Heart-broken Ponting accepts blame for loss

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Ricky Ponting was not the only ‘culprit’ in Australia’s shocking defeat at the hands of the struggling Pakistan outfit in the second Test at Headingley but his decision to bat first was certainly something beyond comprehension.

Winning and losing is obviously a part and parcel of the game but allowing a rival to dominate that’s in disarray itself is not expected from a side known for not giving up against the toughest of rivals.

Ponting has been the architect of many famous victories but at the moment he’s at the centre of a controversy as the cricket entuhisiasts all over the world still remain surprised why had he chosen to bat when he could have simply sealed the series by inserting the inexperienced batting line-up on the first morning.

"There's no doubt it's had a big impact on it," Ponting said of his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

"That is my responsibility to get those sort of things right. The wicket was dry and it had surface cracks. It certainly wasn't something you expected to seam all over the place, but it did that. Any decision that is made like that is obviously the captain's and when you have a loss like we've had, it's the responsibility of the captain as well. The buck stops with me," he stated.

The conditions in Headingley on the first morning were such that would have tested even the greatest batsmen on earth. Well Ponting himself faced the music after his openers were unable to weather the storm for long.

It’s not often to find Australia getting skittled for 88. They still had the potential to recover as they had done several times in the past. But nothing was to go Ponting’s way in this game as his front-line fast bowlers failed to exploit the conditions.

Obviously if Ponting had to turn to Shane Watson, Steve Smith or Marcus North for wickets it clearly meant that the men expected to do the job were not delivering and the captain was under additional pressure.

Great teams usually recover from the tightest of corners because they are not depending on just a few individuals and they have a whole lot of match-winners. So has been the case of Australia under Ponting for quite sometime now.

Ponting, to his credit, had done well, prior to the Headingley Test, to have got the best from his young side whose never-say-die abilities were admired and feared by the opponents.

It was almost unbeliavable to imagine the Australian batting as well as bowling to flop in the same game. Add to this the blunder of batting first after winning the toss and the situation was such that no team could have escaped disaster.

The misfiring pace attack of Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus let Ponting down miserably after the batters had collpased on the first morning. It was amazing to find them bowling all over the place making it very difficult to set fields for them.

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Australia play terribly poorly to lose to Pakistan finally

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yes Australia had to play far too poorly to lose a Test match to Pakistan and they finally managed to do it at Headingley. Considering the huge gap in the strength of the two teams the Aussies had to play much below their potential to deny themselves another series win against their demoralized rivals.

Ricky Ponting deserved full credit for having allowed Pakistan to come from behind and square the two-Test series against the heaviest of odds.

Pakistan had yet another new captain for the Test match in Salman Butt and the composition of their team reflected as much uncertainty as in the past. There were changes in the line-up as usual and there was nothing to suggest that they had the ammunition to undo the Australians.

A lot has already been written and spoken about the blunder Ponting committed by electing to bat after having called it correctly. To cut the long story short I don’t think the Australian captain was in his senses when he made probably the most horrible decision of his captaincy career.

Everybody knew that traditionally the Australian captains preferred to put runs on the board to bring their opponents under pressure rather than insert them into bat. But there have been exceptions and they have also gambled and succeeded.

May be Ponting and the Australian think-tank took Pakistan very non-seriously and they didn’t mind batting first even in the overcast conditions on a lively pitch offering plenty of swing to the bowlers.

The Pakistanis could not believe their luck when Ponting made the outrageous decision because they knew that they were being offered a lifeline.

It became evident within a couple of hours that Ponting had committed a suicide and Australia had to play a catching game afterwards. In the past they had been successful in the damage control exercises but they looked out of sorts in this particular match to finally it by three wickets on the fourth morning.

It’s not certainly enough for the Australians to have just gone down fighting. They had to pull it back from somewhere but they lacked the purpose that had been the hallmark of their team until not too distant past.

