WAYLE BOLD DANiiiiiii
Wayle Bold Daniiii
KAMRAN YOU HAVE A GREAT FUTURE LIKE INZAMAM
When you hear this phrase ‘well bowled Dany” in desi accent it is no one else but, Kamran Akmal trying to perk up Danish Kaneria after he has dropped a simple sitter. One can easily say that he is a bad keeper and a good baby sitter. He was baby sitting his child all night while his wife was sleeping in the hotel room. When I first read this on a cricket blog, I did not believe it, but here it is: “According to sources, Kamran was often seen pacing up and down the corridor of the Inter Continental Hotel in central Sydney with his baby in his arms.” http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/babysitting-affected-kamrans-sydeny-performance_100301332.html#ixzz0cKG4FfSw
Inzamam you succeded in getting Kamranin the same profession
Bringing wives on foreign tours is something that has become a fashion these days It is a point to prove that you are committed and devoted to your wife (whereas, you are supposed to be committed and devoted to the game) and not being distracted by the cheer leaders. Also, to show to the conservative nation that you are not a playboy but, a boy who plays. He who plays, and plays for his wife is Akmal. He who plays and, betrays his team and nation but, pleases his wife by babysitting is Akmal. He who plays behind the wickets and drop simple catches is Akmal. He who drops a catch is a wicketkeeper, ignore him. But, he who drops a hat-trick of simple catches, is Akmal, play him again and again, so that the team never wins. This is the result of having an extra baggage or a drag in the team. He brings his extra baggage on the tour and he dumps it on the ground.
It is about time that Kamran Akmal is dropped from the team. He needs a sabbatical, perhaps a year or two. If he wants an extra pair of hands to babysit his child who could be better than his own brother or uncle of the baby? Take him along Mr. Akmal, but stop black-mailing the board or the nation. Don’t use pressure tactics and don’t consider your younger brother as a trump card. You have ruined your career don’t ruin his. He has just started his career and doing well, if you drag him in this mess of politics, he will not grow up as a cricketer but, a petty politician. He will be better off if you take him along and join a political party and groom him over there.
Every time the Pakistan cricket team steals the headlines but, not for good reason. It is either about ball tampering, drugs related, discipline related name a controversy and they are not behind. This time, it is an administrative issue and that too a simple one. A player who is not performing well, gets some rest. But, Kamran Akmal is so adamant to play in the third test that he is playing the dirtiest of games by not only being disobedient by refusing to back off, he is talking to the media, telling that he is definitely playing, calling Sarfaraz Ahmad “a rival” and citing Ricky Ponting’s current batting form to defend his own weaknesses and follies, rather blunders. And, the irony is, he is not ashamed, he appears to be very proud about his past performance, which he thinks is excellent? As if no one has any brains to remember how “disgustipatingly” pathetic a wicketkeeper he is.
MOYO THE GREAT BUILDER
His records may only show the number of runs he scored or number of catches he held. But, there is no record of the century or catches that he dropped in ALL forms of the games i.e., test, ODI and T20. Some people are used to seeing him dropping catches and take it for granted, some are sick of it and want to see his back. Unfortunately for Pakistan, all those who have criticized his bad performances their voices have disappeared in oblivion. Kamran Akmal is there for the last one decade, constantly dropping catches like bird droppings which are unhealthy and potentially fatal. Likewise, Kamran dropping catches alone has resulted in defeats for the team, which otherwise could have won at least 25-30 test matches and 30-40 ODI’s during the last ten years. This is not an exaggeration, if there is any source that records the number of catches dropped, Kamran Akmal must be topping the list, he must be head & shoulders above the rest of the wicketkeepers in the world.
So much has been written and said about his pathetic wicketkeeping since the shameful defeat at Sydney Cricket Ground last week when he dropped 4 simple catches of Mike Hussey, three in a row and another one the next day that people are sick of discussing it anymore and many Pakistanis I have encountered and asked their opinions, they said, they are not interested in cricket anymore. Especially, as long as Kamran Akmal is playing, as long as Mohammad Yousuf is the captain, as long as Intikhab Alam is the coach-cum-manager of the Pakistan team.
intikhab-alam good for nothing - go home
ONE WAY TICKET TO YOUR HOME
For the sake of 170 million population Kamran Akmal, Mohammd Yousuf and Intikhab Alam PLEASE GO HOME, I AM READY TO PAY ONE WAY TICKET TO YOUR HOME.
very well said javed bhai i just want to ask is that khatmal is bigger than the lagacy of our cricket team?it seem like he is and with these f…ers in team is it worth to support and watch them. to be honest i tried very hard to not support or watch them but cant do it dnt knw what to do its just like a mentel torture to see somthing u love to be ruined by some selfish greedy unwanted bastards.
Faras Ghani, renowned cricket writer and occasional LS blogger has written a book called, “Champions Again” which focuses on Pakistan’s T20 WC victory.
The book is available to buy at http://www.farasghani.com/championsagain.html
Some praise for the book:
http://www.thearynews.com/english/newsdetail.asp?nid=39434
Well done, Faras and keep up the good work. Keep writing about cricket!
Javed Khan,
Thanks for the post!
I just wonder, what are people’s estimates of Akmal’s missed chances in the last 3-5 years?
I would guess around 150 if test matches, one days, and 20/20 are combined.
And, if a batsman goes on to score 50 runs at average after each dropped chance, the runs that his dropped chances have conceded would be around 150*50= 7500. Weight that against his batting..
Omer
About your point about big cities, I think there was a misunderstanding. I was talking about where the players live- all of the Punjabi players live in Lahore simply because that is where the most facilities are in Punjab. Even players like Inzamam, Waqar, Mushtaq Ahmed and Imran Nazir who are not orgininally from Lahore, live in Lahore and have been doing for a long time.
Abdul Qadir was not too different from Inzamam and Yousuf when he was their age. I don’t get your point about Ramiz- Ramiz gets paid to talk and if he states the obvious to an English TV channel or English newspaper that Akmal needs to be rested, what does that prove? The biased and disgraceful comments Ramiz has made in the past 2 years regarding Malik, Akmal, Afridi, Fawad Alam etc, everyone knows and remembers those comments of his. You need to go on Youtube and watch clips of his programme, “Ramiz’s Lounge” and see him speaking in Punjabi with his friends, and you will see his “village mentality”.
About bhaigiri and Mullahgiri of Inzamam and Yousuf, I agree with you on that point.
The Aussie media has come very harshly at Umer Akmal and according to the majority of the Aussie press, there is a very strong likelihood that Umer is faking this injury. In fact I read one article which said that Umer had to take a fitness test after his claim of injury and he was certified as being match fit.
This is shocking behaviour from the Akmal brothers and deserves sanction of the highest degree. They should both be sent back to Lahore asap and never selected again. Umer Akmal is good but he is no Bradman or Ponting or Tendulkar at their peak, and even if he was he ought to receive some kind of sanction for this puerile and uncouth behaviour.
Khansahab,
That is what I meant, even if the players live in Lahore, it is hard for the mind-set to change as when they are here in New York, it still doesn’t change. I didn’t really mean Punjabis or a particular people, I just meant people who are from villages tend to be close to their ilk– and, to be frank, it is just convenient to hang around the dressing room with likeminded people. And, there is nothing wrong with it in itself, it is just that, others around might feel ostracized and ‘not part of the team’. Note that a lot of these players have shifted to Lahore, but most of them aren’t originally from Lahore– and that is the crucial difference. Therefore, the board could adopt a code of conduct…
I don’t think Ramiz Raja or Abdul Qadir are biased as you think. At times these sorts of things, during Imran Khan’s time, are exagerrated out of proportion. A legspinner is a much more attacking bowler than an off spinner and it was natural that Imran Khan would choose a legspinner. I know players from Karachi might have bowled India out in India then, but is only in India, where perhaps off spin bowling is more useful, as the tracks break apart and get really low and slow. Murali bowls wrist-spin and is more like a legspinner in that sense and he gets the ball to spin a lot more. Leg-spin is, generally, more preferable to off-spin..
Khansahab,
Umar Akmal is talented, but if after 5 test matches he is behaving like this, what will happen after 20 test matches?
The board should stamp its authority and drop the trio of mediocrity. The board should see how long Umar Akmal wants to stay out of the team. And the board should convey to Umar Akmal in clear terms that if he wants to go back, then there is no automatic selection in the team: He will have to prove his form in domestic cricket for 6-8 months before he’ll be reconsidered for selection. At one point in time, player power was in the hands of Waqar, Wasim, Saqlain, and players of that calibre (and it was just impossible to replace those players). Right now it is in the hands of the trio of mediocrity– it must end for the good of cricket in Pakistan.
Note that I had written before the seond match that Pakistan shouldn’t nonsensically attack Hauritz and should just seek singles and doubles. I still think Jhonson is the bowler vulnerable when under pressure. Anyway, this is what Inthikab Alam had to say:
HOBART: Those who thought Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz had made the grade as a Test match slow bowler following his successive five-wicket hauls against Pakistan may need to reconsider.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam reckons Hauritz did not earn those wickets, instead being handed them on a plate by wasteful batting by the tourists in the second innings at Melbourne and Sydney.
In those matches Hauritz’s returns of 5-101 and 5-53 arrived amid a flurry of strokes by the tourists, as evidenced by his economy rates of 4.2 and 4.41 for the two innings.
“Hauritz has done well but I feel that we have given him wickets,” Intikhab said. “I can see if someone has bowled a really good ball and got somebody out, but we have been giving wickets by trying to get after him.
“I’m not taking anything away from Hauritz, I think he is an intelligent bowler and he bowled well, you have to give him credit for that.
“But I personally feel we have given him wickets rather than he has taken wickets.”
Intikhab’s words might help reduce the hype around Hauritz since his fourth innings successes, which followed Australian chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch’s call for the adopted New South Welshman to do more in the latter stages of a Test.
Hauritz’s general reliance upon flight and changes of pace rather than sharp spin for his wickets does leave him open to the prospect of being dismantled by nimble-footed batsmen, and Pakistan have in recent years faltered badly against spinners of the non-Indian variety.
Watching the Pakistan series from afar, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack editor Scyld Berry was similarly skeptical about whether Hauritz could go on taking wickets if batsmen were a little less generous.
“Nathan Hauritz has done a decent job as Shane Warne’s replacement: 12 Tests so far and 47 wickets at 30 runs each,” Berry wrote in London’s Sunday Telegraph. “But the day will surely come when a batsman takes his off-spin apart.”—
Article in DAWN has it that Haddin is supporting Akmal.
Of course he is supporting Akmal! Akmal was the reason why Australia won the match.
How can Kamran Akmal get a vote on his own place in the team?:
Confusion over Akmals persists
HOBART: Umar Akmal, Pakistan’s teenage batting sensation, is fully fit and will feature in their third and final Test against Australia starting here from Thursday, a team official told ‘The News’.
Abdul Raqeeb, the Pakistan team manager, said that Umar suffered from a stiff back but has recovered from it now. “It was nothing serious. He had a stiff back and needed some treatment. He should be back in the nets tomorrow and will play in the Test.”
His comments came soon after the 19-year-old Umar said in an interview that he is unfit and will not play in the third Test here at the Bellerive Oval.
“I’m not playing, I have a side strain,” Umar was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.
Umar, who is Pakistan’s most successful batsman of the tour, raised a lot of question marks by suddenly announcing that he is injured just a day after his elder brother — Kamran Akmal — was axed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) because of his poor showing behind the stumps in the second Test in Sydney.
Even Australia captain Ricky Ponting expressed his surprise over the issue. “It might be in protest. It’s a strange situation. Umar has looked their second best batsman behind (Mohammad) Yousuf,” Ponting said on Monday.
Sources told ‘The News’ that the team management suspected that Umar could be faking the injury to put pressure on the tour selection committee so that it decides against replacing Kamran with young gloveman Sarfraz Ahmed.
The team management decided to send the youngster for medical scans which cleared him of any injury.
While the team management has passed Umar as fully fit and want him to play in the upcoming Test, Kamran — the team’s vice-captain — insisted that his brother is suffering from fitness problems.
Kamran has been acting quite strangely since the PCB’s decision to ‘drop’ him from the final Test after he dropped three sitters in Sydney and allowed the Aussies to come back from the jaws of defeat to win the second Test.
Initially, Kamran announced that he will keep the wickets for Pakistan here. Later, when the team management told him that he can play as a specialist batsman, he turned down that option.
“I am very happy with being wicketkeeper-batsman, not only batsman,” said Kamran. “I have played for Pakistan as a wicketkeeper-batsman with pride, so hopefully I am playing a similar role.”
A final decision on whether Kamran will retain his spot or will he surrender it to Sarfraz will be taken in a tour selection committee meeting tomorrow.
Kamran is a member of the four-man committee that includes captain Mohammad Yousuf, coach Intikhab Alam and manager Abdul Raqeeb.
This means that Kamran will have a say in whether he is retained or dropped for the third Test. Sources told ‘The News’ that Intikhab and Raqeeb will vote for the inclusion of Sarfraz in the squad but Yousuf’s vote might go in Kamran’s favour. In case there is a stalemate then the captain is going to have a final say.
According to sources, Yousuf will find it difficult to go against the wishes of the PCB. His captaincy is already under scrutiny after he led Pakistan to a defeat in Sydney from a commanding position.
With the series already lost following defeats in Melbourne and Sydney, Pakistan seem to be down and out ahead of the third and final Test. The confusion over the two Akmals and the clear divisions within the team will make it almost impossible for Pakistan to avoid yet another whitewash against the Aussies.
Back to regionalism….
Javed
I am not in the situation to reply every aspect of your comments but just let you know no one can confirm regionalism like the way you guys are doing it, Amir’s friends in SA think that Kamran does drop catches on Kaneria’s bowling because he is a Hindu and particularly your equations are not equal to their equilibrium. Christian Punjabi Muslim Sindhi (times when people in LS wanted Afridi to lead in T20 2009 and was not happy with Younis khan but board kept him as a captain)…. then converted Punjabi > Sindhi Pathan/Muslim Pathan…….and finally Hindu cricketer < muslim cricketer…….you know what it’s all linked with the psychology. When a Hindu plays for Pakistan and a Muslim wicketkeeper drops catches then your mind would start looking for the reason and guess what first word would hit your brainw ould be racism, don’t worry it’s not new to the world, most of the people in the world think they are the victims of racism.
Above mentioned equations remind me a story, a Caucasian big boss who was not happy with his Team because of their childish manners. Team was consist of some Pakistanis, Indians, Srilankans, Eastern European. Once Indians found out that boss is kind with rest of the people except few Indians, but the word few didn’t stop them thinking their boss is a racist. They started campaign against their boss and started hating Pakistanis and Eastern Europeans but in case of Srilankans they said it’s just a co incident that boss is blissful with them. May be this is story is a bit boring and weak but intensity is there. Indians called their white boss a racist not because he has been racist or favouring others but the real reason was that it was well known past about white people being racist. Well Indians started hating Eastern European becasue it was quite obvious that they have got white skin as well and also they started hating Pakistanis because hatred was already there but it was inside concealed waiting for the moment to come out.
I have been reading all of you guys from well over 6 months and I have never seen anyone admitting or saying that he was not at right. Contradiction makes the discussion interesting but the same time it does also reflect the rigid mind-set of the people.
In the end i want to say if it has been proved that Kamran Akmal was a racists and other cricketers were regionalist in terms of Sindhi Punjabi Pathan type of regionalism then i would protest against it and demand that hang those racist and regionalist till death as they don’t deserve to represent Pakistan, they don’t even deserve to live in today’s world
Let’s say a Pathan fires a bullet at Punjabi for no reason, Punjabi injured his foot, there would be 2 types of thinking would be caught up, 1= he hits me because he has gone mad or the (2) Pathans are expected to be unsafe wild brainless and they can’t be your FRIENDS, but no regionalist would ever think that it could be just an accident…..
Equations are as follows:
Christian Punjabi Muslim Sindhi (times when people in LS wanted Afridi to lead in T20 2009 and was not happy with Younus khan but board kept him as a captain)…. then converted Punjabi > Sindhi Pathan/Muslim Pathan…….and finally Hindu cricketer < muslim cricketer….
I dont know whats wrong with my mobile phone or website, I typed equations twice and they dont come the way i wrote them.
now my fingers are hurting, its not easy to type through mobile phones, apologies for unchecked spelling and incomplete equations….goodnight
Shoaib
Thank you for enlightening us with your judicious knowledge and your invaluable worldly experience, otherwise all of us on LS would have remained in darkness for the rest of our life had you not explained us the complex equation with such Einstein like brain of yours. The general belief is, light travels faster than everything (186,000 miles per second), no matter how fast it travels, the fact is darkness is always there before to greet her. Samajh ayee?
Issi leyeh Chowdhury Ikbowl nay kaha… na samjho gay tou mitt jao gay aye PaindooStan walo, tumharee dastaan tak bhee na hogee daastano may! Chalo naraa lagao “Jiyeee Bhutto” aur khush ho jao.
Javed Khan,
Butto was perhaps one of the worst things to happen to Pakistan, but he was a very astute politician. Still, most of the country is spellbound by his name, so much so that the PPP always seems to be the strongest part. He was very good at oratory and the art of winning over people.
There is something inherently flawed about the party structure in Pakistan, I don’t think the leaders are voted, but it runs through the bloodline (as used to happen with monarchs and kings of yore). On the other hand, we have ganja Sharif, who comes across as a typical villanous mantri in the Bollywood films.
But, yet, the system needs a good go of 20, 30 years to be strengthened, the democratic process is time-consuming– Zardar’s unpopularity will eventually seep into his party and that is when the party will have no option but to distance itself from Zardari (As happened with Musharraf and PML Q). Likewise is the case with other parties, it is only with time that parties, and the system, will be strengthened. But, by the day, it seems something is about to give, though– a military coup just seems inevitable.
I didn’t see any comments on these …
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=217721
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/01/09/Kamran_Akmal_puts_family_over_country/
http://sify.com/news/babysitting-affected-kamran-s-sydeny-performance-news-international-kbjr4bgdded.html
PS: Plus there is a talk that Umer Akmal is throwing his weight behind Kamran and is protesting his elder brother’s ouster.
Munir
His babysitting is mentioned in this thread and in the previous thread someone did mention about his babysitting as comments, perhaps you did not read that. So no one has ignored about the extra baggage. Also, we have talked about Umer Akmal’s possible fake injury.
However, all is cleared now and Intibad Alam has given this statement to the media to silence the rumours…….. which were definitely not rumours.
http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/443664.html
Ok if Kamran Akmal made a excuse saying he was baby sitting the whole night and his wife was sleeping. He couldn’t tell his wife to take care of the baby since he had a IMPORTANT game the following day. It was his wife job to take care of the child since he had some IMPORTANT games. What gets me the most is WHY ON EARTH WAS HIS WIFE SLEEPING PEACEFULLY AND NOT WORRYING ABOUT HER CHILD AND KAMRAN AKMAL WAS THE ONLY ONE TO WORRY FOR THE CHILD AND DIDN’T WORRY ABOUT THE GAME. I am surprise he didn’t drop his kid like the catches. This should be a lesson and message to the rest of the team to LEAVE YOUR FAMILIES BACK HOME AND DON’T BRING IT ALONG WITH YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE RATHER THAN YOUR GAME. Why is PCB even paying for their families to go abroad with them. Thats just too much expense to take care of. PCB NEEDS TO SLAP HIM WHEN YOU COMES BACK TO PAKISTAN AND REMOVE HIM PERMANTELY FROM THE TEAM AND TELL THE REST OF THE PLAYERS WHO IS IN CHARGE. But that is just a dream for all of us which will never come TRUE unless we the fans UNITE and doing something about PCB and the team. LETS UNITE AND BRING BETTER PAKISTAN TEAM TO INTERNATIONAL CRICKET AND ENLIGHTENMENT TO OUR COUNTRY>
Arshad Khan
In case of players families, I don’t think the PCB is paying for their airfare, the players have enough money to pay for their family tickets but, they stay in the same room and probably paying for their own food. And, I am sure it is in the knowledge of the PCB. Still, it is too much distraction when you have babies. The reason the PCB is not considering this as a distraction is because Ijaz Butt himself is doing the same, in fact he is bringing his entire family at the PCB expense. As regards the story of Kamran Akmal babysitting, it is not just a rumour but, it has been seen by people and neither Kamran Akmal nor anyone else denied it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr9f2OpNppA&feature=related
Click the above URL and see how happy Kamran Akmal is after dropping Mike Hussey’s catches.
I am glad Pakistan lost the second Test.
Had they won it, it would have been CRIMINAL IN-JUSTICE.
It had to be such a calamity to rectify selfish attitudes of the PCB hierarchy and selections done on regiobal considertions rather than merit.
The non-performing and undeserved “players” had to be removed forever. New and younger players should be selected on merit no matter where comes from.
For this, the loss at Sydney was crucial. If nothing is done, then bye bye Pakistan cricket.
Javed,
I don’t know what to say to you…. If you are referring me as a paindoo then don’t fret, it doesn’t hitch me up but possibly this word can offend some other people, perhaps for some of the LS guys it is used as a trademark word to affront them or perhaps some people use it as an apparatus to insult others.
I wasn’t enlightening you or something I was just sharing it but now I think what a waste of time! also such a pain it was typing through a mobile phone. I apologize for such effort and will be really careful in the future and I promise I won’t waste my time here anymore.
Paindoos are simple and straight people. They are flexible in their approach; always learn from others and from their own experience, not like rigid urban idiots. Samajh to aa gayee ho gee?
Wo kia khoob kaha hey Gerald Tremblay nay,
Ager tum kisi Pindd kee dhoop sey ankhey churatey ho to kia
kisi din tumhey City ke yeh ICE bhi sunglasses pehnaa deygee
Mr Kasim;
It is always good to see you. I was thinking about you recently and was worried about your health, hope you are fine? Yes you are right about the defeat at Sydney and it should be a blessing in disguise to make some drastic changes, at least one demon is down and finally that ‘saas-ki-pence’ of both Akmal’s is over by now. But, what a shame that in place of one Duddoo, another one is playing i.e., Malik replacing Misbah. For Malik this is a chance to grab his place by his teeth otherwise, from my point of view his test career should be over. But, this is my “fishful sinking” the careers of players from Punjab is not over until they themselves announce their retirement e.g., Inzamam ul Haq. Even then he came back in a mini stint by making an unsuccessful attempt to break Miandad’s record but, all ended in vain.
Yae na thii INNzamaam ki kismet kay visaal-e-mianDAD hota gurr aur kheltay rehtay tou rikaard toot jaata.
Shoaib
You probably thought your comment shall not be approved but, how can we not approve “One last wish from our blogger? ”
I never called you a paindoo, its one of those lines that I have been using since my college days by genetically engineering Iqbal and Ghalib’s poetry and it is nothing more than a pun. Secondly, if you wish to think that there is no regionalism bias in Pakistan then it is your fishful sinking. May be one day you will realize that I was right and you were naive at that time, but now you don’t think you are naive but, very wise and broadminded. So, let it be.
Vaisay Gerald Deen Tremblay nay Taleem-e-Balighan may accha role ada kiya jisko Mughambo nay na sirf apnaya balkay bahot khush hua. Shayed tum nay unka vo vala sher nahee suna:
Na chhairo paindoo ki pindliyoun ko
Kay hai inn may dard-e-jigar Gerald Deena
hey guys according to geo news pakistan had announced its final 11 to play in hobart kamran akmal is dropped from team so are misbah,faisal and sami and they are replaced by khuram manzoor,shoaib malik,sarfraz ahmed and aamir.according to geo news kamran akmal was forced to vote against himself as selection panel selected the team unanimouslay.so pakistan team which will play in hobart looks like this salman butt, imran farhat, khurram manzoor, mohammed yousaf, umer akmal, shoaib malik,sarfraz ahmed, mohammed aamir, umer gul, mohammed.asif, danish kaneria.i think its fair enough team withen the available resources finaly we are able to select our best bowling attack about batting i m not so sure going to be a huge pressure on young sarfraz i dnt think kamrans political group is going to give him any easy time but then u have to emerge through all hardships to become great player wish sarfraz best of luck and hope he wil replace khatmal for good
amir
Yes, they have announced a playing XI a day before the match which is very rare for Pakistan. The team is fine but, dropping Sami is not fair. He was the main strike bowler in the first innings having dismissed their three top order batsmen and after that Asif took six wickets. In the second innings Kamran dropped Hussey of his bowling, so it isn’t fair to drop him after a good performance. What good Shoaib Malik would be if he scores under 10 runs? Even Sami can do that. A pace attack of 4 bowlers with Danish Kaneria would have intimidated the Australians because it is a swinging wicket. I know Sami is a skidder but, he is the fastest bowler in the team. Gul got a nod because he bowled well in the second innings. Anyways, IF only they play with a determination to win, they can otherwise with such low morale and Mohammad Yousuf’s negative impact it is not likely. Besides, the Aussies will be playing with their tails up and they haven’t lost a single match here against Pakistan.
Now look at this quote below which I am copy pasting from cricinfo where two captains are supposed to say before the match:
Quotes:
“What we have to do down here is not let them get back into the game like we let them start in Sydney. There’s still a lot of mystery around about them.”
Ricky Ponting on the riddle that is Pakistan
“There is no doubt that Sarfraz will play.”
Intikhab Alam, Pakistan’s coach, puts an end to all speculation regarding Pakistan’s wicketkeeper in Hobart
Why Inti Alam? Where is the captain? Busy? Shy? Cannot utter a word? I don’t understand this, it has always been like this with Inti Alam that his quotes are posted and the captain is literally non-existent.
Javed
lol @ Garald Deena
Thanks for making it my last wish as a LS blogger : D it proves that you have a big heart even after my obnoxious language used in the last post? Thanks for approving my last post as it is… so ‘’awaam’’ of LS can decide by themselves if there was anything objectionable in that.
I never said Pakistan or any country is free from regionalism or racism, but instead of exaggerating the fact we all should try to shrink it up, if we can.
Woh akhir may aap ney kia khoob kaha tha to socha hum bhi kuch kehtey chaley ,
arz kia hey
Aik hee club mey kharrey ho gaye paindoos aur Mr Fiaaz
Kay ibrar bhi keh utha Nuch Punjaben Nech Punjaben Nech
Aur George W Bush ney bhi kia khoob kaha tha aik din
Lo hum ney yoo hee bataa diaa illaaj-e-dushman jatey jatey
Tum banatey ho Atom bumm aur hum batatey hey regionalizumm
i think they announced the team a day b4 to end rifts in team and to calm kamrans loby now that every1 knws the team and its in media khatmal dnt have any option but to shut up moulana also voted against him to save his own skin and i m sure he wil be feeling very bad about it.i had never seen such hype about dropping a player who is consistantly not performing wel what a pathetic loser he is.
Shoaib
Club tou club hai, bar bhee na choray hum nay
Mohakma-e-Junglaat may daora diyeh ghoray hum nay
Abrar or Ibrar whichever way he spells his name is not the only one who says; Nuch Punjaban Nuch, there is another Indian Sardar who constantly says: Nuch lay Nuch lay… in short the Punjaban is provoked so much that she gets up and says:
Menu Khota Kali Kara day
Tay mai Nucchaan Saaree Raat
And, Atom Bumm is not spelled like that, but “eye-tum-bum”
amir
absolutely right, me2, I have never seen so much fuss and so much hype about dropping a player. All this is happening because Mohammad Yousuf is a weak captain and Inti Alam is twisting his arm and the rebel group is backseat mothering him. I wonder what he says when he goes on Tableegh? Is he like one of those Jehovah’s witnesses who goes on preaching missions, rings the bell and when you open the door he doesn’t know what to say!
newguy
Sanu nair walay pull tay bulakay………. tusi kithay ray gayO? No comments on tri-nation final? Except for Raina they all played pathetic cricket in the end and lost the final. Gambhir for some reason is not scoring much in the last few matches, whereas it was expected that he might score heavily.
I just heard the view on the captaincy of Mohd Yousof’s on cricinfo ( hear Osman Samiuddin’s view). It shows that it is not Yousof’s fault, he doesn’t just understand captaincy, he didn’t as for it, but the burden has fallen on him. It is hard to blame him since he isn’t aware of what is expected from a captain in terms of tactics and team selection. As Osman Samiuddin told it, it seemed he wasn’t even aware why Pakistan lost and how his tactics might have contributed.
Omer Admani
I have heard that one and what else can I say except, ignorance is bliss. And, in Mohammad Yousuf’s case or, any of the Pakistani players, officials it is the same. In Pakistan some people are happy in their own world, complacency makes them feel good. Once in Pakistan I saw a verse in Urdu at the back of a truck which is of course Truck Shayeri but, interestingly it reflects the mentality of most of the ignorant blokes and this is what it was written at the back of that truck”
Aqal hai tou Dukhaan-e-Dukhaan
Aqal nai tou Moujaan-e-Moujaan
It means if you bright or intelligent then you have problems and worries (Dukh) If you are not bright then you have no problem no worries.
Once again DROPPING CATCHES is everyday business for Pakistan team. Ponting was dropped on ZERO by Mohammad Aamer, it was a DOLLY, Ponting hooked on Asif’s bouncer and it went straight into the hands of Aamer at chest level, he did not even had to move an inch and he took it in his palms let it go to his chest and while it was dropping he used his knee to toss it up and it went on the side, he went down again to hold it but, he floored it. It was such an easy chance that any kid could have taken that catch. Now, when you give a chance to out of form Ponting he is going to score big.
Thanks to the UDRS, Katich was given out LBW, over-ruling the umpire’s decision. The Australians realized that Pakistan’s pace bowling is very good, they shaved the grass and used heavy roller and the wicket appears to be very flat. I reckon many runs would be scored and if Pakistan plays well, they can only manage a draw. Because, this Pakistan team under Mohammad Yousuf is not capable of winning a test match and not at Hobart where Australia has never lost a single match against Pakistan.
What Kamran Akmal couldn’t get in 4 attempts, Sarfaraz Ahmad got it in one. Hussey out caught by Sarfaraz Ahmad of the bowling of Aamer. Had Aamer held that catch of Ricky Ponting it would have been 4/71 now. He has scored 24 runs so far, how costly this will be?
Javed,
I’m here, just lurking, reading all the gossip and soap going on with Akmal & Co.
Tri-Series was boring to be frank, as if all they needed was another Ind-SL match! Indians play too much cricket and too many ODIs, there is no quality.
3rd Test is under way, Ponting given a life is now gaining confidence, this is not good, he was looking vulnerable earlier, they should have got him.
Ricky Ponting is inching towards his 100 and Clarke has already posted his 50 and Malik is bowling his mediocre off spinners, giving away plenty of runs 20 in 3 overs so far. I would have played Mohammad Sami in place of Malik, he is a better all-rounder than Malik. What a shame that Pakistan’s pathetic fielding is costing them this match.
Yep newguy;
That tri series was boring and needless for India and SL both, may be OK for Bangladesh. Here at Hobart, the Pakistanis are a making a mess because of their poor fielding. Right now both Ponting and Clarke are playing with confidence earlier both were shaky, specially Ponting. According to Tony Grieg it is one of those ugly innings that if you score here, you can score everywhere. Letting him off on zero and that too dropping a dolly catch is a shame.
MOHAMMAD AAMER playing this third test purely on the basis of his reputation. Except for the wicket of Mike Hussey, he did nothing out of the ordinary today in this match. Above I wrote, if you give a chance to out of form Ponting he is going to score big. And he did.
