One step forward

Finally the Pakistan team wins. We are overjoyed. All is forgiven and now we can once again dream of winning the world cup. We have happily forgotten the poor performance of some and are once again hoping against all hopes of victories ahead.

In contrast to the mood in the team and in the country amongst cricket fans on Sunday, just a few days earlier there was anger. Chief selector Moin Khan arrived in Karachi to a very hostile reception because he had visited a Christchurch casino to have dinner with his wife and family friend.

One is not clear what Moin Khan’s crime was – to visit a casino or to have dinner outside ahead of a crucial game. The fact that the selector is not a player and nor is he a coach doesn’t mean much. We needed a scapegoat it seems.

In the meantime, a local court in Lahore has also issued a notice to the SHO Islampura for failing to register a FIR against the national chief selector. The petitioner, Advocate Saeed Zafar, said Moin has brought a bad name to Pakistan by visiting a casino. “The team lost because of him,” Zafar pleaded, adding that instead of taking action against him, the Pakistan Cricket Board is defending Moin Khan.

There are some who say that the real question that needs to be asked is not why Moin Khan was at a casino but why he was there in the first place. And how many other officials have gone to Australia as part of the official contingent. Why is it that these questions get asked when the team is losing? Such queries should be made by the media regardless of team performance.

Speaking of the team, one must not forget that eight members of the World Cup squad were fined for violating the team curfew.

The eight players include senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi, opener Ahmed Shehzad, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail. A Pakistan Cricket Board official confirmed that the players had gone out for dinner with a friend in Sydney before the warm-up game against Bangladesh.

After dinner, they went for an outing and returned to the hotel late. They were fined 300 Australian dollars each. The players had returned to the hotel about an hour after the curfew timings set by the manager.

Now contrast this with the Moin Khan episode. First of all, why did the team players go out in the first place? Given its past record, the Pakistan team should be kept away from any mingling with anyone other than officials and organizers. Despite past promises that the team would be kept away from such outings, it is clear that this was not happening.

Second, why are they eating out? Most cricket teams, like other sports teams, follow a strict exercise and diet regimen. This includes rest and the right kind of food intake. But here we see our boys having all sorts of food which they should not.

One of the players got into an argument with a fan at the club where they had gone to eat. It was only when that was made public through the social media that the matter came to the attention of the PCB.

Was the manager sleeping? Who is responsible? The PCB said that the players have apologised and have promised not to repeat the offence. The team manager told the media that in future whenever they go out, they must have his clearance first. What next, a slap on the wrists?

Who can forget the controversy that erupted after fielding coach Grant Luden resigned? It is believed that this happened owing to a heated row with senior players.

There was a tiff between three players: Afridi, Shehzad and Akmal and Luden, who is a member of Pakistan coach Waqar Younis’s backroom staff. Luden was hired as fielding coach in May last year on a two-year contract. Earlier he is said to have wanted to leave the team out of frustration.

Surely, it is only an act of God that will secure more wins by the Pakistan Team. For its part, both the PCB and the boys in green seem
to be working hard to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  2^nd, 2015.

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