No one deserved it more than Tendulkar

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I am sure now very few people would argue about Sachin Tendulkar being the most accomplished batsman of all time. He has overcome injuries, lean patches and media trials at regular basis to prove himself as the greatest exponent of the art of batting.

The latest feathers in his cap are the highest individual score and the first-ever double century in One-day Internationals. His innings at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on February 24 would be remembered for a very long time.

His record-breaking knock against one of the best bowling attacks of the world was a treat to watch and even the South Africans must have known that they were watching something well and truly special.

The manner in which he was dominating the bowling it appeared a matter of time for him to overtake Saeed Anwar and Charles Coventry, who held the record jointly for the highest ODI score. So was the case of his double hundred that seemed always on the cards if he batted for entire 50 overs.

"It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I'd like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn't drop. The ball was coming onto the bat and I was striking the ball well. So when everything falls into its place, it feels nice. It was one of the innings where I felt I was moving well. Since I was timing the ball well, I could be more aggressive and put pressure on the bowlers,” the great man remarked at the end of the epic knock.

He dedicated his feat to the people of India and credited coach Gary Kirsten for the team's success in both forms of the game after the debacle in the World Cup about three years ago.

"I have enjoyed various challenges; after the 2007 World Cup things have looked different and I'm enjoying the game. The credit also goes to Gary Kirsten who has really held the team beautifully. It's about togetherness and playing for each other. You see during the practice sessions that Gary himself trains as hard as anyone else or probably harder than anyone else as he's the one giving us practice all the time,” Tendulkar remarked.

"When I was near 175-180, I thought I could get a 200 as there were quite a few overs left. I don't play for records. I play for enjoyment and play with lots of passion. That's how cricket started. I didn't start playing cricket to break all the records; it's happened along the way. The dream was to play for India and do my best,” he added.

"I don't think any record is unbreakable. Records are made to be broken. I hope that if this record is broke, it's done by an Indian," Tendulkar wished.

Well the records are indeed breakable but some of them are likely to stand for lifetime like the one Tendulkar is fast approaching. He is not very far away from becoming first batsman to score a century of centuries in international cricket, a record that may never be broken.

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Shahid Afridi believes ball biting issue blown out of proportions

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan's flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Khan Afridi has felt deeply hurt and disappointed the way the smearing campaign was launched against him following the ball biting incident during the fifth and final One-day International against Australia at Perth on January 31.

"I did commit a blunder in frustration by biting the ball and subsequently faced the punishment for the offence," he told APP Sports Correspondent Ehsan
Qureshi in an exclusive interview in Karachi on February 22 upon his return from Dubai
after the just concluded two-match Twenty20 International series against England.

"Our team was on a losing streak and in the heat of the moment I did a wrong thing in
in the state of frustration," he regretted in what probably was his first media interview in Pakistan after that controversial incident.

"In the past so many extraordinarily controversial incidents had taken place on and off the field in cricket but they had gone unnoticed because the media was not so strong in that era," he pointed out.

"I am really stunned at the manner in which the odd mistake of mine has been so much highlighted It’s very strange indeed to find the matter being blown out of proportions,” Shahid Afridi observed.

"I have already served the two-match ban imposed by the ICC and could face a bigger sentence if I do commit any other mistake,” he said.

"I once again apologize to the whole nation and my followers across
the globe for the wrong I committed. I have served the country to the best of my abilities and will continue to do so as long as required by PCB and the selectors," he
added.

"Look at the golf superstar Tiger Woods. He had made a mistake and he apologized to his followers and chapter may shortly be closed. That’s all. The life has to go on,” the dashing all-rounder opined.

Well Shahid Afridi is a smart guy, having lived his life in Karachi. He has been one of the popular cricketers of the country despite his inconsistent record at the international level. A crowd puller in every part of the country he has had massive following abroad too.

He, however, has had his own share of problems. He’s not new to controversies. He was in the news for the wrong reasons when he was found guilty of attempting to damage a cricket pitch a few years ago.

