No more blind slogging

Well a person who had made news for the right as well as the wrong reasons has decided to call it a day when yesterday the Pakistani slogger-Shahid Afridi quits international cricket. This would mean most of the major cricketing websites would focus on his three fastest hundreds that came against three sub-continent nations namely Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. But, speaking facts, Shahid Afridi's absence in the Pakistani batting line up should boost up their middle order for, Shahid Afridi is no way better than some Shoaib Akthar or any other tail end batsmen when it comes to batting.

With so many beautiful shots out there like the cover-drive, the on-drive and much more, Shahid Afridi has had only one shot-just blindly whip the bat and in case it makes contact with the ball you have six runs added to your credit. And, in case the ball nicks the edge of the bat, the slip fielder would be having one more catch to his credit and that is all. In that regard, Shahid Afridi is a batsman one of his kind. Even tail end batsmen would think a dozen times before going in for a shot unlike Shahid Afridi from Pakistan.

We can remember the Australian nightwatchman Jason Gillespie who got a double hundred against Bangladesh which is too much for his standard as a batsman. It was just the helplessness of the Pakistan Crickat Board (PCB) which hardly had any option but to crown Afridi as the Pakistani captain for the 2011 world cup. Afridi should consider himself to be lucky for, he was the captain of the Pakistan side which defeated Australia after their unbeaten 36 match streak and made it to the finals after Waqar Younis and Inzamam (who were better captains compared to Shahid Afridi) could not manage.

Irrespective of the situation his team was in, Shahid Afridi took no serious responsibility of his team and used to slog blindly. The three fastest hundreds out of his six centuries should be nothing but fluke. On the other hand, his bowling had a good amount of variation and used to deceive even the most awesome batsmen which saw him bag two five wicket hauls and an equal number of four wicket hauls in the recently concluded world cup. When most of his fans expected him to showcast his power with the bat, he kept them in suspense when his ball listened to him rather then his bat.

Will Pakistan experiment or play serious?

It has been less than a month since Pakistan inflicted a crushing defeat on the West Indies when the touring team lost all 10 wickets for a mere score of 113 on the board and on the other hand failing to strike even a single time. Of course, even England lost the match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets despite England putting up a total in excess of 200 in the quarter finals. May be, had the West Indies scored above 200, a Pakistani wicket would have made it to the score card. That was just another loss for West Indies and nothing more.

With that apart, news and schedule has it that Pakistan is set to tour West Indies or are already in the country that is facing a lot of trouble in cricket. No prices for guessing the result of the series for even a kid can claim that West Indies are set to lose the series or worst come, may end the tournament without even a single win in both test as well as one day cricket. Couple of days back, news had its say that Gayle may be unavailable for the series, with the current West Indian squad speaking otherwise.

One can see the names of Chanderapaul and Sarwan along with Gayle. In addition to the presence of Chris Gayle and co, one can expect the return of Marlon Samuels for people who are familiar with the name and a chance for people who don't to get to know who this average cricketer is. Since Samuels is not some Mohammed Asif or Shane Warne, his return would hardly bother anyone-not even the WICB. But, the million dollar question is whether Pakistan will go ahead with a full fledged team to face the enemy or will they experiment with their players?

Had I been the Pakistani selector, I would have rested some or most of the key players from the tour though the series is away from home. Teams like Zimbabwe and West Indies (but rarely Bangladesh) can prove to be of some use to viewers only when key players and inform players take a break. Than, one can see a balanced match wherein both teams fight it out on the field. I remember Dhoni resting Schin Tendulkar in one of the games to see how things work with the absence of a star player. That was the reason for Australia to dominate the world cricket for so many years.

Pakistan's dream bigger than the world cup

Well it was just 6 days after the 10^th edition of the ICC world cup got over that the multi million dollar IPL kicked in and no doubt, this time as well the excitement happens to be the same despite the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Anil Kumble missing out. Likewise, such a grand event can happen only in a cricket crazy land like India and may be a little bit in Pakistan that too if it is equivalent to an Indo-Pak match. Or else, the flavor seems to be missing in most part of the globe with people hardly finding any time outside their busy schedule to watch a game that lasts for 6 hours.

One can imagine if all people in the world go jobless and cricket crazy at the same time, what would happen to these cricketers. It was evident in the recently concluded ICC cricket world cup the way teams like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand lost their way inbetween. There was Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting etc from Australia with the South African squad involving Jacques Kallis, A B deVilliars to name a few. But their world cup dreams never lasted more than the quarter finals. The aforementioned teams were better ones compared to New Zealand, who went a step ahead to make it to the semi-finals.

