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Oldies
flop as youth shines
Caribbean
revival and match-fixing
interview-1 Corrupt
umpires: Fact or mere sensationalism?
Cricket’s
latest chokers
Oldies flop as youth shines While most of the team’s experienced pros failed, two youngsters – Nasir Jamshed and Raza Hasan – turned out to be success stories for Pakistan in Sri Lanka By Mushfiq Ahmad He played six
matches in the World T20 and scored only 59 runs in five innings. Was asked
to bowl only two overs in these six games in which he gave away 19 runs. Did
he justify his place in Pakistan squad? Uncharacteristically,
Pakistani selectors have shown extraordinary patience with Shoaib Malik. The
captain of Sialkot Stallions who has led them to quite a few domestic T20
titles has been failing to perform at the international level for quite
sometime. But he remains in the team, maybe thanks to his strong connections.
The man who started his
career as an off-spinner has hardly any utility as a bowler today. This is
evident from the fact that he has bowled only 300 deliveries in T20
Internationals in the 50 games he has played – six balls per match. In the batting department,
he has been failing quite consistently. Before this T20 assignment he has
also failed regularly at the One-day International level. It is amazing that our
selectors who are notorious for ousting players after just a couple of games
in international cricket have kept faith in this man. Almost similar is the case
of Sohail Tanvir. He too has been failing to shine, but has remained in the
good books of the selectors. Apart from the final, where he bowled rather
well, he was unimpressive. He played three matches, bowled nine overs and got
just two wickets against 69 runs. I think nobody will
disagree with me if I say that Junaid Khan would have been a much better
choice. He was not so good when he made his debut against Zimbabwe last year.
He got just one wicket. But he has improved steadily since then. He cannot be
termed a replacement of Mohammad Amir, but he has all the attributes of a
good fast bowler, who can give strong support to senior partner Umar Gul in
all three formats of the game. Even more disappointing was
Kamran Akmal, who had made yet another comeback after Sarfaraz Ahmed failed
to live up the expectations. In six matches, he made just 64 runs, at a poor
average of just over 12. In wicket-keeping everyone had expected him to drop
catches and miss stumping chances. And he did that. It would have been much
better if we had opted for a genuine middle order batsman in his place and
utilized Umar Akmal behind the wicket. There were two youngsters
though who impressed everyone. Nasir Jamshed made 148 in six innings at an
average of just under 30, which is excellent in T20 cricket. The result of
the semifinal against Sri Lanka might have been different had he not been
declared leg before wicket unjustly. He is likely to go a long
way. He made his debut in 2008, but failed to cement his place in the team
then. Now that he has made comeback, he looks all set to shine for a long
time. He does not have the best footwork, but he has the ability to place the
ball well, almost like Saeed Anwar. He has yet to get a chance at the Test
level, but I am sure he will do well whenever he gets an opportunity. After
all, he has 14 centuries in first-class cricket from just 64 matches. The other guy who impressed
everyone is Raza Hasan. Although he took only three wickets in six games, he
had the best economy rate in the tournament among regular spinners. Only Dale
Steyn, a fast bowler, had better economy rate. Raza bowled 15 overs in six
matches, gave away just 74 runs at an economy rate of 4.93. He has all the
skills to shine at the international level, at least in One-day and T20
cricket. He is likely to prove himself a very good replacement of Abdul
Rehman in the years to come. mushfiqahmad1000@gmail.com
When
gangnum met aggression Free spirited
cricket embellished with a tinge of aggression were the hallmarks of the West
Indian team that steamrolled oppositions on its way to a historic triumph in
the World T20. The fearsome Chris Gayle
was the lynchpin ably supported by the likes of Marlon Samuels and Kieron
Pollard who had Gayle jumping for joy as his monstrous sixes brought tears to
Xavier Doherty in the World Twenty semi-final tie against Australia and amid
this free spirited carnival atmosphere one wondered if it was the sheer power
in the bodies or a liberated mind that made the West Indians touch dizzy
heights after a yawning gap. While Gayle was in a party
mood from the outset Marlon Samuels attitude typified the aggressive
instincts of the men from the Caribbean and reminded one of their
spine-chilling dominance of past. Not long ago Caribbean
cricketers were embroiled in a series of off-field conflicts heightened by
the Chris Gayle and Dr. Ernest Hillaire stand-off that denied cricket fans
the sensational and overwhelming sight of Gayle’s big hits cannoning off
spectator stands in stadiums around the world. When Gayle re-appeared he
made almost an immediate impact and the trend continued in Sri Lanka. The Ga Gradually the mood of Gayle
rubbed off on his teammates, they were now West Indies of old, a team blessed
with immense talent, ability and power but more importantly a team eager to
bring uninhibited joy to its supporters and fans. Gayle it appeared didn’t
have a care in the world as he showed his prowess at the gangnum style dance
that was to become his signature move throughout the event. Gayle drew inspiration from
the South Korean super-hit number where the singer — Psy — and his team
