Just came across an excellent article written by Taimur Sikander, Sports editor of Dawn News.
Here we go again. It has barely been 24 hours since Younis Khan and some other members of the Pakistan cricket team landed back home, and the barbs are flying already. The Pakistan team is known to provide action even in inaction, and sometimes it’s actually entertaining. But there comes a point when you feel that enough is enough. Accusations made by Jamshed Dasti, chairman of the Standing Committee on Sports in the Senate are exactly such an instance.
While it was all fun and games reading reports in the Indian media of a possible case of match-fixing by the Pakistani team that led to India’s ouster from the Champions Trophy, Dasti’s accusation that the Pakistani team deliberately lost the group match against Australia and the semi-final against New Zealand are a slap in the face of all the fans of the national team. It is a shame because cynical fans now have a reason to fuel their disgust with and that too out of something that sounds completely absurd.
While no one can stop the issue from spiralling out of control now, and ultimately tarnish the image of the nation once again, it is interesting to focus on the credentials of Mr. Jamshed Dasti. Mr. Dasti is the same guy who absolved Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary Asif Bajwa of human trafficking charges amid raised-eye brows. As the chairman of the Standing Committee on Sports he was also responsible for overlooking the ‘Lahore Attack’ probe and setting the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board straight after allegations of mismanagement. Both instances have produced no fruitful outcomes. He has further been accused of threatening the gang-rape victim Mukhtar Mai to withdraw her case and also of trying to takeover the District Education Office in Muzzafargarh (video of which is posted on YouTube and contains abusive language).
Now let’s look at the supposed ‘incidents’ that show the Pakistani team deliberate attempts of throwing a game.
Younis Khan’s catch: Ok so he shouldn’t have placed himself at such a crucial position at such a crucial stage in the match but let’s be honest, it was a clear case of being overconfident that led to him spilling that catch. But does that mean Brendon McCullum, who was under Cameron White’s top-edged pull for ages before dropping what was a simple catch for a man in gloves, also had mischievous intentions?
‘They lost to Australia just to keep India out of the tournament,’ Dasti has accused. Can the Pakistan team be really so good that they toyed with the Australians, put them under the sword and then decided to throw the final dice on the LAST ball of the game? Wow, anyone who has played even gully cricket could tell that Umar Gul had bent his back on the final delivery, and it was a perfect finish until Kamran Akmal’s throw failed to reach the non-strikers end before Nathan Hauritz could make his ground. And let us suppose if the Pakistan team was in fact so brilliant that it could pull the Australians on a string and pretend to be mediocre in certain instances, then wow…what a team!
As far as the New Zealand game is concerned, true it was sad sailing by the Pakistani batsmen. But were Umar Akmal and umpire Simon Taufel in cahoots? Did Umar tell Taufel precisely when he will play a ball from the full-face of his bat on to his pad for to be adjudged LBW and make it seem like Pakistan ‘really’ suffered at the hands of bad umpiring? If the Pakistani batsmen played lethargic cricket, what were the New Zealanders doing on such a flat track, albeit against a much better bowling line-up?
It’s not surprising to see accusations being hurled at Pakistan again. Would it have been different if Younis Khan sat out due to his injury (remember Wasim Akram World Cup 1996 against India)? Neither is it baffling to see foreign media agencies picking up on a sentimental remark made by a person who speaks before thinking (he is reported to have told Ijaz Butt to retire because he had done ‘10-year’s overtime’). How many ex-cricketers and otherwise insignificant politicians will take up our airspace? Please Dasti, give it a break!
As I post this blog, Mr. Dasti is being interviewed by a local television channel regarding his outburst. When the interviewer asks the senator to explain his accusations, Mr. Dasti conveniently distances himself from the remarks and goes to say, ‘we will ensure that these accusations are interrogated thoroughly…’
‘But Dasti sahib, you are one who accused the team, says the baffled interviewer, to which Mr. Dasti replies, ‘these accusations have come to our notice and as the head of the Standing Committee on Sports it is my responsibility to find out the truth,’ after which, the interviewer gave up. Seriously.Taimur Sikander is a sports editor at Dawn.com.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Off the field planning – Made the difference for Kiwis
“Most people are content to let perfect days happen at random rather than PLAN for them”, a famous quote by British political writer Edmund Burke, perfectly fits Pakistan’s display in their semi final with the New Zealand outfit.
The loss left Pakistan packing their bags and heading back home. Over 160 million people back home are extremely disappointed to see their team lose to a moderate Kiwi team, plagued by injuries.
After the match, analysts discussed key moments in the match that led to Pakistan’s demise including Umer Akmal’s LBW decision, a few appeals Afridi was hard done by; Younus Khan’s dropped catch and Rana Naveed’s undisciplined balling. All these incidents undoubtedly contributed to our loss in the match but I would like to mention a few points where I believe Kiwis outsmarted Pakistan.
