Test Cricket or if I may say Cricket in Pakistan is in shambles. The glossy corporate look, the performance contracts and the scandals have biffed the fans with everything but cricket!
One cannot help but glaringly notice a Test barren 2008 for Pakistan whereas just across the border players are counting themselves “out” because of too much cricket; Team India has already participated in nine Test matches in the on-going 2008 and there are no less than six more in offing before New Year’s celebrations would begun. A total of 15 Test matches to go with 35+ ODIs and of course hosts of T20 affairs here, there, everywhere!
One line of argument will correlate Modern India’s domination over the Global-Cricketing-Scene with the amount of cricket that they play but what is to be said about the innocent Kiwis? Who spirited in eight 5-day affairs and look comfortably set to finish the year with a healthy 12 Test matches.
While the Cricket Boards are advancing in terms of qualitative quantity of Test cricket for their National Units PCB is retreating – it certainly is knee-jerk lobbying on their part which is still visible even if covered in the veneer of security concerns, disciplinary hearings & shaggy negotiations at Board level. The fact that Pakistan’s next Test assignment is scheduled to take place at the start of next year (2009) takes one as back as to 1970 to find a similar empty year for the National Team – that was the time when only four opponents were on the cricketing scene (RSA was avoided due apartheid regime & ODIs were yet to be invented) and therefore, Test-less years were pretty much a common affair with players acquainting themselves with county & league cricket to maintain the nip-tick. Fast forwarding 38 years to find the similar situation TODAY compels me to say that indeed we love our history in every regard!
In fact, author finds serious correlations of present decade with the one that precedes the year 1970 because Test Cricket or any Cricket the quality of National reservoirs’ in totality defines the direction of World Supremacy!
The Dull Sixties are defined as the lowest ebb of Team Pakistan and I certainly don’t feel any joy in apprehending that the present one (00s) isn’t much different when viewed in entirety.
Let’s analyze,
After promisingly exciting 50s where Team Pakistan stunned the Cricketing World Order by announcing their arrival with a Test victory in every series but the last one against Australia. The victorious heroics of Lucknow’52, The Oval’54, Karachi’56, & Port-of-Spain’58 spirited the juvenile nation and much bigger things were anticipated in the years to come by. However, the dawn of 60s saw the bowling stalwarts’ a-la Fazal Mehmud, Khan Muhammad & Mehmood Hussain standing in the twilight of their courageous careers and there is to be no one remotely available to succeed their prowess. Instead, spin was comparatively flourishing and the likes of Nasim-ul-Ghani, Intikhab Alam & Pervez Sajjad emerged as a lot to carry the brunt of bowling.
Ironically, Pakistan never completely played to their strengths (spin) unlike their counterparts who under the auspicious leadership of M.A.K. Pataudi were putting better shows with a troika of 3 together. In fact, the sole pace bowling success for Pakistan in the entire decade was of Asif Iqbal, who after migrating from India in the early part of the decade finished it off with 40 wickets in 17 Test matches; afar cry from 125 off 26 Tests by the Cutter & Swing Maestro Fazal
Mehmood in the previous tenner. On Team level Pakistan played some of their worst Test cricket ever by miserably losing the reputation in The Great Britain earned on the debut tour - by losing a plethora of Tests on their 2 tours to the homeland of cricket and touched nadir when beaten by New Zealand at home just before the turn of the 70’s.
History, contexts & fortunes, they say repeat themselves and I agree –SIXTIES made a return after an absence of some 30 years to usher the dawn of the New Millennium that witnessed in its nine years of existence the surrender of: Home & Away territory to India, Proud Reputation in The Great Britain, Any pride whatsoever against the Aussie Juggernauts’ & the inability to even
conquer now the defeatist of Caribbean territory; of course not to mention the humiliations of highest order in the World Cups & ICCCTs.
Alike sixties that suffered depletion in bowling reservoirs’, 00s also suffered with the exodus of a number of stars that upheld the game in the roaring nineties i.e. 2 Ws, Musthaq Ahmed & Saqlain Mushtaq all faded away either due to injuries or a call from Dr. Time. In fact none of them were in action after 2003.
To say that Pakistan didn’t found their decent replacements would be a thin statement but were the replacements’ procured & groomed with consciousness? A big flat NO! Rather they were left out to fry & dry on their own and what did they did? They did what their rather limited educational capacity allowed them to do by catching controversies of every breed from their left right & center and when handed a breather nursed their injuries, farcical at times (Shoaib’ emulating Sultan Rahi by hitting Asif with a bat). The depths of this vicious circle are news already making headlines about the attitude of latest lanky sensation Sohail Tanvir.
This decade, IMO would be best remembered with the biggest irony that Team Pakistan ever faced for being unable to field their best troika of Shoiab-Asif-Gul even once in a 5-day affair, hence, leaving their performance in that strengthened context only to conjecture.
Nevertheless, as the oft-repeated age old saying goes there’s always a light at the end of the Tunnel & I agree. The twilight of Sixties witnessed the egression of Sarfaraz Nawaz, Asif Masood, coming-of-age of Mushtaq Muhammad & Intikhab Alam that set the road alight for the entrance of first Imran Khan & then Abdul “Bao” Qadir & Iqbal Qasim to win endless laurels for the Homeland.
Similarly, even in the twilight of 00s, a bowling attack comprised of Akhtar, Asif, Gul & Kaneria can definitely see the home team restoring some of its pride when their old nemesis shall cross the border in early 2009 because bowling NOT batting had been the discipline that has witnessed the Players in Green victorious more often than not throughout the course of 56 years of Cricket Pakistan’s history.
May Allah bestow some sanity in the minds of our PCBian Gods. Amen!
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