shariqnoor
First Class Captain
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2016
- Runs
- 4,612
- Post of the Week
- 5
It has been mentioned a lot of times here on the forum that this forum is read by past/current players, coaches and commentators. So I believe that we as cricketing fans should actually try to make a difference by posting valid and sensible solutions to the current malaise of Pakistan cricket rather than simply being emotional over our state of cricket, rant over a few matches and move on to another rant over another match. Doesn't benefit anyone. If we have this incredible platform to air our concerns than why not do it in a way that can trigger some change hopefully. Also it would be better if we could create just one thread and have all of our opinions/solutions concentrated here so that it becomes easier for someone to read the views of Pakpassion and who knows, somebody from the higher ups might implement one of our solutions.
So starting off, here's my overall take on how we need to change our cricketing woes.
1. Create a vision, good team selection automatically follows
Firstly, no individual or company has ever succeeded in life without a vision. Similarly our cricket needs a vision too which we are completely devoid off at the moment. We need to take the example of England who at the 2015 World Cup were even worse than us. However, after the World Cup there fortunes completely changed because they identified players who did not fit in with their vision of modern cricket. Therefore players like Ballance, Bell, Broad and Anderson were shown the door in ODI cricket. We need to do the same and realize that if we have to move forward in our ODI cricket and fit in with this modern cricketing vision, there are players you need to let go off. Have no sentimentality regarding this. We are stuck in this seniority culture that is ruining us. Our thought process is stuck in trying to win a few matches here and there against a big side or a series and we are happy with it. There needs to be a progression towards an underlying goal and the underlying goal cannot be to just win a series against Australia believing we are on an upwards trajectory. The underlying goal has to be Top 3 in world cricket.
2. Remove the fear of getting dropped
I might get roasted on this but I still feel Ahmed Shehzad is one of the guys who can become an integral part of our modern cricket. The fact that he consumes so many dot balls is simply because of his fear of getting dropped. He is playing for a score and he's letting that get in the way of the team's situation. Right now apart from Shoaib Malik, he's the only batsman in our top 6 who can get you a 50 in 20 balls. You can't say that about Azhar, Babar, Hafeez, Sarfraz. Heck you can't say that about your hitters at the end. Why Shehzad doesn't do it is because he's afraid of getting out and consequently getting dropped. Have we ever analyzed why Shehzad is terrific in PSL and ordinary in Pakistan colors. A major reason is that he doesn't fear of getting dropped in the Quetta team because he knows he's assured of his place even if he scores single digits score for 5 games. We need to give all of our batsmen this luxury that whatever you do, you're not getting dropped for the next 3-4 series. But play according to the team's requirement. The selection committee will come under massive pressure from the media but this is where you need steely emotions and resolve to ignore them.
3. Players need to be taught match awareness
I believe we are possibly one of the worst teams in cricket when it comes to match awareness. In simple layman terms we are stupid on the field. Our players don't understand the changing dynamics of the match as it goes on. If one of our batsman goes into an attacking mode, he will attack their best bowler too when all is required is to see out his 2-3 overs if he's been brought back to take a wicket. If the pitch is slow and slower balls is making hitting extremely difficult, you will see Wahab trying to bowl at 150 kph. This level of naivety needs to be done away with. I don't know if this has to do with lack of education generally or that our players haven't developed any critical thinking skills in their lives but something needs to change ASAP. You just need to listen to some of the interviews of Indian players and you can immediately see how they are assessing the game. Our players have learnt just two things "Coach/Captain gave me confidence" and "I just played my natural game". Every question is answered with these two underlying remarks. Cringeworthy.
4. Domestic pitches need to be revamped
Once you accept that ODI and T20 is simply a batsman's game now, you will start making pitches that are conducive to power hitting. There isn't one batsman in our domestic who can hit consistently without getting out. Also once we have flat batting wickets, we'll develop good fast bowlers too. I remember Wasim, Imran, Waqar all saying that domestic pitches during their time were so against the bowlers that in order for them to succeed they needed to become different and not become line and length trundling bowlers.
