The Way forward for Pakistan

[D.K]

The Way forward for Pakistan

With the large Australian base of members here we should be able to generate some discussion on the issues that Pakistan are facing at the moment and how they can go about moving forward.

(I will say that a few of these points were brought up by Grandstand late yesterday afternoon by a Pakistan bloke involved with the media I believe, name evades me)

Positive's

Young Side: Pakistan have always had a young side whenever they have played international cricket. They just need to know how to harness the potential of the youngsters and get the best out of them

Umar Akmal is young, rare but full of talent. He has shown lack of experience with his shot selections at times but with a test ton under his belt already he has the attacking game to take apart any attack.

Couple that with the Aamer and you have a deadly combination for years to come. Bloody quick and has a lot of hunger when in the battle. Really impressed with his consistent speeds over 140kph.

Fighting Spirit
During the series there have been a couple of instance's where the team has showed some real fighting innings with the bat most notably Butts 100 and Khurram's innings in Hobart to name a couple. Test cricketers need this application, fight when they are up against it. More need to show it

Opening Partnership
They were able to string together a few solid opening stands. With a pretty weak number 3 it has been been not very rewarding to see the good start not capatalised on. Stands of 129. 63 and 50 odd are solid starts. They often see of the new ball and last for a few overs


Negatives

Captain Yousaf
This point was highlighted last night on grandstand while listening. After hearing some of the comments I couldn't agree more with them; "lazy looking" "drops head" and "poor body language" all came to mind. Add in the fact he doesn't have much imagination and will go very negative very quickly it is not a recipe for success. I may be a little harsh as he has only taken the job on from Khan recently but Yousaf should stick to batting. But then again who to take over form him? Malik? Akmal? The list doesn't really jump out at you.

The Coach
Mo Yousaf is old, played back in the 50s and well times have changed. His ideas are outdated and stale. I only hope for the state of the international team that he is going to moved on and replaced with a younger guy, someone that has fresh ideas and understands the state of the way cricket is heading these days. Summed up by the feller on grandstand "would make a great team manager but makes a horribe coach"

Fielding
Finally it has to be there fielding that is the most glaring negative point from the series that hurts Pakistan the most. They have dropped over 12 catches in a 3 test series; Hussey 3 times before making that match winning ton. I wasn't shocked to find out that Pakistan don't employ a fielding coach (they would have to be the only nation in the world not too) and even less shocked by the coach and team managers comments blaming the problem on lack of fielding coaching and drills in the first class arena. Suprise suprise they are pointing the fingers and not taking any responsibilty to change the glaring issue at the moment.

"Catches win matches"

Thoughts? Anything else? I have highlighted the problems and will come back and post some possible solutions to these problems later on tonight .

Happy reading

 

[Kram81]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

I wasn't shocked to find out that Pakistan don't employ a fielding coach (they would have to be the only nation in the world not too) and even less shocked by the coach and team managers comments blaming the problem on lack of fielding coaching and drills in the first class arena.
[/QUOTE]

Unbelievable.

I've watched the game for 20 years and they would have consistently been the worst fielding side in the world for that time. What a joke

 

[Kram81]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

Fielding
Finally it has to be there fielding that is the most glaring negative point from the series that hurts Pakistan the most. They have dropped over 12 catches in a 3 test series; Hussey 3 times before making that match winning ton. I wasn't shocked to find out that Pakistan don't employ a fielding coach (they would have to be the only nation in the world not too)

Unbelievable.

I've followed the game for around 20 years and they would have consistently been the worst fielding side in the world for that time. What a joke

 

[breeno]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

I agree with the sentiments stated in the OP. Pakistan are always seen to have a lot of young guys with raw talent. I don't necessarily think it's the coaching staff not helping them realise their full potential, but more the attitude held by the Pakistani's and the world that they are all raw talent. There needs to be a turning point in their attitude where they take responsibility for themselves.

For example, yes Umar Akmal is young, but he needs a rocket from Yousuf explaining to him that he needs to learn to value his wicket while maintaining being aggressive. Yes Yousuf may have smashed the ball at Hauritz, but hitting in the air at a moment like that can cost you.

Yes Farhat may have talent, but if he can't capitalise on a start he isn't doing well. Yousuf needs to lead from the front, dig in and play a massive innings at a low strike rate to show them how it's done.

Being known as a very dangerous one day and T20 side I believe has added fuel to their inconsistent fire, and I would be singling every Test player out and start some test specific mental training, even if it starts in the up coming one dayers.

Yes they have a lot of young talent, but for too long their young talent have been content with inconsistency because they're simply too switched off to really grind out a match, whether it be bowling long, tight spells or grounding out a big score.

Postives: Umar, Aamer, Asif.

Negatives: Farhat (couldn't capitalise), Yousuf (didn't lead from the front), shot selection and fielding.

 

[hattrick]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

Just some corrections : The coach is Intikhab Alam and they have a fielding coach in Waqar Younis.

I must admit that I agree with @Kram81 -> they have been the worst fielding side with the Windies for years, so that is nothing new.

The captaincy is an issue and I have always had my doubts over Yousuf as a captain, look he is a great batsman arguably one of the best that Pakistan has produced but his captaincy is not exciting at all. Younis Khan must have had a reason to walk away from it and they lack his leadership.

The young talented players are nothing new and I agree with the notion that they need to be given a bollocking as they seem not to value their wickets. They have a solid bowling attack so taking wickets should not be an issue but they need to show the ability to score runs when the match is on the line.

The coaching and management structure I think is part of the problem. The Sports Ministry is constantly talking of rescinding positions. The truth is that when Bob Woolmer was there the performance graph was moving upwards and then suddenly it started going backwards, to the point where it is now. However the truth is that politics and internal issues have always been an issue for them.

