Dhoni’s exemplary leadership helps India whitewash England in payback ODI series

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

With his brilliant batting, agile wicket-keeping and shrewd captaincy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni played the decisive role in guiding India to 5-0 victory over England in the series of One-day Internationals that concluded at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on October 25.

He was the deserved winner of the Man of the Series award which was presented to him by Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), who also headed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and still leads the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Obviously Dhoni was under immense pressure from all quarters after having returned empty handed from England on a tour where nothing seemed going right for his team. The injuries to key players still haunted him but he knew things won’t be as bad at home in what was being billed as the payback series.

As expected there were quite a few changes in the line-up and the emphasis was on youth when the squad was selected for the first couple of games. The youngsters were given an extended run as the team regained its winning habit.

The ice melted in the first ODI when India finally defeated England at Hyderabad, apparently after ages. Mind you India, the eventual winners of the trophy, were not able to beat England even after having posted a huge total in their World Cup encounter which ended in a tie.

India didn’t look back after hammering England in the series opener. They chased down substantial totals successfully in the next three games with only the one at Mohali giving them a run for their money.

Although Dhoni never talked big and didn’t ever make a mention of whitewash in any of his interviews the whole of India urged him to go for the kill. The Captain Cool that he is, he just believed in taking every game seriously and concentrating wholly to get the result in his team’s favour.

He was the driving force behind the rejuvenated side that showed true grit under pressure. The home conditions certainly suited his boys but in the past hardly any Indian team, having so many big names, succeeded in registering a whitewash.

England were on a high when they landed in India. They would have certainly expected tougher cricket in India but I don’t think they would have ever imagined getting blanked by more or less the same combination whom they had crushed whole summer.

Dhoni’s acts showed that he was focused on winning each and every match of the series. There was not a single unnecessary change in the team on one pretext or the other. He had a definite plan in his mind and he executed it to perfection.

He desired an express fast bowler to complement the duo of Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar. Umesh Yadav filled that role and delivered in the first three games. Varun Aaron replaced Yadav only when the latter was injured in the third match. Parthiv Patel was played in first four games and was dropped for not doing well with Manoj Tiwary coming into the eleven in the final ODI.

He displayed great faith in the combination of left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and off-spinner Ravichandaran Ashwin, both of whom rose to the occasion every time the skipper tossed the ball to them. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina got the runs with Dhoni himself controlling the innings without getting dismissed even once.

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Jubilee General Insurance announce greater support to snooker

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Jubilee General Insurance Company Limited, formerly New Jubilee Insurance Company Limited, has announced to extend greater support to snooker after the change in the corporate identity.

Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, made the announcement during the media launch of the Jubilee General Insurance 3rd Ranking Snooker Championship 2011 at the Banquet Hall of Karachi Gymkhana on October 20. The tournament will be played at the Gymkhana’s Billiards Hall from October 23 to 29.

“We have been supporting snooker for the last few years and now we are in an even better position to expand our relationship. We have been strengthened financially by becoming a part of the worldwide group,” he observed.

“Jubilee General Insurance has decided to sponsor the inaugural 6-Reds National Snooker Championship to be launched by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) later this year,” Tahir Ahmed disclosed.

He urged the officials of the PBSA to turn their attention to the development of Under-15 snooker circuit in order to find talent from the grassroots level.

“While we appreciate the efforts of the PBSA in carrying out regular activities it’s our wish that more and more youngsters could be groomed to earn laurels for the country. We have been sponsoring the Under-21 national events and now we offer to support the Under-15 programmes as well,” the Jubilee Insurance chief declared.

As usual he acknowledged the role of all the stake-holders in the promotion and development of cue sports, making a special mention of print and electronic media.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, PBSA, unveiled the details of the seven-day Championship, which will be contested by 32 cueists, divided equally in eight groups. The Karachi Gymkhana's Managing Committee members, Jahangir Moghul and Amin Noor were present on the occasion alongwith Billiads Secretary, Fawad Shaikh.

The PBSA President hinted at raising prizemoney for the national ranking tournaments from the next year, adding that the daily allowance of the participating cueists has already been enhanced from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500.

