Pukh Theory – A Review

Pukh Theory is a multilayered book which contains 80 pages and 12 chapters. It is not only a book but is a movie, a story and a guru in its true form. The book politely tells the professionals that anyone with exceptional set of skills can become Danial but to be Lala, one has to have wisdom and true love for his work. This wisdom and true love for work can be found at writer’s place who describes it so conveniently.

THE BOOK LOOKS:
Pukh Theory looks different from typical management books. Its title, page, font and especially the language used in the book are quite unusual. Everything is deviated, if not against, the rules of writing and publishing a book on a serious topic. Even the name of the book and the smiling hero at the title are not recommended for a book which is intended to be written to guide the CEOs of the organizations.

Smiling Gadha, be it Guru or the Pukh, on every page with a smiling face does not haunt you especially when the smile is not meaningless.
“Hain, ye kya???” is the first thought that comes to your mind when you hold this book in your hands. This “Ye kya” intrigues you to read it further; and this is how you go into a detailed read of it. It could be confidently said, in other words, that this is a psychological tactic that successfully engages the reader for a thorough read.

THE BOOK CONTAINS:
The content has been presented in the form of a lucid story woven around three characters i.e. Lala, Pukh and Danial. Through these characters the writer emphasizes that, to be a successful professional you have to have the willingness of Danial, the wisdom of Lala; and to remain successful, you have to groom Pukh in a structured way.

The book is easy to understand because it has used the story-telling technique which does not let the reader drift away from the text.

What should be appreciated greatly and given the credit of being relevant to the today’s world and which make it a prescription for the ailments of the modern organizations is; it contains a story which not only unfolds but also quite inherently queries the body and the anomalies of the culture of modern organizations—the corporate sector.

Pukh Theory does not overburden the reader with too many concepts rather is based upon one but crucial concept i.e. “Having Pukh”. The rest of the book revolves around it ascertaining a fertile impact achieved by the simplicity of the content and presentation thereupon.

The book discusses the challenges faced by a leader. It describes how the environment and people resist in enjoying the fresh air. It tells how a heart grooms a brain and how values lead skills towards glory.

It helps you understand the language of your heart and respond to it accordingly, and how the voice of heart influences others. It guides the reader as to why it is important to develop the left brain before getting the best results from the right brain.

The book silently leads you to the avenues of leadership while wandering about the streets of business management.

It is not that number 13 always brings misfortunes and calamities. And this optimism is supplemented by the Chapter 13 of Pukh Theory. This chapter has been left empty for you—the reader of the book. So that you may write your own words—your future on the pages of a dynamic chapter. In simple words, these pages are for the notes of the reader to be taken and reflections over the read to be written.

FOR READERS:
It is today’s book, for the people of today, for the industry of today and for the students of today. The book is actually aiming to face the leadership crisis which is expected in 2015.

Readers belonging to different factions of professions can learn from the book according to their need, as it caters to the readers ranging from the people managers to merely the students of management sciences.

As a people manager, you will find golden rules for your own growth and for the growth of your reportees. It contains all the guidelines for you and for your team leaders. You will learn an easy method to groom your people and to develop your replacement which will eventually ascend you to the next level.

Even if you know everything which is written in the book, you must keep with you to go through its chapters every now and then so that if you forget any of the lessons, you find your Guru very next to you.

Whenever you are free or whenever you are handicapped by the circumstances, open your bookshelf, go through it from anywhere and start doing your work. It will help you understand yourself, simplify the situations and groom your peers.

The book helps the executives and associates as well who wants to be people manager in near future.

As a people manager (CEO, VP, Director or manager), you can suggest today’s leaders to stop feeling insecure and start delegating their skills to groom tomorrow’s leaders by using the methodology Lala uses in training his new Pukh.

And as a student of business administration/management sciences, you will find a Guru in it. Whatever the Guru Gadha says on each of the pages is a guideline for your career as you are the future management trainee and you are the future people manager.

Do not think of what the CEO Danial does to his team but just look at the thinking patron of Lala, you will become Danial at first and then will be Lala soon.

I shall highly recommend Pukh Theory to be your bed-book or at least to be kept in the bookshelf of your office and in the library of your university.

LALA, THE GURU…
A very important point: We are afraid of having Pukhs but Lala tells why it is important to have Pukhs of every leader and if we keep avoiding Pukhs, our specie will not survive any longer.

Lala, the hero of the story, is the guru for all the managers and leaders of today’s organizations. Everyone seeks for a guru in real life who takes them through the difficult most phases of life and makes it easier for them and for their generations. Lala does the same for Danial and his successors. Danial includes all the people managers and all the leaders.

When the Danial is ready, the Lala arrives

The climax of Pukh Theory is its closing which is actually its beginning and a food for thought for everyone including Danials of the industry…

The Author:
There is not much to say about Lala Farhad and Lala Faraz who see through the future and give instructions to the Pukhs of coming generations to face it with wisdom, vision and positivity.

Farhad said once, it takes 45mins to read “Pukh Theory”. That’s right but it takes 45 days to digest and 45 months to implement (as it is too simple to be acceptable for the traditional bosses).

It is a master piece for today’s and tomorrow’s leaders.

Good Bye Afridi

You dared to disagree with honorable king, the genius of all times, the greatest chairman of cricket history, someone who knows all the rules and regulations of the game and management. He managed lots of selection committees, captains of cricket and thousands of people from only one organization. You did not know you were playing with fire. You did not know he is Ghulam Muhammad of Pakistan cricket. He is great, he is the best, he is matchless and you thought you could win against his ego??? How silly are you…

One of the greatest batsmen of the cricket history, Muhammad Yousuf dared to be different and got punished. You think, making over 17000 runs at international level and having an inspirational personality for rest of the world means you can impress the god of the cricket board? You are so stupid, Lala…

You think, Younis could have played world cup without saying sorry to the legendary character Mr. Ijazz Butt. He can afford to lose from any nation but not from his own players. He did not try to save Asif, Amir, Butt & Zulqarnain’s careers and disowned them as soon as they went against him.

