Thank you, #Guldozer
It will be remiss of me if I did not mention Umar Gul, take a bow, champion! What a fantastic bowler, salute, doffing my metaphorical hat off – the last in the line of old school bowling work horses with world famous toe-crushers. Amazing commitment, modern king of Yorkers - a humble, genuine, warm and a decent guy. Ask Kiwis or look up how he was instrumental in Pakistan winning the T20 world cup. Thank you, #Guldozer. Does he deserve a farewell international game against Zimbabwe?, I say, yes.
Well done, PCB
T20 scup success - another feather in their cap, Wasim Khan and Ehsan Mani duo, are moving in the right direction under the guidance from the top and must be supported - however - it does not mean fans and supporters can’t be critical friends to improve the game and how it’s run.
Let us look at the positive, despite Covid-19 limitations, Pakistan’s national T20 cup 2020, overall, was a great success. Of course, there is a room for improvement in terms of quality of production, graphics, fielding, and to some extent commentary, to name a few areas.
The success was partly due to free and live telecast on YouTube and other outlets across the globe, as well as, regional teams bringing fans, support base and critics together while showcasing local talent. The fact that the national T20 cup consisted of only local players is a good thing without the franchise razzmatazz and distractions, for this kind of tournament.
Success
Cricket lovers and Pakistani fans – many for the first time - really got involved and watched the local talent at a domestic level for the first time and they loved what they saw – barring the quality of fielding and catching, particularly at early and middle stages of the tournament. It would not be the same if WAPDA was playing Sui Gas or UBL. Coupled with a live broadcast, good talent, a lot of Pakistani international, domestic and rising stars playing in the tournament
meant that the quality of cricket overall was fantastic and if improvements are continued to be made and selection pathways are fair, it bodes well for future of Pakistan cricket in white ball cricket.
Way forward
PCB needs to continue this trajectory, improve this particular product/offer/package further and make it a truly international standard package that can continue to be enjoyed by cricket lovers all over the globe. Some small practical things could be an introduction of DRS and other gadgets, speed guns, live fan (vetted) interaction screens at the ground, MVP, impact player, and a fantasy league etc. Also, the scoring worms and wickets on the graphic need ‘not’ be different shades of only green colour which is not easy on the eye as dark and light green combo – to avoid confusion use different colours and curb random wrong names and information of players when live. This is not meant as negative criticism but to improve the future set up of tournaments.
In future, it will be great to have a team from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and to prioritise players from that the region any team is supposed to represent. It will be far better to include one more team from Kashmir and G-B - if three teams representing Punjab and Islamabad (Central Punjab, South Punjab and Northern) must be accommodated which is a bit of an overkill.
So, overall, well done PCB and keep it up – only minor tweaks and attention required which I hope to see in the next edition.
Leadership contenders and the case of Sarfaraz Ahmed سرفراز احمد
Moving on to the impact of this tournament and selection for Zimbabwe and beyond, Rizwan, Shadab, Shan and Sarfaraz did well as leader/captains despite pressure and their own challenges. Babar and Imad, despite being brilliant players, somewhat disappointed as captains but it provided a good relatively risk-less free environment to experiment and learn. Rizwan and Shadab seem to be moving in the right direction while Imad needs to back himself more as bowler when he is the captain. Babar needs more experience and time as long as it does not affect his batting, he should be fine.
It is easy to get carried away and become emotive on certain players so let’s get this straight. Right now, Rizwan is the best wicket-keeper batsman Pakistan has and deserves the fruits of his hard work and professional attitude in overcoming his early shortcomings. However, it seems that powers that be at PCB feel that Sarfaraz’s career is over as far as the highest Pakistan cricket level is concerned which would be a shame.
Based on his improvement in the tournament after an initial struggle, coming out of a rut after being discarded from the first choice national team set-up - as well as - overcoming the psychological scars of being sacked as the national captain, it was a pretty good show from Saifi, but not overwhelming enough to force selectors and win over critics, especially when Rizwan did exceedingly well both as a player and as the captain of KPK.
Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that Sarfaraz is a fighter and has a phenomenal international captaincy record for Pakistan, 29 wins in 37 matches, for a win percentage of 78.37 – the highest among Pakistan captains to have led in 20 or matches at this level. He had a more modest record in Tests, with four wins and eight defeats in 13 matches. Under Sarfaraz’s leadership, Pakistan climbed to the No.1 position in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings, and went on to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in a remarkable fashion defeating the tournament hosts and favourites, England, and India, in the semi-final and final. Sarfaraz's another notable achievement during the early days of his career was winning the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006 where he led the Pakistani team and defeated India in the final.
