Saeed Ajmal who was without any shadow of doubt one of the star performers for Pakistan in the last year with 72 test wickets was omitted from the ICC's Test Cricketer of the Year Award shortlist. The PCB batting for their premier spin bowler, immediately objected to the decision of the independent 32 member jury that omitted Ajmal's name. The ICC replied in the negative saying that it simply can't be done, and that they stood by their decision. The PCB now angered threatened to immediately boycott the gala ICC Awards ceremony. When the ICC didn't flinch, PCB reacted again, now coming up with an award themselves that would see Ajmal being recognized as the World's Best Bowler. PCB's chief, Ashraf said, "Saeed Ajmal, we still say you're the No. 1 bowler in the world and the PCB recognises you, and whether someone gives you the prize, that is immaterial, we don't care."
The PCB's approach to the entire saga is more than just humorous. It is ludicrous and bordering insanity. Just imagine Bollywood thinking that Saif Ali Khan deserves the Oscar for his acting in Cocktail. And imagine Bollywood getting angry with the Hollywood officials for their decision to omit Saif, and then deciding that they would host their own 'Oscars' to honor Saif's acting. Sounds insane and rightly so. Maybe the PCB isn't that crazy because unlike Saif ,who has to pay for the health hazard his movie caused the spectators, Ajmal did perform well. The PCB are perfectly justified in thinking that Ajmal should have been included in the list, but rather than just think that and perhaps express displeasure, they have gone to the dark side by insisting and trying to arm twist the ICC in agreeing with them. When none of that worked, they decided to make their own award - their own PCB Awards that awards the best cricketers in the world for achievements that PCB think is worth while.
So here are some the awards that will be given by the PCB after the T20 World Cup, to the cricketers who deserve true recognition for their performances.
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| PCB have introduced their own awards to help recognize players whom the ICC fails to such as Pakistan's spinner, Ajmal. |
So here are some the awards that will be given by the PCB after the T20 World Cup, to the cricketers who deserve true recognition for their performances.
PCB's Test Cricketer of the Year: Saeed Ajmal (Pak)
PCB's T20 Cricketer of the Year: Cameron White (Aus)
PCB's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Rohit Sharma (Ind)
PCB's Young Cricketer of the Year: Shahid Afridi (Pak)
PCB's Spirit of Cricket Award: Salman Butt (Pak)
And some special awards recognizing cricketers' other achievement
The Shahid Afridi Award: Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
The Inzamam Ul Haq's Award: Samit Patel (Eng)
The Shoaib Akhtar 'Speed' Award: Munaf Patel (Ind)
Harbhajan Singh unfortunately misses out on the awards list and it is learned that the BCCI is hurt by PCB's omission of their premier spin bowler. They have complained to their Pakistan counterparts, hoping to correct the wrong and have Harbhajan Singh included in the list.
2 Comments:
Instead of being objective, it is sarcastic, instead of matter-of fact it is more an attempt to ridicule. As far as twisting the arm of ICC is concerned every body knows who can do it and has been doing. If to oppose injustice is something humorous than we are developing a new dictionary. It is time to strive to make the system more transparent and ICC cannot escape from blame if that does not happen.
The objective of my writing was to be sarcastic, and as far as my own personal views on the matter go, I do believe Ajmal deserved a place, but one must remember that there was an expert panel that had the job to select the names on the list and that they did to the best of their abilities. It is that panel that sees who is worthy and who is not worthy to be on the list and if they believe Ajmal doesn't make the cut, then so be it. No point crying over that.
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