of our finest talents getting banned altogether from cricket. Undoubtedly this was the most painful memory ever as a fan. I can't thank Misbah-ul-Haq enough who helped reviving Pakistan cricket.
PakPassion.net: A cricketer whose debut you are awaiting the most from Pakistan?
Extra_Cover: I'm not the one who jumps on hype brigade as I don't like hyping players. Having said that the player I'm looking forward to seeing is Kamran Ghulam. I personally believe he is in the same mental zone as Younis Khan and is mentally strong player. We don't have many mentally strong players in Pakistan Test team so he would be an ideal fit in there. He may not have the best technique going around but he has the mental ability so fight it out.
Apart from Kamran Ghulam we have other youngsters like Mohammad Hurraira, Haseebullah Khan and Israrullah that might have a Test career in them as well.
PakPassion.net: What gets you boiled up as a Pakistan fan?
- a) batting collapse
- b) dropped catches
- c) Bizarre selections
Extra_Cover: From this list clearly the one that gets me most irked up is dropped catches. This is simply because catches are a basic part of the game, and it irks me when we are not doing the basic things right. This shows callous attitude to the game, and we should be respecting the game. Given we don't respect the basics of the game and drop simple catches the game comes back to bite us and there are more than enough examples where we have snatched defeat from a famous win simply because we couldn't get our basics right. Remember Kamran Akmal in Sydney?
Batting collapses don't irk me much this is because most of the times the collapses are triggered by good bowling rather than brainless batting. For a fact Pakistan bowlers have been responsible for many batting collapses however in these cases we appreciate the bowling rather than criticizing the batting. The same should be applied when good bowling triggers a batting collapse and should be appreciated.
As far as bizarre selections are concerned it does irk me, but I do believe that everyone has their own reasoning for selections and have a rationale for certain selections. Eventually when the game starts regardless of the selections, we are supporting Pakistan, and this is not in the back of the head anymore.
PakPassion.net: Would it benefit Pakistan cricket to have a professional foreign coach like Andy Flower?
Extra_Cover: Definitely yes. This is where Pakistan cricket is currently lagging behind. We have absolutely no brains in our think tank and I'm not expecting much from Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Yousuf in driving strategies to win us games. The role of coaches in international cricket is driven more by strategies now rather than technical assistance in game play. Hence technical coaches should stick to U-19 or A team tours whilst strategist should take over international coaching roles.
We need multiple plans which is lacking in from what I can see in recent couple of T20 World Cup's. Babar has used the same plan in each game which is not the way forward. For example, as per Babar each fast bowler would get 2 overs in the first 6 and this didn't change in any match regardless of match conditions or requirements. Similarly, Babar lacked the proactiveness in setting the correct field to respective batsmen. With a strategist like Andy Flower, we can overcome situations like these which will only make our team stronger. I don't have a special requirement for Andy Flower, anyone of that mindset would be fine in here.
PakPassion.net: Should Babar continue as Pakistan’s T20I skipper and your reasons why or why not?
Extra_Cover: Definitely yes. After a long-time we have a team which is free of back-stabbing, internal politics and groupism. This is all down to captain. Babar is the player that is accepted as a captain by everyone in the team which helps in gelling the team together and help them perform as a team. The moment Babar steps down or is shown the door then the politics will start again and soon we will have groups favoring one over the other. We have been struggling internally with politics and now we are free of it so let's extend Babar's tenure and, in this time, it’s up to PCB to drill professionalism in the players to ensure that such internal politics do not happen again once Babar is gone too.
PakPassion.net: Your thoughts on Mohammad Wasim as Chief Selector?
Extra_Cover: Neutral. I don't think he is super bad and neither I think he has set the world on fire. Please note that this is more of a Babar's team rather than that of Mohammad Wasim. In terms of selections What I would say, though, is that Babar should be held more accountable than Wasim in most instances.
PakPassion.net: The finest Pakistan bowling /batting /all-round performance that you have seen?
Extra_Cover: Immediately Abdul Razzaq's innings against South Africa in Abu Dhabi comes to mind. Apart from Razzaq's sensational innings there have been many glimpses of Pakistan's brilliance over the yeasr be it Inzamam-ul-Haq against Bangladesh in Tests or Shoaib Akhtar against New Zealand in New Zealand or even Fakhar Azam against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Even Mohammad Asif clean bowling the world’s best batters in their home conditions all over the world is a brilliant memory too. The good thing about Pakistan cricket is that the brilliant moments never end, always expect the unexpected which includes brilliance too!
PakPassion.net: Has the T20 format ruined cricket as we know it?
Extra_Cover: Definitely not. If anything T20 has potentially helped in the expansion of the sport. I wish that one day I see T20 part of Olympics as well which would help the sport expand immensely. People do say that T20 ruined the purest form of cricket but that still exists in red-ball cricket. In my opinion T20 has helped getting cricket on the global map of sports.
PakPassion.net: When will Pakistan middle order have proper batters instead of bits and pieces players?
Extra_Cover: I don't know when this drought would end. The domestics are not throwing any such names that you can say will end this drought either. So, all we can do is hope.
PakPassion.net: Verdict on the Rizwan-Babar partnership - Good or bad for Pakistan cricket?
Extra_Cover: Definitely good. There is no doubt in my mind that RizBab have bought so many good things to Pakistan cricket. To top it all they bought the concept of consistency to the forefront which raises bar for rest of the players as well. They also bought discipline and their partnership has raised the bar for the other team members.
Having said the above, I believe everything good has its time and purpose. The purpose of RizBab partnership was to win a World Cup and they had a go at 2 World Cups and an Asia Cup where unfortunately they fell short. Therefore, it’s time for a change for the next tournament. Although they have been supreme and I'm happy for them but its time another combination is given a go in their place now.
