Last night I had written a post regarding the bad luck that the Aussies were bound to witness the coming day which happened to be true for reasons best said by the scorecard of yesterday's semi finals between Australia and Pakistan. Though Australia won the match which was a thriller, the match almost took the breath away from the Aussies until the last run had been scored. This would not have been the case if Australia had been teamed up with any of the other two teams namely England and Sri Lanka. This will surely go down as one of the most fascinating thrillers that the cricketing world has ever seen.
The match showed all the signs that Pakistan would make it to the finals of a T20 world cup yet another time making it the only team to have done so. Right now also, Pakistan are the only team to have made it to the semi finals of a T20 world cup on three occasions and the only team to have made it to the finals of a T20 world cup on twice. Until yesterday's semi final match between Australia and Pakistan, the highest aggregate team total was 195 scored by Sri Lanka against the West Indies in the super eight of the same.
Now, the highest team total in this edition of the world cup is pocketed by Aussies and another fact that needs to be applauded is that they did it batting second which is great. This reminds me of the match between Australia and South Africa where South Africa chased down 434 to become the team that boasted for the all time highest total (at that time) in one day internationals by batting second. The first and the third highest team totals of this world T20 are now scored in the same match. This could have been another tight finish for Pakistan given their earlier ones against England and New Zealand.
Both Australia and Pakistan would have never wanted to face each other in any part of the tournament. Pakistan would have welcome any team to face in the semi finals but not Australia and Australia on the other hand would have been ready for any team but Pakistan. But, destiny had different plans which scheduled the semis that both the teams last sought for. Finally, justice was done when a team which at one stage ddn't even look like making it to the semis not only made it there but also threatened to walk away with the honors. It would not have been a tough choice to predict Pakistan as winners of the world T20 tournament had they won the semis.
Showing posts with label Kamran Akmal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kamran Akmal. Show all posts
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
PCB does another blunder regarding T20 squad
Just a day after the PCB axed a couple of players from the national team, with some the remaining players given a year bans and finally by imposing a hefty fine on the remaining players, the very same PCB has selected the world T20 probables. With the decision to drop and impose fines on so many players itself being a joke, one can imagine the reason behind judging which player should be given a life ban and which player should be just let off with a fine. There were 2 players namely Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan who were axed from the team permanently.
However, I remember Mohammed Yousuf becoming the number one batsman in test cricket less than a year back which he hardly deserved. That was a time when the entire Pakistan team had made a comeback after having a year in 2008 where Pakistan didn't play a single test match. And then, just one performance was enough to see him top the rankings. And then, coming to the squad for the world T20, both Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan were aged 35 and, their service to the Pakistan can be expected to be limited. And, moreover Younis Khan had quit T20 cricket and a ban on him can in no way trouble anyone.
And, if at all there has to be someone who can be thought of as a certainity in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming world T20 would be Shahid Afridi for the lone reason that he can swing the ball though baseless and irresponsible. Much to one's surprise, Shahid Afridi was awarded the man of the series in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup and then in 2009 was the man of the match on two consecutive and important occasions- in the semi finals and the finals of the tournament. And now, the PCB once again suspects his capabilities as captain.
One has to wonder that someone who has not been able to be a responsible player despite playing for a decade is being made a captain. Perhaps! it is too far that one fine day the PCB might even rope in Afridi as a coach of the Pakistan team. It was the Akmal brothers who were responsible for the loss to Australia in the second test at Sydney when Kamran Akmal dropped three catches which helped Australia win the match from nowhere. And, it was the run out of Salman Butt that spiolt Pakistan's party in one of the games. But, all four have been included in the T20 squad. Rana Naved and Asif were pretty decent with the ball, with the latter being devastative when he took 4 Aussie wickets to restrict Australia to 127 at Sydney.
So, it would not be wrong to say that the PCB has given harsh punishments for players who deserved lesser punishments and the players who were seriously irresponsible were let of with a year bans and also with a fine which today's cricketers can earn in a short period of time. May be the PCB is waiting for the T20 world cup to get over so that the remaining players can be given harsher punishments.
