No more blind slogging

Well a person who had made news for the right as well as the wrong reasons has decided to call it a day when yesterday the Pakistani slogger-Shahid Afridi quits international cricket. This would mean most of the major cricketing websites would focus on his three fastest hundreds that came against three sub-continent nations namely Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. But, speaking facts, Shahid Afridi's absence in the Pakistani batting line up should boost up their middle order for, Shahid Afridi is no way better than some Shoaib Akthar or any other tail end batsmen when it comes to batting.

With so many beautiful shots out there like the cover-drive, the on-drive and much more, Shahid Afridi has had only one shot-just blindly whip the bat and in case it makes contact with the ball you have six runs added to your credit. And, in case the ball nicks the edge of the bat, the slip fielder would be having one more catch to his credit and that is all. In that regard, Shahid Afridi is a batsman one of his kind. Even tail end batsmen would think a dozen times before going in for a shot unlike Shahid Afridi from Pakistan.

We can remember the Australian nightwatchman Jason Gillespie who got a double hundred against Bangladesh which is too much for his standard as a batsman. It was just the helplessness of the Pakistan Crickat Board (PCB) which hardly had any option but to crown Afridi as the Pakistani captain for the 2011 world cup. Afridi should consider himself to be lucky for, he was the captain of the Pakistan side which defeated Australia after their unbeaten 36 match streak and made it to the finals after Waqar Younis and Inzamam (who were better captains compared to Shahid Afridi) could not manage.

Irrespective of the situation his team was in, Shahid Afridi took no serious responsibility of his team and used to slog blindly. The three fastest hundreds out of his six centuries should be nothing but fluke. On the other hand, his bowling had a good amount of variation and used to deceive even the most awesome batsmen which saw him bag two five wicket hauls and an equal number of four wicket hauls in the recently concluded world cup. When most of his fans expected him to showcast his power with the bat, he kept them in suspense when his ball listened to him rather then his bat.

Inzy decides to come to light

Well the retired Pakistani batsman, Inzamam Ul Haq has shown his interest in becoming the batting coach for his team if the latest news in Pakistan cricket is anywhere to go by. This, if at all happens, would be another star batsman taking over as the coach of the Pakistan team after Javed Miandad was selected as the Pakistani coach in the bilateral series involving India in 2004. Though secondary at the moment, that was after a long gap of 12 years that India were touring Pakistan for reasons once again which are secondary here. Whatsoever, Inzamam's nod for the job should be worth a thought by the PCB.

The Pakistan team need not be blamed for losing 3 + 5 + 1 matches against Australia last year which was extended to two more T20 losses at the hands of Australia in the T20 world cup followed by a loss in the first test in England. Likewise, it would be worth mentioning that they did win the second test against Australia unexpectedly not before whitewashing the same in the two T20 games that preceded the test series. One doubt that everyone should be found asking should be why was there no one day games played between the countries? Anyways, why should we bother when ICC didn't? Right!

Coming to Inzy, the man has been not only out of any cricketing action but has also been out from all sorts of cricket news. After his retirement from all forms of the game in 2007, Inzy was found starting the 2nd innings of his cricketing life when he was found playing for Lahore Badshahs in the banned Indian Cricket League. Since then, Inzamam has neither been seen playing in any of the domestic leagues (atleast as far as my knowledge goes) nor found taking the mike in his hand and doing some sort of commentary stuff like say Wasim Akram is doing after is retirement some 7 years ago.

And, how long can Inzy keep himself isolated from the world of cricket, when he has made news for the good reasons in the field since the 1992 world cup for a decade and a half. As a matter of fact, Imran Kahn was found making news in the elections when he stood opposite Benazir Bhutto and then Waqar Younis is seen coaching the bowlers of the national team after 6 years of retiring from all forms of the game. I doubt whether anybody knows that Waqar Younis is the third highest wicket taker in ODIs. And then, despite a hattrick in the 1999 world cup and just 12 scalps less than 300 to his name, Saqlain Mushtaq is a forgotten episode in Pak cricket.

The careers after retirement for a cricketer would be commentator, coach, columnist or finally player in other leagues. And, with the ICL breathing its last and IPL closing all doors for Pakistani players, the only option left for Inzy would be coach and it would be no surprise that he is utmost needed for the job.

