Has Pakistan chosen a decent squad?

Well, it is just less than a month before the big even is about to start and one should be hapy to hear that Pakistan is still yet to select a captain for its team. May be the PCB is still awaiting the comeback of Imran Khan, Inzamam or Wasim Akram, failing to realize that they have retired from all forms of cricket long back. There might have been cases here teams would have headed to a tournament without a full time coach like it happened in the inaugural edition of the world T20 tournament in 2007 where India headed with a stand in bowling coach-Venkatesh Prasad.

But, can there ever be a team without a captain or can there be a team which decides who should captain just moments before calling the toss? The PCB has made a debacle by dropping fellow players like Mohammed Yusuf and Salman Butt, both of whom could have borne the responsibility, captaincy has to be an issue whatsoever. Moreover, if the squad that the Pakistan team will be heading with to the world cup is taken, the issue gets even more bigger and may be even bigger than the one haunting its captaincy issue. Captaincy can be borne by either Afridi or Abdul Razzaq keeping in mind the experience of both.

It looks like Inzamam Ul Haq is worried regarding who will captain his side with so many of them being shown the doors in the 15 member squad. Afridi has though not done a fab job as a player, his statistics suggest that he has played more than 200 matches in limited overs cricket but, keeping in mind his carelessness in selecting shots, he has to be kept out of discussion. However, Abdul Razzaq can be a good choice keeping in mind both his experience and sense of responsibility when it comes to both batting as well as bowling. Other names that strike are Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan.

With Younis Khan opting out, another choice would be Misbah Ul Haq who has shown to me rather responsible and with no other member of the 15 member squad seeming to do the job, Misbah can well be an option. But, if the squad itself is considered, it looks like Pakistan is bound to do an Australia for the wrong reasons. If Pakistan fail to go past the 1^st stage of the tournament, they will be failing to do so for the 3^rd time in a row like Australia winning the world cup since 1999. There was no reason to include Shoaib Akthar when Yousuf was denied entry.

Something similar between Lara & Sachin

It is not an undisputed fact that Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar are the finest of all batsmen of their era. The decade has seen batsmen like Inzamam Ul Haq who could pull his team out from the jaws of defeat in the semi finals of the 1992 world cup which Pakistan eventually won. Then there is Shahid Afridi, who claims that his favourite shot is "anywhere for six" and holds the record for the fastest hundred in ODIs and then there is Jayasuriya who holds the record for the maximum number of sixes in one day cricket. Otherwise also we have gr8 batsmen like Ponting, Gilchrist, Symonds etc who have been exceptional with the willow.

However, the world of cricket, if the last 15 years or so are considered, the only batsmen who have been enjoying a huge fan following are only two- Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. No one would dare to rate any other batsmen among these two greats and so would I. A Sachin fan can justify himself with most of the batting records in both formats of the game belonging to him. But, as far as Brian Lara is considered, if not for the unbeaten score of 400 against England, none of the records really belong to him in either formats of the game.

If Lara is given a little bit of concession, he held the world record for the highest number of runs in international test cricket until it was broke by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Lara stands fifth when it comes to the number of 100s scored behind Sachin, Jayasuriya, Ponting & Ganguly. Lara's place when it comes to the highest run aggregate would be behind Dravid, Ganguly, Inzy, Jayasuriya and of course Sachin. But, there was one thing that struck my mind when Sachin scored an unbeaten 200 yesterday against South Africa.This was Sachin's 2nd score over 180 which is in par with two 350+ scores of Lara in tests.

It was somewhere in October 2003 that Australia's Mathew Hayden scored 380 runs against Zimbabwe to break the old record of 375 put up by Lara against England in 1994. Exactly six months later, Brian Lara notched up the first quadruple hundred in test cricket that broke Mathew Hayden's record and also was a new landmark in tests. Similarly, in ODIs, in August 2009, Charles Coventry scored an unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh which broke Saeed Anwar's record of the same score without the asterik symbol following it. And exactly after the same duration of 6 months, Sachin scores 200* which also put up a new landmark but in ODIs. Moreover, both Lara & Sachin use bats that are sponsored by MRF.

PCB's Double Standards

Hmm..from the least couple of months or so,the man who has been in the news was found to be Shoaib Akthar.But,now it seems another fellow Pakistani cricketer has taken a share in what is now another scandal in Pakistan cricket.The man is Mohd Asif.And mind you it is the second time the man has stepped into this controversy of doping.And Wah!Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)-for the second time in succession is trying to cover Mohd Asif for an act that is supposed to have been critisised in the most harsh way possible.But,look at what the PCB is upto?