You know, he is matchless. He has removed three selection committees and NINE captains in his two-and-half-years reign. He is the consistent most chairman of cricket board. He removed and appointed Shoaib Malik, he appointed and removed Younis Khan. He appointed and removed Muhammad Yousuf, Salman Butt was fortunate enough for not being removed by him but by the ICC. He appointed an out-of-sight player Misbah as test captain and now gave him a potential opportunity for the same game by removing you.
He did the same to coaches Jeof Lawson and Intikhab Alam and appointed Waqar Younis as coach. And about selectors, the story is same; Abdul Qadir had same issue with chairman PCB that he interferes and does not let him do his job, independently. Iqbal Qasim was the second one to go and then he found Mohsin Khan who does not go against chariman’s will. How dare you thought to do this, Afridi.

Dear Afridi, don’t you know what a phenomenal career he has? He played 8 test match for Pakistan and made 279 runs with an amazing average of 19.92runs. and you have played 27 test and 325 ODI matches only. You have made 6695 runs in ODIs only and have hit 289 sixes. The count of your sixes is just above the total runs of the legendry Ijazz Butt. You have taken 315 wickets in ODIs onlyh. Your records are not as impressive as his are.

What maximum you could do for us. You could earn world records for us, you could win victories for us, you could become highest wicket taker in world cup, you could win matches single handedly, you could bring people to the stadiums, you could hit maximum sixes, you could become world’s favorite and reliable all-rounder, you could stand with your decisions, you could tell rightly people about their job, you could lead the team to the semifinals after 12 year, You could win hearts of the nation?

And you think, it was sufficient to win heart of the great chairman? No… No way… you have to be politician and you have to have a “Yes Boss” attitude to retain your position. Don’t you see how effective the chief selector is, without having any authority? He doesn’t select anyone who is against the chairman.

You are living in fool’s paradise, Lala. You should have done what your boss wanted. Coach, manager and captains are just the puppets in the hands of the chairman. He is such an influential personality that even patron of the cricket is not reluctant about his qualities then who are you to do so?

Come on Afridi, be a good and gentle man, pay a visit to his highness, say sorry for your actions and words and ensure that you never do what he does not like.

The request comes from the heart of a cricketer and a fan who believes that you were the only person who united the whole nation and the team after Imran Khan. We want you to play.

And “Your highness, I feel sorry on the behalf of these three below average (Yousuf, Younis & Afridi) cricketers, sir. They did not know what mistakes they have been making. They never knew they had to surrender. They were stupid because they thought that they deserved to be handled in a better way because they were good performers. You have done an excellent job by telling them how to behave.

Sir, just one request on the behalf of the whole nation and the cricketers, for God’s sake, have pity on us and leave us alone…”

Are Trainers Entertainers?

Human resource development is the most neglected area of the organizations operating in Pakistan. The organizations which invest money on human development can be counted on finger tips.  It is the corporate sector only that invests few pennies on the training and development of their employees, however most of the organizations believe that investment on human development is not more than a waste of money. They invest money on this only when there is a boom in the industry but as soon as the trend goes downwards, they reduce the training budget. Although training can improve productivity and overall performance of the employees yet the Pakistani organizations take it as a burden. They do not have a mature training culture. Training has never been the organizations’ first priority.

Let’s discuss the reasons:

TRAINING IS NOTHING BUT A RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY: Unfortunately, trainings are confused with the recreational activities. Instead of having outdoor activities, HR arranges trainings for the employees and asks the trainers to develop such activities which could entertain the participants. These activities keep the energy level of the training high but do not groom the employees; for the focus of the training remains fun-oriented instead of learning-oriented.

TRAINING-NEED-ANALYSIS MISSING:Organizations and trainers, both are least interested in having Training Need Analysis (TNAs) before conducting training sessions. It is largely observed that the HR departments ask external trainers to provide topics on which employees should be trained instead of telling them the areas of improvement of their employees and suggesting topics for the trainings. As a result, the trainers design a generic training and conduct it without paying any heed to the difference of the organizations, their cultures and challenges. A quite natural question arises; how a training program with the same contents can be equally beneficial for every organization in question?

CONTENT AGAINST JDs (Job Descriptions):Organizations try to accommodate maximum number of employees in one training program even if the program does not relate to their job descriptions. This is the only reason why employees do not take interest in the training program. I have come across so many trainings which were not beneficial for the trainees because the content had no relation with their day-to-day job. They were more keen to sleep during the training hours, and more eager to have lunch and tea during the breaks in-between.

TRAINERS ARE ENTERTAINERS?Learning through fun can be one way of training people in a very effective manner but this is not the only way of training them. There are more ways of training like using case studies, brainstorming sessions, success stories, tests, live examples and others which can be related to the employees’ day-to-day business however, in order to keep the training interesting and alive, trainers have to miss the productive but relatively unpopular methods; thus a session, at the end of the day, proves to be an utterly unproductive session. Such trainings do not pay back as they do not improve their employees’ overall performance. Trainers should focus on the overall productivity by using activities as a means of communication instead of playing a role of an entertainer. If organizations aspire to entertain the employees at all, they should arrange a show with Amanat Chan, Umar Sharif & other entertainers instead of trainers. For, trainers are after all trainers. They can never be so good as a professional comedian/entertainer could be.

TRAINEES’ EXPECTATIONS: Coincidently, before going to the training room, most of the trainees do not know what they are going to learn and if the trainer has the experience and knowledge of what he is going to train on. Trainees want to enjoy a day off from the work and apply for the training without going through the objectives, prerequisites, target audience and even trainer’s profile. They do not have questions before going to the training room and rely on whatever comes to their mind during the session. This practice makes a session less productive even for their own grooming.

