Abdul
ODI Debutant
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
- Runs
- 9,212
PakPassion.net : With the imminent retirement of a couple of senior players from Pakistan side, how do you see Pakistan team in five years from now?
Haroon786 : Misbah and Younis Khan retiring within the next two years will have a significant effect on the Pakistan Test team, that is without question but I think the impact will be seen more in terms of Pakistan's batting in the sub-continent rather than in seamer friendly countries. Both Misbah and Younis Khan are nearing the end of their careers and even when they were at the zenith of their powers, they weren't the best players of pace - therefore, I feel that a replacement player coming in should be able to match the paltry contributions that the two senior players at their current age would muster in New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia. However, the effect will be more pronounced in sub-continent conditions because Younis Khan and Misbah are Pakistan's best players of spin along with Safaraz and they have the ability to regularly churn out hundreds in such conditions against all types of spin, something I don't think that our current domestic cricket equips batsmen with. In recent times, other than Yasir Shah, our best spinners have been found to have illegal actions and perhaps the variety of spin faced in domestic cricket has reduced and this maybe why our recent batsmen such as Shezhad, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq aren't as adept as Younis Khan and Misbah in playing spin, who have faced more classical spin actions too.
PakPassion.net : Your posts are immaculate and highly articulate. What are your academic qualifications and what are your aspirations for future?
Haroon786 : That is a kind compliment; I am in the first year of my Economics and Accounting degree, having sat A Levels and GCSEs previously, so my education is comparable to most posters on PP. I like reading books and I think that helps in being able to construct your ideas in a coherent and balanced manner. After graduation, I am hoping to qualify as an Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA) accountant and pursue a career in that profession.
One thing I would love to do is to one day start a charity because helping others brings a lot of satisfaction and I think one of the main purposes in life is to help people who cannot help themselves.
PakPassion.net : Have you ever visited Pakistan? Your favorite places in Pakistan and why?
Haroon786 : Yes, I have been to Pakistan four times and most recently twice this year. My family live in Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and most of my time in Pakistan has been spent there. My favourite place, of the ones that I have been to, is Islamabad because it has the perfect balance between scenery and urbanity and unlike other places it isn't necessarily attached to a certain ethnicity. I have also been to many places in AJK and although I haven't travelled extensively elsewhere in Pakistan, I have no doubt in saying that the beauty and scenery in AJK is second to none in Pakistan.
I would like to travel and see the whole country in the future and some places in particular I would like to see are Lahore, Karachi, the entirety of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan.
PakPassion.net : How have you remained supportive of Pakistan despite being born in a foreign country?
Haroon786 : The majority of the things that you do and follow, I feel are inherited by the environment you are in when whilst growing up and that applies to cricket as well. My father and cousins regularly watched cricket when I was little and they always supported Pakistan even when they were playing against England in England (where I am based) and naturally that rubbed off on me and I took an early interest in the Pakistan team and that interest has continued and been strengthened to this day.
Another thing I feel has helped in maintaining my support of Pakistan is the dour nature of the brand of cricket England play, that might be changing in ODIs, but in Tests England still play a grinding, attritional style which isn't particularly appealing to me in contrast to the mercurial, inconsistent style that Pakistan play.
PakPassion.net : What's your take on current Pakistani Test team, do you think they will fare well when they tour outside Asia next year?
Haroon786 : I don't think they will fare well outside Asia because to win Tests you need both batting and bowling to click and to win Tests regularly outside Asia you need 3 good pacers, a spinner who can take wickets on a day 5 pitch and batsmen who can bat against and dominate pace bowling. Even if Mohammad Amir were to come back and partner Wahab and Yasir in rolling over oppositions cheaply, do we really have the batsmen who can bat in conditions where the new ball moves in the air and the bounce of the pitch is nearer to their throat rather than their waist ? We don't - take the current Test team and play them in series outside the SC and they will get blanked each time.
