After a long spell of despair caused by conflicts and controversies, Pakistan cricket has at least two events to rejoice. Firstly, the great honour brought to Pakistan by a highly competent, honest and respected cricket personality called Aleem Dar and secondly the team’s success against Zimbabwe. For his excellent performance as an ICC umpire, Aleem deserves a bouquet studded with diamonds and rubies for becoming the world champion in the field of umpiring three times in a row. He won the rare award by delivering 100 percent accurate results in ODIs and Twenty20s and 98 percent in Test matches during the last one year.During the World Cup 2011 Aleem delivered 15 decisions all of them proving correct when challenged. This was because he relied on his own ability rather than technology. It indicates how much confidence he had on his knowledge of the game, ability and the sense of judgment. The awards were given in an ICC function held in London, surprisingly not attended by India although its team was there playing a series against England. They were perhaps not pleased by the honour bestowed upon Aleem.Unanimously voted by all cricket captains and members of the selection panel Aleem defeated strong competitors like Ian Gould and five time winner Simon Taufel. The sparkling honour brought to Pakistan by Aleem is the second great event to find a place in the annals of Pakistan cricket after Imran Khan’s triumph in the 1992 World Cup.The second event, not apparently as great, is Pakistan’s clean sweep over Zimbabwe in their recently concluded tour. By defeating the hosts in the series comprising one Test, three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals, Pakistan achieved a 100 percent result. Win against Zimbabwe, being the bottom team in the ICC ranking the victory, is nothing much to boast about but still it is an achievement to boost the morale of the upcoming young players who played an active role in defeating the hosts. Although Misbahul Haq led the team with all the proficiency, Muhammad Hafeez emerged as an all-rounder heading for super stardom. As for the seniors, Younus Khan performed well because the Zimbabwe bowlers were not capable of posing any threat to him. Imran Farhat was a combination of success and failure while Shoaib Malik was a complete flop I hope the PCB selection committee members take some lessons from it. Cricket is a game in which the players must remain constantly in touch with the game. Unfortunately, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has the bad habit of discarding the players on one pretext or the other rendering them out of practice for the game. The selection committee must also realise that a successful team must be a practical combination of youth and experience and avoid stuffing the team with too many youngsters. Apart from the good result, the Zimbabwe’s tour has been a good experience for our team’s future endeavours especially the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, which commences in the UAE on October 18. Sri Lanka being one of the top teams of the world, we must select a strong combination and prepare them well for the tough fight.Coming to other cricket affairs, with the end of Zimbabwe’s tour coach Waqar Younis has said goodbye to cricket necessitating the appointment of a new coach. The PCB having received lot of nominations for the job both from home as well as abroad, a meeting is likely to be held soon to discuss the problem. I am glad the security problem has rendered the appointment of a foreign coach to a lower priority. Let us hope a highly competent Pakistan batsman is appointed on the all important job on which hinges the proficiency of players and success of the team. Claiming that 90 percent of the decisions taken by the PCB chairman were wrong, former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad acting as director general of the board fell out with the boss and left the matter to be decided by President Asif Zardari in his capacity as patron-in-chief of the PCB. Same was the position of Shahid Afridi who continued to harbour the ambition of still playing for Pakistan. Both of them attended a meeting called by the President in Karachi. According to press reports both the players were given ‘no lift’ by the President while Ijaz Butt’s versions were held supreme. This indicates a positive chance of Ijaz’s extension on the job after October 8, the day his tenure as chairman PCB ends. Another spell of bad luck, sorrow and gloom and conflicts and controversies for Pakistan’s cricket
