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cricket Pakistan
set to have another meaningless series 'The
Wall' goes past 10,000 runs in Test matches cricket Absolutely
unbelievable! Rawalpindi
Express derailed
Landhi
Gymkhana: An oasis for cricket players
Shoaib Akhtar, one of the most lethal pacers in the cricketing world, was banned for five years for violating the players' code of conduct in which he had publicly criticised the PCB's policies By Muhammad Shahbaz Zahid The debate here in Pakistan over who's to be blamed for the sporting downfall of the country goes on and on. Nothing conclusive is ever obtained and fingers are pointed towards each other. Every sports
federation, or the players themselves, have lame excuses in their
kitties Recent scenarios, be they from a cricket ground, a hockey field or a boxing ring, suggest that lack of proper interest for the development of sports and trained personnel is severely affecting what is an important part of our culture. Pakistan, worldwide, is in good terms known for its achievements in the field of sports. But with unhealthy circumstances prevailing over the country, the image of the nation, already disrupted by political and religious turmoil over the years, has been further tarnished. Talking about cricket and its impact over the country, everyone knows that the gentlemen's game has been, for a long period of time, a good ambassador for Pakistan wherever the name of the nation is brought into the equation. But ongoing controversies, which the national team and its board have gone through in the last few months, have increased Pakistan cricket's woes. The most recent of those incidents has been that of mercurial pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who was finally handed a severe punishment for his on and off-field antics by the PCB last Tuesday. Shoaib, one of the most lethal pacers in the cricketing world, was banned for five years for violating the players' code of conduct in which he had publicly criticised the PCB's policies. The 32-year-old, who was already on two years' probation for hitting a teammate (Mohammad Asif) with a bat, might see an end to his controversial career, which spanned out to eleven years. Some people say that Shoaib wasn't properly handled. He liked to do things his own way and didn't listen to any advice be it from his teammates or from the authorities. From a critics' point of view, one would agree to that. The flamboyant pacer liked to remain in the headlines and it didn't really matter to him if he was being praised or slammed in the press, one feels. If he was careful, he wouldn't have done such things which led to his ban. And it wasn't the first time Shoaib went against the rules of the game. He was also banned for illegal bowling action, breaching code of conduct on a number of occasions, ball-tampering, using obscene and offensive language, taunting, excessive appealing, testing positive for nandrolone and leaving training camp without permission amongst other things as well -- the total of which reads 15. If such is his record, one can say that Shoaib was a pampered child. A person who hasn't been looked after and is in dire strait of getting good advices can only act such poorly. The question here is why wasn't Shoaib looked after? Why didn't he listen to any one? Why was he amongst the news for all the wrong reasons? Though he had a wonderful record, why couldn't he live up to expectations and act like a gentlemen? These are few questions which people need answers for. Shoaib and the PCB should let every one know what the whole scenario was or is. This matter shouldn't be forgotten and has got to be peeked into. The most interesting part in the entire Shoaib saga is that he has been allowed to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL). My word! If Shoaib was such a spoiled brat that he was banned for a massive period of five years and wasn't in the good books of the national cricket administrators, why was he allowed to take part in the IPL? Although the ban on Shoaib was inevitable, it should've been a complete one. Whatever happens, Shoaib will still remain a Pakistani. What if he goes to IPL and does something silly there? Whose image will get mottled, Shoaib's? No, Pakistan's. Though Shoaib has been a match winner for Pakistan every time he has performed to his fullest, he had crossed the limits one is supposed to remain inside. Most would welcome PCB's stance, but the fact remains Pakistan has lost a jewel. The PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf, who announced the ban on Shoaib, said the bowler has the right to appeal the decision. Shoaib, in this regard, said on Wednesday in a press conference in Islamabad that he will go to the court and fight against the decision. Meanwhile, Shoaib, who took 178 wickets in 46 Tests and 219 scalps in 138 ODIs, wasn't the only one who was in hot waters previous week. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who also faced a charge of criticising the PCB, was severely reprimanded the same day Shoaib was banned. Kaneria had criticised his demotion from category "B" to "C" in the central contract in an online column. He later blamed a newspaper for publishing his column out of context. But these haven't been the only problems Pakistan have faced lately. With Australia saying no to tour Pakistan sighting poor political conditions in the country, the national cricket board was left with no options to save the upcoming home season. Plans were worked out afterwards and invitations to tour Pakistan were sent out to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in order to fill in the gap left by the Aussies. India and Sri Lanka refused the invitations saying their schedule ahead was already jam-packed with national and international assignments. Sri Lanka, though, said yes afterwards. Bangladesh was the only team that gave a positive response in their instant reply and agreed to play a series of One-day Internationals (ODIs), which will start next week. South Africa were extended an invitation too, later this year, but they have also rejected the offer saying they