Cricket

[Vinod2070]

Actually I would want the focus to move away from cricket in India too.

It is dominating all other sports and taking away the attention from them. I would not miss cricket if that leads to resurgence in other sports where India has shown the ability to do well.

 

[Moin91]

Pakistan court suspends ban on ICL players
2 Feb 2009, AFP

KARACHI: A court in Pakistan on Monday suspended a ban imposed by the country's cricket board that barred players from domestic matches after they agreed to join the unofficial Indian Cricket League.

Around 19 Pakistani players featured in the ICL, bankrolled by the country's largest media group, Zee Television, but not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the International Cricket Council.

In 2007, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) barred the players, who included former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and star batsman Mohammad Yousuf, from playing at all levels in the country.

The ICL players challenged the ban in the provincial Sindh high court last month. Their lawyer Zahid Fakhruddin Ibrahim said justice had been done.

"Judge Amir Hani Muslim has suspended the PCB ban imposed on the ICL players and they are now free to play," Ibrahim said.

Asked if the players could now play for Pakistan, Ibrahim said: "The ban was only on domestic cricket, it's up to the PCB to select a player for an international match or not and that cannot be challenged."

The players lined up for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL season and were a major attraction, winning the Twenty20 league last year.

Their coach Moin Khan, a former Pakistan captain, said the suspension of the ban was good for Pakistani cricket.

"Some of the ICL players can still play for Pakistan and when they play in domestic cricket, youngsters will learn from them," Khan said.

"The ban had hurt the players financially as well as cricket-wise, so it's a great decision," he said.

The court has summoned PCB officials to its next hearing on February 10 to hear their explanation for the ban.

The PCB has a strict policy of banning all players who have joined the ICL.

 

[Super Falcon]

oval test result once again has been changed in favour of england i think some thing has been asked from bcci to icc if it is true we pakistani dont respect anymore to icc and as quickly as possible be for pcb to ligt the ban of icl players

 

[dabong1]

I think an asian 20/20 league made up of pakistan,sri lanka and bangladesh would be a good idea.

Faisalabad Wolves,Lahore Eagles,Islamabad Leopards ect all play in the same league as the 20-20 teams from bdesh and sri lanka.

 

[Dilli]

India won the 3rd one-dayer as well against Sri Lanka.

2 more matches and we will be No. 1.

Chak te fatte Dhoni.

 

[Moin91]

Aussies may boycott ODI series if ICL players recalled



Wednesday, February 04, 2009
By Khalid Hussain

KARACHI: Pakistan are unlikely to recall any of their Indian Cricket League (ICL) rebels in the near future as such a step would add to their headaches, it was learnt on Tuesday.

Though the country’s sports authorities believe that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should think about welcoming back top players like Mohammad Yousuf in the national team to lift its below-par showing, it appears highly unlikely that the Board will consider taking such a move any time soon.

Monday’s Sindh High Court (SHC) decision to suspend the ban imposed by PCB on the country’s ICL players has raised hopes that the verdict will pave the way for the international return of cricketers like Yousuf, Pakistan’s premier batsman.

Yousuf was banned from all forms of cricket by the PCB last November after he defected to the cash-rich ICL — a twenty20 league that is not sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Nineteen other Pakistani players were also banned by the PCB for their association with ICL. They were also barred from playing domestic cricket.

However, the SHC has suspended the ban on domestic cricket.

Federal sports minister Aftab Shah Jilani has said that he now hopes that the PCB will think about recalling some of the ICL players in the national team.

“Our team’s performance has really gone down,” he said. “Last month we lost to Sri Lanka by a very big margin. Personally I believe that the team can be strengthened if our players who went to the ICL are reconsidered but thatís a decision that rests with the PCB,” he told ‘The News’ in an interview.

The decision to bring back players like Yousuf, however tempting it might appear, will be a tough one for PCB.

Take of instance the possibility of Yousuf making a comeback in Pakistan’s next international assignment — the one-day series against Australia in April.

There is a big possibility that the series will not take place at all if Yousuf or any other ICL player is included in the Pakistan squad.

Reports emerging from Australia have suggested that Ricky Ponting’s men will decide against playing with Pakistan if any ICL cricketer is a part of the home team.

Cricket Australia — the cricket’s governing body in Australia — does not support the ICL and could boycott the one-day series should players from the blacklisted ICL be chosen for Pakistan duty.

At last week’s ICC meeting in Perth, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) sought the demise of the ICL and managed to convince all member nations of the game to boycott players who participate in the twenty20 league.

