Pakistan disappointed at Champions League exclusion

The Pakistan board has expressed its disappointment at not having a domestic team invited to participate in the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. This appears to be a u-turn on an earlier stance it had taken, when in the aftermath of the IPL snub to Pakistan players, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, had ruled out the participation of any Pakistan team in the Champions League. That, says the chairman however, was not what he had said at the time.

"Those comments of mine were about the IPL and our participation in that event and not at all about the Champions League," Butt told Cricinfo. "I had said our players would not be in the IPL because of what had happened at the auction. I did not say that our domestic teams would not go to the Champions League. Why would I deprive them of that opportunity? My comments were misinterpreted."

Nevertheless, the confusion means that Sialkot Stallions, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions five years running now, will again miss out on the most lucrative global club tournament in cricket. Sialkot, which won the RBS Twenty20 in March this year, could potentially include Pakistan players such as Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman and Abdul Razzaq. They were invited to take part in what would have been the inaugural Champions League at the end of 2008 but the terror attacks on Mumbai in November that year forced a postponement to 2009. By that time, relations between India and Pakistan having deteriorated, no team was invited from Pakistan.

"Nobody has invited us this year and that is disappointing," Butt said. "We asked them about it and we received no reply at all. We will take up this issue with the ICC. After all, why are we being discriminated against like this? Clubs from so many other countries are invited and our Sialkot side has done so well over the last few years."

A Champions League official, however, told Cricinfo that no Pakistan team had been considered for the 2010 tournament after Butt's statements in February. "Mr Butt had formally announced and communicated in February that no Pakistani team would be permitted to compete in the 2010 CLT20, and as Mr Butt is the Chairman of the PCB, the Governing Council of CLT20 could not and did not consider any invitations to Pakistani teams," the official told Cricinfo. "Unfortunately, due to the announcement by Mr Butt, it is now clearly too late to even consider the addition of Pakistani teams to the 2010 CLT20."

Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa, one if the founding members of the Champions League, also said it was too late to include a Pakistan team. "I don't think the PCB approached us," he told Cricinfo. "If that was the case we would've known earlier. Unfortunately it too late now, things have been finalised so there can be no question of sending an invite."

However, whether or not the league was ever considering inviting a team from Pakistan is open to question. Another tournament official told Cricinfo that "the plan was always to invite the same make-up of teams as 2009, with the understanding that if English teams were unavailable, the field would be reduced to 10 teams.

"To my knowledge PCB made no approaches to be included in this year's CLT20," he said. "There won't be any late invitations issued. The match schedule is being drafted at the moment and venues being finalised, so we're advanced in our planning."

That means Shahid Afridi, who helped South Australia qualify, could be Pakistan's only representative in the tournament this time round, although his national responsibilities until September 22 makes his participation uncertain as well. The number of teams taking part was reduced to ten this year (from 12) after the ECB said its sides could not take part because of a clash of dates with the end of the English domestic season. Other than Bangladesh and England this year, teams from all Test-playing countries participate in the tournament. The tournament is run jointly by the cricket boards of Australia, India and South Africa.

Twenty20 has room for proper stroke-makers - Salman Butt

    Salman Butt top-scored for Pakistan with 34 from 26 balls, England v Pakistan, Group E, World Twenty20, Barbados, May 6, 2010
Salman Butt cleared the rope only four times during the World Twenty20, but that did not prevent him from finishing third in the run-charts © Getty Images
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Salman Butt, the mainstay of Pakistan's batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20, believed that his success during the event was based on understanding that the youngest format of the game was not about just slogging.

"Twenty-over cricket has a place for what I would term "proper stroke-makers" - batsmen who play their shots on the merit of each delivery," Butt told Pakpassion.net. "Bowlers are fighting back when it comes to this form of the game and they are finding new ways to innovate and to restrict the batting side. As a batsman I think you have to play the high percentage shots, the shots that you know you can play, the shots that you feel you can score off effectively."

"If you think about it, get four or five singles in an over and one boundary in the same over, and you have accumulated eight or nine runs in that over, which if you can maintain and you will end up with 160-plus. It's not just about the fours and sixes". Butt was the third highest run-getter in the tournament, with 223 runs at 44.60, and a strike-rate of 131.17. Interestingly, he hit only four sixes during the tournament, fewer than anyone else in the top fifteen.

His top score came in the Super Eights match against New Zealand, which Pakistan contrived to lose by one run, when tail-ender Abdur Rehman spooned a catch into the deep off the last ball, with Butt stranded at the non-striker's end on 73. Butt had run a bye off the penultimate ball to relinquish the strike, and he backed his decision in hindsight.

"We needed 11 off the last over and then three off two deliveries after I managed to hit two boundaries. Rehman and I had a chat before the penultimate delivery and decided that we would go for a bye even if I did not connect with the ball. We scampered a bye and then had another chat before the final delivery. We decided that again we would run for anything and we were confident that if it went to the super over, in Mohammad Aamer we had a bowler who would see us to victory.