After losing the toss, the Kiwis captain, Daniel Vettori made it clear that they would be happy to chase anything less than 300. This statement casted doubt in not only in the minds of Pakistani batsmen but all the commentators and people watching the match. Everyone started believing that the pitch indeed was a 300 runs wicket. The Pakistani batsmen got themselves out clearly in their effort to achieve a total equal to or more than 300. After Umer Akmal was unfortunately ruled out by Simon Toufel, all other batsmen soon followed suit. Afridi, Rana and Gul threw their wickets away in an effort to play big shots, something that was not required on every ball. A winning score on that wicket would have been between 260 to 270 comfortably. Had these batsmen played sensibly and batted through the overs, they would have achieved the total easily.
This move by Vettori was deliberately done and paid dividends for the Kiwi outfit.
Right from the start of the match, the Kiwi bowlers bowled accurately and fed their bowls to the weak areas of all the batsmen. Their field placement and fielding were both outstanding. Imran Nazir was teased by in-swingers bowled by Bond and we all know that he isn’t very comfortable playing the incoming deliveries. An unplayable short ball subsequently got him caught in the slips. Kamran Akmal was fed with bowls outside his off stump inviting him to drive and cut (his strengths) with fielders placed at deep point and deep extra cover. Eventually he got out caught on deep extra cover. Muhammad Yousuf who is well known for nudging the bowl around to third man and fine leg for his singles was choked by placing both these fielders. Eventually he consumed more than 75 balls for his hard earned 44 runs.
Hats off to Vettori in successfully outsmarting Pakistan in his mind games, and this shows how much they had planned and prepared off the field for the big game. They had not only studied each player’s strengths and weakness but also ensured that their plans were executed properly on field. Although the Pakistanis tried hard and played well, the Kiwis off-the-field-preparation and planning was certainly better than the Pakistanis, which eventually changed the outcome of a match that was being hailed as dead rubber by the pundits.
Unfortunately, the Pakistani team is a prime example of complacency getting the better of you. They wait for perfect days to happen at random rather than PLAN for them. We are stuck with coaches like Intikhab Alam and Javed Miandad who are not only ignorant of the use of technology but persistently discourage its usage in coaching. I remember Miandad ridiculing Bob Woolmer for using a laptop in pre and post match analysis. It’s the time that these people realize that you may win a battle on a good day but you cannot win a war without effective planning which is done Off the field.
The loss left Pakistan packing their bags and heading back home. Over 160 million people back home are extremely disappointed to see their team lose to a moderate Kiwi team, plagued by injuries.
After the match, analysts discussed key moments in the match that led to Pakistan’s demise including Umer Akmal’s LBW decision, a few appeals Afridi was hard done by; Younus Khan’s dropped catch and Rana Naveed’s undisciplined balling. All these incidents undoubtedly contributed to our loss in the match but I would like to mention a few points where I believe Kiwis outsmarted Pakistan.
After losing the toss, the Kiwis captain, Daniel Vettori made it clear that they would be happy to chase anything less than 300. This statement casted doubt in not only in the minds of Pakistani batsmen but all the commentators and people watching the match. Everyone started believing that the pitch indeed was a 300 runs wicket. The Pakistani batsmen got themselves out clearly in their effort to achieve a total equal to or more than 300. After Umer Akmal was unfortunately ruled out by Simon Toufel, all other batsmen soon followed suit. Afridi, Rana and Gul threw their wickets away in an effort to play big shots, something that was not required on every ball. A winning score on that wicket would have been between 260 to 270 comfortably. Had these batsmen played sensibly and batted through the overs, they would have achieved the total easily.
This move by Vettori was deliberately done and paid dividends for the Kiwi outfit.
Right from the start of the match, the Kiwi bowlers bowled accurately and fed their bowls to the weak areas of all the batsmen. Their field placement and fielding were both outstanding. Imran Nazir was teased by in-swingers bowled by Bond and we all know that he isn’t very comfortable playing the incoming deliveries. An unplayable short ball subsequently got him caught in the slips. Kamran Akmal was fed with bowls outside his off stump inviting him to drive and cut (his strengths) with fielders placed at deep point and deep extra cover. Eventually he got out caught on deep extra cover. Muhammad Yousuf who is well known for nudging the bowl around to third man and fine leg for his singles was choked by placing both these fielders. Eventually he consumed more than 75 balls for his hard earned 44 runs.
