Pakistan tour of England – jinxed?
The Pakistani cricket team is very shaky and extra cautious whenever they are heading to England for a tour. This is simply because of the horrid past it has had in every tour they have had of England. Each tour brings with it,
its own set of controversies, allegations, scandals. It partly has to do with the strong British Media which keeps a very close on eye on every player during the tour; somehow Pakistani players have been their targets in the past and seem to be the most vulnerable
ones out there.
It all started back in 1992, when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sarfraz-c88817 Nawaz in the 1970s, he then passed it on to Imran Khan, and subsequently, he passed
the skill to the two ace bowlers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 and Waqar Younis.
England was completely stunned by the reverse swing, their batsmen were clueless as to how to play such a moving ball, which resulted in not only their quick dismissals but also cost them the series as Pakistan won the series 2-1.
The English were trying to rationalize the reverse swing, as it was something new to the world of cricket, it didn’t even have a name by then. They assumed that the ball was tampered with. Their allegations resulted in a huge controversy which was supported
by the British media, and the Pakistani bowlers were accused of ball tampering. Even though, the bowlers tried to defend themselves by saying that they were simply keeping one side of the ball shiny, and the other side rough, to make it swing, however, they
were not able to convince the fuming English side.
A déjàvu occurred once again in 2006, when Pakistan were touring England, and they were accused of ball tampering once again, on the fourth day of the Test, when the ball began to reverse swing.This time around the umpire, Darrell
Hair, supported the accusation by claiming that the ball had been tampered with.
He penalised the Pakistani team for tampering with the ball, and as a punishment he granted 5 runs to the England team, and also allowed the England batsmen to choose another ball.
In protest, the Pakistani team decided not to go onto the field in the third session. Pakistani team's failure to appear on the field resulted in the umpires awarding the test to England. This was a stunning result as for the first
time a match was forfeited. It was cricket's first and only forfeiture till July 2008 when the ICC changed the result of the test from England’s victory to a draw. However, in February 2009, it was declared as England’s victory.
Darrell Hair was banned when it was proven that captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Inzamam-ul-Haq-c64383 was not guilty of ball tampering. However, the team's protest led to him being banned for four games on the charge of bringing the game of cricket into disrepute.
Right after the ball tampering controversy of 2006, fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were found to be tested positive during the dope test. They were consequently banned from international cricket, despite their denial
of any substance abuse. However, the earlier bans were revoked as both the bowlers were successful in their appeals.
At the backdrop of this chaotic embezzlement, Pakistan came to tour England in the year 2010, during this on-going tour, the British tabloid newspaper News of The World (NoTW) alleged spot fixing and match-fixing allegations on
four of its most prominent players – Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, test Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal. NoTW also claimed that seven of Pakistani test players are involved in match-fixing. This news took the cricket world by storm.
The claims of the newspaper were taken very seriously as the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard team started their independent investigation into the case and the ICC did their separate interrogation. The ICC provisionally banned Asif, Aamir and Salman
from playing international cricket.
So it seems that the tour of England is basically jinxed for the Pakistan cricket team. It is as if they are cursed every time they go there. In the current tour, Pakistan is marred with the spot-fixing allegations, a hollow bowling
attack - with the absence of their key bowlers Asif and Aamir - an inexperienced and an injury-prone side. There are three more matches left in this dreaded tour, one awaits to see if there is yet more to come.
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