Tendulker as Man of the Match in Semi Final – A Dark Spot on His Career

Sachin Tendulker has been declared man of the match in the semi final of ICC world cup 2011. He scored 84 runs. Before the match Pakistani captain stated that he will not allow Tendulker to score century. On his statement India media was very hot and were even going to insult Shahid Afridi. But during the match Pakistani team provided every chance of scoring century to Sachin, but he did not succeed. Sachin played the ball 4 times in the air, but Pakistani fielders refused to catch him. And finally on the 5^th occasion Pakistani skipper Shahid Khan Afridi caught him, but after availing 4 easy chances he just succeeded to score 84 runs.

Although for his 84 runs he was awarded the award of man of the match, but in fact this inning from Sachine Tendulker was not like him. When ever any one will watch the recording of this match in futue and will see Tendulker scoring only 84 runs after 4 dropped catches, he will question the ability of Sachin.

Facebook - Hate Promoter

Sport is a tool which promotes people to people contact and promotes harmony and tolerance between nations. In sub-continent cricket is known as a big game. Two big nations Pakistan and India are famous for the sports of cricket. In the recent semi final of ICC world cup 2011 Pakistan and India were opponents. There was a need for promoting good positive thinking between two nations through this match, but from both sides some ill-advised people manipulate the pictures of the heroes of both countries negatively and spread these pictures through facebook. Wise people from both countries reported such activities to facebook management but they did not take any action and promote this attitude. Resultantly this attitude of facebook prevailed more hate between the people of both the countries. Besides publishing manipulated sexy pictures of the heroes ill-advised people also used dirty language regarding religion and nation of the both countries, but despite blocking such user, face book just watch the cruel game.

People says that facebook is a social website, but  to me this is a hate promoter between the people of India and Pakistan.

1st Quarter Final ICC World Cup 2011 - Well Done Pakistan

 

Pakistan has defeated West Indies in first quarter final of ICC world cup 2011. West Indies win the toss and elected to bat first. The reason for that was, if they succeeded to score 250 plus runs, it will be difficult for Pakistan to chase it, because Pakistan is not comfortable in chasing the target. But professional approach of Pakistan cricket team change the situation in their favour completely from the beginning. A surprise package from Shahid Afridi in shape of Muhammad Hafeez sharing attack with Umer Gul really destroyed West Indies batting line up.  Only Chander Paul and Sarwan tried to stay on crease. But at the end of the West Indian inning they were only able to score 112 runs all out in 43 overs. Shahid Afridi led from the front once again as captain and took 4 wickets. Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal took 2 wickets each.

112 runs was an easy chase for a side like Pakistan. Resultantly Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets. Hafeez played good innings in batting also. Kamran also played a very confident inning.

Qualifying for the semi final of huge event like World cup is a big achievement. In group matches Pakistan has defeated teams like Sri Lanka and Australia. This is a very positive sign for Pakistan cricket. Because after spot fixing controversy Pakistani fans were really disappointed and most of the experts were thinking that Pakistan cricket is on decline. Some elements from ICC and big cricket boards were also supporting these circumstances. But Pakistani team acknowledged that they are still in the best 4 teams of the cricket world. Although Pakistan is two matches away from the trophy, but playing semi final is also good enough. Well Don Pakistan Cricket Team.

Australian Team - Barking Dogs Seldom Bite

In a group match between Pakistan and Australia, Ricky Ponting was clearly caught behind by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, but instead of going back to pavilion he wait for umpire decision. Surprisingly on field umpire Erasmus also support him and not declare him out. Therefore, Pakistan went for a review. Review showed that there was a clear visible edge. There was no reason for on field umpire to not declare him out. But may be Ponting was thinking that third umpire is also blind like field umpire that was only reason to stay their after such a big edge. But third umpire rightly declared him out. Mean while Brad Hidden adopted uncivilized behavior which is identity of Australian. He came towards Umer Akmal aggressively and spoke harshly. On this moment Younis Khan interfered and tried to cool down Brad Hidden but in response he pushed Younis Khan.  This is not the first time any Australian adopted such uncivilized behavior. Australian Captain Ricky Ponting has been punished almost 16 times before this incident. In recent world cup he broke a TV set. In Ashes series he went in a long confrontation with best umpire of ICC Aleem Dar on a decision.  