However, that isn't to say that the team can't improve from their current ability in foreign conditions - going early to NZ, England and Australia and preparing on wickets similar to ones that they will encounter in the Test matches will enable them to acclimatise to the conditions and be able to cope better, both for the batsmen and the bowlers, as for example in the 2013 tour of SA, the Pakistani pacers struggled with the different conditions they bowled in, in comparison to the ones in the UAE.
Selecting the best players for the conditions may also help, someone like Ahmed Shezhad with his concrete feet will be a sitting duck outside the SC, so despite his average of over 40 in Test matches, the selectors would do well not to pick him.The likes of Haris Sohail and Babar Azam have been earmarked as special players for Pakistan and they should be drafted into the Test match squad as well as with the limited sample set that the duo have played, they seem comfortable against pace - a trait not displayed amongst most Pakistani batsmen.
All in all, Pakistan aren't likely to have much success against England, New Zealand and Australia away but to have a fighting chance, Amir needs to be selected alongside Wahab and Yasir and hopefully a third seamer from domestic cricket is unearthed, that could potentially be Mir Hamza, who has been touted as someone who should be in the Test squad and give the batsmen plenty of practice so that when they face Anderson and Broad in England, Boult and Southee in NZ and Starc and Hazlewood in Australia that the conditions won't be completely alien to them. This won't necessarily ensure that Pakistan will be successful abroad but even winning one or two Tests in each series will be seen as a huge triumph in an era where series being won by the home side has become the norm.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favorite cricketer in the Pakistan team at the moment?
Haroon786 : I'll select a bowler and a batsman; Yasir Shah is my favorite bowler not just because he has been the most successful bowler recently, but also because he manages to come up with magic deliveries that give Pakistan a wicket against the run of play when it seems like the batsmen are dominating, his uncanny ability of knocking over the opposition's best batsman and the fact that I am also a leg spinner, a similarity I share with Yasir.
My favourite batsman is Azhar Ali, which maybe an odd choice because he isn't the most successful batsman in the team and he certainly isn't the most aesthetically pleasing either, but he fulfills the toughest batting position alongside opening in cricket, batting at 3 and he does the job brilliantly well, often coming in early when inevitably a Pakistani opener is dismissed early and giving Pakistan a solid platform upon which the rest of the batting can accelerate from, in many ways, he is the foundation of Pakistan's test match batting. He also scores runs when they are really needed, for example his 92* against England in England to win Pakistan the Headingly Test match in his debut tour, the 442 ball hundred against the same opposition at Dubai in 2012 after Pakistan had been rolled over for 99 in the first innings and his 75 SR century against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 2014 after making a comeback to the side all rank as some of the best innings played by a Pakistani batsman in recent years.
PakPassion.net : Who do you think will be the key player for Pakistan in England next year?
Haroon786 : The England tour next year is going to be undoubtedly tough and that's mainly due to the type of pitches England are likely to prepare for the Pakistan Test series - green, seaming tracks which facilitate exaggerated lateral movement, although the hot weather in the summer may nullify the effect of the pitches later on in the matches. Currently, Pakistan do not have a bowler who can open the innings and take advantage of the new ball and bowler friendly conditions in getting 2-3 early wickets first up and therefore If he gets selected, Amir will be the key player for Pakistan in England. Amir can also strengthen the tail by coming in for the three no 11s that Pakistan has and in potentially low scoring matches, his runs could make the difference between a win and a loss for Pakistan. The inclusion of Amir in the England series may also inject a psychological boost to the team, as each player would be able to perform better in the knowledge that the best eleven players are on the field.
PakPassion.net : What do you think should be done to improve the technique of the batsmen?
Haroon786 : Before answering the question, I would like to cite the 3 Ts that Imran Khan said a batsman should have to excel in international cricket - Talent, Temperament and Technique. Technique is a very important attribute of a batsman, but if someone has a deficient or lacking technique that doesn't necessarily mean they can't succeed at the international level, if they have a strong work ethic and the requisite temperament then technical flaws can be overcome. A recent example is Younis Khan, who with a limited technique has become Pakistan's most successful Test batsman. However, having a good technique enables a batsman to stay consistent as well as being able to play well in a variety of conditions without having to tinker too much. A good technique is significantly advantageous but it doesn't entirely inhibit a batsmen if he doesn't have it either.
