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