Rehman had not batted previously in the tournament as of course it was his first match, so I said to him to at least look for a single. However when the ball was bowled by [Ian] Butler, Rehman's eye's lit up at the leg-stump half volley. He went for a boundary and connected really well. If the ball had been a few yards either side of the fielder it would have gone for a boundary. Thinking back I thought the planning was satisfactory and it was really painful when we did not at least score a single on that final delivery," Butt said.

Despite that loss, their second in two Super Eights games, Pakistan roared back into the tournament with a fine victory against South Africa to enter the final four. They dominated their semi-final match against Australia from the outset and looked on course for their third consecutive World Twenty20 final before running into a rampaging Michael Hussey, who stole 18 off the final over to put it past them. Butt admitted there was little his side could have done to deny Hussey in that kind of form.

"Yes we can be satisfied with reaching the semi-finals, but the target is always to win trophies. We came back very well after the New Zealand defeat to beat the South Africans and I thought we were gaining enough momentum and on our way to the final. "We made the highest score any team made in the tournament against Australia, but it was one of those occasions where you have to credit Mike Hussey for his batting. I would say that rather than Pakistan losing the semi-final, it was more a case of Hussey winning the match for Australia," Butt said.

Butt credited his coaches, Ijaz Ahmed and Waqar Younis, for his fine run of form in the West Indies. "They really backed me during the tournament and gave me a lot of self-belief and confidence. As a batsman once you receive the backing and you have the self confidence, then that is half the battle," Butt said.

Butt hopes to feature in Pakistan's next assignment, the Asia Cup one-day tournament which will be held on the bowler-friendly wickets at Dambulla in Sri Lanka. "Hopefully I will get selected. The conditions in Dambulla are very tricky for top order batsmen as the ball seams around a lot in the first hour or so. Winning the toss could be pivotal in the result of the matches in Sri Lanka," he said.

After the Asia Cup, Pakistan embark on a tour of England where they will face the hosts and Australia in six Tests, and Butt is up for the potentially tough examination. "Facing the Australian and English bowling attacks will be a tough test. They are amongst the best bowling attacks in the world at the moment and they will thoroughly test me and the other Pakistani batsmen. However when you face tough opponents, it helps you to develop your game and to work harder at improvements in your game and technique," Butt said.

Butt's name has done the rounds as a potential captain for Pakistan in Test matches, following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, but he has not dwelled much on the possibility. "I have read a few articles in the press and I know that a few ex-players have suggested that I should be given the opportunity. Of course it would be an honour to lead my country, but it is not something I have been thinking about. I would much rather concentrate on my batting in the upcoming Asia Cup and tour of England," he said.

'I knew when I was 10 that I'd play Test cricket'

When I came out to bat in my first Test, in Australia, I asked Majid Khan what to do. He said, "Get ready to cut, hook and pull." I thought to myself, "I don't play those three shots at all."

I learned a lot just sitting in the ground and listening to cricketers like Fazal Mahmood. Since age five I wanted to play cricket, and since the time I was 10 there was no doubt in my mind that I would be a Test player.

The ball that I got out to on 199 wasn't much of a ball. Shivlal Yadav was bowling on the off stump and I had been making room to hit him square on the off side. He bowled the same ball when I was on 199 and I thought, "Ah, 200!" and went hard at it instead of timing it and got caught. As I walked off, I saw Sunil Gavaskar shaking his head. He couldn't believe what I had done.My father used to walk very fast and I would try to run after him. Most of the time I didn't have to run far because he was always stopped by people when he went out. He was loved by the people of Lahore.

I took a lot of pride in opening for Pakistan and following in my father's footsteps, but really, I wouldn't have got into the Pakistan side if I wasn't an opener. Wasim Raja, who was a brilliant player, struggled to get in because the middle order was so strong.

I was unprepared for my first Test. Sadiq Mohammad had injured his hand in Perth and we learned the night before the Adelaide Test that he couldn't play. Imran Khan, even in those days, had a lot to say. He piped up: "Mudassar is an opener, he can play". The captain, Mushtaq Mohammad, looked at me for the first time on the tour and said, "Oh yeah? Go put your pads on". He told Saleem Altaf to bowl to me in the nets. By this time it was getting dark. Altaf bowled three balls, all of which sailed over my head. But I was happy thinking about becoming a Test player. I didn't worry that I would be facing Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

Later in my career when I played down the order in Tests, it was a piece of cake. I couldn't believe how easy Test cricket was when batting at No. 6. The bowlers were tired, the ball was soft. When I played Thomson at No. 6, he was like a medium-pacer to me. That's why I don't believe specialist batsmen who play down the order are great players, unless it's someone like Garry Sobers, who also bowled a lot.

