Cricket Tournaments

Pakistani selectors have finally decided to include ace pace man Shoaib Akhtar in the one day international squad that is to play the Asia cup in a month from now. The move by the Pakistani board basically signifies that the soon to turn 35 year old is still in their sights as far as the 2011 fifty over world cup is concerned which is to be played in the wee months of 2011.

Pakistani selectors have understood that Shoaib could be a major asset and his slingy action could help reverse swing on the dry wickets of the Indian subcontinent. The man with his raw pace could ruffle the batsman thus sending jitters in the opposing dressing room before the game would begin.

Chief selector Mohsin Khan said “We got an okay from the medical team and Shoaib was given a good report so he has been picked”. For a change it appears that the Pakistani selectors have decided to do away with the off field issues and have focussed more on cricket i.e. to pick their best squad for the Asia cup looking forward to the world cup next year.

Another Shoaib, recently married Malik has been added to the squad as well as he had his ban lifted as a ‘wedding gift’. Shoaib Malik’s inclusion in spite of lack of competitive cricket in recent times is a strong indicator that the PCB is going back to their more trusted blokes to bring back the cup next year in Pakistan.

It is very evident what the Pakistan cricket board wants to achieve with such a move. As a result of this Fawad alam the young Pakistani all rounder has lost his place in the side in spite of being the stand outs in the one day series down under earlier this year.

Recent news suggests that former Pakistan captain Younis khan’s ban has also been revoked. Younis also suggested that he would gladly take over captaincy of the team if given the opportunity to do so.

These are very big moves by a very volatile Pakistan cricket board and such things can only happen in Pakistan cricket. Nevertheless, for me these are positive moves as Pakistan look to build a strong core squad before the world cup to begin next year.

Shoaib Malik, the flamboyant Pakistani all-rounder, would be a happy man at the moment. No, it isn’t entirely due to his marriage with Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza. But it is because his one-year ban has been lifted by the Pakistan cricket board (PCB) a few days back.

The reason of this decision by the PCB is due to the fact that there has apparently been a change in his attitude and behavior towards the game in the last three months, according to the board’s legal advisor Talib Rizvi. The batsman’s fine is also reduced to $1 million.

However, former Pakistani players haven’t accepted this decision happily. It is mainly due to the revelations of the controversial leaked video of the PCB meeting a few weeks back, and their experiences and knowledge about Malik.

According to Abdul Qadir, a former leg-spinner and chief selector of Pakistan, the PCB has fallen to political pressure, which will allow players like Malik to violate discipline and get away from further wrongdoings in the future.

Aamer Sohail, former Pakistani opening batsman, also believes that the board has taken his decision hastily, due to political pressure. Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistani fast bowler, said that through this decision the PCB was taking a ‘coward’s stance’.

Nobody can really reveal the inside story behind this decision. Malik has been accused by his own team-mates and coaches of having a negative attitude, which dampened the morale of the entire Pakistan team. So, with Malik’s ban overturned, the PCB’s attitude is surprising as they should instead not lift his ban and consider the appeals of other players such as Younis Khan and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

However, if Malik has really changed for good, it will be beneficial for Pakistan cricket and its future. His experience cannot be brought from the supermarket as he has played in 190 ODIs since the last ten years. And with Mohammad Yousuf’s retirement and the 2011 World Cup in sight, Malik along with the current captain Shahid Afridi, will hold key for Pakistan’s turnaround in the shorter formats of the game atleast.

Although Malik is a very unpopular player in the team, it shouldn’t take much of time for the team to unite and succeed as there is a new captain, a new coach in the legendary and a positive-minded Waqar Younis and a new manager in Yawar Saeed, who has been given full authority by the PCB to send players back home on the grounds of indiscipline and division.

Pakistan will play the Asia Cup this month in Sri Lanka, followed by a long tour of England, which involves matches with England and Australia. They then travel across to the UAE to play a ‘home’ series against South Africa. These matches will be crucial for Pakistan’s World Cup preparations, and if Malik plays, he could be handy as he has the skills to perform with the bat and the ball.