First, Aamer made such a big mess earlier on by dropping Ricky Ponting when he was on ZERO and is still not out for 136 with an unbroken partnership of 231 with Michael Clarke. Things would have been different if Ponting was out on a duck. Pakistani bowlers would have been on the top and Australians while defending would have thrown away a few more wickets.
Secondly, Aamer doesn’t seem to be fit, imo he has not fully recovered from his injury and either he is playing out of enthusiasm or the captain and coach are desperate to play him. At least 4 – 5 times he fell on the ground after delivering the ball. At one stage his ankle twisted and he fell so badly that he had to leave the ground. So, is it a good decision to play him when he is not fully fit? Is he going to admit that he is not fully fit? Never. Will the captain and coach or the physio will admit that he was not fully fit and yet they played him? Never.
The fact is playing someone who is not fully fit is not only bad for the team but, it is injustice for another fully fit player especially who has performed well in the previous test and i.e., Mohammad Sami. I am not a fan or a supporter of Sami but, purely in the interest of the team I see that it is an injustice and a bad decision.
Mohammad Yousuf is once again clueless about field placements, so much so that young wicketkeeper Sarfaraz had to run at least 50 meters to his skipper and show him a big gap where Ponting and Clarke were milking runs from that area and then Yousuf reluctantly and lazily raised his arm towards one of the fielders to move there to fill in that gap.
On another occasion, Umar Akmal was standing at silly mid-off and he misfield a shot, Shoaib Malik without even asking the bowler Danish Kaneria or the captain Mohammad Yousuf asked Umar Akmal to move towards deep point. Umar Akmal is as butter fingered as his brother Kamran Akmal, besides dropping catches he can seldom collect a ball cleanly off the ground.
what a mess again i dnt knw why our coaches cnt sort this catching problem out if they cnt do anything they must put some realy harsh penalities on fielders who drop catches. pontings catch costs pakistan 136 runs and perhaps match cant see pakistan winning from here best they can do is a draw icnt believe what poor techniq he show in that drop catch he didnt hav to move a single inch but he never kept his eyes on the ball very basic in catching and i think he need to cut his hair they were right in front of his eyes when he droped the catch anyway southafrica is right on top at wanderers with england on 133 for 6 excellent bowling from morkel and steyn planning to go to stadium on sunday if the match is going to last that long
Yes he definitely needs a haircut or must wear a hairband while fielding also.
Younus Khan is back in the ODI squad but, Mohammad Yousuf still remains the captain, following are the squads for ODI and T20
ODI squad: Mohammad Yousuf (capt), Shahid Afridi (vice-capt), Umar Akmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Malik, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Aamer, Naved-ul-Hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Asif.
Twenty20 squad: Shahid Afridi (capt), Umar Akmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Malik, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Aamer, Naved-ul-Hasan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Butt, Rao Iftikhar, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Asif.
Rana Naved is in both the squads. He is another butter fingered a$$hole who always drop catches and then looks up into the sky either blaming the sun or the floodlights and when the ball goes through his legs, he looks at the ground as if there is a big hole there. Whereas, the hole is somewhere else. Keeping Salman Butt in T20 squad is another mistake, there is no need for him because he plays very slow and ruins the tempo of the game.
Pakistan cricket Under 21 not participating in the 11th South Asian Games in Dhakka. The reasons given below are very funny. Because Ijaz Butt spend so much money on his personal traveling that there is no money left for the team:
“As the financial terms were conveyed late to us and considering our financial constraints, we will not be able to send Pakistan U-21 cricket team to Dhaka,” director cricket operations of the PCB, Zakir Khan, said in a communication to the POA,” sources told Dawn on Wednesday.
Despite all the storm that is building up against Ijaz Butt & Co.’s removal from the PCB, he is still there and likely to remain because Zardari does not want to fire him. That is because himself he is so corrupt that he doesn’t give a damn to anyone who is dishonest.
The catch Aamir dropped cost them HEAVILY. Pakistan can never fixed their fielding because You got players that was picked for the team for Political reason not because they love cricket. TO DO GOOD AT SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO BE INTO IT AND YOU HAVE TO LOVE DOING IT. And THIS IS THE AREA where the Problem lies in Pakistan Fielding. They hate fielding, Batsmen wants to Bat only and wants to make big score so they can get famous. Bowler wants to bowl their hardest to take as many wickets they can to get famous. All of them wants to take a shortcut for getting famous so they only work for the Position they are know for like batsmen only practice his batting and bowler only practice on their bowling leaving behind the fielding which they know will win them a game but will not make them famous. All of you here watch Pakistani fielding and you can see it over and over when they are fielding all of them look DEAD on the field and wants to get over with the fielding and GET ON THE BENCHES. They all show sign of laziness on their faces when they are fielding and they never look active. The solution to this problem is WE NEED NEW PLAYERS that loves to be on the field and wants to WIN not just wanting to Bowl and Bat. For example Look at Younis Khan, Afridi, and Fawad Alam Fielding, they always look active and awake at the fielding because they enjoy playing Cricket. YOU HAVE TO HAVE THAT FEELING INSIDE YOUR HEART THAT YOU ENJOYING PLAYING CRICKET AND YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE GAME OR YOU WILL NEVER FIELD WELL. ANOTHER POINT WE HAVE UNPROFESSIONAL GUYS PLAYING FOR OUR COUNTRY. THEY DON’T EVEN DESERVE THE SPOT. THEY ARE NOT THAT PROFESSIONAL TO PLAY INTERNATIONAL GAMES THEY ARE ONLY SUITED TO PLAY VILLAGE CRICKET.
MOHAMMAD YOUSUF still haven’t learn anything from SCG. His fielding will still more defensive than attacking when both Clarke and Ponting were having hard time bating. The commentary were making jokes of YOUSUF saying what is he doing. I don’t know how he will learn. He lost the series and he needs to take some Risk once in a while and gamble a little bit. I don’t know what he wants to Prove to the World that Pakistan is the WORST Cricket Team in the World or What because i don’t understand his field setting and his attitude. why on earth did PCB kept him a Captain in ODI. PCB needs to change their decision and give it to Afridi because YOUNUS Khan will not want to be a Captain of a Team like this and who can Blame him. How can you lead a Side when they don’t give a dam about their country, fans and country respect. As long as we have a Punjabi Captain these Punjabis will behave and play and we will never achieve ANYTHING.
One of the reasons Pakistani players are not good fielders is because of their home grounds, where they play day to day cricket does not have enough grass on it and the surface is very hard, so they are reluctant to dive for the fear of getting injured. If they don’t learn to dive from their childhood, how do you expect them to dive in international matches? Except for the grounds where they have international matches in Pakistan, like National Stadium Karachi, Gaddafi Stadium Lahore etc., all other grounds do not have adequate grass or surface where a player can dive without any fear. They think if they dive and get injured they will be dropped from the next few matches and there is so much competition and politics that a player who worked hard to reach a certain level, if injured and out of action for a few matches disappears into oblivion, no one remembers him. This is the psyche behind poor fielding.
Apart from this, there is not enough match practice, fielding in the nets is different from fielding in real matches. And, yes there is no emphasis on training and dropping catches is not taken seriously, perhaps this is the first time that a player has been dropped on the basis of dropping catches. Had this match not ended in this fashion i.e., a match that Pakistan could have won by an innings ultimately lost due to Akmal’s dropping 4 catches, the nation may not have cried so much in asking for Akmal’s replacement. Even then, he was so adamant about playing because the captain, coach and other members of the team were supporting him in brotherhood. Thanks God that he is dropped and a precedent has been set for the future.
javed i agree with u that our ground fielding is not good cause of hard playing surfaces where u cant dive at all but u cnt blame these hard surfaces for dropping catches cause the ball is coming in the air i think they got concentration problem u can practice how much u like and u can b very good in practice but in 90 overs play u have to concentrate for 540 balls and if u r not concentrating for even 1 ball it can b fatel these guys dnt have that mental strength to concentrate for whole day like other good teams have u noticed that majority of our catching problems are in test cricket.in 20twenties and odi our catching is not that bad i think majority of our team is safarishi tatoo’s who dnt have mentel toughness to play test cricket there4 they dnt deserve to b representing pakistan test cricket team.
mark nicholas at toss put moulana in very difficult position by asking him that how hard it was to drop akmal as he is ur best friend and moulana just did his usaul ain bain shain he is worst captain pakistan had ever produced he dnt knw what attacking cricket is and is so laid back that even all the juniors in team tells him where to put fielders what a disgrace i didnt understand if they wanted fawad alam for odi’s why the hel they send him back for two weeks i think like this poor decesions are the reason that pcb dnt have money to send thier under 21 team to dhaka
Amir and Javed Khan,
Dropping catches all right, but it is the attitude of Youso is what baffles me. He keeps on repeating nothing can be done about it, it is a grassroots problem. With that attitude, it is hard to see how anything can be changed in this regard when the captain is already saying ‘nothing can be done about it’.
Besides that, I totally agree with Amir. You can make the outfields Australian and Pakistani players can dive and fly like Australians one day, but dropping catches when the bowl loops into the hands and the fielder doesn’t have to move a yard, suggests it is a concentration problem. Certainly in the slips cocentration is required as all happens pretty fast. Also, Aamer’s dropped chance suggests one more thing: A fielding coach, who can teach how to get the hands into catching position, migt be helpful. But Yousof has said it is a grassroots problem….in fact he is going to bring Kamran Akmal back in the ODIs, because dropping catches is a grassroots problem, it is not Kamran Akmal’s job to take catches, it is the job of the Habib Bank’s fielders to take catches.
All I can say about the match is that (and I am not watching this one certainly as the series is already lost), with the negative attitude of the captain, Pakistan should be happy to know what it has accomplished on this tour (that is not lose by an innings defeat so far).
My point about grassy grounds and hard surfaces was about poor fielding and NOT about dropping catches. Obviously catches are in the air and some of them are straightforward, it is the casual attitude and lack of basic training to keep your eyes on the ball till the last moment that matters, plus how to keep your hands when the ball is up and, how to when the ball is coming straight to you like in slips position. No one is there to tell them the basics and none of the players are interested in knowing what the basics are.
As regards Moulana’s attitude it is so typical of him and those who have negative attitude that they think nothing can be done. Obviously, the opposition captain is doing it i.e., changing the losing scenario into a winning position and that is because he has a positive frame of mind and is keen to know what can be done to change the situation in your favour? I have seen so many of our people who believe in fate, kismet, destiny that they say, this was supposed to happen. Obviously if you go on a highway and stand in front of an on coming truck, you would be bound to hit and die, this does not mean this is ultimate fate, destiny or kismet. God has given you brains to use them and, in many ways He said guard yourself, there is a Hadith saying “Trust in God but, tie your camel.” Likewise do your best and then say we tried our best. They do their best to lose a match which they were supposed to win.
Javed Khan,
If we think about it, no-one from the present team of 11 seems to be ‘tactically’ sound enough. This is a consistent problem with the Pakistan team, tey have their initial burst, and if the batsmen survive that, then the batsmen end up making very big scores against them. On the other hand, I have noticed with India that tey are able to get many batsmen out (especially Australians) in their 30s,40s, 50s. In part this might be because India is tactically a lot more imaginative team(they place fielders on the leg side, start bowling on the legside, or keep the short leg and bowl bouncers chest high, keep the fielders on the off side and bowl outside off stump, try to trap the batsmen by creating innovative positions and bowling accordingly so the batsman is induced into hitting their, and so on).
Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the board to get someone who specializes in this, devising tactics and plans for the team with the bowlers?
I believe Gary Kirsten’s influence on the team is much more stronger than it seems. He is probably pretty much involved in all these things, of course he isn’t there to teach Tendulkar, Sehwag, or Dravid how to bat. And, if we look at it, India gets the worst out of Australia because they are able to match them in their thinking.
Yes Omer Admani you are right but, the Pakistani think tank doesn’t think on those lines, they plan how to put their own relatives in the team or in the organization and how to make illegal money. Strategy is the main ingredient of any sport and they don’t have a plan, a strategy and they don’t make tactical moves accordingly then, you are Mohammad Yousuf.
Ricky Ponting has scored 209 and Clarke made 166 this is something you cannot pardon such crimes, the damage is done and even though Mohammad Aamer took Ricky Ponting’s wicket, it is of no use now. The water is above the head now and Pakistan can never win this match. If Ponting was out on a duck, the possibility of Australian collapse were there. Now, its a huge total and the worst thing is Ricky Ponting has regained his confidence and his form. In record books it won’t be mentioned that how simple that catch was it will only show Ricky Ponting scored 209.
SALMAN BUTT INVOLVES IN TWO CRUCIAL RUN OUTS.
This is what happens when you play mediocre out of form batsmen like, Salman Butt, Malik, Misbah etc., they try to play for themselves and not for the team. Like khansahab mentioned about “The Captivity of Negativity,” these run outs are a classic example and translates his phrase precisely. Not only they are captured and trapped in negativity but, they start breeding negativity which is so contagious and effects the whole team.
Now, both these players Malik and Butt will try to put up the best performances of their lives as both are on the verge of losing their test career. Butt is already on 34 and he must be aiming for a 50 to consolidate his position in the eyes of the selectors, because from records point of view those run outs are Yousuf and Umer Akmal’s problems, all Butt needs a 50 on record. And, Malik needs his usual 35~45 to show that he did his part in contributing a decent score while others failed. Anything more scored than 50 by both these players will be an added bonus to brag about their capabilities, technique, temperament, determination and the grit that they possess by scoring under pressure — my foot.
Like Imran Farhat did, he is also a 30~40 player. I was surprised to see the averages that were being shown by the commentators that 57% of the time he is out nicking the ball, (27% caught by the wicketkeeper and 30% by the slips cordon.) And, 19% lbw, i.e., in trying to play a straight ball across the line. The Australians did their homework on Farhat and kept luring him and luring him and then got him, caught by Haddin for 38.
Salman Butt, appears very, very insecure and it is so obvious from his game, never mind the slow strike rate of 34.10 (he scored his 34 in 99 balls) but, his refusal and negative tactics in running between the wickets speaks in volumes. If he had run on both occasions he would have NOT been run out. Because, on occasions the batsman out wasted a lot of time in stopping and then turning back and making a fresh start to run again towards the keeper’s end and Umer Akmal was out by an inch or so, whereas Yousuf was at least a meter behind the line. But, Yousuf was almost 3/4th length down the pitch whereas Umer was only half way.
Fantastic wrist spin bowling by Katich. Got the ball to dip and spin. This is why Pakistan shouldn’t even think about playing Ajmal. And, the less said about Abdul Rehman’s bowling, the better. That leaves Pakistan wit Afridi, Kaneria, and Usman Qadir. Afridi should play as an all rounder– playing 4 bowlers really means that at some point Asif or Aamer are bound to get injured. And, they could send Usman Qadir in the squad, he seems to be doing well for under 19.
Butt plaed a decent knock. It is Pakistan’s middle order which has flunked thruout the series.
Fantastic batting Umar Gul I must say, Asif and Gul are frustrating Australia and so far made 50 runs in partnership. Gul’s three sixes, two of Hauritz and one of Katich gave him some confidence and Asif after receiving body blows from Siddle seems to have settled down, hope they can avoid follow-on which is only 22 runs away. Hauritz is going to bowl again but, this time with the new ball (after tea) and chances for Umar Gul to slog and get over with the follow-on.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of Sarfaraz Ahmed with the bat, but the coach saying they will play Akmal because of his batting in ODI’s is ridiculous. And, I’ll show here why:
Player Test Average First-class average
Mohd Yousof 53.63 50.11
Younis Khan 50.09 50.55
Kamran Akmal 33.55 32.43
Shoaib Malik 36 29.87
Fawad Alam 41.66 56.29
Sarfaraz Ahmed 44.78 -
Umar Gul 8.96 11.66
Mohammad Amir 13.9 13.45
Asif 4.68 7.94
Note that these are all middle order and lower order batsmen. If there is any position where there is somewhat of a discrepancy between first-class average and test match average (a difference in average of around 7-8 runs), then it is at the opening spot– understandably, since the pitches inside Pakistan are very flat.
In Fawad Alam’s case, he has only played 3-4 matches, so the discrepancy doesn’t account for much. In Malik’s case, he might have improved as a batsman as he came as a bowler and would have played a disproportionate number of matches initially primarily as a bowler. Apart from these, there is a remarkable correlation between first-class averages and test match averages. In other words, Sarfaraz Ahmed is probably, if given a consistent run, a better batsman than Kamran Akmal. And, he kept relatively much better.
OMER ADMANI u r right sarfraz ahmed’s first class average is much better than kamran’s this is very unfair to sarfraz to judge him on 1 test performance and that also against aussies at there home on the other hand they had given chances to kamran for six years there is some other agenda in this whole story i m 200% sure if they gonna give sarfraz chances for six years his record is going to be much better than kamrans and also he’s not gona ruin some of our best bowlers bowling figures and careers
I have been preoccupied with some personal issues which is why I haven’t commented for a few days.
Pakistan is a demoralised team and there is no sound planning. Corruption, politics and nepotism are taking over sound planning and merit, which is why the team is suffering.
Yousuf is an unimaginative captain and unlike Younis, his main problem is his own personality and reactive captaincy, not player rebellion or player dissatisfaction. Yousuf will take this team backwards, not forwards and the PCB needs to realise this. They need to choose the best 50 players in the country, analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each player and separate who is a match winner (Afridi/Younis), who is a good player (Yousuf), who is a 30-40 run/mediocre player (Malik/Misbah) and who is a type of player that has a totally demoralising effect on the team- for example, Akmal. The moment Akmal started dropping catches consistently (from 2006 onwards) he should have been penalised severely and it was WRONG to let him carry on playing because of his batting. I used to say this on Pakspin but few would agree with me.
PCB also needs to stop promoting those players who have a demoralising effect on the team and who form cliques and play politics, especially if they are mediocre. Malik, Misbah and Akmal must NEVER have been promoted or given this kind of importance because psychologically it appears their attitudes have hurt the team immensely. How could they so quickly make Malik captain, for example, after he had arrogantly confessed to throwing a domestic semi final? Malik showed no remorse in his confession and this type of person must never have been promoted and supported in this manner.
They need to realise that a match winner (Afridi/Younis) must never be dropped even if that player is inconsistent. This team needs Afridis and Younis’s and they need Yousufs, Fawad Alams etc to complement the match winners. Bowling wise, I am sure there are many Aamers and Guls in the domestic circuit- someone always emerges who creates a storm. Pakistan had Shabbir Ahmed, Sami, Tanvir- all of these had short careers but they all made an impact and helped Pakistan win matches. So batting needs to be sorted out and the only way forward is to eliminate mediocrity- just stop relying on 30-40 run players.
Inzamam’s test average: 49.6 first-class average: 50.10
Javed Miandad’s test av: 52.57 first-class: 53.37
Zaheer Abbas’s test average: 44.79 first-class: 51.54
Moin Khan test: 28.55 first-class: 30.67
Rashid Latif test: 28.77 first-class: 28.30
Just a few more random names that come to mind. Basically, we can see the strong correlation between test matches averages and first-class averages among so many Pakistani players.
Hence, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s average of 45 at first-class cricket shows that not only can he bat, but he might be the best wicket-keeper batsman that Pakistan produced. And, people keep on saying, that Kamran Akmal should be in the team because Sarfaraz Ahmed can’t bat, without giving him a consistent run and seeing how he bats.
On LS we have been saying this for a very long time that Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Misbah, Kamran Akmal are rogue and selfish players and for some people it took about 4-5 years to realize this. Now, Osman Samiuddin has written an article on Salman Butt’s selfishness, read this article:
Butt continues to walk a crooked path
Salman Butt has intrinsically the mind to play a Test innings, but most always finds himself needing to secure his spot
Osman Samiuddin at Bellerive Oval
January 16, 2010
The short, interrupted career of Salman Butt tells a great, sad story of Pakistan cricket and its cricketers. It is about the talent of men, not exceptional perhaps but fit enough to succeed globally, existing anywhere in the world in whatever circumstance. It is also about the poor habits that come with unchecked talent. But it is most about not knowing how the talent should be nurtured and not knowing how fragile it can be.
Before the Sydney Test, Butt talked about batting well but not scoring big. Meekly he added that being in and out of the side hadn’t helped much. It is such a usual thing for Pakistan players to say that the significance of what they are actually saying is often forgotten. To remind, Butt has already been dropped seven times from the Pakistan team in only 27 Tests. That means he has had to make his way back into the side eight times already by the age of 25 over six years, each time knowing that another edge, a leg-before, a little mistake might be the last, for a while at any rate.
Butt has been dropped when he hasn’t been scoring, and dropped when he has been; once, he scored a fifty and a hundred in Australia and was dropped one Test later in India. That will do as much for your self-belief as finding out your spouse has been cheating on you. A therapist might be more useful than a coach.
He is here still after that first trip but he has gone a long, twisted way in five years to get back to where he began. The sadness is that he comes here his career not having gone much further. This series – like that first one – is still about securing his spot.
Partly he must admit the fault is his. For such a player, he has careless ways. The running, as Pakistan again discovered, is far too lazy for someone so young. He doesn’t harry nearly enough for runs, content with singles where the more alert sniff out two. Already in his career he has been cautioned a few times for running down the centre of the pitch and in the run-out of Umar Akmal yesterday, he paid for it, running into Nathan Hauritz.
The concentration can also be loose and usually at key moments. At the beginning of an innings, just after he has settled, soon after fifties or hundreds, these are dangerous times for Butt. He has good wrists but not the greatest hands, so keeping up a steady patter of singles – an essential batting discipline now – is difficult. More batting sense is needed. A little more in the field wouldn’t be amiss either.
But Pakistan needs to know that the good much outweighs the bad and that these are materials that can be worked with. They should’ve known it five years ago but he has to be, from here on in, at least one half-answer to the vexing problem of their opening, in Tests and ODIs.
Butt has intrinsically the mind to play a Test innings, to bat long, which is always priceless in Pakistan. He can bat long and doesn’t always get fazed by scoreless periods. Once in Multan, a solid England attack played with his head, placing two short covers and drying up his scoring. He held out for a second Test hundred and a fifty, batting nearly eleven hours in the process. Eight ODI hundreds, in a different way, say much the same thing.
His captain reckons he plays better on difficult pitches. Certainly he has prospered enough in Australia now to become a part of that rarest Pakistan fraternity: batsmen who do well in the land of fast, bouncy surfaces.
His third Test hundred has come far too long after his second, nearly half a decade. But it was an important one, for him, for Pakistan. Quite a typical one too: moments of carelessness, but prolonged bouts of beauty, patience and good sense. The leg-side game has sharpened and expanded. The touch on the off remains, as ever, finely measured.
There came one moment, off Mitchell Johnson, when he no more than guided a ball off the bat, to the left of gully, the right of point and the left of a square, deeper gully as well, guided it as delicately as a cat burglar skipping through the infrared alarms at fancy museums; suddenly the Bellerive Oval looked even more beautiful than it already is.
The innings took some nerve. The dressing room cannot have been a fun place to be in after yesterday’s run-outs and the night would have been spent uneasily taken with the headlines morning would bring. The sense, all in all, was only how he is not more of a player than he has been so far?
Interestingly a couple of days ago when Salman Butt got Mohammad Yousuf run out and then Umer Akmal within a short period of time, here on LS I wrote that this is what happens when you play mediocre selfish players who play for themselves and not for the country.
The next day Mohammad Yousuf said, Salman Butt is selfish and lazy.
Now, Osman Samiuddin wrote an article today with a caption “Butt continues to walk a crooked path.”
I wrote that all he needs a 50 to assure his place in the next matches and Shoaib Malik needs 40~45 runs to assure his berth and anything more they score would be a bonus. Butt scored 102 and Malik scored 57 so they both earned bonus points from the selectors and are guaranteed to play a few test matches in future and also guaranteed to play for the ODI series in Australia.
This is exactly how these people have been planning and playing for Pakistan for the last 8~10 years. Their first aim is to secure their spot for the next match, they don’t care whether the team wins or not, because there is no such thing as team spirit in their books.
At home front, the BIG BUTT is trying to secure his spot by writing a letter to Asaf Ali Zardari to intervene and save his Butt. That is another shameful character in the history of the PCB that a Chairman so uncouth and uneducated, at 72 years of age, NO COUNTRY on earth would give such an important assignment to such an idiot, but Pakistan has given this job and there is not one idiot but, three idiots, Ijaz Butt, Wasim Bari and Intikhab Alam, they all need a kick in the butt.
Another interesting thing about Sarfaraz Ahmed in first-class cricket is that, he doesn’t hit 100 very often, but he crosses 50 every 1 in 3 matches (in terms of consistency he is up there with the greats in international cricket).
Basically, he is the type of player that Pakistan seeks at that position, one who can hit 50,60,70 fairly consistently. He has got 24 innings out of 74 that cross the 50 mark (1 in 3.08 innings)
Compare that withh Yousof’s 77 out of 220 (1 in 2.857) in first-class.
Younis Khan crosses 50 in every 3.14 matches in first-class. Sarfaraz Ahmed is more consistent in crossing 50 than Younis Khan.
Compare that with a ridiculous 1 in 5.34 matches for Kamran Akmal (very, very inconsistent, and only good in the subcontinent against weaker oppositions).
Shoaib Malik crosses 50 1 in every 5.7 matches in first-class.
In other words, if Pakistan can give him a run in international cricket, he could be the ‘second most reliable’ batsman in the Pakistan team after Yousof. The only difference is that where Yousof scores a 100 or a big 100, he will have a 60, 70, 80. That is the difference of 5 runs of average in first-class cricket between them, that for every 100, 150, 200 that Yousof makes, Sarfaraz Ahmed will have a 60,70, or a 80…and besides that, there scores would read about the same.
At cricinfo they had measured consistency by using standard deviation, which I believe is a relatively more inaccurate way of calculating consistency in cricket. If we use how often a player crosses 50, we are discounting the scores below 50 and ‘penalizing’ the players for that. The standard deviation on the other hand is not only penalizing players for this, but also penalizing players for making big scores, such as a 150 or 200 (how further the scores are away from the standard either side of the average)…as 150s, 200s are large deviations from the ‘standard’. This, at times, can be a problem with staticians, that they can use measures which don’t fit the context as much, but since that is the way to do it in other things, they just do it. In fact perhaps the best way to calculate consistency in cricket (if we are to reward players for their consistency) is to write every score greater than the ‘average’ exactly as the average itself (so that scores greater than the average are rewarded rather than penalized) and then calculate the standard deviation from those ‘new scores’. Anyhow, the measure I have used above is pretty solid to reflect on the consistency of a player.
The reason why I’d prefer a very consistent player at that position is that, he’d be playing with the tail, so he will not have enough time to make a 100 or a 200 anyway. But a player who can make 60, 70 often is a very good one, especially for Pakistan, at that position.
I can also join the bandwagon and say that Sarfaraz Ahmad’s batting should not be judged from one innings. Also, I can say that as a wicketkeeper he performed well and under the circumstances and on his debut he took 3 catches behind the wickets and that too from 8 wickets that fell, so considering that, his catching average is pretty good and he has not dropped a single catch. For a wicketkeeper, his main job is wicketkeeping and batting is secondary. But, from the few balls he faced he appeared as a total novice, a kid who does not know how to play cricket, may be its the nervousness on his debut and the pressure to perform might have done that. So, let us see how he performs in future.
The thing that boggles my mind is, the PCB when they wanted to send someone (Sarfaraz Ahmad) they can do it in no time without consulting anyone or getting approval from anywhere. And, when they don’t want to, they make a zillion excuses. For e.g., in case of Younus Khan they have deliberately delayed his departure so that people like, Malik, Farhat, Butt could get a chance to play in the test and they succeeded in it. Butt scored a century for himself, Malik scored a fifty for himself and Farhat is Farhat he is a 30~40 player and a rubbish fielder perhaps a very effective and determined son-in-law!
The recent article once again by Osman Samiuddin, “Yousuf upset over Younus delay” check out from this link:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/444349.html
speaks in volumes about how the PCB management works.
Javed Khan,
For 4-5 balls even Ponting can look like a novice, in fact Ponting looked like a novice for much longer when he made this 209 (he played and miss maybe 20 times initially in the innings, plus the catch dropped). However, he was able to survive through and once he started seeing it, he started playing the way he wanted. A lot of it seems to be in the mind, and this is precisely why I wrote these posts: based on those 4-5 balls people will rubbish Sarfaraz, but if he didn’t know how to bat, he wouldn’t be averaging close to Mohd Yousof and Younis Khan at domestic first-class cricket. Maybe he needs a good run– we have already seen that, when Mohd Yousof joined international cricket, he averaged 35-40 in the first year or two and gradually came to his own, and so did Younis Khan to a large degree. Besides that, Sarfaraz Ahmed would be under a lot of pressure to perform since he knows that someone who calls him his rival is making every opportunity to make an imression on camera, practicing right besides the ground so that the commentators pick on him, unnecessarily appearing on the field, and the like. The passion of Kamran Akmal suggests that he really wants another go at the IPL, since if he were as passionate playing for Pakistan, he would have improved his wicketkeeping 4-5 years ago and himself taken time out of the game.
First i like to start with congratulating Ricky Ponting for his amazing double CENTURY. He struggle in the beginning but felt comfortable as time passed by. As a captain he came strong and showed his country that he can still bat and make runs which MOHAMMAD YOUSUF can never do, looking at his Captaincy record. SECOND i will love to see Ponting go up to Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal and SLAP THEM couple of Time and tell Why are you both using me as an excuse to clean up your mess. Ponting proved both Akmal and Yousuf wrong cause he was struggling with his batting but he came so strong making double century. Another thing i like to point out is we need to give Sarfraz Ahmed some time to get settle. we can’t judge him too quickly because he only played 1 inning and he needs to play few more to take the pressure off his shoulder. I am sure he will be better than Akmal at least in Keeping if not in batting. if Mohammad yousuf like Akmal batting so much when he put akmal back in the side he should only bat and not be a wicketkeeper. Sarfraz should be the keeper
One can understand Yousuf’s frustration at firstly glaring at Butt after his run out and then criticising Butt in the media statement later, however it was quite unprofessional of Yousuf to do this. He is the captain and must never show demoralising behaviour or make careless statements like that. Yousuf’s frustration seemed to have a positive impact on Butt’s batting however.
I was surprised how badly the Aussies bowled at Butt. Most of Butt’s scoring shots came off balls very wide outside off stump or outside leg stump which Butt easily glanced for 4. This is not to say Butt does not deserve the credit because he was Pakistan’s best batsman and somehow he has a knack of managing to play Australia better than any other Pakistani batsman- perhaps in the same way Tendulkar has always played Australia better than most other batsmen. I was particularly surprised how Mitchell Johnson seemed to lack fire when bowling to Butt- in fact for most part Johnson bowled poorly during Malik and Butt’s partnership.
Speaking of Malik, even though there was barely any swing and the ball was coming onto the bat nicely, Malik fought and played a composed innings, although I still don’t believe he should be playing Test cricket as he is always playing to secure his place in the side and not for the team or the country.
When Butt scored a century in Australia 6 years ago, he was kept in the team on the basis of that for many years. Now Butt has got this second lifeline and he must improve his strokeplay and become a more consistent batsman.
I was watching the highlights when Malik and Butt were batting. The Australian bowling was largely lacklustre- half volleys, lack of pace, outside leg, way outside off etc and Malik and Butt capitalised on that. There were praises from the commentators though, and there should be too, because Malik and Butt did show some grit out there and Malik in particular timed the ball sweetly on a few occasions.