Hats off to Vettori in successfully outsmarting Pakistan in his mind games, and this shows how much they had planned and prepared off the field for the big game. They had not only studied each player’s strengths and weakness but also ensured that their plans were executed properly on field. Although the Pakistanis tried hard and played well, the Kiwis off-the-field-preparation and planning was certainly better than the Pakistanis, which eventually changed the outcome of a match that was being hailed as dead rubber by the pundits.
Unfortunately, the Pakistani team is a prime example of complacency getting the better of you. They wait for perfect days to happen at random rather than PLAN for them. We are stuck with coaches like Intikhab Alam and Javed Miandad who are not only ignorant of the use of technology but persistently discourage its usage in coaching. I remember Miandad ridiculing Bob Woolmer for using a laptop in pre and post match analysis. It’s the time that these people realize that you may win a battle on a good day but you cannot win a war without effective planning which is done Off the field.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
PHDs or MBAs: What should be our immediate focus?
During our academic epoch we have always been discussing the prospects and benefits of PHDs vs MBAs in terms of career progression and overall value to the society. These discussions used to carry on for hours with out any firm conclusion as both parties had for or against arguments to their support.
Yesterday, I came across an article in Economists which discussed the same topic and argued the importance of having quality MBAs as an essential need of the era. I would like to elaborate upon this argument in context of Pakistani education system and Pakistani society.
It is very important to clearly understand the meaning of “Skilled Labor” and “Manger”. Let me emphasize on the argument that majority of people in our society do NOT exactly understand or misinterpret this term.
“Manager” means someone who can optimize the allocation of resources efficiently in order to maximize value. By value we mean monetary returns, benefits and prosperity to organizations weather it’s a company or a country. This concept applies at both micro and macro level.
“Skilled Labor” in economic terms means someone who is highly focused and devoted to their particular subject and have the capability and knowledge to innovate goods and services by employing scientific methods and research.
The comparison between MBAs and PHDs boils down to evaluation between “Innovation” and “optimization”. PHDs innovate while MBAs optimize. In a Pakistani context we have to be extremely careful in order to determine which one is more important to us in these times when we are classified as one of the developing countries. Do we need innovation of goods and services? Or do we need to efficiently utilize our already existing resources in order to maximize value. I would definitely prefer the later. Let me state a few examples:
Computers were not invented by IBM. Windows were not invented by Bill Gates. Photocopy machines were not invented by Xerox. Mobiles were not invented by NOKIA and search engines were not invented by Google.
All of the above mentioned companies have acquired the innovation and created a value by appropriately allocating their resources towards marketing and value added customer services.
Again referring to the economist article “a gathering storm” dated Nov 20th 2008 which states that “Even if China spends a fortune to train more scientists, it cannot prevent America from capitalizing on their inventions with better business models”
My whole argument refers to the Government scholarships mostly being awarded to PHD students instead to the MBA students. Most of the scholarships require the recipients to return to the country immediately after completion of their respective degree programs. Currently there are approximately 700 to 800 students studying abroad under various scholarship programs. More than 90% of these students are enrolled in specialized fields for Masters and PHD degrees.
I have been to a few conferences and seminars regarding educational reforms in Pakistan and I have always felt strongly that there has been a lot of emphasis on producing quality scientists and engineers. Almost all the participants highlighted the importance of PHD programs and proudly referred to hundreds of students currently enrolled in the Doctorate programs in US and UK.
The point we all are missing is that by producing hundreds of PHDs in next four to five years is not what will bring the change instead it is the need of the hour to develop effective and efficient managers in order to create value added business models. Our problem is inefficiency and lack of management and not lack of innovation. Let’s assume that in next five years these Scientists and Doctors return back to Pakistan under the scholarship agreement. Is our infrastructure capable of absorbing these highly qualified graduates? Will they be provided with enough facilities to apply their knowledge and “innovate”. Are there enough R&D funds available to carry out research activities?
The answer to all of the above questions is “No”.
Why?
The reason is that, in Pakistan, we are still in the evolutionary phase of developing corporate culture, introducing professional management and formulating global strategies in our organizations. None of our companies are Global and none of our brands have developed worth mentioning reputation globally.
We need good managers who have the vision of taking our businesses to the next level and this can only be done by developing effective business models, efficient utilization of available resources and creating value. Once we achieve our immediate objectives of efficient businesses, global corporations and well acknowledged brands then will be the time to probably innovate and move to another level with the help of PHDs. Since then appropriate platform will be set for researchers and adequate facilities will be available for scientist to innovate.
Right now our immediate focus should be to make available maximum funding for MBA programs, under various scholarship schemes, instead of Doctorate programs. The dilemma is that none of us is realizing that what is the need of the hour and what is actually required in terms of higher education. We continue to build policies on an already assumed false premise that we need quality scientists and engineers for our economy to prosper.
