Monday, July 28, 2008

Pakistan's New Bad Boy?

Shoaib Akhtar emerged in 1998 under Wasim Akram and he was considered as Pakistan's future of bowling once Wasim and Waqar hung up their boots.

Once the 2 Ws left in 2003, Shoaib Akhtar's career went down the drain and into the gutters of Pakistan.

Mohammad Asif emerged a couple of years ago and a Shoaib-Asif-Gul trio seemed like a dream pace attack for Pakistan but even his career has joined Shoaib's in the gutters even before it could take off properly.

Then about a year ago there emerged an unorthodox left arm pacer - Sohail Tanvir.

He joined Pakistan in the World T20 as Shoaib's replacement on Wasim Akram's recommendation.

Sohail impressed one and all in his first few outings with his windmill roller coaster action bemusing all batsmen.

No one expected him to have the same success at the test level but against India he produced the goods troubling the likes of Dravid, Laxman, Sachin, and Ganguly in his debut test series.

Sohail continued to impress in all forms of the game and soon became Pakistan's spearhead in the absence of Shoaib and Asif.

Along came the Indian Premier League and under Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir produced outstanding bowling displays and ended the tournament with more wickets than anyone else and the best bowler award. Sohail's dominance made opposing teams look as lost as someone who just lost his life's savings.

Sohail's rise to Pakistan's no.1 pacer was rapid and impressive.

He was considered a good talent and in terms of character he was very different to the Wasims, Waqars, Shoaibs, and Asifs lacking the flamboyancy and appearing modest in his approach.

Good signs were being seen as finally Pakistan had a fast bowler who was less prone to injuries one that would also stay clear of controversies.

However, today, this news appeared. Read this as well.

Why am I not surprised?

How can Pakistan create a star and not make the stardom get to his head?

No matter what the case or issue here. Whether its late night drinking or gambling or partying or anything else, it needs to be corrected now.

If the PCB or the team management takes a soft approach now, they will regret it forever as they have done with Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif.

I pray for Pakistan's sake that Sohail Tanvir does not go down the same gutter that Shoaib & Asif lie in currently.

For that to be ensured though, the PCB needs to take action. The team management needs to take action. And Sohail Tanvir needs to respond and realise!


Make your pitch on this post...



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7 Pitched:

  1. Anonymous said...
     

    MORE CRISIS hurts the Pakistan team. This has to be one of the worst periods Pakistan cricket has come across. It all started with the Oval Test fiasco in 2006 and then the shocking and disgraceful incidents have been countless.

    Q, when a player who is in high demand and top of the world starts to misbehave, the only way a Board can deal with him is to kick him out for some time until he starts to mend his ways. The Board was too lenient with Shoaib Akhtar at first and now they will be lenient with Sohail as well.

    I don't understand how the Board can be blamed if the players are misbehaving. If the players are infants studying in the school then you can blame the Board, but these guys are all 20+, they all know the difference between right and wrong.

    If you look at the policies of Boards of developed countries, any misbehaviour is met with severe punishment. Remember when in last year's World Cup Andrew Flintoff had gone drinking the night before a match England lost, and he was banned for a few matches?

    The only way to deal with players like Asif, Akhtar and Tanvir is to disgrace them by dropping them for a few matches. But in Pakistan there is always an easy way out, and people consider short term gains to be much more significant than long term gains. Tanvir is still a young player now, they need to take some action before it's too late and he becomes another Akhtar or Asif.

  2. Anonymous said...
     

    Malik complained that Sohail is not listening to him and the coach although I don't believe him as he is not trust worthy anymore.He is consistently pointing fingers at others for his own shortcomings.

    We need a strong person as a manager, Talat Ali turns a blind eye over all the undisciplined behavior and fails to report it to the management he is only concerned about that having good relations with the players at all the time.

    Everybody in the current scenario is only trying to save their own job.

    The board is partly responsible because of the leniency they have shown to the players in the past,if you will give these players an inch they will take it as a mile, the enforcement of discipline is the responsibility of the board.

  3. Soulberry said...
     

    I wonder why far more talented players than the trio you mention, weren't seduced by their stardom? I speak about people like Wasim, Waqar, and even Aaquib Javed. Sohail Tanveer has yet to match what Aaquib Javed had achieved, and let's not even talk about the stardom of W's.

    Hopefully Tanvir readjusts his bearings very quickly.

  4. Q said...
     

    SB - they were. Wasim, waqar, Aqib were all bitten by the stardom bug - remember the marijuana incident in Jamaica? They were merely in their 20s then and were the leading stars of Pakistan cricket bound to go astray... The difference between then and now was Imran Khan and a strong PCB management following Imran Khan.

    For as long as Imran Khan was in charge he ensured everyone remained disciplined. He was a strong leader who commanded respect.

    When the Jamaica incident happened, even though the board backed the players in fron of the authories, behind closed doors they were given a heavy lashing that they probably remember even today.

    In todays times, the likes of Shoaib and Asif are let off time and time again... too lenient. No strong leadership..

  5. Q said...
     

    I think you have a point Wasim. Anything Malik says from now on will be taken with a pinch of salt.

    First he takes the credit away from Misbah and then he complains against Tanvir. So basically he's speaking against 2 Pakistan's best ODI players in recent times..

  6. Q said...
     

    Definitely one of the worst periods Khansahab.

    If this in fact is true then Tanvir needs to be told that what he is doing is not right and that he is not indispensible..

  7. Anonymous said...
     

    Holy noodles!! Its like a plague catching on!! Looks indeed like the worst period for pakistan cricket even though statistics show otherwise.

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