Posted on behalf of Farhan Nisar.
An exclusive interview of Former Pakistani captain and wicket keeper Rashid Latif conducted by Farhan Nisar for KheloPakistan in Lahore. Part one was posted a week ago .Rashid spoke openly about his career and all his experiences around cricket, including match-fixing. Here is Part two of the eagerly awaited converstaion.
Farhan Nisar (FN): What compelled you and Basit Ali to take retirement on the 1994-95 Zimbabwe tour?
Rashid Latif (RL): Everybody knows about that. So much time has passed; what should I say now? Leave it.
FN: Was accepting the vice-captaincy on the Zimbabwe tour a right decision?
RL: It was my mistake. Every human can make mistakes and I think I shouldn’t have done that.
FN: But what were the reasons that compelled you to sacrifice your career at 25, 26 years of age?
RL: I just told you cricket is my passion. If it was a profession for me I wouldn’t have taken the decision to retire. Cricket is a gentleman’s game, it shouldn’t be plagued with fixing but it is happening nowadays. Every team is doing it and nothing is being done to eradicate it. It is a very diverse topic and a lot can be discussed on this but now I have enough idea to tell by watching a cricket or a football match on TV if the match is fixed or not.
FN: You later agreed to play with the same batch of players who were present in the team when you took retirement? Why?
RL: Whenever I came back in the team, I had the cricket board’s backing. Those players shouldn’t have played with me. If I was wrong then they shouldn’t have played with me but all of them did. All those things had happened in front of my eyes since 1993 and that is why none of the players pointed a finger at me. They knew I had spoken the truth and that all of this had happened in front of my eyes.
FN: So why didn’t you speak up in 1993 when you were seeing everything happen?
RL: I kept watching this an entire year and I am an eyewitness to this foul play. Nobody had expected at that time that this would turn out to be such a big scandal later. I tried stopping them (players) and kept telling the board. During this time, I spent one year with them but when I left, I left them completely.
FN: What was the reason behind the 1996 World Cup quarter final loss against India?
RL: India had put up a monumental total in that match and so we lost it. Jadeja’s outclass innings in that match is one of ODI history’s best innings to date.
FN: On the 1996 England tour you played an important knock of 31* against Nottingham in an ODI to win a match for Pakistan but later by showing an air punch towards the dressing room what message did you intend on sending?
RL: It is a major misconception among people that we were losing the 3rd match and that it was fixed and I won it instead. But you may remember that I sustained an injury before this match in the 1st Test of that series, where I scored 45 before scoring another fifty in a side match. Just before the Leeds Test, I sustained a back injury which forced me to rest for two weeks. Moin Khan played the Leeds Test and scored a century. When I recovered, manager Yawar Saeed, selector Nasim-ul-Ghani and captain Wasim Akram inquired about my fitness. I told them that I was fit to play but they should persist with Moin as he had scored a century and was in good form. Therefore, Moin played the 3rd Test and the first 2 ODIs which we lost. Before the 3rd ODI, Wasim told me that the team for Sahara Cup will be announced soon so I should play this side game. But when I was going to bat, the selectors announced the team and it didn’t have my name in it. Therefore, after winning the match my reaction was intended towards the selection committee and it is totally wrong to say that this match was fixed.
FN: Why did you accept the team’s captaincy in 1997-98?
RL: When Majid Khan came into PCB, he used to message almost every day asking me to come back in the team as captain. I was playing for Allied Bank at that time and performing outstandingly. My teammates also used to tell me that I should play for Pakistan but I kept refusing. Meanwhile, on 11th April 1997 there was a match at Sharjah which seemed dubious to me and right after that match I decided to come back because I thought if I leave, everything will end up in their (fixers) hands. The board offered me the captaincy again. I went to Lahore where I had a meeting with Majid Khan and I accepted the captaincy. I requested him to make me captain on a long term basis but he didn’t agree on that. Then I went to South Africa as captain but sustained an injury during that tour.
FN: Was your performance on the South Africa tour so poor that you lost the captaincy and couldn’t come back into the team even as a player?
RL: On the South Africa tour, I was forced to sit out due to injury. After that, Khalid Mehmood became the PCB chairman and to be honest I wasn’t on good terms with him. During the Justice Qayyum hearing, Khalid Mehmood also wanted to come in the in-camera session but I said that whichever board official or chairman is involved with the players I wouldn’t allow him in and I stood by my stance. So when Khalid Mehmood became the chairman, I was sure what was about to happen. Moreover, my injury had gotten very serious and took a long time to recover. Due to these reasons I could never make a comeback.
FN: So how was the situation when you returned for the 2001 England tour?
