Saj Sadiq believes Pakistan have to get mean on the pitch
Saj Sadiq believes the PR campaign to win friends is admirable, but Pakistan must get tough on the field to win again
To many who were horrified by the sad events that transpired during Pakistan’s previous tour of England in 2010, the somewhat gentler progress of the current series between England and Pakistan would be like manna from heaven.
Of course, 2010 wasn’t the only annus horribilis etched in minds of followers of series in England between the hosts and Pakistan. There was plenty of bad blood hanging about on tours of England by Pakistani teams dating as far back as 1992 when ball tampering, which was magically and eventually transformed into reverse swing in non-Pakistani hands, was what kept peace from breaking out, followed by the notorious ‘Oval Gate’ in 2006 and topped off by events that unfolded in 2010 which resulted in five-year bans and jail terms for three Pakistani cricketers.
Some of the English news media were not too charitable towards visitors to their home soil, but let’s face it, the visiting Pakistanis never did help their own cause. The term Public Relations in the Pakistani parlance largely meant rubbing the local populace and its press the wrong way, resulting in an unwelcome reputation for the visitors. Add to the aforementioned, some laughable statements coming out of the Pakistan Cricket Board in response to the spot-fixing allegations made a mockery of any attempts to diffuse situations.
Recognising this as a serious issue for future tours and in order to protect Pakistan’s reputation in international circles, the PCB chairman and a former senior diplomat Shahryar Khan decided to launch a charm offensive on the sidelines of Pakistan’s current tour of England.
The PCB’s media department for the visiting Pakistan team was given specific orders to ensure that only a positive image of Pakistan cricket was projected to the extent that a reputation management firm was hired to bolster this aspect of the team’s presence in England. Players such as Mohammad Amir were given guidelines for behaviour during the tour and media interaction was to be carefully stage managed.
The chairman himself weighed in with statements asking Pakistan players to, above all, concentrate on “winning friends” on this tour and then expressed his relief that the team’s “tarnished” reputation had been repaired due to the impressive victory at Lord’s. Whilst such sentiment is noble in itself, is it the type of fighting talk that you expect troops to receive after one of their most memorable victories?
Many Pakistan teams of yesteryear had an aura of invincibility about them. The idea was to instill fear into the opposition, by playing a ruthless style of cricket which made them very special and feared by some opponents.
Yes, along the way they appeared short on gentlemanly manners but the results on the field counted. The general feeling was that love and friendship with your opponents could be experienced off the field at your own leisure, but on the field it was aggression all the way.
Whilst England’s record at home cannot be ignored, one cannot but happen to notice a certain amount of swagger in their approach to this series. This seems to have gone missing with the Pakistan players who seem pre-occupied with making the right impression on the local media and public. Along the way, they seem to have lost the edge that is crucial in dismantling the opposition.
The Old Trafford Test was a wake-up call for Pakistan and should jolt them into a change in playing and team strategy but before they do that, there is need for an introspection of a different variety. Coach Mickey Arthur is a well-known disciplinarian and a man who has seen some of the toughest sides succeed under his tutelage. He is ideally placed to tell his wards to stop worrying about the ‘Mr Nice Guy’ image and start getting under the skins of their opposition. Whilst Ben Stokes and James Anderson have snarled at the opposition, the Pakistanis have responded with smiles and back-slapping.
It’s all well to congratulate Joe Root on flaying your bowling attack for a double-hundred but before that, the bowlers need to be bowling with aggression and if it needs some expression of ‘body language’, then so be it.Winning friends and influencing people is a great slogan, but if Pakistan is to make a series of this, the players need to put on their game faces and get into the opposition’s heads as well.
Granted that Amir’s return to the international cricket required some sensible stage management, but that is all done and dusted.Yes, Pakistan players seemed to defy convention with their ‘push-up salute’ at the end of the Lord’s Test but even that was laced with guilt as if they had crossed an invisible red line and was followed by almost apologetic statements implying that this would not be repeated again.
The team management would be well advised to deliver a ‘win at all costs’ type message to ensure that the players in the 2016 squad do not feel that they have to carry the cross for the sins of the past.
Whether Pakistan players go in with the right attitude in the next Test match at Edgbaston or not, the fact remains that the team at Old Trafford was found wanting in many aspects. The over-dependence on Yasir Shah was troubling, as was the hype over Amir.
The likes of Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali were unable to up their game when it mattered.The Pakistan batting problems were put on display in spectacular fashion as each batsman seemed to compete with others in how they could give their wickets away. The inability to deal with pressure will come to haunt the batsmen again and again during this series and Arthur and Misbah-ul-Haq are fast running out of time to tackle this issue head-on.
The problem that Pakistan face is now compounded by the simple fact that by dint of the 330-run victory at Old Trafford, England have wrested the initiative back from the visitors and it will take more than push-ups, smiles and pats on the back of the England players to turn the tide at Edgbaston in the third Test.
Win friends is a nice and fluffy motto for the tour of England, but what is surely more important to the future of the current players representing Pakistan, and to the fans and media who follow the tourists, is to win cricket matches ahead of winning friends.
It’s all very well to congratulate Joe Root on his batting but before that Pakistan’s bowlers need to be bowling with some aggression with the right body language