as a pakistani cricket follower one gets hurt alot ... its part and parcel one assumed and heart breaks like bangalore 96, bangladesh and australia final in 99 came to mind. today in the wee hours of the morning something happened which is probably the end of all hope for our cricket in the near future!
cricket is/was the only sport internationally that we represented with some dignity ! and here we are losers to ireland! thrown out of a 1 1/2 month event on its fifth day!
being part of an active cricket lover group we always exchange text messages during matches it was almost eerie how the text messages just stopped half way through the match! the reality was sinking in to all of us who were watching that the worst moment in our cricketing years is upon us ...
if one looks at religous history one hears of "azaabs" on nations which were completely destroyed to start afresh! maybe some felt pitty when we almost did it after 2003 but not to do it now will be a bigger disaster!
for whatever contributions these cricketers have made in the past we thank them for the happy times but they should honestly and heartilly apologize to us pakistanis for what they have made us feel today! and then with whatever dignity left bow out of cricket forever!
a new era should begin ... whether it takes 10 years to blossom give it time ... dont worry! the public will not expect anything anymore for a longtime to come!

in the end i would like to ask my fellow pakistanis that how bad did it really fee?

Have you gone mad? Still singing the same old song that only Ausralia can beat Pakistan? Wake up and see who has beaten them and send them crashing out of this world cup. Pakistan is no match for Australia.

No doubt I understand your emotions with your dismal performances of late, we can relate on that as I'm from Trinidad (West Indies). But thrashing some of your best players like this, what sort of fan are you? We in Trinidad have a term for people like you, they're call Waggonists. They jump on the waggon when the team is doing well and are quick to jump off and criticise when the road is bumpy. Yes, Pakistan cricket probably needs big change, but disrespecting your team in such a manner is a poor way to support your country.

well.....i woke up till 3 ........and all i get to hear from inzi is it was not our day....inzi you should better quit now coz you have not ruined the team...you have ruined the hearts of 16 crore pakistani fans.to tell yas the truth you r the real s**t in the team......get lost before we sacrifice you in name of God like v do on Eid ulAzha

kamran, i understand your frustration. across the border, countless indians like me must be tearing their hair on india's lack lustre performance against bangladesh. this indian team does not have what kapil's devils had - a desire to win, a willingness and above all talent. one could say the same about the 1992 pakistan team too - plus backed by the incomparable leadership of Imran. Suddenly, more so in india, the reasons of commerce have replaced the pure motives of passion. kapil paaji aur imran paaji da jawab nahin...

Kamran bhai, couldnt agree more with you. We wait for 4 years, and you try and overlook the ominous signs of the last year in the hope that better things will be just around the corner...and when the time comes, the players tanks are empty, the brains are disengaged and days like Ireland become the norm. We need a complete reform of the system, but that will not happen, some heads will roll (and some will be made scapegoats to save face for those higher up in the administaration) and we fans will wait for some new or other player who will be the "next great hope" and we will gloss over the inefficiencies that have bought us to this debacle on St Patrick's day.

Heart-breaking seems to be a very polite word for all that happened. A hoard (or a board) of shameless people were made the representatives of a nation that eats, sleeps, and breathes cricket. I wish I could say what exactly my heart or the hearts of 160 million Pakistanis feel right now, but I can't. The so called Doc and company should be denied any right of representing this nation again.

Sorry we lost.But we will continue with our nepotism and regionalism.Asim Kamal will stay in Karachi.Yasir Arafat shall always be on standby.Waqar Yunus will coach Australians.Wasim Akram will train Indians.Dr Nasim Ashraf will resign.Another friend of the General Saheb will come.Cycle of humiliation shall be repeated.Pakistan team supporters shall continue to urge,beg,plea and cry for performance.Nothing will change.Nothing!!I wish I was never born in Pakistan!!Long live Pakistan Army.Jeetingey hum jeetengey!!!

this is true. How could pakistan possibly have lost to ireland. ME living in Australia will probably get a big mouthful from my friends when i go back to school as all there teams are still in the world cup.
BOB has not really done much good to the nation and neither has inzi in his leadership capabilities.
Pakistan need to get half there Under 19 chapions from the past two tournaments and need to start developing them now in time for the next major tournament.
Hopefully we will do better in the 20/20 world cup than we did in this one.

Haroon

One can only reflect on your comments. The nation is shocked and speechless. I hope that after the mourning, we start making some constructive decisions all round. Lets pray to God and look ahead to 2011 World Cup.

A sense of Déjà vu? I was experiencing the same feeling after the disastrous performance in the 2003 world cup, but this performance beats the lot. Losing to a bunch of part timers in the most feeble and pathetic manner is a disgrace to Pakistani cricket.

I think the whole team should be sacked, including the management coach and board. Then and only then can we restart with a blank sheet and start rebuilding the Pakistani cricket team.

I keep hearing about the poor infrastructure in Pakistan, and the same script has been read out for the last twenty odd years that I have been following this sport, so let’s fix it. But I think the problem is different, the guys simply do not have any hunger for success.

If you want to win at the highest level, then you need to improve your game – technically, mentally and physically Our boys have been lacking in all three areas for too long and have been found wanting.

Facing one controversy after another, from the farce at the Oval to performance enhancing drugs, to players losing their professionalism and brandishing bats at rowdy and stupid spectators is a joke.

There is no doubt about the talent in Pakistani cricket, but talent without application is a crime. So get rid of them all, and start afresh with young blood and mould them into winners.

Looking at the way Bangladesh played yesterday with no fear in their eyes, and with a youthful side we need to learn from the tigers and apply the same strategy with the Pakistani side.

I believe that this is Pakistan's worst performance ever Inzamam was never the leader that Imran Khan was, the passion and commanding presence in the field seems to be missing. Make no mistake, Inzi has been a legendary cricketer but his career is fast approaching its end. The rest of the Pakistani team has been pathetic except for Gul and maybe Akmal. Both of them tried their level best to win at least one game for Pakistan.I do not think that any heads should roll yet for it would leave the team in an even bigger mess.

Lets see what the future holds for us... it looked like Inzi bhai was not at all motivated to do good in this world cup... is it a personal problem or an emotional one for Inzi... he talked like he planned to make this world cup his last one. But all these mistakes Inshallah will help us in bringing a revolution in cricket.

I was on work when the match was on when I came home and checked the score online I was literally shocked. I was mocked by my Srilankan co-workers over the phone and to certain point I agree with them in saying that even though Pakistan team is rankes forth in the world but they don't have the potential fo winning the big compititions. It seems like Pakistan team has fail to handle the pressure.

The best thing that can save pakistani cricket is by having a change in the selection committee as well as there should be a total change in the cricket board.

At least the PCB should be governed by someone who had made pakistani cricket proud by their displays in the field, instead of someone who does not know the ABCD of cricket. Only then the team can be saved.

Kamran sahab, I completely agree with your comments. Our cricket team is a true reflection of the fact that the word merit is missing from each and every organsisation in our country. What happened yesterday is arguably the worst day in our cricket history.

I could not agree more with you as far as the future captain is concerned, the one person that came to my mind yesterday while watching the shambles was Shahid Afridi, like you said he has the fire in his belly and he will play with passion and for the shirt. He has matured greatly over the years and like you said has time on his side.

as painful as this article is it depicts the right picture. The conclusions are absolutely right and these heads should roll

DISGRACEFUL is the only word I can find to describe this darkest hour of Pakistan cricket.

Let us demolish the expensive castle made of huge blocks of brittle "granite" and rebuild it on the small bits of freshly cast bricks from the raw mud.

As Imam Ali said "When you appear to be on the verge of a total destruction, prosperity makes its appearance". It is just like dawn after after a dark night. So the time has come for a total reform, top to bottom.

In Ashes the team was cremated. Let us "bury" ours and build a grand "Mazaar" of the finest marble available in Pakistan.

Baqar Naqvi

Kamran Our whole nation is in a big grief and sorrow today...it was shamefull effort from pakistan in all departments..they(irish) came, bowled well outclassed us and we just were left wid those ugly and tired faces,we were hoping Pakistan might take it frm here..but all in all what eva u wrote above,i dont hav anymore words to write for this stupid,idiotic and orphanage team...
I remembr in last worldcup when our so called heroes were there ...they too did the same were digged out of the worldcup in the first round..its da same story after 4 years..they didnt moved a muscle...defeat was in every1z eyes since day one...
long live pcb management...You are right its time for some new faces to step in and take over frm here..
GOD BLESS PAKISTANI'Z

The Irish have reduced Pakistan Natioanl side to nothing more than a club side, that every local cricket club should fancy a chance against.

Kamran eat your words , you have got to be the very worst pundit ever, as well as one of the most optomistic people working for cricinfo. A recluse who knows nothing about cricket at all would have been able to predict that Pakistan did not stand a chance.Obviously you know less than nothing. Next I suppose you will be predicting a South Africa team will win the World cup, yet more delusions from you.You might have more luck predicting the numbers on a Roulette table.

On one note it is very sad to see a great team crash out as they are probably man for man one of the most talented outfits in the world.

The pain is unberable, who to blame!! Its obvious head will roll and Inzi, Bob and the PCB chairman have to carry the can. However before anything I would like to thank Inzi, this is probably going to be his last match coming up. Thank you INZI for WC 1992, thanks for many match winning innings. Lets now forget those is our haste to accuse. It think its time for him to go, but lets not vilify him but lets give him a honourable sendout. Whatever his failings as a captain he has always been a honourable man. I can imagine the abuse that will come but lets not forget the dignity if the man. For the future Shoaib Malik would get my nod as captain, Afrdi is not guarantted a test slot. We still have the 2 Y's however we still dont have 2 openers , a replacement for inzi. I would give people like Fawad Alam/ Asim Kamal a extended chances, the bowling with Asif, Gulf + Rao/Sami etc
is not bad. Lets forget this WC as a bad nightmare.
Above all PLEASE BEFORE the vilification begins think of a young INZI in the WC semi and final winning us our greatest moment. THANK YOU INZI AND I WISH YOU ALL THE LUCK IN THE FUTURE AS YOU ARE A GOOD MAN

Now, it will be fun reading this blog !!

Kamran, you have already said everything I wanted to say. There was hope before the start of the world cup specially after the warm up games. After the game against west indies, i have lost all of it as I saw no passion in the way the played the game. For the sake of what has been happening over the past year with pakistani cricket, it is what we really needed; a real BIG shock that can wake everyone up. The team that we should really learn from is bangladesh, just look at the youngesters in their side and the passion that helped them beat mighty India.

Its about time the poor guys performing in the domestic season get their chance. Inzi my friend you will always remain my hero. You have always led pakistan to incredible wins but its time to move on and let some young people fill in your big shoes. I am sure you will be very proud if tomorrow a young guy comes in and starts performing the way you used to in your early days.

For the sake of a disappointed nation, please democratize PCB. What a political personailty has to do with cricket. Let it be run by people whose bread and butter is this passionate game. We keep calling for changes in our domestic set up and keep referring to it as the root of all problems. Gentlemen, make no mistake the roots lies somewhere else, a place called PCB. If the President of Pakistan really wants to see monkeys, he should visit the zoo rather than the PCB.

Dear Kamran,

This time your feelings have come from your heart . . . and I am sure the whole nation feels the same.

Shame on these guys who calls themselves professionals! Changes are needed from top order of PCB down to the coach and the captain. I feel sorry for great Inzi, but I guess now is the time to go.

I guess the team can go home now where they can give interviews in Urdu so that nothing can be misinterpreted.

Yesterday was the darkest day of Pakistan Cricket . . . and the worst in my life as far as cricket is concerned. These guys have broken my heart.

This is whats going to happen - Bob Woolmer will not seek an extention of his contract and after giving his final report to the PCB - will walk away from Pakistan cricket forever. Inzamam Ul Haq will, like people before him, not resign but wait for the sacking that is already coming towards him. The selection committee will be gone, replaced by another bunch of medicore players who barely played 20 games between them, Salim Altaf the most pathetic person in the PCB will still keep his job, which is kiss Nasim Ashraffs ass and get his friends positions in the PCB, the immediate future will see Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Azhar Mahmood, Rana Naveed dropped from the team, so the PCB can show the naieve Pakistani fans that is doing something, all these players will go back to domestic cricket, make some cheap runs, and will soon be brought back into the fray by their old buddies. The over-rated duo of Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousef will shift the blame onto the other players and remain unscathed. Inzamam's career will be over. Another mediocre player will be made captain - Younis Khan, and after 6 months of appearances, will bring all his old friends like Hafeez, Akmal, Rana and co back into the fold. Pakistan cricket is headed to the dogs, people. If you all want things to change, you must write to the PCB and make your voice be heard. Look at Bangladesh, a team of 17 and 18 year olds went onto beat India. Pakistan should drop all its so-called stars, and play the under-19 boys, after a few years time at least those kids will be able to win games for us. A strong leader should be made Captain. Salman Butt comes to mind. The same experiment worked with Graeme Smith of South Africa. Smith was not a regular in the team, he had only played 4-5 games and was brought into the team as Captain after the 2003 world cup, and look where he and his team is today. Salman Butt can do the very same. Pakistan should appoint an Australian as coach, someone like Ian Chappell or Dean Jones or Steve Waugh. No Pakistani like Miandad should ever be made coach or we will continue to slip further and further. This is the time to make sure our voices are heard, otherwise dark days will continue for Pakistan.

Nice outporing of emotion Kamran. Hopefully it eases the burden. I have been a diehard Pakistan cricket supporter for 35 of my 43 years. I have gone through many agonies in the past, a home test series loss to Zimbabwe, betting scandals, doping scandals, dismissed for 50+ twice in one test match. But this takes the cake, and hence I have come to a sad but true conclusion. It is time to give up. Life is too short to wake up with this kind of knot in my stomach every few times that Pakistan plays. So I vow from today to never read, or comment on Pakistan cricket. To never send well meaning business plans to the PCB, to never pay money to watch a Pakistan team. I will watch cricket for sure, the joy of watching a young Tamim Iqbal tear into giants like Zaheer Khan is something you cannot replace. But Pakistan Cricket I will avoid watching you at all costs. You do not deserve my support or my sympathy. My emotions are to valuable to waste on unprofessional players and administrators. I could not give a rats ass who the next captian is, who from this team will remain or go, who our next coach will be. I disagree with Kamran when he says Pakistan cricket has a bright future and the sport is too entrenched in the country. The core is wrotten and the core will not change. We have a outdated domestic system that does not produce enough quality cricketers for us to seriously become world beaters, and this will be the case for a long time to come. So enjoy the sport, just leave the partisanship at home.

You hit the nail right on the head with this one Kamran. Not taking credit away from Ireland (For they did a brilliant job out there yesterday)...They did not deserve to win as much as we deserved to lose on that field yesterday...I think at this point all Pakistani Cricker supporters stand united against this Joke of a team!As far as the re-vamping of our entire cricket structure is concerned...Yes, Absolutely!We will have to build from scratch if we have any hopes of putting Pakistani cricket on the pedestal that Imran Khan left it on in 1992.I think the time has arrived when all PCB employees should be fired...We need to weed out the politics that have so badly riddled the Pakistani Cricket scene over the past few years....And put some of the heroes who put Pakistan at the forefront of World Cricket in charge of the game in order to wield some positive results. It was like watching models for the talibanisation of Pakistan (but secretly sporting massive hangovers) play on that field today....They have disappointed millions of us around the world.....A friend of mine very aptly put it in one of his blog posts when he said "Ramiz Raja said heads will roll...there were be a severe backlash... i have always been and always will be a pakistan supporter, and i hate the way we performed, but i wont go out on the streets burning effigies...inzi said he did not think there will be a reception at all...and that is what they deserve...nothing in the newspapers, noone at the airport, no extra security, no chartered flights..just normal people getting off an international flight and going home...ignoring them is the worst reception they can have...and they know they deserve it... let them feel how much it means to people but dont go about trying to show you are plain losers by abusing them and their families... it's a pain that we lost, but let them think about it on their own..."!

Needless to say how embarassed I was when Pakistan lost to part-timers Irish team. I had no courage to go to office and meet my colleage who were perhaps ready to torture me more with their critics.

Paks cricket is at its worst in whole history of Pakistan cricket. Perhaps they may lose against Zimbabway and create a another unwanted unique record of not winning any match in world cup.

They are simply pathetic and should leave the scene .

Let me - an Indian cricket fan - be the first to commiserate with the Pakistan people. It was not nice watching either game yesterday. Both were mockeries of the game, but at least the Bangladeshis played really well to beat us. I fully understand how a stunned nation must be feeling right now, the fact that there has been no comment here as yet tells me that you guys are yet to recover from the shock of yesterday's capitulation. I simply fail to understand why a team filled with some really good batsmen and two great players could not score more than 132 runs (of which more than 30 were extras!) against a team that is in its first full year in cricket, let alone a world cup debut. Saying there was grass on the pitch is all very well, but it is not like they had bowlers throwing 150 kph swinging screamers. Complacency too is not the right answer to this debacle since after the first couple of wickets, the complacency should have been replaced with circumspection and basic cricket shots.

I am preparing myself for feeling exactly like this by next week, since I am sure our team too will be kicked out of the World Cup by then, statistical chances not withstanding.

there is absolutely no excuses here. pakistan needs to prepare all kind of wickets in pakistan to give practise to its players, i wonder why this is not done yet, after such dismalperformance abroad. Pakistan needs to hire a full time pychologist, specially for the operners, the psychologist needs to analyzes why the openers chase balls outside the off stump when all is required for them is to defend for ten overs. PCS should be changed, we need CEO type managers who can manage an organization such as PCB, just like if you will manage a private enterprise. Pakistan cricket has fallen way below, it will take some time until it regain its confidence. If things above are not done then pakistan cricket fate is just like pakistan hockey

It took a humiliating defeat at the hands of Ireland for us to blame the existing PCB setup, rather than the (hapless) cricket team (if we may call it a team!!!!).

Although, it definitely is the end of the worldcup campaign for the mad Pakistani fans (the cricket setup, and hence the team, were never prepared enough to fight for it); its not the end of the Pakistani cricketing world.

In fact, it should be the beginning of a completely new era.

Kamran, you have rightly pointed out the big guns as the culprits. We need people who understand cricket running the PCB, not the failed quacks and pseudo-professionals who belong to another world.

But not much can be done about the meagre cricket set-up, when a Army General is (miserably) running the affairs of the whole country.

Although, the General, and his team, do not accept their failures on other grounds, however blatant and serius they may be; for once he should take initiative to accept responsiblity for the failure of cricket in Pakistan; the only joy people get a chance to avail in the presence of all the miseries they have to face each day.

May Allah Bless us all!!!

Mr Abbasi,
Prior to the world cup commencing I shared your enthusiasm. I was optimistic that even though this wasn't our strongest 15, we were capable of winning the tournament and upsetting the odds. However, the performance last evening was nothing short of a complete disaster. I am shocked and angered at the display, as I am sure 160 million other Pakistani fans are. I do think it is time for Inzy and Bob Woolmer to step down and a clearout is definately on the cards. Having said that, I hope they are not made scapegoats like you mentioned, as the root of the problem lies in the PCB. I don't want to get into details on what I think about the system currently in place, but a change must come from the top, and as soon as possible. Otherwise, in 4 years time we could be looking at a third succesive first round exit from the World Cup.

To say the least, it was pathetic. I could not bear to watch it. Coach's work is not teach but to develop overall cricket personality. Where has Woolmer developed a leader like Imran? Where has Woolmer developed fighting qualities of Miandad? Where has Woolmer developed the opening batting pair like Saeed and Sohail? Where has Woolmer developed opening bowling pair like Wasim and Waqar? Where has Woolmer developed good fielders? Where has Woolmer developed fitness of the players? Where has Woolmer developed a fine wicketkeeper like Rashid? These are the questions. Who has answers?
I know Inzi and Woolmer will now leave Paksitan cricket. But they togethe have done irreparable damage to Pakistan cricket. These individuals should be held accountable. Afridi should be accountable for his stupid actions. Shoaib should be accountable for his stupidities. Asif should be accountable for his stupidities. Rana should be banned. He has outlived his welcome. That should have been known. What is the experience of Woolmer and Inzy if they can not see that the wickets are not made for Rana.

All in all, I am ashamed. I am ashamed to be a Pakistan cricket fan. I am ashamed that I thought that loss to WI was Ok and the team will bounce back. I am ashamed that I love cricket as the sport.

I am angry that I have been made a fool by the Pakistan cricket officials.

I am angry that I supported Pakistan.

Kamran! Never had been an exit so quick for any team from any of the earlier world cups: Within 4 days of a 7 week long tournment. Pakistan have been comprehensively disposed off and literally kicked out. I've no words to express my disapointment - I had much the same feeling when they were dismissed by Australia twice for 50 odd runs in Sharjah. But this is..........I don't know what to say. Here we and our moderator of pkspin hoping against hope and making tall claims on their behalf - only Australia.........bla bla. There they are even incapable of beating a Brazelian cricket side. Alas........................

share ur disappoinment Mr.Abbasi..
Sad day for pak cricket..

Agreed 100%. All PCB top officals need to be professional cricketers and not chosen by HE. The blame has to the Top who puts PCB officailas by choice-let us be honest!. Then this what would be happen. Hard to digest what happend to our team in the world cup. They better get ready for some stones and eggs-exactly what they deserse right now.

Pakistan cricket died on this day. Look back at my previous postings and u'll see that i warned u fans not to get your hopes up high with this bunch of misfits cos they won't make it through the first round. Shameful, woeful and inexcusible that a cricket team paid to do a job succumbs to a bunch of part timers. The writing was on the wall when u look at the poor preparation prior to the competition. The whole system needs to be revamped and it will take a decade to pull the team through this and make it into a serious contender again. Sorry guys but this is a dark day

Such a pethetic performance from our national team,i just cannot believe.Inzi is our hero,is he?I cannot express my feelings toward Inzi and Bob,but i would request Inzi not to play the last match against Zimbabwe for Pakistan's sake.Its enough of Inzi now.

Kamran! Never had been an exit so quick for any team from any of the earlier world cups: Within 4 days of a 7 week long tournment. Pakistan have been comprehensively disposed off and literally kicked out. I've no words to express my disapointment - I had much the same feeling when they were dismissed by Australia twice for 50 odd runs in Sharjah. But this is..........I don't know what to say. Here we and our moderator of pkspin hoping against hope and making tall claims on their behalf - only Australia.........bla bla. There they are even incapable of beating a Brazelian cricket side. Alas........................
and surely we all have to eat our words back with tons of opium along. what a bunch of naives we were.

i hope the stupid smiling Doc is dumped, while is lacky Salim Altaf is made a janitor at the PCB HQ..as far as the team is concerned...i have nothing to say, such is the extent of my depression and dejection. Inzy is by fsr the best ODI and Test this nation has ever produced...but i think he himself needs to move on before our "gracoius" Doc drop him like dirt..Inzy doesnt desevere that...now wat can i say about Bob...at first his insightfulness helped the team in becoming a fighting unit, but the last 6 months have been a mess...so i now think Bob shud finally move on...and as far as captain goes...Yonis mite not be the best choice, as we saw in the Champion Trophy, and is a liabilty in the ODI team batting at 3...but my mind says Shoiab Malik cud be captain, cuz believe it or not he does has the steel and a cool head like tht of the great Steve Waugh...but my heart says Afridi cuz he ALWAYS plays will passion and fire and his attacking mind mite make him an agrresive and proactive capatin....well now haver to wait for almost 2 months for Pakistan's next assignment...and maybe start of somthing good, coming out of the ashes of broken dreams of a Worild Cup Pakistan winning team...lets hope we become the top ranked Test team...Ameen

Kamran, watching Pak match was like watching b-grade Ramsay (Indian) horror movie. And same went for India's match as well. The thought has been going in my mind since the time I saw, first India & later pak loosing. Why doesnt Sharad Pawar (BCCI Prez) strike a deal with PCB and have a 5 Test 7 ODI series somewhere in US or Canada. Indian should be free after their outing against SL. Am sure companies like Coke will sponsor as Pepsi is sponsoring WC. Will save alot of money on travel as both teams are there. After all a WC tournament only fills coffers of ICC, there is nothing India or Pak makes in this 47 days drama. It's just a Cup nothing else. Let rest of the team play each other while we have our own series running.

We the fans from sub-continent will forget everything by the time the first ball of this series is bowled.

How about that. Even Donald Trump would not come with such ingenious way of making money.

It's a shame that the Woolmer - Inzy nexus failed so badly when it mattered in the end... the team peaked probably a year ago, when, after achieving a number of good results, they looked like genuine contenders for this world cup that we've been knocked out by Ireland from. For this, more than Bob, I blame Inzy... a legend, but his lethargy in everything from fielding to captaincy was the real cancer that prevented this team from kicking on, instead of collapsing in a heap. In one interview with Woolmer, he said the first thing he wanted to do with the team was extra fielding practices and Inzy told him, in his langruos tone, that "easy easy... we'll take it slow". In the end, that attitude, combined with the tableeghi influences which just added to the laziness, combined to shatter whatever spine this team could have had.
But there are probably other reasons too... though they have cut down on their antics, but player-power and politics is still a factor in the dressing room. Afridi quitting, afridi-younis khan fighting, shoib akhtar's another story himself, younis khan resigning before the ICC trophy (which led us to dr naseem ashraf, the biggest drama of them all)... when will these guys learn to act like professionals and give up their petty in-fighting and work collectively for the team? I guess it's just a reflection of the culture of the whole country which is so unprofessional, so prone to nepotism and ad-hoc shortcuts. I think the whole COUNTRY (not just the players) needs to take a good hard look at itself. We're falling way behind in every social-political context, and now the only thing we were somewhat good at, a bunch of 2nd-string county players from Ireland have beaten us at. The board and the players deserve alot of the blame, but so do all of us for permitting so much unprofessional conduct in all of our lives.

Its high time for Inzi to make way for some dynamic leader.....leadership being the only trait we missed in this WC.

I don't think there is a need to axe a great deal of players, most of them are fine.....the coach, captain and the management and administration of the PCB is in dire need of change.

Agree with you on all the points you've made.

Let's face it, unless Pakistan has a strong leader like Imran Khan, even the best of talents combined (like the dream team of 1999 cup) can't lift the cup or their bat out of the way of a seaming delivery!

We need new blood and we need discipline!

Kamran has succinctly summed up all of the woes that afflict Pakistan cricket and I can only endorse his view that it is indeed time for the triumvirate of the captain, the coach and the 'Doc' to go. Even then I think that it will not really change anything because the system is not a meritocratic one (indeed the word does not feature in the lexicon of Pakistan cricket let alone the nation with the exception of when Imran Khan was at the helm)so in effect it will be plus ca change. But hey we live in hope because that's all we have left.

Hats off to ireland pants off to Inzy and his bunch of cowards! Inzy don't you dare say the word cricket again!

We live in a country where there is no institution at any level, a few specks of individual brilliance here and there and thats it. Nations are not made great by individual efforts, they require collective efforts. The same can be applied to the Pakistan Cricket. (The best example of "Pakistani" way of handling things clearly visible in the dope case.) I think no matter how much we lament, its all over now. The big bosses have made the money and now they are ready to run. Cricket is now at the same place where we have send the hockey and squash. But I don't agree with you here that things will improve, cricket will survive. Drastic measures and complete overhauling of system is required at every level. Can you name one person, anyone who can do this with all the "politics" in the game and no regard for the country's name or nation's feelings. Almost 60 years of PAKISTAN'S Cricket reputation has been thrown out of window, does anyone who is responsible cares. Would anyone accept his repeated mistakes, the answer is no. The shifting blame game has already started and it will continue for sometime. This is not a new spot we are in. The same thing happened in last world cup. What thing amuses me the most is that while Australia and other teams have players announcing their retirements ahead of tournaments, we have to participate in a world cup to be kicked out of team.

Seeing India lose on the same day It seems to me that the time of the Sub continent is up. Just like in hockey Pakistan and India couldn't keep up with the white people in the same way we can't match the fitness and energy of the developed countries. We can't play the old school stuff anymore. Pakistan and India don't have the kind of fitness and professionalism thats required. And they can probably never have it. Because for this to happen we need to invest at the grass roots which we can't. I really don't see anyway Pakistan batsmen can bounce back from this and actually be able to play on seaming tracks.

Dear kami and pakspin readers

This victory for Ireland doesn;t really come as a shock.

I predicted this from the way we played against the windies.

But the important thing now is that a real change needs to happen in Pakistani cricket.

I totally concur with you in regards to the meritocracy associated in pakistani cricket. The president needs to realize that selection of the team management and the team itself must now be based on merit!

This world cup is the culmination of embarassing cock ups that have been associated with the PCB ever since the champions trophy. I and millions of pakistani cricket fans are absolutely furious in the way the pakistan team have performed since the England series.

We need a first class cricket system that creates a competitive and fair environment. We need a system that can get provide wickets that are not foreign to pakistani batsman. The reason why Australia are so good is because they have grounds that offer different conditions. Sydney turns, melbourn will seam, Adelaide is the flat and slow pitch and brisbane is good bouncy wicket. The waca is quick and fast.

Its not difficult to creates wickets with seam and swing in pakistan. All you have to do keep the grass on the pitch. This was done in Karachi in the final test match between india and pakistan in 2005.

This will help our batsman adapt to the conditions. In the long run you will find quality openers from this.

One day a cricket is a game for the youth. Bangladesh proved that in uncermonious fashions against india yesterday. Which means we really need to focus on our youngsters.

Pakistan won the under 19s a few years back competing against the likes of bravo and smith. Maybe its time we gave these young guns a chance.

There needs to be a huge shake up in how the game is run in pakistan.

I feel sorry for inzi because now he will be remembered as an has been! and not as that superb middle order batsman who took world cup by storm at eden park in 1992.

In regards to the captaincy issue pakistan needs someone with a lot of chracter and the ambition to succeed in all conditions.

afridi is too much of maverick. Younis khan is very strong minded. Yousuf is our best player so maybe it should go to him as he is very ambitious.

Talent wise i would go for yousuf

Today we saw how part-time players playing with big hearts triumph against highly-paid, full-time
players devoid of class, determination and leadership.

The problems Pakistan cricket faces today are deep and wide without a beginning or an end.

Is it the foreign coach we acquired in lieu of talented local coaches expecting that insight
he showed in TV interviews and papers columns would be matched by a real understanding of how to
channel a raw cricketing talent into a professional team?

Or is it the captain and his cronies who spent more time proselytizing, growing beards and
offering public prayers than preparing to compete at the top level?

Is it due to the head of the board whose presence has encouraged confusion and unprofessional-ism since his first day at office.

Or is it the poor cricket selection process and lack of accountability, typical of Pakistani culture.

Or is it simply that shame and humiliation does not upset this team any more.

This must be the lowest point in this country's cricketing history and a shameful day for us to have sent this team to represent us at the World Cup.

I know its hard to digest for all of us, and especially for someone like you who had been so optimistic about the progress of the Pakistani team. But there is no way that ANY team in the world would have got over the kind of setbacks that Pakistan cricket got. First, they lost their pace spearhead - Asif who was head and shoulders above any other bowler in international cricket. Second, the selection of the openers was a joke, there was no way someone like Salman Butt or Yasir Hameed could have been left out, and then we lost both Afridi and Razzaq. And we took a comedian of a wicketkeeper who would drop one catch for every one that he takes. Give as many setbacks to any team and they would fail (remember the failures of the Australian team in New Zealand). With this bunch, anyway they werent going to go very far, I think Kamran you are frustrated more because your expectations were too high. Well, yes, they should have got to the super eights with this team, but thinking any further would be a pipe dream. Its time we are realistic and accept that this is the worst team that we have sent to any world cup. And it's time to think ahead. And thinking- means not thinking in terms of someone like Afridi to lead the team- that would be disastrous. Younus Khan also seems a bad choice- he has more of the cheerleader and less of the captain role- too much of show. Shoaib Malik should be ok, but can we also spread our nets wide and think of anohter 'thinking' man Mohd Yousuf, someone who was being talked about in terms of captaincy long ago- and whose limited attempts at captaining were quite ok. Anyway, time to shrug off our disappointment and to look ahead, we surely can do no worse and can only improve from now.

i read almost every article from kamran and espacially the comments send by my brothers. but i never made any comments by my self infact i send two times my comments but not more than two but today, today i m very very disappointed so i want to say wat i want to share with my friends.
this team have let us down in very bad way.we people waited for worldcup for almost 4 years then it started but lost in only distance of 3 days wat a shame.and we lost to baby of cricket.
its time now that pakistan have to think abt this game seriously otherwise cricket will also become hockey of pakistan.

and also now its time to make some bold decisions.i liked the way when amir sohail was cheif selecter of pakistan after2003 debacle.he gave almost new blood to team.

its time now to first of all get rid of this selection cometee.but i m affraid we will not. but if we want improvement in cricket of pak then we need this
secondly we need to get rid of these so called heavy waigths. infact there is only waight left in them.
i was ashamed by the way in which ireland feilded.they look parallel to south africa in feilding and we after playing almost 675 one dayers we not not understanding importance of feilding.

we need to get rid of inzi is well both as captain and player. becoz he is gone now he left nothing to offer for pak cricket. and need to get a new aggresive captain. i m sure younis is not the man.
younis khan can never be a good captain. we need some one like afridi or malik.
those can inspire the team with their performances not like of younis,yousaf of razzak
but i m affarid that one of these will be our next captain and the same will happen again to us.

one thing we also note that imran khan once a big suporter of younis for captaincy has now leave this idea after last year champion trophy becaz he got to know that younis is not the right option.

and we should bring asim kamal, hasan raza(becaz he has 10 year experiance of domestic cricket)immediatly in one day side
and for long term we need to found champions of the last two U-19 world cups.
thoser guys are all of big heart.
they also made 110 in last U-19 world cup but they also get india 10/6 at one stage in same match and then won it.
so we need to get fighters.
and we also need to prepare green tracks now in our home series.
also now time to get rid of shoaib and rana
that is all from a disappointed paki.
allah hafiz

Well written sir! It was truly the most shameful perfomance any Test playing nation can give against an associate team and ends up looking like a joke in front of the whole world. Shame on the coach, the captain, the selectors and each and every member of this team. Somehow, deep down inside, we all knew from the start that something like this would transpire but the passion, the yearn and the desire for world cup glory made us believe that this group of amateurs would be able to pull off something extraordinary. Shame on the Pakistan cricket team for letting down the nation and turning it into a laughing stock in front of the whole cricket world.

SHOCKED. I am from across the border. But I come to share the grief, vent the anger, and condemn the absolute cowardice of this Pakistani team. May be, we ourselves are not very far from being eliminated. But, before that happens let me appreciate the forthrightness of Kamran's observations.

Well said, Kamran. I was asking for Afridi for captain for a few months now - he has the experience, the youth, and the enthusiasm.

On his bowling alone, he can be part of the ODI team. The fielding, batting, and captaincy are a bonus.

When Afridi is on the field, bowling, or batting, the opposing side is unstable, and the Pak side is full of energy.

