Pakistan Cricket - Return of the Bad men
There have been many comeback players whom we have been proud of but they had to practice hard, develop new techniques and train harder to make that happen. Sadly, in Pakistan a player can make a comeback by doing nothing from the above 3 and gain an entry back into the side on the basis of doing nothing!
One of the players likely to make it to the squad for the Asia Cup is Shoaib Malik who did nothing except marrying tennis star Sania Mirza from neighbouring India while the other Shoaib Akhtar was busy giving expert analysis on TV during the T20 World Cup.
If the very useless and highly troublesome Shoaib Malik who at one time was Pakistan’s captain in all three formats of the game manages to make it to the squad, Pakistan cricket will be back to where it was during the tour Down Under where they drew the Test series against New Zealand before they were thrashed by the Australians in each and every match.
Ian Smith, the former New Zealand wicket keeper, while commentating during the New Zealand Pakistan series last year said something very true about the former Pakistan captain, after he had dropped a simple catch in the slips. His exact words were “Shoaib Malik seems to be on another planet right now. He is the perfect example of “Can’t bowl, Can’t bat and Can’t field.” Anyone who knows Shoaib Malik knows he is an excellent fielder and only something on his mind can make him NOT hold on to a catch.
That something was revealed in the leaked in-camera sessions of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s inquiry committee set to find the causes of the Debacle Down Under. Coach Intikhab Alam, assistant coach Aaqib Javed and a number of cricketers including the current captain Shahid Afridi blamed Shoaib Malik for leading a ‘mutiny’ sort of rebellion where he publicly declared that he will not bat at number 3 or 4 position, as if it was his dad’s cricket team and he was the blue eyed boy!
Similarly, Shoaib Akhtar is all set to make yet another return to the national side for the Asia Cup to be played in Sri Lankan in middle of June. He has not played for Pakistan in over a year and last donned the whites in 2007 on the tour of India. After that dreadful tour, his name was removed from the Central Contract, he was fined 7 million rupees for speaking against the board, Akhtar then went for a cosmetic surgery without getting consent from the board while still under contract and gave expert analysis while Pakistan’s team was busy on national duty.
His career may have been dogged by injury and disciplinary problems, but the Rawalpindi Express didn't lose heart and made a spirited comeback to the domestic circuit last season, bowling a few impressive spells during the Pentangular Cup One-Day tournament in Karachi.
The current Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi believes that a fit-again Shoaib can be a potent weapon in Pakistan's bowling arsenal for One-Day Internationals and T20 matches. However does it mean that the Express pacer, who demolished South Africa in a match where he bowled just 5 overs will never don the whites?
With no Umar Gul to lead the bowling and Misbah ul Haq out of favour for his wretched form, both the Shoaibs might get a chance to revive their careers, something even they wouldn’t have believed had they been told so last month. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope we see better, fitter and more disciplined Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar play for their country!
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