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Saturday, January 1, 2011
2011 Shaping Up as One Long Corridor of Uncertainty for Pakistan
As a dismal year draws to a close, Pakistani cricket fans may be hoping that 2011 will bring a little respite from the torrent of bad news that has engulfed their national team.
The lesson of Pakistan’s recent cricket history, though, is that however bad things may seem to be, there is often worse to come.
The start of 2011 certainly promises to be pretty grim, with the first half of January bringing a succession of events that will underline Pakistan’s current misfortunes.
Most attention will be devoted to the appearance of three of its leading players before an International Cricket Council tribunal. Starting Thursday, the tribunal in Doha, Qatar, will spend six days attempting to determine whether there is any truth to the spot-fixing allegations made against the former Pakistani captain Salman Butt and the fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir by The News of the World, a British newspaper.
The last Sunday of August, when the allegations were published as Pakistan was playing England at Lord’s, was when any hopes that 2010 might turn out well for Pakistani cricket were extinguished.
The national team had been forced to play in exile because of the security situation at home, had gone through a couple more rotations on its carousel of captains and had lost the World Twenty20 title it won in England the previous year. Worst of all, the players had heard the news of the devastating floods back in Pakistan.
Amid this darkness, there were a few points of light — the fortunate emergence of Butt as a brightly impressive young leader and the brilliant bowling of Asif and, in particular, the 18-year-old Amir, who was establishing a serious claim to be the best teenage cricketer ever.
That the fixing claims struck down these three encouraging players seemed the cruelest of blows, even by Pakistani standards.
The sense of dismay that Amir, a symbol of hope and renewal, was implicated spread well beyond Pakistan. The former England captain Nasser Hussain spoke for many when he said that his immediate reaction to hearing that there were accusations against Pakistani players had been to wish that it was “anybody but the kid.”
Butt, speaking to Sky News earlier this month, said, “I believe, inshallah, that I will be back and playing for my country again.”
The panel will be chaired by the senior British barrister Michael Beloff, sitting with the Kenyan lawyer Sharad Rao and Albie Sachs, who recently retired as a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Its decisions may not, though, conclude the process.
Even if the players are cleared, they could still face criminal charges from a British police investigation. Butt unsuccessfully sought to have the Doha tribunal postponed until after the British investigators had reported.
If the Doha tribunal rules against them, Amir’s lawyer has already indicated that he will appeal to the Court of Sporting Arbitration in Lausanne, Switzerland, citing his client’s youth and previously unblemished record.
While these three have the highest profile among Pakistani players, some of their teammates are also in cricketing limbo. Wicket keeper Zulqarnain Haider made a dramatic debut against England in Birmingham in August. He came close to achieving the rare and unenviable feat of being dismissed first ball twice in a debut match, but a television review spared him that fate. He then went on to play a brilliant second innings that revived his team’s morale, all while his father lay ill back in Pakistan.
But three months later, Haider returned to Britain, this time seeking political asylum. He had left the team in Dubai and reported receiving threats following a match-winning innings for Pakistan in a one-day international against Australia. His next interview with the British authorities is scheduled for Wednesday.
Also uncertain of their immediate future are Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria, who were asked to supply financial details to the Pakistan Cricket Board as a precondition of being considered for the 2011 World Cup, which will take place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh starting Feb. 19. Pakistan was also to be a co-host, until security fears forced its withdrawal. Other teams filed lists of possible players Dec. 19. The cricket authorities have given Pakistan until Wednesday to clear up its loose ends.
One other event in the first few days of 2011 will underline Pakistan’s unhappiness: the player auction for the Indian Premier League in Bangalore on Jan. 8 and 9. The league has released a list of 416 players who will enter the auction. Not one is from Pakistan, making this the third year running in which the country’s players have been excluded from a competition that has made the world’s leading cricketers richer than many could have imagined.
It is perhaps no coincidence that allegations of corruption have resurfaced at a time when Pakistan’s players have been kept out of this sporting gold mine. Yet another setback for the cricketing nation where things all too often go from bad to worse.