have a hectic timetable ahead. The above mentioned problem, of Australia saying no to tour Pakistan, was generated because of the turmoil that has taken over the country since former premier Benazir Bhutto's death in December last year. The situation was such that Aussies, after so many discussions with the PCB, couldn't agree on any account. They were right in their own terms as they felt unsafe touring a country where its own residents run for their lives every time something bad happens. The question that arises here is who will be blamed for this. Was that the previous government that failed to stabilise the proceedings? Or was it the PCB that couldn't convince Cricket Australia? The PCB, it seems, were left alone in this matter. They did try to persuade the world champions but nothing constructive happened. Australia players also supported the idea of not to visit Pakistan and after a sequence of dialogues, the tour was finally 'postponed'. Fans here, who were anticipating a wonderful contest between two cricketing giants, were deprived of yet another international series on home. Things don't look like to get better as the Champions Trophy hosting by Pakistan also looks doubtful. After Australia's pull-out, New Zealand also showed their concerns over security issues. If other teams will start to cry aloud like Aussies did, Pakistan may end up losing the rights to host cricket's biannual spectacle. Though it was assured in a recent ICC meeting that Pakistan will host the tournament, one can never predict what's going to happen next. Asia Cup hosting is on the cards for Pakistan and it is likely that Asian teams, at least, will visit their sub-continental rivals. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- the big teams besides Pakistan in the region -- are expected to show up for the six-team tournament. Things here can only get better if all the people, running the game in the country sit down together, set aside their differences and solely think about the future and progress of the sport. The
writer is a staff member at 'The News' Karachi shehnu@gmail.com
It is to be noted here that Pakistan are 'forced' to host a second successive bite-less series after world champions Australia declined to tour Pakistan due to security concerns By Ghalib Mehmood Bajwa The Bangladesh cricket team, who are just above Zimbabwe status-wise, have already arrived in Pakistan to play a five-match One-day International series and a historic Twenty20 International. It is to be noted here that the Twenty20 would be the first-ever such international game on Pakistan soil. The five-match ODI rubber will be played from April 8 to 22. Lahore's Gaddafi stadium is scheduled to host the first and third games on April 8 and 13 while the remaining three ODIs would be played at Faisalabad (11), Multan (16) and Karachi (April 19) respectively. Karachi's National Stadium is to host the Twenty20 International on April 20. It is to be noted here that Pakistan are 'forced' to host a second successive bite-less series after world champions Australia declined to tour Pakistan due to security concerns. And frankly, PCB had no other options to fulfill their home season after neighboring India also turned down their invitation for a brief series. And finally, after hard efforts, Pakistan team managed to get some international cricket though not of top class, against minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The poor competition level against a low-ranked team can be gauged from the fact that in a recent ODI series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan were struggling at 78-5 at Multan but they went on to score 272 and from 155-3 in reply, Zimbabwe could only manage 80 in the last 14 overs. At Hyderabad, Zimbabwe were on for a big total, but from a thriving position of 156-2 in 32 overs, they reached only a disappointing 238. They then floored four vital catches. As far as the selection of the national cricket team is concerned, it is good to see that Pakistan selectors are backing and introducing competent youngsters and in-form cricketers like Bazid Khan. Apparently Pakistan team looked a balanced one but the senior selectors made a couple of strange selections at the expense of some deserving cricketers. Sallu & Co recalled pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum, who has never been an impressive bowler in his career barring a few occasions. His performance even against minnows Zimbabwe was below par. He took only three wickets at 27.66. Similarly, all-rounder Fawad Alam has also been retained for the Bangladesh ODIs in spite of having highly ordinary performance (two wickets and 58 runs in four ODIs). It may be recalled here that both the above-mentioned cricketers have been with the national team for the last couple of years. They were part of the Twenty20 World Cup squad and were also in India with the team but never impressed with their performance consistently. On the other hand there are a couple of potential cricketers like Yasir Hameed and Junaid Zia who are being ignored surprisingly. Though the chief selector has announced to consider them for the later games of the Bangladesh rubber, they deserved to be included in team for the initial one-dayers. This kind of attitude with stylish batsman Yasir Hameed is not new for him or anyone else because he has been made a scapegoat many a time during his career. Yasir has exhibited his natural talent on several occasions but sadly PCB badly failed to provide him a strong backing which he deserves. On the other hand, Junaid Zia has been performing excellently in the recently played first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the on-going ABN AMRO One-day Cup. It is to be noted here that after some fine showing in domestic cricket, Junaid was waiting for a call from the selectors and even for the Zimbabwe ODI series he was one of the hot favourites. Against Zimbabwe, Pakistan awarded ODI caps to as many as nine new players -- Nasir Jamshed, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Khalid Latif, Sohail Khan, Kamran Hussain, Khurram Manzoor, Rizwan Ahmed, Abdul Rauf and