He is a decent fielder too. Thus, Shoaib Malik would be in the right frame of mind to give his best for his country again, as his personal life and professional life has just improved in a span of two months. So, the decision might turn out to be positive enough as Pakistan cricket has had enough for being in the news for wrong decisions.

It needs change and in my opinion, Shoaib Malik will help Pakistan grow to become a champion side in the immediate future. This can be possible if Afridi and Malik resolve their differences, to play for Pakistan rather for themselves.

But the question is ‘‘If’ this could happen easily?’ Pakistan has a few months in the hand ahead of the World Cup. And this could thus be temporary, just as things are in Pakistani cricket, which is a big fear.

Pakistan won the toss and from the outset looked a different unit today largely due to change in captaincy. It was Shahid Afridi who was captaining Pakistan in place of Mohd Yousuf who was rested due to a niggle. The Pakistani’s decided to bat on a good looking pitch but, Ryan Harris continued his golden rise in international cricket as he got Salman Butt poking at one away from his body.

Harris struck in the first over itself. As if that was not enough Mitchell Johnson bowled a delightful over and got rid of Khalid latif caught and bowled again for a duck. Pakistan were caught reeling at 2 for 0. Younis khan and Shoaib Malik hung around for quite a while before Younis khan fished at one from McKay only to be caught by Haddin. Pakistan were in dire straits at 17 for 3 in 10 Overs.

The next 3 Overs were maidens. Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik stitched a 60 run partnership before Mitchell Johnson put on show a brilliant bit of athleticism to run out Shoaib Malik. Fawad alam was next in; and the duo just like the last two matches put on a decent partnership of 82. Wickets fell in a hurry soon then after with Akmal, Afridi and Ahmed all departing in a space of 5 Overs. In the end it was Fawad alam’s brilliance that enabled Pakistan to reach a fightable score of 212. Alam made 63.

It was a pretty modest total and the Aussies looked pretty upbeat about the task ahead of them. They lost Haddin and marsh pretty early on in the piece. Cameron white soon followed suit. But, the trend of the summer continued as it was a culmination of contributions that won Australia the match and not a single stand-out performance (barring Cameron white’s scintillating 100 in the 1st ODI). Today, it was ponting and hussey who were to steer the ship home. Ponting made 55 before he holed out to Umar Akmal at long on. Australia looked a little skeptical in their approach and were continually losing wickets.

Michael hussey has been instrumental in winning Australia the series. He’s made decent contributions in all the matches and his versatility must be lauded. Put the man in at number 4 or 6, over number 20 or 45—Michael Hussey seems to have the game to do it for Australia.

And so he did today. Hussey saw Australia through with the tail ending up on 40 of 46 balls. Australia needed 12 of 12 at the end of the batting power play with Hussey and Hauritz at the crease. Hussey took rana for 9 off the pen ultimate over with some positive running and lusty hitting. It was 3 off 6 when Hauritz was trapped LBW by Rao.

Ryan Harris was Australia’s number ten and he seems to be doing nothing wrong at the moment. He had a swipe at his first ball and managed to clear wide mid-on for a couple.

A lot of drama was seen in the finale of the match. Firstly, it was Shahid Afridi who was seen biting the ball twice which was caught on camera. Reports later suggested that Afridi pleaded guilty to the charges laid down by match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Afridi has been banned for two T20 internationals which means he will miss this Friday’s clash at the SCG as well as the one against England.

The act was caught on camera and the umpires were informed so on their microphones and the ball was immediately changed. Another striking incident was when one of the spectators charged at Khalid Latif. Thankfully, for latif there were no injuries. A very embarrassing moment, for Cricket Australia considering such incidents have been happening quite often. Australia won the match when Harris was caught off a waist high no ball at mid off.

Australia clean swept the Pakistani’s not just in the ODI series but also in the test series. What remains to be seen is whether Pakistan would be able to manage a single win on this tour?

