LEGSLIP

Khansahab …

A good post-mortum and well-written article.

Pakistin cricket is going through a rough patch for a long long time and it is very unfortunate that we still don’t see much hope of some real progress.

They should try to bring in, as many an possible of, our U-19 team members and try to GROOM them, rather then these “Useless Seniors”. If we have been lucky to find Aamir and Umar Akmal, we may find a few more of such talented youngsters.

khansahab

I would like to know what SRK said about how his children follow two religions? KuvVaa Chalaa Hans ki chaal….. or, Aadha teetar, aadha batair…. I dunno how they will grow up to be? Human beings are not like a grafted fruit that, you take a branch of Alphonso and graft it on Chaunsa and you get a mix of both and it is the best. Yes, that can be a good mango but, human beings are different because they live in a society where they are seen, judged and treated by the society for what they are. The children may be SRK’s children as long as they are children. But, when they grow up what will they be? How the society will see them, judge them, accept and treat them?

You can see how Sanjay Dutt is treated in India. Mom was a Muslim and Dad was a Hindu, both of them were nice people, the kid isn’t bad either but, some see him as Munna Bhai and some see him like a Khalnayak. Some think he is one of us and others say he is one of them and some openly say he is a traitor and for that he was even jailed with a petty excuse. My point is, it is extremely difficult for children to grow up like that in a society where the emphasis of religion, race and the colour of their skin is of prime importance and they are treated according to that.

SRK may not be alive to see how difficult the life of his children may be when they grow up. Today he is happy because he is a celebrity and people accept him because of what he was. But, it will not be the same for his children. Therefore, every action you take today has an effect on you tomorrow. Man is responsible to others and he is responsible for others. It is not a life that you live today but, its about a life for your future generations of tomorrow. Stealing the caption of your thread, I must say, just “thinking outside the box” is not enough, you have to think intelligently for tomorrow, only then you would be able to say hello to yesterday!

Its good to see khansahab taking off time on a lazy Sunday and dissected the body that came in the box. Reportedly the Pakistan team crashed in between Australia and New Zealand and there aren’t any survivors meaning NO wins. The captain has brought the black box with him because he was rescued earlier and the surprise message is, he still wants to pilot the Pakistani Taiyaara and strangely enough the loader, porter of the team also announced that he was the main culprit who stacked the boxes (players) in the wrong compartments and that is the reason the Taiyaara was off-balance and flipped over but, that doesn’t mean he is old, or unfit for the job of loading and unloading, he will still wants to be the chief porter.

I will comment more on the subject of performance but, right now I need to jettison the excess baggage to take off, I am on my early morning routine flight and need to do some downloading and refueling until then happy flying………

Khansaheb,

What you said about Bollywood where religion does not matter is true, in fact, if you have money & fame then none of this matters, those are the problems of middle class. Rich & famous live their own religion, the religion of money. Add to your Bollywood list another Khan – Firoz Khan who actually had no India or Pakistani blood, but he was born to an Iranian mother and Afghan father, migrated to mumbai as a child. He always looked so different from Indian or Pakistan origins, and made Hindi version of cowboy Western movies. He was one of my favorite movie makers when I was young, because his movies were different.

Interesting Facts and Figures: Feroz Khan

Feroz Khan was born in Bangalore, India. His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli, who was a Pathan originally from Ghazni province of Afghanistan and his mother (Fatima) came from Iran.

In 1965, he married Sundari, a designer and part of the Page Three circuit in Mumbai.

They had two children together, Laila and Fardeen Khan (b. 1974). In 1985, after 20 years of marriage, he divorced his wife.

His son married Natasha Madhwani, the daughter of his occasional on-screen lover Mumtaz. His daughter Laila is married to Indian tennis player Rohit Rajpal.

JAK
i shall tell u , sanjay dutt takes the cake as the biggest arsole among our actors. he tried playing cheap vote politics in UP. he told in a election rally that he was ill treated by cops bcos his mom is a muslim. can you get lower than that? sanjay dutt, salman khan should be in bars for life term for both of their deeds. it happens only in India ! there were tapes which had govinda talking to D bhai, and he was not even arrested!

khansahab
i donno about the pak episode of feroz, but his family has one of the best reputations in bollywood , to ma knowledge. amitabh (according to me) , has involved in many financial irregularities, along with amar singh.

khansahab & newguy

What you both have said about Bollywood is right, I know that too but the problem is not only does their actions reflect on their own families but, also on the masses, some of them end up doing that but, they cannot be like SRK to maintain a dual life i.e., being an Aadha Teetar and Aadha Batair, in the real world which is outside Bollywood the life is different and over there, the have to choose one path and then if there is no flexibility the problems start. Anyways, I don’t want to discuss on this but, like I said, I was more interested in what SRK said in response to that question?

As regards, Pakistan team playing in the UAE it was expected that they will not change the captain after one match so Malik would captain both matches. Malik however will be more in focus because of his captaincy and his pathetic batting will be exposed more. As regards dropping Kamran Akmal, its a bad decision. Because, if he was allowed to play the ODI’s and the T20 in Australia and he performed well, in fact better than anyone then dropping him from the PK squad for the UAE is meaningless and negative. Give him a break. He batted well and was excellent behind the stumps. Sarfaraz is definitely not the replacement, you have to find someone better than him. He still looks like a school boy and his batting especially is like that of a school boy.

If Asif is pardoned, Akhtar is pardoned so many times, and Afridi is pardoned then why bring this wrath on Kamran Akmal? Especially when you need him and when he is playing well. In order to keep him on his toes there must be another wicketkeeper in the squad all the time but definitely not Sarfaraz.

Khansahab,

Isn’t Musharraf also ethnically Punjabi, since he is from New Delhi?

And, you are correct about Imran Khan and others being Punjabi. Therefore, the confusion with the surname ‘khan’. It seems it is pretty common among non-pathans too,and not only limited to people from Persian, Mongolian, or Pathan descent.

Anyway, its funny how many Punjabis I have encountered here claim to be of Persian descent. I mean its ludicrous at times…when there is no conceivable connection. Have you encountered this phenomenon?

newguy

Yes, I agree with you that SA played very, very slow and that is one of the reasons I don’t like them because of their conservative approach, they try to play safe, its like we say: “What is the height of caution?” The answer is: “In the North West Frontier Agency, in Pakistan, when a crow is flying it always covers its ass with its wings.”

If there was any other player from another team he would have scored faster than Kallis and Amla. Even Dravid and Jaffar would have scored faster. And, Sehwag would have completed his triple century by that time.

Javed Khan,

Kamran Akmal is not a wicketkeeper. If he doesn’t get catches in one days to miss, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t dropped catches. You have to see that, it is a 5,6-year history and this will again happen in test matches. The best thing for Kamran Akmal is to work on his keeping in domestic cricket.

From the 4 innings of test matches and from the 4 one days– that is 9 innings altogether, you have picked one innings out, and you are saying he is a good batsman? And, that too in 20/20 where everyone throws the bat around, if it comes off, it comes off…and they could play him as a batsman in 20/20 alone because he shows a lot of capacity to throw his bat around and sometimes it comes off, but making him a keeper sets a bad precedent. Not only is it not good for the team, the next keeper is going to be even worse.

Omer Admani

The Punjais I have encountered here call themselves as; “Khallas Punjabis” meaning they are pure! They have this phobia of purity in everything, Khallas Ghee, Khallas Doodh, Khallas Dahee etc., btw it is Khalis and not Khallas.

The Khallas Punjabis are those who have been living in the Punjab on both sides of the borders, including the Sardars. They were basically farmers and apart from cultivation they used to grow cattle, sheep, cows and buffaloes. Their famous “support” was and still is, Kabbadi, Kushti (wrestling) and Patang bazi (kite flying). As I have said in the previous thread that they offered no resistance to any invaders or conquerors coming from the north towards Delhi. In fact they showed too much hospitality and kindness, that is because of the fact that basically they are very “Mehmaan Nawaz” & “Sharif” people. They are so Sharif that they can offer a Babra Sharif to you.

Since when a Dilliwala became a Punjabi? Unless his ancestors have also gone to Delhi to serve and protect the invaders and wanted to maintain their roots, but that is so unlikely. Besides, Musharraf neither has a Khan title attached to his name nor, a Rao, Rajput, Malak or, Mogul. And neither a Chaudhary before his name. If his ancestors were Chaudharies then no way they may have gone outside the Pind. As regards Irani descendants and Tartari, Kazak and Tajik descendants that is possible, because they came along with the Moghuls Emperors from Central Asia. Some of the Iranis were artists, painters, architects, poets, philosophers and scholars. But, the Central Asian descendants were mainly in the army as fighters, generals etc.

The point to be noted here is the Muslim Rulers after conquering India settled in India and called themselves as Hindustanis unlike the British, French and Portuguese they kept their HQ in England, France and Portugal and left behind a legacy of Anglo-Indian, Anglo-French they never merged or blended with the masses, they considered themselves as a superior race and a Gora Saab was way above others. It is the Gora Saab who poisoned the minds of the people of the Sub-Continent for the purposes of divide and rule and in the end created, divisions, fractions and disunity among the masses.

Omer Admani

The point that I am trying to make is about NOW……… right now Kamran Akmal is still better than Sarfaraz. Get another good wicketkeeper to replace Kamran Akmal. I am aware of his dropping catches in the recent tests and also in the past. But, get an apple for an apple and not an AlooCha.

Javed Khan,

I was just merely pointing that, if you go 1000 years back and find 1/10th Persian, does that make you Persian?

Besides that, as you say, Punjabis are reknowned to have been hospitable to invaders, and if you look at the Balochis and Persians in Iran, you will see that they are fierce fighters and always defend against invaders, this was also witnessed in the Iran-Iraq war– they are crazy in that sense. So where do we find this amongst the Punjabis?

Although I have heard that, the siraki people from Multan, Inzamam’s people, were able to defend against Alexander the Great’s invasions and he had to go around them.

Btw are you aware of the history of Pakistan written by Aitazaz Ahsan, entitled ‘The Indus Saga’. He claims that throught the book the Punjabis have been fierce defenders and no-one was able to conquer them.

Javed Khan,

Even right now, Sarfaraz Ahmed doesn’t drop catches, so he is a better keeper.

If the batsmen could bat, the bowlers could bowl, and the keepers could keep, the team wouldn’t be much better, wouldn’t it?

That’s what Pakistan needs to correct. First a keeper needs to be a good keeper and if he can bat, that adds something to the team. My view is that if a player is proficient at one, he can learn some of the other.

Khansahab,

I have noticed that. In fact I have noticed Punjabis generally prefer to speak in Punjabi rather than Urdu, therefore they keep the accent while conversing in Urdu.

It could also be that Punjabis who go through the local education go through Punjabi-medium education, so therefore they aren’t as good at Urdu.

Therefore, I said, there should be a code of conduct in the team, required to speak in the national language. If 6-7 players are speaking in a language that 4-5 others can’t understand, then it is going to inevitably ostracize the 4-5 others.

“Btw are you aware of the history of Pakistan written by Aitazaz Ahsan, entitled ‘The Indus Saga’. He claims that through the book the Punjabis have been fierce defenders and no-one was able to conquer them. OMER ADMNAI.

LOL @ Aitazaz Ahsan and his Khayass Aaraiyan (wishful thinking)

Mahmoud Ghaznavi
Mohammad Ghauri
Babar,
Humayun
Ahmad Shah Abdali

They all came from the North West to Delhi via Lahore. How many battles have been fought in Lahore? ZERO.

Whereas, three (3) battles of Panipat have been fought. Panipat is in the plains of eastern Punjab the gateway to Delhi.

The first was between Ibrahim Lodhi and Zahir uddin Mohammad Babar, the first Moghul emperor
The second was between Hemu or Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya and Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, the third Moghul emperor
The third was between Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas.

In all these battles the offenders were victorious, Lodhi, Hemu and Marathas were all defeated. But, this has nothing to do with the Punjabis of Lahore. All these defenders were defending Delhi. So, my point is very valid, there was never any resistance to any conqueror from Lahore. Had there been any, Delhi would have got some breathing time as well as an opportunity to deal with the wounded aggressors whereas, they came fresh from Lahore with Khallas Doodh, Dahi and Gaye Bhains

SHOAIB MALIK has once again uttered the same nonsense he did after losing the match in Melbourne. After coming back home he said, ” You always learn from your mistakes and whenever we tour Australia we always learn from here.”

How long this idiot is going to repeat this same template? How many times has he lost and repeated this phrase like a parrot? The point is has he ever learned from his mistakes? Has he ever improved his stupid batting style? Has he ever changed his attitude? Has he ever stopped playing petty politics in the team? NEVER.

He calls himself a profession and he also proclaims himself to be the best ALL-ROUNDER in Pakistan, has he ever thought that as a professional has he ever delivered? At this level you are all professionals and if you are not a professional then you don’t deserve to be in the team. To say we all learn from our mistakes is a bloody philosophical concept, at this level you have to deliver first and then talk about all this bullshit. As an all-rounder has he ever won a MoM award for taking 3 wickets and scoring a 50 in the same innings? How many times has he done that? As a captain he won only against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. And, he was the first captain since the last 60 years to lose a series against India in India both, test and ODI. Has he got anything to say about that?

WAQAR YOUNUS SAYS:

“The performance of players was not the only reason behind the poor showing. I will only spell out these reasons before the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports. I want the committee to call me as I want to tell the people the reasons for the team’s poor performances,” Waqar was quoted in the Dawn.

Javed Khan,

Now let me delve further into this– who the real defenders of the subcontinent were (and probably the bravest fighters): They were the Lohannas– and present day khojas, memons, perhaps a few Lahories, and some others. Ultimately, all these have roots in the lohannas (so was Quaid-e-Azzam) and they used to be in Aghanistan, but eventually they succumbed and despersed (albeit defending) and moved to parts of Sindh, Punjab, and afterwards, India.

Once this happened, just look at it– how many invasions ensued. Another interesting thing is, how much the character of people changes over time

Khansahab …

My advance apologies for slightly deviating from the main topic here, but where is Pervez Musharraf these days ? And when is he planning to honor Pakistan with his return ?

Hope he is ‘enjoying life’ in that 2 bedroom flat in UK, while he must be missing his newly constructed palace at Chak Shahzad, Rawalpindi.

Munir

As far as I k now he is on a lecture mission in North America. He has a series of 42 lectures in about 4 months time. His lectures are reportedly very popular. The rumours are he will announce about his intentions whether or not to return to politics by June 2010

Munir

As far as I k now he is on a lecture mission in North America. He has a series of 42 lectures in about 4 months time. His lectures are reportedly very popular. The rumours are he will announce about his intentions whether or not to return to politics by June 2010

newguy

I thought that this match between India and SA will end up in a tame draw especially when Sehwag was batting he scored a century but, India is in deep trouble by the end of the 3rd day’s play. In the first innings no one but Sehwag played and in the second innings, Gambhir and Sehwag both got out and there is all the possibility of India losing this test match. Can Tendulkar play a big, big innings here? There are two full days remaining and a lot of runs are required to avoid defeat and even if they do that, how much lead is enough? Can they bat for 2 days?

newguy

I thought that this match between India and SA will end up in a tame draw especially when Sehwag was batting he scored a century but, India is in deep trouble by the end of the 3rd day’s play. In the first innings no one but Sehwag played and in the second innings, Gambhir and Sehwag both got out and there is all the possibility of India losing this test match. Can Tendulkar play a big, big innings here? There are two full days remaining and a lot of runs are required to avoid defeat and even if they do that, how much lead is enough? Can they bat for 2 days?

Omer Admani

Abdul Razzaq and Arafat are back in the team and Kamran Akmal dropped, what have you got to say? I am sure you will be happy to see the back of Rana Naveed? I don’t know on what grounds Wahab Riaz keeps coming back into the squad? He has given away the highest runs in an ODI without a wicket in one of the matches, and that was not long ago and I thought thats the end of him. But, he was selected after that and now again he is in the squad. I am sure there are other good fast bowlers in Pakistan. Sohail Khan has gone into oblivion and I doubt he will ever be in the squad.

And Mohammad Munir………..

The London apartment is not 2 bedroom but, 3 bedroom and its cost is about 400-500 thousand pounds sterling. Whats the big deal? In London a few of my friends have 5-6 bedroom houses for about 800-900 thousand pounds sterling. And the palace in Chak Shahzad, Rawalpindi is not a palace but, a farm house and generally farm houses have more land than normal houses. I have seen that farm house from outside and for your info. Chak Shahzad is one of the cheapest area in Rawalpindi. Hundreds and thousands of people have better homes than Musharaff’s. Did you see where Imran Khan built his house in Islamabad? Its on a mountain and the whole mountain belongs to him. If you go and stand on the banks of the South side of Rawal Lake you will see the mountain of a house.

As regards your next question where did he get the money to buy that? All army personnel get lands at very subsidized rates and Musharaff was a General getting that Chak Shahzad land is no biggy. Thousands of Colonels and Generals have bigger lands than that. Musharraf has written two books and they both are a big hit, his Memoirs and “In Line of Fire” it is very easy to get a few million pounds in Royalty. Perhaps you have no idea how much money one can make by writing books. The author of Harry Porter, JK Rowling become a Billionaire, if Musharraf gets a few Million one shouldn’t be surprised and from his lectures he get paid very decently. About $100K per lecture is very common these days. And, his lectures are sold out.

Your sarcasm on Musharraf is not so amusing since you have deliberately ignored the other thugs whose only source of income is through stealing, cheating, looting, moaning, and farting … and journalists who are living on the thrown bones of these corrupt politicians are ready roll over, bend over backwards. Musharraf has declared more income and paid more tax in life than Nawaz, Shahbaz, Benazir and Zardari put together … so question should be not that where money of Musharraf has come from but, the question should be how these thugs and their puppy dogs are living a luxurious life? How come the media cannot see this and how come you guys never question on this subject?

Perhaps, they are not aware of how Halal money is made?

Javed,

India is going to lose the Test against SA. They are two down in 2nd innings and behind by 250+ runs, most likely it will be an innings defeat. Once they get Tendulkar and Dhoni there isn’t anyone else who can play a big innings. Think Dravid and Laxman, two of the all time greats in Indian lineup who were so much of batting backbone over the years are not there. Just a superb show of fast swing bowling from Steyn, it’s just too much for the likes of Vijay, Badri, Saha, and the lower order to handle.

There is a strong rumour that Wahab Riaz has paid Rs. 15 lakh (1.5 million rupees) to get into the team, he paid to Shafqat Rana to do that job. OMG, if this is true then, one can imagine what kinda team selectors Pakistan has.

newguy

That is so true. I wonder why Dravid is not in the team?

Javed,

Dravid is injured after having hit on the cheek by a bouncer from Shahadat Hussain in the last test against Bangladesh. I think next test both of them will be back as well as Srisanth and hopefully India can fight back with full strength team. But SA has shown determination to win in India, batting with patience and then superb bowling from Steyn.

Javed Khan,

It is good that they dropped Kamran Akmal and Rana Naveed. Malik is an OK one day player. What he needs is a bit more Sialkoti Aslee Ghee, butter, and that big moustache: And once once he becomes a pehelwan, then he’ll be good for the Kabaddi team. Right now he is not captaincy material though.

Javed Khan,

I read Musharraf is getting about $350K for a lecture.

Newguy,

Steyn bowled superbly. Very high quality bowling. You are right, big match players like Dravid and Laxman weren’t there. It was only one big match player, Sehwag..but nevertheless this was perfect bowling on subcontinental pitches. SA has got some bowling talent.

Omer Admani

So, he is making a decent halal earnings which is not appreciated by many, in fact they raise eyebrows with suspicion and hardly ever speak about Asif ChorDari and Badmash Nawaz. The way he is booked for his lectures is an indication that he is good at it. Otherwise in North America who wants to hear if that is just a claptrap and why would they pay him so much? No matter what people say or talk about him, he deserves appreciation. Because, right now he is doing the job of a good ambassador of Pakistan, which none of these leaders have done in the past, in fact they have created a negative image of the country.

Here is something from Imran Khan’s blog Tehrik-e-Insaaf, it is about Nawaz Sharif and his assets:

http://www.insaf.pk/Forum/tabid/53/forumid/1/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/46235/Default.aspx#46235

Omer Admani

DAWN newspaper has confirmed that Musharraf gets paid US$300K per lecture and this is a news of last year May 2009. I think people are simply jealous of him and his earnings.

WTF ?

Wasim Akram Choora has been appointed as a member of the inquiry committee for the Australia NZ disaster tour of Pakistan cricket team. What has he got to do with this? He is ALL the time in INDIA and has no inside knowledge of what happened in Australia. So, also all other members of the committee headed by Ch2So4 Wasim Bari. This is such a farcical act to appoint these people to mislead the masses. They will come out with some weird information to jeopardize Afridi’s captaincy and to retain Malik as Captain in future. And, they will deny that there was no rift in the team, there was no disunity, there were no groupings, there was no regionalism, divisions and fractions in the team.

The ICC president-in-waiting Sharad Pawar has met with Bal Thackeray, leader of the right-wing political party Shiv Sena, asking him to stand down on his earlier remarks about the safety of Australian players during the third season of the IPL. This follows a warning issued by the Mumbai-based regional party that Australians will be barred from playing matches in Mumbai in response to the recent attacks on Indians living in Australia.

Pawar, also president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, was accompanied by current Indian board president Shashank Manohar to Mumbai to meet with Thackeray and his son Uddhav, and the four sat behind closed doors for an estimated two hours. “We presented our viewpoint before Thackeray on this critical issue,” Manohar told reporters. “We tried to convince him that only one or two Australian players will participate in the IPL matches and by not allowing all IPL matches it is the state players [Marathi players] who will lose ultimately.

“We also explained to them the format of the IPL teams and matches and how there were one or two Australian players in each team. Thackeray has asked for a detailed presentation on the issue which we will be providing in couple of days and thereafter he would consider our request.”

Thackeray recently declared that “kangaroo cricketers” would not be welcome in the state of Maharashtra in retaliation for a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne. Leaders of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have also come out strongly in their criticism of attacks on Indian students in Australia, and said they would protest against the participation of Australian players in the IPL.

Indian home minister P Chidambaram has since guaranteed visiting players security, while the Australian Cricketers Association has said it is close to receiving a security report being prepared by the IPL authorities.

The two Australian players who are part of the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians are Dominic Thornely and Luke Ronchi.

Newguy,

What do you think about the “thugs” then?

Modi, the IPL chief, will be presenting to Thackrey, because Thakrey has demanded a two-hour presentation. Now where do you think the power resides, as Modi hasn’t given a 2-hour presentation to the govt of India to provide Australians security, but is giving Shiv Sena’s leader a two-hour presentation to convince him to let them play?

What is the meaning of this:

“We tried to convince him that only one or two Australian players will participate in the IPL matches and by not allowing all IPL matches it is the state players [Marathi players] who will lose ultimately.”

Is IPL about Marathi players only? Then what about the Bengali, Madrasi, Punjabi players? Why not ask BAL THUG - ARRAY to form his own cricket team and play them as Maratha XI ?

I think Indian government is spineless and impotent in front of this Thackeray guy.

What is the meaning of this:

“We tried to convince him that only one or two Australian players will participate in the IPL matches and by not allowing all IPL matches it is the state players [Marathi players] who will lose ultimately.”

Is IPL about Marathi players only? Then what about the Bengali, Madrasi, Punjabi players? Why not ask BAL THUG - ARRAY to form his own cricket team and play them as Maratha XI ?

I think Indian government is spineless and impotent in front of this Thackeray guy.

Omer Admani & newguy

This is very interesting please read this with an open mind and tell me whats going on?

On January 30, 2010 it was Gandhiji’s death anniversary. There was ONE HOUR talk show about Gandhiji on CBC radio. There were numerous things talked about him by Indian and Canadian journalists, scholars, experts etc., during the entire one hour they must have talked about how he was assassinated at least 15 times but, the assassin’s name was NEVER mentioned. This is what Supriya Roy Chowdhury an Indian Journalists who writes for the Daily HINDU, wrote sometime ago that today in India, there is no mention of Nathu Ram Godse’s name in the history text books for students up high school. Last time when I mentioned this on LS, one of our bloggers, Salman Khan from Australia challenged me by saying I am an Indian and I have studied, perhaps in his days they used to mention his name but, not today. Here on this blog I have provided the link of The Hindu by Supriya Roy Chowdhury and Salman Khan did not reply.

Anyways, my point is the Indian diplomacy is so strong that in Canada too they have somehow convinced the CBC and the participants not to mention the name of Nathu Ram Godse or about his religion. Only that a bad guy killed Gandhi. As far as I remember Godse’s brother was also involved and he was jailed and when he came out of the jail, when asked how he feels about spending 18 years of his life in jail? He responded, “I don’t regret.” He was so proud of what he did (corroborated with his brother Nathu Ram Godse in Gandhiji’s assassination) and in my opinion it is all because of Shiv Sena, they must have asked him to respond like that. Nathu Ram Godse was a Maratha, a Hindu Extremist, he was brain washed by the Shiv Sena creators and there was an organized movement called, ” STOP GANDHI MOVEMENT” you don’t need my help you can find this on the web, its a well known fact and the people who wanted to stop Gandhi were the Marathas, the Shiv Sena people.

The were powerful 65 years ago and they are even more powerful in India now. The only problem is

An interview excerpts from Nathuram Godse’s brother Gopal Godse.

“His Principle of Peace Was Bogus”

Gopal Godse, co-conspirator in Gandhi’s assassination and brother of the assassin, looks back in anger–and without regret Fifty-two years ago, on Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist. Godse believed that the Mahatma, or great soul, was responsible for the 1947 partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. Godse and his friend Narayan Apte were hanged. His brother Gopal and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the conspiracy. Gopal Godse remained in jail for 18 years and now, at 80, lives with his wife in a small apartment in Pune. He is still proud of his role in the murder. Although Godse is largely ignored in India and rarely talks to journalists, he agreed to speak with TIME Delhi correspondent Meenakshi Ganguly.

TIME: What happened in January 1948?

Godse: On Jan. 20, Madanlal Pahwa exploded a bomb at Gandhi’s prayer meeting in Delhi. It was 50 m away from Gandhi. [The other conspirators] all ran away from the place. Madanlal was caught there. Then there was a tension in our minds that we had to finish the task before the police caught us. Then Nathuram [Gopal's brother] took it on himself to do the thing. We only wanted destiny to help us — meaning we should not be caught on the spot before he acted.

TIME: Why did you want to kill Gandhi?
Godse: Gandhi was a hypocrite. Even after the massacre of the Hindus by the Muslims, he was happy. The more the massacres of the Hindus, the taller his flag of secularism.

TIME: Did you ever see Gandhi?
Godse: Yes.

TIME: Did you attend his meetings?
Godse: Yes.

TIME: Can you explain how he created his mass following?
Godse: The credit goes to him for maneuvering the media. He captured the press. That was essential. How Gandhi walked, when he smiled, how he waved — all these minor details that the people did not require were imposed upon them to create an atmosphere around Gandhi. And the more ignorant the masses, the more popular was Gandhi. So they always tried to keep the masses ignorant.

TIME: But surely it takes more than good publicity to create a Gandhi?
Godse: There is another thing. Generally in the Indian masses, people are attracted toward saintism. Gandhi was shrewd to use his saintdom for politics. After his death the government used him. The government knew that he was an enemy of Hindus, but they wanted to show that he was a staunch Hindu. So the first act they did was to put “Hey Ram” into Gandhi’s dead mouth.

TIME: You mean that he did not say “Hey Ram” as he died?
Godse: No, he did not say it. You see, it was an automatic pistol. It had a magazine for nine bullets but there were actually seven at that time. And once you pull the trigger, within a second, all the seven bullets had passed. When these bullets pass through crucial points like the heart, consciousness is finished. You have no strength.

When Nathuram saw Gandhi was coming, he took out the pistol and folded his hands with the pistol inside it. There was one girl very close to Gandhi. He feared that he would hurt the girl. So he went forward and with his left hand pushed her aside and shot. It happened within one second. You see, there was a film and some Kingsley fellow had acted as Gandhi. Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, “Hey Ram.” I said Kingsley did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was not a drama.

TIME: Many people think Gandhi deserved to be nominated TIME’s Person of the Century. [He was one of two runners-up, after Albert Einstein.]
Godse: I name him the most cruel person for Hindus in India. The most cruel person! That is how I term him.

TIME: Is that why Gandhi had to die?
Godse: Yes. For months he was advising Hindus that they must never be angry with the Muslims. What sort of ahimsa (non-violence) is this? His principle of peace was bogus. In any free country, a person like him would be shot dead officially because he was encouraging the Muslims to kill Hindus.

TIME: But his philosophy was of turning the other cheek. He felt one person had to stop the cycle of violence…
Godse: The world does not work that way.

TIME: Is there anything that you admire about Gandhi?
Godse: Firstly, the mass awakening that Gandhi did. In our school days Gandhi was our idol. Secondly, he removed the fear of prison. He said it is different to go into prison for a theft and different to go in for satyagraha (civil disobedience). As youngsters, we had our enthusiasm, but we needed some channel. We took Gandhi to be our channel. We don’t repent for that.

TIME: Did you not admire his principles of non-violence?
Godse: Non-violence is not a principle at all. He did not follow it. In politics you cannot follow non-violence. You cannot follow honesty. Every moment, you have to give a lie. Every moment you have to take a bullet in hand and kill someone. Why was he proved to be a hypocrite? Because he was in politics with his so-called principles. Is his non-violence followed anywhere? Not in the least. Nowhere.

TIME: What was the most difficult thing about killing Gandhi?
Godse: The greatest hurdle before us was not that of giving up our lives or going to the gallows. It was that we would be condemned both by the government and by the public. Because the public had been kept in the dark about what harm Gandhi had done to the nation. How he had fooled them!

TIME: Did the people condemn you?
Godse: Yes. People in general did. Because they had been kept ignorant.

Javed Khan,

This is an Indian guy’s article which appeared on BBC. Note that when I criticize Bollywood’s melodrama, it can be construed as anti-Indian, but this is what I exactly feel and there is absolutely no bias behind it. That is why I think Paresh Rawal is the best actor in India, because the only good Indian movies tend to be comedy movies, and he is the best actor in that genre:

Why doesn’t Bollywood take a stand?
Soutik Biswas | 10:43 UK time, Monday, 8 February 2010
Comments (5)
Why is Bollywood so ineffectual? Why don’t its leading lights stand up and protest when one of their own (megastar Shah Rukh Khan, no less) is threatened by a local right-wing group (Shiv Sena)?

One reason is that Bollywood – or most commercial Hindi language cinema – is largely estranged from the realities of modern-day India. They reside in a strange, make-believe, ersatz wonderland and, as Suketu Mehta says, “disbelief is easy to suspend in a land where belief is so rampant and vigorous”.

There was a time when the films, even in their song-and-dance idiom, tried to engage with Indian society, and glorified the underdog hero. Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy, Bollywood’s divorce from contemporary realities has been complete. Pretty-looking films with prettier faces, lilting songs and noisy soundtracks shot on foreign locations are good “timepass” – as they say in India – for most audiences. And the “diaspora film” is partly to blame for killing the industry’s imagination. “The diaspora,” says Mehta, “wants to see an urban, affluent, glossy India, the India they imagine they grew up in and wish they could live in now.” The result, in my view, is some of the most mindless and regressive cinema to be produced anywhere in the world.

But now the fans in India are beginning to feel cheated. A movie-mad policeman in Mumbai lamented to me recently that “Scotland Yard detectives and police commissioners are the ones solving crimes and grabbing all the attention” in Bollywood movies these days. “When I was growing up in the 1970s, the constable and the chief of the local police station were valued,” he said.

And when Bollywood attempts to wrestle with contemporary issues – like the plight of Muslims after 9/11 – the results can be embarrassingly naïve and comical. A recent film had a dashing teacher of Islam falling in love with a svelte student – both roles played by reigning stars – and then moving to the US where the girl discovers that her young professor is actually a terrorist. What could have been a gripping film becomes vapid and silly – the professor, for example, is shown teaching a class full of white, American students in an American university in Hindi. As sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan tells me: “Bollywood is mythical, not historical. It works at the level of the myth. There is no engagement with history.”

Another friend and film writer Saibal Chatterjee says Bollywood is alienated from realities because it is “essentially an industry of shopkeepers trying to sell their products at any cost”. The film, he says, is just another commodity. And the film makers and performers are unapologetic about their offerings – their definition of cinema begins and ends with formulaic entertainment.

Things are changing slowly though. After half a century of making escapist fun which has offered millions of Indians some of the best entertainment they have had in their dreary lives, Bollywood is now giving space to a small group of young, impressionable filmmakers who have begun serving up intelligent and entertaining mainstream cinema. But Bollywood is still a long way from making, say, a cracking good political thriller. So forget about a Z or Midnight Express from the industry anytime in the near future.

Hollywood is also profit-seeking and its offerings can be riddled with cliches. But some of it’s best-known names have taken courageous stands over issues that have divided the nation. Martin Scorsese went ahead with the release of his controversial The Last Temptation of Christ inspite of protests from religious communities even before the film was released. Sean Penn took a firm stand against the Iraq war, travelled there and wrote a series of engaging pieces. In Vietnam, the anti-war movement was reflected in the cinema of its times – remember Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now or Born On The Fourth Of July? In contrast, Bollywood’s last successful contribution inspired by the India-Pakistan rivalry was an abominable jingoistic hit.

So, muzzling Bollywood has never been difficult. Maverick filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has said in the past that a “filmmaker is a vulnerable animal, especially when his film inches towards release. You can blackmail and make him kneel down.” Bhatt should know: he resisted demands for cuts in his 1998 film Zakhm (Wound). But most other filmmakers have kowtowed to the Shiv Sena, the self-appointed cultural police of Mumbai. Mani Ratnam, one of the top directors, organised a special screening of his film Bombay – a love story set against the backdrop of the 1993 religious rioting in the city – for the Sena leader Bal Thackeray even after the censor board had approved the film’s release. Ram Gopal Varma, a filmmaker who showed early promise, showed Mr Thackeray two of his films before release.

So is it any surprise that ageing superstar Amitabh Bachchan publicly declares his allegiance to Mr Thackeray, who rebukes Shah Rukh Khan for supporting the inclusion of Pakistani players in a cricket auction (even though Khan’s own team did not sign any)? Is it any surprise that Mr Bachchan’s son, Abhishek, a star himself, tells a reporter that he believes that “arts and culture should be above politics”? When Khan refused to retract his support for Pakistani players and defied Mr Thackeray, he became an accidental hero in an industry which has no opinion

There are more articles by this guy Biswas on BBC as well
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/

Javed Khan,

On the topic of Musharraf, I have no problem personally with him giving lectures (as I have no problem with Akram making money in India).

Now as far as the issue of the general is concerned, I am very ambivalent: On the one hand what I appreciate is his passion for Pakistan, on the other hand I feel he couldn’t understand his limitations. For instance, Pervez Hoodhboy recently wrote an article describing how Musharraf sought the advancement of education in Pakistan– and though his will was admirable, he wanted it to happen immediately: As a result the quality of the educated substantially declined and quantity increased. He sought education reform but ended up messing it up further.

Likewise he led an uncontrolled, unchecked consumer led boom which had to bust and Pakistan had to be bailed out by the IMF, being too big to fail. Without the bail-out, it could have led to a currency crisis like the one in Argentina. Again, the will was there, but he tried to make it happen to fast.

