Get up

It is still too early in the World Cup for Pakistan to start panicking but the way the West Indies thrashed us, probably even more than the defeat to India, has led to a pall of doom and gloom descending over the entire country. The usual stories of infighting and poor discipline are doing the rounds and threaten to tear apart an already fractured team. The problems started even before the tournament began with players fined for breaking their curfews. More worryingly, the fielding coach Grant Luden threatened to quit because the players were disrespecting him by not taking their drills seriously. Even though the team denied this accusation, our performance in the field against the West Indies almost seemed like a calculated insult to Luden. Catches were routinely dropped, no one bothered diving for the ball and fielders gently jogged rather than run like sportsmen. Now yet another scandal has emerged as chief selector Moin Khan had the marvellous sense to go to a casino after our defeat. Such individual lapses occur in other teams too but the way they are piling on top of each other in our case suggests a defeatist attitude where the team is waiting for the bitter end to come sooner rather than later.
There is still time for a turnaround. Of our four remaining matches, winning three against Zimbabwe, the UAE and Ireland should be just about enough to get us through to the quarterfinals. But changes will have to be made, both in our attitude and personnel. Younis Khan is seemingly being kept on only for sentimental reasons. He needs to be jettisoned immediately with Umar Akmal surrendering the wicket-keeping gloves to Sarfaraz Ahmed and moving up the batting order himself. We need to give up on the disastrous experiment of playing only four frontline bowlers and recall Yasir Shah to the team. Above all, we have to show that the World Cup means something to us and that means putting in more effort on our fielding. It is true that we may be under pressure and the burden of expectation has got to the team but that pressure exists for every team in cricket’s premier tournament. PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has said no one will be blamed for the poor performances so far but should we lose to even one of the minnows it would rank as one of the greatest embarrassments in our history. Team Pakistan now has to show some of that cornered tigers fighting spirit once again.