I would recommend 4 points specifically for improving the technique of young Pakistani batsmen, this is because batsmen already playing international cricket in their late 20s or early 30s are too late to make drastic changes to their technique as such changes require a long period of time for the batsman to become confident in and ready to use on the playing field. The points are : coaching at grass roots, the introduction of red and white ball cricket at an earlier age, regular overseas tours for A and junior national teams and varied playing conditions across the country.
Increasingly with the proliferation of T20 cricket across the world and even more so in Pakistan, it has engendered a slogging culture with youths in their early teens regularly competing in short 5 or 10 over tournaments which encourage this one dimensional style of play. An increase in technically qualified coaches at school and club cricket level with the pronounced emphasis of teaching proper cricket shots may help lower the amount of sloggers that make it onto the domestic and national scene.
The use of taped balls instead of cricket balls maybe a cost effective method of playing cricket at grass roots but it hasn't helped in producing batsmen who are competent at the international level consistently. The relatively lighter weight of taped tennis balls means that for the batsman to hit the ball to the boundary he must impart a greater amount of force on the ball and that encourages slogging, as a slog enables the batsman to hit with maximum power despite the likely probability of missing the ball. The introduction of heavier red and white balls means that instead of having to resort to slogging, the batsman can now time the ball to the boundary with proper shots. Also the use of cricket balls at an earlier age would help in building the defensive technique of batsmen as the extra movement that can be gained from the balls mean that batsmen are challenged more as opposed to them dominating with the use of a tape ball, which only moves around when it is torn. Another advantage of using cricket balls at grass roots is that it would allow an easier transition for young batsmen from amateur cricket to club and domestic cricket, this extra practice would enable the batsmen to further refine their natural instincts against a ball they will face in higher forms of cricket, so that when they do eventually reach the national team there is one less obstacle they have to succeed.
If you're only batting on similar type of pitches all the time in domestic cricket, then how will you develop a technique that can cope when you're playing in different conditions in another country ? You can't unless you have overseas tours frequently, therefore it is imperative to have a variety of playing conditions such as seaming and swinging, spinning, bouncing, low bounce and pitches that offer a little of everything across the country in domestic cricket as then batsmen will be able to face all types of conditions and then work on where technically they are weak and what they can expect to face when touring other countries. This may also significantly reduce the amount of domestic bullies who score mountain heaps of runs on one dimensional pitches and then when they're picked for international cricket they are exposed because of the severe deficiencies in their techniques by ensuring that those who are topping the runs and averages charts are scoring in varied conditions.
Finally, tours to countries with different playing conditions for A and junior teams are priceless because as aforementioned of the ability to face new conditions and to develop your technique to succeeding in those conditions. However, I think it can also help in expanding the stroke range of a player through overseas play, for example the pull shot is not a commonly used stroke in the SC as majority of the overs are bowled by spinners and when pacers do bowl the primary method to get wickets is through reverse swing. This trend is totally switched when players tour Australia, where pacers take the lion's share of overs and bouncers and short balls are used far more frequently than they are in the SC, thus the development of the pull in another country can strengthen the batter's technique in that stroke, so when a short ball is bowled, be it in the SC or in Australia, it is seen as an opportunity to score rather than a predetermined leave, which is something that is seen too often from the current Pakistani batsmen.
PakPassion.net : Do you believe that your name had any effect on your personality until now?
Haroon786 : No, I don't think it has; metaphysically, there are plenty of other things that influence your personality such as the environment in which you have been brought in, the type of people you are with, your lifestyle, whether you believe in a religion, what activities you enjoy doing, the type of music you listen to etc., all these have a lot more direct impact on your personality than your name, which has no relevance in this regard.
The two main things that have impacted my personality till now are personal events which happen out of the ordinary (something that I think everyone can agree has a profound impact) and improvements. Expanding on the latter, if you're someone who wants to improve as a human being you should always be looking for ways to improve, for example till early this year I felt that I had been lackadaisical in helping out at home, so I sought to rectify it by doing chores and focussing on other's needs before mine, this has resulted in me becoming more responsible and less self centred.
PakPassion.net : Who will win the India-Pakistan Test series in United Arab Emirates if it ever happens, according to you?
Haroon786 : From a fan's perspective, of course Pakistan would win! Pragmatically, the series would be far too close to call because the teams are evenly matched in the SC with both teams having a trump spinner each and some magnificent batsmen who are the world's best against spin, on paper it's far too close to call because there are far too many questions and far few answers at the moment such as will Ashwin be successful in the UAE, where the ball doesn't spin or bounce nearly as much as in India ? Will Pakistan again succumb to emotional and mental frailty against India, like they have done for much of the last decade ? What type of pitches would Pakistan ask for in such a series ? Would Yasir be able to break the batting stranglehold that India have had on leg spinners?
PakPassion.net : What are your takes on the current Pakistan one-day and Test teams at the moment?
Haroon786 : Currently, the ODI and Test teams are polar opposites and in many facets too. I won't delve too much into player by player comparisons since those are done on a daily basis on PP but take the example of Yasir Shah, he has been an absolute revelation in the Test arena almost single-handedly winning Pakistan Tests, in ODIs on the other hand, he has been nothing more than mediocre and this has been a common pattern for Pakistan with several players such as YK, Asad Shafiq and Ahmed Shezhad doing well in Tests but not being able to transfer their performances to ODIs. This false almost delusional hope that the Test players will eventually come good in ODIs has hurt Pakistan significantly because in the modern environment you need each batsman to be able to score quick runs as teams target over 300 runs as a par score in ODIs now, whereas Pakistan seem to be satisfied with anything over 250.
The most important difference between the two teams is the experience, the Test team has had the majority of its players playing together for over 5 years now, in contrast, the ODI team has been chopped and changed so often that there must have been 20-25 players used in the last 2-3 years. The stable team environment in Tests means that the players can be assured that they won't be dropped if they have 1 or 2 failures in a series and can therefore perform to their maximum potential. In ODIs, due to the consistent shuffling of the team, the team has not been able to flourish as players have not been able to establish themselves in the team. There has been a change in the last few series, the team has stayed broadly the same in selection and there has also been an improvement in results with 3 series out of the last 4 won - a commendable effort despite the weak teams played because earlier in the year Pakistan had lost an ODI to the WI and a series to Bangladesh.
Pakistan's strength has always been bowling, even right from the start with Fazal Mahmood right through to today with Yasir Shah in Tests and the dichotomy between the bowling strength of the two teams may also be a significant reason as to why Pakistan have had such conflicting results in the two formats. In Tests, Wahab Riaz and Yasir have taken the initiative and ensured that Pakistan take 20 wickets in almost every Test they play with support from the other two bowlers in the team, usually Zulfiqar Babar and Imran Khan. In ODIs, unfortunately there isn't anyone that has taken the lead and become the strike bowler, both Wahab and Yasir aren't as effective in ODIs as they are in Tests and no one else in the team or squad currently has the ability to consistently take wickets every game. Perhaps Amir can be a saviour in this regard, by lessening the burden in Tests on Yasir and Wahab and becoming the leader of the pack in ODIs, which may transform Pakistan's fortunes in that format too.
PakPassion.net : If it's a England v. Pakistan cricket match, which team will you support and why?
Haroon786 : Pakistan and that is because I prefer the roller coaster ride experience that you get as a fan with the extraordinary high and low ebbs with the Men In Green as opposed to the usually consistent English team and because I've been brought up in a family that supports Pakistan in cricket.
PakPassion.net : How did you find PakPassion?
Haroon786 : It was during the 2013 Champions Trophy, I was searching for news on the team that Pakistan would pick in its first group game and I came across a PakPassion link on the first page and the rest is history - I've stayed on the world's best cricket discussion website/forum since then, although as responsibilities and commitments increase, I'll eventually have to relinquish the privilege of posting on here.