The other issue is that they need a proper wicket keeper and not Akmal as he is not capable and in any other country would have been told to go back to first class cricket.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

However the truth is that politics and internal issues have always been an issue for them.

This is the biggest problem. They have a deluded sense of entitlement at times, I mean how many other countries would be accused of match fixing by their own government just because the performed badly?

I have a feeling that like many places the first class system is weak and badly organised. This in turn leads to many players not being prepared for the step up. They also seem to lose a lot of players - how many talented 17/18/19 year olds have they produced over the years only to see disappear by the time they have reached their early twenties?

Another issue is the a seemingly whimsical selection policy. Very few players will feel 'safe' in the team - for example, how many opening partnerships have they tried over the past 10 years?

So, to sum up the issues seem to be governance and structure. Yes, there are on the field problems but with the aforementioned in place they could be rectified.

 

[a for effort]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

Did some research on the number of players to have debuted for each team in the last 10 years (Since 01/01/00), and the first player to be capped in that period.

[b]Country[/b]        [b]Caps[/b]   [b]First Capped Player[/b]
Pakistan         40   Younus Khan
England          45   Chris Schofield (Sandwiched between Vaughan and Trescothick)
Australia        28   Simon Katich (Capped in 2001, no caps in 2000)
West Indies      51   Chris Gayle

These numbers would suggest that a stable team is a successful team, as highlighted by Australia. England were a pretty rubbish Test side until about 2004, whilst Pakistan were reasonably strong at the turn of the decade which would go some way to explain England's higher numbers.

Interesting that, since his debut, Khan has seen nearly 4 teams worth of players filter through the side, and Chris Gayle nearly 5. On the other hand, Katich has seen about 2 and a half.

When I've got some time I'll go through and look at the average ages for debutants in each team. Most would have the feeling that Pakistan's average age of debut will be quite low, whilst Australia's would be relatively high.

 

[D.K]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

Just some corrections : The coach is Intikhab Alam and they have a fielding coach in Waqar Younis. .

Yeah couldn't remember the keeper.

BUt there are kidding yourself if they think Waqar is there fielding coach. Bowling coach first and foremost and that should be his sole motiviation out there. Get the bowlers better

 

[Caesar]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

There are two teams in world cricket that never cease to amaze me - New Zealand and Pakistan. The former is always more than the sum of its parts, the latter is inevitably less.

If you look at the team now on paper, it's crazy that they're such a basket case. They have experienced, quality bats like Khan and Yousuf complemented by talented tyros like Butt and Umar Akmal. Malik is a very servicable batting allrounder, and is still quite young. Kaneria is one of the best spinners in the world and has half a decade left in the tank. Aamer is obviously quality, Asif likewise - and they have talent like Talha who may still develop into a lethal strike bowler. Really, all they need is a wicketkeeper.

mas is right, the problem is with the administration and that flows into the captain and the team environment. Yousuf is an awful choice. His tactics are bewildering, his body language is awful and some of his public comments about teammates are downright out of line.

Personally - I would like the administration to bring in a foreign coach that's unconnected to all the political wrangling that goes on in the PCB. Woolmer was making a lot of progress with them. Give him some independence and try and bring some stability to the selection policy. Use the greats of Pakistani cricket as specialist coaches, and for god's sake bring someone in from overseas who takes fielding seriously.

Pick the young guys who are going to be the core of the side going forward and invest in them. We in Australia complain about our selectors playing favourites, but at least the guys in the team know they'll have a fair bit of job security after they've got into the side and proven they're up to the task.

Give Butt the captaincy, and back him to the hilt. I know, this will be controversial. But at 25, with experienced players around him, he's a good age to captain a young side with an eye to the future. He's had experience in leadership roles at Lahore and was VC for a while with the national side. And I like his style. He's confident, speaks excellent English, interacts well with the media, and is a Test-minded player. Yes, there's some issues with brashness, and he doesn't seem to see eye to eye with Yousuf - but with support and guidance the responsibility could be the making of him.

I think those sorts of steps would mould this group of cricketers into a team that can start performing to its potential. But it all starts with the PCB, and I'm afraid they'll never change.

 

[Caesar]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

One thing that I think needs to be asked is whether Pakistan is even all that interested in Test cricket. When you have guys like Razzaq, Moin Khan, Mahmood and Inzy buggering off to the ICL, talented players like Afridi scorning Test cricket, and most of the Test side batting like they're in a limited overs game, it begs the question.

It's a shame they're in such a mess really. With such a young team, the ban on tours of Pakistan is something of a blessing in disguise. Guys like Aamer and Umar Akmal are being forced to develop their game and hold their places in the side solely on foreign pitches, under a wide range of conditions. When you're playing 'home' series in places as diverse as England and Qatar, you have to become extremely versatile.

 

[Boris]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

Pakistan and West Indies are in the Semi Final of the U19 World Cup, and out of those two and India one of them will be joining Australia in the Final (can't remember the two that are playing for that spot, but those for made the semis). This is a very good sign that Pakistan and the Windies have some players to make their mark in the future and become more formidible forces.

 

[TeeJay1860]

Re: The Way forward for Pakistan

i quite liked the bowling attacks in the last couple of tests - the TACTICS employed were pretty dire - bowling wide of off stump in the hope of getting a wild slash. Aamer is a precocious young talent and one to watch, Gul is pretty consistant and Asif was very impressive, especially with the new ball.

They need some better tactics and to be backed up by the fielders.

Batting has the potential to be strong when you read the line up

Butt, Manzoor, Younis, Yousuf, Umer Akmal, Malik, and Safraz (might not bat too well, but you need to have a solid keeper before you worry about if he can bat or not. In any case, the six men infront of him should have done the most of the run getting