Ramiz has an awful lot to do

Whatrsquos happening across the border Well former opener and captain Ramiz Raja has been elected unopposed as the 36th chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in earlier years known as the Board of Control for Cricket in PakistanRamiz 59 who played under Imran Khan the current Pakistan prime minister was not merely part of Imranrsquos 1992 World Cup champions He carved two centuries in that campaign v West Indies and New Zealand and cricket lovers wonrsquot forget the sight of him taking a catch at midoff offered by last man Richard Illingworth to clinch world cricketrsquos biggest prize at the Melbourne Cricket GroundExperts in Pakistan believe that the job of running the countryrsquos board couldnrsquot have gone to a better man Senior journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti tells me that Ramiz has a good understanding of the ldquolower levelrdquo politics which his predecessor Ehsan Mani did not have Bhatti also reckons that Ramiz has an uphill but not impossible task of setting things right for Pakistan cricket and hersquoll have to do justice to the lsquoright man for the jobrsquo tagCommunication is one area which wonrsquot be a problem For Ramiz has been a good communicator even before he launched a career in cricket commentary As captain of Pakistan he was cooperative with the media I remember calling him one evening before his scheduled press conference for the first final of the Pakistan v Sri Lanka 1997 Independence Cup for his prematch views He understood my fears of being able to arrive in Mohali only after his press conference and obliged me with a few quotesOn YouTube the other day we saw how well he conducted his first press briefing as PCB chairman It was not 100 per cent pleasant We saw an annoyed Ramiz when he was asked about the logic of appointing foreignersmdashAustralian Matthew Hayden and South African Vernon Philandermdashas coaches for the T20 World Cup It is hoped that Hayden can infuse Australialike aggression while Philander can bring to bear the skills that helped him torment Australia His 515 caused the demolition of Michael Clarkersquos team for 47 in the 201112 Test at Cape TownRamiz promises to be a handson chairman and though he ruled out the resumption of IndiaPakistan ties in the present scenario he did say that he wanted his team to beat India in the T20 World Cup Well aware that Pakistan have yet to win a game against India in an ICC World Cup event Ramiz feels it is time to ldquoturn the tablesrdquo For that to happen the team must ldquooperate at a 100 per cent levelrdquo and hersquos told them that stressing that they have to be warmed up for that battleYou canrsquot miss the Imran Khan influence in that statement The great Khan too used to psyche his team before they played the West Indies the best side in the world for most of his captaincy years Courage used to be the buzzword in team meetings and players were told that if they fell short on this aspect they would be sent home Ramiz obviously knows all about it and it is for good reason that he believes leadership will be a key factor in the upliftment of Pakistan cricket Hersquoll be the happiest man in the Pakistan setup if the 2009 champions overcome India on October 24 but the headtohead heavily favours India at 71 And although this is unrelated to the current context a Ramizled Pakistan lost 14 to Sachin Tendulkarrsquos India in Canada in 1997It is to be seen whether captain Babar Azam will get a long rope but Ramiz indicated at the press conference that persistence pays He cited the example of how Imran persevered with rookie InzamamulHaq in the 1992 World Cup before he came up with a matchwinning 60 in the semifinal against New Zealand at Auckland In eight previous games Inzamam could muster only 123Ramiz has accepted that a lot has to change in Pakistan and thatrsquos not restricted to the national team The next time we see a gifted player in that team think about how many more you could see if not for poor quality grounds substandard balls and bumpy fields on which bowlers canrsquot think of playing with spikes on Itrsquos a classic case of players being produced not because of the system but despite the systemDuring his stint as captain of Pakistan Ramiz lost more than he won Teammate Wasim Akram wrote in his autobiography that while he liked Ramiz he felt ldquohe didnrsquot fulfil the basic qualification for a captainmdasha good enough player to get in the side automaticallyrdquoHowever under the chairmanoftheboard hat Ramiz does give the impression that hersquoll turn things around for his countyrsquos cricket Pakistani pundits are waiting to see if the execution aspect does justice to his vision but the latter certainly indicates that his heart is in the right placemiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper