Teamsiliconvalley - Sports Blog

Pakistani Cricket: Is it a ‘Yay’ or a ‘Nay’?

July 4th, 2008

Muhammed Ansari says: NAY!

''Pakistan and cricket go hand and hand, for the longest time cricket has been the nations first love but slowly and gradually people have started losing interest. One cannnot associate the same kind of passion and determination that was once associated with the fans of Pakistani cricket . Most of them aren't willing to go the extra mile to support there team anymore. The fact that a Pakistan India match did not fill up till the second innings speaks volumes.

Kids these days dont imitate Salman butt or Muhammed Yusuf they idealise Matt Hayden or Yuvraj, Gul has been around for a while now, still he has not managed to get a decent fan following, while on the other hand Shaun Tait and Ajanta Mendis managed to create quite a stir in a short period of time.

Although form and fitness is important but they are merely a means to success. What Pakistan really lacks is the right attitude. Shoaib Malik most of the time out on the field looks scared, he hardly ever takes any risks, he just waits for the opposition to make mistakes rather then committing them into one. Inzi was accused of being lazy and Malik is a scared cow. The attitude reflects in his batting and his reluctance to bowl. The innings against SriLanka is a proof of this, he took 70 odd balls to get to his 50, where Pakistan was chasing more then 300 runs and then threw his wicket away. The attitude reflects in the rest of the team, they seem very humble, we miss the passion and attitude that batsman like Aamir Sohail and Ijaz Ahmed use to display after thrashing the bowlers through the covers. The reason why the likes of Viv Richards, Hayden and Sehwag have been so successful is because bowlers are scares of them, a mean stare after a punching drive is as important as smashing a spinner out of the ground. You have to show the bowler that you are on top and sadly most off our batsmen aren't being dominant enough .

The exception is Younis Khan who displays and posses that kind of confidence and it shows. In both the recent victories against India, he has been the cornerstone and the batsman around him have adopted the attitude. Even in the game against Sri Lanka the team was in with a chance until he was on the crease. The onus of responsibility in the bowling department lies with Sohail tanvir, he displays a lot of of positive attitude but he is still learning he goes into a shell when the likes of Jayasuria and Sehwags manage to get on top of him.

Pakistani Crickets need to start believing in themselves, they need to learn to back there abilities. Afridi is going through a lean patch, someone needs to sit down with him and express confidence in him . Allow the batsman to play their natural game and ask the openers to adapt a more aggressive approach. The players need to shrug off the humbleness and look to scare the opposition, they need to start playing like tigers and stop acting like lazy cats.''

Me says: YAY!

Because it's sport, they are athletes albeit human athletes, and all us humans are entitled to our ups and downs, granted there've been a grand lot of downs, but hey they still have the 'pull' factor, tournaments come and go, but they're soldiering on as always. I felt they played really well in last years T20 Cup, they lost at the final by 4 runs, that's even tougher to swallow than a missed goal at a penalty shootout! Bob Woolmer's death too was a hard blow and that affects the team's morale. 

It often seems they're like a protagonist in a tale, who go through several layers of gloom before they have have their moment of glory and a happy-ever-after. Doesn't it?

Imran Khan's filmi hero bowling techniques and Wasim Akram's floppy hair, those iconic champions of the nineties have long before called it quits, but then Inzy and Yousuf are still here from that era playing a crucial role in the team, followed on by Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar. Now we have Sohail Tanvir, Misbah Ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, that new guy Ajmal, they still have the 'pull' factor of their predecessors. So what if they haven't made it to the final for this tournament? They will have their chunk of glory too, hopefully soon, because they have the skill and gravitas to do so.  Call me a blindly optimistic fool, but those are my views!

What say you?

Entry Filed under: Sports