Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq,Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Bazid Khan, Khalid Latif, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal .
There you go guys, there is our team chosen for the champions trophy. Lets dissect our this selectionand i will let you guys decide what you make of it. Why don’t we start with our own (pyare) Captain? Looking at his recent performances there is a great argument if he even belongs to the national team. His decisions are very debatable and his performances have not been up to the mark for a long time. Is he a opener, 2 down, 4 down or is its 5 down guy. Can anybody tell me his place or what rank does he play on. When he is doing captaincy he is seen lost, You see him doing press conference and he is scratching all his body and getting upset on reporters He should be rather be upset on his decisions on the ground and his batting. He himself is responsible for repeating same mistakes again and again like trying Kamran Akmal as an opener although he has failed countless times as a opener. I don’t want to even talk about how many catches will Kamran drop that will make me go on writing on this blog forever. Kamran can drop catches and let the guy score 100, that’s acceptable since Kamran scored a fifty also. Am I missing something here, is that the logic here (confused). Lets move on to other guys and my favorite Shahid Afridi. Can somebody please give me a reason for hisselection? Please I beg you what will he have to do to get him kicked out of the team. I guess he will have to quit cricket and only than our chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed would not consider him.People vouch for his bowling which also has been below par for the longest time. On top of it he missed all of the practice matches , plus his injury and he still gets selected. WOW. Only in pakistan if i may say you get to hear and see such mind boggling things. Moving on, Shoaib Akhtar is fit again (hip hip hurray), I think he will be able to bowl his first spell and then he will need treatment..hahaha. I think that’s how much fit he is. Umar Gul and SalmanButt coming from injuries god knows how much fit they are. Khalid Latif wont likely get a chance to play may be one match if he is lucky. Who knows how Bazid Khan will perform as he has to fill Mohammed Yousuf’s shoes. After saving Pakistan from an embarrassment from Hong Kong Fawad Alam is left out from the team As Shoaib Malik will say “Array warna Afridi bhai team mein kaisay atay agar fawad ko khilatay". Fawad has been wasted so many times in previous series, I don’t remember the captain giving him chance to come early and perform so he can show his true talent. Poor guy is being wasted away as so many talented guys in Pakistan.
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Mohammad Asif's Tale
So whats happening in Pakistani cricket, lets see today Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif has returned home after authorities in Dubai decided not to prosecute him for alleged drug offences.
Asif was detained at Dubai airport on suspicion of carrying illegal drugs as he travelled back to Pakistan from India on 1 June.
Dubai's public prosecutor, Mohammad al-Nuaimi, told the Gulf News Asif had been caught "red-handed" with 0.24 grams of opium.
But he added: "In certain cases and for a faster litigation process the public prosecution drops a case due to insignificance and deports the suspect."
The Pakistan Cricket Board statement said: "The drug tests conducted on Mohammad Asif during the investigations in Dubai were clear and negative for any contraband substance."
So what do you guys think we should be doing with Asif, he will surely be facing another ban by World Anti-Doping Authority (Not Again). Good thing this time there was no Shoaib Akhtar with him so he can not or we can not blame Shoaib for Asif’s misery. Asif is a big boy and it’s about time he took responsibility of his actions and apologize to the whole nation. How many of his fans are willing to forgive him this time around. I don’t know about myself , if I am ready to give him another chance. Should we, He is not a sixteen year old kid who needs to be disciplined. He is a mature adult who knows exactly what he is doing or does he? Well to finish of this article Asif is back in Pakistan and he has maintained that he was innocent. In his words “I did not use any banned substance. During the Indian Premier League, I underwent two doping tests, and cleared both of them," he said. "If I had been tested positive, the ICC would not have cleared me."
Having said that some people never learn !!!
Asif was detained at Dubai airport on suspicion of carrying illegal drugs as he travelled back to Pakistan from India on 1 June.
Dubai's public prosecutor, Mohammad al-Nuaimi, told the Gulf News Asif had been caught "red-handed" with 0.24 grams of opium.
But he added: "In certain cases and for a faster litigation process the public prosecution drops a case due to insignificance and deports the suspect."
The Pakistan Cricket Board statement said: "The drug tests conducted on Mohammad Asif during the investigations in Dubai were clear and negative for any contraband substance."
So what do you guys think we should be doing with Asif, he will surely be facing another ban by World Anti-Doping Authority (Not Again). Good thing this time there was no Shoaib Akhtar with him so he can not or we can not blame Shoaib for Asif’s misery. Asif is a big boy and it’s about time he took responsibility of his actions and apologize to the whole nation. How many of his fans are willing to forgive him this time around. I don’t know about myself , if I am ready to give him another chance. Should we, He is not a sixteen year old kid who needs to be disciplined. He is a mature adult who knows exactly what he is doing or does he? Well to finish of this article Asif is back in Pakistan and he has maintained that he was innocent. In his words “I did not use any banned substance. During the Indian Premier League, I underwent two doping tests, and cleared both of them," he said. "If I had been tested positive, the ICC would not have cleared me."
Having said that some people never learn !!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
IPL eyes global network of leagues
Ajay S Shankar
May 29, 2008
James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has confirmed interest in staging an IPL-style competition the following season © Getty Images
The Indian Premier League, which will wrap up its inaugural season on June 1, is just the first step of a "grand vision" that will eventually lead to the birth of a network of similar franchise-based models across the major cricket-playing nations culminating in the annual Champions League that will rival its football counterpart in terms of quality, money and glamour, a top IPL official has said.