Saifi still seems hungry and has a few years of good quality cricket left in him and given his experience, commitment and exposure, he must be managed and utilised carefully and sensitively.
Selection | No Karachi Player in Pakistan Squad since 1948
It is disheartening to see a few young and promising players who performed extremely well in national T-20 cup were left out for Zimbabwe series despite Hafeez calling for young blood to be given a chance against Zimbabwe while more experienced players rest - shame that Hafeez himself is in the squad and did not request rest, following his public statement, to allow this to happen. Strange! Perhaps, Professor is mastering politics at the twilight of his career?
Without being negatively influenced by regionalism and purely for the betterment of cricket across Pakistan, it is sad to see that since 1948 when the cricket started in Pakistan, it is the first time that no Karachi player is part of the national squad. Karachi is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan with a population of Karachi of about 31 million consisting of people of all races, colour, creed, religion and ethnicity from all over Pakistan and beyond. Indeed, there is only one player from Sindh, the entire province, Mohammad Hasnain who might not even get more than one token game, if he gets lucky. This applies to all players who are neglected from any region, including Southern Punjab, Balochistan and KPK but glaring when it comes to Sindh and Karachi particularly when the majority of the squad and eventual team
would be made up from central Punjab team and Islamabad United franchise of PSL
under Misbah!
Karachi contenders:
Danish Aziz: A 24-year old stylish left-hander, a calm head and heaps of talent with match-winning knocks under immense pressure, including famously chasing 19 off the last over in the national T20 cup 2020, T20 average of 42 with a strike rate of 138 and very decent left-arm spinner – Not good enough, what more can he do, PCB/Misbah?
Saud Shakeel: A 25-year old Sindh Vice-Captain of Sindh, List A average of 47 and a strike rate of 85 in non-T-20 format and a handy bowler – Overlooked for a while, a decent long-term prospect for Tests and with opportunities to blossom in ODIs. No place in the squad. Wy Misbah/PCB?
Azam Khan: A 22-year-old lad, once ridiculed for his weight (remember Inzi and Aloo episode), totally unfair cries of nepotism because of his father Moin Khan, benched in previous years, as a result, lost 30 kgs, played some amazing shots in his 88 against Northern in the T20 cup against some of the best bowlers in Pakistan, with an overall T20 strike rate of 149 – yes, he still needs to lose a bit more weight but there is no question about his commitment,
skills and power-hitting ability. A perfect modern day T20 batter who can change the course of the game on his day, a shorter version Sehwag with amazing hand eye coordination but even more range at such young age, – too risky to try against Zimbabwe? Inzamam has called for him to be given a chance but hey-ho it’s Mishab!
Mohammad Hassan Khan: Pakistan U-19 captain, a T20 strike rate of 140, List A strike rate of 93, a very good spinner with the first-class economy of 3.04 and List A economy of 5.97, T20 the economy of 7.6 with 3/41 as BBI – Not good enough to be given a chance?
Anwar Ali: U-19 world cup hero, an enigmatic allrounder consistently side-lined but with a T20 batting strike rate of 144, bowling economy of 6 in ODIs and 8 in T20. Already discarded?
Sohail Khan: Malakand born Pathan based in Karachi – a city that has more pathans than any other city outside the indigenous region, an experienced allrounder who took repeated 5-fers in England in 2016, and a 5-fer against India in Adelaide in Tests and ODI, respectively. In T20, batting strike rate of 128 and bowling economy of 7.9 with a strike rate of 17.9. Tons of experience, a load of fast bowling attitude and good stats - Not good enough?
Fawad Alam: If you need the statistics for this guy then you are in the wrong place. A fantastic fielder and a hard-working lad shrewdly managed with carefully timed one silly chance in
very challenging conditions in England after a decade of lay off when most big guns failed - after a lifetime of wait and ruining his career? Really?! Don't bother talking about the stance.
Must do better
PCB can and must do better. A selection must be fairer, equitable and on merit. It is cricket - opium that the nation enjoys together. Fans will demand merit and fairness but, above all, they want to say back strong-minded players who not only have talent and potential but are also fighters who give their best under pressure. In the day of social media and live streaming, neither players nor PCB can hide away anymore.
Until next time, take care and thank you for reading.
