Well a month long break from blogging couldn't just keep my life going as it always does. And finally, I'm glad that I'm back to blogging on cricket and getting in touch with you friends who have helped me grow to this level. Anyway let me do something more worth than just going in for some unwanted publicity. In the last one month or so, the day since I had taken an indefinite break from blogging, a lot of unexpected turn arounds in the world of cricket have taken place, which I still repent for not being able to bring or share with you.
First of all would be the sad disastrous end to the test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which witnessed the expected and just added fuel to fire, with most other countries getting more rigid with the plans of not to tour Pakistan may be anymore. The spontaneous reaction being from New Zealand, who immidiately decided to call off their tour to the country which was to be held in late this year. Thanks to some bloody miscreants who don't want Pakistan to showcast their skills on the cricket field. It was really sad that the miscreants didn't even spare the only country that sympathised Pakistan and decided to tour the trouble torn nation.
Next comes the height of politics in India that made its way even to cricket. Alas! the much awaited second edition of the Indian Premire League had to be held in South Africa. This I think is in no way different from the cricket in Pakistan, which was compromised to be played outside its nation like Sharjah and Abu Dabhi. This was a little bit expected and a more of a surprise, for that was the last expected from atleast the fans, who would have thought of making it to the stadium to get a glimpse of the games and a few others who would have wanted their faces to be shown on television sets by luck.
These were the most missed by me in the last one month. Also, there was the way the West Indies escaped with a series win, with team England being unable to grab two wickets on the final day, when the West Indies' scorecard read 114/8. It was England who held the upper hand in that particular match, but not in that particular series whatsoever. England were found paying the heavy price for the debacle that they underwent in the first game where they were all out for 51. This left the West Indies, who are (in the recent past) are known for saving the series rather than go in for a win to just see to that they draw the remainder of the test series and ensure that they take home the trophy. No matter what the spirit of the game says.
Showing posts with label Sri Lanka vs Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sri Lanka vs Pakistan. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Lankans Deceived
Well it has been a very long time since I last held a pen in my hand to blog something about cricket. But, I blame it all on the lack of some or any convincing turn around that really went on in the world of international cricket really. Still, I thought that waiting further for the same would just mean losing my fans who have encouraged me till here. So, I drew some points from the on going test series which featured Pakistan after almost a year or so. And they did the very same in a more decent manner whatsoever. The just showed the cricketing world that they haven't yet forgotten the game of cricket and test cricket in particular.
If Sri Lanka who were facing Pakistan after their debacle against India off late had two players, whom they had thought to have made a difference to their team, they were totally mistaken. For, even the Pakistani test team was well equipped with war heads like Younis Khan who put up a fighting triple century. In the process, Younis Khan became the third Pakistani batsmen to notch up a triple hundred. So, it is now left for the remaining subcontinental teams namely India and Sri Lanka to boast of another batsmen to have scored a triple hundered. Sri Lanka and India have two batsmen who have scored triple hundreds with Pakistan making it three.
For Pakistan, there have been three batsmen off late namely Hanif Mohammed, Inzamam Ul Haq and recently Younus Khan who have a double hundred against their name. While India have two triple hundreds, both of them being scored by Virender Sehwag alone and on the other hand, Sri Lanka too have two batsmen in Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardane to have notched up a triple hundred for their country. This has always been the case with a test match being held on Pakistani soil. Every match played on Pakistani soil becomes a batsmen's paradise and a bowlers' nightmare. More so in the India's tour of the country in early 2006.
In the first two of the three test matches, there were four Pakistani and two Indian batsmen who scored a hundred only to see the first encounter end in a draw. In the second encounter, debutant pacer R P Singh was named the man of the match in the drawn test for taking four wickets. This was the fate of test cricket. All that the first two test matches could witness was smashes from the bat of Shahid Afridi, who hit Harbhajan Singh for four consecutive sixes. And in the first test, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag lost out on putting a record first wicket partnership of 413 when Virender Sehwag lost out hastingly when the scoreboard read 410.
