Pakan’s World Cup loss against Afghanan opens can of worms; flood of criticism directed at Babar Azam | Cricket-world-cup News

Pakan has suffered a shocking and continuous decline in hockey and squash in the past two decades. For, a country that has won three Olympic golds and a record four World Cup titles in hockey, being on the brink of missing out on their third straight Olympic Games is nothing less than a catastrophe. In 80s and 90s, squash was ruled the Khans – Jahangir and Jansher. Following Jansher’s last triumph in the British Open in 1996, squash as a sport in Pakan has only gone down.Following Pakan’s Chennai debacle in the ODI World Cup, the question has been raised whether cricket will face the same fate as hockey and squash in Pakan.
Fakhar-e-Alam, host of the cricket show The Pavillion on ‘A Sports’, asked this question to his panells, former skippers Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq. He didn’t get any answers.
Pakan’s senior journal Shahid Hashmi broke down midway through his report from Chepauk at Ary News. One of the guests of the show, Basit Ali, said: “This is the pain of entire Pakanis.”
However, former Pakan skipper Rashid Latif says cricket will not face the same fate as hockey and squash in Pakan because of the money invested in this sport.
“Cricket will never die in Pakan. It will not have the fate of hockey and squash,” Latif told the Indian Express.
“The reason is money. Yes our cricketers don’t earn as much as India but as per our economy, all of them are looked after really well. Barring the IPL, they play all the T20 leagues. Cricket’s commercial value is way higher than the other sports in Pakan. Yes, what happened with our hockey and squash is sad but I can’t see the decline of cricket in Pakan,” he added.
Rashid though blasted the Pakan Cricket Board (PCB), the selectors, the think tank for their performance in the ongoing World Cup.
“What we saw in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and in Chennai is all a result of poor selection. In Pakan, there is no dearth of talent, the problem lies with the board, the thinktank, whether they will give the right talent a chance or not,” said Latif.
Rashid Latif has put the blame on the political interference in Pakan cricket and with bureaucrats calling the shots in day-to-day cricketing activities.
“The question after this performance should be asked is where can we improve? I am not saying the chairman should be a former cricketer but CEO, the head of the high-performance centre should be a former cricketer. Our problem is that the bureaucrats run these important sections and they are creating a mess,” he said.
Former Pakan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on his Youtube channel, has lambasted the PCB for Pakan’s Chennai debacle.
“This is the true reflection of the PCB what is shown now on the television today. This is the direct impact of the choices you have made for the past 20-30 years in cricket. This is the end result you are getting,” he said.
Shoaib also said that there is not a single cricketer in the current Pakan team, who is inspiring enough for kids to pick up the sport. He said: “Tell me one thing, does this team have even one inspiring cricketer? Growing up, I have seen the likes of Waqar Younis, and Wasim Akram. Which cricketer in the Pakan team is inspiring enough for kids to pick up the sport.”
Babar’s poor captaincy
Coming down heavily on Babar Azam’s captaincy in the ODI World Cup after Pakan’s eight-wicket loss against Afghanan, former Pakani captains Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq had termed Azam as not good enough for the captaincy role. Afghanan restricted Pakan to 282 and then chased it down with an over to spare.
Babar has been on the dart-targets of most former Pakani legends and is drowning under a flood of criticism. Shoaib Malik, in the past, has tweeted that under Babar, Pakan has a culture of friendships, likes and dislikes. Malik on Monday has said the only person who is responsible for this situation is captain Babar Azam. He said: “The guy who is most responsible is the captain. As a batsman, he is King, but as a leader, he is not.”
Malik’s co-panell, former Pakan captain and wicketkeeper Moin Khan made a scathing remark on Babar. He said: “He is leading the side for the past four years. He has led the team in almost all the big events. Not a single thing he has learnt over the period of time.”
The former Pakan captain has said that Babar Azam should learn from Virat Kohli and quit captaincy so that he can enjoy his cricket.
“It is my personal opinion that he would have been better playing as a batsman than leading this team. Look at Kohli, he left India’s captaincy, and it has turned his fortunes around,” Alam has told this newspaper.
Former Pakan pacer Aqib Javed, who has in the past criticised Azam’s timid approach in T20, now wants Shaheen Shah Afridi as the new captain of Pakan cricket, citing his success as Lahore Qalandars captain at the Pakan Super League.
“Pakan Cricket Team needs a new captain after World Cup who can bring aggression in the players. I will recommend Shaheen Afridi who took such decisions in PSL which an ordinary player like Babar Azam cannot even think of,” he said on Suno News.
On Geo TV, in the show named “Haarna mana hai,” former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq took aim at Babar’s ranking. He said: “Apna No 1 batsman hai jo samne chhakka nahi maar sakta (Our No 1 batsman can’t even step out and hit a six down the ground).”
In the same show, Babar’s former teammate Mohammed Amir said: “He has been the captain for the past four years, and there is no improvement. Fast bowlers were getting reverse swing in Chennai, and he brought back the spinners. Nothing has changed in his approach since Day 1.”
Rashid Latif says the think tank surrounded Babar is full of “yes men.”
“There is no one in that dressing room who can tell Babar where he is going wrong. No one can dictate Babar in the dressing room, that’s the problem. Same happened with India when Virat was the captain,” said Latif.
“Babar is committing makes as he is not able to calculate the overs. This is because of T20 cricket. He is not able to calculate the overs of his strike bowlers. Someone in the dressing room should have sent the message to Babar that there is no point bringing Usama Mir in the 46th over with their pacers bowling reasonably well. But question is who will do the hard yard?”
Going forward for Pakan
One can count Pakan out at their own peril. The cornered tigers become more dangerous when their backs are against the wall. Last year in Australia, during the T20 World Cup, they lost to Zimbabwe and were almost out of the tournament but they went on to play the finals.
As was the case in the 1992 World Cup, they had lost three in a row and then won three straight games and snuck into the semi-final.
Will the fairytale be repeated? Can Babar be the next Imran?
Rashid Latif believes so. He said: “Risk hai toh ishq hai, that’s the Pakani way. They will have to play the out-of-the-box cricket, and Pakan has done it in the past.”Most Read
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Shoaib also believes that Pakan can still do well in the remaining four matches but will Babar Azam, the captain step up?
“Does Babar have the courage, does he have the stamina? Does he have the ability? Can he act like 1992 Imran Khan? Can Shaheen become Wasim Akram? Can Haris Rauf become Aquib Javed, Can Shadab become Mushtaq Ahmed? Can this team do this? I believe in this team but do they? God knows,” he said
Pakan’s remaining four fixtures are against South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand and England. They will need to win all four of them convincingly and at the same time, will have to hope that the gods of 92 will help them with another rescue plan.