MAK
It will be remiss of me if I did not mention Umar Gul, take a bow, champion! What a fantastic bowler, salute, doffing my metaphorical hat off – the last in the line of old school bowling work horses with world famous toe-crushers. Amazing commitment, modern king of Yorkers - a humble, genuine, warm and a decent guy. Ask Kiwis or look up how he was instrumental in Pakistan winning the T20 world cup. Thank you, #Guldozer. Does he deserve a farewell international game against Zimbabwe?, I say, yes.
Well done, PCB
T20 scup success - another feather in their cap, Wasim Khan and Ehsan Mani duo, are moving in the right direction under the guidance from the top and must be supported - however - it does not mean fans and supporters can’t be critical friends to improve the game and how it’s run.
Let us look at the positive, despite Covid-19 limitations, Pakistan’s national T20 cup 2020, overall, was a great success. Of course, there is a room for improvement in terms of quality of production, graphics, fielding, and to some extent commentary, to name a few areas.
The success was partly due to free and live telecast on YouTube and other outlets across the globe, as well as, regional teams bringing fans, support base and critics together while showcasing local talent. The fact that the national T20 cup consisted of only local players is a good thing without the franchise razzmatazz and distractions, for this kind of tournament.
Success
Cricket lovers and Pakistani fans – many for the first time - really got involved and watched the local talent at a domestic level for the first time and they loved what they saw – barring the quality of fielding and catching, particularly at early and middle stages of the tournament. It would not be the same if WAPDA was playing Sui Gas or UBL. Coupled with a live broadcast, good talent, a lot of Pakistani international, domestic and rising stars playing in the tournament
meant that the quality of cricket overall was fantastic and if improvements are continued to be made and selection pathways are fair, it bodes well for future of Pakistan cricket in white ball cricket.
Way forward
PCB needs to continue this trajectory, improve this particular product/offer/package further and make it a truly international standard package that can continue to be enjoyed by cricket lovers all over the globe. Some small practical things could be an introduction of DRS and other gadgets, speed guns, live fan (vetted) interaction screens at the ground, MVP, impact player, and a fantasy league etc. Also, the scoring worms and wickets on the graphic need ‘not’ be different shades of only green colour which is not easy on the eye as dark and light green combo – to avoid confusion use different colours and curb random wrong names and information of players when live. This is not meant as negative criticism but to improve the future set up of tournaments.
In future, it will be great to have a team from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and to prioritise players from that the region any team is supposed to represent. It will be far better to include one more team from Kashmir and G-B - if three teams representing Punjab and Islamabad (Central Punjab, South Punjab and Northern) must be accommodated which is a bit of an overkill.
So, overall, well done PCB and keep it up – only minor tweaks and attention required which I hope to see in the next edition.
Leadership contenders and the case of Sarfaraz Ahmed سرفراز احمد
Moving on to the impact of this tournament and selection for Zimbabwe and beyond, Rizwan, Shadab, Shan and Sarfaraz did well as leader/captains despite pressure and their own challenges. Babar and Imad, despite being brilliant players, somewhat disappointed as captains but it provided a good relatively risk-less free environment to experiment and learn. Rizwan and Shadab seem to be moving in the right direction while Imad needs to back himself more as bowler when he is the captain. Babar needs more experience and time as long as it does not affect his batting, he should be fine.
It is easy to get carried away and become emotive on certain players so let’s get this straight. Right now, Rizwan is the best wicket-keeper batsman Pakistan has and deserves the fruits of his hard work and professional attitude in overcoming his early shortcomings. However, it seems that powers that be at PCB feel that Sarfaraz’s career is over as far as the highest Pakistan cricket level is concerned which would be a shame.
Based on his improvement in the tournament after an initial struggle, coming out of a rut after being discarded from the first choice national team set-up - as well as - overcoming the psychological scars of being sacked as the national captain, it was a pretty good show from Saifi, but not overwhelming enough to force selectors and win over critics, especially when Rizwan did exceedingly well both as a player and as the captain of KPK.
Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that Sarfaraz is a fighter and has a phenomenal international captaincy record for Pakistan, 29 wins in 37 matches, for a win percentage of 78.37 – the highest among Pakistan captains to have led in 20 or matches at this level. He had a more modest record in Tests, with four wins and eight defeats in 13 matches. Under Sarfaraz’s leadership, Pakistan climbed to the No.1 position in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings, and went on to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in a remarkable fashion defeating the tournament hosts and favourites, England, and India, in the semi-final and final. Sarfaraz's another notable achievement during the early days of his career was winning the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006 where he led the Pakistani team and defeated India in the final.