He pointed out that an added incentive to the participants of the upcoming event was earning a spot in the World Snooker Championship to be staged in Bangalore, India next month. The top ranked cueist will automatically earn a berth while the PBSA Executive will select the other cueist.

The league matches of the Jubilee General Insurance 3rd Ranking Snooker Championship 2011, to start from October 23, will continue for three days before the commencement of the knockout games, starting from the pre-quarter-finals, from October 26.

The quarter-finals will be held on October 27 to be followed by the semifinals on October 28 and while the final and the prize distribution ceremony would be organized on October 29.

The total prizemony at stake will be Rs 150,000 with the winner to collect a purse of Rs 60,000 and the runner-up to take home Rs 35,000. Both the losing semifinalists will be receiving Rs 15,000 each while all the four losing quarter-finalists will be compensated with Rs 5,000 each. The highest break (100 or above) will earn a reward of Rs 5,000.

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Myra Nur Lakdawala could become Pakistan’s next athletics sensation

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Myra Nur Lakdawala, a young and hard-working middle-distance runner from Karachi, has shown the promise to make it big in the years to come. The 17-year-old slim girl already holds the junior national record for 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters besides being in possession of every track record in school.

Recently, on September 28, she broke 5 minutes for 1,500 meters by running 4:56.4. This historic feat, recorded on video, should provide her more encouragement. She trains two times a day and runs about 65 kilometers every week.

Myra seems to be having the potential as well as passion to accomplish her cherished goals on the track. She has starting attracting the sponsors with her immense talent and performance. PIA and Nike generously contribute towards her clothing and travel needs. Not surprisingly she is receiving letters of interest for scholarships from universities in the USA.

Her story is indeed an interesting one which could inspire the young ladies folks of Pakistan. She is probably the first-ever for a school girl of the country to have entered into athletics record books. She is the only female track and field athlete that is aspiring to receive a scholarship from a university in the USA for athletics. She has already been contacted by one in California that is interested in her.

I recently had the opportunity of having a session with Myra and her school athletics coach, Scott Johnson. Their fierce determination and professional approach left very little doubt in my mind about the future being very bright indeed.

What make Myra unique other than her abilities are her ambitions. Her confidence level is sky high and she has faith in her talent. She is not afraid to train hard day in and day out and she has set high goals for herself.

Myra is looking forward to compete in the upcoming National Athletics Championship due to be held in her hometown, Karachi, next month. She then plans to travel to Scotland with the aim of breaking the all time indoor national record for 3000 meters for Pakistani women.

Syed Zahid Ali Rizvi, President, Sindh Athletics Association (SAA) described Myra as a potential national champion who could also earn laurels for the country when I approached him for his assessment about the youngster.

He seconded me that Myra possessed exceptional talents as a middle distance runner and her stint with the school athletics coach, Scott Johnson, will help the cause of the teenager immensely.

“I have seen her run in a junior meet and she was thoroughly impressive. She will surely emerge as the champion at the provincial level right now but she is likely to be tested at the national level where she would come across a few other talented girls from upcountry regions and departments,” Zahid Rizvi stated.

“Myra, however, is fortunate to be blessed with a professional coach at the school where she receives regular training under his supervision. A top class coach like Scott Johnson can make a lot of difference and this puts her at tremendous advantage. The youngster has the potential which would blossom with high-class coaching and guidance,” the SAA President remarked.

“We are confident that Myra will bring glories for the province in the very near future and if she continues working hard there’s no reason why she should not earn laurels for the country in future,” Zahid Rizvi hoped.

The SAA President agreed that athletics needed more role models and champions to inspire the young students to take it seriously rather than just going through the motions.

“We have Nasim Hameed who became the fastest women of South Asia only last year. She belongs to Karachi having learnt all the basics here. She possessed the talent and came up to make the entire nation proud. Her accomplishment should be a source of inspiration for all the emerging athletes of our country,” Zahid Rizvi concluded.

