Frailties of giants
By Zain Qureshi
The UEFA Champions League 2011-12 has moved on from the group stages to the knockout rounds, leaving a few clubs notable by their exclusion. Two of the bigger names in that regard are the Manchester Neighbours, United and City.
United saw their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage eliminated in a shocking defeat to minnows FC Basel of Switzerland, while City’s past performances came back to haunt them as their hopes were dashed despite a last match win against Bayern Munich, as Napoli’s win over Villarreal took the Italian side above City in their group. Ironically enough, and as a just testament to consistency in early performance, Bayern qualified despite their loss to City.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh
Statistical differences

By Khurram Mahmood
Pakistan won the one-day series against Bangladesh for the fourth consecutive time. Pakistan have won 28 out of 29 One-day Internationals played against Bangladesh. The only loss came in the 1999 World Cup.
The low scoring one-day series went to bowlers as spinners dominated every game. Except Umar Gul, seven bowlers who took four or more wickets in the three-match series were spinners. 

Why India needs to push cricket more
All the signs are that cricket isn’t automatically getting the eyeballs it used to in the past. There needs to be a concerted effort to market it better
By Harsha Bhogle
Powered thus far by a seemingly insatiable consumer and a buoyant economy, Indian cricket might just be headed for a little bit of turbulence. Television ratings are down, stadiums aren’t as full as before, the social media are giving voice to unrest at the way the game is being offered, and television companies are cutting costs. The cricket world must hope that all will be well again soon, and that possessing a ticket to a big game will again be seen as a status symbol.

 

 

 

 

 

Frailties of giants

By Zain Qureshi

The UEFA Champions League 2011-12 has moved on from the group stages to the knockout rounds, leaving a few clubs notable by their exclusion. Two of the bigger names in that regard are the Manchester Neighbours, United and City.

United saw their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage eliminated in a shocking defeat to minnows FC Basel of Switzerland, while City’s past performances came back to haunt them as their hopes were dashed despite a last match win against Bayern Munich, as Napoli’s win over Villarreal took the Italian side above City in their group. Ironically enough, and as a just testament to consistency in early performance, Bayern qualified despite their loss to City. The reasons for the failure of both teams are at the same time both different and similar.

Let us begin with a look at Manchester City. Having won their first silverware in a long time last season, the FA Cup, en route to which they trounced their local rivals, City were looking forward to a return to the European top flight after decades out in the cold. This is also what was ordered by the Etihad group who recently acquired the club. The problem with the squad City have assembled at great expense is that it does not possess enough Champions League experience to contend with the variety of competitors that the tournament offers. While this may sound like a sheepish excuse, there is much to it. Take, for example, the two teams to qualify from City’s group, Bayern and Napoli. Bayern are a European powerhouse, having played their part in many of the moments that make up the romantic lore of the competition. Napoli, while not an equal giant in terms of pedigree, have proven themselves more than capable of handling more superior teams in the form of AC Milan and Inter, and were busy making waves in the Europa League before finally earning a deserved place in the Champions League.

Bayern serve up a style of play where they look to control possession in midfield, and quickly switch from a slow build up as they enter their opponent’s half to quick passing as they get nearer to the opposition penalty area. When defending, they do so in numbers, again by looking to choke out the midfield. Possessed of ample pace on either wing and with a mix of guile and strength, the German side are capable of presenting a mix of problems to their opponents. Napoli, generally, and particularly in their two matches against City, gave what would be called a ‘very European’ performance in how they absorbed City’s forays towards their penalty area and caught the Manchester side out on the counter attack. The aspects presented here can be summed up as different tactics, and that is precisely what City lacked. One of the more consistent aspects of Mancini’s managerial career has been his weakness in Europe, and that has been evident again this term, as City, who are perched comfortably at the top of the Premier League, failed to make it out of the group stages. The methods employed in the Premier League cannot be transferred onto the European stage wholesale, and this was found out by both City and their neighbours, Manchester United.

