Pakistan Cricket: Why can’t Pakistan’s bowlers be good fielders?
It is baffling, sometimes even comical to watch brilliant bowlers field. It is like an immediate transition from utter brilliance to downright misery. What adds to the irony is that they are placed in the third-man position in the field, where one is supposed to put their best fielders who can run all around the rope with immense speed and can also dive in a timely fashion.
Looking at the Pakistan cricket team, for instance, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzak, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Irfan - all bowlers who are poor fielders. Which begs the question: why does the side even have a fielding coach when he has not been of any apparent use so far? Seven of the current players of the Pakistan cricket team are extremely poor fielders to say the least: Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Irfan, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421, Umar Gul and last but definitely not the least Kamran Akmal.
Kamran Akmal had dropped four catches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the Sydney test, and three of those catches were of Michael Hussey, who subsequently made a hefty score of 134*. Even in the on-going England series Kamran Akmal dropped numerous catches and missed multiple stumping chances and potential run outs.
If seven of the eleven cricket players are bad fielders, there is very little that the captain can do. But what does not make sense is the captain’s continued desire to place these bowlers in such important fielding positions. Come to think of it, it is also unfair for the bowlers to have an exhausting spell and then head to field in such a position where constant running and diving is required. Considering that all the Pakistani bowlers are injury-prone, they should not be placed there as they can, and have suffered back injuries, groin injuries and other muscular injuries. Besides, one should put their best fielders in such positions so that any misfields are avoided.
How can one rationalize the poor fielding prevalent in the Pakistani cricket team - by the bowlers in particular? One rationale could be that the so-called ‘wicket-taking’ bowlers might think that they are far too superior to bend down or dive to catch the ball. Another reason could be that they might feel that that have done their job by taking wickets and now they can just relax on the field, therefore not focusing on fielding. Another way of looking at it could be that knowing the fragile fitness level of most of the bowlers which are prone to injuries, they may try to regain their strength on the field between their spells, and try to get some respite; to catch their breath. Therefore they put minimal effort into fielding.
After the spot-fixing scandal which resulted in the provisional ban of two of Pakistan’s best bowlers, and also decent fielders, the team selectors have taken the gamble of including Abdur Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar. Their mediocre bowling has not been the only highlight of their return – their atrocious fielding too has been cause for hilarity, anger and concern. To add fuel to the fire, their fielding positions have been perplexing once again, where they have been placed in such fielding positions which require considerable running.
On several occasions during the T20 matches against England and also the on-going ODIs, one could spot Razzaq inching towards the ball in a long chase and the ball inevitably going for the boundary. Similarly, on many instances, Shoaib Akhtar who was already panting after his first spell is running all around the rope to block the ball from reaching the boundary.
It is about time the team management, selectors and the captain of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s cricket team come to terms with the fact that these players have aged and they don’t have enough stamina to bowl and field on such crucial fielding positions.
One can only speculate as to why bowlers field that way and why the bowlers are placed in such positions. The decisions taken by the Pakistani captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, team selectors and management have always been convoluted, something that cricket fans have not been able to decipher since the cricket’s popularity exploded. One can only hope that they learn from their past mistakes and don’t forget to move forward.
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