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IPL/CL syndrome now deeply hurting South Africa

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The hand injury sustained by South Africa’s premier batsman AB de Villiers, during the ongoing Champions League tourney in India, has ruled him out of cricket for a period of four to six weeks.

He will surely miss South Africa's upcoming T20 and ODI series against Australia. He was due to make his captaincy debut for the country in the T20 encounter but his dreams were shattered after breaking the third finger on his left hand during fielding practice with the Royal Challengers Bangalore on September 28.

The injury indeed serves as a setback to South Africa's plans of starting a new era, with former opening batsman Gary Kirsten as head coach and de Villiers as captain in limited-overs version. Instead they find themselves pushed to a corner to work out a contingency plan right at the beginning.

The South African selectors or the management have not lashed out at the Champions League for obvious reasons but they certainly are feeling betrayed by this uncalled for and unnecessary exposure of their top guns at a time they should have been relaxing to prepare for the battle against Australia.

“We debated that at length and we will release the information around the captaincy at the same time as we release the squads, which will be early next week," Convenor of Selectors, Andrew Hudson, remarked in a diplomatic tone after chairing a meeting at the Wanderers.

“The Champions League hasn't been kind to us. Last year we lost Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel and we can only hope we don't suffer more. What we are realising is that T20 is hard on players, it's intense. We're going to have accept that we will get injuries,” he added.

Well the South African chief selector at least expressed his concerns and recorded his apprehensions. The Indians, who have suffered the most due to the Indian Premier League as well as the Champions League, prefer not to open their mouth on this critical subject.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not be speaking on the ills of the IPL or the CL because these are their babies and they have already done enough to suggest that international cricket or national glories come far below in their list of priorities. But I don’t think the other Boards will keep silent on this issue if the national interest would be compromised.

The South African cricket authorities have a responsibility to answer whether it was proper to let their players take part in the IPL or the CL instead of concentrating on national duties. Their reaction on the absence of de Villiers for the Australian series would be interesting to note.

Some of Australia’s top stars like Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin and Brett Lee are also being seen in action for their respective franchises in the CL. What would happen if they also get injured in some of the matches? Will Cricket Australia not stand up and explain what prompted them to let their star performers go there?

The only Board that remains above board at all times will be the BCCI because they seem to have been granted the license to play with the national interests. Nobody dared questioning them why the cricketers who were injured during the disastrous tour of England were allowed to play the CL. The follies of the BCCI will mainly hurt the cause of the Indian cricket for sure.

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Getting associated with IPL appeared Tiger Pataudi’s greatest mistake

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, a former Indian captain, is no more. Although he was indisposed for a few weeks there didn’t seem even slightest danger to his life that’s why his death came as a shock to the cricket fraternity.

‘Tiger Pataudi’ didn’t have an exceptional batting or captaincy record but he was revered for his fortitude, courage, leadership and never-say die approach. He was hailed as one character who redefined Indian cricket with his bold tactics.

Wasn’t it quite remarkable that a man, having lost one of his eyes in a freakish road accident, was able to come to terms with the fastest of bowlers of the world? Wasn’t it incredible that he managed to lead from the front even with one eye?

How much respect he commanded from his teammates was beyond words. He was a mentor of so many individuals who went on to make big. He had prevailed over the selectors to have a young guy by the name of Gundappa Vishwanath for the home series against Australia in 1969-70.

‘Vishy’ scored a century on Test debut and didn’t look back. He became the premier batsman of the country rather soon and Pataudi was credited to have fast tracked his entry in international cricket.

Pataudi was just 21 when he had to take up the Indian captaincy during the ill-fated tour of the West Indies. He was then the youngest-ever Test captain. He led India in 40 of the 46 Tests that he played. He could have played more but politics came into his way too.

It was Pataudi’s vision to play the spinners in attacking role when India struggled to find decent medium-pacers. Syed Abid Ali seemed the only available seamer to him with no support from the other end.

The famed spin quartet of Eripalli Prassana, Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinavas Venkataraghwan owed its monumental success to the leadership of skipper Pataudi who gave them the confidence and set the kind of fields that yielded wickets.