Haroon786 : Misbah and Younis Khan retiring within the next two years will have a significant effect on the Pakistan Test team, that is without question but I think the impact will be seen more in terms of Pakistan's batting in the sub-continent rather than in seamer friendly countries. Both Misbah and Younis Khan are nearing the end of their careers and even when they were at the zenith of their powers, they weren't the best players of pace - therefore, I feel that a replacement player coming in should be able to match the paltry contributions that the two senior players at their current age would muster in New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia. However, the effect will be more pronounced in sub-continent conditions because Younis Khan and Misbah are Pakistan's best players of spin along with Safaraz and they have the ability to regularly churn out hundreds in such conditions against all types of spin, something I don't think that our current domestic cricket equips batsmen with. In recent times, other than Yasir Shah, our best spinners have been found to have illegal actions and perhaps the variety of spin faced in domestic cricket has reduced and this maybe why our recent batsmen such as Shezhad, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq aren't as adept as Younis Khan and Misbah in playing spin, who have faced more classical spin actions too.
PakPassion.net : Your posts are immaculate and highly articulate. What are your academic qualifications and what are your aspirations for future?
Haroon786 : That is a kind compliment; I am in the first year of my Economics and Accounting degree, having sat A Levels and GCSEs previously, so my education is comparable to most posters on PP. I like reading books and I think that helps in being able to construct your ideas in a coherent and balanced manner. After graduation, I am hoping to qualify as an Association of Chartered Accountants (ACA) accountant and pursue a career in that profession.
One thing I would love to do is to one day start a charity because helping others brings a lot of satisfaction and I think one of the main purposes in life is to help people who cannot help themselves.
PakPassion.net : Have you ever visited Pakistan? Your favorite places in Pakistan and why?
Haroon786 : Yes, I have been to Pakistan four times and most recently twice this year. My family live in Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and most of my time in Pakistan has been spent there. My favourite place, of the ones that I have been to, is Islamabad because it has the perfect balance between scenery and urbanity and unlike other places it isn't necessarily attached to a certain ethnicity. I have also been to many places in AJK and although I haven't travelled extensively elsewhere in Pakistan, I have no doubt in saying that the beauty and scenery in AJK is second to none in Pakistan.
I would like to travel and see the whole country in the future and some places in particular I would like to see are Lahore, Karachi, the entirety of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan.
PakPassion.net : How have you remained supportive of Pakistan despite being born in a foreign country?
Haroon786 : The majority of the things that you do and follow, I feel are inherited by the environment you are in when whilst growing up and that applies to cricket as well. My father and cousins regularly watched cricket when I was little and they always supported Pakistan even when they were playing against England in England (where I am based) and naturally that rubbed off on me and I took an early interest in the Pakistan team and that interest has continued and been strengthened to this day.
Another thing I feel has helped in maintaining my support of Pakistan is the dour nature of the brand of cricket England play, that might be changing in ODIs, but in Tests England still play a grinding, attritional style which isn't particularly appealing to me in contrast to the mercurial, inconsistent style that Pakistan play.
PakPassion.net : What's your take on current Pakistani Test team, do you think they will fare well when they tour outside Asia next year?
Haroon786 : I don't think they will fare well outside Asia because to win Tests you need both batting and bowling to click and to win Tests regularly outside Asia you need 3 good pacers, a spinner who can take wickets on a day 5 pitch and batsmen who can bat against and dominate pace bowling. Even if Mohammad Amir were to come back and partner Wahab and Yasir in rolling over oppositions cheaply, do we really have the batsmen who can bat in conditions where the new ball moves in the air and the bounce of the pitch is nearer to their throat rather than their waist ? We don't - take the current Test team and play them in series outside the SC and they will get blanked each time.
However, that isn't to say that the team can't improve from their current ability in foreign conditions - going early to NZ, England and Australia and preparing on wickets similar to ones that they will encounter in the Test matches will enable them to acclimatise to the conditions and be able to cope better, both for the batsmen and the bowlers, as for example in the 2013 tour of SA, the Pakistani pacers struggled with the different conditions they bowled in, in comparison to the ones in the UAE.
