The Challenges ahead for Pakistan Cricket

[punjabi_khota]

Why is Akhtar playing for FATA and not Punjab ?

[ucilite]

Why is Akhtar playing for FATA and not Punjab ?

that's a million $ question my friend...to be honest i don't know ho they come up with this allocation..i don't know if you noticed or not, but misbah is captaining Baluchistan and he is certainly not from there..so i think they just shuffle players around so each team has some decent players....

[King Tendulkar]

I am sure even the Indians who are genuine fans of the game(not trolls like dsr) would want to see a half decent PAK team in JAN. .

If I am troll for stating it how it is then so be it.

[Rajiv]

Please look at this from the game point of view Its supposed to be a battle between bat and ball..but fk that, it all about Sponsor, Media, Politics, Ego and Revenue..Cricket, oh yeah its a lil part of it

[THX_1138]

Pakistan cricket is a goner' date=' it's heading Zimbabwe way.[b'] Not many want to play them and they can't afford to invite anyone either. Once a terrific team is now pretty much at the bottom both resource wise and ability wise. I suppose they will look forward to ICC or BCCI to bail them out but unless they host a long enough series against good cricketing nations they will not know where they are going to get their next cent from. On top of it they are wasting their money on coaches that aren't even being used enough. They could have used Lawson to work with upcoming players but as usual Pakistan seriously lacks good administrators and the ex-players aren't any more concerned with Pakistan cricket. Double blow that.

well not all doors are shut as yet... the asian countries are still open to a series or two hosted in pakistan. with zimbabwe its an ideological issue... speaking of which, do you expect a sanction by the ICC on pakistan from hosting any cricket till it is able to establish that a conducive environment for cricket exists in that nation? because india is not much better on the security aspect!

[THX_1138]

please don't turn the following comment in to an India vs Pakistan thing, i am only using it because PAK have played IND most in recent times. I find it quite amazing that despite all the problems PAK have still some how managed to beat IND on 3 out of the last 5 occasions including a trophy final. This leads to believe that the ODI team will continue to produce these "mercurial" performances but the test team on the other hand has totally frozen due to lack of cricket, 14 months with out a single test match is quite ridiculous.

a rather insipid comment that... its a convenient sampling... 5 games when one is chosen from a series where two games were played in less than 5 days... nonetheless, with the loss of the champion's trophy, india lost a chance to fix that number. nonetheless, a series in the near future would be well decided in the favor of india, a reasonable prediction you cannot refute yourself. nevertheless, the question here is not how many games pakistan has won recently, as those statistics are mere numbers when considering the bigger picture: will pakistan be hosting cricket any time soon, and if so, who will play for pakistan (or for that fact, who will their opposition be, outside asia that is)?

[MundaPakistani]

Sorry THX i forgot about this thread and now its kind of pointless to reply after the recent series result. so a 3 nil win with out any of the big players. This may NOT be such a good thing for PAK cricket because PCB and the captain will use this result to sweep everything under the carpet.

[MundaPakistani]

that's a million $ question my friend...to be honest i don't know ho they come up with this allocation..i don't know if you noticed or not' date=' but misbah is captaining Baluchistan and he is certainly not from there..so i think they just shuffle players around so each team has some decent players....[/quote'] its not FATA, its federal areas. The FA's team is normally made up of players from Rawalpindi(like Shoaib and Tanvir) and Islamabad. Misbah is playing for Baluchistan because currently the Baluchistan side is extremely weak and would lose every game by an innings with out players like Misbah and a few others from Punjab or Sindh. Its actually a very decent tournament(bit like the dileep trophy in IND) which started as recently as last year and i am sure a lot of quality players will come up through this. Its just a shame that the "real" domestic tournament(Q-E-Azam trophy) is almost a joke with 23 teams made up of some highly average players who get in mainly due to "sifarish".

[punjabi_khota]

its not FATA, its federal areas. The FA's team is normally made up of players from Rawalpindi(like Shoaib and Tanvir) and Islamabad. Misbah is playing for Baluchistan because currently the Baluchistan side is extremely weak and would lose every game by an innings with out players like Misbah and a few others from Punjab or Sindh. Its actually a very decent tournament(bit like the dileep trophy in IND) which started as recently as last year and i am sure a lot of quality players will come up through this. Its just a shame that the "real" domestic tournament(Q-E-Azam trophy) is almost a joke with 23 teams made up of some highly average players who get in mainly due to "sifarish".