Yes, we needed a disciplined bunch after the match-fixing scandal, but now we need fire! Is there any other person who exemplifies that other than Afridi?

Abbasi sb. you have hit the nail right on the head. Inzi, needs to leave, at least ODI cricket and leave it for more sprited individuals. He has been guilty of picking up his buddies, rather than picking team on merit. If you have seen, sami today, you must know that he is definitely the person who should have been picked in the first game as well.
Captaincy should go to Shahid. Younis, though backed by Imran, does not seem to be one making a fight. We need the agression of Shahid Afridi to make these bunch of cats, fight like tigers.

I was not surprised by the result because I knew that sooner or later it is going to happen. I was reading the article of Woolmer prior starting the match that the combine Irish team does not have the experience equal to one Pakistan Player Inzimam, BUT what everybody saw on the TV was quite shocking for most of people but for me it was quite realistic. Irish team body language was positive, they were determined and they knew they could win the match. Pakistani team body language was not positive. They were not sure that they could beat the Irish team. Hell, 133 is a not a bad score at all to defend but again .. it was going to happen.

On the other hand, I can also bet that the Pakistan under 19 team which won the under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh and defeated India can easily beat Irish team. I saw that particular match as well, the boys were determined and positive and they knew that they could win the match and they did.

The main problem with sub-continent teams is that they do not have any formula (especially boards). There is lot of politics around. Why on the earth we are stick to same players for years when we have vast resources available. Look at Aussies, if any player do not perform he is out for a while. But we are stick with those chaps and that's the main problem because they knew that they are still in the team if they will not perform well. It's useless to talk about any scenarios and if at this stage. Who should not play first match, who should play second. It's over now.

I was hoping that the match should go till the end rather then being ended by DL method. We might have an excuse then and this is what we do all the time, making EXCUSES rather then accepting our fault and correcting them.

The cricket team has changed a lot. Teams with young and energetic players are giving good impression. Two teams are equal in the ground and two recent matches have proved it. I am not sure where this defeat will lead us as it is even worse then 1999 World Cup final. You can not call it just a Black day. It is DARKEST day in the history of World Cup and the Pakistan Cricket.

But on the other hand, I am very much excited about super eight rounds and rest of the World Cup. At least we will watch some quality cricket from top performing teams.

Kamran, i am writing in response to your columns first time. I have read all the column on Dawn and Cricinfo and have to write to share my concern for our country. I don't know what will happen once we know we are out at first stage. In 2003 world cup defeat this was disclosed by selection and board that they will prepare for 2007. In somehow they did good early stage in 2004 and 2005 but then our Cricket board plays, they thing they should be praised instead of players who are performing. Now it is same selection committe chairman Bari who was there for 2003 and almost same staff at board level.
If we want to do better yes we need passionate Captian not like Inzimam who served Pakistan a lot but not by his decisions it was team efforts when we won in past not by captaincy.
We need to upside down in Cricket board Doc, salim altaf, Mushtaq woolmer and then players.
we wish and hope that somebody will be sincere to country to build the status of Pakistani team to be fighter not the spectators.

i totally agree with u mr. kamran pakistan cricket has been on drastic decline.iam a stonch suporter of pakistans cricket but even iam forced to say that a school team can beat this current pakistani team.players like inzama, yousuf, younis should have been more responsible then they actually acted. in simple any team can bowl pakistan out of the match on a green track if ireland can do it so can any body.it would be bette if someone from pakistan asks mr. inzamam the following questions.
1) y rana palyed the match against west indies when everyone knows that at his advanced age he should take care of his health and not to play cricket. iam sure even ireland will not accept his services even if rana wants to play for them.
2) y did inzamam decided to bat against westindies after winning the toss. he dosent have a seamer other than gul who can bowl the opposition out and also everybody knows the record of pakistan when chasing.
3)y did not he promote himself up the order in both the matches since he has the experience.
well i have been witnessed to some of the best innings of inzamam and iam 100% sure that he is a match winner but watching him play since last 6 months i wonder whether he still has to continue palying.
at last i feel pity for him that such a great batsman like him could not take pakistan atleast through to super eight.

Hi Kamran,

The thing you said...

"Your fielders wander the outfield like elephants, young men grown old and old men grown arthritic. They are a blot on international cricket, a sport that now requires fitness, energy, and speed, yet your players are like the noble unbending amateurs of some bygone era."

... is very true.

Shame on you Mr. Musharraf , Shame on you Dr. Naseem Ashraf and Thank you Inzamam for your great service but its time you retired to sufiism. Bob Woolmer i truly believed you could do something special for Pakistan you did for some time but whatever it is you are trying just didnt work. The Pakistan Nation has been let down by all of these people and the main culprits are the President and the ADHOC Board. They owe us an explanation not an apology an explanation. What they have doen is criminal. But then again what else should one expect from a bunch of Pompous Idiots trying to run the national sport and its team like a bloody PLatoon!

Ahmed Qaisar
A die hard and seriousl pissed off Fan

An open letter from me too - Hi bob,if you open the replies to your blog, you will find a small warning statement from me that beware Ireland will beat you, but i think you didn't take me seriuosly at all. Yesterday was a black day for all of us pakistanis. I have never been ashamed of bieng a pakistani cricket fan, never ever like this. I am resigning to the fact all because of you and your bunch of chumps with the beards, i will support and follow south africa as my dream team and to hell with Pakistan's team. That's it. you and your loser players didn't do justice worth of a penny to our nation. Go back all of you to your homes, wear bangles and dopatta and sit at home, make currys for your wives. This is what you should have been doing from day one.

Doom to Pakistan Cricet.

Naveed

Let's pray that Bray or O'Brien show positive in dope test and THEN Pakistan will again be in the run for the cup :)

Right on Kamran.

I am sick of Inzy taking the blame for it all. What are our "World Class" batsmen doing? Its time Inzy gracefully exited because for all his faults in this World Cup we know that as Pakistanis we are unable to respect a great cricketer and provide him with a proper farewell.

The future is bleak. For the next world cup, who do we have? No Inzy, probably no Yousuf. Only Younis Khan (good for nothing), and Shoaib Malik (potential). You have bowling, thats for sure but no batting. So basically more of the same. Only one part of the equation out of three!

I do agree, we need a captain with fire in his belly and Shahid Afridi for all his faults as a batsman, is the most logical choice. Shoaib looks too baychara, and Younis call only wince the whole time from slip.

We are a nation that forgets. We are nation that looks for scapegoats. We are a nation that loves playing Monday morning quarterback.

To play on Reagans words, are we better off now than we were in 1999? Will we be better in 2011? Don't bet on it.

cricket died a dirty death in pakistan yesterday.. our team is supposed to inspire the younger generation to fight.. but unfortunately not only has our team been bad examples, they may well have killed the passion for cricket in many Pakistani's just like me..

shame, shame, shame no words to describe . speechedless at the moment.
about afridi , i think i agree, we need aggression in captaincy as he possess.

but all in all shame , shame and shame etc.

afridi

What a shame????? Its hard to believe that we are out of the World Cup!!!!! Inzamam will have to be stripped from the Captaincy...what a sad end to his career??? What a lack lusture leadership shown by him?? other than keeping his two arms on his back and cuddling his beard!!!!
Hats off to the bowlers who tried to salvage some thing from the team!!!!
I want to cry, I am humilated, I am disgusted, I am sorry for the nation, A Bleak Day for Pakistan Cricket?

On the other hand there looks to be a conspiracy from the ICC in giving Pakistan green tops in big tournments....this was not fair play from the WestIndian Board also......May God Give All Pakistani Fans the Patience to Gulp Down this Difficult pot of Poison.....I wish we all forget this soon.
The defeat probably will make way for Salman Butt as an openor again......Mr Nasim Ashraf and Company do you have any new excuse and reason to explain.....How about utilizing the services of Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam or Imran Khan or Waqar Younis.....The Nation demands an Apology from you also....rather than putting the blame solely on the players????????

WELL WELL WELL PAKISTAN, ANOTHER FINE MESS YOU GOT YOURSELVES INTO........and this one tops the lot!!!!!!! You have yet again proven yourself to be the best side in the world at SELF DESTRUCTING. Bob Willis, got it spot on 'EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED' with regards to Pakistan, and the Pakistan team just obliged, so everyone out there give them a round of applause!!! I'm not going to waste my time debating, what went wrong?, who's to blame?, who should have been playing? etc ... Theres no point as far as i'm concerned, time and time again... i have been backing my team everytime we had embarrasing moments in the cricketing world, but this tops the lot. I hope each and every player, manager, coach, captain, board, who ever is involved with the pakistan team is proud of what they have achieved. I have been a proud supporter of the Pakistani Team, and enjoyed watching them since the 1992 world cup begun... i'm afraid that ends as of now. Too many times i have forgiven them, for past embarassing moments, failures etc ... theres no joy in watching this side anymore. All they do is humilliate us further time and time again... nobody likes loosing, but to see the way the pakistan teams looses, without even putting up a fight is there for all to see. So this is where i say my final farewell and best wishes to the team once loved and held in my heart. ALLAH HAFIZ

Let me be the first to vent. We are fools who still live in the fancy world of Pakistan Cricket of the past. We have no leader in this team like Imran who can turn a bunch of Jokers into Fighters. These scumbags are just filling their bank accounts and going thru the motions of their daily life.
This team during these two matches was looking more like a minnow then a test playing nation. A JOKE!!!!

I think Bob Woolmer has played a real bad part in the later stage of his stint as Pakistan Coach.
It started from the England Tour and has brought us to this. I donot know why people were still thinking that this team can give them gift of World Cup, when this team was beaten badly in ICC champions trophy and also the South Africa ODI series.
Now Inzimam can not even blame the defeat on the absence of Shoaib and Asif as bowling did do more than its job but the batting My O my, what kind of batsmen we have? should they go in Ireland and get training and learn from their batsmen.

In my previuos posts also I mentioned that the biggest mistake was sacking of 6 or 7 cricketers after the 2003 World Cup debacle. We needed a few of them still (maybe not all of them) to remain a force in World Cricket. We needed bowlers like Akram and Waqar to nurture new bowling talent so that the torch could be passed along, same with batting, we stil needed a few years of Saeed Anwar to harness the opening batting.

I think same thing will happen again after this Debacle, and we will be back to zero again for the next World Cup.

I would again say, as I did in my last post, that we need to get services of Imran Khan to build us a team for the next World Cup. Otherwise this Chaos will continue. When Richards andgreat players of other ocuntries are providing services to their national teams, I think it becomes a moral duty for Imran to take the helm of Pakistani Cricket once more (although in a different role). We need discipline for this team which Imran can bring. I know a few heads will roll, but is that the permanent solution, I think "No", because we have seen it from the previous WC.

I agree with you Kamran, this head of PCB is not suitable for the job. He does not know ABCs of Cricket. He is not been able to bring discipline in this team.

WHAT A LET DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OUR TEAM DIED A COWARD'S DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I THINK PAKSITAN SHOULD BE STRIPPED OFF OF THIER STATUS AS AN ASSOCAITE MEMEBR OF ICC AND BE DEMOTED TO MINNOW.

Kamran Bhai,

You left out the so called chairman of the selection committee, Bari . He is also equally to be blamed in the gang r*p* of paki team. The bubble has burst, and we all had anticipated this for a long time.

Its time to roll heads big time and bring fresh and energetic blood into the team. YK have no claibre to become pak team captain neither do MYo, both are good only on dead paki wickets.

The current players should take a long rest and join Inzi in his multan piry fakiry sermons.

As I said earlier after the defeat against West Indies, it is no surprise. The team for the last few years has been preparing for world cup, yet till now they do not have been able to come up with correct openers. Successful teams have good opening pairs which Pakistan does not possess, The only opener with some skills, Salman Butt has been sidelined for no obvious reasons. Players like Asim Kamal with mid 40's average are not provided with opportunities for unknown reasons whereas mediocre players have been given ample opportunities.
The so called Pakistani all rounders (which has long list) are all not really all rounders they are not perfect in any one skill. For being a genuine all rounder one should be a good bat than an average bowler or vice versa. None of them fit that criteria including Azhar, Razak, Afridi, Hafeez & not to mention Rana....The key is consistency, which none of these players have. Look at Pollock, Kallis, Symonds, they all are atleast perfect in one skill....Unlike incomplete cricketers of our team.
Mr. BOB you gotta go what are you really responsible for, what have you really coached. Also PCB needs to be run professionally, dude this is a professional era. We need to change are mindsets & be proud of our nation & heros instead of kissing ass of foreign coaches, trainers & doctors & throwing away huge funds to these people. We have produced worlds best batsmen without these coaches. We should utilise services of players like Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Waqar, Wasim, hanif Mohammed etc. This experience is priceless, all are legends, but due to our slave mentality & corruption as well as gora wannabees atitudes we have ignored these heros.
Just give merit a chance & be proud of who you are.

Well Kamran i think the time has come now that we have to make changes.In my opinion they need changes from the top to bottom including selection committee , captain and coach.We need to bring new palyers in the team.
we need good captain ,yunas khan is good but i would say shoaib malik is best choice because if you make younas captain it will be more plitics in the team .and please we are fed up of this politics of pakistan we are fed up of this system .
i wish there is a miracle which can change this system of pakistan and paksitan cricket .
I want to request to board's member Plaese stop putting the money into your pockets and spend on pitches and first class cricket and build some better stadiums .

In the last i would like to request to all pakistan great players please dont sit outside and critisize and get in and help pakistan .

just in one sentence i would like to say PAKISTAN CRICKET IS DEAD

Kamran Bhai, Thank you for verbalizing exactly what all Pakistanis around the world are feeling...utterly gutted, a sense of disbelief and bewilderment...It is strangely befitting that the annus horribilis of Pakistani Cricket that was this past year has culminated in this darkest of days, and reached its Nadir with the defeat by the Shamrocks. I feel that the fateful day at the Oval when the Doc gave his Thumbs Up that from that point on, it all went downhill from there.
There is a need for a complete overhaul of Cricket. Which starts at the top...Doctor Whatever your name is...(the fellow appointed by the Pres)...you better go NOW!!! Don't even try to come up with pathetic excuses..OUT..OUT!!!Bob...Please show the Doc the way out, make sure to join him, and please don't let the door hit your A** on the way out...Inzy...the less said about him the better...I agree that we need to bring Passion back to the team...I think we need a Bowler to be the Captain...I hate to say this but if not Afridi, then Shoaib Akhter...we need someone Vocal...arrogant...Tough and I hate to admit it but someone who is a bit of a scoundrel...someone who is flamboyant and passionate...Afridi and Akhter come to mind...

I've been saying this to everyone I discuss Pakistan cricket with; Inzamam-ul-Haq is a bad influence on the team. In this day and age when every team, including Bangladesh, moves like greased lightening across the field and bring about saves and catches fit for an acrobatics competition, we have fat, bearded, old farts scratching their facial hair as the ball passes by.

Inzi's lethargic body langauage has permeated into the younger and previously agile lot like Malik and Afridi.

This whole 'Thanks to Allah' whatever be the result may be fit for Raiwind, but not for a competitive international sport. I hope these guys are replaced by younger players with a passion for winning. Thats what they are paid for.

Dear Kamran , On the DOT , WELL Said and Well asked for . INZI , BOB , DOC , Salim Altaf , The whole selection commeti , IF they had any self respct and any iota of self soul searching process within their thick skins , They Must see the door themselves or be shown the door at once. Discrage to Watch , Disgrace to see & hear , Disgrace to see them play , full of shit from head to toe. ENOUGH OF THIS CRRONISM , THE YOYOS have prooven it once agian THEY ARE Just YOYOs. In my opinion , no resemblenns of the PAST STARS must be seen in the New Team , Kick the FAT Potato out upfront , he has been the real culprit in brining such fate to the team & country , FULL of Negativity and defeated mentality .

Kamran Sb,
u nailed it once again.

U sir have summed up the unbearable pain we all go through now.

GET A LIFE BROTHERS!!
All this furore from sad asians bemoaning the losses of India and Pakistan - who cares! How many times is rioting, calling for the teams heads etc going to change anything that happened, sport is a funny game and one that does not always play out the way it should on paper - moreover we are Muslims - we should distance ourselves from asny form of fanaticism so that we can deal and talk about such things in a rational and SENSIBLE manner. Give it a break for God's sake.

This team should be cut because at the international level this lethargy should not be accepted.
If we declare the real ages of the under19 squad they could easily make the national side. What is the downside ? things can only get better from here.
As for Inzi and the pussycats - well maybe their dream of running a Madrassa might just be preponed a bit !

I Just Dont Know Wat To Write Here.But Like every pakistani,i want big changes in the team and managment.please for God sake,select young team.
My future team is. 1.Salman Butt, 2.Yasir Hameed,
3.Shoaib Malik, 4.Younis Khan, 5 M Yousaf, 6. H Farhat or Z Haider(wicket keeper)7. S Afridi(Captain) 8. A Razzak (vice captain)9. M Asif,10 Umar Gul,11.M Sami,12 Anwar Ali(Hero Of under 19WC),13 Fawad Alam,14 S Akhtar,15 Mansoor Amjad,16 Tariq Mahmood.
Waqar Younis Bowling Coch
Javed Minadad Team Coch.

Hope Abandonned.

I wish i should stop playing cricket.
I wish i should stop watching cricket.
I wish i should stop discussing cricket.
And finally i wish i should stop loving cricket.

well kamran its all reality what you said.But this defeat shocked us too much that we can't say any thing.I think so now we have to stop playing,loving and even watching cricket and enjoy our lifes like other peoples who donot watch cricket.
Now my situation is that i love my friend who donot watch cricket and whenever there is a match of paksitan i put my self in the front of TV for a day and they just simply smile on me and at the end of the day just ask Ohh YOUR TEAM DEFEATED.How much relax they are and how much silly we are.
I think so we should put a case against pakistan cricket team ,that they are not playing cricket they are only playing with our heart's.And finally cricket mathes telecase should be banned in pakistan for atleast a year so that we forget the unforgetable 'CRICKET'.
And when in future when some one waste his time wathching pakistan cricket match we just smile on him. I wish...

I agree 110% to Kamran. It is the darkest day of our cricket and thanks to Inzi and company. It was a writing on the wall for the last 6 months but the fools like me were still hoping against hope of an impossible turn around. I am sure we all have played cricket at some level can not apprehand our national team's performance, no pride , no self belief, and totally spineless. I am afraid all this reflects the state of affairs in the institutions of our country and PCB is no exception, run by(Dr Ashraf) a person with no experience of cricket affairs what so ever typically selected not elected & Mr Saleem Altaf acting as he has all the knowledge of cricket not ready to listen to any body, taking mind bogling decesions removing wagar and keeping Mushtaq as a bowling coach ha ha. Selectors all dancing on the higher up tunes. In my humble opinion its time now for some strong decesions which should have been taken ages ago. There is no room for players like Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Azher mahmood, Rana and of all Inzi. Bob must also go ,his mission impossible to destroy Pak cricket is successfully complete now he can move on.

Salaam Kamran Saab, All what you have said is absolutely right, 100 % agreed. We all Pakistani fans love cricket like religion and in the end Most of the Occasion Pak team give us disappointed result and disgrace our feeling. Now there should be accountability for Pak team plus PCB.Sir in my judgment Shoiab Malik will be a good Choice for the Captain instead of Younis Khan which we have already tested in Last Year Champion Trophy. We need Young but Mature Captain and I guess Shoiab Malik fit for this. For Inzi I would say here it is a really Sad Departure for a great Batsman.PCB or who ever has the authority should take extreme step to rediscover Pakistan cricket team, I really feel sad today. As we are standing at the same place where Wasim and Waqar left us in 2003 may be behind.

Oh the agony and anguish. Waking up early morning to watch a game as inconsequencial as this. But at the back of my mind was the ever present fear of Pakistan some how messing things up. Mr.Abassi a truck load of shit needs to be dumped on Naseem Ashrafs head, better yet i say to all Pakistani to take a bags full of shit and turn the PCB in to a manure factory. Our country with such an illustrious cricketing pedigree doesn't need these imposters. But not losing hope.....2011 baby!

Now, now, let's not analyse this shameful performance of the Pakistani team on any cricketing merit. There's no question, on paper, that there was more talent (if measured by pure statistics) present on the Pakistani side than the opponents.
So what went wrong? To a team that's God centered - all Glory to God, etc.-we can only conclude that it was God's Will. Because, even at that pathetic batting performance, Paksitan could still have won the game. But alas, the Almighty God intervened - He sent the rain! "Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt, and Thou abasest whom Thou wilt"(Surah 3:26).
The Irish pricked the God centerness balloon of the Pakistani team. Since, according to Islamic theology, all good and BAD occur only through God's Will, I suggest that the Pakistani team should stop-over in Mecca and pay homage to God for having abased them. Or perhaps, according to the twisted theological concept that's galore in the land of the pure, let's use poor Danish Kaneria - the only non-Muslim (and a "Mushriq" at that)- as a scape goat for this God's team's pathetic failure.

The utterly spineless defeat has let us with no place to hide, with no solace. How much lower do we have to fall before some semblance will be restored ?? It is not a blame game, but for once, just once, let's hold the accountable people accountable. Unimaginative leadership, insipid coaching, spineless performaces - how much more do we have to put up with ? let's clean house - properly - once and for all.

yet another dissappointment or i can say the biggest dissappointment !! ahh no words for it .. as it has proved that pakistan board is responsible for all the mess. first of all the selection committee which is all biased and never go with the merit. how do you justify the selection of kamran akmal and rana naveed in the first place ? and imran nazir ? out of no where he appeared ? board as usual ignored asim kamal who is alot better player than imran nazir , imran farhat , salman butt and other failed openers. but the board attitude towards karachi or sindh players has always been like that. despite the fact the pitched were new , sami was not selected for opening game and inzamam's favorite rana was played .. i m pretty sure if rana was playing against ireland, the irish would have won in 25 overs ! but no the favoritism always go with punjab players as they got the upper hand from the govt. the team represents the whole country not just one state but it seems more like representing punjab. kamran akmal would be the most worst wicket keeper pakistan ever produced ! there is no way the guy can replace moin and rashid , i hope he is thrown out of the team as he is a disgrace. inzamam prolly would face the axe with bob woolmer which is very likely. its unbelievable as pakistan didnt find any openers for this long as it only opted for few openers as imran farhat , mr butt and taufiq umar. same guys repeated again n again .. so where was the search when bob woolmer and inzamam were going for the same bunch of players. i have been reading for so long that they are working for the world cup and in the end you find same bunch of losers who dont have any technique and play like gali (road) cricket. you will see no professionalism in them. i wonder what justified their selection in the team oh wait a minute they are from punjab.

Interestingly , the batting order again didnt changed. once again repeating same thing . not understandable !! .
Inzamam is a good player no doubt but his approach as a captain on the field is below par. and i agree with kamran that younis , shoaib malik or afridi should be replaced as a captain. Inzamam is out thats for sure as we all know pakistan cricket board or do i call it now punjab cricket board. replacement would be most likely younis khan or new surprises ?? who knows . shoaib malik being really the guy who plays so intelligently should have been promoted to number 3 or yousuf but no same failed strategy again and again ! the team would be greeted by the nation with roses or eggs no doubt bout that ! i wonder when merit would be the criteria ever in pakistan !

There would not be a more ardent Inzimam supporter out there than me. To me he is till now the best batsmen Pakistan ever produced. Better than Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbass and Hanif Muhammad. But it is time for him to go now!

It is also high time for Pakistan team to rid this image of piety that has creped into its fold. Sports by its very nature are supposed to be secular. The selection criteria for this team looked like growing a beard and offering prayers in group. Cricketers should be selected on the basis of their playing skills not on religious devotion.

I think it is time for M. Yousuf to quit too! He ain’t nothing but a flat track bully who will never make a contribution of note when the pressure is really on.

Afridi might be too inconsistent for test cricket, but then again honestly who is consistent performer in this team? The one player (inzi) who could play under pressure is past his prime. So I would have no qualms about him taking over but for heaven’s sake please do not turn to Younis Khan. He might have all the characteristics needed to captain a side but he too can not handle pressure. Look at the ways he got out consistently in WC and before that in Champions trophy.

So choice should rest between Afridi and Malik. As far as selection of cronies of our the General to important positions are concerned. They will keep on happening! Dr. Nasim Ashraf just like the general himself is nothing but a walking disaster. He must go just like the president needs to go!

Bismillah ar rehman ur rahim ... first of all thanks to Allah for sparing us the pain for the rest of the world cup ... i hope we have seen the last of Inzy, yousaf, younis, nazir ... well the list is too long and space limited ... HOPELESS!

The tragedy of March 17, 2007.....

Sadly, in recent days, it was such that cricket "was" the only thing, as a Pakistani, you could've looked forward to make you feel proud as a Pakistani...like Mohsin Khan said after the match, Cricket is the second thing after religion us Pakistanis follow so passionately.

I have no words to sum up the display of sheer incompetence by the "men in green" on the field yesterday...most of the team's fans, like myself, are still be in shock over what conspired in that match...

Shame on you Younis for getting out for a duck...
Shame on you Yousuf for that stupid shot you played...
Shame on you Inzi (and it hurts your greatest fan to say this), for not being the leader the whole nation expected you to be...

......

Somehow i was worried before the play even began. As i saw the green pitch i could not make up my mind that this is going to be a very tough day for the pakistani batsmen.
Ireland played better than Pakistan, that is a fact we have to live with and we should congratulate them as a good sportsmen would do and i'm sure we pakistanis are!
That Ireland can play we know since we saw them in the practice match against South Africa! I think hadn't South Africa used 10 batsmen at that day the result could be a similiar one! This Ireland team is not a minnow team - they all play county cricket and some of our guys should know them!
But it also showed once again that Pakistani batsmen are unable to play on green pitches and that we have not learnt anything after the South Africa loss at the Champions Trophy where we finished in a similiar fashion.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has to rethink its strategy and change itself to be able to match up with the big nations.
We need a revolution in Pakistan Cricket - otherwise we cannot make it in the Top 5 of world cricket.
We don't need a team without spirit, without will to win no matter what happens!

Bravo and well said! After a humiliation such as we have seen these last few weeks, nothing short of radical reform will satisfy Pakistan cricket supporters.

Look at our Bowling with Mushtaq as Assitant Coach and Without Waqar as bowling caodch.

Naseem Ashraf, because of his ego problem didnt stopped Waqar from resigning.

The result was written well before the tournament started, when Waqar resigned.

Look at our Bowler performance on green top wkt they allowed Ireland to make 130+ successfully.

I cant even believe it!!! i feel like i'm in a bad nightmare and will wake up to find out that it was all a dream.......I feel bad for the paki fans who have spent tons of money on match tickets, airline tickets, accomodation etc to fly to the west indies. I think PCB, Inzy & Woolmer should personally refund the money of these fans.....where the country is in so much turmoil its unwise to think that the cricket team should be otherwise.

amran, very well said indeed!
But this result, sooner or later, was enivatble.

What would you expect from a team which consists of:
A Captain after 15 years in International cricket and after playing more than 375 Onedayers still cannot play moving ball, cannot run between the wickets, cannot field and most of all cannot motivate the players and cannot think.
A Vice Captain, who still do not have the common sense for shot selection.
A Fine batsman (Yusuf): but with little commone sense (as with all pakistan players)
Openers: No technique or temperament whatsoever.

Cricket is a game of 11 fit and professional players, each should be a match winner on their own on any given day. But Pak played with atleast 5 players who do not possess the required fitness, 6 bits & pieces players who do not belong to International cricket with no technic or temperament and 11 fielders who cannot field.

Above all what make me sick that they just repeat their mistakes without learning. We, by watching them play, can pinpoint where they are going wrong but the Coach, the captain and the players did nothing to sort out their weakness.

My Suggestions:
Get rid of:
Inzimam, Younis Khan, Hafeez, Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Azhar Mehmood & Kaneria.
Forget forever: Shoaib Akther, Abdul Razak.

Make Shahid Afridi Captain and Shoaib Malik Vice Captain. Infuse new blood by inculding players like Shahid Yusuf, Fawad Alam, Anwer Ali.
Get back: Salman Butt, Yaser Arafat, Asim Kamal, Mohd Asif.

I think what you say Kamran is very much right, we have lost that fighting touch, we didnt play anywhere near our potential. Yet i have heard this about the pakistan team after nearly every tour. It is all well and good for us to criticise what has happened, but i doubt that the players intended to not put up a fight, or that they intended to lose. I think the bigger problem we have is that we have a million people complaining, but rarely one with a solution. When there is one person with a solution, we ridicule that solution until it too is of no use to us. I think solutions rather than complaints is more of use to us.

17th March will be a dark day in Pak's cricket history but it will also be a lesson to learn. I am totally agree with you kamran, all those three people, Inzi, Bob and Mr. Ashraf need to pack up. I feel really sorry for Inzi, he was truly a great batsmen of his era, he deserved better ending.
So where things got wrong? it is a million dollor question, everything seemed fine just 6 months before. This team ranked 3rd in the world and was looking good and well shapped up for the world cup and then suddenly.....
There are few things i need to emphazise before we hit panic button and sacked almost all the team. We have done that after 2003 world cup and got rid off the likes of Saeed and Waseem. As you said this team need a passionate leader who can lead from the front. We need a pakistani coach who understand the roots of the pakistani cricket. We need a chairman who has a cricket brain ans has cricket background.
In the end, i must say there is a bright day after every dark night although this one is a pretty dark one.
May God bless Pakistan.

Yeah...they are really bunch of assholes...inzamam you have been a gr8 player but now its time for you to go...and we want green top wickets in pakistan...so that they can learn how to play on one....

Good article, only one thing I disagree with, but no surprise coming from you. Shahid Afridi as captain material? That is simply laughable. Well I reckon in your next column you will suggest Afridi as possible future president for Pakistan, such are is your zealous support for him.

Kamran, i totally agree with you. This team has very badly let all of us down. I being a sri lankan dont feel like watching the rest of the matches now that pak is out.
As i said earlier the complete infrastructure of pcb (prized collection of buffoons) need to changed

Firstly! I have been always and will continue to be the most ferocious Pakistani fan! I had not given up hope for a single second until it was in all actuality and reality gone to my disbelief! I have not ever faced such desperation when supporting my team! I believed that they can do it, but I was wrong.

Kamran Bhai, you address in this open letter to Inzi, Bob and the "£$!£%%£ Doc, but what I feel the whole supidity oozes out is the PCB, the Paindoo Cricket Board. Because the loss to Ireland (for crying out loud!!!!!!) has a history to it. And that history begins and ends solely with the PCB, its pathetic board of money mongers and its selection committee with a person on its chair that deserves nothing but to hang the boots now.

I will not come harsh down on Inzi, even though I predict many on this thread will absolutely like to bash the sh!t out of him for his leadership qualities or rather the lack of it. Because in my opinion the captain must have the perfect environment to freely make and choose decisions. Which were not made possible due to the PCB's lack of common or rather cricketing sense. I for one feel really bad for Inzi, who would face some brunt. He has given so much to Pakistan cricket, if it were not for him, 1992 wouldn't have been ours either! If it wasn't for him, Bangladesh would have registered a win in Tests with us as well and basically his record as a batsman for Pakistan speaks for itself, and to give him the bashing or a scapegoat (which I fear) will be a terrible insult to him, which the other Pakistani legends have faced as well, that to me will most definately be unfair. He has been let down, even by his favourite Rana Naved-ul-Hasan; a captain believes in the ability, and when that ability is just not there then its not the captain's fault, although I do hold this one against Inzi, that he should have dropped Rana a long time ago, when India came to Pakistan and beat us in the ODI's because all those matches were lost thanks to Rana's come-hit-me-nice-and-hard-over-the-rope balls!

For me the important change that should be brought about NOW!!!!!! Is that the PCB needs to be totally restructured, those -yes I am calling them that- need to go out, and out NOW!!!!!!! And the second most important change is that captaincy, Afridi or Younis would be my opinion, Javed from Montreal -'Akhroats' as you mentioned the previous thread can only provide you with the madness of rage inside that is the desperate call of the hour!

I really feel bad for Inzi though, I'd say again. Come on, lash at me for saying this whoever feels like it, but I am going to stand by his side!

But I am really depressed, some top brass heads need to be rolled!! And for God's sake tell Mushy to bask in his 1992 glory and not make more fool out of himself, leg spinners can't coach fast bowlers, and our strength has always been our fast bowlers, aidedddddddd by leg spin!

:(

Brilliant,Kamran ! While you're at it, can you write an open letter to the bunch of jokers who call themselves the Indian team, too ?

Kamran, I agree with you 100% but I will go a step further. Fire every single person/player/manager/coach/pet etc etc currently associated with the Pakistani squad. Sometimes it's necessary to cut the entire leg to save the body. I only wish this was a military exercise so that we can have the whole team and PCB shot on the spot for such incompetence.

I had predicted this in my previous posts that Pakistan will be embarrased in this WC and they should not even elect to go. That prediction was not based on lack of talent, we have enough of that, it was instead based on the attitude of the entire squad from top management to the players specially during the recent SA series.

We cannot expect to see dead and slow wickets that we see in Pakistan to be everywhere so that we can win. If we want to beat the likes of Australia/South Africa... at this point even Ireland, we need to start from the grass roots. We must have pitches that prepare our players for the matches abroad. Our FC cricket is a joke at the moment.

I like Pakistani cricket and am passionate about it but I want to see some serious shake ups to the PCB. No more temporary fixes while it's a failed institution just under the surface.

Mr. Abbasi, the writing was on the wall since the England's tour. I was really surprised at your optimism, which was more from the loyalty factor, than rational reason when you thought that Pakistan could still make it after West Indies defeat. Both English and South African tours exposed the Pakistan team, Inzamam's leadership capabilities and Bob Woolmer's coaching. Both abilities. Somebody must be held accountable for this debacle. Inzamam, like Musharraf, doesn't want to give up. I feel that he should be asked to leave along with other senior players and we should re build from scratch. For the next world cup, we should aim to have players with an average of not more than 24 years (after mid 20's it is downhill for the players because they do not have the decipline of keeping themselves fit). Chose a captian, who leads from the front and not loose the match before the start like Izamam and Bob Woolmer did in the last match with Ireland. Kamran, your understanding of the game and its modern day requirement leave much to be desired. Perhaps you should at doing something sles rather than give opinions on crciket.

Sharum ...such sharum...

now i truely agree with this .. although i did laugh alot when i first read that only aussies can beat this paki team ... but being a paki i also supported this in my heart ... but getting backt o the point ... i agree that its time someone takes responsibility of this shameless defeat and sum1 goes .. for good .... n i personaly think .. liking inzi as the best batsmen in the world .. its time u give the team to sum youngster ... younis i would hav supported but his unpredictability has now raised questions .. after gifting his wicket in both matches .. so my first chice would b afridi .. n yea i agree that the chairman as well as the selectors should go now .. but then again knowing how our system works .. no one would go n we would b cursed with the same faces and they would take us to another disappointment ... only this time they have 4 years to raise our hopes n then humiliate again ...

