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 However, when the ban on Shoaib Malik has been revoked and fine reduced, it looks like the PCB is rethinking on its decision which is rather crazy as mentioned.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.
Showing posts with label Shoaib Malik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shoaib Malik. Show all posts
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tribunal lifts crazy ban on Malik
Well no fool on earth would have upheld the one year ban on Shoaib Malik which in addition was also supported with a fine of Rs2 million all for coming back empty handed in the tour of Australia earlier this year where Pakistan lost 9 games to Australia which included 3 tests, 5 one day internationals and one T20 game. But, this should not mean any sort of crazy action like what the PCB has been seen doing. One has to wonder what does one mean by a fine of 2 million rupees. Not even a burglar would have been made to pay this much fine.
Condemnations have come in from all corners of the globe regarding the PCB's ban on eight Pakistani players and as mentioned above the fine of 2 million rupees. If the performance of the Pakistani players in Australia were shocking, more shocking was the way their cricket board reacted to that performance. The PCB should have gone mentally sick when such a crazy fine and punishment was imposed on the players. This condemnation does not mean that the bad patch created by the Pakistani players need to be given a go ahead. Such poor performance does not deserve any sort of pardon no matter what.
The PCB was never found taking any such decisions towards the Pakistani players when they were omitted from the world cup in 2007 after losing their matches against West Indies and Ireland, which Pakistan was expected to win effortlessly. However, the PCB was found taking a similar decision when Pakistan failed to get past the initial round after losing their round robin games to Australia, England and India in the 2003 world cup held in South Africa. This was just another bilateral series by Pakistan and a loss should not have been dealt with so crazily. But, forgiving such a hapless performance is totally out of the way.
In case the court had upheld Shoaib Malik's ban, people's thinking towards the court would had to change for the wrong reasons. It is not Pakistan alone who have returned with an empty hand from Australia. Even teams like South Africa, India and England have failed to win a test series in Australia. Their performance might have been better than Pakistan in 2010 but not satisfactory. Pakistan did everything they could to get into the semis of the world T20 and also tried enough to enter the finals which by bad luck didn't happen. And coming to the end, even the ICC should ban Pakistan from playing cricket for failing to host any cricket matches in its country since past 3 years that is if at all PCB's action in justified.
Condemnations have come in from all corners of the globe regarding the PCB's ban on eight Pakistani players and as mentioned above the fine of 2 million rupees. If the performance of the Pakistani players in Australia were shocking, more shocking was the way their cricket board reacted to that performance. The PCB should have gone mentally sick when such a crazy fine and punishment was imposed on the players. This condemnation does not mean that the bad patch created by the Pakistani players need to be given a go ahead. Such poor performance does not deserve any sort of pardon no matter what.
The PCB was never found taking any such decisions towards the Pakistani players when they were omitted from the world cup in 2007 after losing their matches against West Indies and Ireland, which Pakistan was expected to win effortlessly. However, the PCB was found taking a similar decision when Pakistan failed to get past the initial round after losing their round robin games to Australia, England and India in the 2003 world cup held in South Africa. This was just another bilateral series by Pakistan and a loss should not have been dealt with so crazily. But, forgiving such a hapless performance is totally out of the way.
In case the court had upheld Shoaib Malik's ban, people's thinking towards the court would had to change for the wrong reasons. It is not Pakistan alone who have returned with an empty hand from Australia. Even teams like South Africa, India and England have failed to win a test series in Australia. Their performance might have been better than Pakistan in 2010 but not satisfactory. Pakistan did everything they could to get into the semis of the world T20 and also tried enough to enter the finals which by bad luck didn't happen. And coming to the end, even the ICC should ban Pakistan from playing cricket for failing to host any cricket matches in its country since past 3 years that is if at all PCB's action in justified.
Monday, January 25, 2010
2nd match, Sydney and 127 all out!
