Trust of a nation and its fans let down

The cricket that brought respite to millions of Pakistanis — from the suicide bombs, the floods and the atrocities within — has now left them distraught. The expression, the ebullience and the sweet smell of determination and audacity that belied his age — 18, as reported by the officials — now reeked of betrayal. An act menial, but with repercussions grand.

Mohammad Aamir is a smart cricketer. Too smart for his age. He talks of his bowling with a doctorate in his hand, knowing precisely how to act his trade with the accuracy, ability and the arm. At 15 he was prodigy-turned-casualty courtesy dengue fever, stress fracture and the stern demands of international cricket. Three years on, he was Pakistan cricket’s biggest thing, still just a teenager from a small village.

Bigger than that then, perhaps, was the temptation.

Over-stepping is a norm in cricket. Umar Gul has mastered the art. Suraj Randiv enacted it with perfection in Sri Lanka barely days ago. So why would a slight stretch — a vociferous extension in this case — be met with a raised eyebrow or question one’s conscientiousness. Because it negated all the preceding effort, the haul of wickets, the prize money, the heroics and the wide beam of a child gaining recognition, fame and applaud. And the trust of a nation, of its mad fans.

Money is no foreigner to Pakistan cricket. Allegations are, and have been, omnipresent. Verdicts, decisions, recommendations have been passed. Bans have been placed. Worlds have been shattered as a result. So the tangibility of the scenario was never in question. It was the innocence of those blamed, especially Aamir.

Last time Pakistan visited England they forfeited a Test match after ball-tampering accusations and subsequent on-field penalty. This year, following the thrashing — the absolute battering — it has received intermittently, it has been forced to forfeit its self-respect and dignity. And because of reasons that lay beyond the results.

It’s premature to pass a verdict while the investigations are ongoing, especially considering the U-turn following Bob Woolmer’s death and the guilt cloud that was floated over the Pakistan team. However, the dropped heads, the visible capitulation and the management’s failure to defend the individuals after Pakistan’s on-field disaster at Lord’s, have effectively told us what the verdict will be. A massive shock and a swift fold of events that not only dampened England’s almost-miraculous fightback from the depths of despair but also sunk Pakistan cricket further in the doldrums, an inconceivable thought given the tumultuous year that it has had so far.

In an interview last year, Aamir told me he wanted to “have a bit in my wallet”. Perhaps, a better lifestyle to what he had witnessed up till then was what he meant. But the words still come back to haunt.

© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31, 2010

Revealed: management's thumbs-up

In a shocking revelation following the spot-fixing allegations, the Pakistan team management has conceded to The Express Tribune that it had no problems with the players interacting with the alleged bookmaker Mazhar Majeed who was arrested and later released on bail.

The confession comes just days after reports that Pakistan’s One-Day International and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi had barred his teammates from having any links with Mazhar who, along with his brother Azhar, acted as the players’ agent for club contracts and endorsements in England.

“We were fully aware that some of the players had Mazhar and Azhar as their agents and we didn’t have a problem with that,” a member of the team management told The Express Tribune from Taunton where the team arrived yesterday. “As long as they weren’t brought to the players’ rooms, we didn’t have a problem since the duo acted as their agents.”

Afridi, who announced his Test retirement after defeat in the tour’s first Test against Australia, was sceptical of the duo, an act not taken well by Mazhar who, in the video recorded by The News of the World, confirmed this stance and that the players opposed Afridi as captain for precisely this reason.

“They all want [Salman] Butt to be captain,” Mazhar had allegedly confessed before adding the players wanted Afridi to fail

While Mazhar has been released on bail by Scotland Yard, the Pakistan team’s associate manager Shafqat Rana has confirmed that no players will be suspended by the management while the police investigations were ongoing. He added that despite the magnitude of the allegations, the players remained confident and fully focussed on the job at hand.

“We have no reason to suspend anyone at the moment,” Rana told The Express Tribune. “The chairman is in London and he’s arriving here soon and we’ll wait for the police to complete their investigations.

“The players know they have a job at hand and a tour to carry on with. Despite being sad and hurt due to the allegations, they’re acting their usual selves, smiling as always and remain confident that they can do a good job on the remainder of the tour.”

Rana’s cheerfulness was in stark comparison to Pakistan’s body language on the fourth morning at Lord’s. While the batsmen were booed on the field and the post-match ceremony held indoors to avoid crowd reaction, Salman remain subdued in the post-match press conference, with a distraught look to his face, and let team manager Yawar Saeed reply to most questions.

© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31, 2010

Shamed

The spot-fixing scandal that had rocked Pakistan cricket late Saturday evening was further fuelled by revelations that the team management had warned players not to interact with Mazhar Majeed, the London-based bookmaker arrested by London police.

On Saturday, a London-based tabloid News of the World published a report which showed Mazhar accepting money from undercover reporters posing as Arab businessmen. In this, Mazhar had promised certain players performing as per prior arrangement against payment. The paper alleges that certain members of the Pakistan team performed as per this arrangement.

This scandal has not only rocked Pakistan cricket but also put into doubt the future of the tour.

Investigations by The Express Tribune reveal that a London-based source close to the Pakistan team shared his earlier worries with regards to the Majeed brothers, Mazhar and Azhar.

He told The Express Tribune about how he, and Pakistan’s One-Day International and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, had barred the players from interacting with the duo.

“It’s a shame to see this happening to Pakistan cricket but I could see it coming for a long time,” said the entrepreneur. “I have known the duo for a very long time and Mazhar in fact had an argument with the PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt prior to Pakistan’s first Test of the tour at Lord’s. But it’s a shame how, despite my and Afridi’s constant reminders, the players still chose to entertain the brothers and I see no way out for them from this.”

Azhar, Mazhar’s brother who was arrested late Saturday evening for ‘conspiring to defraud bookmakers’, pleaded innocent while speaking to The Express Tribune and confirmed that he was oblivious of his brother’s illegal activities.

“I don’t understand what has happened,” said the London-based Azhar, who has been involved with the players and often acted as their agent in England. “Until last night, I didn’t even know what spot-fixing was. It’s a complete shock for me and I’ve never indulged in such activities despite being involved with the players for a long time.”

Meanwhile, in the shocking aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal – and the crushing defeat in the fourth and final Test at Lord’s – captain Salman Butt and manager Yawar Saeed failed to defend the accused players in front of the media.

Salman, who had remained composed since taking over the captaincy last month despite heavy losses, looked downright distraught in the post-match press conference, accompanied by Saeed, and his assertive remarks gave way to meek muttering as the cricket world awaits the Scotland Yard inquiry.

“At this point in time, they’re just allegations and obviously we’re sad to hear those,” said Saeed while at no point claiming that Pakistan players were innocent. “Aamir is a young bowler who’s done very well so far in his career all over the world. He’s down because his name has come through but if he comes through clean, then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Salman, who led Pakistan to a Test win over Australia after a gap of 15 years and beat England for the first time in England since 2001, did speak of his team’s innocence but for the troubled look on his face, a first, despite losses to the magnitude of 150 runs, 354 runs and nine wickets on the tour.

“Every member in the team has given his one hundred per cent,” said Salman. “You don’t achieve what you want every time you go out but all you can do is try your best and the rest is out of your control.”

The PCB late on Sunday said it has submitted a report on the issue to the president of Pakistan. It said that it also wanted access to the accused persons alleged to have been involved in the spot-fixing. Interior minister Rehman Malik also stated that an FIA team is proceeding to London for further investigations.

© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune, Aug 30, 2010

Hafeez unsurprised by inclusion in tour squad

Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has remained unsurprised following his shock inclusion in the side’s One-Day International and Twenty20 squads to take on England.

Hafeez, who was dropped after a poor 2010 World Twenty20 where he scored just 49 runs in six matches and took two wickets, has not scored an international half-century since December 2006. Despite his status as an allrounder, Hafeez has fared poorly with the ball as well, having not taken more than three wickets in an innings since October 2003.

“The call-up to the squad was not surprising at all,” Hafeez told The Express Tribune following an unconvincing appearance for AO Clinic in a local Twenty20 tournament. “I had served Pakistan well before the 2010 World Twenty20 and it’s wrong to write off someone after just two or three poor performances.”

Hafeez, who averages 18.6 with the bat after 48 ODIs, did express his surprise after his omission from the Test squad for the tour of England despite having a 30-plus average with two centuries. However, according to the allrounder, he utilised the break well and opted out of a club contract in England in order to maintain his fitness while working at the NCA in Lahore.

“I think this is a lucky time and chance for me and I hope I’m given a long stint in the team, similar to how some of the young guys got in the Test squad and with the World Cup looming, I hope to be in Pakistan’s squad for that tournament.”

Hafeez captained Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in their debut Quaid-e-Azam season where they went on to win the trophy, beating HBL in the final.

He also led Pakistan A on their tour of the UAE earlier this year where the side took on England Lions and despite not performing with the bat, it was his experience that led to his inclusion in the side for the World Twenty20 title-defence in the West Indies.