However, I remember Mohammed Yousuf becoming the number one batsman in test cricket less than a year back which he hardly deserved. That was a time when the entire Pakistan team had made a comeback after having a year in 2008 where Pakistan didn't play a single test match. And then, just one performance was enough to see him top the rankings. And then, coming to the squad for the world T20, both Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan were aged 35 and, their service to the Pakistan can be expected to be limited. And, moreover Younis Khan had quit T20 cricket and a ban on him can in no way trouble anyone.
And, if at all there has to be someone who can be thought of as a certainity in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming world T20 would be Shahid Afridi for the lone reason that he can swing the ball though baseless and irresponsible. Much to one's surprise, Shahid Afridi was awarded the man of the series in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup and then in 2009 was the man of the match on two consecutive and important occasions- in the semi finals and the finals of the tournament. And now, the PCB once again suspects his capabilities as captain.
One has to wonder that someone who has not been able to be a responsible player despite playing for a decade is being made a captain. Perhaps! it is too far that one fine day the PCB might even rope in Afridi as a coach of the Pakistan team. It was the Akmal brothers who were responsible for the loss to Australia in the second test at Sydney when Kamran Akmal dropped three catches which helped Australia win the match from nowhere. And, it was the run out of Salman Butt that spiolt Pakistan's party in one of the games. But, all four have been included in the T20 squad. Rana Naved and Asif were pretty decent with the ball, with the latter being devastative when he took 4 Aussie wickets to restrict Australia to 127 at Sydney.
So, it would not be wrong to say that the PCB has given harsh punishments for players who deserved lesser punishments and the players who were seriously irresponsible were let of with a year bans and also with a fine which today's cricketers can earn in a short period of time. May be the PCB is waiting for the T20 world cup to get over so that the remaining players can be given harsher punishments.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Australia struggle to lose against Pakistan
For the second time, Pakistan bowled Australia all out for a score of exactly 127 and yet again lost the match chasing that low total. Previously, Pakistan had bowled out Australia for 127 at Sydney in the 2nd test match, only to lose the match by 36 runs. A match that Pakistan should have won rather convincingly was lost the moment the ball hit the ground in the last ball of the 20th over bowled by Shane Watson. This match would have ended Pakistan's embarrassing tour of Australia. I doubt whether the Pakistani players after their loss to Australia in the T20 game gone for site seeing in the beautiful continent of Australia.
The only positives for Pakistan in the series at present is that, they need not think about the next game in the series. They need not promise their fans about winning or putting up a better performance in the next game and so would be the Pakistani fans who would not have to look forward to another Pakistani defeat or keep their jaws open expecting Pakistan to fare better in the next game. I wish the Pakistanis should stop calling themselves as the current T20 champs and not highlight their two appearances in the finals of a T20 world cup.
If Australia's performance in the match was way beyond expectation, I wonder as to what should one comment on the performance of the Pakistani counterpart? The match was no doubt in favor of Pakistan when the Pakistani innings saw a 34 run and a 39 run partnership after bowling the Aussies for a partly score of 127 as mentioned above. Moreover, Australia are not a world beating side when it comes to T20 cricket unlike in the tests and the one dayers. Likewise, Pakistan is a better team than Australia if T20 cricket is considered. Still, if Pakistan cannot afford to win, its really confusing.
I guess this is the first time that a team has won all matches irrespective of the formats of the game that were played as a part of that tour. Australia won 3 tests, 5 one dayers and the lone T20 game that was scheduled. May be that a team might have done the same against Bangladesh or else, I cannot recall any such feats. There might have been teams that haven't lost a single match but, one or a couple of tests might have ended in draws that disqualifies them from the list. Like, India won 5 matches against England in November 2008 and 1 of the 2 tests that were scheduled and the 2nd test ended in a draw.
Finally, one can come to the conclusion that despite giving so much room, Pakistan couldn't snatch a win from the Aussies, which suggests that Aussies had a struggle for losing. Whenever Australia came close to losing, they were pushed back by Pakistan.