TRAINERS ARE UNPREPARED: For a trainer, it is a SIN to enter a training room without having the knowledge of what he is going to deliver, who is he going to deliver to, and how will the participants implement it on their work place. If any of these prerequisites remains unmet, the training goes waste without any doubts. Trainers must know different ways of communication. They should be widely read, details-oriented, skillful, friendly and positive. Market lacks professional trainers and trainees, it is trainers’ responsibility to improve the situation. Therefore they should always be well prepared and should complete their homework before entering into the training room.

THE “HAPPY SHEET” IS A GUIDELINE FOR TRAINERS: The feedback sheet is known as “Happy Sheet”. Ironically, this is so because most of the trainers get 100% scores at the end of the day. As a trainer, getting 100% scores on “Happy Sheet” is not the right way to get you evaluated. By this, you can only check how acceptable you have been. Your acceptability as a trainer does not essentially mean that the day was really productive. A trainer must give a method of evaluating the training so that organizations could get a better understanding of how much their employees improved. In other words, the happy sheet should contain the questions whose answers could reflect the qualitative difference of the trainees, and not the acceptability of the trainer.

POST-TRAINING EVALUATION SYSTEMS:While hiring trainers for the organizations, the HR should insist trainers to provide “Post Training Evaluation Method” to evaluate the results of their trainings. They should give feedback to the trainers before hiring them again. Closing the loop is the most important part of any training. It starts from Training Need Analysis (TNA), goes with Delivering Training and ends at Post Training Evaluation. Trainers must understand that the training is the only way to improve performance; if it is being neglected by the organizations then it is their fault. They need to provide a complete package where none of these points is missing.

Organizations are concerned with the performance of their employees. Therefore, the training should be designed by keeping the improvement of the intended trainees’ performance in view. Entertainment is a part of a training session; it must not be deemed as the heart of the session. An entertainment-oriented session may intrigue the true feedback which eventually may introduce anomalies into the post training evaluation system. Since there is no doubt in the fact that without the post training evaluation system, trainings stand nowhere, the post-training evaluation system must be errors-and-anomalies-free.

Afridi’s Dilemma

Shahid Afridi has been representing Pakistan for last 15 years but he is still unsure about his role in the team. He joined Pakistan cricket team as a professional leg spin bowler when Mushtaq Ahmed got injured and he was asked to join immediately. He was one of the highest wickets taking bowler at Under-19 level and was playing against West Indies Under-19 team at that time. By then, he was a reliable leg spin bowler and an unreliable tail-ender batsman.

And then, he played an unforgettable innings against World Champion Sri Lanka in his 2^nd One Day International and his first international inning. And here is the complete detail of his first century, 0610400600661166264400661411041606024 and its 100. The world has never witnessed such a short inning with such a big impact. There was a partnership of 126 runs between Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi but Afridi’s contribution was 102runs with 11 sixes and 6 fours in 37 balls only. He bowled well too (10-0-43-1) however the career-boosting century became his only introduction in the world. It was one of the best innings of cricket history……… but it confused Afridi about his specialty. He forgot that he was a professional bowler and an unreliable batsman who could be used as a useful batsman. The BOOM BOOM fame he earned revolves around his batting. He has lots of match winning innings against his name including the ones he played to win World Cup T20 for Pakistan. Unfortunately, everyone told him that he could do wonders with the bat but none of them actually tried to improve him.

Afridi has a respectable batting average 36.51 and 23.54 in test and ODI cricket respectively. He is the only player in the world whose strike rate has never gone below 100 (113.92 currently) in ODIs. These stats clearly show his batting potential and he has been a fighter and match winner leg spin bowler throughout his career. He has good range of verity, a bowler’s brain and attacking attitude. He never gives up in any sort of circumstances. He believes is leading from the front and always tries to be an example for his players.

He was highest wicket taker in World cup 2011 but he has been suffering from poor form as batsman. He was found frustrated every time he lost his wicket. He felt sorry for his bad shots, he tried to give justifications for is poor shot selection, he promised to be more responsible next time, he promoted himself even in the 4^th ODI against West Indies but repeated his mistakes again and again.

The question is; can he improve as a batsman???
Another question is; SHOULD he try to improve as batsman???

To me, the answer is NO for both. Afridi enjoys bowling, he is creative in bowling, he knows the tactics of getting rid of a batsman but he is NOT a creative batsman. He does not enjoy batting as for him hard-hitting is the only kind of batting and including him, everyone knows batting is beyond hard hitting. Even Powerplay doesn’t work for him anymore; the latest match is an evidence of that. Most of the bowlers know his weakness that he cannot hit short-pitch delivery at off-stump, even he knows that and he never tries to improve it. His casual attitude towards batting shows his seriousness towards this field. And I believe, this is not bad, every bowling-captain is same creature. Fazal Mehmood, Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis do not have great batting average but they were great match winners, just like Afridi.

Shahid Afridi needs to know this reality that he is a bowler and a good batsman (who averages above 23) and can be useful in favorable circumstances. He said once to that media that his first priority was bowling but his reactions after getting out depict that he still 0wants to win people’s hearts by hitting huge sixes. He should, I believe, stop having this approach and should clearly declare in the media about what he is serious and what his strength is.

He has number of match winning performances against his name with bat and with ball. Afridi has proved that he has been a useful cricketer, over the years and has always contributed with bat and ball. He can play a decisive role against any team, as a bowler and can add valuable runs if he remains calm and handles external pressure well.

The only suggestion for the skipper is: Be clear about your strength and do not get confused. It hurts your and team’s performance.

Will PCB be able to save future of Zulqarnain & Zulqnains of Future???

So… He returns back to home… I don’t know he should be called as “Subha ka bhoola” or “Laut k budhoo” but I have some serious reservations on the whole story. I really doubt that the story can be that simple. It is actually too simple to be believed.