If Sri Lanka who were facing Pakistan after their debacle against India off late had two players, whom they had thought to have made a difference to their team, they were totally mistaken. For, even the Pakistani test team was well equipped with war heads like Younis Khan who put up a fighting triple century. In the process, Younis Khan became the third Pakistani batsmen to notch up a triple hundred. So, it is now left for the remaining subcontinental teams namely India and Sri Lanka to boast of another batsmen to have scored a triple hundered. Sri Lanka and India have two batsmen who have scored triple hundreds with Pakistan making it three.
For Pakistan, there have been three batsmen off late namely Hanif Mohammed, Inzamam Ul Haq and recently Younus Khan who have a double hundred against their name. While India have two triple hundreds, both of them being scored by Virender Sehwag alone and on the other hand, Sri Lanka too have two batsmen in Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardane to have notched up a triple hundred for their country. This has always been the case with a test match being held on Pakistani soil. Every match played on Pakistani soil becomes a batsmen's paradise and a bowlers' nightmare. More so in the India's tour of the country in early 2006.
In the first two of the three test matches, there were four Pakistani and two Indian batsmen who scored a hundred only to see the first encounter end in a draw. In the second encounter, debutant pacer R P Singh was named the man of the match in the drawn test for taking four wickets. This was the fate of test cricket. All that the first two test matches could witness was smashes from the bat of Shahid Afridi, who hit Harbhajan Singh for four consecutive sixes. And in the first test, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag lost out on putting a record first wicket partnership of 413 when Virender Sehwag lost out hastingly when the scoreboard read 410.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Finally Pakistan Pay The Price
The third one day international saw Pakistan pay a heavy price for what they have been doing since a year or so. A year long rest proves very crucial for the Pakistanis. For, when they are back to their playing days, they can hardly afford to crack the opposition in any manner in any department of the game. A 234 run defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankans is something unbearable whatsoever. For, even the 245 run defeat at the hands of Sri Lankans some nine years ago was unacceptable and this led to so many changes to the then Indian team. Members of the team like Nayan Mongia and Vinod Kanbli never ever tended to look back after sometime from the day they registered this huge defeat.
Pakistan fell just short of making into the record books for having a defeat of the highest margin in one day cricket as far as only the test playing teams of the world are considerd. Of course there have been instances where India imposed a 257 run defeat over Bermuda in the World Cup 2007 and in 2003 world cup, Australia inflicted a mammoth defeat of 256 runs. For the sake of stats, India has the record of inflicting the highest ever margin of defeat against any team in the world. And at the same time, India is the victim of having been beaten by a world record margin despite playing test cricket for years altogether.
It is still not understandable as to what was going on in the minds of the Pakistani cricketers which saw them succumb to such a low total of 75 while Sri Lanka's team total went well past 300. The variation between the performances of these two teams should be indeed given a re think whatsoever. If the past performances between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is taken into consideration, Pakistan should have had an upper hand in this match. Especially after their 8 wicket victory in the first one day international at Karachi. Pakistan have won the last 7 out of the 10 one day matches played against Sri Lanka. The three losses being in the third one dayer in the three match ODI series that followed after the world cup 2007 and two in the current series.
Despite for not having been playing cricket for a year long time, Pakistan managed to beat the West Indies 3-0 during their tout in Abu Dhabi convincingly. Of course they should have and have beaten Bangladesh and Zimbabwe 5-0 each. But, it is still not clear as to what happened to the Pakistanis when they faced a team which struggled against minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in all the games they have faced each other. It is a wonder for a team to beat Pakistan after having the matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in a toss. A loss to Sri Lanka meant the end of theor successful one day campaign of having won 14 one day internationals in a row. Pakistan beat Bangladesh and Zimbabwe 5-0 and the West Indies 3-0 and Sri Lanka in the first encounter before losing the second and third one.