When it came to banning Shoaib Akthar for up to 5 years along with a fine of around Rs 200 crore,the PCB once again failed to disclose the misdeeds done by Shoaib Akthar.It was the same PCB that held hand in hand with Shoaib Akthar when it came to his illegal bowling action. But,always makes news for making the same Shoaib Akthar a scape goat whenever possible.Probably for the third time I believe!

And,now when the ICC detains Mohd Asif in Dubai,alleging him of doping charges,the PCB is nowhere near to joining and seeing to that the truth never dies.One can imagine the multi standards of the PCB.Is this the kind of motivation the the PCB gives its upcoming younger cricket players?Well..if there is an Australia who can do things whatever they want when they are at the receiving ends,one has to also take into consideration that there is also a PCB that supports its players even when they are found to be guilty of something they have to be ashamed of.

A Major Upset Waiting to Happen In ICL-II

Well the last time I had posted a topic which was in all praise for the new entrants- Lahore Badshahs,who had been unbeaten until Friday,when Hyderabad Heroes grabbed an upset win by 6 runs to go 1-0 up in the best of three finals of the second edition of the Indian Cricket League.And,if this happens no one on earth i believe would ever forgive or forget the Lahore Badshahs .

That would be the last thing that any true cricket fan would ever want to happen.And another fact is that the team is one of the best contenders for the title,for its completely balanced team consisting of experienced players in Inzy,Mushtaq Ahmed,Azhar Mahmood and others.All of us hope they emerge as Australians of world cricket rather than ending up as the unlucky South Africans-who are found to make a mess of their game whenever it comes to the big stage.

After the initial loss of the Lahore Badshahs to the hands of Hyderabad Heroes,I was found to think of a situation where a team beats each and every opponent it faces,only to lose the finals of the same.One such instance that I can quote is the famous Wills World Cup-1996,where South Africa won all of the 5 games in the league stages before losing to the Windies in the QF.And the same South Africa who won all games in the 1999 edition before losing to Australia in the super sixes & eventually in a tied semis.

Also the same South Africa had won all 6 games against Australia & India in the Titan Cup before losing to India.And some similar exchanges between India & Australia where both did the same to each other,first by Australia to India in the Pepsi tri series involving Zimbabwe,followed by India to Australia involving New Zealand at Sharjah-which is known for the memorable innings of Sachin Tendulkar's back to back hundreds.

Last but not the least,there was a quadrangular series involving South Africa,India, Kenya and Zimbabwe in 1999 at Nairobi and this time it was India who was at the receiving end of South Africa.

The Curse Of 300+

Well its was all cheers for Virender Sehwag the other day when he belted a 277 ball 300,the fastest triple hundred in the history of test cricket.But,in addition to this,there is also a harsh truth which is nothing but the result of that match which was a boring draw.Not the first time this has happened,but in most of the time the test match which has witnessed a batsman scoring a triple hundred has ended in a draw.The only thing that the fans could take home was some awesome shots and exciting batting by the batsman concerned.

Lets take a few examples concerning test matches having a triple centurion.Luckly the last time a batsman who scored a triple hundere for his team won the match for his team and that is Mahela Jayawardane who scored 374 runs to see his team win by an innings and 153 runs.

Then we have Chris Gayle's 317 against the same South Africa which once again made it into the batting record books as the match had as many as 8 centurions in that test.And then we have Matthew Hayden's 380 which off course saw his team through.But the opposition??Then the gr8 innings of Brian Lara-400* against England,his 375 against England,Sanath Jayasuriya's 340 versus India,Inzy's 329 against New Zealand-which Pakistan won by an innings and 324 runs,Mark Taylor's 334* which ended in a draw &finally Virender Sehwag's 309 against Pakistan which India won by an innings & 52 runs.

Taking stats together,there have been only 8 instances(out of 22) of a match producing a result which has a batsman scoring a triple hundred.

Virender Sehwag:The Record Breaker!!!

Well the last night,I just couldn't just believe in my own eyes when I turned my channel to Neo Sports to watch the first test between India and South Africa.And to be frank, today you can find me going through each and every cricket website to check weather there is something different than what I saw on TV.But,to no avail!

After I saw the first day's play by South African batsmen in Chepauk,I cursed myself and vowed not to watch the match anymore.But,it looked as though Viru had different plans.The man not only challenged the South African bowlers,but also crores of Indian cricket fans like me who had declared it as "All Over".And also for those people who came forward to criticize Viru whenever he put up a bad performance.

Earlier test stats shows us that his record was not an ordinary one when it came to only tests,keeping the facts about the other forms out of mind for the moment.The fact that Viru had gone well past 150+ after reaching 100 on previous 10 occasions was something special as hardly I knew about it-though being a avid cricket stat enthusiast.