He left for London few months back when he had achieve a confirm place in the team because of his exceptional match-winning performance against South Africa and poor performance of Kamran Akmal. It was Zulqarnain’s dream place as he worked really hard to be the part of Pakistan’s national cricket team after death of his mother. He wanted to be a proud son of his mother who passed away when he was 12 and his father who was patient of Hepatitis C when he made test debut. Someone really insane could make such mistake and we proved that he was not sane.

He says, “I think no one will put his future on line and there were some reasons when I left the team and went to Britain."
Whereas the disciplinary committee of Pakistan Cricket Board opines, “Haider had a complex personality, was a "weak nerve" person and "a person who is easily convinced into believing whatever is said to him."

Zulqarnair is a typical Pakistani cricketer who is mentally very tough when he is in the ground and can win the game easily even if it looks difficult apparently. But he was weak in handling matters outside the field. I believe, it was the responsibility of the board to handle the issues which were highlighted by Zulqarnain. Pakistan cricket board should have handled the case by assuring him that he will not be penalized for anything he has not committed and by escalating the cases of match fixing to International Cricket Council instead of threating him to face disciplinary committee and to face the consequences. Everyone knows that bookies have a role in international cricket and they are hardly visible. In Sarfaraz Nawaz’s words, bookies killed Hansie Cronje who fixed matches and then told the truth to the media. If this is the case then how can we accept that a person with Zulqarnain’s background can remain cool and calm? He will either get involved in fixing or will run away from a place which hurts his life and his dreams.

He was weak, no doubt but do you think, he really to be away from international cricket, fame, world cup and especially his family.

If the answer is NO, then PCB has to listen to him and take action to save future of Zulqnain and Zulqnains of future instead of having apathetic attitude towards heroes of Pakistan by saying “he was a weak nerve person”. I expect that PCB will not test their own players’ nerves anymore and will resolve the matters instead.

Six-Day Book Fair at Aiwan-e-Iqbal

Pakistan cricket should work as an organization

The surprise changes in Pakistan cricket team after losing Semi Final to India were not a surprise by the Selection Committee of Pakistan Cricket Board as it has always been an unpredictable board, just like the cricket team. The question is, will they stand with their decisions or will they change it in the “greater interest of the nation”. Instead of pointing fingers on the selection and reviewing the world cup, I would rather discuss how the productivity of board’s employees can be enhanced.

PCB = ONE MAN SHOW
Pakistan cricket board has always been a One Man Show from the modest beginning. We have lots of influential players and officials in our history who crossed the boundaries of their jobs and interrupted in others’.
Imran Khan would always pick his own team to give results and would never go with the team of selection committee. Wasim and Waqar have always been influential to board’s decisions.
Naseem Hassan Shah’s decision of appointing junior but talented cricketers Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as captain and vice-captain by replacing senior most and a time-tested experienced captain Javed Miandad could never be justified. The decision brought players’ power in the system again and ended with a revolt of 11 players against the young captain.
Mujeeb ur Rehman’s decision of investigating match fixing and giving a mysterious clearance to the senior players shows the power of an appointed dictator.
Tauqeer Zia’s decision of bringing Ramiz Raja as CEO, saving Shoaib Akhtar from lots of genuine controversies, bring senior players in for World Cup 2003 and dropping them after the tournament without giving any logical justification brought a new wave to the system that you can play blame game if you are unable to justify your decision, especially when you hold a government office too.
The credit of appointing a low profiled player as captain goes to Naseem Ashraf which brought a series of politics in the cricket board and divided the team into groups as every member of the team was better than the captain.
And it is Butt’s turn now. Who can forget Yousuf’s exclusion after Australia-New Zealand series, inclusion during England series, appointment of Shahid Afridi as test captain who was not willing to go as player even and exclusion of Younis Khan from the series and inclusion in world cup squad and above all, out of nowhere, giving the honor of becoming test captain to Misbah-ul-Haq who was not in the camp even and then delaying the decision to appoint captain for world cup, just to satisfy his own ego.

Interestingly, most of the decisions have to be taken by the selection committee and rest of them goes to the disciplinary committee (if there is any).

Pakistan will not be able to win tournaments if they do not held players and officials accountable for their performance on few set standards which define the job description of every individual and the process to evaluate them. Players and the touring management (including the physio and manager) should be held accountable for their errors even if the team wins the match. Let’s see how the organizations get best out of their employees and how PCB can do the same.

Reward & Punishment TheoryPakistan Cricket Board is an organization and it should be run as an organization. Reward and Punishment theory should be implemented in such a way that no one complains for not providing justice. Currently, no one knows why he is being punished (as Razzaq said) and what different did he do which earned him a reward and especially what he needs to do to maintain the same momentum.

Job Description (Define Roles)
It is the chairman who has veto power on any decision of any member of the organization, especially the selection committee. The chief selector has highlighted the same for many times (especially on Younis & Yousuf issue) and most recently, Ijaz Butt & Afridi have requested Miandad to join the team to improve their batting.  The JDs say that the role of a captain starts when he crosses the boundary rope, before that it is selection committee’s task to give him the list of 15 players. The captain cannot go beyond that. He can only suggest the changes and requirements but cannot influence management’s decisions. The captain has no right to jump into management’s decision and requesting an old cricketer to help his team. And same goes for the chairman; it is selection committee and the think tank that has to suggest the requirement to fill the gap and it is HR’s call to negotiate the salary on which they can hire a professional. The chairman has to monitor only that nothing unethical and unprofessional goes within the organization and to handle external pressure. PCB’s chairman interrupts the internal affairs and avoids external pressure.

Have a Track Record & Provide constructive feedbackThe cricket team is one of PCB’s departments and every employee (player & official) of this department should be given a task with according to their JDs (Job Description) and should be given tasks according to their strengths along with the guidelines on how to improve the weaknesses.