How often would one see Michael Hussey drop a sitter in the gulley region or watch Shane Watson make a mess of a regulation slip catch? Their fast bowlers were all over the place on a pitch they could have exploited much better. It was one of those games which they would like to forget quickly.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have cashed in. They have to thank their stars as the prayers have moved the mountain once more. When the luck is on their side they become invincible with even the weakest of arsenals.

Whether the inexperienced Pakistan side with a new captain deserved to win the game or not is a matter to debate but there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Australia played terribly badly to let themselves down and draw the series instead of taking it once more. What next skipper Ponting?

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Shaukat Omari inaugurates KPC Table Tennis tourney

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Honorary Secretary of the Karachi Table Tennis Association (KTTA), Shaukat Omari, inaugurated the Karachi Press Club’s Table Tennis Tournament at the Club’s Khoja Hall on July 22.

The table tennis tournament is a part of the Karachi Press Club’s Summer Sports Festival 2010 being held with the support of the sports department of the Government of Sindh. The competitions in snooker, chess, scrabble and badminton have already been completed.

It may be recalled that the KPC Summer Sports Festival 2010 was opened by Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, in a very impressing ceremony on June 30.

Shaukat Omari, an active social worker besides being a former table tennis champion, placed on record his appreciation for the officials of the Karachi Press Club to have revived the Sports Festival that used to be quite a sought after event in the past.

The inauguration ceremony of the table tennis tournament turned out to be quite lively in the presence of a large number of media corps. After performing the formality of cutting the ribbon, Shaukat Omari played a couple of big rallies with Khurram Baig, Secretary of the KPC’s Indoor Games Committee.

There were no speeches on the occasion but the KTTA Secretary could not conceal his feelings and he was friendly enough to share them with the media.

“I am really thrilled to watch my media friends taking to table tennis so seriously,” he observed in a friendly chat while a group of enthusiastic KPC members displayed their talents on the table in the air-conditioned hall.

“I think it would be a better idea to have more than one table, space permitting. Table Tennis, besides providing recreation, is also very helpful in burning calories and the busy media professionals can have a game or two in the limited space between their pressing assignments,” Shaukat Omari suggested.

The KPC President, Imtiaz Khan Faran, complimented the Sports Committee for having done a fabulous job and he encouraged them to continue doing the good work despite the uncalled for and even senseless criticism from certain quarters.

He also announced that the Governing Body of the KPC was considering the proposal of building a mini-sports complex type of thing in the backyard.

Meanwhile a total of 19 entries were received for the KPC Table Tennis Tournament, being played on knockout basis.

The draws were taken out by Zulfiqar Ahmed, Joint Secretary, KTTA, in the presence of the participants and the KPC officials soon after the inauguration ceremony. The matches will start at 4 pm on July 23 with the semifinals and the final to be played on July 24.

Khurram Baig, Maqsood Hussain, Rashid Ali Khan, Ashraf Khan, Saddam Tufail Hashmi, Hasan Mansoor, Mohammad Azhar and Ehsan Qureshi were given a bye in the first round while the other KPC members to have entered the contest are Ubaid Narejo, Moosa Kaleem, Syed Javed Iqbal, Mahmood Ahmed Khan, Zeeshan Azmat, Khurram Ali Shah, Akhtar Baloch, Adil Jawwad, Maqbool Ahmed, Jamal Khurshid and Nasim Rajput.

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Ifs and Butts ought to destroy Pakistan cricket further

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There’s another twist in Pakistan cricket with the appointment of a new captain in the middle of a tour. Barely a few weeks ago Shahid Khan Afridi was handed over the responsibility of leading the team throughout the summer in England in all three formats of the game.

But rather dramatically Shahid, following the 150-run defeat at Lord’s in the first Test against Australia on July 16, announced his decision to retire from the Test arena after the second and final game against Ricky Ponting’s side starting in a few days time at Headingley.

Ijaz Butt, who has been ruling the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the past couple years by hook or by crook, was believed to have stepped in to deny Shahid the opportunity of playing his final Test at Headingley.

Ijaz, availing yet another foreign tour, is very much in England these days. He is understood to have intervened in the team matters as he always feels it’s his prerogative to do so. He has chosen to pass the baton to Salman Butt with immediate effect and there will be no place for the one-Test skipper in the next game. What a shame!

