The Hindu : Sport : Pakistan victim of defensive mindset

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 30, 2006
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Pakistan victim of defensive mindset

Pakistan has a wealth of attacking bowlers, only it does not choose to capitalise on it, writes Imran Khan

— Photo: AP

TESTING TIMES: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer and captain Younis Khan have been blamed for their defensive strategy.

Pakistan did not deserve to be in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy because a good side does not allow the opposition to get away once it got them on the mat. Younis Khan's men did this twice. Pakistan had New Zealand at 30 for three and South Africa at 42 for five. Yet both teams got away to 200-plus totals and were able to bowl the Pakistanis out easily.

Pakistan has once again been a victim of the defensive county cricket mindset of the thinktank. They also paid for not having a stable experienced opening pair. And in the absence of their three main match-winners, Inzamam-ul-Huq, Mohammed Asif and Shoaib Akhtar they could not prevail in the pressure moments in the last two games.

Instead, they were defensive and therefore decided to play bits and pieces players rather than specialist bowlers like Mohammed Sami and Danish Kaneria. This would have been forgiven if they did not possess enough firepower in the attack.

Attacking bowlers

However, Pakistan does have a wealth of attacking bowlers, only it does not choose to capitalise on it. Sami and Kaneria are expensive, but they also get you key breakthroughs. The last time Sami played in India, he got crucial wickets in the Bangalore Test, which Pakistan went on to win.

Attacking bowlers rather than restrictive bowlers win you one-dayers. But Pakistan prefers keeping the runs down than playing attacking bowlers.

Therefore, even though Gul and Rana were able to get the initial breakthrough, there was no class in the back-up bowling and this allowed the lower middle order of New Zealand and South Africa to rescue their teams.

In 1992, we won the World Cup because of the way Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed were used.

Wasim topped the championship aggregate of no-balls and wides, but he was also the highest wicket-taker in that tournament.

There is no substitute for an attacking bowler in one-dayers, and the faster the Pakistanis learn this, the better.

There is also no substitute for a specialist opener in one-dayers, and for me, a makeshift opener is a silly contradiction in terms. You cannot compromise on the opening slot and expect to win consistently. When Pakistan came out to chase, their opener Imran Farhat played awful shots in both games and perished.

I spoke to Bob Woolmer in November 2004 in Kolkata during the Platinum Jubilee game about the importance of a stable opening pair. I had told him to just pick guys who had guts and talent, because it was impossible to find someone with great technique given the poor standard of domestic cricket in Pakistan. Technique, I told Bob, would have to be taught while he was in the national team. Unfortunately, Pakistan have tried 17 opening combinations subsequently, and the huge gap at the top exposes the rest of the batting order.

Leading by example

I was impressed with the way Stephen Fleming led by example and used his limited resources, and by Graeme Smith's courage to bat first on a green wicket. Fleming used Shane Bond in spurts as an attacking bowler. He refused to let Razzaq settle in because he knew he would be lethal once the ball got wet, because he is one batsman who can hit big and straight. Bond did not let him get settled, and that was what won the Kiwis the game. Smith too bit the bullet and chose to bat first on a greenish wicket, even though most captains were trying to avoid the dew by bowling first. He knew the Pakistan batting was weak, and only Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have the class and experience to challenge his team.

Captains who are brave and perform well themselves always turn out to be inspirational leaders. Perhaps Younis could learn a thing or two about leadership from these two cricketers.

Gameplan

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