FLAT TRACK BULLIES... couldn't say it more perfect myself. I think all the other cricket teams in the world have discovered a guranteed away of beating Pakistan now. All they have to do is produce green top/bouncy tracks... and leave the rest to the PAKISTANI BATSMEN. I'm sure in the future all other cricketing nations will adopt this policy, even the so called minnows when playing pakistan. MAYBE ITS TIME TO TEACH OUR TEAM TO BAT ON SUCH SERVICES BY PRODUCING THEM AT HOME, an idea dont you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Along with the millions of PK fan, last night was realy a wrostest one in my cricket viewing life! The way our top and middle ordered batsmen played, were looks like a team of the streets! No one borther to take the responsibility to stay on the crease.

Our middle order is one of the best experienced wise and technique wise, but its been a big big disapointed performance by them, no dought the pitch was green and the irish bowled very well, but on the same pitch they bated as well and PK bowlers bowled as well, but the difference was to take the responsibility.

Can we compare our team with them? we had the team of who played a lot of ODI's along with the best performance, but the other side, irish first appearence in the W C and their whole players played hardly 10 ODI's we had the batsmen with 12K and 8K 6K etc runs and they dont have even in 1K runs in ODI's!

Near me the responsible for all this what happened is, Inzi himself, Yousuf, Younas along with our very very smart coach! PCB spent millions Rupees on the team but what they/we got?

Cant we produce 16 best players in our 16 Millions nation?
Cant they make their brains like a cricketing brain?
They didn't played the W C, they played with the 16 Millions ppl hearts!

On the arrival of the team (Expected on 23 or 24 March) the following players should appologize from the nation, and put their resignation letters on the Chairman table!

Bob!
Inzi
Younas
Yousaf
Hafeez
Kamran
Rana (He should leave Pakistan as well!)

I was a very very big fan of PK cricket team, but sorry to say I have bycotted them, untill the mentioned ppl will remain in the team, I'll never ever watch any cricket match of Pakistan!

Dear Kamran, The letter you have written should be published on the DAWN front page. I cannot describe you how much depressed I am. Rameez Raja in his comments said on thing on target is that the politics in the first class cricket should be taken out especially from Karachi and Lahore. These root causes should be addressed and merit should be given chance. Dr. Naseem should be sacked and should be made accountable for all this shame. The relationship between coach and captain is not working out. There seems to be big gap of communication between inzi and bob. You are talking about captain, I can tell you things will get worse if Afridi comes in as captain. Because Younis and Afridi already have personality clashes. This formula wont workout. Yousuf should be given chance as a captain and Shoaib Malik should be his deputy. Younus is not able to comunicate players because as I mentioned he have some attitude problems. March 17th was the darkest day of Pakistan cricket and I hope this should end here and rebuild should be done ASAP.

Kamran bhai, you have written what every pakistani cricket fan must be feeling after this pathetic performance. World cup performance has been degrading since 2003. 4 years and this is the service we get. Anyhow, what's done is probably for the best (i hope). I think Shoaib or Afridi are better option for captaincy. I hope the board and everyone related READS this letter.

I guess there's nothing else left to say to the trio kamran. to say the nation is disappointed or even disgusted would belittle our emotions...but lets just be honest with ourselves,we knew this was coming. it seems like this sport will also die its death...the honorable president of pakistan has slowly but surely taken everything we pakistanis used to be passionate about and turned it into a mess!!!army,check.hockey,check.cricket,check. every institution of our country has failed and you dont need to closer,you'll see a general sitting on the top of every failed institution. the example of our educational institutions with their retired generals as VC's would suffice.
i guess the love for this game would also die just like our "NATIONAL SPORT" hockey. if fundamentalism and crime doesnt prosper in our society,wat will?? wat is this nation supposed to live for? our president's answer would be: to fight the struggle to feed your families,day in, day out..the present circumstances in our country are just wat we saw in this world cup....chaos,utter chaos. i would go one step further kamran and i would like some questions to be asked from the man who appointed the Doc....but would all of us ever get any answers? im not so sure.
i have to say though, you have done a great job kamran. loved your open letter...we all know we wont get any answers,the players would get out of the airports through the alternate way just like 2003 to avoid their "reception",the cricket board's ad-hocism would previal but at least we can give vent to our feelings. your words did the job!!

Kamran bhai you are spot on... Believe me i was in tears when i saw the pakistani batting unfolding this way. I cant say much. Shame on Ashraf , woolmer and the entire first class system.. Kudos to Sami , he bowled his heart out.

Kamran, Could'nt have said it better myself! Great post-mortem. We lack leadership and vision on all three fronts - PCB, coach and captain. Comprehensive reform from top to bottom is the only way out of this mess. The PCB must be run by a professional outfit and not by ad-hoc political appointees!

Beyond the PCB, I have a few suggestions for the team.

First, Inzy and all his tableeghi buddies must be
kicked out pronto - Mushtaq Ahmed, Rana Naveed etc. Good news - now they can spend the rest of their days in Raiwind! Apparently, praying ten times a day has not done much for their cricketing ability...who would've thought!!

Younis Khan should be Captain - he has the fire in his belly, and can lead from the front. Shoaib Malik should be vice-captain.

Second, Woolmer will have to go. His biggest failure was not finding a reliable opening pair, and experimenting ad nauseum.

Third, Shoaib Akhtar will have to be put out to
pasture. He is a negative influence on the team, and not fit enough to play anyways.

Four, Salman Butt must come back - the guy
has class and will do well. Not sure why they let him go in the first place. Kamran Akmal needs to be groomed as a ODI opener. However, he will also need to deliver on the wicketkeeping front - no more lean patches. Hafeez and Nazir are not up to the mark and should be axed.

Five, Shoaib Malik must bat at No.3 going forward. His average as a No.3 is 40.5 as opposed to an averge of 27 coming in at no.6.

New Starting ODI X1:

1. Salman Butt
2. Kamran Akmal
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Yousuf Youhana
5. Younis Khan - Captain
6. Faisal Iqbal
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Abdul Razzaq
9. Umar Gul
10.M Asif
11.Danish Kaneria
12.Ifthikar Anjum

Well said, Kamran!maybe pakistan cricket team should pray less, play more !! Shame on them!! Spineless team of bad criceters.

Dear Kamran,

You said it all. i think they all must be fired to death. For the first time it has happened in my life that i feel so embarassed that i dont want to step out of my house. I just came to work and let me tell u that im the only pakistani working in my company and its impossible to describe in words the humilating position our paki team has put us into. I really have no ideas how the management of pakistani team works and as i see the future i think the way the team is playing they might loose their test status in next couple of tournaments. All i can say is now that even prayers cant do any good for this bunch of fools who call them professionals.

Dear Kamran, U have written a spectacular blog today and I agree to everything u have written. " Shame on PCB, Bob Whoolmer in particular, Inzimam and the whole Pakistan Cricket Team. I, along with all the Pakistanis around the world are in misery cuz of all of the above mentioned people. But we all in a way knew wat was going to happen since a long time now, esepcially how the PCB was working and the BOB AND INZI combination taking the team to deep dark depth of bad cricket, but going down repeatedly since the tour of South Africa and now to a baby cricket nation of mere part timers IRELAND, WE ALL SHOULD BE HORRIFYINGLY SHOCKED. As far as my views are concerened I would say, FIRE THE WHOLE PCB MANAGEMENT INCLUDING THE CHAIRMAN NASEEM ASHRAF AND THE LAME AND LAZY OLD FASHIONED SELECTORS INCLUDING SALEEM ALTAF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. After this main thing, fire BOB WHOOLMER OUT OF THIS PAKISTAN COUNTRY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FOR HE HAS DESTROYED THE WHOLE PAKISTAN CRICKET TEAM AND ITS SPIRIT SINCE THE DAY HE TOOK OVER. To an extent I believe he was an agent of South African cricket board and the ICC all along and played with the sentiments of the whole nation along with the PCB Management. Inzimam wanted the control all along and so he had it coming all the way also. I loved him as a batsman but I will curse him for a bad team leader. He should be fired or resign himself as soon as possible. Shahid Afridi should not accept to play in the last useless match against zimbabwe anyways, it makes no sense. Specially Younis Khan and the openers should be blasted out of Pakistan cricket and be replaced by useful and strong character crickets on the top slot. As far as the captaincy position is concerned I would make my choice between Shoaib Malik,Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi. and offcourse last but not the least FIRE KAMRAN AKMAL AND FIND A USEFUL AND GOOD WICKET KEEPER FOR ONCE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

ATIF YOUSUF,
Pakistan.

I know it is a hard pill to swallow but i would urge the Pakistani supporters not to be too harsh on the players. It was just meant to be. It was fate. The fact that Zimbabwe was unable to finish off their game against Ireland and it ended in a draw means we dont stand a chance now. Take it as a game. Every team has highs and lows. Its true that we have hit rock bottom. The whole system from the board to the selection committee has collapsed with this defeat. Lets make it a new beginning. Its good that there is no cricket for a few months now for the team. We need to rejuvenate. We have good talent in the team which needs a fresh approach to the game. We need an energetic and focused captain to rebuild.
Lets give Inzamam a good farewell. He has been a great player for us over the last 15 years. Lets remember him for all the matches he has won us over this period (and there have been many), for all the wonderful innings he has played in tough situations and most of all for being the gentleman he always has been. I for one will miss the gentle giant on the field.

Dear Kamran Sahab,

As you told before in your prev column only Australia can block the road for Pakis, now what you have to say?? Its really pathetic performance.

Only thing Pakis can do is cheer for Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, and hope India dont quaility for super 8. I would say that would be the only consolation for Pakistan ;-)

Pakistan's cricket if needs to survive then the problem has to be addressed from the grass-root level.
We dont need the World Cup.....We need consistency .....Consistency in winning matches on a regular basis just as Australia has proved over a decade or so.
The whole domestic infrastructure of Pakistan Cricket needs to be addressed in this context.Our batsmen fail on green-top pitches.Why?Because they have been tuned to play on flat wickets back home.
Anyway a disastrous day for Pakistan cricket...!!!

Fully agree with u !kamran
It is so disappointing,,,it simply hurts...
the way they played..they deserved the defeat..Bob,inzi and doc ,,all three should be sacked....
i m also backing ur idea of afridi as a captain,,,we need a aggressor...

What else do we expect from a cricket board that is too concerned with the choice of the players' use of language and such trivia!

Herein lies the lesson that we as a nation, let alone the cricket team, have long forgotten. The lesson of Unity, Faith and Discipline. The lesson that if we dont have any of these in our life as guiding and binding principles, then we are condemned to failure. We will fail whether it is in play, it is defending our honour or whether it is in any aspect of our lives.

I have been writing on this blog for quite some time and always said this team has virtually no chance to get to next round............ and on 17th March, it was proved.

I am of course not surprised. This was very much expected. Inzi is the worst leader Pak has ever produced. This inept urdu/punjabi medium mulvi has ruined Pak cricket. The Islam phobia illness in the team is responsible for the entire debacle. I am no one to comments their inclination towards Islam but if they are so passionate and particular about Islam and tabligh, they should leave Cricket (as did Saeed Anwar) and concentrate on whatever they like.

I am also a firm believer the leader must come from educated and cultured background so that the leader can be an inspirational source for other members of the team. That’s why Imran and Kardar were very attacking and successful captains. Having leaders from mediocre and illiterate background will not serve the purpose. On top of this Inzi is primarily a coward person who believes more in prayers and Allah’s will and does not put any efforts. Inzi is among those sort of people responsible in bringing bad name to country and religion by their wrong beliefs and practices which are there primarily due to their backwards family background and lack of knowledge about others.

Then we have another idiot heading PCB who thinks by speaking Urdu, he can make Pakistan one of the best tourist attraction.

This is just the beginning of an end for Cricket just like Hockey and Squash.

In my humble opinion, Dr Naseem and Bari must be sacked before the next match. (I don’t think they have any moral courage to resign by themselves). Inzi may continue to play as a player. Beard must be banned for anyone who wants to represent Pakistan. Afridi should be appointed captain. Players like Mushtaq Mohammad, Sarfraz Nawaz and Wasim Akram must take all the important positions within PCB.

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If only you had said all this from the start of the world cup there would be a little bit more pressure on PAK team and that would have been the "right thing"...but instead you chose to turn a blind eye towards all that is wrong with our team and supported it with closed eyes.

You Mr.Kamran Abbasi have failed to do your job as well!

We pakistani supporters should be the most stringent critics of our team ...let the outsiders
do the praising part (if our team deserves any..).With so many ills plaguing our team we cannot afford any let up in the pressure.There should be unrelenting pressure from all sides to change pakistani cricket establishment for the better.. and we as its supporters should be at the forefront of that effort.

You put in words what so many of us are feeling. Its amazing how quickly we have undone every single thing we achieved since the last world cup.

A part of me is sad to see Inzi end his career in this manner. He's been my favourite player for as long as I can remember. Yet he has no one to blame but himself with a spineless display of batting two times in a row when he was needed the most. Inzi should just resign/retire and save himself the added embarassment of getting fired. If nothing else he owes us that.

I felt numb after watching each pakistani wicket go. The whole fraternity of pakistani cricket is responsible. Akthar for starting the uncertainity mess, Asif for be friending akthar and getting into the dope mess. Afridi for being reckles and getting banned (not the first time). Inzy for his 19th century captaincy. Azhar Kamran for their indifferent shots. Musharraf for being the nonsense behind every pak failure..donno how better is the pak board chief than a cricleting person. The pak team lacks the professionalism..learn from Bangla...
And Imran Akram Waqar Zaheer and co...can u stop chasing money and do somethin for ur country ???

It's been almost 12 hours since Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup, and the anger that i immediately felt has now been replaced with extreme shock and sadness that, in the words of Sarfraz Nawaz, is "unbearable".

Its all finally sinking in.

Toady was one of the worst days in the history of Pakistan.

Millions of us Pakistanis are all absolutely, completely gutted about the once-great Pakistan team go down the dumps.

Kamran sahaab, i agree that the worst thing to see was the complete lack of fighting spirit by the batsmen. The sad thing is that the other top teams are routinely scoring and chasing over 300 runs yet we can't even cross 250!

Failure is going to continue if the Politics continue. Pervez Musharraf's one-man show and the iron fist rule of his men over all of Pakistan cricket has destroyed the cricket structure. The unprofessionalism of the PCB, its appointment of officials and selection of players based on friendship (nepotism awlays causes rifts in the team) rather than cricketing achievments, and its unwillingness to train players on livelier, bouncier pitches has brought about the downfall of the team.
The PCB responded insanely after the 2003 World Cup by dropping all senior players. So Saeed Anwar and Waqar had had enough nonsense and retired. You dropped 2 of our best players ever, players who still had some years left in them. Good job, genius!

We need a radical solution to save Pakistan cricket. Shahid Afridi could bring the great, passionate leadership that we need, Muhammad Sami's furious pace bowling was great to see, Asim Kamal is Pakistan's very own Rahul Dravid (he can be the backbone of our middle order), Yasir Hameed is Pakistan's ONLY good opener and its unexplainable why he was dropped. But Inzamam and Bob Woolmer had to persist with out-of-form players like Rana Naveed and Kamran Akmal for months and months when there were in-form replacements for both of them like Zulqarnain (keeper) and Azhar Mahmood (bowler). So many players are wasted to keep these mediocre players in the team?!

This lack of leadership is shattering the platform that the champions of 1992 built for us. Imran and his 1992 champions must be holding their heads in disbelief right now.

The only hope from the disasters of the last 7 years are the few fighting players left on the team and the Pakistani fans who truly care about Pakistan's success. If we keep failing like this, I think us fans should play for Pakistan - we'll easily perform better and we'll sure as hell FIGHT like the cornered tigers that true leaders really are.

I feel sick

Hey Kamran, why blame woolmer? He didn't bat, bowl or field against WI or the Irish. It was the Pakistani that should be held responsible. I do agree to some extent that woolmer must be held responsible for mot forming a decent opening partnership, but in the end its the players that need to preform. I think Inzi has to go from the Odis and just play tests. Yousuf has to pick up his game and take more responsibility, so does Younis. Gul,Sami,Rao,Razzaq,Malik,Afridi,Younis,Yousuf and Asif are the players that the team needs to be built around on. For a captain, i wouldn't mind Afridi, hell it might be a good choice. Openers is the area we need to pay attention to. Butt can be one of the openers Pakistan can play. I hope Dr.Nasim Ashraf never comes back to Pakistan ever again. That idiot has ruined Pakistani Cricket for good. I hope good times are ahead for the team..

Hi to all. I start by saying I am a Bangladeshi who have supported Pakistan all my life and then came my country to me. The reason was simple. Bangladesh was talented but never made use of it...until now that is. I amnt saying this just because we have beaten India. We have been consisten even if that meant beating Zimbabwe and kenya. We now do have the talents that we always had and more importantly we are beginning to realize how to make the right use of that talent.
This blog is of Pakistan cricket. About criicket, where I think every fan has a lot to tell about.
Here are the things that I would like to change:

1 - Dropping experienced players after 2003 world cup. A tournament shouldnt decide the fate of so many players. You need experienced players to mould the youngsters, to lend them your experience...unfortunately this didnt happen.

2 - Follow the horses for courses strategy. You cant take 20/20 players for test matches and vice versa. Play players in form not because people want to see them (afridi, akhtar...and many others).

3 - A new captain. Definitely Shoaib Malik. Not Younis Khan because of the previous point Horses for Courses. Never saw him as an ODI player and probably never will. He is a good player and a good batsman but just dont see him doing well in ODIs. Not Afridi because..well thats the next point.

4 - Lead by example. Do for the team if you expect your players to do so. Bowl well, bat resposibly, dive in the field, save singles... all these done by Shoaib Malik. Thats why Afridi wont be captain. What will be the team morale when the captain gets score of 6, 39, 0, 1, 5, 102, 3, 4, 4, 0, 0....thats not what you want from a captain. Moreover you dont want a player who is so consistently inconsistent.

5 - Fielding and running between the wickets. This is one area where all teams can improve. You dont need any special talent. Just pure hard work, dedication and committment.

6 - Do you need to axe Bob Woolmer. I dont think so. Still rate him as one of the best coaches. You cant do much if you never have a completely fit team (read fast bowlers).

7 - Bench strength. Try new players, who have performed in the matches they played. Send A teams to places like Australia, New Zealand (olutside the subcontinent).

8 -Define roles to the players.To the openers, bat 10-12 overs with 45 runs on the board ( not a lot trust me). Number 3 or 4 batsmen...look to bat the whole 50 overs with a strike rate between 70-80. Last 10 overs try getting 70+ runs.
The bowlers - bowl in the right channels. Thats hard I know...atleast dont give extras. Fielders put pressure. Create pressure the wickes will come.

The list can go on, but I dont want it to. These doesnt only hold for pakistan but for all the teams out there. A few points were just sticking out when I was watching my Bangladesh trash India. Bowlers bowling in the right channel, fielders backing them up, runs not being leaked, pressure created, and CLUSTERS of WICKETS falling. BAngladesh still have a long way to go before we regularly beat the biggies (we are no longer minnows, the others are just biggies) but one thing can be said the journey has started.

Pakistan, forget what happened. Start the journey again. 2011-world cup held In Bangladesh-India-Pakistan-Sri Lanka (in alphabetic order) and I would love to see these 4 in the semis.
No reason why it cant be..

Dear Mr. Abbassi,

I think it is time for you as well to seek pastures new.

After the Pakistan time, your column has become the second biggest laughing stock of this world cup. Please review some of your recent blogs which highlight a series of absolutely inane and ludicurous judgmenets such as "Qadir was better than Warne" and "Pakistan are the only team that can challenge Australia in the world cup". Have you lost your mind? What world are you living in.

This blog has the the best one yet "Afridi as Captain!" As a doctor, can you suggest any pills that we all become madmen so we can acclaim Afridi as our leader.

You sir, are better suited for writing patriotic songs for Pakistan or chronicalling 10 over tape tennis matches.

But writing for cricinfo requires at least a modicum of judgement and common sense, some cricketing knowledge rather than serving as a blog for the PCB.

Thanks for the entertainment you have provided, but its time you returned to your day job. I just home your medical sense is a tad better.

Sincerely,

Asghar

The most disappointing thing for me is not that we lost to Ireland, it's just that my team is out of the World Cup in just 4 days. As a fan one waits for this occasion (World Cup) and one wants that the team do well, go down fighting and all. Those saying Pakistan won't even make it to the Super Eights and all, well i wasn't one of them, I was the guy who was dreaming of Inzi lifting the cup. I know it was a foolish dream especially in retrospect but that is what i was doing. There is no doubt that the first-class system is faulty but wasn't it always? Wasn't the system the same in 1992? What about 1996 or '99 for that matter? No the difference isn't in the system, the difference is that those players rose to the big occasion, Wasims and Waqars for all their faults and match fixing scandals, you knew that when the big occasion came, win or los they fought. Ofcourse there were 133 all outs in tht era as well (WC Final 99) and losses to minnows but they were stuffed between some good victories.This team it seems cannot rise above themselves when the situation demands it.
I know most people out there would want heads to roll, but i think we should nto be rash. Clearly Inzamam the leader has to go, there is no doubt about it. However i would not want Inzamam the batsman to leave just yet. I know he's going through a bad patch but maybe without the burden of captaincy he would start performing. I want Inzamam to be there for a while just for the calming effect on the players. We can't fill a team with eleven youngsters.Bob i'm assuming would not get a renewal on his contract so no sense talking about him, he's leaving anywa. Mr.Chairman needs to go as well. He has handled situations poorly and since he is so keen on travelling with the team everywhere they go and is keen on giving out sage advice, he too should take responsibility and take off. Younis Khan in all likelihood would become the new captain, though in my opinion he should be out of the team. The man is supposed to be a great batsman, yet has scored only two centuries in ODI's. One of them agaisnt Hong Kong. I mean i didn't even know they played cricket. An average of 30 is nothing to write home about either. He is a good test batsman and should retain his place there. Rana should be given a time off or something for atleast a year.No sense in persisting with him. Imran Nazir should be told to go back to domestic cricket, become the highest scorer in first class cricket and then try and come back to the Pakistan team, this was one of the most idiotic decisions in the world. Selectign a batsman for the World Cup on the basis of 20/20 competition and a half century! (I was one of the few people who actually knew before his selection for South Africa that he would not prove to be a good opener) If they want to play Hafeez, they should bat him at number 7 no higher and play him as one of the all-rounders because he is no opener, i know he is technicaly correct but so is Younis Khan and look how far he has gotten in odis. Captaincy in my opinion should be given to Malik (though it would never happen). He has a good head on his shoulders, trries to take Pakistan out of tough situations and has a good record at number3 and as an opener. His avrage of 27 as an opener on the surface seems bad but take out the England series where he came back from injury and tht average shoots up to over 35 (can't remember the exact figure). The bowling other than Rana is fine i think and the current wicketkeeper should not be dropped though a replacement should be prepared for when he gets injured or is out of form. This team needs a good captain and that can is the only solution.

They Betrayed us! killed the love we had for them, butchered our spirits, and knived us in to an agonizing laughing stock of the cricketing world!

Get rid of the Doc, the mullah and the bob! and NOW!!!!

Kamran Please write an open letter to the patron of the PCB as well!

Well Done Ireland!! - Well Done

Get rid of:

1) Inzamam who as a captain never led from the front. Why did he always hide himself on 5th position?

2) Never select players like Shoaib Akhtar who damage the game more than server it.

3) Remove the management and selection committee system we currently have. We have a unique system of sports in our country. Trainer/coach knows players inside out because he is with them on the field/ in the nets every day. What the heck is the role of those selection committee members who do not watch net practices and domestic matches to find the best players but just paper statistics.

I say, change the whole system and only let coach select the best players. Once he selects his best 11, then and only then can he be made accountable after such defeats.

Thus I do not think removing the coach will solve our problem.

CHANGE THE SYSTEM.

Kamran you are correct when you say Inzi and Bob will go. Afterall, true gentlemen, as these two undeniably are, know the consequences of such a failure. Whether the Doc will go (or is even a gentleman) will soon be found out.

Back to some of your other well raised points, agree that the whole Pakistan structure needs to be overhauled. However, will demanding Pak fans give time to the powers that be to make these changes and still survive in a climate that may well bring a further initial downward spiral?

Last 6 months or so have been shambolic for Pak cricket and we probably paid a huge price for limping from one controversy to the next.

Will Pak cricket survive after two dismal failures at the biggest, and only, tournament that matters? I hope you're confidence is well founded.

Malik and Afridi would be a good combo, however old father time may just have caught up with Afridi.

Perfectly articulated. Nothing more can be stated

I understand that Kamran sahib might be a little too harsh in this column but i guess our team deserves this bashing.
so i agree with him...

Dear Mr. Kamran Abbasi,

While appreciating your passion for the game, I however, do not agree with you blaming Inzi for the loss. I for one believe, he made the right changes to the team and precisely the ones you had recommended, yet he could not win the toss.
I am aware that there are no ifs and buts in Cricket, but i trust you would concur with me, that had Pakistan had won the toss; Ireland would not have made 100 runs.
the problems are losse shots by the top order on an consistent basis, can you defend Younis Khan's lame poke, Md. Yousuf's brain taking leave of absence after scoring a boundary, or Mr. Veteran Azhar Mahmood ugly hoick, or Umar Gul not wanting to bowl fuller and kindly suggest which of these were Inzi's fault. Since I respect your cricket acumen, I would like a follow up Blog.

Well life goes on, what hurt most was the abject surrender of the top order without any pride or passion. Of course these overrated foreign coaches do not work see what Greg and Bob has managed to do to Pakistan & India

This was inevitable!

I am so happy that we will not see bunch of idiots in super 8 who look more like terrorists rather than international athletes.

Pakistan will sink further if they continue with such policies and non-professionals. In the next ICC Annual General Meeting, I would recommend Pakistan should be stripped off their Test status and play as associate member.

It is a matter of great pity that Pakistan has a great cricketing genius and administrator like Imran Khan but he is not being utilized due to politics.

WHAT A BLOODY SHAMBLES!

Oh and by the way - you dint seem to have any problems with the team in charge in your previosu blogs and believe therr were Allah's gift to Pakistan.
Well you BLOODY HYPOCRITE.
Maybe its tiem for you to look at pastures new as well. Cricket is not your forte. Neither is humanity.
Maybe you should go and become a jail warden of something. OR clean the streets in pakistan.
You dont have the character to be at this level.

I think the asian players in India and Pakistan need to be stripped of their super star status and the millions that they earn and have earned via payments and endorsements which will bring them down to earth like other countries and for once will let them concentrate on the cricket and not everything else apart from it.

that's a very harsh blog. i'm as gutted as anybody that we lost to ireland. i feel sick and depressed.

but this is not the time to parrot the usual rants that everyone is coming out with. you have the emotional stability of a typical pakistani, kamran. only 1 blog ago you talked of how we'd win the world cup.

personally, rather than slag inzy and bob off as they sign off, i'd like to thank them for everything they've done for pak cricket. inzy, in particular, is a legend and always will be. the hero of '92, our best batsman for 15 years. just treat him with more respect than you have, ok? and bob - this clearly isn't his greatest hour, but test series win against india, sri lanka, england and windies in his tenure is not exactly all failure now, is it?

one bad game against ireland. it can happen. it did happen. it's fate. LET'S NOT OVERREACT LIKE IDIOTS, and instead praise inzy for all the joy he's given us in his career.

This was inevitable!

I am so happy that we will not see bunch of idiots in super 8 who look more like terrorists rather than international athletes.

Pakistan will sink further if they continue with such policies and non-professionals. In the next ICC Annual General Meeting, I would recommend Pakistan should be stripped off their Test status and play as associate member.

It is a matter of great pity that Pakistan has a great cricketing genius and administrator like Imran Khan but he is not being utilized due to politics.

Alas! Our worst fears have come true, rather hastily. Pakistan have been knocked out of the World Cup 2007 after just 2 games. By who? A team madeup of part-timers.

Indeed this is the end of the road for Inzi, Bob and hopefully Nasim Ashraf too. They must pave way for some one else to come and breath life into the corpse Pakistan cricket has become. But can anyone tell me, that what assurity lies that the men who replace these, would do any better? Afterall, thats exactly what we went through after the 2003 World Cup exit. Captain, coach, team, selectors, board, everything revamped. What fruit did any of that bear? Zilch. So we may condemn the players, the board, the coach, the pitches, the domestic system and any other scapegoats we can find...but the Question remains that what exactly would it take, for Pakistan cricket to rediscover its glory? Or was it all a flash in the pan? All in the past, done and dusted? Have we reached the end of the road in cricket as well, after giving away hockey and squash titles? Is cricket too rotting away in Pakistan? Certianly not in the fields and the villages and in the beating hearts of millions of Pakistanis. They certainly remain as passionate as ever about the sport. But why then, does Pakistan fail to come up with a team of winners, correction, competitors? Why do we end up with over-rated under-achievers? The most modern coaches, dedicated staff, the state of the art cricket academies, the superfluously knowledgable cricket administrators, flashy sponsorships & hefty tv rights deals.....what has any of this contributed to Pakistan crickets cause so far? Zilch again. Knocked out of the last 2 world cups in the first round (this time, in record time) never performed credibly in the Champions Trophy since its inception, not won a series in Australia, South Africa and England as well since what seems now an eternity. Bar some sugar-coated wins at home (flat track bullies indeed) and a cluster of meaningless feel-good trophies at Sharjah (pre-2003), we have nothing to show. Not in the last decade atleast. Whats more depressing that the future looks no more promising. With all the expected political tangles, finger pointing, axing and infighting that will scale with this yet another world cup debacle, we might see Pakistan become poorer and poorer. Lets just pray that Pakistan cricket doesnt go in the direction West Indies did in the 1990s from here on. Hold your breath. The worst may be yet to come...

I NO LONGER SUPPORT PAKISTAN (AFTER 20 YEARS OF FOLLOWING & SUPPORTING THE TEAM from the UK).

Face facts. The team is currently comprised of drug takers, unfit, unhealthy, unimaginative clowns.

I don't care if Pakistan recover after this, winning the world cup is all that counts, not winning a meaningless tournament elsewhere. This is the big occasion, and the team seems more concerned about enjoying themselves and dont care about the world cup.

Guess what Inzi & co., I don't care about you either, Pakistan team can go to hell.

To all Pakistani fans, Like you I am still in a state of absolute shock.The magnitude of this defeat can only reinforce the national stereotype of professional incompetence now overflowing into the only sport in which we could once compete on an international level.A true "beizzeti" as they say in urdu.

Well Kamran, the writing has been on the wall for sometime. Only those with rose tinted glasses could have spoken about winning the cup .... when in truth the mission was more about survival. I am not speaking after the event ..... there were many who felt uneasy at Pakistans prospects but simply hoped for the best.And now we know that even survival was beyond Pakistan.

What a let-down and what a humiliation for all dedicated Pakistan followers around the world.

But, we must now take our lesson from this. Every cloud has a silver lining. It is time to look forward. To learn from this horrible experience (and also of the previous 6 months). It is not enough to pray that all will be well on the night. We can emerge strengthened in mind and talent BUT only by shining a cold light on what has happened. We must have the resolve to make difficult decisions, to commit to the long term and put in place a first class infrastructure.

The current team and management must face-up to the issues (both on and off the cricket pitch). In the face of such pain, let us not squander the opportunity to make real changes for the better.

No. Kamran sahab no. before leaving these three peoples (Inzy, Bob & Doc) have to give answers of our question.

I am working here in Dubai with many of Pakistani colleagues. Two from them have sacrificed there vacations for this worldcup to support Pakistani cricket team they planned their vacations to see their heroes in action now tell me what should they do ?

One of my friend installed cable connection just day before yesterday with three months advance payment, now tell me what he will see on TV ? other countries matches or entertainment channel what ?

We were waiting since last worldcup (When Pak was fallen badly in group matches) now tell me what should we do ? We should wait more four years to see Pakistan defeat against non test playing cricket team ?

I know these questions are rubbish nobody can give answers of these question but this is a fact from today I (and many) will never see Pakistan matches neither support Pakistani team.

A just result for a nation of racists who call Darrel Hair "racist"

Great work Pakistan team, you have earned the distinction of being the first team to be kicked out of the World Cup. The worst World Cup in Pakistan's history and I was not surprised because this was always on the cards. Believe it or not, Shoaib Akhter would be jumping out of joy at this result. He may not be the greatest role model on the face of the planet but trust me; he was the only person who could win you the world cup. The openers: Imran Nazir selected after playing just 2 Odi’s in South Africa and what about Mohammad Hafeez (Parchi No 1), an average of less than 20 in more than 40 Odi’s I think. Where is Salman Butt (I think Inzi doesn’t like him because he can speak English) and Yasir Hameed? The middle order: The two Y’s followed by Inzi, supposedly the best middle order but when up against even a mediocre bowling attack on a pitch which assists seamers, are worse than club cricketers. INZAMAM the time has finally come to say good-bye to cricket, sit at home and grow your beard. You will always be remembered for the amazing knock you played in the 92 semi-final but its time to go now and please take Mr. Woolmer with you. Not a single Test Series victory abroad in 3 years under Woolmer (SriLanka does not count and that too was because of Asif’s dream spell in the Second Test). He has also taken from us the one thing we were good at, “the nature of unpredictability” and transformed us into predictable losers. And finally Rana Uncle, how can I spare you? I am ashamed to admit that I liked your bowling once but in the last year you have become the worst new-ball bowler in the game and surprisingly the team management still persists with you. I even have a message for Aamir Sohail and Ramiz Raja. Aamir Sohail you cant commentate for shit, please do not torture us anymore, get back into the selection committee and repeat your act of 2003. And Ramiz, take back your post in the administration of the PCB because we need educated people like you who knows the game well and not some doctor imported from the United States. Adios !!

you are right kamran, but who will do all of this , in our country it has never happened and will never happen , there will be no accountability of any one , only scape goats will be the junior players like imran nazir etc. like inzi after the first match scolded only junior players for dismal performance and nothing for senior moulvis like yousuf , inzi and younus,
both of these defeats are due to batting failure of big guns, yousuf was rated as best ever pakistani batsman afetr scoring 9 centuries now one can see what he can do in big matches out of pakistan on seaming tracks, pcb should get back all rewards given to him on scoring on flat tracks , so much was expected from him but now he is more interested in visiting Raiwind and work for tablighi jamaat than playing cricket.
pakistan should get rid of this tablighi jamaat from team and select sportsmen who can focus on their game and not on any other activities.
and by the way will any body ask moulvi mushy that he is getting big amount of salary for what?
is it Halal or Haram ?????????????
my answer is he is earning haram despite of having beard and showing himself a spiritual teacher for thr team.
as regards to your question about future leadership, i would like to vote for shoaib malik he is the only man in team who can play in pressure situations any where and seems to be a wise and thoughtful man , and can play atleast for 10 years more for pakistan, just like what south africa did by appointing graeme smith and they are successful, afridi should be his deputy and if seniors don´t want to play under his captaincy they should immediately be sent home.