But then I saw Australia’s batting and it was such a contrast watching Ponting bat. Ponting’s shots are exquisite and he is a great technician. There was this pull shot he played to a ball that was well outside off. Then there was this lovely punch through extra cover where he seemed to guide the ball with his hands. And then there was this strange Tendulkaresque shot, which was created in a unique fashion, directed through the covers but it was a cross between a cut and a drive. I have seen Tendulkar play a shot like that sitting on one knee- he does it much better with a touch of genius, but Ponting was sublime playing that. It made me realise the difference between a class player and mediocre Pakistani batsmen who can merely be “good” on their day.
What a difference in terms of ability! There is a world of a difference.
khansahab
The highlights seldom give the correct picture because, only selected strokes are shown in highlights. The wicket is very flat, anyone could have scored and you should have seen the way Gul was hammering the spinners and Asif was playing a dead bat to Australian fast bowlers. I wonder how and why Asif got out, that pair could have batted all day yesterday.
As regards Yousuf’s giving a glare at Butt, there is nothing wrong in it. First of all it is natural and you cannot hide your feelings and expressions, he simply went away after staring him for 5-8 seconds which looked very long as the camera was focusing him. As regards speaking at the press conference (I agree that it is wrong) Butt deserves that. Someone should call a spade, a spade. And, I think after he got Umar Akmal out Yousuf must have felt even more bad and then in the dressing room he must have had a lobby of Akmal’s and his supporters airing their views that Butt is selfish and lazy.
My reaction was the same, I said Butt is very selfish and Osman Samiuddin wrote a whole article on his selfishness that he plays for himself and not for the country and only to secure his spot in the team. People are opening their eyes now whereas, we have been saying this since ages.
Butt scored 102 in 234 balls and out of which 191 are dot balls, it means he was least bothered about runs, was playing only the lose balls and scoring. Ian Chappel said, it is fine to do that but, Butt is exceeding the limits of slow scoring, presence on the field is important but more important is scoring runs. Samiuddin wrote that where you could take two runs he ran for a single and in his score it is not just those singles he scored but, when others played and they scored a single it is because of Butt i.e., he restricted their couple to a single. So, here the negativity is reflecting not only his scoring but the overall score is less because of Butt’s laziness and selfishness. He is happy that he scored a century and he knows that he cannot be dropped. He knows that Mohammad Yousuf will not remain as a captain in test after this series and what will remain on records is his century. He is a bloody selfish bastard.
Khansahab,
Butt playing well in Australia doesn’t surprise me, why other batsmen in the Pakistan team can’t does though.
Pitches in Australia are usually very, very flat. Therefore, the Australians stuggle in England where the ball moves around a bit. Hence, they lost the Ashes twice.
However, Pakistani batsmen have some kind of mental block when it comes to playing against Australia. Part of it may be the negativity and the past of Mohd Yousof seeping in the team. Make the Aussies wear the English uniform and you will see how different Pakistani players bat against them.
Australian bowling at this point is honest but nothing spectacular. I am glad you saw the standard of bowling and the highlights to note that. On the pitch that moved in the second match, the Australian bowlers took a 100 runs to get ‘Pakistani’ openers out (when the openers applied themselves). Apart from that, most of the other wickets were given away rather than taken. Mohd Yousof would be making very big scores were it not for the fact that he wasn’t able to against Australia before. His reaction to Butt was nothing but his own frustration. As far as the run-out was concerned, the way I saw it, regardless of whether there was a run or not, Butt said no and Yousof still insisted– the point is co-ordination, not whether the run was there or not or who was right or who was wrong. Anyway, what would Mohd Yousof have accomplished anyway?
We just saw this series without any umpiring blunders. However, there is the usual criticism of URDS, despite the fact that we’ve already seen the umpiring in itself improve because of the system.
Here’s what happened to India when they visited Australia. To be fair, they were robbed in this game. The on-field umpire made the wrong decisions all right, but so did the third umpire who ‘just didn’t see it’. I wonder who the third umpire was…anyway, check this video out (I just love it when in the later part of the video, an Aussie while clearly grassing the chance, is all over Dravid because Dravid questioned his catch):
Interesting:
Jhonson gave away 76 runs in 20 overs in the first innings without any wickets. So far, in the second innings, he has given away 32 runs in 7 overs without any wickets. Pakistan have attacked him a bit and he has sprayed it around. The other thing about him is that he is totally ineffective against left-handers. He has a natural angle against right-handed batsmen, but that is neutralized against left-handers. If Pakistan had Fawad Alam and Younis Khan, the series would have been much more interesting– a left-hander and the best batsman in the last few years. The best all rounder isn’t in the team. And, the captaincy has been very negative. So, Pakistan can definitely improve further– in England with natural swing for Pakistani bowlers, Pakistan can easily beat the Australians.
Omer Admani
Thats the point I’ve also noted about Jhonson in this test match, whenever he is attacked he gives up and becomes a highly ineffective bowler. So, Pakistan should realize this weakness in him and capitalize it in the ODI series by attacking him from the onset.
In the second innings when Ricky Ponting was in his 70′s he nicked the ball straight into Sarfaraz’s gloves and the nick was audible to everyone except for the umpire. The hot spot also did not show and based on that the umpire’s decision stood. However, the snicko confirmed a nick and the commentators were talking about what happened in SA when Smith was not given out in a similar review system and he went on to score a century. England protested a lot but all in vain. Here, the Pakistani fielders couldn’t believe when UDRS over turned their appeal because the nick was audible and there was nothing near the bat except for the ball. That is something that all aspects of technology if not used, is incomplete.
The entire PCB management needs to get changed after this Test series and the following players need to be sacked permanently:
Faisal Iqbal, Misbah, Malik, Akmal.
Other than that Intikhab Alam must go. His replacement needs to be younger, fitter. The best thing Pakistan can do is to appoint a batsman as the main coach. Saeed Anwar, Inzamam, Miandad, Basit Ali, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed come to mind. Inzamam could have been the best choice had it not been for his Mullahgiri. Miandad will be good but we will keep seeing the selection of Faisal Iqbal. The best bet therefore seems to be Saeed Anwar, who is a Mullah himself. Or maybe they can appoint Basit Ali or Ijaz Ahmed. There is talk of Mudassar Nazar but I am not sure whether he was a good batsman? Aamer Sohail is someone else who comes to mind- there are options for Pakistan but internal politics will prevent the appointment of the right person. For example, until Butt is the Chairman, Aamer Sohail cannot be appointed because of their well publicised conflict that occurred last year.
It seems Inti Alam has got the coach’s job more because of politics and connections. Since batting has been Pakistan’s main problems, the PCB needs to appoint a batsman as the team’s main coach.
If Ijaz Butt and Inti Alam are not sacked after this series, then I request the people of Lahore to protest outside PCB’s office and demand their removal. It came in the news recently that Zardari does not want to remove Butt, however Inti Alam must be sacked because of how much Pakistan has suffered in Test cricket recently.
Inti Alam has complained about too much ODI and T20 cricket being the causes of Pakistan’s Test decline, but the fact is that Pakistan is not even a reliable team in ODI’s anymore. It is the coach’s job to ensure a team is prepared well mentally for an imminent Test series- so what has Inti Alam done in this regard?
I have some serious concerns regarding Yousuf’s captaincy. It is OK to be worried and despondent when things don’t go your way, but a captain has to be above that and motivate his players.
Now Yousuf looked like he was going to cry when Ponting was given not out earlier in his innings when the sound of the bat’s edge was audible but TV replays were inconclusive. I saw some Pakistani fielders trying to console Yousuf- it should be the other way round. Yousuf appears too weak and sensitive a person to lead Pakistan.
The commentators remarked rightly that although it is understandable why Yousuf is upset, there is no point looking so morose because Pakistan would get a lead of 400+ anyway regardless of whether Ponting would be given out or not.
Yousuf is definitely not the right guy to lead the Pakistan Test team. If Younis doesn’t want Test captaincy it should go to Afridi- no questions asked.
The recent press statement by Sehwag about Bangladesh being a very ordinary side and they can never beat India in test……. read this:
http://www.cricinfo.com/bdeshvind2010/content/story/444422.html
And now Bangladesh on first day have got India almost all out (except Tendulkar not out on 72, the media is asking Tendulkar to answer the questions about which side is weak?
http://www.cricinfo.com/bdeshvind2010/content/current/story/444613.html
It is only the first day play and no one can be sure of the result and it is very likely that India will still win despite the batting collapse in first innings on first day. But, Sehwag’s statement is not new, a few years ago when India went to Bangladesh, he said, “I am going to score a double hundred in here.” Unfortunately that was Sehwag’s one of the poorest performances of his life. I don’t think he should be talking BIG before the series is over.
inti must go now i dnt knw what he is doing with the team. from srilanka tour till now we havnt seen a single improvement in team instead we r having same patren of loosing matches, which were very easy to win, through batting collapses i think in last 18 innings our batting had collapsed 15 times it has become like habit to loose last 5 6 wickets for 40 50 runs if intikhab cannot solve this problem what is the use of having him. another person who should go is moulana he should b replaced by afridi havnt seen a captain who has such demoralising effect pakistan may had won this series 2/1 if he had not helped australia with defensive and unimaginative field placing.another thing what i dnt understand is why our selectors dnt select batsmans who r technicaly good and sound instead of those who score heavily in domestic cricket. international stage is to score runs not to correct ur flaws they are need to b corrected at first class level. half of our batsman had serious technical problems which is not possible to b corrected when u had a coach like inti
http://www.cricinfo.com/awards2009/content/story/443283.html
Cricinfo has nominated 12 exceptional Test innings that were played in 2009 and one of them is going to get the Cricinfo Test Award.
I was reading somewhere that even in Karachi Fawad Alam is not very popular, and many people think that he does not have the talent to succeed at international level. But, Fawad’s 168 is one of the nominated innings.
Umer Akmal has also been nominated for his debut century, made on a New Zealand pitch against Bond in full flow.
I have a feeling Vettori might get this award for his 118 against India which brought NZ to a total of respectability when they were 60/6. I think either one of Fawad, Umer or Vettori should get this award. Fawad’s 168 was special because of the seaming track, because he had never opened in his life and because the next highest score from Pakistan’s side was 82- less than half his score.
Javed Khan,
I too have been following all the hullabaloo about Sehwag comment on Bangladesh being an ordinary side and after 1st day of play even more hyperbole calling it a revenge of sorts and what not.
To be honest, press need to write something exciting about an otherwise non-exciting series. Let’s face it, Bangladesh is an ordinary side, one cannot blame Sehwag for stating the truth. He did not say they cannot take 20 wickets to win the Test against India, and I don’t think they will. There is a long way to go in the Test match and India is a far stronger side than Bangladesh, both in skills and mental toughness needed to win the Test. Trouble is that in today’s politically correct environment, no one likes to hear the truth, egos get hurt, Sehwag talks like a simpleton, he doesn’t care about political correctness.
I mean to say Sehwag meant to say Bangladesh cannot take 20 wickets to win the Test in my previous post.
Zaheer Abbas has offered to become the Chaiman of PCB.
How surprising!! Is there a dearth of capable and honest people in Pakistan that all and sundry are after the lucrative job?
In my opinion Majid Khan (despite his arrogant attitude) is the best person to head PCB. You need a person with forceful personality and strong views to clean up the mess in which the PCB is today.
Khansahab has suggested few names for the post of Head Coach. I think Moin Khan is answer to the problem. He too has strong personality and clout to handle players from Punjab, being a Punjabi but raised and based in Karachi. And he is the experience and credentials to prove being the Coach of Lahore Badshah.
As far as Selection Commitee is concerned, I would prefer Aamer Sohail once again to head it with Rashid Latif and Abdul Qadir and a couple others from Frontier and Balochistan and one more from Punjab to balance the representation.
These are my thoughts. I would like other bloggers to share their views.
Mr. Kasim
You are right that there is no dearth of capable and honest people in Pakistan and Zaheer Abbass is one of the most incompetent and paindoo person in the contention. He wasn’t good as a team manager when Inzi had that Hair raising and ball tampering issues in England and Zaheer was seen chatting with friends on his cell phone and he was fired after that episode. So, how come he thinks that he is capable to be Chairman of the PCB? He many be better than Ijaz Butt, but that is not a qualification.
Moin Khan reportedly had personal issues related to abusing his wife, that could be another matter but the abuse was due to excessive consumption of Alcohol. If he is an alcoholic then he is not fit for that job or any job. And, Aamer Churail is one of the most arrogant person around. The point is why do you need an ex player to head the PCB or even to be a member of the selection committee? Look at Iqbal Qasim he was reported to be a very fair person but, his decision sending Misbah as YK’s replacement is pathetic and his decision to call back Fawad Alam from Australia is another example of how spineless he is in front of the Punjabi mafia and he could do nothing to get rid of Farhat, Butt, Malik and even the handling of Kamran’s case is very deplorable.
MY Kasim,
I totally agree with you. We have seen Zaheer Abbas commentating and are pretty much aware of the way he thinks, he is not the right person for the job.
As for the coach of the team, I’d think Rashid Latif would be a good choice. Even if Alam is the coach, Rashid Latif is a good thinker to have around the team. I have read some of the things he writes, and I have to say, he is a good, strategic thinker who can logically connect ideas.
Right now Khurram Manzoor is 75 not out and Pakistan are 187/6 half an hour after lunch in my opinion even if he scores a 100 and helps Pakistan in a draw, he will still not be considered for future automatic selection in the test team i.e., because he is a Karachi player, he will still be struggling to beat the Farhats, Butts, Maliks and Akmals. Because, they belong to the “Royal Family” of Pakistan……………………. AND, he is GONE. My bad, Khurram Manzoor is out, the first one from Haurtiz he played upishly over the slips and the second one he tries to cut and edged it into the gloves of Haddin.
It’s time for Pakistan to RETIRE from international cricket because they have brought nothing but shame to the country.
Javed Khan,
He played a good patient knock, but eventually felt compelled to go after every other ball of Hauritz. When he started doing that, I knew he was about to get out, it was only a matter of time untill a ball stayed low or jumped and he got out. At that point he had started thinking about his 100 rather than saving the match.
In any case, Fawad Alam should definitely be played over him and Younis Khan should play at number 3. Umar Akmal should open in place of either of Farhat/Butt which allows another solid batsman in the team in place of some of the deadwood— perhaps Khurram Manzoor himself.
Also, Shoaib Malik is still redundant in the team. He made a 50 but that is his potential. His long-term average is 36, so the question is, is the board satisfied with a player who is going to hit the odd 40 or 50 but generally revert to his average of around 36 by making a 15-odd for each of his 40, 50. Shouldn’t the board be seeking more Younis Khan’s and Mohd Yousof’s?
A squad is made up of 14 players, but 12-14 aren’t also utilized well. It is time to simply drop Malik, Misbah, Faisal, and Kamran Akmal from the squad altogether.
Unfortunately, Rana Naved has been selected again. It just shows how deeply connected he is with the board, that he keeps on appearing and reappearing. They could have sent Sohail Khan who has a good record at first-class cricket (much better than Gul) just to be in the squad as a replacement.
Rashid Latif wrote this article. He shows a lot of understanding of the game. It would be good for Pakistan cricket if he is around the team:
Rashid Latif : Tactical errors result in defeat more often than technical errors! RSS Feed
By Rashid Latif
11th January 2010
Tactical skills of players are important for admirable performance in cricket. I forgot the name of that seasoned player, who said this while describing Javed Miandad, that even if Miandad scores zero, it does not matter, since his mere presence in the team and on the field is a threat to the other team. It means the person was saying that even if without performance, simply Miandad’s presence in the opposing team is good enough for his effectiveness.
Obviously it means that a team can lose or win matches not only because someone did not score or did score, but what makes a player more dangerous for the opponents is his nous, understanding of the intricate details of the game and what I call someone who helps avert tactical errors.
So, the question is; How much do tactical errors contribute to the defeat of a team? 25 percent, 50 percent, or 75 percent? Who knows? as the correct answer is up for debate, however, in some sports, including cricket, I dare to assert that tactical errors result in defeat more often than technical errors!
Yet, as coaches, we often focus our energies and efforts on physical training and technical skills, but, at the same time, negligent in developing tactical and mental skills. Reason for this is that either we have not yet realised the importance of tactical skills in winning matches, or we do not know how to help an athlete develop these critical skill sets. It means that coach will need to either prioritise on time (how much is spent on technical problems and how much on tactical issues) or increase his overall coaching time.
Here are some points needed for tactical development. One basic thing is that this idea be placed in the subconscious mind of each and every player that the game of cricket, never changes under pressure; it is actually the mind state of the player that changes under pressure.
One example a friend of mine narrated, is that when Aussies were developing their team in mid 1980s, they played on their home ground, three test matches against New Zealand, on pitches suitable for fast bowlers; Richard Hadlee bamboozled them as the Kiwis grabbed their first ever test series in Australia by 2-1.
In the very next three match home series, the Aussies played on slow turning tracks against India and almost lost the series (0-0): With these two series at home, whilst the Aussies surrendered the pitch advantage, on the flip side,they created a never-relenting outlook and approach to cricket of Australians, which has since reaped dividends for the 25th year in a row (except for a few lean patches here and there).
Once the basic principle gets ingrained i.e. Cricket never changes under pressure, it is the players’ minds that change; the rest is to acquire tactical knowledge, whose basic ingredients are decision-making skills; game sense; reading of different situation; strategies & game plans; etc.
What are the different needed “Tactical Skills”: Ability to read the situation; Knowledge of the rules; Knowledge of team strategy; Knowledge of opponents; Knowledge of self; Knowledge of tactical options; and Decision-making and execution ability.
Knowledge can be achieved from experience; during various match scenarios and being self critical. It can also be achieved especially in modern times by learning from others. Recent examples include how England recently saved two test matches and how the Aussies won against Pakistan in Sydney despite a deficit of 206 runs after the first innings.
One can easily get videos of these games and analyse at close quarters how the players played & reacted to different situations; and dissect the thoughts of various experts & commentators on the game. We have advantage now-a-days that these videos are readily available and we can spend time in the laboratory (cricket library) to study & learn and then transfer the knowledge to players.And then Pakistani players can confidently say that if Dermie (Siddle) can battle it out for a
100+ partnership with Mr. Cricket (Hussey) do it for Aussies, why can we not achieve just 176 together.
This brings me to the next point that for proper tactical skills, it is salient to have mental competence, which includes controlling various emotions (anxiety, anger, joy, etc.); controlling tendencies to become over-confident, but remain self–confident; keep the burning desire alive of achieving better than before; and above all ability to concentrate. Like we say it takes concentration to play long innings, but then as bowlers we should also remain be focused that it again takes complete concentration to get wickets.
Some folks are born and blessed with these skills, whilst others learn through a passage of time. Both require time to grow and mature. Now maturity is of various types. Physical maturity, which is that let’s say if I am a bowler, I should know what can cause me an injury,
what parts of my body need toning, etc. Emotional maturity, meaning, even if the situation looks hopeless, my mind set is clear that so many others have fared well even under those situations, as such it is humanly possible. Social maturity, meaning my role is to be true professional of the sports, play & perform the best for my country & team; and anything that can hamper that in the social circle, I need to totally avoid that.
There are two other important skills to achieve, namely communication and character skills. Under communication skills, following are the important
elements: Send positive messages (not just saying play positive, but more than that); Send accurate messages; Listen to messages; Understand messages; Receive constructive criticism; Receive praise and recognition: Overall outcome of these skills is that one’s credibility gets enhanced with the teammates. Even body language is an art form that exudes our emotions and can be utilsed to a positive or negative manner.
For character skills, these components are essential: Trustworthiness; Respect; Responsibility; Fairness; Caring; and Citizenship.
After every loss, usually we hear the calls for need of batting coach; or fielding coach; or bowling coach; Yes – All of them are important, but unless and until the coach places equal if not more importance to strategic planning than technical problems, things may not get resolved for the long run.
As such anyone wanting to be truly called the World Champion in any team sport, needs to start working hard and put extensive & exclusive time in building the Tactical Skills of their Players.
Omer Admani;
I must have said that to Rashid Latif about Miandad.
That player must have been me
I was joking about it BUT, this is a fact and I am not exaggerating: Imran Khan and I were traveling together on a flight from Dubai to London. We talked about many things and many players.
Imran mentioned about Javed Miandad’s tactical mind and narrated his experience about a match in Sharjah which Pakistan had won. Indian innings started with Srikanth and Gavaskar and Imran clean bowled Gavaskar for a duck and Wasim Akram got Sri Kanth. Then Imran got the dangerous Azharuddin too within a space of few balls India were 3 for 7 runs. But, India started consolidating, Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri were the key batsmen and Vengsarkar scored big in that match with Prabhakar. But when Shastri came to bat, it was Abdul Qadir bowling and Shastri was not only in form but known to be a big hitter. Imran said, Javed came to me running from point and gully position and said, he wants to field in the long on. I was not sure why he wanted to field there? Neither Qadir nor I wanted a long on at that time, but Miandad insisted and I nodded OK, he then talked to Qadir and went back towards the boundary. Qadir got his lone wicket of Shastri, caught miandad bowled Qadir. Imran said, bowlers usually assess the weaknesses of batsmen but, Miandad was so observant that he would not only spot the weakness of a batsman but, he would remember it well. So, he has an amazing cricketing brain.
So, its a fact that Imran Khan has always praised Miandad’s technical abilities about the game and I have not only read it in the newspapers or on the Internet but, actually hear it from the horses mouth.
Javed Khan,
I have also heard about how good tactically Miandad was, and at the same time, Imran Khan as a captain got the best out of his players. What is usually overlooked is that– and this hasn’t happened after Imran Khan– not only was Imran Khan able to create a strong team, but he also left behind a very strong team.
I always thought that, since the pitches in Australia are flat, Mohd Yousof could have sent Umar Akmal to open. The reason being that, Umar Akmal is an aggressive player and coming 4-down, he finds himself under pressure and not able to express himself. He has to curb his natural style of play and he performs, say, 60 percent of what he might…to best utilize his skill might have been to ask him to open (especially in that chase of 173).
Not attacking Hauritz too was something I thought was based on sound logic. You attack a bowler to throw him off, so that he isn’t able to settle and pose a threat. But Hauritz appeared to be a harmless bowler, so why attack him unnecessarily and give him a chance when he seemed harmless anyway?
The only situation in which it would have made sense to attack him was if Australia had 4 bowlers. In that case, attacking Hauritz would have meant that not only Ricky Ponting would have been bereft of other options, but also that his pace bowlers would become totally tired– and you, sort of, deflate the opposition mentally (and in those instances you easily trod your way from a 300 to a 500, something Australia was able to do repeatedly against Pakistan as Pakistan didn’t have a 5th bowler). However, as it was, 5 bowlers were playing in the Australian team..
So, basically, these things count a lot, being able to think why are you adopting a certain strategy.
For instance in the 20/20 world cup we here on LS argued that Afridi should be sent one-down, Razzaq should be played, and attacking players moved the order– and Pakistan lost the first two matches when they hadn’t made these changes, but in the third match they did exactly the same thing, and Pakistan didn’t lose a single match after that. Only strategy had changed in those matches, but it transformed the team completely.
Similarly, we had expressed our views on Rana, Akmal, Malik, Misbah, and Faisal. And, well, the geniune matchlosers did their job and the mediocre players also did theirs. Eventually, people in Pakistan think these things, such as, team selection, tactics, batting order, and approach– these things don’t count and magic is always going to win matches, but these things are usually decisive factor between winning and losing matches. Therefore, we advocate that more thought go into the game, possibly Rashid Latif should become involved with the team, and perhaps help the players in planning and achieving mental clarity.
And, of course, on Jhonson, he is Australia’s best bowler and he has a weakness– he sprays it around under pressure, so that is something that Pakistan can work it. This is not to say that they should throw their bats around, but now that the cat is in the hat, they should seek to make the most of his bad balls and more will come.
Omer Admani -
You mention in your above comment about us on LS discussing these points which when implemented changed and transformed the whole team i.e., sending Afridi as one down and Razzaq to be played etc.
This is why in response to M Y Kasim’s post I mention that there is no need for a former cricket player to be the chairman of the PCB or the chief selector. The reason Pakistan wants their ex players to take up these roles is, they see the Australian, England, Indian, West Indian, South African ex-players as commentators and based on that they also want to take up the leading role and want to remain in focus. What they don’t realize is they are a bunch of highly incompetent good for nothing jokers and for them it would be a big thing to take up these jobs. Imran Khan being the most competent and the best of all has many things on his plate and is not interested in this job.
Besides, in other countries (barring India) I think none of the former players are in the selection committee or in their respective cricket boards. It is the job of highly qualified professionals and they must act and run the PCB like any other professional organization. Similarly, ALL the selectors must not be former players but, a committee of independent knowledgeable and involved individuals whose job is only to follow domestic cricket and analyze the performance of these young players and select them without any bias and prejudice.
People like Ijaz Butt, Wasim Bari, Saleem Altaf, Intikhab Alam etc., must not be allowed to go anywhere near these players. Wasim Akram has this knack of sponsoring a player by saying, “I discovered, or I spotted so and so…” as if that so and so was in some kinda wilderness and this Tarzan Akram spotted him and turned him into a prince from a frog.
Two days ago during the 3rd test, Mark Taylor and Ian Chappel were talking in the commentary box about Danish Kaneria seeking help from Shane Warne during the net practice and when Warne went in to talk to Kaneria, one of the officials of the ICC anti-corruption bureau whisked Warne away from there. Apparently Warne was very upset as he wanted to give some tips to Kaneria at his request. However, now it is not allowed by the ICC i.e., during the net practice men with only RED PASS are allowed to go in there and not everyone.
A few years ago when Indian team was in Australia, Irfan Pathan asked Wasim Akram to help him with his bowling action and also to share his tricks about reverse swing bowling, to which Wasim gladly did in front of the TV cameras which were shown all over the world and mostly in India. After that Wasim Akram got some lucrative offers in India. So, Wasim Akram knows which side of the bread’s butt needs to be buttered.
Javed Khan,
I agree with you. It doesn’t have to be a former cricket player for any position in the PCB. The crucial thing is that a lot of players played the game their whole life (such as Yousof) but they didn’t think much about it. Besides that, the PCB Chairman has to run the organization as a CEO, as in to maximize profit. All over Pakistani media, they keep on whining about the expenses, that he flew here and stayed in this or that hotel, but none have the focus on revenue-generation. If the team starts performing well, good players are found, the team will be more marketable and, most likely, the plane tickets wouldn’t account for much. But that is not the focus, it seems to be petty bickering in some sections of the Pakistani media, he did this, he did that (not about this board chairman, but generally that is the focus)…what I don’t understand is, why shouldn’t players earn more if they earn more for the board through better performance and why is it so much about cutting petty expenses rather than creation of revenue.
In any case, if the CEO were to think like that, the team would naturally improve, however they tend to think the other way around (which is important, but how much does a hotel room and a player ticket cost…nothing compared to the revenue an additional Umar Akmal or Mohammad Aamer, or a team of 11 players can generate).
True, there should be accountability, no doubt, but plane fares should still not matter. But they seem to take the cost of plane tickets as a major issue..
How can they make the team marketable when it stands at number 7 out of 8 test-playing nations, when apart from Yousof and YK, there are no high quality batsmen, when the team doesn’t win consistently, and when they play such negative cricket. If the focus was on revenue-generation, all the deadwood would be out of the team, such as, Malik, Misbah, Kamran Akmal, and Faisal. A good team and good players generate revenue and that is not where the focus is, that is how free-market economics works, but it too fails in Pakistan.
Omer Admani
You are missing the point here, the focus is not on air fares or even the hotel expenses, but it is the attitude and the way this organization is being managed. Butt gives no attention to a good and fair team selection or, in creating the right environment in the organization and his priorities are not for the organization but for making money for himself and his family members. If this is the reason why a person should become a chairman, then every tom, dick and harry would love to be the chairman.
Secondly, wherever he goes he is not discussing the right things because he is highly incompetent and incapable of doing it. The reason there is no revenue is mainly because there aren’t any matches in Pakistan due to the political instability in the country. Alternate solution to generate revenue was to play in neutral countries. Playing in neutral countries is not his brain child, in fact he refused blatantly only to satisfy his ego by saying, we don’t want to play in neutral countries. And, India also took advantage of the fact and insisted that the ICC world cup for 2011 MUST be played as per agreement i.e., within the sub-continent and not outside i.e., in the UAE.
Australia playing against Pakistan in the UK this summer is also not his idea but, he will take the credit for it because, reportedly the two test matches are already sold out. In order to make those 2 test matches interesting, there ought to be a fair team selection and I can say with almost certainty that Pakistan can beat the current Australian team if they have the right players and NOT the sifarishi tuttoos.
problem with butt is that he try to show that he knws everything while he knws nothing and is just enjoying once in life time opertunity he knws he is not good enough to turn things around so he is just letting them run as they are. there is no ex player who can do the job we need a profesional who got experience and sincerity imran khan is the man who can make pcb highly profitable organisation but i dnt think he is interested. our team also have to start winning matches and series to boost revenue for pcb
pakistan has not win a test series for last 4 years now last series they won was against windies back in 2006. what a pity. i think pcb should call zim to play a test series in sharjah so our boys can get some winning taste and habit
Although Pakistan U-19 beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets but Pakistan has proved that the OPENING CONUNDRUM is way down to the bottom. Both openers Ahmad Shahzad and Ahsan Ali were out on a DUCK. What a shame that Pakistan does not have good openers, 50% of the team’s morale is lifted by a good opening stand. Until and unless the problem is solved at the grass root level, Pakistan cannot produce good batsmen in future. They all are airy fairy players, they all want to score 50 in 10 balls and a 100 in 20 balls.
Miandad is asking for sacking Kamran and Umar Akmal on disciplinary grounds. Mohammad Yousuf, even after a white wash of 3-0 claims he is over all happy with the boys and their performance. And, he is also calling this WEAK Australian side as the BEST side in the world. Trying to prove that his team is beaten by the best team in the world……….. what a load of Tableegh!
Sachin Tendulkar is piling up his 100′s …… Only Ponting is behind him, but the wild goose chase is on…….. Ponting made a double hundred and was about to make his 40th test century got out on 89. Tendulkar had 43 in his bag and he just got one more ahead and has 44th in his bag.
Although India got out cheaply on 243, but Banladesh are 59/3 after a good opening stand of 53, suddenly they are Pakistan?
Javed,
“Although India got out cheaply on 243, but Banladesh are 59/3 after a good opening stand of 53, suddenly they are Pakistan?”
I was very disappointed by Pakistan in the last two tests, I thought up until then they did well to including the NZ tour, had they won 2nd test which they should have by all means then they would have fared better in 3rd test. In my opinion, Younis backing out of captaincy was a hard blow to Pakistan, as Yousuf has proved he is not leadership material and neither is batting well these days. Politics in the team seems to be dictating everything. Younus should have exposed the guys playing politics and stayed on as captain, and in my opinion Pakistan would have fared much better. It is tactical errors that caused Pakistan a heavy loss of 3-0, they had the talent to win at least one match.
Bangladesh on the other hand do not have enough experience to hold off against a professional unit like Indian bowling lead by Zaheer Khan, they will eventually lose patience and make poor shot selections. This is why even 243 is good enough for them.
pakistan lost the series which they should had won 2_1 or had drawn 1_1. its all because of poor captaincy and poor fielding i totaly agree with new guy that if yonus had captained pakistan results might have been diferent but again yunis is also culprat of this defeat by not exposing these politicians in team by names publicly and instead leaving his place in team and captaincy why he didn do that? he got courage to leave the captaincy but dnt have courage to name these guys openly i knw every 1 knw them but its going to b diferent if he had named them in press. is he also have to hide somthing or he was simply scared of them? but whatever the reason was that act of his made him one of these guys as well
Javed Khan,
The way I see it, the PCB should be modelled on a free-market based system. Compensation should be linked to the performance of the team– whether of players, of chairman, of selectors, and so on. Low base salaries and high bonuses. Ample motivation works and if the PCB chairman is to act like a CEO, then the compensation should be based according to the performance of the team. Running it like a professional organization would almost certainly imply that the best players and the team is out there. Of course, I agree with you, accountability is important.
