PakPassion.net : Why do you believe Pakistani cricket will only fall down from here?
Mamoon : There are numerous reasons, but the most important factor which has stagnated our cricket is the fact that mentally, we are still living in the 80s and 90s. Throughout the course of our history, we have had great teams in patches only – depending largely on individual brilliance. Unfortunately, that individual brilliance is nowhere to be found today. Cricket has changed today, and it is becoming more and more methodical and tactical, but we haven’t moved on with the times, and are applying the same methods that worked for us in the past even though, we don’t have players anymore of that quality.
There is no doubt that there is very little talent left in Pakistan today and most of the young players are either not good enough or don’t have enough application, but the mismanagement hasn’t helped either. We have failed to utilize even the little talent that is left in the country and the highlight of this management has been the lack of future planning and throwing all eggs in one basket.
In the period of 2012-2014, in the buildup to the World Cup, our most important batsman, pacer, spinner and all-rounders had an average age of around 35, which is a glaring example of short-term thinking. Today, the spinner is suspended, the batsman/Captain is about to retire along with one of the two main all-rounders, while the other one is in the last phase of his career as well, and now we are in panic mode because the core of the team is disintegrating and we have no replacements.
Players make a promising start and then they fizzle out. Umar Akmal was the most exciting and talked about young batsman in the world in 2009, and today he barely makes it into the top ten, if at all. Not only do we overrate our players, but our players overrate themselves as well. The decline of a cricketer starts believing in his own hype, and thinks of himself twice the player he actually is. We keep hearing bullish statements in the press, but none of them seems to walk the talk. Other than Misbah, Shafiq and Azhar who are model professionals, I doubt if any Pakistani cricketer today is aware of the fact that he is not as good as he thinks he is. After Sarfraz smashed a few Test hundreds, a few people started considering him a better wicket-keeper batsman than Dhoni. Now if something like this ever reaches his ears, half of his career will be over at that point.
I could go on and on, but to keep it relatively brief, the aforementioned reasons are the three highlights of why there is little hope for the future and why most importantly, our cricket declined in the first place.
PakPassion.net : Who will be the stars of the Pakistan cricket team 10 years from now?
Mamoon : I think the core of the youngsters that has started to develop lately will be around for the next decade. The likes of Umar, Shehzad, Maqsood, Haris, Babar, Raza, Rizwan, Gohar, Amin, Aslam, Adil etc. perhaps even Amir, if he makes a successful comeback will play for Pakistan for a long time and they are the ones who are going to form the core of the team but the problem is that majority of these players will be ‘TTFs’ in the future, with people calling for their heads in a decade’s time and finding some other young ‘talents’ to hype, essentially repeating the cycle. Other than a few, I really don’t see any top class talent that will be good enough to compete with what other teams have to offer in his position, a problem that is quite prevalent in Pakistan*today. When Misbah, Shehzad, Irfan, Sarfraz and Afridi are your best batsman, opener, pacer, wicket-keeper and all-rounder respectively, it is quite obvious that you are scraping the bottom of the barrel for top quality cricketers.
As far as captaincy is concerned, at this point, I can see someone like Haris Captain Pakistan in all three formats within the next 5-6 years.
PakPassion.net : Considering your opinion that Ajmal won't be effective in LOIs anymore, ho do you think Pakistan should invest as a spinner in LOIs?
Mamoon : My pick would be Zafar Gohar. I think he is a genuinely good prospect and has the tools to be a very good, Limited Overs cricketer. He seems to be someone who has a good understanding of the needs of modern day cricket, and has developed his secondary skills like batting and fielding as well, to complement his bowling which is very rare for a Pakistan cricketer.
As far as Ajmal is concerned, we need to be less emotional and more pragmatic here. His best days are behind him and he looked past his sell-by date before he got suspended, especially in Test cricket. At the age of 37 with a new action, we need to let go of him. In any case, he hardly has 15-16 months of cricket left in him.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favorite cricketer?
Mamoon : A very hard question. There hasn’t been one cricketer who was the ultimate player for me at all levels. As far as Pakistani players are concerned, my favorite bowler is Waqar Younis and my favorite batsman is Mohammad Yousuf without question. I also loved watching Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar back in the day.
