A Captain in grooming. That is what I think it should be.

Surely any cricket team's Vice Captain should be an automatic choice in the first XI, a shrewd thinker who can help the captain with on-field decisions, and someone who could take over as captain of the side in the future. In short, it can be said that a vice-captain is a 'captain under training', much like a prinicpal in the consulting world who is a 'partner under training'.

Just like a principal, who does not show the potential to be a partner, is conveniently asked to move on, a vice-captain who does not show the qualities of being a captain needs to be replaced.

Younis Khan, who spent 2 years under Inzamam as vice captain of the Pakistan team, refused to take over as captain once the big man resigned and retired. Younis had his reasons, and I respect him for those, but then why has the PCB gone back to him and named him as the vice captain of Pakistan?

I'm not doubting Younis Khan's abilities as a captain, nor am I questioning his position in the starting line up of Pakistan - he is a proven performer both as a captain and a player but the PCB knows as well as we do that he will never be captain of Pakistan. Firstly because of his own reluctance and secondly because his career would be over way before that of Shoaib Malik's for him to be able to take over the team (provided ofcourse that Malik remains successful and someone in the PCB does not hold an agenda against him).

Salman Butt was definitely the wrong choice as his own place in the team was doubtful, and Pakistan probably does not have other options besides Younis Khan to look at as far as the vice captaincy is concerned, but then that is a bigger worry in itself. If not him then who? You look around and there seems to be no one.

Maybe Shahid Afridi, but then he doesn't feature in the test plans of Pakistan, and I think its right that he doesn't. Maybe Pakistan can split the vice captaincy for ODIs and Tests with Afridi taking over for the ODIs and someone like Mohammad Asif for the Test matches. Asif was named vice captain after the world cup for the 3 match ODI series against Sri Lanka in May this year, but replaced by Salman Butt for no apparent reason. Why was he replaced? What were the PCB thinking when they appointed him and more importantly what changed their mind?

PCB works in mysterious ways and it worries me that there is no one in that set up that can identify a cricketer in Pakistan with some captaincy potential and stick to that decision.

As a child growing up in Pakistan during the 80s and 90s, few memories persist beyond Miandad’s famous six at Sharjah. One thing that I do remember is that cricketing whites were much tighter, the collars more open and perhaps the resulting copiousness and overhang of chest hair was a statement of cricketing intent. Gross exaggerations and gory imagery aside, I guess fashion faux pas of the past deserve their own entry.

Another lingering memory is the art of leaving the ball. Picture this: Patrick Patterson has the ball in his hand and starts his run up with the small pitter-patter steps that soon turned into thundering strides and gave the man an unstoppable momentum. At the other end stands a small, diminutive Shoaib Mohammad, locked in stance, ready to do battle. The bowler thunders in. The batsman hunkers in. It is a scene right out of a bull fighting arena. The bowler leaps, the ball is delivered and the batsman… leaves the ball!

In modern times, this rare occurrence is now known as a dot ball. In the 80s and 90s a test batsman’s best weapon was leaving the ball. What can be worse for a bowler if the batsman simply leaves a ball not heading on to hit the stumps. Add 35C of dry, dusty, summer weather to a recurring theme of leaving the ball (which Shoaib was an expert at) and you have a very potent combination.

Leaving the ball with a flourish and exaggerated bravado only added insult to injury. Ijaz Ahmad even had the audacity to present the better part of his backside to the bowler, due more to his extreme stance than to malicious intent. Nonetheless, cricket at its glorious best.

Enter the 90s and you meet leaving-the-ball’s worst enemy. Reverse Swing! Those who did try to elegantly and deliberately leave the ball were dismissed in most embarrassing ways. If you were lucky, only your off stump was uprooted. If you weren’t so lucky, even your middle and leg stumps could be affected. Bullfighting too would die if thundering bulls learnt to home in like heat seeking missiles. Also, as one day cricket gained momentum, leaving the ball acquired a negative vibe.

If we dig deeper, leaving the ball does have many advantages. It tires the bowler out, it frustrates him to no end, it keeps your own bowlers in the pavilion on a well deserved break and also helps in aiding the wear and tear of the pitch. Most importantly it wears the bowler down mentally.

