Future jobs for Pakistani cricketers...

Not sure who to give credit to for these images. Geo TV I guess? I got this forward from my dad this morning...

Fire incident: Inzamam chill fellow, Afridi an idiot

Not terribly newsworthy, but the recent evacuation, at the hotel housing the South African and Pakistani teams, is the only thing exciting happening right now in world cricket. (Sorry Bangladesh and Scotland!) Needless to say, Inzamam was really chill and nonchalant about the evacuation.

Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq was unfazed by the evacuation, saying he had been told that the team had had to leave the hotel "as a precautionary measure".

Inzi's response, actually reminded me of an amusing King Cricket post, which is quite apt. Afridi, of course, followed his own rules...

Afridi added: "I have no idea what happened. I had just woken up when the security man knocked on the door and said 'get out of the room'. But I went back to sleep. Then he knocked again, and said 'get out of the room'. Then I did and went downstairs."

Idiot!

Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik Mobilink Jazz commercial

Omar loves commercials and if you're reading this blog, you probably already know that Omar loves cricket. Anyway I just need to type something here, so that the video doesn't look lonely with no text around it. I like this commercial. Its got Afridi and Malik and the model Iman Ali.

Pakistan's opener rotation schedule comes full circle

Salman Butt has just been named as one of Pakistan's World Cup reserves! Which means an another complete cycle and run-through for our young openers is close to completion. Many critics claim that the PCB really has no long term or short term plans or strategies, but one has got to admire the consistency in our opener rotation.

I may be wrong, but this is the pecking order. Salman Butt starts off. Once Butt fails, Taufeeq Umar is slated to be next. Mohammad Hafeez, is around here, though its uncertain whether he comes after Umar or before Farhat. Anyway, Imran Farhat the bandana toting, catch-dropping bastard comes next. Imran Nazir, the young dashing aggressive opener from Peshawar or somewhere around there, comes in dead last. Now these are the openers on the rotation schedule. Yasir Hameed is an opener too, plays like an opener, and also looks like Imran Nazir crossbreed with Taufeeq Umar. Anyway, he is an opener, but somehow he has been placed into the middle order rotation schedule. (That's a lot slower as may be expected)

On occasion, the selectors and management will plug in Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi as openers too. These 3 players are permanent members of the squad, so they are not on the rotation schedule. They are only fit into that opening slot on a temporary/hopeful basis during the transition period. But rest assured, they WILL fail too, so the integrity, frequency and time period of the rotation remains.

In SL last year (March 2006), we had Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat as our openers in either test or ODI.

Note: The opener rotation schedule is not biased towards the format of the game. It is speculated that since our openers never cross 60 in either format of the game, and will always aim for a strike rate of over 150 anyway, using them in both formats is sound thinking! As a result, we do not employ specialist test or ODI openers.

In Eng (Summer 2006), It was Salman and Farhat again, but Butt starting doing badly, so Akmal came into open. Kamran Akmal is pretty bad opener. He deserves his own post. So then Mohammad Hafeez came in, scored his 50, which is a tradition for any Pakistani opener who has been out of the side for a while). He failed eventually (a bit sooner than expected), so they got in Taufeeq.

Then WI came to us. Taufeeq was dropped since he played much better in 'ICC Cricket Captain 2005' than in real life. We stuck with Farhat and Hafeeez. Blah blah.

Then we went to SA. Enter Imran Nazir. Bye bye Farhat.

There we have it. So its all just a gamble. Imran Nazir, who 6 months ago was nowhere near being our World Cup opener, is now destined to play the entire tournament. Isn't that amazing? At least its a fair system.

I wonder how I can scribble my name as a possible opener. I'd like to go in right after Farhat, but before Nazir, in the schedule. The reason being, prominent scientists have shown that public expectation in the openers is lowest right after Farhat fails.

Video of Afridi swinging at a fan

ICC charges Afridi for swinging bat at fan: Faces ban

Damn you Afridi! Here is the video which I posted just now. At first, it was thought that the ICC would not be charging Afridi, but circumstances quickly changes once Malcolm Speed saw the video footage. Here is how events unfolded. From SuperCricket...