The only positives for Pakistan in the series at present is that, they need not think about the next game in the series. They need not promise their fans about winning or putting up a better performance in the next game and so would be the Pakistani fans who would not have to look forward to another Pakistani defeat or keep their jaws open expecting Pakistan to fare better in the next game. I wish the Pakistanis should stop calling themselves as the current T20 champs and not highlight their two appearances in the finals of a T20 world cup.
If Australia's performance in the match was way beyond expectation, I wonder as to what should one comment on the performance of the Pakistani counterpart? The match was no doubt in favor of Pakistan when the Pakistani innings saw a 34 run and a 39 run partnership after bowling the Aussies for a partly score of 127 as mentioned above. Moreover, Australia are not a world beating side when it comes to T20 cricket unlike in the tests and the one dayers. Likewise, Pakistan is a better team than Australia if T20 cricket is considered. Still, if Pakistan cannot afford to win, its really confusing.
I guess this is the first time that a team has won all matches irrespective of the formats of the game that were played as a part of that tour. Australia won 3 tests, 5 one dayers and the lone T20 game that was scheduled. May be that a team might have done the same against Bangladesh or else, I cannot recall any such feats. There might have been teams that haven't lost a single match but, one or a couple of tests might have ended in draws that disqualifies them from the list. Like, India won 5 matches against England in November 2008 and 1 of the 2 tests that were scheduled and the 2nd test ended in a draw.
Finally, one can come to the conclusion that despite giving so much room, Pakistan couldn't snatch a win from the Aussies, which suggests that Aussies had a struggle for losing. Whenever Australia came close to losing, they were pushed back by Pakistan.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The Pakistani Approach
Wins and losses are a part and parcel of the game of cricket and neither Pakistan nor Australia are exceptions. However, despite playing cricket since decades altogether, some unusual decisions by any team for that matter would raise a question as to how come any captain could afford to do that. Things cannot be taken for granted that, following a particular strategy would ensure a win in a particular match against a particular team. For, the strategies of the opposition are also unknown either. But, stupid decisions can never be forgiven no matter what. And this is what Pakistan was found doing in the first ODI against Australia.
Effort definitely lied in the Pakistani batting when they put up a decent score of 274 on the board. And so did their initial start with the ball by taking 2 quick wickets of Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh. But, then onwards, it was the same Pakistani bowlers who gave away everything to the Australian batsmen, added to that being the fact that the fieldsmen never supported their bowlers whatsoever. So was the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf who showed no signs in improving the same. Pakistan is a bit strong in ODI cricket compared to their test cricket which can never be disputed.
Or is it that the Pakistani test team is weak compared to their ODI? Anyway, that being a different issue, coming to the game between Australia and Pakistan, the scorecard reveals that the Pakistan captain bowled just five bowlers, who were entitled to bowl 10 overs each. Barring Mohammed Aamer, the remaining four Pakistani bowlers bowled their full quota of 10 overs. To what extent was the decision of Mohammed Yousuf justified? Also, the team consisted of just the five bowlers along with Shoaib Malik who never bowled. This is the way the Pakistani captain selects the playing eleven and also makes partly use of them.
A similar approach by the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf was seen in the third test at Hobart, which needless to be said Pakistan lost convincingly. Even there, Mohammed Yousuf had gone in without key players like Kamran Akmal and others. Still, that was hardly mentioned by anyone. Forget it! Then, the match had another wonder when, Shane Watson takes 4 wickets and gets out for a score of 5. Shane Watson is made to open the innings and he fails. On the other hand, Watson is a part time bowler and ends up becoming the most successful bowler of the match. May be this is the only highlight of the match.
Effort definitely lied in the Pakistani batting when they put up a decent score of 274 on the board. And so did their initial start with the ball by taking 2 quick wickets of Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh. But, then onwards, it was the same Pakistani bowlers who gave away everything to the Australian batsmen, added to that being the fact that the fieldsmen never supported their bowlers whatsoever. So was the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf who showed no signs in improving the same. Pakistan is a bit strong in ODI cricket compared to their test cricket which can never be disputed.