The sole reason for such a debacle can be nothing but the lack of motivation that the teams from the sub-continent were found to be enjoying. Sri Lanka didn't rely on Muttiah Muralitharan and they dropped Chaminda Vass and Jayasuriya from the world cup squad despite their statistics speaking strongly for them. But, the main news other than these is that Pakistan wants to launch a cricket league of its own may be naming it as the PPL. The name itself rivals the IPL with India being replaced by Pakistan. Is this in return for what the team franchisee have done regarding Pakistani players?

Is this owing to the reason that India are the arch rivals of Pakistan and don't want to be anyway behind them at least in cricket? As said earlier, Pakistan is also a strong cricket crazy nation like India and hosting a similar league there would not be a bad idea. Will the current players from the Sri Lankan team feature themselves in the tournament who have experienced the worst on their last tour to the country? Will players from Australia, New Zealand, England, West Indies and South Africa undo the precaution what they did when they were to tour Pakistan earlier? But, one thing can be a good idea- hold the tournament somewhere else outside Pakistan.

Btw shall we move on with farmers' markets?

Did India win or Pakistan lose?

This was one threat that Pakistan would have been facing with the semi-finals being held at an Indian venue. Pakistan, though would have been physically fit to face their arch-rivals, are not so mentally. The Pakistan players might have well prepared themselves for their assault of Indian players on the field but not with the crowd off the same. Afridi and co can only send the ball rolling across the ropes or above the heads but not bottles and paper rockets. Stopping the Indian batsmen consisting of Sachin and co would be much easier than to stop water bottles from striking the deep fielders.

Verbal abuses from say Sreesanth can be stopped by the match officials but not from spectators who'd be waiting for a Pakistani batsman to step out of the dressing room. I wish Andrew Symonds would be the right person to tell you what happened in the finals ODI against India in the seven match one day series in 2007 when viewers got him out for a duck. Sri Lankan team led by Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996 semi-finals would be the right person to convince Afridi as to what to do in India and what not to do. All these if Pakistan is on the verge of victory.

This was the 2^nd time a world cup semi-final was held in Mohali after Australia played West Indies in 1996. With that being a secondary issue, coming to the point, though India won their 5^th world cup match against Pakistan, explanation regarding dropping of 6 catches is still not satisfactory. No foolish fielder on earth would ever drop Sachin Tendulkar four times and that too in a world cup semi-final match. Pakistani players did everything to see their team lose without giving anybody a chance to point their fingers towards their performance on the field. Afridi's cleverness deserves a lot of applause.

Big partnerships between Hafeez & Shafiq, and Misbah & Umar Akmal stay live and get broken when the situation demanded. A total of 261 can be chased down by India against Australia in quarter-finals but not by Pakistan in semi-finals. There would be a 5 wicket-taker from Pakistan and all Indian bowlers end up with no more than two wickets. That was a rare match where spinner stuns a sub-continent nation with 4 wickets and 1 over maiden. But at the end, the situation is better than what would have happened had India toured Pakistan for any match let alone the semi-finals of a world tournament.

The match might have bought both health and wealth for Afridi with them traveling back safely to Pakistan.

What is so gr8 in it?

Yesterday, Pakistan beat Australia by 4 wickets to stop their 35 match winning streak that included one tied match against South Africa in the semi finals of the 1999 world cup and one match abandoned with the match against Sri Lanka being called off due to rains. May be this world have come before for Australia, had that game taken off. But, despite all these facts, I personally don't regard this as a major victory for Pakistan or any team to have managed it. Not because that I'm an Indian and turning down Pakistan's achievements is my birth right that I am into such statements.

But, beating a team that was once an unbeatable team is not a major achievement. Only a handful of players from the Australian side are found playing cricket though not at their career best of form and fitness. Only Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Brett Lee are found making it to the squad since 2003 when the Aussies were unbeatable. And for the matter, Ponting is at his best only in smashing LCD sets rather than the ball which has was known to be. There is no Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Symonds and Mike Hussey to take the batting charge with McGrath, Nathan Bracken and Brad Hogg to bowl.