Cameron White

Start of season, Australia back in green and gold—more green then gold. 1st ODI of the summer. Pakistan VS Australia at the wooloongabba. Pakistan for a change won the toss and decided to bat. They were off to a rollicking start. Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt got off to an explosive start.

They put on 62 before Akmal was foxed by a Watson slower one. In came Younis Khan; his first international game in about three months and understandably he looked scratchy. Salman Butt took off from where Kamran Akmal left off and was soon the aggressor. He pulled, made room and smashed ‘em over cover all be it with a streak of luck—Butt was taking the attack to the Aussies.

Finally, Ponting brought on Bollinger back who was hustling in. He banged one in and Butt miscued the pull which went straight up in the air to be caught by Haddin. Bollinger accounted for Yousuf as well when he bowled a brilliant short delivery which bounced over chest height from just at good length.

Yousuf defended it; the ball bounced behind him and was bowled. Quite a dismissal! Umar Akmal looked in splendid form before he played a lose shot outside the off-stump and was taken by Haddin. Soon, wickets fell quickly and Pakistan were at 227 for 7 struggling to make it to 250. However, Afridi had other ideas. He smashed the ball to all parts of the ground. His 26 ball 48 consisted of 3 sixes and 5 fours. His cameo enabled Pakistan to reach a sizeable total of 274.

Australia were hit hard early by Mohd Aamer who bowled a brut of a delivery to Shane Watson. Australia were soon reduced to 37 for 2 and then 84 for 3 with no major contributions from the top 3. Pakistan were bossing it. Cameron white, the blonde bombshell from Victoria came in and along with Michael Clarke put on a 102 run stand bringing Australia right back into the contest.

Clarke eventually fell for 58 run out by Rana Naved. But, there was no stopping white as he continued on his merry ways. At the 40th over mark Australia still needed 75 of 60. Pakistan could still make a match of it. The next over by Afridi changed the course of the match. The over went 1, 6, 6, 6, 1, 1.

Ferocious hitting by White! Absolutely Brilliant! His first six was a waft over mid wicket. His second was another swing towards cow-corner (a very flat one). The third, best of the lot—took it from length and hammered it over the straight long on boundary. It was the flattest of the flattest—not more than 10 feet above the ground. The equation was simple then 54 of 54. Australia cruised home with Cameron White (105) getting to his second ODI century (1st at home). Michael Hussey yet another not out to him and more importantly yet another victory for Australia.

Salman Butt running out his infuriated skipper Mohammad Yousuf and rising star Umar Akmal at Hobart told pretty much the story of Pakistan on this tour. There has been a complete lack of planning, no urge to win shown (Umar Akmal being the only exception), shoddy fielding and uninspiring captaincy.

Not surprising then that Pakistan were blanked 3-0 by what has been rated by many, including credible voices, as an average Australian side. True, the unpredictable Asian side has produced wonderful performances when things have been extremely stormy off the field in the past (the T20 World Cup triumph being the most recent example).

However, this time the mess was just too much not to affect the side, what with regular skipper Younis Khan skipping the Test series, clearly indicating that all is not well in Pakistan cricket.

Among the many disappointments for Pakistan was the performance of the batters. Butt managed to strike one hundred, but his two run-outs really took away all the sheen from the performance while Khurram Manzoor, who was the only batsman to stand tall at Hobart, was brought in too late into the series.

A lot was expected of experienced men like Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal. However, while Misbah flattered to deceive, Akmal went from being bad to worse, so much so that he had to be dropped for the last Test. Even as he struggled with the bat, it was with his gloves that he was appalling, and that’s just to put it mildly.

He dropped sitters one after the other and the disease spread to the others too as the Pakistani fielders went on dropping catches. It was a pathetic show in the field, one which would have embarrassed even club cricketers.

The bowling performance was slightly better, but not good enough to trouble the classy Aussie batsmen. Left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamer was undoubtedly the best of the faster men among the Pakistanis. However, his inexperience came to the fore at various crucial moments in the game as he let the pressure off the batsmen.