“I’m experienced with the English conditions and that is another reason why I’ve been chosen. I’ve been training hard during the summer and while I’m not thinking long term, the five ODIs will help me cement my place in the team.”

© Faras Ghani 2010.
Published in The Express Tribune, Aug 26, 2010

Small steps contributed to a big win

The journey of a thousand steps begins with a single step. Upon completion, comprising mediocrity and exhilaration, the thousand little steps each complement its predecessor and pave way for the one to follow, with smoothness in a gentle procession and not a squalling.

Pakistan came out brimming with confidence at The Oval amid the gloom, forgetting the past annihilation and blocking out the verdicts condemning them as spectators. A show of apprehension, given Mohammad Yousuf’s return and memories of 2006, but the self-assurance, the authority and the euphonic act that is playing without fear against a team far superior and heads far experienced allowed Pakistan that bit of abatement it badly needed following scores of 80 and 72.

The small steps – contributing in every department in every session on every day – made for a changed viewing. Losing the toss after the nine-wicket humiliation meant Pakistan in the firing line first up with the morale of the individuals to be heavily tested. The flurry of wickets and the surprise package that was holding onto catches meant that England, given Pakistan’s penchant for self-destruction, would need to work extra hard for their seventh consecutive Test win.

Salman Butt put the nervy win down to a team effort. It was anything but. Newcomers shone. Old faces dazzled. Perhaps it was the fatherly figure of Yousuf (taking over Inzamam’s mantle) or perhaps it was the fear of a whitewash and the resulting clear-out that follows such calamities in Pakistan, the batsmen played for a cause.

The unprecedented sorcery with the ball had shocked and bewildered the opposition throughout the tour but the prowess with the bat, one that Yousuf effortlessly creamed into play, remained a spectator’s delight. His ill-advised moves off the field aside, Yousuf brought the visual appeal to Pakistan that the dead bats in the preceding Tests had robbed its fans of.

What he needs now, is for his side to carry on. Pakistan’s record following a Test win remains worrying. Since 2007, in 23 Tests, it has failed to win back-to-back Tests, or even two in close proximity, which shows frailty in the minds and of the body. They beat South Africa in 2007 but lost three of the next four (in three different countries). They beat New Zealand in 2009 only to lose four of the next five. After winning against Australia in Leeds, Pakistan twice came crashing down to earth.

Regardless of what happens in the final Test, with the grit, the determination and the ability to fight shown on the tour – a Twenty20 whitewash and Test win against Australia as well as the hunger that marked its riposte against England – it is not just the doubters proven wrong. It’s Pakistan’s own fears as well.

© Faras Ghani 2010

Published in The Express Tribune, Aug 23, 2010

A breath of stale air at The Oval

With Pakistan desperate to record their first Test win over England since November 2005 – having lost five of the six Tests played since – the return of Mohammad Yousuf has been seen as a vital ingredient to set the record straight.

The inclusion of youngsters at number three and four for the first three Tests of the tour was widely seen by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as a fresh start for Pakistan cricket. However, following a spate of low scores and continuous humiliation, the board was forced to call back the retired Yousuf to bolster the fragile batting line-up that has been severely tested in bowling-friendly conditions.

While the conditions have proved a nightmare for the batsmen, Pakistan bowlers, though, have proved their worth on the tour.

“The conditions have been overcast throughout,” said captain Salman Butt on the eve of the match. “The bowlers know how to utilise them so that has been the difficult part for the batsmen. But we can’t use it as an excuse and it has been four Test matches so far and we should come up with something better this time.”

Kamran returns as well

Injuries, too, have forced Pakistan to revamp their squad with the latest casualty being backup wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider who aggravated his finger injury in his debut match at Edgbaston. Unfortunately for Pakistan, it will be the second time this year that regular wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal returns to the playing eleven after being omitted for just one match after horrors behind the stumps.

Riaz likely to make debut

Pakistan will also be forced to make a change in the fast-bowling attack with Umar Gul having been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series. With Wahab Riaz having already played for Pakistan, his preference over Tanvir Ahmed looks likely with Saeed Ajmal, with a five-wicket haul and a half-century at Edgbaston, shouldering spinning responsibilities.

Amin faces the axe

The return of Yousuf, however, will signal the exit for one of the youngsters and with Azhar Ali looking more stable of the two at number three, Umar Amin looks the likely omission from the playing eleven to make way for the veteran. Yousuf, who scored 631 runs in the 2006 Test series in England, has not played competitive cricket since January but did feature in the two-day tour match against Worcestershire in which he scored an unbeaten 40 before rain denied Pakistan the much-needed batting practice.

© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2010