Added to that, the current Aussie team lacks a match winner like Michael Beaven who could take his team out from the clutches of defeat despite his team reeling at 135/8 against England in 2003 and Andy Bichael who was a replacement for Jason Gillispie and proved much more than what Gillispie would have been. Australia never finished with a run rate less than 6.0 an over in the 2007 world cup batting 1^st and got all its opponents all out with Bangladesh being an exception in the 2007 world cup. Coming close to such a team was also a tough task let alone winning.

It would be no tough task to fight a 90 year old man when thinking about the same when the person at his young age would have made him pay the price. In the current cricketing world, Australia is as good as any other team and winning against them would be just another win against a normal opposition. New Zealand could have done this for, they were the 1^st decent team to have faced the Aussies in 2011 WC. Since the 2007 triumph, the Aussies have made news only for bad reasons though they won the ICC champions trophy in 2009 and were the runners-up in world T20 2010.

It would be nice to think about ways to make money online, online business guide than cheering a pseudo-record by Pakistan I'd suggest.

Victory despite all odds for England

Well it was a match between the current world T20 champions and the former world T20 champions - Pakistan who fought it out yesterday at Cardiff and the result can be more clearly told you by none other than the scorecard of the match. However, it need not be specially sited that this blog in particular does not deal with the scorecard or the winners and losers of a match but does deal with the way things have happened regarding both the teams out there. At this point, I don't recommend Shannon's Introspections . However, needless to be said, the onus was on Pakistan to do well.

Until the 1st T20 match between the teams mentioned above, it was only the bad performance by Pakistan in the past 8 months or so which was haunting them. But now, there is the new devil called match/spot fixing which is turning its head towards Pakistan mostly. Though there have been teams like India, England, Australia and Sri Lanka off late mentioned, Pakistan no doubt has a greater in it. And, losing yet another match to some team will just add fuel to the fire and Pakistan have done just that. Scorecard suggests that Pakistan lost only 4 wickets in the first innings.

The entire Pakistan innings never had even a single hit out of the ground. Not even from the blades of Shahid Afridi. In fact, Shahid Afridi came in at number six position when he should have made it to the crease in the top order. Nevermind that even the present position was also not bad though. Should this be considered as a bad performance by Pakistan or a decent one from England with the news speaking about match fixing most of the time? Such matches have happened in the past as well not only for those involving Pakistan but also other teams.

Being known for his hard hitting abilities, Shahid Afridi should have been seen striking the bowlers at will but, instead of that Shahid Afridi was found taking two out of the five wickets that fell during England's batting innings. Another interesting fact from the match is that both teams bowled just 2 extras and what is more! Both the teams gave away one run in the form of wide and another run in the form of leg bye. Well, this may not be owing to some fixing thing and is agreed to be purely coincidental. But, why did even the England innings also didn't contain a single hit out of the ground? Don't worry, even that is not fixed.

Malings speaks

Very rarely does someone like Lasith Malinga is found throwing out his words when he recently comments on the floodlights to be a nightmare for the team batting second. Whatever, this makes bloggers like me to pen more about the issue in the form of critics and opinions. However, Lasith Malinga partly has something when he says the above statement supporting the team batting second. Mosyt of the time it has been the team batting first that wins the game but, one has to definitely make it sure that it is not only because of the reason cited by Malinga.

History says that India won the finals of the Natwest series against England in 2002 by chasing a mammoth total of 326 under lights and so was India's successful run chase against the West Indies later the same year when they chased down 324 against the same. At the same time, the other three highest successful run chases by South Africa and twice by New Zealand happened to be under day light. Here, Malinga's words have an upperhand. Whatsoever, pressure does exist with the team batting second no matter whether it is under lights or not. And this was yet again proved when Pakistan failed to get past 243 runs.

Most of the captains choose to bat after they win the toss rather than to bowl. The one undue advantage that the team batting first gets is that they have two options in hand, out of which they can choose to do one which will see them through that game. When they bat first, either they can put up a decent score for the opposition to chase failing which will see the team batting first win the game. And, in case they fail to do that, they can either get the opposition out or restrict the opposition from crossing the barrier.

Whereas, for the team batting second, the only thing left is to chase down the total imposed by the team batting first and there can be nothing like restricting the team batting first for a less score. If course, totals less than 200 are tough to defend but, the team batting second always has the task of overhauling the score put up by the team batting first. The team batting 2^nd will have to overhaul the score set by the team batting first. However, in the past 8 - 9 years or so, there have been many cases of 300+ scores being chased unlike the three occasions in the 90s which included India & Australia over Pakistan and Sri Lanka over Zimbabwe.

