Cricket World Cup 2015 and Pakistani media (unnecessary) hype

Ahmed Shehzad, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Younus Khan and
Misbah ul Haq posing with a selfie

Pakistan's prospects in the upcoming Cricket World Cup is touched gloomy because of upcoming injury prone cum inexperienced bowling and with an un-dependent batting and unreliable fielding, I must say if we qualify for the second round, it'd be a bonus cuz I don't expect them to be going that way, with a bleak batting line which can't defend its bowling, is a big setback especially Downunder in Australia and New Zealand, plus with Pakistan squad for the Cricket World Cup already hit with injuries and ban, with their replacements making either a comeback or making a debut in Cricket World Cup, what do you expect off them?

So do we expect them to perform there? The team which played in South Africa in 2003 was the most powerful of Pakistani team consisting of Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Abdul Razzaq, Inzamam ul Haq, etc but still they were not able to proceed beyond the round robin, so compared to that Cricket World Cup, can we expect these 'parrots' to perform here, the land where in 1992, they had won the trophy? Hard to admit but statistics say that this is the weak and the bleakest Pakistani squad about to play in CWC.

What about the (team) management?

We have got that management who has not balls (sorry about my words) to experiment with the new blood and recycling the already used ones, if we compare our team with Sri Lanka, they have a team with both experience and live wire both. Here we have made (I am sorry) the teams on viewer's choice instead of their capabilities, thanks to pressurization by our 'beloved media', عوام کی آواز، عوام کی آواز کہہ کہہ کر عوام کو الو کا پٹھا بنایا ہوا ہے۔

The Media

Does it happen anywhere else in the world, that teams have been designed and their planning and strategies being discussed in media? India shows itself vibrant in media but still even their media doesn't do such crap reporting to create news, I wished so many news channels weren't there, induction and dropping of players are being discussed openly in media, are there any norms on which media could be flasked to? Because such media coverage can  be done where your viewership is educated and have they have an idea of what they have been watching off-late, instead of getting inspired from them. 

Because I personally didn't like this k عوام دیکھنا چاہتی ہے، my argument is only this that if people want to see such crap (which I know, they don't but still making the guys at media little breathing space), let them while educating them as well, else if you're so sincere with them, do whatever they want show whatever they want, including blocked material (Google what actually people in Pakistan have been browsing throughout 2014). The real job of 'Media' is not to expose team's strategies instead promoting them like Star do with Team India, Sky with England, and counterattack propagation against them, instead of exposing themselves in the cricketing world.

Indian on the other hand have been busy with their media hype, and trying to reduce the pressure on their team performance in Australia by showing shows of other teams' performances of how they won the trophy, the number of times I have seen Pakistan's 1992 CWC triumph on Star Sports couple of times (astonishingly), is something I've never seen on Star off late. This is the way their media is trying to let their team be off light, and the expectation from other teams arises.

Plus the way, Indian media is promoting their kit that their apparel has been made from recycling plastic bottles, can't our media do this way? Can't they do such reporting instead of Tit-For-Tat sort of childish and immature reporting? Teams try that they reduce the pressure of expectation off their team and maintain a 'quiet strategy' instead of vomiting them all over, first in electronic media, than social media and than to the whole world.

Team India's Bleed Blue for
2015 Cricket World Cup

By childish and immature reporting I mean to say;

• Instead of reporting WITH the statistics, they have been more favoring sentiments, keeping in mind we are very DOWN-TO-EARTH people, who rate some big bashers who just play once in a blue moon, as their greatest heroes, else there was a time, when MEDIA was not there, when we used to RATE players like Inzamam and Miandad who knew how to STAY on the wicket instead of playing on the philosophy of DEAR I AM COMING IN JUST A MOMENT. Everyone likes bang bang, even me but it requires some responsibility as well, it's not fair that we degrade players who KNOW the art of staying on the wicket and later accelerate.
• Avoid disclosing the team strategies just because of your TRP's issues, your opponents always login to your TV channels for reading the plan and strategies for Pakistan.
• While watching today's Star Sports 1, astonishingly I am watching how Pakistan went through the Cricket World Cup in 2011 to the Semi Final, plus after that, Irish Kevin O'Brian fastest world cup fastest century inning is shown, instead of Yuvi's innings against the Aussies etc, just because THEY want to ease the already exerted pressure on their team, because they treat their cricket team as THEIRS, do we treat ours as ours? This is just pathetic display from our so called vibrant media.
• If they want to have something to report on, they could had reported on the jersey because jerseys and gears have been currently one of the better ways of marketing our team, which could be used for betterment of cricket structures in the country, عوام دیکھنا چاہتی ہے while saying this, they have ruined the stature of this nation, instead of grooming them (because they are required to) spoiling them, just like those parents who fulfil every wish of their child to ruin him/her to the most.



