by Nadeem Khan
I spoke with the sling blade recently and was impressed with his equanimity and openness.
194 runs. Six runs away from the first ever one-day double hundred. Was that last shot off Tendulkar a necessity, given that you still had four overs to bat, or was it out of fatigue.... I was just trying to take a couple of runs from that last ball. Unfortunately, I failed at a stage when things were so easy. What was it about Kumble that had you tearing into him in that manner? I always played Kumble aggressively. That is the best way to play a leg-spinner. Luck, too, played a big part. Whatever I tried stuck and I was able to break Anil. Besides, the pitch was good for clean hitting. Was there anything that Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian Captain, could have done to stop you? I think he tried a lot of things but a couple of his bowlers couldn't bowl...where he wanted them to bowl. They sprayed the ball on either side of the wicket and when you do that to a batsman who has crossed a hundred, you are bound to get thrashed around. Did the guys approach this game as a grudge match, a revenge for the defeat in the World Cup quarterfinals last year? Not really. This was a tremendous game and we wanted to win it badly. People back in Pakistan were anxiously waiting for this encounter. They wanted us to win. But, it wasn't a grudge match. We have won many so many matches against India in the past that we didn't need to treat this one as a revenge opportunity for Bangalore. We just gave it 200% because of the rivalry we have with them and because we wanted to beat India in India. How do you explain the two failures--yours as well as the team's--in the Finals against Sri Lanka? I think the toss was crucial. We lost both the tosses in the finals and with the high asking rate the pressure was always on. I also made the mistake of curbing my game when I should have played naturally. Why the toss was so crucial? Pitches in India, unlike wickets elsewhere in the world, have very little for the opening bowlers. A team batting first can start scoring right from the start and put on a good total. Plus, when you are fielding for 50 overs in 40 C temperatures--with the humidity at 90%, you are likely to be dehydrated and very tired when it is your turn to bat. It becomes all the more difficult to chase down a huge target like the one we set India, or the 300-odd Sri Lanka set for us in the finals. It seems to me that your present opening partner, Afridi, lacks the technique to justify a full-time inclusion in the side--at least at the expense of Aamir Sohail. Do you agree with that? Definitely. Shahid Afridi is not a "genuine" opener. He is a utility batsman, someone you can send in, once in a while, to get you toward a 300-odd total. We are missing a capable opener, someone who could take the pressure off me. I cannot be expected to score a near double-hundred every time and make up for the lapses of others. Is Shahid a long-term solution to Pakistan's opening batsmen shortage? We don't have other options. Aamir Sohail is still out with his personal problems and it is up to the Board to provide the necessary solutions. What is the biggest difference between opening with Aamir and opening with Afridi? Aamir is a better player--a "genuine" opener. The best thing about playing with him is that if I'm not middling the ball well, he takes over. We run the singles well, have a great understanding, and it takes the pressure off each other knowing that there is a capable batsman at the other end who could handle the situation if one gets out. Do you see opening the Pakistan innings with Aamir sometime soon? I hope so. I don't know what the selectors have in mind. Aamir still has one more appearance to make before the Disciplinary Committee in August. Let's see what happens. When you first played against India in Pakistan in 1989, you were a quite rash stroker of the ball and failed. Did you think at that time that you would one day not only become a permanent opener, but also a world-record breaker? I never thought about that. I started out as a middle-order batsman at a time when Pakistan had three great players in Salim Malik, Javed Miandad, and Imran Khan. So it was always going to be tough to make an impression in a middle-order like that. In '89 I went in at #4 in place of Javed Miandad, made a quick fifty, and won the Man of the Match award. Then our openers failed in Australia and Imran Khan asked me to open; I failed twice or thrice and wasn't asked to play again. Then I came back to Pakistan and started opening in the domestic season and enjoyed it so much, I decided to become a full-time opener. But, I had to work really hard to make the transition to the international level. I still work hard at my game and am happy with the success. I was expecting either you or Moin Khan to lead Pakistan in the Independence Cup instead of Ramiz Raja. Were you surprised to hear they appointed Ramiz? No; I had a lay-off of about four months before the IC. We had a meeting with the selectors and they asked me if I wanted to be Captain. I declined for the reason that I was already under a lot of pressure to play well after the time off. I didn't want the Captaincy to effect my game. I wanted to come back into the side as a player, make some runs, boost my confidence, and help the team in the process. Is full-time Captaincy something you would like to see come your way? I'm not "into" Captaincy. I don't dream about it. I wouldn't mind it if it comes my way. Right now, I have no desire. I look at some of the Captains who are great players but are suffering because of the Captaincy. They are either out of