The gap between Pakistan and South Africa, when it comes to fielding, is put into the starkest of contrasts when the practice sessions of the two sides are seen back-to-back. -Photo by AFP
Spot on. Having watched the Pakistani players ;diving' over the ball as it goes under them, takes some explaining. And their lack of basic tactics in the field is even worse. All these should be in place but with Pakistan nothing is in place
Asif
March 15, 2013 11:04 am
Asif Iqbal was the finest fielder for Pakistan by far. Of course you wouldn't have seen him chasing the cricket ball. Javed Miandad, Wasim Raja, Haroon Rashid and Mohsin Khan were also fine fielders.
haris
March 15, 2013 8:24 am
Afridi is best in fielding department and I am sure he is the best fielder ever played for Pakistan. You can argue and criticize his bowling and batting but not fielding.
Same applied to Inzi, he was one of the best batsman in the World but there are a lots of question marks on his fielding abilities.
therefore, stick to the main subject and don't drag off-topic things while commenting an article.
haris
March 15, 2013 8:20 am
Great article,
Thanks
ABL
March 15, 2013 7:09 am
Brilliant article. The sports (cricket, hockey, squash) strategy has changed substantially over the last decade. Just as any other sector and technology, which is also changing so fast, that keeping pace is becoming difficult. Pakistan cricket is also suffering from delay in reaching out to modern methods of sports, specially in the fielding area. Physical fitness is key in any sports, our sportsmen and women lack appropriate facilities and guidance to acquire such new talent. This is true for other subcontinent teams also. But, Sri Lanka and now India show new players with enhanced talent in fielding. Pakistan team need to conduct a good professional review and analysis from this series in SA and highlight the lessons learned for future intervention.
CricIsFake
March 15, 2013 4:45 am
Excellent article again, Cheema Sb.
Apart from the inherent problem in our system which is not nurturing good fielders, the fielding aspect also has to do a lot with personal interest and our players with only couple of exceptions treat fielding as a burden. Still, I would say the overall standard has marginally improved over last few years due to influx of young and energetic players like Akmal, Asad and Ahmed Shahzad while Younis Khan represents one of the finest fielder Pakistan ever produced and his athleticism is commendable. Apart from Younis, Misbah, Hafeez, Afridi and Malik are not that bad either. Compare this fielding unit to that containing Inzi, Yousaf, ARazzaq,Wasim, Waqar etc and you will definitely feel a lot better.
Poorest fielder in current lineup is Nasir Jamshed, even Saeed Ajmal is better than him. Good god, we dont have to suffer Sohail Tanveer in fielding anymore.
Mark
March 15, 2013 4:23 am
The average age of Pakistani "SENIOR" players is 38 years( and that is Pakistani 38) the actual age may be off by 6 to 10 years. so you are practically talking about players of 45 to 48 years old.
Good luck getting results from 48 years old players.
Moon
March 15, 2013 1:50 am
Hasan you write well !!..fresh of breath air . Keep them coming.
Ahmad Zubairi
March 14, 2013 7:11 pm
Thank God for a sensible article. I have been sick and tired of reading our ex players criticising the coaches because they did not get to be the coach. Lets face the reality not only in fielding but also batting averages of 23-33 in ODI for most our players. The one with average of 38 Umer Akmal is sitting outside. Better fielders like ahmed shahzad, umer akmal are both outside. We are playing nearly a test and T20 team mixture in an ODI. They can just block or hit a six. We have a wicketkeeper who cant take a simple catch. Thoughtful separate teams are needed, no younis,misbah,in ODI. Kamran only good to play club cricket. Umer, ahmed shahzad, haris sohail for ODI. At the most we will just loose games which we already are.
Guest63
March 14, 2013 5:45 pm
Pakistan Cricket right from the day 1 of the national team built up , had been all along a two discipline game i.e Bowling ( fast or spin ) and Bating ( top or mediocre ) NEVER has been the third discipline THE FIELDING , you can re-look at all the Top Class batsmen who wore the National cap , or the top Class Bowlers .... You will find very few (countable on both hands fingers perhaps once or a quarter ) Would have any liking or any meaningful contribution towards this discipline .. Its not 20 years gap , its a gap which is as big as non existing skill and no one cares a dime about it ... Another aspect was Physical Fitness , in a country where the social culture is , if you are skinny , means you have not enough to eat ! , who will dare to take that social stigma with him or her when donning a national color
umair
March 14, 2013 5:06 pm
and people love shahid afridi and inzamam....
PakFan
March 14, 2013 4:45 pm
Asif Iqbal and Miandad came from the same culture and each was an excellent marksman in the field… in the present lot players pay little attention to fielding whether it is at the school level or at professional level. Unless cricket players across the country realize that there is an equally important third component in the game we can forget about aspiring to be in the top three teams. Finally, you have to enjoy this third component and be motivated in the field like the two players I mentioned earlier to match the intensity of like of Australian and S. African players.
zohaib
March 14, 2013 4:28 pm
So very true. Sports is no more considered as a plus when it comes to Pakistani children, rather they are discouraged at early age. If you just take a look at top educational institutes, none of them has (baring negligible) sports grounds and facilities and coaches to provide a good physical education.
Comments (13)