What has happened has happened!! It has been the worst, even worst then the exit in 2003. There are lots of things that needs to be said but ONE thing I MUST express that what can be done in future is more of a problem. Pakistan's leadership and management needs to be resolved. Dr. Nasim Ashraf and Co. (PJ MIR should go back to his media job) have failed miserably. Kamran had predicted that when Dr. Nasim was appointed, which i recall disagreeing with Kamran's (Abassi) Opinion, but over the period this has proven correct. Lastly, PLEASE PLEASE kick out Younis Khan, he is useless for the team and the future of Pakistan. Since Dr. Nasim Ashraf's appointment (a fellow Mardanian) YK's non seriousattitude is absolutely unacceptable. He screwed up in mini WC and then in SA and now in the WC. His simple drop catch and irresponsible batting has be one of the MAJOR factor of where Pakistan is now. Regardless, Congrates to Irish People on this wonderful / one sided victory. On a separate note; Kamran very well done on the expected failure of the management that you had predicted 6 months back.

Well what else you can expect from a bunch of clowns... In my one of earlier posts I mentioned that Bob and Inzy will pay the price for not showing any willingness on inclusion of Yasir hameed and Asim Kamal. But it happens that early I never anticipated. This is the consequence of a corruption that the selectors are persistently implementing upon the genuine cricket players, reluctantly to say, with cricketers who are emerging from Karachi ….Now this is the time for the President to make a plan and to bring the gems from all over the country and not just from one place….

Btw did some one noticed that Yonis khan was very quiet in last two matches ? why it is so? Why and how this talkative man turns a taciturn ?? why is that ?

A true pakistani

We cannot go on like this, the basic differnce between other teams and ours is that we cannot take pressure at all, this as in my previous comments is due to the fact that we are a very emotional people and cannot reason when the going gets tough,you are one of them, just yesterday you were saying that we can beat anybody and today the opposite, this type of unconventional and filmy sense prevails in all our people and player alike.We are very inconsistant and always hoping for miracles. But than again very day is not friday.
it is very intersting that you have mentioned 3 choices for captain. I think younis will be appointed the captain but then his form in ODI is very questionable and needs to improve his batting instead of jumping around, we need a a solid opening pair that will solve half the problems, it should be noted that all the things will fall into place asa we have a established opening. get rid of hafeez, imran, rana. We need a batsman wicketkeeper instead of kamran say like sanakara, this team will be something else once we have three solid positions, we have the bowling resources and we need an allrounder with abdul Razzak's attitude in 1999 and up until 2003. As of no he is unfit to be considered.
Let me start with the top, we should have a replacement at the top with the chairman, diector, chairman of selectors who is sitting quitely and this is his doing, he has managed to lose 3 world cups for our team, and still we presist with him, i think the people at the top and incredable stupid to have retained him for this WC, we should have maindad as the director operations and a australlian choach. waqar should be called back as the bowling trainer and mustaq should go back to england. all in all we need to reassess our approach.

I agree 100% with you. What a shocker... I am a fool too I guess for I kept hope till the last runs were gobbled up by the Irish. I kept on hoping someone would strike a hatrick and we would win the match :(

On one hand, we have fools like us who believe our team can go the distance; on the other hand we have retards who can't control their emotions. There is no call for what's going on in Pakistan, the DEATH TO INZI BOB AND YOUNIS slogans are bull.

Our nation deserves nothing, we are an irrational bunch; this goes for both the cricket team and the citizens of Pakistan. I just can't believe this, yes I am heart broken too but I am still hoping that our selectors will get replaced with an intelligent crew and the likes of Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed and Asim Kamal will make a come back and in a couple of years we will become the number 1 team again.

For me; Shahid Afridi should be the captain and shoaib malik the vice captain. Maybe its just the irrational and foolish part inside of me saying this but I firmly believe changes are Necessary and neither Younis nor Youhana poses the skills required to become fiery captains.

Inzy has been palying one dayers with hope and pray, you are right he is lethargic, unable to read situation and a dying elephant not a tiger. We need fresh faces with p[assion sit out Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan to reflect why they should not be included no automatic selection it should be on merit. Inzy Bob and Doc shouild retire. Bowelers need credit afterall this is the only light in the tunnel. Inzy is past his playing age so please go and stop making a fool of your self you cannot, think, run or score any candidate for number5 position? plenty give them a chance. I am depressingly upset like the whole nation.

Hi Kamran,

The main issue facing Pakistan Cricket including other Sports in Pakistan is the lack of professional staff at all the National Sporting Bodies. We have the talent no doubt, but there is a huge lack of proper resources to nurture that talent. We seem to still be in the 80s etc where talent alone could win you games but now with everyone using technology to find out the strengths/weaknesses of the opposing teams, we need to start bringing that more into our normal sporting practices. I realize Woolmer tried to bring this into practice but when you have a bowling coach such as W. Younis who initially blasted Woolmer for using technology, you can't run a steady ship.

There is also a lack leadership from the PCB. The last 6-7 months have probably been the worst in Pakistan's Cricketing history. Bring in people who are good Sports Administrators and then you will see Pakistan on the top of the standings. You don’t need former players, as it has been proven most of the top athletes cannot administer the sport they play as well. If New Zealand with a population with 4 million can field a competitive team then there is no reason why we can't have a competitive team! True Pakistan has other issues to take into account in the development of sport such as kids not being able to fork out cash to buy sports equipment etc but it is the job of the National Bodies and the Pakistan Sports Board to help out through the grass root levels.

There is a lot of potential but we seem to still rely on ‘Star’ athletes, who prefer to worry more about there respective bank accounts and image rather then respecting the sport and the nation that has given them that wealth and stature! We have now seen the fruit of the exercise from the 2003 WC and I don’t think much is going to change after this debacle unless proper staff is brought in to look after the interests of the sport first. We seem to never learn from a lesson. When a decision could not be made on the attendance of Akhtar and Asif, you knew this was going to be another shocker of an exit!

All is not lost, a lot can be done for the sport within Pakistan still. Everyone talks about the difficulty faced by Pakistani’s on green blocs (I understand weather has a lot to do with this!), wonder why we don’t try to create those in the domestic circuit? One would have thought to overcome a weakness, you would face it head on, not run away from it!

Another disappointing display by the green shirts, it hurts more because everyone knows they are capable of more then this!

Disappointed in the Structure of Sport in Pakistan,
Arsel Aslam

Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal and I hate to say it, Inzamam should never again be allowed to wear the colours of Pakistan.

Bob, thanks but no thanks, your insistence of packing the side with bit part all-rounders never won anything major with South Africa, and surprise surprise, you've not done anything for us with it either.

We had 2 genuine prospects in Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed when you were appointed coach of our nation, you've put them into the shade, completely dumped them and knocked their confidence, from whcih they may never recover, in favour of who? Mohammad Hafeez?

To this day i've never been able to work out whether this guy is a batsman who can bowl, or a bowler who can bat, and his stats dont do much to settle the argument either. When he bats in a one-dayer he seems to play a test match grinding innings, stick him into a test match and he'll try to flay them to all parts, great.

Then there was the donkey Farhat, Bob, you gave this guy more chances than anybody may have received in the history of Pakistan cricket, not once did he ever repay your faith but you kept him in their, not once did he ever play a convincing innings. On the rare occassion he got past 50, it owed more to buttery fingers, and streaky decisions than his ability, and then after two years of failure you dumped him a month before the world cup and brought back Nazir who had not put on a Pakistan shirt for 4-5 years, what great planning.

Could you please explain to me what Salman Butt ever did wrong, or Yasir Hameed? we've tried every opening combination under the sun, apart from these two together. only once did these two play together, in the final Test match in Australia, and I seem to remember they both got fifties, convincing one's too, and what was their reward? they never played together again. Great thinking Bob.

Exactly which batsman have you bought up through the ranks in the almost 3 years you were our coach? NOBODY.

Inzi, mate you have no body language, you have no plan B, you have no reactive thinking, and you can never adapt your troops in the field to the demands on one-day cricket, its all Plan A A and A. Pathetic, and I saw this black day coming the day you were appointed captain.

Please for Allah's sake, GO AWAY THE LOT OF YOU.

the pain is there and the shock too, still cant believe it has happened and an article like that has been written for our team. your pain can be sensed in the words you have chosen to express. true we need the passion of afridi or the aggression or indiscipline of akhtar, how ironic life can be that sometimes the worst brings out the best, and we are ready for that. after all how low we can go, now.

Yesterday was a black day for Pakistan cricket, im still in shock that we are out of the World Cup. This was quite possibly the worst technical batting display by any team. Credit tho must go to Ireland who batted very well and who understood the conditons as professional do.
Ok lets start with the restructure..
1) Sadly Inzamam has to retire.. his captaincy has been poor for a long time, his batting has also diminished and well his slowness in the field is also harmful to the team and also sets a bad example to the youngsters.
2) Some of the failures also have to go. Hafeez, Nazir, replacement for Akmal is needed to give him competition, Rana Naved, Younis (in the one day).
3) What is needed is new blood from the U19s and the higher age group.. they need to be tested against australia and S Africa in coming test series, then Pakistan must get them used to bouncy and moving pitches. Dont know how they are going to do this but they must find a way.
4) Whole structure of the cricket board. The idiots must go and men with courage and independence must come in who wont be afraid to tackle big issues.
5) Get the boys fit.. Send them to a year long boot camp, get them as supple as a ballerina, and running marathons.
6)Do it now.. we have a long time off till the Aussies come to Pak.

I can understand that you are dissappointed with the result from yesterday, but Ireland deserves a lot more credit than you are giving the team. Irish cricket has been growing steadily over the last few years and yesterday was the pinnacle thus far. We have a good team, and we all know "there is no I in team " we bowled well and more inmpotantly we fielded well, we got nervous but overcame the nerves, we were a collective person and the crowd helped.
We who follow cricket in Ireland have been waiting for years for a day like this, we have spent years being poked at and riduculed for far too long , I respect your dissappointment but the better team on the day won, green pitch or not....

Dear Kamran,

This I feel is the best entry you have posted as it sums up the situation perfectly. It seems this has been written with your heart something our current team doesn't have.

Anyways, rebuilding is the only option now and we should not waste time talking about the past. Cricket is too important a sport for Pakistan and its people and we need to start from scratch yet again. I just hope this time we pick the right bosses, coaches, captain and players. Below is my list of players that we should use to build a team for the future based on my humble knowledge and experience. I honestly believe we have enough talent and with right leadership and coaching we can come back on top once again. This would be my team in batting order in our next ODI based on availability (drugs and fitness)

Yasir Hameed
Salman Butt
MO YO
Younis Khan
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdur Razzak
Zulqarnain Haider
Muhummad Sami
Umar Gul/Shoaib Akthar
Muhummad Asif

Reserves:

Rao Iftikhar
Fawad Alam
Adnan Akmal
Yasir Arafat
Anwar Ali
Mansoor Amjad

Test Team

1. Taufeeq Umar
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Younis Khan
4. Mo Yo
5. Asim Kamal
6. Shahid Afridi/Razzler
7. Kamran Akmal( after a break)
8. Umar Gul
9.Shoaib Akthar(if he is clean)
10.Danish Kaneria
11. Mo Asif

Reserves:
1. Zulqarnain Haider
2. Muhummad Sami
3. Rao Iftikhar
4. Salman Butt
5. Abdur Rehman
6. Faisal Iqbal

Thanks,

Harris.

I am shocked by the results of both matches on March 17th. I think both India and Pakistan face the same problems with their cricketing teams - a few superstars who fail to perform when it really counts surrounded by a bunch of mediocre players and even more mediocre administrators whose only desire it is to fill their own coffers.

Neither country has a decent domestic championship that really counts. Talent spotting from the far corners is appaling and facilities to train some of the talents that do arise are insufficient. Yet, both boards are enormously rich. In order to fix this problem, I propose an annual public audit of the board's finances with accountabilty of the head administrator. A plan for the development of the game should be annouced in advance and reviewed at the end of every year. Non-performance should be met wih swift action. Till their is no accountability, their will never be any action.
Until the people of India and Pakistan don't demand this of their public servants, days like March 17 will not be very few and far between.

Thanks to my Allah, boy's not play really well, Boy's pray all night, but Allah not listening, Allah not happy with us, All credit to Ireland, Allah supporting Ireland is Today because St Patricks day.

INZI BHAI, DID ALLAH NOT SAY THAT YOU SHOULD NOT ONLY REMEMBER HIM AND PRAY BUT YOU SHOULD PUT IN SOME EFFORT OF YOUR OWN ACCORD?

NO EFFORT. ALL PRAYERS.

Hi Kamran you did a good postmortum. Last year after the oval incident Inzi was talking about IZAT and RESPECT I think if he has little bit of that he will resign before the next game

As I said before the only team Pakistan is capable of beating is Bermuda,Sorry I will take my words back. They cant even beat Bermuda. What we have witnessed on 17th of March between Pakistan and Ireland Match is Pakistani betsmen,s inability to play forward defensive strokes, in ability to play the full legth ball, inability to square cut the ball, in other words spineles performance from the lot. The whole current batting squad should be kicked out and managenent should look into up and coming under nineteen players.We have had enough of bloody Hafeez,Imran ,Younis, Inzamam Kamran Akmal and the rest, Afridi also in the same boat. If I had my way I will terminate their contracts with PCB and starngle the lot. Waseem Bari should also be kicked out from the selectors Panel. If any one is thinking of making him the chief of PCB they also need theit head examined. Every one who is responsible for selecting this team should be fired.We had enough humiliation as it is.All I say is congratulations Ireland you deserve to win.Dont blame Bob Woolmer for the poor and pathetic batting performance of these morons,these bunch of animals are untrainable. Pakistan Cricket died on 17th of March 2007.

I must say I agree. Unless something drastic is done fast, it seems the death of Pakistani cricket may soon be upon us. The Darryl Hair saga, Shoaib Akhtar & Asif, Afridi's ban... really, the last few years in general. Pakistani Cricket is on life-support and in desparte need of resuscitation. Who can provide it? That is the question.

On another note, expect a similar reaction when India is knocked in the Group Stage by Sri Lanka. It too will be deemed a disaester, but while Indian cricket may be ill, it's not on life-support just yet.

The balance of power in sub-continental cricket is changing. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the new superpowers, with India and Pakistan decayed by ignorance and inaction. It's up to the respective cricket boards to stop the rot.

What a disgrace. The stronger part of Pakistani team has once again disappointed the whole nation. Whats the point of having Mohammad Hafeez as an opener he was taken to England he failed. Than was given a chance in SA he failed again and was finally taken to the world cup guess what he failed again. 45 matches average below 20 and his partner hitting the international arena after 6 years and that also in the world cup directly. What do you expect.

Younis cant stopping pulling the ball and Yousuf cant stop cutting it and both cant stop misjudging their shots. Captain makes one run the vice captain does not feel to make that effort as well.As long as favoritism prevails in PCB its gonna be a case of 'Deja vu'.

It is the worst thing to happen. Everybody would have expected all the 8 established teams to qualify. Now pakistan out. It might happen to india too, and if india wins Srilanka, srilanka might have trouble. These minnows have had their good day. They will never win anything, they are people who are snatching something from a burning house just with a day's play.

Not so bad afterall, now that Pakistan (and in a couple of days- India) are out of the world cup, the commercial interest will end, then possibly the real game of cricket can begin. And now these two teams can look at their selections with new insights. How could Pakistan leave behind batsmen with good technique behind, just as India could leave out Mohd Kaif (very well knowing how well he played last year in the caribbean). How how could anyone expect any of these out of form teams to reach anywhere near the cup?

Pathetic, pathtic and pathetic. Pakistani cricketers have played with the feelings of millions of cricket lovers. I have no sympathy for Inzy as he got what he deserved. Not playing Sami and Azhar in the first match was a big mistake. I was a huge fan of Inzy since 1992 worldcup but not any more. He has killed pakistani cricket because of his politics. I think he is the only pakistani cricketer who said his hobby his sleeping , well now he can sleep peacefully.He can also go, pray and thank Allah with Rana and Akmal.

Even though I am an Indian fan, it is so sad to see Pakistan go this way and so meekly. A team with player like Inzy should have easily won this match like a team with Sachin should have today against Bangladesh. But then these stars from the subcontinent are big time spine less players who always tend to fail whenever there is an iota of pressure. Fault lies with us supporter who tend to idoilise them.

And Pakistan crash out of World Cup !!!! We saw it coming, Bob Woolmer sounded like a loser in his previous interviews, Inzy seemed not to have any strategy, Younis Khan sometimes plays like Younis Khan but atleast 50% of the time he plays like **nis Khan getting himself out impetuously on innocuous wide deliveries. Inzy is not the same force as a batsmen. Yousuf is not in the same peaceful mindframe. Our openers are arguably the worst in World. We were all hoping against the hope. Rude awakening indeed. I am so mad at this bunch of losers. I am ashamed of my country's cricket team. Could Bob Woolmer not coach them how to approach a moving/seaming ball ? Also seems like time to axe (for good) Akmal (the worst wicket keeper in Pak history and pathetic bat), Nazir (single track mind with no talent to support it), Rana (wannabe all rounder, cant bat, cant bowl, cant field, wonder what else he can't !, kindly go back to county cricket never to come back, pleeeeze), Farhat (same flawed technique for last 5 years, not teachable) , Hafeez (pathetic batsmen, though bit better bat, but cant have him and shoaib at the same time), Mehmood (please go and play in England, you are just not good enough for international cricket), etc etc (in this exact order). I would say even Razzaq would not have much of a difference, he belongs to same loser breed. Maybe one Afridi is still okay, only because of his good bowling. Sami, Gul and Rao have escaped my wrath due to today's showing but barring Gul the other two are only back up acts. Should have played Sami in the first match as well.

What a messy situation, when there is no hope, you are as good as dead, I feel that today cricketing-wise we are dead nation. Perhaps the only hope is to try groom the promissing players from under 19 setup before they too get into the mold of above hopeless cases.

It is a sad day, the Irish deserved to win with the gutless performance we displayed. I remember I was 8 when we won the cup, true cornered tigers...where did that passion and commitment go? Our team today looked like lame ducks. I agree a complete overhaul starting from the top, and reform at the grass root levels is a must. As far as the captain is concerned, I would rule out Younis Khan, as age is a factor and he seems to more of a cheerleader than a captain who would call out his troops when the going gets tough. I like Malik, who seems to be the most talented, consistent, level headed and quite experienced player on the team and he is still young (26?). If not him than Afridi, I agree it sounds bad but why not, we have just been beaten by the Ireland for heaven sakes! somethings gotta go our way right!!?? And as far as the world cup goes, I hope our brothers the Bangladeshis take it all! It will be Pakistan's cup for the taking in 2011 INSHALLAH!

Kamran u are very right. I had been awake till the last six hit by the Irish. I could not believe my eyes and even when i woke up in the morning, I thought it was all a dream. I wonder if we are mistreating people like Inzi and Bob but frankly most people I have met today are experiencing the same pain in their hearts as I am. The disappointment knows no bounds and add to it the feeling that we have to bear this burden till the next world cup, the situation gets worse.
So what now? well I think it can be a blessing in disguise. We can go through a major shake up of the sports governing body in Pakistan. Nasim has never been my personal favorite and he has proved he lacks any knowledge of this game and he has damaged our repo more then shoaib ever will. A new and transparent selection criteria will help. Maybe now poor Asim kamal can get selected. The captaincy issue will be very important and I wonder if we will ever find a mind like Imran, Wasim or Miandad. I pray to God Almighty to help Pakistan cuz I see no light at the end of this tunnel.

I am a Indian. And I weep with you today. I never thought that we would live to see this day - Ireland sending Pakistan home and Bangladesh almost making sure that India catches the next flight homebound. These cricketers do not have what Javed, Imran, Akram, Kapil, Sunny...(never mind, the list goes on) have - a stomach to fight, to stand up and be counted when it matters most. I weep for the millions of fans back at home. You know, people in both these countries go through so much. Poverty, unemployment, racism - so many issues. CRICKET was one passion which made one forget his present and past. The national team was the beacon of faith and hope - to the rich, the middle class and the poor alike. TEAM INDIA & PAKISTANI - you guys have let us down - big time. And you must pay for it.

Firstly congratulations to Ireland, they showed what it means to wear the green colours of your country with pride and passion!
In all my years of watching and supporting the Pakistan cricket, this is the worst I have ever felt. The team showed no passion, no motivation, no desire, no strategy, no technique, no form and most of all no leadership!
Of the team that played yesterday, I personally would only keep Shoaib Malik (and appoint him captain), Umar Gul and possibly Sami and Younis Khan and Rao Ifthakar, as they are still relatively young. Mohammad Yousuf should retire from ODI cricket and concentrate on Test matches.
Players like Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed and Yasar Arafat should be given further opportunities. Mohammad Asif should be forgiven and given another chance but most of all we must give youth a chance. Look at the way the young Bangladeshi team performed against India. Our under 19s team our World Champions, surely we can find players from that team to take over and bring some pride back into Pakistani cricket.
Lets home this is a watershed for Pakistani cricket and a new era can start from this debacle!

Kamran, you are right once again. This Pakistani team has humiliated a whole country and millions of supporters world wide...a totally inept performance against the part-timers Ireland is the final nail in what has been a shocking 12 months...Drawing a ODI series agianst England who had been beaten 5-0 by Sri Lanka in their previous series, disgraceful exit in the ICC championship, and the humbling SA series.
Heads will have to roll Inzy and Bob have no right to represent Pakistan again....they should take Hafeez, Rana, Akmal and Younis Khan with them. I cannot the see the future being any better under the captaincy of younis Khan...who has badly let the team down in the last 2 tournaments...He is not good enough to be representing a nation like Pakistan at Number 3 batting position (the only way he should be kept in the team is a wicket-keepr batsmen at number 6 or 7!!). We should go the Bangladesh way and start blooding our under19 and Under21 players into the international arena...the current players (except Yousaf, Afridi, Asif, Gul) should all be discarded with, averages are nothing performances when it matters suggest they are not good enough.
Bob Woolmer has taken us to a high (2 years ago) but now he has taken to our lowest point ever...the backlash has to be severe.

I guess people are shell-shocked to even comment on the article.I am sure India is soon to join you in mourning,although I doubt if someone will write a equally brilliant letter from across the border. Great article,written with lot of feeling and emotion which shows.Too bad that they lost,but Afridi as captain is just plain hysterical reaction.

Congrats to Ireland for showing excellent all round cricket.

Well, for Pakistan, this shoudnt be really surprising! Afterall, how can you forget the WC 99, ICC trophy in England, WC 03, ICC trophy India, and the games inbetween. Collapsing and breaking down is part of Pakistan cricket, the problem is burried in Pakistan cricketing roots. Therefore, unless its tackled from grassroot level, the problem will ever remain.
But is that the only problem? I dont think so!
As an outsider, watching cricket on tv, just a normal fan can see the ill-prepared, unfit, unstable and unspirited team. There is no plan or strategy at all, from either the captain, the coach, or the management.
We all know the issues of the Pakistan team, there is no decent openers, the poor fielding, bowlers giving too many runs and extras, droping of catchs, tumbling, giving up too easily etc..How many a times have we seen the half of Pak team gone within 15ovrs? These are all elimentary, and yet they cause such a big part of Pakistans demise.

However, there is a solution. To start from the beginning, and to build from new with capable people in charge. To build from strong basics, the ABC of cricket.

Dear Kamran ,

What made you so hopefull in your last posts about Pakistan ? Are we fools , Its all what our society is !! The nation who can succumb to 32 years Acceptance of mediocre , dishonest and inefficeient one man shows can only produce 'lambs' like our eleven . Dont you think Asif , Shoaib and Razzaq are equally responsible for this defeat and my man is Afridi whose sheer non sense seconds of madness cost us this all. Open letters have never shaken anything in Pakistan in last 60 years so your words will also be wasted .Better to prepare a same statement in advance for 2011 and hopefully without change of names because Inzy still wants to play till 2011 with Mushi his chief coach. Well said Inzy " God doesnt want us to win " so responsibility and Open letters transfered to heavens.

I come from India..but as I watched my own team suffer, I changed channels in the hope of seeing at least Pakistan do well. All that you have said, applies to our team too..Overblown megastars sitting on their mountain of self-gratification and fuelled by a false plethora of praise.Depressing..these guys deserve all the anger they will face back home

Im realy sad today after watching pakistan game.
Changes should be made as soon as possible.
inzi should be thrown out from the team.His brain is over weight as body weight.
We need young Team.my 15 future players are.
1 S Butt,2.yasir Hamid,3. S Malik, 4.Y Khan,5 M yousaf,6 Shahid A(Captain),7 A Razzaq(V-Captain),8 Z Haider(wicket Keeper),9.Fawad Alam,10.Mansoor amjad,11.Anwar Ali Khan(Hero Of under 19WC),12 M Asif,13 Umar Gul,14.M Sami,15 Shoib Akhtar.
Waqar Younis Bowling Coch
J Miandad Team Coch.

Success has many Fathers, but Failure usually is an Orphan.

Come on, you didn’t see it coming?

Even a Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day, but in case of Pakistan Cricket, it is a Sun Clock with Never Ending cover of Dark Clouds Hovering over it.

Not Hope, I am abandoning Cricket and gonna pickup the Irish Sport of Hurley.

It appears that PCB doesn’t let Reality Interfere with their Planning or Operations. They seem to be Fluent in Crazy. Isn’t PCB HQ nearby Lahore HighCourt? Can we send some Protesting Lawyers over there Today?

No Need to do any Post Mortem of the World Cup, we know what was Ailing our patient and what killed him, yet we kept giving him fake medicine and just relied on fake Peers and Hakeems, all it needed was a kick in the balls to wake him up. Even that couldn’t have helped because this patient didn’t have any balls.

I said it in my last post, but let me modify and say it again, “Even if they are not Swiss, its about Time we Deport Pakistan Cricket Team back to Switzerland”. They do melt like the Swiss cheese, and are as Effective as a Swiss Knife in a Battle of Tanks.

Lets not be so tough with our Returning Cricket Team, I for one would like to offer all of them Gift Certificates for Cordless Bunjee Jumping.

Kamran Saab, this is a lesson for Pakistani & Indian players who think grater than game. Whatever they achived so far is in subcontinent pitches where every bastsmen have advantage over bowlers. Never understimate any team beacuse that will be hunt u like mad dog. First our players should respect the opponents & then they should play accordingly. I hope, atlest srilanka will be in Final.

Kamran
I being an Indian, believe that the best thing that ever happened to both pak and indian cricket is losing to minnows at such an important event, I know it is hard to digest, but this should drill the message that cricket is a team game and not a game of individual superstars. We have always looked at a quick fix instead off a long term solution, the best approach for the cricket board will be to start looking at their respective teams as minnows instead of world beaters and thats when we will address the basics. No more superstar status to any of the players. Also on a personal front I feel sorry for Inzy, as he will be remembered for this world cup debacle instead of his otherwise wonderful record.

Kamran ! for once I agree with you whole heartedly. You have summed it up well. I think the only way to go is rolling of quite a few heads, induction of under 19 and brand new captain and coach like Shoaib Malik or Shahid Afridi (not even Younis the loser Khan). Finally something has to be done about the system of cricket like organizing inter-school, inter collegiate and finally first class that is truly first class with sporting pitches, good umpires and professionally run PCB.

I'm afraid this has been coming for a long time. For too long the top of the order, in particular has been in disarray, with too much pressure on the middle and lower order to perform.

The cracks have been papered over, but the dearth of talent has been palpable. I don't want to hear the plaintiff cry of 'we are the most talented' It's rubbish.

We aren't the most talented, as our players have the poorest technique and are the most brainless and spineless bunch, in world cricket.

Real talent is that which was shown by New Zealand, when in a spot of bother, against England, buckled down, played sensibly and coolly, and won at a canter. Or Bangladesh, perhaps, who didn't lose control of their line and length against India, and when Ganguly and Yuvraj were there, could have easily folded (like Pakistan would have) but they didn't. They stuck to their plan, got the basics right, and then proceeded to beat India, comfortably.

I suggest that a wholesale clearout needs to occur, particularly in the batting department. The team will suffer over the next few years, but opportunities need to be given to youngsters, who need to be given intensive coaching, and military discipline, to give them some toughness, mentally.

Ha! What can i say? I was in great pain before reading this article and now its really unbearable. Losing to Ireland is too much but with that going out of the world cup just after two matches is just unbearable. I woke up this morning still thinking of the defeat, I cant take i out of my mind. I think that its time for inzamam to anounce that the match against Zimbabwe will be his last. After that there is only embarrassment for him. Bob woolmer is not to be blamed because what can he do if the players dont do what he tells them to do?
Even i didn't think that i would say this but i think Mr. Abbasi you are right this time, Afridi's passion is the antidote we need for our cricket. For me its just unbelievable to think that we are out of the world cup. I thought that our last world cup team wasn't so prepared but this team was even worse then the one before. Its just downright UNBELIEVABLE and AGONIZING.

Dear Kamran,

You are 100% right. We were fools who hope that this team will do something. This is the worst day in the history of pakistan Cricket. You blame all of them but in my view only one person is the responsible and that is Mr. Naseem Ashraf (Dictator Doc). What he had done in the last few months was the cause of all this mess. Pakistan lack their fighting spirit which they shown earlier. Since England we are only going down and nobody cares. Inzamaz as we already know is not a kind of person who can inspire the team in field. I am not sure sacking of Bob Wolmer will make any difference. Pakistan was always bad on green wickets. Pakistan need somebody who can fire them up and Younis is not the right person as he shows in champions trophy. That leaves only Bad boys Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar.

Mr. President, Sack your Dictator Doc and the selection comitee and hire some professionals who know the job and don't play with our feelings.

Zeeshan

I totaly agree to every single point mentioned in this coloumn. Pakistan leadership, management, players really did not have the required instincts in them which are required to become champions.
PCB is anyhow a board of gathered bunch of stupids who have no clue of what matters on the field.
A board which is not aware how to RESPECT their greats like Wasim, Waqar etc should be completely eliminated.
Inzimam, Bob and Ashraf combination has failed which was to be honest inevitable and the outcome was definetly predictable.
For the future i think Pakistan should really look to make green top pitches where domestic cricket is played, so that after two debacles in the world cup our batsmen become capable of playing swing + seeming deliveries.
I would not want to have Younis Khan as the captain because i don´t think he made a good impression with his stance before the champions trophy of a standin captain and apart from that he also did not perform in both the world cups he played.
Pakistan really needs young blood to take this over who are free of fear and lossing aswell as carry the passion. For me it would be either Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi.
I am very much disturbed and this will exist for the next 4 years.

After watching Pakistan cricket team being humiliated at the hands of Irish I thought of never following Cricket in my life again but what shoudl I do about my heart :-(
It just doesn't understand, it beats for this great game and though the people at the helm of Pakistan cricket have succeeded in destroying our dreams and a good night sleep, we just can't bear to be away from this game.
There are no words to express how dishearted and let down we are from the way Pakistan played.
Why was Danish Keneria droped from the squad at the last minute when we already had 3 seamers?
In Pakistan team once top order doesn't score no one at the bottom scores even if we bad down to no. 11, they are all spineless bunch of professionals. Rather shouldn't call them professionals but a group of greedy, sensless and shameless unfit players.
I just can't go on.
Regards to all.

A few years back I had a colleague who was a Pakistan supporter, when we discussed cricket I always use to agree with him that Pakistan had great and skillful players, after yesterdays performance and performaces recently I realize now that my colleage and I was very wrong. Maybe they are not so great and I must stop listening to over-hyped comments about the team.

I actually feel sorry for the Pakistan team because of the backlash they will receive from their supporters, but I dont feel any sympathy towards their supporters. For so long while watching this great game I noticed how arrogant and one-eyed the sub-continent supporters are, when the opposing team is doing well there is deathly silence in the ground, when an opposing team takes a wicket or scores a boundary you can here a pin drop. I am all for supporting your home team, but the sub-continent fans take it to the extreme.

I have watched cricket being played in the so called “evil” countries of cricket (australia, england, new zealand & south africa(if there is not enough players of “colour”)). There supporters on the whole applaud when the opposition score a boundary or take a wicket.

Even though I feel that the sub-continent supporters are so one-eyed in supporting there team, i have to say this, its only sport and the sun will come up tomorrow.

To be honest with you Kamran im still in a trance. My mind fails to comprehend what happened. It all seems so unreal ! The sight of the Pakistani Batsmen succumb to the mediocre yes i INSIST "MEDIOCRE" Irish bowling put me through HELL !!! how could the pakistani team do this to US !! i think there is a lack of SANE heads in the PCB !! for starters how on earth can a DOC (Nasim Ashraf) run the PCB !! i just cannot comprehend it . . . he has no know how of cricket whatsoever i mean this is disgraceful !! there is a serious lack of merit in our country ! why was Waqar Younis replaced by Mushtaq Ahmed ?! even after the Pakistani Fast Bowling was getting better by the day ! this is all so mind boggling ! i had the utmost of respect for Inzi as a player and Bob Woolmer as a coach . . . but it all has gone down the drain if u ask me ! In all honesty i thought something would happen in this world cup for good . . . like the repeat of 1992 but now what has the team given us ? a wait of another 4 years . . . if v had done well in the world cup this would have provided much solace to the bruised affairs of the country i seriously hope n pray that the ppl of our country would get over this soon

it was only 2 days back did i joke with friends that pakistan will pull off a number against ireland. Truly they lived up to that statement!

An interesting article but do you not think some blame should go to Shoaib and Asif. Would Pakistan have been knocked out of the world cup had their best bowlers not been hiding from the drug testers.

I totally agree with KA. What a debacle. No excuses this time, get rid of the old brass and get in some young blood that people constantly harp on about. The problem I fear is that the cupboard is rather bare, both in batting and bowling. Our openers are amateurish and there is no depth to our bowling. Kamran is right, all us pakistani fans have this ill conceived belief that is will all be right on the day. This defeat will be long remembered. What an embarrassment.

Subject: RE:
Dear Kamran & the whole Pakistani nation,

We are very regretful of the way we performed at such an auspicious occasion. We take completely responsibility of being biased in team selection and giving air to favoritism and predicamenting Pakistan’s WC campaign. We filled our team with the bunch of bits and pieces of cricketers like Mahmood, Hafeez etc and the rookies such as Nazir, Rana and Kaneria. We have been ignoring and refusing to recall the spinner of the caliber of Saqlain Mushtaq, not to forget the sacking of Waqar Younis, and appointing Mushtaq as a bowling coach for the attack that included mainly fast bowlers. Pakistan team got the result for being inaudacious and fragile and Pakistani cricket fans have all the right in this world to condemn us.
In the end, we recommend Shoaib Malik to be announced as a long term captaincy solution and that the players mentioned above not to be selected ever again. We also step down from our Irrespective designations and take oath never to take part in Pakistan Cricket again.

Embarrassingly yours,

Inzi, Bob and Doc.