Should the WICB also follow the PCB?

This would not have been the case even if the Pakistani players had involved themselves into some sort of scandal like the match fixing one. Neither this would have been the case had the players backing out from a tour citing some unnecessary reasons. But, the decision that the PCB has taken needs a thorough analysis. This was and is the way the PCB had earlier dealt with the Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akthar, who even today has not been able to make it back to the international arena and has no option but to cool his heels doing what he thinks is 2^nd best to playing cricket.

One need not be specially mentioned that the action taken by the PCB against 7 of its players is totally baseless. This is not the first time that the PCB has taken such a stand against its players. Earlier in 2003, after Pakistan failed to go past the 1st round in the world cup at South Africa, 8 of the Pakistani players namely Wasim akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Saeed Anwar, Shoaib Akthar, Inzamam Ul Haq, Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif were sacked from international cricket. And, a year later, it had be the same Inzaman to come back and lead Pakistan to a test win against Bangladesh, when all seemed to be lost for Pakistan.

Luckily, Shoaib's ban was revoked when he appeared in the tri series featuring Sri Lanka, Pakiatan and New Zealand very soon after his suspension from the team. And now, the PCB has taken the same approach towards their players for losing the Aussie tour. One has to wonder as to what would the PCB gain after sacking these players. It was the PCB who pushed Younus Khan to play against Australia and now the same player is sacked. And, when these players, among whom were senior players as well are shown the doors, upon who does the PCB rely to take the Pakistani cricket forward?

It is not only Pakistan who have failed to return with a win against Australia in Australia. Even the West Indies who were found touring the same Australia returned without a single win from Australia. All the West Indies could achieve was a drawn test at Adelaide and then a 4-0 defeat as against the 5-0 defeat the Pakistan had. Though it is agreed that the one off match was abandoned which would have seen the West Indies also crumble to a 5-0 defeat. And, the Pakistan team atleast came close to winning the T20 game unlike the West Indies who gave it away totally without a fight. So, should the WICB also follw PCB?

A life-time ban would have been ideal for Afridi

One has to indeed appreciate the guts of the Pakistani so-called all rounder Shahid Afridi for first changing the conditions of the ball without the consent of the on field umpires and then that too in front of the whole crowd, some in front of the television sets and others in the stadium. I wonder as to how come someone can do the same and expect to get away as though he was nothing but innocent? Or, was the deed what Afridi did was a mistake like it was the case with Dravid way back in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2003-04 in the Adelaide test?

On the other hand, Afridi's creative reason for the same must also be gioven a pat on the back. Shahid Afridi wants the whole world to believe that he was trying to smell the ball-I wonder as though it was a perfume and that only Afridi had discovered it! Oh! What a scientist we have lost due to cricket! But, how come teeth marks appear on the ball when someone tries to smell the same? Really confusing! How come anyone can deny a thing that he has done in front of the entire world? Finally, Afridi had no other choice and had to plead guilty and accept whatever came through.

When Afridi accepts his mistake, he justifies the same by saying that he was trying to help out his bowlers win the fifth one dayer at Perth. May be, had Afridi been in place of Mohammed Yousuf, the deed would have taken place 5 matches earlier or some 8 days prior to this. If the ball tempering episode an be recalled, India's disciplined batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were fined 50% and 75% of their match fees during the pool match against Zimbabwe in the VB series 2004 and at Port Elizabeth respectively. One can also recall the famous Oval test where Inzamam's team never turned up to take to the field, which is still a mystery.

If the punishment that Shahid Afridi has been given is considered, the ICC is just giving someone a formal punishment. This is not some offence that has happened so far as given in the law books of cricket though the article 2.2.9 of the ICC code of conduct has been cited relating Afridi's offence. When banning players, the ICC gives options like one test or 5 ODIs. But, that should not be the case in T20 cricket whatsoever. Afridi denies what he had done in front of the entire world as mentioned above, which can never be tolerated. Something atleast like the one given to Warne in the 2003 WC (where Shane Warne was given a year ban) can be justified. A ban of one or two matches can affect a player in no way. A life time ban would be ideal.