Yet another feather in Tendulkar’s cap

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Cricketer of the Year, receiving the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy during the 2010 ICC Award ceremony in Bangalore on October 6. He also received the People's Choice Award.

The kind of form Tendulkar has been in during the last season in particular he was tipped to clinch every award on offer. During the period under consideration for the award (August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010) he Tendulkar scored 1064 runs at an average of 81.84 in ten Tests.

He made 914 runs in 17 ODIs at 65.28, and also scored the format's first double-century against South Africa in Gwalior. Tendulkar is presently third on the ICC's rankings for Test batsmen, and tenth in ODIs.

He faced stiff competition from Virender Sehwag, Hashim Amla and Graeme Swann, the other nominees in the Cricketer of the Year Award. Tendulkar joined the elite club of the Cricketer of the Year winners having Rahul Dravid, Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Mitchell Johnson.

He, however, lost out in the other major categories he was nominated in. Virender Sehwag won the Test Cricketer of the Year award while AB de Villiers was declared the ODI Cricketer of the Year.

"This last season has been really special for the entire team. I think right from the start of the season, when we won in Sri Lanka and I scored a hundred in the finals, and from there on the season took off for us. We became No. 1 in the Test rankings, something we all wanted to achieve, and we've been able to maintain our performances in the last ten months," Tendulkar remarked on the occasion.

He recognized Gary Kirsten, the Indian coach, for played an important role in the success of all the batsmen.

"He has been instrumental in making all the batters play plenty of deliveries in practice sessions, he himself throws thousands of deliveries. Gary has been able to keep us in the right frame of mind, whatever areas we needed to work on, he is making sure we are addressing that," Tendulkar reflected.

India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the Test team of the year, which featured Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Swann, Tendulkar, Amla, Simon Katich, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, James Anderson and Doug Bollinger.

Australia’s Ponting earned the honour of captaining the ODI team of the year, having Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Bollinger and Ryan Harris.

New Zealand’s explosive wicketkeeper-opener Brendon McCullum won the award for the best Twenty20 Performance of the Year, edging out Hussey, Mahela Jayawardene and Ryan McLaren, the others nominated for the Twenty20 award.

The Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate won the Associate Player of the Year Award. While Steven Finn, the England fast bowler, won the award for Emerging Player of the Year.

New Zealand won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the second year running as did Aleem Dar, the Pakistani umpire, who won the Umpire of the Year Award for the second time in a row.

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Spectacular opening ceremony proves critics wrong

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Contrary to what was being anticipated worldwide the opening ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. on October 3 turned out to be a magnificent earning appreciation from the international media.

The newspapers having been critical of the Games preparations earlier carried headlines like 'An ancient land opens its heart to the world', 'India opens doors to the world at opening ceremony' to describe the two-hour cultural extravaganza catching the imagination of the spectators as well as the millions watching it live on their television sets.

The respected British newspaper The Guardian described it was a moment of national pride for India.' India has arrived: spectacular ceremony opens Commonwealth Games,' read the newspaper's headline.

"This was the moment that 1.2 billion people – there are few in India who were still unaware of the event – had been waiting for," it added.

The Daily Mail was also lavish in its praise of the ceremony which showcased the centuries-old Indian culture to a packed crowd..

"The XIX Commonwealth Games crawled up off the canvas last night with a display of pageantry and technical wizardry that, finally, projected the image India craved on to two billion television sets around the world.” the newspaper said.

"India put on its best face on Sunday night and pulled off a brilliant opening ceremony that was extraordinary in its ambition and execution. It was everything the organisers had promised and more - an energetic celebration of all India has been and all it intends to be," wrote The Daily Telegraph.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the ceremony as "A vibrant celebration of 5,000 years of Indian culture with just a hint of Bollywood showcased in a performance involving more than 6,000 artists.