There should be a track record of every individual’s performance. If he performed well, coach and captain should have a one-to-one session with him to tell what exactly did he do well and which areas of improvement he has which may affect as soon as he loses his form. It is even more important when selection committee decides to drop someone on the grounds of his poor performance. The player should be given complete details of his performance and he should be given a complete guideline of having a comeback to the team. Areas of improvement should be defined clearly so that he could improve his technique or the pressure handling. He should be referred to the right person with a timeline to accomplish this task and that delaying it may hurt his central contract and can affect his place in the team for a longer period.

If we drill down furthermore, we will be to give tasks to the each individual according to the situation however few guidelines can be given to everyone which will be effective on most of the games. Exceptional scenarios can be dealt differently. As a most important department of the PCB, Pakistan Cricket Team needs to follow few golden rules;

Attack Bowlers’ Job
Attack bowlers are strikers and know the art of taking early wickets. Their (including first change bowlers’) job is; to take early wickets and to restrict the batsmen within 70 – 75 runs in first 15 overs, if they do that, they should be given full marks and if they are unable to produce results, they should be asked the reason of not performing according to their JD.

Right Arm Leg Spinner / Off Spinner with Doosra
Right arm leg spinner and an off spinner like Saeed Ajmal who has a weapon of Doosra to get wickets are known as wicket taking bowlers. They are not expected to restrict a batsman from playing shots. Their job is rather to invite the batsman to play shots and to take a chance for a wicket. Even if they are a bit expensive (even 60 runs in 10 overs are okay) if they get 2 or more wickets from the middle order and one from the tail in death overs. If they do that, they should be given full marks.

Right Arm Off Spinner / Left Arm Leg Spinner / Medium PacersNormally they both are Stock Bowlers and their job is to give maximum of 35 runs in their quota of 10 overs. If they exceed it, they should be asked to improve. Management and captain should not expect wickets from them. If they get wickets, they are giving more than what is expected however their main job remains restricting the batsmen and making sure that middle order batsmen have to struggle to get runs in their overs even if they try to play “V” shape inning. Stock bowlers stats should show less than 35 runs in 10 overs even if they do not take wickets and rest of the bowlers concede more than 300 runs in remaining 40 overs.

Middle OversMiddle order batsmen do not give wickets easily and they do not play big shots either. Stock bowlers serve the purpose in a better way however intelligent captains surprise the middle order by giving ball to the strikers to get few quick wickets. Even in these overs, if striker gets punished for his aggressive bowling and taking chances of hitting the wickets, he should be encouraged to play attacking cricket. If he concedes excessive runs, he should be immediately replaced by a stock bowler.

Death Overs & Batting Power PlayLast 10 overs and batting power play are very crucial for the batting side. They try to get maximum runs in these overs by using the restrictions of circle. For these overs, strikers (attack bowlers, right arm leg spinner or “Doosra” off spinner) should be given task to bowl against set batsmen. Stock bowlers (right arm off spinner, left arm leg spinner and medium pacer) should never be given this task as it is not their prime duty to get wickets and with field restrictions, it is never a good idea to have defensive fielding.

Wicket KeeperHe has the most crucial job. He cannot afford to drop a single catch, miss a single stump out or the run out. He has to be agile all the time. His one mistake can cost a match. In modern cricket, wicket keepers have to be good batsmen who should have the ability to 30 to 40 decisive runs however primarily his job description is to do well behind the stumps and he should be accountable for that only. Even if he doesn’t perform well as a batsman, he should not be punished or if he performs exceptionally well as a batsman but misses the changes behind the stumps, he should not be given favor for good batting as it is not his prime responsibility. His performance behind the stumps should be excellent and should be accountable for that only.

Openers’ JobOpeners have to maintain the average of 4.5 to 5 runs per over in first 15 overs without losing a wicket. They are expected to play orthodox cricket and to help their middle order by turning a new and moving ball into dead old ball so that middle order could play its natural game and keep the score board moving. Making runs against new ball is comparatively easier, so if they do not use new ball and field restrictions effectively and play defensive innings like middle order batsmen then they should be questioned.

Middle Order’s Job
They need to survive for minimum of 20 overs with maximum of one wicket down by playing V shape cricket and maintaining the average of 4 runs an over and above all by surviving to the striker. They need to have a cool and calm brain which keeps them going slow but steady. If middle order plays unorthodox shots and loses the wicket then they should be ready to face the consequences as there errors normally lead to a collapse which ended with defeat.

All RoundersNone of the teams expect too much from the bowling all rounders but few quick runs. Addition of 20 to 30 odd runs is considered reasonable contribution from them however they need to target any average bowler and punish him as much as possible.

Batting Power PlayIt is something which is playing decisive role in modern cricket. Batting side must take it when their best batsmen are at crease and if they do not survive then the best pinch hitter should be sent with the same task that team expects 25 runs from him in the power play. 50 to 60 runs from both the batsmen in power play is the target which they must achieve.

Game PlanThis is the Job Description of each player however coach, captain and the team make changes in the game plan according to the pitch, outfield, weather conditions, pressure of the match and strength and the weaknesses of the opponent, such as;

1.    Captain’s role is decisive in the game; does the body language of the captain remain positive in tough situations?

2.    Field placing and body language of the team was aggressive in the match.

3.    Captain used power play to save runs or to take wickets?

4.    Did the all rounders add 75 to 90 runs in last 10 overs?

5.    Did the tail try to resist and add 15 to 20 runs per player?

6.    Did the strikers bowled out the top class batsmen of the opposition?

7.    Did the middle order survive to the strikers of opponent?

8.    Did the players stick to the Game Plan or not and was plan B and C used when plan A failed?

9.    Offense is the best form of defense, did the captain and the players exhibit this?

10.  Are the culprits given guidelines and action plan for the next match & if they were, did they implement that?

If we are evaluating the performance of our team on these basis after every match even if we win or lose, only then we can improve otherwise we will keep worshiping and stoning our players without knowing about what they are good at and if they are performing according to their Job Description or not.