Pakistan fell just short of making into the record books for having a defeat of the highest margin in one day cricket as far as only the test playing teams of the world are considerd. Of course there have been instances where India imposed a 257 run defeat over Bermuda in the World Cup 2007 and in 2003 world cup, Australia inflicted a mammoth defeat of 256 runs. For the sake of stats, India has the record of inflicting the highest ever margin of defeat against any team in the world. And at the same time, India is the victim of having been beaten by a world record margin despite playing test cricket for years altogether.
It is still not understandable as to what was going on in the minds of the Pakistani cricketers which saw them succumb to such a low total of 75 while Sri Lanka's team total went well past 300. The variation between the performances of these two teams should be indeed given a re think whatsoever. If the past performances between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is taken into consideration, Pakistan should have had an upper hand in this match. Especially after their 8 wicket victory in the first one day international at Karachi. Pakistan have won the last 7 out of the 10 one day matches played against Sri Lanka. The three losses being in the third one dayer in the three match ODI series that followed after the world cup 2007 and two in the current series.
Despite for not having been playing cricket for a year long time, Pakistan managed to beat the West Indies 3-0 during their tout in Abu Dhabi convincingly. Of course they should have and have beaten Bangladesh and Zimbabwe 5-0 each. But, it is still not clear as to what happened to the Pakistanis when they faced a team which struggled against minnows Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in all the games they have faced each other. It is a wonder for a team to beat Pakistan after having the matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in a toss. A loss to Sri Lanka meant the end of theor successful one day campaign of having won 14 one day internationals in a row. Pakistan beat Bangladesh and Zimbabwe 5-0 and the West Indies 3-0 and Sri Lanka in the first encounter before losing the second and third one.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sri Lanka Just Unpredictable
Well just a day before the second one day international match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, all words were against Sri lanka, not only for their loss to Pakistan in the first one day international, but also their dismal performance against minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. But, as the game of cricket itself is unpredictable, more predictable is the way the Sri Lankans play their cricket. First, they beat even the strongest of all cricketing nations and later, they are found to succumb even against a mere team. This was the reason as to why their world cup victory in 1996 against Australia at Lahore raised so many eyebrows.
barring Australia, when most of the cricket fans over the world had restricted them to just the super eights. And once again, after the world cup, the Also the way they beat most of the major teams in the ICC world cup 2007 at the CarribeanSri Lankans were back to their old routine of losing. They lost matches to India and Australia in the Common Wealth Bank series 2008, where Sri Lanka didn't even make it to the finals. This was followed by losses to the West Indies as well. Then, suddenly they end up the winners of the Asia cup in Pakistan.
And this time, if one takes a close look at the way they lost the first one day match at the hands of Pakistan, not many people would have ever thought of Sri Lanka winning the second one day match at Karachi. And Sri Lanka did just that. Not only did they win that match, but also the margin of victory was as convincing either. A huge margin of 129 runs, with the Pakistani batsmen being bowled out for a score of less than 200. Amazing!!! This they did against a team that won all the three matches against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi last year.
A team in Pakistan who can boast of being one of the teams to play spin with ease gave MuttiahMuralitharan a reason to party. Not much was expected for the Sri Lankans if not for a decent loss at the hands of the Pakistanis. But, much to our surprise, the Sri Lankans overcame their dismal performance against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe thus stunning the entire world. None of the Pakistani batsmen could really stand up with courage to face the Sri Lankan bowlers and give them even a moment to think. It was as though the Sri Lankans were there to just dictate the Pakistani batsmen with a ball in their hand.
barring Australia, when most of the cricket fans over the world had restricted them to just the super eights. And once again, after the world cup, the Also the way they beat most of the major teams in the ICC world cup 2007 at the CarribeanSri Lankans were back to their old routine of losing. They lost matches to India and Australia in the Common Wealth Bank series 2008, where Sri Lanka didn't even make it to the finals. This was followed by losses to the West Indies as well. Then, suddenly they end up the winners of the Asia cup in Pakistan.