The International Cricket Council on Tuesday angrily rejected criticism that they had failed to take any action against Shahid Afridi for trying to hit a spectator with his bat due to a fear of antagonising the Pakistanis.

Afridi was caught on television jabbing his bat at a spectator after he was dismissed for 17 in the first one-day international against South Africa at SuperSport Park, but is unlikely to face any official sanction.

"The ICC Code of Conduct says the four umpires, the team managers and the CEO of the home board can all lay a charge, but they must do so within 18 hours of the end of the match. The fact of the matter is none of these people did so," ICC media and communications manager Brian Murgatroyd said on Tuesday.

"Any decisions that are taken by ICC officials are made on the merits or otherwise of each individual situation and to suggest otherwise is misguided. I resent any implication that the ICC are biased or that we refuse to act because we want to maintain good relations with Pakistan and are afraid of antagonising them," Murgatroyd said.

Speed has five days after the match in which to react to the Afridi incident, but is currently in the Caribbean, where preparations for the World Cup have reached fever pitch.

"Malcolm Speed laid the charge against Gibbs because he felt it was appropriate to do so. If he had not done so then we were given to understand the Pakistan team manager would have acted instead," Murgatroyd explained.

"In the Afridi case, none of the other parties able to lay a charge chose to do so. Malcolm has five days to act and lay a charge if he deems it appropriate, and in all matters he reserves the right to do so."

Speed saw the video in question and promptly charged Shahid Afridi.

Afridi has been charged with a Level 3 offence under section C 2 of the Code which refers to "conduct unbecoming...which could bring (players or officials) or the game of cricket into disrepute."

If found guilty of a Level 3 offence, Afridi faces a ban of between two and four Test matches or between four and eight ODIs.

Great...If I were him, I would not appeal, but take the ban now before the World Cup begins. Afridi, you piece of.....

Afridi will make me eat my words..

...which I will gladly do in due time, but only after this series against South Africa is complete! Till then, I will stand by my position.

As my readers know I have continued my one-man campaign against Shahid Afridi for a quite a while now. Here, and here, here...and umm..also here. In fact, just look at my Afridi label.

So several people have already emailed or text-messaged me regarding my views on Afridi and they politely requested me to comment on this latest innings of his against South Africa.

Naturally, midway through this innings, one has to be very impressed. He made 77 runs of 35 balls with 5 four's and 6 sixes.

Brilliant innings obviously, but it was Afridi style innings. If he's around for 30 balls, he wrecks havoc. But does he stick around for more than 5 balls consistently? Naturally one can not expect this from him every single time, nor do I really expect him to. I am not saying he should score 20 runs every time, which I would be happy with. My reasons for his exclusion in the past have always been his lack of performance.

So lets see how this series pans out. I want Afridi to do well. But most of all, I want Pakistan to do well. I am still not convinced both can go hand in hand.

The Shahid Afridi dilemma

As the selectors are in the process of whittling down the World Cup team from 30 probables, the only chance Shahid Afridi had, was his selection for the ODI's against South Africa. Otherwise it would be too late and not enough match practice for him. And based on his horrendous performance in 2006, that could never have happened.

But lo and behold, he's back, and the selectors have made it pretty clear that he has been chosen primarily because of the pre-2006 years. It's a strange reason and poor selection on their part. Why on earth can't Pakistan just move on and live life without him? It doesn't make sense to me. Before the squad was announced, Wasim Bari, the chief selector said...

"It is a difficult decision, but I must say that if Afridi is recalled to the (one-day) squad it would be on the basis of his past performance," chief selector Wasim Bari told The News'.

And after the selection, Bari defended his decision but added that the pressure was well and truly on Afridi.

“Afridi has the talent and the experience and now has to perform. The onus is on him and he has to help himself now,” he said.

So, unfortunately, Afridi is back. Sadly, there is no doubt that Pakistan allowed him an extended run last year, gave him plenty of chances to get back into form, and to try and make a difference. When must this cycle end? This blogger had been calling for Afridi's exclusion from the ODI squad last year based on an average of 7.67 after 15 innings in 2006.

But has his form improved? That's the brighter side...