But, he will definitely learn from this experience and come out a better bowler. Umar Gul was also impressive in phases, but it wasn’t enough to make a significant difference. In the spin department, Danish Kaneria picked up a five-wicket haul. That apart though, he did not do much to aid his team’s chances. It has to be said, however, that with better support from the fielders, they could have done much better.

Turning to Australia, this series will be remembered for the making of Nathan Hauritz. In all three Tests, it was he who bowled Australia to victory. Though not in the same league as Shane Warne, he is unquestionably turning out to be a match-winning spinner for the Aussies. And he was amicably supported by the faster men.

Left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger was the best among the Aussie pacers even as Mitchell Johnson kept on getting the much-needed breakthroughs. Even Peter Siddle, who had struggled in the last few Tests, came into his own at Hobart as the series came to a rather predictable conclusion.

In Nottingham, at Trent Bridge Stadium on 18th of June, ICC World T20 semifinal was played between the unpredictable Pakistan, and invincible South Africa. Star player Shahid Afridi with his indefatigable efforts with bat and bowl snatched the victory out the South Africa who had been on winning streak up till. In this exciting semifinal, the Trent Bridge was howling with screaming and overwhelming Pakistani supporters for the Pakistan. Shahid Afridi blasted with bat 51 runs off 33 balls giving the Pakistan head start and again with his magical spell of leg-spin caught the South Africa with awe by taking 2 wickets of 16 runs. Eventually being the significant factor for the Pakistan unpredictable and unprecedented entry into the ICC World T20 finals, making it the strongest contender.

South Africa after losing to Pakistan, yet again consolidated the notion that South Africa being perennial chokers. South Africa chasing 150 fall short of 7 runs and proved to be succumbing to the pressure.

Pakistan got blasting start by Kamran Akmal (23) with the initial hiccup of falling duck wicket of the opening batsman Shahizab Hasan (0) by Wayne Parnell. Then Akmal wicket fall on 28 by Dale Steyn, Afridi came to bat and knocked 51runs off 33 balls, taking the score to the 95 with the stabilized support from Shoaib Malik (34) end. But sooner the Afridi and Shoaib Malik were returned to pavilion by Duminy and Merwe respectively at 95 for 3 and 124 for 4. Pakistani middle order was sluggish and no boundaries were knocked in last 5 overs and Younis Khan (24) and Abdul Rassaq (12) finished innings with 149 runs.

South Africa was expected to easily achieve 150 runs target, but sooner it was realized that it’s going to be tough though. Jacques Kallis stronger innings of 64 off 54 balls, strengthened the South Africa innings. But on the other end the falling of wickets continued with Graeme Smith (10), Herschelle Gibbs (5) and AB de Villers (1) by Aamer and Afridi respectively at 46 for 2, 50 for 3 and 111 for 4. Lethargy and increasing Run Rate proved to be fatal to South Africa and in a fit to break the idleness Kallis took the uncalculated shoot by Shoaib Malik and was caught. Gul with outstanding leg cutters and Yorkers in the crucial 17th and 19th over was able to confine South Africa to 6 runs only. Hence forth despite JP Duminy (44) endeavor South Africa felled short of 7 runs and lost the semifinal.

As the 10 runs on last ball left, the Pakistani supporters were swayed by exhilaration and deafening scream. As it was predicted South Africa lost to Pakistan for just 7 runs, and Pakistani supporters were just jubilant. South Africa nerves took a toll of them and Pakistan unnerving and unflinching confidence led them to finals and making them stronger contender for ICC World T20.

Women’s ICC World T20:

Watkins Led New Zealand In The Finals By Crushing India

Indian cricket women’s team made it to the semifinals, as there opposite sex Indian cricket men’s team lost all their matches in the super 8. Hope rose higher for Indian cricket women’s team even though they previously lost to England crushingly. India stood with higher expectations in front of stronger New Zealand, but as they clashed in first semifinal on 18th of June, India couldn’t sustain a bit and lost to the New Zealand by 52 runs. New Zealand powerful team played like winner and came out eventually with pre-ordained victory.