And this time, if one takes a close look at the way they lost the first one day match at the hands of Pakistan, not many people would have ever thought of Sri Lanka winning the second one day match at Karachi. And Sri Lanka did just that. Not only did they win that match, but also the margin of victory was as convincing either. A huge margin of 129 runs, with the Pakistani batsmen being bowled out for a score of less than 200. Amazing!!! This they did against a team that won all the three matches against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi last year.
A team in Pakistan who can boast of being one of the teams to play spin with ease gave MuttiahMuralitharan a reason to party. Not much was expected for the Sri Lankans if not for a decent loss at the hands of the Pakistanis. But, much to our surprise, the Sri Lankans overcame their dismal performance against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe thus stunning the entire world. None of the Pakistani batsmen could really stand up with courage to face the Sri Lankan bowlers and give them even a moment to think. It was as though the Sri Lankans were there to just dictate the Pakistani batsmen with a ball in their hand.
Pakistan Back With A Bang
It looks as though the Pakistanis can never get rid of making blasts. For the wrong blasts that the country has been responsible for since a year or so, which in turn forced the ICC to yield to the security concerns of Australia, England and South Africa later, which ended in the ICC dismissing Pakistan as a venue for the ICC champions trophy 2008 and scheduled in 2009 at the same venue. But, now Pakistan team is found making news for blasts, and just relax for this time it is for the right reasons. Pakistan blasted Sri Lanka in the first one day international at Karachi by 8 wickets.
All Sri Lanka could afford to do was to be a mute spectator on the field, with Salman Butt belting the ball into the boundary. All that the Sri Lankans could afford was just 2 wickets that cane at the fag end of the Pakistan innings, when a Pakistani win was almost hit the headlines of newspapers. It was a real pity to see the aged Sanath Jayasuriya run to the boundary and do the job of a ball boy whenever Salman Butt hit the ball over the ropes. The first wicket fell when the scorecard read 168 from 37.1 overs and the second one at 205 at 43.2 overs.
It was not that Sri Lankans were not in the game since the start. A close look at the start of the game,which saw Sanath Jayasuria and Tilakeratne Dilshan hammer the ball frequently over the ropes was just amazing. It all started with the fall of these two stalwarts, which saw a total batting collapse on the Sri Lankan part. Some rarely known name in Iftikhar Anjum made most of the opportunity to become the leading wicket taker in the match by ending with figures of 4/42. Then another new comer in Khurram Manzoor scored 83 which involved a 168 run opening wicket partnership with Salman Butt.
Well, it was just obvious for, the Sri Lankans had to earn every run and every wicket when they recently played Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They struggled to win against Zimbabwe and there was also a loss at the hands of the Bangladeshis. This tale was more than enough for the reason as to why the Sri Lankan batting ha such a collapse. It is a wonder as to how come the Sri Lankans managed to take two Pakistani wickets. This was indeed an achievement on the Sri Lankan part. For this, the Sri Lankans should feel ralaxed and should be proud that the Pakistanis did not finish off the game in just 35-40 overs.
All Sri Lanka could afford to do was to be a mute spectator on the field, with Salman Butt belting the ball into the boundary. All that the Sri Lankans could afford was just 2 wickets that cane at the fag end of the Pakistan innings, when a Pakistani win was almost hit the headlines of newspapers. It was a real pity to see the aged Sanath Jayasuriya run to the boundary and do the job of a ball boy whenever Salman Butt hit the ball over the ropes. The first wicket fell when the scorecard read 168 from 37.1 overs and the second one at 205 at 43.2 overs.
