Pakistani cricket-back to square one
After the euphoria of Pakistan’s qualification for the semi-finals of the T-20 World Championship, and the Herculean effort against the Australians: Pakistan cricket finds itself once again in familiar, rather increasingly comfortable “controversy zone”.
After the statements of the players, manager and coaches involved in the ill-fated tour of Australia were leaked to the media, the people of Pakistan were in for another rude shock as a leading sport channel of the country aired exclusive footage of the probe committee proceedings.
In a marathon stint of nearly four hours one after another recordings of various players, coaches and managers were revealed, and sensational revelations that were swept aside by the cricket board during the probe, were aired; sending shock waves amongst the passionate cricket fans of the country.
The recording showed the head coach of the team during the Australian tour Intikhab Alam, openly accusing wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal of underperforming adding that in his opinion Kamran’s shoddy wicket-keeping in the second test where Pakistan lost (from a seemingly impregnable position) was deliberate!
Akmal dropped Australian batsman Michael Hussey thrice off the bowling of Danesh Kaneria with at least two catches perhaps being the easiest of his career.
Hussey eventually scored back against the wall hundred, to guide his team to one of the most remarkable wins in test history, as Pakistan imploded in the fourth innings chasing a paltry victory target.
The assistant coach on the tour former test fast bowler Aaqib Javed had similar views on Kamran Akmal, adding that besides the three dropped catches, Akmal’s muffed attempt of a possible run out chance against opener Shane Watson was deliberate, and made him think that something was terribly wrong, indicating towards the menace match fixing.
The plot thickens with the footage of Rana Naveed and Mohammad Yousuf, who both go at each other, with Rana claiming that despite being the elder statesman in the team Mohammad Yousuf had stayed aloof, and not tried at all to build camaraderie with the rest of the team.
The all-rounder currently serving a one year ban, in the wake of the probe committee’s report confessed that he was a part of a group of six senior players who had sworn on the holy Quran, to unite against the then Pakistan captain Younis Khan.
The statements made by the captain of the Australian tour Mohammad Yousuf, and the T-20 captain Shahid Afridi have also been aired, adding further fuel to the fire that is getting stronger and hotter by the moment. But the statement by Aaqib Javed is the most startling of them all, the Sheikhpura born pacer who was once the record holder for the best figures in an ODI claimed that he himself was a victim of match fixing, and that the phenomenon has plagued Pakistan cricket for the past 20 years.
Remarkably though, the dup of Aaqib and Intikhab never made any complaints to the Board during their coaching tenures, and only came out all guns blazing when they knew that they were set to be sacked after the ignominious defeat in Australia. Thus the credibility of their claims is being questioned by cricket experts, and sport journalists across the country. The question however is that how the tapes and documents made their way to the powerful electronic media, which is set to cash on the huge controversy in the next few days. An insider raised suspicion that the tapes might have been sold to the media, in order to settle personal scores. Amid the chaos, a duo remains defiant, rather stubborn despite an increasingly controversial and troublesome tenure.
The man who refuses to budge under any circumstances is the Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt, and his equally controversial Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari. The only way that the PCB can douse the huge flame of fire, is by revealing all and coming out crystal clear, on why the investigations were kept a secret, and taking to task the men who sold their secrets to the public, yet given the flimsy state of affairs it looks next to impossible.
Mr. Butt is surely counting his days; let’s see how much fight he has left in him.
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