I have many other points to say but I think this a long post anyways so will follow up later. Please feel free to share solutions/opinions but please nothing like sack him or sack that person from the management. Sacking would be like treating cancer with aspirin. We have to weed out the cause.
So starting off, here's my overall take on how we need to change our cricketing woes.
1. Create a vision, good team selection automatically follows
Firstly, no individual or company has ever succeeded in life without a vision. Similarly our cricket needs a vision too which we are completely devoid off at the moment. We need to take the example of England who at the 2015 World Cup were even worse than us. However, after the World Cup there fortunes completely changed because they identified players who did not fit in with their vision of modern cricket. Therefore players like Ballance, Bell, Broad and Anderson were shown the door in ODI cricket. We need to do the same and realize that if we have to move forward in our ODI cricket and fit in with this modern cricketing vision, there are players you need to let go off. Have no sentimentality regarding this. We are stuck in this seniority culture that is ruining us. Our thought process is stuck in trying to win a few matches here and there against a big side or a series and we are happy with it. There needs to be a progression towards an underlying goal and the underlying goal cannot be to just win a series against Australia believing we are on an upwards trajectory. The underlying goal has to be Top 3 in world cricket.
2. Remove the fear of getting dropped
I might get roasted on this but I still feel Ahmed Shehzad is one of the guys who can become an integral part of our modern cricket. The fact that he consumes so many dot balls is simply because of his fear of getting dropped. He is playing for a score and he's letting that get in the way of the team's situation. Right now apart from Shoaib Malik, he's the only batsman in our top 6 who can get you a 50 in 20 balls. You can't say that about Azhar, Babar, Hafeez, Sarfraz. Heck you can't say that about your hitters at the end. Why Shehzad doesn't do it is because he's afraid of getting out and consequently getting dropped. Have we ever analyzed why Shehzad is terrific in PSL and ordinary in Pakistan colors. A major reason is that he doesn't fear of getting dropped in the Quetta team because he knows he's assured of his place even if he scores single digits score for 5 games. We need to give all of our batsmen this luxury that whatever you do, you're not getting dropped for the next 3-4 series. But play according to the team's requirement. The selection committee will come under massive pressure from the media but this is where you need steely emotions and resolve to ignore them.
3. Players need to be taught match awareness
I believe we are possibly one of the worst teams in cricket when it comes to match awareness. In simple layman terms we are stupid on the field. Our players don't understand the changing dynamics of the match as it goes on. If one of our batsman goes into an attacking mode, he will attack their best bowler too when all is required is to see out his 2-3 overs if he's been brought back to take a wicket. If the pitch is slow and slower balls is making hitting extremely difficult, you will see Wahab trying to bowl at 150 kph. This level of naivety needs to be done away with. I don't know if this has to do with lack of education generally or that our players haven't developed any critical thinking skills in their lives but something needs to change ASAP. You just need to listen to some of the interviews of Indian players and you can immediately see how they are assessing the game. Our players have learnt just two things "Coach/Captain gave me confidence" and "I just played my natural game". Every question is answered with these two underlying remarks. Cringeworthy.
4. Domestic pitches need to be revamped
Once you accept that ODI and T20 is simply a batsman's game now, you will start making pitches that are conducive to power hitting. There isn't one batsman in our domestic who can hit consistently without getting out. Also once we have flat batting wickets, we'll develop good fast bowlers too. I remember Wasim, Imran, Waqar all saying that domestic pitches during their time were so against the bowlers that in order for them to succeed they needed to become different and not become line and length trundling bowlers.
I have many other points to say but I think this a long post anyways so will follow up later. Please feel free to share solutions/opinions but please nothing like sack him or sack that person from the management. Sacking would be like treating cancer with aspirin. We have to weed out the cause.
