It is the $64-million question and it popped up yet again during the first two One-Day Internationals of the current series — why is Pakistan so consistently inconsistent? Captain Misbah-ul Haq admitted after last Friday’s victory over South Africa at the Dubai International Stadium that his side had managed to win a match they should have lost after scoring only 209 while, last Wednesday, they lost a match they should have won after losing their last six wickets for just 17 runs.
It all adds up to make Pakistan perhaps the most entertaining side to watch in world cricket but that does not do anything for the nerves of the fans. It is easy to be critical of the players for the inconsistency — after all, they are the ones who have the ultimate responsibility of batting, bowling and fielding — but the truth is that the problems lie way beyond them.
For as long as I can remember, right back to the time when I started out on the road to becoming a cricketer, Pakistan has lacked cricketing infrastructure and that is still the case today. There are many dedicated administrators and coaches in the country and the National Cricket Academy in Lahore is an excellent facility, but all that together cannot make up for the fact that there are not enough good-quality grounds nationally, while the first-class structure has changed regularly over the years rather than having a system in place and sticking with it.
A perfect illustration of the problems the game in Pakistan faces is in the area of fielding. The national team has a fielding coach and he does an excellent job, but that does not address the issue at the domestic level: how can you encourage young players back in Pakistan to dive around and field well if you do not have the quality of playing surfaces that allow them to do so safely?
Across the border in India, the headline-grabber these days is the Indian Premier League but chugging along in the background is the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier first-class tournament, and it continues to churn out a stock of quality young players. The IPL, meanwhile, together with an influx of commercial money, has helped create a host of world class stadia across India that offer excellent training and playing facilities.
We got away with domestic inadequacies in years gone by as many of Pakistan’s top players came through what was then a very strong school system. And, on top of that, many were able to go and hone their skills in English County cricket. The likes of Asif Iqbal, Imran Khan, Majid Khan, Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas became the players they were because of that.
For my part, I benefitted hugely from playing league cricket in the north of England as well as minor counties cricket. But now that is happening less and less and the results reflect that. The lack of incoming tours to Pakistan — an issue way beyond not only the players but also the administrators — is compounding the problems. Our domestic players are not being exposed to overseas stars and pressure situations and the performance of the Faisalabad Wolves in the Champions League Twenty20 illustrated why that is a major issue. Those players — apart from Misbah and Saeed Ajmal — were simply unused to playing on a stage that big and nerves betrayed them.
And that lack of tours means that there is less money within the game in Pakistan, which reduces the ability of the Pakistan Cricket Board to develop the game, and so the problem at the moment is like a vicious circle. On the basis of all these issues, you could say it is a miracle that the international side remains as competitive as it is and all credit to Misbah, Dav Whatmore and the players for that. But the bottom line is that we need cricket to return to Pakistan sooner rather than later or the national team’s tendency to be consistently inconsistent is only likely to continue.
The writer is Pakistan’s former Test Cricketer and the head coach of ICC Global Academy in Dubai Sports City
–Courtesy Gulf News