Then the issue with Justice Chauhadry. There is a constitution and he has to respect it, he can’t go around setting new precedents– he could have come back later and fought with his party democratically, but he was, again, determined to make everything happen too quickly and wanted to stay there, and in doing so, he anulled the NROs against Ganja Sarif and Benazir Bhutto, and these corrupt leaders are his gift and legacy to Pakistan now.

Then the whole issue of picking people randomly in Balochistan and handing them to CIA and Guantanomo because the Americans wanted actions in return for the aid. I mean he betrayed his own people there, it really amounts to treason…

Therefore, my view on his is that: I admire his courage and intent and there is no doubt he didn’t have any personal motivations like Ganja Sharif and Zardari…he sought good for the country, but he was incompetent and tried to change too much too soon.

Javed Khan …

Your information on Nathuram Godse and overall Shiv Sena are very interesting and it shows a rather other side of the coin, which so often is hidden from general public. India, which maintains a strong claim to secularism, has some underlying issues which they are trying to neatly dust under the carpet. The Times Delhi’s interview with Gopal Godse (brother of Nathuram Godse) has exposed the true face of Shiv Sena and how old, strong and influential they are within India. Can you also give us the date of this interview, if possible?

While coming of our own Pervez Musharraf, I am happy for his ‘decent earnings’ by public-lectures and yes you are right so may army generals/ ex-generals have amassed huge funds and many free lands. Yeh Unka Bhee Mulk Hai, so why should only Politians loot it, Army also have full right to it.

khansahab

“TaOny Graig” and Sanjay Manjrekar have written (discussed) articles about ball tampering on cricinfo.

Taony has said ball tampering is an open secret, Manjrekar has said that the laws of ball tampering needs to be re-written.

Someone else has made a very valid point and it must be viewed with an open mind. He said, the law is absolutely ridiculous and needs to be viewed with an open mind. According to the law, changing or altering the condition of the ball to swing is illegal. Only one side of the coin has been taken into consideration i.e., if the ball is scuffed, by any metal, dirt, or any other sharp object or, any lotion such as Vaseline, jellybeans or any cream is used or, if the ball is rubbed on the ground to rough it out, it is called ball tampering.

The other side of the coin is taken for granted i.e., applying saliva on the ball, rubbing it on the trousers or using a small towel to bring more shine is OK, it is not illegal. Isn’t this law self negating?

When you open your eyes and see it from a new perspective it does seem like that. Why are the bowlers openly allowed to rub one side of the ball to bring back the shine or use a small towel to rub it as much as they can, and not just the bowler, but a couple of other fielders who are near the bowler also do this. They apply a lot of saliva and keep rubbing it. You can see the red cherry marks on white trousers.

The first person to object this rubbing of the ball on the thighs was not a cricketer but, a Moulvi. I think it was Dr. Israr Ahmad, he said, rubbing and spitting on the ball is obscene especially if the ball is rubbed on his thighs the women watching him on TV gets aroused so this must be banned! I am not kidding, but he actually said this and I have read somewhere on the Internet long ago. My response to that is, if it is obscene for them, they better not watch. And, Dr. Israr Ahmad must spend more time doing tableegh than criticizing about rubbing the ball on a bowler’s groin.

Munir,

That interview took place 3-4 years ago and when I read that, I copy pasted it in one of the files just for records, because if you save the URL in favourites sometimes they delete such websites or they may not have paid the web fees or not renewed the web in that case too the articles disappear. I only have a copy not a URL. But, it is authentic, perhaps it is still there on TIME and you may Google it and see, perhaps you can find it. As regards the Indian journalist Supriya Roy Chowdhury who writes for The Hindu, here is the link:

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/02/04/stories/2003020400561000.htm

Munir

BTW, that land Musharraf built a farm in Chak Shahzad was NOT a grant like army officers get. I did mention that army officers do get lands at subsidized rates and we all know that Defense Society, Bahriya and Shaheen or Falcon Complex etc., are an example. And, Musharraf bought that land and did not get it for free. In terms of dollars it is only $500,000, once again for a person who is earning $350K per lecture it is nothing. So, you may save your taunts and sarcasm (jo tum nay Shaal may lapait ker maaray hain) for another appropriate time .

India haar gayee tou newguy bhee ghayeb ho gaya! Array bhai vapis ajao koi kuch nahee kehay ga. Look at us we have lost 2 series and not won a single match and we are here with such Dhattai BaKaoz V R Like this Won Lee.

Javed,

I’m here, India losing is in one way good, for one they won’t get carried away, especially the media and the people will not forget the real standing of the team in the world. I tend to look at things in balance, I think they are still a very good team, just not world beaters. SA played very good cricket and they had one bowler in Steyn who got everything going for him in one session of superb reverse swing and his conventional swing bowling was awesome too. But fast bowlers won’t get consistency like that always, in the last home series against England SA failed to take tail end wickets, including Steyn.

As for Indians, they need to work harder and fight harder, have hunger for win. If they do that no reason they cannot come back in next test.

Ultimately however what matters to me is if they can win a series in SA and Australia. They are far from it.

As for Pakistan, I lost interest in following them honestly, with all the politics and team performance turning from worse to worst down under.

Javed Khan,

Haha This Newguy dissapears whenever India loses. At least we congragulate the winning team when Pakistan loses time and again

Javed Khan,

Are you aware of this?

http://www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/10540-free-alcohol-hangovers-bisexual-friends-girl-called-boozie-suzie.html

I say this because, Imran Khan is constantly under the radar for his personal life, and political opponents use it to assasinate his character.

But here Bilawal Bhutto, the heir of the Bhutto dynasty, is having drunk threesomes and there is no political criticism for this. I don’t mean there should be (in fact there shouldn’t be) but people tend to unnecessarily assasinate Imran Khan’s character rather than criticizing him on policy.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/06-isi-chief%2C-4-commanders-retiring-this-year-020-rs-05

I am glad this guy is finally retiring. His interview with the Germann newspaper was an embarassment to the nation. They could get someone decent like General Kayani there who hasn’t got as big a mouth.

Yousof said one player, and only one player, was sponsoring disunity in the team:
http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/447711.html

In other words Yousof is implying it was Misbah (as Kamran Akmal is his personal favorite), since by elimination, it was only “Misbah who was ‘dropped’”. Shoaib Malik wasn’t played in the first 2 matches but he came back in the third so he can’t be referring to him.

This is scapegoating, they all have decided to bury the matter under, and take the name one player who is likely to be axed for good. This is very unfair, we know the rifts have been brimming for awhile.

As far as I am concerned Waqar will be able to give the best account of what happened. If Waqar is honest and he says it the way it was, he will do great favors for Pakistan cricket. NA assembly has asked him to provide the details and I believe this fiction statements of Yusuf shouldn’t be paid serious heed to, Waqar can probably provide a more accurate picture. Now these players are doing what is typical in Pakistan, scapegoating one for the sake of the rest, when we all know that Malik, Misbah, Kamran Akmal had a group together.

Ultimately, all truth should be revealed, this can only save Pakistan cricket, so that the board and the people know what needs to be corrected.

Omer Admani :
Javed Khan,
Haha This Newguy dissapears whenever India loses. At least we congragulate the winning team when Pakistan loses time and again

Hi Omer,

I did not disappear anywhere, in fact I posted here before 4th day play began that India will lose the Test and by an innings.

You guys have been talking politics, cricket politics, rumor, so on, and there wasn’t anything for me to comment on.

hmm, as expected we lost.now dhoni will keep his feet on ground. from the day he said yuvi is better batsman than dravid,i wished he see the reality. mishra,sharma, bhajji need to be shown the door. not that we have better players than them, but they have to realize the place has to be earned! hope it wont be 0-2

Omer Admani

That Bilawal picture is very old, I saw that more than a year ago. What else can you expect from him? Like father like son.

As regards Yousuf’s comments about ONE player my guess was the same as yours. Because, after the Sydney test he was defending Kamran Akmal by saying he is a very good batsman and he has scored and saved us on many occasions and he is the only player who was dropped. Malik came back, Butt came back but Misbah was dropped, so that’s him. Misbah is a schemer, whereas Malik is a ch2ya plus he is a meesna.

And, I guess you are right Waqar will give a true picture.

khansahab

For only two matches where a captain is banned in one and playing in the other under another makeshift captain so what team are you talking about? Yae tou hona hee thaa that the selectors will decide and choose whoever they want. So, I am not surprised if they have snubbed them ALL. They deserve to be snubbed.

newguy

accha theek hai theek hai, we know you are here! And, once again Tendulkar’s ton in vain. He could not save the match, winning was only a dream. They played only 4 days and lost by an innings. However, I am sure with Dravid coming back in the team, they will play better in the second test.

420

Yeah, Dhoni needs introspection and self-assessment audit, bahot ooncha urr reha hai, apart from Zaheer Khan none of the bowlers were impressive. Harbhajan should be singing Bhajans and eating Pao Bhaji, a tutt poonjia like Harris was able to make such a difference and a specialist in his own backyard was ineffective.

What Dhoni probably meant was that Yuvraj was a better one day player than Dravid.

Dhoni is a very astute captain and it shows in his analysis of India’s performance. This is the first time India has lost under Dhoni so that says something about his tactical skills. At one point in time it was Pakistan with Miandad’s tactical nous that had the streetfighting qualities and the ability to play well under pressure.

As for Dravid coming back, I agree with Javed Khan that his wicket will be the key (along with sehwag’s). Of course Laxman is a very dangerous player too in tough circumstances and against quality bowlers.

Omer Admani

astute westute kuch nai, he is getting over confident and this is not the first time he lost, please check out India has lost before under Dhoni. His form is also questionable, he is not scoring whereas, at domestic circuit just last week, Dinesh Karthik has scored two big centuries in each innings, even then his team South Zone lost because my nick name is Yousuf Pathan scored a double hundred. Karthik‘s inclusion in the team should have some effect in the batting and fielding department, he is a good fielder too. Dravid is not in the second test but Laxman is, Laxman has some very good records for India but when it comes to dependability I don’t think there is anyone like Dravid.

Its good that Greg Chappell declined the offer to coach Pakistan team, especially after seeing how Ijaz Butt ridiculed and insulted Lawson.

Yousuf’s interview is very contrasting to his personality, he was a bit blunt yet he did not mention the name of the player but, we all know it was Misbah. I liked the way he mentioned about Umar Akmal: ” Umar was fine as far as I knew. What happened in his room and how he got a stiff back all of a sudden was a surprise to me. He miraculously recovered as soon as we told him that he would be going home,” Yousuf said with a grin on face.

Javed Khan,

This is the first test that India has lost under Dhoni’s captaincy. Compare him to Pakistani players and their tactical skills…You should also notice that Dhoni came in the team primarily as a batsman who could keep and he barely drops catches, whereas Kamran Akmal who came in the team primarily as a keeper who could throw his bat around finds it very difficult to hold catches. In fact there is absolutely no comparison between the two as Akmal will go down as one of the worst keepers not only in Pakistan’s history, but all of cricket history. So, if I see it thru our lens, Dhoni is the one who carries the team, but since Indian cricketers are a lot more educated, you can imagine someone else doing as good a job with that batting line-up. Also, India is among the top two teams and their bowling is relatively weak, so it has to go down to very good captaincy that they end up taking 20 wickets a lot more often than Pakistan do (won twice against Australia inside India and quite often got Sri Lanka out recently on flat decks).

We are copy pasting the article appeared in The Daily, The News, written by Mr. Malik Arshed Gilani. We are highlighting the points Mr. Gilani has written in his article because, we have been saying the same thing again and again but to no avail and we are glad that Mr. Gilani has written it in The News and it will get the attention of at least a few, because Ijaz Butt does not have time to read perhaps he never reads, he prefers to sleep in the meetings and that too during the Ministry of Sports Committee meeting which was specifically held for this purpose. Mr. Butt has proved that even when he comes to a meeting with an avowed purpose to answer the questions raised by the committee, instead of listening to them he was caught dozing off twice. Should we not ask for his ouster? We have been doing this since a very long time, asking him to leave but there seems to be a layer of super glue under his Butt which is stuck to his chair.

Does PCB know the population of Pakistan?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
By Malik Arshed Gilani

I am not sectarian, or political or provincial. Having lived in Sindh for some 50 plus years, I hope I can say without contradiction that I am now a Sindhi and be accepted as such. Should it interest anybody I hail from Khushab not far from Mianwali, Imran Khan’s ancestral town, and that is as Punjab as it gets? But my loyalty is with my new home in Karachi Sindh. Above all else I am first a Pakistani.

I state all the above and have chosen the title of this Article deliberately because of the present PCB Chairman. I understand he comes from Sialkot and since he has taken over it appears that the PCB’s horizon is first limited to the area from which the chairman hails, then Lahore and then Punjab. To be selected to serve the PCB the premier conditions appear to be; you must be a septuagenarian like the chairman and have known him and have colluded with him through his past associations with cricket. Failing this one needs to hail from the Punjab and preferably Sialkot and then Lahore.

Through this article, I would remind him that Pakistan has a population of 170 million people. It has great cricketers and fine cricket administrators in all four provinces of this fine country. Highly educated, knowledgeable and competent people exist who can perform the duties of manager and coach to the Pakistan team. May I hasten to add that Ijaz Ahmed has done well with the junior team but, I repeat, we are a big country and appointing Yawar Saeed whose past performance and age should have precluded him as manager reeks of favoritism.

In the case of the coach, just good thinking should have made this chairman realise that this appointment would be resented by the other provinces and again smells of provincialism. In addition one feels that Ijaz needs to cement his skills with the junior team. May I add Sindh has some very competent individuals who can leave Yawar Saeed standing and others who could match the great Ijaz Ahmed.

It appears that the PCB is hell bent on proving to the world that Pakistan’s national conscience has become so tainted that we take no notice of what one could term as cheating by our top cricketers. The proof of this opinion is the latest appointment of Shoaib Malik as captain. He is a self confessed and admitted match fixer. Have we now reached so far down the barrel that all we find and select are such individuals? Just what message does the chairman and the PCB want to give to our young cricketers and the world at large? The past should have been taken note of by the chairman who also chaired the selection committee. There are principles that must not be compromised. I am sure he ignored the fact that the player comes from Sialkot!

To then state that Afridi is waiting in the wings to take over as captain is adding insult to Pakistan’s injury. I admire Afridi’s talent and skill but he committed an act which can be termed as cheating, knowingly and in full view of some 27 cameras. It was a knowing deliberate act and wide opinion holds somewhat justifiably, that it was done with very doubtful motives. Having first stated that the PCB will conduct its own inquiry to then state that he will take over after his ICC ban is over is passing judgment on an unforgivable act even before the trial has been held.

Mr. Chairman you are damning Pakistan cricket and worst still Pakistan in the eyes of the world as supporting illegal behavior on the cricket field thus adding grist to the mill which wants to highlight such matters. You of your own volition have appointed and ‘disappointed’ some of our finest cricketers rudely and for no good reason. In one case the Patron saw fit to order the re appointment of one these greats against whom you continue an unseemly tirade in the press. You continue to act in a manner which seems to suggest that there is neither accountability nor love left for Pakistan cricket.

For the love of all that is holy, have we totally lost it?

Javed,

Dhoni is doing OK as captain, he is not a great test player, but he should be judged as a wicketkeeper batsman in Tests. Looking from that angle you can’t say Dinesh Karthik or any other keeper is better than Dhoni, he executes team plans as they are designed in the strategy sessions reasonably well.

It’s important to look at overall team performance against all oppositions and not just in the light of the most recent match.

SA is a very good team and they have the right skills to win in the sub-continent, their batsmens like Kallis and Amla have almost sub-continental qualities, you can say Kallis is like another Dravid and Amla I understand is a Pakistani descent, and he is is very wristy batsman like Laxman.

In the bowling dept too SA has in Steyn who can use swing bowling well, but these things need to observed in the light of a whole series.

This is where sub-continental fans gets carried away. One loss and they are thinking the series is going to be 2-0 and one win they are thinking they are top of the world.

I tend to look at things in balance. As I said before India has improved very much, they are not the top team, and they are not going to win all matches against top teams, but they will win more matches than they lose. It is going to be same case for SA and Aus too. SA probably slightly better team than India given they have Steyn, I am not really impressed with other bowlers. Their batting though is top quality, almost as good as Indians. Australian batting is not that great these days.

Javed,

It’s a good thing for Pakistan cricket that Greg Chappel declined coaching job. He will finish off Pakistan team and make sure they end up in bottom with his process and laptop and what not.

I never said, Karthik is better keeper than Dhoni. Karthik is in good form and his inclusion in the team is a good decision and I also wrote that he is a good fielder. I am not sure if Dhoni throws his gloves he would be as fast and as agile as Karthik is, but that is another matter, we were talking of Captaincy and Karthik is not the same.

There are times when Dhoni’s judgment is flawed and you can see the Yuvraj case. And, sometimes he gets carried away but, I am not saying he is a bad captain. Every person reaches to his level of incompetence so based on that, I said, he needs to keep his feet on the ground rather than start flying high. His batting form is needs to be checked and improved. And, who says he is not a good test player, what is his test average?

newguy

I know why you have said that about Greg Chappell? Once bitten twice shy, he created a rift between Ganguly and the other players and then Dravid too was dragged in it and there was certainly divide and rule method applied by him. But, who is to be blamed for that? Obviously the players. If they want to trust the coach so much that they start playing politics then this was bound to happen. A coach should be highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and he should be honing their skills and he should be planning a strategy for the team, not just a strategy but, plans and back up plans to counter the sudden changes in the game. He should not be sleeping behind the dark glasses. But, in no way the players should try to confide in him and start backbiting other players, then it will happen, I mean whatever happened between Greg Chappell and Indian players. Then, Ganguly tried to use his Kolkata clout against him, it all ended in bad taste, a guy in Cuttack slapped Greg Chappell, that was bad and a serious lapse in security.