Wahab Riaz but surprisingly Junaid could not go beyond the 12th man's role at Sheikhupura. Junaid, who is leading the Lahore Eagles team in the on-going ABN AMRO One-day Cup, enjoyed a clear edge over other candidates due to his useful batting ability. Junaid's performance in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2007-08 (46 wickets and over 450 runs) is strong evidence of his potential in either department. His wickets and runs aggregates include four five-wicket hauls and five fifties. In the recent QAT, he played a memorable match against Hyderabad at the LCCA Ground. He struck fifties (52* & 58) in both innings and then returned impressive figures (5-46) in his team's 173-run triumph. Junaid, who is enriched with good pace, grabbed three more five-for hauls against Sialkot (6-30), Habib Bank (5-86) and Pakistan Customs (6-34). Besides his bowling prowess, Junaid also exhibited useful batting in the Quaid Trophy tournament. His three other half centuries were against Multan (54), National Bank (67) and WAPDA (50). The well-built all-rounder also led his team from the front in the ABN AMRO One-day Cup event. So far he has grabbed two four-wicket hauls and struck one fifty in the event. It is widely expected that in the upcoming ODI rubber, Pakistan cricketers would also try to set some major records against Bangladesh, who are very familiar with such practice. Remember, Bangladesh conceded heavy thrashing at the hands of the South Africans including a world record (415) for the first wicket partnership last month. Pakistan's premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf can easily surpass the barrier of 9000 runs during the ODI rubber. He requires another 127 runs to become the second Pakistani, 8th Asian and 12th batsman of the world with 9000 or more runs. Swashbuckling all-rounder Shahid Afridi can set a new world record for most sixes in a career. Right now, he has 245 shots over the rope. He needs just five more to go beyond Sri Lankan great Sanath Jaysuriya's 249 sixes. The 38-year old Sanath, who has been dropped for on-going Windies tour, is certain to say goodbye to international cricket in the near future. It is pertinent to mention here that Afridi has struck his 245 sixes in just 253 games while Jayasuriya consumed far more matches (411) for his 249 sixes. It means Afridi has been enjoying far better ratio than the Sri Lankan. Afridi, who is enjoying a clear edge over veteran Jayasuriya both age wise and sixes strike rate, would hopefully recapture this particular distinction in the next couple of ODIs and that too for a long time. The master blaster is also certain to complete his half thousand boundaries. After hitting three more fours, Afridi would be 39th batsman of the world to complete 500 boundaries in ODIs. Pakistan's injury-prone fast bowler Umar Gul is also on the verge of a small milestone. The lanky pacer, who has 49 wickets in 39 ODIs, is expected to complete his half century of wickets in the opening game of the series. Before him, 20 Pakistan bowlers had reached this feat. Medium pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum could also complete his half century of wickets, if he managed to take five more scalps in Bangladesh ODIs. Before the ODI series, he had somewhat expensive 45 wickets in 41 matches. The
writer is a staffer at 'The News' Lahore ghalibmbajwa@hotmail.com
Under his captaincy India won eight Tests, including series wins in West Indies, Bangladesh and England. In ODIs India set a record for 16 consecutive successful chases In the first Test against South Africa at Chennai, Indian master blaster opener Virender Sehwag could not break Brian Lara's world record of 400 but veteran batsman Rahul Dravid joined the 10,000-Test run elite club. Dravid become the
sixth batsman in Test history to cross the 10,000-run barrier. He Dravid is the third Indian who has scored over 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Before him the two other Indian batsmen were Sachin Tendulkar (11,782) in 147 matches and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) in 125 Tests. The other three players are former West Indian captain Brian Lara (11,953) and former Australian skippers Allan Border (11,174) and Steve Waugh (10,927). Current Australian captain Ricky Ponting (9,776) and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis (9,490) are close the join 10,000 elite club. Dravid is the perfect No. 3 batsman. His determination is remarkable, he is capable of adjusting to different conditions. When he scores, India mostly win the game. His 148 at Leeds, the mammoth 233 at Adelaide and an historic 270 at Rawalpindi are a few examples for his match-winning efforts. After going past 10,000 runs and scoring his 25th Test 100 at the weekend, he said: "I feel very lucky and feel very blessed to have been able to play for India at the highest level. I stand here feeling very proud to have achieved a milestone that I never dreamed of when I was a little kid. But it was something I thought about when I had entrenched myself in the Indian team." Rahul Dravid, 34, is a thorough gentleman in and outside the ground, he plays the game hard but has ensured that cricket remained a gentleman's game. Former India coach Aunshuman Gaekwad once said, "Dravid is a role model, on and off the field. He is a perfect ten." But humble Dravid said that "I'm not a perfect man, no-one in life is, but hard work and dedication is what it takes to reach milestones and a dream in one's life." Dravid, born in Indore and now living in Bangalore, made his Test debut against England along with Sourav Ganguly against England at Lord's in June 1996. Both debutants made their first appearances remarkable with 95 and 131 runs, respectively. Dravid is patient, waits for the bowler to make a mistake in length. Frustrated, the bowler attempts something different, and if the ball is short Dravid responds with cuts and pulls. He has the selection to bat on green, seaming wickets with bounce. Last year after England tour, Dravid surprised everyone with his unexpected decision of stepping down as skipper from the Indian cricket