Having been in and out of the team, he is also accused of being one of the leading characters in the plot to oust skipper Younis Khan at a time when he should have been his right hand man being the vice-captain.

Some observers feel that instead of helping out Younis Khan, the dashing all-rounder aligned with the intriguers in the team after being assured that he would be captaining the national team in the World Cup 2011.

Did he commit the blunder of his lifetime by deserting Younis Khan and joining hands with the forces that eventually succeeded in their designs or was it another big ‘six’ by the master blaster only time will tell.

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Tail-enders frustrate and humiliate India yet again

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Any other team would have been considered victorious if they dismissed Jacques Kallis at that stage when the asking rate was in the double digits and two tail-enders were crease for the last seven or eight overs. Not India.

India for ages have had this tendency of losing their way in the end after being in the driving seat for the better part of the match. That’s why while the others thought it was all over for South Africa I considered ‘Game on’ even after the dismissal of Kallis and didn’t miss a single delivery.

People around me wondered how I was anticipating a close contest when it was appearing a one-sided affair for all practical purposes. My reply was simple. You never know with India. Trust me I would have given it up too if South Africa’s opponents were Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

The record books will show that India emerged triumphant in the first One-day International against South Africa at Jaipur. What these score sheets might not be able to tell how much frustration and humiliation the hosts had to endure after having dominated the day.

India should have been well and truly home after removing Kallis, who had earlier been missed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni of all people. The lapse didn’t prove costly but Yousuf Pathan was denied a wicket he so richly deserved after bowling an outstanding spell with the dew factor taking its toll.

But the tail-enders Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn came up with their career-best knocks. Not only did they score far too many but they also got them very quickly against an attack whose discipline had made life miserable even for the top-order.

Parnell and Steyn had fun with the Indian bowlers and the crowd that had been shouting all day was brought to silence in a matter of few overs. The festive mood of the spectators turned tense and there was more of disbelief and amusement at what really was going on in the field of play.

It was complete chaos for India. The bowlers started getting punished by the tail-enders. Initially it was being believed that a few hits here and there would have little bearing on the outcome but Dhoni was alive to the situation and he was not taking any chances. He immediately took off part-timer Suresh Raina after being clobbered for two straight sixes in three balls.

Ashish Nehra is probably India’s best bowler in the death overs after Zaheer Khan, who was not playing due to injury. Nehra did stem the flow of runs by bowling a superb penultimate over but what followed in his final over was nothing short of a nightmare for the tall left-arm quickie.

Dhoni’s problems were compounded because of the lack of control over line and length on part of Shantikumaran Sreesanth, the replacement of Zaheer Khan. Sreesanth did take two key wickets but he was far too expensive to be risked for the final over.

Dhoni made the right decision to entrust Praveen Kumar the job of sending the last over from which South Africa needed only 10 to complete the unlikeliest of victories. Kumar somehow kept his cool and didn’t let his team down. The dramatic over, that also included an off-side wide, yielded eight runs that ensured India at least won the match.

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Sohail Abbas optimistic about Pakistan’s chances of reclaiming trophy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan’s drag-flick specialist Sohail Abbas very rightly believed that Pakistan should not be ruled out of the World Cup Hockey Tournament 2010 starting in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on February 28.

Talking to the media corps during his recent visit to the Karachi Press Club, he made the point that the present lot of hockey players was adequately geared and motivated enough to improve the rankings and win laurels for the country.

“Currently we are not ranked among the top teams of the world. But boys do have the capacity and talent to accomplish something special if they play to their potential,” he remarked.

“The manner in which our team performed recently against the Netherlands in Qatar gives us a lot of boost and self-belief. Our fancied opponent had to come from behind to earn a draw after we had gained the early advantage. Remember the Dutch are a formidable team and playing out a draw against them was very encouraging for us,” he reckoned.

Sohail, looking forward to enhancing his world record tally of 306 goals but more importantly he desired playing his part by contributing substantially in the success of the team.

“I am playing my fourth World Cup after making my debut in Utrecht and it\s my ultimate wish to serve the country to the best of my abilities. Ideally I would like to see our team become the world champions,” he wished.