Or is it that the Pakistani test team is weak compared to their ODI? Anyway, that being a different issue, coming to the game between Australia and Pakistan, the scorecard reveals that the Pakistan captain bowled just five bowlers, who were entitled to bowl 10 overs each. Barring Mohammed Aamer, the remaining four Pakistani bowlers bowled their full quota of 10 overs. To what extent was the decision of Mohammed Yousuf justified? Also, the team consisted of just the five bowlers along with Shoaib Malik who never bowled. This is the way the Pakistani captain selects the playing eleven and also makes partly use of them.
A similar approach by the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf was seen in the third test at Hobart, which needless to be said Pakistan lost convincingly. Even there, Mohammed Yousuf had gone in without key players like Kamran Akmal and others. Still, that was hardly mentioned by anyone. Forget it! Then, the match had another wonder when, Shane Watson takes 4 wickets and gets out for a score of 5. Shane Watson is made to open the innings and he fails. On the other hand, Watson is a part time bowler and ends up becoming the most successful bowler of the match. May be this is the only highlight of the match.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Pakistan Never Wanted To Win The Hobart test
Well as expected, Australia defeated Pakistan by needless to say 231 runs in the third and final test at Hobart. This, if statistics need to be given a serious look, is the fourth time in succession that Australia has defeated Pakistan in a test series by winning all the three games that were scheduled. So, it would not be wrong to conclude that Pakistan are no match for the Aussies whatsoever. This was more so after their 36 run loss to the same in the previous test at Sydney when Pakistan let go a golden opportunity after Australia were bowled out for 127 on the first day and Pakistan took a 200+ lead there after.
Added to that, in the third test at Hobart, Pakistan went in without their wicket keeper batsmen Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Sami who were all decent players in test cricket. And moreover, it was Mohammed Sami along with Mohammed Asif who ripped apart the Aussie batting line up when Aussies lost all their batsmen for 127 runs on board. On the other hand, someone like Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammed Aamer who are aged 22 and 17 years respectively made it to the squad. Can anyone guess the reason for the same? MohammedAamer had until then played just 7 matches until then and it was Safraz' debut test.
Is it because that the Pakistanis had already lost the test series to Australia and a win or a loss in the Hobart test would have hardly made any difference to the Pakistanis that they went in for such a change? Or is it because Pakistan were less likely to win the test match at Hobart irrespective of whoever makes it to the squad that the playing eleven was chosen like that? The third reason for such a change that one can imagine is Pakistan had already got used to losing test matches after a they had a year without playing a single test match in 2008 and more so against Australia, wherein Pakistan had lost 3 earlier test series'.
If anyone could take pains to go through the Pakistan scorecard, only five Pakistanibatsmen players were found crossing the double digit mark, with two of them being tailenders in Mohammed Asif and Umer Gul who scored 29 and 38 respectively. However, the 7 match old Mohammed Aamer could bowl 31 overs returning with figures of 2/97 that included the price wicket of Ricky Ponting but not before the Aussie captain could score yet another double hundred. So, if these things are taken into consideration, it looks like Pakistan had decided well before the Hobart test started to lose the game or may be gift the game to the Aussies.
Added to that, in the third test at Hobart, Pakistan went in without their wicket keeper batsmen Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Sami who were all decent players in test cricket. And moreover, it was Mohammed Sami along with Mohammed Asif who ripped apart the Aussie batting line up when Aussies lost all their batsmen for 127 runs on board. On the other hand, someone like Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammed Aamer who are aged 22 and 17 years respectively made it to the squad. Can anyone guess the reason for the same? MohammedAamer had until then played just 7 matches until then and it was Safraz' debut test.
Is it because that the Pakistanis had already lost the test series to Australia and a win or a loss in the Hobart test would have hardly made any difference to the Pakistanis that they went in for such a change? Or is it because Pakistan were less likely to win the test match at Hobart irrespective of whoever makes it to the squad that the playing eleven was chosen like that? The third reason for such a change that one can imagine is Pakistan had already got used to losing test matches after a they had a year without playing a single test match in 2008 and more so against Australia, wherein Pakistan had lost 3 earlier test series'.
If anyone could take pains to go through the Pakistan scorecard, only five Pakistani
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