However, I am glad that he refused Butt’s call. Because, Butt is a black hole where, even light cannot escape!

Newguy,

I think that Greg Chappel was the coach that the team needed. He is a strong man who would have erased player power from the team and eliminated all the mediocrity killing Pakistan cricket.

On the other hand Lawson was a very average coach who would always look for excuses. If they had to get someone Australian with a tough mind-set initially, it had to be someone of the mind-set of Greg Chappel, Jeff Thompson, and the like. They have the mind-set that doesn’t accept defeat as they are personally very accomplished players– and not only that, but they are mentally tough people who call it the way they see it.

Another good coach for Pakistan could have been Whatmore who had the personality fit for Pakistani players.

Guys, its 10:15 pm not my usual time to hit the sack, but I have to get up very early tomorrow, besides I am very tired, so I am off, take care have fun. In a few hours from now khansahab would be taking over the role of updating comments so keep on writing.

Javed,

I agree Karthik is a good fielder and he is a positive addition to the team, as 12th man, reserve, whatever. I don’t know why they dropped him after Bangladesh tour, he did nothing wrong there, I think it’s only regionalism, Saha is from Bengal and they had to give an East Zone player some chance.

As for Dhoni, yes, agree, he need to keep his feet on the ground, but he like Youvraj so much , may be it’s because of the age factor, they both play in ODI together so much, many innings where Dhoni and Youvraj played and won matches, everyone has their comfort level.

As for Greg Chappel, I think he is too strong and too arrogant. Just my opinion. If it’s a good coach Pakistan need, why go for a gora, why not Wasim Akram or Imran Khan. I don’t understand why Imran can’t get involved in cricket and fix things instead of running after politics where he is nothing anyway.

Javed,

One more thing, about Greg Chappel getting a thappad with a chappal I think it was about time one of the gora saabs got one from desis. I mean, they have been giving it for long long, weren’t they, one poor desi waala thought I’ll give one back after ages of domination by gora saabs

//This is the first time India has lost under Dhoni so that says something about his tactical skills./

i dont agree with this stmt. he was lucky that under him viru-gambhir combo was at its peak. not to forget the ever reliable middle order. the only good thing about dhoni is his attitude with respect to batting. he is no more a hit or miss player like he was before. he doesnt play anymore to entertain, he plays for the team according to the situation. but i still am yet to see a great test knock and great test captaincy from dhoni.

//One loss and they are thinking the series is going to be 2-0 and one win they are thinking they are top of the world.//

newguy
the best i expected was a 1-1. forget about the aussie critics, i neva thought we deserved the #1 ranking till we beat aus in aus, SA in SA. these are the only worthy test teams at the moment. england is good in patches only

OMER i think pakistan should go for micky arther. He had just resigned as sa coach and did excellent job in nourishing new talents like amla and devilliers and then winning matches too. And best of all he is used to politics withen sa cricket and should be able to control all politics in pakistan team. An aussie coach wil be to strong for pakistan cricket as aussies like to do things thier own way and all our players are matured in thier bad habits and its difficult to change them i think what pcb should do is to put australian coach at junior level who can teach young players work ethics and put winning mentality and tactical awarenes in them so when they reach at national levels they are good enough to compete and win matches.

newguy

As for Imran Khan, he thinks he is way above these petty positions. He is aiming for the top seat of Pakistan. He wants to be the President or the leading Prime Minister and not a chairman of the PCB. And, I don’t think he will ever achieve the highest position in Pakistan because, since he entered politics in 1992 he has reached no where. (you have also said, he is running after politics where he is nothing anyway) If you look at his political party Tehrik-e-Insaaf, there is no one BUT him. As a cricketer he was a dictator, in the hospital project he was a dictator and now in his political party too, he is a dictator.

After getting fed up with the political thugs and crooks and army generals most educated people in Pakistan wanted to see him to lead the country i.e., when he entered into politics. And, I was one of his staunch supporters. But, after seeing him for the last 18 years, he seems to have no mass, no substance, no diplomacy, no real manifest for the party that he can stick to and say this is it, we want this. But, he keeps negating his own statements and of late he has been giving very loose statements which were not expected from him. Especially the one against Babar Ghauri, a young worker of the MQM party. That was so racist of Imran Khan. Also he said, that Einstein’s equation E=MC2 is nothing but farce only to strengthen the Zionist propaganda. All this is a totally different subject so lets not get into this. In just a few words, he is not fit for the job because, he doesn’t want it.

And, Wasim Akram, I think you guys should keep him in India, give him citizenship and he will be happy. He has no loyalties with Pakistan, he is only loyal to money and that’s it. He was the biggest match fixer, if its a secret then its an open one. Because the whole world knows about it. When he was approached by young Pakistani fast bowlers to help them in correcting with their fast bowling actions or to give some tips he asked them rudely to buzz off and suggested they should go to the PCB and ask them (Mohammad Akram, an ex-test player, TV commentator said this in a TV interview how Wasim Akram ridiculed and insulted him and other players). Whereas, in front of the TV cameras in Australia, he openly helped Irfan Pathan with his bowling action. When the PCB was looking for a bowling coach Waqar Younus came forward, whereas Wasim Akram asked the PCB to first create a fast bowlers fund and make him whole and sole in-charge of it. For him it is the cart first and horse later. He was and still is, a very greedy person.

I would like to back up 420‘s point that under Dhoni, India has some real good batsmen, perhaps the best ever. The dependable opening pair, the strong middle order, good spinners and a decent fast bowling pair. Himself a good wicketkeeper but, he has not scored a real big innings so far, which is very much needed occasionally because, how long will Tendulkar be scoring centuries and Dravid will be there as a Great Wall of India? Or, how long Laxman could play an innings like he did against Australia? You cannot expect this from Yuvraj or Raina in test. Once these greats retire, Dhoni will be in shallow waters, unless he pulls up his sleeves and play like either one of them on a regular and consistent basis and also pull off a great test win from under the jaws of defeat like Ricky.

420,

Micky aurthur might be a good coach, but you have to consider the personality of the team and the personality of the coach as well. Arthur would make plans which will go right above the head o the 11 players. Then what else he might add as a coach?

The team’s personality always gelled well with people like Dav Whatmore, Greg chappel, and the like. Someone who can explain to them things at a bit lower level but be able to push them, someone who is going to “command” and “demand” from the team rather than someone quite like Kirsten who would have a word here or there and analyze strengths and weaknesses… What I mean is that a Kirsten tpe of coach is suited to the current Indian team with many great batsmen, but what Pakistan needs is someone like Whatmore who is going to push them hard with that dangerous look on his face when the team is losing Another player that was mentally tough was Nasser Hussain– who could perhaps coach a team like Pakistan, but at this point, he seems to be not as ruthless.

420,

I would not say Aus and SA are the only worth teams at present, India need to beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka which is the next tour for Indians. Last time India lost 2-1, flummoxed by M&M, we’ll have to see what awaits them this time as Lankans will roar like Lions on home turf. Don’t expect a repeat of 2-0 which India achieved at home against them.

As for England, you said they are good in patches, well guess what they won Ashes defeating Australia in England and they drew with SA in SA, both teams you consider as top. They are a good team in home conditions and they played better than India did in SA when they toured last.

In fact, India has tough tours lined up this year, they are to visit SA later in the year. Both SL series and SA series will tell true standing on Indian team.

Overall SA, Aus, Ind, SL, Eng are competing well in no particular order. Only teams lagging at test level now are Pak, NZ, WI, and Bang, again in no particular order.

As for expectation, I would expect India to defeat SA 2-0 at home and win series away. There is a difference between expectation and hope, my expectation for them is high, I don’t settle for drawn series, but I know it’s not easy. Unless you start dreaming big you can’t win the big matches. Ultimately it’s not so much about, talent, it’s also self belief and determination too.

Javed,

You are right, once the big guys reture there will be problems. But I will let selectors and team worry about that transition. Any transition is going to be tough, and they will lose many matches, so be it. That is how they learn and re-build, so long as they can do it within a reasonable period, say 12 to 18 months.

Dhoni is lucky to have a good combination working for him, stable openers (a big factor for any winning team), solid middle order, a good fast bowler, a good spinner, decent backup bowlers, and let’s not forget coaching and support staff. So, yes, he is enjoying a combination of everything that is working well for him, but you still need to execute plans well and carry the team. He is doing well in this regard, he is no maverick, but he is doing decent job, and his keeping is fine. As a batsman I expect him to do better than most keepers. In my view, he has 3 roles, in no particular order, keeper, batsman, and captain. If he does 2 out of the 3 roles well but lags a bit in one of the roles, I could still say he is OK, so long as it’s not a cronic problem. For instance, he can keep low batting average one series so long as he captains well and keeps well, provided he catches up with his batting next series.

LOL this is hilarious:

http://www.cricinfo.com/2010iccwt20/content/current/story/447879.html

Afghanistan beats the USA and Hamid Hussain compares the team’s performance with that of an American actor, Stallone in Rocky.

Ironically, at this point the US is planning a major offensive in Afghanistan, dubbed by the media as the greatest of its kind since Vietnam.

khansahab

Rashid Latif kay kehnay say kya hota hai? Kuch bhee nahee! The first and foremost thing to do is kick out Ijaz Butt and get a new Chairman but, not any of the ex-players, they all have Pea Brains and no one would be able to handle a high profile job like that, it has to be someone professional.

Omer Admani

You have to be in Afghan shoes to be able to understand the rejoicing. I will let them enjoy!

Naseem Hameed the fastest female runner of South East Asia, has brought laurels to the country when their cricketing heroes have lost every single match they played on this NZ Australia tour. While Naseem is going through a phase of euphoria and everyone is rejoicing at her unique achievement, Zafar Iqbal a male athlete from Pakistan started nagging like a female. He complained that Naseem got warm reception at the airport while he was ignored and it is just because she is from Karachi and he is from Sargodha. What a dumb athlete he is, instead of brooding and nagging he too should have joined the celebrations at the airport by saying, she is the first female athlete to bring a gold medal for Pakistan in this event and we are all proud of her. But whiners are whiners and you know where they come from?

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=223864

//As for England, you said they are good in patches, well guess what they won Ashes defeating Australia in England and they drew with SA in SA, both teams you consider as top.//

I would not worry about the end result. England escaped 2 defeats by sheer luck in SA. And AUS was at the rock bottom during the ashes.About SL, they are yet to win a test in AUS/SA?

Quality of test sides have decreased drastically. India held on to it/improved lil, which makes them seem better.

As much as I hate ponting and the Aussie domination, I really wish India has their fighting spirit.With a Z grade team they beat India 4-2 in the last ODI series!

A very good article from DAWN. The author has mentioned a quote on change towards the end and it is long overdue. This player power must be broken…if we remember, Waqar’s career was hampered because of the same player power and at his peak Waqar was probably even a better bowler than Wasim. Had he not lost his years at that time when he was destroying oppositions, he might have been the best Pakistani bowler ever…but right now, it is even more unwarranted as the root of player power is mediocrity…and the board has thrown its support behind it by making Malik the captain.

Legends of the fall must be removed to restore sanity By S.M. Ibrahim Farooqi
Friday, 12 Feb, 2010 Player-power reigned supreme in certain team decisions in New Zealand and Australia while Yousuf remained a bystander.—File photo by AFP Cricket
Greg Chappell turns down offer to coach Pakistan Greg Chappell turns down offer to coach Pakistan It seems that Pakistan cricket, struggling to overcome its many drawbacks, needs a quick yet thorough overhaul. The process, however, should be carefully carried out in order to make it productive for the future.

Under-fire skipper Mohammad Yousuf and head coach Intikhab Alam may argue that it is not the first time that we have surrendered on a tour of Australia, so why this augmented hue and cry over this debacle?

But the truth is that the recent trip has been an out-and-out disaster with not even a solitary face-saving win to show for the visitors. The tour was marred by brazen cases of player-indiscipline while the fighting spirit was next to non-existent.

Virtually all outings lacked the leadership charisma, thanks to our ‘defensive’ skipper; no individual performance of note was registered, neither any new talent unearthed.

So, the uproar on the disastrous faring of the national side is in no way unwarranted, particularly in view of the fact that the current Aussie side was considerably weaker opposition sans stalwarts such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden and Justin Langer in their ranks.

The four entities — Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), captain, the players and the team management — are jointly responsible for the big flop. One should imagine that the task of investigating the causes of defeat should be cut out for the six-member probe committee. But since it is headed by PCB Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari and includes number of court jesters, aspersion are being cast over the Board’s intentions of conducting a ‘real’ post mortem.

The manner in which the PCB mishandled key issues after succumbing to player-power in Younis Khan’s case late last year, the abrupt departure of the likes of Aamir Sohail (NCA director) and Abdul Qadir (chief selector) from the Board, and the ordinary choice of team management, the poor show in Australia was always on the cards.

Awful decisions of sending and calling back players during the New Zealand and Australia series spoke volumes of the PCB’s wavering confidence in its own team besides raising questions about the authority of the selectors.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim’s departure, needless to say, was not a hasty decision. He was never too satisfied with the working of PCB top brass and expressed his displeasure on key issues during the past few weeks.

Also, the horrendous announcement of Yousuf’s removal from captaincy in the middle of the Australia series lacked rationale and didn’t help the team’s cause.

The game of cricket has time and again shown how a dynamic, farsighted captain can inspire a dead brigade under toughest of circumstances. Yousuf, for number of reasons, could not do the same. Yet if he is adamant to cling on to the captaincy — as his media statements indicate — it’s downright audacious and shamelessly selfish.

Yousuf’s poor skills in man-management were exposed when vice-captain Kamran Akmal, whose butterfingered glovework had left a lot to be desired on the tour, flouted rules by selecting himself for the final Test at Hobart. Brother Umar Akmal’s mysterious injury saga also raised eyebrows, but better sense prevailed with the youngster in the end.

The captain’s awful run-out dismissal with Salman Butt at the other end in Hobart unleashed a brief yet intense war of words between Yousuf and the opener in the media — the last thing an astute leader would indulge in.

Sources also confirmed that player-power reigned supreme in certain team decisions in New Zealand and Australia while Yousuf remained a bystander. His latest comment on a private TV channel that one player created disharmony in the team also reflected poorly on Yousuf himself.

If his comments are to be believed about the problematic player, the on-field disaster is not very hard to explain. How could 15-16 individuals having varied sets of thoughts rally behind one man? Perhaps that’s why the team had no direction, no proper game plan to counter the best team in the world.

While embarking upon the Australia tour, manager Abdul Raqeeb had an image to live up to. Despite the flop, one hopes he divulges the undisclosed facts in his meeting with the probe committee for the sake of Pakistan cricket.

The extent of 68-year-old Intikhab’s utility for the team is a big question mark. The former Test all-rounder who stressed on team unity without making much impact, should hang up his boots forever to salvage some pride.

To cap it all, stand-in captain Shahid Afridi’s unthinkable ‘chewing the ball’ act was the last nail in the team’s coffin. We had already been dubbed as Australia’s bunnies throughout the tour, now we were the cheats, too.

Does the game have any future in the country after this? While there is no talent drought in Pakistan, as our under-19 stars have proved it in the World Cup, the wicked ways of the PCB and the growing menace of player-power spells doom for Pakistan cricket.

‘Change’ is the buzz word today and is required to be implemented in the letter and spirit. The nightmare in Australia is now history and a change in system and approach can still do the trick.

“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future,” said John F. Kennedy. It applies perfectly to our situation.

A true indication of the standard of Pakistan cricket is this– West Indies without their 8 players in the playing 11 (their 4 first-choice bowlers aren’t playing) has gotten Australia 200-8 in the 49th over. They had all the field inside and choked Australia.

This is also an indication of how bad Rana as a bowler is and how poor Youso’s captaincy was, as Pakistan always had Australia 60-70-80 for 4 and Australia comfortably made 270 thereafter.

At hindsight it all seems fine, see what Meesna Shoaib Malik is saying:

“I think we should’ve attacked more at Siddle and Hussey. We didn’t and that is why we lost. We need to stop making excuses about why we lost and just go out on to the field and perform and give our full effort. I don’t believe in making excuses, I believe only in giving my best efforts on the field. I don’t need to justify myself, I just try and do that on the ground with my performances.”

He is telling Yousuf to stop making excuses whereas when he lost the lone T20 under his captaincy by giving it away on a silver platter to Australia, he said: “We are professionals and, we are learning from our mistakes (after every single defeat he says this) and I like to thank the Australian sponsors and CA for this tour because, we enjoyed here a lot (after losing every single match?) and whenever we come to Australia we enjoy here a lot. “

Now, he is saying that he doesn’t want to captain the side i.e., because his mentors have advised him not to demand it but, let it come. Because, there is a strong lobby that is opposing Shahid Afridi to lead and taking this ball chewing incident as a good reason to keep him away from captaincy, so they don’t want him come back as a captain in ODI and T20. Shahid Afridi himself has made his case difficult, first by saying he does not want to play test cricket and then, he chewed the ball and now chewing the cud. The other problems are no one else is capable or suitable to lead the team at the moment.

Malik, we all know how capable he is of creating politics, he is the one and only player who has openly admitted fixing a match and was proud of his action after that and told that to the entire nation in front of a TV camera. Yousuf, Younus are both a gone case now so no question of their leading. Kamran Akmal too has made his position very vulnerable besides, he is not a captain’s material, in Omer Admani’s eyes he is not even a wicketkeeper hence should not be in the side. Salman Butt too, he cannot find a place in any form of the game so one should not even think about him.

Some people are saying choose a very young captain like Umar Akmal or Mohammad Aamer. IMO, that will be suicidal. You cannot do that at this stage. Both are good in their own departments but, it will be too soon to make them incompetent, (Every person reaches to his level of incompetence) and neither of them are educated enough to have that kinda man-management skills nor enough experience. So, one should not even think about it.