are poking fun at people who are busy trying hard to be someone they are not,
and Gayle the basher of the cricket ball was to bash his own fear by sending
a clear-cut signal to the opposition that he was having a party hitting sixes
and success was what he was enjoying and enjoy he did! At the other end of the
spectrum was Marlon Samuels the man of the match of the final, the man whose
astonishing batting was all about flair, tenacity and a never-say-die
attitude. But, it was before the
final that Samuels made his intentions clear, he tucked into Australian
opener David Warner before he and his fellow opener Shane Watson started the
monumental chase of 206 runs in the semi-final, the burly and now buffed-up
Samuels walked up to Warner stared at him and exchanged some choice words
that completely derailed the focus of the southpaw. Warner was sent packing in
the first over of the innings and while the connoisseurs of the game might
object to Samuels’ tactics it was evident that there was more to this West
Indian team than the gangnum style. Samuels had the steely
determination of a man possessed in the final; out of nowhere he launched a
spell-binding attack on one of the most potent T20 bowlers Lasith Malinga,
smashing as many as five sixes in a two-over spell of sheer mayhem. He scored
78 out of a total of 137 that the Caribbean Kings mustered in the final. Later on when the party
began Gayle and Samuels together danced to the gangnum style, both soaking in
possibly the greatest moment of their cricketing careers, both with
contrasting moods on the field but with a passion for the game that was
simply second to none. At the end of it all it
seems that the marriage of the two contrasting approaches proved to be the
tonic the West Indians needed. emmadhameed@hotmail.com
Caribbean
revival and match-fixing The West Indian
cricket magic seems to have returned to the Caribbean after more than two
decades. For all nostalgic purposes West Indies have often been mistaken as
the Brazil of cricket. The World Twenty20 title in their lap means a revival
of the sport in West Indies. Cricket in West Indies has
been in turmoil for too long. With the departure of stalwarts like Sir Vivian
Richards, my personal favorite Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Hynes, Lloyd,
Richardson, Marshall and Garner differences started emerging between the
players and the management. The West Indian cricket
board with its headquarters in St John’s in Antigua and Barbuda had been
under the control of conservative cricket administrators who were unable to
cope up with challenges thrown to them by emerging sports like athletics and
basketball in the length and breath of West Indies. The Calypso Cricket had
been one of the main gluing ingredients for the 12-island nation that turned
away from its colonial heritage to the tourist-based commercialism of the
neighbouring USA. They won the 1975 and the
1979 cricket world cups and later produced the genius of Brian Lara. But they
haven’t had any hero to worship in the last 15 years. Neither Lara nor the West
Indian Cricket Board had the ability of Clive Lloyd who after the devastating
1976 defeat in Australia rebuilt the team, which included ferocious fast
bowlers like Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Joel Garner and class acts
like Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge. The ICC was worried about
the drop in cricket’s appeal in the West Indies and awarded the 2007
Cricket World Cup to the Caribbean who failed to capitalise upon the
opportunity to revive the sport there. Poor marketing and high
prices of tickets kept the young fans out of the matches. Thus the calypso
atmosphere could not materialise. The West Indies had an early exit from the
tournament and the young West Indians were drawn towards the USA by the
attractions of NBA basketball. The rifts between players
and the Board had been on the rise. The hot issues between Chris Gayle, coach
Otis Gibson and the West Indian Cricket Board Chief Executive Dr Ernest
Hilaire hurt cricket in country. The talent was there but leadership was
missing. The Stanford T20
competition started attracting big crowds and brought in new revenue streams
for the West Indian cricket. The quiet revolution that started in 2007 gave
birth to new West Indian cricket heroes. Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle and Dwayne
Bravo snatched the victory from the Sri Lankan jaws in their home ground in
the 2012 T20 Cricket World Cup thus reviving the dying cricket culture in the
West Indies. The fortune did come for
West Indies but it will still be looking for at least two world class fast
bowlers to continue at the top in the cricketing world. Meanwhile, the ICC has
launched a swift investigation after allegations by an Indian TV channel that
six umpires were involved in taking biased decisions in the T20 matches to
benefit the opponents after taking bribes. This episode has spoiled
the party and the cricket pundits are forced to view the entire T20 World cup
with a jaundiced eye. People in media are even
forced to look at Pakistan-Sri Lanka semifinal with suspicion which Pakistan
lost despite a very low score to chase. Mystery surrounds Ajmal’s
reluctance to bowl doosras in the semifinal match where he conceded 33 runs
in four overs. Unfortunately match fixing
has emerged as the biggest enemy of cricket once again. If, God forbid, the umpire
fixing scandal came out to be true then the cricket revival efforts of ICC in
the West Indies and other parts of the world will receive a serious setback.