These days, it is a brave man who leaves the ball. He’d rather have a slash, swipe or poke at it (even if it means getting out) than leave it. Waving a red flag in the face of a charging bull and stepping aside at the last moment is an art – so is leaving ball.

Tell us what you think, and do share your own vivid cricket scenes in the comments section

Picture Sources: National Geographic, BBC

Geoff Boycott has come out with a scathing attack on Duncan Fletcher's take on Flintoff's drinking on the last Ashes tour. Those of you who have read that, please read my post 'A coach's betrayal' below, which I posted a couple of days back. Boycott also uses the words 'betrayed' and 'keeping inside the dressing room' and as you would see from my post, I completely agree.

Boycott goes on to say that 'Fletcher should be ashamed' and I think, he definitely should be. Fletcher was England's coach for 8 years and he should stick to that, leave the dirty reporting to the journalists.

Here's the first of many polls to come.

So who do you think the next captain of India will be? Please vote and if possible, leave a comment:

Osman Samiuddin and Niel Manthorp on Cricinfo have stated that the "Chokers" tag needs to be passed on from South Africa to Pakistan. I beg to differ.

Choking is an art that has been mastered by the Proteas over the last 16 years since their readmission to international cricket. Whether it was really choking at the final hurdle or fixed matches is still arguable, but for Pakistan to take that tag away from the South Africans will take a lot more doing than what happened last night.

Last night was the worst performance I have seen from this Pakistan team since Shoaib Malik became captain. The batsmen just couldn't handle the pressure once the Yo-Yos departed. Some played atrocious shots, while some succumbed to out of this world catching by the Proteas. The AB Devilliers catch to dismiss Afridi is probably one of the best I have ever seen, and will ever see. Despite that, losing a game when chasing 233, when you are 149-2 or even 202-5 is totally unacceptable, disappointing, and heartbreaking for a Pakistani fan. 20 runs off 5 overs with 5 wickets left is something that my grandparents and their grandparents could have finished off with their eyes closed.

One of the 2 Yo-Yo's should have stayed on till the end, something Inzi would have done batting left handed! I'll assess the players' performance in another post, but my point here is that Pakistan played as they always have - in complete unpredictable fashion. Blowing HOT one day and COLD the other, and in this case HOT for 90 overs and COLD for 10. Thats how Pakistan has been for a long time and if thats what defines choking, then Pakistan have been chokers forever.

However, I think choking refers to when a team does brilliantly well throughout a series or tournament, only to lose that one game that would have mattered - not once but consistently. That is and will remain to be South Africa - the last time they did this was last month in the 20-20 world cup in the match against India. Pakistan, on the other hand, is and will probably always remain the fickle and unpredictable side that shows flashes of brilliance one day and complete mediocrity the other.

I have been meaning to honor Inzamam in my own way for his contributions to Pakistan cricket. Q has already written a great piece on Inzamam's last test (I posted it for him), I'd like to focus on the statistical highlights on Inzamam's career. Ive always wondered how statsical highlights related to achievements on the field such as wins, best innings etc. After all a triple century is still counted a sa century when it comes to stats.

So, here it is, my own tribute to Inzi. Below you will find a plot of Inzi's test career, with career highs called out. the circular bullets represent statistical accomplishments, while the square ones represent other notable highs. Drag a square on the graph to zoom in on an area.

Let us know what you think - Im thinking about comparing Inzi and Miandad's stats next since there had been all that talk about Inzi falling just short of Miandad's run tally by 3 runs. Stay tuned for more.

John Wright did it to India and now Duncan Fletcher has done it to Andrew Flintoff.

It disgusts me no end when cricketers or those associated with the game in one way or the other retire and then publish a book comprising of scandalous stories that are meant to be personal, kept inside the dressing room, or for discussions within the team management and boards. The reason I hate this so much is cause these people do it to make a quick dollar.

There's nothing wrong with publishing a book or writing an autobiography, talking about ones career and the highs and lows of it. But to publish stories about the cricketers one was involved with, which you could not speak of while you were a professional due to a code of conduct, is criminal. Moreover, during their professional careers, these people continue to praise the individuals they work with, while as soon as they move on, they come out with scathing attacks.

