Bring on the rocket scientists

Yesterday, during the fourth ODI between Pakistan and England, one thing shocked me and that was the selection of five spinners in the Pakistan side and allowing just one fast bowler to operate. I was unable to watch the match and I am glad of not watching another Pakistani defeat due to poor team selection and a Pakistani team playing in an un-Pakistani way.

Was that Pakistan or India? When Pakistan opted for spin as their main weapon to nail the opposition? Wasn’t it so un-Pakistani?

I have actually grown up watching a Pakistan team in full-song studded with killer fast bowlers. It was the magnificent jump of Imran Khan and the fluent action of Wasim Akram that hooked me to cricket in the late 80’s. Then in the 90’s the dynamism and miraculous activities of Wasim and Waqar took a teenager, named Faisal Caesar, in the land of dreams full of thrills and chills essayed by the 2W’s.

In my teen, Pakistan was all over my mind and soul as they guaranteed me a 100% action packed movie. I was able to watch batsmen getting baffled by the genius of Wasim, batsmen getting toe-crushed by Waqar, batsmen getting swung in and out by Aqib and there were so many other merchants of speed that the absence of the big guns didn’t matter most. The likes of Mohammad Zahid, Shahid Nazir, Amir Nazir, Mohammad Akram and co would come in and put chills down the opposition batsmen’s spine.

Waqar and Wasim left the grand stage and then Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir continued the action with speed, guile and merit. Shoaib left; Amir and Asif got lost in the long run and at present I see no merchants of speed.

But Pakistan is a fertile land to produce fast bowlers and Pakistan has never had dearth in producing fast bowlers. And still there are men like Gul, Wahab and Juniad who might not be as competent as their past masters but well enough to hunt for the batsmen.

I simply can’t accept the plan of applying spinners ahead of the fast bowlers by the Pakistani think tank. No doubt Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman had been instrumental in sealing the “Greenwash” but that cannot make Misbah and co go for an un-Pakistani way as Pakistan’s main weapon has been fast bowlers and not spinners. An attack consisting of Gul, Wahab, Junaid, Ajmal and Afridi is too good to nail any opposition. That’s what Pakistan has been doing since Imran Khan, applying variety and depth rather than making the bowling attack monotonous – five spinners! I still feel angry with that.

Yes, they had Qadir, Mushtaq and Saqlain but it was Imran, Wasim and Waqar who outclassed the batsmen most of the times. Yes, the conditions at Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the ODI series suited the spinners but mind you it was England’s Steve Finn who came too good to topple Pakistan. The conditions at Dubai suited reverse swing which has always been England’s thorn in the throat and Pakistan has the materials to use that.

But you need an attacking mind to exploit reverse swing and in Misbah I always find it absent. No doubt he has been a successful captain and he has made a morally downed side stand on their feet last year. But Misbah mustn’t forget that the team is Pakistan whose fans love to watch fast men in operation, charging in and hitting the batsmen’s head and sending the stumps cart-wheeling towards the keeper rather than a spinner majestic spin-web baffling the batsmen.

A Pakistani fan loves to watch a rocket scientist rather than a canvas artist. A Pakistani fan loves to see their team win but not at the sake of their tradition being sacrificed, the tradition of killing the opponents with rocket scientist, the tradition of cementing genuine merchants of speed.

Fast bowlers are the heart and soul of Pakistan and above all the love of the millions of fans who love to watch Pakistan in action. It’s quite unthinkable to imagine a Pakistan team’s attack to be taken over by a canvas artist rather than a rocket scientist.

Where are the rocket scientists? Are they lost? Are they becoming the victims of a defensive mind? Are we going to see young generation of Pakistan idolising a spinner and not a tear away fast bowler? Is the Pakistani attack becoming monotonous studded with one dimensional spin attack shunning a fast-spin combination?