England was always the ideal place to play test matches and that is what I initially thought as well– considering that in England people watch test matches and Pakistan has considerable support.
Australia best in world, insists Yousuf PAUL CARTER
January 18, 2010
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Vanquished skipper Mohammad Yousuf says Australia are the best Test cricket team in the world.
Maybe that’s not surprising coming from the captain of the fourth consecutive Pakistan side to be at the dirty end of a three-Test series clean sweep against the Aussies.
International Cricket Council ratings put India and South Africa ahead of Australia with Pakistan sixth and West Indies eighth.
But Yousuf, who says he’s happy overall with his young inexperienced side, claims Australia are the tops.
“Yes, the best team because they’re a good side with all good players,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
“If you see the statistics they have good batting averages, good bowling averages, the wicketkeeper average nearly 40 (runs), they have a good side.”
Pakistan’s fielding, with 14 dropped catches, the same number grassed in New Zealand, was Yousuf’s greatest disappointment.
“A lot of catches were dropped, that’s why we lost the series, otherwise maybe a different result,” said the patient skipper who sometimes baked but never abandoned his players.
He said they did the best they could with what talent they had.
And although the Pakistanis continue to let themselves down with dropped catches, Yousuf rejected the need for a fielding coach, saying they had one for a series in England in 2006 and dropped 20 catches.
The problem is not the coaching, it’s the players who need to focus on their fielding, he said.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said there should be no general concern about the quality of both opponents this summer.
“Everyone thought Pakistan were going to beat us,” he said.
Ponting said Pakistan were a better side than the West Indies and Australia played better against Pakistan, although they didn’t play at their best.
“Both of those teams when they play their best cricket will push any team.
“But it’s a matter of them being able to do it for long enough spells and that’s what you have to learn in this game.
“What we are starting to see now from some of our younger guys is the ability to do that.
“We’ve seen moments of brilliance from some of them for short periods of time, as we saw through the Ashes.
“But when you can do it for long periods of time that makes teams win games.
“Pakistan pushed us and had their moments in Sydney and the West Indies pushed us in Adelaide but they couldn’t do it for long enough to get themselves a win and that’s what they have got to keep striving to do.”
Mohd Yousof is instilling in the team that Pakistan can’t win from Australia by saying that again and again. And, they are supposed to play them again in England.
Besides that, I think all the teams in the world are a bit here or there (perhaps Pakistan and Windies a bit lower than others) and any team can probably beat any team.
The most ironic thing is that, Yousof is familiar with statistics. He points to Brad Haddin’s average, but does he look at Malik’s?
And, does he look at the correlation between first-class averages and test match averages, the first-class averages of Fawad Alam and Sarfaraz Ahmed being very, very good?
Omer Admani
Ths is what I wrote above in my previous comment and you have quoted the same from statoil.com
Mohammad Yousuf, even after a white wash of 3-0 claims he is over all happy with the boys and their performance. And, he is also calling this WEAK Australian side as the BEST side in the world. Trying to prove that his team is beaten by the best team in the world……….. what a load of Tableegh!
Also, in my previous comments in the previous thread I mentioned about penalizing on dropped catches, that is the same as “free market based system” you are talking about compensation and I was talking about punishment. I never meant to ignore compensation. Too many carrots and no stick has made these players what they are — Lazy Bones, incompetent bunch of lethargic and complacent blokes.
newguy
When I saw the score Bangladesh were 89/6 I thought they will end up making 120 at the most. I was shocked to see they scored 242; just a run short of India’s total pf 243. But, then India is now running away with the lead, because their batsmen are too good to get out for the second time making same mistakes. Rain is also not doing any good in that match. Several hours of play is already lost and we don’t know about the next two days where two full innings are to be played, while India definitely holds the edge with Gambhir still batting and Tendulkar et all have to come and play till tea or an hour before the end of the day’s play and give Bangladesh a target of 360 instead of a conservative 420 plus, otherwise with rain delays and fortune favouring the Bangla Tigers they might fight out for a draw.
Javed,
I am agree with your thoughts regarding Ind-Bangla match. They have to declare at Tea and give Bangladesh 4 sessions to bat out, with 350 odd runs, it’s not easy scoring 80-90 runs each session without losing wickets, otherwise they may end up losing time to fog and bad light. Ponting was aggressive with his declarations, remains to be seen whether Indians will want to go for win or let the match play out.
Any thoughts on Pakistani players not being bought by IPL teams in the auction yesterday?
Apparently many players including Afridi is feeling insulted, and one can understand their POV. But I think this is all about money & business and nothing to do with politics or emotions. IPL franchises are all about money & business and they care very little about cricket and good relations.
They are thinking taking on Pakistani players are risky from many fronts, they may not get approved by either Pakistan govt or denied/delay visa by Indians, they may have additional security threats from groups like Shiv Sena which means shelling out more money for protection, so on .. in the some of the best and exciting T20 players are not in the league. To me IPL is a big tamasha – scripted and directed in bollywood.
“Although Pakistan U-19 beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets but Pakistan has proved that the OPENING CONUNDRUM is way down to the bottom. Both openers Ahmad Shahzad and Ahsan Ali were out on a DUCK. What a shame that Pakistan does not have good openers, 50% of the team’s morale is lifted by a good opening stand. Until and unless the problem is solved at the grass root level, Pakistan cannot produce good batsmen in future. They all are airy fairy players, they all want to score 50 in 10 balls and a 100 in 20 balls”.
What about Babar Azam ? 129 and 40no. He is the cousin of the Akmals.
I am better than Ahsan Ali
Javed, they play Bangladesh U19 tomorrow which is a tough fixture at U19 level actually.
Where is “Arshad Khan” aka “Khansahab” these days ? Are u enjoying reading Viseem Sakab
???
not a single pakistani player is sold in ipl auction these indians had really humilated our t20 champions i mean if they dnt want to buy them why they put them on auction and its a good lesson for our cricketers too. did the indians realy think that justin kemp and damian marten are better then afridi and umer akmal?and is kamar raoch is a better t20 bowler then gul? its total politics this auction but again its indian premier league and indians got right what they want to do with it.
Javed Khan,
It could actually work the other way around. If the fine is only 100 bucks (and considering what some of the players make in ipl), some of the players may get even more complacent and think along the lines, ‘if a catch is dropped, I just have to pay 100 dollars only and that’s that’.
Largely, it seems to be a concentration issue, so basically Mohd Yousof has to find a way to keep the players alert all the time. It is almost like fighting the gene it self, but I suppose there should be ways to improve concentration.
Maza
I am agree I know you were odd, but you have really surprised me there. I am not Arshad Khan and neither am I Javed A Khan. And what do you mean whether I enjoy reading Viseem Sakab?
Omer Admani
If you remember what I wrote about penalties, the idea was there and any amount could be fixed, secondly I also wrote that if someone drop three catches in one match he should be dropped for the next match or matches depending upon whatever the rules they fix. But, there must be penalties.
I am also very happy to see that Pakistani players are NOT sold in the IPL. Because, they are not animals like cattle and sheep. Besides, I have no interest in that Tamasha. I did not see or follow a single IPL match that was played in South Africa last year. And, I have no intention of watching it this year. I would like to see national teams competing at international level.
Maza kya baat hai khans say durr lagta, ya kuch kuch hota hai?
Javed Khan,
I actually agree with you, right now it is good for Pakistan cricket if the players focus on the national team. If the team were pretty solid, it wouldn’t matter, but since it has not won a test series in 4 years, players should really have a mind-set to reverse this terrible phenomenon of not being able to win test matches.
I also agree with you on the auction thing– auctioning players like that, it just doesn’t seem right. It’s a bit like gladiators being appreciated by the crowd in the collosium in the movie ‘Gladiator’.
But what can I say, the PCB chairman tried his best to get the players through into the auction. If the players play for the IPL, what has the board got to do with it, that they were so hurrying for the visas and holding meetings just to get the players through. I have no problem with players earning as much as they can, but the board acting like that was kind of irksome. And, guess what, if like the ECB, the board had instead advised the players not to participate in the IPL, then the same franchises would have gone the other way around (as they did with Pieterson and Flintoff) to break the writ of the board and attract the players by paying much higher.
Now the BCCI has played a joke on the PCB instead. It couldn’t be individual franchise’s decision to ignore all Pakistani players, of course this was decided in advance in the collective. And, it was done after they set a base amount and included players in the auction (again on purpose), so obviously the BCCI was trying to make a point. And, the PCB should have pre-empted this and banned
the players from playing in the IPL, as they should for the next two years at least.
So, the question is, why is the PCB running after the IPL, what does it have to do with it?
Omer Admani
There you go, you have said it very nicely and that is what I have been saying from the first IPL that this is not the right way to hire players. The soccer players are hired and contracted whereas, the IPL players are auctioned like cattle and sheep.
And, you have said it very rightly that the PCB should not have gone head over heels for getting their players auctioned. Like you I also don’t mind if the players earn extra money but not like this, not at the expense of honour and dignity. IF these players have any self esteem they should refuse to play in any Indian league ever. I am sure if Pakistan creates any league in Pakistan and offer millions of dollars to the Indian players they will never come. So, why don’t the Pakistani players realize this? Why are they cheap selling themselves?
In fact they should not accept any business contract from any Indian organization be it sports, media or movie. Unfortunately they have no self esteem and no self respect and people like Butt, instead of acting smart behave like idiots. What else can you expect from an idiot?
Javed Khan,
I don’t necessarily mind individual players or people directly joining a media event, the IPL, or the like, but what I failed to see is that, why was the PCB so adamant and fixated with sending the players. The BCCI first said the players will not be auctioned and the PCB insisted through backchannels, then the BCCI gave a deadline, and the board complied in a ‘yes sir’ way by rushing for whatever was the process within the deadline– what is the board getting out of this?
If individuals join at their choice, it is understandable, but the board behaving like that was bizarre. In fact my view is that the players will not focus on test cricket if they join the IPL and untill they can consistently win in test cricket, they should be banned from the IPL.
I agree with you, they shouldn’t really auction it this way..in fact the franchises should directly contact individual players and make their offers, and players should accept whichever they want..it could be that a player wants to play for a certain team even if the team offers lower..the amounts should never be disclosed to the general public. But the way it is, by announcing the auctions, it generates interest among people, hence I compared it with the colloseum in the ‘Gladiator’.
‘Khurram needs to improve technique’
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
From our correspondent
HOBART: Young batsman Khurram Manzoor batted for more than five hours to help save Pakistan in their third Test against Australia here at the Bellerive Oval on Monday.
Pakistan, given an improbable task to chase 438 to win the Test, went on to lose it by 231 runs but the 23-year-old Khurram earned praise from critics for the steely resolve that he put on display during a 239-ball 77.
However, his skipper Mohammad Yousuf wasn’t impressed. Yousuf, regarded as one of Pakistan’s greatest Test batsmen, said that Khurram needs a lot of hard work to improve his technique.
“Khurram needs to do a lot to improve his technique,” Yousuf said after the end of the final Test. “He is not very sound technically. The selectors need to look at how people are playing, even if he is scoring only 10, they need to see how he has scored those 10 runs. If he stays with the team then maybe he can become better but if technically he isn’t good then who knows.”
These were harsh words for a player, who had bounced back from a lean patch to give Pakistan some hope of salvaging a draw in the Hobart Test. Khurram had scores of 2, 6, 4 and 0 in his previous four innings and needed a big score to justify his selection in the playing eleven ahead of Faisal Iqbal at the No 3 position. After falling for a duck in his previous outing here, Khurram batted with great determination in the second innings.
Before the 3rd Test I was hoping neither Manzoor nor Malik score 50, because that would mean they would be selected again in the future for international assignments. We all know about Malik’s flaws but Manzoor appears too unsound, technically speaking.
Now Manzoor has proven he is a fighter. What the team management has to ponder is that whether he is a fighter like Fawad Alam, or someone like Malik/Misbah who will find it hard to score big knocks and only “fight” to retain their places in the team? In other words, did Manzoor play for the team or did he play for himself? The answer is that we don’t know yet because he has not played many matches and therefore he needs to be selected again for future matches.
Pakistan lost this Test series not because of their fielding but because of negative captaincy and poor team management. Inti Alam and Yousuf never made the team believe they could win. There is a difference between focusing on your potential within the realms of realism and just making your mind up that you will lose no matter what happens.
Fielding has never been a plus point for Pakistan- whereas it is a concern definitely, I wouldn’t make more than just a passing remark about it. The bowling, batting and fighting spirit needs to make up for this weak fielding.
A middle order devoid of Malik, Faisal Iqbal and Misbah provides the opportunity to have talented batsman who at their best have the propensity to score big in Tests. Replacing these nothing players with Younis, Afridi, Fawad Alam will improve the team manifold.
I am not convinced Kaneria is a world class bowler. Kaneria is not a great legspinner- simply a good one. Why does Kaneria rely on cracks on the pitch so much to get wickets? I agree the field placements were negative but Kaneria cannot look for excuses like bad field setting or incompetent wicketkeeper, all his career. He needs to realise that he ought to pick wickets in any circumstance, he needs to be more aggressive and create chances- not wait for the batsman to gift him his wicket.
I feel sorry for Kaneria because I know Akmal is the reason why his form slumped, possibly for the rest of his career, but the fact is that Kaneria is not a great bowler anymore and he is definitely expendable.
“The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country,” SHAHID AFRIDI on not being selected or “auctioned” @ the IPL.
Good that he can see the reality of life that is being shown to them. I have said it in English that if they have any self-respect and self-esteem they should not play or work for any Indian franchise or firm. But, I would like to say this in Urdu so that they understand better.
Agar koi bhee Pakistani player India kay liyeh khailay ga ya koi kaam bhee keray gaa tou wo bahot bara Bay Ghairat hai aur ussay apni izzat aur apnay Mulk ki izzat ka koi paas nahee.
Wasim Akram in sports aur Adnan Sami Khan motto jo sab say baray bay ghairat hain, they should go back to Pakistan or go somewhere else but, not work for any Indian media or organization.
Pakistan government should warn them or take severe action if they don’t comply with the orders.
Javed Khan,
You are saying that about individuals, but what about the PCB which almost went begging to send the players, and the sports ministry or whatever organizations are there which form the larger umbrella under which the PCB function which didn’t restrain the PCB, or the media that never questioned it…the fact is everyone wanted to watch that 3-hour Bollywood show with Pakistani players acting in it.
And by the statement that Afridi has given, I am fairly certain that he will not himself play in IPL again, but what about Kamran Akmal and Rana Naved– who always seems like just want to remain in the team so that they can play for the IPL (why do you think Kamran Akmal didn’t want to lose the spot at that apt moment?). In fact we should perhaps all donate whatever we can so that we can pay the IPL to keep these players year-round, so that there is no way any of the Pakistani selectors can set their eye on them.
I get the feeling that right now that among some Pakistan media there is remorse, as in, India didn’t let us play or India did this or that with us. Why can’t they just ask what had the board to do with the IPL, that it kept on agitating to somehow get the players there.
Besides that the PCB should also realize that Pakistani players not participating is against the IPL’s rational self-interest. The concept is in its infancy, no-one knows whether it will survive or not. Football has a fan-base around the world, but cricket is closely followed by 8 test-playing nations. Out of that, there are no players from Pakistan or Bangladesh. So, they have reduced the fan base dramatically (population wise). NZ as a country is very small (5 million people I think) so basically that leaves Australia and England. Already many Australian players such as Jhonson and Clarke are not playing, and I have heard many English people say that the IPL should be staged in June/July period so that it is vacation time for children and they can watch the action. In essense, the question eventually might be, how long can people in India keep on watching the Bollywood melodrama?
Besides that, Pakistan should also ban the IPL inside Pakistan, not because Pakistani players aren’t participating, but because they were drafted in on purposse to humiliate. This wouldn’t allow IPL the Pakistani fan base either in the sense that it won’t allow the concept to inculcate to build upon at some future point in time.
And, for God’s sake, Butt shouldn’t go and unnecesarily plead again now to get the players in, he has this habbit of trying to make things happen after the fact.
This is the statement that Ijaz Butt has given,
““It is really very disappointing because we cleared all the hurdles in the players’ way (over) visas and clearance… I will definitely talk to IPL chairman Lalit Modi on this issue,”
Wow, unbelievable…
BREAKING NEWS:
Bangladesh have just been knocked out of the Under-19 World Cup. They were one good over short of going through to the next round, but Pakistan scored 20 runs off the last five balls to pull off an improbable chase. Favourites going into the last five overs of their defence of 250 in their last league match, Bangladesh conceded 52 off 20 balls
newguy
India did not take any chances, they could have declared an hour before with a lead of 360-370 but, they wanted to secure their position by posting a lead of 413 i.e., very close to the highest winning total ever achieved by any team in the 4th innings. This is a very conservative and defensive approach especially in view of the weather conditions and also knowing that Bangladesh are not capable of making 400 plus runs in that period of time. If the match is drawn due to bad light or whatever, then for India it is as bad as losing it. An opportunity lost is more like a defeat. Gambhir played well in the second innings at a good strike rate (almost 90) and this is what Salman Butt must learn from him.
Gambhir made 116 runs in 129 balls with 10 fours and a six. Whereas, Salman Butt in the Hobart test made 102 in 234 balls with 17 fours and 191 dot balls. That is what we call it a “wasted opportunity.”
“Javed Khan,
You are saying that about individuals, but what about the PCB which almost went begging to send the players,……………….”.
Omer Admani
I wrote in my previous comment that you have said it nicely and I meant all of it and not just about players………..But about Butt and the PCB too.
LOL now Ijaz Butt is taking another route, he is saying: “What difference does it make if our players don’t play in the 3rd IPL? They did not play in the 2nd IPL also.”
Should someone ask this idiot, then why the HELLO was he running up and down to India, begging and going head over heels in getting the paper work done at the eleventh hour?
Javed,
I agree India was very conservative in declaring, as is their trend always, even against a team like Bangladesh they wanted 400+, at tea they were 385 runs ahead and they should have declared then at least. In my opinion this is not captain (Sehwag) decision alone, there must be a team strategy involving captain, coach, and senior players. I don’t understand why they think 385 in 4 sessions is not defend-able for India against Bangladesh. In fact, England did that against India in Chennai two years back and India won chasing it mainly because of Sehwag, then Tendulkar and Youvraj, I guess Indian think tank is afraid someone will play an innings like this? unbelievable, either way, they need to be aggressive and risk losing some matches in order to increase their ratio of wins. Gambhir played well again.
Omer/Javed,
IPL is all about money, they are not really concerned about long term vision, durability of game, so on, they want to make as much money as possible for as long as they can, if crowd loses interest and IPL fizzes out which they will eventually, then the organizers and franchises would have made plenty of money already. I don’t think they are worried too much strategically about next 5 years, it’s all about making money now. I don’t like the concept and I don’t like the quality of cricket, and I will not watch any games most likely except for a passing interest.
Regarding Ijaz Butt, I am sure he gets a cut from Pakistan players participating, may be not directly, but there must be a deal that if he makes a deal with IPL and get the players through then PCB gets a share, and Butt gets to travel in first class with his family using PCB money. Even the players who are clamoring is all about money, the kind of money on offer is obscene for just two months of play, and most players will forget pride when such money is on offer.
Pakistan players should respond not with words but with their game on the field, who how good they are in T20 next time the WC comes around again. Make IPL look silly for not including them.
Javed Khan,
This is the latest statement of Butt: “”The IPL had given us the mandate to get permission from our foreign office, to obtain other clearances and to finalise visas,” Butt said. “We did all this, but it is a surprise that none of them have been taken at the auction.
“We have been trying to get in touch with the concerned authorities but with no avail. I have asked the sports minister to speak to his counterpart in India about this.”
”
Now he wants the sports minister to lick the balls as well.
If he so wants to see Pakistani players play 20/20, why can’t he get the national team to play a best of 3 or 5 in, say, England with another country. It would be profitable for the board, as Pakistan is the number 1 team in 20/20. He isn’t making use of the fact that Pakistan right now is the best team in 20/20 but he wants the players to join that Bollyywood show so earnestly that he wants the head of the sports ministry to convince his counterpart in India so that Pakistani players are allowed there. The only way to stop this nonsense immediately is for the players themselves to decline participation in the ICL (by announcing themselves). So, at least it is only the PCB Chairman who is snubbed, rather than dragging everybody’s name along with him.
newguy
agreed, the Indian think tank of captain, coach and senior players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman if they still cannot change their thinking and act defensively then they don’t deserve to be in that decision making group. If Dhoni was there, (probably he is in the think tank too) he may have declared at tea. The reason I wrote probably in the brackets is because, Dhoni at times play his cards well. Remember he didn’t go to Sri Lanka and wanted time off and I think India lost that series in SL and when he played the ODI’s India won.
Omer Admani & newguy
Regarding the IPL, they are saying it is not just money but, something more than that……. I want you guys to read this:
Indians Kill “Aman Ki Asha” Campaign At IPL Auction
—None of the 11 Pakistani cricketers hired by Indian celebrities in IPL auction
—Chhota Rajan’s mafia Gang of RAW, Shiv Sena forced bidders, organizers to ignore Pak cricketers
—IPL Chief Lalit Modi dances to the tunes of Hindu Extremists, drug racketeers & match fixing mafia
—Modi emerges as Mafia’s top facilitator for drugs trafficking —IPL Chief convicted in drug cases while charged for cheating, forgery
—Shiv Sena men torched Modi’s home for pressurizing him to arrange slaying of Pak cricketers from IPL-3
—Rajan Gang’s Ramesh Gupta alias Pappu remained attached with Modi in South Africa edition of IPL
From Kapil Verma & Priyanka Joshi in Mumbai
and Smantha Phillip & Suraj Patel in Johannesburg
The peace dove with the name of Aman Ki Asha (Hope of Peace), flown by a local media group The Times of India, jointly with a Pakistani Media group a couple of weeks back, was slaughtered brutally here on Tuesday by the Indian Business tycoons, Showbiz and cricket celebrities when none of the 11 Pakistani cricketers’ name was even given a look at the IPL3 cricket auction giving a big blow to peace overtures through sports and left millions of Indian and international cricket fans in a big shock as even world’s most sizzling all-rounder of the world in the T-20 form of cricket Shahid Afridi found no bidders.
All-rounder Kieron Pollard was the star attraction with the bidding going into a tie-breaker. Pollard was finally bagged by Mumbai Indians for $750,000 but the amount for the tie-breaker has not been disclosed.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers were involved in another tie-breaker for ex-ICL player Shane Bond. The bid was finally won by Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders for $750,000(Rs 3.41 crore) but again the tie-breaker amount wasn’t disclosed. Rajasthan Royals bought ex-ICL player from Australia Damien Martyn for $100,000. West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach was bought by Deccan Chargers for $720,000. Chennai Super Kings won the bid for Sri Lankan Thissara Perera for $50,000. Rajasthan Royals bagged Australian Adam Voges for $50,000.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that the Pakistani cricketers were axed in a rather humiliated manner from the IPL through a premeditated campaign, organized jointly by RAW underworld Mafia wing and Mumbai-based extremist Hindu outfit Shiv Sena while the IPL Chief Lalit Kuma Modi was the key actor of the whole drama and played a major role in not only motivating the bidders to refrain from hiring Pakistani Cricketers but also created a variety of documentary problems and doubts about the participation of Pakistani players in the 3rd IPL.
The Daily Mail’s findings reveal that the move to oust Pakistani Cricketers from Indian Premier League’s 3rd session started soon after the 2nd session of IPL ended last year. However, the drive gained momentum by the end of last year when RAW directed its Underworld Mafia Gang, known as Chhota Rajan Gang to start its operation to keep Pakistani cricketers out of the IPL. These findings reveal that in the meantime, RAW also activated its other baby outfit Shiv Sena to launch a parallel ‘crusade against participation of Pakistani cricketers by persuading the IPL organizers and the bidders.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that in this direction, Chhota Rajan gang’s local chief Paulson Joseph started contacting Lalit Modi and asked him to initiate a drive to block the entry of Pakistani cricketers into IPL. These investigations also indicate the gang’s Cape Town-based South Africa Chief Ramesh Gupta alias Pappu also paid at least six visits to India and haled meetings with Lalit Modi in Mumbai to persuade him to create some technical reasons to block Pak Cricketers’ participation in the 3rd IPL. The Daily Mail’s investigation also disclose that Ramesh Gupta alias Pappu is not handling drugs related affairs in South Africa but is also the head of the betting and Match Fixing racket of the Gang and generated billions of rupees for the gang during the last IPL edition that was held in South Africa.
The Daily Mail’s investigations reveal that Lalit Modi finally informed Pappu and Joseph that he could arrange certain documents related problems to keep Pak cricketers away. These findings indicate that following this, Lalit Modi on December 10, 2009 announced that the Pakistani cricketers had missed the deadline for the third IPL and the only way they can be part of the Twenty20 tournament is through the January 19 auction. Modi said the Pakistani cricketers missed the bus by failing to get visas by the December 7 deadline and the IPL franchises have already replaced them with fresh recruits. It was followed by certain visa problems by the Indian authorities for Pak players. But it appears that it was not enough as both the Rajan Gang as well the Shiv Sena militants wanted to seal-off all the possibilities of participation of Pak players.
The Daily Mail’s findings further reveal that when Modi expressed his inability to do anything more in this direction, he was threatened severely on phone by the Shiv Sena Bal Thackeray, who after losing the general elections for the third successive term, was desperate to play anti-Pakistan card to regain some popularity and thus had already announced after the tragic Mumbai terror attack that his party wont allow any Pakistani Cricketer to play in India. These Findings reveal that when Modi ignored the Shiv Sena chief’s threats, the Shiv Sena activist organized to burn Modi’s house to give him a final warning to meet their demands.
The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that on 19th December 2009, Shiv Sena operatives set Modi’s home, Anand Bungalow in the upscale Gandhigram Road area of Juhu, close to the ISKCON Temple, in north-west Mumbai ablaze and warned him to come up with some imitate steps to bar Pak cricketers, though it is still “officially” reported that Modi’s house caught fire due to certain electric short circuiting. But Mumbai’s underworld knows very well as to who was behind this mysterious blaze.
The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that this development scared Modi to the maximum and he embarked upon another journey to solve the problem he was facing. This journey it is revealed, started from Mumbai and ended up at Cape town South Africa where Modi held a detailed meeting with Rajan gang’s Pappu and forwarded him a proposal, following which, the Rajan Gang was to use its terrorizing influence to help Modi in convincing the bidders of the IPL auction to refrain from bidding for Pak players during the auction. Pappu agreed to the same while on his return, to Mumbai, Modi was able to convince Shiv Sena Chief for the same.
The daily Mail’s findings indicate that after this development, Modi started the mission of discouraging the IPL bidders, including business tycoons like Ambani and showbiz celebrities like Shlipa Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta etc. Modi tried to convince the bidders that there were very little possibilities of Pak cricketers being able to make to the IPL due to certain documents related issues and security reasons. These findings indicate that in the beginning, the bidders, particularly Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta were not convinced by Modi’s philosophy but when Shiv Sena and Rajan Gang chipped in, the trick worked and it resulted in humiliated ouster of all the aspiring Pakistani cricketers from the IPL-3
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that despite following the orders of the bosses at Lodhi Road New Delhi, the Rajan Gang didn’t miss the opportunity of making millions of dollars by winning bets over no Pak player playing in IPL-3. According to sources in betting networks, Pappu-led betting mafia of Rajan Gang won around three billion US dollars by betting on ouster of Pak players from IPL-3.
The Daily Mail’s findings reveal that Modi himself has been a facilitator of Chhota Rajan gang’s match fixing and drug mafia wings. These findings indicate that Modi was promoted to the current position by the Rajan gang and it was on the behest of Rajan Gang that the venue for the 2nd IPL session was shifted to South Africa from India by Lalit Modi, hiding behind the notions of security threats in India after the 26/11 incident. It is believed that the Rajan gang not only minted billions of dollars through match fixing and betting during IPL tourney last year in South Africa but huge drug deals were also finalized on the sidelines of the tournament, with the notice of Lalit Modi.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that owing to Rajan Gang’s strong hold over Modi. IPL never opted to introduce anti-match fixing practices in the IPL and infect it refused an offer by the ICC in this direction. These findings indicate that to facilitate the Pappu and company, the IPL rejected an offer to use ICC’s anti-corruption and security experts in South Africa for the tournament, preferring to use its own staff.
The ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit is used for international tournaments, but the body does not make it mandatory for domestic competitions. However since it attracts highly paid leading players from all over the world, The IPL and the BCCI are bound to apply the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and ant-match fixing system.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that as the IPL landed in the hands of the underworld mafia in South Africa, the match fixing and corruption started emerging rapidly. Former Pakistan Captain Javed Miandad feels there is a serious possibility of matches being fixed in the cash-rich Twenty20 events of IPL. Miandad said the league in South Africa was witnessed to some surprising results where teams surprisingly lost from clearly winning positions. “There is a definite smell of match-fixing coming from the IPL where strange things are happening,” said Mindad.
“I don’t consider the IPL as cricket, it is a joke. It is strange that players who are not regular bowlers have taken hat-tricks in the league. Teams are losing matches from winning positions,” he said.
Miandad feels the International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to step in and check possible corruption in the event. “If at all such Twenty20 cricket leagues must be held they should be held under the direct supervision of the ICC or else there will always be fear of corruption taking place in matches,” he said.
Miandad said it was strange that the ICC’s anti-corruption unit was not present in the IPL despite the big money at stake and the number of foreign players involved in the competition.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that Lalit Modi has a history of being involved in drug trafficking and fraudulent activities. The Daily Mail’s findings reveal that In 2005, Modi figured in a power struggle that resulted in Sharad Pawar, an influential politician and national cabinet minister, ousting former Indian cricket supremo and ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya in BCCI elections .But, Modi’s bid for membership of India’s main cricket body hit a snag. The outgoing board appointed a committee to investigate drug charges against Modi when he was a student at a US university in 1985.
The Daily mail’s findings reveal that Lalit Modi was charged and pleaded guilty to drug possession, assault and kidnapping case in 1985 while he was a student in Duke University, USA. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison and came back to India after being released on probation.
In 2007 a PIL was filed in Mumbai High court challenging his position in BCCI on pretext of his criminal history. Though the court refused to unseat Modi, it asked the BCCI “to implement stringent regulatory measures so that those involved in criminal cases, not just illegal drugs but other serious charges have no place in administration”. But unsurprisingly BCCI paid no heed to the court’s advice.
The Daily Mail’s investigations further reveal that Lalit Modi was once at Lord’s to launch the charitable British Asian Cup but he was embarrassed to a Luke warm response as the Indian Premier League commissioner’s previous commitments to good causes were the subject of a court case in India.
These findings indicate that in an on-the-field ceremony Modi handed over a cheque for £780,000 to the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. But not all the money cleared in its bank account and Nagrik Morcha, a nongovernmental organisation, brought accusations to the Rajasthan high court in March 2008 that Modi was guilty of “cheating and forgery”. Modi was granted “anticipatory bail”, ensuring he would not be held in custody for what is otherwise a non-bailable offence.