If Shahid was good enough to be entrusted with the job for the whole of summer featuring six Tests there was no point in making him a persona non grata after just one failure.

Salman did play a couple of fighting knocks at Lord’s. In fact the only Pakistan batsman to come good in the trying conditions when the ball was darting around and the Australian quickies were right on money.

Isn’t it a pity that Salman, just having reached the peak of his career as an opening batsman, is being burdened with captaincy? He would have been much better off playing his natural game without performing the additional and more critical duty of uniting a team that has been shaken once more.

It looks like another blunder by the bigger Butt who is just not prepared to look beyond his own self. Many of his decisions have already harmed the Pakistan cricket enormously but it looks like as if all eyes are closed and nobody is prepared to take him on.

Those having dared challenging Ijaz Butt over his alleged wrongdoings have been shown the door such awesome has been his clout in the corridors of power with his brother-in-law Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, an influential Federal Minister, having given him the license to do things as he wishes even if the national interests are compromised.

The heads of the PCB have been in the firing line in the past as well but nobody seems to have caused as much damage to the Pakistan cricket as Ijaz Butt has done in a matter of two years. With no signs of any accountability or anything close to it there’s very little chance of getting things back in order.

The temperamental Ijaz Butt, who’s not prepared to follow merit in any of his decisions, has considered himself above board all along and he has been treating the PCB like one of his briefcase companies where only the top man has the authority to every thing.

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Predictable result with changed characters, venue

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There was nothing unfamiliar with the final result. Considering the wide gap between the two sides there was hardly an element of surprise in watching Australia overpower Pakistan by 150 runs in the first Test at Lord’s with over a day to spare.

The match was won and lost on the basis of first innings and there was not much Pakistan could have done to prevent another defeat at the hands of their fancied rivals who possessed far greater depth and experience in the batting department.

It went to the credit of the Pakistan bowlers, however, to have tested the mighty Australian middle-order and cut them to size in conditions which were not ideal for free flowing strokes.

Australia, having been floored in both the Twenty20 Internationals prior to the start of the two-Test series, might have desired to win the first Test a bit more convincingly but in the end they must have been satisfied with what they really achieved even after not being in total control.

Simon Katich, who is not as flamboyant as Mathew Hayden or as secured as Justin Langer, rose to the occasion in both the outings to save his team from embarrassment. It’s not often that the trio of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey fails to dominate the bowling but it was one of those games where they were unable to dictate terms.

Australia collapsed in both their innings despite the heroics of Katich. They were unable to build a score they would have liked and it was left to their bowlers to expose the inexperienced Pakistan batting line-up which they did.

How often does one see Australia lose their way after being in the driving seat? They were in a commanding position after the 120-run third wicket stand between Katich and Clarke yet they struggled to post a total of 250.

Australia made amends by bowling Pakistan out for less than 150 that gave them a more than handy lead of 100 in what was more likely to be a low scoring affair.

The start to the Australian second innings was more assured than the first one but another middle-order collapse from a position of strength reflected the vulnerability of their top-class batsmen. It was really amazing to see Ponting, Clarke and Hussey perish so quickly one after another on the second evening.

Katich turned out to be unlikely bowling hero and even unlikelier bowlers stole the limelight. Shane Watson swung the ball appreciably on the second afternoon to rip through Pakistan’s batting and was rewarded with a five-wicket haul.

Then just as the sun came out and the batting conditions eased out Pakistan’s batsmen grabbed the opportunity of helping themselves for some runs which didn’t threaten the Aussies but the game was stretched to the fourth day.

Pakistan could have seriously considered themselves in a position to win the game even while chasing a fourth innings target of 440 if the opponents were anyone other than Australia.

The Pakistan batsmen took the off-spin of Marcus North for granted and obliged him with a haul of six wickets. Their act was not too dissimilar to the ones in Australia a few months ago when they had gone after Nathan Hauritz to gift him five-for a couple of times.

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KPT hosts KPC badminton tourney

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The badminton tournament of the ongoing Karachi Press Club (KPC) Summer Sports Festival 2010 was inaugurated here at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Sports Complex on July 15.

Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports & Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, was the guest of honour in the inauguration ceremony which was presided over by the chief of the Sindh Badminton Association (SBA), Raees Paracha.

Later the two senior bureaucrats, Shoaib Siddiqui and Raees Paracha, were escorted to the arena where they played a few rallies, turning back the years when they routinely visited badminton court.

The decision of the KPC Sports Committee to hold the badminton tournament of the Sports Festival at the centrally air-conditioned and well-maintained indoor gymnasium of the KPT Sports Complex was welcomed by all the participants.

After having staged the snooker, chess and scrabble tournaments at the club it was thought to provide the KPC members a chance to play badminton in the settings of KPT Sports Complex that not only possessed a court of high class but also had the perfect settings to host such an event.

The Chairperson of KPT, Nasreen Haq, was acknowledged during the opening ceremony for having promptly granted the approval of holding the KPC Badminton Tournament.

Engr Shah Naeem Zafar, who has been heading the sports department of the KPT for quite sometime, was also thanked for making the arrangements at a short notice.

In his brief speech on the occasion, Shoaib Siddiqui praised the initiatives of the Executive Committee of the KPC for having revived the Sports Festival which is now being supported by the sports department of the Government of Sindh.

“It’s really very heartening to find the media professionals taking to the sports field. I am sure they must be thoroughly enjoying the experience themselves. The smiling faces of the KPC members present here make me feel delighted and I think they are raring to go to the badminton court now after having demonstrated their skills in snooker, chess and scrabble during the past couple of weeks,” Shoaib Siddiqui remarked.

He made a special mention of former international athlete, Mohammad Talib, who attended the function on special invitation.

Rais Paracha, President, SBA, recognized the contribution of the media in the promotion of sports and he also welcomed the idea of having sports competitions between the working journalists.

Mr Saleem Paracha, Secretary, SBA, who conducted the ceremony in his usually exciting style before taking out the draws in the presence of Mr A H Khanzada, Honorary Secretary, KPC. A total of 28 entries were received for the tournament to be played on knockout basis.

Noman Khan, Babar Khan, Mohammad Saleem and Hamid Rahman were given a bye in the first round while the other participants were Kaleemuddin, Mohammad Aftab Ahmed, Ehtisham Ali, Mohammad Yasir, Abdul Qadir, Raja Kamran, Nabeel Ahmed, Waqar Khan, Mohammad Shahid, Syed Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Arshad, Jahangir Khan, Kamran Sahil, Sabir Mazhar, Qasim Khan, Afaq Mustafa, Tariq Hussain, Adeel Khan, Mohammad Ijaz, Ehsan Qureshi, Munir Aqeel Ansari, Syed Azhar Sultan, Jamal Khurshid and Ahmed Faridi.

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MSAP conduct KPC chess, scrabble events nicely

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Anwar Mooraj and Mohammad Shahid emerged champions in the chess and scrabble tournaments respectively of the ongoing Karachi Press Club’s Summer Sports Festival 2010 being supported by the Government of Sindh.

The results were compiled and released by the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP), who organized the week-long chess and scrabble event with the collaboration of KPC’s Sports Committee, very nicely indeed.

Anwar Mooraj won the chess competition by securing eight points while Mohammad Shahid took the snooker title with a spread of +55.

A total of 10 KPC members participated in the chess tournament and they played nine rounds. Azhar Javed of Chess Players Association of Pakistan (CPAP), conducted the event with Shahzad Mirza, International Master, and Muhammad Umair Kausar, Coordinator, MSAP

Anwar Mooraj stood out with eight points while the trio of Mohammad Shahid, Hasan Mansoor and Nargis Khan had six points each. Aziz Narvi and Kamran Sohail were next on the list with five points each and they were followed by Mohammad Yasir, Afaq Mustafa, Hamid-ur-Rahman and Syed Javed Iqbal.