Despite his Chewing Ch2yapa Afridi should still be made captain of ODI and T20. But, the main question is, who should be leading the test side?

Who says Zardari doesn’t take interest in sports?

Check out this link:

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/sport/03-pakistan-makes-women-winners-ambassadors-ss-06

He was quick in appointing Naseem Hameed and Sara Nasir as ambassador of sports. So, the point is he is deliberately ignoring cricket.

Team Manager Raqeeb ul Hasan’s official report:

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/cricket/03-captaincy-discipline-problems-led-to-pakistan-defeats-ss-05

I am highlighting only TWO points from that report, because I have just written about these two (Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer) not to make them captain at this stage and here is an example of their behaviour and rude attitude towards seniors, I was not aware of Gul and Aamer incident, but I was aware of Aamer and Younus Khan’s altercation when Younus as a captain asked him to bowl according to the field and he responded by saying, people consider me as a next Wasim Akram and you are advising me how to bowl? :

1. The report also mentioned a heated argument between pacemen Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamir during the second Test in Wellington.

“Since Gul is very experienced cricketer, Aamir should not have confronted him in the field. However in my opinion both the players acted in an irresponsible manner. As such I have taken the action and fined one hundred thousand rupees (1,200 dollars) each,” Raqeeb said in the report.

2. In an another incident of ill-discipline, young batsman Umar Akmal was blamed for giving a media interview without the manager’s permission before the Hobart Test when he was undergoing examination for apparent back strain.

“The committee is requested to assess the entire situation and impose a heavy fine on Akmal so that he can become a lesson to others.”

420 :
I would not worry about the end result. England escaped 2 defeats by sheer luck in SA. And AUS was at the rock bottom during the ashes.About SL, they are yet to win a test in AUS/SA?

As much as I hate ponting and the Aussie domination, I really wish India has their fighting spirit.With a Z grade team they beat India 4-2 in the last ODI series!

You made two statements here which contradict each other. On one hand you are saying England defeating Australia did not matter since Australia were at the rock bottom (you forgot they just won a Test series in SA just a couple of months back). Then you go on to say they beat India with even worse team (Z grade) 4-2. Which one is it? Australia is a Z grade team that can beat India in India, but then England beat them in Ashes that did not count? Does that make India worse than England. LOL.

About the Aussie fighting spirit. I hear many Indians fans complain about India cricket team not having this, I would say this is a culture that Aussies as a society has built, not just their cricket team. You don’t join a cricket team and get trained on being tough. Indians need to have a culture of sports and toughness, as such Cricket is not a very athletic sports, many Indian kids play only cricket from childhood and they are not very athletic. They are afraid of getting hurt, it’s not the same with many western cultures, they play different kinds of sports from childhood and they are not afraid of getting hurt. Aussies are a tough breed as a society, so you can’t hope Indians get that culture. Instead, Indians need to focus on what they can do better and win the matches with their unique brand of cricket.

I don’t think they are far too off. We’ll see by end of year, how this team is progressing. As I said earlier you have to look at things over period of time, not just one or two series.

Bangladesh is the top team in the list of all the nations who lost all 10 international matches in a series they played and, Pakistan is also in the same league except that they played 9 matches and lost all.

Au Contraire, Pakistan is also the only other team besides Australia to have won all 8 international matches they played but that was in 1989-90 when they played against Australia, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies in Sharjah. That was Imran Khan’s team with Javed Miandad the key player and the team eventually won the 1992 WC in Australia without Saeed Anwar and without Waqar Younus.

The team needs a good leader, as far as talent is concerned it is in abundance and even now they have very talented players they need to be harnessed, honed and controlled. For this, Pakistan needs a very good professional Chairman at the PCB who choose the right selectors and the right captain who plays the right combination of a team in terms of batting order and in terms of their effectiveness on a certain ground (whether suitable for fast bowling or spin bowling) that is suitable for tests, ODI’s and T20′s.

420 and newguy

You two have been saying that Australia, India and SA are the best test teams but, the best team Australia were so close to lose the series against this so-called pathetic, depleted, dis-grunted, disunited and inexperienced team, had there been good captaincy they would have won both the series for sure. However, the same team if they play against India they will be a different team altogether, so please don’t rule out Pakistan based on this tours performance.

JAVED A. KHAN :
420 and newguy

You two have been saying that Australia, India and SA are the best test teams but, the best team Australia were so close to lose the series against this so-called pathetic, depleted, dis-grunted, disunited and inexperienced team, had there been good captaincy they would have won both the series for sure. However, the same team if they play against India they will be a different team altogether, so please don’t rule out Pakistan based on this tours performance.

Javed,

Where did I say that?

In fact, I have been saying that England and Sri Lanka are also very good test teams at the moment. Australia could have very much lost a Test or two if only Pakistan had the will to go a bit further, and Australia almost lost to West Indies one test. England drew against SA in SA recently. India could lose to Sri Lanka in the upcoming tour of SL.

So, I am essentially saying what most people who follow cricket knows now, that there is no one top team or top three teams, instead there are five or six teams that could beat each other if they only try a bit more harder.

Javed,

As a matter of fact you will remember that I thought Pakistan was a good team capable of winning at least one test in both NZ and Aus, and while they won in NZ and came close to winning one in Aus, their infighting, lack of good leadership, and other off field issues made them lose pathetically. So, I am not ruling them out on skills, but at the moment there is so much politics going on it’s hard to judge where this team stands. But then there is always such things going on with Pakistan team and that is when they surprise you.

JAK
i guess PAK raises its game against India and AUS.From the 92 WC, i have realized it many a time

Newguy,

Why do you think Australians are the toughest sportsmen?

Are they the best at tennis, soccer– two games that are global? And, you can’t compare them with Pakistan at least…there is virtually no infrastructure to have enough players playing to produce some of te better ones. You have to compare them at the global stage…

Btw Chinese are probably the best sportsmen in the world, they do exceptionally well in the olympics. And, if they were to become a force in cricket, then you would see Tendulkars and Sehwags in the multitude unleased at the world. They will also recreate the Lilees, Warnes, and Mcgraths in dozens. Chinese people have exceptional hand-eye co-ordination…they are bound to be good in cricket if they were to start playing seriously.

newguy

I thought you said something earlier that India and Aus are the two top test teams, which they are at the moment or is it SA and not Aus? Anyways, top three……. never mind. And, based on that I wrote that Pak plays well against India. Khair, lets not argue on this. The most important thing is the team needs a test captain. If they make Afridi captain of T20 and ODI’s then they should ask him to take care of the test side as well or buzz off go and bite more balls, white, red, brown whichever he likes. And, even before that Butt needs to be butted out. I am copy pasting yet another new article on Butt’s ouster in the next comment.

The immoveable Mr Butt
There is only one way to oust the Pakistan board president. Catch him napping
Imran Yusuf
February 12, 2010

Stay or go? Sorry, you’re going to have to speak up © PA Photos

Compared to Ijaz Butt, previous Pakistani dictators look lightweight.

We got rid of them all, eventually, but it seems nothing can dislodge Mr Butt. He’s been in charge for almost a year and a half now, a year and a half of incompetence, lies, blunders, nail-biting, back-biting, ball-biting, and worst of all, for some unfortunate Sri Lankans, the biting of real live bullets.

The fact is, Pakistanis care much more about cricket than democracy, making Butt’s staying powers all the more amazing. A year and a half as a useless chairman of the PCB is equivalent to a decade and a half as a useless leader of the government. Butt is more durable than any of the Generals: Musharraf, Zia, and even our first one, Ayub Khan. It’s official.

There’s no doubt that Butt is his own man in every way. Even the resolute Musharraf had to give up his uniform, but Butt refuses to change out of that ill-fitting grey-brown suit. Reports he was once seen in a tan linen number are obviously wild rumours with no basis in fact, and I bet one could trace their scandalous origins to Javed Miandad. Let’s face it, the chairman just doesn’t give a damn. Talk to the hand cos the Butt ain’t listening.

You’ve got to give it to him, the man’s as fearless as Viv Richards and Shahid Afridi rolled into one. I once saw Butt thud around Karachi airport without any security. The 80s autocrat General Zia was eventually assassinated, but nobody would ever touch Butt. There’d be no point. He’d survive a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps he’s our secret weapon for a future war.

Ayub was toppled by a six-month popular revolt but the best we can do for an uprising against Butt is form a parliamentary standing committee. We don’t even have the will power to sit the man down: he will not be moved, and we know it.

Mr Butt, I salute you. You are here to stay. There’s nothing we can do…

…except one thing. The word is, Butt slept during a meeting last week. People, listen up, getting to the chairman when he’s unconscious may be our only hope. If the chance comes again, do not let it pass. Pick him up (this may require manpower), carry him out (serious manpower), thank him for the memories, and then, please, for the love of God, let’s get on with putting together a decent cricket team.

(If you were expecting me to end with a gag, please refer to match reports from the recent Australia tour. The whitewashes were one thing – actually two things, and three if we include the solitary Twenty20 – but Afridi munching on the ball really took the biscuit. Things are beyond a joke. Or they are a joke I don’t get. I mean, biting the ball, on live TV, twice? Something tells me there are bigger, deeper problems in Pakistan cricket than Ijaz Butt, but you gotta start somewhere. Over and out.)

Imran Yusuf works for the Express Tribune, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan

Omer Admani

If you are predicting the future of cricket, I would like to go a step beyond that. After the Chinese, the next team that will take over the world, in fact rule the world would be “The Octopuses.” Do you know the amazing qualities they possess? I think that will be a new civilization that will rule the earth. Find out more about Octopus or ask me I will provide you with more information. Because, I am amazed at this creatures abilities, I reckon they are better than Dolphins.

Shoaib Malik versus Mohd Yousof show has started now.

Now the rifts are coming out in the open. This is what Malik said,

“”I requested the chairman to let me have my say in front of the inquiry committee,” Malik said. “I want to ask you guys one thing. If you compare the spirit in the first seven matches on the Australian tour to the spirit you saw in the last two matches, what was the difference? Wasn’t it a totally different side? And who wasn’t playing in those last two games?” Yousuf missed the last ODI in Perth and isn’t a part of Pakistan’s T20I squad.

“”I think we should’ve attacked more at Siddle and Hussey. We didn’t and that is why we lost. We need to stop making excuses about why we lost and just go out on to the field and perform and give our full effort. I don’t believe in making excuses, I believe only in giving my best efforts on the field. I don’t need to justify myself, I just try and do that on the ground with my performances.”

Javed Khan,

LOL please go ahead and tell us more about octopuses.

Omer,

Tennis is an individual game, let’s just discuss team sports, you said Soccer, Australians are good at it, they are not naturals at the game like South Americans, but they have come up quite well. They made it to the WC semi-final if I remember correctly last time. Anyhow, I don’t want to argue about this, they are generally better people at sports than Indians is what I was saying to 420. I didn’t include Pakistanis in that, some of the Pathans are pretty hardy folks, especially from the mountains and all that

India desperate for a win, to retain the no. 1 position.

I’ve been asked to prepare a turner – Kolkata curator.

http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/story/447721.html

khansahab

This Yawar Saeed SOB is another Butt fart and he along with Inti Alam have ruined the team atmosphere during the tours and now if he has a Carte Blanche he will take out the venom against the players who may have not obeyed him in the past. So, the mission is kick out Butt and ask Yawar to F off.

LOL khansahab on Heera Mandi

In those comments I was very modest in saying that they entertained them with ‘doodh, dahee aur gosht and when the invaders used to go, they used to give away a few of the cows and buffaloes to keep feeding them on the way!

It is also mentioned in some books that the Moghul Emperors Jehangir and Akbar used to come back to Lahore for hunting and later during the British Raj they too discovered the precious Diamond Market and they used to visit that on the pretext of business trips and in the end they took some jewels from there back home and you find the off springs of Randy, Mandy in their country!

based on the comment of Mohammed Munir with the link about Kolkata’s curator. This is one of the few farcical and comical laws of the ICC that you openly tamper the pitch – I would call it pitch tampering or doctoring – because, you are doing it to your own advantage. I am not saying only India is doing, they all do according to the strength of their players and to exploit the weakness of the opponents. So, there is NO fairness in “sport” and war.

No one answered to my previous question about ball tampering, “if scuffing and roughing out one surface of the ball is illegal then how come licking, spitting, applying saliva and vigorously rubbing it on the thighs and on the hips by the fielding side to make one side shine so that the ball starts reverse swinging is not ball tampering?” Also, the fielding side throwing the ball back to the keeper with a hard bounce on the ground is not allowed, but how many times a player or a team has been accused of tampering the ball?

Omer Admani – You cannot skim read this one BAKAOZ you’ve asked for it.

An octopus has eight arms (or feet whatever you may call hem. 8 = Octo in Greek) attached to its head around the mouth. These “arms” have rows of suckers along their length. They are covered with suckers on the surface and many nerves within, which means they are used to both grab and “taste” things faster than anyone. As an example, the Giant Pacific Octopus has two rows of suckers per arm with 1,600 suckers in all.

The octopus has an excellent eyesight and well-developed brain. It can instantly change the color and texture of its skin to match the surrounding area. This camouflage is a major method of protection. I saw a documentary in which the big octopus was snoring with his girl friend lying besides him under one of his arms and there was a “Chota Badmash” octopus who wanted to screw his girlfriend and the girlfriend was also interested in this Chota, so the chota comes near her changes his colour and camouflaged itself, blends into the environment 100% and then screws her, by the time the Big Boss realized what happened, the chota raised a cloud of ink in the water and disappeared.

The body of an octopus looks like a bag. But, the amazing thing is as it moves the octopus breathes. Even more amazing thing is inside his body there are 3 hearts, the stomach and other organs. One heart pumps blood through each gill at the end of each of the two appendages. Water flows over the gills and fills the mantle when the octopus breathes in. The water is forced out a tube call the siphon as the octopus breathes out. It can force water through the siphon rapidly and jet itself backwards if the octopus is trying to escape a predator. Using jet propulsion, octopuses travel many kilometers. An octopus can protect itself temporarily blinding an attacker by squirting ink at it. The third heart pumps the blood through the body. The octopus blood is light blue. Remember the Royals have Blue Blood.

The octopus group makes up around a third of the worlds cephalopod population, with around 300 species found in waters around the world. The octopus can be found in the all the worlds oceans, which is why I said, they will out number the Chinese ! Since they have no bones they can squeeze in anywhere. Its brain is amazing. You must have read stories about how it functions? Lemme give you a couple of examples I saw on TV:

1. They placed a worm in a Gerber food bottle (infant food bottle) and tightened the lid and kept it in the water, the octopus came, picked up the bottle with one of its arms and tried to move it round using suckers and then opened the bottle by applying suction pressure on top of the lid with a little twist, like we do. The bottle opened he ate the worm. Total time 58 seconds. Thereafter, he was opening new bottles in 0.6 seconds. This is learning ability.

That was his learning ability and here is one about deceiving, cheating and playing innocent.

2. In a lab there were two aquariums in one there was shell fish and in the other there were was an octopus, they used to shut the lab during the night time and go. In the morning they found the shell fish disappeared and the shell (body skeleton) was lying on the floor. The Octopus remained unharmed. It continued to happen this for a few times and the lab owners installed a camera and left it on during the night and were amazed to see that after everyone had left, he would quietly sneak out of its aquarium, walk down on the floor to the other corner, climb up into the shell fish aquarium catch the fish, eat it, leave the shells out and quietly sneak back into its own aquarium, as if nothing happened. There was kinda top cover over the aquarium he used pull it over like before, as if he has remained there all the time. That MF was caught on the camera. It gave the scientists a shriek

The octopus is the only invertebrate which has been conclusively shown to use tools. At least four specimens of the Veined Octopus have been witnessed retrieving discarded coconut shells, manipulating them, and then reassembling them to use as shelter. This discovery was documented in the journal Current Biology and has also been caught on video.

For today it is enough…………. unless you have more questions ~

feel good watching the afghan victories! less than a year (?)to international cricket, they have come a long way. one good thing icc has done in last decade is developing the cricket in the associate countries. i hope they make it to the next T20

Javed Khan,

That’s interesting. So, are they smarter than dolphins?

LOL Khansahab …I don’t know about that. You have also encountered this phenomenon?

Omer Admani

It is hard to compare between the two creatures because there is no comparative studies on record. Dolphins have reportedly been used by the US marines in some secretive projects and besides that they are famous for being so intelligent and for their social behaviour, whereas Octopus has not done anything significant in terms of being utilized by humans or in mixing with them perhaps one of the reasons is due to the short life span of Octopus. But, there is an aura of mystery that’s shrouded around them.

Imagine when they will take over this planet and rule, each Octopus having 3 hearts must also be having 3 wives? (Shareef walay Mulla Types) And, the real Badmaash, AayeeYaash (corrupt) ones would be having 8 girls around him because of its 8 arms. Since there aren’t any bones in it he can squeeze in any where, use your imagination! And at a given time he can kiss 1600 females because it has 1600 suctions or suckers. Their underworld Dons must be having a thriving business when they make blue movies with all that special features and we as Human slaves would be paying all our money for watching those movies or peep live shows!

I think I must write a book on this about our future during the Octopus Reign or Octopus Empire!

But, Khansahab that Phenomenon has changed into a Phenomena bAkaOz, the jewels of The Diamond Market have been shifted to different locations, not only within the city or within the country but, internationally. Like I’ve said b4 how Randy and Mandy migrated to the UK? Now some of the local Jewelers of ICHARA have moved to the USA along with these jewels, which are their own family possessions and they have no inhibitions and hesitation in presenting them to friends and business acquaintances to solicit some deals and get favours. One such jeweler is in the USA and you know him well I still have his TOPAZ in my gallery.