All records put up by Sehwag are more the less known to each and everyone glued to their TV Sets or their newspapers turned to page number 21.Some more aspects that I could find regarding is that his second triple hundred made India in par with other sub-continent teams viz Pakistan and Sri Lanka,each of whom who have two triple centuries under their belt.Sanath Jayasuriya & Mahela Jayawardane for Sri Lanka,accompanied by Haneef Mohommed & Inzy for Pakistan.Out of them,only two of them have done it outside home,Viru(Multan) joining Haneef(Bridgetown).

It was a mistake done by the selectors to have dropped Sehwag for the home series against Pakistan -(which was found to have been his favourite team)last December. Not because of his Triple hundred,but because there was no questions about Sehwag's form when it came to tests.All was done taking into account his ODI form.With his fellowmen-Dravid & Tendulkar reaching their fourth double hundreds after attaining 30 yrs or more,it is really important to note that this man has done it at 29 itself.Perhabs Viru is the only one batsmen(keeping aside the big three,along with VVS Laxman-who form a different group altogether) to have scored a double hundred for India.The joint second highest double century scorer for India after Dravid(5), along with Gavaskar & Sachin(4 each).

An Indian win in this test would perhabs be the best possible treat because,rarely a team has produced a result with one of its batsmen scoring a triple hundred.

Inzamam 'disgusted' at umpire Hair's reinstatement

Hmm..there was some shocking news for Pakistani cricketers on Tuesday after they heard the news of umpire Hair's reinstatement.As it happens obviously for everyone of us,even Inzy was not someone special.The situation is no different from"If Steve Bucknor had been reinstated for tours with India being a part".But,some things have to be made clear.When Pakistani cricketers condemn the reinstatement of Hair,wanting him to be sacked,to what extent are Pakistanis worth the praise?Why wasn't Inzy-the gr8 not punished when he beat up a fan in Canada during the Sahara Cup 1997?And how come Javed Miandad was spared when he was found to mess up Dennis Lillie?And Shoaib Akthar being pardoned when they were involved in the doping scandal along with Mohd Asif?How come PCB was not victimised when Pakistani fans at Karachi pelted stones at Indian cricketers,following which India surrendered the next match in Lahore-where Ijaz belted an 84 ball 139* without giving a fight owing to security reasons?

With the PCB being so reluctant when it comes to deeds performed by their own players,I feel that they have lost the moral right to point their fingers at Darrell Hair!!

InZy :An 18 year old even at 40??

In the second round of the Indian Cricket League taking place,there is one man in the side for whom my heart goes on.that's the old Pakistani war horse-Inzamam Ul Haq.Inspite of retiring from international career a year ago,it looks like this pakistani lad from Multan is never found to get exhausted.this was what was shown by this young man when he was found captaining his team in "Lahore Badshahs" in the ongoing Indian Cricket League at Chandigarh.So far,the team Lahore Badhshahs led by him has won all of the encounters viz:against Chandigarh Lions,Hyderabad Heroes and Chennai Superstars.With Inzy's score being 12* against Chandigarh Lions,50* against Chennai Superstars.Well...if Inzy could manage to win the Indian Cricket League title for his team,I think it would be a major achievement by pakistan after their World Cup victory way back in 1992(In which Inzy had a major role to play).And shortly the man celebrated his 39th B'day(on march 3rd).So a belated happy birthday Inzy!have a nice day.......

IPL & ICL Provoking Retirement Of International Cricketers?

Hmm..it is exciting to see hot bucks being involved in the recently launched-The Rebel Indian Cricket League & the Multi Million Dollar Indian Premier League.These leagues provide the fans to watch out for their cricketing heros viz Brian Lara,Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne,Sanath Jayasuriya,Inzy and much more who have retired from their respective nations after serving them for a long period.At the same time,these leagues attract players from their cricketing nations to play for these leagues rather than play for their motherland.Such players include Shane Bond,Adam Gilchrist,Brad Hogg,Scott Styris etc naming a few.

The players listed under the second category have all retired from international cricket,with a lot of fuel still left in their tank.I wonder as to what they are going to achieve by joining these leagues other than money.Will the crowd cheering their heroes be the same when they play for these leagues compared to that when they play for their country?And will the players show the same enthusiasm that they show when playing for their respective nations?

I think that the players representing their respective League teams will play only for money rather than to see their team through.A win or a loss to a particular team in these leagues would hardly make a difference to the players unlike when the same players play for their nations.And anyway,let we fans enjoy the turn that Shane Warne gets on the ball,the accuracy of Glenn McGrath,the pace of Shane Bond, Blistering of Brian Lara and Inzy and much more...