A VIEW FROM MIDWICKET: The Little Caesars

By MU Haq

Pakistan cricket chief selector Salahuddin Ahmad alias Sallu and his comrades have come under fire from some former captains for certain acts of omission in selecting the Pakistan squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. Dropped are Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf and dashing all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. Yousuf is considered unsuitable for Twenty20 game – his classical batting contributes to a slow scoring rate and at 32 years of age he is leaden footed in the field – and it was expedient to replace him with a younger man who, incidentally, is one year older then the champion batsman. In Razzaq’s case, I suppose he was not in favour, even though his prolific hitting would favour his selection in this format of the game. The Little Caesars who form the selection committee hardly set the world on fire in their playing days and one has reason to question their judgment. As for Sallu, somebody up there must be kindly inclined towards him to make him the PCB’s favourite flavour!

Central contracts were offered to 20 leading players. Of these 16, including Shoaib Akhtar, have signed, two who are playing county cricket in England have accepted the terms and conditions and will sign and two are under threat at the time of this writing to sign or else. The two are Yousuf and Razzaq, who are probably smarting over their non-selection and have therefore delayed signing the contract but with no intention of spurning the offer. The PCB’s chief operating officer is yet another Little Caesar who has not bothered to have a word of consultation with Yousuf and Razzaq but has instead declared that their names will be erased from the list of contracted players if they did not sign forthwith. The COO’s attitude does not bode well and if our cricket is to be run in this manner, then it would be in a fitness of things if the PCB were to have martial law declared to govern cricket affairs in Pakistan. (NB: someone has drummed sense into the COO’s brain and he has backed down to allow more time to the players to sign up).

I would say I do not support ‘player-power’, but firmly believe the administrators and officials must accept the fact that they are around because of the players and not the players because of them. Pacer Akhtar is in the proverbial once again and for his sins has been fined Rs 300,000 on disciplinary grounds. Since walking away from a training camp in Karachi, the fast bowler has gone underground. He was quick to sign the central contract which placed him in category A and, for a change, appeared fully committed to contribute to Pakistan’s success in South Africa inspite of an injury scare, on this occasion a stiff neck a la Kardar! Akhtar on song is an asset, but the problem is that he cannot be relied upon to last a series or tournament. In the current situation, will Akhtar’s conduct cause him more grief? He is almost 32 years old and one wonders how much longer can he be expected to bowl at a fearsome pace?