-In domestic cricket, Afridi hasn't done too badly, so maybe the break from international cricket has helped. In 5 first-class domestic games (9 innings), he scored 253 runs, at an average of 28 with a high score of a 100. He fared a lot better in the bowling department, getting 22 wickets at an average of 9.36.
-In 4 twenty20 games (only 2 innings though) he scored 52 runs, at an average of 26 with a high score of a 49. Again, he bowled well getting 22 wickets at an average of 9.87.

His domestic form is fine, and its a healthy allrounders average in both bowling and batting. However when he comes to ODI's in recent times, he's lost at sea. In the middle of December, he was recalled to face the West Indies, going opening and scoring a solitary run before getting bowled.

I feel Afridi may not be cut out for the international stage any longer. Firstly, I've never really liked his style of batting. It's too much drama, and too hit and miss for my taste. His unpredictability is actually quite predictable and international bowlers aren't scared of him anymore and know exactly how to get him out. He's pretty much become just a walking wicket waiting to be taken.

I'd much rather have reliability in that position, because we're potentially losing runs there. I agree that he is a match winner, but those innings are too few and far between. Is he really such a useful spinning allrounder? Wouldn't we rather have a specialist batsmen in his place, or perhaps a specialist spinner? Of course he chips in with 1 or 2 constantly, but so does Razzak. In fact Hafeez is a pretty decent spinner too. Why not have a better bowler, one who can take 5 wicket hauls, or a batsmen who can score 30's or 40's? His bowling on its own does not warrant selection and coupled with his batting, it makes him a weaker candidate. If he does score a quick 30 in the World Cup, do we honestly believe that he can sustain that form in every match? Or even a quarter of the games? Because that's why we're choosing him aren't we? His quickfire 30 in 10 balls...which, honestly, is quite unlikely to happen. For a player, revered by Pakistanis for being such a gambler, the odds of success in this South African series are squarely against him.

My argument is simple. We will most likely play Razzak, Shoaib Malik and Hafeez or atleast two of them in the World Cup along with 3 specialist bowlers. (3 from Asif, Shoaib, Rana, Gul, Rehman). Thus we have the ability to bowl those 50 overs easily amongst these guys. Instead of adding another allrounder to the squad, we'd be much better off playing an extra batsmen. Waseem Bari and Afridi's fans believe its his past that provides more than enough reason to play him in the World Cup. But I think its his past which is what's against him this time around. A player should be selected only if he's in good form. The past is not an satisfactory basis for his selection? As a result my Afridi supporting days are long over and done with.

Afridi recalled for the 4th ODI against West Indies

Mohammad Yousuf's wife is sick, Younis Khan's brother passed away, and Inzamam's injured finger may not heal in time. Pakistan's enviable middle order might be absent for the 4th ODI game. In order to cover for this, the selectors have send in Faisal Iqbal and Shahid Afridi. I can understand Iqbal. He is a steady batsman, with sound technique and he did well for us in England.

Why in the world is Afridi back? Will he really aid the team in any possible way? The selectors are nuts. I am sure there are a bunch of middle order batsmen out there in Pakistan, any of whom would be a better choice.

On the bright side, he seems to be in form. From CricInfo...

Afridi was dropped after the Champions Trophy, the first time in two years for anything other than an injury or suspension. But he has struck a rich vein of form in domestic cricket for Habib Bank and lies third in the bowling averages after five games with 22 wickets at an average of under ten. And despite starting poorly with the bat, he has just hit a 91-ball hundred in the ongoing game against WAPDA, whose attack includes Mushtaq Ahmed and Shabbir Ahmed. He scored a fifty in a low-scoring first-innings total and also picked up three wickets.

I'm still not convinced...

Shahid Afridi finally gets dropped - What of Nazir?

Well, the PCB has finally done the needful! They have evicted Shahid Afridi from the Pakistan ODI squad against the Windies. It was a decision that should have come a long time ago.

I have never really been a big fan of Afridi. Though, I admit there was a period of about a season or two that I felt he was an integral part of the team. However ever since the Sri Lankan tour and the England tour, I felt he should have been dropped and shouldn't be a part of our teams World Cup plans. In a previous post, I present my reasons for dropping him from the ODI team. Here I explain why he should not be part of the test team. Both these posts, though a couple of months old, are quite valid as only a bit of cricket has been played since.

