Rashid Latif - Pakistan - Batsman

If one looks at the contribution made by Rashid Latif in cricket and weighs it against the controversies that he was embroiled in, it is more likely that controversies will dominate. A steady keeper who was a handy bat, Latif got into controversies which kept stalling his career. It was not helped by the fact that he had to fight out with Moin Khan during the period for the wicket-keeper's post which resulted him in being left out from the team for some time.

He made his Test and ODI debut during Pakistan's tour of England in 1992 and had a decent start. His solid 50 in the Test at the Oval marked him out as a good player. However, he struggled to achieve consistency from that point. His low point arrived during the 1995/96 tour of Zimbabwe when he announced his retirement mid-way through the tour after he was discontented with Saleem Malik's captaincy. He captained the side in the 1998 season but a string of poor performances followed and he was again left out of the squad.

He once again made a comeback to the squad in 2001 for the tour of England. However, his inconsistency continued to plague him. In 2003, following Pakistan's disastrous first round exit in the World Cup, Latif was handed over the captaincy and Pakistan enjoyed a prosperous time. He united the team and results started to go their way. However, Latif did not enjoy healthy relations with the PCB and he was sacked as captain after 2005.

Latif took up the role of a batting coach for the Afghanistan national team but quit the job citing interference. He was appointed as wicket-keeping coach for the Pakistan team but his job lasted for barely a month following remarks made by him over the spot-fixing scandal. The views were largely out of sync with the board and he was sacked. He headed back to Afghanistan as the head coach.

If one looks at Rashid Latif's career, it is unfortunate that controversies plagued him at each and every turn. Had the rub of the green gone his way, Latif could have been the answer to Pakistan's search for a steady wicketkeeper after Wasim Bari.

By Siddharth Vishwanathan