It was not that Sri Lankans were not in the game since the start. A close look at the start of the game,which saw Sanath Jayasuria and Tilakeratne Dilshan hammer the ball frequently over the ropes was just amazing. It all started with the fall of these two stalwarts, which saw a total batting collapse on the Sri Lankan part. Some rarely known name in Iftikhar Anjum made most of the opportunity to become the leading wicket taker in the match by ending with figures of 4/42. Then another new comer in Khurram Manzoor scored 83 which involved a 168 run opening wicket partnership with Salman Butt.
Well, it was just obvious for, the Sri Lankans had to earn every run and every wicket when they recently played Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They struggled to win against Zimbabwe and there was also a loss at the hands of the Bangladeshis. This tale was more than enough for the reason as to why the Sri Lankan batting ha such a collapse. It is a wonder as to how come the Sri Lankans managed to take two Pakistani wickets. This was indeed an achievement on the Sri Lankan part. For this, the Sri Lankans should feel ralaxed and should be proud that the Pakistanis did not finish off the game in just 35-40 overs.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
After pakistan, Its Sri Lanka
Well, in one of my earlier posts, I had written about the fortune that Pakistan cricketers faced, when they are on a roll to overcome the record for most consecutive victories in one day internationals, that is currently held by Australia, for winning 21 consecutive one day matches, between V B Series 2002 to their West Indies tour in 2003, just after the world cup the same year. Currently, Pakistan have 14 consecutive one day victories, with five each against minnows namely Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and three against West Indies. The fourteenth one being against India in the Asia cup 2008.
Now, even another team in Sri Lanka are having the same luck, after whitewashing Zimbabwe recently, now, they are heading towards facing another minnow Bangladesh, which can assure Sri Lanka a seven straight win, with a match against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe due in the month of January 2009. But, it seems like the Sri Lankan cricket is shying away from achieving this, by scheduling a tour to Pakistan in January 2009, in case India fail to do so. I hope that the Sri Lankan Cricket is not aware of this for the moment. Else, Sri Lankan Cricket may re-consider their decision of touring Pakistan.
This is very much evident, bacause, Sri Lankan Cricket, earlier refused to have a bi-lateral series against England, owing to a $40 million deal with the IPL. Money gaining precedence over nation. And even this move would not be surprising either. Touring Pakistan may narrow its chances of achieving a consecutive one day win track record. For, the chances of a Sri Lankan win over Pakistan is unlikely as far as history and the current form of the Sri Lankan cricketers goes. Even Pakistan would find itself being deceived from having been given a chance to surpass the Aussie record for the most consecutive one day victories.
With the Sri Lanka- Pakistan series resulting always beng in a toss, a Pakistan win is as unlikely as a Sri Lankan win. But, this is not the case regarding Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. So, I would suggest both the PCB and SLC to re-consider their decision to hold a bi-lateral series.
Now, even another team in Sri Lanka are having the same luck, after whitewashing Zimbabwe recently, now, they are heading towards facing another minnow Bangladesh, which can assure Sri Lanka a seven straight win, with a match against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe due in the month of January 2009. But, it seems like the Sri Lankan cricket is shying away from achieving this, by scheduling a tour to Pakistan in January 2009, in case India fail to do so. I hope that the Sri Lankan Cricket is not aware of this for the moment. Else, Sri Lankan Cricket may re-consider their decision of touring Pakistan.
This is very much evident, bacause, Sri Lankan Cricket, earlier refused to have a bi-lateral series against England, owing to a $40 million deal with the IPL. Money gaining precedence over nation. And even this move would not be surprising either. Touring Pakistan may narrow its chances of achieving a consecutive one day win track record. For, the chances of a Sri Lankan win over Pakistan is unlikely as far as history and the current form of the Sri Lankan cricketers goes. Even Pakistan would find itself being deceived from having been given a chance to surpass the Aussie record for the most consecutive one day victories.
With the Sri Lanka- Pakistan series resulting always beng in a toss, a Pakistan win is as unlikely as a Sri Lankan win. But, this is not the case regarding Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. So, I would suggest both the PCB and SLC to re-consider their decision to hold a bi-lateral series.
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