Mohsin Khan as Chief selector: Give the Credit where it is Due

Take a look at the following scenario:


A humiliating tour of Australia followed by stepping down of the Chief selector; Indefinite Life-bans on several star players along with heavy fine on others; few key players out of the side due to injuries and a much speculated player power in the team. This was the time when Mohsin Hassan Khan took over the charge as a Chief Selector, with a tough task of choosing a team from a very limited pool of individuals.
Mohsin Khan selected the team for T20 World Championship in Carribean, Asia Cup and the England tour. Induction of new players to replace the old ones in order to rebuild a team was bound to take some time in order to make any impact. As the young unit was coming in terms with international level, another jolt of 'spot fixing' came out on the scene which resulted in the ban of 3 integral members of the squad to make it further worse for Mohsin khan. These were the initial 6 to 7 months of his tenure; the worst possible.

Today, almost a year later, there has been a complete turn around, a miraculous one. The Test side of Pakistan has never been this stable and consistent in all those past years. The One day squad has depth and the bench strength is heartening to see. To build and erect a shattered team on its feet in just about a year's time is a remarkable achievement. Let's take a closer look at Mohsin Khan's tenure as a chief selector.

The analysis will be according to the Test match side as this format of the game requires more stability than the limited overs cricket- in which teams can afford to experiment with their combinations every now and then. 

  Pakistan Team was struggling to make an impact as a solid Test playing country with dismal performances in Sri Lanka and Australia while managing a drawn series in New Zealand. After disciplinary actions were taken on several big names like Younis and Yousuf, Mohsin Khan faced a challange to select an inexperienced team for the difficult tour of England in 2010, which included 6 Tests in total. This was the first time Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Zulqarnain Haider and Wahab Riaz were selected in the Test side. As expected, the team combination could not settle during the tour, because the team was still in a rebuilding phase with number of its key players out of the side for diverse reasons. To put salt on the wound, first Afridi and then Salman Butt had to leave the captaincy after the tour. Azhar Ali and Wahab Riaz justified their selection though.
South African series in UAE was a turning point in revival of Pakistan's test position. A shocking appointment of Misbah as a captain, rebirth of Younis as a player and a promising start to Azhar Ali's career suddenly provided the middle order with a much needed stability. Asad Shafiq's debut performance was highly encouraging. But the most important selection for this tour were the openers; Hafeez and Taufeeq. Both earned their places through strong domestic performances and for some of you, who have been following Pakistan's test cricket for a long time, it will be a surprise to see that these two have opened together consecutively in last 8 Test matches of Pakistan, which has always been a  rarity in unstable batting line up. 


The Team since than has more or less been the same along with being consistent. They had a drawn Series against South Africa and West Indies while a series win over New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Top 5 batsman have a guaranteed place in the side which include Toufeeq, Hafeez, Azhar, Younis and Misbah, due to their strong consistent performances. Number 6 has been closely fought by two young talents, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq, so this place is relatively open to any one of them along with Shoaib Malik to a lesser extent. Adnan Akmal is yet to prove his talent with bat but his glove-work has been better than the older Akmal for sure. He was also selected by Mohsin Khan for the South African series. Bowling department, after many experimentations, have a bunch of names which were scarce when Mohsin Khan took over. With a bowler like Wahab Riaz struggling to find his way in the playing eleven, the fast bowling department has a certain depth. Junaid and Cheema have been a promising finds along with Tanvir Ahmad in reserve. Umar Gul, being the spearhead, is leading the bowling attack with responisibility. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman fill the shoes of spinners. Pakistan's Test side has never looked this settled.


Who would have imagined to see Pakistan cricket team in its current balanced outfit after the miserable tours of Australia and England last year? The credit goes to Mohsin Khan for transforming a shattered team into a stable unit. May be I am going too far but Mohsin Khan, according to me, has been the most successful Chief Selector Pakistan has witnessed in the last few years.

Noisy Niazi

She walks like a guy, talks like a guy and gawks like a guy. She's the MAN of her group. She has everything in her style which discriminates her from being a girl. She's Bossy, She has a masculine gait, She's high on pranks, She's always over the top with her voice - She is a 'Noisy Niazi'.