One thing that would be worth mentioning here would be the fact that Malinga comes from the team where once the world cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga wins the toss and elects to field first in the finals of the 1996 world cup and still ends up winning the trophy.

How come Afridi could do it!

Well the cricketing world has so far seen the Pakistani hard hitting batsman - Shahid Afridi as only a blind slogger of the cricket ball rather than a batsman who would play a calculated innings. But, as a matter of surprise, it was the same slogger who took his team to the zenith when they faced Sri Lanka in their first encounter of the Asia cup at Dambulla yesterday. It was really interesting to see that Shahid Afridi played one of the innings of his life when the lonely handled the Sri Lankan bowlers despite there being no support from the other ends.

Even today, the fact is that Shahid Afridi is a blind slogger of the ball though the batsman has two out of the top five fastest hundreds against his name in one day cricket. In addition to the fact that Shahid Afridi played a calculated innings, the other interesting thing to be noticed is that Shahid Afridi took to the crease at number six after the dismissal of Shoaib Malik. The entire Pakistani innings consisted of 7 sixes, all of which were hit by none other than Shahid Afridi. While, the entire match saw just 8 hits out of the ground and the next is needless to be said.

There have been batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds who are big hitters and at the same time play a calculated and responsible innings and as a result of the same, the team can rely upon such players which confirms their position not only in the team but also in the playing XI squad. But, with the most important thing missing in Afridi, one has to wonder as to how on earth did Shahid Afridi manage to play more than 250 one day matches. Leaving that apart, one has to wonder even more as to what on earth makes the selection to go in for Afridi even when selecting a test team!

Whatever, this time as a rare case, Afridi could manage what he couldn't in all these days of his cricketing life when he played one of the innings of his life with the wicket hardly supporting the batsmen no matter to which team they belonged. A target of 243 was in no way a non chasable one for either of the team and more so for Pakistan. No other player from Pakistan managed even one fourth of what Afridi could. This I consider as the one more than his 37 ball hundred he scored against Sri Lanka and the 45 ball century he scored against India in 2005. For, those were on batsmen friendly pitches and without any sort of pressure.

The PCB corrects itself

Well before anybody would term the PCB as mentally sick, it is a good news to the entire cricket world and especially Pakistan cricket that the bans and fines on the Pakistani players that included Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan among the eight has been finally scrapped not by anyone else but by the PCB itself. Needless to be said, the aforementioned Pakistan players were imposed hefty fines and unimaginable bans after their disastrous tour of Australia where Pakistan returned home without even a single win from three tests + 5 One dayers + 1 T20 game that was played.

Recently, the ban of one year and a fine of a whooping 2 million rupees on Shoaib Malik was lifted by a tribunal which reduced the fine by half which has now entitled Shoaib Malik to pay just rupees 1 million. The word just is far from being justified here when the matter involves sums upto rupees one million. But, the comparison here is done with 2 million and needless to be said is far greater than 1 million rupees. And, with Pakistan being winners of the world T20 last year, the amount should not be as big as it is thought to be.

The poorest of poor performance by the Pakistani players should and can never be forgiven no matter what. It does not matter that it was Australia whom Pakistan were facing in their own den and a victory is far from being achieved. But, even a defeat in all matches is far from expected as far as Pakistan is considered. The Pakistani players deserve a harsh punishment but not a crazy one like it has been done by the PCB. However, when the ban on Shoaib Malik has been revoked and fine reduced, it looks like the PCB is rethinking on its decision which is rather crazy as mentioned.

Now, the PCB has revoked the bans and reduced fines for other players as well long before the Pakistan cricket follows the West Indies team. There is the multi team starer Asia cup to be stared in the coming month and with most of the Pakistani players facing the axe, there might be a major disaster waiting to happen in case the PCB does not turn up. A hint regarding the same has been felt in the recently concluded ICC world T20 when Pakistan lost games to England and New Zealand in the super eights after losing the group stage encounter with the Aussies.

Lucky Pakistan

Well as usual, South Africa have always been at the receiving end of the bad luck, ill fate or mis fortune - whichever you call. But, this time in addition to the Proteas being unlucky, the opposition namely Pakistan were found to be lucky when they made it to the semi finals of the world T20 tournament despite losing two matches in the super eights of the mega tournament. Luck struck Pakistan twice on the same single day, first when they won the game against South Africa and second when England beat New Zealand by 3 wickets (the margin of victory or loss being of little importance here).