team. As per his statement for his resignation as the captain decision, he wants to concentrate on his batting and was feeling more pressure after taking the additional responsibilities as captain that affect his batting. But cricket circles think that it's not a genuine reason. In October 2005, when he was appointed captain of the one-day side, he began with a thumping 6-1 hammering of Sri Lanka in a home series, and was soon given the responsibility of the Test side as well. Before being appointed the permanent captain, Dravid led the country in five Tests, in the absence of the regular captain, of which he won two, lost two and drew one. He was a useful vice-captain for long and, during the times when Ganguly was unavailable either because of an injury or any other reason, Dravid took the responsibility. As far as Dravid's leadership qualities are concerned he proved himself so many times in spite of the limited resources specially in the bowling department. Dravid led the India team in 20 Tests and 62 ODIs after taking over the captaincy from Sourav Ganguly around two years back. Last year he won a Test series against England on their soil after 21 years and lost the one-day series with a very close margin of 4-3. As captain, he averaged 51 in Tests and 44 in ODIs. Under his captaincy India won eight Tests, including series wins in West Indies, Bangladesh and England. In ODIs India set a record for 16 consecutive successful chases. But the worst time came when India had a first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean earlier last year. On the one side leading the Indian cricket team must be a dream for every Indian cricketer, but on the other hand it is one of the toughest jobs for anyone. Everyone wants to take credit for the wins but after the defeats sometimes only the captain gets the axe. Before Dravid India's most successful captain Sourav Ganguly was thrown out of the team in a humiliating manner; before him, Sachin Tendulkar stepped down as captain in an unpleasant way. Even before that, Mohammed Azharuddin was dropped due to match-fixing charges although there was never any proof. Dravid is lucky in this way that he quit before facing any embarrassing situation. He led the Indian cricket team for just two years. From the beginning Dravid emerged as the most dependable batsman of India and received the label of "The Wall". Rahul Dravid picked up both the Test Player of the Year and the Player of the Year titles at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London in September 2004. He was declared one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000.
The
writer works in the art department at 'The News on Sunday' in Karachi
khurrams87@yahoo.com Things are falling apart. We have been through bad times and we are still in the middle of pitch darkness and it is beginning to look like call of a doom By Dr Nauman Niaz Dr Nasim Ashraf is now
distrusted by the liberal intelligentsia, keeping in view the Dr Nasim when he replaced his predecessor Shaharyar M Khan was considered the thread that could revamp the stagnating cricket environment in the country. But by trying to run on the short cuts and by enrolling hundreds of employees, mostly through nepotistic means, he lost legitimacy and credibility with the orthodox, assiduous and the conventional forces. Dr Nasim has dealt himself and sadly, his government is almost at the brink of being out of the principal cricketing sphere -- sympathetically one must revisit the great Napoleon Bonaparte (August 15th 1769-May 5th 1821) a French military and political leader saying: "When misfortunes come, they come in battalions". What we are expecting, obviously that the present regime is about to be sacked or more solemnly on the verge of being replaced, what we are seeing in settled proportions is of a different ilk. These are people, in truer sense cricket's cultural vigilantes not eager to take umbrage to signs of recession. Expectations! Those which may well very soon turn into reality. Instead of understanding the nature of these venerable and sincere people and seeking ways to bridge the communication gaps, Dr Nasim's regime has sent a mixed almost confusing message. Its rhetoric about cricket being taken to prosperity and showing fanciful themes of future developments, the progressive 'corporate culture', and a large army of so called professional wizards and yet its actions have been tame if not purely shambles. Instead of inspiring the people and moving purposely forward, it has backed down, whenever confronted. It backed down on Shoaib Akhtar, first castigating him then being apologetic and then again hard on the wire. It took strict action against benign vigilantism of the players defecting to the ICL, and messed up with the tour scheduling and product marketing. And yet, its rhetoric promises nothing less than a complete revolution. The immediate reaction to the current regime's failure to support cricket unconditionally and enterprisingly, may well be contained but it is the long term consequences that are worrying. There is a deep gash in the body and spirit of cricket. Who will heal this wound? It is obvious that Dr Nasim is hardly the person to do it. He has come up as a divider not a conciliator. During his tenure, players were divided within, power concentrated in key appointments and reckless decision making, extravagant and not conducive -- there is hardly anyone, other than those in with him who are ready to put with him. Who then has the potential to heal the wounds of our national cricket? Who has the capacity and eagerness to cut across the stagnating, over-ambitious planning and self-serving culture that defeats us and take cricket to real prosperity? There are no easy answers but being a witness to numerous chairmen in the past, it seems that a new-fashioned, vibrant and an intellectually honest man should be asked to revise all the modalities and work whole-heartedly and diligently to devise practicable policies, both short and long term to start a process that slowly but assuredly takes cricket management and development to a progressive phase. Isn't it ironic, that