By Abhishek Manroa
NEW DELHI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 6, 2012: Pakistani and Indian skippers are under tremendous pressure to step down from their position after their respective team’s exit from the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 2012.
Indian cricket team crashed out of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 at Super Eights stage while its arch-rival Pakistan was knocked out by hosts Sri Lanka in the first Semi-Final by 16 runs the other night.
While India’s performance was not up to the expectations of the local fans, Pakistan did manage to finish among the four best Twenty20 teams in world cricket but despite of a great show, former cricketers and local media has really gone after Mohammad Hafeez and his men.
The center of criticism in both Pakistan and India are the senior cricketers where Indian media has lamented Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. Across the Line-of-Control (LoC), Pakistani media has took apart senior cricketers like Shahid Khan Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, and Yasir Arafat.
The main argument behind the stern criticism is the pace of the shortest format of the game which is best-suited for younger cricketers as players like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin have impressed the Indian fans while Pakistani fans feel upbeat about Raza Hasan, Asad Shafiq, Nasir Jamshed, and Umar Akmal.
Former Pakistan Test fast bowler, Sikandar Bakht told TheNation on Friday, “There is a lesson in every defeat. For Pakistan, there are genuine concerns about the performance of their five to six senior players. They have remained inconsistent in the mega event”.
Sikandar Bakht showed no hesitation in naming these cricketers as he was of the view that skipper Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Nazir had failed to impress in the ICC flagship-event therefore Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should make a decision about future of these players and replace them with new blood.
Aaqib Javed, another former pacer, who now does coaching for United Arab Emirates, had identical thoughts about the senior Pakistani cricketers. He said there were several young players who could take on the baton from the senior generation of cricketers and get going.
Former Test captain Aamir Sohail showed great disliking for opening batsman Imran Nazir and questioned the rationale behind his selection for such a huge event. "His inclusion in the team spoiled the team's composition. He tries to hit every ball and does not know to take singles”.
Basit Ali, the match-fixing whistleblower, was of the belief that it was worrying to watch Pakistan failing to chase an easy target of 140 runs. Demanding the PCB to do away with foreign coach Dav Whatmore, Basit Ali said, "We don't need foreign coaches in the presence of Javed Miandad and other Pakistani cricket legends”.
On the other hand, Indian cricket team is facing even harder response from the former cricketers as well as a hostile media as they have witnessed a visible decline from their last year’s triumph in the ICC World Cup 2011.
After failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 for the third consecutive time after winning the inaugural event in South Africa, former cricketers are demanding MS Dhoni and his men to decide on their future to leave way for the younger generation who has improved leaps and bounds at the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Former Pakistan cricket captain, Wasim Akram, who is coaching the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, put the whole blame of defeat on Mahendra Singh Dhoni mentioning his flawed selection policy.
Wasim Akram was quoted as saying for ESPNStar.com. "I am puzzled with the way the Indian team management has picked playing XIs. For example, I feel a wicket-taking bowler like Harbhajan Singh was missed against the ragged South Africans on Tuesday night.
Talking about Zaheer Khan, Wasim Akram stated, "I have said before that Zaheer has to choose the format of cricket he wants to play. I can't see him running in hard every ball and bamboozling batsmen with pace and movement. India must find replacements and very soon at that. India need fresh legs and stronger shoulders because they will be playing a series of matches at home from November”.
Wasim Akram was quick enough to name replacements for Zaheer Khan. "Where is Umesh Yadav? And Varun Aaron seems to be a forgotten name. With the new selection committee in place, both Umesh and Varun should be groomed to power India's pace battery. I hear Varun is injured. I think the BCCI needs to get after him and pull him out of his problems. At least Umesh should have been in the T20 squad," he added.
Amid all the criticism and calls for captain’s resignation, there were some positives for both Pakistan and India as Virat Kohli once again exhibited his true colors at the biggest stage for India while Pakistan discovered Nasir Jamshed as a proper batsman in their top-order. As far as bowling is concerned, Pakistan were more fortunate as they found Raza Hasan as a true replacement for Abdur Rehman but Indian bowling woes sustain as their skipper feels no confidence in the experienced Harbhajan Singh and he mostly put him on the bench rather than using his skills against the top opposition in the tournament.
Yuvraj Singh, who recently rejoined the Team India after beating cancer, was another factor to relish for the Indian cricket fans as he was among the top wicket takers for the Men in Blue with eight wickets. Yuvi was the second leading wicket taker for India as Lakshmipathy Balaji took nine wickets despite of going for too many runs.