Though South Africa were considered as favorites before heading to the match against Pakistan, there is no reason as to why the Pakistanis should not beat them. In fact, Pakistan stood a better chance of wining the game than the South Africans not only for beating them in the previous world cup last year but also owing to the fact that Pakistan stand a better position when it comes to big hitting compared to the Proteas. This is evident from the fact that South Africa still rely upon the age old Jacques Kallis who no doubt falls short when it comes to making the crease while stealing a single.

Though there are the likes of A B Devilliars and Graeme Smith in the South African team, they can make contact with the ball only once in every bluemoon. No doubt that Devilliars is gifted with the ability to hit big shot out of the ground but with the condition that the bat makes contact with the ball which is a rarity in Devilliars' case. Scorecard suggests that Devilliars hit 2 sixes enroute to his 53 which eventually proved to be the highest individual score in the South African innings. But, rather than calling it a decent contribution, it can be referred to as a result of a blind swing of the bat by Devilliars.

Of course, the Pakistani hard hitting batsman Shahid Afridi also belongs to the same category and more than that can be considered as the daddy of them all. But, the other side of the coin also suggests that Shahid Afridi has the ability to spin the ball equivalently like any genuine spinner like say Saqlain Mushtaq or Harbhajan Singh. As a matter of statistics, this is the first time that in a T20 world cup South Africa are eliminated from the world cup not for losing their first match. One can remember the way the Proteas crashed out of the tournament earlier when they lost to India in 2007 and Pakistan in 2009, both of which were their 1^st losses in the series.

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.

A life-time ban would have been ideal for Afridi

One has to indeed appreciate the guts of the Pakistani so-called all rounder Shahid Afridi for first changing the conditions of the ball without the consent of the on field umpires and then that too in front of the whole crowd, some in front of the television sets and others in the stadium. I wonder as to how come someone can do the same and expect to get away as though he was nothing but innocent? Or, was the deed what Afridi did was a mistake like it was the case with Dravid way back in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2003-04 in the Adelaide test?

On the other hand, Afridi's creative reason for the same must also be gioven a pat on the back. Shahid Afridi wants the whole world to believe that he was trying to smell the ball-I wonder as though it was a perfume and that only Afridi had discovered it! Oh! What a scientist we have lost due to cricket! But, how come teeth marks appear on the ball when someone tries to smell the same? Really confusing! How come anyone can deny a thing that he has done in front of the entire world? Finally, Afridi had no other choice and had to plead guilty and accept whatever came through.

When Afridi accepts his mistake, he justifies the same by saying that he was trying to help out his bowlers win the fifth one dayer at Perth. May be, had Afridi been in place of Mohammed Yousuf, the deed would have taken place 5 matches earlier or some 8 days prior to this. If the ball tempering episode an be recalled, India's disciplined batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were fined 50% and 75% of their match fees during the pool match against Zimbabwe in the VB series 2004 and at Port Elizabeth respectively. One can also recall the famous Oval test where Inzamam's team never turned up to take to the field, which is still a mystery.

If the punishment that Shahid Afridi has been given is considered, the ICC is just giving someone a formal punishment. This is not some offence that has happened so far as given in the law books of cricket though the article 2.2.9 of the ICC code of conduct has been cited relating Afridi's offence. When banning players, the ICC gives options like one test or 5 ODIs. But, that should not be the case in T20 cricket whatsoever. Afridi denies what he had done in front of the entire world as mentioned above, which can never be tolerated. Something atleast like the one given to Warne in the 2003 WC (where Shane Warne was given a year ban) can be justified. A ban of one or two matches can affect a player in no way. A life time ban would be ideal.

Victory-The Aussie way

Well until the end of the fourth one dayer between Australia and Pakistan, I had accused Pakistan for not involving themselves into the game whatsoever. This included a number of factors like picking up the wrong combination in the playing XI, under using the bowlers, using part time bowlers more than necessary which are one of the few factors that justify for the Pakistani defeat in the first 4 one dayers. However, as expected, Pakistan lost the fifth and the final one day match also to Australia by 2 wickets but not the way the Pakistan team lost the first four.

It was in the 49^th over when the Aussie tail-ender Ryan Harris was batting and Australia needed one run to win from 4 balls and a waist height full toss from Ifthikar Anjum was bowled. That hit the bat and landed safely in the hands of Shahid Afridi only to be signalled as a NO-BALL from the umpire Ashoka DeSilva that sealed Pakistani hopes of pulling off a thriller in the last one dayer. Rarely would have anybody seen such a ball signalled a NO-BALL in international cricket. As far as the rules of the game goes, the ball should cross the batsman's shoulder full-toss in case it is to be signalled a NO-BALL whatsoever.