RL: Gen. Tauqeer Zia brought me back in the team but by that time Justice Qayyum’s report had been released and only Saeed Anwar, who was also my childhood friend, was left. I got along with the new players too but people with whom I had played for such a long time were nowhere to be seen. For the first time I felt like my team didn’t need me anymore. After scoring a fifty against Kent in a side game, I scored 20 and 15 in the two innings of the 1st Test. We lost that match. Imran Khan came to our dressing room after the match and said that only one player had played this match and it was Rashid Latif. He went on to say that he is the bravest of you all. Keep faith in him and he will secure victory for you. As you know, Imran Khan is after all Imran Khan and after his kind words everyone started to mix up with me. In the next Test, while scoring 71 runs I made a valuable 89 run partnership with Azhar Mahmood. In the 2nd innings I scored 25 runs and took 8 catches to break Wasim Bari’s record of 7 catches. After this tour misunderstandings with my old friends were cleared and I performed exceptionally well with the bat, which included scores of 94 and 150 against Bangladesh and West Indies respectively. I knew that after injury my keeping would suffer and my downfall was imminent because in 1998 I suffered a major neck injury and my 3 disks got dislocated. After that I played my entire cricket carrying this injury. The Doctor had advised me not to dive while keeping and I used to play without much practice.
FN: Even though Pakistan’s 2003 World Cup squad consisted of various superstars yet what was the reason behind them not making it to the next stage?
RL: No doubt it was a great team but we were very unlucky in that tournament. Had we made it to the Super Six stage, we would have also won the World Cup. We should’ve won against India where we scored a bit less. In that tournament, our bowling attack was very balanced and experienced and South African conditions suited our type of bowling attack. We trumped every team in the starting overs. We broke Australia’s top order, we had the English top order wickets but over all we couldn’t sustain it.
FN: After the World Cup Pakistan won the Sharjah Cup under your captaincy but why did a controversial catch against Bangladesh ended your career? Did the board try to save your career?
RL: No, my career hadn’t ended because the board wanted me back but (pause) the environment had become unbearable for me.
FN: The dressing room environment turned sour after 5 ODIs only?
RL: I had no disagreements with the team; I am talking about something else. I had had tripled the players’ fee, the central contracts were about to be signed and disagreements arose as the selection committee was interfering too much.
FN: That team’s captain, coach and the chief selector had played together, so why did so many disagreements arise?
RL: There are some things that cannot be stopped. I and Aamir Sohail were very stubborn by nature and we became adamant on our respective stances. We’re still very good friends but I have this trait that if I have a disagreement with anyone I don’t like dragging that issue but try resolving it right there. Inzamam tried his best to bring me back during the ODI series against Bangladesh but I didn’t feel appropriate and so never came back.
FN: In spite of that catch being doubtful, why did you claim it?
RL: I knew it wasn’t a legal catch but we didn’t want to lose that match. Had Pakistan lost that game, it would’ve been very insulting. That’s why I wasn’t worried about the ban even if it was a life ban. Pakistan just could not afford to lose that match and so I claimed that catch.
FN: How did the idea of making an academy come up after leaving international cricket?
RL: I hail from a middle-class family and when I started my cricket, I and Saeed Anwar used to change 2 or 3 buses from Malir and it took us 2 hours to reach Garden or Youth Centre Nazimabad because there was no ground in between. If it was a rush hour, we had to sit on the buses’ rooftop. After us, many children were going through the same process so the idea of making an academy came to my mind. I wanted to provide these kids with a place and facilities to practice. We started the academy from KCCA stadium and then bought our own place, where we built 16 practice wickets. Currently, we have 3 academies in Karachi. We have also started our academies in Haripur and Burewala.
FN: Can you explain Kamran Akmal’s problem?
RL: There is no doubt about Kami’s batting capability. He is better than many specialist batsmen. I’ve told him many times that if he loses a bit of weight, he is still a very good keeper. His weight is 10-12 kg more according to his height. Kamran deserves to be back in the team and if the board has any problems they should keep them aside because Akmal is one of a kind and keepers like him are not born every day. Presently, he is Pakistan’s best wicketkeeper.
FN: How much improvement do you expect in Pakistan team under Dav Whatmore?
RL: Many things will be set straight now that Whatmore has taken over as he makes long-term plans. He helped Sri Lankan team get established, he also improved Bangladesh’s performance and I am sure he will play an important role in improving the Pakistani team too. I am expecting a lot from Whatmore that he will do a great job and InshAllah it will happen. But I am scared that he doesn’t become a Pakistani too.
It is to be remembered that the interview was done in Urdu and been converted into English. Any unintentional errors may/not have been made. You can follow Farhan on Twitter.
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