Pataudi was a practical person, who perfected the art of motivating his teammates and got the best out of them. He was shrewd in marshalling his troops and making the most of the available resources.

He led an honourable life all along. He was respected by the cricket community at the international. His association with the project of the Indian Premier League (IPL), however, seemed to have dented an otherwise clean career. It was probably his single greatest mistake to have been a party to the IPL whose founder Lalit Modi had to quit controversially.

My only meeting with Tiger Pataudi took place at a five-star hotel of Karachi when he had descended here for a veterans’ series in the late 1980s. Not surprisingly he was the captain of the Indian Veterans squad.

I had a nice and frank chat with him for about an hour as he spoke his mind candidly. The cricket conversation was enlightening for me as I was thoroughly impressed with his wealth of knowledge and the observations he made on some intriguing issues.

The only point where I dared having a difference of opinion from His Highness was when I discussed about remuneration for my articles getting published in Weekly Sports World of which he was the Editor. I had mustered the courage to enquire if I deserved to be paid for my articles. He couldn’t give me a convincing answer.

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Did Dravid need to retire from ODIs?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Rahul Dravid has indeed celebrated his 38th birthday. In fact he will be turning 39 in little over three months time from now. But did it mean that he needed to retire ‘officially’ from limited overs games at this point of time when runs were flowing as naturally from his blade as in the past.

I don’t understand the logic behind this particular decision of his. Did someone in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or anyone of the selectors prompt him to announce his retirement or was it a personal move to conserve energy and extend his Test career?

Dravid was not playing One-day Internationals or Twenty20 Internationals all that regularly during the last few years when Mahendra Singh Dhoni appeared more comfortable leading a bunch of youngsters who were sharper in the field for sure.

India used to turn to Dravid in ODIs only in case of emergency when the pitches were livelier and the conditions were tougher for batting. That was a fair enough tactic, selecting him only for those matches where he was needed most.

After having scored three centuries in the four-Test series he was an automatic choice for the ODIs against England. In fact he was also selected for the one-off T20I. His announcement to retire from the limited overs cricket at the end of the ODIs was shocking to say the least.

May be someone from the BCCI or the selection committee approached him to declare his retirement plan in advance so that they didn’t face criticism for ignoring him in the event of the youngsters failing to deliver.

Obviously the BCCI officials were under enormous pressure after the debacle in the Test series and they were looking into ways and means of damage control. Dravid was the only batsman to get going in Test matches and he could not have been dropped from the ODIs if available.

As the whole world saw Dravid has lost none of his batting prowess. His continued success highlights the point that cricket is a game of technique and mind power. Even in ODIs and T20s skills are needed to score consistently. A slogger or a dasher can score heavily on a given day but he can’t be expected to do it in every outing.

Dravid still has the hunger and passion to score runs. If the Indians are finding it difficult to get high quality young batsmen then they should persist with those having proven record and whose capacity is beyond doubt.

Dravid’s decision to quit means he won’t be considered for the upcoming ODI series at home against England. More importantly he won’t be in action, until he reverses his decision to quit, in the one-dayers during India’s demanding tour of Australia where the pitches will have bounce and carry. Will the youngsters having accumulated heaps of runs at will on docile Indian tracks will come good in the more challenging environment or will they succumb again?

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India’s ill-fated tour of England finally over

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was one tour which every member of the Indian team, originally in the squad or summoned there as a replacement, would like to forget quickly. It was the most nightmarish of all their outings in the recent past. It was the summer, not much different in terms of results, to the ones of 1959 and 1974 when they had been whitewashed in England.

It would certainly be unfair to hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) wholly and solely responsible to the recent debacle. There were a few other factors as well, beyond the much-criticized Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which contributed to the downfall of the Indians on a tour where literally each and every thing went against them right from the first day of the tour to the very last day.

India’s solitary warm-up match before the first Test at Lord’s was hit by weather, limiting their practicing opportunity. Rains kept chasing them at the wrong time throughout the ill-fated tour. Even in their final outing where they posted a massive total, rains intervened to ensure England didn’t need an arduous task of overhauling 300-plus target at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

This could lead one to believe that it was a very wet summer. If that was the case how did India lose all the four Test matches?

