Yes, Harare witnessed the victory of team spirit and the
downfall of lackluster attitude. Before the Test series started, the Zimbabwe
team found themselves in troubled waters. They were marred by petty quarrels
with their Board regarding payment issues and their players even threatened of
not participating in the Test series. The situation was muggy and keeping all
these off-field issues in mind, it’s never easy to give your best shot!
But the Zimbabweans did fire all their cylinders and from
the word go they looked the more confident unit than Pakistan in the first
Test. They lost the battle of temperament in the first Test but they toppled
Pakistan in the second encounter – courtesy of unflappable spirit and of
course, the drab display of the Pakistan batsmen.
Again, the Pakistani batsmen were gripped and engulfed by
the apprehension of chasing down a total. This has been a serious problem since
the late 90s and this problem has not yet been solved. Bringing the best
batting coach for the Pakistan team and arranging a coaching camp for a brief
period with the best batting consultant couldn’t trigger magic as Pakistani
batsmen failed to demonstrate the application prerequisite for Test matches. A
test match is a philosophy and has no room for rashness or madness. It demands
a meticulous and methodical approach.
In the longer formats of the game, you need to be patient
and rely on occupying the crease and maneuvering the strike rather than donning
slapdash attitude towards batting. Most of Pakistan batsmen essayed some flashy
strokes, got starts and then perished in an awful manner. Such an approach can
never bring goods and always invites perilous outcomes no matter against which
team you are playing. The Zimbabwe tour had been a shoddy one for Pakistan
where, time and again, they got kicked around like club cricketers.
But, it’s hard to undermine Zimbabwe’s tremendous
achievement. Their victory in the first ODI match can be written as a slip on a
banana peel to which anyone can buckle but to win a Test match, you need to
pass the examination of temperament and skill, and can’t be labeled as a flash
in the pan. Zimbabwe have shown the world how adversity can be trampled
underfoot with discipline and willpower. Neither their bowling-attack nor the
batting line-up is anything frightening but what made Zimbabwe the superior
side is their rock-solid determination to do well. They didn’t allow a pabulum
attitude within them and stuck to their task to reap a rich harvest.
Zimbabwe now rank ninth in the ICC Test Championship
rankings replacing Bangladesh. Certainly, Zimbabwe’s success hasn’t charmed
many of the Bangladeshi fan followers but rather than getting envious, it’s
better to accept the fact that Zimbabwe’s achievement as a Test team is far
better than Bangladesh. Bangladesh are yet to outclass any bigger Test nations
and the Zimbabwe win should make them determined to improve more in the Test
matches. In the last thirteen years, Bangladesh haven’t been up to the mark in
Test matches and just four wins in these thirteen years indicate how much they
lag behind. They receive better facilities and better salaries than Zimbabwe
and the Cricket Board is more stable than Zimbabwe. But still, in Test cricket,
we haven’t struck the desired gold.
Since, their re-entry to Test cricket in 2011, Zimbabwe have
notched up three Test wins and one of the victories is against a major
Test-playing nation, Pakistan. Three Test wins in two years is a far sounder
achievement than four Test wins in thirteen years!
Who are improving more?
Ask yourself.
By the way, Bangladesh will need to play a qualification
round for the World Twenty20 next year. Have you ever heard a host nation to
play a qualification round? Isn’t it something uniquely daft? And this weird
rule cropped up from nowhere! Shouldn’t this sort of rules be informed a bit
earlier? Isn’t this insulting for the host nation?
Such questions would have never cropped up if the ICC had
some backbone. Frankly speaking, they are an organization controlled by the
most powerful cricket boards in world cricket – BCCI! With powers comes
responsibility but what responsibility the BCCI have shown so far remains a
moot question. To the BCCI, cricket has become a money-making machine rather
than a game and their actions are only creating deep bruises. They are running
the world cricket like an autocratic army General – an approach that you don’t
accept from a democratic nation like India. James Astill in his excellent new
book on the modern powerhouse of Indian cricket The Great Tamasha said - ‘an
oligarchy, a democracy stage-managed by a corrupt super-elite.’ Should we say
the same in the case of the BCCI?
I think, yes!
It sounds bad but its dam true!
Why was the South African tour being halted, or should I
say, canceled? Was it done only for one person’s personal landmark? Was it done
due to BCCI’s ego clash with Cricket South Africa? Couldn’t it be settled by
any other means? Was it not simply bad to ignore all the cricket fans from
enjoying the epic clash between Tendulkar and Dale Steyn? Will Darren Sammy vs
Tendulkar be able to generate the same euphoria?
As the most influential Cricket Board, the entire cricketing
world expects a gracious and fair approach from them but sadly, the BCCI only
believes in ‘Might is Right’! Every autocratic and arrogant regime meets a sad
end. The BCCI mustn’t forget this.
Note: This article has been published on Cricketsoccer.com on 18/09/2013 Effulgent Zimbabwe, shoddy Pakistan and the bossy BCCI
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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