BIMILLAH HIR RAHMA NIRAHIM. FIRSTLY I WOULD TO THANK ALLAH......... FOR KNOCKING AS OUT OF THE WORLD CUP............ SECONDLY I WOULD LIKE TO THANK INZI MUSHY YOUSAF AND RANA FOR LEADING THE NAMAZ WHILST WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRAINING AND PRACTISING........... THIRDLY I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE PCB FOR BRINGING IN TABLIGH WITHIN THE SPORT IT HAS SHOWN AS ALL HOW THE GAME SHOULD BE PLAYED............. WINNING AND LOSING IS NOT THAT COUNTS BUT THANKING EVERYONE FOR READING JAMMAT BEHIND ME

Finally woke up to the reality, did you Kamran?

Here's one more doctor who needs to spare us of his 'cricketing prowess.'

I totally agree with you. Its time we dispensed with the reigning mullah biggies of paki cricket and gave chance to a young leadership having a brain bigger then a pea. I think that the blame for this defeat lies on the paki media and the fans just as much. Everyone knew that we heading for such a debacle and nobody bothered to voice out their concerns. We had all the talent in our side but our spineless captain with his unimaginative captaincy and idiotic strategies let them down. Even a fool would have told them that the biggies of paki batting needed to step up and take charge having lost an opener in the first over for the last three games the country played. Anyway its time now that inzi stepped down and played only test cricket.
raza

Now there's an open letter if I ever read one. A passionately described state of Pakistani cricket together with the authors responsible for its decline.
There is a very wise saying in Hindi - Loag chadte suraj ko salaam maarte hai, dubte ko koi nahi maarta.
Isn't it time to realise that nepotism 'just isn't cricket ole chap'.

Heartache.... why do we care so much? Maybe because being Pakistani we have little else to have pride in. We have taken pride in our team in the past but I think that we are looking at the past through rose tinted glasses, have we forgotten the divisions in our team at the time of the two Ws or the political tussles that have always dogged the team. The Pakistani cricket team is a part of our society and suffers the same problems. The problem with cricket in Pakistan as many commentators have said stem from the inept and sub standard first class system, the poor pitches prepared at home and the politics within the administration at PCB and the team itself. How are you going to solve these problems without actually changing the environment….the Pakistani society.

I just want to mention a quote by Shane A. Chalke which fits completely on this occassion that "In the end, if you hunger success, it is most important to study failure". When are we going to study our mistakes?

What is the purpose of using technology if you cannot use it to your own benefit. Atleast, in the past if we were not using technology we were capitalising on experience of our players. But alas at the moment we are not using any one of the services for our own benefit...what a shame, honestly what a shame.

Woolmer was hired to build the team for this worldcup but we failed to qualify to the next round, same as in 2003. Bottom line, we are standing at the same point as we were in 2003.

Since the debacle at the 2003 world cup I have been following Pakistan with growing confidence that we are going down the right path but it all started going bad in summer last year. What changed? The people at the helm? Or is it something else?

Everything you have said I agree with but two things I would question.
1. We are not as worse off as we were after the 2003 world cup, progress has been made but a lot of the gains have been lost since last summer. So we need to try and pick up from where we were in June / July 2006.
2. A leadership change is necessary but Shahid Afridi?? – a guy who dances in the middle of a pitch and flings his bat around like the local bully. Maybe responsibility will change his attitude but can we risk further scandal and controversy. Shoaib Malik
or Younis Khan are the only choices.

Kamran,

I can understand your disappointment reading your previous optimistic, encouraging and passionate letters about Pakistan cricket.

I couldn't sleep last night either(I live in Northern Ireland aswell!)I am happy for brilliant performance by Ireland but obvioulsy its hard to digest this defeat.

You've very rightly mentioned the Pakistan cricket board being the main culprit. In a hugely talented cricketing population like Pakistan, the most unbelievable thing is the hirerarchy works under one-man show but probably its not surprising in a country where the chief-justice of supreme court could be disqualified in a matter of day.

Inzi shouldn't be the scapegoat forsure. For years and years he has held the Pakistani cricket together. Remember, Pakistan could be the first or probably the only test-playing nation to loose a test match against Bangladesh, had Inzi not been at service to Pakistani cricket.

Onething which Ramez has rightly mentioned on cricnfo and was very noticeable was the pressure under which Pakistani cricketeres were playing in both the matches...The system sucks...Surely we all fail in life at times...Poeple like Yousuf and Inzamam who we can be proud of, not only as cricketers but as human beings shouldn't be at threat if they loose. I can assure you they were under tremendous pressure right from the word go..I know they are professionals but no prfessionals can work perfect under such circumstances. Every cricket board stands behind there players unlike Pakistani cricket borad where the whole team was kept in the dark about shoaib and Asid until the eleventh hour. Do you think loosing them at the lest minute is something that teams can get over with promptly? What the hell was the planning of Pervez Musharraf's deputy Dr Naseem?

Finally, I hope Inzi is not forced to retire as yet coz at the moment we do have atleast the problem with the openeres which would trun into a problem with themiddle order aswell. Many people speak about bubbly nature of Younis Khan but as you could know, its always taught to us for medical exams a littile bit of pressure is good for preparation of exams..He seems different. He's always in a cheereo mood which doesn't help...

Last but not the least, I would request Pakistani nation not to react in a way which should be even more shameful for our nation. Please understand these players had been our heroes and they just didn't perform well. I would also like to question the way green top for left for a worldcup match...Was that for a purpose?If not I would like to see such a pitch for India Srilanka and South Africa Australia match aswell.

I cant but nod in agreement with your anger and show of emotion. I am a student from Pakistan in UK with no access to TV. I depend ...Oh so lovingly...on your blogs and cricinfo to be with my cricketing heroes. I am getting nostalgic. Images of Paki heroics by the likes of Imran, wasim and waqar come to haunt me , so does the joy of winning, of being blessed with the best in business. What have we made of our cricket...perhaps same as of our country. I am at loss for words and felt like crying when Pak capitulated in all so familiar a manner. Yes...heads should roll..including that of the top gun. Here I am staring at the screen...feeling sad and disillusioned. I want a break...I want to take a journey..into the past..when khan sahab reigned supreme ..and so did our pride.

I do not have words to illustrate the feelings I am going thru after this ignominious exit from the world cup.

The wrongdoers are well-known to everyone and there should be no wavering in sacking them.

I doubted their appetite when I saw Bob too impressed (rather frightened) by the Ireland before the match. What motivation he thought his own team would get out of this, be fearful and fall miserably? And when I read Inzamam’s article in a local Urdu newspaper placing his team fourth and speculating Australia for the dough.

Damn man, you can’t do that, as a leader, you simply can’t say these things communal; they transmit the negativity to the troops. Even if you are down and timid you have to show your eagerness to fight, not placing yourself fourth on the battle chart.

It appears you had mentally lost long before coming to the Islands.

Going forward, I expect nothing but an immense revamp. The only man for the leadership comes to mind is Shoaib Malik. He seems strategically well-equipped and shows ability to soak up the pressure.

I would still like to see Inzaman contributing just as a regular player to regain some respectability; a gesture to appreciate his contributions in the past. I believe the pressure got the most of him since the Oval fiasco, drug episodes and the MIA of the key players.

Dear Kamran,

What can we say!!! I guess many like myself will use this platform to express the shame.. the utter disappointment.. the grave humiliation we all have faced in the last 24 hours. Where else do we go? Who else do we talk to? Our wives wont understand what’s going through our heads… the constant encouragement that there will another world cup just doesn’t digest that easily. In my last comment, I warned everyone… I even said the way the state of cricket board is the same as our beloved country. Tho I wanted myself to be wrong.. atleast about the cricket. What I ask is.. what Now??? Will we do another 2003?? Sack 6 players.. never manage to find a stable opening partners.. never equip our players with the skills of playing on green pitches.. never find another leader (such as the King Khan).. what now Kamran? The fans are demanding to arrest the whole team along with the officials.. should we do that? Should we just ask the doc to resign? All the beliefs.. the trust.. the expectations.. everything gone in one day. You know what Kamran, I still believe we have the talents to match the best. I still believe we produce batsman and bowlers of the highest caliber. I still believe we will get the crown ball one day. But how? I say the first thing to do is to remove the President of the country as the Patron of chief. Remove the current chairman (whatever his title maybe) of the cricket board along with his henchmen. Let Inzi play one more game and then ask him to go gracefully (after all he deserves for all that he has given to this country). Choose a new captain.. some young.. someone controlled aggression.. someone with the hunger to be the best. I hear Shoaib Malik is a good candidate. How impossible is it to make different pitches at our national academy… get someone like Dave Whatmore as a coach who does less talking and more coaching..get the coach/player of the best team in our first class to head the pcb.. someone who's known for his knowledge of the game.. someone who's know to be a visionary.. stay quiet for a few tours.. make players instead of stars and then launch them at the right time.. how difficult is all this?? many will say impossible in a country like our’s… yet I believe….

Great article Mr.Abbasi. I feel like Younis Khan would be the best captain but he doesnt have age on his side. Shahid afridi as a captain would send a message to other teams he is a strong competing player but his captaincy could take a horrible turn for the worse.Shoaib Malik a good candidacy too. I REALLY HOPE EVERYONE IS SACKED.The whole PCB should be sacked.

Inzi should be out immediately and i think they should think about a team like

1.Imran Nazir
2.Shoaib Malik
3.Younis Khan
4.M. Yousuf
5.?
6.Shahid Afridi
7. Abdul Razzaq
8.Kamran Akmal
9.Umar Gul
10. M. Asif
11.?

Such a big shame.... the worse day of pakistan cricket history :(

What can we say now!! Its all over... The shits at the top should immediately be removed - before the next game.. The three senior most best players should go to their homes. We should make a very new team with just youngsters.. No 23+ allowed. A Pakistani coach - no more foreigners, please. All the administration of the PCB should be kicked immediately. And you should also leave Mr. General - You ruined Hockey and now Cricket... We feel ashamed today just because of this cricket administration and the selection committee. I don't know what to write more, I cant.. I am still in shock. Lost to Ireland!!! Its a real shame. Every thing is just shameful in my country right now.. Oh my God, when will these stupids leave?

i am a die hard pakistan fan i watch it when i can i live in england if it means waking up at 4am then i do that i waited 4 years after the last dissapointment this is by far the worst i have ever felt supporting pakistan. i am in tears from last night till i have to say to them 2 spinless excuses of humans shoaib n asif they are no injuries you just hiding because you still have a high blood level of nandalone!! ur pathetic so is the pcb!

I agree. I was also very angry at pakistan's loss. we played sooo badly :S. shahid afridi as captain????? im not sure, but fr some reason i think it might be a good idea.

Disgraced, ashamed, & Angry.

These three words are not enough to express the pain i feel. So much was expected from this team - at least to get to the super 8. I cant believe its over.

My name is Usman, a canadian in Ontario, going to University of Toronto. So much was expected; at our personal expense we hosted fundraisers to gather money to pay for watching world cup at Univeristy but only resulted in pain and shame. Everyone who passed saw grief on fellow pakistanis and we were ridiculed for high expectations.

Not only have i been ashamed but the Pakistan NATION has been DISGRACED & RIDICULED. What the hell? You cant beat Ireland....who is Ireland? I never heard of a team before the world cup and the 2 fat blobs [Inzimam and Woolmer] couldnt outwit such a team....

Pakistanis fans are right; REMOVE Inzimam, Woolmer, & Bloody Ashraf.

All 3 have common relation: All talk, no show.

Finally --> Woolmer-Inzi era is over.
Lets build a team with a passionate PAKISTANI coach, a captain with a brain, and a team with individuals that can score into double digits.

Depressed, dejected, angry and hugely disappointed are just a few of the words that cover my feelings right now. 2003 we were let down big time and were told that the team is preparing for 2007. Well 2007 WC has come and gone for us and I feel MUCH worse than I did in 2003.

All the people mentioned in the letter need to go and need to go NOW. I feel Saleem Altaf and the corupt Doc should get slapped in the face and then told to change nationality as they have put shame to the cornered tigers tag. Domestic structure needs a HUGE CHANGE so we can produce batsmen that can be called true batsmen. Younis Khan is no fighter, he caved in on the big day and we all know his child like antics before the Champ Trophy...he can sod off too.

Pakistan shirt...in the bin. Flags...in the shed. Heart...broken.

Time for change, there has to be. The problem with pakistani cricket is deeprooted and a huge overhaul is needed from the politics to the coaching staff.

sigh.

Dear Kamran,
I am not sure why are you so upet. You should have faith in the leadership. This loss to Ireland was an intrigue by the opposition, we are investigating and Inshallah every thing will be in front of ther nation. Please don't try to give the wrong impression that the President and Patron of Cricket is not in control. We have full faith that Inshallah we will win 2011 WC. The boys is working hard in the nets and boys is confident, just pray for us to have a little longer beard, sorry I meant to say tenure. Theas things happen in Kircut. Now we should pray that the real Pakistan, sorry I meant to say Bangladesh carry the green flag.

Mr. Abbasi you are in denial. This team was never good enough.

I have tears in my eyes - this is just not going to sink in. This defeat has sent our cricketing heritage 200 years back. For me it was Inzi's disgraceful body language that summed up everything.
You could sense Ireland were going to give Pak a tough time when Bob and Inzi gave their pre-match comments. At the toss Inzi, appeared nervous and looked as if he had already booked his flight to Lahore. And Woolmer, well it was the same old diplomatic BAKWAS that we have become accustomed to hearing from him.
The question now is where do we go from here? New coach, new captain, new openers, new bowlers, new administration - if everything changes what will be left.
The sad bit it Inzi is probably one of the best players we have ever produced - its a shame he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I just want to say that as a patriotic and passionate Pakistani I am ashamed of our team - the scar they have left in the hearts of our nation are utterly unforgiveable. I dont want to follow this team anymore.

This sure is the saddest day of Pakistan cricket. The team did'nt look like one unit at any point of time. All they have all managed to show us is the catching practice they can provide to other teams and how to make use of one's pads while batting. They are a bunch of cowardly, lethargic players also devoid of any technique whatsoever.
They should apologize publicly to the millions of fans for the ridiculous and shameful performance and at least 8 of them should be kicked out for good and never be reconsidered again.

From the twin upsets yesterdays....it is quite clear where the two "sub continental giants' stand. On home made dead pitches...both maybe tigers scoring in excess of 300 frequently. But the truth is that once exposed to foreign pitches...they are WORSE THAN THE LESSER TEAMS TAKING PART IN THE WORLD CUP. In a few days from now, once again we will have those meaningless ODI series on flat pitches in both India and Pakistan...and all will be forgotten. In reality India and Pakistan should be made to playwith these 'MINNOWS" in ODI tournaments on bouncy and grassy pitches. That will expose the real standings of our heroes that have started to regularly disappoint. Easy to blame...but when you have so much money and resources at your hands....atleast the fans expect a fight if not a win every time. A really really disappointed fan.

AssalamuAlaikum!
Respected Mr. Kamran, all the nation is stunned and in disbelief. The Faith is shattered. The only thing Pakistani's has loved, has laso btrayed it due to unjust selections and combinations. The merits were destroyed. I can say nothing... Shock!!! Well it seemed as if Pakistan PLAYERS WANTED TO CELEBRATE THE 23RD MARCH IN PAKISTAN. Well that is good thinking cuz the moments should be shared together. May Allah show the right path to these BLOODY FOOLS!

AA, Sub say pahle to .......Boys is confident, boys is work hard in the nets. To hell with you Inzi and co.

Words fail me. This was the most depressing day in Pakistan cricket in a long long time.
Theres no point now in blame casting and reprievels. I guess its just time to change the old guard and put this behind us.
Lets not forget the good points in our hurry to condemn; Pakistanis fought really well in the field. I really liked the fire in Sami and Gul, and the way the fielders were going after the ball. Sadly it has come too late.
The batting is just hopeless.
Going forward, let us now start afresh with new faces, and new thinking.
1. Get rid of Adhoc committees
2. Finally get that PCB constitution written
3. Let the chairman and selectors be elected rather than selected
4. End pandering to prima donnas like Shoaib Akhter, who ruin the discipline for everyone. No one should ever be bigger than the game
5. Reform our domestic cricket set up so that we produce batsmen capable of playing anywhere in the world

Anyway, I dont think I will want to watch cricket for some time after this :(

Very amicably put Kamran Abbassi, I think all Pakistani fans are feeling similar to you today many a times I find your comments rather sensationalist but today they are fully justified

The display by Pakistan in the World Cup has been absolutely horrendous, everyone expected them to struggle because for and injuries had put them on the back foot. Yet even that struggle was supposed to be relative, i.e against teams such as Australia and South Africa not against lowly Ireland. I do have to congratulate the Ireland teams and fans as they remind me of some of the great underdog feats previous Pakistan teams have achieved.

Grass root changes are in order in my opinion, this Pakistan team is not like previous failing teams, there doesn't seem to be corruption or off the field lunacy that has dogged the side. Rather it is about truly cricketing flaws, which makes it worrying as they will take longer to eradicate. There are so many obvious flaws which the Pakistan administrators have been giving the 'head in the sand' treatment to. Playing in seaming conditions is clearly one of them, time and again Pakistan have been exposed because of this. Fielding has been for a while a laughing stock, yet this is accepted in Pakistan apparently it's part of our unique appeal. Not too much complain about the bowling in this tournament except surely their must be some real talent out there instead of the current bunch who are far from exceptional, of course we have Asif and Akhtar who may have greater troubles ahead. One has to ask that, Pakistan have won the last two under 19's World Cups, but where have these players gone? Are they disappearing into obscurity. Surely these problems have to be recognised.

I think it is fair to say that Inzimam and Woolmer have to go, for a while I really liked what they were doing to Pakistan cricket. We had an amazing run through mid 2005 and early 2006. Then the wheels came off, of course all of it is not their fault but certainly their needs to be a change or we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past again. I just can't see where we will get an inspirational captain from, their are no characters in the side (except Shoaib of course) and that also means no ego's. Need to get a coach like Tom Moody who has moulded the Sri Lanka side very well. I thing is obvious there are lots of places open for grabs in the Pakistan side, in fact I would say only Yousuf, Younis, Malik, Gul and Asif could justify their inclusion at the moment.

I am sure you will get many angry Pakistani fans like me responding and surely they have a right to be so, but I urge we take sensible approach and look for change that has a long term success policy and not try to look for any miracle cures because we will only go and repeat the mistakes again. Changes have to be made from the top down, and the PCB has a lot to answer for, if there is any justice then surely after these questions are answered the PCB board members will hand in their resignations.

To all the dreamy,unreliastic fans who ultra overestimated your team beyond beleif.In your face hahahahahahahaha. Are you guys even for real hehehe

I absolutely agree with Kamran on this one....... 17th March 2007 will be remembered as the day the Pakistan cricket died. There needs to be a major reshuffle from top to bottom - management as well as the players. Get rid of half of the team ( the old bums)and build from scratch. The whole rebuilding process started right after the 2003 world cup debacle has failed - we are back to square one. Now we cant even think of the World Cup in 2011 - might have some chances in 2015 if we start rebuilding now. Woolmer, Inzy, Doc the people of Pakistan will never forgive you for bringing Pakistan cricket to this state.

Kamran, one couldn't agree with you more. I come from the generation that saw the Pakistani team of the 1970s, that bunch of charismatic, supremely talented cricketers, announce, in no uncertain terms, to the rest of the cricketing world, their undoubted ability and their intentions to dominate the sport one day. I remember seeing a helmetless, imperious Majid Khan take on the might of the West Indian fast bowling; remember hearing radio commentary eulogising the late Wasim Raja's single-handed ripostes to the West Indians on the tour of the Caribbean in 1976-77; remember watching a helmetless Zaheer Abbas (yes, a helmetless Zaheer Abbas) stroke chancy, but graceful innings against the Australians in the same season on fast, bouncy Aussie pitches; remember watching Imran Khan's transformation from an open-chested in-swing medium-pacer to an all-out fast bowler; remember watching Mohsin Khan score a double-hundred at Lords in 1982; remember Abdul Qadir spin intricate webs against the same team and, thereafter, against every side in the world.

Crucially, I remember watching Imran Khan mould a team -- so disparate in composition and ability that it makes this current side of fundos disguised as cricketers seem a well-knit, well-oiled unit --into a winning outfit in 1992.

But I also remember what has happened since: the match-fixing issue, our two premier fast-bowlers of the 1990s at each other's throats, team selections made not on cricketing ability, but on personal whims. I remember Aamer Sohail not turning up for a Test match against Zimbabwe in 1998-99, for which he was captain, simply because he was "disgruntled".

I remember ad-hocism in force in the PCB BEFORE it became a "fashion" to refer to it as such; I remember a former chairman of the PCB (no prizes for guessing which one!) being allegedly forced to resign after it transpired that he had unfairly granted television rights to a privately owned TV channel for a one-day series less than half-a-decade ago; I remember hearing about a "constitution" in the making that has never been made, and I remember wondering what credentials the current PCB chairman possesses that allowed him to be appointed so. (Now, we all know he's the head joker of the pack that went to the West Indies!)

So our loss, yesterday, to Ireland isn't really one-off. We hit rock-bottom a long time ago -- this loss merely exemplifies just how far BELOW par this sport has come to rest in our country. In many ways, it is a microcosm of what happens in every other sphere here.

Reactions to yesterday's debacle, of course, are going to be full-throated bayings for blood -- perhaps, deservedly so. But, once the furore has died down, perhaps -- and this is a BIG IF -- someone with a sensible head on his (or their) shoulders will sit down to take stock of what is wrong and how it could, conceivably be rectified. (Sounds a little like us sitting before our television sets yesterday, hoping against hope that our team could pull off a miracle, doesn't it?) :)

The administration will change and new one will say, 'we are now preparing for the next WC', they will lose everything in between in the name of re-building, and then next WC will just be that for Pakistan.

Honestly I am short of words to desribe the pain,humiliation and total disbelief that I am passing through right now.

Loosing to Ireland and that too on St Patrick's day is unforgivable.This team of the PROPER TABLIGHI MUSLIMS should have atleast thought of their so called Tablighi status and give it a true fight.I don't blame the bowlers.Iftikhar,Sami and Gul performed well but the batsmen failed us and failed they did miserably.
Generally speaking our team reflects the situation in the country.We have gone down fast over the last decade and especially after the current regime.A country who had worldclass sportsmen in Hockey,cricket,squash,athletics,boxing etc haven't got even the players to beat a B class Ireland team.This portrays the life in Pakistan.we have nurtured cricket at the expanse of all other sports and we have provided such a dreadful peformance in it.I am lost really.

The blame should be shared by the president and Doc before anyone else.
Inzy's strategy of playing a second choice team in the very first match had laid the stone for this defeat.A team of loosers of rana,nazir,kaneria and co just paved the way for the ultimate defeat.
I may sound as a pessimist but to be realistic I dont have any hope for the future.

were a nation in mourning. as if killing politics and justice wasnt enough for us. yesterday, we laid cricket to rest, and with it died the one distraction that used to keep the "16crore Pakistanion k dil" intact.
i dont care how it happened...but no one had the right to take our sole joy away from us. shoaib, asif, afridi, hope u guys are happy now? drugs, indiscipline, bad cricket, whatever happened to our team?
heartbroken.

It's only a game.

I hate to say this, but Inzy has to go. He is the only guy, who is worth of some sympathy, for his tremendously long service to Pakistan cricket.
Sham! Disgrace!!

Thanks for nicely summening the status of Pakistan cricket at very moment.
I can only say that this team have brought nothing but SHAME for whole the cricket mad nation and all the fans around the world. For me WC 2007 finished last night.................

Like every pakistani, I am also feeling extremely shameful and disgusting. I had never thought of such an early exit. It's very painful to believe that your worldcup compaign is over in just 4 days out of the 51 days contest. We all pakistanis strongly demand an immidiate ousting of the current management including the top brass and i would also like to advise to ICC that looking at this pathetic pakistani's performance, it should not be given a direct entry in to the next world cup or any other major world event. Rather, it should be entered in the qualifying rounds to firm its berth just similar to Hockey, where no matter how good seeded a team is, it has to qualify if it has not performed well in the previous outcomes.
Inzamam should now announce his retirement as his physique and body language don't support him as an athelete any more. Every body watched that you completely lacked leadership qualities on the field. Pakistan board should try to engage Dave Whatmore as a coach. Look how well-knit unit he has made the Bangladeshi team. He took Srilanka team on top and is heading now to do the same with the Bangladesh team.

With an absolute sense of dejection, disgust and frustration, I agree with Kamran's views. Not in our wildest dreams we ever thouht, that the world cup campaign will end in such a disgraceful manner. But then, based on the performances of the team over the last six months, it was predictable to some extent. When I watched Ireland's match against Zimbabwe, I thought the way our batting in particular, has let us down consistently over the last few months, any thing is possible. My worst fears were justified yesterday.

It hurts immensely to think the way career of a great batsman like Inzamam is going to end. He has been a great servent of Pakistan cricket for fifteen years and has given us some wonderful moments to cherish over the years.

The selection committee, management (particularly Salim Altaf), Nasim Ashraf should ask themselves some harsh questions and decide to just disappear from the cricket scene of Pakistan forever.

Ex players like Imran, Javed, Wasim, Waqar, Qadir should be parsuaded to head the new era in Pakistan Cricket.

With our performance getting worse with each World Cup, it would be in everyone's best interest to send Pakistan through the qualifiers before World Cup 2011....chances are that we wont even make it through that....atleast it would spare us this embarassment on the international level....

Kamran,

I share many of your sentiments. In all my years of watching great sporting events from cricket to football, to boxing, i have never felt this humbled, distraught and so much pain after watching the spineless, gutless shambles of the Ireland - Pak match.

I would have prefered a physical blow to the gut than to experience this.

I usually say i am one of the more optimistic of Pak fans and until Ireland stroked 120, i still had belief the team could do it.

Nasim, the joke has to leave immediately, with a large boot following his behind from the Pak entire nation. The way he has handled the team's issues, a boy of could have formulated better strategies.

In my view what lost us the first match was Inzy and Yousuf's incredibly slow run rate. Shoaib Malik at least showed he had the stomach for a fight. Akmal showed some sort of fight against Ireland in the second. The shot selection from all other players in Pak's 'star studded' line up was simply laughably bad, where even amatuer enthusiasts would be embrassed to put their names to those shots given the situation.

I think they all left their cricketing brains back on the runway tarmac in Pakistan. Not that many of them had some in the first place.

Put simply, their lights were on but nobody was home. This team showed on a world stage, they cannot rise to the occasion.

Tottaly agree hope Inzi retires on the plane home.

Well, what can be said of our cricketers, a herd of school boys who have been sent for a picnic party on warm beaches of West Indies..

Inzi's career is going to finish in a worst manner. I hope so it would be enough for him to leave cricket.

Dear Kamran, i agree 100% with what you have written. But a fact that you missed is that Pakistan lost to " A Team which dared to Dream".
We were weighed and measured and found wanting!!!!!
May Allah have mercy on Cricket in Pakistan.

We loyal pakistani fans have been let down in every aspect of our criket structure.

1. Shoaib and Asif let us down, saying that, despite our worst fears, it wasn’t our bowling that let us down.
2. I am a fan of bob but is he telling us that Salman Butts, yasir hameeds or taufeeqs umars runs were SO bad that these specialist openers were dropped for Hafeez (who, ave of 20, shouldn’t be in the team), nazir (who has shown he has learnt nothing from his international absence), Farhat (who wouldn’t know where his off stump was if it was in his hand) or akmal (who despite being a fan of his, is just not an opener).
3. I think bob and Inzy missed a trick with Kaneria. Despite what you think of his ODI credentials, he can learn and with our lack of wicket taking bowlers in the middle overs, he is perfect.
4. I hate for inzy to end his international career like this but he is by far and away the worst captain at this world cup. I have tried to defend him to my friends and he has give so much to Pakistani criket but he’s no leader. Theres no energy or enthusiasm, theres no passion but worst of all, it seems like he hopes something will happen rather then trying to.

But our openers aside, our spineless batting aside, our very unleathal bowling aside, our arthritic captain aside, our reps as flat track bullys aside, worse than all of this has to be the PCB.

We do not breed enough disciplined and professional youngsters, when they get into the team they are dropped far too quickly, brought back in and lack the confidence to ever play well again (yasir hameed, how slow was he scoring when he last played). The PCB is responsible for, keeping inzy as captain, not giving enough support to woolmer, destroying afridis confidence, getting rid of a good bowling coach and a genuine legend, having a an elf as a bowling coach who by the way is not a legend, being the reason why we are the laughing stock of international cricket. Our fast bowlers are never fit, our batsmen can’t play on swinging tracks, our youngsters never reach their potential, good solid players like asim kamal are not given a chance, and we have stuck with a captain who’s lethargy is legendry.

We cricinfo bloggers should run the PCB, I propose:

Rid or nazir, rid of hafeez, rid of inzy (as captain), lets clean our hands from shoaib, he shall betray us no more, give an ultimatum to razzaq, make shoaib malik captain, play y.khan down the order/opener, play yousuf at 3, make the brilliant asif fit, make sure gul remains fit, make sami fufil the potential, give kaneria some confidence, do not drop afridi, , play salman butt, play asim kamal, play yasir Arafat and bring on 2011. If we don’t do it, who will?!?!?!?!

I had to remind my self its only a game but I felt as if someone very close to me was slowly dying before my eyes.

heads should roll. Bob's best was not good enough and he needs to move on. Inzy time as an ODi player has come to an end, and needs to announce his retirement from ODI. He should resign from the Test captaincy, although i still beieve he has something to offer as a Test batsmen.

New openers are needed.

I agree Afridi or malik should be ODI captains, but I'm not sure the PCB will allow two different captains for ODi and Tests.

Everyone from the selectors to the whole of PCB are responsible and should be sacled forthwith.

I was very pleased with sami performaces.

EXACTLY All ofur commetns gave the impression that all WOULD come suddenly mairaclously ok the big dat . Shame on you guys for living in a state of denial over reality and i mean not just only cricket.cricket

Serious changes both in the team and the management are required ... we need new people ... and e have to start doing that today ... and we shouldnt give a freaking damn about how much we loose the comming season but we should experiment ... maybe a new captain becasue this one is too sleepy.

its mind boggleing how stupid the selectors are. playing talentless hafeez.They keep persisting in stupid selections like out of form rana hoping he will come good when he has underperformed for months.inzi blaming the pitch for their bad batting. what does professional mean? the management should insist on varied pitches in pakistan so they can get used to different conditions but they persist with slow easy batting dust pitches where even misbah ul haq scores centurys. All in all 4 years of preperation gone down the toilet. well done pakistan. cant bat cant bowl cant field your picked.

Shahid Afriddi as captain. Whoa looks like u wanna drown the ship even more than it already is.

What about your own misplaced confidence and huge error of judgement in predicting that Pakistan would go very very far in the World Cup? You still stand by it?

There is nothing wrong in making a mistake in prediction- but why don't you write an open letter to yourself for getting carried away by the hype at the expense of substance?

It was really a shameful day for Pakistani cricket. But there was nothing un expected to me. Is not it? If you deeply analyze, other than Muhammad Yousif, was anybody expected to fire? My answer is clearly not. Start from the openers, does anybody expect a good start from the openers who are around the game from more than 5 years and have averages around 20 while openers having averages of 32 and 38 are staying at home. Selectors and captain have to anwer it. Dont we over rate Younis Khan? Is he really a match winner and what is the percentage of matches he won for us in his 8 years long career? Leave Muhammad Yousif apart. Is really Inzi fit to play one day cricket and win matches?
Then come to bowling department. Dont we over rate Danish Kaneria as compared to what Kumble, Murli and Warne do for their teams? Do we really need Shoaib Akhter after almost 10 years of expereince with him? Mind up, Pakistan spends a huge money on his fitness and what he gives to the team in return? Do we have really fire power in our fast bowling which was our trade mark for around 20 years? Probably, a little bit. I think, answer to all other questions is clear NO. But who cares. This country is run by the people who are soldiars not politicians. Sports is run by the people who are politicians not sportsmen. Universities are governed by the people who are soldiars not educationists.
So, we should be prepared to accept humilitations like that.

Dear Kamran, I have been an avid reader of your passionate words and my commisserations to all Pak fans. As an Indian, I too felt betrayed by my overfed, overpaid, over-hyped boys who do nothing to enhance their superstar status.

I only hope both the Indian and Pakistan boards are changed forthwith. And that sanity is restored to this glorious game of cricket in both countries.

AOS,
First of all I couldn't have agreed anymore to this... Mr. Kamran you are a hundred percent correct...these people should quit and quit BIG TIME...now or face the pain your own people would give once you touch Pakistani soil...I am so deeply disheartened that I cant even write this lengthy comment...I want to express my ANGER that is boiling inside me...however...its time to change and time for a new look...Maybe Afridi could be the correct move for captaincy...Hafeez should play at 5, Younis should be rested for some time, Yasir, Salman, Bazid, Misbah are all great players and should now be given a chance, we have 4 years till the next world cup which gives us plenty of time, Asif will hopefully return...Gul, Iftikhar and Sami are all good but need to practice their death bowling to a greater extent...Akmal has fixed his keeping but need to get back to his batting (maybe his brother can be given a chance..Adnan Akmal)...Akhtar (does anyone have any idea what his plans are???)
Lets just pray for a new, bright,dangerous and an energetic Pakistani team (like u said, Kamran) with fire in their belly!!!
Hope to hear from you soon...
Mazen Khan

The whole setup is wrong, why do we have mushy as bowling assistant coach!? he has no right to be there first of all secondly Inzamams lazy leadership has been the downfall of Pakistan. There now has to be a massive clearout and Pakistan need to start from scratch the following players must all be kicked out for good; Inzamam,Rana,Afridi,Nazir,younis,Akmal,Mahmood. we need to appoint wasim akram as a bowling coach and a new generation need to be taught if they are not atheltic they can not be in the side! I lay the finger of blame at the foot of the pcb and inzamam who have constantly over ruled Woolmer in key decisions, no wonder he seems happy to leave circket all together!

Very well said Kamran. This was the worst day in the history of Pakistan's cricket and the people of Pakistan will not forget this for a long time. Waiting four years for the worldcup and this is what is the gift that is presented to the Pakistani people on a platter! Shame on you Inzi, shame on you Bob, shame on you Dr Naseem Ashraf (I think its high time that you go back to USA and restart doing what you were qualified to do i.e medicine and not make us suffer by running the PCB just on the qualification of your ties with the President), and shame on all the people who were involved with the Pakistani team 'rebuilding' since the last world cup. Its been 8 years since we have been rebuilding our team - the usual excuse whenever we lose.
When can we stop making excuses and start to admit our follies; let us admit that our domestic cricket is in shambles, no batsman in Pakistan can play on green pitches, etc. It is time to make the pitches in Pakistan that will enable our players to play anywhere in the world, let us train then as Australians train their upcoming players. I am afraid just changing a few faces and starting a few inquiries into the causes of defeat will not solve this crises (which sadly is what will be done, im afraid). The problem here is not an acute, it is a chronic ailment that is eating Pakistani cricket alive. We have to make huge changes and I hope that somebody has the willpower to do that.

