After being whitewashed in the three-Test series against Australia, another whitewash is on the card, as the hosts have already the won the five-match One-day International (ODI) series 3-0. By the time this appears, the fourth one-dayer would have been played, and it hoped that the players, especially top order batsmen, including openers, would apply some brain to avoid possible "whitewash."
While the nation is mourning the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket and humiliating attitude of the IPL management and the bidders, the defeat after defeats has further saddened the cricket fans in the country.
They are of the opinion that if Pakistan want to remain in the Test and one-day cricket among the world's top-ranked teams, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) need to do something very special, and the players should remember that they have to ensure high level of consistency. Mental and physical fitness should be up to the mark no matter at what number and at what type of cricket they are playing. The importance is to play for the country with full commitment and dedication.
SIGNS OF DECLINE The signs of decline in the team were visible soon after winning the 1992 World Cup and with the retirement of Imran Khan, the process gained momentum when Pakistan, led by Wasim Akram, lost the 1996 World Cup quarter final to India. This was really the first serious blow to the Pakistan cricket.
It is generally believed that the players, selected for the national team after a number of appearances in the First Class and even playing in the County cricket in England, consider themselves professional cricketers. In a sense, they are professional cricketers, but they lack the basic ingredients of professionalism. Their attitude, body language, physical and mental fitness indicate that they are still haunted by the club level cricket attitude.
Playing for departments for a certain period in domestic cricket is not a qualification to be called as professional. It is the attitude, equipped with patience, mental toughness, physical fitness and above all the body language, which help a boy to become a professional player. It requires rigorous training under the guidance of a qualified coach and trainer.
If the Cricket Board starts this exercise at Under-15 and Under-19 level at its regional and then at National Cricket Academy, there will be no problem in building a strong winning side.
BATTING FLAWS As regards openers, the PCB has not been able to find the openers of the caliber of Hanif Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad, Shoaib Mohammad or Mudassar Nazar. During the last couple of years, the national cricket management has tried a number batsmen, including mercurial Shahid Afridi, Manzoor Elahi, Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat and Salman Butt with Yasir Hameed, who occasionally clicked, for the all important slot, but none of them could deliver regularly, resulting in putting the middle order under pressure.
Similar is the case of one-down position until all-rounder Shoaib Malik was promoted to bat at number three position. The performance of most of our batsmen on the docile wickets at home was below average, hence they cannot be expected to perform well on the hard, bouncy and turning Australian wickets.
HANIF MOHAMMAD'S ADVICE Once Little Master Hanif Mohammad told budding cricketers that he always considered club matches as a Test match. He advised the young cricketers that if they wanted to become good cricketers, they should keep in mind that no match was less important than the First Class or even a Test match.
They should, therefore, put their heart and soul on their game as the present day game had become more scientific and demanding, he further advised. Here one may recall Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, who advised his players, particularly batsmen, on the eve of Australian tour, forget the behaviour of the track, playing condition and bouncers and just bat.
"Ignore talks of being "bounced out" at the bouncy and hard and grassy tracks, they should not worry about the wicket as long as we do our own thing and we just go out and bat," Jayasuriya said. However, Pakistani cricketers must hang their heads in shame, as none of their "hero," could give any "remarkable" performance in the series, both the Tests and ODIs. Pakistan's humiliation not only the cricket fans in the country and abroad, but also the hosts Aussies, who have also lost also hopes to win the match.