India’s stance has received solid backing from CA which fears that a rival tournament could be established when it organises its own version of the IPL, the Southern Premier League.

All unofficial tournaments, including the ICL, were formally banned at the ICC board meeting in Perth though it was decided that BCCI officials will meeting their ICL counterparts later this month in a bid to resolve the issue.

 

[Moin91]

‘Miandad helped me to regain form’



Wednesday, February 04, 2009
LAHORE: Promising Pakistani left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir on Tuesday credited his return to form to old-fashioned tips suggested by former great Javed Miandad.

Tanvir, who was axed from the Pakistan team for the third One-Day International against Sri Lanka at Lahore earlier this month owing to poor form, roared back into form by taking eight wickets in the domestic Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He took eight wickets to signal a return to form and all this because of a few tips given to him by Miandad.

“The tips, I don’t want to go into their details helped me a lot and guided me to overcome my poor form,” Tanvir said. Tanvir said when he called up Miandad to help him shortly after the third match against the Sri Lankans, Miandad advised him immediately to work on his run-up and accuracy.

“He basically told me to use a measuring tape to mark out my full run-up and also advised me to use chalk in my run-up so that I could immediately be aware where my foot was landing and was I consistent in my run-up,” Tanvir said. The former Pakistan captain felt Tanvir was struggling because he was not getting his rhythm right due to his faulty run-up. Miandad also advised the youngster to practice by himself and keep on bowling between off and leg stumps to improve his accuracy and length.

 

[Moin91]

Younis to get ‘enough room’ in selection matters



Thursday, February 05, 2009
By Khalid Hussain

KARACHI: Abdul Qadir is willing to give new captain Younis Khan ‘enough room’ in selection matters in a bid to minimise friction between national selectors and team management that has previously hurt Pakistan cricket.

In an interview with ‘The News’ on Wednesday, the chief selector said that he wants to take Younis and coach Intikhab Alam along to ensure that Pakistan are able to select the best possible squads for home or away assignments.

“We will give enough room to Younis,” said Qadir. “As captain, he is our general in the field and should have a say in selection matters,” added the former Pakistan Test leg-spinner.

Younis, 31, was installed as Pakistan captain last month after former skipper Shoaib Malik was asked to step down by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the wake of his team crashed to a humiliating 234-run defeat against Sri Lanka in Lahore in their ODI series finale.

Soon after his appointment, Younis made it clear that he would like to have a say in selecting the Pakistan team if the PCB wanted an improvement in its performance.

Tiffs between selectors, coach and captain have become a routine in Pakistan cricket in recent years. The late Bob Woolmer was never happy with the national selectors during his tenure as Pakistan coach. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the then captain, never enjoyed good relations with the selectors.

Geoff Lawson and former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed were seldom on good terms.

However, Qadir doesn’t want any friction with coach Intikhab Alam or Younis Khan.

“We are all on the same side, aren’t we,” he said. “I mean all of us are working to ensure that Pakistan give their best on the field and that target can only be achieved if work together,” he stressed.

Qadir’s selection committee had already surrendered its right to select the playing eleven for home games to the team management.

“On home tours, the final selection of playing eleven for the match shall rest with the selection committee. However, the captain and coach shall be consulted on the issue for their input,” says a contract signed by Qadir and fellow selectors — Saleem Jaffer and Shoaib Mohammad.

But in the one-day series against Sri Lanka at home earlier this season, the authority to select the playing eleven was delegated to the team management that included the coach and captain.

In the past, selectors have jealously guarded their domain but Qadir doesn’t mind the interference. “As long as the best team is selected, I don’t mind if the captain and coach have their say,” he said.
TheNews.

 

[Moin91]

Pakistan will face Australia at offshore venues



Thursday, February 05, 2009
By our correspondent

KARACHI: Pakistan have given up hopes of hosting Australia in a proposed One-day International series at home and are now ready to make preparations to stage it on offshore venues, most probably in the United Arab Emirates.

Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, said on Wednesday that the Australians were unlikely to tour Pakistan but was confident that the series will go ahead on neutral soil.

At a meeting in Melbourne, Butt tried to convince top Cricket Australia officials to send their team to Pakistan and also gave a presentation on the security arrangements to be made for the series.

He also briefed them about the incident-free ODI series against Sri Lanka which Pakistan hosted in Karachi and Lahore last month.

However, CA officials made it clear that they cannot send their cricketers to Pakistan because of security fears.

A source in the PCB said that Australia have agreed to play the series at a neutral venue in April-May.

Butt is to announce the venues and dates of the series on after returning home from Australia on Friday (tomorrow). It is expected that Pakistan and Australia will five one-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals.