On behalf of this platform, I would like to requet Imran Khan to come forward and hold the neighs of Pakistan cricket team. Out team badly needs you with such a perfection and quality leadership. Please don't waste your time in dirty politics of this country which would give you nothing in the end other than disgrace & humiliation. For heaven's sake please come on. Its a heartiest request on behalf of the 16 crore people of Pakistan.

Im lost for words, I honestly did not sleep properly last night. All I can say is I feel sorry for every Pakistani and even some of the players. I dont want to cry over spilt milk so i wont. What needs to be done now in my opinion is

SACK: The so called Chairman and his puppets in the board.

CHANGE: Captain and Coach, Make Afridi captian, I dont think Shoaib Malik has the personality to lead the national side however hes a good domestic captain. Younis Khan may be just a good contender on paper but his last stint as captain he made Schoolboy errors.

As for the coach, ive always thought there is only one man who is up for the task and that is Javed Miandad, his task will be much easier as there is no Wasim Akram or anyother senior player to challage his authority.If Wasim would be coach that will be great but hes too busy teaching the Indians our secrets, And obviously Imran Khan but we know thats not gona happen. Bring back the great Waqar Younis as assistant coach and bowling coach.

As for Inzi he can retain his place in the team as no one can argue that he is a great batsman along with Mohammed Yusaf.

I am kind of glad that this happend (obviously not like this) as it was bound to happen anyway, atleast it saves us Pakistanis from having to go through nervous stressfull moments in other macthes.

Time will tell.

country and team has gone to the dogs, judiciary and cricket being manipulated by the Generals. Inzimam was a sorry sight even after losing the toss, it seemed he had given up the match already then, the likes of Aamir sohail, Javed Miandad and Warqar would be the happiest, they would be gleefully waiting for a phone call for new offers. The main reasons:
(1) Lack of hunger and desire plus leadership on and off teh field
(2) Scandals and suspensions
(3) Injuries with no depth in replacement

Well Kamran bhai I will not give the comments in englisg i will give in urdu, I think that this is the worst moment not only in the history of Pakistan cricket but also in the history of international cricket, pakistan nay jaisa perform kiya aisa to hona he thaa mian nay aik baar latifa perha thaa aik book main k lerki nay apni ami say kaha k mujjay lagta hay k kal hamaray ghar main aik ferd kam ho gaa, aur aglay din aisa he hoa kiun k wo larki aik larkay k sath bhag gahe, wo larki bahut bari peer, ussay pata thaa k aisa ho gaa, bob woolmer nay b aisa he kaha thaa match say aik din pehlay k Ireland is very tough side to beat, wo b aik peer hay, shame on bob woolmer, I think bob woolmer jaisay stupid person nay pakistan cricket ko taba kiya, aur inzimam is main barabar ka shareek hay, Kamran bhai main nay world cup start honay say pehlay kaha thaa yaheen pay aap he k pak spin main k pakistan ki bating bahut week hay aur pakisatn ka koe chance nae even supper8 main janay k b aur woe hoha. Jis team kay openers Hafeez aur Imran Nazir jaisay nakis batsman hon wo team kiya khailay g, Imran Nazir just twenty twenty cricket ka player hay, Mairay khayal main Imran farhat b bahut nakas player hay laiken ao atleast in dono say behtar batsman hay, Aur Salman Butt is one the most talented batsman in Pakistan, Kamran Bhai pakistan main talant ki koe kami nae sirf aur sirf PCB say kali bhairon ko hatana ho gaa, Aur merit pay team banani ho g, aur players ki selection kerni ho g,

Pakistan's proposed strategy against Zimbabwe:

1. Start the game at 0/2 before a single ball has been bowled....this will spare the entire nation the agony of seeing our openers fail again.

2. Do away with the wicket keeper all together and also spare us having to live through his senseless shot selection while batting as well...

3. Send Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami and Rao Iftikhar to the top of the order and demote our "BIG 3" to the tail....for once, such a move will ensure Pakistan gets of to a good start...

4. Ensure that the entire team takes on the field in anything but the Official Pakistan colors...such a demotivated spineless bunch should not have the privilege to wear the national colors...

I actually don't even want to answer, great letter. I feel ashamed that this is the great Pakistani team.

embrassment????not the right word mr kamran.this team got what they deserved.i told u in the start that they wont make it to super 8's.i wish we had hitler as a president and could have shoot fat inzi,racist bob woolmer and whole of the selection panel.
fat inzi who done nothing for pakistan for past year or so wants to carry on,have some shame you fat pig!!!!!!!!!!

I simply don't know what to say. I can't take this, its way too painful.

it is curtains for one south asian giant. well atleast no more urdu press conferences

Pakistan needs fresh and young blood like fawad alam. Gone are the days of lethargic and aged dummies in the ODIs who cannot run, dive and throw. Energy is needed rather than selection on the basis of past performance.
This defeat summarizes how the state of cricket is being run in Pakistan. There is no vision for selection. The whole setup is being run on adhoc basis. I will held Naseem Ashraf, Shehryar khan, Saleem Altaf and Wasim bari equally responsible for this defeat.

There are some positives though: I think Rao and Sami have shown that they can be trusted. To me the future of fast bowling look bright in the presence of Sami, Gul, Rao and Asif. It is batting that needed major overhaul and fielding that required fresh and improved skills.

My friend when you ask others to go I think your mind needs to go through a refresher course as well. The sort of comments you have been making.

Inzamam has only got a bunch of cronies who can keep a beard and say their prayers. People like Naveed ul Hassan and Kamran Akmal with his mutterings. Mushtaq was another of his preferred ones.

I had mentioned that Wasim Bari was Chairman Selecting Committee at the last World Cup. He has not the ability to take decisions whereby people should have been removed. Why was Naveed ul Hassan selected. Why not Sami in the first place? Why was Kamran Akmal not removed?

What has Woolmer done in the last months except praising his home team South Africa? The shots played by Younus and Hafeez against West Indies were stupendous. Younus has the stupid habit of trying to play the pull shot early for balls outside the off stump. Has Woolmer tried to ever reprimand them? The same goes for shots played against Ireland by Azhar and Kamran. I think selecting Azhar was a total disaster anyway.

Naseem Ashraf was the product of this dictator anyway. The dictator has showed Mullahs to the West and stayed in Power. He goes about nominating people at his whims. Lets start by having his head roll as he is the Patron in chief OF THE PCB.

As can be seen there is so much in my mind and all rolling of without being coherent. That my friend is the FRAME OF MIND. I AM SURE THE SAME CONDITION IS OF ALL THE SHOCKED PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN, EXCEPT THE STUPID CAPTAIN, WHO SAYS THESE THINGS HAPPEN.

My friend when you ask others to go I think your mind needs to go through a refresher course as well. The sort of comments you have been making.

Inzamam has only got a bunch of cronies who can keep a beard and say their prayers. People like Naveed ul Hassan and Kamran Akmal with his mutterings. Mushtaq was another of his preferred ones.

I had mentioned that Wasim Bari was Chairman Selecting Committee at the last World Cup. He has not the ability to take decisions whereby people should have been removed. Why was Naveed ul Hassan selected. Why not Sami in the first place? Why was Kamran Akmal not removed?

What has Woolmer done in the last months except praising his home team South Africa? The shots played by Younus and Hafeez against West Indies were stupendous. Younus has the stupid habit of trying to play the pull shot early for balls outside the off stump. Has Woolmer tried to ever reprimand them? The same goes for shots played against Ireland by Azhar and Kamran. I think selecting Azhar was a total disaster anyway.

Naseem Ashraf was the product of this dictator anyway. The dictator has showed Mullahs to the West and stayed in Power. He goes about nominating people at his whims. Lets start by having his head roll as he is the Patron in chief OF THE PCB.

As can be seen there is so much in my mind and all rolling of without being coherent. That my friend is the FRAME OF MIND. I AM SURE THE SAME CONDITION IS OF ALL THE SHOCKED PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN, EXCEPT THE STUPID CAPTAIN, WHO SAYS THESE THINGS HAPPEN.

You're nominating Afridi to be the next captain? Really? The same Afridi who got himself suspended for four matches?

And you're still holding onto your original statement that only Australia stood in the way of winning this World Cup? Really?

At least admit when you're wrong. Making mistakes is not unforgivable. Not admitting your mistakes is another matter altogether.

Well Kamran, it was long time coming as amny of us pointed out. You didnt' want to quit. We too felt good when you fought for the team, since a team with such nice history deserved to go higher up anyway. Well, now the question is, when will Pakistan cricket recover? What measures will be dedicated to such a process? If left to the PCB actors, we all know what is bound to happen! So... got to do it now so that the next WC has some steam in it.

I sincerely empathise with all Pakistani cricket lovers and indeed the players and it seems to me that when politicians directly run sport, they generally display the same arrogance and incompetence as they do in the governing of their Countries. As an Australian I shudder at the thought of a dishonest sycophant like John Howard directly or indirectly running our cricket! Politicians apply their own ill informed and corrupt ideas of what creates success and as they surround themselves only with "yes" men they preclude any possibility of objectivity and alternate ideas. Failure must be the inevitible result. Perhaps that is Pakistan's problem, perhaps not, but I am sorry to lose your brilliant though enigmatic team from the World Cup and I ask Pakistani supporters to show restraint in their treatment of their team. After all, their performances are the symptoms, not the disease itself and the cure lies elsewhere!

I don´t have any words to say. I feel like a loved one has died. I can believe it. For me only cricket has been the pride of Pakistan. After yesterdays event it is confirmed that Pakistan cricket suffers from the same problem as the country itself. Mismanagement and bad leadership. Instead of rebuilding Pakistani cricket as Kamran is suggesting I suggest lets rebuild the country so it can live up to its full potential.

Go on, tell us the real reason your two best bowlers remained in Pakistan? and don't give us any crap about injuries.

I forgot to mention that you have gone really crazy if you mention Shahid as a possible Captain. You forget his behaviour against England, trying to damage the pitch and then his trying to beat up a spectator. Man you have lost your marbles, spare us more of such stupid suggestions.

i am not the sort of person to have a go but the pakistan team are pathetic i have been listening to all the haters and was quitely confident that this team can do well but i guess i was wrong how could they even contemplate losing to ireland let alone actually losing. there is no passion from the leaders and the board is pathetic to say the least who will be looking for someone to shift the blame on. i dont really want to dwell as i have been let down and would rather forget what happened but life goes on and i will like every other idiot get over it in the hope that there is always another world cup

Truly, yesterday was the worst day in Pakistan cricket. If March 25th is etched in my mind as one of the best day of my life then March 17th will become a day of shame.

Time has come for Pakistan cricket to take a real hard look at itself. Having natural talent is one thing but not harnessing it with hard work will make even the most talented look mediocre. If you want to understand the problem with Pakistan cricket on the field (I do not have words to explain the problem off it) then consider this: How could people like Miandad and Asif Iqbal become the best fielders and runners between the wickets in the world. These two skills only need one thing and that is desire, which if you saw the game yesterday was clearly lacking in the Pakistani team. When I saw the Irish "amateurs" diving around and stopping every possible run, my mind was filled with the impending embarrassment that Pakistan was going to put on later and call it fielding.

Its time people realize that God did not want them to play good cricket because they had not put in the hard yards. Inzamam and Woolmer have taken us as far as they could and brought us back to where they had started. The opening dilemma could be blamed on the pitches in Pakistan, but what are the reasons for not making an inch of improvement on fielding and running between the wickets? The pride and passion of Pakistan cricket has been replaced by shame and insipidity. Like Imran Khan says, if you are not good enough in sport you will be found out at the top level, we all know Pakistani team is good enough, what we do not know is how good they want to be, and for that this regime should be dispensed with. And a new regime should be brought in whose leaders can understand that there are millions hoping and willing them to win, and those millions can accept defeat, what they cannot accept is half-heartedness.

Yesterday was definitely the worst day in Pakistan's cricket history...Pakistan are out of world cup in just two games is unbelievable...Yes!The Pakistani team lost some of players due to injuries but what the others were doing...They r paid so heaviy...and at the end of day they produce this result..Its a shame....and an insult to our country....I can't just pinpoint one problem with the team...bcause they r many in number...After this performance i have learnt not to waste your useful time watching Pakistani team play....I think President should do something...and penalize all players and even put them to jail.....bcause they have broken hearts of 16 crore people....Pakistan should quit from international cricket...seriously....Should quit voluntarily....And plzzzzzzzz dont waste so much money on these cricketers...There r many things in this country that deserve more of this money like education and poverty....

Well done Kamran, I hope these headless people will heed it !!!!!!! shamed to be a paki

This is it guys.....doesn't get any worst then this.....death of cricket.....A miracle is needed....so let's all pray to the Almighty.

What else can I say that has not been said in the past year. One has to ask will anything really change. Will Mushraf give up his position as patron of the PCB to someone who is held accountable? Will the PCB be run on a constitution? Will first class cricket be revamped so it makes cricketers ready for international cricket? Nothing will change unless we, the supporters, turn our back on Pakistan. Since 1996 I have watched Pakistan on every tour they have been to the UK. The next time Pakistan tour I will not be so eager to part with my money to watch a butch of highly paid, spinless, flat-track bullies who refuse to perform out of their comfort zones. Unless we make a stand and show our anger by not supporting Pakistan nothing will change.

Actually, i think i am the only pakistani who was praying for their defeat. dont get me wrong. becoz if the basics are wrong, teams did not selected on merit then it should not succeed otherwise these things will continue for another decade. we make our strategy on the basis of players we selected. players should be selected on the basis of strategy. those bits and pieces cricketers are not answerable becoz their job was neither batting nor bowling. just contribute some thing to remain in the team. What could Razaq or Afridi do if they were in the team nothing...... they all come in same category.

Four hours and no comments! Tells you a a whole lot more about how shell shocked each one of us are. For a few years now, the hardest thing has been to be a Pakistan team fan, but yesterday was rock bottom! I think, we the fans spend more time, effort and heart on this team than the team spends on their game. Over the last few years, every good player in the world has continued to work on his game and improve it, but not for these superstar Pakistani players. Somehow, for the Pakistani player, their education as well as learning of the game stops the day they enter the team. The desire to do better is gone, and they learn very quickly how to live on few patchy performances of the past. So much talent has been turned into rubbish. They don’t know when to hit and when not to. They don’t know where their off stump is, and what is wide and what is not. The arts of reverse swing and yorkers at the death are gone, and so is their will to stay at the wicket. If someone has to ask how do you get to be a mediocre fielder? You start with a very good one, put him in the Pakistan team and give him about a year! (A la Malik, Nazir, Afridi, and a whole bunch of others).

Bob & Inzi should be fired and and rebuild of the whole team is required after this shamefull loss

Wot can i say? I had a feeling this would happen and it has. This last yr has been a sham and after much undying support i feel truly ashamed to be a pakistani supporter..

This team has been pathetic, a joke. They look liked a bunch of pakistani club cricketers, who play on the weekends in between their taxi jobs. Unfit, with no zest and passion. The selections have been mind blowingly stupid, the leadership- none existent. The captain strolls around the field like he aint remotely interested. He doesnt look or behave like a player or captain-instead a zombie, sorry even they move faster than him.

This is a terible day for pakistan cricket and inzy and bob should do the right thing for once and leave and leave right now. Spare us losing to zimbabwe 2 and go home and take this bunch of circus troops with u.

The duties should be given to some1 that has the fight for a battle- who that is is another million dollar question. Am just gonna go and bury myself in a deep pit and if the players have any shame, which i very much doubt, they should follow suit..But i wouldnt hold my breath...This after all is the pakistan team.

shame on the whole team for the spineless and loser performance.. inzi you have shown the best of your brainless head and cowardly approach to the game.. batting at the 11th position suits you much better now.. you have no place in pak cricket anymore nor is younis khan who is the worst of all.. why nobody took responsibility of seeing the team through the match.. ok i agree that inzi is useless but why not a single individual rose up to the occasion themselves.. beggars belief actually.. you all have brought shame to the nation and pakistan cricket and you should all be stripped off the honour and benefits you receive from board and us people cause clearly you guys dont deserve any..

We the Pakistani nation want players who are committed and have a passion for the game...players who love the game and realize how fortunate they are to be living every Pakistani child's dream of someday wearing the national colors....

We the Pakistani nation do not want lethargic unfit and unmotivated individuals who consider themselves to be rock stars or aspire to be models (check out The News online website to see how Younis Khan utilized his time to prepare for the world cup -- by modelling for casual wears..)...

Word of advice to the Pakistani team -- learn from Bangladesh and aspire to emulate those who we called our own till 1971...play every ball like it is your last you'll ever play...and value the passion with which the entire nation and those around the world support you...

With all due respect, Shahid Afridi does not have a proven track record as a reliable batsman, bowler. Plus his body language on the field lately, and his attitude off the field is terrible. He will be a disaster off a captain. He will never lead by example. His good innings will come after every 10 games or so, and we will be stuck with him because he is the captain. A terrible choice
In my humble opinion I would have definately gone for Younis, but his shock attitude before the ICC trophy and poor result during it, has changed my mind about him.
Regarding Pakistan, it is going through a complete crisis, starting from political, media, and now sports.

I strongly agree with you Kamran.
This does not get any worse.There can't be a bigger shame and disgrace for Pakistan cricket than this.
I agree with you that the every PCB chairman exploits PCB to get his favorites appointed in key positions, the positions they are the least qualified to hold.
Inzimam, many people call him "laid-back", I would say he isn't "laid-back", he is listless. Like many other Pakistani cricketers in the past, he is cemented his position in team because of one-off performances.
Bob Woolmer, what difference has he made to Pakistan cricket. He is has not brought any consistency, any discipline to Pakistan team. I now strongly believe he is not the right man to do the job for Pakistan.
In the end, I would like to say that I can see Inzimam and Bob going but the Doc as long as he says the right things about "the General", he sadly would keep his job and will do more harm to Pakistan cricket.

Well, like all losers say, there are positives to be had from this humiliating defeat:
1. No more doping tests for Pak players
2. No more Urdu at press conferences
3. No more watching Inzi's infuriatingly slow way of running.
4. No more Mushtaq Ahmed...bring back Waqar (even to bowl
5. No more Bob Woolmer...bring back Miandad
Please do not look forward and "plan" for the next WC as you did in 2003 after your first round exit.Now we see the fruits of your "plan." Just look forward to the next match with some enthusiasm. Looking too far forward is not for you (PCB).
Did you guys look at Bangladesh. The YOUNG 17-year old opener (fearless as they come). The 18-year old #3 who played with guts. But I guess you will have your own awards to give away to guys like Akmal (dropping so many catches that it cost Pak dearly and gifted with more matches just to prove that his dropping catches and mis-stumpings were not flukes). Rana should never have been brought to the WC after his disastrous tour to SA. But an award have to be given as he helped the opposition with lots of runs. But it's no use going on about other failings as it's time to sit back and watch the "amusements" that will take place.

I think your columns are symptomatic of the thinking that goes on in Pakisfan. 3 days back, there was nothing other than Australia that could hold back Pakistan from winning the cup. Today, they are arthritic and the pits. Get objective and real in analysis rather than swinging the emotional extremes.

World cricket has evolved by leaps and bounds, but it is obvious that the thinking in the PCB has lagged far behind. The debacle in Ireland could have been predicted by any keen observer of the game. Nothing was more illustrative of this than Inzamam's inarticulate ramblings to the interviewer after the game.How on earth anyone in the PCB could detect leadership qualities in this man is beyond belief. Hopefully this is the wake-up call that the PCB needed.Still it must be said that even this team has given us much to be proud of in the past, and I hope the people of Pakistan do not go overboard in their condemnation of them.

Thank god inzy is retiring, he looked like he couldnt care less when he was out on the field and about to lose to Ireland.

Heads at the PCB should roll too, beacuse no other board in the world would crucfiy their own players like the PCB did Asif and Akhtar.

Sami, Rao and Gul bowled well yesterday, considering the total they had to defend.

Players like Malik and Hafeez showed why they have no place in the team. They are bit part players, Malik only makes a half century when they dont matter, as in the match against the windies. Hafeez dropped O'Brien early on, batted poorly as he has always done, and cant get the ball to turn either.

Bring in some fresh blood, from the youth teams and carry on from there.

Goodbye, Pakistan. And good riddance. Darrel Hair is laughing his guts out.

What a disgrace!!!

Dear Kamaran Bhai,

I agree with you, Bob has turned this team into spineless team; they look like stooges on the field.

There is no word that could describe my disappointment. The way Pakistan has approached this game was ridiculous, there body language was so laid-back and lazy. Although there were not much expected from Pakistan team in this world cup but at the same time, nowhere in my thoughts, I would have imagined that they will loose to Ireland and will be kicked out of the World Cup in just two games.

Dr. Ashraf, Mr. Bob should resign immediately along with Inzi. I don’t think they should wait for anyone to request them for their resignation; they should do it by themselves.

The damages has been done and instead of crying over spilt milk Pakistan Cricket Board should move ahead with new energy and engage new leaders to put the team in the right direction for the next World Cup. I would say engage someone who could talk to them in Urdu because I doubt they understand English. Even the Bangladeshi Captain speaks better English than Inzi.

Adam

If Inzi, Bob or the Doc had an ounce of decency they would have retired from international Cricket with immediate effect. Any man with any amount of dignity will would have retired when Tony Cozier asked him how he felt about loosing to Ireland. The only man I can think of leading Pakistani Cricket is Shoaib Malik and even his doesn’t have the technique to play fast bowling on green tops, The entire fault is with Pakistani Cricket Board for preparing flat track’s and crap first class structure until we get that sorted I am sorry to tell all my Pakistani Cricket Supporters that these days like the 17th of MARCH 2007 will be common occurrence. I am off to celebrate India’s loss…pathetic I know.

I am Speachless.......Inzi should take the blame and retire... we dont need him anymore he was a great batsman but he hasn't scored a century since 2 years. He still can play test matched but the problem will be he will do politics to push himself inB ODI sqaud. So its better for Pakistan Bye Bye Inzamam and let give some young blood a chance to lead....

Where ever you go out network follows....
We love you so much that we are following you in worldcup...
India is the next casualty from Worldcup...Woh worldcup hi kya jisme Pak vs. Ind ka match na ho...
We are with you in hard time...........

A Sad day for Pakstani cricket

All credit to Ireland - they stuck to their task well and took some crackin catches!

Pakistan:
PCB were and are a mess

The ONLY thing they did right was to NOT send Asif and Akhtar -
They need to be held accountable because they papered over LARGE cracks - They're Shambolic

Musharraf saab - Sort it! - Get rid of your "best mate" and out in the BEST MAN for the job!

Well, the WHOLE system is messed up
And they thought a hlf-decent world-cup run would blind us.

But a DRASTIC overhaul is NOT required - just attitudes ned to change a nd a few people need to b sacked.

THIS IS THE BEST THING TO HAVE HAPPENED:

Look at this in context, at least NOW something will be done

Get Rid of the politics that say the team HAS to be made up of certain number pf players from a certain province.

REWARD and select on MERIT,
NOT on POLITICS, or LOCATION!

New Coach - Would you bring back Miandad? Or should it be someone completely new...
New Captain - Younis or Afridi
New Openers - Where were Hameed and Butt?
Batting Coach - Bring in Miandad!
New Bowling Coach: AKram or Younis and keep Mushy for the spinners - USE THE LEGENDS!
Add: Asim Kamal and BLOOD a few YOUNGSTERS (Arafat etc)

Keep This squad - We know theres talent - Many players are YOUNG.

And Ramiz Raja said it best:
Stop POLITICISING - Improve First-class cricket!

Every cloud has a silver lining.....

Dear all fans of pakistan n India,
Please keep it in mind that without doing basic things you can't win the match,that is proper preparation and plans.But its very difficult to tell that when India and Pakistan are going to improve !!! Anyway Good luck for India !!!

Nothing to say....Just recite fatiha on the coffin of Pakistani Cricket. The England ans burnt the bails and 'Ashes' was created. Let us burn our bats and balls and look to other horizons and sports. Our Cricket team has shamed us. We neglected Hockey for this disgrace? Perhaps team sports is not for Pakistan. With all the rivalries and lack of patriotism, only individual sport where personal gain is in sync with winning titles would fare better here. The coffin of our cricket is lying unattended. Let us bury it with full honours on team's return from Jamaica, and celebrate just once each day (on March 17) the day cricket died in the hearts of Pak fans

Hi Kamran

I like many are waking up confused to this disgrace! What the bloody hell happened at Sabina Park yesterday I don’t know!

Before this all started, like you I shared your idealism ‘I, like many other romantic fools, believed that the World Cup would bring the best out of you, that your players would fight to the death, and would prosper on West Indian tracks’. Like you I thought that only one team could stop the mercurial talented individuals known as the Pakistan team!
How wrong we are! I feel cheated, embarrassed, humiliated but deep down every fan can admit resignation- we all knew the unthinkable would happen but being optimists we never admitted these feelings.

In my last post I questioned Inzy’s physical/mental toughness & also his hunger but it was all here to see. Slowly the skippers’ lack of communication, passion, interest has engulfed the whole team from the England tour onwards. Without magicians with the ball (Asif, Shoaib, pre 2K6 Rana, Razzaq) the team has struggled for the inspiration with the ball that has characterized Pakistani cricket for 3 decades. With these aforementioned cricketers inzy gave them the ball, 9/10 times they produced the goods, no Q’s asked! Michael Atherton always states that Pakistan play best when attacking, again for a time yesterday 3 wickets in 6 balls displayed this evidence! I have to admit I’m beginning to question the point of my own post, but I feel it’s the only way to vent frustration!

The retirement/resignation of Inzamam due to the points outlined above. Please pack up yourself, to be sacked is a disgrace to the effort you have invested into Pakistan cricket. Thank you, we will cherish the memories of Pakistan’s finest. How will we cope? I don’t think anybody knows but I think any replacement batsman needs to know they have some time to cement a place in the team, i.e Asim Kamal

Anyway Shahid Afridi for captain, I think! Even though I would love to see Shoaib Malik in the role, his time will come in the future.

The end of Shoaib Akhtar- How he would of destroyed the Irish & many others when mentally/physically fit. We have to draw the line on Shoaib & I think this is the best time! Again we have the memories, I’m sure that will divide fans, but everybody has to admit he bullied opposition and was smarter cricketer than people give credit for.

Bring back Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt invest in Shahid Yousuf. These players need time, confidence I’m sure they will yield results. Anyway it’s all we have!

As ever the plus point was the bowling, I’m confident about the abilities of Gul, Asif, Rao Ifitkhar & Sami yes Sami! To win matches. However there has to be a bowler in Pakistan who can bowl 95mph or for my foreign brothers who know the domestic scene 155 KMH. I remember on a blog of yours Kamran, someone mentioning about a fast bowler from Wazirstan who hit them speeds!!

This leads me on to my penultimate point, if I were to ask Bob Woolmer a question, it would be:
Where is all the talent in Pakistan you have been banging on about?
He will leave us with a broken team, devoid of fresh ideas, players, and mentality. What the bloody hell have you been doing to improve us since the India series in Pakistan???

As for Coach, I haven’t got a clue- Wild card picks such as Wasim Akram/Waqar Younis

Khuda Hafiz, InshaAllah we can be world beaters in the not to distant future, we have to dust ourselves down for 3 important series’- South Africa, Austalia & India!

Lets pray for victory, Allah knows best.

there is more to life then just cricket, so what if pakistan got knocked out... it is just a sport, life will go on. it could have happened to any team, there is no betrayal as you make it sound, it was just a very unlucky day...

Somehow you had to wonder the warning bells were loud and clear even before the Ireland game that Pakistan were going to lose. Pakistan's chances of doing well in the World cup rested on only two players - M. Asif and S. Afridi. As we all know the shambolic (& ridiculously funny) episodes in Asif & Akhtar scandal. Afridi's discipline and commitmnet to cricket always come second to his hot head and he was banned from the start - so it was clear to me Pakistan were going to exit the WC early and in the worst way. Of the current crop or the 11 that were picked none of the them are match winners unless the tracks are flat for M. Yousuf to post his record scores or dry and dusty for Kaneria to spin a few out. There is a need to drastically change the backbone of the squad and bring young and talented players in, otherwis this will keep continuing. For the right attitude Pakistan should watch Bangladesh's victory over India - now that looks a potent one day team.

Pakistan crashed out of the world cup with two straight losses to West Indies and Ireland. The worst performance by any Pakistani team in a world cup, far worse then in 2003 when we at least managed to beat the minnows, this time we have been humiliated by Ireland. Somehow I do not feel that bad about all this, I am surprised my self but I expected it. I never expected this Pakistani team to win the world cup and in a way this humiliation is a good thing so we can reflect on what went wrong.
1. There is no doubt in my mind that we lost because of the poor handling of the affairs in general by the PCB. The PCB is fully responsible for these horrible results. I do not blame the players or the coach, it is the same players and coach who have been winning for the last 2 years, but ever since this new PCB has taken over, things have gone from good to bad and from bad to worse in a matter of few months.
2. The so called chairman of PCB should resign immediately. It is clear to every one that the only reason Naseem Ashraf is the chairman is because of his close ties to Pervaiz Musharraf. The manner in which Asif and Shoaibs case was dealt affected the team’s moral and preparation to a great degree. An inquiry should be done on the whole drama and the nation should be told the truth. We have become a laughing stock because of this affair and it should not be taken lightly.
3. The decision to sack Waqar Younis and to sack Musthtaq first and then bring him back was as stupid as it can get. The PCB chairman was reported to be present in the team’s dressing room more often than the players would like. Im sure that did not go well with the team too. His concern about the team getting too religious was another stupid thing. At least before him the team was winning on a regular basis even if they were religious, ever since his administration came to power everything has gone wrong.
4. People like Saleem Altaf need to be shown the door too. One brother screwed up the judicial system by writing an open letter against the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the other screwed up the national passion and only national pride we have, that is cricket. What else is left for Mr. Altaf to destroy in our cricketing system, if he would not leave now I wonder when he would go then?
5. The selection of the team was as appalling as is the personality of Waseem Bari. Again what would it take to get rid of this guy? Isn’t he the same person who was the chief selector in 2003? And now it seems he has improved his pathetic record. The guy can not even speak properly, Im sure his IQ is not even 50 (saying that he is a moron is a huge understatement). Ask him why is Yasir Hamid not in the team and what is Imran Nazir doing there, why is Salmn Butt not there and what is Azhar Mehmood doing in the team when he was not the past of original 30? What else would it take for Bari to go, how far down would we have to go before we realize people like Bari are no good.
6. Stupid restriction on speaking in Urdu for the players did not help either. PJ Mir has never been a likeable person and his presence with the team did not please any one.
7. I do not have complains from the players themselves. These are the same players who have been winning for the last two years. I have no problem with the coach. The problem is with the system as whole, with PCB, with politics in PCB, how the chairman PCB position is a reward for being the dictator’s spoon.
The issues are not just cricket but the whole system in our country. Its not just cricket which is on the decline but the whole society is going down. Who is responsible, US OFCOURSE, we allow people with no competence and capacity to rule us and our institutions. I do not know what is going to happened now but one thin is for sure, Ashraf, Altaf and Bari atleast have to go if there is any hope or revival of Pakistan cricket. If even one of these guys stay, I have then no hope what so ever and it would be most unfair on the whole Pakistani nation.

There is need for new blood in the pakistan outfit and i think this is the right time for that...there is some time before pakistan play in an international fixture....get the young ones in and groom them so that they can make the pakistan a world beater again!!!get them to bat on grassy /bouncy pitches so that when they face a green top they won't hope to be watching the game rather than playing!!

You nicely summerised and opened up the heart. During Imran's and minandad times you had the hope even against odds of odds and more often than not there would be a feloow who will perform beyond his abilities. The examples are too many to count , but now... ah! Your recommendation of Afridi seems surprising, but looking at the way he commanded his karachi side and his hunger to succeed against all odds....(least you go by the shot he plays ....he has sharp cricketing brain) he may probably the right antidote of the sleepiness that creeped recently.

Too harsh Saahab. Giant killers have always been a part of the Cricket history. Its part of the great game and should be accepted. Do you think the 11 players dont know everything that you spoke of. They carry the expectations of millions on their shoulders and try to do their best. But after all its just a game and while their performance was disappointing, they never gave up the will to win. I say give the guys a break.

Dear Kamran

The state of our cricket is simply a reflection of the mess our country is in. Talent alone doesn't create champions. You have to have discipline, professionalism, sense of responsibility and above all a strong commitment to teamwork to be the best.

Give us one example of any Pakistani institution where you would find the above attributes.

Mr Abbasi, I thought you would have learnt a lesson or two on humility and being a fair analyst after the defeat to Ireland, but I am sorry that it is not the case.

This has reference to your article last week where you arrogantly belittled all other cricketing nations by writing that Pakistan has to fear only Australia.

I am surprised at your steadfastness on still hanging on to this statement while you have made huge hue and cry on the Pakistan Team, Management, Coach and everyone you can blame on.

My humble remark would be that people like you also should not escape the blame and act holy. You build expectations at the cost of overating team, belitling other deserving teams and can't hold onto your poise when you face defeat. I wonder what earth shattering things have changed in the last one week from your last article to this one today. Have your 'hungry' openers, 'strong' middle order, 'bowling at death' specialists have lost appetite and strength overnite.

No. The thing is Pakistan just had a bad day out there which can happen to any cricket team.

I guess game of cricket can do away with all these emotional articles (i would rather call them 'outbursts') that you 'cricket journalists' churn out. This would help pakistan cricket better than all the changes you have suggested in your article.

i think this team needs to practise with the kids, on the streets of pakistan. .......i wonder if they could even beat them.. ahahaha

hu ha pakistan
gu kha pakistan

The Worst Day Of Pakistan Cricket !
Rightly pointed out kamran bhai !
just unbearable , un thinkable , unimaginable and above all it's unforgivable !!
are these bunch of players over confident or lacking confidence ?
they are just ill !
i'd rather pick my college team to play against ireland , these players have 1000 odi's experience against a team which has less then 100 odi's experience !
PATHETIC IS THE WORD TO DESCRIBE INZY'S AND BOB'S STRATEGIES !!
we performed a bit better in the 2003 world cup atleast win(s) against the weaker oppositions , but this time around we're just piece of bulls**T !

the person who is majorly rensponsible for all this is General Pervez Musharraf .
he can't run a PCB , just imagine how he manages a country ?
Nasim Ashraf should be kicked out along with bob woolmer !
and the players need to be addressed aswell !
whatever now happens , will happen for the good !
but no supporter would ever think of pakistan winning a world cup ( as i did after 2003 disappointement )

inzy !! u let us down !

Dear Kamran Bhai:

Completely agreed with your opinion. As a true Pakistani fan, i stayed till the last moment and hoping against hope that something will happen! but it didnt. Escapegoats will be their now and i hope that rather than making stupid decisons, we should make wise decsions.
Imran Khan has been insisting on making our domestic system strong for some time now but since he is on opposition no one listens to him. We have not produced any good batsman for quiet some time now and our bowling is going down the hill as well. To me discipline is the key , not the super stars. Bangladesh and Kiwis are just two exaples, they won the games just by playing as a team.