An already amputated cricket image will get a life threatening blow. The ICC must put its head
down to think ways and means to come out of the shadows of match-fixing. I
have failed to understand the logic of not opting for DRS during the recently
T20 World Cup. It has added strength to suspicions and people with sensitive
nose can smell the rat when things are not transparent. No doubt that West Indian
cricket has earned its new crown of T20 world champions with the birth of new
heroes to worship in Caribbean, but sustaining this position through fair and
transparent means will not only help West Indies to rise to its lost status
of the seventies, but also help ICC in overcoming the shadows cast by the
match-fixing episodes. sdfsports@gmail.com
interview-1 Pakistan has
produced a number of squash stars. But Gogi Alaudin was the first and has
been the only squash great to emerge from among the non-Pathans. In this
interview with ‘The News on Sunday’ he tells his remarkable story. “My father Ahmad Din was
a coach at the Punjab squash courts, the only decent squash facility in
Lahore, Pakistan’s second biggest city, in those days. I came from a poor
family of four sisters and two brothers. I had started playing squash at an
early age but had not thought about adopting it as a career. “A high-ranking English
engineer WT Smith, working at the Mangla dam, used to play at the Punjab
squash courts. Smith saw something in me and urged my father to work on my
game. Squash was an expensive game given my father’s meagre income. “Some
top industrialists of Pakistan including Babar Ali and Shahzada Munno, who
also played at those courts, came forward and helped me with rackets, shoes
and even milk. “All this motivated me to
achieve something. I got totally focused and worked really hard. My daily
regime included 13 km run and 10,000 skips with a rope, apart from the court
practice. As there was no suitable competition in Lahore, I used to play
against two players simultaneously. “People talk a lot about
my lob. I had really worked on it: used to station a person close to the back
wall of the court whose job was to retrieve my lobs sent from the front part
of the court. That gave me control and precision over this difficult stroke
which later helped me immensely; the strongest part of armoury. “The first competition I
entered was the Punjab under -14. I won it easily. However, I knew that
winning competitions at my home province didn’t mean much as all the big
names in Pakistan squash, the Khans, came from outside the Punjab. “Almost
all the training camps were conducted in Peshawar and most of the coaches
were also Pathans. My father always told me, ‘Gogi, you have to cover more
ground’. “My major breakthrough
came in 1967 when I wore the national under-18 crown. That earned me the
selection for Pakistan, that too among the seniors, for the World team
championships in Australia, the same year. “Though selected as a
stand-by, I played quite a few matches winning most of them and drew
appreciation from the Australian press. “I continued doing well
on the national circuit during the next couple of years. Meanwhile, things
improved on the Punjab squash scene. Some really dedicated, influential and
enterprising people came at the helm: Justice Sardar Iqbal and Mr Muneer
became the president and vice president respectively of the Punjab Squash
Federation. They financed my trip for the 1970 British Amateur Championship. “It was my first
international appearance in an individual competition and I was unseeded. I
won match after match, and, to my own surprise, fairly comfortably. And then
I was playing the final where I beat Reedman, Australia’s national under 23
champion in straight sets. In fact, I won all my six matches in the same
manner. “The Times of London
observed, ‘this astonishing championship reminded that the men at the top
must work harder than ever to resist the exciting advance of the new
generation’. “Next year, I was again
competing at the British amateur. Though I was the defending champion but was
seeded eighth. Again, I defied the odds and won the title but this time I had
to toil hard and had a grueling five-set final. Thereafter, I figured in a
number of tournaments in Britain, winning most of them. “Squash received a real
boost in early ‘70s. Sponsorship increased, and the Benson and Hedges
series, masterminded by Jonah Barrington, played a pivotal role in making
squash a professional sport. I joined the bandwagon and turned pro in 1973.