It’s not often that the spin of the coin follows the same trajectory on successive days. India lost all the tosses in the limited overs games and batted first on all occasions. Almost every time their batsmen put runs on the board in bowler-friendly conditions. Yet that side was blanked in all games quite extraordinary to say the least.

Whenever and wherever India scored heavily and then stuck early blows the rains arrived to rescue England. The Indian bowlers and fielders put up brave show in conditions when the late evening dew made it exceedingly hard to grip the ball. They could have only tried their level best which they did. But they didn’t possess the awesome power to win a game.

England must be wondering if their side was good enough to win all eight matches that produced results. Their fringe players, having struggled in the past and likely to do the same in future, came up with performance of lifetime. The ordinary mortals became champions, outshining the seasoned campaigners in the opposing team.

Injuries are part and parcel of modern day game but you can never expect the top eight players getting sidelined. The Indian team has had the tendency of falling apart whenever their heavyweights are missing. They were severely jolted by the absence of the star performers and they didn’t have the luck to escape punishment.

Who would have imagined India, having been crowned as the world champions only a few months ago, would return from England empty-handed? Who could have thought of the top-ranked Test side for the last three years getting whacked in every game?

Probably the only saving grace for India was the ‘safe’ return of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who braved everything with a smile on his face until the final day. He may not have scored the quantum of runs expected of his blade but there was hardly anything to complain about his captaincy with the limited arsenal at his disposal. That he kept himself fit, physically and mentally, throughout the tour spoke volumes of his mental toughness.

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Aleem Dar adjudged best umpire for third year running

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Gone are the days when umpiring in cricket was condemned to be a thankless job. In the past, when the home umpires used to supervise Tests and One-day Internationals, it was a real tough job at hand with the administrators as well as the spectators expecting decisions of their choice.

The likes of Aleem Dar and Simon Taufel, representatives of the new crop of umpires, are fortunate to be standing in an era when they have to act neutrally and that too under the umbrella of a powerful match referee, designated by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Cricket umpiring no more is just another profession with the men in white coat getting peanuts for braving so much pressure for five days on a trot during a Test match. It has become a very rewarding job, particularly for those having made it to the top.

The umpires in the ICC elite panel are in high demand throughout the year with so much international cricket going on of late. They are not only financially rewarded but also earn recognition for their performance in the different corners of the world, which is monitored closely.

The modern umpires, however, are challenged if not threatened by the excessive use of technology which has been experimented with mixed results during the last years. It goes to the credit of the top umpires who have kept performing day in and day out.

Pakistan’s Aleem Dar remains a picture of confidence all along in the cricket field and his decision-making has been spot on most of the times. It came as no surprise to me when he was handed over the David Shepherd Trophy for the Umpire of the Year for third year running in the ICC Awards ceremony held recently in London.

He outshined Australia’s Simon Taufel, who holds the record of winning the award five times, once more. If he continues to deliver in the manner he has been doing, there’s very little doubt in anyone’s mind about him overtaking this record in not too distant future.

Aleem Dar is only 43 at the moment and in all likelihood he should be standing in the middle for many more years. He looks the fittest of all umpires and his grace and poise in the field are second to none. He may take an extra second or two before making a judgment but mostly they are perfect.

Taufel was alright in the list of top umpires, nominated for the award, but there looked an element of surprise in the selection of Ian Gould and Steve Davis. The nomination of Davis seemed staggering for he had given two horrible leg-before decisions on successive deliveries in an India-New Zealand Test match last season.

If my memory serves me right VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan were at the receiving end with the then New Zealand skipper, Daniel Vettori, being the beneficiary on both occasions.

Thankfully Davis was not chosen for the award, which was deservedly won by Aleem Dar, voted by the 10 Full Member captains as well as eight-man elite panel of ICC match referees.

Aleem Dar has had to spend eight months away from his family, based in Lahore, but he has certainly made them and the entire nation proud by his accomplishments.

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