2010: Difficult yet happy year for Pakistan sports
For a variety of reasons, 2010 was a difficult year for Pakistan sports. But then it was also a year of happiness with Pakistani women winning an Asian Games gold and the hockey team finally ending its title drought in Guangzhou, a Chinese commerce hub located at the north of the Pearl River delta.
Perhaps even better was the fact that Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi became the first Pakistani tennis player to reach a Grand Slam final. In fact he played in back-to-back finals of the men's doubles and mixed doubles events at the US Open to finally put Pakistan on the world tennis map.
But sadly, 2010 was also about a few horror stories.
Cricket - our national pastime - remained mired in controversy with little positive signs visible in the lead up to World Cup 2011, which will explode into action on Feb. 19 in Mirpur, Bangladesh.
With Ijaz Butt - the much-criticized chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) - still at the helm, even the most optimistic of Pakistan sports fans won't be much optimistic about the immediate future of cricket in our country.
It was cricket, which provided Pakistan sports with both its highest and lowest points in 2010.
In August, Pakistan officially became the most corruption-tainted team in the cricket-playing world when three of the country's leading players were accused of spot fixing. It was a story that rocked the cricket world and is now threatening to cut short the international careers of three leading Pakistani stars - Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt.
For a change, Pakistan cricket was celebrating three months later when their women bagged a surprise gold at the Asian Games in November. It was a historic occasion, considering the fact that cricket made its debut in the regional extravaganza in Guangzhou and it were the girls in green, who grabbed the gold. With the title-winning triumph, Pakistan's women cricketers proved that they are now an emerging force in regional cricket. Unlike in the past when nobody took women's cricket seriously in Pakistan, everybody is now talking about how our ladies can go on to become a force at the world level.
Ironically, while our women won the title, Pakistan flopped miserably in the men's event as they crashed out in the semifinals following a shocking defeat against minnows Afghanistan. Pakistan was firm favorites to win the gold, which eventually went to Bangladesh, who conquered the Afghans in the title match.
While the women were greeted as national heroes on their return home, their male counterparts were accused of match fixing.
Early in the year, Pakistan returned home from Australia following a catastrophic tour during which they lost all their matches under senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who flopped miserably as the team's captain.
A probe carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) concluded that several of the national team players were guilty of serious disciplinary breaches. The Board banned and fined a number of leading players but as usual most of the punishments were never really carried out.
Pakistan went to the Caribbean a few months later and failed to defend their World Twenty20 title, falling to Australia from a seemingly winning position.
Their bad run continued in Sri Lanka where the Pakistanis failed to reach the final following losses against India and Sri Lanka.
From Sri Lanka, Pakistan flew out for England on what was a marathon tour featuring back-to-back series against Australia and England.
Shahid Afridi, who was promoted as Pakistan captain for all three formats, dropped a bombshell when he announced his retirement from Test cricket forcing PCB to install his deputy Salman Butt as the new Test captain.
The left-handed opener made a stunning start to his captaincy stint by leading Pakistan to a series-equaling triumph over the Aussie in the second Test.
It seemed Pakistan had finally managed to appoint the right man for the job. But just weeks later, things went horribly wrong for both Butt and Pakistan.
Pakistan lost the opening two Tests against England before bouncing back with a vengeance to crush the hosts in the third Test at The Oval. In the fourth and final Test at Lord's, Mohammad Aamir ripped through the England batting line-up on the opening day and it seemed Pakistan were on their way to another series-leveling victory.
But all of that became irrelevant when News Of The World - a British tabloid - splashed a sensational story accusing the trio of Butt, Aamir and Asif of spot fixing.
It claimed that Aamir and Asif bowled deliberate no balls during the Lord's Test. The players were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and could be banned for life if an independent tribunal finds them guilty following a full hearing in Doha from Jan. 6-11.
Butt's exit made way for Misbah-ul-Haq, who guided Pakistan to a 0-0 draw in their two-Test series against South Africa in the UAE in November.
In hockey, Pakistan suffered from a series of embarrassing results at the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games before they bounced back to win the Asian Games crown.