Khansahab,

I meant Punjabis claiming Persian descent?

As far as I know, the only people of Persian descent are the parsis in Pakistan, India. However, there is a trend that increasingly when someone asks Punjabis where they are from, they go like 1/8th Persian, 1/10th Turkish, 1/5th pathan, 1/2 Arab and so on…

Javed Khan,

Its interesting, because what you have mentioned of Octopus above shows a higher level of consciousness than Dolphins. Dolphins are considered intelligent, but they tend to learn by the reward/punishment mechanism, ie, they are expected to do a task in exchange for a certain reward (fish) and with time they tend to learn to do the task.

However, the example you have given of an octopus shows that they are very observant and can learn by reasoning and making logical connections between ideas. For instance, the Octopus didn’t have to be led to learn a certain task in the instance where he went into the other acquariam and ate the fish– he was observant and innovative enough to figure that out himself. So, your claim that they might rule the world one day is not totally unwarranted. What would be interesting, though, is whether they can think as a group (and whether they do) as individuals can only accomplish so much in their lifespans…and whether octopuses can pass on their learning through generations so that they can build upon what they have learnt. If these two things are indeed true, then that is a very dangerous creature! Not too distinct from humans, as you have drawn on the Maulvi analogy and Bhutto analogy above

Omer Admani

They do have the ability to solve the maze and problem-solving capabilities and experiments have shown that they do have both short and long-term memory as well. It is only their short lifespans that limit the amount they can ultimately learn. To answer your question unlike apes and humans, they learn almost NOTHING from their parents, with whom young octopuses have very little contact. Also, the have a highly complex nervous system, only part of which is localized in its brain. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are found in the nerve cords of its arms, imagine the kinda feelings they must be generating from their arms when there is a Hoor in his pehloo? Humans have to redefine the expression: “Hoor kay Pehloo may Langoor,” into “Octopus kay Pehloose may Hoors.”

This ability to have so many neuron cords in its arm is a remarkable amount of autonomy. Octopus arms show a wide variety of complex reflex actions arising on at least three different levels of the nervous system. Some octopuses, such as the Mimic Octopus, will move their arms in ways that emulate the movements of other sea creatures. When they are under attack, some of the octopuses can perform arm autotomy*, in a similar manner to the way skinks and other lizards detach their tails. The crawling arm serves as a distraction to would-be predators.

*Autotomy it is nature’s gift to some animals to help them escape when under attack or injured. Like a lizard when it is chased, sometimes sheds its tail and slip away and the detached tail continues to wriggle and distracts the predator, while it flees to safety. Similarly, the Octopus can also detach its arm and run away, then he goes on to the Internet and orders a new arm from e-Bay.

Omer Admani

Most Punjabis I know they claim that they are Kashmiri descents and so far I haven’t come across any Punjabi who said they are of Persian descent. Whereas, among the Pathans, not the Pushto speaking but, those who speak Hindko and Urdu, some of them, they speak Persian as well. For example this Indian actor Nasiruddin Shah, his first cousin was my colleague in Dubai and he used to speak Persian because, that’s his mother tongue. But, he was equally very fluent in Urdu with no tallak, tallafazz problems.

A child can learn and speak 4 languages very fluently, some can speak even more. A child’s brain is like a blank CD.

Omer Admani

The reason I said “Octopus will take over the world one day” was because of the mystery that they change into any colour, shape according to the environment and camouflage themselves, distracts by detaching its arm and so many things, but the most dreadful of all would be, ONE DAY…….. if they change and take the shape of a human? brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr that would be The Day.

Javed Khan,

Are you suggesting that the antihero in terminator 2 was an octopus?

As far as camouflage is concerned, it is very common and some lizards and snakes also do it to conceal themselves from predators. There are some lizards in Pakistan which can apparently change into 7 colors.

I wonder whether you are aware about dragon myths, because since they arise in all different cultures, couldn’t it be that they might actually have existed at some point?

Ind-SA 2nd test is underway. SA won toss and chose to bat again. India decided to stick to the bowling attack from last match that took only 6 wickets and conceded 558 runs. I wonder whose genius idea is this. They got what they deserve, so far SA is running away with the match. I don’t understand why they love Ishant Sharma so much, he did not look like he will take a wicket in the last Test, and he looks even bad today. Sreesanth is fit and available and is a wicket taking bowler, they should have selected him. Mishra came on to bowl and he too went for plenty. Mishra along with Ishant went wicketless in last test and according to team think tank these two are worth persisting in a Test they must win to draw the series. What a pathetic bunch. Dhoni is hiding Bhajji now, because if he comes on to bowl he too will go for plenty and India are looking at 600+ on board with Steyn on their tail.

newguy

Smile now because after the 2nd wicket partnership of 209 runs with Amla and Pietersen both scoring centuries India fought back very well and took 8 wickets in 57 runs only. The slide began after Kallis and you are right apparently it looked like 500-600 were on the cards but now, India has a chance unless they play very badly. They should get the last pair early tomorrow to restrict SA from being Hussey and Siddle and get them out by 275-280 max. If Gambhir and Sehwag can wag Styen and Parnel both can go into their shells. So, interesting 2nd day game on the cards now. Good luck.

Omer Admani

I am aware of lizards changing colours and I have seen them leaving a part of their tail behind which stays wiggling and all that, but there is nothing like an octopus which can change colour and even shapes according to the environment, a lizard can only change colours but not shapes. That is why I said, what IF he changes its shape when it is among humans? Never mind, its not gonna happen in our lives. But, it would be interesting to know more about Octopus intelligence.

LOL khansahab

Were you on a date with MOSNA? Ahemmm, I am asking because today is St. Valentines Day. You could have asked MOSNA to drop that S and call herself MONA (darling) Just kidding.

You see most of the Arabic words or names are not easily pronounced by the people of sub-continent and in Punjab they have their own way of pronunciation especially where the alphabet H is to be emphasized and more so when it is not the first alphabet to pronounce, they can say Hassan, Haroon, Hameed, but not Mohsina or even Mohsin (they would say Mosin).

Aimad for Ahmad
Mohmad for Mohammad (seldom the double M is used)
Samia for Samiha
Zaied for Zahid etc.

Then there is another Q version which you will find only in Punjab they cannot pronounce Q, instead they use K

IKBAAL, for Iqbal
Zulafkaar, for Zulfiqar
RafeeeK, for Rafiq
Shafeek, for Shafiq etc.

These are just names but the strange thing is they say support for sport and sport for support.

Tusi menu sport kero (here when they have to say support they say sport)
Tusi support, shupport ich dilchaspi rekh day O? (here again it is opposite)

Javed,

Yes, good fight back from Indians, once they get Amla, Peterson, and Kallis the feeble middle order just choked. Nothing like a little bit of pressure to get SA down on their knees

Having said that, Indians have to conquer Steyn, for that Sehwag need to fire and along with him Gambhir should hold up one end. If they can do that for 20 to 30 overs then the game is in India’s clasp. If they lose wickets quickly and fold up for 200 to 300 then game is wide open again. India have to bat big once and up to 500+ and SA will crumble under the pressure.

It will not be easy though, they have to negotiate late swing from Steyn, that is the trick, he can bring the bowl in or out from the same delivery position and ball swings late fooling the batsman. Second day’s play will tell where the match is headed.

Newguy and Javed Khan,

What do you people think, maybe it is Steyn’s day and he gets India <100-150 and sa are back in the match?

I just saw Steyn's stats on cricinfo and he has a strike-rate of 37.4 in the past 2-3 years and the second best average of all-time in the subcontinent. He is definitely the best bowler in world right now. So, it will really be a question of Steyn versus India…the real danger for SA will be Sehwag upfront and getting Dravid out. However, if they drop Tendulkar's catch, he can make a 100, too.

Interestingly, Asif comes second in most statistics when bowlers are compared in the world (average, strike rate, and so on)..

This is how I see the top 5 bowlers in the world atm:
1)Steyn
2)Asif
3)Aamer
4)Roach
5)Zaheer Khan

Omer Admani

Ian Chappell has written something about late swing and specially more so about Dale Steyn here is the link:

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/448084.html

newguy

Theoretically it is possible that India can make 500 but, they have to negotiate the new ball. Gambhir’s current form is like JP Duminy’s and he is getting out cheaply. One needs to dig in like Amla and Pietersen otherwise India will lose more wickets than SA against the fast bowlers. SA were troubled by the spinners but, India will be more troubled by Steyn and Parnell. Today’s game would be interesting.

Omer/Javed,

There is the possibility that India could fold under 100 to 150 today and SA are back in a big way. Steyn is the real threat and the only threat in my opinion, other may get wickets because of the pressure he creates. But Morkel and Parnell do not have the swing capabilities of Steyn.

newguy

That is true that Steyn is the real threat, but sometimes when one bowler is taking wickets the others also bowl well in tandem, there is no such rule but it happens most of the time. However, Indian batting line up has improved with Laxman and Karthik in the team and I won’t expect Tendulkar to score another hundred here but, I do expect Dhoni to play a good knock, may be a big hundred.

Someone called Aga wrote an article on cricinfo highlighting the India/Australia match in which Harbhajan took a hat-trick, here is the link:

http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/current/story/448225.html

Something similar happened to the visitors here but, India should not be dreaming of the past glories, they must work hard to win this test match.

Chris Gayle talked big and ended small. Before the series started he said, we will beat Australia 4-1 and they are yet to win a match here. There is no one in the West Indies team who can challenge the Australian bowling attack, not even Gayle. He plays one good innings in 10 matches but, rest of the time he is on the losing side.

In the test match between Bangladesh and NZ, the home team at lunch are 73 for 3. Its so strange the BB McCullum who opens for NZ in ODI’s and T20, plays at number 7 in test. I think Pakistani captains, coach and selectors must also think about utilizing their exploding players like Afridi, Umar Akmal with Imran Nazir instead of a Duddoo like Imran Farhat to open the innings at least in T20 if not in the ODI’s because, they can take advantage of the power play and score some real fast runs, it doesn’t matter if they get out, because Pakistan has batsmen who can play up to number 8. There is no use in sending players like Afridi or Fawad Alam when there are only 2-3 overs left. Then they are under pressure to perform and a hit or a miss would end up their batting career.

Javed Khan …

Comment no. 123 …

You have raised some very good points about the ball-tempering and also ‘pitch-tempering’. I agree that if a bowler plus 10 other players are allowed to rub, lick, apply saliva, spit on the ball and what not, then why not allow them to use finger-nails (which is nothing external) to lift the seam or scrape the shine ? Furthermore, every country tries to take advantage of home-grounds and prepare pitches to suit their own game plans, then how come that doesn’t amount to tempering ? What we have recently seen in an abandoned India/ Sri Lanka match at Delhi grounds was a disgrace and certainly a case of genuine pitch-tempering by the host country.

Unfortunately, cricket till today, even after over a 100 years of it’s inception, have various flaws with it’s rules and regulations. For one, there are different set of rules for every series which doesn’t apply as general practices, such as UDRS (Umpires Decisions Review Systems) are applied on case to case basis. Secondly, the game of cricket is a case of ‘never-ending-evolving-condition’, and every now and then we see some new rules/ regulations to suit one country or another.

Cricket is such a sensitive game where the outcome of the match largely depends on numerous small factors like the weather conditions, timing of the day, state of the ball, types pf ball (red/ white), pitch conditions, umpiring standards, technologies, and countless other minor issues. Whereas in many other sports, since both the teams are using the play grounds at the same time, it doesn’t really matters whether it rain, shine, snow, etc.

Sensitivities of the such minute issues, occasional wrong decisions, umpires mistakes (which are clearly shown on TV), ball/ pitch tempering, reliance on individual players, ineffectiveness of team involvement, issues with the match-fixings, politicizing of the game (IPL/ ICL) are just a few of the underlying concerns which are hampering the game of cricket to be accepted and encouraged in the wider spectrum.

Comment no. 141 …

You explanations were just hilarious and true also. After reading your comments, I thought about those words (H & Q) and you are absolutely right, as most Punjabis have exact same issues, it seems you have done a full research on the Punjabi language

And Finally …

Today there was an interview of our new T20 Captain, Malak Meesna, in the local newspaper and this is what he has to say:
“We didn’t play well against Australia. But you always learn from your mistakes. We worked hard for these two matches. When you lose, these controversies arise. We had quite a few meetings and we talked about what went wrong in Australia.”
“Well, we are professional cricketers and right now we are playing for our country. All other things are secondary. Now we are just concentrating on these two matches.”

Now I remember this %&@*%@^!*&#!*@&%^#*^! Malak, saying these exact words (We have to learn from our mistakes & We are professionals) at least a million times and someone should go and slap him on his face and ask him WTF have you learnt in over 10 years of your professional career ??

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/inside_sport.asp?xfile=/data/cricket/2010/February/cricket_February112.xml&section=cricket

Munir

First about cricket, at least now besides, you, khanshab, Omer Admani and I, more and more people are also beginning to realize WTF this Meesna Malik is talking about? He has a template and he simply cannot say more than that i.e., learning from mistakes and being professionals. Besides slapping, one should ask him what has he learnt from his past mistakes? And, then slap him again on his face.

The other thing is, he has been emphasizing that in those two matches when Yousuf did not play i.e., last ODI and the T20, according to Malik he himself is confessing his revolt against Yousuf by saying we worked hard in those 2 matches. So, it is confirmed that he deliberately did not work hard in the previous matches when he played under Yousuf’s captaincy. If anyone has a little common sense would pick up the lies from his statements. He is a self confessed match fixer. Others like Wasim Akmran and likes, who fixed the matches for money never admitted that they fixed. Whereas, Malik admitted in front of the TV camera that he did and not only that he did, he was very proud of his action. At that time he got a 2 match ban by the PCB and not ICC because it was a domestic match and this ban was like a slap on the wrist. At that time no one said he got away with that, whereas for Afridi his haters are saying that he got away after chewing the ball. You know the story of a Pathan who ate a soap? If not ask me and I will tell you.

Now, that you have agreed with me on the ball tampering issue and the legal way of tampering (preparing) the pitch by the curators is never considered as illegal. The rules of cricket are funny. Ask Inzamam ul Hulk and, he would tell you how he feels after he was given out? Once for defending himself by jumping within the crease and once by defending himself from the ball being aimed at his body. It is like heads I win and tails you lose.

Now about the language issue. Its not just the Punjabis but even among the French people when they speak English they stuff the alphabet H where it is not necessary and omit it where it is essential for example they say:

Hinglish for English
Ome for Home (in fact they write Homme for a Man in French)
Hekscuze me for Excuse me
Angry for Hungry
Azband for Husband
Heat for Eat
Ear for Hear, or Here and a lot more…….

The Chinese cannot pronounce R they say L instead
Loom for Room
Load for Road
And, I once wrote how the Chinese children sing this nursery rhyme……. Linga Linga Lozes….

newguy

You should be happy watching the match, Sehwag is wagging his bat and making the SA bowlers and fielders run around. He was lucky that JP Duminy who is totally out of form with the bat, also sloppy in the field, dropped a simple regulation catch in the slips when Sehwag was on 47. It is lunch now and Tendulkar is his other partner. Until now I was under the impression that Dinesh Karthik is playing? But, when I saw the Indian batting line up names his name is missing. Instead they got Vijay and Badrinath. Come on WTF is this? Karthik is anytime better than these two players. I think Dhoni has either some grudge against him or he is threatened not to have him in the team. Although if he was playing he would only be playing as a batsman and not a wicketkeeper. I was so sure that after his two big hundreds in the final of Duleep Singhji Trophy and his inclusion in the squad, he is in the playing XI but he is being treated like Fawad Alam and that’s a shame.

Surprise, surprise no one commented after India’s batting at the end of the day’s proceedings. India is only 46 runs ahead after Sehwag’s big ton and Tendulkar’s yet another hundred, India should have been in more commanding position had they not had Badrinath or Vijay in the team instead they must have Dinesh Karthik. Now, Laxman and nightwatchman Mishra is there with Dhoni and the tail yet to come. I am not so optimistic with the batting form of the remaining batsmen. Practically after Dhoni it is a long tail, in fact part of the tail in Mishra is wiggling at the crease. JP Duminy got the prized wicket of Sehwag but at price? After dropping a simple regulation catch in the slips when he was on 47, he went on to score 165, meaning 118 runs extra plus the useful time in partnership with Tendulkar, otherwise India would have been under pressure to take the lead.

The Cricinfo awards ceremony is to be held and among the names of Sehwag and Chris Gayle for outstanding test innings, 19 year old young debutant Umar Akmal’s name is among the top 5. My feeling is Sehwag will get the award for his consistent test run spree, the awards may be based on last year’s performance but Sehwag has continued his form even till date. Even in this series he scored a hundred, then a fifty and now a 165. Tendulkar, whose name is not in the top contenders have scored 3 consecutive 100′s so far, or is it 4 ?

Javed,

Yes, a good day from India’s point of view. Nothing like a good Sehwagging to get the opposition bowlers demoralized. Suddenly you see everyone batting well. I was disappointed with two things, first Sehwag-Gambhir partnership had great momentum and SA was losing grip on the match quickly, their bowlers were almost giving up hope, had they gone on for another 10 more overs match would have decisively turned in India’s favor, second was Sehwag’s exit before he could get a double and hang around end of day unbeaten demoralizing bowlers further. Gambhir was looking good and he could have gone on for a big score as well, and the way Sehwag was playing he was ready for a big double.

Match is evenly poised now, India can hope that they have Laxman and Dhoni and they could stitch together 100 odd runs. SA on the other hand is pumped up now and will come fresh in the morning to attack, if they get one of these batsman out or both of them, we know what will happen to the tail. India will be left with 60-70 runs lead and then it all depends on how well they could bowl in 2nd innings. SA will fight hard if the lead is small.