Having a full time elected chairman is also need of the time who must be accountable if he does not perform according to his JD and tries to impose One Man Show. Organizations survive only if their employees know their jobs, perform according to them and do not interrupt others’ domain. PCB has to follow the same if this organization wants to get best results from the employees.

A team of Fighters - Pakistan

There was a Shoaib Akhtar...

It is said that he replaced Waqar Younis as quickest bowler of the country and who had potential to be world’s fastest bowler but he had to prove himself. Waqar Younis was (is) the greatest fast bowlers of all times and taking him in the team by keeping Waqar was a tough decision for the selection committee and the captain. Wasim put all his weight in the favor of this young man who could earn victories for his side and could be an asset to the country. The one who had urge to be the best bowler. He remained unnoticeable from 1997 to 1999 until Pakistan visits India after 12 years and Wasim introduces him as a secret weapon.

It was second day of first Asian test champion ship where Pakistan was playing against India at Eden Gardens Culcatta. Wasim gave the ball to his most trusted bowler when India was in a stable position with 147/2 on board in 50 overs. Ramesh and “The Wall” Dravid were on the crease. Dravid was facing this gentleman who was not visible by then but was confident to break the wall.

He goes to his mark and runs towards wicket, passes the umpire, jumps in the air and delivers 1^st ball of 51^st over. It was a yorker ball which broke “The Wall” and disappeared the leg stump… It was one of the happiest moments of the match for entire team. They congratulated him, celebrated the achievement but they came back to their fielding position as world’s most competent batsman, the little master Sachin Tendulkar had arrived on crease and was ready to face the bowler. He runs towards popping crease again, crosses umpires, jumps in the air, approaches the stumps, delivers the ball and stuns everyone, including the greatest batsman of all times. It was the first time even in the batsman’s history when he was bowled out on the very first ball he faced. He never had a “Golden Duck” before. The ball introduced him as world’s quickest and genuine fast bowler of all times. He was none other than Shoaib Akhtar who was an outstanding addition to Pakistan’s fast bowlers. He was one of the best fast bowlers of the world and earned a respectable place with a series of Pakistani creative and aggressive fast bowlers from Fazal Mahmood, Sarfaraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Even after the retirement of Waqar and Wasim, he kept the pressure on to the world’s best batsmen. Brian Lara said once, “Shaoib’s bouncer was the only thing that feared me in my whole career.”

He was injury-prone who has always been struggling with his fitness in his whole career. He was flat-footed and in his childhood, doctors were doubtful that even the child would be able to run properly. He had an abnormal bend in his elbow which dragged into the controversy of throwing the ball (The jerk allegation) however he cleared by the doctors and then by the ICC. It was his mental toughness that kept him moving for around 15 years.

He had few setbacks in his career and the most talked about was his super star nakhray. He never had an ideal relationship with media and had faced charges of being undisciplined. But one thing he never compromise on was his image of a fast bowler and match winner, he proved that whenever he was given a chance (although he did not have an ideal end to his career).

Pakistan is a land which produces genuine fast bowlers who could change the face of the game in one spell of 4 hours. Pakistan will keep producing such legends and I would strongly suggest the fast bowlers of coming generations to learn few things from Shoaib. He enjoyed his real fast bowling all the time and the status of being unplayable till the end. He was never alleged for match fixing and this was the best part of his career. Although, his stats do not reflect that he was unplayable but there is no doubt that he remained a threat for the opponents in his whole career.

We are in a habit of ridiculing our legends. After Imran Khan, Inzamam was the only great cricketer of Pakistan who was given farewell and a proper way to announce his retirement. Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Rashid Latif and now Shoaib Akhtar ended his career in a way which never suits a legend.

Muralidharan has also ended his career with this world cup and he remained wicketless and lost the final but his nation wished him for his future and thanked him for his services. There are many other stories from the other world but we hardly do so.

Let us start a new practice this time as we welcomed our cricket team although they lost to the arch-rival and same should be done to the legend. Let us clap for him and thank him for his matchless services to Pakistan Cricket…

Good Bye Shoaib and Thank You for giving us a privilege to enjoy genuine fast bowling

My Prediction : World Champion India

India has been exceptional throughout the tournament. And I predict that the new world champion will be India. Why I am so confident about that, let me share.

1.    India has a large range of technically sound batsmen. Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kohli, Raina and Yousuf Pathan can do miracles in favorable conditions. Their medium pacers and spinners are more effective when the opponent is under pressure.

2.    Something really interesting, I would like to share. Six ladies won the titles of Miss World and Miss Universe within 7 years’ time. I really wanted to know as to what noticeable these Indian ladies had done that the others from around the world could not even be considered seriously.It did not take me so long to search the answer as Lt. Col. Jeelani wrote in a feature that India had the largest potential market for the cosmetic products, and the Western cosmetic industries were aiming at penetrating into this market in order to virtually colonize the region which could feed them for decades to come. The idea of giving titles of Miss World & Miss Universe worked really well.

3.    The reason is very same for introducing India as World Champion because India is the largest potential market for cricket products, cricketers and revenue generation from the same game.

4.    It is a land of bookies who can change the game from any corner. There is a wrong perception that they always get benefit if the favorite team loses. Spot fixing has opened more doors for them. They have different methods to force the cricketers of both the parties to perform badly. According to Sarfarz Nawaz, Hansie Cronje’s death is caused by the bookies. The threats can also play a vital role if Sri Lanka’s players do not perform according to bookies’ plans (if they are accessed by them)

5.    International politics also lead towards the same. To prove world’s most emerging “greatest nation”, it is very important that India wins the world cup as great nations are always disciplined and have good repute in games as well. India needs to work a lot on to produce match winners and disciplined cricketers however it is important that they have the image for the same.

6.    In quarter final against Australia, there was an appeal against Sehwag which was referred for review but the angel which could finish his innings was not showed. I am rather more doubtful because Sachin was not given not out Saeed Ajmal’s delivery. The ball was not turning as much as it was showed. Test cricketers have also raised their concerns over that especially when there are chances of intentional errors.