In the end i would like to mention that no one expected us to do good in the world cup and we just did what was expected. It is far more better than teams like India who claimed to be listing the world cup this year and got bashed by a spirited bangladeshside or you can say that new Lanakns on horizon of cricket.

I have been saying for so long, we should fire wolmer and get rid of all this crap. If you dont believe me read my earlier posts.

Thank you woolmer n Inzi for giving us many victories. Failure is not urs failure is of critics who never siupporte du from day one. Failure is of players like Younis Khan who being a rubbish still is in team and failure belongs to the team who didn't stand up and delivered. As for me Younis Khan as captain will be a joke, he should be thrown out together with the rest of team batsman with exception of yousuf n shoaib malik. Abbassi sahib u never supported Inzi, woolmer n u can sure as hell say I told u so but u cant say u n ppl like you supported this team at all. I guess it is Inzi's n woolmer's fault that the pathetic n unreliable Akhtar tested positive and also dragged down our other bowler Asif with him, I guess it is also Inzi n Woolmer's fault when afridi decided to show his antics that got him banned this close to WC, thier fault I would say when Razzaq got injured and Azhar the luckluster was brought back? I love my team which is team Pakistan, no matter who is playing, n i will always suuport my team Pakistan. U never suported this team and they lived without it. Inzi has done more for this team then any one cricketer with the exception of Javed Miandad. Your beloved Waqar was the captain when we lost in 2003. Your beloved Sohail cost us another WC and a class batsman like Saeed Anwar when he become selector. Both W & W's have been involved in petty infightings and delibertaley throwing away the matches just to get one up. OCB Naseem Ashraf should be sacked, no doubt, team policy should be changed, cricket structure should be changed and domestic cricket should gain some respect all agree but dun just blame coach n captain blame the whole team. 11 players play the game and with exceptuon of rao, gul sami all failed. Sami who bowled good today should still be sacked, we all know he is here cuz of ur hero Imran Khan who dun have the courage to get at the helm and fix the cricket only thing he is good at, except to sit at the boundry and work behind the scene. When Miandad was coach n Pak lost to India in Pak cuz of new team, you all cried for Miandad head. Now at this loss Woolmer;s head. An embarrssing loss it was on the ground to Pakistani team its further loss to decimate ur heroes.

This has to be the darkest hour for Pakistan cricket. They have brought shame to the entire nation and all its supporters. The proud history of producing champion sportsmen has been tarnished by these bunch of jokers. Every member of the squad and the managment committee need to apologise publically to the nation for this shambolic display. This should then be followed by the resignation of the captain and the management committee. We need to start with a clean slate now. No baggage should be carried. The side should be full of energetic individuals who have no mental scars and have some mental toughness. I mean look at the way people got themselves out. After they saw there was some grass on the wicket they should have re-thought their strategy and should have set their stall to bat the full 50 overs. They probably would have won the game even if they scored 150 odd. But they took the Irish bowling lightly and didnt adapt to the match situation. Full credit goes to the Irish team who deserved to win. This is the worst day in Pakistan cricket's history and we are out of a 7 week tournament in 5 days. Way to go chaps, you have done us all proud!!

What a fiasco, consecutive exits from the first round of the world cup. The weaknesses of our players have been exposed; just prepare green decks and make us wobble in bewilderment. I don’t blame Bob Woolmer for this debacle, but it is the Pakistan Cricket Board who should be accountable for the mess. The quality of the domestic circuit is pathetic. There is a consensus that our players are not technically or mentally equipped to handle the grassy bowling supportive pitches; it’s such a pity that even then the board is in a state of bliss. The chairman of selectors Wasim Bari had already proved his ignorance in terms of players’ performances and this spineless performance against Ireland is an open demand of his resignation. People like Saleem Altaf and Nasim Ashraf must be ashamed of themselves. The chaos and confusion they created over the Waqar Younis resignation or the doping issue directly affected the team.
It’s high time that ad hocism must come to an end. We need hard hitting people like Imran Khan to brush the talent and harden the feeble structure of our cricket. I fear that cricket in Pakistan is following the similar down fall pattern of hockey. I think the team must look beyond Shoaib Akhtar and Inzamam ul Haq now. We need an aggressive captain and I agree with Kamran Abbasi that Shahid Afridi must be given the opportunity to show his worth as a leader. As a die hard fan of cricket, I am disappointed and mourning the death of quality cricket in Pakistan!

Gutted, just absolutely gutted.

Even at my most pessimistic I never envisaged this. A defeat to Ireland? Not only a defeat, but an almighty failure of batting - 132 all out to Ireland? Who? Ironic that that's exactly the same score that Pakistan were bowled out for against Australia in the 1999 final. I thought then that things could not get any worse, but being bowled out for the same score by (and with all respect to the Irish side, who were fantastic) a bunch of postmen and teachers. Absolutely unimaginable.

I just feel empty. After looking forward to the world cup for years, and given that it's a 6 week tournament, it's hard to believe that we've been knocked out within 5 days.

The Pakistan management can now take their Urdu only directive back home with them and see if it helps there. It's just so indicative of what was wrong with the team - focussing on completely unneccessary issues while the team was falling apart, turning up with an arrogance which demanded a Super Eight and semi final spot with no application whatsoever.

We were all expecting to be disappointed in the Super Eights, not devastated after two games.

Clearly the management, Woolmer and Inzi are to blame. The management were nothing more than inept, and Bob Woolmer, who was supposed to have brought 'discipline and professionalism' in the end managed in his few years into an even bigger shambles than it had been after the last world cup. As for Inzamam, this was just one tournament too many. Inzi is a poor captain, he looks lethargic in the field and the only inspiration he provides is to instill an ill-diciplined ethos into the team, resulting in a team of overly qualified unprofessionals lacking in graft. It's easy to forget what Inzamam has achieved over his decade and a half long career, and once the dust settles and he has moved on, we will miss his unbelievable batting abilities. But right now it is his poor captaincy and poor recent batting that only comes to mind.

If Pakistan continue as they have done over the last 10 years, they will be in danger of becoming a completely spent force in world cricket. It feels like that's what they are now, but this could spark an absolute failure of cricket in the country. After seeing Bangladesh's unbelievably disciplined and professional performance against India yesterday, and watching two teenagers scoring fantastic half-centuries under such pressure, I would not be surprised if the Tigers replace Pakistan in the trio of world class teams in the Sub-Continent.

And what now, who for captain? After the all-round debacle yesterday it's hard to single anyone out for glowing praise. Mohammad Yousuf would be a captain in the Inzamam ilk, and that's not acceptable. The openers are hopeless, and need to be completely removed, in favour of a new batch of youngsters. Younis Khan is obviously the favourite, but how many times has he failed with the bat? His reputation for steel and determination is in tatters after his recent poor performances and dreadful shot selections. Having said that, he is certainly more professional than a lot of the team, and could help improve discipline.

Shoaib Malik scored a few runs (not many, but a few) and applied himself well. He just doesn't seem to have the authority and it's hard to imagine him presiding over the team.

The bowlers have been interchangeable and also bring with them a lack of authority and discipline. The wicket keeper cannot keep wicket and does not have the head for a calm batting innings.

And then, aside from the obvious Younis Khan, that leaves Shahid Afridi. A man who didn't play in these two debacles, who watched with agony from the sides just like we all did. Will he be feeling the same despair that we're feeling? From the television pictures yesterday it would appear so. But then one only needs to recall why he wasn't on the field to realise that he has had his fair share of controversy, not to mention his yo-yo-like relationship with the bat. But perhaps, and exactly because of the fire and passion that is in him, this could be a stroke of genius. Perhaps he could be the man to mould the team into a team of determined professional individuals with the will and dedication that we, the long-sufferring Pakistan fans deserve. It would be a big ask though, and he would have to work on adapting his cavalier 6-and-out attitude that has failed the team so many times. It would be a great risk, but it may be the spark we need, and after all, what could be worse than what has just happened?

These are decisions that the selectors need to make. But first of all the decision on the selectors is even more important. We need people who know Pakistan cricket, people who have the experience and acumen to realise exactly what is wrong with the team, what needs to be done and exactly how it is to be done. And we need someone who has the vision to create a new team, someone who can provide inspiration to the team. We need Imran Khan. He is surely the man to drag Pakistan out of the quagmire and through to the other side. And if we can't get Imran Khan, and other luminaries of Pakistan cricket? Well, then we need to prepare ourselves for our beloved team to disappear completely from the world of cricket.

Quite right Kamran, I have followed you since you were writing for the now ceased publication Inside Edge. And, like you I felt that this bunch of players could some how rise to the occasion.

The underlying tradegy is that in terms of natural talent there probably is not a nation in the world on par with the pool available in Pakistan. How we hone that is another question.

The simple fact is as you, the team is run like the county, people who know nothing about what they are doing, all power hungry wanted to be heard, and no one wanting to listen.

Until a full time board is appointed, and a solid first class structure, nothing will happen. We ahve been saying this for 15 years!

The likes of Wasim,Waqar, Javed need to be put into various roles to develop our side.

But for any who saw the Waqar interview on Geo with Saleem Altaf will know that whilst we have the likes of him and Doctor Who? running our team, we are going no where.

The solution, another Imran. In the mean time, I think Afridi would be a great choice, no fear, and perhaps he would grow as a player too?

Knowing Pakistan though, Javed will soon be coach and Younis will be skipper, boring boring pakistan. This is the equivalent of Gerrard Houlier ruining Liverpool. If there is a Pakistan Rafa out there, please come and save us, for Pakistan Cricket died, on St. Paki's day.

It is a shameful day in the history of Pakistan Cricket, it is so unbeliveable that it boggles my mind, however reality is such, what we need is a complete overhual of our system. I propose making Imran Khan head of the board so that he can reform the way cricket is organized and played in the country. In the immediate future the heads of Inzaman, Woolmer should resign, and if they have any shame they will apolgize to the 150 million fans or so.

Well said Kamran.
Last night my wife was trying to console me by saying it is only a game. I can only quote Bill Shankly (for those who don't follow football, he was one of the greatest managers who coached Liverpool Football Club). He is reported to have said -- "Some people say football is a matter of life and death. I can assure them, it is much more than that." In this case substitute 'Pakistan cricket' for football. So what should I say to my wife? I am a middle aged man now with grown up children and should know better but this is the worst day of my life (as far as sport is concerned).
I hope heads will roll. Not only that but I think the PCB should put a stop this tablighee influence, which seems to be all pervasive in the team. I have nothing against tabligh -- in fact I was once part of it but now the players seem to blame everything on destiny -- ala Inzi who felt it was in the 'Kismet'.
Time is a big healer and this pain will also ease but I hope PCB and our players learn something from the debacle that WAS World Cup 2007 (note the past tense because for me the World Cup is over).

I cannot agree with you more on this Kamran except for the fact that Pakistan simply does not have enough talent or professionalism to compete consistently at the international level. This debacle once again shows the mediocracity of our nation which is enshrined in every single one of our cricketers minds. Secondly, we are generally very optimistic people. The way that we had been playing one day cricket for the last year or so, was enough evidence to suggest that we will certainly not be able to qualify for the world cup. Losing to Ireland! was even beyond my imagination (i proclaim to be the biggest pessimist about Pakistan cricket). Thirdly, in a country where every important post is held by a buddy of the President, what should we expect? I think we are fools ourselves to expect anything from our Board anyways. Finally, I cannot believe the audacity of Mr.Haq, Mr. Woolmer, and Mr. Ashraf who , after taking Pakistan cricket to its darkest day (we thought nothing wud be darker than the Oval fiasco), have still NOT RESIGNED?!?!?! Nauseating...just nauseating

A fair summary Kamran as always. The current administration-captain, coach et al, have brought shame on our team and our nation. We are proud, for all our faults, and this degree of humiliation we cannot stomach.

Perhaps Inzi should stay on as a batsman, I hope he does. We are not flushed with quality players to be able to lose him.

Pakistan cricket died yesterday. We need to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. A new skipper, and to do away with techniqueless clowns like Hafeez, Nazir and most of the rest. We have 80 million males to choose from, one of us must be able to play the swinging ball. Not that it counts for much, but I've knocked the ball around in friendly club matches, and is taking one for the team is the need of the hour, I am ready and willing to serve. Jinnah once uttered "failure is a word unknown to me"-what has come of the great man's dream?

Pakistan Zindabad.

No comments...
No words can explain 17th March....

Bob, Inzi, if you are reading this please answer with your thoughts....we have yet to hear your views on where our players get their lack of energy

wow that was a bad day! In my limited knowledge here's what I think should happen. Inzi should call it a day, Woolmer should take up the offer to coach England, and 'the doc' should pack his bags and go back to the states!!
Of course we need a complete overhaul of first class cricket, but I think the reason our batsmen capitulate so spectacularly so often is the pitches in Pakistan. All the pitches should be turned into good sporting wickets, which will expose batsmen's weaknesses, and then they can work on fixing these issues. This I think is the single reason we have not had a real opener in so long. None of our current crop have the technique to negotiate the new ball on a bouncy seaming track.
Kamran...Afridi as captain...seriously? Is this the same afridi who is currently banned for threatening a spectator, who pirouetted on the pitch agaist England, who threatened to resign from test cricket due to his exclusion based on his poor form?? I'd much rather see Shoaib Malik given vice captaincy and Younis Khan made captain as a short term option till Malik can stand on his own two feet as captain. I think Malik is the single most intelligent cricketer in our team, and this is mirrored in his versatility. He is able to shift through his gears superbly depending on the situation. He is being wasted at number 6, by the time he comes in, the match is all but over (one way or the other).
I know i just said make Khan captain in the short term, but as a player I just don't see him as a match winner...he just seems to play well against India, maybe I'm wrong on this one though.
I absolutely love Inzi, and have nothing but immense respect of this immense man (in more ways that one :p), but I think he is past his sell by date. I really don't want to see him axed, so I hope he resigns, and leaves with some dignity intact.
Imran Nazir needs to back to playing galli cricket, and I really want to see Asim Kamal reinstated in the middle of the innings.
But who cares, its all gone to pot!! What a bad day!!

Shame on Pakistan team. I am so shocked that it is getting difficult to put my thoughts in words. PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf, Bob, and Inzi should immediately resign from their positions but I doubt that they have any courage and grace to do so. Instead thay should be fired.

Nothing has changed since last world cup, they were thrown out in the first round then as well.

I still can't believe that they lost to Ireland.

It is high time to get rid of Inzi, Imran Nazeer, Hafeez, Rana, Sami, etc.

I think we should now put some under 19 guys in our team. Take the example of young tigers of Bangladesh.

Kamran you could not guage the ability of this team and wrongly kept your faith in them.

I think Yousuf and Younus should continue to be in the team as they still have some years left in them.

The bowling department is OK.

Pakistan should look for some good new openers. Enough chances have been given to Nazeer, Hafeez, Farhat and Salman Butt.

rgds

I think you summed up every die-hard pakistani cricket fan's thought.
Now like many other pakistani fans, we go to the West Indies to watch another team play rather than our own.

Dear Kamran, thank you for this open letter. You have almost communicated what most of the die hard fans would have wanted. I still can’t believe that we are out of the WC 2007. I will also never forget the face expressions of Shoib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Rao Iftikhar & Mohammed Hafeez during the dieing moments of the game against Ireland when they were 7 down and required 12 runs to win. You could tell from their faces that they desperately wanted this win and then there will be no looking back but I think it was too late by then.

Now we need to answer some questions here and keep in mind these are not new questions these should have been answered long before. Now is the time to find answers for these before it is too late;

1. Who is responsible for this debacle?
2. Who should be accountable? Will Dr. Nasim Ashraf do the accountability who himself has been sent by Mr. President to take charge of the PCB affairs or will it be the selectors who are part timers and don’t have any authority what so ever over the selection process?
3. Will history repeat itself (WC 2003)?
4. This time it was the worse performance so again some heads (Captain, coach, top players) will roll?
5. Will the rebuilding start again and end in the same fashion?
6. Will someone (please) take some bold decisions?

We also need the following NOW;

1. A young, thinking, bold and aggressive Captain who can lead from the front with out any fear of loss. It’s not difficult it’s just a matter of finding the right person.
2. A young coach, who can communicate with the players
3. Inject some youth in the side and prepare them for the international games. It’s better loosing with a young team than with the older guys.
4. Select a pool of the best 25 players (2 playing 11 teams) and give them international games over a period of 2-3 years. You need to coach and groom them at the same time. Amongst these there should be 3/4 ‘specialist openers’ and 3/4 ‘specialist pace’ bowlers
5. Need to do drop the following players permanently from the ODI squad; Inzamam, Shoib Akhtar, Yousuf (Inzi and Yousuf can carry on with the test game but Shoib should be dropped permanently). The young guns after analyzing their performance should be dropped and should be asked to prove their form and make a come back.
6. We need a system where at least someone is held responsible/accountable.
7. We need a system from where you can pick players and convert them to into match winners.

The last two (6&7) are going to take long and may never be done but the rest can be done (1-5). I think this is the last opportunity for us to go back to the drawing board and start from the scratch. Otherwise I don’t see any future for Pakistan cricket and it will become like our Hockey team. There was a time when I used to know all the 11 players in our hockey team and now I even don’t know who the Captain of our Hockey 11 is. We still have the talent and the players who can compete at the international level; it’s just that we need to find the right players and put them in the right channel.

well peoples anger is justified ..... but i guess we all should remember ..... ireland played well ..... every dog has his day ..... y do we always get green tops to bat on ..... SA got a perfect batting strip ..... even the defending world cup champions france were eliminated in the first round of world cup n got defeated by debutants senegal ..... india lost to bangladesh ..... n the blame for the defeat is more coz of the PCB administration n the selectors rather then the players ..... i am sure out team will be able to regroup ..... n i agree with u mr abbasi ..... on paper only austrailia was a better team ..... n i think shoaib malik should be the number one option for the captaincy now ..... inzy's days r over ..... we should all back out cricket team to do well in future !!!

You start with “Dear Inzy, Bob and Doc,” what about the top guy, the patron-in-chief of the PCB who appointed the most mediocre people to head PCB.

Woolmer should have been fired after England’s tour. It appears that Mr. Woolmer has accomplished his mission of transforming Pakistan’s talent into a docile side. Job well done!

And “the doc” turned out to be a “domicile doctor.” He is a total disgrace. These idiots have docked Pakistan of an opportunity to perform well at the cup.

It is not a matter of just “a” defeat at a sports event. It has to do with institutions and the accountability. No institution! No accountability. It is a wake-up call for all who are trying to damage institutions in Pakistan.

With all that has been going on since the ill fated England tour of last year, what else was to expected. Still, being thrown out of the wcup by Ireland is pretty much the icing on the cake. There is a strange yet totally familar feeling about what went wrong yesterday with cricket team and what has being going wrong with this country over the past, well....days..weeks..months...years..so whats to compain about!!

Absolutely agree with the sentiments you expressed in your open letter. Let's start with the last match of the 2007 WC against Zimbabwe: Inzamam, Younis, Yousuf, and Afridi should sit out - our senior-most stalwarts. Afridi was missed the last two matches but who's to blame for that if not Afridi? Let Malik shoulder the captaincy for the match against Zimbabwe.

The creeping of our mullah-mentality into all matters is manifesting itself on the cricket ground. These Tableeghis have got to go; they're merely retardation agents.

Clean the stables and do it now!

- An irate follower from DC

Bissmailaah ...., Assalamoalikum, thanks to ALLAH that saddam husain is not leader of pakistan and his son is not in charge of sports affairs, probably this inzi was going to say at the end of match. one can imagine what would have been the treatement of our team and management if they were. (once iraq lost against kuwait his captain was arrested and beaten up on intruction of saddam's son, to cut story short, he got managed to leave country and claimed asylum in UK)

I hope PCB may have learned lesson now if domestic infrastructure is not of standard level required this what happens if team happens to play on a seaming and bouncing tracks. Not a single batsman had an ability to apply himself and could prove himself to be professional cricketer (batsman).
At the start of worldcup our worries were that we dont have front line bowlers and batsman would have to win us games but it turned out to be opposite, only difference is it happened when our front line batsman were around.

Kamran, that was a very emotional letter with some valid points, but really if you have been a longstanding Pakistini fan this result is not a complete surprise, we have always blown hot and cold, even under the great Imran Khan; that is part of the enticement and excitation that makes being a Pakistini Cricket fan so special. Sure, Pakistan need to be more professional and change their domestic structure etc...But don't kid yourself that Pakistan cricket has been anything other than unpredictable in the past and give Inzi a break- the greatest day of my life would not have been possible without Inzi. It's just a game, that is a fact, we played badly and deserved to lose, we need to look at our game and structure and improve for the future. What we don't need to do is start getting too upset and we certainly do NOT need Shahid Afridi as captain! Relax; at the moment we are all low but it will make the next high feel so much better, and it will come because that is the way Pakistini cricket works.

ha ha ha, u silly old chap! what made u believe in this volatile pakistani team? and now u r hurt...just like many other pakistani fans. i wud hav luved a pakistani win also, but i had no hopes considering the captain and coach and their hi-fi mind blowing strategies. u need to learn as much as pakistani cricket board needs to do.

I would really Critisized the way matches have been played by the ICC like if we see that there is no reason that Pakistan and England had to suffer the first defeat and get into the pressure while other teams playing the Club level cricket and enjoying defeating minos in their first matches if ICC have made this kind of table they can make that one in which every team should have to start with the other Minos teams. Like i said we took a lot of pressure from the first match, we were down and out with the westindies so much that we didnt recovered from there, I think that thing was same happend in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, when we lost with Srilanka in the first match and then it was nothing left for the second match , in this world cup its look like it was only for Austraia and South Africa that currently they are enjoying their first two matches and then they played each other for the carry on points as compare to us we played first match and got a lot of pressure, ICC can arranged these matches like they did only for Group "A", why did we suffered, I can say it wasnt the balanced way of schedule of the First round Even Though the India and Srilanka are also playing the Minos First but we didnt, AND IT WASNT THE RIGHT THING HAPPEND. I DONT KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL AGREE WITH ME BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT WASNT THE RIGHT WAY ... THE WAY PAKISAN SCHEDULE TO PLAY ITS LEAGUE MATCH

I would really Critisized the way matches have been played by the ICC like if we see that there is no reason that Pakistan and England had to suffer the first defeat and get into the pressure while other teams playing the Club level cricket and enjoying defeating minos in their first matches if ICC have made this kind of table they can make that one in which every team should have to start with the other Minos teams. Like i said we took a lot of pressure from the first match, we were down and out with the westindies so much that we didnt recovered from there, I think that thing was same happend in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, when we lost with Srilanka in the first match and then it was nothing left for the second match , in this world cup its look like it was only for Austraia and South Africa that currently they are enjoying their first two matches and then they played each other for the carry on points as compare to us we played first match and got a lot of pressure, ICC can arranged these matches like they did only for Group "A", why did we suffered, I can say it wasnt the balanced way of schedule of the First round Even Though the India and Srilanka are also playing the Minos First but we didnt, AND IT WASNT THE RIGHT THING HAPPEND. I DONT KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL AGREE WITH ME BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT WASNT THE RIGHT WAY ... THE WAY PAKISAN SCHEDULE TO PLAY ITS LEAGUE MATCH

It's shocker, shameful, disgraceful and painful. Even though I am a pessimist, I too, was of the belief that we will qualify for the second round atleast, though I gave our team no chance for the trophy.
To lose to Ireland is like me loosing to my three year old and then lay blame on the pitch and batters and what nots. We were dismissed in 45.2 overs. I don't blame Gul or Iftikhar for not scoring, but I blame them for lack of mental application. If they had stayed at the crease maybe another 10 would have been scored. (India lost 8 wkts at 150 odd, but Munaf and Zaheer showed what true professionals should do and atleast made the target respectful). In international cricket as in other sports, its not over till its over; teams that have character fight till the death (Aussies in 99 semi final and supersixes). For Lords sake you are paid to play, DO YOUR JOB. In all honesty, I couldn't sleep last night thinking that our cricket is heading the path of our hockey (and does someone know we were unbeatable at squash as well?)
There will be letters published calling for Woolmers and Inzi's head. My train of thoughts is derailed, I can't even say what should be done. My only postmortem was on the team selection, why didn't we pick the most capable players, Yasir Hameed, Butt. Dreams along with application may result in victories, but only dreams? When will we as a nation stop dreaming, start doing. As a nation we are going down by the day, many won't agree, but that is what it is. It won't long before we get routinely beaten by teams like Ireland (no discredit here please to the wonderful Irish team and performance--but my feeling is just like that of an Irish soccer fan's if Ireland loses to Pakistan in soccer).
Maybe later in the day, on finding some energy and sheeding off the depression, I will comment on the overall performance, but for now I will leave our fans to think what long term strategy should be applied. There will be targeted comments, frustration will be vented, all understandably, but dear friends, please for the sake of our team, country, for once lets analyse this rationally and post our comments accordingly.
P.S. I hope and wish India qualify for the second round and more, or else it will give our team management more reasons for being stupid, and our fans (including myself maybe) to believe it can happen to anyone, and hence it happened to Pakistan. May Allah help us.

dun know where to start frum huh ... U R RITE WAT A BLOODY SHAME! only coz my comment wudan be posted if i use any swear word otherwise i wud have done n done it big tym coz i can feel lot of anger inside which gotta cum out...huh
i reckon if our woman team had played dere cud ve ben a much better result,i wud lyk pak managment to do wat hitler did a long tym back..
INZI NO WORD FOR U MAN ..huh, y dun u jus do tablegh n stay away frum cricket really feel lyk knockin u out beard guy... u n u crappy team have played with our feeling n emotions..by da way i ve asked my lil bro to be on airport wiv eggs n tomatoes on airport coz i cant .. GET RID OF ALL.
ZAHEER,LONDON

2011 inshallah pakistan's year....inshallah

All too predictable I'm afraid. The writing has been on the wall for the last 12 months but a few streaky wins (usually based on MoYo getting a big score or one of our flashy "superstars" riding his luck) have papered over the cracks.
We still don't have an opener who can consistently see off the new ball or survive 5 or 6 six overs. Yes occasionally they will ride their luck but there is a basic lack of technique, knowing which balls to leave, dealing with a moving ball etc. Whoever is responsible for coaching them needs to go. In a country as populous as Pakistan with the number of playing cricket, there must be 2 players capable of being coached to international standard.
Of our "golden triad" in the middle order, only MoYo has played consistently well, and cannot be expected to carry the team every time.Younis Khan has been distinctly average and living off his reputation. Inzi has been great in the past, but looks a shadow of the player he was, and it seems time may have caught up with him.
Allrounders? Afridi- one big score out of ten innings, as evidenced by his ODI average over the last year. Razzaq- looks lethargic, slow, out of touch. Azhar- doing as well as can be expected, but he is not a worldbeater. Shoaib Malik- has at least shown some guts and desire and deserves to stay because of this, but in all honesty would he get into any of the top 6 teams?
Wicketkeeper- dear oh dear. Akmal has been desperate for at least 9 months- missed catches, missed stumpings, and comes from the eyes-closed-have-a-thrash school of batting. He's young and can recover, but really should have been dropped to go away and learn the basics again.
Bowlers- credit to Umar Gul and Rao who at least tried, and can be competent, but at the moment at least are not world class. Even Asif, although he has the potential to be a McGrath, is not there yet. Shoaib I'm afraid is bad for the team, bad for morale and too disruptive. Kaneria is overhyped but seems to be the closest we have to a decent spinner.
Overall, people are deluded if they think we have the talent- we don't. We have lots of players who throw the bat around and occasionally it comes off. MoYo is the only world class performer in that team, possibly Asif. I'm sure there is raw talent, but it needs to be coached properly- at club, district and national level. The first teamers need to have hungry players fighting for their place to get rid of the complacency. And until we develop more world class players, we need to rely on doing the basics right- technically correct batting, decent fielding, tight bowling, be competitive.
I agree that heads must roll at the PCB. If the infrastructure does change and the cronyism and nepotism stop, this defeat will have been worthwhile- but I'm not holding my breath.

salaam!I don't know where i begin frm.Whatever U have written is totally true.But it is not enougf.They deserve a lot more.I have no words to express my emotions.But next time i will write more if i continued.I am a big fan of sports & specially CRICKET. But i watch no more cricket since 2003 World cup.There are a lot of people in Pcb & Pakistan cricket team who don't know even the abc of cricket.

Why no comments ??? this was truly the most shocking defeat ....

kamran i said it before n i'll say it again...

people please get over cricket
this game has given nothing exept SHAME and PAIN to its fans

its time now to get over it

Anger, rage and depression is what is haunting the Pakistani fans at this moment. The last 6 months we have seen our team come trembling down from heroes to zeros. Who is responsible ???? ultimately the PCB management and the board patron !
What is the role of higher PCB officials hanging out in the player's gallery ? Let eh players do their job and you do yours. Gosh, we are so diasppointed.
I will come to Inzi and Bob later but Mr. Nasim Ashraf since you took over as the chairman, we have seen our cricket being down graded, controversies, bad management and at the end you found nothing else so you banned english ?
Please give us all a break, pack up your bags and head back to Texas where you have been more successful and give us a sigh of relief. You have been a disappointment and a BIG ONE.
Now to Inzi and Bob. You guys have helped transform our tigers to paper tigers. You guys were doing just fine until 6 months ago and then everything fell apart. What happened ? Please we want to know the reality and facts. Yes, an open letter will do the much needed explaination. In the last 4 years you guys haven't been able to overcome the basic problems .. the openers, green top pitches, swinging balls ... the list is endless.
We, the Pakistani fans have supported you and your team like no one else did. We ignored all the criticisms from all around the world, backed our captain and his team because you, yourself assured us success. At the end, on the day when it was time to prove yourself, you failed. You failed yourself and failed us all.
Inzamam, you don't deserve this farewell but unfortunately, you wrote this script yourself and I am really sad to see such a great player leave cricket on such a low note. I have been a big fan of you as a player, as a human being and will always be but you have been a failure as a captain and its time to admit it.
Please, before you leave, kindly explain us the reason you didn't wanted Waqar as coach but Mushtaq. Who was Mushtaq suppose to coach ? We saw huge difference in bowling when Waqar came on board but YOUR favoritism gave us all this mess.

There is nothing much to say anymore. Today we saw the failure of the most prestigious organisation in Pakistan and its very obvious who is responsible. We will never learn from our mistakes ad we will see the same pattern as after every worldcup. NO ONE has paid attention to developing cricket from grass root level and we will fail again. We have failed so many times that we dont even have hope anymore because PCB, you really suck !
March 17, 2007 is the darkest day of Pakistan cricket history and should be officially declared a Black Day. This is the day when our most prestigious unit failed the whole nation and we might not recover from this for a long time now.

I think it was important loss. It highlights following things, that many fans were already saying:

1. Pakistani cricket is like any other institution in Pakistan, and been corrupted by lack of democratic nature and involvment of Musharraf. He has screwed everything in country.
2. Nepotism in PCB and in team. Examples are Dr. Nasim Ashraf who was just worrying on wrong things , and getting rid of Waqar Younis and bringing in Mushtaq Ahmad for no good reason.
3. Poor selection of team, and no guts to take some new players.
4. Lack of proper cricket infrastructure in country.
5. Lack of vision from top down, in any sort or form.

Solution:
1. Groom young emerging batsman, in sort of all pitches. I said before, take 40-50 batsman who performed well domestically to places like New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa. Make them play with some club (even if PCB has to pay it).
2. A captain who is spirited and technically correct. And also who would have stable position in team on his performance. Shahid Afridi can not guarantee his batting performance.
3. Take Musharraf out of picture, re-structur PCB in professional manner.
4. Write a comprehensive software that takes into account all sort of possibilities (recent form, form against an opposition, strategic requirement, skills on all departments etc) to generate a squad of 20 players, and then coach and captain can select 15 from it. Just a suggestion, may be the software should select the final 15 as well.
5.Coach, who does not get caught yawning in match, more involved in team at all level.
6. Rotation policy should be adapted. Also, there should be some specialist test players and specialist one day players, and groom them in their speciality.
Lets see what furture for Pakistani cricket is..

The worst day in Pakistan’s cricketing history no doubt will bring out a range of emotions from those directly involved and those who support them passionately. I am of no exception and being upset, angry, shocked and embarrassed just being a few that I am experiencing.

Cast your minds back to Pakistan’s first round exit in the 2003 world cup and one has to ask themselves what did Pakistan learn from that disastrous tournament and it has now become evidently clear that they learnt f*?k all.

Heads will no doubt roll after this defeat and in my opinion rightly so. Lets start from the top;

Nasim Ashraf: What has he done for Pakistan cricket other than creating a number unnecessary off field distractions?! He quite clearly has no credentials of running a national sporting association and is in urgent need of being replaced by a able body to help Pakistan recover from this catastrophe.
I also think most of the selection committee needs to be shown the door as their lack of vision and planning was a major factor in Pakistan’s downfall.

Bob Woolmer: He came with a reputation of being one of the best coaches in world cricket and arguably will leave with that reputation being much damaged. What exactly has he done to improve the national team during his stint and without sounding too harsh I can not think of too many achievements. He failed to display any planning or strategy in the three most recent tours of England, South Africa and now the World Cup. As a coach of a national side his main focus should be on strategy and planning as he can only fine tune player skills at this level but he has time and time again showed to be a failure with Pakistan in that department.

Captaincy of Inzamam-ul-Haq: Pakistan NEED Inzamam the batsman as I feel he still has a lot to offer but more importantly there does not seem to be anyone good enough to replace him. One thing he should relinquish is his captaincy in the ODI format of the game. In my opinion Pakistan need to make either Younis Khan or Shoaib Malik captain in the ODI format with my vote going to Shoaib Malik. The question is will Inzamam play under another skipper especially if he lacks the seniority Inzamam has. At the same time I don’t think at this moment in time we can lose Inzamam the batsman.

Imran Nazir: He does not have the mentality, discipline or the application to be a international batsman and especially an opener. He is a walking wicket which the opposition are guaranteed in order to get off to a good start and a way into which to exert pressure immediately on to the rest of the Pakistan line up. There are plenty of players in Pakistan who can do a better job and need to be given the chance.

I have finally pressed the off button on Pakistan cricket. After years of watching our players flounder their way through game after miserable game, I have finally accepted the fact that they can never rise above mediocrity. After years of cringing at each run up and praying that the batsman will at least attempt to defend, I have finally decided to turn the TV off. No more watching them with one hand on my eyes and the other on the channel changer, hoping against hope that the embarrassment will be a little less this time. No more wishful thinking that one day I’ll wake up from this nightmare and find myself watching a game where Pakistan lives up to its hype.

As a red-blooded Pakistani living in Southern Africa, I have finally exceeded my capacity for shame brought about by this new low in performance. Pakistan is considered most unpredictable team in world cricket; yet, I have found our team to be very predictable in disappointing us at every chance we give it.