Soon I had contracts with a number of companies including Adidas, Yellow Dot,
Fred Perry and Dunlop. “I made immediate mark on
the pro circuit as well, reaching the final of the British Open in 1973 where
I lost to Jonah Barrington. I was destined to reach the final once more. In
1975, I was fairly confident to win the coveted title.
My opponent in the final was my compatriot Qamar Zaman whom I had been
defeating quite easily. “Even the London
Telegraph predicted that it would be a one-sided final and Gogi would lift
the crown this time. But my over confidence was perhaps my undoing. I lost
the final, easily the greatest disappointment of my career. I never again
reached the final of the British Open. “My most memorable
success came in the 1976 Pakistan Open. It was the first mega event staged in
my country and was covered extensively by the national television. In the
semifinal, I came across the invincible Geoff Hunt. It was an enthralling
encounter and I managed to beat the maestro after a two-hour-and-five-minute
marathon. Then I won the final against Mohibullah Junior. “That was the zenith of
my career. I remained in the top 5-6 for the most part of my professional
career but never reached the final of either the British Open (again) or the
World Open. I was often regarded as the near man of squash; reached number
two ranking in the world but was never number one. Likewise, I never won the
British Open though I twice played the final. When I left the professional
circuit in 1985, I was still ranked among world’s top 10 but a knee problem
had started bothering me. Hence, I thought it better to leave the scene and
take up coaching in Kuwait. ijaz62@hotmail.com
Corrupt
umpires: Fact or mere sensationalism? A few weeks back I
received a text message which said “the best day to propose to a girl is
April 1st”. You know why? Because If she accepts then it’s your luck,
otherwise just shout “April Fool!” Harmful jokes apart, but generally the
culprits, in such acts on the day (April 1), are not taken to task and the
reason is the non-serious of the environment. So it finally comes down to the
intentions and the motive of the action. Ok, moving out from April
to reach the period between July and August this year when a TV channel from
India started fooling a few people in the name of serve a genuine purpose.
They exposed a few faces — through thrilling footage — who were ready
rather greedy to crush the dignity of the game of cricket under their feet.
That was indeed a good job and should be appreciated. But, does the India TV
action only fall into the category of sensationalism or is it actually a
great service to the game and its followers? I myself am not clear on this as
yet. I may be naïve, therefore don’t have answers to the following silly
questions. So please help me out. Let me make it clear that I am not at all
trying to favour any umpire featured in the footage shown by the TV but the
intentions of the TV station had left enough room for suspicion, for me at
least. The environment created by
the India TV, during the sting operation, was real or surreal, serious or
non-serious? Since, the questions and the ‘surreal’ environment were
hypothetical, then why those — on the on the other side of the Skype —
were caught on their words not actions? In the last sting operation
of such nature in 2010, carried out by the News of the World in London, the
players (Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif) were not only caught
pledging but later they also lived up to their promises, hence rightly
penalised by the court of law and the apex body of the game of cricket —
The International Cricket Council — but in this case can a person be
penalised on his intentions only? If all the exposed
officials are all set to be taken to task then the reporter should also be at
least questioned because he was the one who lured in somebody to a crime. I
know the under-cover reporter’s part was hypothetical but then the entire
episode was surreal including an umpire on the other side of Skype. What was India TV up to?