The 33-year-old Sohail didn’t mince word in stating that every league match was crucial for Pakistan having been placed in the Group B with Australia, England, India, Spain and South Africa.

“Mind you all these teams are very dangerous and we cannot afford to relax even for a while against any of them. We begin our campaign with the game against arch-rivals India. A victory in this match will really boost our morale,” he observed.

He credited the team management for having developed new armory and weapons with variations in penalty corner drills that should help the cause of the team immensely.

He opined that hockey has changed in the past few years and whole team has to be involved in defence and attack at the same time.
“We have had problems in defence but we worked very hard in the camps and we are confident to come up with an improved performance in New Delhi. The tournament presents a great opportunity to us to fulfill the dreams of the nation in front of the Indian crowd and put national game back on track,” he remarked.

Sohail and the rest of the squad crossing the border are very much aware of the fact that Pakistan have had excellent record while playing on the Indian soil and they would like to come good again.

1982 in particular was the most memorable year for the Pakistan hockey. They had outplayed India in the Asian Games final to clinch the gold in style at New Delhi while they won the World Cup in Bombay the same year.

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Karachi Press Club honours Sohail Abbas, Mahmood Lodhi

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

As they say many great things happen by chance. Ehsan Qureshi and I had an appointment with hockey stalwart Sohail Abbas and we were preparing to leave for his residence.

Just before packing up Ehsan telephoned Sohail who picked up the call while having some spicy stuff in the nearby Burns Road whose dishes are famous worldwide for the taste and variety.

Sohail, who holds the world record of scoring the highest number of goals in international matches, promptly agreed to the idea of having our meeting at the Karachi Press Club that’s hardly 10-minute drive from the Food Street where he was dining with his friend.

Chess champion Mahmood Ahmed Lodhi and one of the respected media personalities, Ibrahim Khan, was with us when we decided to reschedule the venue of our meeting with Sohail and neither of them could muster the courage to turn down our unexpected request of accompanying us to the Press Club.

We had only 10 minutes at our disposal because that was the time Sohail needed to reach there. In this period I called Alauddin Khanzada, more famous as A H Khanzada, Honorary Secretary, Karachi Press Club, to make quick arrangements. He consumed probably less time than Sohail takes for hitting a short corner in giving his consent.

As the luck would have it our car and that of Sohail arrived the Press Club around the same time. The hockey legend and the chess champion were accorded the respect and protocol they thoroughly deserved.

The members of the Press Club present on the occasion were thrilled to meet two of the leading sportsmen of the country. The informal session in the dining room was followed by a formal presentation ceremony in the Committee Room upstairs.

It was quite extraordinary how swiftly A H Khanzada had made the arrangements. Quite a few senior journalists, office bearers of the club and the Karachi Union of Journalists sat around the two sports icons.

Sports is not been the beat or forte of A H Khanzada but the manner in which he introduced both the sporting legends reflected his depth of general knowledge. In his welcome speech he showered them with praise for their accomplishments.

On behalf of the Karachi Press Club he wished the national hockey team the best of luck in the upcoming World Cup Tournament to be held in New Delhi from February 28. He expressed the hope that Sohail will reproduce his Midas touch to win the laurels for the country.

A H Khanzada also appreciated the achievements of International Master Mahmood in the field of chess, congratulating him on being the national champion for a record number of times.

Veteran sports journalist, A.Majid Khan, presented the Ajrak, a traditional gift from the people of Sindh, to Sohail Abbas while another seasoned journalist, Arshad Shami, did the honours to Mahmood Lodhi.

Both Sohail Abbas and Mahmood Lodhi acknowledged the recognition from the Karachi Press Club and they looked forward to the support of the media in accomplishing the mutual objective of promoting sporting culture in the society.

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ICC recognizes Asoka de Silva’s century of ODIs

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka was recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for having become only the 12th umpire to reach the milestone of standing in 100 One-day Internationals (ODIs).

He had completed his century when he stood in the fifth ODI between Australia and Pakistan in Perth on January 31. His feat, however, was acknowledged officially on February 19 when the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat presented him a crystal plaque before the start of the Twenty20 International between Pakistan and England at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City.

