This was an unusual sort of year for Pakistan, not that that is entirely unusual in itself
Osman Samiuddin05-Jan-2005
Bob Woolmer – one of the best things to have happened to Pakistan cricket in 2004© Getty Images
This was an unusual sort of year for Pakistan, not that that is entirely unusual in itself. For starters, the captain Inzamam-ul-Haq didn’t resign, get the sack or get hauled up on suspicions of match-fixing. The PCB chairman, Shaharyar Khan, also managed to stay put (despite the senate’s best efforts). Some might be tempted, cautiously, to label that progress. Okay, so Ramiz Raja resigned as CEO of PCB and Javed Miandad was relieved of his duties as national coach in June, but neither constituted a shock. It was unusual also because for the first time in twenty, this full year was without the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis or Saeed Anwar.Miandad’s departure, halfway through the year, was instigated by the first significant on-field test this new Pakistan failed – a full series against the Indians. Both the ODI and Test series were lost, although Pakistan had retaliated from initial setbacks well. More than the results, it was their nature. That Pakistan lacked discipline and professionalism was obvious enough; it is, after all, almost a birthright here. But the starkness of the contrast with a well-oiled, well-knit and (the indignity!) professional Indian side, drove home the need for change.Commendably and unusually (it was that sort of year) the PCB waited some time before hiring, more commendably, Bob Woolmer as the man to replace Miandad. Woolmer’s brief was simple enough; inject method to the madness of Pakistan cricket. Thereafter, Pakistan played like a team struggling to bridge a schizophrenic divide; they hinted at professionalism but never without suggesting madness was just round the corner.First, a series of ODI tournaments through the summer months gave Woolmer the chance to witness this at first hand. In the Asia Cup, the Videocon Trophy in Holland, the ICC Champions Trophy and the Paktel series at home – Pakistan kept up a veneer of incisive efficiency against the Indians, at least. But against Sri Lanka in both the Asia Cup and the Paktel Final, and the West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final, their batting imploded spectacularly.Then, when they moved to a two-Test home series against Sri Lanka and three-Test series in Australia, the full implications of a ludicrously lopsided playing schedule were exposed. Pakistan played 27 ODIs this year and just seven Tests (less than even Bangladesh) and their batsmen showed it. In the Test-match sense, this was a year that barely was for Pakistan. At Faisalabad, they lacked application against a weakened Sri Lankan attack but in Perth, they were shamefully exposed. Their average Test score throughout the year was a paltry 248. Considering that they played five matches in batsmen-friendly conditions at home, it was amateurish.There was, at least, fleeting resilience within them, and it is something that Woolmer and Inzamam will undoubtedly build on. It was evidenced in their wins at Lahore against India and at Karachi against Sri Lanka, and to a lesser extent in the first innings at Melbourne. On each occasion, they had been resoundingly trounced in preceding games and their batsmen humiliated. Much of the fightback was orchestrated through the batting; Inzamam instigated it with impressive centuries at Lahore and Karachi, but a distinct identity for the support cast remained worryingly elusive. In the wrist-work and composure of Salman Butt towards the end of the year, and to a lesser degree the revitalised Younis Khan, they at least made up for the worrying decline of Yasir Hameed.
Inzamam-ul-Haq didn’t resign, get the sack or get hauled up on suspicions of match-fixing, which all made 2004 an unusual year© Getty Images
The bowling was only slightly less problematic; Shoaib Akhtar, unquestioned spearhead finally, had, like his team, an uneven year. Against India’s batting line-up, he was disappointingly limp, to the extent that his commitment was officially questioned in its aftermath. He roused himself for Sri Lanka and later Australia, where on occasion, he led the attack as had always been expected of him. But question marks remained against his fitness, and his ability – off the back of a ludicrously long 40-pace run-up – to sustain his charge. At crucial junctures, he looked tired, flat and uninterested. With Shabbir Ahmed injured for much of the year and Mohammad Sami unable to develop further, it was left to Danish Kaneria’s emergence in the latter half of the year as one of the most exciting legspin prospects, not just in Pakistan, but around the world to provide brightness among the gloom.There was some cheer too for domestic cricket. Its resuscitation began last year at the prompting of Rameez and it continued apace this year. Regional cricket, dangerously seen as the be-all, end-all solution to Pakistan’s international problems, acquired a more tangible shape, especially with the announcement of much-needed sponsorship towards the end of the year with a multinational bank. Furthermore, agreements were reached with broadcasters to televise games and promises by the sponsor that maximum effort would be made to market the game as an attractive and viable product. The financial dilemma that lay at the heart of regionalising the game – that only departments and corporations can afford to pay players and regional teams can’t – was thus tentatively removed.It was difficult to derive obvious positives from this year – it didn’t help that the schedule was so skewed in favour of ODIs. But Pakistan didn’t win a Test series this year and neither did it win an ODI tournament. They began the year heavily losing an ODI series down under (against the Kiwis) and ended it heavily losing a Test series down under. Given that this was the first full year under Inzamam’s captaincy, and Woolmer was around for half of it, it is understandable. This year sees a return tour to India as the immediate test. Fail that, and 2005 may become a more usual one in Pakistan cricket.Star Performers?
Were there any? Only two players – Yousuf Youhana and Imran Farhat – played in all seven Tests for Pakistan this year. Pakistan, in fact, didn’t have one player who stood out in both forms of the game. Some like Danish Kaneria impressed particularly in the latter half of the year. He was a matchwinner against the Sri Lankans and gallant in the face of the Australian onslaught. Shoaib Malik barely began his year until the Asia Cup in July. Thereafter, he displayed a remarkable versatility to his talent; having been a lower-order batsmen for much of his career, he transformed himself into a dependable, reliable and exciting one-down. His year was marred, however, with his action under a cloud of doubt.