we are short of choices -- short of choices because cricket despite being a productive and a highly marketable and revenue earning sport hasn't been given a shape of an institution by the non-technocrats running it? The present regime's functionaries and their henchmen may see what they like; theirs has been a desolating picture. Their rhetoric has been simply run of the mill, mostly challenging our intellectualism and not even lukewarm. There have been calls to replace Dr Nasim and there are people suggesting that let cricket management get back to the innovative Arif Ali Khan Abassi or an effervescent Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia, or even bringing back the industrious Khalid Mahmood or taking it to a very gifted, the bold and graceful Ijaz Butt. People, in patches also mentioned the names of Senator Anwar Beg and Salman Taseer -- acceptable? These people with exception to Beg have been actively part of cricket. Taseer during Pakistan People Party's last regime had helped hosting the World Cup 1996. Theirs has been a long cricketing journey with its various ups and downs. They have been hated and loved, applauded and reviled, condemned and revered, considered a product of frail systems or a stout postponement of well-defined procedures. Regrettably, yet in this defining moment for country's cricket, there is no one who gives real hope. Nevertheless, since there are not much corporate trained and professional sports management hardliners available, one of the above mentioned leaving aside Dr Nasim could still be picked having the potential to begin a new journey of healing our wounds. Things are falling apart. We have been through bad times and we are still in the middle of pitched darkness and it is beginning to look like call of a doom. The fact that Pakistan team's performance has slipped to mediocrity, support systems are thoroughly confused and enough talent with all my apologies to Salahuddin, Saleem Jaffer and Shafqat Rana not coming up is something that should worry us deeply. It is a recognition that the potential for cricket development is absent everywhere. This is as clear a sign as any that we have allowed poorness to grow in our midst without doing anything to either co-opt it into the mainstream or combat it. If we had been aware or understood the dangers that we faced in the future, we would have tried our best to ensure the creation of a consciousness. This was only possible if we developed systems and preferred merit in appointments. Instead we completely ignored this aspect and allowed a cricketing apartheid to emerge. Here apartheid is not about racial discrimination and radicalism it's about creating a wedge between the players and management, the centre and regions etcetera. The present regime on top, their predecessors, in their own ways divided the mindset into a variety of categories. While there was hypocrisy or exceptions in each, the current and at least one previous regime were more in tune with self-service and status quo. They showed to be relatively liberal but weren't necessarily constructive. Unfortunately, life went on, though everyone moaned and groaned a bit. It's a real time for change. We should accept our failures and get ready to spur a progressive journey upwards -- enough of being part of a thoroughly rhetorical, over-ambitious and emptied mob. Infrastructure or physical expansion is not the only answer-we need to have credible software and an able human resource, not the likes of the directors we have presently, to take a step forward. While these ramifications are a steady diet for us, the drumbeats of fickleness continue. Whatever the outcome of Dr. Nasim's regime, there seems no one seriously committed to gear up to face unprecedented challenges. It has to be a tough ride. The unpredictable nature of PCBís policies is the one constant in our country's cricket landscape. This PCB looks out of sorts with the governance of cricket and has ostensibly run out of steam. This regime led by Dr Nasim has a prodigal attitude to governance -- live and borrow time and the successors and the next generation be damned. It has happened and the illusion that was created about cricket being put on an even keel and developed -- whatever they meant. Nevertheless, amidst complete fiasco we couldn't see anything substantial -- retractions, double-meaning statements, excessive rhetoric, unfulfilled promises, sporadic news of malfunctioning and convoluted bargains, sly deals, impulsive and radical decisions. What kind of legacy are these people leaving for the next? True to the type, the impediments that they are supposed to have demolished to make cricket governance's systems workable instead we saw them further sullying of our cricketing identity? Did Dr Nasim's government try understanding what has been going on? With each preposterous policy we are actually bartering the future of our cricket's next generation. One chairman messed up what was his predecessor's mess, trying to cover up the old problems. It looks as if Pakistan cricket would never be able to recover from the pandemonium and with no visible bench-strength, the team's image is worse than one ever envisaged. The unenthusiastic policies of Shaharyar M Khan had taken us to the next form of government in which Dr Nasim came and conceived wrongly the right things. Ironically, there seems no one holding the PCB accountable for the banditry that they have done internally. Pakistan cricket is in serious trouble, and the most worrying aspect of our national decline is the fact that no one with the power to change things is ready to acknowledge this basic fact. Many ex-players, men with outstanding careers behind them who are motivated entirely by a deep affection for the game, are expressing concern at the poor standards in our domestic competitions because they know we would never be a major force at Test level until we create the circumstances which foster the development of exceptional talent. The reality is that there are no top-quality players coming through the system, and things are not likely to improve until the authorities face up to the situation.
