Imran Khan's article: Pak and Indian cricket crisis

[suraj]

This was supposed to be the preview of the India-Pakistan game at the World Cup! Unfortunately, I now have to write about the captaincy crisis in Pakistan and the moves by the Indian board to get Indian cricket back on track. As far as the captaincy crisis is concerned, I don't think we have heard the end of the Younis Khan saga. The Pakistan Cricket Board does not have too many options for the post of captaincy and chances are that they will try to convince Younis one more time. I feel that it was wrong for him to refuse the post especially for the reasons he has given. He claims that he was pained and upset by the backlash that followed Pakistan's exit from the World Cup. What did he expect? The team was in the weakest group - West Indies at this moment are not sure they will beat Bangladesh - and still failed to make the Super Eight. The Irish loss is particularly disappointing when we now see how the Leprechauns are being mowed down by every other team. The anguish of the fans was expected, and Younis as well as the rest of the team must take this reaction in their stride. He must not behave like those over-sensitive players who lap up the adulation and find the criticism unacceptable. I am only taking his word that this is the reason for his decision, and I only hope that the fear of losing has nothing to do with it As I say, I still think the PCB will ask Younis to reconsider his decision. They just do not have too many choices for the top job at the moment. Younis is the only person with experience as a vice-captain, and I don't think the board is considering the other Y, Mohammed Yousuf, too seriously at the moment. I am not aware of the characters involved, but there is a feeling that Yousuf is not the man for the job. Importantly, he is the batting mainstay of the team, and there is the danger that his batting form might get affected by added responsibility. Sadly, the problems of Pakistan cricket do not end here. There has been no team-building activity and with the departure of Inzamam, even the middle order looks shaky. The captain, coach and selectors must take the blame for the complete absence of openers and even youngsters, who are groomed and ready to fill the middle-order slots. Youngsters like Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed were kept out for reasons that were not entirely cricket-related. I hope these youngsters are re-inducted, and even groomed for leadership. Till that happens the board will have to prevail on Younis to take charge. There is no cricket scheduled in the immediate future, so there is no rush for appointing a captain just yet. Meanwhile, the Indian board has taken an extensive look at the reasons behind the Indian team?s failure, but I hope the diagnosis is commensurate to the examination. To blame Greg Chappell for India's exit was a bit over the top, especially since I could see where he was coming from. He wanted to build a team rather than a group of individuals and he wanted to create a culture of aggression. The Indian board must try to get fewer teams to play the Ranji Trophy rather than lessen the number of teams in the Elite Stage. The idea is to concentrate the best players in fewer teams, and unless that happens there is no point tinkering with the structure of the competition. The endorsement issue is the naughty boy syndrome, and the cricketers are being rapped on the knuckles for their poor performance. However, this move will neither improve nor worsen the way Indians play. The steps that need to be taken have to be cricket-related and not related to the non-cricket activities of the players. The World Cup continues to be the most insipid edition of the tournament till date. They have to make it shorter the next time, and this time around, the interest is only pertaining to who among South Africa and England make the semi-finals. The whole focus has already shifted to the semi-finals, and everybody is just waiting for the Super Eight games to end, which is not the way the game?s showpiece event should be viewed.