The Curious Case of Pakistan Cricket Team: Part 3

We ended the last part at Pakistan's humiliating first round exit from the World Cup. So, as has been the norm, an operation clean up was undertaken and Waqar and Richard Pybus were sacked. Rashid Latif was made captain and Miandad was named coach for a third time. Senior players like Inzimam and Shahid Afridi were not included in the Cherry Blossom Cup that followed. Pakistan won the Cup after beating Zimbabwe (tournament also featured World Cup Semifinalist Sri Lanka). Next was a tri-series in Sri Lanka also involving New Zealand. Pakistan were beaten by the Blackcaps in the final. Pakistan headed to England for the Natwest Challenge which the Greenshirts lost 2-1.
In the following series, Pakistan hosted Bangladesh. Inzimam saved Pakistan from embarrassment by winning the the third test by a wicket. As if fate was on his side, Rashid Latif was banned for five ODIs for claiming a dropped catch and Inzimam was made captain (first temporarily but eventually permanently). Rashid never played a game for Pakistan again. The ODI series was whitewashed by Pakistan.
Pakistan hosted South Africa next. A closely contested ODI series was won by the Proteas 3-2 but Pakistan came back strong and won the test series 1-0 (Pakistan's first test series victory against SA).
Next NZ was mauled by Pakistan 5-0 in the ODI series in Pakistan. In the return series to NZ, Pakistan won the test series 1-0 but lost the ODI series 4-1.
Next Pakistan faced India after a long time. The ODI series was tightly contested but Pakistan lost 3-2. India went on to win the 3 test series 2-1 after lacklustre performance by Pakistan in Match 1 and 3. Miandad was removed as coach and Bob Woolmer was inducted.
Asia Cup followed in August 2004. Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, beat India but did not qualify for the final. Pakistan faced Australia and India in the Amstelveen Cup where Pakistan beat India but were defeated in the final by the Aussies.
ICC Champions Trophy saw Pakistan beat Kenya and India to qualify for the semifinals. Inconsistency came back to haunt Pakistan during the semifinal against West Indies. The whole team was bundled out for 130 odd.
Next was Paktel Cup in Pakistan which Pakistan lost in the final to Sri Lanka. The corresponding test series was drawn 1-1. Pakistan faced India in a one-off ODI to commemorate BCCI's 75 years, and spoiled the party for Indians by winning comprehensively.
In December, Pakistan toured Australia and were drubbed 3-0 in the test series including a 491 run loss. In the VB series that followed, Pakistan grudgingly qualified for the finals, getting beaten 2-0 by Australia.
The Indian tour followed this horrendous defeat. Pakistan drew the first test match courtesy Kamran Akmal and Abdur Razzaq's famous stance at Mohali. They were not so lucky in the second test but went on to draw the series 1-1 in the third. The ODI series was a great boost for Pakistan. Greenshirts won 4-2 after losing the first two games.
The next series was in the Caribbean where Pakistan won the ODI series 3-0 but went on to lose the first test due to the same inconsistency of the batting time up. The second test was won and series drawn 1-1.
England toured Pakistan in November 2005. The English team was fresh from a great Ashes victory but were mauled 2-0 in the test series by Pakistan, only because the second test was drawn due to insufficient light. Pakistan dominated the ODI series winning it in the 4th game (3-1) but went on to lose the last game.