While other teams are breaking records of all kind in this World Cup, our team is busy digging itself deeper still. Where inexperienced players and teams are standing their ground over after over, our players are going out for zero and one against the very same inexperienced players and teams. I have stopped trying to make sense out of the nonsense we call Pakistan cricket and I will no longer attempt to find reasons for the consistent failure of our players that are supposed to be world-class.

I am tired of the heartaches and heartbreaks that come from being emotionally involved with such unstable individuals. I am sick to my stomach of being the laughing stock of sports fans everywhere that are lucky enough to have no genetic affiliation to our team. South Africans are called “chokers” by Australians. Our players are “jokers” by contrast. This ignominious defeat at the hands of Ireland—Ireland, for God’s sake—is just the straw that this camel needed to have its back broken. When the so-called minnows can crush Pakistan so convincingly, it is time for Pakistan to hang its bat and retire to a life of anonymity.

There is more respect in not playing at all than in playing so badly. There is more honor in not being a cricket fan at all than being a cricket fan of Pakistan. Our team can actually take the honor out of even being a Pakistani. Well, this Pakistani has decided to cut this infected part off completely and voila, I can actually lift my head up and look people in the eyes. There is still shame, but this shame is not repeatedly rubbed on my face every time a TV channel shows highlights of the latest fiasco choreographed by my brethren in the green.

I'm sick. On medication. Advised to go out. Trying my best to type. Trying to avoid any more news. No Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik (Vice Captain) and Shahid Afridi (captain). Sorry Inzi, you and your team 1 - 9 apart from Sami & Rao (both in batting and bowling) let us down.

Pakistan deserve to be out of the world cup at the first hurdle for the lack of respect they showed to the rest of the cricketing world in dealing with the shoaib/asif drugs issue. It's time they abide by international sporting rules, leave religion out of sports(start of Inzi interviews?), be honest with themsleves(Afridi?) and just play cricket like the rest of the world do!

As a long time admirer of the Pakistani side I am deeply saddened by this result. I have always had high praise for Inzamam and this is not the way he should say goodbye. I believe Afridi as captain is a brilliant, innovative idea. It would bring out the best in him and I think it would inject some daring and hunger into the team. Afridi bowls, bats and fields with urgency and ambition - perhaps he will lead in the same way.

People might say that they expected Pakistan to loose the way they did, they might say they knew Pakistan had no chances to win anything, but I am sure that no one wanted to go out of world cup like this. On a day when everyone in my home kept saying that Pakistan cannot possibly loose to Ireland, we did. The remefications will be dire, ofcourse, that is again expected. Coaches, management and probably the senior players will be sacked but what good will that do, same thing happened last time around and we do not see any differences in this campaign.

Fans of Liverpool Football Club has an anthem that most probably know, they remind their players that "You'll Never Walk Alone", they remind themselves that no matter what happens, they will stick together, they will stick with the team, no matter what happens, no one will walk alone. Yet today, each one of us feel that the team has abondoned the fans, the fans have abandoned the team, the management is quiet, it feels like a storm is coming. Hopefully, some good will happen this time around, but knowing the people, the place we live in, it is just a hope, and probably same thing will happen again and again and again .....

I should not be that depressed my folks say ... I am sure I am not the only one walking alone in despair

well said Mr kamran

But who the hell listens in our society? its an utter shame that a 150 million nation which is palying cricket since its birth, which takes pride in its natural talent for the game, which has crowned the coveted title once in 1992 and reached finals once again laler,loses to "Street cricketers " of Ireland. ....They only had two county players amongst them. But what they had and our paper kings did not was "A Plan" and a will to go out and fight it out. A will that we have been known to possess for decades in our cricket.
Thanx to the so called leadership that we have in our team management, we have proved last night that we have lost it. We have had seriously stupid defeats earlier on also but as You rightly pointed out Mr kamran , that these romantic followers of game thought that we would not drop so low.........lowest may be.

The only signs of life in this otherwise lifeless leadership of inzimam . Woolmer and the PCB chairman could be visible in shape of their resignations from their respective posts.
Go and do what you can do best.....definitely its not cricket

Very well said. Agreed 100%
shahid afridi or shoaib malik for captain!!

Disgraceful to both Pak & Indian teams. The fans of both these teams are despondent and shell-shocked. Pakistani fans deserve much better. The PCB, if it exists, has never been transparent with it's fans about the selection process, the whole asif-shoaib saga...must roll indeed none one but many heads...start with the aloo Inzy, since Woolmer's is a given, Shoaib since self-promotion comes before team interest to him...we should also make sure that there is no knee jerk reaction, but I believe some wholesale changes are in the offing for the betterment of the team's future...

My heart felt commiseration to all Pakistan fans

You deserved better

Also sorry to see Woolmer and Inzamam careers end on such a sad note

I think the entire sub continent should come together to develop a premier first class league and academy program that will ensure the best players rise to the top and are taken care off. India may follow suit soon and elimination is round the corner. This is a shock wake up call, and must result is puposeful re-building particularly as the sub continent hosts the next WC in 2011

Well said Kamran sahib.
Words fail me. The only solace I had yesterday was trying to convince myself that I will be more productive at work since I wont be watchig the game on my computer while at my job!
The PAKI teams lack of performance was a disgrace to the nation. In-zalaleel-ul-haq reminded me of a cow walking in his lazy stupor chewing 'cud' with apathy on his face- no fire, no passion, no zeal.
Even if the team was focused on using Islam to drive success (and nothing wrong with that) they should have looked at leaders such as Saladin, Tariq bin Ziayaad, Hazrat Omar, Hazrat Ali and the learnt from the victories of the prophet (okay, maybe I'm getting a bit carried away but I'm a bit peeved so please allow me). Rather they looked like a bunch of school boys lost without in a professional sports world.
If these idiots have self respect that all of PCB needs to resign along with Bob and Inzaleel.
I bet you that while losing these idiots were just comforting each other like a bunch of 'sahelees (girlfriends)' in the dressing room rather than screeming and cursing like real men.

Nothing can compare this back day for the so called Asian cricket gods...
Thoroughly outplayed and thoroughly demolished. Two neighbours, both capable of reaching the finals are betraying millions and billions back home.

Shame to all those 'greats' whom we should no longer revere.

It is really shameful the way we exited the worldcup 2007.

The solution for this dilemma is just the merit selection in every department. We need the leader someone like Imran Khan who can absorb the pressure, can show agression, can have the control of his team mates and lead from the front as he did in the semis and final of WC 1992.

We have to make a professional first class infrastructure. The country can not produce openers and the batsman of Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting class unless we have green, bouncy pitches.

I think we have the talent in bowling but our batting is the main problem. No proper opener, no strategy what so ever. Just the hit and trial.

From my point of view, we need 3 proper openers and 1 specialist 1 down player. Inzamam should now retire and give chance to the youngsters.

Something has to be done immediately. I pray from Almighty Allah that He saves our Cricket and our Country.

Allah bless Pakistan (ameen)

Hmmm. Plenty to think about for Pakistan but do they deserve this? Is Inzimam captincy is that bad? Does Pak current team have ability to beat teams like Ireland and Westindies. Is Bob Wolmer that bad as a coach or is it our domestic level cricket.

Plenty of questions came to my mind.

1 thing Inzi should do retire before even going to Pak.

and

What will happen to the rest of Pak team. ALLAH KNOWS

However oen think i do think is that We lost and we are out of the World Cup at a such an early stage but I dont think out team, captain or the coach are that bad to loose like this.
Cricket is by chance and what ever happen had to happen as comes ALLAH even if Imran Khan was playing it had to happen so we should not cry our it but go home and learn from our errors and do the neccessary ammendments needed to the team and the administration.

Well, it had to happen, many people had already predicted it. This Pakistan side looked spiritless for the last 6 months and it has paid the price by loosing to Ireland. Irishmen played brilliantly and I wont take anything away form them but its so humiliating that Pakistan has failed to qualify for the second round for second consecutive time. It is a shame, it really is a shame. Wasim Akram's team lost in the final of 1999 World Cup and everyone said he fixed the match. I think now people would know ho big a deal it is to reach the final of a World Cup and that no one and i say again no one can fix a final of the World Cup. This is surely the end of Inzamam's career, but I dont think we nee haphazard changes in our side. Inzi must be sidelined and a new captain should be chosen. Please dont go for that laughing hypocrat Younis Khan, he is not a gud oneday player anyway, so it leaves Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, one of them should be given the responsibility. About openers problem, I hav been saying this for the last one year that we need to try a totally new pair. No more chances should be given to Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Mohd. Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir or Taufiq Umar. They have all been tred and tested and its time to give chance to some new faces. Its been a long time since we got our last quality under-19 batsman. I hope we have someplayers in the under-19 ranks who could come to the rescue. I think, it is also the end of Rana Naved and Kamran Akmal, atleast for some time. We need 3 or 4 changes in the team not more and we certainly need a new captain to give us a fresh start.

P.S. Plz kock Salim Altaf he is a real nuisance.

Mr. Abbasi,

There's no point berating the cricket system in the sub-continet, especially Pakistan and India. In fact the way these two countries run the cricket makes my belief that they are more alike than different even stronger. For example, both the countries have a passion for the game like no other - you just have to wander around in any city in either country and you will see cricket being played in streets, gullies, grounds, maidans, roads etc. In fact talent wise I don't think any country comes close to Pakistan or India.

Another instance is that in both the countries cricket is being run by politicians - by Mr. Musharraf in Pak, and by Mr. Sharad Pawar in India. After all in subcontinenet you can't really keep politicians away from fame, fortune and power, and cricket in the sub-continent has all three attributes. And I won't blame the politicians and other factors as well for our failings - after all take away India's world cup win in 1983 and Pakistan's triumph in 1992, what have we really achieved? Precious little! We still are tigers at home and lamb for slaughter away and still have yet to win away from home against decent opposition such as Aus or SA.

We, as in cricket fans and general public in these two nations, should take the blame as well. After all one are ruled by the system/people one deserves. But we are, as you rightly said, emotional people, and generally with short memory. After every failure we make a big hue and cry but forget all about it after winning a few inconsequential matches. In fact I can guarantee you that people will forget about our failings as soon as our teams start hammering a feeble opposition at home on flat-as-a-glass surface. Nobody will remember the hard truths and bad memories of seeing our team fail whenever there's a bit of pressure or in case they are presented with alien conditions (green-tops).

We should not let our cricket administrators get away free to make even more money from the game and give precious little to the game that fuels the passion of the entire sub-continent like no other. We should ask for, and deserve, a system similar to Australia's that has cricket administrators who know their job (similar to management team in any fortune 500 company) and selectors are actually people who have played the game and know something about it. After all who else would make Mushtaq Ahmed a bowling coach instead of Waqar Younis when Pak bowling depends on fast bowlers?

We have to make sure that we force the system to change by not being satisfied by a few inconsequential wins at home. Maybe we should even think about boycotting the game for a while to force the administrator's hand - I am sure with no money coming in for a few months would be enough for the administrators in both the countries to get an idea that we can't be treated like fools forever.

Blaming the cricketers and baying for their blood is the easier option but not the root cause of the failure. If we replace these players with a new ones we will have the same failings the next time, albeit with different faces. Performance of the players is a symptom, and not a cause and unless we change the way we run our cricket, I am sorry to say we will continue to be mediocre.

And back to cricket. Even though it pains me to see the sub-continent teams (Pak & Ind) bow out of the rournament, as a cricket fan I am thrilled. The game we all love needs more countries to be competitive and it is absolutely essential for the well-being of the game that the game spreads to newer horizons. I think Ireland's performance is the shot-in-the arm that is needed to promote the game in Europe - Ireland, Scotland and Europe.

For Bangladesh the win against India marks a new chapter - they have turned the corner and can no longer be termed as minnows. Sure, they will still lose more than they will win for the next few years but I can see them win a world cup in the next 12-16 years a la SL in 1996. This can only be good for the game.

But ICC needs to make sure that they don't make the same mistake they committed with Kenya post 2003 - after reaching the semis of the last world cup they hardly played any other team and simply stagnated. This time ICC has to ensure that teams like Ireland, Scotland, Holland and Kenya are encouraged and given games against the elite nations on a regular basis. In fact the European teams should be encouraged to be part of the county cricket by ECB.

And maybe ICC can opt for a two tier test cricket whereby top 8 countries form the elite of the game and other 8 nations compete with each other and two top nations of the 2nd tier are promoted to the elite level every two years, replacing the bottom placed teams in the elite level.

Anyways, this world cup would no longer be the same without Pakistan and India's presence in the super 8's as I was really looking forward to April 15 - the day Ind & Pak were supposed to meet as per the ICC world cup website :)

Maybe everything happens for the better and who knows this was the shock we were waiting for in order to get our house in order.

That was embarassing, humilating, and stupid

I dont have any words to describe how im feelin now

I supported the team through tough times, dopin, oval fiasco, homes series drubbing by india in ODI, England series, the damn South Africa series, and really im reachin to the end of the rope
How long am i gonna be humilated, disappointed, there's a limit, to what a person actually feels
Despite this,i still support team Pakistan
I still dream of glory, dunno maybe i should have my head examined
Our bowling was great, Sami, Rao , Hafeez, Gul
our downfall was batting, imagine a team of 11 players, 7 batters need to perform, and out of seven not even 1 got to 30, blame lies with Nazir, Hafeez, younis, yousuf (sorry yousuf, but i still love u), Inzamam (his fault is the big one), Kamran and shoaib malik, not 1 perfomed, its understandable that the wicket was green, but hello a team like ireland should not have been a problem, we should have gotten use to it by now, a green wicket
Inzi's time is finished, he's to damn old, he cant bat anymore, its best for everybody that he retires, Woolmer is a good coach, its not his fault that the players cant perform, Waseem barie the selector should be given a kick, he cant select, nasim Ashraf should be sacked, no experience
its time we bring Imran Khan as PCB chairman, but it will never happen as Musharaf is against him
Maybe its up to us all Pakistanis, maybe we should build and construct a team, if we are good in cricket it wouldnt hurt to try out for the team, im gonna try out this summer inshallah, if any1 is pretty good in cricket u guyz should try out for the team, its our responibilty to restore glory to cricket, that is Pakistan's cricket
Love u Team Pakistan

On 17th March 2007 Pakistan cricket died. RIP.

On 18th March 2007, every Pak cricket fan will wake up and eventually, after everybody has had their say and people are sacked or forced to retire....Pakistan cricket will be re-born sometime later in 2007.

In short, no matter how much we hate the team right now, come the next tournament everybody will be backing them again, because that is what Pakistani fans do. No matter how much we try, we can never give up on our team and will always follow them with hope in over hearts. WE ARE THE ETERNAL OPTOMISTS.

That is why, even with no decent openers, no Razzaq, Shoaib or Asif and most of all no strategy, we still believed that we would go far and even win this world cup.

Well the reality has come home. Kamran bhai is right, since the England tour Pak cricket has been on a downward slide and this, after all the other controversies, is the end result.

I dont agree that this team has no fight, look back at the India tours the last couple of years, there is most definately fight in this team.

But since that ill-fated tour of England the fight has gone, along with any application and strategy too.

We waited 4 years since the last World Cup to put right the rubbish that went on then. Everything we did, all the new players we found, everything new we learnt mean that ULIMATELY WE ACHIEVED NOTHING. And that is what hurts the most.

In 2003 we had opener problems (ie who to bat with Anwar) and the middle order had no application and fight. The bowlers could not finish off the other team, there was no killer instinct.

And that is exactly what has happened now.

I feel very sad for Inzi. His legend is now reduced to this. All the hard work he has done, is forgotten. His laid back appearance to captaining is coming back to haunt him.

But its not all his fault. Younis Khan has batted so poorly in both innings, playing without responsibility. Future captain...I hope not. His ODI record is poor anyway. And then theres Yousuf, Azhar, Akmal and Sami. All set, all doing well. All we needed was single to get to around 200 which would have been enough, but no...they stupidly played their shots and got out. NO APPLICATION. Its all well to cry after getting out Akmal and Yousuf, but then why do it? Idiots.

You cant blame the bowlers for their efforts. The batting has been poor for years, especially on green pitches and still there has been no improvement. Not one bit.
For this, Bob Woolmer must take responsibility. In his 3 years, he hasnt unearthed a batsmen and the only 2 that have gotten batter are Yousuf and Malik. This is very disappointing in his part. The lack of strategy from him is amazing too.

But going on just yesterdays game, although Pakistan didnt help themselves, and I dont want to take away anything from Ireland, I just feel that it was Pak's destiny to lose/Irelands to win. They dropped many catches against Zim. Yesterday, they dropped nothing. 240 balls out of 243 were pitched on middle and off. 163 were on a good length. And when they batted, how they didnt manage to give even a single edge until the very end is unbelievable. The luck of the Irish was in.

Good luck to them now, they will need it more so in the super 8. But if Pak can learn anything, Akmal, Yousuf, Younis, Sami, Hafeez, Nazir, Malik should alll watch the Irish batting again and then they will see how to bat on a green pitch, and they will see what application, strategy and fight are.

To end, I know the instinct is to abuse and blame Inzi. But dont be too harsh. He is a proud man and he will be hurting like no other right now. Just remember his legend.

I cannot believe what happened yesterday. But the problems you mention are at the root of India too, and they are the reason, despite all the fans and all the support, that India & Pakistan will never produce a dominating side.

Australia produced one not necessarily because the players born there have more talent, but because the talent they do have has been harnessed and the system is such that the true potential of the player is realized. How many players under 21 make the debut in Australia, compared to India and Pakistan? In Australia, you are required to prove yourself, mentally and physically at all levels of the game, including several years in what is the most competitive first class cricket structure before you are even considered. We get fond of these 18 year old kids, and just throw them to the wolves without knowing anything about how they can handle pressure and the rigours of cricket.

It is quite shameful, this defeat. But I think this write up is typical of the sub-continent's mentality which is as quick to lionize the pretenders as it is to bring down the just loosers.

Another case in point is India's defeat. Pakistan did much better than India all in all, they fought tooth and nail, atleast the bowlers did, while the Indians just whiled away. If Inzamam is a bad captain then Dravid is simply the dregs. If Woolmer is bad, Chappel is a criminal offender. I see India on a flight back home soon as well. Maybe we can book them on the same flight back, India and Pakistan. Inzy would also get time to finish his shopping by then.

I agree.Bring fresh blood.What about Shoab Malik for captain and involve Imran Khan in management

what a fantastic letter... could not have put in better myself... although somehow i have some sympathy for inzi when i saw how demorilised he was... he has always said his players have to up their game and they all failed him... but the basics were just not there... 5 wickets down and nazir, akmal, mahmoud all still going for sixes... truly pathetic... most of all i blame the pak management for being such a bunch of corrupt cunts... from the whole asif/shoaib saga which they well and truly fucked up to the waqar sacking... we need to replace this team with our u19 team except keep gul, younis, yousaf, afridi, and malik... where the fuck was anwar ali is this world cup?!? we decided to continue to toll with the most useless bowlers in international cricket who have proven in the last 6 months how shit they have become... rana naveed go back to sheikhupura back to your shop please

Kamran -
One of my friends accurately pointed out that while South Africa and Australia have been hammering the minnows, India and Pakistan have struggled against them. Its a sad day for both former world champs as they were both humbled by much much lower ranked teams. Cricket is a great leveller and the teams from the "big teams" from the subcontinent are always the ones quoted when referring to this adage. The truth is that we always play to save a game when in trouble while all the other teams do not compromise on aggression. This sense of inevitability often leads us to keep tripping on our own feet and sink further into a self constructed quagmire. The other thing we need to learn from the better teams is that superstars are superstars as long as they perform, otherwise they should be no better than bench-warmers.
!! Sanjay !!

!!!. Totally agree with you man. Why not Mhd.Yousuf a gud choice for next captain??

Yes i agree with Kamran Abbasi that the best thing Inzi & Dr. Ashraf can do for Pakistan cricket is to leave. Look at our young tigers Tamim , Musfiq, Saqib all three are 18-19 years old. Look their committment & patriotim. How the brought down Mighty Indian to earth. We have second love to Pakistan Cricket Team because Great Wasim replied the question when we beat Pak in 1999 world cup-"We lost to our brother". So we fill hart when PAk lost to a team Like Ireland. Last 4/5 one day matches Pakistan did not cross 200 runs. In a country where country is running by military leadership in that country it is natural that PCB is also running by One man leadership. There is no democracy either in team selection or in team management.So we request to Pak team not to participate in major tournament involving teams like AUS,IND,WI,SA or BAN.

It is bad and unfortunate ?
Now its happened.
Now the question is, how many people will leave the set up?
Will the dummy Captain, Yunis Khan leave as he is also responsible ?

When will all team come back to Pakistan after performing Umra - Thanks to Allah ?

Will the Dcoc stay there at PCB expense till the worldcup final ?

Sarmad
London

Inzy, Bob..and all the paki players...U bunch of losers..u disappointed us...we hate ya all...we hate ya.....

Well done Ireland.

Go to hell Pakistan.

Where do we start from?...this is so shambolc it defies belief. Lets try and pick up some pieces. Firstly, let me make it clear that I am not a cricketing expert and these observations come from the common sensical observation of an average Pakistan cricket fan.

The events on the cricket ground seem to be a reflection of the wider political and social circumstances prevailing in our homeland.

For way too long now, Pakistan has lacked inspirational leadership. Inzi will go down in the books as one of the greatest Batsmen of this era and a very nice and humble bloke he is , but he has failed umpteen times as a leader. The fact that when he saw his batting side wobbling ( on numerous occasions now) he never moved up the order to take the bull by the horns , instead went down the order disgusts me. If your team leader is going to protect himself from the "Swing", who is going to play , wrong signals throughout.

Bob Woolmer....great coach, really admire him but i feel over the last few months/years he has hit a plateau with the team and seems to be struggling to take them forward . I am indeed very critical of one of his approaches , the approach to fill the team with allrounders, he did this when he was with South Africa and he has done this with us now , the decision to recall Azhar was never going to work , it was obvious , the guy is a spent force, and him replacing Danish kaneria , a specialist leg spinner seemed diabolical and bore it self out. When bad times come for teams they go running , recalling the players of the past instead of ensuring the young ones stand up to be counted, India ( SOurav Ganguly) and Paksian and examples of such and Australia is an example to the contrary. they will make the newcomers fight to the end , they have expectations to reach , one way or the other , they MUST do the job , because no one else will.

I suspect, with a heavy heart, Bob will be asked to leave following this debacle , and I am sorry to say , he must bear part of the responsibility, alongwith Inzi....we must move on.

Completely agree with Kamran , the shit must move on right to the top. The cronies MUST pay a price. Inzi and Bob are responsible at the ground level, the administration at top are the eventual responsble people.

Our team must start afresh. We must be prepared to lose a few , the young ones must be made to work bloody hard to earn what they get , nothing should be taken for granted , the bowlers must continue their good work , the batsman have to pick up their game many notches, it is eventually the batting which got us, the bowlers did a reasonable job.

Can somebody PLEASE get rid of Mohammad Hafeez???...the guy has been given an unbelievable number of chances and has not come through ONCE. you can fool some people some of the times but this guy seems to be hell bent on fooling the whole nation at all given times. What happened to Yasir hameed, Salman butt, Taufiq Umar. why was Danish nt playing , why is Niazi just a member of the squad and not plaing any matches if he is alleged to be very good. The era of the "bits and pieces player" is over, it is the era of responsibility of the specialist.

Captaincy must be given to an unbriddled spirit, somebody with pride and passion, energy which is contagious , not an introvert like inzi, but somebody who is a bit of a gambler in his nature whilst leading from the front. unfortunately, I cannot come up with a single name at the minute, but maybe Shoaib malik, he seems to manage responsibility reasonably well , Younis is going to be a bad choice , mark my words. He is arrogant , which is good, but does not possess the substance to sustain that arrogance and more often than not will end up making a fool of himself and us.

We have hit rock bottom, it certainly cannot get any worse , can it ??....second thoughts , yes it can , the PCB can make Hafeez the new captain!!!! (Joke...PCB please ignore this suggestion!!!)

Let them play , no politics , just hard work , push them to their limits and persevere with the ones who show promise and commitment and this will not repeat it self.

I hope for the best for our beloved country.

I think Pakistan never could get a reasonable opening pair. Imran Nazir started his career in mar 1999 against Srilanka and every since he has the same batting style. M Hafeez not technicaly strong enough to absorbe the pressure. Younis Khan always tries to open his inning by hitting big shots. Pakistan has more than 20 first class playing teams with more than 100 specialist batsmen. How on earth we couldn't find a single reasonable opener in more than 10 years? Shame...

In my opinion, shoaib malik shud be made captain and afridi should be his deputy in ODI but since afridi is not a permenant member of the test team, we need some 1 else to take the responsibility of VC in test.

i know this sound odd, but this odd is not necessarily wrong.

inzi will surely step down as captain, and should retire from ODI's but should play test for a while.

younis need to be dropped from ODI's, he is useless. but he is an integral part of the test team......... may be he should only play test like langer.

Well it's the same old story...a spicy pitch and presto! Pak batting collapses...doesn't really matter who the opposing team is...before we were a bit luckier and the tail used to bail us out...getting us to a 'respectable' score of around 180...and then ofcourse we had some fine bowlers like Waqar, Wasim who would even win some games for us...or at least make it tough for the opposition...

The only thing that is different nowadays is that the tail is much weaker and the bowling is not even a shadow of what it was before, and theres no where for us to hide our pathetic top order's failings anymore... I guess the only solution is for PCB to try to get some pitch experts and make more bowler friendly pitchse in domestic cricket...but thats been said so many times by so many people, and it's still not been acheived, it seems that it's impossible to do...

The aftermath here will be like WC 2003 all over agian...a few heads rolled, a few fresh faces came in the team-just to appease the public's thirst for 'justice', but nothing really done to fix the underlying problems with Pak cricket...

In 4 years time we will be in the same situation...but don't be alaramed!...the next WC will be in the sub-continent...so we may actually make it to the second round!!

PS. well played by the Irish...when Pak were batting it seemed like Pak were the underdogs and not the other way around! Also to Pak fans...cheer up it's just a game :)

Well, Kamran, i think you have spoken for the entire nation, and covered up most of the parts pretty well.If only we were allowed to swear in this blog, than this website would have crashed due to the endless amount of swearing that this entire side deserves!A leader like Inzi makes the entire team look like a bunch of unfocused amateurs, whose main target is to spread islam more than anything else.

My recommendation for captaincy would be a young guy like Mohd Hafeez. We have to learn from what South Africa did with Smith and NewZealand did with Fleming. They were both ordinary and inexperienced players who seemed to have that little extra to be a leader, and that extra bit brought out the best. Shoaib Malik seems to be too lethargic (in line of Inzi) to be fit for the job. We must find young energectic players, who would actually put the picture of Pakistani cricket in front of the world: EXCITING AND ENERGECTIC. Inzi, your 11000 runs are no good for us if they dont come when required. Bob and Mr. Ashraf, please look for a job where your decisions will not directly effect any individual, as you both are born to fail.

Our team deserve that it should be handed over to Punjab Police in black courts and should be given the same treatment which is now a days given to lawyers.

Wonderfully summed up Kamran..! I've been watchin cricket intriguingly ever since 1998, I seriously don't think i've missed more than 10 games ever since. The amount of talent these guys possess is unbelievable but amount of times they click togethor is once in a blue moon.

1)Inzy should retire, He has been a truely wonderful batsman ever since he came on the seen 1992 but now his times up, sorry.

2)Shoaib Malik should be made captain, Ive seen him captain at domestic level and he has done a good job.

3) Shahid afridi should be made vice-captain instead of Younis Khan after his comments in the champions trophy last year. Even though Afridi is a free spirit, maybe this might give him some responsibility.

Hope is what we had... and you took that away from us!
May Pakistan Cricket Rest In Peace!

I totally understand your frustration Mr Abbasi. As an Indian supporter I feel the same way albeit that Bangladesh is a minutely better team than Ireland. I believe this has been a rude awakening for these grossly overpaid and idolized cricketers who take their huge fan base for granted. Pak should take a hard stand and treat their players like Ganguly was dealt with.

i had never expected pakistan to loose so badly in the world cup.....not only me but the whole nation expected then to atleast qualify for the super eight...it would be har to overcome this trauma...but theres nothing one can do...moreovver its time for inzi to retire....nd the team which i would like to see after the world cup is
1.shahid afridi(captain)2.yasir hameed 3.mohammed yousuf 4.shoaib malik 5.mohammed hafeez 6.bazid khan 7.kamran akmal 8.abdul razzaq 9.rao ifthikhar
10.mohammed sami 11.umar gul ........shoaib and asif should replace sami nd rao if the return

interesting sms i juz recieved:

"pak cricket died at 3 am tonight.inna lillahe wa inna elaehay rajeoon.funeral will be held on March 21 after the match against zimbabwe.maulana Inzi will lead namaz-e-janaza."

Pakistan cricket won't go anywhere unless it is reformed from the ground up, we should look to the "Academy of Excellence" in Australia to figure out how exactly to go about to recruit and groom; technically correct players who have a temperment of keeping the bigger picture in mind and going about their jobs as cricketers in a professional manner.

Unless we reform everything from the PCB, cricket academy and local leagues we really are just wasting our time going around in circles putting a team of unruly and indisciplined players together thinking they could win the World Cup and be the team to beat for other nations.

Wake up Pakistan!

Pakistan's world cup campaign is finally over. Every Pak fan is disappointed and most of them may not even want to talk about cricket for a long time. I think before we open another flood gate of traditional emotional outbreak of ours, we should take a moment and honestly look at the fundamental problems in a more constructive way. Future outlook of the team does not look bright if we just scrap our defeated team. No player wants to perform the way our team did today and I am sure that the most dishearten Pakistanis are the Pak team itself. Its time to move on as world cup is just another big tournament. I would like to see Pak fans showing character in the times of a defeat. Throwing dirty eggs or stones on the team is not going to improve our future in cricket and it is certainly not the sign of a civilized nation.

i agree with some of the above especially the doc.

but to flout inzamam like that is not the right way. he has brought a lot to pakistan cricket and if you look back some of his teams performances in 2005 against india where we drew in losing situations and even won.

shoaib should be given life ban.. muhammed asif should also be peanalised heavily for his drugs taking. for if these two were in squad wee would have a team its these two players who have tarnished and rubbed the name of pakistan and pakistan cricket in the mud.

Bob and inzamam u brought a lot to pakistan cricket but now its a time for change..

younis for captain

why you wrote only australia?
shame on me too with you go to hell pakistani captain he is a lazy person i saw ever in my life he don't know how to use bowler spec. he never used malik and haffez for atleast 10/10 overs
3 i pay 200 box to watch the whole tournament spec when i wanna watch afridi to play but i have to pay the price nothing to watch
4.why younis khan playing in this one day team
5. remove inzy he is lazy dull
6.never trust on this team again this is not a team player just everyone fighting for rights(WHO KEHTE HAI NA NAWABI KARNE KA SHOCK NAHI GAYA NAWAB TO RAHE NAHI) they all fit for this
6. KITNE DIL TOTE AJJJ AAI PATHER DIL TUJHE MALOOM NAHI KASH TERE SINE MEIN BHI EK DIL HOTA
I PERSONALY LIKE SAHIOB MALIK AND AFRIDI FUTURE CAPTAIN AND VICE CAPTAIN I WANTED SOME GOOD PLAYER
LIKE ANWER ALI
SARFRAZ AHMED
JASMED AHMED
AND SOME LIKE MORE AND MAY BE SARFRAZ BE THE CAPTAIN
INZI SAHME ON YOU
they broke my heart

U said very right that PCB requires to be run by people appointed on the basis of merit not friendship or relationship.People of Pakistan want the recogsnations of Sir Doc Naseem Ashraf, Maullana Caption INZI BIG BHAI,(Aap k liye 1 mashwara hai k kisi sarkas main hathion ko training ki job dhoond len)and our LEP TOP Coach(Please go & try somewhere in IT company for job). I have some more good options 4 U.U may contect me at 0800 20032007. Now the question is what to do with Pak team.First of all look 4 somebody very fit & diciplened caption in Pak team.Sorry 4 that Osman here i will not agree with ur suggetion about Younis.To be very honest this man has no place in Pak Odi team.Second one is shoaib Malik. He is a very good fighting crickter,but on him iwe can't trust now because of some reasons.everybody knows that.Third is Afridi,let him try and give him the full authority of team selection.And ask him we need only very very good results.And gihe him some time limits.We want to be NO 1. we want to beat Australia & South Africa in every field of game.I think U and a lot of people will agree with that.ALLAH HAFIZ:

media, judiciary, executive, cricket every thing is in shambles ..
i've lost hope/interest in cricket..
i'm better off with the premier leages and the UEFA ..
adios cricket..

Assalamoalikum!
You cant just say that it was another bad day, give me these 15 players and I show you how to handle your guys. The problem is a little bit deep rooted, you have to scratch the surface a bit. Think about it, did Bob or Inzamam think about the suggestions on these blogs? Why is it sum-mun, buk mun (bkind and deaf). What were they thinking that they will mange some how with out giving it a serious thought, no way. For me its not only the question of cricket but also the question of our poor nation. Until there is rule of law and justice in the tree (Pakistan), please do not expect the branches (all organizations including PCB) to be green and fruitful. No one,absolutely no one is above law/justice. Even though I strongly believe that this team was not selected totally on merit, still they should have done much better. The question is
Are we willing to sit down, think and learn now?
I doubt it, as the "maniana" (dung tapao) culture is running in our blood. I hope/wish/pray that things get better at all levels (amin).

People outside of pakistan, u dont understand. This is d biggest embarrasment for pakistan since i dont know when. None of us understand d reprucussions of this.. All the players will have to sneak bak into d country should stay in solitude for a few months. F**king hell.... I'm an irish pakistani and i'm ashamed to be a pakistani today.....
At the moment i dont see anyway out of this.
We played like cowards. This shows our whole mentality to the world. We saw ireland, presumed we would win. The saw d green wicket and instantly after losing the toss, heads were down. Wat the hell. These paki payers are getting payed millions (in dollars) and lts not forget we are a 3rd world country. They should atleast make an effort. Look at South africa, austrailia, srilanka... They got minnows, took them on professionaly and did their job. Us pakistanis. we're always leaving it for someone else to do. This is a terrible reflection onn the people of our country but this is how the world see us now.
I dont know wat i'm writing here but i have never been so pissed off at a bunch of people in my life. I dont know how they are gonna get out of this

It was devastating performance,this whole team should be gone except for few players.PCB should spend money not on these tired spineless greedy players. The best approach would be to get 13, 14 year old boys and send them to the cricket academy and teach them language, fighting spirit, and of course the basic technique how to play, cricket not do dope,and concentrate on fitness. Bangladesh is doing something like this and see the results. An acadmy like militry acadmy.That money will be worth spent.

Well now that its over one can only look at the better aspects of it, atleast it was 'quick', wouldnt say painless. I agree with the option of Afridi as Captain, its now time for drastic measures. Pakistan's confidence and self beleif has hit rock bottom, we need someone to lead our team who has a whole lot of it even to the level of craziness and I beleive that Afridi can provide the team with that massive dosage of belief and fighting spirit. Coming back