But if the lead is over 150 run then there will be pressure to put up a big score and they will make mistakes under pressure.

If SA sets a lead of anything close to or above 200 then it will not be easy for India in 4th innings. Especially Steyn will be very crucial. Only batsman who can win the match for India is Sehwag, and Tendulkar to a lesser extend. India have to hope they are chasing less than 150 in 2nd innings.

3rd day will be cruicial, SA will fight tooth & nail because they know it’s not every day you get to have a series in India. If they let go of this chance they may not get another anytime soon.

India knows this too, and hopefully they too will fight hard.

Javed,

I want to comment on Vijay and Badrinath. You are right that these two are looking like liabilities right now, but at the same time, based on domestic record and pre-match analysis these two are probably the best of the new generation Test batsman to be given a chance. There are others like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina who have done well in ODI waiting for chance, and in fact Raina is in the squad as reserve, so is Dinesh Karthik.

Speaking of Karthik, it may seem unfair to not let him play and instead let Badrinath play, but you have to look at what has been happening in domestic cricket and the role they play. Karthik is a wicketkeeper batsman and he gets chance whenever Dhoni is not playing, as a specialist batsman he hasn’t done enough recently in Test to merit a place. At one time he was a specialist opener when Sehwag was out of team, he opened in England and scored a few useful half centuries. So, yes, he has faced new ball and he scored decently, but after that he lost consistency. He hasn’t done well as a batsman alone recently in ODI or Test. His recent domestic match hundreds may not be of much value against Steyn and Morkel.

More on this later/

Pakastani Senator Taraq Azeem has demanded that Shahid Afridi be kicked out of the team and he must be banned from 3-4 series. The law says no one person can be punished twice for one offense. But Chaudhary Taraq Azeem Khan Sahab of Rawalpind is a Snaytor and likes to do tur tur to get attention.

More on Vijay, Karthik, and Badrinath – I guess all of these guys are decent batsmen in domestic circuit and Vijay has done well in tests before this whenever given chance, Badrinath also score a fift in Nagpur on debut. The thing is Dale Steyn is the best fast bowler in world right now and Morkel with his height can cause some problems too. So, it’s not fair to judge them after couple of innings.

Especially when you compare to the trio of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman and replacing them with youngsters these guys don’t come closer when those three were young and starting out. This is known problem for India for future, they are not going get replacement for these 3 greats who just happened to come along in same period.

Karthik may deserve a chance, and he will get it sooner or later. Only if India had Dravid things would have been so different. No one like Dravid to hold a 4th innings chase together. Number 3 position now is very vulnerable with Vijay coming and it’s almost like sure to lose a wicket.

This is why I said India have to hope the 4th innings target is not over 200, without Dravid only Sehwag can do it.

newguy

The difference between Vijay + Badrinath + Saha vs. Karthik is, when you compare the domestic batting averages, if a well known test player scores a few centuries in domestic matches and the others also score just about the same and it doesn’t matter even if the ‘averages of these three is more than that of Karthik, imo Karthik should still be preferred over them for being a known test player should be preferred over the unknown or new players like them, because when this player (Karthik) hits two big centuries it means he is hitting form and gaining confidence and his experience will give him more confidence and momentum when he plays a test match. Whereas, a new player no matter how good he may have been will not be that confident. I am not saying that talented players who score centuries on debut are less likely to be considered over an established player, Badrinath’s fifty or Vijay’s previous performance where he too had a fifty in test cannot be the same as Karthik’s. Because, Karthik has one hundred and 7 fifties to his name and right now he is hitting form + He is more experienced and more matured, calling him back and getting him in the squad and then making him sit out is rather sad.

Javed,

I guess what you said makes sense about a Test player with experience hitting form should be prefered. Unfortunately, there are always other things in selection, like preferences, giving every player some chance so on.

Javed Khan and Khansahab,

What I don’t understand is that, what have the senators got to do with cricket?

Democracy all right, but how can senators get involved so directly with who to play and who not to play?

They should realize that the purpose of democracy is to achieve in end: meritocracy. The seneators aren’t the best people to make decisions on who to play and who not to play– they can write their critiques to the extent that we write them, but to directly announce these issues in a political context and framework shows an inability to understand their limitations.

Now that they have finally got democracy, they want to dance around with speeches and mikes like the Mullahs.

The way it should work is that, the PCB chairman should be elected by the assembly and have a certain definite tenure. During that time, he is the one who should make all the relevant decisions, and after that period, he could be re-elected or someone else could be elected. They have to form a republic model, it is not like every selection issue, which player to be played and the like, will be put to vote for the assembly or the people…that would amount to politicizing every issue.

Yes, Sallu’s article is very balanced and he has highlighted the facts but the problem is the thickheaded, thick skinned idiots who are managing the affairs have no effect on this kinda criticism, probably they don’t even read it or even if someone tells them that so and so has written such and such thing against you, they don’t give a damn about it. Ijaz Butt is a lunatic and even bigger is Zardari to have him there.

The appointment of Ijaz Ahmad the gambler who was banned from playing cricket for life by Justice Qayyum on match fixing charges and later he was jailed for a plot scam and a bounced cheque of a couple of million rupees have been awarded the job of a coach for the Pakistan U-19 and now for the national team is something only Ijaz Butt can understand and no one else.

And, khansahab it is not just a dark day but DAYS ahead if Butt is staying till 2011, lets pray that Zardari before that so that Butt also goess with him.

As regards Senator Tariq Haqeer‘s comments he seems to be like a “Kuwain ka Duddoo” I wonder how he got that post of Sactree of PML Qainchi? That party is full of chaudhrys and waderas and feudal lords and he should talk about banning the feudal lord system in Pakistan instead of asking to ban Shahid Afridi.

Omer Admani

When they have no work to do and when they are incompetent to do their job as Senators they talk about anything to get some attention from the media and the public. This is not his bloody job, but he doesn’t know what his real job is. Besides this idiot Senator Taraq Haqeer, there is another Paindoo Senator Zafar who wants Malik and Asaf to be Captain and Vice Captain. Plus there is another Paindoo from Lahore he is Senator Akhtar he too wants to ban Afridi so that MALAK can remain captain. There is no other country in the world where Senators are directly talking to the media about a cricket team selection or meddling in the affairs of the sports body.

Some of them are such cheap tarts that they cannot digest the gold medal won by Naseem Hameed (who won the gold medal for being the fastest woman in South Asia) one of them said, another male athlete from Sargodha did not get as much publicity as Naseem BAKAOZ he is from Sargodha and she is from Karachi. As if Karachi is another country? They should have been proud for her as she brought laurels for the country and it was for the first time that a Pakistani female athlete won such an honour for the country. But, they are bloody whiners.

Khansahab,

It is not about democracy, it is about having a workable system in place. Otherwise it is anarchy.

Musharraf has apparently made a statement that he would come back and fight democratically. So, if he gets elected, he is still the leader and that preserves the system. And, that is what he should have done before…but now, I don’t know if it would be the right move to go back, because the history of Pakistani leaders is so bloody– they seem to always have the same end, because of foreign powers or internal, that it would be not safe for Musharraf to go back.

Imo it is necessary to have a system in place, of checks and balances. As it is, a mesh of individual freedom, democracy, and meritocracy works in the west. It could work in Pakistan as well, but right now the leaders in the party come from the bloodline, they aren’t elected. I don’t know why…

Pervez Musharraf hints at return to politics
Monday, 15 Feb, 2010 Pervez Musharraf at a meeting at the Chatham House think-tank in London. —Reuters Photo Columnists
The Indo-Pak waltz The Indo-Pak waltz LONDON: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf hinted at a return to politics in his homeland on Monday, saying he would “do anything for Pakistan” but the voters there must decide.

“I love my country and I would do anything for Pakistan,” the retired general, who was replaced last year in elections after nine years as president, told a meeting at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

He added: “For Pakistan one would be prepared to do anything. However, it is for the people of Pakistan who need to decide.”

Musharraf joked that, “I’m a civilian now, I’m not a military man, I cannot take over anything,” a reference to his seizure of power, while army chief, from elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.

“I have to come through the political process, through the process of elections. But I think it’s very good – it’s very good because I think I will have that legitimacy which I never had,” he said.

Musharraf did not say if he has decided to return to Pakistan to face trial over his 2007 detention of judges as he attempted to cling to power.

He had imposed a state of emergency and sacked about 60 judges on November 3, 2007 when the Supreme Court appeared poised to declare him ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform. —AFP

Omer Admani

There is nothing wrong in Musharraf returning to Pakistan and participating in elections that would be a better way than the army general coming into power. As regards your fears and apprehensions that it is not safe for him. It is not safe for anyone. Do you think Zardari goes openly in public? Jamais……. Never. Nawaz Sharif is also surrounded by his security forces and every move that he makes is calculated, they say whenever he goes out the route is all planned and protected. When Benazir came she was warned by the government at that time not to go openly in public but, she refused and ended up like that. I dunno how Musharraf would be able to address public rallies but, there will always be danger in Pakistan for any leader. I hope he does not join hands with PML Qainchi group. They are all feudal lords and chaudhrys.

As regards Imran Khan, he will get some votes from Punjab but nothing from anywhere else. He will never be able to form a government. Since he has unable to gather mass in the last 18 years, there is no hope that he will get now. Well, miracles may happen like who thought Zardari would be in power? Even Zardari in his wildest dream may not have thought that he will be in power, yae tou BV nay murr kay ussay yae sharf diya and he capitalized the opportunity.

Another Chronic Lunatic Senator is on the loose and that is Senator Enver Beg, he has a habit of blabbering like Sarfaraz Nawaz, read his comments:

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=224458

He is talking about match fixing and saying that most Pakistani players are involved in match fixing. The problem is not with the current team involved in match fixing but, the appointment of all those who had a history of match fixing by the PCB. Ijaz Ahmad who is a known Suttay Baaz match fixer, banned from playing cricket for life is appointed as a coach and Wasim Akram wants him to remain as a batting coach for at least one year.

Another Mother of All the Suttay Baaz, Great Gambler, so-called Pakistani national but, Indian Resident (hoping to become an Indian Citizen) player of the players against Ek Hasina, naam jiska Sushmita, shakal say jhoota, cricket bat jaisee Naak, Naag Saanp jaisy aankh, BV kay gham ka dhong rachanay wala, Magar much kay aansoo bahanay wala, ek zamanay ka behtreen bowler Wasim Chakram is now leering up to grab the job of a coach of Pakistan national team by saying: “Pakistan needs a high energy coach”. He wants Shoaib Malik to be the captain for at least one year. Read his comments in DAWN.

Another candidate who is eying for the job is Pir Inzamam ul Hulk Qassab, urf Uncle Aloo, he wants to be the batting coach. Himself he is a couch potato, who prefers to Eat, Sleep and Gym. (Eat Nihari and Paye, Sleep while fielding in the slips position, go to Gym to check how is everyone doing there!

Yet another candidate, Paindoo Zaheer Abbass, he has also expressed his desire to take over the job snatched from Inti Alam. Zaheer Abbass was the manager of the team when Inzi was involved with Darrel in hair raising circumstances and ALL he did was kept walking here and there with his cell phone glued to his ear. God knows whether he was talking to his second wife in India or settling divorce issues with his first wife in Karachi? In short he did nothing while he was the manager and was terminated by the Terminator, hence I call him the Ex-Terminator (here in French Khatmal Maaron ko Ex-Terminator kehtay hain.)

Why on earth we have people like these giving statements or trying to promote and project themselves for a high flying job? That is BAKAOZ …………………. PaiiSaa Bolta Hai.

=== LS Administrators: Please replace this following message with my last comment ===

With regards to the forthcoming T20 games against England, the interest this time around is just NOT there. Mainly due to our dismal performances in NZ and Australia; but also because of the current controversies and deplorable issues surrounding our cricket in general. Moreover, peoples will also miss Afridi in the first game and his captaincy in the second.

Nevertheless, I for one, will be attending both the games in Dubai, not only because I have the pleasure of VIP viewing in corporate boxes and attending matches is more like a social obligation and a good PR opportunity, but more importantly because my younger one wants to see “Afridi” (even when he is not playing).

BTW, after we lost the last T20 against Australia, my 7 year old son went to his mom and said, “Mumma, cricket is a good game and I like to watch and play it, but ‘this game’ makes me so sad when we loose’.

I know a personal friend who liked cricket himself but is keeping his kids totally away from game and trying to hook them to international football. When asked, he explained that “I don’t want my kids to get demotivated and depressed seeing Pakistan’s cricket”.

Javed Khan,

I meant more along the lines, that the opposition would fervently seek opening past cases against him (of persons missing from Balochistan) and will be hell-bent on getting him hanged, no?

I am not quite sure about this, but I think that is a possibility. Considering that, most Pakistani leaders have found somewhat of a similar fate…

Well, India have put up a mammoth total in 1st innings and declared just 15 minutes before close. SA have to bat out 2 days to save this test. It’s almost sure India cannot lose this test now. VVS Laxman’s presence in the middle order made all the difference. Four Indians scored hundreds and four South Africans went for more than hundred runs. It’s over to Zaheer, Harbhajan, and Mishra to win the match and draw the series.

newguy

U must be happy I wrote earlier that I don’t expect from Tendulkar to score a hundred but I expect Dhoni to get a big hundred. That made all the difference had he failed Laxman may not have batted with the tail piling up so many runs. And, Sehwag’s hundred was the main reason that India were able to score so many runs, he gave a good start, dropped on 47 but, that is all a part of the game, who doesn’t get dropped? Instead of saying, India cannot lose this test now, I would say. India MUST win this test now. There are 2 full days and a huge lead, how long they can play and how many runs can they score? Theoretically, yes but how many teams have played for 2 full days? I don’t think SA can win, they are chokers. Unless there is rain or some such disaster, this match is in India’s pocket.

Omer Admani

The Baluchis, The Talibans, The Al-Qaida, The Lal Masjid miscreants, The Army and the External forces etc., they all must be after him. Even the opposition would like to take advantage of this situation and play undercover but, that should not stop him towards his march for the implementation of Democracy in Pakistan. A true leader knows that he can guide them towards their goal and that is democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. I wish him best of luck, aagay Allah ki marzi.

Javed,

Yes, Indians actually exceeded my expectations, I never imagined both Laxman and Dhoni would score unbeaten hundreds and get to a massive 600+ score. But if you remember I said on Day 1 that India need to bat well and put up 500+, they did that. In India the key to winning test matches is always to pile on as many runs as possible and then put pressure on opposition with the sheer weight of runs.

South Africa did bowl well though, especially Steyn bowled superbly in the morning, beating Laxman and Dhoni both on many occasions outside the off stump. But he was unlucky not to get an edge. Then in the field they dropped many chances, it was very unusual for a South African side to drop many chances. But as you said, it’s all part of the game.

As for winning, I think yes India should win and not let anything get in the way, spinners will come into play after lunch and tea on 4th day. Harbhajan, Mishra, and even Sehwag can spin the bowl. Let’s see how well they handle pressure. I think Amla, Kallis and Smith are the key, they all have the quality to play a long a patient innings.

Hope you guys have seen this. These are the new Dancing Fountains of Dubai. Just in case if any of you is planning to visit Dubai

Munir,

I reckon Javed Khan would want to join you in Dubai, since the fountains there dance, too

Munir

Link tumharee jabe may hee reh gayee! Never mind, I have seen dancing fountains and they are not just in Dubai but, elsewhere too. I think Sweetie has sent the link a few months ago.

Afridi set to feature in Emirates Twenty20
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

KARACHI: Swashbuckling all-rounder Shahid Afridi has signed up to play in the inaugural Emirates Airline Twenty20 Tournament in Dubai.

In an amazing coup, Fly Emirates XI — a team of amateurs who juggle cricket with busy jobs at the Emirates Group — have recruited the 29-year-old in a bid to claim a shock victory against the professional teams they will be facing in the two-day festival of cricket on March 19 and 20.

Afridi will be lining up alongside Emirates employees including four who are also members of the UAE team which reached the last four of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers — as they attempt to upset the odds against some of South Africa and England’s most talented Twenty20 players.

Afridi said, “It is going to be a tough challenge, but I am looking forward to it. I always enjoy my time in Dubai and am very excited about playing in the first ever Emirates Airline Twenty20 tournament.

“I know there is a real passion among cricket fans in the UAE and it will be great to play in front of them.” It is a dream come true for Fly Emirates XI skipper Nigel Fernandes, who is delighted his team will get the opportunity to learn from one of the game’s most gifted player.

“I can’t believe that Shahid Afridi will be playing for us,” said the 32-year-old batsman from India, who works as an Airport Services Supervisor at the Emirates Group. “He is among the best players in the world at the moment and to have him alongside us will give us a great confidence. He is a player I greatly admire. He is a natural talent who can win matches singlehandedly. It will be an incredible experience for everyone in the team and a real honour to line up beside him,” Fernandes added.

On the news Shahid Afridi playing for Emirates has prompted me to write this small note on Dubai

Dubai has changed a lot. I have lived in Dubai when there were hardly a few asphalt roads, there was no Jumeria, there was no Hamriya. Where Hamriya is today, it used to be sea, its a reclaimed land where Hyatt Regency and the fruit market are standing now. At that time there were very few buildings and not a single one was more than 3 stories high. People at that time were very nice people, very hospitable, were courteous and were great hosts.

But, today’s Dubai is an absolutely different world, mushrooming with concrete, steel and glass buildings, malls, hotels, towers tallest in the world, biggest in the world, first in the world, this is the motto, otherwise there is nothing in their life I mean besides, cars, jewelery, fashion, night clubs and sharmootaz.

