Inzamam-ul-Haq talks about his short and successful stint as the team’s coach, and what they need to do to match the best sides in the world
Danyal Rasool16-May-2016Less than an hour before my interview with Inzamam-ul-Haq, I was watching him on television. He was conducting his first press conference in his new role as Pakistan’s chief selector after shortlisting 35 names for a training camp ahead of the side’s tour of England this summer, from which the final squad would be picked. Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, talented yet profligate batsmen, had been omitted. Inzamam didn’t seem too shy about laying down a marker.I’m sitting in Inzamam’s drawing room, and he enters dressed in a shalwar kameez and house slippers. Despite the short time between the press conference and our meeting, he shows no signs of being rushed; the feeling that he always had a little extra time clearly wasn’t confined to his batting.His tale of his stint as Afghanistan coach begins, rather improbably, in Saudi Arabia. “I was at the Hajj last year when Afghanistan called me,” he says. “Kabir Khan [former Afghanistan coach] approached me previously too, asking me to become Afghanistan’s coach, but I had declined. Afghanistan isn’t your average country in terms of the challenges you’re presented with. So when I received the call this time, I told them I’d take on the role, but only for the Zimbabwe tour [in October 2015]. I had no prior experience in coaching, so I wanted to see how I handled it before agreeing to any full-time contract. By the grace of Allah, we won both the ODI and T20 series. They offered me a three-year contract, but I didn’t want anything too long term, so I signed on for one year.”
“The Afghan boys don’t mind hitting the gym. They are also great foodies, and after all that hard work they’ll go in and polish off a whole barbecued lamb or two for dinner”
Inzamam’s six months as Afghanistan coach coincided with one of the most successful spells, statistically, in the country’s short cricketing history. They won 12 out of 17 T20Is, including all five against Zimbabwe and a stunning upset of eventual world champions West Indies at the World T20 this year. In ten ODIs during Inzamam’s stint, all against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan won six, winning series home and away. It was a stellar run, and, after putting it down to “good luck” in typically modest fashion, Inzamam reveals what he thinks were the two biggest factors behind the impressive numbers.”As soon as I became coach, we had a very busy run of fixtures coming up, so I focused on the things I thought would bring short-term success. I didn’t attempt to fix their techniques – you can’t do that overnight. I tried instead to change their approach to the game. For example, their satisfaction levels were very low. They were content to score 30-35 runs and get out, feeling they had done enough. I told them it was criminal to get out once they were set, had their eye in, and had begun to understand the pitch and conditions.”Secondly, cricket has become so much faster that the value of running singles, and the art of rotating the strike, has become a little lost. But I believe that any player capable of taking multiple singles per over will never feel too much pressure. I believe that was instrumental to our success.”The sense that coaching Afghanistan is no ordinary job looms large again as Inzamam talks about being forced to rely on second-hand knowledge regarding the state of cricket within the country. “I only spent one day in Afghanistan during my time as coach, and that was to sign my contract,” he says. “Obviously that meant I was dependent on their selectors and local coaches. Instead of hand-picking the boys who I thought could make the grade, I was sent players [to Afghanistan’s training base in Sharjah] who had performed well in domestic cricket in Afghanistan, but they did give me the final say regarding selection.””I tried to change their approach to the game. They were content to score 30-35 runs and get out, feeling they had done enough”•Getty ImagesHe stresses on the importance of a strong first-class system, directly linking it to international success, and praises Afghanistan for the strides they have made in this department. “They have organised formal ODI and T20 tournaments in the country. In addition, they’ve established approximately 40 cricket grounds across the country to give people the opportunity to play the game. They’ve invested in turf pitches. They’ve built a stadium in Jalalabad, and they recognise the value of a good first-class system.”And so they should. If these sorts of developments to safeguard their future weren’t taking place, all of their good work could be undone very quickly.” He emphasises the point with a warning: “Even Kenya played a World Cup semi-final once.”When the conversation moves to the possibility of Afghanistan attaining Test status in the next decade, he draws a comparison with a team he is rather more familiar with. “Look,” he says, with a hint of fatalism in his voice, “the reason Pakistan cricket is down in the dumps at present is the absence of virtually any international cricket here. And Pakistan has been an established Test side for over six decades. Afghanistan cricket is in its infancy. If they want to reach the levels that Test sides are expected to be at, they have to organise international cricket there. They to.”Maybe they could attract some of the up-and-comers in Associate circles to visit. But if they fail in that task, I simply don’t believe they can continue to progress like they’re capable.”It is imperative that Afghanistan cricket does well. You cannot imagine how passionate Afghanistan’s fans are, and how they live and die by every result.”I remember whenever we won a match, [Asghar] Stanikzai used to address the nation on television, pleading with them not to celebrate with gunfire, because on one occasion five people died during the festivities. Around the cricket world, we might not think too much of Asghar or Mohammad Nabi, but they are absolute megastars in Afghanistan. After we won in Zimbabwe, 15,000 people came to the airport to receive the team. They were taken directly to the stadium in Kabul, which was jam-packed, not to watch a cricket match but simply to give their heroes a homecoming.”
