The match will start at Feroze Shah Kotla ground in New Dilli, in about 3-4 hours from now. A lot of predictions have been made by experts, a lot of previews have been written all over India in their newspapers, even in Australia. I would like to give my opinion and see whether our Indian friends here, Amit, Varun, Pawan agree with me or not. I want you guys to write something about how you feel. And, I am writing from the Indian perspective and not the Australian.

1. If I had to select the team, first of all I wouldn’t have selected Kumble and kept the same winning combination.

2. Just because Feroze Shah Kotla ground is considered as India’s fortress and Kumble’s hunting ground doesn’t mean the winning combination is disturbed.

3. Kumble has taken 10 wickets against Pakistan in one innings and he took 7 wickets in the test match last year, but Kumble’s effectiveness is wearing off, he hasn’t taken any wicket on his home ground in front of his home crowd.

4. Mishra on the other hand did well and Delhi is also his home ground and he is expected to bowl well, I guess he is not being dropped instead Harbhajan Singh is the escape goat (injured?) just to include Kumble.

5. Kumble’s inclusion means, Dhoni is on the sidelines again, because Kumble is the captain. Kumble’s decision making is based on his defensive tactics and that resulted in so many draws in his short career.

6. Reportedly, (one of my Indian friend told me that he has been observing Dhoni since the last one year) Dhoni will not perform well under Kumble. He did not score in Bangalore in both innings, he did not do much in Australia, he did not go to Sri Lanka. But, he did well in Mohali because he was the captain, so is there something more than what meets the eye?

7. Considering its just an assumption and there is no reality, I think the Indian think tank must have asked Kumble to hang his boots and call it a day from here rather than letting the rumours spreading around, which is not good for the game.

Now, there won’t be any change in the team other than Bhajji exiting with a cooked injury to give Mishra a chance. I would have preferred to axe Laxman and play with 3 specialist spinners instead of 7 batsmen, since Laxman is the weak link he is out of form and once again this same old notion or assumption that he is good against the Australians, how long are you going to try the same logic?

India needs more bowlers to bowl out Australia than batsmen, their batsmen are enough, with Sehwag and Gambhir in good form, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni are enough as batsmen and Kumble as well as Harbhajan has proved that they can stick there to stretch the tail and frustrate the Aussies.

So, guys what do you think about inclusion of Laxman and dropping of Bhajji? Do you think its OK? Lets see the match and in the next 4-5 days we will know who was right? May be I am wrong, but thats the way I see it. Thats the way I would have selected the team.

ref. my comment #35 I had mentioned that reportedly Javed Miandad’s name is the PCB Governing Body and now this new development which says “constituent committee,” whatever it is, what I find strange is:

1. Saleem Malik’s name has been cleared a week ago and straightaway he is in the constituent committee, it goes to prove that the new regime under Ijaz Butt wants all the Maliks in the committees, governing bodies, whatever, in short everywhere.

2. Wasim Akram’s name was cleared at that time but, he was banned from taking any jobs at the government or semi-government level. Even, according to the law i.e., as far as I know if anyone who has been charged criminally i.e., financial embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, involved in betting, or drugs whatever, if it is illegal and if it is proved then, even after the person has served the sentence or the ban, he is still not qualified to take up any government job.

However, one would argue that people like Zardari and Nawaz Sharif can not only walk free but one of them is holding the top position in the country. Thats because the inadequate justice system cannot punish them and they walk free. When will there be any justice in this country?

3. Its funny that Shoaib Malik being a captain is in the constituent committee, waisay bhee uska hona aur na hona ek hee baat hai, he will be a pawn, or an impotent figure in that committee, the functions of which are not known to anyone yet. But, Misbah ul Haq, on what grounds is he there?

4. The Federal Sports Minister is not aware of anything yet? So, who is more important here, the PCB Chairman who is a gutless septuagenarian Butt, the DG of the PCB that half mad dog Saleem Altaf or another septuagenarian “Mad Hatter – Inti da coach?

