INDIA FAULTERED, PAKISTAN FOULED : CRICKET HAS BECOME POLITICAL

What happened today in Mumbai was shameful and every Indian must be ashamed to the treatment given by the IPL franchises to the 11 Pakistani Players on Auction. Pakistan is not slated to play any international Cricket in the IPL 3 slot and hence the excuse that availability of Pakistani players was an issue is totally false. The decision by the franchises is not only incorrect cricketing wise but has insulted Pakistan as a nation.

Why were the Pakistani Players asked to get NOCs from the Pakistani Cricket Board, why were they are to get their VISAs sorted out, why all the drama over the deadlines when you knew that the franchises would not be able to pick the Pakistani players under Government pressure.

India accuses of Pakistan of 26/11 but then we cannot be at war with our neighbours indefinitely. It is so easy in India to create an Anti Pakistan Environment. Activist television channels package anger. Many seek hot pursuits of terrorists and the destruction of terror camps across the border, the government finds itself besieged. Sending troops across the border is, of course, not an option, but the popular mood usually demands a demonstration of action, and it was very easy for our politicians to use cricket as a tool of appeasement. Today the franchises took an easy option ….. an option to please the people and the government.

In the end, I must say Cricket will be a causality. Make no mistake, Pakistan is World Cup T20 champions and they were runner up in the 1^st edition. No one knows to play T20 better than the Pakistanis. We have been stolen with an opportunity to see the best in action.

Pakistani Players and nation as a whole would be upset with the way they were treated by Indians. I, as an Indian apologise. Initiatives like Aman Ki Asha need to reach more people than they are doing right now. I hope common sense will prevail and we get to see people to people contact between the two nations.

Pakistan : The Worst Team Ever!!!

Wow!!! Finally the day came when Indians can clam that indeed their cricket team is much better than that of their arch rivals.

However, believe me, my heart bleeds when I see the Pakistani team perform as bad as they have done in India. But facts are facts and they cannot be denied. Just look art the following stats of this shattered team for 2007

M W L W/L
Tests 6 1 4 0.25
ODI 21 8 12 0.67
T20 10 7 2 3.5 (1 match was a Tie)

I am not a great believer of stats in Cricket. However, the above stats more or less signifies why my heart bleeds. Pakistani test team has never be so down since 1972 and believe me this pathetic record would hurt every cricket fan across the globe.

Except for the T20 finals, Pakistan have more or less nothing to show for their efforts this year. If one analyses their problems this year, one can easily say that they have problems in every department of the game. Their Opening batting has been a issue since Syed Anwar and Aamir Sohail combination left the international scene. Their middle order looks extremely thin without Inzy. Their wicket keeper drops a crucial catch almost every match these days. They have no all rounders which once had had in abundance. Their bowling is no where to even county team standards. And their fielding ….. well even school boys will be ashamed of the effort Pakistanis are putting in these days.

Pakistan was surely my favorite team, after India obviously, and yes it hurts to see the powerhouse of cricket falling the way they did this year. As if the trauma of early world cup exit wasn’t enough, we are seeing them perform they way they did on first two day of the 2nd Test. They are so down that their think tank cannot even think logically. Inclusion of Shoiab Akthar in the playing 11 is the biggest blunder I have seen in test arena!!!! It gives me no pleasure, as a Indian, to see them being defeated by my team. They are not worth opponents.

I wont pull the topic more but I only hope that Pakistani cricket does not follow the path of West Indies Cricket. I hope good sense will prevail in selection of their team and we get a better opposition to play our Ashes!!!! Till then the present series is dead and its not good for cricket

This is Vikas from ICC head quarters in Dubai.

India Pakistan to Clash again : It doesn’t get any bigger than this !!!!

As a child, when I was growing, I was told that Ashes was the mother of all Series and that winning the Ashes was the most important thing in a career of a International Cricket from Australia or England. But even the purist have to agree that over the last 3 decades nothing matches the excitement offered by a Indo- Pak series. Fortunately or unfortunately, the clash between the arch rivals is just more than a just a game. It was very well depicted in the recent Bollywood block buster “Chuk De India” where it was shown that one game turned the life of a man upside down. Didn’t it reflect the career of Chetan Sharma whose life couldn’t be same again after the infamous last ball six by Miadad.