I remember walking into a Pakistani-owned dhaba/restaurant in NYC one day and watching some Pak domestic cricket. There was quite a bit of lusty hitting going on, but couldn't for life of me recognize many players.

[THX_1138]

this is the second time in less than 6 months that pakistan's cricket woes have been obscured by seemingly insipid victories. while one cannot deny that west indies are a decent one day outfit with the likes of sarwan, chanderpaul and gayle amongst their ranks, they are far from a complete side. they lack a quality spinner, a stable opening partnership and outside gayle, sarwan and chanderpaul their side has little batting. yet, the presence of speedsters such as taylor give the impression that they are indeed a formidable side and beating them 3-0 is quite an achievement. unfortunately it is not. and just as the kitply cup final papered over the cracks that are now gaping gorges, it seems that pakistani cricket is going to suffer the wraith mediocre players and poor strategies. read my lips: neither of manzoor or butt are batsmen that might succeed against better bowling attacks in more challenging circumstances. and furthermore, as much as pakistan might want to prop him up, sohail tanvir or quite worthless. his performances in T20 and ODIs seems to suggest immense ability, all of which was exposed when he played tests in india. arguably, the only time pakistan managed to make good use of the pitch was day one of the third test, but then on that day, it was not tanvir who made the early inroads. and the less that is said about kamran akmal, the better. i woe for the future of pakistan cricket if they continue with this current batch. they have some seriously talented blokes: misbah and younis khan rank right up there in the top ten batsmen playing contemporary cricket in all formats; umar gul is a bowler who will match the exploits of previous fast bowling legends (if he has support from the other end); salman butt does have his moments when he is practically undismissable; and there are numerous other seriously talented blokes coming through the u19 ranks... though prudence is the call of the hour here. success in u19 does not, in fact, it is hardly a reliable predictor of success at the senior most level. just ask mohammed kaif and reetinder singh sodhi.

[Fontaine]

What a bunch of corrupt clowns these people are in the PCB. PCB might not move on Asif's Dubai case Cricinfo staff November 18, 2008 The Dubai authorities found Mohammad Asif in possession of opium © AFP Pakistan cricket's administrative turmoil may have let Mohammad Asif off the hook on at least one of inquiries he is facing over drugs-related charges. This despite the confirmation of an ex-board official that Asif was found in possession of opium at Dubai Airport in June this year. Asif was detained in the city for 19 days before eventually being sent back to Pakistan, after what were thought to be high-level negotiations between various parties in the two countries. But Shafqat Naghmi, who was the board's chief operating officer at the time before leaving last month, says Asif was deported and that the offense against him was proved in Dubai's courts. Naghmi headed a three-man board committee that looked into the case. The report made recommendations to financially penalise Asif and ban him for a number of matches. "The report was based on documentary evidence that we received from Dubai," Naghmi told Cricinfo. "According to their authorities, opium was found and he was deported. The deportation was on the basis of the crime or offense being proved. "But in view of the insignificance of the matter and also keeping in mind the high administrative costs of going further with the trial for punishment, authorities there decided to deport him instead." Naghmi said that his recommendation in the report was for a hefty financial fine and banning Asif from a significant number of matches. The catch - and possible saving of Asif - is that the report has not yet be signed off by the members, including Nadeem Akram and Zakir Khan. And it hasn't been sent to the chairman of the board either. Like Naghmi, Akram is no longer with the board, though Zakir remains director cricket operations. Naghmi said the report was due to be signed and sent off to Nasim Ashraf, the chairman at the time, but he resigned abruptly. "We didn't send it immediately to the chairman because he was out of the country. The draft of the report was prepared. When the chairman came back he resigned and finally when the new chairman took over (Ijaz Butt), he showed no real interest in the case," Naghmi said. "If they want the report I can send it to them." Senior board officials in the current set-up have made inquiries. "We haven't seen any copy of it and as far as we are concerned there is no written report," an official told Cricinfo. "We do have a Rs 5 million bill from Angel and Afridi, the legal firm that helped Asif in Dubai, left to us by the last board but where is the report?" Even if the report were to be received - after being signed by all three members - there are indications that the present set-up may not be too willing to press ahead and act on the recommendations. Asif is also facing an IPL inquiry after he tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone in tests there earlier this year. If found guilty, he is likely to face a ban, though the ambit of that ban is not clear yet. Strangely, however, the board is looking at the two separate offences as one, arguing that punishment for one will serve as punishment for the latter. The underlying implication seems to be that the Dubai inquiry may not be pursued. "It will become like double jeopardy in one sense," the official said. "He has a hearing in India on November 29 and if he gets banned there, will you punish him again here?" © Cricinfo PCB might not move on Asif's Dubai case The PCB may not pursue the drugs case on Mohammad Asif as it is yet to receive the reports from the previous regime