On a tense day of an Exam while students are going through last-minute revision, the Niazi leads her group into the cafe with her characteristic care-free gait, headphones in her ear and hands inside the pockets of her jeans. She orders a cup of tea, sits back and shuffles the play-list on her Ipod while her friends are suffering from pre-exam panic disorder. She grabs a book about 10 minutes before the start of exam; goes through the pages halfheartedly; cheats to the maximum fearlessly in the examination hall and eventually gets more marks than her friends. She celebrates her 'minimum input maximum output' effort in a loud voice - She's a 'Noisy Niazi'.


She's notorious. She has a dominant personality but there's the other side of coin too. The Noisiness of Niazi is restricted to the premises of University only. Back home is a complete turn around of her personality. She restricts herself to her room. The play-list shifts from heavy metal to sentimental. The notorious spark of eyes are transformed into tears. The person, who boss around others during the day, has almost no control over her own emotions back home.


She's very much a girl for her close friends. She speaks softly in a beautiful voice. She likes to dress and wear make up like a girl. She likes to be looked after. She's caring and she has a quality to absorb the pain of others. She has a soft heart; Not-so-Noisy Niazi.

The reason for this split personality is even unknown to her. Even if it is a broken heart or any familial problem, one thing is clear for sure; a person, who tries to be strong in front of others having a fake smile, is the one who is empty inside. She may sound noisy to other but deep inside, she is as calm as standing water. Although the Niazi is noisy for others, so is the Volcano, which remains silent for most of its life.

PPP, Qaddafi and Nusrat Bhutto

Within a span of last few days, Pakistan Peoples Party has lost two of their close affiliates. Nusrat Bhutto, wife of the party founder, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Yes, you have read the name correctly - Qaddafi. Both deaths, however, have met with obvious discrimination by PPP.

Qaddafi's sad demise is a matter of concern for Muslims all over the world. Fine, he was a tyrant and he carried out some controversial actions during his rule but he was a strong and influential political leader for the Muslim world. Qaddafi was the first Leader who declared his support for Pakistan to pursue the development of Nuclear weapons against the will of United States during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government. He was in tremendous relations with Pakistan during Bhutto's government and It was Qaddafi who gave Pakistan the honorable title of 'Fort of Islam', which we Pakistani's brag about without remembering the actual person who came up with it. Qaddafi's subsequent relations with Zia and Nawaz Shareef were horrible. The relations were back to normal during Benazir Bhutto's government. In short, Qaddafi had a prosperous relationship with PPP, the current governing party of Pakistan.

A public holiday was observed today after the sad death of Nusrat Bhutto along with the announcement of 10 days of grief. She had been battling hard with death while being on a ventilator for few years now in Dubai. She was the one who kept the Party on its feet after the death of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and it is mainly due to her efforts that were made in those tough circumstances that PPP is in the government today.

I question the logic of a public holiday on the death of a person who was surviving on a ventilator since last 4-5 years. In a country like Pakistan where we are facing economic, electrical and industrial crises, three consecutive holidays is nothing less than a suicide. Where our government departments should work 7 days a week to overcome the shortcomings in every field, they are working 4 days a week. Ridiculous!

On one hand, the government is being gracious to this nation by providing them with an extra holiday on the death of a person who had been dying each moment for the past few years on vent but on the other hand, there has been no condolence over the brutal humiliation, before and after the death, of a person who was a staunch supporter of the founder of PPP, the current government, by the hands of rebels and NATO in front of whole world. Don't you think the current government should have shown some concern over the demise of Qaddafi and treated it equally with the death of Nusrat Bhutto?

Famous Personalities with Depression

Depression is well known as 'The Silent Killer'. It is a state of low mood that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, empty, hopeless, helpless, anxious, worthless, guilty and restless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable. Depressed people may restrict themselves from family and social life altogether. Depression comes under the field of Psychiatry - a branch of Medicine.

Prevalence of this state of low moods among common people is widespread but there have been a number of famous people who have also suffered at the hands of Depression. The list includes the following:

1) Lady Diana, Princess of Wales: She might have been a princess to world but in hearts of hearts, she was a normal person. Diana's married life was never a perfect one. She died ultimately in a road accident near Paris.