-- to be continued  

The Curious case of Pakistan Cricket Team: Part 2

So we start from where we left off last time. In late 2001, Pakistan toured New Zealand under Moin Khan's captaincy and the coaching of Javed Miandad. The ODI series was tightly contested, ending 3-2 in favour of the kiwis. The Test series raised some eye brows with Pakistan leading 1-0 at the start of the third test. A poor batting display led Pakistan to a loss by an innings. The series ended 1-1. There were rumours of match fixing too. Moin Khan and Javed Miandad were both sacked and Waqar Younis was made captain.
Waqar's first challenge was ARY Gold Cup featuring New Zealand and Sri Lanka. After winning all round games, Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka in the final by 77 runs.
Richard Pybus returned for a third time as coach for Pakistan's tour to England. After getting hammered in the first test, Pakistani pacers helped the team level the series 1-1. Natwest Tri-series followed the Test series. Pakistan qualified to the final after beating England in all games and defeating Australia once. Unfortunately, the final was a replay of the 1999 World Cup. Pakistan were bowled out for 152. 
Next, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in the 2nd edition of the Asian Test Championship, and qualified for the final with Sri Lanka. Muddasar Nazar was named Coach after Pybus left the job citing security concerns in South Asia after the 9/11 attacks. The Greenshirts headed to Sharjah (second time this year) for the Khaleej Times Trophy featuring Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka easily in the final.
Next Pakistan went to Bangladesh and won both tests and all ODIs. West Indies flew to Sharjah (due to security situation in Pakistan), where Pakistan won both tests and also won the 3 match ODI series 2-1.
Pakistan were defeated in the Final of the Asian Test Championship. This defeat only bit temporarily since Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka a month later in the final of Sharjah Cup (April).
New Zealand visited Pakistan in April-May 2002 after serious security concerns caused a series to be cancelled in 2001. Pakistan won the 3-match ODI series comprehensively (3-0) and also won the first test handsomely thanks to Inzimam's 329. The second test was cancelled after a bomb exploded near New Zealand team's hotel. Pakistan won the series 1-0. 
Pakistan headed to Australia for a 3 match challenge. The tightly contest series was won by the Greenshirts 2-1. In August Pakistan went to Tangiers for the Morocco Cup featuring SA and Sri Lanka. Pakistan lost 3 out of the four round games and did not qualify for the final. Next came a PSO tri-series in Kenya, featuring Australia and Kenya. Pakistan lost both games to Australia, getting bowled out less than 120 on both occasions but qualified for the final by beating Kenya. Luck helped Pakistan share the trophy in the final as rain halted Australia's chase of 228.
Pakistan were knocked out of Champion Trophy 2002 by Sri Lanka in the very first game. PCB tried shaking things up by employing Richard Pybus as coach for a fourth time. But the worst

was to follow. Pakistan faced Australia in a first "international home test series" with the first game played in Colombo and the rest being placed in Sharjah. Pakistan were in control of the first test, on 173-3 chasing 316 but trademark inconsistency came to haunt the team, the match was lost by 41 runs. More misery awaited Greenshirts as they were bowled out for 59 and 53 in the 2nd test match and lost this one as well as the next one by an innings.
Next, Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe 5-0 in the ODIs and 2-0 in the tests. Pakistan were annihilated in South Africa. The greenshirts lost 4-1 in the ODI series and and then were embarrassed 2-0 by SA in the test series where they followed on in both tests losing the first one by 10 wickets and the second one by an innings. 
Such "fruitful" preparation before the World Cup brought "reward". Pakistan were sent home before the Super-6 stage and their only victories were against Namibia and the Netherlands. Please note that Pakistan had the services of Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam and Yousaf at this time. Coach Richard Pybus and Waqar Younis were both removed from coaching and captaincy respectively.

Half time conclusions:

* Usually we blame PCB's adhoc policies for Pakistan Cricket's sorry condition. But if you look at both the previous part, PCB showed great restraint by keeping Waqar Younis as captain from April 2001 till the World Cup 2003 although Pakistan lost series during the two periods.
* Second, people blame inaction on part of the PCB that leads to Pakistan team's poor performance. PCB tried using a foreign coach four times with the national team, but nothing came off it as Pakistan lost both Champions Trophies and World Cups.
* After every series loss, people cry out for change in PCB as well as the captaincy. We saw what happened under Saeed Anwar and then Waqar Younis. Moreover, the board was changed 3 times in 1999-2000. Had change been the catalyst to success Pakistan would have shown great success during this period.
* Another criticism is that younger players are not included in the side. Many youngsters were included after the 2000 loss to Australia, but the nation cannot tolerate loss and after every series there is hue and cry to bring back the legends. Same is true today about Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq.
* Wasim & Waqar era is a bit over-rated

Shoaib Akhter and Salman Butt

I'm currently reading Shoaib Akhter's biography "Controversially yours", and while reading it I was really touched by his modest childhood. He mentions on more than one occasion that his mother tried her best to make ends meet and that his father's salary was meagre. To top this, he was from a suburb of Rawalpindi, Morgah. Another interesting anecdote described is when he sleeps on a footpath in Lahore. These were certainly new things for me as I had always seen him as an arrogant, indisciplined fast bowler.

Rawalpindi:
The fastest bowler in the World

On the other hand, we have Salman Butt. Educated from Beachonhouse school system (an elitist institution) and belonging to a well-off family.
Salman Butt was sentenced to a 30 month jail term this year after he was found guilty of spot fixing in the Lord's Test. Shoaib, on the other hand, was always blamed for being indisciplined. But he was never, even by his biggest critics, blamed for match fixing. Never was Shoaib found lacking commitment.
Hence, while going through his book, I realized that there was another side to Shoaib Akhter, a side which was never revealed by the media. This has led to an increase in the respect I had for Shoaib. As he says in his book, "a man doesn't have to be a saint to do good things."