7.   Sachin Tendulkar was not given LBW and Stumpped out with the help of "Technology" on Saeed Ajmal's bowling. Saeed also said the same on media. He says, "‎I don't know how the television replays showed my delivery turning towards the leg side because I had bowled an arm ball and it went straight. I was 110% confident when the referral was made that the batsman was out." Such decisions can also be taken in final when and if required.

8.    India has a nationalist media which goes to any extent to support their team and to defame the opponents. Media always tries to put incredible pressure to the visiting teams. Sri Lanka can be influenced too.

9.    Indian media creates visibility and they know how to present their players as super stars. It creates terror on the hearts of opponents or at least on the hearts of cricket spectators.

10.    The best part of the Indian media is, they have presented their average players as super stars. Indian cricketers are excellent actors on screen and they do the same when they make hundreds, fifties or they bowled someone out. Their pictures and expressions can be threat to any player of the opposition.

11.  Indian commentators have very good vocabulary and they use every good adjectives for their players even if they lack that quality. Commentators add that in their players and the spectators start feeling the same way.

Why can’t they

1.    Below average bowling which can’t restrict teams (with the exception of cricket diplomacy) to score maximum runs. Bangla desh, England, South Africa and many others have recently enjoyed batting against weak bowling side. Bangla Desh made 283/9 runs, England made 338/8, South Africa made 300/7 in 50 overs.

2.    India’s top class batsmen do not perform under pressure. Their batting line up could not survive for complete 50 overs in 3 out of 6 group matches (268/10 vs Windies, 296/10 vs South Africa, 338/10 vs England and 260/9 in Semi Final. None of the batsman was confident while playing against Pakistan. Even Tendulkar struggled against Pakistan, under pressure and gave 6 chances to the fielding side (4 drop catches, 1 stump and 1 LBW). They are one of the weakest sides in terms of fighting spirit.

3.    Sri Lanka’s batting, bowling, fielding, fighting spirit and mental toughness are far better than India’s team. They have fighters like Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Dilshon, Muralidharan, Mendis, Malinga and few others who can perform exceptionally well on any conditions. Each one of the above mentioned can change the game within few moments. And if we go through the attitude of Sri Lankan cricketers, we will find that they have always been on top against India.

4.    The kind relationship between India and Sri Lanka have, is not so different than the relationship between Pakistan and India. And that makes Sri Lankans furious in the field which has been exhibited for many times in all forms of cricket.

5.    Sri Lanka is not diplomatically as weak as Pakistan is but it is only one strong out of the field factor which goes in the favor of Sri Lanka.

Although on field, Sri Lanka is a far better side than Indian however these things are not sufficient if you are playing against India, especially in India.

As a cricketer, I will be the happiest person on earth if Sri Lanka wins as every cricketer like to see the best side winning however I believe India will be the world champion as it is designed. And “World Champion India” is beneficial for all, including ICC, media, international politics and international business need as it was a need of the time in 90s when the whole word came to know that Indian women are world’s most beautiful women. This time around, it will not be “Miss World” but it will be “Miss World Cup”.

“Miss World” Cup

Before 1992, I never knew that any external reason could change the results of any competition as I was a passionate cricketer by then who was a strong believer of the fact that the good performance in the ground is sufficient to win a game and it was another truth that I was too young to understand the meanings of “external pressures”. I was one of the most reliable members of my school team who helped the team play the final of inter-schools tournament. The school announced a holiday on this achievement and all the students came to the ground to support their team. We were the super stars of the day, playing the final match at the ground of the school which was playing against us. We were being appreciated by the crowd on every good shot, “well bowled” and “well fielded” but after the 11^th over of the first inning, a few bad people with guns in their hands arrived and took the middle of the ground, parked their bikes right at the pitch, shouted at us, threatened the players and officials and forced all of us to leave the ground immediately or to face the consequences which could hurt our (even the officials’) career.
The teenage school-going players had never faced such a situation before. We were unable to understand what actually did happen. Our sports teacher approached us, in the meantime and suggested us to go home. We were not ready to leave the ground and wanted to play (win the trophy in fact). But he said, “Go home, save your lives”.

We never knew what actually happened. The whole cricket team went to see the sports teacher to ask if the venue of the final had been announced or not and when would we play the final again. He told us that the final would not be played and we had lost the trophy because of our poor track record of previous years.

None of the players agreed to this, we wanted to play because we were a better side this year, we tried to protest but nothing went in our favor and we lost the final without playing a complete match. We were told that apart from that interruption of the people at final, there were some other reasons too for not playing the match again.
Someone whispered, “this is what is called the external pressure”.

A couple of years later, in 1994, I was watching the “Miss World Contest” on a television channel. After the final round, Miss Aishwarya Rai was announced as “Miss World”. Sushmita Sen had already earned the title of “Miss Universe” the very year earlier. And then, there was a long tale of having a large number of Miss-Worlds and Miss-Universes (like Diana Hayden, Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta) from India. I was just surprised that 6 ladies were conferred upon these titles within 7 years’ time (from 1994 to 2000). I really wanted to know as to what noticeable these Indian ladies had done that the others from around the world could not even be considered seriously.Lt. Col. Jeelani in a feature in a daily newspaper published from Lahore wrote that India had the largest potential market for the cosmetic products, and the Western cosmetic industries were aiming at penetrating into this market in order to virtually colonize the region which could feed them for decades to come.
I never knew that such external reasons could also be a decisive factor in crowning a lady participating in the Miss World Contest.

I recalled that Pakistan cricket team visited India in 1987. It was a famous “Cricket Diplomacy” series. Pakistan was a very strong team who defeated India in India under the legendry leadership of Imran Khan. Indian spectators started stoning the Pakistani players when they were fielding and Imran Khan had to ask his players to wear helmets if they wanted to save themselves from the crowd’s torture.

This is the only incident of its nature in the history of the game when a fielding side fielded while wearing helmets.