Some additions (2006 games only):

• 14: ODI's played in 2006
• 23: his highest score
• 8.14: his average this year (Rana, Iftikhar Anjum, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul have a higher average)
• 114: total runs score (worst amongst all Pakistani batsmen)

Kamran Abbasi called this a "triumph of stupidity"...

This is a World Cup year. Pakistan are about to play their final home one-day series before that tournament. The campaign needs to be relaunched with a sense of optimism and an aura of positivity. Conditions in Pakistan are likely to be closer to the West Indies than conditions in South Africa will be.

Your star player, your talisman, your aggressor, your match-winner needs to rediscover his confidence. A combination of the West Indian attack and home conditions are an ideal formula to reinvigorate your champion and your campaign. The decision looks straightforward. The selectors, though, leave him out. Shahid Afridi out? The mind boggles and the logic wobbles. Nice one. Another triumph of stupidity from the men who want to be paid to do an important job badly.

It's interesting to note that the readers comments below his post surprisingly do not support him. In fact most of the people seem to think this is a good decision.

Afridi's time has come. He has played over 200 ODI matches, and as my analysis shows, his efforts do not validate his inclusion on the playing XI.

Sadly Afridi's exclusion has overshadowed Shahid Nazir's absence from this squad. Quite unfair considering how well he bowled against the West Indies. I feel bad for him, but I am glad he has shown his mettle against the Windies and the English side on the test scene. He is supposedly Pakistan best domestic cricket opening bowler, yet the PCB seem to be considering him only for the tests, and that too as just someone to fill the gaps. His 17 wickets in test cricket in 2006 came at an average of 30, which was the 2nd best average for any Pakistani bowler. I feel he should actually be on the playing XI in the first ODI.

Shahid Afridi - Statistics aren't looking good

Afridi's time is up. He has played 232 One day internationals. Pakistan has stuck by him, but for all the wrong reasons. We have all been guilty of it. We like the glamor, we like the fact that's he's fearless, that he's an untamed spirit.

The point is, if you can't figure out to bat responsibly in international cricket after 200 games, you really can't expect everyone to keep supporting you.

We all know he can't change, but we all know cricket is changing. His form of cricket is best suited to Twenty20 now...if at all. Pakistan's failed policy of playing too many all-rounders is backfiring in this Champion's Trophy. The coach and selectors should figure out exactly why there is a requirement for certain players. Afridi, needs to be on their mind.

Lets talk stats shall we?

Afridi is thought to be a flat-track bully. Well....truth is, he prefers the slower dustier tracks that India and Pakistan provide. This table below only includes countries within which Afridi has played more than 10 ODI's. Hence the inclusion of UAE and Canada.

I didn't include West Indies, because he has only played 9 games there, but since the World cup is coming up...its all the more important. His average in WI is 26.22 runs with two 50's after 9 innings.



You know what's interesting from this chart? We are due to play South Africa right after the Champions Trophy. No doubt the selectors will choose Afridi again. The entire country will goo "Boom Boom" if we don't right?

1 - He can't play seaming wickets (Eng)
2 - He can't negotiate with bounce (SA, Aus)
3 - He can only play (and maintain his 'healthy' average) in subcontinental conditions.

Sigh...Why are people so stupid!? What Afridi needs is some time off. I like the guy. But he's not the solution to our cricketing crisis. He's one of the problems. Our attachment to something so romanticized. A great, strong Pathan, who doesn't care about authority or rules, and just goes out and does battle.

Who cares? This "warrior" average 20 odd, after 232 games. What he does is, takes the spot of a bowler or a batsman, who can actually score some blood runs. Remember? That's what we're here for....Lets move past him now!


The chart above explain Afridi's average by the year. Well, I needn't comment on anything. It's embarrassing to say that his average this year is around 7. Oh wait. He probably needs everything he can get. 7.69 then....Need anymore convincing?



This chart above, indicates batting by the position in which he has come in to bat. Apparently he insists on batting at 5. Here is Siddharta Vaidyanathan's column in which Younis (another failing batsman), is defending Afridi.