Selecting the best players for the conditions may also help, someone like Ahmed Shezhad with his concrete feet will be a sitting duck outside the SC, so despite his average of over 40 in Test matches, the selectors would do well not to pick him.The likes of Haris Sohail and Babar Azam have been earmarked as special players for Pakistan and they should be drafted into the Test match squad as well as with the limited sample set that the duo have played, they seem comfortable against pace - a trait not displayed amongst most Pakistani batsmen.
All in all, Pakistan aren't likely to have much success against England, New Zealand and Australia away but to have a fighting chance, Amir needs to be selected alongside Wahab and Yasir and hopefully a third seamer from domestic cricket is unearthed, that could potentially be Mir Hamza, who has been touted as someone who should be in the Test squad and give the batsmen plenty of practice so that when they face Anderson and Broad in England, Boult and Southee in NZ and Starc and Hazlewood in Australia that the conditions won't be completely alien to them. This won't necessarily ensure that Pakistan will be successful abroad but even winning one or two Tests in each series will be seen as a huge triumph in an era where series being won by the home side has become the norm.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favorite cricketer in the Pakistan team at the moment?
Haroon786 : I'll select a bowler and a batsman; Yasir Shah is my favorite bowler not just because he has been the most successful bowler recently, but also because he manages to come up with magic deliveries that give Pakistan a wicket against the run of play when it seems like the batsmen are dominating, his uncanny ability of knocking over the opposition's best batsman and the fact that I am also a leg spinner, a similarity I share with Yasir.
My favourite batsman is Azhar Ali, which maybe an odd choice because he isn't the most successful batsman in the team and he certainly isn't the most aesthetically pleasing either, but he fulfills the toughest batting position alongside opening in cricket, batting at 3 and he does the job brilliantly well, often coming in early when inevitably a Pakistani opener is dismissed early and giving Pakistan a solid platform upon which the rest of the batting can accelerate from, in many ways, he is the foundation of Pakistan's test match batting. He also scores runs when they are really needed, for example his 92* against England in England to win Pakistan the Headingly Test match in his debut tour, the 442 ball hundred against the same opposition at Dubai in 2012 after Pakistan had been rolled over for 99 in the first innings and his 75 SR century against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 2014 after making a comeback to the side all rank as some of the best innings played by a Pakistani batsman in recent years.
PakPassion.net : Who do you think will be the key player for Pakistan in England next year?
Haroon786 : The England tour next year is going to be undoubtedly tough and that's mainly due to the type of pitches England are likely to prepare for the Pakistan Test series - green, seaming tracks which facilitate exaggerated lateral movement, although the hot weather in the summer may nullify the effect of the pitches later on in the matches. Currently, Pakistan do not have a bowler who can open the innings and take advantage of the new ball and bowler friendly conditions in getting 2-3 early wickets first up and therefore If he gets selected, Amir will be the key player for Pakistan in England. Amir can also strengthen the tail by coming in for the three no 11s that Pakistan has and in potentially low scoring matches, his runs could make the difference between a win and a loss for Pakistan. The inclusion of Amir in the England series may also inject a psychological boost to the team, as each player would be able to perform better in the knowledge that the best eleven players are on the field.
PakPassion.net : What do you think should be done to improve the technique of the batsmen?
Haroon786 : Before answering the question, I would like to cite the 3 Ts that Imran Khan said a batsman should have to excel in international cricket - Talent, Temperament and Technique. Technique is a very important attribute of a batsman, but if someone has a deficient or lacking technique that doesn't necessarily mean they can't succeed at the international level, if they have a strong work ethic and the requisite temperament then technical flaws can be overcome. A recent example is Younis Khan, who with a limited technique has become Pakistan's most successful Test batsman. However, having a good technique enables a batsman to stay consistent as well as being able to play well in a variety of conditions without having to tinker too much. A good technique is significantly advantageous but it doesn't entirely inhibit a batsmen if he doesn't have it either.