Indian official scorer of that match Tushar Trivedi tells the story, “It was the post-tea session of the third day of the match when the crowd suddenly started abusing Pakistan players. There was a section in the crowd that hurdled bottles at the Pakistan fielders. The spectators chipped out small pieces of concrete from the pavilion stand and threw them at the players. When there was a serious threat of his players getting injured, Imran Khan opted to walk out.

Mr Tushar further narrates, “With crowd in no mood to relent, the authorities decided to call in Gavaskar and asked him to pacify the crowd. He spoke in the microphone in Gujarati and urged the crowd to stop throwing things and treat Pakistan players like their guests of honor. This cooled down things. But captain Imran was not pleased with this, and he asked the players to get back into the room until the things get settled. After a few minutes they emerged but by wearing helmets.”

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/68122/

And the Skipper Imran Khan says, “I think Pakistan’s stand is understandable, in 1987 I had to ask the players to wear helmets on the boundary line, we didn’t want the team to come out of the ground but it was threatening the safety of the players. We were ambassadors of peace at that time, so we did not want to mar the tour because General Ziaul Haq, the then Pakistan president, had done cricket diplomacy by visiting India during a match.”

   16 February 2005, Daily Times

This is not the only incidence of Indian crowd’s uncharacteristic behavior. They have done the same to Sri Lankan team in 1^st Semi Final of World Cup 1996 which was being played between India and Sri Lanka at Kolkata. India lost 8 wickets for 120 runs but the match could not be continued because fanatic Indian supporters not only started throwing stones on Sri Lankan fielders but also caused a riot in the Eden Garden stands.

We witnessed the same in 1^st match of Asian test championship between Pakistan and India. When India’s defeat was obvious and the last pair of Indian batting line up was standing there, Indian supporters started throwing stones again on Pakistani fielders. Pakistan cricket team had to leave the ground. Indian security people got the services of Sachin Tendulkar who paid a visit to the ground and requested the spectators to calm down but it made no impact on them and then eventually police had to intervene. They got the stadium emptied. All the spectators had to leave the stadium. Both the teams entered the ground just without any spectator in the stands. Shoaib Akhter bowled out the last man to earn the victory for Pakistan.

Along with such unpleasant moments, Pakistan has suffered from rulers’ so called “Cricket Diplomacy” for many times. This Cricket Diplomacy has never done anything good to Pakistan cricket in past. We played a “Very Goodwill” series against India in Pakistan. It is said that it was also influenced by the government of Pervaiz Musharraf. We have experienced Dosti but at the cost of losing the games. We lost to win the hearts but none of the teams could do that as such abnormal steps do not help in developing relationship. India has always been the ONLY beneficiary of cricket diplomacy.

The same old spent-out and impotent “Cricket Diplomacy” is going to be practised this time again as the Indian Prime Minister has invited Pakistani President and Prime Minister to visit India on the 30^th of March to watch Semi Final. Mr Gilani is now scheduled to join his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh at Mohali.

I am afraid, today’s India is not different, it is more unsecure now and we have more concerns regarding the security of the players. External reasons can play a vital role in 2nd Semi Final.

Pakistani officials are in a constant coordination with Indian foreign office. They have promised "state-level" security to Pakistan cricket team in response to the apprehensions of a terrorist attack as there is a news item in circulation that Pakistan team may be targeted in India. Pakistan has requested India to ensure ‘special security’ for its cricket team after Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced on Thursday that the government had received intelligence reports that terrorists groups might try to target them during the ongoing World Cup in India (headline of all the newspapers of 25th March).

Apart from other visible and invisible threats during Pakistani team’s stay in India, they may face something unpleasant if they reach final as Manohar Joshi, the former chief minister of Maharashtra has already said that if the Pakistan team reaches the final in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena chief will decide whether to allow them to play or not.” Such threats cannot be taken lightly especially when they come from the extremist parties which do not have a peaceful track record. This threat will remain there until Pakistan wins the final. I would suggest the ICC to alter the plan and the Final should be shifted to either Colombo or Dhaka, if Pakistan wins the Semi Final.

I am afraid; there is something beyond the cricket itself which will be played during the Semi Final between Pakistan and India; of course the bookies saga is not something to be ignored.

If we look at the performance and attitude of both the teams, we will find Pakistan a better side. Bowlers earn victories for the teams and Pakistan’s bowling squad is undoubtedly the best one in the world. India’s over-rated strong batting line up has been exposed during three pool matches where they could not survive for complete 50 overs, even against the below average English bowling attack which could not get even one wicket against Sri Lanka in their quarter final.

India’s batsmen are good but they can easily be handled by the Pakistani bowling attack which contains a handsome number of some really good fighters like Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Akhter, Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez. They have the capability to restrict any side to a fighting total and can defend any total.

Pakistani batsmen are not, although, technically as strong as the Indian batsmen are, yet to face Indian bowling attack at a batting track you do not need to be an exceptional batsman. Younis, Misbah, Asad, Hafeez, Umar Akmal and even Kamran and Razzaq can play very well against Zaheer, Harbhajan, Munaf, Ashwin and other part time bowlers.

Pakistani side always performs well under pressure. It is evident from their history. If the game remains within the field pressure and techniques, and no external pressure is exerted, then Pakistan will surely win, even the notorious Indian sledging cannot stop Pakistan.

I have a fear based upon the analysis of the objective circumstances. Therefore, I believe that a thinking mind will keep feeling unsafe for the team Pakistan until it reaches back home safely. Raymond Davis case has cruelly questioned Pakistan’s diplomatic strategies at the international fora.

Non-Muslims and their governments know more about the law of Diat than the Muslim world and they know it can resolve all the matters and such events cannot harm the relationship between the two nations. Can’t the very Diat rescue come into action if, God forbid, something irreparable happens to the Pakistani players in a Shiv Sena famed arch-rival of Pakistan?

May The Almighty safeguard the Pakistani players.