Modi’s lawyers told the court that the cheque was merely “symbolic” of the IPL’s intention to contribute to the fund, and that all but £26,000 had reached its destination. The rest, they added, “could have been paid in total but due to financial crises two of the sponsors, namely Citibank and Kingfisher, withheld the amount due to be paid.”
The Daily Mail’s findings further indicate that in February 2009, Modi got a three-week interim protection against arrest from the Bombay High Court in a criminal case against him in Rajasthan.
The High Court allowed Modi to approach appropriate court in Rajasthan for seeking further relief within three weeks, directing that he not be arrested in this period. Modi feared arrest by Rajasthan police after an FIR was lodged against him for cheating, impersonation, and fabrication of documents at Nagaur, Rajasthan on January 27, 2009.
Modi, had purchased land in Nagaur in September 2004, but it was alleged that he was not present in the office of deputy registrar when sale deed in his favour was registered.
The IPL chief therefore filed an anticipatory bail application at Bombay High Court, alleging that FIR was lodged only to “pressurize him” and stop him from contesting forthcoming elections of Rajasthan Cricket Association, of which he is the incumbent president.
Newguy,
If they are investing so much in the IPL, it is not like they will recover all the money and make profits within the first few years, it is inherently a long-term vision which will lead to profits only after a certain amount of time. This is where it could go horribly wrong, as the franchises it seems are not run by professional entrepreneurs, but people from showbiz and Bollywood (It just seems that way).
For instance, to think strategically, rationally would mean that they would never snub Pakistani players. I generally don’t watch the EPL, but I can be lured into it by friends who watch it. Word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing tool, and that is the only way the idea can be developed long-term. Basically, not to include players from Pakistan and Bangladesh (very large countries population-wise) lacks strategic depth. What the IPL organizers feel is that the market within India is big enough, which may or may not be true. How much can the people take the singing and dancing on cricket grounds is another thing that only time will tell. As I understand, people are not required to pay to enter the grounds– so that people come and watch in the ground for free. And, they usually come there to watch the Bollywood heroes, but how many years of the superheroes can they take, just for the sake of it, rather than cricket?
I agree with you, it could be that the board has a cut in it, therefore the board is almost ‘selling the soul’ so to speak. Even then, given what the players earn in IPL, it is meagre for the board as a whole, so it could be that essentially these guys have cut a deal with players to get money for themselves privately.
Javed Khan,
Could it be that, the other side of that 3 billion dollar bet is Dawood Ibrahim with Zaradari havving a 10 percent cut, judging by the way Butt is furthering the cause.
Just look at this, the making of Dawood Ibrahim and support from ISI, his rival Chota Rajan, and RAW which basically supports Chota Rajan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhota_Rajan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawood_Ibrahim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_wars_between_Chota_Rajan_and_Dawood_Ibrahim
It would be very unfortunate if cricket has come to all this…
.
remember first ipl and shoaib akhter he came in media and acused last chairman of pcb of wanting to have a cut of his earnings so from butt u can expect even worse the way he was licking bcci’s balls there is definatly somthing for him in it . Its time that these idiots stop begging india and stop putting whole nation into disgrace i dnt knw how embaraced india and especialy bcci and ipl will feel if these pakistan players have a good training camp in march, while all others are playing ipl, and then beat indian team in knockout stages i think this is the best way of taking revenge of this embaracing episode.
Amir,
But Pakistan could also play a, say, best of 5 20/20 with some other country which would be profitable for both the boards involved and perhaps make the players happy, too, because they want to play 20/20 so much?
Miandad has severely criticized 20/20 and has said that it is going to kill test cricket. Now I’d personally say 20/20 has its place and is an interesting form of the game, but in the IPL, it is as though cricket is an afterthought, the main events are the auction, singing, dancing, showbiz, and the like. And, now the IPL will be broadcasted on youtube…in essence, you don’t have to pay to watch it on the grounds and you don’t have to pay to watch it on the internet.
And, if the concept of IPL fails, then all the investments will probably have zero residual value, so basically they are so desperate to build the concept initially that every where, whether on grounds, tv, or internet, you can watch it for free. In 3-4 years time, Shahrukh Khan will probably also touch 60 (Bollywood actors can never get too old though) and Priety Zinta might just be able to sneak a few more pounds. All I mean is that, when cricket is such an afterthought in the IPL, will the showbiz industry sustain the IPL for so long? If some shrewd bussinessmen like Ambani start selling their stakes at considerable profits to a ‘greater’ fool, you could pretty much guess which side the coin is going to flip.
Omer Admani;
It is not just Miandad but, Inti Alam and a few others have also criticized 20/20 that is mainly because Pakistan lost the test series in Sri Lanka and in Australia. After all other countries are also playing 20/20 so, everyone is at par. Like the say it applies to all and why should the loser always whine, nag and complain?
If you dig out the info on LS and PS you will see what I wrote about it? I said, this IPL, ICL is a fad and it won’t last long. ICL is already a closed chapter and IPL, like you have said the Bollywood beauties will go for a face lift but, then there will be others to replace them. Perhaps it will remain as an entertainment but not cricket. The real fun of cricket is when it is being played between nations and teams fight for prestige, honour and pride.
As regards amir’s point about Actor accusing DNA, the later dropped the case because there was nothing to substantiate and Actor was only blabbering. Even now the cuts are just speculations and nothing more. I don’t think Zardari has any interest in cricket and getting cuts from cricketing bets, he is in a big league and has no time for this.
As regards Ijaz Butt, he keeps negating his own statements and keep chewing his own Butt. But, the Butt is so big and fat that it doesn’t matter if he chews it a bit or chew the cud out of it. First he said, he is very disappointed by the way the IPL authorities have ignored Pakistani players, then he said, it doesn’t matter if they don’t play in the 3rd IPL after all they didn’t play in the 2nd IPL also. Now, he is again saying that he cannot understand how and why the IPL ignored the Pakistani players and is asking the Sports Minister in Pakistan to talk to the Indian Sports Authorities and find out or take up the matter. Whereas, the Indian government has distances itself from these events and said, it is between the PCB and the IPL, not even the BCCI has said anything about it. So, Butt is getting more frustrated. He is such an idiot that he cannot keep his traps shut and keeps polluting the environment.
newguy
I didn’t follow the India / Bangladesh test on the last day after seeing the score 134/4, it was expected that Bangladesh will fold within 200. But, Musfiqur Rahman played a good innings and took the total to 301, I dunno how many more overs were left for a draw, but whatever it is they played better than Pakistan did in Australia. At least they earned some respectability by scoring 301 and also silencing Sehwag’s big mouthiness by dismissing India twice, well the late declaration means nothing because, it was only the tail that was left to be wiped off. Had BD taken a lead of 100 runs in the first innings there would have been in a different situation. India would have started their innings under pressure and may not have piled up so many runs especially Mishra and Gambhir’s partnership. Anyways, they lost but with some dignity.
Tonight, Pakistan will play the first ODI in Australia and I wonder what the team would be, they say Younus Khan is raring to go. Whether he is raring or roaring like a tiger, it doesn’t matter if he roars or squeak what matters is “runs” the bottom line is Pakistan needs at least a 60-70 from him. And, of course Moulana should play the captain’s role and score big, his batting form is questionable, although he says, his form is good but he is not scoring. I don’t understand how he can say that his form is good, just the runs are not coming? Afridi needs to show his impact in all departments of the game and Pakistan must win this match to start the series with a bang.
Javed,
Bangladesh played well given where in the rankings they stand, they are coming up may be, but you never know since they have given false indications before too only to fall back. They didn’t take 20 wickets, they could have taken two more had India played on, but that’s besides the point, what is important is can they take 20 wickets to win the Test, and I don’t think they can match the top teams eye to eye on batting and bowling.
All this had they take 100 runs read is all “ifs” and “butts”, Indians just raised their bowling to take a 1 run lead, and had Bangla taken a lead, Indians would have raised their second innings batting. Point being, they are capable of playing according to the situation, this is the result of a long process that they have put on over the last few years.
Perhaps Sehwag should be more respectful? That is for him to decide, he is a Jat and although I hate stereotyping people, that is how some of them speak, not too careful with words. Anyhow, Bangladesh need to start playing with some more intent if they want to come up. Their batsmen cannot stay on focused for too long, and they have only two goof bowlers, this is not enough to win Test matches.
Pakistan on the other hand has the resources, but they are at the moment not having the process or application required to improve their standing.
Javed/Omer,
Just a couple of thoughts on IPL.
The story you quoted could be very much true. There are factions within both countries that do not want to see good relations between the people of Pakistan and people of India. I believe that moderates in both countries want to see normal relationship and do not hate each other, and there are far more of them than extremists, however every now and then the extremists plot something that throws open old wounds and moderate people start distances themselves.
It appears this time too the extremists have succeeded, sad, but true. I saw pictures of effigy burning in the streets of Pakistan, most of the people pictured look like decent middle class with at least some education of not good education. It is sad if extremist and mafia factions are behind this exodus of Pakistan cricketers that they have succeeded in alienating the moderates. It is well known that Shiv Sena thrives on anti Pakistan sentiments, they have been for years pledging not to let Pakistani cricketers play in India. Although they have not done anything of a direct attack sort, this will put them at odds with public and they will lose whatever little they have going no. They will end up being tagged as a terrorist organization, much like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which they do not want. So they will not indulge in direct attacks, but will do back channel threatening and petty scare tactics like “gunda-giri”. Unfortunately, there isn’t much the Govt of India can do in these matters as most of these things happen at a different level, underground operations, and people who are threatened will never complain for fear of harm.
Point is, they may have succeeded in creating anti India-Pakistan sentiment yet again, and profit from it also. It is up to the moderate people of Pakistan and India to see through all this and not react with knee jerk actions like burning effigies.
About the IPL business, all franchises are actually owned by businesses, bollywood stars are only a front. Shah Rukh and Preity Zinta are the prominent ones, but both are only partners. Shah Rukh partner is Jay Mehta who is an industrialist and successful businessman. Zinta’s fiancee and partner is a Wadia, who is successor to business unit Bombay Dying and other businesses. Other owners are tycoons like Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, Deccan Herald business, so on. It’s not unusual for businesses to own sports franchises, it’s partially an ego trip, but mostly a strategic endeavor where by they use it for marketing and promotional activities. Sometimes they also use these things as a loss leader, then write off on taxes, etc.
Even if they don’t collect any money from gate passes, or TV rights, they make money from advertising, all they need is people to turn up and watch the games, either live, or TV, or YouTube, they get ad revenues and they get to promote their businesses.
Occasionally, businesses lose money on sports franchises, then they will simply sell it, take the loss, write it off on their business, and move on. People like Ambani and Mallya has other sports investments too, Mallya invests in Formula One racgin team, these are all things they do, one for passion, one for other benefits, have you seen boolywood actress Katrina Kaif hanging out with Mallya whenever IPL is on? what is Katrina Kaif doing with an old fat man like Mallya? it’s all about money and power, and the luxury lifestyle, do you think she is hanging out with him only in public or is there also a private yacht waiting for later on
It is well known Mallya has a weakness for babes. Ok, this is all speculation, but they have their motives.
In the end, IPL is a morally corrupt rich man’s game, it’s not cricket, it’s like a big casino.
Newguy,
If you looked carefully at those pictures of effigy burning, there were 6-8 people only, and the camera guy had, on purpose, taken the picture such that to the naked eye it seemed like there was a crowd. Besides that, media feeds on such stories and you can imagine, that one guy being given the effigy by a guy with a camera, and asked to burn, and people over there, when they see something happening, it is a habbit that they all gather together. So, maybe, in that area there were 6-8 people who gather together. The reason why I say this is that, it was ludicrous for cricinfo to post those pictures, as there were like 6 people altogether, 5 onlookers, and one person burning something. Now I can do that here in New York, too, while burning a paper with Modi’s name, but would cricinfo post it?
Some of the cheap media in Pakistan have blown the matter out of proportion, and it is almost as if, they want the people to react in a certain way. If you look at any major media inside Pakistan (such as DAWN), they have made perhaps a passing remark on the IPL.
I think we know how cricinfo puts the headlines and how they portray things, as a matter of fact we all know who owns it. There is, at times, pretty substandard repoting, and you just have to see the headlines (the attempted satire when it is anything Pakistan) and ‘we are the champions attitude’ when it is India. I mean does it make sense to post pictures of person burning something and four onlookers looking around, just to see what is happening? Even some of the cheap Pakistani media person could have gotten the camera and asked some other person to burn that thing…
Newguy,
It is about money– it is obvious. But they can make profits only if the idea endures. The worth of the investment is discounted value of the future profits. Since if the idea fails, there would be no residual value, it is likely that the losses will be pretty big, as likewise, if the idea works, the investment could yeild a return of many, many times. I wouldn’t under-estimate the Indian public’s intelligence by assuming that the idea will work. It could work if it is about cricket rather than the underworld, Bollywood, dancing, singing, matchfixing and the like. I don’t personally know any Indians passionate about the Mumbai, Delhi, or any IPL teams.
The effigy that I saw, a Baluchi man burning Manmohan Singh’s effigy and that man looks like he is a donkey cart wala (Gadha Gari wala) and it is so obvious that someone must have made that effigy and ask him to burn and kick. Do you think the majority of people in Pakistan would hate Manmohan Singh than they hate Zardari?
Javed Khan,
Would a Ghadha Gari wala even know who Manmohan Singh is?
Here’s the same thing from te BBC, on the reaction in Pakistan on the IPL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8472232.stm
Have they used any of those pictures that cricinfo had used (which cricinfo don’t seem to have in their gallery now)? Obviously not, they’d love to because it sensationalizes the issue, but since they seem very unauthentic with only 4 onlookers seemingly indifferent, they haven’t pposted them.
newguy
Are you sure that there is still something between Zinty and Wadia? I heard its over and they don’t see each other any more, so how can they do business together? About Katrina hanging out with Maliya it is obvious to everyone why she is seen like a “Dumm Chulla” to him. And, yes his yacht is famous. I saw one in Dubai. I know he is a conglomerate from Bangalore and has this breweries called King Fisher and was exporting to Russia in the ’90′s. Someone said, his name is Vijay Mallaiyah and not Maliya. Mallaiyah is a very typical Telugu Desum name, the way Tom, Dick and Harry is used in English or Zaid, Bakr and Omar in Arabic, in Telugu Desum it is Ailaiyah, Malaiyah and Pochaiyah. Is it true? Whether it is true or not it rhymes well and, it could be true.
Omer Admani;
Here is the link of that Baluchi guy, I am sorry he is not burning but beating. take a look. And, it all looks so cooked up by the media, especially that photo of Allama Iqbal shows how someone had deliberately set up all that.
Ok, here’d the picture that cricinfo used:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/content/current/story/445233.html
There are clearly 6 people, but if you look in the vicinity, it is totally empty. However, the cameraman has taken the picture such that, when you look at it, you instinctually feel that the whole area is crowded. Besides that, the three people out of 4 whose face is visible, they are just smiling– there is no anger– they are just excited to be in the picture and standing there for the sake of it. The fact that no-one’s there in the vicinity and everyone is casual suggests that it wasn’t like something was happening there for awhile, and suddenly the media suddenly sprung up to capture the image– it seems much more like the cameraman, the media personell, gathered a few people, provided the accessories, took the picture, and sensationalized in his newspaper/magazine or whatever it is where the picture originated.
Javed,
It’s likely Mallaiyah, but it’s not Telugu (which is the language spoken in most of Andhra Pradesh), it is Kannada which is the language spoken in Karnataka where Bangalore is. Mallya or Mallaiyah is a Kannadiga, his father was a famous Doctor but he is a rich businessman. In Kannda names have the “aiyah” after it, it’s more of an addition to show respect. Like “ji” in Hindi, I guess. He made money with his Kingfisher breweries, selling Kingfisher brand beer. Now he owns an airline company also by same name, and he has some other businesses too. The guy likes to live the lifestyle of rich and famous and is known to be a playboy.
Regarding CricInfo, I didn’t pay too much attention to how many people are behind it, and yes, they sensationalize every news item.
Omer Admani
You are right about the people and the picture its only a media creation just to sensationalize the whole issue. Also, if you have noticed about the article which Ramiz Raja wrote, even from the title or the caption, “India should have been more inclusive” is a very mild reaction and he is talking only about Pakistan team as world champions exclusion whereas, IPL is about individual players and he did not mention a single name like Afridi or Gul who are the highest wicket takers and match winners for Pakistan. This is a deliberate buttering from Ramiz, only to say “I have also expressed my remorse or protested against this decision.” But, in reality he did nothing. There is no substance in his article……… sirf naqshay baazi and dramay baazi. He knows that he cannot be harsh because in future that will affect his livelihood.
INZAMAM WANTS AFRIDI TO BE CAPTAIN OF ODI
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/sport/16-make-afridi-odi-captain%2C-says-inzamam-210–hs-04
“I have seen him [Afridi] lead in domestic cricket plus he has done a good job as Twenty20 captain. He is naturally aggressive and a good leader of men. I am sure he can revive the team in one-day and Twenty20 cricket,”
Omer Admani
Please read this article which appeared in Daily DAWN today
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/sport/coach-intikhab-needs-a-lesson-in-decency%2C-stats-110
You will see the comparison of Inti Alam and Danish Kaneria as bowlers and see who has taken more wickets and what is the strike rate and economy rate?
Inti Alam is a pathetic person he has no shame in uttering non-sense against Danish Kaneria after the Sydney test defeat. He ridiculed his best bowler and protected the culprits Akmal brother, one dropped a zillion catches and the other was trying to pressurize the captain, coach and the team by declaring himself unfit.
Danish Kaneria has taken 250 wickets whereas Inti Alam has taken exactly half 125 in his career
In 5 matches Kaneria took 24 wickets (six times more than Inti Alam)
Inti Alam in 4 matches took only 4 wickets
Kaneria’s strike rate is 60.0
Inti Alam’s rate is 131.5 (more than double)
Kaneria’s economy rate is 40.58
Inti Alam’s economy rate is 89.75 (more than double)
Inti Alam should have looked into his own GIRAYBAAN before criticizing Danish Kaneria.
Its a shame that being the manager and coach he has shown so much disrespect for his player during the tour and not after.
This is the same Inti Alam when he was a member of the 3 men committee or a tribunal set up for inquiring Shoaib Akhtar’s case and he tried to expose, “Shoaib Akhtar’s personal life by saying he is not married but is engaged with other women and he drinks (alcohol) and has a night life with women etc. etc.” Why the HELLO does he have to talk about Akhtar’s personal life? Is he (Inti) jealous that he couldn’t get any because of his ugliness?
newguy
Thanks for that info, but I know the difference between Andhra Pradesh and Karnatka State, Tamil Nadu and Kerala which are the 4 states of South India. And, in Karnatka you have Bangalore and Mysore. Also, aiyah is for sahab. Like the Japanese say San after the name Omer San, Javed San etc.,
Omer San;
Following is the team predicted for today’s ODI:
1 Salman Butt,
2 Kamran Akmal (wk)
3 Younis Khan
4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt),
5 Umar Akmal,
6 Shoaib Malik,
7 Shahid Afridi,
8 Umar Gul,
9 Mohammed Aamer
10 Mohammad Asif,
11 Saeed Ajmal / Rana Nayee
Gabba is famous for extra bounce and swing, therefore, in place of Saeed Ajmal they can play Rana Nayee, although I don’t favour him but considering the pitch conditions perhaps he would be a better choice than Ajmal.
Shahid Afridi should be used as a floater in batting line up depending on the situation he could be promoted above Malik and even above Yousuf, but it all depends.
If I want to make my own team from the above probables, I would replace Shoaib Malik with Fawad Alam and Salman Butt with any other opener.
Once again defensive captaincy by Mohammad Younus, when Salman Butt was out, he should have sent Umar Akmal or Shahid Afridi in, instead he came in to bat while Younus Khan is struggling on the other end, both are going to slow down the run rate.
Javed Khan,
He could have sent Umar Akmal, but I’d say, a bit of consolidation could have also been the right decision. yousof is out now, but you know it is Pakistan, can collapse within 10 overs.
I wouldn’t pay attention to these Aussie commentators– they are probably not as conscious of Pakistan’s famous history of collapses or maybe, perhaps, are hoping for it and trying to find a reason to criticiz Younis or Yousof.
If Afridi should be sent up the order, he should be sent to open. As it is best he plays in powerplays.
So did you see how Yousuf was out? Very unlucky and stupid I must say, because he blocked the ball with his gloves and then the ball bounced from the ground went up and landed on the bails, he had the time to smash it with the bat or even kick it but, he watched it painfully and went back with a sad face. Unlucky because, Salman Butt and Younus Khan both survived after giving chances.
Now, Umar Akmal is out on a ball which wasn’t supposed to be played, McKay is a very mediocre bowler and was hammered earlier but, Umar Akmal after playing so well got carried away after the drinks. And Malik is here so let us see what he can do. Seems like the whole of Pakistan team will bat today.
A storm is brewing in Pakistan because of the IPL (supposedly), but a storm is also brewing in Washington. Obama might break up the banks. Since Masachessets went to the Republicans, he wants to regain lost ground after all the bail-outs. He is “ready to fight the banks”. So, basically, the Great Depression led to the amalgamation of retail banking and investment banking and sup-prime might reverse the process, so that both are seperated. It is a very tactical move, as if Republicans oppose it, then he can portray them as the ones who supported the bad guys. It is a win-win situation for him.
On the other hand, he is playing around with Pakistan as well. Firstly, he has given India and Raw agencies open breeding ground in Afghanistan (in the name of development), and then the US defense secretary goes to Indiia and offers them all the defense technology and the like…and now he is playing psychological warfare with Pakistan. All the bombings tat are happening inside Pakistan are a result of a few tribes which declared war on the state when the state started attacking, but now he wants the state to go and bomb the tribes which aren’t attacking the state (for now), so that they also start attacking the state. At Pakistan’s refusal to do this, he is exerting psychological pressure thru the defense secretary by warning that another attack inside India might mean that India would attack Pakistan. Basically sandwiching Pakistan from both sides, a situationg Pakistan has been trying to avoid (especially in light of recent vibes emerging from India).
He is got the Nobel Peace prize, but he is reminding increasingly of the master tactician Franklyn Roosvelt .
Javed Khan,
Yousof was unlucky, but it seems the pressure of captaincy is also translating in his batting. He was right, when he was hitting the ball in test matches, I too was surprised by how cleanly he was hitting the ball. But despite good form, he was finding it difficult to concentrate, so it definitely is the pressure of captaincy showing in his batting.
Good knock by Afridi. 274 should be defendable, but you never know with Rana in the team. Now lets see whether it is Afridi’s day or Rana’s day.
Javed Khan,
If Afridi could hit that much with three fielders out in the deep (batting team powerplay), he could perhaps even do better in the initial powerplays when two fielders are out. And, he’d be playing potentially 15 overs of powerplay rather than 5 (if sent as an opener or one-down if the first wicket falls within the first 5-10 overs). That is why, after Butt got out, I thought it was the right decision to not send Afridi. Afridi’s best utility is in powerplays and when Butt got out, it was 20-odd overs and time to consolidate.
Omer Admani
Who said Rana is an all-rounder? He was pathetic today.
Umpire Asoka D Silva robbed Shahid Afridi’s 50 by giving that boundary as a leg bye. Younus is unable to connect big shots and he was lucky to get so many chances, Afridi got none. LOL @ the way Asif got out. Ponting couldn’t believe him getting out on the same ball which the umpire denied for a catch and then he gave him run out. Marvelous piece of fielding by Ponting.
Javed Khan,
Rana is as good as Gul as a batsman. It is really bizarre to play him. Gul is a specialist one day bowler and he was being played in test matches (where he is ok). Rana is potentially a genuine matchloser with the ball, so lets see, if he going to lose it singlehandedly, or Afridi is going to win it.
Younis wasn’t in form but played a fairly useful innings.
It was too late for me so I slept after Ponting was out. It looked that Pakistan could win from there but, the feeling that they will choke was there and I was right, I woke up, the match is over and I checked it on the computer to see Australia won it comfortably. Both spinners and Rana were taken to the cleaners. Cameron White scored 105 in 88 balls with 4 sixes deserves to be the MoM.
I was surprised to see Rana in the team instead of Gul. Even if he was there, he should have been in place of Ajmal and not Gul. Ajmal’s role gets diluted in the presence of Afridi especially if the wicket is not helping spinners. Earlier we saw Nathan Hauritz was smashed and he was more expensive than Afridi and Ajmal.
Malik scored only 28 runs, did not bowl and remained unnoticed like a STEALTH. He jumped out of his crease to hit out Watson and instead of playing a straight bat shot he played a cross bat shot and edged it to the keeper. On that pitch a score of 300 was must.
First, it was Salman Butt who wasted opportunities did not take any singles and Kamran was out because, a ball before Kamran was out, he asked Butt for 2 runs which were there, but Salman Butt refused to run by saying “Rainday Na.” means leave it. The second run was definitely there and Butt was ignoring singles like always so, Kamran played a rash shot and got out. When he was going back, he decorated Salman Butt with some MC, BC medals which were quite clear and audible. Salman Butt wants to score only in boundaries and was lucky that he made 72 with 12 boundaries and most of them were risky edges.
Second, it was Mohammad Yousuf, his form is a big question mark. He was out in a very pathetic way.
Third, Younus Khan, he took a long time to settle down and when the time came to score big, he threw away his wicket on the first ball of the batting power play. While Afridi was there it appeared that Pakistan can reach 300 but, Aamer was out on a first ball duck and Rana Nayee wasn’t playing big hits (that is why I asked above who said he is an all-rounder?) if he was Afridi wouldn’t have been taking big risks with Watson. Anyways, imo they were 25 runs short and if the total was above 300 there would have been a psychological advantage too.
Now, Australia thinks that they can win any game against Pakistan, like they did in Sydney and now the ODI opener is similar to that.
In the next match they should drop Malik and get in Fawad Alam. Drop Rana and bring in Gul.
Afridi must open with Umar Akmal, but the conservative captain and coach will NEVER do this.
When Rana took the catch of Shaun Marsh he was telling everyone that he didn’t see it. It was a simple straightforward catch but, according to him it was a blinder that just got stuck to his hands and he was pleasantly surprised.
Can anyone please tell, whether Pakistan dropped any catches after Ponting was out?
Javed Khan,
I too slept after 2 wickets had fallen and it is surprising that Pakistan lost, because it seems they were going to win at that point in time. Just a quick glance at the scorecard shows that generally spinners did poorly and it was a pace bowlers wicket. Pakistan had 2 spinners and the third pace bowler, basically, useless. And, after that, I can imagine ow defensive the captaincy would have been, allowing every new batsman to settle with the field always on the boundary.
Interestingly, Afridi gave away 21 runs in the 40th over:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/engine/current/match/406202.html?innings=2;page=1;view=commentary
Hence, he had given around 45 in 9 so he did well for the most part, but I’d say, by that time, 41st over, the match was already over. Well, by the start of the 41st over, it favored Aus, with 74 reuired of 60 and a powerplay in hand, but by the start of the 42nd over, it was virtually over with 53 required of 54. Pakistan wasn’t able to take wickets before that and Yousof must’ve thought he can defend the score without taking the wickets and Rana must have bowled his usual garbage, allowing no pressure on the batsman.
Your question on missed catches:
34.2
Mohammad Aamer to Clarke, 2 runs, dropped, how costly will that prove? Short on middle, went for the pull, got the top edge and Butt at fine leg got into a good position but spilled it once he’d got underneath, the crowd cheer behind him, that must hurt
Who dropped that catch?
I think those 3 sixes off Afridi by White, I think I heard it while I was half asleep ‘coz the TV was on and that was his last over and White attacked him, otherwise he bowled well for 9 overs. The game tilted in Australia’s favour after that over. Secondly, I remember seeing a missed run out chance of Clarke by Shoaib Malik. Clarke was not even in the frame and Malik was hardly 5 meters from the stumps but, it was sideways so he had only one stump to aim and he missed it. That could have been crucial because, Ponting was just out and after that Clarke stabilized the innings with White.
Anyways, Pakistan has made it a habit of losing against Australia when they could have easily won that match. The same thing happened in the UAE and then in the test series in Australia and now this match. Had they won, they would have been in a commanding position because of the feeling that Afridi and Younus Khan have added strength to the team.
I was impressed by the two late cuts played by Umar Akmal and he was scoring freely but, the shot he played was really bad. I agree with you that he should be opening the innings with Shahid Afridi. If these two batsmen stay for 10 overs like Kamran and Butt did and score 53 runs in 10 overs, Afridi and Umar Akmal could make 80-90 runs in that time. If there is a 5 ODI series and they click twice, that’s enough to contribute 40% wins. The other players should also play their role and if they win one match the series is won. But, the team management will not take any chances they want to be defensive.
In my opinion Salman Butt and Younus Khan have slowed the run rate the rest of the batsmen played at a good strike rate. In the end Salman Butt’s strike rate looks good but, when Kamran Akmal was out on 32 in 32 balls, Butt was at 38 with a strike rate of 56. It was only after that he got 3 fours in three balls, 2 of them were edges flying over the keeper and the slips. Then again he had 3 fours in 3 balls. But, he was missing singles and taking singles when he could have taken 2. And, Younus Khan wanted to score a 50 to guarantee his spot and was unable to click, in his 46 he had only one four and his strike rate is also very slow.
THE IPL SAGA CONTINUES
Why cry over the split milk? Pakistan, especially Ijaz Butt & Co. are lamenting about Pakistani players not selected in the IPL, here is another news:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/content/current/story/445440.html
Once again a dozen people shown in the picture, actually it appears to be the same picture which Omer Admani posted earlier in which 6 people were shown and now from another angle they are about a dozen. Why do they have to complain it to the ICC now? What will the ICC be doing? Nothing.
The Indian government has distance itself from this by saying they or the BCCI have nothing to do with the IPL and Butt is still crying and whining about the exclusion of all the 11 players.
This should be an awakening call for the Pakistani players that they are not welcome by the hosts and not only that, they have been ridiculed and dissed by them. So, they should voluntarily withdraw from all other contracts or offers they have from their media, such as newspaper syndicate to write or TV talk shows and sponsorship etc. And, even if they qualify for the final of the ICC WC 2011 they should refuse to play the final in India. Then they would be able to bring them down to their knees.
I was reading an article on cricinfo by Harsha Bhogle, titled “No conspiracy against Pakistan,” perhaps I am a bit late in reading it because the comments for that article have now been closed and I am taking the opportunity to write on your blog hoping to get some attention from my friend Harsha Bhogle.
I remember Harsha Bhogle commentating for the first time, he was so excited that he had no control over his emotions and was sounding like a 10 year old kid who is hyper after having consumed a few glasses of Pepsi. Although he is very good in articulating his thoughts and comments but he still cannot hide his excitement in his expression which eludes him from the list of the elite commentators because he still sounds like a teenager.
The article in reference can be read from this link:
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/445330.html
After blabbering all the way about his time, and the changing times as well as the time we live in, finally in the end, the bottom line of his article ends like this: “To believe there is a conspiracy against cricketers from Pakistan is wrong. It is the times we live in.”
Mr. Bhogle if you believe there is no conspiracy against Pakistani cricketers, then you are living in your own paradise that you have built in Erra Gadda. Denying it as a conspiracy is like an Ostrich burying its head under the sand or hiding the dirt under a carpet. If you claim to be a good journalist, sports writer, commentator or whatever then you better call a spade, a spade. But, please don’t get patriotic to the extent that you cannot distinguish between right and wrong and between black and white. Be realistic and be fair.