"India has won the first unofficial gold medal of the Games - for best team uniform, The Indian athletes looked like royalty in their smart traditional maroon tops with gold braided scarves. Slick and sensational," it added

The President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, who witnessed the Opening Ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, hailed the arrangements for the Games and dismissed the criticism that preceded it as creation of 'old and established' media which failed to judge 'new' India.

"It is difficult for some of the people specially media, old and established, to judge India...I think it is their difficulty to understand how India has evolved," he said, adding some people have to "certainly understand that new India is different,” he remarked.

"The opening ceremony was very spectacular and very beautiful. I am sure the Games are going to as perfect as any games," he thought.

Meanwhile the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, reckoned that a successful Commonwealth Games will provide India the foundation to think about a future Olympic bid.

“I think everything will be fine. Of course you can only judge the organisation at the moment of the closing ceremony but I think it’s going well. There is still a difference between Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. The size of the Olympic Games is bigger, there are more athletes and more sports,” he explained to the media after attending the glittering opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

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Zaheer, Laxman script another fabulous Test win

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Man of the Match, Zaheer Khan, and Man of the Moment, VVS Laxman, played the pivotal role in guiding India to their narrowest win in Test cricket at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, on October 5.

The match, lasting four and a half days, went to the wire and it lived to the reputation of being another grueling battle between Australia and India. In fact as Ricky Ponting acknowledged in the presentation ceremony it was the closest of all Test match he had played in over the last many years.

Who says Test cricket is dead? I hope the functionaries of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would feel proud of their belated decision to include a two-Test series instead of having just limited-overs games during Australia’s visit to India.

The cricket enthusiasts could not have desired a closer Test match. Both the teams came up with wonderful performance to stay afloat and there was plenty to cheer about for the spectators throughout the game.

India did well to stage a comeback after shocking fielding display on the first day. Skipper Mahandra Singh Dhoni was the chief culprit, having floored as many as three catches. No matter what he might say the experts believed that the disease of continuous cricket was taking its toll and Dhoni’s poor wicket-keeping was a result of the very little time he got to spend in Mohali because of his preoccupations in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Zaheer, who reversed the ball brilliantly, was chiefly responsible for not allowing Australia to build an imposing total despite the generosity of the Indian fielders. Bowling the visitors out for 428 after spilling half a dozen catches wasn’t a bad effort. Mind you they had to pay heavy price for dropping those sitters.

India, with Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina in full control, appeared poised for a decisive first innings lead on the third afternoon but an amazing collapse found them 23 run short of Australia’s total.

Many people thought that the match was heading towards a draw as the first innings of the two teams had consumed full three days. But I always thought that the game was on because the Australian batting lacked the strength to compile runs on the wearing track.

Ishant Sharma bowled his heart out on the fourth morning, despite carrying an injury, to rock the Australians. Then the spinners also did their job and Zaheer’s fiery spell cleaned the tail to set the home a rather comfortable target of 216.

As they say no fourth innings target is small the Indians made a mess of it in the final session and the loss of four key wickets tilted the balance towards Australia. India were still 161 away from victory when the stumps were drawn after a dramatic fourth day’s play.

India’s hopes rested on the shoulders of Tendulkar on the fifth day. But not surprisingly he fell short of expectations again. Dhoni was as miserable with the bat as he was behind the stumps.

Laxman changed the complexion of the game with his elegant stroke-play and the Australian bowlers ran short of ideas. He found an able partner in number 10 Sharma who was not afraid to watch the ball till the last moment.

With tension mounting as India inched closer, the game opened up with Sharma’s dismissal. But Laxman drove India home in what must have been one of his greatest knocks yet.

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Imran Shahzad lifts Del Monte Snooker Cup

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Imran Shahzad finally accomplished his mission of winning a national ranking tournament when he edged out Sohail Shahzad in the final of the Del Monte Snooker Cup at the Karachi Club on October 3.

Just like a few of his illustrious contemporaries he needed over a decade to pocket a title after having come close on numerous occasions. Khurram Hussain Agha and Naveen Kumar Perwani had endured similar fate for a number of years before finally laying their hands on a trophy.

The Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports, Iqbal Mohammad Ali, was the chief guest in the presentation ceremony, presided over by Anjum Nisar, a former President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), and Managing Director, Del Monte.

The chief guest presented a cheque of Rs 50,000 to Imran along with the glittering trophy while runner-up Sohail collected a purse of Rs 30,000. There was another cash award of Rs 5,000 for Imran for having recorded the highest break of the tournament.

There was more reward for Imran as Anjum Nisar offered him a one-year contract of Rs 8,000 per month Another good news for both the finalists was their qualification in the IBSF World Snooker Championship 2010 to be held at Damascus, Syria, in December.

The Lahore-based Imran has remained one of the top cueists of the country for a while but a tournament win was eluding him until he finally produced the kind of performance that was being expected of him for a long time.

The 35-year-old Imran had to work extremely hard to earn the title and it needed a special effort to overcome Karachi’s Sohail Shahzad 8-6 in the best of 15 frame final that lasted close to six hours.

He compiled a couple of century breaks, including the highest of the tournament, while overpowering Sohail with the frame scores of 23-75, 94-15, 16-86, 68-21, 34-86, 127-1, 72-58, 50-60, 56-27, 54-81, 78-44, 49-68, 69-44, 103-0.

It was a final to remember as the fortunes kept fluctuating dramatically and the outcome was in doubt until the very end. It was one of those very few contests that remained locked at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before Imran finally pressed home the advantage.

After having chalked up a break of 123 in the sixth frame he sealed the fate of the tournament with another classy break of 103 in what turned out to be the last frame of the marathon duel.

It was the first outing in the final for the 28-year-old Sohail who also has improved in leaps and bounds during the last couple of years to be ranked among the top cueists all along.

Earlier in the semifinals Imran had edged out Shahram Changezi 6-5 in three-and-a-half hour battle with the frame scores of 50-55, 57-17, 78-33, 72-46, 68-49, 63-75, 46-60, 35-78, 57-60, 59-24, 75-16.

Sohail had created a minor upset by toppling third seed Mohammad Asif Toba 6-4 with the frame scores of i47-55, 60-45, 30-64, 43-77, 69-33, 45-54, 103-0, 57-44, 116-0, 74-5 in the other semifinal.

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PBSA denied foreign coach for Asian Games

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Obviously the officials of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) are feeling bitterly disappointed at being denied the permission to acquire the services of Sanjay Sawant as Pakistan coach for the next month’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

The PBSA President, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, considered the non-issuance of NOC for Sanjay Sawant of India as a major setback to their plans adding that it’s also a big blow to their medal hopes in the Asiad.

Alamgir Shaikh informed the media in Karachi that the PBSA had received a communication in this regard from the Islamabad-based Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) explaining that the hiring of a foreign coach was examined in consultation with the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The PBSA President stated that they have been informed by the PSB that the Ministry of Interior has regretted issuance of NOC in this case.

Alamgir Shaikh didn’t mince words in stating the the PBSA desperately needed a foreign coach in preparations for the Asian Games camp starting in Islamabad from October 15.

“The PBSA is due to name a five-member Pakistan squad next week. We were hoping that the PSB and the Interior Ministry would issue NOC to the PBSA for hiring the services of Sanjay Sawant as coach but all our efforts went in vain,” he said.

The PBSA had been under fire in the past for not having engaged a qualified coach in order to prepare and fine tune the promising youngsters in particular for the various regional and international competitions.

When the PBSA finally made up their mind to acquire the services of a coach now they have been denied the permission by the concerned authorities.

The PBSA authorities have repeatedly spoken about their shrinking resources following the ban on cigarette sponsorship, prompting them to seek governmental support besides knocking the doors of the corporate sector.

Since Pakistan’s cueists had bagged medals in the Asian Games in 1998 as well as in 2002 their case was stronger case to urge the government to financially support the PBSA.

Alamgir Shaikh has been running from pillar to post to let the end meet but the support from the government side has declined after the departure of Pir Syed Aftab Shah Jilani as Federal Minister of Sports.

Pir Aftab was himself a sportsman and he was more than willing to promote the bodies having the potential to earn glories and medals for the country. The PBSA also benefited greatly during his tenure as the Federal Sports Minister.

Things have changed since then and the PBSA has not been able to secure grants from the Federal Ministry of Sports or the Pakistan Sports Board despite continued correspondence and follow-up.

The Federal Sports Ministry had committed to foot the bill for the foreign coach the PBSA was planning to hire as the basic objective was to train the cueists for the Asian Games. With the non-issuance of NOC to Sanjay Sawant the PBSA functionaries have very little time to get hold of a coach from any other country.

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Ijaz Butt should also apologize to whole nation

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The man having played around with the sentiments of the whole nation for nearly two years, Ijaz Butt, owes a public apology for his haughty attitude and irresponsible behaviour in running the affairs of the Pakistan cricket.

He has issued an apology for the comments he made during the recently concluded one-day series between England and Pakistan when he charged that the hosts' players had taken "enormous amounts of money" to lose the third One-day International at The Oval.

The England players have reportedly accepted his apology and withdrawn the threat of legal action which had loomed since the outburst.

Ijaz Butt, known for talking senselessly, admitted that he had no evidence to back up his claims and that he regretted the "misunderstanding" that followed even though he initially refused to back down from his comments. Well he had not only leveled the allegations just one time but did it repeatedly.

"I wish personally and on behalf of the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw the comments I made concerning the England and Wales Cricket Board and each of the England players who played in the one-day International at The Oval on Friday 17 September. It is regrettable that there was a misunderstanding arising from my comments,” he observed in the letter of apology.

"I would like to make it quite clear that in the statements which I made that I never intended to question the behaviour and integrity of the England players nor the ECB nor to suggest that any of them were involved in any corrupt practices or in a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket,” Ijaz Butt added.


"In particular, I wish to make it clear that I have never seen any evidence of any wrongdoing by any England player or the ECB at any time," he added.

"I deeply and sincerely regret that my statements have been interpreted to cast doubt upon the good names of the England players and the ECB and hope that this public withdrawal will draw a line under the matter," the PCB Chairman stated.

So far so good. Ijaz Butt has set the record straight by issuing the apology that had always seemed on the cards for mending fences with the ECB.

Shouldn’t the PCB Chairman now be asked to apologize to the people of Pakistan for his continuous misdeeds and mischief. He has been guilty of ruining the image of the Pakistan cricket and it may take many years to clear the mess he has created in two years time.

Ijaz Butt has had the knack of losing his cool during conversations with the media. He gets offended whenever a probing question is hurled at him and instead of giving an answer he tries to take on the interviewer.

Doesn’t the PCB Chairman know that he’s holding a public office and cricket is the game of the masses in Pakistan. People only wish that some accountability system was in place and Ijaz Butt should be tried for having caused irreparable harm to the national interest.

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Dhoni unperturbed with crowded schedule

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Indian skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, finds no problem in playing continuous cricket and he sees no reason to complain about the overdose of international matches.

"If we complain now - three days after the home series against New Zealand we will be in South Africa - we will be complaining the whole year then. We all knew exactly what the schedule was and how exactly we are positioned," he said on the eve of the first Test against Australia starting in Mohali on October 1.

"I don't believe much in strategizing before the match. A lot depends on the conditions available at a given time. A successful batsman will adapt himself to each and every condition, so the basic plan remains the same. Most of our players have played against Australia, both home and away. Whatever time we got was enough to get our plans in place," the Indian captain said.

"Some of the players were together before some of the boys came after the Champions League. Equal importance was given to cricketing skills and fielding aspects. I think we have made best use of the time we got ahead of the series and hopefully it will reflect on the field,” Dhoni felt.