The latest news is West Indies have decided not to play the two test matches they initially proposed to play against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. So, this year Pakistan has not yet and will not play any test match. Shouldn’t they call Kenya to Pakistan or ask the UAE team to play 2 test matches so that Shoaib Malik’s case can be improved. BAKAOUZ, if he fails against West Indies, he is out. If he wins, then he stays. Its so simple.

Tuesday, 28 Oct, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Former test cricketers Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Rameez Raja and Wasim Akram have also been inducted as members of the constituent committee formed by the Federal Sports Ministry to consider various amendments required in the constitution of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

A cricket board member on condition of anonymity told Dawn on Tuesday from Lahore: ‘The constituent committee is scheduled to meet on November 4 under the chairmanship of Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naek.’

‘The test cricketers are invited by the Ministry on special invitation’ he said when asked about the new addition of test players.

Test cricketer Shoaib Malik and Misbah ul Haq are already in the constituent committee members list.

Regarding the agenda of the meeting the board member said: ‘It will include restructuring the domestic cricket system and to consider the amendments required in PCB’s constitution.’

The Federal Sports Ministry had earlier formed a fifteen-member committee to review and amend PCB’s constitution formed in 2007. It invited suggestions from all stakeholders to finalize the constitution and restructure domestic cricket.

The committee met under the chairmanship of Federal Sports Minister Najamuddin Khan on September 27.

The committee also received an eleven page document comparing the constitutions Pakistani, Indian, Australian, and South African cricket boards.

‘The document also has information about the 11 regions and 71 districts which currently hold the playing rights under the PCB domestic cricket structure’ he said.

The Federal Sports Minister, Najamuddin Khan, has said that he was unaware of this new development.

‘I am not aware about the expansion of our recommended constituent committee list.’ He asserted ‘I believe it still has the name of fifteen members.’

The list also includes the names of newly appointed chairman PCB Ijaz Butt and D.G. PCB Saleem Altaf.

Monday, 27 Oct, 2008

LAHORE: Sacked Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson said he had settled his pay settlement dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board. Former Australia test bowler Lawson was sacked on Friday although he had around nine months remaining on his two-year contract, AP reported.
‘All financial matters with the PCB have been sorted out now and I will be leaving soon,’ Lawson told reporters in Lahore.
Fired Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson gave his conditional backing to Shoaib Malik as captain of the national team.
‘If he (Malik) gets some experience, he could prove to be a good captain,’ Lawson told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore on Monday.
Malik was appointed captain after Pakistan made a first round exit from the World Cup in the West Indies last year.
Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s newly appointed chairman, has said that the captain’s performance will be reviewed before the home series against India in January.
Lawson, 50, met with Salim Altaf, the newly appointed Director General of the PCB, on Friday.
The PCB fired Lawson last week and replaced him with former test captain Intikhab Alam.
Lawson was hired as coach on a two-year contract by the previous head of the PCB, Nasim Ashraf. However, the PCB terminated his contract nine months early after Butt took over as PCB chairman earlier this month.
‘It was an honor for me to coach the Pakistan team,’ Lawson said. ‘I wish to come again to Pakistan on a leisure trip, not as a coach,’ he continued.

don’t lay the entire blame on Lawson, because he can’t play for the team. The captain is the man on the spot and he did nothing other than creating rift among the players by playing politics.

And the reason Lawson is not reacting is because he is still in Pakistan and he needs to settle his end of service benefits which the PCB is still holding owing to their own duddoo officials who cannot do basic accounting to pay his dues. May be when he goes back to Australia he will speak then.

Reportedly Miandad has been offered to be a member of the Governing Body of the PCB, which is not clear and, there is no official verdict yet. The problem is Miandad is a good tactician and a good technician but, he is not a good orator who can sit there in the committee meetings and take control of the Governing Body or make an impact there. He can’t do that because he lacks the communication skills that are needed there. Therefore, I doubt about his effectiveness there.

