http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board’s flip flops on bans
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently banned two of the most vital players of the Pakistani cricket team. These two players were an integral part of the team making many records during their tenure. Younus Khan and Yousuf Youhana, now known as Muhammad Yousuf, have given pride to the country over their years of serving the Pakistani cricket team.
If one goes through their records, one would wonder why such a harsh course of action has been taken. Even the greatest players of all time have bad matches and series. Above all, why is such action being taken against senior players?
Without any doubt both veterans are the most mature, accomplished and experienced players in the team. With the World Cup around the corner, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s immature captaincy is not the best option for leading Pakistan in the most coveted One Day International tournament of the world.
Former Captain, Younis Khan, has played over 150 ODIs for Pakistan. He has also played in over 50 Test matches. Younis was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign in 2003. Apart from being an accomplished batsman, he is a skilled slip fielder and a very occasional leg-spin bowler. He has performed particularly well outside Pakistan, including on tours of Australia, India, England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Miandad-c66580 and just ahead of ex-sipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.
On the other hand, Mohammad Yousuf achieved the 10th highest ever figure in ICC's test batting rating. His rating of 933 gave him a personal best of 2nd place in the rankings behind Ricky Ponting and was the 3rd highest ranking of any current player as well as the highest for any batsmen from Asia. Classy Yousuf is the third Pakistani batsmen to surpass 6000 runs in test cricket, the others being Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. He has the 2nd highest Test Match centuries amongst Pakistani batsmen, currently on 24 and only 1 behind http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 2006, the veteran became the sixth Pakistani and 30th cricketer in test cricket to hit a century in each innings of a test match. He is the third highest run scorer in One-Day Internationals amongst Pakistani batsmen.
It’s amazing how PCB banned cricketers with such good credentials for an indefinite period. What is even more surprising is that both had their international careers restored just as quickly as the PCB backtracked on its decision.
Now they say both Khan and Yousuf are available for selection. The official change of stance came hours after it was announced that the two stalwarts would no longer be considered for selection after an inquiry into Pakistan was white-washed on their tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, which included 3 Tests, 5 one-days, and a solitary twenty-twenty match.
Alongside the two master blaster batsmen, stood Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naveed, and current captain Shahid Khan Afridi. When the cricketing year started off this season http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 and Yousuf were not even given their desired renewed contracts. The rest of the lot was given a six month probation period. But Rana Naveed and Shoaib Malik were banned from national cricket for a year.
The banning and subsequent backtracking speaks of PCB's fickle leadership. First they impose a life ban, and then backtrack, it is just childish. Perhaps a better course of action would be a life ban on the current members of the PCB from ever sitting on another board.
Tags: