Kamran Akmal

Kamran Akmal may have vehemently denied the allegations of match-fixing against him, and a couple of Aussies may have come out in support of his stand. However, it will do little to reduce the amount of damage the disastrous tour of Australia has done to Pakistan.

From hitting out at ex-captains and teammates, to ogling at girls instead of fielding, everything that has been leaked out has made the Pakistan cricket team nothing less than a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. Controversies have never been alien to Pakistan, but this one should be a first even for them.

A couple of months back, when the suspension orders were handed out to the guilty players, many termed it as harsh. But, in the light of the recent revelations, the punishments now seen rather lenient. Like in India, cricket is a national craze across the border too.

As such, representing the country in the sport can be nothing short of the greatest prestige of life. Thus, it is unfathomable how cricketers, seniors and rookies, can form groups, gang up against each other and be prepared to fight within the squad rather than against the opposition.

There is no harm in being competitive and batting for places with one another. If done in the right spirit, such bloodthirsty attitude can, in fact, benefit the team in the longer run.

The examples of the two Ws – Wasim and Waqar – is often cited in this context. And, there cannot be a more apt place to reiterate it. The two made no bones about the fact that they weren’t the best of friends in personal life, and also that both always looked to outdo the other when on the cricket field.

Never once though did their personal issues spill on to the ground to affect the team’s chances – even if it did both did exceedingly well to never make it visible. And, this was obviously because they loved playing for the country.

It has now been a few years since both have hung the boots, and whenever the two talk about each other, they only have kind words to say about each other’s performance. No wonder, ever here they often try to outdo one another.

However, what two Ws had, and the current squad does not, is a tough yet sensible mentor to guide them through difficult times. At the start of their careers, both Wasim and Waqar were lucky to have Imran Khan among the ranks. The duo has often acknowledged that they wouldn’t have as successful but for the contribution of Pakistan’ sole World Cup winning captain.

It wasn’t that Imran was wholeheartedly accepted by the team. Tales still float around as to how the members of the 1992 World Cup squad were disgusted when Imran preferred to speak about building his dream cancer hospital than praise the team after the historic win, or that some senior players nearly revolted against Imran during their winning campaign.

But, the commanding figure that he was, the great all-rounder managed to channelize even the negative energy around him into match-winning performances.

When Imran left, Wasim took over and did a commendable job though he wasn’t as talented with his man-management skills. Under Wasim, Pakistan remained a force to reckon with at the international level.

Even then, they weren’t a united bunch, but had a leader who stuck to his guns. The problem began when Inzamam-Ul-Haq took over the reins. An unusual choice for captaincy, Inzamam got the job only because Pakistan did not have a choice.

Not known as a decision-maker (and we are not even referring to his running between the wickets) too many things wrong went during his tenure – the Oval fiasco and the 2007 World Cup disaster to name a few. It is a known fact that Inzamam was coaxed into taking a number of erroneous decisions.

The state that Pakistan cricket is in today has a lot to do the absence of the mandatory transition phase. Post Inzamam’s retirement, captaincy was thrust onto Younis Khan, then presented to Shoaib Malik on a platter before being experimentally handed over to Mohammad Yousuf.

Expectedly, nothing worked, but the players began behaving like spoilt brats who were free to play mischief in the absence of caretakers. Here, the players alone aren’t to be held responsible.

The PCB, which injudiciously played merry-go-round with the captain’s hat, is equally accountable. But, does any such word exist in Pakistan cricket’s dictionary?

But, it was among the worst chasing efforts ever in the history of Test cricket, that too against the weakest Aussie side of the last two decades. What should have been golden chance for Pakistan turned out to be yet another missed opportunity. The loss has not only hurt Pakistani fans, but cricket lovers the world over, since all expected a tough contest between the two teams.

While the Sydney hurt will stay with the Pakistanis for some time to come, they have to try and look forward to putting up an improved showing at Hobart. The series may be lost, but they have a lot to play for. Avoiding a clean sweep – they have been blanked on the last three occasions – will be an achievement in itself.

Keeping that in view, expect a few changes. For one, Sarfraz Ahmed, who has been sent a SOS, will definitely replace Kamran Akmal, who might not be seen in whites for a long time following his schoolboyish effort at Sydney. Non-performers like Faisal Iqbal and Misbah-ul-Haq too need to go.

Even as the changes are mandatory, the team and the management need to do more than just shuffle around their players. Sadly for Pakistan, they do not get to play Test cricket at home these days due to the constant terror threat in their country. But, that is something beyond their control and they need to try and focus on the job at hand, which they clearly haven’t been doing on current evidence.

First and foremost, their new skipper Mohammad Yousuf needs to get his act right. He has been doing reasonably well with the bat, but his captaincy has been far from inspirational. The manner in which he allowed Australia to get away on the final day at Sydney was baffling. Agreed, he is still learning the tricks of leading the side.

However, he has enough experience to at least decipher how to react to a situation. Instead, Yousuf was prepared to sit back and watch. Pakistan would do well to resolve their inner conflicts and get back their first choice skipper Younis Khan as soon as possible.

That said, one can’t entirely blame the loss on Yousuf’s negative captaincy. As he rightly pointed out, both prior to and after the disaster at Sydney, the younger generation seems keen only on T20. And as if to add credence to their skipper’s comments, the team went out and batted like they were playing a 20-over game.

They way they crumbed made one wonder whether these players can survive even 20 overs in the shorter format. Clearly, this is a dangerous sign for Pakistan cricket and unless they are willing to learn from their mistakes, there is a bumpy ride ahead for Pakistan cricket.

It was hardly surprising then that the Asian side looked completely disillusioned in the match. While, it is true that the Pakistanis are fielding a rather inexperienced outfit, it is also a fact that this is not the greatest Australian side and hence Pakistan has a great chance of upsetting the Ausssie applecart.

Sadly, they blew away the opportunity rather deplorably at Melbourne and Australia had plenty to capitalize on.

There were a number of star performances from players of the home team, but none better than Shane Watson. The all-rounder, who finally found his feet in international cricket last year, was sensational with the bat in both the innings.

He was unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved ton in the first innings, getting run out in the 90s. But he did not repeat his mistake in the second essay and was the one who set up the victory path for Australia with his maiden Test century.

The beauty of Australia’s batting was that everyone contributed in the first innings to help their side put up a huge total.

Like Watson, his opening partner Simon Katich also fell in the 90s. However, the dismissals of the openers did not dispirit the middle-order.

They were only encouraged to carry on the good work. And they did exactly that with their skipper Ricky Ponting contributing an impressive half-century and Michael Hussey scoring 82.

To add insult to injury, Nathan Hauritz came in and registered a handy 75 to put Australia in a commanding position.

If the batters did their job, the bowlers weren’t far behind. Left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson dealt the Pakistanis with some major blows at the top and in the middle, while the ever-improving Doug Bollinger took care of the lower-middle order as Pakistan collapsed in the first innings.

While Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz were not equally successful, they did a great job to back up the efforts of Johnson and Bollinger.

The bowlers continued their exceptional work in the second essay as well with Hauritz being particularly impressive, scalping his maiden five-for and ensuring that Pakistan’s late fightback was nullified.

On the contrary, Pakistan need to do some genuine soul-searching going into the Sydney Test. And for this their seniors need to put their hands up and show some fight.

The most disappointing aspect of Pakistan’s batting was that no one went on get a hundred in either of the innings. Misbah-Ul-Haq registered the highest score of the match for Pakistan – 65 not out.

He was unfortunate to be left stranded at the end of the first innings, with not much support from the lower order. Salman Butt and Imran Farhat have been around the international arena for a while now, bur have yet not learnt the art of constructing an innings, not a healthy sign for the future.

A lot was expected of Mohammad Yousuf. And while he did contribute in both the innings, it wasn’t big enough. For a change Umar Akmal could not capitalize on his start.

But the team did not worry about him as he has proved his mettle in his short yet feisty international stint. Ironically, it is up to the more experienced guys to follow the rookie’s act.