2) Heath Ledger, An Australian Actor: Joker of 'The Dark Night' had almost nothing to laugh about during the last days of his life as he suffered from severe depression. Overdose of drugs brought his life to a full stop.

3) Eminem, An American Rapper: As obvious from some of his songs, his family life has always been in tatters. Eminem went into severe depression which kept him out of the scene for a good few years. Fortunately, he went into a Rehab and has recovered well. His new album, 'Recovery', speaks clearly for his revival.

4) Christian Bale, A British Actor: Batman of 'The Dark Night' also went through a severe depressive phase before his back-with-a-bang effort as a new Batman.

5) Isaac Newton, a British Physicist: He was probably in a state of depression while he was sitting under an apple tree and following his law of gravitation along with other discoveries, he has been a cause of depression among physics students worldwide.

6) Britney Spears, An American Pop Star: Another pop star who has been undergoing a rehabilitation after severe depressive state.

7) Abraham Lincon, 16th U.S President: Due to early death of his sons, Lincon went into a condition of Melancholy- Clinical Depression, before being assassinated in 1865.

8) Ronnie O'Sullivan, An English Snooker Player:  3 times World Champion in Snooker, O'Sullivan suffers from clinical depression and has had drug related problems.

9) Michelangelo, An Italian Painter and Sculptor: Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor of all time, was known to be anti-social and was often known to be in a lonely and depressive state. He never used to care about his outlook and the impression he used to leave on people.

10) Angelina Jolie, An American Actress: Angelina Jolie had a tough 1997 when she had a horrible experience with drugs and depression. She even thought about hiring a Hitman to kill her and she remained in a Psychiatry ward for 3 days just before her marriage. She's a top Star and an active social worker now.

Life after Ijaz Butt

October 8 has Brought two major calamities for the people of Pakistan in the recent history; 1) The devastating Earthquake of 2005 and 2) The start of a horrible tenure of Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, in 2008. As Cricket is followed like a religion in this country, these 3 years have been like a nightmare for every cricket lover in Pakistan.

Fine, Ijaz Butt was not responsible for the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan Team's bus which happened just a few months after his tenure started. It wouldn't have been easy for any administrator to run the cricket affairs at that time but blunders after blunders along with weak leadership was enough to put Pakistan Cricket astray. From change of captains till the removal of coaches; from receiving resignations by 3 senior cheaf selectors till the imposition of life bans on senior players, from U-turn on life bans till the favoritism in the management staff, Ijaz Butt didn't leave any stone unturned in disgracing Pakistan at the world level. No efforts were being made to bring International Cricket back in Pakistan. Minnows like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Afghanistan could have easily visited Pakistan to revive international cricket in the country but the 'business minded ' Butt's first priority was a healthy financial gain. Team shattered during his reign when 8 players swore upon The Holy Book to remove an honest captain when he was on giving solid results. His tenure gave rise to players power as he was a weak administrator.  

Butt's tenure is taking its last breath and it has been in the news that Ali Raza, a business man, is about to fill in the big shoes of Ijaz Butt. Some people will argue that a non cricketing administrator cannot run the affairs of PCB but i have my own opinion. Life after Ijaz Butt can be like a sunrise after a prolonged state of darkness.

A businessman will first of all bring a variety of sponsors and attract them to invest on Team which is going to enhance the performance of players. 

He'll sort out the sour relationships of PCB with other boards and will try to regain the lost reputation in ICC.

A new chairman means that Shahid Afridi is going to announce the cancellation of his retirement, can a Pakistani fan ask for more than to see Boom Boom playing as soon as possible for Pakistan?. The musical chair of captaincy, team selection and U-turns on previous decisions will cease most probably which is going to provide a stable environment for players to perform on the field. 

In short, even though a non-cricketing chairman will not be accepted whole-heartedly by masses, Pakistan Cricket Board is in a dire need of a strict and staunch administrator who does his own job and let others do their own work without interference. We all hope for a better future of Pakistan Cricket under a new chairman as it can't get worse than what we have have been seeing during the last few years. Life after Ijaz Butt is a sign of hope and as far as I can see, the new tenure will mark the rise in Pakistan Cricket again.