Saifi still seems hungry and has a few years of good quality cricket left in him and given his experience, commitment and exposure, he must be managed and utilised carefully and sensitively.
Selection | No Karachi Player in Pakistan Squad since 1948
It is disheartening to see a few young and promising players who performed extremely well in national T-20 cup were left out for Zimbabwe series despite Hafeez calling for young blood to be given a chance against Zimbabwe while more experienced players rest - shame that Hafeez himself is in the squad and did not request rest, following his public statement, to allow this to happen. Strange! Perhaps, Professor is mastering politics at the twilight of his career?
Without being negatively influenced by regionalism and purely for the betterment of cricket across Pakistan, it is sad to see that since 1948 when the cricket started in Pakistan, it is the first time that no Karachi player is part of the national squad. Karachi is the largest and most populous city in Pakistan with a population of Karachi of about 31 million consisting of people of all races, colour, creed, religion and ethnicity from all over Pakistan and beyond. Indeed, there is only one player from Sindh, the entire province, Mohammad Hasnain who might not even get more than one token game, if he gets lucky. This applies to all players who are neglected from any region, including Southern Punjab, Balochistan and KPK but glaring when it comes to Sindh and Karachi particularly when the majority of the squad and eventual team
would be made up from central Punjab team and Islamabad United franchise of PSL
under Misbah!
Karachi contenders:
Danish Aziz: A 24-year old stylish left-hander, a calm head and heaps of talent with match-winning knocks under immense pressure, including famously chasing 19 off the last over in the national T20 cup 2020, T20 average of 42 with a strike rate of 138 and very decent left-arm spinner – Not good enough, what more can he do, PCB/Misbah?
Saud Shakeel: A 25-year old Sindh Vice-Captain of Sindh, List A average of 47 and a strike rate of 85 in non-T-20 format and a handy bowler – Overlooked for a while, a decent long-term prospect for Tests and with opportunities to blossom in ODIs. No place in the squad. Wy Misbah/PCB?
Azam Khan: A 22-year-old lad, once ridiculed for his weight (remember Inzi and Aloo episode), totally unfair cries of nepotism because of his father Moin Khan, benched in previous years, as a result, lost 30 kgs, played some amazing shots in his 88 against Northern in the T20 cup against some of the best bowlers in Pakistan, with an overall T20 strike rate of 149 – yes, he still needs to lose a bit more weight but there is no question about his commitment,
skills and power-hitting ability. A perfect modern day T20 batter who can change the course of the game on his day, a shorter version Sehwag with amazing hand eye coordination but even more range at such young age, – too risky to try against Zimbabwe? Inzamam has called for him to be given a chance but hey-ho it’s Mishab!
Mohammad Hassan Khan: Pakistan U-19 captain, a T20 strike rate of 140, List A strike rate of 93, a very good spinner with the first-class economy of 3.04 and List A economy of 5.97, T20 the economy of 7.6 with 3/41 as BBI – Not good enough to be given a chance?
Anwar Ali: U-19 world cup hero, an enigmatic allrounder consistently side-lined but with a T20 batting strike rate of 144, bowling economy of 6 in ODIs and 8 in T20. Already discarded?
Sohail Khan: Malakand born Pathan based in Karachi – a city that has more pathans than any other city outside the indigenous region, an experienced allrounder who took repeated 5-fers in England in 2016, and a 5-fer against India in Adelaide in Tests and ODI, respectively. In T20, batting strike rate of 128 and bowling economy of 7.9 with a strike rate of 17.9. Tons of experience, a load of fast bowling attitude and good stats - Not good enough?
Fawad Alam: If you need the statistics for this guy then you are in the wrong place. A fantastic fielder and a hard-working lad shrewdly managed with carefully timed one silly chance in
very challenging conditions in England after a decade of lay off when most big guns failed - after a lifetime of wait and ruining his career? Really?! Don't bother talking about the stance.
Must do better
PCB can and must do better. A selection must be fairer, equitable and on merit. It is cricket - opium that the nation enjoys together. Fans will demand merit and fairness but, above all, they want to say back strong-minded players who not only have talent and potential but are also fighters who give their best under pressure. In the day of social media and live streaming, neither players nor PCB can hide away anymore.
Until next time, take care and thank you for reading.
MAK