Well it is at present needless to be said regarding the 140 run crushing defeat that Pakistan was handed in the second one dayer of the first phase of the Commonwealth bank series 2010 by Australia. However, one aspect to be noted from the match is that Pakistan was bundled out for 127, the total which a couple of weeks back was Australia's at the same venue in the first innings of the second test. However, unlike in the second test match, the winners were not the ones who were bundled out for 127. In the 2nd test, it was Australia who were first bundled out for 127 and finally went on to win the match by 36 runs.
But, this time in the second one day international, it was Pakistan who were bundled out for 127 but the only difference being that they had to end up on the losing side. Perhaps! There was no second innings like in a test match for the Pakistanis to make a comeback. However, one has to wonder as to what on earth made the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf to opt to bowl on a surface that would deteriorate gradually as the match progressed? Another tragedy that was personally invited by Mohammed Yousuf was the timing when he declared the bowling powerplay.
Yousuf went in for the bowling power play as soon as the first powerplay, that is mandatory during the first 10 overs, when he introduced the bowling powerplay in the 11th over itself. That was the time when the Aussie openers were in full bloom without losing a single wicket. This was the favor that Mohammed Yousuf did to his opposition which paved the way for 100 run 1st wicket partnership. The partnership lasted for exactly 100 runs, after which Watson got out. From then onwards, batting was difficult indeed, which was evident from the way the rest of the Aussie batsmen played.
One point that Yousuf has found to have learnt from the first ODI is that, this time he made use of all the bowlers that were available to him. Meaning six bowlers were used, out of which Shoaib Malik (who had not bowled in the first ODI) was made to bowl 4 overs. Otherwise, the Pakistani approach was hardly any different from the first ODI. However, the pitch never seemed to trouble the batsmen in the initial stages of the Aussie innings, when there was a 100 run 1st wicket partnership as mentioned above. And even afterwards, there was Cameron White who scored yet another half century (55 from 58 balls).
Added to that was the superb catches taken by Ponting & White in the slips to get rid of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik respectively. But, with just 3 out of the 11 Pakistani players scoring above 10, their defeat can be no exception. Rather than playing slowly and steadily, someone like Naved-Ul-Hasan going to smash every ball during his 22 ball 27 that included 2 sixes can never be justified whatsoever. When a defeat was already on the cards, a face saving innings from Naced would have helped matters.
But, this time in the second one day international, it was Pakistan who were bundled out for 127 but the only difference being that they had to end up on the losing side. Perhaps! There was no second innings like in a test match for the Pakistanis to make a comeback. However, one has to wonder as to what on earth made the Pakistani captain Mohammed Yousuf to opt to bowl on a surface that would deteriorate gradually as the match progressed? Another tragedy that was personally invited by Mohammed Yousuf was the timing when he declared the bowling powerplay.
Yousuf went in for the bowling power play as soon as the first powerplay, that is mandatory during the first 10 overs, when he introduced the bowling powerplay in the 11th over itself. That was the time when the Aussie openers were in full bloom without losing a single wicket. This was the favor that Mohammed Yousuf did to his opposition which paved the way for 100 run 1st wicket partnership. The partnership lasted for exactly 100 runs, after which Watson got out. From then onwards, batting was difficult indeed, which was evident from the way the rest of the Aussie batsmen played.
One point that Yousuf has found to have learnt from the first ODI is that, this time he made use of all the bowlers that were available to him. Meaning six bowlers were used, out of which Shoaib Malik (who had not bowled in the first ODI) was made to bowl 4 overs. Otherwise, the Pakistani approach was hardly any different from the first ODI. However, the pitch never seemed to trouble the batsmen in the initial stages of the Aussie innings, when there was a 100 run 1st wicket partnership as mentioned above. And even afterwards, there was Cameron White who scored yet another half century (55 from 58 balls).
Added to that was the superb catches taken by Ponting & White in the slips to get rid of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik respectively. But, with just 3 out of the 11 Pakistani players scoring above 10, their defeat can be no exception. Rather than playing slowly and steadily, someone like Naved-Ul-Hasan going to smash every ball during his 22 ball 27 that included 2 sixes can never be justified whatsoever. When a defeat was already on the cards, a face saving innings from Naced would have helped matters.
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.
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