No doubt Australia is a very professional side. But in last few years this team is not performing well according to its reputation, therefore, the best way to get positive results is just hard work. Speaking harshly to umpires and players cannot help Australian. But at the moment Australian are alive in the news of controversies only.  So therefore, a quotation “Barking Dog Seldom Bites” suit on this time now-a-days.

ICC should also take notice of this behavior from Brad Hidden on the field. Especially his action to push Younis Khan is not acceptable. Yes he is “white” and ICC has the record to take action only against blacks, but enough is enough, he must be bring to justice this time because his behavior has damaged the image of cricket.

Let Kamran Akmal Play his “OWN” Game

According to media reports Pakistan cricket team management in Sri Lanka has decided to give responsibilities of Wicketkeeping to Umer Akmal after disappointing performance by his elder brother wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. The performance of Kamran Akmal is worst for last 6, 7 years. But the management selected him in team again and again. After recent inexcusable performance by him management should disclose the reasons of his selection in team when he is even not able to take a simple catch. Now Pakistan team has to face this embarrassing situation because of terrible thinking of PCB.

Umer Akmal is not a full time wicketkeeper. There is no guarantee that he will perform well behind the stumps. Currently he is an inform batsman. By putting extra pressure of Wicket keeping on him can really have an effect on his batting performance. Because if he also dropped some catches, naturally he will become under immense pressure. Therefore, let him play his own game.

Some media reports say that he has declared himself unfit for wicket keeping. This is his right to do so. Team management has no right to sacrifice him for their own mistakes. The stance of Umer Akmal is right.

Question should be asked from Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt, Chairman Selection Committee Mohsin Hassan Khan and Coach Waqar Younis regarding selection of Kamran Akmal for World Cup. The current captain was not appointed captain at the moment of selection of team for world cup.  One can also sense some conspiracy behind the mystery escape of Zulqarnain from Dubai. Because, in presence of Zulqarnian the selection chance of Kamran Akmal was almost nothing. Now when after all his bed performances in last few years Kamran Akmal is still in the team by the courtesy of PCB.

Let Kamran Akmal Play his “OWN” Game

Ireland - A Team with Bold Ambitions

In a match between Ireland and England, England scored 327 in their 50 overs  and gave a very solid target to the Irish fighters .The Irish took good start in initial 10 over’s  but as every one was expecting they were unable to maintain this start and lost 5 wickets at the score of 111. It was obvious that like other associate teams  Ireland would loss the match with a big margin but that was not the case  the Irish player Keven O'Brin had some other ideas  which he explain later in the presentation ceremony after a 3 wicket win.  He said “after the fall of 5 wickets with just  111 runs on the score board we could have easily shorten our goals and the match would have ended with the result 220/5 in 50 overs  but would have meant nothing to over cricket , therefore we took over chances and that paid of”

Now the above statement form Kevin Oberin is a very bold statement , considering the fact that most of the associate teams getting a loss of 200 plus runs .There are 5 associate teams participating in the  current world cup but  surprisingly  non of the team apart from Ireland has shown any positive intent like Ireland. Canadian team played 1992 world cup, Kenya and Netherlands played 2003 world cup so these teams are not new in this game but still they are not able to show any glimpse of their positive attitude.

This is extremely admirable that most of cricketers in Irish team played their first world cup just 4 years back in 2007 still they were able to generate such players who could beat the founders of cricket. Cricketers in the Irish team has showed their talent, now its ICC’s  responsibility to polish their talent by providing them opportunities and by scheduling  tournaments in Ireland.     

M Asim (APCOM Pakistan)

Professional Performance by Partial Cricketers

In the ongoing cricket world we found some new cricketers who have come to international cricket with a hurdle but still they are performing professionally. These are some players in Dutch team who are not full time cricketers, they belong to different professions one of them is tailor, one is waiters and some others also belongs to different professions. Therefore, they cannot spare much time for practice. But in a match between England and Netherlands, fans did not feel that they are new to international cricket.

In a match against England they loss by 6 wickets but that does not explains their egger. To picture there desperation you need to have a look at the performance of this inexperience team..

Attitude of  Netherlands team shows that how desperate were they to win this match. The loss does not matter at this stage; the thing that matters is there devotion. Being an associated team, scoring 292 runs would be considered good enough to earn applauses. But for Nederland 292 runs were not enough, because their aim was to win the game rather than to earn applauses. Dutch players after scoring 292 runs put noticeable efforts in their bowling also and the spectators never got a single impression that this is a weak bowling attack.  The suspense was there till the end of the match. After doing so many efforts England was able to win the match.

