Don't give country's cap on Twenty20's basis, says Rashid Latif

For all its entertainment, value and popularity, Twenty20 cricket is pure entertainment. Its growing popularity has sparked fears that it will affect not only the traditional Test cricket but also the 50-over game.

But there are purists like former Pakistan captain and Karachi Kings Team Director Rashid Latif who advocate that T20 cricket should not be the basis for a player to graduate to Test and ODIs.

Rashid understands the game like only few people do. His opinions are firm, at times rigid but that is his style. Here is how he speaks about some technical issues of the shortest format of the game a player must know to excel.

Factor which help in Twenty20

Rashid: There are a lot of factors, but I don’t go on technical issues. A team man is always preferred. I think at times fielding decides, who is better in fielding gets preference. Then comes fitness and it is vital because when you are fit then you are good in running between the wickets and you can hit big and do not get tired. Then you need to know how to bowl in the death overs. There have been good bowlers in the past but some do not know how to bowl in the death overs, some of them do not know how to bowl well in the early overs.

At Karachi Kings we have that advantage that both our coaches are also Pakistan coaches (Mickey Arthur and Azhar Mahmood). We did not have much time (to prepare) but what we have tried to tell the players is that when to bowl where. Lengths are important. We have Tymal Mills who is a good bowler and that we have seen in the past, but didn’t know when to bowl what delivery so we have worked on that and if he delivers then he would be seen as a different bowler.

Similarly, we have done some work on the batsmen. It is up to the coach to decide who bats at what number but you need time so that all the players gel together and don’t feel strangers to each other.

Teams get bowled out inside 20 overs, why?

Rashid Latif: If you hit from both the ends in a Twenty20 match then you lose wickets. You take chance from one end and keep the other end intact. It is rare that openers hit fours and sixes from both the ends. You need to rotate the strike from one end. If both hit then you get 200 or 240 but it rarely happens. We recently saw that in New Zealand, when Australia chased down 243. It happens rarely in Sharjah and Dubai. So, you need to pick your overs, after eight overs or ninth or 12th or 13th. If you try to keep a fast momentum in the 20 overs then you only lose wickets. But if you are scoring six or seven an over then it’s okay and you hit two or three sixes in an over, then you lift the momentum.

You may have seen Umar Amin shifted the momentum by hitting sixes in New Zealand Twenty20, if you get a 20-22 run over then it can change the momentum. This is not for Karachi Kings’ team only but for all the teams and if it’s adopted and applied then it would be good to enhance the game, also good for Pakistan cricket too.

How can a player change a Twenty20?

RL: A player has to do (change the game) it himself. He needs to have the game awareness. He needs to know when to change the game. That can be developed in practice games and you get that noted that this player and this player has that ability to change the game. At times you depend on some big name players, then it becomes a routine. So you need to have the players who can change the game whenever needed.

Twenty20 future

RL: A few years back I had said that you should not give country’s cap on the basis of Twenty20 cricket. It’s entertainment cricket, let it be like that. You give a window to Twenty20 cricket and then we play Twenty20 at international level, it’s the number one cricket in Pakistan, no doubt. But if players are becoming international cricket on the basis of Twenty20 cricket then it’s not correct. The ODI cricket now doesn’t come in shorter format, 50-over cricket now comes in the longer format. A few days back Mickey Arthur also said that, (now Trevor Bayliss has said that) and I agree that on the basis of Twenty20 cricket, country’s cap should not be given on Twenty20 performances.

Final in Karachi and fans demanding passes!

RL: I apologise to all the fans. National Stadium has the capacity of 34-35,000 people. Karachi needs a stadium of around 70-75,000 capacity. Not all people can watch the final so they should watch the game on television.

No one is asking for passes for Dubai matches but everyone wants to watch the final. My advice is that this is the first match so make it successful and then more matches will happen. Once the franchsie cricket comes to Pakistan then stadiums will be full. Now the final is happening in Karachi so the whole Karachi will roar.