[MundaPakistani]

Some valid points there THX In each of the 3 games WI were in a winning position after 80 overs or so, this clearly shows that there are a lot of weaknesses in the Pakistani side. For starters the out cricket is horrible and there hasn't been much improvement in the last 60 years. If you continuously drop a players like Gayle and Shiv then they will almost certainly punish(both made tons), now imagine after these missed chances PAK had to deal with the likes of Dhoni or Yuvraj instead of Findlay and Nash? Openers are once again becoming a real problem because of Butt's poor form and Jamsheed's poor fitness. The other Manzoor seems a bit limited for a PAK batsman, he will not do much damage on flat tracks and will certainly struggle on seaming pitches.

[THX_1138]

Some valid points there THX In each of the 3 games WI were in a winning position after 80 overs or so, this clearly shows that there are a lot of weaknesses in the Pakistani side. For starters the out cricket is horrible and there hasn't been much improvement in the last 60 years. If you continuously drop a players like Gayle and Shiv then they will almost certainly punish(both made tons), now imagine after these missed chances PAK had to deal with the likes of Dhoni or Yuvraj instead of Findlay and Nash? Openers are once again becoming a real problem because of Butt's poor form and Jamsheed's poor fitness. The other Manzoor seems a bit limited for a PAK batsman, he will not do much damage on flat tracks and will certainly struggle on seaming pitches.

well lets be fair... credit where credit is due. pakistan thoroughly outclassed the indies... dont expect the match to be well out of contention from the very first ball... even the odd minnow puts up a fight. the thing is that the pakistani bowling is suffering a similar woe that plagued india: inability to dismiss certain batsmen. in this past series, it was gayle. apart from that, pakistan had a near perfect series. what is unfortunate is that the best man for the captaincy is not the captain and the best contender for the all rounder spot is playing as a pure batsman. lose afridi, bring in a genuine batsman, or better yet a genuinely good spin bowler... not kaneria. he is a fracking liability! and yeah, there needs to be some empahsis on fielding. i was watching the highlights of hte ICL final, and i dont know what he is like on most days, but Humayun's loss would be quite telling. he is exceptional in the field. akmal's odd 30 does not account for the numerous chances he drops or the runs he conceeds. MP does Pakistan have a specialist slip fielder(s)?

[MundaPakistani]

well lets be fair... credit where credit is due. pakistan thoroughly outclassed the indies... dont expect the match to be well out of contention from the very first ball... even the odd minnow puts up a fight. the thing is that the pakistani bowling is suffering a similar woe that plagued india: inability to dismiss certain batsmen. in this past series' date=' it was gayle. apart from that, pakistan had a near perfect series. what is unfortunate is that the best man for the captaincy is not the captain and the best contender for the all rounder spot is playing as a pure batsman. l[b']ose afridi, bring in a genuine batsman, or better yet a genuinely good spin bowler... not kaneria. he is a fracking liability! and yeah, there needs to be some empahsis on fielding. i was watching the highlights of hte ICL final, and i dont know what he is like on most days, but Humayun's loss would be quite telling. he is exceptional in the field. akmal's odd 30 does not account for the numerous chances he drops or the runs he conceeds. MP does Pakistan have a specialist slip fielder(s)?

Ajmal seems like a fairly decent ODI spinner to me even a red hot Chris Gayle was not able to hit him around. Humayun is an average player who just had a great game, i would much rather have Akmal in the side.Kami drops a lot of sitters but those runs at crucial junctures can't be ignored. May be its time for him to play as a specialist batsman. The slip fielding with Misbah and Younis is not that bad.