The Indian tour was not just a victory, it comprised defeats in Twenty20 and the Test series By Waris Ali Absolutely unbelievable, Mr India! Absolutely unbelievable. You have made progress during your last tour of Australia which is absolutely unbelievable for any of cricket lovers. You went to Australia on December 19, 2007, when most cricket fans and experts believed that you would return empty-handed from this tour, too, as usual. In fact, this had been a common fate of every tourist to Australia; they played there and were badly beaten in spite of having made the best of their performance. But you achieved landmark 'successes' while enjoying 78-day hospitality of the cricket world champions. In fact, the triangular series trophy, which is conducted by Australia annually on the eve of New Year by inviting any two other teams, you have successfully snatched away victory from the world champions. That is , no doubt, big progress -- and for this record-breaking victory you are being rewarded generously by your media and the BCCI -- because no team could dare snatch away the honour during the last one decade from the lions' den. The series has, indeed, been thrilling for many reasons. It comprised all the three versions of the game -- Tests, one-dayers and Twenty20 -- with the Gavaskar-Border Trophy followed by one Twenty20 fixture and a long Commonwealth Bank triangular series among India, Australia and Sri Lanka comprising 14 One-day Internationals including two Finals. Out of the 10 matches they played during the triangular series, India could win five including the two Finals against three losses and two abandoned One-day Internationals. Earlier, they had been badly thrashed by the hosts in the only Twenty20 match by nine wickets. The Gavaskar-Border Trophy, comprising four Test matches, fell in the lap of the hosts Australia by 2-1. However, before going into the adventure of praising India blindly, at least the cricket analysts must be careful enough in view of the fact that it was not an all-win situation for the tourists; neither could they win the Test series nor the only Twenty20 fixture. Further, they had not been undefeatable during the Commonwealth Bank series; they lost three One-day Internationals, two to the hosts and one to Sri Lanka. Keeping the accolade for the Indians within the bounds of reason, the analysts may give them credit for putting the mighty Australians on the defensive on many occasions. Also, two of their matches had to be abandoned because of rain and half of their points went into their lot without any decision; it must be counted as their good luck. A non-aligned cricket analyst is forced to conclude that the Indian victory was more indebted to chance than to their performance. In the very recent one-day series in India in October 2007, soon after the Twenty20 loss to India, the Australian team without showing even the least sign of a fall in their morale and graciously snatched away the seven-match one-day series by 4-2, with the first match rain-washed. Only quite a few things can be considered a matter of concern for Cricket Australia: first, they stunned their admirers by collapsing, for the first time during last one decade, in their batting line, and secondly, they were rendered defensive on certain occasions, a position that does not suit their status of world champions. Blaming the fact that some of its key players, such as Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, had been out of field is absolutely absurd: do the world champions depend on just a very few players and without them will lose their towering status? If so, it will mean that they have no backup and the mighty stature of the Aussies will cave in as soon as these key players depart from the field for ever. Further, the 'success' of India was not confined to the game only; they could successfully create a media hype and hurl the boycott threat to achieve their other successes. The won the 'match' against the West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor in an unprecedented fight against this 'third factor' of the game. The honourable, veteran cricket umpire had to quit his career unwillingly as a result of the forceful pressure of the Indians during their tour of Australia. Bucknor became a target of harsh criticism of the visiting Indian cricket team, the BCCI and the Indian media who accused him of making several controversial decisions during the second Test against Australia in Sydney. Further, India were angered by the decision of match referee Mike Procter during the Sydney Test, to suspend off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for three Tests for racially abusing Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds, denying the accusation that Harbhajan had called Symonds a 'monkey'. The protesting tourists, ordered to stay in Sydney rather than travelling to Canberra as planned, took a day off to go to Bondi Beach. The BCCI put the four-Test tour on hold over the issue, threatening to derail one of cricket's biggest series of US$43.5 million in compensation payments to TV broadcasters; however, agreed to resume the series after the world cricket chiefs had intervened. The ICC, submitting to the Indians' pressure, replaced the 61-year-old West Indian for the upcoming third Test in Perth, a decision which led to an early and forced retirement of Slow Death Bucknor, as he was called because of his style of declaring slowly the batsman out. Defending the ICC from charges that it had bowed to Indian pressure and that the world cricket