It is expected that Abu Dhabi, which hosted Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against the West Indies last November, will be the venue for three ODIs while Dubai will host two one-dayers and the twenty20 game.

Butt, a former Pakistan Test opener, was confident that the series will be held in a successful manner following his meeting with CA officials.

“I think the series will be going ahead,” he said from Melbourne.

“There is no hope of the series being played in Pakistan,” he stressed.

“But we are discussing dates and venues, which I will let the media know when I return home on Friday,” he added.

Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998. They were supposed to play three Tests, five ODIs and a twenty20 game in Pakistan last year but ‘postponed’ the tour because of security fears.

It was agreed by the two boards last year, that as compensation for the postponed tour, Australia will visit Pakistan in 2009 for an One-day International series and later in 2010 for Test matches.

Pakistan faced Australia in a bilateral Test series in 2002 in Colombo and Sharjah because of the security situation here in the wake of the September 11 terror strikes in the United States.
TheNews.

 

[Moin91]

Record-breaking Murali raises the bar



Friday, February 06, 2009
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan became the undisputed bowling king on Thursday with a second world record, leaving his rivals with the improbable task of matching him anytime in the near future.

The off-spinner with the controversial bowling action became the highest wicket-taker in one-dayers when he dismissed India’s Gautam Gambhir for his 503rd victim, surpassing former Pakistani paceman Wasim Akram’s mark of 502.

The 36-year-old Muralitharan was already the world’s leading bowler in Tests, with 769 wickets in 125 matches.

His achievements will be difficult to surpass in both forms of the game, with his nearest rivals among current players compatriot Chaminda Vaas (400 wickets in one-dayers) and South African Makhaya Ntini (378 in Tests).

But left-arm seamer Vaas is 35 and fast bowler Ntini 31. Vaas is currently not even playing one-dayers regularly.

Muralitharan is to bowling what India’s Sachin Tendulkar is to batting. The Indian also holds two major cricketing records — highest runs in Tests (12,429) and one-day internationals (16,422).

But unlike Tendulkar, the Sri Lankan has been grabbing the headlines all over the world for more than a decade as much for his extraordinary talent as for his debatable bowling action.

Muralitharan, born with a bent elbow, was called three times for ‘throwing’ by Australian umpires in the mid-1990s.

Despite the International Cricket Council amending the law in 2005 to allow a 15-degree flexibility in the bowling arm, the debate refuses to die down.

Muralitharan has taken all the criticism in his stride and continues to make life uncomfortable for batsmen with his huge turn and disconcerting bounce. He is virtually unplayable at home, where pitches are more spinner-friendly.

He also has a deceptive ‘doosra’, a delivery which leaves the right-handers instead of coming in to them like a conventional off-break.

Muralitharan has played a big role not only in making Sri Lanka a major force in international cricket, but also in reviving the dying art of off-spin.

He has bagged five or more wickets in a Test innings 66 times and 10 or more in a match on 22 occasions — both world records.

He also has 10 hauls of five or more wickets in 325 one-dayers, his best being 7-30 against India in Sharjah in 2000.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh once called the Sri Lankan the “Don Bradman of bowlers” and a “rubber-wristed illusionist”.

“He is a unique type of bowler. He gets people talking about cricket. He’s the sort of player you want in the game. He is great to watch and makes Sri Lanka competitive in world cricket,” said Waugh.

Former Australian leg-spin wizard Shane Warne called the Sri Lankan a “unique” bowler who “presents challenges that any serious batsman loves to tackle”.

“All in all, whatever your opinion is of the great off-spinner, it’s a real challenge to face him, and the way the ball leaves his hands and dips and fizzes is truly a great skill,” he wrote in his book “Shane Warne’s Century”.

Leading ODI bowlers

M Wkts Best 5

Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI) 328 503 7-30 10

Wasim Akram (PAK) 356 502 5-15 6

Waqar Younis (PAK) 262 416 7-36 13

Chaminda Vaas (SRI) 322 400 8-19 4

Shaun Pollock (RSA) 303 393 6-35 5

Glenn McGrath (AUS) 250 381 7-15 7

Anil Kumble (IND) 271 337 6-12 2

Javagal Srinath (IND) 229 315 5-23 3

Sanath Jayasuriya (SRI) 431 312 6-29 4

Brett Lee (AUS) 173 303 5-22 8

 

[Moin91]

Wasim hails Murali for breaking his one-day record



Friday, February 06, 2009
KARACHI: Legendary Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram on Thursday congratulated Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan on breaking his record of taking the most wickets in One-day International play.