Abbas Ali,
I read some of the article, and I can understand what Bhosle is trying to say, but the BCCI could have ran the whole thing differently perhaps. They used it to show there supeiority. There was a time when, the English and Australians used to be the main benefactors of world cricket, and India used to draw on this notion of “Asian unity” to counter-act that and balance power in the ICC. At this point it seems, now that the whole phenomenon of the power equation is reversed and directly resides with India, the BCCI is on a campaign to marginalize and isolate Pakistan as a cricketing nation.
For this I would only blame the PCB and their constant poor team selection and management. Other boards aren’t obliged to seek what is in Pakistan cricket’s interest. The bottomline for me is that if Pakistan were ranked 2,3 in international cricket, this couldn’t happen. And, once Inzamam became the captain, a whole 5,6 years went by without Pakistan finding any players. The ones that were good were already good, but nothing exceptional was found. 5 years later, Pakistan became a nothing team. Only recently when Younis Khan became captain, there was a willingness to play new players in place of mediocre ones, and within that short period, Pakistan was able to find Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer. However, as soon as Yousof has become captain, he is on the way to complete what Inzamam wasn’t able to do: Leave behind a team of 8-10 nothing players, a total Zimbabwe. So, basically, India is able to isolate Pakistan because Pakistan can’t consistently challenge the top teams and they have no monetary interest, no rivalry, to play with Pakistan as often.
Just look at Yousof’s team selection decisions so far, not to distinct from Inzamam, recalling tried and tested mediocre players time and again. He called Misbah on the basis of seniority for the NZ tour, he took the trio of mediocrity to Australia, and now he is still consistently playing them. One thing is for sure, Yousof doesn’t believe in any change. So, basically, Pakistan is looking into an abyss, where there will be more isolation in the future when Yousof and Younis retire, as we’ll be left with a whole batting order of nothing players– Misbah, Malik, Kamran Akmal, and the like. There is no solidity in these players, they average way to low to be a force in international cricket and compete with other top teams. On top of that, Rana has been recalled, on the basis of what, no-one can decipher. He has never won a single match and lost many matches singlehandedly– he seems to be in his mid-30s but he just keeps on coming back from to time.
Javed Khan,
I am increasingly realizing that this is nothing but Ijaz Butt driving attention towards India from the poor performances of the team. He has started this whole campaign of trying to channel the people’s anger elsewhere.
It is a shameful act from IPL no doubt to exclude Pakistani players in the manner in which they, and there cannot be any excuse to exclude player like Afridi, Gul, Umar Akmal, and Aamer who are some of the exciting players in the world today.
It is refreshing to see though that almost all of the major daily newspapers in India has condemned this act and there is no single support from major news organizations for this shameful act.
Here is what The Hindu had to say, note the highlighted item:
A humiliating non-auction
Celebrity-owners of the Indian Premier League cricket franchises have brought glamour and drama to the player auctions of the last two years. But this year’s bidding for cricketers had an added element of farce: not even one of the 11 players from Pakistan, the current world champion in the Twenty20 format, was bought by any of the eight franchises. While rookie cricketers were bought for staggering sums, world class players such as Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, who have shone in the T20 version of the game, found no takers. In the absence of encouraging signals from the Indian government or the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the owners of the franchises were not convinced that the Pakistani players would be able to get the necessary clearances. However, the government now says that apprehensions over the issue of visas were “completely misplaced,” and points out that visas were issued at short notice to 17 Pakistani cricketers in December-January for the IPL 2010 auction. There were of course heightened security concerns, amid fears that right-wing elements such as the Shiv Sena might disrupt matches involving Pakistani players in Mumbai. In any case, the team-owners were risk-averse and took the lazy way out.
Understandably, the snubbed players and the Pakistan Cricket Board have taken offence at the mishandling of the auction. Under IPL rules, at least one franchise will have to show interest in a particular cricketer for him to be included in the auction. So what changed between January 6, when the final list of Pakistani cricketers was cleared, and January 19, the day of the auction? If doubts over the availability of the 11 players in the context of visa- and security-related uncertainties were the reasons for this strange situation, the proper course would have been to exclude them from the bidding pool and honestly state the non-cricketing reasons for such exclusion. Instead, those running the IPL and the owners managed to humiliate the Pakistani cricketers, some of whom had played an important part in the success of IPL-I. Such is the unpleasantness created by this non-auction that Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik saw in it an indication that India was “not serious about the peace process” while Sports Minister Ijaz Jakhrani spoke of hurt Pakistani pride and giving a fitting reply to India. These may be exaggerated emotional reactions but there is no denying that sport, within its limitations, can serve as an effective way of promoting people-to-people contacts in problematical circumstances. Now that the damage has been done, the BCCI as well as the government authorities must do their best to see that the fall-out from this unedifying episode is contained within IPL-III.
Javed Khan, I don’t agree with your proposal that Pakistan should decline to play WC matches in India including the finals if they qualify. If as you were saying this is the doing of small religious extremist factions then that would play right into their hands. This is what exactly what they want. Showing anger to IPL organizers by shunning playing WC matches in India is not insulting IPL, but alienating Pakistan further away from world and hurting average citizens in India most of whom really adore Pakistani players.
Javed Khan,
I agree with you, Afridi should certainly be sent to open and Umar Akmal should be sent to open with Butt one-down, or Butt should open with Umar Akmal one-down. The idea being that both these players should utilize the powerplays as much as possible.
Omer Admani
In your response to Abbass Ali’s comments you have narrated the present day situation of Pakistan team and its performance, that is fine. But, what Abbass Ali wrote in response to Harsha Bhogle is different, in fact what Harsha Bhogle wrote about IPL is ridiculous. I mean he is trying to act like Modi’s spokesman by saying, “To believe there is a conspiracy against cricketers from Pakistan is wrong” and he believes that time is changing and people should expect changes and adapt to the changes.
You have mentioned about India’s power game and how the English and Australians used to exploit the world cricket before and at that time India wanted support from Asian countries and wanted to create Asian Block and now with the change of time and tide, India doesn’t care much about Pakistan or other Asian countries. They have bought the Sri Lanka Board for $400m for 10 years and they control them. Bangladesh is a weak team and their participation doesn’t matter much. And Pakistan is much to be blamed for their pwn poor performance is understandable. However, there is a moral obligation from India to support the other Asian countries but they are not doing that. In fact they are trying to isolate Pakistan systematically. And, this IPL thing is not like back stabbing but, its an open attack and yet the Indians are playing diplomatically by saying it is between the Boards and the IPL.
Of course the only way to reply to this not through diplomatic channel or through the boards but, by playing good solid professional cricket and beating them at international level. There was a time when South Africa was isolated by the rest of the world, they did not stop playing cricket, they had good grounds, they had a good system to promote domestic cricket and they produced some great players during that time and they were a threat to England and Australia and even after coming back from the exile they are still one of the best teams in the world. Its another matter that they have not won a major tournament but, they have beaten all the best teams in the world when they had their best players. So, Pakistan can also do that and they are not in exile, they can play in other countries and at neutral venues. But, they should stop playing in India. Like India at one time decided not to play in Sharjah.
The reason for not playing in Sharjah was betting and match fixing, but the real reason was Pakistan was a very good side in those days and they were beating them everywhere and not just in Sharjah. Therefore, Pakistan needs to uplift their game and for that people like Ijaz Butt, Inti Alam, Wasim Bari etc., must GO.
newguy
In response to the last paragraph of your comment that a small fraction of religious extremists are doing this and they will get what they want IF Pakistan does not play the final in India. If the people of Pakistan or the officials of the Pakistan government are showing anger and you are saying that it is a small fraction of the religious extremists are doing this, why is the Indian government or the BCCI not saying this? Why are they saying that this is between the PCB and IPL? I mean how ridiculous it is to say, you deal with them whereas, according to you the average citizens in India really adore Pakistani players and the government is represented by the people but they have no say? If they want to poke their nose in anything they will do without any hesitation, so why the HELLO are they being so diplomatic and saying, its between the PCB and the IPL?
khansahab
tusi kithay ho? I hope you are well? If you were busy during the week its fine but TGIF and the week-end is starting so roll up your sleeves and join the debate.
I am not that great a fan of T20 cricket and I don’t know why we are even giving so much importance to IPL. So what if IPL did not choose Pakistani players? Apart from condemning the jingoistic motivations behind this what else can we do? I think the focus should be on the Pakistan-Australia ODI series.
Today Shilpa Shetty who owns one of the teams, said that she received threats from some politicians and religious fanatics that she should not let Pakistanis play for her team. So, that should explain it.
On Pakistan cricket, it is a blessing that Pakistan could muster 250+ against Australia regardless of how flat the track was. Now the bowlers need to do their bit and get wickets. Fawad Alam should obviously replace Malik. Good to see Younis making some runs and Afridi back in batting form. Rana should be replaced by Gul.
Javed Khan,
I think you are missing a crucial part of this whole IPL issue, there wasn’t any major reaction initially in Pakistan (as there shouldn’t be), but the PCB Chairman repeatedly made statements trying to aggravate the situation. The backdrop to this whole affair is inescapable, that Butt was under the radar of the media because of Pakistan’s poor performance in Australia. Yesterday Pakistan lost another match and today he, quite uneccesarily made another statement on the IPL thing. The ICC has no jurisdiction in the affairs of IPL, so why would Butt say that? Is he so bereft of logic to take the affair to the ICC and make such statements to media?
Of course he isn’t, his position as the chairman of the board is in serious question, and he is toiling around with the media and people’s emotions at the expense of the dignity of the players and the board. The fact is that the players seem totally indifferent at this point, but it is Butt aggravating the whole affair. He is projecting himself as the ‘savior of the lions’, someone who stood up for the players and the country. He is doing nothing else but diverting the attention and anger of people towards the IPL issue and India, when the fact is that the consistent losses in Australia mean that he could lose his job at any point in time.
In fact rather than blaming the BCCI, the blame directly goes to the board, and he is also escaping media scrutiny in this regard by making these statements and diverting the attention. The board should have pre-empted this by banning the players for the IPL, but it didn’t and it deserves all the criticism it can get for it, but he is like a professional politican now, diverting attention from the incapacity of the board and himself.
Javed,
I don’t think this IPL issue should be given any importance at Government level, and the Govt of India is doing the right thing by not getting involved. PCB and Sports ministry in Pakistan should do the same. There are a lot of people in India, so when I say Pakistani cricketers are adored it means there are a lot of people who like them, but not all, there are a lot of people who don’t like Pakistanis too.
The point is if Pakistan chose not to play in WC because over this IPL thing, it will be Pakistan’s loss, think about it, Pakistan is getting marginalized every day and they have to stay in the competitions not stay out of it. I don’t think Indian government or IPL organizers will be very sad if they don’t play WC final, it will be awarded to whoever is the other participant because opposition did not turn out. Who loses?
Anyhow, I am not going to discuss further on this IPL thing. Too much of importance is being given to a domestic club tournament of mediocre quality.
Javed,
One last thing. The right way for Pakistani players and PCB to respond to all this is not by going to ICC complaining or saying this and that in media, but by showing strength in the field. Get their game improved, start winning against major teams, win some major tournaments, get their rankings up, so on. This is how they make those who sidelined them look silly. End of story. Get back to the days of the 90s when Pakistan was a major cricketing power to reckon with. Can the PCB help nurture cricket in Pakistan do that, instead of whining about IPL, this is what they should do. Hire some good coaches, get some domestic infrastructure going on, get some academies setup, eliminate regional politics in team. There is so much they can do, instead Butt is going to complain to ICC about a domestic tournament where ICC has no power, and he wants Sports minister to talk to his counter part in India. I say let the Sports minister first focus on developing the games in the country. What happened to Pakistan hockey team? weren’t they one of the best teams in the world at one time, what is the sports minister doing about. Why aren’t the people of Pakistan not concerned or feeling insulted by their teams performance.
So in the end, it’s all about their showing in the world that will determine their status.
ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said on Friday the United States never encouraged India to attack Pakistan.
After addressing a gathering at the National Defence University, Mr Gates said during what was described as a ‘candid conversation’, that his statement about possible Indian strikes had been ‘misunderstood’.
All that he had stated, he said, was that any repeat of the 2008 Mumbai attacks could have the potential of igniting a war between the two South Asian neighbours, a participant told Dawn.
Mr Gates was asked whether he was with Pakistan or against it in the context of the remarks he had made in New Delhi, warning that in the event of more attacks it would be difficult for India to again stay its hand. “It is not unreasonable to assume that Indian patience will be limited were there to be further attacks,” Mr Gates had said in New Delhi.
His remarks were seen by analysts here as an endorsement of threats emanating from New Delhi and several parliamentarians accused him of encouraging India to attack Pakistan, ignoring the sacrifices rendered by Pakistani security forces in the war against terrorism.
Journalists, who attended the US defence secretary’s speech at the university, were asked to leave the venue before the question-answer session.
Mr Gates said his country was concerned about security of the region and did not want to see the Pakistan-India peace process derailed.
In his address, Mr Gates acknowledged that there were understandable reasons for scepticism and tainted perceptions of the United States in Pakistan. But, he said:
“The United States does not covet a single inch of Pakistani soil. We seek no military bases here and we have no desire to control Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.”
Mr Gates said he was in government in the early 1990s when Russia left the region and the US abandoned Afghanistan and cut off defence ties with Pakistan.
He admitted that it was a strategic mistake driven by some well-intentioned but short-sighted US legislative and policy decisions. He said one major consequence of those choices was the severing of military-to-military relations.
He said the unfortunate reality had tainted the perception of the US in Pakistan. “Further worsening the situation is an organised propaganda by the very groups we seek to destroy — groups who kill and maim innocent civilians without remorse.”
Referring to his meetings with top civilian and military leaderships, he said the central message he repeated at the meetings was that the United States was fully committed to a stable, long-term, enduring friendship with Pakistan, based on common interests and mutual respect that would continue and deepen in future.
Mr Gates pointed out that the US had created a billion dollar Pakistan counter-insurgency fund to rapidly provide material and training assistance to Pakistani troops on front lines.
He said the cooperation between Pakistani troops and international forces in Afghanistan operating along the border had improved.
“Over the past 12 months we have expanded our joint training exercises and doubled funding to bring Pakistani officers to US military training centres and schools to support your efforts to strengthen your officer corps. In all of this, a guiding principle is to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and do whatever we can to help protect your nation.”
Mr Gates said his country also wanted to develop a broader strategic dialogue with Pakistan on issues relating to stability in the region, political solution to the insurgency in Afghanistan, Pakistan-India relations, threat of regional extremism and the challenge posed by militants in Pakistan.
About the concern that a greater US presence in Afghanistan would lead to more attacks in Pakistan, he said the Pakistani Taliban operated in collusion with both the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda and it was impossible to separate these groups.
He said that safe havens for the Taliban would in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both the countries.
“Maintaining a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counter-productive. Only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will enable Afghanistan and Pakistan to rid themselves of this scourge — to destroy those who promote the use of terror here and abroad. To counteract and defeat this dangerous enemy, Pakistan’s military has had to adapt and will have to do so even in the years to come,” he noted.
He said that Pakistan and the US had common enemies along the border and also had many common interests, from economic development to regional and global issues.
“And although we will undoubtedly encounter difficulties and setbacks in the years ahead, let there be no doubt that the United States is committed to Pakistan’s future,” he remarked.
Newguy,
You are missing the point, and it is that, if security is an issue with Pakistani players in India (which is the reason being given), then it is not Pakistan’s fault, but India’s inability to provide the security. In that case, should the world cup final be held in India?
I agree, the govt should not get involved in this, but nevertheless the issue of world cup is a valid point.
There is indeed an over-reaction in Pakistan and it is being aggravated to some degree by the media, but Butt could have diffused the situation rather than aggravate it by not issuing the statements he gave. It is a totally cricketing matter, though politics was involved within India, but only to the extent of cricket. However, again, with the hockey worldcup, Pakistan should raise the issue with the relevant authorities that the BCCI has agreed that there is a security issue in India when it comes to Pakistani players, and whether if there is a material threat to Pakistani sportspersons within India, the event should be relocated elsewhere.
This is just plain logic. If the soccer world cup is in SA, and lets assume, the South Africans can’t provide security to the Germans, then no-one would say it is Germanys fault, but it is SA’s fault. I am sure in that case the world cup would be staged elsewhere.
newguy
Its not just about the IPL its about many other things, the cancellation of the tour, refusing to play at neutral venues so that the monetary benefits are not shared, ignoring earlier commitments about creating Asian Block or at least to remain on their side and many more such things which I cannot remember off hand. Oh yeah, when Pakistan was accused of ball tampering at the Oval and Darrel Hair called Pakistani team as cheats, and ICC was supporting Hair, Niranjan Shah of the BCCI immediately told the press that they are with the ICC, there was no need for the BCCI to get involved or make any announcements especially when they were not supportive of us. Then, after sometime when Jeff Boycott confirmed that there is no evidence of that ball being tampered and Hair was finally removed from the panel of elite umpires, Niranjan Shah took a complete U-turn because the whole world (except Australia) was against Hair and Sri Lanka were very supportive at that time so BCCI made some official statements indirectly supporting Pakistan it is like joining the bandwagon. Or, you can’t beat them join them.
And, don’t you read how much we write against Ijaz Butt everyday? So, we are not just against Niranjan Shah or Sharad Pawar or the BCCI, but whoever does anything wrong we express our opinions here on this blog.
As regards hockey, its not just Pakistan but the entire sub-continent has lost interest in hockey and everyone is focusing on cricket that is why hockey is dying. Besides, there are other reasons like the rules have changed and playing on the the Astro-turf suits the Australians and Europeans, the short passes and dribbling has disappeared, penalty corners and force play is the name of the game.
Omer Admani,
NO, I am not missing the crucial part or any of the part of this issue, I do understand about the initial reaction and also why Butt is so upset about this whole issue? I am against IPL and ICL from day one so, as far as I am concerned I don’t give a tosh to this league and I am not a fan of Bollywood, in fact I hardly see Indian movies. However, this discussion prolonged because when people talk about ethics, morals, respect, honour and dignity and try to mold them and twist them the way it suits them, it is that irks me. I was referring to Harsha Bhogle’s diplomatic approach and his sugarcoated words to please and appease Lalit Modi & Co. I think Abbass Ali Baig also made the same point that, you can do something wrong and, its fine because you don’t want to do it the way others want to do. But, to tell others that wrong is right is very wrong. Its like that famous expression, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
newguy
I forgot to answer your question about whose loss it will be IF Pakistan reaches the final and refuses to play in India? I know very well that another team would be played or honoured and obviously Pakistan will not be in contention for the cup. But, cup is not important, winning the tournament is not important, the important thing is the message they will give it to the rest of the world that, you cannot make us bend over backwards or expect us to roll over and play to your tune. It will go down in history that Pakistan after reaching the finals refused to play in India. And, what more scintillating and tantalizing it would be IF the final is played between India and Pakistan and Pakistan refuses to play in India? This is just a IF, But, theory but it is possible, because it happened in the first T20 WC in SA.
You are right that the extremists would be happy and the masses will be at loss. So, why not the masses protest against them? There is no protest except individuals writing on blogs. And, Omer Admani raised a valid point, if there is a security problem today for IPL what is the guarantee of staging the ICC WC without any problem? “Should the world cup final be held in India”?
Javed Khan,
Maybe we in Pakistan are just wrong and there really was no systematic approach to this. We haven’t given much thought to it, but people like Harsha Bhosle are perhaps right, we are thinking more along the lines of conspiracy theory. Perhaps the real reason indeed is security and the BCCI is incapable of providing security. God forbid if these players were taken in auction and they went there to play and, say, something happened to Mohammad Aamir, what would be the reaction inside Pakistan? Invariably, complete war would break out between the two countries. If India is saying it is unsafe to play inside India, then we have to believe it and should rather err on the side of caution rather than risk. And, if this according the BCCI and the franchises is the issue, then the ICC can’t persist on the assumption that Pakistan will not be in the final, they have to relocate in advance. Besides that, the Australian security adviser has advised Australian players not to travel to IPL because there were threats made against Australian players traveling to India. Now, logically, the BCCI has insisted that it is incapable to provide security. Logically, if the threat exists against Australian players, the BCCI is still incapable to provide security to players. It is one thing for the threat to be there, another for the incapability of the board to provide security. The BCCI has admitted to the latter and the threat exists for both Pakistani players and Australian players…and remember on grounds of security the world cup was moved outside Pakistan, so the question is, is India safe because the BCCI is incapable to provide security when material threats exists? Can the ICC be consistent and relocate the whole world cup outside India, as it did with Pakistan?
Javed/Omer,
For the record, I condemn whatever has happened regarding IPL fiasco, and I am not trying to justify in any way their actions.
I don’t know where the security issue came up, I guess it has to do with the Shiv Sena threat comment? it is not a threat Govt of India cannot handle, but private folks like IPL franchise owners cannot, since IPL is a private event it is their responsibility to provide security. WC is an event supported by BCCI and any major international sporting event is supported by Govt. Security will not be a problem for WC.
It is up to Pakistan to decide how far they want to take the issue, including not playing in WC. But in my opinion, this is an emotional reaction, at this point it is understandable. It is just not in their interest if you ask me, but I will tell you that if this has happened to Indian cricketers I would feel the same way, and I would also say Indians should boycott the event if another country (even if it’s a private event) did this.
One thing is sure, what goes around will come around, so IPL will eventually get their dues for the treatment they have handed out.
Ijaz Butt should not have announced that the captain is going to be changed at this moment. What effect will this have on Yousuf who is already struggling? And what effect will this have on the team morale?
These are the types of statements that encourage groupings in the team. Butt should have been tactful and the PCB should have just replaced the captain after the cessation of the series.
It is very likely that the new ODI captain will be Afridi. Inzamam recommended Afridi to be the ODI captain a few days ago. Is this due to Inzamam’s influence on Pakistan cricket, that Butt had to make this announcement?
Some people believe that Inzamam was stirring up politics against Younis Khan that led to Younis’s resignation.
PAKISTAN UNDER19 HAD BEATEN INDIA UNDER19 IN WORLD CUP TO REACH THE SEMIFINAL. Didnt surprise me because we always do wel at junior levels task for pcb is to take this talent to greater hights so we can get rid of all these misbahs, ranas, maliks, and akmals. Butthead has no tactical intellegece infect he dnt hav any intellegence at all if he wanted to change the captain why announcing it in midle of series which is still very much alive in other words he dnt expect pakistan to win so it is not important for him that what efècts his statement wil have on yousaf and moral of team.
guys enough of this ipl and india please. I strongly feel that what india did was wrong and from indian government to bcci all of them were involved in humilating pakistan but can we trust our own players that if ipl wil invite them for ipl4 why must i dnt believe that all of them will not go running and what about wasim akram that greedy idiot is still bowling coach of kkr if indians can hav him then why not other pakistan players strange isnt it?lets move on guys and talk about pak aus odi series.
Khansahab,
If the PCB has already announced it, they might as well have changed the captain. And, I don’t think they are going to keep Yousof te captain in tests either. So, if Afridi is going to be the new captain, it’d be better that he were captaining for today’s match, because Pakistan might win because of his captaincy. Why do it after another series has been lost?
I know that Inzamam said Yousof has a good cricket brain and he should be retained as the captain in tests. But I doubt that is the reason the PCB made the decision– they had already said after the test series that when the team returns, they have planned wholesale changes. I hope they make all those changes, not just the captain.
Newguy,
I agree, and some of the reaction in Pakistan has been nonsensical. Personally, I don’t even watch the IPL, as I don’t think it is cricket, so I am totally indifferent to Pak players not playing there in that regard. But either the BCCI did it systematically on purpose (which I personally believe, without doubt) or security is the real issue and there are no ‘conspiracy theories’ as Bhosle said. Bhosle’s article is totally ridiculous, if you read the complete thing, but anyway… threats were also made against Australians playing in India, and perhaps this is a private event without much security, and if they can’t provide the security, will the Australians be safe in the IPL?
Members of Shiv Sena or some other extremist Indian organizers have said that, Australian players shouldn’t come to India and threatened them so to speak, and because of this, the Australian security adviser has advised the players not to travel to India for the IPL. And, the franchises can’t provide the security because it is a private event, so what do you make of that?
This is what Saad Shafaqat has written and he has summed it up pretty nicely:
IPL fiasco — a rude reminder of cross-border reality By Saad Shafqat
Friday, 22 Jan, 2010 Shilpa Shetty, Lalit Modi and Preity Zinta address the media, Mumbai.—AP Sport
Pakistan decides to take up IPL snub issue with ICC Pakistan decides to take up IPL snub issue with ICC Doors to the Indian Premier League, the most lucrative tournament in world cricket, have once again been closed for players from Pakistan. Last year’s exclusion was merely disappointing; this time it is patently cruel.
Last year the Pakistan government denied permission to the players citing security fears; this time all formalities were sorted out, and the players were invited by the IPL team owners themselves to be available for selection. Yet when the Pakistani names came up, they found no takers.
The official explanation from IPL chief Lalit Modi is that the team owners were wary because the availability of Pakistani players could not be assured given the moody relationship between Islamabad and Delhi.
But all visas had been duly obtained and NOCs had been granted with clearance from the highest levels of government in Pakistan. Moreover, if the concerns were of such a political nature, then the honorable thing would have been not to invite the Pakistanis in the first place.
You have to hand it to the IPL organizers. They pulled off a spiteful act against Pakistan, but have managed to artfully camouflage it with a benign narrative.
The Times of India has termed this incident a “shameful episode” in Indian cricket history. On the day of the IPL auction, the paper confirmed that franchise owners had actually been advised to avoid bidding for Pakistan players.
It is the equivalent of inviting guests to a party with a predetermined plan to not let them join in the fun.
Why would you do that to your guests, especially in a country like India where hospitality has long been a cherished virtue? Official statements notwithstanding, there are no benign explanations here.
What we have seen in this third edition of the IPL players’ auction is nothing less than a complicit expression of hatred towards Pakistan.
In attempting to soften the blow, Modi also said that Pakistanis were not the only ones who got ignored; cricketers from other countries went unsold too. This excuse would have been believable had Pakistani players been mediocre T20 players. But Pakistani players are better than anyone in this exciting form of the game.
The bare fact is that players like Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, and Imran Nazir would have been a dream acquisition for any IPL team. Not only is Pakistan world champion in Twenty20 cricket, it also has by far the best win-loss ratio in T20 international matches.
It is bad enough that there was an under-the-table IPL directive to ignore the Pakistan players; what is far more depressing is that the franchises followed this advice and closed ranks so willingly.
IPL team owners are all famous and wealthy people with outsized egos. Getting them to read from the same script would be impossible unless there was already a permissive mindset that had seduced them into preferring rage over reason.
On this side of the border, we tend to underestimate Indian animosity towards Pakistan. This IPL auction fiasco is a rude reminder of cross-border reality.
Ideally, we should be able to shrug off this snub. That is probably what players and fans from countries like England, Australia and South Africa would do. But we are not English, Australian or South African.
As Pakistanis, we are condemned to live this experience through the complicated contours of the Pakistan-India relationship.
All-rounder Abdul Razzak said after this episode that India wanted to hurt our image and our feelings and it has succeeded. We have to be honest and admit this is what we all feel.
Yet a snub is ultimately only what you allow it to be. One feels bad for our star players, who have lost a golden chance to cash in on their world-class ability.
It may not seem possible today, but cricket and other relations with India will eventually improve, as ties between neighbors inevitably must. In the meantime, beyond the immediate hurt and disappointment lies another opportunity to be availed provided we manage to constructively channelize our anger.
It is high time that the PCB got its act together to launch a partly privatized franchise-model Twenty20 league within Pakistan too. The basic legwork for this may already have been done, as a feasibility to this effect was prepared under the previous PCB chief’s tenure.
It is true that our cricket market is much smaller than India’s, but Twenty20 matches based on teams from regional cricket associations have been filling Pakistani stadiums, sometimes to capacity. Pakistan is a nation of 170 million people; a potential market of millions is nothing to sneeze at.
One might well ask why all this fuss about Twenty20 cricket when this is the version of the game being blamed for spoiling our players’ technique and producing our national cricket debacles.
The answer is that cricket serves at the pleasure of the viewing public, which simply cannot get enough of Twenty20’s frills and thrills. Twenty20 cricket is here to stay and it will be easier for everyone if we embraced it rather than fought with it.
Omer,
I think you are taking it too seriously about this so called threat. Shiv Sena operatives are nothing beyond small time gunda-giri types, they regularly issue threats about not letting Pakistani players play in Mumbai, and now they have done same with Australian players. But Methew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist have both said they will go and are not worried. The difference between Shiv Sena threat and a Lashkar-e-Taiba threat is that the latter is capable of killing foreign people while Shiv Sena has never done that, and they will not. I know it is hard for Pakistanis to accept this, but it is the the way it is.
Now, you may say just because they have never done it does not mean they will never do it. It is a good point, but the repercussion will be that they will be labeled as a terrorist organization immediately and their leaders will be hunted down and put in jail. This is because Indian Govt has control over military and police and other law enforcement agencies, and there is also a decent justice system. So, all this trying to draw parallel between Pakistani security situation and Indian security situation is far fetched. Once again, I know it may be hard to accept, but they are not truly alike. At least until proven otherwise.
Omer
It is difficult to change a captain in the middle of the series. No decent cricket board has done that (unless some exigency has arisen). So if that cannot be done practically what is the point of announcing in the middle of the series that the captain is going to be changed?
I agree with you that the sooner Yousaf is replaced, the better, but this had to be done immediately after the Test series, not after the 1st ODI. This is unprofessional and very fatuous of Butt. I don’t see this statement affecting the team in any positive manner.
I am concerned that Inzamam is pulling the strings somehow. Inzamam was perceived as a figure who united the cricket team by using religion as a tool. Now, ironically his influence is creating groupings in the team. Malik and Akmal created a group when Inzamam was about to leave and since then there have been so many internal strifes that it has become ridiculous.
Also, the effect of corruption and nepotism is such on international cricket, that you see Pakistan under 19′s and under 16′s doing very well in international tournaments but somehow the international Test team cannot do that well. That is because most players in the team are not playing on merit. People blame the first class system, but if the system is so bad then how is it producing good young cricketers? All these cricketers have been playing in academies since 10 or 11. Surely if the system is good enough to produce a good 18 year old cricketer, the problem is not with the system itself but with the players.
The only other reason I can think of is that there is so much money and glamour in international cricket nowadays that these youngsters cannot sustain success for very long and lose the plot.
Newguy,
It is only the franchises that said that they can’t provide security so I was looking at it thru that lens. Besides, I have realized this notion of xyz is not able to kill people in India, abc can Pakistan isn’t as well founded. In fact we’ve had this discussion before and discussed Malegon, Samjhota Express, and the like (look at the uproar because of Mumbai, but most were “Pakistani” fatalities in Samjhota Express– India blamed Pakistan, when it was extremists inside India, and still now there is absolutely no accountability for that, in terms of India providing any consolation or evidence to Pakistan, when they turned the world upside-down because of Mumbai). Anyway, you are taking this discussion to another level, my only question was if the cricketers are safe when the franchises themselves claim that there is a security issue? It was put bluntly as though it is the fault of Pakistan, but that is where I believe that that view is totally mistaken, because the players were supposed to travel inside India, not Pakistan.
Besides that, against Pakistani players these threats always existed, thruout the 90s, but they too travelled at their own initiative (and not for any IPL franchises).
At that time, because Pakistan had a much, much better team, India generally avoided playing Pakistan.