Although Netherlands did not win the match, but still left a message to other new teams that just scoring 250+ runs is not enough; one should put efforts in bowling also to ensure the win. This daring attitude of Netherlands shows their commitment with the game. If these players got the opportunity to become full time players, no reason that they can became strong team of the cricket world.

By

M Asim (APCOMS) Pakistan

Was It a Revenge Game Mr. Sehwag?

An addition to Sehwag’s witty statements is that “Win against Bangladesh is revenge of World Cup 2007 defeat” which he stated at the end of the game in presentation ceremony after wining the match. The context to this statement is that Bangladesh kicked India out of the World Cup in 2007 by beating them , so Sehwag  believes that by defeating Bangladesh in a single match in this 2011 world cup ,they have take the revenge .But the question arises, is this defeat comparable to the one that Indians faced in 2007, certainly not because this defeat has not caused complete evacuation of Bangladesh from the World cup, contrary to 2007, where Indian had  to leave West Indies after defeat against  Bangladesh. 

Before this, one of the statements that show’s Sehwags childish behavior was stated few month back by him, when he said that in a Match when Shoaib Akhtar was challenging me to hit a six on my bowl and when I was not able to do so, Sachin Tendulker hit a six to Shoaib and then I told Shoiab that look Tendulkar is your father because he hit you a six.  Now  here Sehwag was also wrong,  if we assess the situation defined by Sehwag than Tendular is not Shoib’s Father, infact  he is Sehwag’s father because Sehwag was not able to hit a six to Shoiab while Tendulkar did it. For a bowler, if some one hit him six, is not a matter of concern because some times bowler will got out batsman and some times batsman will hit him shots. So, therefore, for Shoiab it was not a matter of concern.  

Now what type of a player is he? He never played big innings away from subcontinent. What was happened to him when Bangladesh ruined his team and thrown out of tournament in 2007.  Infact he failed on seeming pitches in Australia and South Africa every time. The only place where he can score is subcontinent. It shows flaws in his techniques. Because brilliant players like Inzamam, Tendulkar and Lara can play big innings all over the world.

My suggestion to Sehwag is to put a lid on his beak and concentrate on his game rather than speaking meaningless talks. He should not follow thrilling words of media as it is the duty of media to display things hot and spicy. He should show sensibility as a senior player. 

Author
M Asim (APCOMS Pakistan)

India Vs Bangladesh – Match Analysis

ICC World Cup 2011

In opening match of ICC World Cup 2011 India defeated Bangladesh by 87 runs. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first. The reason for bowling first on a pure batting wicket was disclosed as dew factor by Bangladesh captain. He was hoping to bowled out India under 300 runs and then chase the target. But some furious batting by Indian opening batsman Veraner Sehwag completely destroyed his plan. Verinder Sehwag’s 175 runs help India to register figure of 370 runs on score board. Bangladesh bowling was completely out classed by Verindar Sehwad and Verat Koli. Verat Koli also scored century. This was time when critics started criticism on Bangladesh’s captain decision for batting first on a batting wicket.  Most of experts were of the opinion that this decision allowed India to play freely without pressure.

Bangladesh also started batting aggressively.  Tamim Iqbal along with his partner provided good start to Bangladesh. He scored 70 runs. But after he was got out, run rate of Bangladesh came down. Although most of Bangladesh batsman played sensibly, but the target was too huge. Run rate was increasing with every single delivery, therefore, there was not time for batsman to settle and then play natural strokes. That’s why, after even playing very positively Bangladesh only succeeded tor reach the figure of 283 runs on the loss of 9 wickets. This 283 runs figure provided cover to Bangladesh’s captain decision for bowling first. Because Bangladesh batting performance demonstrated that they are capable of chasing 280+ runs. The only difference between performances of both teams was Virander Sehwad’s marbles inning.  

In the remaining matches, Bangladesh can perform well in batting, but in bowling fire like Waseem, Waqar, Amir and Imran is lacking. Otherwise, Bangladesh is no weaker team in batting field. If Bangladesh found some talented fast bowlers through talent hunt programme in their country, she can became an elite cricket playing country very soon.

The weaknesses of Indian Bowling attack has been also disclosed in this match, because if batting line up like Bangladesh can score 280+ runs against it, how it will control Australian, South African, British, Sri Lankan and Pakistanis. Because all these countries have better line up compare to Bangladesh batting line up.