Dubai used to be one of the safest places in the world, very safe, secure and peaceful, it was even a financial haven but, now its been hit by the glut in the real estate market and the recession. The stories that I hear on radio and the news that I see on the TV, makes me wonder is this the same Dubai when I was there? Last year there was a James Bond style shooting in Dubai, reportedly some Russian mafia gang. Last month one of the top leaders of Hammas was assassinated, here is the link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8518481.stm

This is the top story of today on the BBC front page and it is hitting the headlines. In that news you will see photographs of suspects and the interesting bit is, just like a James Bond movie, there is a woman too – reportedly involved in that case. Wow, what’s happening to Dubai?

Talking of Emirates Airline, I dunno how many people are aware of the fact that when Emirates was established they didn’t have any aircraft, PIA had leased them a few planes and not only that, the entire crew, administration from A to Z was provided by PIA. Now they have a huge fleet of aircraft and one of the biggest airports in the world (Munir has to confirm whether the construction of the new airport, which was halted last year due to recession has started or not?)

During that time Al-Maktoum Street was like Champ Elysees of Dubai, and it was hardly 0.5 k.m. long at that time, it was only between Al-Nasr Square and Ashraf Brothers (opp. Sheikha Latifa Building) and later they extended it up to the Clock Tower. On Al-Maktoum street there was Hassani Supermarket which was one of the biggest supermarkets of that time (4 shops under one roof) owned by some Pakistani family. On that street when people were walking around during the evening time, if there was any stranger, you could have spot him that, he is a stranger.

Javed Khan …

You have a gift for ‘writing’ and when you are in that special mood, your well expressed and perfectly detailed scripts are a treat to read, just like a sweet storey being told to an engrossed kid. But it’s a different thing, when you are perturbed and provoked on subjects close to your heart, such as cricket or Musharraf.

Yes you are right about Dubai and the price it has to pay for it’s most rapid growth and exceptional development from what it was to what it has transformed into today. What Dubai has achieved in such a short time is nothing less then a modern day miracle and when one embarks on expeditions like these he should be prepared for a ‘come-what-may’ attitude and willing to make a few sacrifices along the way. This is what Dubai has accepted and agreed to reach where it has.

Where on one side Dubai portrays exuberance, modernity and aggressive approach, on the other hand, neighbouring emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah were nestled in a different world and were reluctant to negotiate on their cultural, heritage, and rather conservational values. These emirates considered this a bit too high a price for development and being on the world map. This situation is more or less similar to any one city being more commercially active, cosmopolitan and center of attraction while another city in the same country may be less adventurous and traditionalist.

Coming back to Dubai airport, well a few years back, I had to do some research work on Dubai’s massive airport expansions (on same old airport). So I know that the work was neither really halted nor slowed down. Dubai’s old airport almost completed it’s expansion project (still some roads, metro, and related works are underway), and that tiny airport is now transformed into a huge travel-hub for so many airlines comprising of three major terminals. Where Terminal 3, is exclusively allowed to Dubai’s national carrier, Emirates Airlines. A fourth terminal is in the pipeline, while there is a special royal terminal for diplomats and dignitaries. You are absolutely right on Emirates being started with leased aero-planes as well as all the crew and know-how being received from PIA. But today Emirates has become one of the most successful and highly profitable airlines in the industry. BTW, Emirates has recently started a budget-airline called Fly-Dubai, which caters specially on no-frills and low-budget-flying concepts. Nevertheless, Dubai was also planning to built a ‘second airport’, more of an airport-city at Jabel Ali area which is on the outskirts of the main Dubai, however, since that project was coupled with huge real estate developments and various commercial/ residential properties, it has been ‘unofficially’ halted or rather slowed-down due to the recession, which is like so many other overambitious projects not only in Dubai but all around the world. So if you are talking about this second airport, then yes it is still halted, more or less.

BTW, UAE, in spite of being such a small country of less then 1 million nationals and approx. 3/ 4 million residents, overall has 6 international airports which are excluding any number of military and royal (for diplomats and VVIPs) airports. There are two more airports which can be considered as under development, one in Ajman and one at Jabel Ali, Dubai. There are at least three main airlines, Emirates, Air Arabia, and Etihad Airlines. This is in addition to newly started Fly Dubai, which is operating under Emirates Airlines.

That being said, like any other country in the world, Dubai too has it’s pros and cons and you are absolutely right because today when I go to Dubai from Sharjah, I rarely see a known face and so many of the tourists from allover the world make one feel uneasy. Actually, I stay in Sharjah and have only a few commercial properties in Dubai, mainly for investment/ trading purposes. I never lived in Dubai. I am more of an old-school person and personally prefer Sharjah more then Dubai, any day. BTW, I permanently moved to Sharjah only about 5 years back and prior to that I was stationed in Umm-al-Quwain which is an even smaller city or rather a remote village. But the best part is that Dubai was about 50 to 60 km from Umm-al-Quwain, and 5 to 10 km from Sharjah, so it is more like outer suburbs of Dubai.

Finally, please tell me when were you last in Dubai/ UAE ? And when are you planning to visit again ? Seeing Burj Khalif and Dancing Fountains on ‘you-tube’ and reading about them on internet or even hearing reviews from friends, can not be compared with the awe-inspiring magic of the real thing, you see

Omer Admani …

So you mean Javed Khan loves to dance, is it ?

I have been watching Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 and cricket, * its raining in Kolkata so match delayed.*

Canadian girl Maelle Ricker has won the gold for snowboarding cross by miles……. whereas world champion Helene Olafson of Norway was out of the medal contest. And Canada hockey team crushed Norway 8-0, I am watching the replay, Vancouver is amazingly beautiful in winter as well as summer. The cross country snowboarding track is amazing it is outdoors and a breathtaking view. Ricker had a problem in the first round, but somehow she qualified for the second round and after that there was no looking back, she was ahead in quarter, semis and in the final she was ahead by miles. She is the first Canadian woman to win a gold at home soil in this event.

Munir

Thanks for the updates on Dubai airport. I was there a couple of years ago and I am not sure when I shall be visiting Dubai next. Apart from a few friends who live there, I have no interest in Dubai. I hate traffic jams and the thought of getting stuck in traffic makes me sick. I am lucky to have my own business and when I go to work, I leave after the rush hour is over, so normally during rush hour it takes 40-45 minutes to reach downtown, during non-rush hour it takes me only 10-12 minutes. I do the same when coming back, either early or late depending on the work. There are 4 cities in North America which are considered as very beautiful, two in the US and two in Canada. San Francisco and Seattle in the US. And, in Canada Vancouver and Montreal.

Vancouver’s winter is very mild as compared to Montreal and, it has many mountains all over it is very scenic and very picturesque but, it rains a lot during summer whereas in Montreal during spring, summer and fall the city is so vibrant, so lively and bustling with life with so many festivals during that time. Winter is very severe but, one gets used to. This year February is very, very mild, so far the temperature is between -2C to -10C only. Normally between January 15th to end of February it is the coldest period of the season with temperatures well below -10C to -30C and lots of snow, this time there is hardly a few inches of snow. But, sometimes the month of March arrives like a lion and departs like a lamb, meaning we usually get 2 to 3 snow storms of 50-60 cm of snow but, the temperature is such that by the end of the month half of it usually melts away.

Pakistan team and Pakistan A played a twenty20 match in Abu Dhabi yesterday and Pakistan A won the match.

Imran Nazir once and Imran Farhat once again failing as openers, even against the kids team. Abdul Razzaq played down the order and remained 39 not out in 17 balls at a strike rate of 229 what a waste! Shouldn’t they learn from this? Razzaq needs to play higher up. In some matches he may not even get a chance to bat if he plays at number 8.

Mohammad Talha about whom there was so much talk that he is great and so and so….. gave away 44 runs in 3 overs. Mohammad Hafeez smashed him all over the places.

I never visited the blog called “PakPassion” until today. Up till now, I was under the impression that it is a reputable blog with some quality articles in it. Here is the title of one of the articles, watch out for the spellings and grammatical blasphemies and, not to mention the “kwalty” or the substance of the so called, “Artical”:

**************

“Artical on Ijaz Butt and his flaws. – Not serious about Butt of all jokes”

It is amazing how the president continues to ignore the failings of an unfit PCB chief

It is difficult to imagine if someone as beleaguered as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board would survive in office after a reign of terrible miscalls and misjudgments in any other country.
As cheeky teeny boppers are wont to say, it happens only in Pakistan!

Serious observers argue that to begin with it is about having a modicum of self-respect even if institutional accountability is lacking. By now, it is abundantly clear to all and sundry that Ejaz Butt is not listening. He seems to have this misplaced manifestation of steely nerves which, for instance, made former “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher famous for throwing down the gauntlet to her critics thus: “This lady is not for turning, you turn”!
Last week, a leading Pakistani private TV channel ran a marathon live show, which it billed as Cricket Ka Muqadma (the case of cricket), symbolising — if anything — how cricket is more than just a game or pastime in the South Asian nation of 170mn people.

The show drew former greats, including Pakistan’s only World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan and batting maestro Javed Miandad, ex-chiefs of Pakistan Cricket Board, members of its governing board, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on sports and eminent sports journalists for an incisive debate on how and why Pakistan Cricket has hit the nadir.

The one person central to the discussion however, was conspicuous by his absence. The vacant seat of Ejaz Butt was in itself an indictment of his role in taking Pakistan cricket down with him and only served to make light of the somewhat appropriate surname he has.

As articulated with some conviction by Imran Khan, the omens were strewn in the ad hoc nature of things — Pakistan Cricket Board has been without a constitution for the last 11 years — where the country’s president, gets to appoint an individual of his choice for the most coveted post in the Pakistani sporting arena.

Amazingly, President Asif Zardari continues to ignore mounting public pressure to sack Butt regardless of how his pathetic leadership has taken a heavy toll on the fortunes of Pakistan cricket. This has led the connoisseurs and Pakistani fans alike to infer only one conclusion from the lack of initiative on the part of the board’s patron-in-chief: politicking.

Ejaz Butt is the brother-in-law of Defence Minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, a close aide of the president. The current PCB chairman was appointed — some say to placate Mukhtar after he lost the race to become the country’s prime minister — following the resignation of Dr Nasim Ashraf, another non-cricketing personality, whose own tenure was a disaster but appears to be an aberration compared to the walking misfortune that is Butt.
In his 16 months in office, Pakistan was stripped of World Cup hosting rights after the unfortunate terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team with not a single country willing to tour anymore, changed four captains, three coaches, more managers and assistant managers than one can easily remember and lost half a dozen ex-greats in important administrative positions in the board thanks to his interference in their work.
Butt is also accused of nepotism, financial corruption and abuse of authority. Worse still, he is reported to be physically unfit to hold office with no less than Javed Miandad, the sitting director general of the board, citing evidence of embarrassingly poor memory and lack of interest.

At 72, Butt is also said to be hard of hearing and not being able to walk properly. Last year, he was also shown on TV asking scribes the score during a match Pakistan was playing. Not surprisingly, he has in recent times refused to appear on television or give interviews despite great demand.

It says something for his stewardship that the Pakistani team is hopelessly divided into groups, who appear to be having a field day with one senior player laying it on thick on another in full public view.
As well so utterly lacking is common sense that Butt announced Mohammad Yousuf would be replaced by a younger player as captain even as he readied to take on Ricky Ponting’s merry band for a series of five One Day Internationals last month!

The PCB chief had still to recover from the gaffe when Shahid Afridi, leading after Yousuf was forced to rest for the last ODI, decided to treat a cricket ball as little more than a cherry with his teeth — overlooking the presence of 27 cameras in an apparently, desperate attempt to win at least one match on the worst tour made by a Pakistani team down under.

So chaotic is the situation that Butt has had to reappoint Shoaib Malik — currently, himself under scrutiny for allegedly destroying team unity ever since he was stood down last March — as captain all over again!

In order to divert public pressure, the PCB chairman set up an inquiry committee made up of his own cronies to dissect the losses on the recently concluded tour down under. However, even before the committee could produce a report, it became evident why a demoralised Pakistani team had lost the will to fight as Yousuf without naming Shoaib Malik spoke of his anguish at the latter’s alleged role in creating divisions within the team.
Malik shot back with a rejoinder in asking the media why the team had fought so well in the last two matches of the tour
but did not show the same spirit in the seven straight losses before. He then himself preferred the answer: it was because one particular player was not in the side. No prizes for guessing the pot shot was aimed at Yousuf.
Malik also requested to be allowed to appear before the inquiry committee “because there should be someone to report about those reporting”. He made little secret of his disdain for Yousuf by suggesting Shahid Afridi should be the captain.

While this damaging game between the team’s senior players was being played in full public view, Butt was busy scurrying to the presidency for a meeting, which was cancelled in intriguing circumstances.
In a game for survival, hardly any of the protagonists appear fit — least of all Butt.

If anyone following Ind-SA test then I declare at this point the match is going in to a draw. India lost 2 sessions yesterday due to rain and bad light, even though they may get full day today, SA is blocking every ball and have no interest in taking any risks. At the most they will lose 1 or 2 wickets is what my prediction is. Pitch is not turning or allowing swing, to make matters Zaheer Khan is not bowling as he injured his knee yesterday, he was one bowler who could have provided some breakthroughs. There is nothing left to watch since SA is blocking and going at snail pace. I am off to bed.

Munir,

What I was trying to emphasize was that, when you try to conceal with and a remark which is cleverly meant to incite Javed Khan– what do you think, he would reply with jabs and haymakers at the dancing fountains?

Although Javed Khan did reply to your invitation in Afridi’s Dubai context…with finese and eloquence, as though caressing the fountains while disowning them rather than throwing the punches

What a match between India and SA!

Last pair hung on for over an hour and with just two overs to go India picks last wicket to win the test.

Classic.

newguy

This is how one’s perception changes when he sees the full picture. A while ago you were disappointed that nothing is happening and the test will end in a draw. But, things changed and came so close to an exciting finish and in the end India prevailed. Credit goes to Amla for his superb batting form. He is miles ahead of others in this series at least in terms of averages (average of 281 runs and, the second highest on both sides is in 90′s). He was twice not out, one in double hundred and again this century 123*, total three centuries great form, he deserved the MOM & POS award.

Somehow I had a feeling that in the end SA will crumble and they did, only Amla defended till the very end. If he had saved it, he would have become an immortal figure in SA cricket. And, that would have dented India’s psyche. It is also a good thing that Amla has been retained for the ODI’s as well, otherwise they had labeled him as a test player only. JP Duminy’s form is just like Mohammad Ashraful of BD, both are scoring in single digits, totally hopeless these days………….. Anyways, congratulations to you on India’s win and leveling the series.

Javed,

Yes, I had reasons to believe they could draw because the pitch was good if batsmen concentrated and Zaheer was not bowling. Anyhow, SA batsmen except Amla did not had the power of concentration. Amla looks so composed at the crease, nothing disturbs him. I believe he is also a very religious man and his meditation powers must be helping him concentrate his mind and keep a level head. It’s good to see that he does not wear it on his sleeve by exposing in public.

I would say Indians just about managed to escape, and lot remains unanswered by Dhoni’s safety first approach captaincy. But now that they won no one will question it.

Miandad says he cannot accept the coaching job because of his family commitments whereas, Wasim Akram says he has has commentary assignments, basically it is all about MONEY for him. And, he is trying to push his comrade in betting Ijaz Ahmad to remain as a coach for Pakistan team.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/sport/12-coaches-and-captaincy-miandad%2C-wasim-discuss-options-820–bi-07

HAHAHAHAHAHA…………. READ THIS

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/cricket/08-optimistic-akhtar-eyes-pakistan-captaincy-ts-01

The cricinfo awards talk show is going on and the so-called Einstein like judges are sussing out from public reaction who should get the awards based on popularity of emails and comments? Instead of making a fair assessment and judgment based on the facts and stats for choosing the best T20 player by using the last T20WC in which Dilshan was given player of the tournament award for scoring most runs. But, what these people fail to understand is, Dilshan failed to deliver the goods when it mattered most. He was out on a DUCK in the final.

Whereas, Afridi played well in the semis and final and in both matches he got player of the match award, in fact he played 3 consecutive matches very well i.e., against New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the final. He scored 176 with an average of 37 runs and took 11 wickets with the leading wicket taker of the tournament Umar Gul, who took 13 wickets.

Once again they will bring the ball chewing incident (which has no relation to this) to find an excuse and award it Dilshan or Gayle for their high scores in one match and ignoring the ZERO when it mattered most. So, how can you call him the best player of the tournament when he could not deliver it when needed? Dilshan has taken zero wickets Afridi has taken 11, even if you count one wicket = 20 runs, it is 220 and his score of 176 runs makes 396 as opposed to Dilshan’s 317. Dilshan took 3 catches in the tournament and so did Shahid Afridi, he also took 3 catches and his catch to dismiss Styris was unmatchable by any player. To me if this was not the case of discrimination, it was definitely favourtism and nepotism.

Relax Javed Khan, Afridi won, for the best ODI bowling, and Gul won for best T20 bowling. These are well deserving.

newguy

I am a very relaxed person may be my writing gives another impression to the readers, but trust me I am very cool. I still insist that Afridi should have got the best all-rounder award for T20.

In today’s match against England, this was expected, I mean Pakistan’s defeat was expected, especially when their top three players are regularly not scoring. And, much before the match started I told one of my friends that Eoin Morgan will destroy Pakistan’s weak bowling attack and he did. And, Malik’s captaincy was just as bad as Yousuf’s. He must be personally very happy to be the top scorer but, that is not what is expected from a captain.

Imran Nazir should be given one more chance tomorrow and if he fails, I guess his career is over. Scoring 2, 3 is not even worth the selection in the squad, Imran Farhat should not be in ANY squad. And, I don’t understand why Khalid Latif is playing? Is he Rashid Latif’s brother? If yes, then this BhaiBandagi and Bhai Chaaploosi must end. Perhaps in tomorrow’s match with Afridi’s inclusion things might change! Lets see.

new cricket match is now live sania shoaib and maha!