I would recommend 4 points specifically for improving the technique of young Pakistani batsmen, this is because batsmen already playing international cricket in their late 20s or early 30s are too late to make drastic changes to their technique as such changes require a long period of time for the batsman to become confident in and ready to use on the playing field. The points are : coaching at grass roots, the introduction of red and white ball cricket at an earlier age, regular overseas tours for A and junior national teams and varied playing conditions across the country.
Increasingly with the proliferation of T20 cricket across the world and even more so in Pakistan, it has engendered a slogging culture with youths in their early teens regularly competing in short 5 or 10 over tournaments which encourage this one dimensional style of play. An increase in technically qualified coaches at school and club cricket level with the pronounced emphasis of teaching proper cricket shots may help lower the amount of sloggers that make it onto the domestic and national scene.
The use of taped balls instead of cricket balls maybe a cost effective method of playing cricket at grass roots but it hasn't helped in producing batsmen who are competent at the international level consistently. The relatively lighter weight of taped tennis balls means that for the batsman to hit the ball to the boundary he must impart a greater amount of force on the ball and that encourages slogging, as a slog enables the batsman to hit with maximum power despite the likely probability of missing the ball. The introduction of heavier red and white balls means that instead of having to resort to slogging, the batsman can now time the ball to the boundary with proper shots. Also the use of cricket balls at an earlier age would help in building the defensive technique of batsmen as the extra movement that can be gained from the balls mean that batsmen are challenged more as opposed to them dominating with the use of a tape ball, which only moves around when it is torn. Another advantage of using cricket balls at grass roots is that it would allow an easier transition for young batsmen from amateur cricket to club and domestic cricket, this extra practice would enable the batsmen to further refine their natural instincts against a ball they will face in higher forms of cricket, so that when they do eventually reach the national team there is one less obstacle they have to succeed.
If you're only batting on similar type of pitches all the time in domestic cricket, then how will you develop a technique that can cope when you're playing in different conditions in another country ? You can't unless you have overseas tours frequently, therefore it is imperative to have a variety of playing conditions such as seaming and swinging, spinning, bouncing, low bounce and pitches that offer a little of everything across the country in domestic cricket as then batsmen will be able to face all types of conditions and then work on where technically they are weak and what they can expect to face when touring other countries. This may also significantly reduce the amount of domestic bullies who score mountain heaps of runs on one dimensional pitches and then when they're picked for international cricket they are exposed because of the severe deficiencies in their techniques by ensuring that those who are topping the runs and averages charts are scoring in varied conditions.
Finally, tours to countries with different playing conditions for A and junior teams are priceless because as aforementioned of the ability to face new conditions and to develop your technique to succeeding in those conditions. However, I think it can also help in expanding the stroke range of a player through overseas play, for example the pull shot is not a commonly used stroke in the SC as majority of the overs are bowled by spinners and when pacers do bowl the primary method to get wickets is through reverse swing. This trend is totally switched when players tour Australia, where pacers take the lion's share of overs and bouncers and short balls are used far more frequently than they are in the SC, thus the development of the pull in another country can strengthen the batter's technique in that stroke, so when a short ball is bowled, be it in the SC or in Australia, it is seen as an opportunity to score rather than a predetermined leave, which is something that is seen too often from the current Pakistani batsmen.
PakPassion.net : Do you believe that your name had any effect on your personality until now?
Haroon786 : No, I don't think it has; metaphysically, there are plenty of other things that influence your personality such as the environment in which you have been brought in, the type of people you are with, your lifestyle, whether you believe in a religion, what activities you enjoy doing, the type of music you listen to etc., all these have a lot more direct impact on your personality than your name, which has no relevance in this regard.
The two main things that have impacted my personality till now are personal events which happen out of the ordinary (something that I think everyone can agree has a profound impact) and improvements. Expanding on the latter, if you're someone who wants to improve as a human being you should always be looking for ways to improve, for example till early this year I felt that I had been lackadaisical in helping out at home, so I sought to rectify it by doing chores and focussing on other's needs before mine, this has resulted in me becoming more responsible and less self centred.