Warm-up Match Against England – Need Adjustment in Batting Order

 

England has won Warm up Match against Pakistan by 67 runs. Before this, although Pakistan won 1^st warm match against Bangladesh, but considering weaknesses of Bangladesh bowling attack, runs scored by Pakistan in a warm up match were not good enough, over 300 runs were expecting by the fans. Keeping in view the above facts Pakistan should adopt some changes in the batting line. Most of the experts are agreed that Hafiz is not suitable for opening. The reason is that he is not confident in facing out swing delivery because of flaws in his technique. Although he has played some very good innings as opening batsman, but consistency is not there in his performance. He may be good in T-20, but when playing 50 overs he must have sound technique for defence also, which is lacking in his batting technique.

So, therefore, plan ‘B’ is suggested here. Kamran Akmal has performed so many times extra-ordinary as opening batsman. Although his performance in recent days as opener was not satisfactory, but the reasons were not his technique, the reasons were mind disturbance because of allegations on him, but now he is free of these allegations.  So, now we can expect positive results from him as opening batsman. Besides these, he has scored a century on Australian wickets against West Indies in earlier stage of his career. It is obvious that without having good technique no one can play big inning in Australia. The utility of Haifiz is still there. He can play some big shots as number 7 batsman and can contribute through his off spin bowling also.  

World Cup 2011 – Some Positive Aspects for Pakistan

Although after recent controversies, experts are not considering Pakistan as favorite for World Cup 2011, but still there are some positive aspects for Pakistan team. The first positive aspect is venue of World Cup. Bangladesh has defeated South Africa on a slow pitch in lost world cup. Record of Australia in Sri Lanka is not good also, where even Arvinda Desliva was enough to control Australian in Sri Lanka. So, therefore, because of conditions, Pakistan will enjoy edge on these favourite teams.  The second aspect is spin bowling. After exclusion of Asif and Amir  fast bowling attack of Pakistan is not looking strong  as Shoaib Akhtar is not fully fit, Junaid Khan is inexperience and Wahab Riaz is an average bowler. Only exceptions are from Umar Gul who can change situation in minutes through his reveres swing.  But spin bowling attack of Pakistan is looking good. Saeed Ajmal is a match winner bowler; Abdul Rehman is also quality bowler. Shahid Afridi and Hafiz have record of providing break through in crucial times. So according to conditions spin bowling attack of Pakistan is looking good and can provide positive results. In batting field, some batsmen of Pakistan team have good record on Asian wickets. Shahid Afridi can provide extra ordinary inning in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh any time.  So is Abdul Razaq. But the most crucial role will be of Kamran Akmal and Umer Akmal. Both are fighting players, especially Kamran Akmal has good record of playing in pressure as well as playing on Asian wickets. Young Ahmed Shehzad is also in good form and has the potential to rise like Inzamam Ul Haq through this world cup, so as Asad Shafiq. Hafiz is also in good form and he can provide some crucial wickets besides scoring runs. Younis Khan and Misbah Ul Haq are specialists batsmen of these conditions, therefore, Pakistan cricket fans are expecting anchor role from them during this world cup.

Although experts are not considering Pakistan as favorite, but infact ground realities are in favour of Pakistan. If Pakistan’s players concentrated on game and played their natural cricket, no reason that Pakistan can even win this world cup as she has done by wining T20 World cup in similar worst conditions. 

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Complete Schedule

GROUP A:	Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada
GROUP B:	India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh

Date	Local	GMT	PST	Match Details	Venue
Feb 12, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Kenya vs West Indies, 1st Warm up ODI	Colombo
Feb 12, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Sri Lanka vs Netherlands, 2nd Warm up ODI	Kandy
Feb 12, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	Bangladesh vs Canada, 3rd Warm up ODI  (D/N)	Chittagong
Feb 12, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Ireland vs New Zealand, 4th Warm up ODI  (D/N)	Nagpur
Feb 12, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	South Africa vs Zimbabwe, 5th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Chennai
Feb 13, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	India vs Australia, 6th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Feb 15, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Ireland vs Zimbabwe, 7th Warm up ODI	Nagpur
Feb 15, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Kenya vs Netherlands, 8th Warm up ODI	Kandy
Feb 15, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	Bangladesh vs Pakistan, 9th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Feb 15, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Australia vs South Africa, 10th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Feb 16, 2011	09:30	03:30	08:30	Canada vs England, 11th Warm up ODI	Mirpur
Feb 16, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 12th Warm up ODI	Colombo
Feb 16, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	India vs New Zealand, 13th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Chennai
Feb 18, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	England vs Pakistan, 14th Warm up ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Feb 19, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs India, 1st ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Feb 20, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : New Zealand vs Kenya, 2nd ODI	Chennai
Feb 20, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Sri Lanka vs Canada, 3rd ODI (D/N)	Hambantota
Feb 21, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Australia vs Zimbabwe, 4th ODI (D/N)	Ahmedabad
Feb 22, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : England vs Netherlands, 5th ODI (D/N)	Nagpur
Feb 23, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs Kenya, 6th ODI (D/N)	Hambantota
Feb 24, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : South Africa vs West Indies, 7th ODI (D/N)	Delhi
Feb 25, 2011	09:30	03:30	08:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs Ireland, 8th ODI	Mirpur
Feb 25, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Australia vs New Zealand, 9th ODI (D/N)	Nagpur
Feb 26, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 10th ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Feb 27, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : India vs England, 11th ODI (D/N)	Kolkata
Feb 28, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : Canada vs Zimbabwe, 12th ODI	Nagpur
Feb 28, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : West Indies vs Netherlands, 13th ODI (D/N)	Delhi
Mar 1, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Sri Lanka vs Kenya, 14th ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 2, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : England vs Ireland, 15th ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Mar 3, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group B : South Africa vs Netherlands, 16th ODI	Mohali
Mar 3, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs Canada, 17th ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 4, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : New Zealand vs Zimbabwe, 18th ODI	Ahmedabad
Mar 4, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs West Indies, 19th ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Mar 5, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Australia vs Sri Lanka, 20th ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 6, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group B : South Africa vs England, 21st ODI	Chennai
Mar 6, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : India vs Ireland, 22nd ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Mar 7, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Canada vs Kenya, 23rd ODI (D/N)	Delhi
Mar 8, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs New Zealand, 24th ODI (D/N)	Kandy
Mar 9, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : India vs Netherlands, 25th ODI (D/N)	Delhi
Mar 10, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe, 26th ODI (D/N)	Kandy
Mar 11, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group B : West Indies vs Ireland, 27th ODI	Mohali
Mar 11, 2011	14:30	08:30	13:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs England, 28th ODI (D/N)	Chittagong
Mar 12, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : India vs South Africa, 29th ODI (D/N)	Nagpur
Mar 13, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : New Zealand vs Canada, 30th ODI	Mumbai
Mar 13, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Australia vs Kenya, 31st ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Mar 14, 2011	09:30	03:30	08:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs Netherlands, 32nd ODI	Chittagong
Mar 14, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, 33rd ODI (D/N)	Kandy
Mar 15, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : South Africa vs Ireland, 34th ODI (D/N)	Kolkata
Mar 16, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Australia vs Canada, 35th ODI (D/N)	Bangalore
Mar 17, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : England vs West Indies, 36th ODI (D/N)	Chennai
Mar 18, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : Ireland vs Netherlands, 37th ODI	Kolkata
Mar 18, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 38th ODI (D/N)	Mumbai
Mar 19, 2011	09:30	03:30	08:30	Group B : Bangladesh vs South Africa, 39th ODI	Mirpur
Mar 19, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group A : Pakistan vs Australia, 40th ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 20, 2011	09:30	04:00	09:00	Group A : Zimbabwe vs Kenya, 41st ODI	Kolkata
Mar 20, 2011	14:30	09:00	14:00	Group B : India vs West Indies, 42nd ODI (D/N)	Chennai
Mar 23, 2011	14:30	09:30	14:30	TBC vs TBC, 1st Quarter Final ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Mar 24, 2011	14:30	10:00	15:00	TBC vs TBC, 2nd Quarter Final ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 25, 2011	14:30	09:30	14:30	TBC vs TBC, 3rd Quarter Final ODI (D/N)	Mirpur
Mar 26, 2011	14:30	10:00	15:00	TBC vs TBC, 4th Quarter Final ODI (D/N)	Ahmedabad
Mar 29, 2011	14:30	10:00	15:00	TBC vs TBC, 1st Semi Final ODI (D/N)	Colombo
Mar 30, 2011	14:30	10:00	15:00	TBC vs TBC, 2nd Semi Final ODI (D/N)	Mohali
Apr 2, 2011	14:30	10:00	15:00	TBC vs TBC, The Final ODI (D/N)	Mumbai