Pakistan team in murky waters
After the team’s disgraceful performance against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saqlain-Mushtaq-c88743, Saeed Anwar, and Inzamam all playing in the same eleven. This team gave stiff resistance to the best in the arena of cricket.
Looking at the pathetic state of affairs the Pakistani cricket is in today, cricket fans can only lament and look back in retrospect at the wonderful days of the past that are long gone. The PCB failed miserably at handling the cricket team that has serious disciplinary issues and internal politics. Senior players are often found involved in dividing the team into different camps. According to insiders, there is absolutely no cohesion in the team and the recent batting performances by senior players are cringe worthy to say the least.
The response of the PCB to the recent debacle against England is unsatisfactory to be polite. Apparently, the only thing that the Ijaz Butt-led PCB can think of is to find Pakistan a batting coach. Why would the Pakistan team need a batting coach in the presence of an experienced player like Ejaz Ahmed who is the fielding coach for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 side and can most certainly assist the side with some batting tips. The irony of it is the fact that Ejaz was never renowned for his fielding in the first place. He was a specialist middle order batsman.
Comparatively, the bowling department is relatively better than the batting department, with the bowlers giving spectacular batting performances. Recently, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal showed the batting line how the bat had to be used against an English attack. What the PCB needs to do, is to recall all their bowlers and make them bat since the batsmen seem completely inept to play decent cricketing shots, let alone stay on the crease to assist the bowlers as night watchmen.
The fielding performance of Pakistan in the last two tests was appalling to say the least. It was as if it was awfully hard for them spot a red ball. The PCB needs to contact the ICC to let the cricket team play with luminous orange balls, since the red ball is too hard to spot by Pakistani fielders. Salman Butt admits to his side missing a horrendous collection of 14 catches in the second test.
“Cultural change in one series is virtually impossible,” he said. “First the change has to come from the individual. We all need to put in more effort. England have improved very much in their fielding over the last few years and it is something that we can learn from,” he lamented.
Even Pakistan’s blind cricket team plays better cricket than the national side. They won the blind cricket World Cup on a number of occasions along with setting up numerous world records. As a result of their poor performances, the Pakistani team has turned into somewhat of a joke. The PCB under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 has ensured that this circus ensues. Muhammad Yousuf was sent on a flight to England to play for the national team as soon as Pakistan lost the first test match to England. One fails to understand why was he was not included in the Pakistani side for the first test match.
Pakistan team needs dramatic changes in their mindset and their fielding performance not to mention their batting if they expect to make a comeback in the last test at Oval starting next week. Muhammad Yousuf is expected to join the Pakistani team and one can hope that with his inclusion, the side can strengthen their batting department. The pitches in England under overcast conditions can be extremely challenging and a player of his calibre will be able to give the middle order the much needed reinforcement in the batting department.
“We hope he gets runs for the side and his experience is useful to the team. I would want the youngsters to learn from him,” exclaimed Salman Butt.
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