One way the decision can be justified is by calling a waist as a shoulder. Had it not been for that, the match worst come, would have ended in a tie with still Pakistan going empty handed in the one day series. But, the way Australia has achieved this success makes a lot of tongues to wag. This no doubt reminds anyone about the Sydney test in 2007 where 8 decisions were wrong that was evident to even a common man let alone the cricket world. However, an outlook of the match suggests that Pakistan atleast in the last game tried to contain the Aussies, which was actually not the case.

Pakistan may have bought the Aussie batsmen close to 50 overs to chase the target of 213 they had imposed. The Aussie batsmen might have lost 8 wickets enroute to their run chase. But, still it was the Aussies who had lost interest in the latch that led to Pakistan cashing in on the chances. Australia, after having taken an unbeatable lead in any bilateral series played in the last couple of years have been found to neglect the last one. They had won the first 6 games against England after their loss in the Ashes 2009, only to lose the last one dayer and with that the chance to become the first team to have inflicted a 7-0 whitewash. So was the case against India in 2007, where Australia lost the last one dayer by 2 wickets in the match where Murali Karthik claimed his career best 6/27.

So, the only victory tie the Pakistan team can boast about is owing to the fact that Ryan Harris was given a needless life which should have found the umpires raise his fingers owing to the same. Pakistan have been completely been outplayed.

Pakistan has got used to defeats

It is too late for anyone to highlight the 4^th ODI loss by Pakistan at the hands of Australia for, the loss would have been well anticipated by everyone including the Pakistan team. But, one would have hardly expected the Pakistan team to hand over the match to a 3 match old Ryan Harris who took yet another 5 wicket haul, that was his second out of three games and a consecutive one against Pakistan. May be this bowling record is the first of its kind by any bowler to take 2 consecutive 5 wicket hauls in his maiden three ODIs.

It was a slow and steady approach by the Australian batsmen which made them post a total of 277 on the board after being at 190 at the end of the 40^th over losing 6 wickets. This is what the Australian batsmen have been found doing not only in the past three ODIs but also ever since they took to top the international cricket. However, coming back to the 4th ODI at Perth, it looks like the Pakistanis have got used to the defeats especially against Australia. Neither was there any drop catches by the Pakistani fieldsmen nor any sort of ridiculous bowling.

However, the result was indeed ridiculous needless to be said. There was news that Mitchell Johnson-who was rested for the first three ODIs would be making it to the Perth ODI, which actually didn't happen. But, despite the absence of his experience and pace bowling, Australia got what they wanted. I just cannot realize what was going on in the minds of the Pakistani batsmen when they lost all their wickets for a score less than 200 150, after they had scored 127 in the second one dayer. One can imagine the caliber of the Pakistani bowlers when Nathan Hauritz could send the ball over the ropes for four times en-route to his maiden half century.

It was the same approach by Mohammed Yousuf when he bowled just 5 bowlers. One thing that is to be noticed is that Afridi, who is considered more of a batsman is made to bowl 10 overs in all four ODIs. Added to that is the fact that he was one of the two Pakistani bowlers who bowled an over maiden and returned with an economy of 4.4 which was just 0.2 rpo more than the most economical bowler Mohammed Asif. Also, the other side of the coin is that he was one of the two Pakistani players who hit sixes. One would be sick of seeing the scorecard that highlights the tail-enders' astonishing strike rates and lack of huge scores and partnerships.

With no improvement since the beginning of the ODI test series, it looks like the Pakistani captain just wants to wind up his career as captain, after a report suggests that Yousuf might be sacked at Pakistani captain after the ODI series against Australia.

When tail-enders take no responsibility...

When an Aussie bowler who made an ODI debut at the age of 30+ and in his second one dayer picks up his first 5 wicket haul against a team who have a history of winning a world cup and making it to the finals of another, one has to indeed question whether Pakistan are indeed interested in playing serious cricket be it the one day or test cricket. If one goes through the scorecard of yesterday's third one day international between Australia and Pakistan, the Pakistani captain did the same mistake that he was found doing in the first ODI.