Khansahab,
Yeah, I agree, that is why I said, if the board had to announce the change in captaincy, they should have also changed the captain with immediate effect. Now Yousof will be captaining knowing that he will not be the captain after theh series….what sort of authority will he have over the players, especially since the series is not lost yet?
Khansahab,
Abu Dhabi, Sydney, and now the first ODI– it seems that Pakistan will find a way to lose against Australia and Australia will find a way to win against Pakistan. After the 99 world cup final, Pakistan has lost almost every time it has played against Australia and the scar is there for everyone to see if every statement that Yousof makes and the way Pakistan wilts from strong positions. What do you think goes wrong with Pakistan every time it is in a good position?
The other thing is that, Ponting has almost always played well against Pakistan and defied Pakistan whenever it has looked in a good position, so Pakistan must not allow Ponting to settle in thru the series if they are to come back and win it from here. Ponting is the most dangerous player in that side and whenever he gets set, batting looks way too easy. But it is almost as if, it is just his presence, that makes the Australian team believe that it can’t lose to Pakistan, no matter what the position of the match.
The team probables for today’s ODI are:
1 Salman Butt,
2 Kamran Akmal (wk),
3 Younis Khan,
4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt),
5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik,
7 Shahid Afridi,
8 Umar Gul,
9 Mohammad Asif,
10 Mohammed Aamer,
11 Saeed Ajmal.
The only change is Rana Nayee, its good they have realized that he is nothing but a farcical player, dramay baaz. They shouldn’t have dropped Gul in the first ODI. The team seems to be OK but, the batting order needs to be revised. In order to have more aggression in the team, Afridi or Umar Akmal must open with Kamran Akmal and Butt must play at number 4. Number 3 is Younus Khan’s spot.
The reason I believe aggression is necessary is because the batsmen especially Afridi and Akmal both play airy shots and they can take advantage of the field restrictions in the first 10 overs and if they fall early then Younus is there followed by Butt and Yousuf who can act as the middle order defense. Then you have Malik and one of the Akmals to attack in the late middle order.
SCG is more helpful for spinners so, Afridi and Ajmal can be more effective on this ground. But, Pakistani batsmen have to tackle Hauritz with extra caution because, the Australians don’t miss the chances whereas Pakistanis do. So, their one spinner is as effective as Pakistan’s two. They must target Hussey with spinners because that is his weakness, he is pretty comfortable with seamers.
Also, Mohammad Yousuf must realize that getting Afridi bowl in one session is not a good idea, he must utilize him in three sessions. Never mind if Afridi says that he is good and he can bowl his 10 overs in one session, but it is the captain’s job to realize that he should be utilized during the crucial moments that is, when a new batsmen comes in Afridi must target him. Getting him bowl against set batsmen and that too in the 40th over is not a good idea because they can launch an attack and that is exactly what happened at Gabba. However, Sydney is a different pitch, still it is Mohammad Yousuf’s job to learn a few things from Ricky Ponting i.e., how he makes bowling changes and how he uses his bowlers in short bursts.
newguy
I don’t want to discuss this IPL Shy Pee ” L “ anymore but, just want to highlight amir’s point that they have Wasim Akram as a bowling coach for Kolkata Night Riders, is there no security concern over his presence there? That greedy MF practically lives in India like that another greedy person, Adnan Sami Khan.
Ijaz Butt says, Pakistan will get a new captain after the Australian tour:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/sport/12-pakistan-to-get-new-captain-pcb-chief-310–bi-04
Who will be the next captain? Ijaz Butt has not mentioned the name, everyone is speculating it will be Shahid Afridi, but BUTT can surprise the whole world, because he is such an insane person and the irony is he is not accountable to anyone. The only anyone is Asif Zardari who is a sleeping partner. Who is he sleeping with? We don’t know. But, some people say “If there is one person you can name it, he has been sleeping around with so many people that you can loose a count of it.”
Javed Khan,
I agree with your strategy.
SA has declined to tour Pakistan and the board has offered UAE as the alternative. It seems like England will be a success– so why hold in the UAE? The grounds are usually empty in the UAE– especially in test matches– and it is like watching boring, docile cricket. And, Pakistan generally play well in test matches in England, as Pakistan’s bowlers get prodigious swing over there in overcast conditions. What do you think?
Javed,
Both Wasim Akram and Adnan Sami are honorable guests in India
Omer Admani
I am not talking about test matches in the UAE, but only the ICC WC 2011 because it will be closer from the sub-continent. Dubai-Karachi flight is only one hour whereas Delhi to Chennai is almost 3 hours. And, as far as I remember those two tests in the UK between Pakistan and Australia are already sold-out.
newguy
I appreciate your sense of humour and your personal hospitality but sorry to say that both of the UKP’s are MC, BC, ZKK and a disgrace to the nation. You can say they are seeking kinda asylum there.
A question, can anyone please answer:
The South African U-19 captain Josh Richards is 19 years and 50 days old, how come he is allowed to play in the U-19 WC? Check out his profile:
http://www.cricinfo.com/u19wc2010/content/current/player/381070.html
Same is the case with Sri Lankan Captain Chatura Peiris, he is 19 years and 120 days old.
http://www.cricinfo.com/u19wc2010/content/current/player/324209.html
I guess if Pakistan were not playing this series in Australia, then Mohammad Aamer 17 and Umar Akmal 19 must have been playing for Pakistan in the U-19 WC.
After Pakistan and West Indies already qualified for the semi-final, there are two more matches going on at the moment between Sri Lanka v South Africa and Australia v New Zealand. Sri Lanka has posted a daunting total of 293 in 50 overs.
BREAKING NEWS
Mohammad Asif is doubtful for the 2nd ODI due to an injury to his thumb at Gabba.
It means Rana Nayee will play in his place. !!!!!!
Javed Khan,
This is the PCB’s mistake, they announced they’d change the captain, but they didn’t. On a total batting pitch, after winning the toss, he has chosen to bowl
aussies are 82 for 0 after 14 overs shane watson is playing agressivly and the way things are going 300 to 330 total is on cards unless some bowler come up with special spell saeed ajmal is again bowling too short why all these coaches are not telling him to make batsman drive he bowled short in melbourne test and in brisbane and now in sydney his first over is short
another poor decision by moulana after winning toss he should had bat first but choose to bowl instead sydney is always a hard to chase ground cnt see pakistani batsman playing well under lights OMER AS ABOUT PAKISTAN SA SERIES i think uk was the best option but this series is schduled for oct/nov and at that time is winter in uk so not possible to play there. i think instead uae sa is better cause of large south asian community here pakistan always get excellent support here and always get large crowds and wickets here are fast and bouncy to complement our bowling attack as for our batting we cnt b sure about it even on dead wickets 27 overs gone now and aussies are 2 for 128 afridi and ajmal are bowling well
Omer Admani
The reason Yousuf chose to bowl is because in the first match he lost batting first. So, he is trying variations, little does he understand about the game of cricket – except for his batting talent which is excellent and he is a gifted batsman – his knowledge of captaincy, field placements, bowling changes, batting order changes is ZILCH. And, that is because of his humble background, I don’t think he has any knowledge or training of man management, leadership qualities, or even the charisma to gel the players together.
As Afridi is bowling well – already took two wickets – I was dreading that he will bowl his full quota of 10 overs in one go. But, luckily Afridi decided to go out of the field for some massage or something so it is not Yousuf who brought the change by bringing in Aamer. It is very important that you don’t throw away your triumph card in the middle of the game, you have to hold it as long as you can. Because, in this match Asif’s absence is being felt and Rana as usual has shown how pathetic a bowler he is.
Before he came in to bowl, Tony Grieg was so full of praise for Rana that he is a wonderful bowler and a master of reverse swing and blady blah and dady dah…. and he came and ruined the run rate. This is exactly what happened.
Australia scored 40 in 5 overs at a run rate of 8 per over. Then Aamer and Gul bowled better line and length and in the next 3 overs gave only 7 runs, then came Rana and bowled loose, Watson hammered him for a huge SIX and the momentum changed again until Afridi came in to bowl.
They have to keep Afridi and Ajmal for Hussey and use Shoaib Malik in place of Rana, otherwise there will be plenty of runs on the board.
amir
The reason Pakistan turned down SA’s request to hold the series in SA is because it is not cost effective. Perhaps they lose on the TV rights and have to incur heavy expenses on traveling, hotel etc., and Ijaz Butt alone spends half the amount what the team spends.
Amir got Ponting……… he is gone.
Javed Khan,
I agree with you, I tink Afridi made that move of going outside himself, he didn’t want to himself ask Yousof not to bowl him, because that would have made Yousof think Afridi was acting like the captain. Good move by him, because Aamir was able to get Ponting out and Afridi was able to save 2 overs.
268 to WIN
Pathetic Rana gave away too many runs and the momentum once again shifted towards Australian side. Saeed Ajmal dropped Cameron White on the last ball of his last over, had that catch been taken things would have been different. Rana also dropped White but, the next ball he was out, but he had already done the damage.
Can Pakistan win? Knowing their abilities to surrender from a winning position one can easily say NO they can’t win. However, if they play sensibly and keep their wickets in hands it is not impossible.
Malik fielded well, held two good catches and even bowled well 4 overs 17 runs, I thought instead of Rana he should have bowled the 41st over when Rana gave 13 runs in it. But, Yousuf is Yousuf. Although he held two catches today but his fielding is always questionable, on the last ball of Afridi’s last over he took it so casually and misfield the ball gave a single at which Afridi made a face.
Considering from the blistering start, restricting Australia to 267 is still a good effort, now the batsmen need to prove their worth. They have to keep the run rate above 5 all the time. Someone should tell Salman Butt that he should be running fast between the wickets and taking singles and converting singles in to twos or else he should get a kick on his lazy Butt. Both Y’s and Malik need a big score today. I think Malik’s confidence is up after good over all fielding and bowling so I reckon he should be able to bat well and get Pakistan thru this time.
I don’t know where Tony Grieg has seen Rana Naveed bowling so well? Before he came in to bowl, Tony was showering praise and accolades in favour of Rana and left no stone unturned in his praise by saying, “I saw Rana Naveed bowling in different parts of the world and he is an excellent bowler and a master of reverse swing and he has the ability to turn the ball both ways etc. etc.” Either Tony is exaggerating or this is a deliberate ruse from him to praise a pathetic mediocre bowler so much that he is retained in the side and Australia can capitalize on his weak bowling. The only time I remember Rana bowled well was when Pakistan went to India under Inzamam’s captaincy i.e., when Shahid Afridi scored 45 balls 100 in Kanpur, in that series Rana bowled well. Other than that I have never seen Rana bowling well, in fact Pakistan has always lost a match because of him, he is single handedly responsible for those defeats in SA, England, West Indies during the WC and now in Australia once again.
U-19 WC
Now four teams have qualified for the semis, they are Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia.
All other teams have won their quarter finals very convincingly except for Pakistan. Pakistan v India was a thriller. If Pakistan wants to win the cup they have to give up this habit of taking the match to the last over.
The way Sri Lanka played they seems to be favourites but West Indies are also very good side. Pakistan and Australia are so, so……. I don’t know who is playing against whom? But, my guess is one of the two i.e., SL or WI will qualify for the finals or may be both if they are in different groups.
Javed Khan,
Tony Greig’s love-affair with Rana might have started in the ICL. Again, he is there in the squad which is a mistake on the board’s part, though Rao Iftikar is a much, much better bowler than Rana and could still easily play in Rana’s place.
Malik has played well in this match so far, but I’d say, he must also start contributing with the bat to deserve his place in the team.
Omer Admani
Malik has JUST gone after scoring 2 pathetic runs in 24 balls
What a pathetic display of batting from the Pakistanis, ALL of them batted extremely poorly. Australian bowling and fielding is excellent. Both White and Ponting took excellent catches.
Now Shahid Afridi has also gone, he came with the intent of hitting sixes only, succeeded in dispatching one of Hauritz but, couldn’t do the same to Shane Watson. Watson is too clever a bowler and Afridi is after all Akhroat. This will be one of the biggest defeats for Pakistan and perhaps one of the lowest totals in Australia.
I would have been better off sleeping at this time (4:30 a.m.) than watching this match all night…….
It all started with Salman Butt who will play all the ODI’s because of his 72 in the first ODI, he slows down the run rate by not attempting to score and wants to hit a four on a loose ball but, that is not always possible, he nicked the simplest of the simple catches to White. Younus’s catch was superbly taken by White who dived to his left from second slip and took a great catch which actually was going into the hands of the first slip (Shane Watson) and then Ricky Ponting took another great catch of Shoaib Malik.
Right now the score is 6/59 and I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to catch up some sleep. Adios
Malik should be replaced by Fawad, and when Asaf returns he should replace Rana. People will question why Malik should get the axe when Younis got out cheaply? That is because Younis is a very good player and he can surprise anytime, whereas at his best Malik will not be able to contribute much. Malik has never won Pakistan an ODI or Test match on his own. That is his worth to the team.
Due to Rana’s batting he might play instead of Gul in the 3rd ODI.
Omer
About your point re why Pakistan face this mental block against Australia, I agree with you that firstly they seem to overestimate Australia. The way Australians play their game is that, they identify the weaknesses of every player and exploit those weaknesses. Pakistanis are not that advanced in their mindset.
I can’t remember which players they were, but as I was browsing the highlights I saw the Aussies setting up a few Pakistani batsmen. I don’t know why Pakistan can’t plan like that. Essentially it is all about mental strength on part of Australia and complacency on part of Pakistan.
It is a wonder they decided to appoint Yousuf as captain before the Australia series? I mean, he is the last person you would want to lead Pakistan. As far as Ponting is concerned, I think most Pakistani batsman can only dream to ever match his class or his cricket acumen, which is why they have some kind of complex.
When there is a batting collapse, you are supposed to take notice of that and start by removing your lesser batsmen. So, Malik should be the first one to go, followed by Butt (say if Butt fails in 1 more match). But the Pakistani management will not drop Malik- they will see it in terms of- Younis, Butt and U Akmal also failed so why must Malik face the axe? They should realise that when such a disaster happens with your batting line up you need to start removing the weaker cogs. Hence, Malik must be the first one to go.
Asaf Akbal has given a statement saying Afridi should be captain in all the 3 formats.
Why has it taken these people so long to realise this?
Why were Malik and Yousuf made captain?
Younis was being groomed as captain and he himself rejected captaincy twice, so I am not blaming the Board for begging Younis to accept captaincy. But, why did they think so highly of Malik that he was made captain even in Tests, and why did they want to reincarnate the Inzamam effect and make Yousaf captain?
Musharraf way ahead of Zardari, Sharif in Facebook fan club stakes
Lahore, Jan.23 (ANI): Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf may have been an unpopular leader during his eight year long ‘autocratic’ rule, but he has emerged as the most popular Pakistani leader on the famous social networking website, Facebook.
Musharraf has emerged as the most popular leader with an over 100,000 fan following, while incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari is the second most sought after leader with 86,000 members in his fan club.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is nowhere near the two leaders in the popularity charts, and stands on third place with only 6,000 followers on the site.
Musharraf’s Facebook group consists of members of all ages, although a majority of the fans comprise the youth, The Daily Times reported.
One of the prime reasons behind Musharraf’s sky high popularity are his liberal thoughts and his stiff stance over extremism.
However, some bloggers believe that Musharraf, Zardari, the Sharif brothers and all other famous Pakistani politicians are alike and there is no difference between them. (ANI)
‘Musharraf could unfold his political agenda in May’
Islamabad, Jan 23 (PTI) Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who has been living outside the country for almost a year, could “unfold his political agenda” in the month of May, one of his aides has said.
Lawyer Muhammad Saif, who has been advising Musharraf on legal matters, told the media that the former President could unveil his future political plans after completing a tour of the US.
Musharraf will begin the tour of the US in mid-March and deliver lectures at various forums. The visit is expected to last one-and-half months.
On completing the visit and taking care of other “personal activities”, Musharraf will have time to think over his future line of action in politics, Saif said.
Saif also said some Pakistani politicians met Musharraf when he recently made a week-long visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Intikhab Alam has disgusted me with this latest statement:
Backing captain Mohammad Yousuf amidst reports of his removal after the ongoing Australia series, coach Intikhab Alam has said Yousuf is giving his all to lift the team’s performance.
“He’s doing his best. When the team loses, people start criticising. We take no notice of that,”Alam said.
Inti, you expect people to start praising when the team loses? Your team was crushed and could only muster 127 runs. How can you have the audacity to say you take no notice of criticism?
I urge everyone to start campaigning for Inti’s ouster asap.
A lot of people are saying that Malik was unlucky; his shot selection was right but the catch was too good etc.
That is a load of BS. Malik should know better than to play that airy shot towards one of the best fielders in the world. And that catch was good, but not exceptional- you expect Australia to take catches like these in every match.
Malik should not be shown any clemency and must be dropped asap.
Khansahab
i read your comment about the popularity of Pakistani two president Musharaf and Zardari. i don’t know what is your personal stand on these two but i tell you one thing. These two have destroy pakistan and they are the worst president for Pakistan and this is not my opinion but fact. But my opinion now, i don’t blame these 2 for the destruction of Pakistan because it’s our F**ken Pakistani people that are dumb and stupid and has no common sense and supports those who harms the country and overthrow those who really do something for the country. I will tell any Pakistani straight up Pakistan is F**ked up and will be F**ked up and Pakistan will never see a peaceful day if they keeping supporting these president.
khansahab
The catch by Ponting was very good but, Malik played it badly, he was under pressure to perform in batting and scored only 2 runs from 24 balls speaks how reluctant he was.
Cameron White took an extremely good catch of Younus Khan but, the shot was pathetic, it was going straight into the hands of the first slip (Shane Watson) who stands deeper than the second slip. White was standing in the second slips position and he jumped to his left and that catch and rolled over in front of Haddin and it looked like a fantastic effort, it is indeed one. But, you cannot say Younus was unlucky, he played a bad shot.
Similarly Salman Butt played one maiden over of Bollinger and was building pressure for himself and the team then, as usual he tried to poke an outswinger that went straight in to the hands of White.
Kamran Akmal got run out and he is to be blamed for that not Yousuf, because a ball before he got run out, Yousuf wanted to take a single which was there and Kamran refused Yousuf’s call. The second ball Yousuf played, the single was there but, Yousuf assumed that Kamran is not interested in cheeky singles so he did not even look at his partner who came running down the pitch for a single, the bowler McKay collected the ball and threw it back to the bowler’s end and that was the end of Kamran, who otherwise was playing well.
Munna Bhai Akmal came to bat and was greeted by Siddle with a bouncer and he ducked, the next ball was outside the off-stumps and Munna Bhai thought its going out and covered his stumps assuming he is covered but, – was exposed just like a hospital gown where people think they are covered but, they are not – the ball came in and hit the top of the off-stump. Darn, that talented young buddy gone for a duck.
By then it was 4/33 in 10 overs, the match was over. Australia had it in their pocket. Then came Malik and he was struggling, both him and the skipper took ages to get the score past 40 and at that time I was thinking of switching off the TV and doze off. Then Malik was out, it was the end of an agonizing and painstaking innings 2 in 24 balls.
Boom Boom Akhroat came in to bat, after bowling so well one would have thought he must be more confident and score at least 50-60 runs like he did in the first ODI, but this time he came in with a different mindset. He wanted to hit a six on the first ball, missed it, lucky that he didn’t get an edge. But, then he succeeded in hitting a six on the first ball of Hauritz. He tried to do the same against Watson but, skied it and Watson made no mistake.
The match was sealed 59/6 and I am surprised they scored 127. I thought I will sleep by then it was 4:30 a.m. but, Aamer was out when the score was less than 70 so I thought let me watch the “Untim Samaskaar” of the team. Rana came and hit a couple of sixes and Yousuf managed to pass his much “undeserved” fifty. The rest is like, nothing to write home about.
ak332
This is the history of the Pakistani people that they have always chosen and supported these very people, either its an army general or a Bhutto dynasty or Mian Saab day tuttay. So, keep dreaming while in Schenectady NY that there will be a peaceful day in Pakistan.
Australia, perhaps, for the first time in the series bowled at a very high standard and the Pakistani batsmen had no answer to them. It was as though Mohammad Aamer himself was bowling against Pakistani batsmen. The bowling was very, very fast (up there in the Aamer range) and Pakistani batsman were usually frozen in crease.
Yousof’s initial decision of bowling first was wrong. The conditions were better for batting in the first quarter of the day and Watson made the most of it.
Pakistan has won the World Under-19 Championship twice and were runners up once. A country full of young and talented players so full of energy and vitality, they play cricket with such passion and at very young age they are excellent cricketers, better than any nation. But, what happens to them when the Pakistan national side plays international matches? Why do they end up losing the matches which are supposed to be won, or the ones that they are apparently winning and suddenly they lose, why?
A lot of analysis and in-depth evaluation is need to answer this question. But, the first and foremost reason I guess is due to bad team selection or one can say biased team selection and then sticking with that bad or mediocre players due to favouritism and nepotism. The selectors, coach, manager and captain does not have the guts to jettison the drag and move ahead swiftly or to get the quality players in the side to make an impact. They seldom learn from their mistakes. Even the most talented and young bowlers are not guided properly by their coach to deliver what is expected from them. We will devote an entire thread on this later.
But, yesterday’s match must be taken in to consideration to evaluate the flaws that were made by the captain, bowlers and batsmen.
First, it was Captain Yousuf’s mistake to field first after winning the toss. He has no knowledge, no experience about how the wicket will play. Based on the Sydney test when the wicket was favouring bowlers he opted to field, some say he lost the first ODI after batting first, decided to do it the opposite. Whatever it is, the decision to field first after winning the toss was wrong and it proved to be wrong.
Secondly, the bowlers mistake. The fast bowlers thought that they can bowl out Australia very cheaply and with that mindset they were bowling short and Watson in such a good form capitalized that opportunity to his favour and started hitting fours at ease. In 5 overs they were 40 an average of 8 runs per over. Then someone told Aamer and Gul to correct their length and in the next 3 overs they gave only 7 runs.
Tony Grieg started praising Rana Naveed, perhaps someone heard that and passed on a message to Yousuf to bring Rana after the 8th over….. in my opinion it was a bit too early he should have bowled the 13th over and not the 9th and that too without the power play. The Australian openers especially Watson was slowed down in the previous 3 overs hammered a six of Rana and that shifted the momentum once again.
On contrast the Australian fast bowlers kept a very tight line and length and did not allow meek and timid Salman Butt to play shots. Pakistan scored 3 runs in 4 overs that was pathetic. OK, it happens sometimes but then you settle down and play well. That seldom happens in Pakistan’s case. Butt managed that 72 in the first ODI and it is a license to kill for all other ODI’s.
The Pakistani batsmen repeated silly mistakes, if Butt had charged up and dispatched a few boundaries like Watson did in the first over they would have lost their line and length but he allowed them to attack more aggressively. And Ponting kept 3 slips as opposed to Pakistan’s 2 slips and then Pakistan removed the slips whereas Ponting kept 3 slips even when Malik came in to bat. So, he kept the pressure on whereas Pakistan didn’t.
We have seen that the best of the Australian bowlers Mitchel Johnson when attacked from the onset bowls like an ordinary bowler. Among the current Australian bowlers except for Bollinger all other bowlers are pretty mediocre but, the Australian fielding and the captain’s strategy and the weakness of the opposition batting makes these mediocre bowlers look like great bowlers. Nathan Hauritz is no where near Shane Warne or even Danish Kaneria who is much more superior than him, but Pakistan has a history of crowning the mediocre players in making them heroes.
What I don’t understand is that, why don’t Pakistan try different things and change the batting order. Younis Khan, who is a defensive player, is asked to play fast; then the wickets fall and the players who are naturally aggressive are required to defend and play slow. The whole batting order is wrong, with attackers having to defend and defenders having to attack. They can strengthen the batting a lot by sending Afridi and Umar Akmal to open, sending Butt one-down, and asking Younis Khan to play 3-down at number 5. Malik/Fawad Alam at 6 and Kamran Akmal at 7.
Rao Iftikar can replace Rana if Asif is still injured.
did anyone noticed how much presure moulana put on himself when he is batting when ever his partner hits a 6 or a 4 no mater who is he, he likes to go down to him and gives him a good and long load of tableegh. Pakistan again played poorly today mark my words that all these guys wil sudenly come to form after losing third match i dnt want to criticise moulana any more for his poor captaincy and poor decision making cause its just useles the guy is simply not captaincy material and its not his fault that butthead and co made him captain. Its our board and selection commetie who should be realy blamed for not seeing his capabilities and with that they lost thier best batsman also by puting unnecesary presure on him. As for KHANSAHABS remarks about inti this dumb f..k was never a good player,captain or coach and he never wil be a good coach he is just a lucky bastard who is alway at right place at right time at 92 world cup it was cause of imrans captaincy and in 09 t20 world cup it was afridi who came into form at right time for pakistan but it was inti who took credit. Inti needed to be FIRED immediatly and must not allowed to come near pakistan cricket for next 20 year. I dnt knw after 20 year he wil be able to come near to cricket anymore.
Javed Khan,
What a strange series it has been, Pakistan so far haven’t learnt anything and we’ve seen Australia get better and better. Where Siddle was bowling all the short-pitched stuff thruout the the series (like Gul), he has learned from Asif and Aamer and started bowling full with pace. Bollinger’s length has also changed somewhat. The key is that they were able to improve after watching the Pakistani bowlers and learning from them. On the other hand, what has improved about Pakistan? Mohd Yousof hasn’t learned anything from Ponting’s captaincy and neither have Pakistani batsmen learned or taken a clue from the way Australian batsmen have played. This is why Pakistani players are good at U19, but there comes a point where they stop learning and improving. Take Symonds, Watson, Bollinger, Siddle, and the like: just look at their standard when they first came to the team and just look at their standard after being one year with the team. Australia’s players tend to improve dramatically.
Now improvement can happen because the captain gives them clearly defined roles and the players work on those roles. The captain knows how and when to use them, and they know what the captain expects. The field placements are well thought out…for instance, when Gul went for 17 in the death overs, the field placement was such that Gul wasn’t able to bowl bouncers…in that case, the batsman knew that the ball could only come full and with it being powerplays, there was nothing that Gul could do when the batsman pretty much knew what Gul was going to bowl. He went for 17 precisely because of the failure of Yousof to see these small things which do count. This has been the story of Pakistan on the tour.
Pakistani players should have been picked up for IPL-3: SRK
NEW DELHI: As a perceived snub to Pakistani players by the Indian Premier League spark a spat between the neighbouring countries, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, an IPL franchisee himself, believes they should have been picked.
“I truly believe they (Pakistan players) should have been chosen,” Khan, co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), said.
Khan, however, said that since “some issues” were involved the matter could have been handled by the IPL “respectfully”.
No Pakistani player was bought by the eight Indian clubs during an auction on Tuesday for the third edition of the glitzy IPL despite the Pakistan team being the reigning world champions in the Twenty20 format of the cricket tournament.
Rooting for the Pakistani players, Khan said they are the best T20 players in the world. “They are the champions, they are wonderful but somewhere down the line there is an issue and we can’t deny it,” he told a news channel.
Khan said it was humiliating to him as a KKR owner that no one bid for the Pakistani players despite them being put up for auction.
“We are known to invite everyone. We should have. If there were any issues, they should have been put on board earlier. Everything can happen respectfully,” he said.
“Everyday we blame Pakistan, everyday Pakistan blames us. It is an issue,” Khan, who had five players from Pakistan playing for KKR in IPL’s first edition, said.
Khan felt that the youth should circumvent all that is said about India and Pakistan by the politicians and say, “It (Pakistan) is a great neighbour to have. We are great neighbours, They are good neighbours. Let us love each other.”
“Let me be honest. My family is from Pakistan.”
khansahab
On SRK,
sub kuch lutaa kay hosh may aye tou kya kia? What is the need to cry over the split milk now? He was there when the auction took place, he could have walked out or refused to be there if it was decided that NO Pakistani player would be taken by any franchise. He should stop saying my family is from Pakistan. Because, it is not the family but may be his grandparents. His wife is Indian, he is India and his son is Indian and he should live like an Indian.
Omer Admani
If there is any willingness to learn, one can learn butt heads, paindoos and akhroats cannot learn because, there is no desire to learn. You can give them hour long lectures and months of training but they won’t learn like the dog’s tail can’t be straightened their frame of mind cannot be changed or altered. Look at the way Watson changed over the years and came out as a very successful all-rounder from just a mediocre bowler and a big hitter he is now a solid dependable player. You are right that the Australians learn fast because they want to learn and improve. Butt cannot change his technique because his spot is guaranteed. Yousuf does not have the brain to see beyond his beard so he cannot be a good captain.
“I am 100% agree” that the batting order is wrong and attacking players should play up the order and defending players should play down the order and we have been raving and ranting since the very beginning and you might see that they will change the batting order in the 3rd ODI and send Afridi or Umar Akmal to open the innings. But, the way Afridi got out in this match, he can be out on any number he plays. He will be good if he clears the inner circle rather than skying the ball. And Umar Akmal too should judge the strength of the Australian fielders in the slip cordon and avoid those edges, if the ball had not hit the stumps it would have taken an edge in to the slips. In any case that ball was a beauty from Siddle.
amir
the reason he was seen talking is because, he knew if he kept quiet or stayed in his crease there would have been more criticism on him that he has distance himself from the team. Because, during the fielding time Afridi was seen walking with the bowlers each time when they were going back for their run up and he was giving them a pat on their shoulders, not just to Gul but to Aamer and Rana as well. The Aus commentators were saying “he is the talisman, a charismatic person.’ And, you can’t blame poor Moulana more because he is not at fault, they are the ones who have thrust the burden of captaincy over him and then after one ODI the Butt head says through the media that Yousuf will be removed from Captaincy after the tour. What a load of Butt shit.
Javed A Khan
I agree with you that there is no use crying over spilt milk. His family is actually from Peshawar and apart from his sister, he has no family in India (or that is what I’ve read).
He has made pro Pakistani comments in the past. On this occasion he should have taken some action before the auction took place. But he could have offended a lot of Indians by doing so.
Javed Khan,
I think they can learn but that culture of learning lacks in the team. Who is there right now with that capability to reflect?
Waqar is an excellent bowling coach, but he can teach bowling only. As far as tought-process goes, Waqar isn’t as innovative and reasonable as some of the other people could be (though Waqar could be retained just as the bowling coach).
This is why I had said, that Rashid Latif should be made the coach and Afrdi the captain. Rashid Latif expresses himself cogently and there is a stong, thorough thought-process behind what he says. Afridi can be a great motivator for the team as he is aggresive. Afridi also commands respect from the team. The third aspect of tactics is also a crucial one to make the captain complete. And, if Rashid Latif could be just there to impart his thought-process in Afridi, and discuss various strategies and why, that could help Afridi grow as a captain very quickly. Because Afridi seems like a natural leader for the team and everyone looks upto him, Afridi can also inject what he learns in the players. This is what Imran Khan was able to do, he was the last natural leader of the team. Imran Khan was not only a good thinker himself, but he also had people like Miandad to help him tactically. Now Miandad himself is too imposing to be a coach, therefore someone like Latif who has a very good mind can be a very positive influence on Afridi.