controlling authority had little say in appointing the umpires for major international matches, ICC President Ray Mali insisted the decision to stand down veteran umpire Steve Bucknor from the upcoming third Test between Australia and India had prevented a "serious international diplomatic incident". In another twist, Australia spinner Brad Hogg was charged by the ICC with making an offensive remark to India captain Anil Kumble and vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the same Test match. Such a non-cricketing tour had it proved that the Indian cricket team kept making headlines in the world newspapers and on the news and sports channel all around the world with their fury over 'wrong decisions' by the most experienced cricket umpire and with the war of words against the hosts Australia. As a result of these non-cricketing incidents during the controversy-scarred cricket tour of cricket team of India, the guests emerged the undisputed powerhouse in cricket, a fact duly acknowledged by the ICC by submitting to Indian request for removal of umpire Steve Bucknor from the series.
People would come up with variety of statements that he had done so many things to tarnish the image of Pakistan but has not the Pakistan cricket history witnessed any such incidents before? By Muhammad Asif Khan The bad boy of Pakistan cricket Shoaib Akhtar has faced the biggest jolt of his bumpy career. With the five-year ban imposed on him, no doubt an era is going to get finished. The world's fastest bowler has been the most controversial player as his eleven-year career has been plagued by injuries, discipline problems and a doping scandal in 2007. Having said that,
don't you think Shoaib Akhtar has been treated a bit harshly? I know
people would come up with variety of statements that he had done so many
things to In fact in the early 1990s our four top players were caught at the beach in the West Indies doing something which was more than enough to tarnish rather damage the image of Pakistan, but what happened? The matter was properly managed. Later quarrels in the dressing room were frequent but nothing was blown up in the fashion the Shoaib-Asif-Shahid bat-hitting saga was taken up. I heard Wasim Akram's comments after the bat-hitting controversy, that in his time also, such events used to happen but there were managed properly hence remained behind closed doors. The chairman while announcing the ban said that "the board has lost confidence in Shoaib Akhtar and therefore felt that his presence in the field was damaging to the Pakistan team, for Pakistan players and for the image of Pakistan cricket." What have Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria done in the first place? They actually raised questions about the recently awarded central contracts, I know they breached the code-of-conduct, but the PCB management should share a little blame as well, especially in Kaneria's case who was demoted from the category B to C. Shoaib Akhtar was offered a special retainer deal, which he refused to sign. The contracts were given on the past six-month performances and the show put up by Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Akhtar was reasonably good in the last six months of the year 2007. The leg-spinner played five Test matches and claimed 22 wickets, while the Rawalpindi Express took nine wickets in four Test matches he played. On the other hand a few other players were either retained or promoted in spite of of their not-so-satisfactory performances, such as wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, whose form behind the wicket has not been even close to a satisfactory one, yet he was retained in Category B. Another fellow is fast bowler Mohammad Asif who is no doubt a good bowler but in view of his performance in the last six months of 2007, if he is retained then this is a question for the PCB to answer. Asif played only two Test matches (the home series against South Africa), bowled 70 overs and claimed two wickets. Now, if Danish has raised concern then what was wrong with it? I urge the authorities to also look into the mechanism of awarding the central contacts to the players. The case of the 32-year-old Akhtar was a bit bleak because he was already under a two-year probation for hitting a team-mate with a bat. One interesting bit that came to the forefront, is that since Shoaib Akhtar had not signed the central contract with the PCB hence the rules and regulation do not apply on him? The case has indeed become very interesting as Shoaib Akhtar has gained a lot of "political" weight behind him. Apart from off-the-field affairs, Shoaib Akhtar who has taken 178 wickets in 46 Tests, while his ODI tally after playing 138 matches stands at 219, has been under criticism for his fitness as well. Well as far as "extra curricular activities" are concerned, I see no reason to comment, as this has been happening in Pakistan cricket and Shoaib Akhtar is not the only one in Pakistan's cricketing history. The second objection was regarding his frequent breakdowns, here we have to understand one thing that the Rawalpindi Express bowls with a very high speed which no doubt puts a lot of burden on his body hence his breakdowns are understandable and Shoaib Akhtar is not the only fast bowler who gets injured. The likes of Shane Bond, Brett Lee and a few faster-men of yesteryear have had their career plagued with injuries. The fact of the matter is that he was surely not managed properly, nobody should expect Shoaib Akhtar to bowl non-stop. As far as his commitment to the