Aussie 'Golden Yellow' attire for 2015 Cricket World Cup

• Instead of criticising who was selected and who was not, back the decision of whom is selected, at least give that poor boy some confidence, if he got selected on chance and with confidence on him, he might end up being a hero, just like Miandad who saw Wasim Akram and bought him to the National Side, and now they world knows him.

Needless to say, how Australia and India have been promoting their gears, and here instead we are still under-prepared, when it comes to media strategies and to coup with 'positive propagation' (the way Star have been broadcasting Pakistan's World Cup games), I am not in against of ANY Sporting channel airing Pakistan's games, but still OUR MEDIA PERSONNEL should require some responsibilities.

IF TRP is the concern, try market CA, their kit and their gears, because by that as well, they can earn both, respect and money (if I say openly and without shame), but don't try to expose your own team to the world, for me it's like an indirect media trial of our cricketers and the world is enjoying that once this nation was fruitful in faster bowlers, and batters and now impotent, and media is showing us impotent.

One might say I am saying too much but honestly, it hurts me how media of other countries act and here we have been busy playing childish sort of 'so called' journalism. If that's journalism, than whatever I've studied in Marketing Management and Marketing Strategies what ever I learnt respectively HAVE BEEN a piece of bullshit, according to their standards. There is a sense of responsibility with journalism, which our journalists need to learn before they face the camera and the world.

My verdict

Not expecting much from the parrots, they are good for commercials, but not for the game with bat and ball, they are just happy with the play played between the cricket board and their quarrels, because it makes good and spicy story, if Pakistan goes through to the semis this time round as well, my article is pasted here, and at least I've that guts and balls to admit that I won't be deleting it FOR SURE.

Post script

Sorry about my words here, but that's the way I have seen recent conversations in Pakistani media off-late when Cricket World Cup is just about to start on Valentine's day.

Peace

Pakistani squad for CWC 2015

Pakistani cricket team squad for upcoming Cricket World Cup in Australasia

#	Name	Age	Playing role	Batting		Bowling	World Cup appearances
1	Misbah-ul-Haq (captain),	40 years	Batsman	RHB	Middle Order	Leg Break	2011
2	Ahmed Shehzad,	23 years	Batsman	RHB	Opener	Leg Break	2011
3	Mohammad Hafeez,	34 years	Batsman	RHB	Opener	Banned from bowling/Off Spinner	2007, 2011
4	Sarfraz Ahmed,	27 years	Wicketkeeper	RHB	Late Middle Order	Not Applicable	Debut
5	Younis Khan,	37 years	Batsman	RHB	Middle Order	Medium Fast	2003, 2007, 2011
6	Haris Sohail,	25 years	All rounder	LHB	Late Middle Order	Slow Left Arm	Debut
7	Umar Akmal,	24 years	Batsman/Wicketkeeper	RHB	Middle Order	Not Applicable	2011
8	Sohaib Maqsood,	27 years	Batsman	RHB	Late Middle Order	Off Spinner	Debut
9	Shahid Afridi,	34 years	All rounder	RHB	Late Middle Order	Leg Spinner	1999, 2003, 2007, 2011
10	Yasir Shah,	28 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Leg Spinner	Debut
11	Mohammad Irfan,	32 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Left Arm Fast	Debut
12	Junaid Khan,	25 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Left Arm Fast	Debut
13	Ehsan Adil,	21 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Right Arm Fast Medium	Debut
14	Sohail Khan,	30 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Right Arm Fast	Debut
15	Wahab Riaz	29 years	Bowler	RHB	Tail	Left Arm Fast	2011
	Average Age	29 years

When I was compiling the statistics, it looks an inexperienced Cricket World Cup side, where 8 of our squad members are on debut in a Cricket World Cup clash. Plus I say, instead of Ehsan Adil we must have taken someone who can swing the ball both ways, because I must say guys like Junaid Khan and Muhammad Irfan IF proved pressure exerters, than Ehsan Adil may be proved as a pressure releaser for the opponent teams. As far as batting is concerned, I was shocked to see no Fawad Alam in the squad, since we required Fawad Alam in the team as a specialist left hand batsman who can bowl as well and can be agile in fielding since 60% 70% of the games are decided on the amount of fielding which saves the amount of runs, because at times those runs saved are the difference in won by the amount of runs. Without Fawad Alam, our late middle order is vulnerable in the hands of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi and Haris Sohail, vulnerable in the sense that if (god forbids) one or two if fails than we don't have any sort of match finishers. While I was going through other teams, they have incorporated at least two match finishers, specialist math finishers I am talking about. Plus the conditions in AUS/NZ is way too different to be without an experienced campaigner, Sarfaraz and Haris Sohail are hard working guys but still their techniques are yet to be tested outside Asia, for that as a cover we could had taken Fawad Alam as a cover.