Please don’t play cricket in an un-Pakistani way. We want the merchants of speed; we want the rocket scientists to blaze in all cylinders. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

   

He scripts the Bhangra in a different way

Not the way a Pakistani cricket lover will love to watch a green army. He’s not spontaneous like Qadir or bubbly like Saeed Ajmal or doesn’t invite the kiddish touch of Mushtaq nor charms anyone like Saqlain. His presence on the field can hardly be felt until and unless he’ll outfox a batsman and trigger a wild celebration.

The player doesn’t seem to have the Pakistani ‘Bhangra’ in him but mind you he’s from Pakistan and he’s playing in that team where you naturally acquire the X-factor from birth and while playing for Pakistan that X-factor bears the signature of his style and skill. But this guy from Sialkot lack this but he does trigger wild celebrations..

The guy is Abdur Rehman, a bowler lacking X-factor and which a Pakistani cricket fan doesn’t even care to notice and obviously hardly a topic for the cricket writers.

My first notice of Rehman was way back in 2006 in an ODI series against the West Indies where he won a man of the match award. I wasn’t that much impressed as because I’m addicted to more attacking species and obviously over the years Pakistan has offered me with plenty. So, in that case Rehman was not my cup of tea. Since 2006, Rehman was lost like many Pakistanis, who come up, shines and then get lost in the long run. But those who target hard they do come back in their own style.

Abdur Rehman targeted hard and remained stuck with his simple plan of discipline in his bowling and worked more and more on it and returned in 2010 again and demanded a more permanent place for himself as Pakistan opted for a twin-spin attack in Tests. He showed that he deserved a place too, reaching the 50-wicket mark in only his 11th Test.

And in the ongoing series against England Rehman has proved to be a match-winner for Pakistan by scripting the unthinkable at Abu Dhabi when all eyes were focused on Saeed Ajmal. On the 4^th day England needed just 145 runs to level the series but suddenly an unsung hero from Sialkot tuned in the ‘Bhangra’ and left the cricket world dancing with his nagging line and incisive but varied length.

Wrist-spinners are cricket romanticists’ more favourite subject as because ‘the allure of wrist spin and its infinite potential for subtlety and trickery perhaps has no equal.’ And for which a left-arm spin artist always goes unnoticed by the romanticists’ and they are always in the category of ‘the honest, dependable craftsman, essential but not the star.’

And in that sense Abdur Rehman ‘Is much like the 9 to 5 office goer, punctual and correct; round the wicket, a bit of drift, on a good length, break away and have the heart for a long battle.’

Sounds pretty boring stuff for a cricket romanticist.

But if you watch Abdur Rehman more closely there is something for the romanticists and which is Rehman’s ability to vary his length without changing his action. Like Abdul Qadir or an Ajmal he’s not always after the batsmen with a googly or doosra but Rehman is always at the batsmen with subtle variations in his length. Rehman’s great sense of using the bowlers’ foot-marks makes his bowling further charming and exciting, certainly the romantic eyes always search for charm and excitement.

Yes we don’t find a Bedi or Verity in Rehman but when he winds up to bowl and delivers the ball towards the batsmen by pivoting on the front-foot after completing his roundish arm action, he’s taking every possible test to the batsmen with his mercurial length, a sight which only the romantic eyes can see.

Abdur Rehman just lures the batsmen into the quicksand with his mercurial length. Rehman usually isn’t a huge turner of the ball but from a length he does provide sharp turns and in course of time if Rehman adds the chinaman in his armory then the spider web will be completed.

So, there is something for the cricket romanticists and cricket literature in Rehman which he has developed and not acquired like a Saqlain or a Qadir. And obviously he demands more fan followers from Pakistan.

Abdur Rehman is a spinner who will not offer the Pakistani X-factor which Qadir or Saqlain offered but still he offers some different beat of ‘Bhangra’, a different tune which triggers celebrations. Abdur Rehman is a ‘Bhangra’ dancer of different origin, a spinner of a different breed.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar