Neither Harbhajan nor anyone else can emulate magician Murali

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I don’t know in which frame of mind Muttiah Muralitharan was in while having singled out Harbhajan Singh as the only bowler capable of emulating his record haul of nearly eight hundred wickets in Tests.

The legendary off-spinner, who will be retiring from Test cricket in a few days time, was quoted as saying in an interview the other day that only Harbhajan, another champion off-spinner, was most likely to have a go at his world record tally in Tests and One-day Internationals.

"I think only Harbhajan can do this. I don't know how old is he and how long he will continue. But he is the only one who can achieve this feat in Test cricket," Murali was reported to have said.

Probably it might have slipped out of his mind that Harbhajan is already 30 years old whose tally of 355 wickets in 83 Tests is far too less than his haul of 792 wickets which is likely to go further up when he calls it a day after the upcoming Galle Test.

Ideally Murali would ideally like to get at least eight more scalps in his last Test to reach the inconceivable landmark of 800 wickets. If the vulnerability of the Indian batsmen against spin bowling is taken in account I reckon he should get those wickets if he bowls well enough.

I don’t think anybody, either a spinner or a fast bowler, would be able eclipse his record haul of Test wickets in foreseeable future. It may stand for stages until and unless the cricket boards decide to shift their focus to Test cricket which is something very unlikely to happen given the fact that now even 50-overs games are being considered long enough and they might be replaced by 40-overs contest.

Harbhajan will of course become the most accomplished spin bowler in the world after the retirement of Murali but it doesn’t just not practically possible for anyone to overtake the record set by the champion Sri Lankan off-spinner.

In the same interview Murali has admitted that it would get increasingly difficult for spinners to chase his records.

"In the current scenario Test cricket is dying. One-day cricket does not have bright future. Only Twenty20 is going to survive. So it will be difficult for any slow bowler to survive so long," he said.

Harbhajan, undoubtedly, has been a class act all along but expecting him to think to go after the records set by Murali is not fair I think.

Murali and Harbhajan have remained the two top off-spinners of the world for quite sometime just as Shane Warne and Anil Kumble were the two best leg-spinners on the international scene for a long time.

With Warne and Kumble already having retired, Test cricket will become poorer with the exit of Murali. Harbhajan will be the senior most quality spin bowler on the international scene and it remains to be seen for how long he will be able to cope with the pressures of continuous cricket.

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Shahid Afridi feels confidence level can help Pakistan immensely

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Encouraged by the success in both the Twenty20 Internationals the Pakistan captain Shahid Khan Afridi has a right to believe that his team can topple Australia in the upcoming two-Test series as well.

Pakistan and Australia will renew their Test rivalry at Lord's on July 13. The Aussies have had an outstanding record against Pakistan in the recent past but who will know it better than Shahid Afridi that history and reputation can be taken for a ride very quickly.

“I think now that we have regained our winning habit we must work harder to maintain it and make winning a habit. I knew sooner or later we will win back-to-back matches because we have been performing well since the Twenty20 World Cup but missed out in close matches," the Pakistan observed in an interview.

“Test cricket indeed different to the T20s. There is indeed a marked difference and we have to be aware of this but the good thing is that a win is a win in any form of the game and this series win should serve a confidence booster for us ahead of the Tests," he added.

"Obviously we will miss their experience. I wanted them in the team for this tour and I tried my best to see they were in the team but for different reasons this couldn't happen and it is unfortunate," he responded when asked about the absence of senior batsmen, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan.

Shahid Afridi, whose aggression in the field has been instrumental in lifting the spirits of his teammates, has backed his younger members of the side to grab the opportunity with both hands.

It remains to be seen if he manages to lift his boys in the Test matches like the way he did in the T20 matches. It’s a common belief that the shortest version of the game suits Pakistan both technically and temperamentally. Whether they would be able to improve in the Test arena is a big question mark despite the high confidence level.

The Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis, feels that his team can take a lot of confidence into the Test series.

"I think these two wins are really going to help us to get into the momentum. Test matches are a different ball game fair enough, but with victory behind you it always helps," he reckoned.

Nobody can dispute with Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis about the confidence level being sky high but realistically Pakistan need to play much more consistently to overpower Australia in the two-Test series.

Pakistan’s bowling resources appear adequate which gives them a very good chance of bowling Australia out two times during a match but what about putting runs on the board. We have seen on numerous occasions that the Pakistani batsmen are vulnerable to balls moving in the air or off the pitch.

The youngsters, having little experience of coming to terms with high quality pace and swing bowling, would be tested and it will be a big bonus if they come good in the English conditions.

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Can Pakistan do it in Tests as well?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Well who would dare ruling Pakistan out of the Test series now after they have got the better of Australia in both the Twenty20 Internationals? Obviously there’s a world of difference between the two formats but there’s one thing called momentum which is very much with Shahid Afridi’s men at the moment.

No matter how inexperienced or shallow in strength they may look on paper I don’t think Pakistan are ever out of a contest until they are actually beaten. They have had this tendency of coming back from the dead and shocking their most fancied of rivals over the years.

Not many people back home demonstrated faith in the Pakistan team when it left the shores of the country to combat two of the strongest outfits in world cricket today, Australia and England in what was expected to be a forgettable summer.

But a lot has changed in a matter of just two days and Pakistan have suddenly come into the contention from nowhere.

“They are going to be tough opposition in the Test match. They' are going to have a very good attack, so our batters have to be at our best with the Duke ball that I'll imagine they'll get to swing, in conditions where, if it's overcast, it's going to be quite tough. I think we're in for a really good Test series,” Michael Clarke observed after his side was floored in both the T20 games at Edgbaston.

Clarke, who had led Australia to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean just a few weeks ago, sounded a warning to his teammates for the Tests after the drubbing in the shortest version of the game.

"If it's overcast here, I think they'll swing the ball nicely and they've got some pace as well. I think the Duke will help them. Conditions play a big part in England as to how much swing there is. If it's overcast there's generally a bit of swing the whole day. Hopefully the sun's out," Clarke, who will be the vice-captain to Ricky Ponting in the Test series, stated.

The Australians have had bitter experiences with the swing of the red Duke ball having caused considerable problems for their batsmen in the English conditions. They may not easily forget the banana swing in the summer of 2005 that had cost them the Ashes after a very long time.

The Pakistan fast bowlers may not possess that kind of experience or expertise of excelling in the English conditions as the likes of Simon Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison had to rattle the Aussies but you never know when they exceed expectations.

After the debacle in the T20 series the Australians will not make the mistake of going into the Test series half-heartedly as one might have thought given the edge they enjoyed over Pakistan.

The Australians had whitewashed Pakistan in every format of the game at home last season but that seems to be history now.

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Condon warns against complacency

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sir Paul Condon, having headed the ICC's new Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU) for nearly a decade, feels that cricket would only have to get complacent for a few months or a couple of tournaments for those bad days to come back very quickly.

“I am certainly not leaving in a complacent frame of mind that everything is hunky dory, but I believe it is a different game with different attitudes and a different awareness these days, so I am pretty confident about the future, even though there's far more cricket now and it's more commercial,” he said while preparing to hand over his duties to the former Northern Ireland police chief, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Condon, who had a seven-year stint as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, had been appointed the head of the ACSU in October 2000, reckoned that there has been a seismic shift in attitude from players towards fixing in the last 10 years.

“If we go back to those bad old days of the late 1990s, it's easy to forget that cricket was pretty much in crisis. Its credibility was in threat, and so was its commercial viability. Sponsors were pulling out because it was clear there had been a whole series of fixed matches in every form of the game, from Test cricket to World Cup tournaments,” he said in an interview.

“The corrupters were literally going into the changing rooms, and in some instances were influencing team selection and ordering what events should happen on the field. One player contacted, and was contacted by, a fixer several hundred times in the course of a Test match, and no matter how friendly you are with someone, that's just not something you'd do. Now we have a regime in place of no use of mobile phones, and controlled access to changing rooms,” Condon remarked.

“There were some initial moans, but on the whole the players have been very supportive. They are aware of what can go wrong, but it's in their interests not to get sucked in. There is a lot of legitimate money around cricket these days, and players know full well that they don't need to get drawn into grubby deals for US$20,000 here or there,” he added.

He predicted that it might not be possible to entirely eradicate fixing from the game of cricket.

"It is a wonderful game, but if you were designing a game to fix, you would design cricket, because it is a whole series of discreet events, and every ball you can bet on. You can't guarantee a throw-in or a free kick in soccer, but if you're a corrupt player, you can guarantee to do certain things at key moments and if you can bet on that you can make a lot of money. Corruption in any walk of life, whether it's politics or business or sport, is about human frailty and weakness, and opportunity. Most cricketers are totally sound in their integrity, but one or two still mix with the wrong people,” he explained.

He maintained that Twenty20 cricket represented the biggest challenge to the integrity of cricket for probably 10 years.