I am not saying that we should stop funding PHD programs instead the current mix of 9:1 for PHD and MBA should be equalized if not reversed immediately. We are investing billions of rupees to create an asset which may not add significant value due to unavailability of appropriate resources. The sooner we realize this the better it is.
I am also NOT saying that “Managers” are by any means superior to “Skilled Labor” instead I am saying that rite now we should be focused on producing more managers instead of scientists and researchers because this is the most appropriate channel to invest billions of tax payers money in order to churn out maximum value in short to medium term.
Yesterday, I came across an article in Economists which discussed the same topic and argued the importance of having quality MBAs as an essential need of the era. I would like to elaborate upon this argument in context of Pakistani education system and Pakistani society.
It is very important to clearly understand the meaning of “Skilled Labor” and “Manger”. Let me emphasize on the argument that majority of people in our society do NOT exactly understand or misinterpret this term.
“Manager” means someone who can optimize the allocation of resources efficiently in order to maximize value. By value we mean monetary returns, benefits and prosperity to organizations weather it’s a company or a country. This concept applies at both micro and macro level.
“Skilled Labor” in economic terms means someone who is highly focused and devoted to their particular subject and have the capability and knowledge to innovate goods and services by employing scientific methods and research.
The comparison between MBAs and PHDs boils down to evaluation between “Innovation” and “optimization”. PHDs innovate while MBAs optimize. In a Pakistani context we have to be extremely careful in order to determine which one is more important to us in these times when we are classified as one of the developing countries. Do we need innovation of goods and services? Or do we need to efficiently utilize our already existing resources in order to maximize value. I would definitely prefer the later. Let me state a few examples:
Computers were not invented by IBM. Windows were not invented by Bill Gates. Photocopy machines were not invented by Xerox. Mobiles were not invented by NOKIA and search engines were not invented by Google.
All of the above mentioned companies have acquired the innovation and created a value by appropriately allocating their resources towards marketing and value added customer services.
Again referring to the economist article “a gathering storm” dated Nov 20th 2008 which states that “Even if China spends a fortune to train more scientists, it cannot prevent America from capitalizing on their inventions with better business models”
My whole argument refers to the Government scholarships mostly being awarded to PHD students instead to the MBA students. Most of the scholarships require the recipients to return to the country immediately after completion of their respective degree programs. Currently there are approximately 700 to 800 students studying abroad under various scholarship programs. More than 90% of these students are enrolled in specialized fields for Masters and PHD degrees.
I have been to a few conferences and seminars regarding educational reforms in Pakistan and I have always felt strongly that there has been a lot of emphasis on producing quality scientists and engineers. Almost all the participants highlighted the importance of PHD programs and proudly referred to hundreds of students currently enrolled in the Doctorate programs in US and UK.
The point we all are missing is that by producing hundreds of PHDs in next four to five years is not what will bring the change instead it is the need of the hour to develop effective and efficient managers in order to create value added business models. Our problem is inefficiency and lack of management and not lack of innovation. Let’s assume that in next five years these Scientists and Doctors return back to Pakistan under the scholarship agreement. Is our infrastructure capable of absorbing these highly qualified graduates? Will they be provided with enough facilities to apply their knowledge and “innovate”. Are there enough R&D funds available to carry out research activities?
The answer to all of the above questions is “No”.
Why?
The reason is that, in Pakistan, we are still in the evolutionary phase of developing corporate culture, introducing professional management and formulating global strategies in our organizations. None of our companies are Global and none of our brands have developed worth mentioning reputation globally.
We need good managers who have the vision of taking our businesses to the next level and this can only be done by developing effective business models, efficient utilization of available resources and creating value. Once we achieve our immediate objectives of efficient businesses, global corporations and well acknowledged brands then will be the time to probably innovate and move to another level with the help of PHDs. Since then appropriate platform will be set for researchers and adequate facilities will be available for scientist to innovate.
Right now our immediate focus should be to make available maximum funding for MBA programs, under various scholarship schemes, instead of Doctorate programs. The dilemma is that none of us is realizing that what is the need of the hour and what is actually required in terms of higher education. We continue to build policies on an already assumed false premise that we need quality scientists and engineers for our economy to prosper.
I am not saying that we should stop funding PHD programs instead the current mix of 9:1 for PHD and MBA should be equalized if not reversed immediately. We are investing billions of rupees to create an asset which may not add significant value due to unavailability of appropriate resources. The sooner we realize this the better it is.
I am also NOT saying that “Managers” are by any means superior to “Skilled Labor” instead I am saying that rite now we should be focused on producing more managers instead of scientists and researchers because this is the most appropriate channel to invest billions of tax payers money in order to churn out maximum value in short to medium term.
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