I think Mohsin Hassan Khan could have been a better choice than Intikhab Alam, over the years Mohsin has matured as a critic and his observation is good and he is reasonably good in expressing his views. I have seen him commenting as an expert a few times on ARY during the recently concluded Toronto T20 tournament. Once he was with Asif Iqbal and they both were making sense while making comments. Or, at least Mohsin should have been in place of Saleem Jaffar, who is nothing more than a name.

that article by Osman Samiuddin which you have quoted here from cricinfo in which he has expressed the same views as most of us have written here that, Lawson has been made the escape goat and he also mentioned about Shoaib Malik’s case which will be reviewed by the end of this year and he said: “If it is an honest review, only one outcome should emerge.” How true.

They will pile up the stats to prove us that he is the most successful captain of Pakistan, which Malik also very proudly brags that he has won more matches during his tenure than any other captain and you will see him sticking around as the captain for another 2 years. Or may be one, or on a adhoc basis for an indefinite period, like you said, the PCB needs to make up their mind (by applying lipstick on their forehead?) In Malik’s case, once again the same question, will there be an honest review? I doubt so.

Ali Ahad,

Intikhab Alam’s appointment doesn’t surprise me at all, if people like Ijaz Butt will lead the PCB along with a Sathyaya howa Budda, Saleem Altaf then they will pick and choose the same kind of people as them to give them the much needed company in that senior citizen’s lounge called the PCB.

Therefore, imo the first selection of Wadee Butt is the wrong choice, Tubber Ka Tubber he Ulta hai, imagine Saleem Jaffar is the Chief Selector now? What does he know? As the Urdu expression goes, “Andha Baantay Raywree wo bhee apnay apnaon ko.” Or, the blind distribute sweets to the blind is very obvious here. Thats what they are doing, first they want to do the clean up by removing all those people appointed by the previous regime and appoint their own blind men. This is a process that goes on in Pakistan in every department, in every field.

They are doing the same in hockey. Qasim Zia has been appointed and Hassan Sardar who vehemently opposed the idea of a coach has suddenly changed his mind because he is in the regime now. So, whosoever used to oppose and whoever has the big voice to threaten them, they include him and keep him silent, thats their policy.

India was without a coach for sometime and they won more matches than the time when Greg Chappel was their coach. Chappel’s tenure was very controversial and some Indians firmly believe that it was a deliberate attempt from the Aussies to get him there as a coach to ruin the Indian team. To some extent he succeeded by getting Ganguly and also created a rift between the players, some of the senior players were speaking against his decisions he adopted the policy of divide and ruin the team. Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh were making open statements in the press. So, was Ganguly and there was chaos and mayhem in the selection process, luckily this was realized and Guru had to leave. But, their new coach Garry Kirsten seems to be another Lawson, hardly ever there with the team or may be I am wrong, Varun, Pawan, Amit et all need to give their input here.

Unfortunately in Pakistan from among the local players, there is really no one who can be considered as a coach who not only has the ability to deliver the goods but also command respect from the team. So, this langree, looly team will have to struggle with people like Intikhab Alam and you have rightly pointed out that he may have been the coach-cum-manager of the team but only as a figure head, sirf khana puri ko he was there, and actual control was under Imran and Miandad and they both played a key role in winning the 1992 WC and Intikhab gets a feather in his cap for doing nothing.

Even though his sacking came as a right suprise to many of us as nothing major happened we all could see and knew the reality that Geoff wasn’t the man for the job and also an outside coach was never really going to help Pakistan cricket. I personally would like to see Javed Mianadad to take over as he knows exactually the state of Pakistan cricket.

Anyway Geoff was really bothered about his sacking and simply said that it was a great expereince and adventure for him which emphasises on his laid back motivation as a coach.

PCB can’t make its mind up. They will probably keep Alam on for as long as they can because it is pointless appointing someone as coach for one series and then dismissing him.