Pakistan's squash chiefs, too, endured several frustrating results before their previously under-achieving players landed the team gold at Guangzhou.
However, squash legend Jahangir Khan advised the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) to keep its eyes on the ball instead of getting distracted by what he termed as a minor title. In response, the PSF roped in Jansher Khan - Jahangir's one-time rival - as the new national coach as well as its chief advisor.
Soon after his appointment, Jansher declared that he can put Pakistan back on track and promised that a Pakistani player will win the world individual crown in Belgium next August. Jansher was the last Pakistani to win that title back in 1986.
Afridi not doing well as captain in NZ: Akram
Akram told a television channel that Pakistan lost the Twenty20 series in New Zealand because the players were not playing as a unit and if they continue like this it will be difficult to make an impact in World Cup starting next month.
"Because the team is not playing as one they are facing many problems and their performances are suffering," he said.
"One saw a lack of leadership in the team and the players also did not play to their ability and if they continue playing this way then they will also lose the Test and ODI series in New Zealand," the former left-arm pacer said.
Akram though felt that the difficult conditions in New Zealand and the presence of many inexperienced players in the team had also contributed to the poor performance of the side.
He said it was obvious that Pakistan were struggling against strong teams without pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer in their bowling attack.
"The bowlers face problems against stronger teams and we are missing Aamer and Asif who were developing into a world class new ball opening pair," he said.
Another former captain Moin Khan has, however, advised the PCB against appointing another captain at this juncture, saying it would be making a big mistake to change the leader so close to the World Cup.
"It would be a big folly to even think about changing the captain now because the World Cup is now very close and there is no time at all for experimentations," he said.
Moin said that it would be sensible for the PCB and selectors to stick with the combination of Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq and retain the former as captain for the World Cup.
He also called for consistency in the selection of national teams and said the players should be allowed to settle down to perform to their potential.
Afridi, Waqar to appear in ICC spot-fixing hearing
Pakistan cricket chiefs said on Saturday they would allow one-day captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis to appear at a hearing into spot-fixing allegations in Doha during the coming week.
The decision was taken after the International Cricket Council requested the appearance of the two men at the hearing.
"The ICC has requested the PCB to direct Afridi and Waqar to appear before the ICC anti-corruption tribunal to determine the guilt or otherwise of the three players who have been accused of serious violations," a Pakistan Cricket Board press release said.
The three players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were suspended by the ICC in September on spot-fixing charges relating to the Lord's Test against England a month earlier.
The trio are to appear before the tribunal in Doha from January 6-11.
The statement said the PCB had decided to allow Afridi and Waqar to appear as witnesses either in person or through a teleconference depending on their convenience and subject to their professional commitments.
"The PCB is also keen to assist the ICC anti-corruption tribunal in determining in a fair and just manner the truth behind the serious allegations being made against the three Pakistan players," the release added.
Afridi was due to return home late Saturday after captaining Pakistan in three Twenty20 matches in New Zealand, while Waqar is with the team which is due to play the first of two Tests against New Zealand from January 7.
Pakistan-born spinner eligible for South Africa
Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir has been granted South African citizenship and is eligible to represent the country, Cricket South Africa announced on Saturday.In a statement CSA said Tahir had been granted citizenship by naturalisation on Friday and had fulfilled all the International Cricket Council's regulations for selection by his new country.
Tahir, 31, represented Pakistan Under-19 and Pakistan A before marrying a South African woman and settling in South Africa.
But he has not played for any Pakistan representative team for more than four years, which means he can play for another country in terms of ICC rules.
Tahir was selected for South Africa's squad for the fourth Test against England last season but had to be withdrawn when it was discovered his papers were not in order.
A leg-spinner who turns the ball sharply and bowls an effective googly, Tahir will be a strong candidate for South African selection.
In a first-class career which started in 1996/97 he has played for 11 different first-class teams, including four English counties, and has taken 535 first-class wickets at an average of 25.09.
Tahir, who plays for the Dolphins, is the leading wicket-taker in South Africa's domestic SuperSport Series competition this season, with 30 in four matches at an average of 22.00.
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