Nottingham, at Trent Bridge, New Zealand faced India; Aimee Watkins contributed solely to the huge total of 145 runs for 5 by her stunning 89 runs of just 58 balls. Aimee Watkins brilliancy with bat and captaincy gave no vent for India to make a slightest of modifications to the precedence over match. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first and with the greater contribution of Aimee Watkins, New Zealand aggregated 145 runs off 5 wickets.

Kiwis came to bat, but initially kiwis stumbled by losing Suzie Bates (10) to a ferocious catch by Harmanpreet Kaur on bowling of Amita Sharma. With initial dent, Aimee Watkins came to bat and trampled the hopes of Indians and played sustainable and stunning innings of unbeatable 89 runs of 58 balls on here other end the wickets kept on falling with Lucy Doolan (3), Amy Satterthwaite (10), Nicola Browne (5) and Sara McGlashan (4). Amita Sharma with her bowling figure was impressive, by taking 2 significant wickets and just giving 21 runs. Rumeli Dhar and Priyanka Roy were out of other 7 bowler who took 1-1 wickets. Indian bowling was impressive still it was not able to confine Aimee Watkins.

New Zealand aggregated 145 runs off 5 wickets after them India came to bat to chase 146 runs target. India was expected to put up some entertaining show like Aimee did, but Indian batting order felled like playing cards palace. Anjum Chopra (15), Mithali Raj (20) and Amita Sharma (24) were only to bat double figures and still they were not able to contribute and none sustained on the pitch. Wickets kept falling one by one and not a single player was able to stay on the pitch. New Zealand fielding and bowling under the captaincy of Aimee Watkins was too tight and beautiful that it gave not a single opportunity to the India. Sophie Devine, Kate Pulford, Suzie Bates took 1-1 wickets and Sian Ruck and Suzie Bates took 2-2 wickets, showing off the stronger and stable bowling line up of New Zealand.

India toddling at 93 runs for 9 wickets, New Zealand winded up with the last match with great margin of 52 runs victory over India. First semifinal of New Zealand Vs India was lop sided, and New Zealand winning the match made it into the ICC Women’s World T20 finals.

South Africa has finally got rid of their reputation as chokers. They now face Pakistan in an intriguing semifinal encounter of the Men’s T20 World Cup. Pakistan did not start the campaign on a good note as they went down to England in their first match of the tournament. Since then Pakistan has not looked back. They have shown their class and regained the form that has brought them this far in the tournament. The Proteas on the other hand has not lost a single match in the tournament and got the better of teams like New Zealand, India, England, and West Indies during their journey to the semifinals. Therefore, it will not be fair to take a call as to, which team holds the upper hand in this semifinal encounter.

Pakistan may have lost to Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 match, but it is important to understand that the Lankan lion’s are playing the best cricket of their life since the 1996 world cup. Pakistan did give them a good fight in that match but could not manage to reach the final total. However, Pakistan now looks like a team on a mission to regain their lost title. Players like Afridi, Mallik, Ajmal, Gul, and Razaq have put in superlative performances whenever the team required their services. Under the captaincy of a very relaxed Younis Khan, the Pakistani team looks very dangerous and hungry to regain the title.

South Africa has played Pakistan just once in the T20 format of the game. A great innings from their skipper Graeme Smith ensured that they got the better of Pakistan that time. However, past performances will not matter as the location is new, the match is an all-important semifinal clash, and both teams are looking forward to win the title for the first time. Therefore, things are completely different as compared to their last encounter.

The Proteas are unperturbed by the chokers tag, which had cost them dearly in the past. In 2009, they want to prove to cricket audiences worldwide that things have drastically changed in their approach to the game. With five consecutive victories in the tournament and players like Kallis, Smith, Botha, De Villiers, Gibbs, Parnell, Morkel, and Steyn showing good form, the South Africans are the hot favorites to win the tournament this time round. Only one thing is certain from this match and that is high intensity and non-stop entertainment as the two titans of cricket clash to regain their lost glory.