I'm not saying what Flintoff did was right in anyway - no one should be drinking that heavily before matches or turn up drunk during practices, but that is an issue that Mr. Fletcher should have sorted out with Flintoff and the ECB. I'm sure he did. Why come out with this story in your book? The public, including me, love reading this stuff, and obviously it will help enhance the sales of Mr. Fletcher's books, but doing the wrong thing to make that extra dollar is just not on.

I don't want to portray a 'holier than thou attitude' as I would be the 1st one to admit that I love reading scandals involving celebrities. I have no issues with the media reporting a cricketer's drinking problem, sex life, or a dressing room arguement; but a former coach doing the same about a player, is a betrayal!

India is probably the only country that kick off its domestic season by holding a triangular ODI tournament comprising of 33 of the best players in India - The Challenger Series. Well arguably so. The usual captains of India Blue, Red, and Green - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Saurav Ganguly were 'rested' from this weekends tournament given BCCI's 'vision' for the future, and plus the 50 odd cricketers that have joined the rebel ICL, missed out as well. Despite this, the Challenger put on show the immense talent that India has with Mohammad Kaif, Virender Sehwag, and Parthiv Patel captaining the India Red, Blue, and Green respectively.

Now ideally, such a series should provide as the basis of selecting a squad for an upcoming ODI series. Obviously the regular internationals and the 1st choice XI automatically make the squad, but the form of the benchers can be adjudged from a series like this, but the BCCI selectors led by Dilip Vengsarkar went ahead and announced the squad for the first 2 ODIs againt Pakistan even before the Challenger was half way through.

Dropping Dravid is probably the biggest blunder the selection committee has ever done. I understand that India is looking at younger stars and Dravid is somewhat out of form and it is claimed that he is being 'rested' but you still can't leave him out of a squad. Younger players will only improve and get proper grooming if the side includes some seniors and who better than Dravid to do this as he can provide several valuable tips to the younger batsmen.

And then who do the selectors replace Dravid with - a has been Sehwag, who has done nothing of note in the recent past to warrant a place in the Indian team. He flopped in the 20-20 world cup with 1 innings of note and even in this challenger he scored 9,75, and 1 in the 3 matches he played. Whats worse is that the squad was announced while Sehwag's innings of 75 was going on. So what made the selectors pick Sehwag over Dravid? Even if they had kept the 75 in mind, would that have been enough for Sehwag to make a come back?

Wouldn't it have made sense for the selectors to have asked Dravid to play in the Challenger to regain some form and confidence ahead of the series against Pakistan?

Moreover, the talented Dinesh Karthik, whom India have been wasting at #3 in the ODIs, scored a 48 ball 65 in a round match and a match winning unbeaten 116 of 91 deliveries in the final of the Challenger. And he found himself dropped from the ODI squad even before the selectors had the chance to witness the 2 innings. Guess where he was batting during those innings - at number 5! Where's the justice?

A pity for the Karachi fans with the ODI being shifted to Lahore but a fitting finale to the ODI series. Pakistan have never won an ODI series against South Africa losing 4-1 in SA in 2002, 3-2 in Pakistan in 2003, and 3-1 in SA earlier this year. However, they have the best opportunity to turn the tables over tomorrow.

With Shoaib Akhtar making an expected return to the ODI side after over a year, Pakistan's bowling will have a much stronger look to it. Asif and Gul have done exceptionally well in his absence but I have always maintained that Shoaib's pace has the ability to topple over the best of batting line ups in a matter of overs. Only if he can stay disciplined and not feel above the game. Hopefully a 2-year probationary period will do him and Pakistan some good as I believe he can still do a lot for Pakistan for the next 2-3 years provided he stays fit and mentally stable.

Cricinfo is reporting that Pakistan are set to move back to Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal as openers with Yasir Hameed facing the axe. Why these musical chairs? Yasir Hameed fails in 2 games and they move back to Imran Nazir who has been constantly failing forever. In my previous post (below) I mentioned that people will scream for his neck if Hameed doesn't do well in the next 2 games and thats exactly what has happened. He deserves a decent run at the top of the order. He has performed before and can be a better opener than any that Pakistan have at their disposal these days.