As far as non-Pakistani cricketers are concerned, I was a big fan of Dravid, Aravinda, Warne, Damien Martyn and Shane Bond. As far as current Pakistani and non-Pakistani players are concerned, there is no one in the Pakistani team that I truly admire at any level which sums up the state of our cricket, but I’d probably pick Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq. Current non-Pakistani players include Sangakkara, Mathews, Clarke, Smith, Bell, Anderson, Root, Williamson, Boult and Rahane. That would be my top ten, not necessarily in order.
PakPassion.net : Do you prefer watching Tests, ODI or T20 cricket and why?
Mamoon : ODI's definitely. It’s the ideal balance between Tests and ODIs and I find it a highly gripping format. Test cricket may be the premier format, but it can definitely get too tedious at times and Twenty20s are just too short. Very entertaining, but it is more of an appetizer before a full course.
The World Cup, easily the greatest spectacle in cricket and something I would take over the number one ranking in Tests any day, also has contributed greatly to my love for ODI cricket.
PakPassion.net : Have you ever done debating?
Mamoon : Yes I love to, and I am up for it any time. I am not really a talkative person and not into random chitchat much, but I love to engage in discussions with people and argue on a wide array of topics and exchange ideas, as long as it remains civilized. It is important that you possess the ability and the confidence to present your viewpoint and not hold back anything just because you fear a negative reaction. You have to say what you have to, and the way people react is their prerogative, and nothing to fear.
That is the main reason why I signed up for PakPassion and have racked up close to 50,000 posts in three years, and there is little reason why it shouldn’t continue for a few more years.
PakPassion.net : What's life in Peshawar like?
Mamoon : Life in Peshawar is fairly good, but I think it has held me back a little in terms of my interests. For example, there is very little scope for art and literature here, and pursuing either professionally is a lost cause. I see so many broke artists and writers around me and no one is there to put them on a pedestal and give them a platform and recognition so that they can launch their careers. I’m thankful that I don’t have any financial constraints and motives to paint and write, but there is no doubt that my paintings would have been better recognized in Lahore or Karachi. I’m currently writing a novel which I will complete by 2017 most likely, and having it published in the small city of Peshawar is going to be worthless, so I will have to reconsider my options. Certainly moving out of the city is not feasible at this point, due to family reasons.
Other than that, in spite of it being the prime target of terrorists, Peshawar has come a long way in the last decade or so, in terms of infrastructure, education, health facilities etc., and is on its way up in terms of development. A good city to live in, if you want all the important privileges, but also privacy and serenity, where its small size and relatively small population definitely helps. The residential areas here are top notch.
PakPassion.net : Have you played cricket? At what level and how good at that level? And what were you, batsman, bowler, all rounder, keeper etc?
Mamoon : I used to play club cricket here as a top order batsman in Peshawar as a young boy, and it was quite a pain for my family because other than my Grandfather who died in 2000, absolutely no one has any interest in this game. I was quite good for my age, was obsessed with having the perfect technique and enjoyed fielding more than anything. Never bowled though, I am certain I must have been dreadful at it.
However, unfortunately I had a severe car accident in 2004 that almost took my life. I almost broke my back and needed 3 surgeries on my right shoulder, which kept me out of any sort of physical activity for around 15 months, and I didn’t go back to cricket afterwards and took up golf, which is more of a family sport. Thankfully I have fully recovered physically, and there have been no long-term repercussions.
I come from a very academic family though, and the idea of playing any professional sport at any level was never an option, it was merely as an outlet to keep mentally and physically healthy, which I still strongly believe in today.
PakPassion.net : Which would be your favourite era of cricket and why? Like the 80s, 90s, 00s etc.
Mamoon : I didn’t experience the 80s and the early 90s, so I can’t comment. However, given the quality of players that we possessed, it must have been thrilling compared to what you have today. On the flip side, however, the lack of quality coverage and media was probably off-putting and distanced the players from the people unlike today, where they are a click away.
I really enjoyed cricket from 1998-2007, growing up with the players I admired, including Pakistani teams full of flamboyance and quality, but after the fruitful and entertaining Inzamam-Woolmer era ended, Pakistan cricket nosedived big time. There is nothing wrong the cricketing world in general, but to see a poor Pakistan team has obviously contributed to my distaste for cricket today.
