Pakistan cricket has plumbed new depths. After a disastrous tour of England where we badly lost the Test series, barely scraped level in the ODIs and brought the game into historical disrepute, we have now lost the chairman, manager, administrator and bowling coach in the space of one week. Worse, the Champions Trophy is primed to bring fresh heartaches for the multitudes and unending headaches for the new management.
The resignation of the chairman, Shaharyar Mohammad Khan, should have been unacceptable. He was the most sincere, dedicated and selfless face of Pakistani cricket. When the unruly saga of the 4th Test was being played out in the Pakistan dressing room at the Oval, the sight of Mr Khan leaning over the balcony in abject despair told the whole sorry story. Inzimamul Haq may be a great batsman but he is a big zero as far as captaincy is concerned. Any captain who has to constantly lean over his shoulder and ask the volatile Shahid Afridi or the rigid Abdul Razzak or the born-again Mohammad Yousaf nee Youhana for advice is not worth his salt as captain.
The fellow didn’t understand a word of the umpires’ discussion about ball tampering because it was in English, but he didn’t have the humility to call in someone to explain the problem to him or the sense to react to it properly. Indeed, he woke up to notions of “honour” only during the tea interval when a couple of hotheads who didn’t know the law provoked him to take it into his own hands. If he had listened to Mr Khan the protest could have been made properly and the match won to boot! His misguided action has provoked a four match ban personally and is threatening a million dollar lawsuit institutionally. What is the Pakistan cricket captain and team all about?
To be sure, the side is overflowing with talent and audacity. In recent decades, we have boasted some of the fastest bowlers and best batsmen in the world. We have even won the World Cup once. We have beaten every team in the business many times. But we have never dented world rankings for any appreciable length of time like the Australians, the British and the West Indies. Indeed, when we think of Pakistani captains we think invariably and only of “Skipper” Hafiz Kardar and “Skipper” Imran Khan. No one ever called Zaheer Abbas or Asif Iqbal or Javed Miandad or Wasim Akram “skipper” because they were barely “first among equals” by virtue of their appointment as “seniors” for captaincy and not by dint of any leadership qualities.
That is the basic problem with the Pakistan “side” – it doesn’t gel as a team because it lacks a captain with leadership qualities who can mould and motivate individual talent into something much greater than the sum of its parts.
The main problem is a lack of basic education and human relation skills that hone a “team spirit” and keep the game in repute. The street is not the same thing as the arena. By definition the street is rough and ready while the stadium is regulated and monitored. One plays selfishly and individually on the street but selflessly for team and country in the arena. But this is one transition that most street-fighting Pakistani cricketers haven’t learnt to make independently or institutionally. That’s why we have had only two good and worthwhile captains – both had talent and could lead from the front because they were educated and conscious of the responsibility and sense of duty and fair play that a good education imparts. That was a combination of talent, education and character that set them apart from the others because it evoked respect and fear and admiration from their “mates”. They had the ability to exploit the individual talent of their players and channel it for the greater collective good. That is why there were no “groupings” in the ranks, no backstabbing, no sulking, no rebellion, no blackmail, no self-righteousness, and no unmerited indulgence of players. Winning and losing were important, to be sure, but the team spirit or esprit de corps was fundamental. Nationalism was important, certainly, as a motivating force and crowd puller but it was visibly frowned upon when it spilled over into the ground and trampled onto the wicket during the match.
It is in this context that Younas Khan’s petulant behaviour in accepting the captaincy, refusing it and again accepting it is not a good omen for the future. According to reports he felt slighted because Mr Khan turned down his sifarish to employ a gardener or made him wait for an appointment. This shows lack of character. It is also not a good sign that feigned religiosity has so stamped itself on the forehead of many of our players that they are spurred into action and reaction by self-righteousness and rage rather than tactics and strategy, competence and professionalism. The national malaise has seeped into the cricket team and undermined it.
We are, after all, required to play cricket with equals, and not wage jihad against infidels. More than any physical training or coaching or talent, what Pakistani street-fighting players need is a continuous educational camp to build character and renew the esprit de corps of the game.