Nevertheless, the match tomorrow has the potential to be a cracker. Both teams have shown their brilliance throughout this series and its only fitting that the 5th game is a decider rather than a dead game. My money's on Pakistan, and its not an emotional wager - I have been predicting a 3-2 victory since before the series began and I feel the team will be charged up tomorrow to wrap up the series and move on to India on a high.

Yasir Hameed's ODI Record looks like this:

Mat Runs HS Ave 100 50 53 1999 127* 38.44 3 12

His last few ODI Innings read:

22 vs SL in 3rd ODI in Abu Dhabi May 2007
50 vs SL in 2nd ODI in Abu Dhabi May 2007
10 vs SL in 1st ODI in Abu Dhabi May 2007
41 vs WI in 5th ODI in Karachi December 2006
71 vs WI in 4th ODI in Multan December 2006
57 vs Eng in 5th ODI in Pindi December 2005
41 vs WI in 3rd ODI in St Lucia May 2005

This means that in the last 2 and a half years Yasir Hameed has played 7 ODIs for Pakistan scoring 292 runs at an average of 41.71. And why he has been so sparingly used and not been a permanent opener for Pakistan instead of the useless Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, etc is anybody's guess.

I think me and Nauman have been shouting for his inclusion forever.

If he doesn't score tomorrow, people will scream for his neck - give the boy some time for gods sake. He has performed and he needs the confidence of the team management to be a regular in the side and should know that he wont be dropped if he doesnt score in the next 2 games. He should be opening for Pakistan for the next 10 years. Who should partner him is another problem.

Since this is Inzi's last test, I thought I'd share some of his more interesting stats. Since he's done with ODIs, I'll start with that. Everyone knows that he's played the highest number of ODIs (378) and scored the highest number of ODI runs (11,739) for a Pakistani player, both if which are also the 3rd most in the world behind Sachin and Jayasuriya. However, other ineresting and lesser know facts are:

As an 18 year old, Inzamam was invited to the Gaddafi Stadium nets by Imran Khan during a Pakistan team net session in preparation for the WI tour of Pak in November 1991. Inzi batted in the nets and flayed all the bowlers to all parts of the ground and hit all of them into the stands as well. The bowlers bowling to the 18 year old were: Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed.

Inzi made his debut against WI in Nov 91. Batting at 3, he scored 20 before being bowled by Maclom Marshall. That match ended in a tie.

In his next 5 ODI innings - 1 against WI, and 4 against SL - Inzi opened the innings with Rameez Raja and his scores were 60, 48, 60, 101, and 117. (I wonder why they never stuck with him as opener)
In his 2nd ODI against WI, he bowled 3 overs of left arm medium pace and also took the wicket of another new player in the international scene, Brian Lara.

After his first 5 ODIs, he was selected in the Pakistan team for the 1992 world cup. That world cup was also the first for Sachin, Lara, and Jayasuriya.

Out of his 10 centuries in ODIs, all except the last 2 against India in 2004 have come in winning causes.
Inzi's 83 half centuries was a world record till Sachin Tendulkar scored his 84th against England last month. Today, Sachin scored his 85th against Australia. Inzamam stands 2nd in the all time list.

His highest ODI score is 137* scored against NZ in Sharjah in the semi final of the AustralAsia Cup in 1994.

He shared a 263 run 2nd wicket partnership with Aamer Sohail during his innings of 137*. At that time that was a world record for the highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs. Since then, this record has been broken several times, but it remains a Pakistani Record and the 2nd highest partnership ever for the 2nd wicket after Sachin and Dravids 331 against New Zealand as well.

His 144 6's on ODIs is the 6th highest in the world and 2nd highest for a Pakistani batsman after Shahid Afridi. His 969 4's is also the 6th highest in the world, and the highest for any Pakistani batsman.

Inzamam has held 113 catches in ODIs, which is the highest for a Pakistani player, however the 13th in the list for all players.

He played 86 ODIs as captain, the 3rd most for a Pakistan captain after Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. He won 51 ODIs as captain, the 3rd highest number after Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. His success ratio as an ODI captain is the same as Wasim Akram's and better than Imran Khan's.

If anyone has any other interesting facts / stats - please share.