But is batting him at No.5 the option? "We want to utilize Shahid to the hilt," he continued. "As an opener, if he falls early, there is pressure on him and on us. If he comes low down the order, he doesn't have much time. We are trying to give him every chance so that he can settle down. Shahid is the kind of player who can win matches single-handedly. It hasn't paid off till now; it's part of the game.

What that's also meant is that Shoaib Malik, arguably Pakistan's most valuable player over the last two years, gets a chance only at No.6. Younis, though, didn't want that to change. "It's working for the team,"he justified. "He has made almost 100 runs in the first two matches, and he played a match winning knock in the first match. It's good for the team too. Before the tournament, he was out of form, and now is back in the runs. He is happy with his spot in the batting order."

Afridi at No. 5 and Malik at No. 6 meant that Younis needed to shoulder the burden at No. 3. He hardly made an impression in the first two games, managing scores of 7 and 2, but he insisted that it had nothing to do with the pressures of captaincy. "My form has nothing to do with captaincy," he asserted. "I am not the captain for the first time. Last year, in Karachi [against India], I led and performed and we won the game too. There is so much cricket that you can't maintain the same level every time. Ricky Ponting too hasn't made runs in two matches. But yes, as captain, your attention is divided. I am thinking for everyone now. I need to carry the youngsters. Maybe my focus has shifted a little away from my cricket. I need to start to get the focus back. I am constantly learning, I want to keep learning."

Pakistan has rotated its openers like....flies..I don't even know a good analogy. Yet we have kept our faith in Afridi. Salman Butt, Imran Nazir...and a bunch of others have come and gone. I think we should send him opening, or not at all. It's time to draw the line. Pakistan should play to win, and it should field the best team possible in order to do that. In my opinion, Shahid Afridi does not fit into the equation anymore.

Even Bob Woolmer seems like he has no power in this situation. From Mr Vaidyanathan's verdict from the Pak-NZ game...

Woolmer admitted that the Afridi conundrum was causing a few headaches. "Afridi is a very fine player, unfortunately he hasn't clicked which has created a hole. Shahid Afridi has stated that he wants a regular batting place in the side. So we told him No.5 is your place, so go out and perform. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he has got out. He doesn't want to get out, he is trying his best."

Kamran Abbasi, in his blog entry about Afridi....

But Afridi does need to change one thing. I agree with him that going in too late in the order is a waste of his unique talent. He does, however, need to be mentally prepared to go in anywhere between number 1 and 7 depending on the state of the game. This is not an unreasonable scenario for a mature cricketer. Afridi's oft stated request to bat at number 6 has the ring of an unnecessary obsession--and Afridi is a man of instinct not obsession.

All Pakistan fans--and many from other countries--need their dose of Boom Boom. He has looked a distracted cricketer for many months. One blitz will turn that distraction into joy.

Mr. Abbasi is stating the very facts that make Afridi an unnatural selection in the team, yet he is willing to bypass these FACTS and go straight to the 'joy' and the blitzes. If Afridi was more consistent, more responsible, I would be with everyone supporting him through this bad patch. But the time is up, and his shows of brilliance are too far an in between....He needs to go..


And knowing my luck, Pakistan's inconsistency, and Afridi's spontaneous nature...Afridi will do well tomorrow against South Africa....

Afridi and Younis Khan should be dropped from the ODI team - Someone needs to say it!

More about this later. I already wrote about Younis Khan....I implied that he needs to be dropped.

Afridi has held our team back for way too long now. I never liked him initially. I liked him a bit in the India series last year.

Its insane to see the support he has. I can see how its hard to drop him. But are bowlers really scared of him? His average has slowly been declining. Its not even that great. More about this later. I shall do my research. I know most people are suprirsed at the amount of stats I put up here!
Anyway, Afridi sucks as a batsman, and is not a very good bowler, and needs to replaced by a solid middle order batsman.

Younis Khan should not be in the ODI team. He has not impressed us for 6 years. Why should he do so now? Make someone else the captain and after Inzy retires, make Younis the Test captain.

Who's with me!?