PakPassion.net : Who will win the India-Pakistan Test series in United Arab Emirates if it ever happens, according to you?
Haroon786 : From a fan's perspective, of course Pakistan would win! Pragmatically, the series would be far too close to call because the teams are evenly matched in the SC with both teams having a trump spinner each and some magnificent batsmen who are the world's best against spin, on paper it's far too close to call because there are far too many questions and far few answers at the moment such as will Ashwin be successful in the UAE, where the ball doesn't spin or bounce nearly as much as in India ? Will Pakistan again succumb to emotional and mental frailty against India, like they have done for much of the last decade ? What type of pitches would Pakistan ask for in such a series ? Would Yasir be able to break the batting stranglehold that India have had on leg spinners?
PakPassion.net : What are your takes on the current Pakistan one-day and Test teams at the moment?
Haroon786 : Currently, the ODI and Test teams are polar opposites and in many facets too. I won't delve too much into player by player comparisons since those are done on a daily basis on PP but take the example of Yasir Shah, he has been an absolute revelation in the Test arena almost single-handedly winning Pakistan Tests, in ODIs on the other hand, he has been nothing more than mediocre and this has been a common pattern for Pakistan with several players such as YK, Asad Shafiq and Ahmed Shezhad doing well in Tests but not being able to transfer their performances to ODIs. This false almost delusional hope that the Test players will eventually come good in ODIs has hurt Pakistan significantly because in the modern environment you need each batsman to be able to score quick runs as teams target over 300 runs as a par score in ODIs now, whereas Pakistan seem to be satisfied with anything over 250.
The most important difference between the two teams is the experience, the Test team has had the majority of its players playing together for over 5 years now, in contrast, the ODI team has been chopped and changed so often that there must have been 20-25 players used in the last 2-3 years. The stable team environment in Tests means that the players can be assured that they won't be dropped if they have 1 or 2 failures in a series and can therefore perform to their maximum potential. In ODIs, due to the consistent shuffling of the team, the team has not been able to flourish as players have not been able to establish themselves in the team. There has been a change in the last few series, the team has stayed broadly the same in selection and there has also been an improvement in results with 3 series out of the last 4 won - a commendable effort despite the weak teams played because earlier in the year Pakistan had lost an ODI to the WI and a series to Bangladesh.
Pakistan's strength has always been bowling, even right from the start with Fazal Mahmood right through to today with Yasir Shah in Tests and the dichotomy between the bowling strength of the two teams may also be a significant reason as to why Pakistan have had such conflicting results in the two formats. In Tests, Wahab Riaz and Yasir have taken the initiative and ensured that Pakistan take 20 wickets in almost every Test they play with support from the other two bowlers in the team, usually Zulfiqar Babar and Imran Khan. In ODIs, unfortunately there isn't anyone that has taken the lead and become the strike bowler, both Wahab and Yasir aren't as effective in ODIs as they are in Tests and no one else in the team or squad currently has the ability to consistently take wickets every game. Perhaps Amir can be a saviour in this regard, by lessening the burden in Tests on Yasir and Wahab and becoming the leader of the pack in ODIs, which may transform Pakistan's fortunes in that format too.
PakPassion.net : If it's a England v. Pakistan cricket match, which team will you support and why?
Haroon786 : Pakistan and that is because I prefer the roller coaster ride experience that you get as a fan with the extraordinary high and low ebbs with the Men In Green as opposed to the usually consistent English team and because I've been brought up in a family that supports Pakistan in cricket.
PakPassion.net : How did you find PakPassion?
Haroon786 : It was during the 2013 Champions Trophy, I was searching for news on the team that Pakistan would pick in its first group game and I came across a PakPassion link on the first page and the rest is history - I've stayed on the world's best cricket discussion website/forum since then, although as responsibilities and commitments increase, I'll eventually have to relinquish the privilege of posting on here.