In fact the main reason for Indo Pak series are so famous are due to the fact that players from both the teams cross the limits of possible and go on to do things which are almost hard to believe. Who can forget Miadad’s last ball six, Prasad’s famous comeback in the Bangalore Quarter Final in 96, Sachin’s arrival in International cricket against Qadir, Shoiab’s Yorker to Dravid, Aqeeb Jawed’s LBW hattrick in Sharjah, Sehwag’s Triple at Multan, Kumble’s perfect 10 at the Kotla and the most recent Misbah’s flick to find a mallu at short fine leg to loose the T20 World cup. These are some of the finest moments in International cricket and hence no one can underplay the importance of a Indo- Pak series.

This year has been a mixed kind of year for both India and Pakistan.. Out from the world cup in 1st round. India then went on to beat Bangladesh in Bangladesh, S. Africa in Ireland in 3 match series, won the English test series, lost the One day series, Won the T20 cup and then lost a home series to Australia. Similarly Pakistan lost both One day and test series at home to S. Africa after having reached the finals of T20 Cup.

However, in this it does not matter what form a team is in nor does the reputation of a player matters and hence I am not going to tell you that on paper Indians look the favorites. But as it is very clear, it is just on paper. For all practical purposes, it is safe to assume that this series will be a cracker of a series. Players would be tested not just on their talent but mental resolve as well because these games separate the men from the boys.

This India-Pakistan series would be of the utmost importance because it is a series between two countries who share so much history between them. History that has blazed the two cricket fanatic nations with feverish excitement every time the two arch-rivals have met on a cricketing field, history which has epic battles that have set one nation in a frenzy while the other mourns and history which with every series has been recreated.

Come November 5 and the world will have its eyes on the mother of all series. As is said, 'It doesn’t get bigger than this.'

This is Vikas Gupta from the City that saw closest Indo Pak matches … Dubai (Sharjah isn’t that far :) )

Sorrow in the Sub continent: Final Frontier is lost !!!

A fortnight is a very big time these days in the world of cricket these days. Just a 15 days back we were all celebrating a historic Indian win at the T20 World cup and today I am voicing my concern over the losses of the sub-continent teams in their recent series.

Yes, indeed the verdict is out and it doesn’t look all too well for the teams from the subcontinent. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have lost their respective series in their own land. This is something we have not seen in the 90s and indeed the start of 2000s. This a sad and telling blow for the teams from the subcontinent where the spin web used to suffocate the best to death.

Lets take Sri Lanka first. The rise of this cricketing power can be easily attributed to individuals like De’ Silva, Jayasuriya, Murali and Vaas. With all these players in the twilight of their career, the lack of proper cricketing mechanism in the country is exposed. With the help of foreign coaches and some astonishing talent they have kept the cricket alive but the recent series defeat against the English have exposed the fact that Sri Lanka does not has a proper cricketing organization to breed and throw international talent consistently enough. With Jayasuria out of form and Murali not playing in the series, the Sri Lankans looked totally out of sorts. This English win was their first series win in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan on the other hand were handed over a 1-0 series defeat by the hands of South Africa in the 2 test series. The confusion over selection and the total mismanagement by the administrators there was the prime reason for the defeat. There is a bit too much happening in Pakistan cricket off the field for them to concentrate on their cricket. To be honest, the forthcoming tour of India will most probably sort things out. Also for me their biggest worry is batting. After Aamir Sohail and Syed Anwar, Pakistan have struggled with their opening batting. For last 5-6 years they haven’t have had fixed openers which cost them dearly in this series.

Indians are probably the unluckiest of the lot. After the celebrations of the T20 win, Australia would have been the last team they wanted to play with. Dhoni is new. The big three are assuming new roles in the set up. And believe me there is a huge quality difference between Australia and rest of the other teams. They are by far playing the best cricket world has ever seen. So Indians were pretty much helpless. Also a lot is being said about the utility of the big 3 in the team, post T20 win. My take on the subject is, the day u find better than Rahul, Saurav and Sachin, throw these guys off the team. However, till such time respect these guys. Post T20, people want their head with no logical reasons. Both Sachin and Saurav are playing extremely well this summer. People need to realize that T20 is different from ODI and these players are still the best in this country. Dhoni is learning bitter lessons on Indian captaincy now, but I feel with the forth coming Pakistan series, his caliber as a captain will be tested. India will have to think a lot about their team combinations and the mark the correct people to be backed as like Pakistan, frequent changes are being made in the team which is no good.

However, whatever may be the case, the frontier is lost and India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will have to do a to regain the lost honor. A lot for the cricket administrators to think about