The wily off-spinner Muralitharan claimed his 503rd wicket in the fourth one-dayer against India in Colombo when he dismissed opener Gautam Gambhir.

Wasim, who took 502 wickets in 356 matches before retiring from international cricket in 2003, paid tribute to Muralitharan, who achieved the feat in his 328th match.

“It was only a matter of time before he broke my record. Muralitharan is a great bowler and he deserves the record — which is there to be broken,” Wasim told AFP.

Muralitharan, 36, is already the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 769 in 125 matches.

Wasim said he sensed that Muralitharan would be the man to break his record.

“I noticed his progress in 2003 and realised he was the only man who could break my record,” he said.

“At times I jokingly told him not to play one-day cricket, so that my record would remain intact, but he is relentless in taking wickets. I am happy that a bowler of his calibre has broken my record.”

Wasim said Muralitharan is in a league of his own.

“No matter what type of surface he has played on, no matter in which country and against which team... he is simply great and more than a good bowler, he is a good human being,” he said.

“I don’t think any bowler will be able to break his records. If he continues to play for another two or three years, he will cross 1,000 in Tests and 600 in ODIs, which will be tough to break for anyone else.”

 

[Moin91]

Younis wants his players to focus on SL Test series



Friday, February 06, 2009
By our correspondent

KARACHI: New Pakistan captain Younis Khan wants his players to forget the bitter memories of an embarrassing 234-run mauling at the hands of Sri Lanka in their One-day International (ODI) series finale in Lahore last month and instead focus on the Test series that gets underway in Karachi from February 21.

“It was just a bad day,” Younis told reporters at the inauguration ceremony of the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) here on Thursday. “We should forget all about it and concentrate on the Test series,” he added.

It was under Shoaib Malik that Pakistan suffered what was their worst ODI defeat, in January — a result that forced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to bring in Younis as new captain in place of the young all-rounder.

The Senate committee on sports is to probe into the humiliating result in its February 9 meeting in Islamabad. However, Younis wants his boys to stay focused on the two-match Test series against Mahela Jayawardene’s men.

“I was a part of the team that lost that match,” he said. “It was a real bad day but it would be better for us to put it behind and focus on winning the Test series,” he said.

Younis didn’t talk much about his plans for the series which will see the two sides meeting in Lahore for the second and final Test after the series opener in Karachi.

“I’ve just taken over and am doing my homework,” said the 31-year-old batsman, who will have an opportunity to prepare his troops for the challenging assignment at a brief preparatory camp expected to begin in Karachi next week.

But Younis was more vocal when asked to comment on Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s record 503rd wicket on Thursday that made him the highest wicket-taker in ODI history.

“Muralitharan is a great bowler, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “He is the world’s most dangerous spinner and deserves this new record,” added the Pakistan skipper.

Muralitharan, 36, surpassed Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram as the highest wicket-taker in one-day history when he scalped in-form Indian opener Gautam Gambhir — his 503rd victim — in the fourth one-dayer against India in Colombo.

Younis attended the former inauguration of the RLCA — a project run by his mentor Rashid Latif — a former Pakistan captain.

The project was inaugurated by City Nazim Mustafa Kamal. A number of leading Pakistani cricketers including Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan also attended the event.
TheNews.

 

[leonblack08]

I am happiest person in the world: Mortaza

Zeecric Bureau

Dhaka, Feb 06: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who, starting from a base price of USD 50,000, went for a whopping USD 600,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders, was understandably ecstatic after the price he fetched at the Indian Premier League season 2 auction at Goa.


“I am the happiest person in the world now,” he said, immediately after his auction where Bangladesh paceman went for 12 times his base price of USD 50,000.

“I did not expect my price to be so high.”

Amongst his fellow countrymen, Mortaza expected his captain Mohammad Asharful and star player Sakib Al Hasan to fetch maximum price.

“I expected Asharful and Sakib ( to fetch high prices). Hopefully they will get a chance again soon.”

He also saw the IPL as a platform for his countrymen to display their talents.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us,” he said.

“If we perform well, we will increase our options.”

In a fierce bidding war between King XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders that lasted close to half an hour, before the Shah Rukh Khan-owned outfit eventually bought him.

Knight Riders had made their interest in Mortaza known even before the bidding.

 

[Vinod2070]

The Knight riders want to expand into Bangladeshi market. That seems to be the main reason driving this decision.

Good for Bangladesh cricket.

 

[EagleEyes]

Murli and Wasim were different class. Best fast ODI bowler will still be Wasim, no matter who you bring.. Akhtar, Lee, Tait.. no one will get there.