Mohammad Shahid won the scrabble contest with a spread of +55 while Mohammad Afaq (+70) and Irshad Ali (+59) finished second and third respectively. The event was conducted by Tariq Pervez, Director, Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) and Fahim Naqvi, Vice President, PSA.

Tariq Rasheed Khan, Director, MSAP, and President, Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF), was chiefly responsible in making both the tournaments a success despite the lower turnout than was being anticipated.

A firm believer of professional management, Tariq Rasheed made things comfortable for the KPC Sports Committee by taking care of the entire technical side from start to finish. He posted a team of officials who were well versed in conducting such events. The intensity was not lost or even dampened by the spells of rains that also played a part in disturbing the originally chalked out schedule.

The MSAP officials did show the flexibility that was so essential in keeping the participants interested. The KPC members were allowed to incorporate changes in their schedule with the consent of their opponents in order to minimize the walkovers as the idea was to have maximum possible matches in the allotted time.

The MSAP representative, Azhar Javed, was also gracious enough to extend the chess tournament by a day to accommodate those who couldn’t make it due to an unusually long spell of rain that did cause considerable traffic jams at various locations.

So the chess tournament actually last five days instead of the originally planned four. All the participants were provided ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills on the chess board and we witnessed some interesting contests besides getting unexpected results.

The participation in the scrabble competition was even lower but it was very heartening to find Tariq Pervez handle the event very professionally without losing interest. In fact he was even prepared to coach the KPC members after they had played their matches.

The card room of the KPC, that hosted both the mind sports events, was wearing a festive look all along and one can hope for a larger pool of members participating in such contests in future.

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NBP, KCCA strengthen ties to promote club cricket

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The decline in the standard of club cricket in Karachi over the years has been debated for a long time but thankfully some concrete measures have been taken of late to revive it and take it to another level.

Prof Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui, who was elected as the Honorary Secretary of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) only recently, has been championing the cause of the revival of club for the past fours years or so and his tenure as Chairman of the KCCA Zone II had witnessed unprecedented activities throughout his area of jurisdiction.

Now when he has taken over as the Secretary of the whole KCCA there are hopes that he might be able to turn it around at the city level. It remains to be seen, however, how he tackles the ‘bureaucracy’ within the Association and if he’s able to spread the mission that he had initiated in his zone about four years ago.

The KCCA is fortunate to be blessed by a ‘loyal’ friend like National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) whose officials remain committed to carrying out its corporate social responsibility in letter and spirit.

It’s very heartening for the game of cricket that, primarily due to Iqbal Qasim, NBP has continued to support the KCCA in a big way and their joint efforts at the club level would certainly yield results.

“Four years ago our institution had felt that the club cricket throughout the country was facing problems. We at NBP decided to play our part in arresting the decline and initiated an event exclusively meant for the clubs. We launched the NBP-KCCA Premier League which has now become a regular annual event. We desire to make it a model tournament on the basis of which the teams of Karachi should be selected,” Iqbal Qasim, a former Test left-arm spinner now heading the Sports and CSR wing of NBP, remarked in the opening ceremony of the 5th NBP-KCCA Premier League.

“It’s a matter of great pleasure and satisfaction that NBP has joined hands with the KCCA to hold the Premier League for the fifth year running. I am confident that cricket will benefit immensely with this venture and new talent will emerge on the scene,” Prof Ejaz Farooqui, Secretary, KCCA, observed during his speech at the Karachi Gymkhana.

The details of the 5th NBP-KCCA Premier League 2010 were unveiled by Prof Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari, President, KCCA, having been associated with the Association as Secretary for a number of years.

The total number of participating clubs are 28, having been divided equally in seven groups. The top team of each group will be advancing to the knockout stage, starting with the quarter-finals.

All the 48 matches of the tournament, to be supervised by the best available umpires, will be played on turf pitches and those will be 50-overs-a-side contests.

The winners will be receiving a cash bonus of Rs 75,000 while the runners-up will be getting a purse of Rs 50,000. There will be cash awards for the outstanding individual performers as well.

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