England is working on developing their Twenty20 model; South Africa is convinced by the success of IPL and is already reviewing their current franchise format; Cricket Australia may launch their IPL version as soon as next year; and even Pakistan is thinking seriously about starting their edition of IPL.
"This is the grand vision," IS Bindra, an influential member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. "The vision is to move cricket to the next level, and get each league in each country to resemble the English Premier League with an exciting mix of international and national players. And then you have the grand Champions League, like the UEFA model which has taken football to such heights."
The immediate task is to start the Champions League as planned from this year. Officials of the BCCI-backed IPL are understood to be meeting a team from Cricket Australia in Mumbai on May 30 to explore whether the event, involving the top two domestic Twenty20 teams from five countries, can be held in England between September 28, when the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan ends, and October 9, when India's home Test series against Australia starts.
"The problem is the four-day practice match on October 2-5. We will try to work out a solution with Cricket Australia because the IPL franchises who will be part of the Champions League will want to have their best players available," Bindra said.
Bindra, who recently returned from a trip to Melbourne where he briefed the directors of Cricket Australia on the mechanics of organising a franchise-based league there, said one of his focus areas after taking over as the principal advisor to ICC in July would be to "ensure that cricket moves to the next level in world sport" in this direction.
The concept, Bindra said, is backed by senior officials of the major cricket boards. Giles Clarke, chairman of the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), "has expressed interest in the model" after being briefed by Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, last month; James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has confirmed interest in staging an IPL-style competition the following season; and Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is "very keen to launch a similar tournament there" after having deputed two representatives to participate in the planning stages of the IPL last year and "learn from the process".
In fact, Cricket Australia had invited Bindra last month to brief its board of directors on the concept at a resort near Melbourne on May 7-12. "There was a formal brainstorming session and an informal briefing, and the concept generated a lot of interest among the audience which included former cricketers like Allan Border and Mark Taylor. What I had suggested was a franchise model similar to IPL. But there might have to be some local adjustments.
"For instance, when we discussed the IPL within the BCCI, the question was whether the teams should be owned by the local state associations or private franchises. Some of us strongly suggested the franchise model because only then can you acquire top players for the teams and make the competition truly global. But the BCCI is a non-profit body and has to look after the state associations, too. So a compromise was arrived at, and we have IPL teams owned by franchises and run in collaboration with state associations. But Australia would have lesser problems since they have a corporate model of governance and have much fewer associations -- six, I believe, compared to 30 in India," Bindra said.
Link:
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/352849.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
May 29, 2008
James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has confirmed interest in staging an IPL-style competition the following season © Getty Images
The Indian Premier League, which will wrap up its inaugural season on June 1, is just the first step of a "grand vision" that will eventually lead to the birth of a network of similar franchise-based models across the major cricket-playing nations culminating in the annual Champions League that will rival its football counterpart in terms of quality, money and glamour, a top IPL official has said.
England is working on developing their Twenty20 model; South Africa is convinced by the success of IPL and is already reviewing their current franchise format; Cricket Australia may launch their IPL version as soon as next year; and even Pakistan is thinking seriously about starting their edition of IPL.
"This is the grand vision," IS Bindra, an influential member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. "The vision is to move cricket to the next level, and get each league in each country to resemble the English Premier League with an exciting mix of international and national players. And then you have the grand Champions League, like the UEFA model which has taken football to such heights."
The immediate task is to start the Champions League as planned from this year. Officials of the BCCI-backed IPL are understood to be meeting a team from Cricket Australia in Mumbai on May 30 to explore whether the event, involving the top two domestic Twenty20 teams from five countries, can be held in England between September 28, when the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan ends, and October 9, when India's home Test series against Australia starts.
"The problem is the four-day practice match on October 2-5. We will try to work out a solution with Cricket Australia because the IPL franchises who will be part of the Champions League will want to have their best players available," Bindra said.
Bindra, who recently returned from a trip to Melbourne where he briefed the directors of Cricket Australia on the mechanics of organising a franchise-based league there, said one of his focus areas after taking over as the principal advisor to ICC in July would be to "ensure that cricket moves to the next level in world sport" in this direction.
The concept, Bindra said, is backed by senior officials of the major cricket boards. Giles Clarke, chairman of the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), "has expressed interest in the model" after being briefed by Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, last month; James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, has confirmed interest in staging an IPL-style competition the following season; and Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is "very keen to launch a similar tournament there" after having deputed two representatives to participate in the planning stages of the IPL last year and "learn from the process".
In fact, Cricket Australia had invited Bindra last month to brief its board of directors on the concept at a resort near Melbourne on May 7-12. "There was a formal brainstorming session and an informal briefing, and the concept generated a lot of interest among the audience which included former cricketers like Allan Border and Mark Taylor. What I had suggested was a franchise model similar to IPL. But there might have to be some local adjustments.
"For instance, when we discussed the IPL within the BCCI, the question was whether the teams should be owned by the local state associations or private franchises. Some of us strongly suggested the franchise model because only then can you acquire top players for the teams and make the competition truly global. But the BCCI is a non-profit body and has to look after the state associations, too. So a compromise was arrived at, and we have IPL teams owned by franchises and run in collaboration with state associations. But Australia would have lesser problems since they have a corporate model of governance and have much fewer associations -- six, I believe, compared to 30 in India," Bindra said.
Link:
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/352849.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
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