United ended last season’s Champions League with a somewhat predictable defeat to Barcelona in the final. This campaign, they found themselves in a draw which could have been handpicked by Sir Alex Ferguson, pitting a side who reached three out of the last four Champions League finals against Basel, Galati and Benfica. A club of United’s calibre would have considered being even second in this group as insulting, and justifiably so. However, to not qualify at all is simply disgraceful. It is one thing to lose to an all-conquering Barcelona side in a Champions League final and quite another to not make it past FC Basel at the group stages. The only two wins scored by United were against the group’s whipping boys, Romanian side Otelul Galati, who lost all their matches. Basel secured a draw at Old Trafford before kicking their far more illustrious rivals out of the tournament in the match in Switzerland.

United have undergone a major restructuring of their squad this season, and their performances, barring some difficulties in the last few games, have been full of energy and attacking flair. However, what United’s swashbuckling attacking displays have masked is a defensive frailty not seen in an Old Trafford side for a long time. With the continuing decline of Rio Ferdinand and the recurring injuries to Nemanja Vidic, the task of leading a youthful United defensive line fell to Patrice Evra, who himself has gone missing all too often this season. This idea of squad deficiency develops further when one considers that while they have plenty of able ball winners in the middle of the pitch, United’s creativity is left entirely to the wings, namely to Nani and Ashley Young, with Rooney providing what sparks of genius he can around the penalty area.

United’s aura of dominance and their reckless abandon going forward has been rewarded well enough in domestic competitions, but the Champions League has a tendency of turning minor omissions into glaring deficiencies, and so the United back line was exposed when they needed to hold on against Basel in Switzerland.

City and United will find themselves busy on Thursday evenings now with Europa League football. However, one does wonder what importance will be placed on a tournament which United’s Patrice Evra considers embarrassing to be a part of. Both clubs have the Premier League and FA Cup to contest, and it will not be at all surprising if more emphasis is placed on their domestic responsibilities, particularly in regards to trumping each other, than of taking on the elite of Europe. City will want to prove that they can muscle in on United’s turf by winning the Premier League, while Sir Alex and co. will be looking to prevent exactly that.

 

zainhq@gmail.com

   

 

 

 

 

 

Pakistan vs Bangladesh
Statistical differences
By Khurram Mahmood

 

Pakistan won the one-day series against Bangladesh for the fourth consecutive time. Pakistan have won 28 out of 29 One-day Internationals played against Bangladesh. The only loss came in the 1999 World Cup.

The low scoring one-day series went to bowlers as spinners dominated every game. Except Umar Gul, seven bowlers who took four or more wickets in the three-match series were spinners.

Bangladesh’s Nasir Hossain remained the most successful batsman of the ODI series with 124 runs with an average of 41.33 with the help of one hundred. Man-of-the-Series Umar Akmal was just one run behind him with an average of 41, including two fifties.

In the bowling department, allrounder Mohammed Hafeez improved his performance after every match and emerged as the most successful bowler of the series with 6 wickets which he got at an average of just 8.16 and an unbelievable economy rate of 1.96.

Hafeez’s extra-ordinary bowling performance pushed him to the second position in the ICC ODI bowlers ranking after another Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. With some good performances in batting as well, he overtook Shane Watson to reach the second position in the one-day allrounders’ list. Now Hafeez is just 13 ratings points behind leader Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. During the series Mohammad Hafeez also became only the third player to achieve 1,000 runs and 30 wickets in a calendar year. Sanath Jayasuriya managed this feat in 1997 and Jacques Kallis in 2000 and 2002.

Rubel Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak took four wickets each with the averages of 20.25, 22.50 and 23.50, respectively.

Now a few things about the history of Test cricket between the two sides. So far only six matches have been played between the two countries, all of which went to Pakistan.

The first was played in August 2001 in Multan, which Pakistan won by a huge margin of an innings and 264 runs. The last Test was also played in Multan in September 2003. It was the most exciting Test between the two countries, which the hosts finally won by one wicket thanks to a fighting 138 not out by skipper Inzamamul Haq.

Habibul Bashar has been the most successful batsman in the Test matches played between the two countries with 554 runs in six Tests at an average of 50.36. For Pakistan Muhammad Yousuf scored 503 runs in five matches with a massive average of 251.50.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has taken 34 wickets in five matches against Bangladesh at an average of 16.41. Mohammad Rafique remains the highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets against Pakistan, averaging 23.82 in six Test matches.