team is concerned, he seemed very committed as he played with injury in the recent Indian tour as the team was in need, secondly he had also refused a hefty offer from the rebel Indian Cricket League, what does it show? I reiterate, he was not managed appropriately. Now when Shoaib Akhtar has decided to go to the court of law then keep your fingers crossed and wait for the final outcome but by going to the court the image of the Pakistan cricket will surely be tarnished more than it was because of Shoaib Akhtar's activities as the Chairman PCB claimed. Some political quarters are also predicting that since the current PCB members would be removed from office the issue would be discussed in parliament. Such claims do give hope to the fans of Shoaib that he would make a comeback. Let's hope the outcome would be good for Pakistan cricket. The
contributor is a freelance writer
Landhi Gymkhana: An oasis for cricket players People who had visited the ground some years back are surprised to see the arena, which was in such a bad condition, now has a lush green outfield By Muhammad Akram Chohan Around fifteen years ago, there were very few turf grounds available in the metropolis of Karachi for youngsters to play the game of cricket. Especially those from the suburban areas i.e. Landhi, Korangi where cricket was played entirely on cement pitches, had the dream to play on turf grounds but the chances to play on those sort of strips were very nominal at that time. There is no doubt that Karachi is a big cricket nursery and the passion of playing, watching and discussing the game is no less than any other city of our beloved country. Those who are playing cricket these days and their parents are well aware of this fact that the game of cricket can prove an excellent profession. This is the sole reason that nowadays the youngsters who are playing cricket at any level are not facing those sorts of difficulties and resistance from their parents and elders as was the case in the past. The popularity and commercialisation which this game has attained over the years has more or less convinced the masses to take it as a profession more seriously. This game has brought a radical change in life style, social and financial status of those who succeeded in achieving some success at any level of the game. So for the completion of their childhood dreams, the younger lot is very rapidly focusing on this but there was more than one hurdle in areas of Landhi/Korangi. The biggest problem for those poor youngsters from the suburban areas of Landhi and Korangi was the availability of a turf ground for which the area people had time and again requested the KCCA, but to no avail. This was the prime reason that whenever the players of the said areas got a chance to play in big tournaments of the city on turf wickets, they failed miserably as they were used to cement pitches as the KCCA Zone V did not have any such facility of a turf ground at their disposal at that time. Sensing this drawback, cricket officials of Zone V decided to change the situation once for all among them the most notable one were Secretary hahzad Alam and Chairman Khalid Nafees. Both these energetic officials with the help of their friends had taken this Herculean task to lay a turf ground in the area for the younger generation so they could set their eyes on becoming international players. Both of them worked tirelessly and without any significant support from the Board and KCCA but now the dreams of a turf ground have become a reality and Landhi Gymkhana is providing the much needed platform for the young players of the area. Shahzad Alam and Khalid Nafees worked day and night and without any incentive just to achieve what they had promised to the youngsters in most unfavorable circumstances and their hard work has been acknowledged not only by the area people but by other concerned quarters as the top officials of PCB including Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf have lauded the efforts of the Zone officials in transforming a deserted ground into the current excellent condition. People who had visited the ground some years back are surprised to see the arena which was in such a bad condition, now has a lush green outfield, an excellent pavilion and dressing rooms for both the visiting teams, seating arrangement for the spectators, cold drinking water, sightscreens and availability of ground staff almost round the clock. Now Landhi Gymkhana is one of the busiest grounds of the metropolis and serving the game in a most befiting manner as it is providing the opportunity to the poor and needy players of the suburban areas of Landhi and Korangi to prepare them for the rigorous of domestic cricket along with international cricket.
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and they never accept their shortcomings. The standard of sports thus
gets further deteriorated which results in discouragement of upcoming
stars and increase in anxiety of supporting fans all around.
reached the milestone in his 120th Test match. During that innings he
also scored his 25th Test century.
political change under the umbrella of a new regime, and by all
conscientious cricket writers and expressionists. Though there are still
some of the 'fulfilled or pocket filled' journalists and ex-players,
their mouths watering or watered being careful not to criticise the
Chairman PCB but it is obvious that they also are deeply disappointed in
him.
tarnish the image of Pakistan but has not the Pakistan cricket history
witnessed any such incidents before?