“It’s crucial that the ICC provides these Associate nations with quality coaches. A lot of the players I worked with have technical flaws and kinks in their batting that a good coach could easily have ironed out at Under-19 level”
One of the more charming features of Associate cricket is the level of camaraderie and togetherness among players from the various teams, and a recognition of the mutual challenges their fellow “second-class citizens” face. Given that every story requires a villain, many view the ICC as having filled that role with regard to the Associates, standing like a surly security guard outside a members-only party, refusing to let the intruders in, no matter how meticulously they appear to follow the dress code. Inzamam’s criticism of the ICC’s role, however, is far more tempered and nuanced.”I do think the ICC has financially helped Afghanistan and Ireland a lot, but I think it’s crucial that the ICC provides these Associate nations with quality coaches to work on their basics. A lot of the players I worked with have technical flaws and kinks in their batting that a good coach could easily have ironed out at Under-19 level, or in first-class cricket. But years of those shortcomings being left unchecked results in them being entrenched into the players’ batting techniques, and then they become extremely difficult to remedy, especially at international level, the level at which I have worked. If the ICC were to do that more frequently, I think it would make a huge difference to all Associate nations.”The topic of the players’ fitness requires tact and poise; it is Inzamam I’m talking to, after all. But a smile crosses his lips when I mention the word. “I remember before the 2003 World Cup, I worked extremely hard on my fitness,” he recalls. “A great deal of training and dietary discipline. I believe I lost 19kg. And 19 is the number of runs I scored in the entire tournament.”I only spent one day in Afghanistan during my time as coach, and that was to sign my contract”•Danyal RasoolNot that he means to discount the importance of fitness. “The Afghan boys are very hard-working, and they don’t mind hitting the gym,” he says. “They naturally have a strong, athletic build, which helps in a number of cricketing departments. But they are also great foodies, and after all that hard work they’ll go in and polish off a whole barbecued lamb or two for dinner. Next day, when the sun is out and you have to be fielding, the meat absorbs a lot of water in your body, making you extremely thirsty. So you have to be more professional if you want to take the next step in your progress.”Inzamam speaks of the players’ almost reverential respect for him, and their humility; these are young men who, in their country, are about as big a deal as Sachin Tendulkar is in India. He speaks about the country with great affection, and it is clear he desires to see the team succeed. His pride at their results under his tutelage speaks of his genuine satisfaction at being able to help a team and a nation he developed a great fondness for.All the more relevant to ask: when all seemed to be going swimmingly well, why did Inzamam leave Afghanistan cricket a few months ahead of time?The ensuing silence is longer than at any stage during the evening; he clearly didn’t take the decision, or his response, lightly. “I coached Afghanistan for seven months. Out of those, I spent five and a half away from home. After retiring from all forms of cricket in 2008, I took up no other assignments till this Afghanistan job. With young children, it was very difficult to spend all that time away from my family, and I didn’t want that to continue. So when the PCB approached me, I thought it was best to take up their offer, and Afghanistan were extremely understanding and generous. I still have a great relationship with the people I worked with.”Inzamam’s strongest conviction appeared to be his assertion that Afghanistan cricket cannot remain on the road to progress without international cricket being played in the country. And yet, he himself spent just a day in the country.For all his optimism, it is hard not to view Afghanistan’s cricket, and the scope for its development, in its geopolitical context. Many of the boys Inzamam interacted with became men before they picked up cricket equipment; indeed, long before boys should become men. This is a country whose scars aren’t symbolic, nor are they the remnants of mere sporting failure. They aren’t just any cricket team, they are an Associate nation; and not just any Associate nation, they are Afghanistan.Inzamam’s stint might have seemed all too short, but to those Afghans who live day to day, players and spectators alike, it will have lasted an eternity. What might they have achieved together if he had stayed the duration?