Surgery of Pakistan Cricket Team

Several weaknesses have been observed in Pakistan cricket team during the on going 2012 series between Pakistan and England.

The Captain

37 years old Misbah is the leader of Pakistan cricket team.  This is fact that he was appointed as captain in result of differences between Ex captain Shahid Afridi and controversial chairman of PCB Ijaz Butt.  Misbah is known for his cool mind and defensive approach. In his captaincy Pakistan won Test series against England convincingly but in ODIs series England whitewashed Pakistan easily. PCB has kept him captain of ODI team because of his Test Series successes which is not fair.  Unfortunately the approach of PCB is still of 90s. In the modern cricket, separate teams for Test, ODIs and T20s are the requirement of time. We saw batsmen like Ricky Ponting announcing retirement from ODIs because of his age.  Misbah is an average batsman and one cannot compare him with Ricky Ponting, so if Australia can scarify batsman like Ricky Ponting for better future then what is the importance of Misbah. PCB should also take bold step by appointing Shahid Afridi as captain who deserves this appointment on merit.

Opening

For consistent good performance of any team, ability of openers is essential. The openers must have classic bating technique. Classic technique is necessary for performing equally well on both slow and bouncy wickets. Indian opener Sehwag who is perfect in subcontinent is struggling in Australia on bouncy wickets in recent 2012 series. The only reason is that there are flaws in his technique. Most of the time he tries to play the bowl away from his body and you cannot play on fast and bouncy wickets with this technique.  The same problem is with Pakistani openers, although Hafiz is a talented player but experts have always indicated his weakness as opener from the beginning of his career.  His utility as all-rounder is there, and he can hit some big strokes in the middle of the inning. 2nd Opener is Imran Farhat, I don’t think that any other player has been given so much chances in past. When the international career of Imran Farhat was ended, his Father in Law was appointed as selector and he brought him back once again in the team. The only merit for his place in team is his father in law. For better future of the team, PCB should hand over young and enthusiastic openers like Ahmed Shezad to new expected coach Dav Whatmore for grooming. New openers should also have comparatively good technique.   If PCB continued the current policy of favoritism, I am afraid that Pakistan would be not able to utilize the expertise of excellent coach like Dav Whatmore.  

Middle Order

For ODIs and T20s, in middle order Pakistan need stroke players like Saeed Anwer and Inzam Ul Haq. Younis Khan and Misbah are not able to keep pace with the current fast environments of cricket due to their age factor.  Management should look for some young good stroke players in middle order as replacement to Misbah and Younis Khan.  Asad Shafiq and Umer Akmal have the ability to improve their game; therefore, management should give them chances continuously for gaining experience and perfection in technique.  Though Azher Ali is a good batsman but his technique is perfect only for Test Matches, therefore, he must only focus on test matches.  Playing in ODIs will affect his test technique and that would be not better for him.

All-rounder

Presently Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Hafiz, Shoaib Malik and young Hamad Azam are playing as all-rounders in the team. Shahid Afridi and Muhammad Hafiz are quality players. Shoaib Malik was also good all-rounder but unfortunately due to his focus on other aspects, his game is now over.  He has controversial attitude in past and some senior players of the current team openly talked about him. He must be dropped from the team for saving the unity.   Hamad Azam has shown his class in batting during 2^nd T20. Management should give him continue chances and should assign the task of grooming of this new tenant especially to the new coach.  

Fast Bowling

In Past, fast bowlers like Fazal Mehmood, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Waseem Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhter were the identity of Pakistan cricket. Unfortunately Pakistan cricket fans saw their team playing with only one fast bowler in recent 2012 ODIs series against England. Pakistan has quality fast bowlers like Anwar Ali and Sohail Khan on domestic level but due to favoritism these bowlers are not able to make place in the team. This is tragedy with Pakistan cricket. If the current Chairman of PCB is sincere with Pakistan cricket, he must focus on the induction of new quality fast bowlers in Pakistan cricket team.  There are much better bowlers than Juaniad Khan and Aziz Cheema who are waiting for performing but favoritism is hurdle in their ways.

Wicket Keeping

Kamran Akmal was a good wicket keeper batsman, but his wicket keeping was not of international standards. He was given continuously chance to improve his wicket keeping but unfortunately he was not serious in doing so. Now at the present there is no good quality wicket keeper batsman available to Pakistan team. The best option on this time is Adnan Akmal, but steady observation is required on domestic level to find a good quality wicket keeper batsman.   

Attitude

After hard work on the field, bed attitude is common problem of every Pakistani star player.  The examples of Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif are good enough for understanding the problem. Now in recent series Saeed  Ajmal was observed shouting on senior player like Shahid Afridi after a quick throw by Shahid Afridi. Without good attitude any player can not continue constant good career. The first step towards good attitude is respect for your seniors. So, PCB has to have watch on the negative altitude of any player for preventing differences in the team.  PCB should not compromise on discipline and should take strict actions against any star regardless his performance.