form or are not playing like they used to. Mark Taylor is in turmoil. Sachin Tendulkar is not playing like he used to. Hansie Cronje is also struggling. In some ways, this tournament proved that without Wasim and Waqar, the bowling lineup is pretty inadequate. Do you see any young fast bowlers coming up in Pakistan who could take over from these great bowlers in the future? Yes, we definitely missed Wasim and Waqar. Additionally, we also suffered another setback from the injury to Mohammed Zahid, the fastest bowler in the world. Shahid Nazir was out with the injury he suffered in Sri Lanka. Not to mention Mushtaq Ahmed (playing in England). So we lost five bowlers, really. Losing so many bowlers is not an easy thing to get over and I think we did the best we could in India. As for the future, Zahid is a great prospect. Shahid Nazir will be back in action soon. Kabir Khan is also improving. We have hope. What is this "mystery illness" that has kept you out recently? I got this viral infection in Adelaide a few months ago. It weakened me considerably and I was advised by the doctors there to take some time off to regain my strength. Then I fell to bronchitis and that kept me out for a few more weeks. Nothing more than that. Nothing serious. Any offers to play county cricket in England? I have received offers from Hampshire and Essex, but I declined because I wanted to rest. Hopefully, I will be in a better shape next year to take up playing in England. I always enjoy playing in England. What changes would you like to see in the infrastructure of Pakistan cricket? I would like to see the gap in the focus on Pakistan's domestic cricket and international cricket closed. There is very little attention paid to the local matches, particularly by the media, unlike in Australia where the Sheffield Shield games and Test matches are given equal television coverage. But in Pakistan, most young players are so sheltered and ignored that they lose their composure when they play big games; they have a tough time getting used to the T.V cameras, crowds, etc. I would like the Board to make the small games more visible to the general public. Get the people involved and give the younger players more exposure. A lot needs to be done to improve the standard of coaching. Young players do not have access to established coaching sources. Presently, we are running on talent alone. That is dangerous. Look what happened to the West Indies. They were once full of talented, brilliant players. Which team do you rate the best in the game today? Sri Lanka is an outstanding one-day side. They have good strategies and committed players who back those strategies. Everybody contributes. They are almost unbeatable in their present form. South Africa and Australia are good Test sides, but there is very little to choose from among the other teams. Any side could beat the other on a given day. Where does India fit in? Man to man, India have probably one of the strongest lineups, but seem to have a problem clicking together. For the Independence Cup, I think their selectors made things difficult for their team by dropping Azharuddin who could have been a difficult player to hold back and plan a field for on Indian wickets, given our limited bowling. They also missed Srinath who is quite economical and he could have played a major role in the semi-finals. Dravid is very impressive and he has improved a lot since I last saw him. It is a good team and I hope they sort some issues out and do well. You have, more than any powerhouse Pakistani cricketer that I can think of, kept yourself fairly isolated from controversies. Few people have picked on Saeed Anwar. Why is that? Basically, I am just a workaholic. I have no ambitions bigger than the game. I play not to climb any ladders or win favors or sway the selectors. I follow the instructions given to me and I play, to the best of my ability, for the team. And, for having no aspirations to overthrow Captains, I threaten nobody in power. I just do what I have to; people seem to have no problem with that. What keeps you going? What do you have left to prove? I want to make a triple century in one-d...er..Test cricket. That has been my dream since I was young. I still have not ruled out crossing 200 in One-Day cricket. I think you have a very good shot at making the 300. But how would you go about making the 200 runs in ODIs? It is not impossible. There were so many times when I reached a hundred around the 30-over mark. Getting to 200 is easy once you have twenty or more overs in hand and if you can get the strike. Basically, next time, I'll slog from the start.
CopyrightŠ1997,
"On Drive", Mesmer Productions. All rights reserved.
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Mushtaq Mohammed explains the individual achievements of his countrymen over the last year: "A majority of young Pakistani cricketers are illiterate and ill-versed with the reputations of the opposition. That is why they are able to play their natural game-even in tense situations against quality players." Is Mushtaq proposing that it is possible to walk into a stadium without reading up on your Waughs, Tendulkars, and Jayasuriyas, and wing it? The people of Pakistan will like to believe there is a method, and not ignorance, behind the great escapes. (So would the defeat sodden India Captain, currently researching intelligent solutions to reverse his fortunes.) Mushtaq, regardless of whether he should be discounting his reasonable fortune by bringing the media's focus on his unlettered squad, is right about his players not being fazed by reputations, and this mental strength is the key to Pakistan's relative success. In 