This time at Adelaide as well, Mohammed Yousuf went in for just five bowlers who bowled their full quota of 10 overs each. May be, had the ICC not imposed any such rules regarding the number of overs a bowler can bowl in an ODI match, Yousuf would have even gone in for just one or two bowlers to bowl the entire 50 overs. The other side of the coin is also that the Pakistan side had hardly any bowler who could give the main bowlers a break and step in as a part time bowler. Such is the destiny of today's Pakistan cricket.

If the recent past is given a close look at, chasing a total of even 300+ is not considered a difficult task. May be this doesn't hold good as far as Australia is considered. At the end of the day, anyone can come out with a reason regarding their team's loss. And how much weight that reason can be given becomes a different issue altogether. Compared to the previous ODIs, Pakistan have been putting a better performance each time they faced the Aussies. They bought the Aussies close to 50 overs in the first ODI while chasing 275. And in the 2nd, they utilized an extra bowler though they ultimately got out for 127.

Now, in the 3^rd, Pakistan despite losing 4 quick wickets for 60 runs put up an 85 run partnership that could have well been converted to a winning total of 287. Some irresponsible shots from the blades of Shahid Afridi and Naved-Ul-Hasan have to be dealt with seriously if this is not happen once again. It looks like the PCB has failed in handling Afridi, who has the power to make it big but is allowed to play reckless shots, which are at most of the times irresponsible. Such shots can make only a gully cricketer and not an international. It is no more than a black mark on Afridi for playing such shots.

A 19 year old Umar Akmal along with Fawad Alam were found playing decent cricket compared to what Afridi & Naved played. Tail end batting is assumed by the Pakistani players to just give an entertainment to the crowd and nothing else. It is the performance of these tail enders who make a difference between a victory and a defeat. Pakistan have to learn from the Aussies who had a last ball victory in the ICC Champions Trophy which was made possible by tail enders Brett Lee & Nathan Hauritz who put up a 19 run partnership and also stood for 20 balls without taking unwanted risks like the ones taken by Afridi & Naved.

Shahid Afridi's Role in the Pakistani side?

Well if the ongoing one day series between Australia and Pakistan is considered, one name that is found to strike everyone's lips is that of Shahid Afridi's. One, for his hard hitting capabilities which has seen him emerge as the batsman who has scored two fastest hundreds in one day cricket, at positions number 1 and 2. Afridi scored the world's first two fastest hundred in terms of the number of balls faced against Sri Lanka when he scored 102 off 37 balls and against India when he scored the same runs in 45 deliveries. However, if his batting capabilities are of that importance, why is he made to take the crease at position 6 in the first one dayer against Australia?

Another interesting feat about Shahid Afridi's career is that his strike rate in one day internationals is 111.24, which I heard is the highest by any Pakistani batsmen. And moreover, Afridi also is the only player in the Pakistani side to have played 200+ one day matches and maintained a strike of above 100. However, if the videos of his batting are watched, all that would be evident is that Afridi blindly waves his bat in the air. And if the bat makes contact with the ball, the ball either clears the ropes or if the batsman is unlucky lands in the fielder's hands.

I remember the ICC Champions Trophy match between India and Pakistan, where India were bundled for a moderate target of 200. And Pakistani innings also didn't start the way it was supposed to, with Pakistan losing wickets at regular intervals.The Pakistani scoreboard read 152/6 from 40.2 overs when Afridi entered the crease. All he did was to smash the ball haywire that saw him end up scoring 25 runs from 12 balls. His effort neither could pull Pakistan from the pressure nor could he notch up a decent score. Finally, Pakistan reached the target just 2 balls prior to completion of the innings. A little bit of planned innings from Afridi could have seen Pakistan in a better position.

Though most of them rate him as one of the most threatening batsman in world cricket, his batting average in ODI is 23.17 and has scored less than 6000 runs in international cricket from 290 games. Someone like Yuvraj Singh has scored above 7000 runs from just 250 games at an average of 37.09. However, if Afridi's bowling is given a closer look at, he has so far taken 272 wickets at an average of 34.51 that includes 3 five wicket hauls and a best bowling performance of 6/38. Except Sanath Jayasuriya, I can hardly see any batsman to have captured 6 wickets or more in ODIs in the last decade. Only 3 bowlers from India have been able to take 6 wickets in an innings of an ODI.

Added to that is the variety with which Afridi bowls. The bowling variety of Afridi is far better than someone like Anil Kumble. But, Afridi is hardly considered as a bowler by anyone though he is found bowling 10 overs frequently. His bowling is compared with someone like a part time bowler may be Yuvraj, Sachin, Sehwag etc. But, Afridi can be considered a better bowler than the ones mentioned. Finally, one has to decide whether Afridi is a batsman or a bowler or an all rounder or a pinch hitter?