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Australia jolted for second day running

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It took Pakistan many a month to finally overpower Australia in an international cricket match on July 5 but they needed less than 24 hours to topple the Aussies again to clinch the T20 series 2-0.

It’s not often that the Australians crash while chasing an average of less than eight and a half in a Twenty20 International but they collapsed against Pakistan two times in as many days.

I don’t know if the Australian think-tank will consider back to back defeats in T20 games as a wake-up call for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan or not but there’s very little doubt in one’s mind that it won’t be a walkover for the returning Ricky Ponting.

Irrespective of the comparative strength of the two teams, Pakistan would obviously feel much more confident going into the Test series after having humiliated Michael Clarke’s boys who had captured the T20 crown only a few weeks ago.

Clarke has looked a reluctant leader in what we have seen of him so far. He is probably more concerned about the loss of his own batting form and his weaknesses are reflected in the field.

It was really pathetic of him not to have posted a slip for Mohammad Aamer when Dirk Nannes was on a hat-trick after dismissing Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi on successive deliveries.

As the luck would have it Aamer was forced to edge the ball in the vacant slip position and a bewildered Nannes could only watch the action helplessly. Any proactive captain would have brought a slip in place at least for the hat-trick delivery which Clarke didn’t.

It was second time in the same over when an outside edge had resulted in a boundary. Earlier Shahid had topedged Nannes over the head of wicketkeeper Tim Paine while attempting yet another agricultural shot.

Ponting is obviously a far more experienced captain who would like to extend his winning streak in Test matches. His aggression and tactfulness could make the difference in what is now expected to be a close contest.

Shahid, on his part, would be hoping to keep performing miracles. He knows that anything becomes possible when the lady luck moves in to defy logic. When Pakistan get on song every other team has to take a back seat.

The Australians had managed to reign supreme at home despite some close shaves. They had overcome odd periods of uncertainties to whitewash Pakistan in every format of the game but they must have discovered by now that it’s a different ball game in every new series.

Pakistan are on a high with T20 wins and the critics who had written them off completely before the start of the long summer in England must be wondering why did they dare doing it.

Trust me it’s never advisable to write Pakistan off because they always have a chance of doing something sensational. No matter how much superior their opponents may be they have had the knack of taking them with surprise.

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Pakistan break jinx against Australia

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was a matter of time for Australia to succumb to defeat against Pakistan. The Aussies had been getting away with it despite playing poor cricket for quite sometime during a period when their opponents were guilty of being even more lopsided in the field.

Australia had struggled to dominate Pakistan at home while they had coasted to a last-over win in the semifinals of the ICC World Twenty20 at St Lucia a few weeks ago when Mike Hussey had taken Saeed Ajmal by the scruff of his neck to climb the mountain.

It was a different day and a different story. It was not St Lucia in the Caribbean but it was Edgbaston in England. The settings were different and so were the moods of the two teams.

Australia did hold the psychological advantage going into the game but everybody knew that it was a matter of time for them to be blown away. Although they are now also the reigning world champions in the shortest version of the game there’s a feeling that they don’t possess the same kind of depth or character which had allowed them to rule for quite sometime in the not too distant past.

Many people believe that the current Australian team is overrated and they don’t have the strength to weather the storm as soundly as the one they had in the days of Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting.

The youthful side at the disposal of new T20 captain Michael Clarke has the enthusiasm as well as the energy to come good but this lot cannot be expected to perform consistently as they do have the tendency of breaking down much earlier than their predecessors.

Australia had made a confident enough start in the first of the two-match T20 series by having Pakistan on the mat. But they had no answer to the onslaught of Umar Akmal who blazed to a 21-ball half century.

Pakistan, who had slipped to 49 for four, recovered to reach 167 that looked a fighting total but very much gettable for the Australians. But they made a heavy weather of it even after David Warner had put them on top by hammering Shoaib Akhtar for five successive boundaries.

As we have witnessed so often, the Australians have had the habit of losing the momentum against Pakistan. They had been winning matches without doing it convincingly.

They had gone on to win clinch the World T20 crown in the Caribbean but how would they erase the memories of losing five wickets in an over against Pakistan in their league outing.

Mohammad Aamer, the man to have sent down that sensational last over in which Australia lost five wickets without getting a single run on the board, was into the act again and so was Saeed Ajmal, who has had exceptional record against them barring that last over in the semifinals.

The Australians were founding wanting in chasing down the target of 168 and there were no heroics from Hussey or anyone else. Pakistan won the match by 23 runs to start the long international summer on a winning note.