Off course they were on a mission to cleanse the game of cricket but then why
did they only choose the officials at a lower tier? Six Umpires were shown on
the camera, and I am sure numerous other officials — probably including
some from the highest level which is called the elite ICC panel — were
approached during the ‘cleansing service’. I wonder whether they came
across anyone who blatantly refused their offer or asked a few probing
questions? Would not it be heartening to share that tape too to prove to the
world that in general this game is clean but yes there are few miscreants
present in this field too. Before moving further,
let’s check the list of cricketers who have already been banned, suspended
or penalised for fixing to-date. The list — on Wikipedia — shows the name
of 22 international and domestic players which includes nine Indians, six
Pakistanis, three South Africans and one each from Kenya, Bangladesh, England
and the West Indies. The fact mentioned in the
list is that, apart from the majority of Indian cricketers, the most such
incidents took place on the Indian soil too. Moreover, in the latest case of
Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield the bookie associated with Kaneria (Arun
Bhatia) was supposed to be an Indian as well. Another interesting thing in
Kaneria’s case was that he was named in the court as the man who approached
Westfield with the idea of fixing or in other words he (Kaneria) was the one
who actually influenced a young cricketer to commit the wrongdoing. So, if
this is a crime worth a life ban against Kaneria then the ‘under-cover’
reporter of India TV should also be charged because he lured in people to
commit a crime and limited his effort to enticing only and did not wait till
the pledges of the umpires would become a reality. If they (India TV) were on
a mission then they should have done something more productive, by digging
into the fixing dens within their own country. Again, I am not pinpointing
anything particular. This is a fact that fixing is a widespread problem and
isn’t limited to India alone. The point is that since the channel is from
India therefore they should follow the “Charity begins at home”
principle. They should have probed further into the Indian Premier League —
the way they did earlier, they should have questioned Vinod Kambli, who
questioned a 1996 World Cup match featuring India and so many other dubious
activities. mak374@gmail.com
Cricket’s
latest chokers Way back at the
1999 World Cup when South Africa were playing against Australia, Herschelle
Gibbs dropped a very important catch of skipper Steve Waugh who went on to
score a match-winning 120 not out, helping Australia win that match to
advance to the semi-finals in which they
played South Africa again. The word spread after the
dropped catch that Steve Waugh told Gibbs that he might have just dropped the
World Cup! This is how the South
African squad earned the title of chokers and the name that was set by Steve
Waugh remains attached to them, although they are one of the top cricketing
nations with some very experienced and talented players. Their inability to
win any major world title like the World Cup, World Twenty20 or Champions
Trophy has confirmed the tag ‘chokers’. But for the last few years,
Sri Lankan team’s losses in the World Cup finals have given some relief to
South African team who are no longer the only ones to be branded as chokers. Last Sunday, the Sri Lankan
team went into the final of Twenty20 World Cup against West Indies at their
home ground with the support of a packed house. But some dreams remain
always dreams as the West Indies beat the hosts in the final convincingly.
Quite unexpectedly, it was bowlers’ performance, not Gayle, who played the
decisive role to win the title for the Caribbean. After failure of dangerous
Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels scored 78 off just 56 balls, including six sixes
and three fours. Later, the West Indian
bowlers defended the modest total of 138, restricting the strong Sri Lankan
batting to 101. The 2012 Twenty20 final was
Sri Lanka’s fourth successive loss in a World Cup final. The islanders won
a World Cup in 1996 in Lahore — their only one so far. They lost the 2007
World Cup final against Australia in West Indies and in 2011 against India in
India. In 2009 in London the
Islanders also lost the Twenty20 final to Pakistan. Overall Sri Lanka have a
very good track record. No other team have been as consistent as them as
regards reaching finals but it is their misfortune that no other team have
lost as many finals. Sri Lanka’s inability to
lift the cups shows that they can’t bear the pressure of finals. After the defeat in the
final Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene accepted responsibility and gave
up the captaincy in the shortest format of the game. “A fourth straight
loss was very painful,” Jayawardene admitted after the final. “It hurts a
lot, because you want to do something special, not just personally, but for
the public as well. “We’ve been playing
really good cricket but we haven’t been able to cross that hurdle. So it
hurts as a player, as a cricketer, as an individual,” said the dejected
skipper. khurrams87@yahoo.com
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force was seen toying with bowlers, here was a liberated man whose focus was
to entertain himself and others around him. At the same time he was dead
serious when a bowler ran in but was ready to break into a celebrating mode
as soon as he smashed a ball deep into the stands. 
