Mushtaq Ahmed senior statesman

Spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has

attained role of senior statesman

From Waheed Khan

FAISALABAD: The role of Pakistan’s senior leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed in the senior team has acquired an interesting dimension.

Apart from the fact that he is in the Pakistan squad for the first two Tests against England to be considered for final selection, Mushtaq apparently has now attained the role of a senior statesman in the side.

With young Danish Kaneria bowling well, it is clear that it is highly unlikely Mushtaq will get a chance to play any match despite his recent good form for Sussex.

He appears to have accepted this fact of life. And going by the role he occupies in the team, one can’t really disregard him for the post of assistant coach of the senior team in the near future. A role he appears to be preparing himself for.

In the last two weeks that one has followed the Pakistan team in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad, it has been interesting to see that while Mushtaq has bowled a limited number of overs in the nets, he has been very active in advising and guiding the younger players, among them Kaneria.

In the final nets held before the second Test in Faisalabad, Mushtaq spent most of his time orchestrating the practice sessions of the batsmen without bowling himself or standing and watching the bowlers go through their drills stopping them now and again to pass on some guide-lines to them.

He is also clearly very close to captain Inzamam-ul-Haq who obviously will not disregard any cricketing advice from him.

Off the field, Mushtaq has been active in convincing the players to become practising Muslims and in supervising prayers and religious talk sessions.

He can be seen trying to explain to the younger players the importance of saying prayers regularly and being practising Muslims without becoming a nuisance for them.

The result has been that most of the players now say their prayers regularly together. Many of them attend the religious sermon sessions with interest and even a free-hearted soul like Shoaib Akhtar joins the team in the prayer sessions even at the break of dawn and there is a marked improvement in his attitude.

"The atmosphere in the team is very peaceful and comfortable now. There are no intrigues and everyone is more open with each other. There is a lot of emphasis on being good Muslims/human beings and that is helping us perform well on the field also," a player said.

The player also explained that at the start of the each session when the players huddle together they recite special Dua and Suraas and confirm to back each other regardless of the situation. "One reason why the team has started to come back from difficult situations is that the philosophy in the team now is that the players can only work hard and play with commitment, the rest is with Allah."

About captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, another person who has turned towards religion to seek peace and serenity, the player said, had also made it mandatory for everyone to listen and accept to the advice given out by the coach and support staff.

"He is a very fine captain. He never unnecessarily puts pressure on any player even if they are not performing. Never shouts at them in public but is very firm when it comes to getting performances and commitment out of anyone," another player said.

"He can be very hard if he feels someone is going against his philosophy which is that he would rather prefer to select someone who scores 30 for the team than someone who scores a hundred for himself," the player stated.

thats the attitude i love

waheed khan being positive???? is that possible!!!!!

Very encouraging to see Shoaib's change in attitude and him joining them for Namaz.

Maybe he's attended Mushy's sermons as well.