PakPassion.net : Glass half full or half empty? Which is your approach to life ? Does it reflect in your analysis of cricket as well?
Mamoon : In my view, the glass is neither half full nor half empty; it holds the quantity of water that you see, and the way you see it is not going to change the reality, only your perception of it. Concepts like ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ thinking are very shallow, because at the end of the day, there are only facts, which will not change whether you take it ‘positively’ or ‘negatively’. I firmly believe in Murphy’s Law – Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
In any dimension, the probability of an unfavorable outcome will always be more likely, and hence, one should always be prepared for the worst so that they can gather the strength to deal with it. On the contrary, hoping that everything will be fine gives you a false sense of security and weakens you, which means you are no longer in a good position to deal with adversity. In any case, it is important to not linger on failures for long, or to not let go of something good, because they all come to an eventually and you have to move on.
PakPassion.net : What is your fondest cricketing memory?
Mamoon : In general, the Sharjah Cups of the late 90s, but in terms of specific memories, the Chennai Test in 1999 to this day remains my favorite cricketing memory, but nostalgia plays a big part admittedly. It has been 16 years and I was 8 years old only, but I still remember each and every moment and the big performances. Afridi’s greatest ever knocks, Saqlain’s brilliance and Tendulkar’s masterclass. That match had everything, and is arguably the greatest Test ever played between Pakistan and India. Other than that, the World T20 2009, Bangalore Test 2005, ODI series win in India in 2005, and the series vs England in that year remain my favorite memories. The ODI series win in Australia in 2002 deserves a mention as well.
PakPassion.net : Who is Pakistans brightest upcoming prospect in your view?
Mamoon : Babar Azam without question. I think he’s one batsman who can’t just be good by Pakistani standards but has genuine ability to compete with the best in the world. Of course, at this moment, it is all potential and we don’t have a great track-record either when it comes to developing young players, so time will tell how it pans out. Other than him, Zafar Gohar has interesting potential as well and Raza is a fine spinner too. Haris as well if he can be considered an upcoming prospect. Other than that, I don’t see much great talent and the mediocrity of Pakistan remain is likely to stay put.
PakPassion.net : Has your realist attitude ever gotten you into trouble in real life?
Mamoon : Many, many times. What I have learned in life so far that no one likes to hear the truth and honest opinions are worthless, unless they suit you. It is best to not tell people what they do not want to hear, but at the same time, if someone seeks your advice, you have to call it as you see it, otherwise there is no point. I often get into trouble though, especially in college with the Professors, but don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no discipline issues and have never been reprimanded for misconduct, merely differences of opinion which some people deem as arrogance, which is not the case at all. My friends and family are quite used to it now.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favourite fielder of all time?
Mamoon : As a big fan of fielding, I have always stressed on its importance and to see how it is ignored in Pakistan cricket especially at the junior level is very disappointing. My favorite fielder of all-time would Herschelle Gibbs. He had a certain aura about him in the field, and you could see that he was in complete control of proceedings. People remain in awe of Jonty Rhodes, who changed the art of fielding forever, but quite often he came across as a bit of a showboat and someone who thrived on theatrics, and making the easy look hard for the camera. Gibbs on the other hand, made the simple look simple, and the hard look hard yet easy in its own way. It is difficult to describe, but he was a superb and interestingly arrogant fielder, which was reflected in his batting as well.
PakPassion.net : Tell us about the best cricket match you ever attended?
Mamoon : I like to watch cricket alone so that I can focus on the game with no one to disturb me, but the 2006 ODI vs. India in Peshawar remains the best cricket match I’ve ever watched, and sadly the last to be played in Peshawar.
It was a privilege to watch Tendulkar at his best, notching up yet another hundred, and the young, flamboyant and brash Dhoni take the bowlers to the cleaners.
Pakistan was off to a flyer before Kamran was dismissed, but what followed was an ODI batting masterclass between Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik and we were cruising at one point, before India pulled things back with quick wickets.
That match is most famously remembered for Inzamam obstructing the field, which was quite hilarious in hindsight but very frustrating at that point. We held our never and won the game, but it was marred by the D/L method because such a fantastic game deserved a better closure. It was also our only win in what proved to be a sorry series.