Obviously Dhoni can’t be expected to speak against the policies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) but the fact remains that it’s indeed a bit risky to be getting together just two days before a Test series.

The Champions League T20 in South Africa ended just a few days before the start of the home series against Australia and the fitness of the players could be tested severely in the days to come.

Murali Vijay had just one day of training while Dhoni and Suresh Raina got only a couple of days for warming up for the first Test. Their spirits must be sky high after powering Chennai Super Kings to title win but what about the state of their bodies. Are they made of steel or have shock-absorbers inscribed to take the pressures of long air travels.

Rahul Dravid, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, also had very little time to acclimatize. Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan could have faced similar dilemma had Mumbai Indians moved farther in the Champions League.

While Dhoni played down the issue of acclimatizing the Australians looked at it entirely differently and they were concerned about the late arrival of Doug Bollinger and Michael Hussey, both of whom also played in the Champions League, as the rest of the squad had descended in Chandigarh more than a week earlier.

No surprises that India and Australia think of such matters so differently. Little wonder then about the results. The Australians often win the opening match of a series while the Indians are more often watched using the first Test as net practice for the next game.

"Generally we are very good starters as well. Our record starting Test-match series is very good. That's one area we can focus on a little bit more, making sure that we start the game well knowing in the back of our minds that India generally are slow starters. I'm sure they're aware of that as well. I'm sure that's something they've spoken long and hard about over the last few years," Australian captain Ricky Ponting emphasized.

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Zaheer considers Younis best option for national captaincy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Former Pakistan captain, Zaheer Abbas, also known as the Asian Bradman, feels that Younis Khan is the best choice to lead Pakistan. The legendary stroke-maker who enthralled the full houses with his enchanting drives and cuts firmly believes that Younis has the potential to deliver.

"With the future of Salman Butt as captain and player now uncertain because of the spot-fixing scandal, the best choice to lead Pakistan is Younis Khan. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should not waste any more time in appointing Younis as the Test team captain because he is the ideal man to lead the team after the controversial tour to England," Zaheer observed in a recent interview.

"Whatever problem there is between Younis and the board it needs to be sorted out quickly, Younis must meet with the board Chairman and also make himself available for Pakistan again. The forthcoming series against South Africa in UAE is going to be a tough task and the board must have the best man leading the Test team," he advised.

"Pakistan will require his experience in the World Cup. The tournament is not far away and I don't think we now have time or room for experimenting with new players," Zaheer reckoned.

He was of the opinion that the PCB should reappoint Younis as captain without further delay to lead the turnaround.

Well not many people would agree with the observations of Zaheer because Younis had remained a reluctant leader even at the best of his times and it could be a bigger risk handing over the captaincy to him once more.

Pakistan’s cricket team has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons for quite some time now and the spot-fixing controversy near the end of the recent Test series against England created more problems for them.

With the International Cricket Council (ICC) having provisionally banned the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif, the post of a Test captain has become vacant once more.

Salman had been drafted as the Test captain during the English summer when Shahid Afridi announced his sudden retirement after a heavy defeat at the hands of Australia in the first Test.

Many people had felt that Shahid was not the right choice to be asked to lead the country in every format of the game because he hardly fitted in Pakistan’s Test playing eleven and it needed just one game to expose his shortcomings.

Now there are rumours that Ijaz Butt and his cronies are in the process of negotiating another ‘deal’ with the enigmatic all-rounder and he might be made the Test captain again for the series against South Africa.

Ijaz Butt and his trusted lieutenant, Yawar Saeed, seem to be having a personal grudge against Younis in any case and they were not going to reappoint him until, of course, someone from the office of the President or the Prime Minister intervenes.

The temperamental Younis has had an exceptionally record as a batsman but he didn’t impress with his leadership skills. In fact his batting had deteriorated during his own tenure as captain.

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