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ICC should consider scrapping dead rubber games

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yes the time has come for the governing body of the sport, the International Cricket Council (ICC), to find the ways and means to exercise better control over the dead rubber matches and the safest option could be scrapping them altogether.

The ICC has done a fine job by controlling, if not totally eliminating, the match fixing element that had threatened to ruin the game in the 1990s.

The ICC has introduced the incentives like the ranking points to keep the winning teams interested even after clinching the series but since the temptations to under-perform are understood to be too high to keep performing it has become imperative to come up with another damage-control measure.

It’s not meant to suggest that any team having surrendered the series can’t stage a comeback but expecting them to turn it around completely against the run of play certainly creates doubts in the minds of people.

Test matches, One-day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals are contested between countries and the national stake is involved. Obviously the ICC could not be held responsible for the apparent wrongdoings but being in a position to enforce law they should be persuaded to minimize the chances of foul play in the sport.

It looks quite astonishing even while taking into account the uncertainties of the game the manner in which some matches in full or in part appear to be moving according to a plot that defies logic.

Cricket, like any other sport, is more about momentum. If a team is good enough to win first three matches of a five-match series obviously it has all cards in its pocket and only something very dramatic can prevent them from completing a whitewash.

But when the team having been floored in the first three outings is allowed to win the remaining two matches of the series it would raise concerns and every avid follower of the game will bewildered by the outcome.

In any sport it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to stage any sort of comeback after being cornered or demolished. There is always a greater likelihood of the team down in the dumps to bite the dust further until the end of the series.

I think the ICC should probe into those series where the winning teams have let their opponents dominate the matches of academic interest.

I don’t think that the ICC could possess a mechanism to control the dead rubber matches. That’s why I believe that a strategy should be devised to cancel the remaining matches once the series has been decided.

Instead of a having a full five-match or seven-match series the ICC, can consider the option of introducing best of five or best of seven series. Even a best of three series would be better than a full three-match series.

Now it’s for the ICC to look into the aspects of negotiating with the broadcasters in the changed scenario. But I am sure they do have brainy and visionary individuals who can come up with proposals with the primary objective of saving the integrity of the game.

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Shoaib Siddiqui inaugurates KPC Summer Sports Festival 2010

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was a very pleasant evening on March 30 when Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports & Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, formally inaugurated the KPC Summer Sports Festival 2010 with a crisp stroke on the snooker table.

The festival, being organized by the Sports Committee, with the collaboration of the Indoor Games Committee, at the Karachi Press Club from June 30 to July 24, had actually commenced a couple of hours before the inauguration ceremony.

A session was held at the Ibrahim Jalees Hall of the KPC which was presided over by Shoaib Siddiqui with Tariq Rasheed Khan, President, Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), and Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), also gracing the occasion alongwith Dr Farhan Essa, Chairman, Karachi Table Tennis Association (KTTA).

They were presented the traditional gift of Ajrak by the office-bearers and senior members of the Karachi Press Club.

In his opening remarks, the KPC Secretary, A H Khanzada, briefly threw light on the history of the club and expressing his joy at the revival of the sports festival for the members.

The KPC President, Imtiaz Khan Faran, recognized the importance of sports in building a healthy society and he expected the members of the club to participate in the sports festival with great enthusiasm.

The chief guest of the evening, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, showered the working journalists with praise for having taking up a challenging profession and performing their duties in the most demanding of situations.

He recalled the services of the KPC members in spreading information, making a particular mention of the former Presidents Sabihuddin Ghausi and Najeeb Ahmed who expired last year.

Shoaib Siddiqui spoke about the importance of the role of media in sports in particular and he acknowledged their contribution in a big way. He welcomed the revival of the sports festival at the KPC and assured his total support to the venture.

Shoaib Siddiqui was then escorted to the snooker hall where he performed the formal inauguration of the sports festival. He was highly appreciative of the arrangements made for the various tournaments.

As many as five games, snooker, chess, scrabble, badminton and table tennis, will be contested during the festival which is being supported by the sports department of the Government of Sindh.

The festival, offering cash awards to top performers, has commenced with the snooker tournament which will continue till July 3 and it will be followed by chess and scrabble (July 5 to 10), badminton (July 12 to 17) and table tennis (July 19 to 24).

The snooker tournament is being held with the collaboration of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) who have deputed Shoaib Alam Khan, an international referee, to conduct the event.

The Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP) has pledged to offer technical assistance for the chess and scrabble tournaments while the Karachi Table Tennis Association (KTTA) has agreed to join hands with the KPC in holding the table tennis tournament.

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