Friday, April 06, 2007

What to do now?

OK, enough has been said about this already by plenty of people. It seems vogue to criticize after defeat, but here's my two cents.
We've said and re-said that Pakistan's cricket team is unpredictable for plenty of years. We know why! We know that the batsmen cant stand fast wickets where the ball bounces and seams. Yet nothing has been done about it. And if Aqib Javed was right in one of his TV reviews lately, then use of Gray's ball, which allegedly doesnt wear out, in the domestic cricket scene is spoiling even our strenght, the fast bowling.
OK, we went in with a weak bowling attack into the world cup, missing our top two pacemen. But did Ireland have a better bowling attack? Yikes, that hurt!
Inzee bhai, media everywhere does the same thing. They criticize when you play bad. That's the truth, and they say it. I mean, come on, except for Shoaib Malik, who delivered consistently? That's been the scene for quite some time. Sure, no one pointed it out earlier on, but that doesnt mean they are wrong now. They were wrong before, but you saw it, others saw it, and didnt react. I think they shouldnt have dropped kamran butt from the side like they did a long time ago. I think he had plenty of promise.
I mean, come on, my eldest brother played club cricket for a few months in Karachi, and I knew that his coach punished people if the ball didnt go all along the ground when they were batting. I saw that his foot landed next to his bat where the ball pitched without exception. If they teach that in club cricket, then beats me as to where the national team players learn their bit.
I think, now, that they should do away with anyone who doesnt have the potential to make it to the next world cup, and start with a fresh team. Start building now, and not only the team, but wickets. The cricket board gets plenty of funding from sponsors, where does it go?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the appointment of Shoaib Malik as captain will breath fresh air into our team. The world cup this time has truly been a unique experience. The control of the media on the game should be kept in check or else the game will soon be devoid of its spirit.

Muhammad Saqib Ilyas said...

Great to see your comments on my blog. Yea, I hope that Malik's appointment would help. I agree with your point about media control.
Look at the advertisements they had made for Pakistani TV channels for various brands, featuring our cricket "stars" and they had to change them after three bad days of cricket.