da dobrowin： With the captain not only unsure of where to bat, but also apparently unwilling to fulfill his all-round role, Pakistan have been uninspiring
da lvbet： Osman Samiuddin in Karachi26-Jun-2008
Shoaib Malik has averaged nearly 44 when he has batted in the top four © AFP
When Imran Khan pontificates, people still listen. He’s not wrong as oftenas his critics claim or right as often as his supporters do, but take notethey all do. So when he writes a column, part of which robustly questionsShoaib Malik’s credentials as player and captain, ripples are inevitable.”A captain can only earn respect if he is doing his bit as a player,”Imran wrote in today’s . “Shoaib [Malik] is a goodcricketer and seems to have a sensible head. However, the question is,does he automatically select himself as a batsman? Unfortunately, theanswer is no, and till he changes that he cannot lead with authority.”It is unlikely Malik read the column before he went out to open todayagainst India. But as the beginnings of a response, his wasn’t half bad.Malik as a top-order batsman is a different beast altogether to Malikanywhere else. Indeed, part of the problem through his career, why peoplenever think him a certain starter, is that he has never made one spothis own. Instead he has batted here, there and everywhere.Why this is so is unclear. The 58 ODIs in his career where he has battedin the top four, he averages nearly 44 from. All his centuries and nearlyhalf his fifties have come from here. More than all these stats, he looksmore authoritative up there, able to run the singles and take advantage offielding restrictions, as he did here.His sixth hundred was a fine hand, controlled and always up-tempo. It gavePakistan just the base they wanted, though it ended just when it shouldn’thave. Yet as captain, in 28 matches, he has batted in the top four onlyfour times. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf at three and four areaccomplished batsmen, but not immoveable from their spots: if Malik is notgoing to impose himself as captain, when will he? “We always look for theright combination in our batting,” Malik said later. “It’s not that everytime you open you score a hundred.”Ultimately, after this loss and the nature of it, Imran’s questions stillhang in the air, awkwardly unanswered. So Malik was handicapped from theoff by the early loss of Umar Gul, as acknowledged by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Defending 300 with two seamers and one spinner on what Dhoni said was one of theflattest tracks in the world was never going to be easy.Though cramps and time off the field meant he couldn’t bowl today, hislack of bowling is also problematic. Board officials and Malik himselfinsist that he is in the team as an allrounder. Yet against the teamsthat matter – South Africa, India and Sri Lanka – Malik has bowled just 49overs in 16 matches. If three overs per match is the criteria, thenVirender Sehwag is a bona fide allrounder. When asked about Pakistan’srecent performances and whether morale is down, he replied bizarrely,”Are you sitting in my heart? The Pakistan team is famous for comebacks.My form if it wasn’t good, at least I am still the best allrounder as faras I know.”Perhaps on an evening lit up by Suresh Raina and Sehwag, none of it mighthave mattered anyway. But how many can deny that Pakistan under Malik,Kitply Cup or not, have been, not just uninspiring, but unsure ofthemselves?Little wonder, when the captain is not only unsure of where to bat, butalso apparently unwilling to fulfill his all-round role. He has to decideon one spot in the order, he has to stick to it and perform. Either he isan allrounder or he isn’t. A surly press conference later, where heinadvertently re-lit a simmering selectorial debate, wasn’t the ideal wayto finish off a demanding night. More results like this and this timeImran Khan may well be proven correct.