Omer Admani
I agree with you that Rashid Latif should be the coach. As regards Afridi’s ability to lead, I have been saying this for the last 5 years that among the current team he is the senior most in terms of matches he played and that is not the only thing, I have said this before many, many times and people tried to ridicule me and it is so weird that everyone is now vouching for Afridi. The reason I was against Younus Khan leading the team was he has some mental blocks and at times he is very soft and kind with the players while he is leading the team. As a captain you have to be firm and at the same time giving them the right advise and motivate them. Younus acts like a court jester by laughing all the time. There is nothing wrong in laughing and smiling but, there is a place and time for everything. When they need a stick you give them a stick and not a carrot. Afridi when he is on the field he has zero tolerance for misfielding and dropped catches, he gets very upset.
If Rashid Latif can help him in improving his batting skills i.e., try to explain it to him that you cannot hit a six on every single ball and he should play with caution and on the merit of the ball and should not give up his aggressive style of batting, then he can be one of the best batsmen in the world. He has the power, he has the ability to hit the ball clean as a whistle and he can hit hard and far, his hand-eye coordination is good. All he needs is use his brain and make his hand-eye-brain coordination to control his instincts. One thing is he is an Akhroat and the second thing is people expect him to hit a six on every ball and keep chanting boom boom and he gets carried away.
So, definitely a positive influence is needed to harness his raw energy and channelize it into a meaningful way so that he becomes one of the best batsmen in the world. Right now he is simply a hitter. And, yes he should be opening the innings. His big scores have come when he opened the innings or he came one down within the first 2-3 overs. Playing him at number 7 is wasting him. Even in T20, he should open with Imran Nazir.
khansahab
I know that ALL these Bollywood stars are controlled by the underworld DONS like Dawood Ibrahim (in the past) and Chhota Rajan, Ball-less Thackery etc., so they cannot say or go against them. They have to live there and work there and “when in Rome do as the Romanians do.”
Pakistan U-19 have restricted West Indies U-19 for 212/8 in 50 overs. Only their 3 batsmen Brathwaite (85), Creary (41) and Dowrich (55) scored the rest crashed. Now, let us see what Pakistan U-19 can do. I guess one of the WI fast bowlers Nick Gordon or is it Holder? Is very good. If the Pakistan openers can negotiate his 10 overs they can win this match and reach the finals. Right now it is innings break, so lets see what happens in the next 3 hours.
BREAKING NEWS:
Mohammad Aamer has been ruled out of the remaining matches of this series due to his groin injury which he aggravated yesterday. This is another blow to the depleted Pakistani bowling attack without Asif. Hopefully Asif will be fit by tomorrow but, if he is not then Rao ifti will come in. What happened to Sohail Khan? And, also that 7 ft. 2 inches tall Mohammad Irfan who took 21 wickets in 3 matches recently, is he not that good?
Omer Admani
Please read Waqar’s comments by clicking on this link below:
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=220579
AAMIR tried to bowl realy fast yesterday and even touched the speed of 152 km i think its extra effort which caused his injury our coaching staff need to look after him cause his very young body cant take too much of pressure so they need to use him carefuly otherwise he is jus gona become another m.zahid and actor like injury pron. The way haddin and clarke were laughing and making fun of our players yesterday was very embaracing our team lacks intensity and determination to win matches they go into match with such casual aproach no one want to stay at wicket they lack tecnich and mental strength like umer yesterday siddle bowled him a bouncer first up which he ducked he was expecting another one but siddle bowled a good length bowl which he should hav played forward but instead played on back foot and got bowled. Rao is much better bowler than rana he should had played at his place. Instead of sending afridi opener they must send both akmals opener and afridi at no.3 yousaf at 4 younis at 5 fawad at 6 and malik at 7 i dnt want to see butt in team
Pakistan U-19 won the semi-finals and marched into the finals. Hammad Azam remained unbeaten on 92 in 93 balls and wicketkeeper Mohammad Waqas also chipped in valuable 29 in 23 balls in the end, otherwise they were going behind the desired run rate and I had to just turn off the computer assuming its gonna be a Pakistan national team collapse, but the youngsters surprised me with a win when I came back after seeing AVATAR in 3D at the IMAX cinema. Its a great movie to watch in 3D at the IMAX.
Omer Admani have you seen Avatar? People who saw that on big screen and then they saw it again at the IMAX in 3D they said, there is a gulf of difference between the two and you must see it in 3D at the IMAX.
After a long long time, I have seen a Pakistani batsman who looked completly cool and played with steely nerves under presuure. He is Hammad Azam.
The other Pakistani batsmen are all Dhookka-baz or mediocre who with their clout are in the national team. Even Umer Akmal, though highly talented is playing as if he is above law. As long as the sun shines, he will succeed but then a big fall. Somebody should take him under his wing and inculcate the basics of batting.
Hammad in contrast plays with cool calculation and determination. He is the one Pakistan is looking for as a solid middle-order batsman and finisher. Misbah was NEVER and will NEVER be that one. It was a mere fluke that he was selected in the first place. Any ULLOO, PATTHAA or GHADHAA would have selected him when he somehow happened to be top scorer in the domestic circuit aganst some second-rate bowling.
There was no instict of genius or inspiration in selecting him and he carried his golden touch as long (or should I say as short ?) as it lasted.
Hammad should immediately be encouraged and selected in the forthcoming tour to England where Pakistan will play both the host and Australia. And he be advised, nay ordered to give up his bowling and concntrate wholly on his batting and fielding. We have a glaring example of Shoaib Malik. He could never became a decent bowler nor a solid batsman. AADHAA TETAR, AADHAA BATAIR.
I hope and pray Pakistan lose the remaining three ODIs to shake the earth. Without such a calamity, the PCB and the team will remain intatct. No drastic or wholesale change will occur unless something really happens that will hurt everyone. We are a people of LAATON KAY BHOOT BAATON SE NAHIN MAANTAY.
Press release from Shahid Afridi 25th January 2010
Over the last few days there has been intense media attention on the IPL auction in Pakistan and India. I want to give my personal view and Inshallah this will close the matter.
After the IPL auction I was deeply hurt and angry, the way Pakistani players were treated was disrespectful and in my view wrong.
Whose fault it was…..I don’t know.
In times like these as a Muslim the examples of our Prophet (pbuh) has guided me and I’m therefore willing to forgive and forget what has happened and look forward.
When you think about it Pakistan and India share much more things in common than there are differences, we need to build our relations rather than break them.
When you look at the great work that has been done by the ‘Amaan Ki Asha” project by The Jang Group of Pakistan & The Times of India, this is how we need to move forward.
Sport should be used to build peace between our great nations, not break them.
If I was invited to play in India again I would do so happily, they have great fans and great stadiums and I have many friends there.
Although Pakistan & India have borders, these borders cannot divide humanity.
I hope this closes the matter from me.
Shahid Afridi
Omer
I think it will be very unlikely that Latif can be coach and Afridi captain. Both are from Karachi and firstly it will not be acceptable to the majority of the players and secondly, there might well be some favouritism towards Karachi players.
LOL at Mr. Kasim’s analogy of Adha Teetar Aadha Batair for Malik. And, I agree with him that Hammad Azam be selected for London tour.
khansahab
I am very disappointed by Shahid Afridi’s statement, before reading it here, I read it on cricinfo and I was instantly pissed off by his press release. It shows that he has no self esteem, no self respect and no pride for patriotism like, Wasim Akram everything is money. I don’t think he should have brought the Prophet’s name in trying to justify what he wants to do i.e., to forgive and forget. There are certain things which are above money and there is nothing like national pride and patriotism. He should not even think about going to India to play for the twenty20 Champions league for which Lalit Modi is Chairman besides being the Chairman for IPL. Before Afridi goes any further in trying to elaborate his point or his feelings, he needs a nip in the bud.
Javed Khan,
Regarding Afridi statement, it is clear that he is playing his cards with long term prospects in sight. He knows that he is a popular cricketer in India, and that in Pakistan-India relationships things come and go, he is already thinking about post-retirement prospects, and one cannot blame him.
Very disapointed with afridi but unfortunatly this is pakistan cricket and crickters its like we r going in circles one greedy group goes and another one comes but i was expecting that once indians gona cal them they wil go running without any selfrespect , country pride and patriotism. but in afridi’s case indians were not needed to even cal him. No indian player had done that whether pakistan can offer them how much money this is a good kick in ass for all supporters who supported the greedy bastards on this whole ipl issue. Anyway HAMMAD AZAM IS SELECTED FOR PAKISTAN CRICKET TEAM TO PLAY ONLY T20 INTERNATIONAL AGAINST AUSTRALIA. Good reward for good performance but i think its too early in a way that pcb must get rid of all these so called senior and experienced players before thursting in new players other wise these youngsters gona learn all the bad attitudes and habits from these mediocores. Alam is playing today in place of malik he needs to grab this opertuninity with both hands otherwise they gona drop him again.
Shahid Afridi has given an interview today complaining that the players are only playing for themselves and there is no unity.
Team sources have disclosed that Afridi will soon become Pakistan’s ODI captain. However, Malik, Butt and the Akmal brothers have formed a group and they want captaincy to be restored to Malik, or they want Kamran Akmal to be captain.
All of you that are talking here about IPL and Pakistani player not getting picked. Did any of you stopped for a moment to think what IPL really stands for.
I Indian
P Political/politicians
L League
By the way i am happy that none of the Pak players have been picked they deserve it.
Due to the weather conditions I am having internet connection problems and hopefully it should be resolved by the end of the week, that is why I was unable to comment more frequently but, it seems you guys haven’t discussed much either.
Regarding Afridi’s captaincy, I don’t know how many of you have watched the 3rd ODI live, apart from missed run out chances the fielding was extremely pathetic there were lots of fumbles and the main culprit was no one but the Captain and he alone must have fumbled at least 10 times and finally he made such a sad face and complained to one of the fielders or the bowler that he is unable to grip the ball properly and the next minute he was off the field and Afridi was captaining the side in his absence for the last 5 overs.
Gul bowled one line no-ball and a free hit was awarded and then the second ball was waist high so it was again a no ball and the free hit remained, then the third time one of the Pakistani fielders went out of the inner circle during the batting power play and it was again a no-ball and the free hit remained. It is probably a record of its own kind. In that over Gul gave 23 runs, but with Afridi’s calming effect on him he bowled the last over sensibly and took 2 wickets and he was on a hat-trick. That was meaningless because the damage was already done.
I did not see the fall of first 4 wickets of Pakistan batting as I dozed off but when I woke up I saw Umar Akmal, Afridi, Fawad Alam and Rana Nayee’s contribution. Both YY’s were unable to contribute once again. And, I was told that Butt and Kamran were not out both decisions effected Pakistan’s batting very adversely and the middle order was unable to mend the situation and they too got out cheaply. Had, the top 4 players contributed 20-30 runs each, they would have won the match. And now it is only a matter of IF’s and Buts.
amir
where did you read about Hammad Azam’s selection to play for Pakistan in the T20?
I looked around on cricinfo, DAWN and The Daily News, but there is no mention of his inclusion.
Whereas the news is Yousuf still wants to lead Pakistan after the Australian series is over, Captanee Ka nashaa charr gaya Moulana ko?
Na Captanee aati, na batting ho rahee hai na fielding ho rahee hai, laiking lead mai keroonga! Cricket hai koi Tableeghi mission nahee hai.
amir
where did you read about Hammad Azam’s selection to play for Pakistan in the T20?
I looked around on cricinfo, DAWN and The Daily News, but there is no mention of his inclusion.
Whereas the news is Yousuf still wants to lead Pakistan after the Australian series is over, Captanee Ka nashaa charr gaya Moulana ko?
Na Captanee aati, na batting ho rahee hai na fielding ho rahee hai, laiking lead mai keroonga! Cricket hai koi Tableeghi mission nahee hai.
JAVED i got that news about hamad azam on geo super website. They need to drop umer gul,yunis and butt. Umer went for 70, 56, and 80 runs in last three odi and he is releasing pressure on batsman along with rana i think rao deserve a chance now i dnt want pakistan to win any of remaining matches infect i want them to loose even more badly to shake up the pcb and to bring changes in team and admin. They need to make wholesale changes in team its önly then we can get good results.
amir
I didn’t get the point. In your previous comment you mentioned that Hammad Azam is selected for T20 and now you are talking about ODI’s. Agreed that Gul is in pathetic form for tests and ODI’s but, in T20 he is the highest wicket taker in the world (39 wickets) and number 2 is Shahid Afridi (37 wickets) I doubt they will exclude Gul from T20.
I am against wholesale changes because, to replace the whole team with youth by discarding all the senior players has never been rewarding for any team in the world. Pakistan suffered heavily after the world cup when Wasim, Waqar et all were butted out and it took many years to build a team under Inzamam. Inzamam’s created a new breed of Tableeghi culture in the team which created nepotism and destroyed professionalism. As a batsman he was great but, as a captain he wasn’t, in some aspects he was successful for whatever reasons but, he left a team behind him which is so full of mediocre players. It was only Imran Khan who left a healthy and balanced team behind him in the shape of Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohai, Miandad, Inzamam, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus. A successful leader is he, who leaves another good leader behind him or a team full of performers and match winners.
It is like the two guys in two different fishing villages, where one guy used to go fishing and bring back a lot of fish and used to distribute ALL of it among all the villagers. There was another guy in another village who never gave his catch to other people, but each time he used to go fishing he used to take a few new people with him in his team and taught them how to catch fish. The result: In the first village, when the good fisherman who used to distribute all his catch among other villagers died, the whole village also died of starvation. Whereas, the so-called mean fisherman who never shared his catch, when he died, there were dozens of other people who knew how to catch fish and the village prospered after his death. I hope you go t my point?
After Shahid Afridi it is Abdul Razzaq now
http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/content/current/story/446045.html
Paisa Bolta Hai
These guys have no self respect, no self esteem ALL they want is money. They have been dissed, kicked on their butts, ridiculed, humiliated and not just them, the whole nation got humiliated and Abdul Razzaq sees a small crack in the wall and he wants to slip through it and go to India to Play for KKR. Even though, the offer is not clear, it is still on a hear say basis that, Ganguly wants him but Modi has not yet cleared etc. Abdul Razzaq should first think about his nation, his people whether they will approve or not? More than that he should look into his conscience and see that they have earlier invited 11 players and then ruled them out, rather kicked them out and it could happen with Abdul Razzaq also. So, why should he be so eager to play for the IPL? Even if Ganguly or Modi approves, he should say get lost. But, he can never do that, he wants to justify that he is going to earn money. There is a difference between earning through a respectable manner and earning through disgrace. I think Popeye The Sailor Man does not have that much brains to think, all he wants to do is eat spinach and play!
Look at this face and see if he really knows what he is talking about?
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/e913f680413471309bc9dfba1d0a9dcc/cj_reut608.jpg?MOD=AJPERES
To me, it looks like he is not just cock eyed and have a 180 degree vision in one eye and 45 degree vision in the other, it also appears that he is looking no where. If he is addressing a group of people, everyone in that group would think that he is making an eye contact with him, whereas he is not looking at anyone. Like his eyes are blank his mind is empty too. The irony is people of Pakistan consider him a Messiah? Nawaz Sharif and his pervert brother used him like a toilet paper. The US decorated him with one of the highest medal of honour for justice and peace which they gave to Nelson Mandela and to no other Judge, Chief Justice, Attorney General or any other able American. In the whole world all they could find is this squinted, brainless, directionless puppet. For the US, everyone in Pakistan is bad or pervert or extremist or a terrorist except this MFCJC.
JAVED i was talking about the 4th odi and not t20. By wholesale changes what i mean was mainly batting our bowling is fine jus need a good back up squad for AAMIR, ASIF, AND KENERIA AND AFRIDI as alrounder if he wants to play test and i m talking about tests and odi now. T20 is just happy go lucky cricket any1 can play it on thier day. Main problem what pak team got is batting and fielding Y and Y are too old to play odi butt dnt deserve to be in odi or test teams,and also his partner is problem,malik also cnt play tests now who we left with,only umer akmal and fawad alam. In keeping you knw about kamran. In my opinion they should put new young batsman and give them experience with 2 Ys stil playing cause they got 1 or 2 years left in them and they can transform these kids into good batsmen and with puting young blood fielding is also gòna improve. Anyway sohail tanveer has also joined bandwagon and had said that if his seniors wil tel him to play in ipl he wil do so. It means that if seniors wil tel him koonwe mein chalaang maar do to ye aqal ka andha mar de ga. ALL THESE DUMBFUCKS ARE SAME MONEY IS THIER GOD.
amir
agreed about what you have clarified now. As regards Sohail Tanvir, I heard initially he reacted very badly upon hearing about the rejection in IPL auction and said some very strong words. Probably khansahab would be able to mention that, because he is the one who heard him talk on one of the TV shows. If he is joining the bandwagon now, it is just like licking your own spit from the ground. I remember seeing Tanvir’s TV interview about a year ago i.e., when he was crowned with that Purple cap in the IPL, he was not only talking big but sounding very arrogant and paindooish, he was saying “my warth is at least a million daalar nao.” See what happened after that? His performance against a team like Sri Lanka was pathetic, like Actor gave away 43 runs in 3 overs he too gave away 45 runs in 3 overs and not just once but twice hence, he was dropped. The irony is Actor has announced today that he is eying on T20 WC this year, hoping because Aamer is getting injured all the time. Aamer is not playing even today, perhaps not in the next ODI as well.
According to Express News, Shoaib Malik has been accused of creating disunity in the team (not for the first time). It is reported that the team manager will draft a report on Malik and present it to the PCB upon the team’s return.
It is also believed Malik was asked to play at no 3 in this ODI series, but he refused.
Inzamam has given an interview today saying that Yousaf should be retained as captain until the 2011 World Cup.
Recently Inzamam said Afridi should be captain, and now this? What is his problem?
Recently Imran Khan, the Lion of Punjab, stooped to a new low when he spoke of MQM Minister Babar Ghouri in such uncultivated and disgraceful fashion, saying that Babar looks like “African kids“. (Babar is very dark skinned).
To make such a low and undignified statement about a political opponent is unacceptable. Imran has shown he is a real paindoo, an uncouth, third class donkey who is ruining the country by making racist statements like these.
I am done with Imran Khan, and I will never support him again. To insult someone on the basis of his skin colour is immoral, un-Islamic, undignified and befitting of none other than a paindoo.
KHANSAHIB problem with all pakistan ex players is that all of them miss the fame they used to be into and now only way to stay in limelight is to give redicule and stupid statments. Inzi gave statment against moulana who was of his tableegi jamaat he realised his mistake and changed his statement. In my opinion it is an insult to such a great human being and strong personality like nelson mandela that he have to have same award what this stupid and idiot chief justice also got. One needs to b in south africa to see what mandela did and achieved while this cj’s bigest achievment is to make all lawyers community into gundas who want to manipulate every field of life which is against thier wil did you guys saw what these lawyers did in a lahore court in that shazia masih case on monday?
Imran is moron he dnt think b4 talking dnt knw who gave him advice to come into politics how much he was fine cricketer that much he is bad politician check his statements about taliban and current situation in country and he is in political field now where he has to go more and more low.
I am really disappointed by Imran Khan’s current statement about Babar Ghauri. How dare he passes such racist comments? By marrying Jemima was he trying to improve his own race i.e., his kids should look more Gora? What a pathetic person he has become. I think he is trying to play with the sentiments of the people and doesn’t realize how far he has gone in making such trivial comments.
Inzamam ul Hulk aka Chhota Qasai can make a turnaround any time and say that neither Yousuf nor Afridi but Younus Khan would be the best captain. Of course we all know that a few days ago he said, Afridi must be made captain for the ODI as well and now he is supporting Moulana Yousuf on Bhai Bandagi and Tableegh giri.
After reading Inzamam’s statement in DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/sport/12-offers-to-serve-as-batting-coach-yousuf-should-be-given-exten-ded-run-as-captain%2C-says-inzamam-910–bi-05
I must say that Munir and Omer Admani were right from the beginning that Inzamam is perhaps making ways to get a job of batting coach and he has finally spilled the beans. Read his statement from above link.
Its a shame that Inzamam and Yousuf both were against Shoaib Malik, especially Yousuf openly admitted that Malik insulted and ridiculed him and dropped him while he was captain and now Inzamam is saying that Malik is the best all-rounder in the country! And Inzamam recently said he wanted Shahid Afridi to be the captain and is now asking Yousuf to remain as captain so that he can creep in as a batting coach. Wow Wow Wow….. that will be a complete Tableeghi Jori, ek Undhaa ek Kori.
Javed Khan and Khansahab,
I wonder if you guys are aware, but Imran Khan has become a sort of a cult figure in the Pakistani dispora here (especially the students). It is possibly because, the abcd generation of Pakistani people here who take a keen interest in Pakistani affairs have no other honest leader to look upto inside Pakistan. But you have to wonder what that Oxford degree is worth at times. He has already taken on Charles Darwin, taken on science, and shunned all modernity and technology in his lifestyle. My concern is that, he sets a bad precedent for the dispora here who are just about to unleash on the world the challenge that Imran Khan has thrown upon Darwin. Now I am not endorsing Darwin or anything as such, I am just saying that denying science and knowledge blatantly, without sound reasoning, espouses an attitude which regresses knowledge, which can easily transfuse in his cult-following here (as it is doing so) since there a sort of identity crisis amongst the dispora here– and this attitude can lead to a sort of revolt amongst people, a naysayers attitude towards things which are fairly reasonable. Now it may be his personal inability to reconcile emperical experience with religion…..but Allama Iqbal had laid the foundations for this 60 years earlier, too bad 99.9 percent can’t understand what he was trying to say, certainly not the conservative Muslim mind in South Asia. And, now Imran Khan and his ilk are obviously, after living in the west, going in the other direction and inspire the country to regress further.
Omer Admani
To back up, validate and substantiate what you have said above, I am copy pasting here an article by Nadeem F. Paracha, who is a cultural critic and senior columnist in Pakistan.
The froth of Khan
Posted by Nadeem F. Paracha
The froth of Khan
What can one say about Imran Khan? A great former cricketer, a compassionate philanthropist … a sorry excuse for a politician. But his continuing forays into bad politics and tactical blunders can be excused, for he is yet to understand that politics is not a game of cricket, and that the democratic election process does not follow the selection policy he enforced as the captain of the Pakistan cricket squad.
The truth is, Khan’s penchant for picking up talented players seemed to have gone haywire when he decided to pick his early political mentors.
Coming from a highly educated, cultivated, and somewhat liberal background, Khan had slipped into reverse gear by the time he decided to enter politics in the early 1990s. In other words, instead of looking forward to becoming an integral part of a new, democratic, and General Zia-less Pakistan, Khan struck an ideological partnership with shadowy characters who were hell-bent on keeping the country stuck in the 1980s – a decade when Pakistan pulled and damaged all of its important political, economic and social muscles under the stressful weight of a myopic dictatorship and the damaging jihad that a dictatorship sponsored in Afghanistan.
By the time Khan officially entered politics sometime in late 1995, it wasn’t his pristine education at Oxford University, or a more insightful understanding of Pakistan’s political history, that was informing his political make-up. On the contrary, his ideology was weaved from the usual reactionary claptrap one expects from former ISI men, especially those who got emotionally involved in Pakistan’s counterproductive Afghan jihad project.
One such chap was General (retd.) Hamid Gul, who is squarely responsible for shaping Khan’s rather warped understanding of Pakistan’s political history and dynamics.
The next natural step for him was, of course, going further down the reactionary rabbit hole, where a world brimming with the most outlandish ideas and concepts of history, politics and society continues to thrive. This hole is the same into which a number of urban, middle-class Pakistanis have decided to fall, becoming an isolated cult of sorts with its own set of prophets that include certain music and fashion celebrities, TV personalities, cricketers, journalists, televangelists, et al.
This cult also has its own understanding of Pakistani politics, society and faith, one that is a highly animated concoction of the distorted content still present in many of the country’s history and religion text books. This world view espouses a narrative patronized by the post-Zia military and intelligence agencies that puts Pakistan at the centre of the universe around which malicious anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam forces are constantly trying to undermine the country’s political and cultural well being. As such, this narrative is highly anti-democracy, and thus looks at Pakistan’s ethnic and sectarian diversity and plurality suspiciously and akin to being a danger to Pakistan’s ideological singularity premised on the belief that there is only a single, homogeneous strain of faith and nationalism that thrives (or should thrive) in Pakistan.
Alas, this train of thought does not emerge from the figurative masses. It stems from the Punjab-dominated, military-bourgeois-religious elite and its many fans among the large sections of the province’s urban middle-classes. Mind you, it is the same elite that was highly pro-America during the Cold War and played a leading role to continue undermining democracy and populist political parties through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. And if the decade of the 1990s is anything to be learnt from, one can also suggest that it is this elite that becomes highly vocal and animated whenever Pakistan slips away from the clutches of a military dictatorship and plants itself back in the more democratic domain.
To put it simply, it is ironic watching and hearing men such as Khan, Gul, Munawar Hassan and Zaid Hamid spout populist lectures and speeches on corruption, sovereignty and patriotism, when the truth is that much of what these gentlemen are spouting is nothing more than a slippery version of the narrative propagated by the above-mentioned elite whose roots are not in the so-called masses, but in the smoky corridors of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and in the comfortable drawing-rooms and TV lounges of the country’s urban middle- and upper-income groups.
There is no doubt that men like Hamid, Hassan, and Gul are (in a Machiavellian manner) pretty conscious of this dichotomy and not bothered at all as long as it helps them keep a large section of the country’s urban bourgeois entertained and thrilled by long-winded myths and tall tales of “Muslim supremacy” and assorted tirades against democracy and rational politics.
But I do wonder if Khan is conscious of the fact that much of what he chants in the name of the poor people, free judiciary, national sovereignty, and Islam is largely a by-product of the nonsense generated for years by the country’s economic, military and social elite groups? However, since Khan has not been above hypocrisy and contradiction himself, blundering over and again by questioning the moral make-up of everyone from President Asif Zardari to Mian Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain, only to be faced by some ugly reminders of his own not-so-moralistic past, one can assume that he too is conscious of the above-mentioned dichotomy.
What’s more, though one would have imagined that a man like him was likely to have avoided certain disturbing exhibitions of xenophobia and sheer racism that have now crept in the narratives and mind-set of men like Hamid and his bourgeois elite following, Khan blundered again by deciding to actually appear on a controversial TV show on which Hamid and his warped sidekicks make a mockery of history and politics, peddling nationalistic chauvinism as patriotism, and paranoid fiction as ‘fact.’
If Khan takes himself seriously, what on earth was he doing on a show in which it was claimed that Einstein’s equation ‘E=MC2’ meant nothing and was actually another step by the Zionists in their march towards world domination, and that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry too was ‘planted’ by western and Israeli agencies. This is only the tip of the iceberg made from the insane yet comical absurdities that do the rounds on that show. And yet Khan, who calls his party a mainstream political organ, decided to appear on a show that operates like a millennial, end-of-the-world cult?
The more tenacity mainstream political parties in the present parliament exhibit in the face of a rabid onslaught against its character by the Taliban, the media, and assorted drawing-room cranks, the more frustrated these gentlemen get, consequently becoming more audacious and absurd in their attacks.
The same thing might have happened recently with Khan. Perhaps getting more aware of the lack of any worthwhile electoral ability of his party (even though it has now been around for a decade), he proved himself to hold the same xenophobia and racial superiority that large chunks of the urban middle-classes have started to suffer from.
During a speech in Lahore, he lashed out at President Zardari and MQM’s Altaf Hussain, using the most worn-out critical clichés that the two men usually face on TV screens. But this was not the problem. Khan wasn’t saying anything new or offensive in this respect. However, while winding up his rhetorical tirade, he got carried away and revealed the true extent of his xenophobia. While attacking MQM member and a minister in the PPP-led coalition government, Babar Ghauri, Khan sarcastically equated him with African children.
Ghauri, who, like most MQM leaders, rose from a lower middle-class background and worked his way through the ranks amidst a number of crackdowns on his party by the state in the 1990s, has a dark complexion. And it is this that the mighty Khan (‘man of the masses’ – most of whom are not as fair as Khan himself), chose to ridicule. Speaking in Urdu, Khan said, “Ghauri was sitting (talking to me) on TV, so what should I say to this guy? I (wanted to tell him), Babar Ghauri, if I go to Africa, I can show you a hundred kids that look like you!”
I wonder if Khan spoke the same way about West Indian greats such as Viv Richards or Clive Lloyd? And is this why the great Khan chose to marry a white British woman instead of a ‘brown’ Pakistani girl? And was the great reborn Muslim and ‘honest politician’ so peeved with late Benazir Bhutto only because she could speak better English than him and have an equally fair complexion?
We can go on and on ridiculing Imran in this respect, but one would have to crouch as low as men like him have stooped just to bag applause from bored TV viewers.
A man with such a fantastic cricketing career, and an impressive record of philanthropy, a man who once seemed to possess all the right ingredients to become a truly enlightened and loved politician, has, unfortunately, landed on his face. He now sounds like an awkward cross between a freckled member of the Ku Klux Klan and a frustrated shrew who treats his country as a lowly damsel in distress who can only be saved by a fair prince like him, instead of those who come into power with the votes of the common, albeit dark Pakistanis.
Austrailia had again beaten pakistan by 135 runs again pathetic performance from batsman they cnt even play the second grade aussie bowlers this was the 3rd new ball bowling attack for aussies in four matches jus hopeless performance. I hope this performance dnt effect our under 19 team mentaly who is playing austrailia 2morow if our young guns gona beat austrailia then good lesson for our national team to learn some things from them.GOOD LUCK PAKISTAN UNDER 19 TEAM HOPE U GUYS WILL WIN TOMORROW AND WASH SOME SHAME AND HUMILIATION WHICH OUR CRICKET TEAM HAD PUT ON NATION.
JAVED AND KHANSAHIB NEW THREAD PLEASE I M TIRED OF WATCHING FACES OF THESE IDIOTS whenever i open your blog.
The following people need to resign/be sacked from immediate effect:
Younis Khan
Yousuf
Intikhab Alam
Shoaib Malik
Rao Ifthikar
Rana Naved
Shiv Sena targets Shah Rukh Khan for backing Pak players
Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan’s statements on the Indian Premier League snub to Pakistani cricketers has riled Shiv Sena with the party on Friday saying that the Bollywood star’s upcoming film My name is Khan will not be allowed to be screened.
Shiv Sena activists on Friday tore off posters of My name is Khan in Thane protesting Shah Rukh’s statement that Pakistani cricketers should be allowed to participate in IPL.
“Let us see how he dares to take in Pakistani players. We will see to it. We will not tolerate anybody praising Pakistanis. Balasaheb has already given instructions on the issue. You will see what Shiv Sena will do in the coming days,” said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders team, had said that the IPL could have handled the controversy over franchisees not selecting Pakistani cricketers at an auction in a “nicer manner”.
“If there is an issue with any other country I think it can be resolved in a friendly and nicer manner,” Khan said.
“I believe my country stands for democracy, goodness and welcome-ness. We should open our arms to everyone and I think we should have a little more leeway in involving people from all over the world to come and showcase their talent,” he said.
Pakistan Under – 19 has already started well, they have shaved off the Australian top order very cheaply. The Australians at one stage were 23 for 3 with their ace batsman and captain MR Marsh out on 7 (he scored 90 not out in the semi-finals) and their openers were also packed for 5 and 0, the middle order tried to stabilize the innings but, both of them are out now and the only recognized pair is at the crease with Aus. on 102 for 5 in the 30th over. They should get them out asap and then keep a low target to bat easily without any tension. I hope they win the U-19 WC to give a slap on the face of the seniors and also to prove to the rest of the world that Pakistani youth are a force to reckon.
amir
Inshallah will do a new thread, its been a hectic week (work wise) so pls. bear with those Nayeez and Qasaieez
Amir
A new thread has been created for you.