Pakistan’s 546-3 is the highest innings total between the two countries, which was scored in the first Test at Multan. Bangladesh made its best total of 361 at Peshawar in 2003.

Bangladesh’s 96 runs in 2003 at Peshawar is its lowest total, while Pakistan’s lowest total is 175 in 2003 at Multan.

 

khurrams87@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

Why India needs to push cricket more
All the signs are that cricket isn’t automatically getting the eyeballs it used to in the past. There needs to be a concerted effort to market it better

By Harsha Bhogle

Powered thus far by a seemingly insatiable consumer and a buoyant economy, Indian cricket might just be headed for a little bit of turbulence. Television ratings are down, stadiums aren’t as full as before, the social media are giving voice to unrest at the way the game is being offered, and television companies are cutting costs. The cricket world must hope that all will be well again soon, and that possessing a ticket to a big game will again be seen as a status symbol.

To be fair there is no challenger to cricket in sight, not yet, but this was supposed to be the bumper year for fans and television networks. In the space of 12 months, India were to host the World Cup, the IPL, travel to England and finally to Australia. Outside of India v Pakistan, those are the four biggest events in Indian cricket. But if it didn’t turn out to be the year it was meant to be, it was because, apart from all those, fans also had the Champions League, two series against West Indies, and a set of one-day games against England. There was biryani on offer but there was too much of it.

Meanwhile football grows in popularity every day, and while the numbers aren’t challenging cricket yet, they are notching up impressive growth. Formula 1 was accepted with great excitement and there is a hockey league in the pipeline that deserves to be successful — if not for anything else, to remind arrogant officials that an alternative exists. Marketers, though, are looking beyond, at what engages today’s youth, and social media and music are emerging as pretty likeable pastimes. Cricket cannot exist, and proclaim itself to be unchallenged, in the narrow definition of sport; it must reign in the wider world of entertainment. The Economic Times this week did a lead feature on alternatives to cricket; at lower price points, it seems marketers are willing to buy into them.

This is not meant to be an obituary, just a wake-up call. A reminder that seemingly unchallenged product categories and brands can suddenly be threatened. Kodachrome is gone, Nokia has been to the brink, and American Airlines is threatened. The euro is being looked at anew, countries are mulling their existences, and the 140-character statement is rampant. The owners of cricket need to be vigilant too, need to constantly review their product offering for relevance and quantity. And be ready for the inevitable dip in viewership once Sachin Tendulkar retires.

It means the game needs to be marketed in India. Only the IPL did that in recent times, reaching out to people and offering an entertainment package. The BCCI needs to be aware that coming to stadiums is currently a cumbersome process for spectators, and television companies will have to be careful to see that the telecasts they produce are the best possible. We sat on concrete steps once, five sitting where three were meant to, and didn’t complain.

The younger generation, the current custodians of the game, aren’t going to be as patient. And they shouldn’t have to be.

Already the Test championship is gone, not because the ICC is insensitive but because it didn’t justify the rights amount attached to it. It was a shootout with a one-day tournament and the Test championship lost. It is unlikely the next set of ICC rights will attract the kind of numbers that exist now, and the latest television rights to cricket in India showed no increase over the earlier set. It has implications for the development of the game in other parts of the world.

We are seeing, too, the first signs of the prioritisation of the game along commercial lines. India go to England again in three rather than four years, to play five rather than four Tests. Australia have revived the tri-series because with India around, non-home games still have some interest. But the numbers will be watched closely. India v England didn’t get the audiences it was meant to, and that is why Australia v India will be a huge test. If viewership is low, it will be further proof that even marquee series are now being affected. But the bigger test will be the IPL. Advertisers love it because it gives uniform viewership figures, but advertisers can only love it if the public does.

If India’s cricket lovers show reduced interest in these prime properties, the BCCI will have to start doing something it has never had to do before: take the game to the public and sell it to them.

Hopefully they will realise that people need to look forward to a feast, not be offered it every day; that people must say, “Wow, biryani”, not “Biryani again?”

 

– Cricinfo

 

 


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