    
  
  

"I couldn't believe how easy Test cricket was when batting at No. 6. The bowlers were tired, the ball was soft. When I played Thomson at No. 6, he was like a medium-pacer to me"


  
  

The greatest feeling for me as a child was whenever Hanif Mohammad would come to town. I would pester my father that I wanted to shake hands with Hanif. My father would get one of the young cricketers, like Shafqat Rana, to take me to see Hanif and I would come home really, really happy. I don't know how many times I shook hands with Hanif.

When Imran became captain nobody knew what to expect. He was temperamental when he bowled, hated people misfielding off his bowling, and hated losing. But he quickly set himself apart. On the 1982 tour of England, he dropped Majid Khan in favour of Mansoor Akhtar, who had been scoring a lot of runs in the county games. Majid was the prince of Pakistan cricket, so dropping him could not have been easy. That's how the Imran Khan era started, by being fair to all members of the team. That one act had a huge impact, not just on the team but the administrators as well. Suddenly Pakistan cricket became more important than individual players.

Sadiq Mohammad was one of my heroes, and in my playing career there was no better opening batsman for Pakistan than him. But fortunately for me the team had some ageing players and they needed an extra seamer and a good fielder. That gave me the edge over Sadiq.

My first Test was the first time I faced genuinely fast bowlers. When I came on strike to face Thomson, I noticed all the fielders were behind the wicket. I was a front-foot player and the ball kept going past my nose, and Rodney Marsh collected it over his head. I didn't know what was happening and thought the ball was swinging a lot. I looked towards the dressing room and everyone was doubled over laughing. No one had said a word to me about what was going to happen and how to play, and I was completely unprepared. I thought it was cruel, and when I became a senior player we made sure that sort of thing didn't happen.

I could have achieved more if I wasn't colour blind. If a tall bowler bowled a yorker in front of a marginal sight-screen, I would lose sight of the ball and get bowled. It was only in 1980 that I found out I was colour blind. Then it all started to make sense. When I was about 16, AH Kardar had noticed something was wrong. I heard him say to someone, "Nazar's son doesn't pick the ball early enough".

I enjoyed batting with Javed Miandad the most. We were both quick between the wickets and I had played with him since our Under-19 days. We had a few partnerships of over a hundred runs. Javed was a fantastic team man. If I had to pick a batsman to bat for my life from any of the players I played with or against, it would be him.

On the night before the final day of the 1983 Hyderabad Test, Sarfraz Nawaz told me that he had figured out Gundappa Viswanath and Kapil Dev. He said he would get Viswanath lbw and knock out Kapil's stumps. I just laughed. But the next morning he trapped Viswanath on the back foot and then looked over at me. A few balls later he bowled an outswinger to Kapil and bowled him. Sarfraz came running over and picked me up, shouting, "I told you! I told you!"

When I carried my bat, I hadn't been thinking of becoming part of the first father-son pair to do so. I was aware that my father had carried his bat, but I don't think it crossed my mind when I was batting, as Kapil Dev took three quick wickets to end the innings.

Aamer had no access to mobile phone - ICC

The ICC and PCB have clarified speculation emerging from Tuesday's Asia Cup opener between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Dambulla about a Pakistan player possibly using a cell phone in the dressing room.

Pakistani TV channels picked up on footage from the game which showed Mohammad Aamer sitting in the dressing room balcony with a helmet on, with one hand to his right ear, speaking to someone while waiting to bat. The channels implied that he was talking on a cell phone, an act in contravention of existing ICC anti-corruption rules which don't allow players to take phones into the dressing room.

The PCB emphatically denied this was the case, saying that Aamer was talking generally to the team about the situation of the match. In a statement, the board said that the manager Yawar Saeed "has confirmed to us that the rumors...are totally false and unfounded. Cell phones are not allowed under ICC & PCB rules, and as such are always collected by the security manager from every member of the squad except the manager.

"Aamer was next to go in for batting and he was sitting next to team manager along with the other members of the team in the viewing area. They were all talking about the match situation and Aamer had his hand on his helmet which has been interpreted out of context."

The ICC confirmed that the ACSU had investigated the incident and come to a similar conclusion. "The ACSU has thoroughly investigated the alleged breach...including speaking to the relevant people involved, and is satisfied that there is no evidence of Mohammad Aamer making use of a mobile phone while sitting in the dressing room yesterday (June 15) during the match against Sri Lanka at Dambulla," the ICC said.

"Although the very short video clips that are publicly available could mislead viewers into thinking he was holding on to a cell phone and speaking to someone, upon closer scrutiny the fact emerges that Mohammad was actually holding on to the front grill of his helmet, adjusting it, and at the same time making a comment to his team manager, Yawar Saeed, seated to his immediate left."

The ACSU, as a practice, collect the mobile phones of all the players and officials before a game starts. Only the team's manager is allowed to have a phone inside the area.