Finally Whom Does Afridi & co want to blame?

Well no one on earth would have tolerated the insult what the Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and co had to bear on the first day of the auction for the 3rd edition of the Indian Premier League. It is not an unknown fact that none of the Pakistani players were bought and more the less not even bid for on the first day of the auction. And no one would have also supported such a treatment to anyone let alone Pakistani players. But, the other side of the coin is also to be given a closer look at I suppose.

After the Pakistan team made it to the finals of the second T20 world cup, which was their second such feat and a much better one when they won the championship, I remember reading in one of the leading newspapers-The times of India that the Pakistani players should never settle for something less by giving a nod for a throwaway price by the IPL sponsors. But, none of them including the then Pakistani captain Mohammed Yusuf would have thought that Pakistani players will not even have to feaure on the sponsors' hit lists for the auction. May be that the ICL returnees would be kicking themselves after they decided to leave the rebel league hoping of a better prospect in IPL.

Pakistani players namely Naved Ul Hassan Rana, Abdul Razzaq and others ditched ICL to get back to their international team and so to the IPL but, the result is quite in front of us. Things worked out well for New Zealand's Shane Bond but not for Pakistani players. If the BCCI or the IPL considers the ICL as a rebel league, the Pakistani players should have anticipated that the same BCCI considers Pakistan as a rebel country. So, in a way, it has to be Pakistani players who could not anticipate even such things and feature themselves for the auction and then come out cursing.

Likewise, every T20 team would like to have someone like Afridi in their team. But, what is the guarantee that Pakistani players will turn up for their respective franchisees? Moreover, taking into consideration the impression that the Pakistani players have in the minds of the Indian people, is it worth the risk to-be-taken by the sponsors which might see them lose viewers' interest in their teams and products? A little bit of bitter relationship between the two countries might end up in all the Pak players called back from the IPL half way through. Who is going to take the blame for that? And last but not the least, IPL has had a good run in 2009 when there were no Pakistani players featuring and things might not get worse this time as well.

A Bad 2nd day after the worst 1st day at Sydney

As my earlier post reveals, there is neither Steve Bucknor nor Mark Benson who can help the Aussies at Sydney this time in the ongoing second test against Pakistan. And most of the mess that could have been possible was done on day one itself by the Aussie batsmen. Neither were the Pakistani pacemen viz Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Sami were at their all time bowling best nor were the Aussies so bad to lose all their 10 wickets for a partly score of 127. Even the West Indies team that had played Bangladesh and lost as well didn't fare so badly.

Not only because it was Bangladesh they were playing against but also in the ICC Champions Trophy, they made life tough for Pakistan by claiming 5 wickets en route their successful run chase with just above 150 on the board. At the end of the day's play, Pakistan finished at 331-9 and the lead of 200+ need not be highlighted specially whatsoever. The Aussie bowling which have won their team a lot of matches in the past was found giving room like anything. Or else how would some 20 year old Umar Akmal smash 5 boundaries in 7 balls from the moment he gets on to the field with his bat?

And on the other hand, even the Pakistani batsmen were not found playing a truly professional test cricket on the second day. Similar to the Aussies, even the Pakistani batsmen lost all their 10 wickets on a single day itself. The only difference being that the Pakistani batsmen had piled up 204 runs more than the Australian batsmen could do on day 1. Each and every Pakistani batsmen was found approaching the Aussie bowlers with an attacking style as compared to a more responsible one that makes test cricket great to watch. Hardly any Pakistani batsmen could spend time on the crease which is quintessential in test cricket.

I now can guess what Mohammed Yusuf meant a week back after his team lost the first test at Melbourne. Yusuf had blamed the T20 cricket to be responsible for his team's debacle in the first test when he said that "T20 will finish Pakistan cricket". Pakistani batsmen are found approaching the test cricket similar to the way T20 cricket is approached. And this has been the way the Pakistani batsmen were found playing in the past too. The best example for this would be the so called dashing batsmen-Shahid Afridi who has a batting average like a tail end batsmen and a strike rate which can raise eye brows. A little bit of planning by the Pakistani players would have ensured them an innings win.

At the end, it would not be wrong to say that it is an Aussie loss than a Pakistani gain. Thats all for today. Do come back for more tomorrow.