“I am humbled and honoured to have completed a century of ODIs as an umpire. When I look at the umpires who are on this list, it makes me really proud as the group includes some of the most iconic names of this noble profession,” de Silva, having played international cricket for seven years, remarked.

He appeared in 10 Tests and 28 One-day Internationals but he had ordinary record as a leg-spinner and a lower-order batsman. He could claim only eight Tests at a very high cost and his performance in the ODIs was only marginally better. But he has made it big as an umpire.

“It would have been nice to have played more and therefore been more successful at international cricket but umpiring is another way of experiencing our great game while my cricketing background has helped me immensely in my umpiring career,” he observed.

“It has been a fascinating journey so far as I have been privileged to be part of a very strong, committed and professional group of umpires. And to stand in matches that feature the best cricketers of this era, is something I love and thoroughly enjoy,” the Sri Lankan umpire added.

He was inducted into the elite panel along with Steve Davis of Australia in April 2008 after having previously served on the panel between 2002 and 2004. While de Silva has umpired in 12 Tests and 24 ODIs since his return to the panel, Davis is just six ODIs away from becoming the fourth Australian and 13th overall to stand in 100 ODIs.

Rudi Koertsen of South Africa holds the distinction of having umpired in the highest number of ODIs (202) while Steve Bucknor of the West Indies stood in 181 ODIs. The late David Shepherd of England is next on the list having umpired in 172 games.

The Australian duo of Daryl Harper (161) and Simon Taufel (147) is expected to complete double century in not distant future as does Billy Bowden of New Zealand having already stood in 141 ODIs.

Australia’s Darrell Hair performed duties in 139 ODIs with Pakistan’s Aleem Dar not very far behind having umpired in 127 one-dayers. Russell Tiffin of Zimbabwe (111), David Orchard of South Africa (107) and Steve Dunn of New Zealand (100) had also completed century of ODIs as an umpire before de Silva did it earlier this year.

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Laxman’s elegance simply enchanting

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

What a joy it is to watch VVS Laxman bat! His stroke-play is truly poetry in motion. He is a pure artist. He has been the most elegant batsman in the game for quite sometime now.

He hasn’t lost any of his touch as we witnessed it at the Eden Garden in Kolkata where he plundered his first Test century against South Africa. It was a magnificent knock that delighted his large number of fans at what has been his favourite ground.

It’s not mere coincidence that he has completed 1,000 runs in just nine Tests at the Eden Gardens. He has played a few of the most memorable knocks of his career here with the epic 281 against Australia in 2001 being the standout effort.

India had missed him so much in the previous game in which he couldn’t take part due to injury. His return to the side immensely bolstered the batting line-up that had cracked at Nagpur primarily due to inexperience that had allowed the South African bowlers to get on top of them.

There was plenty of buzz with Laxman coming back into the side in the second Test that India needed to win in order to retain their top ranking. More significantly they also had to prove the point that the odd failure in the Nagpur Test was more due to the non-presence of their stalwarts than any other factor.

There was greater pressure on Laxman to deliver because Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh were still unavailable and he had to fill the vacuum with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

There were suggestions to promote Laxman to the number three position in the absence of Dravid, having made the one down position his own for a number of years now.

John Wright, the former Indian coach, firmly believed that sending Laxman at number three would help the cause of the team immensely. After all he and skipper Sourav Ganguly were instrumental in sending him up the order when the team was in dire straits at the same venue against the mighty Aussies nine years ago.

It had proved to be a master stroke with the Hyderabad touch artist rewriting history with a colossal knock of 281 that led the turnaround and India went on to win the Test match from the brink of disaster.

The present Indian think-tank, however, had different ideas and they probably had the conviction that Laxman was to come good at any position. They were proved right.
Murali Vijay, not surprisingly, failed again at number three but by holding Laxman back they had ensured that there was not a big hole in the middle-order. The tactics worked very well once more.

India had very nearly surrendered the initiative by losing three quick wickets in the closing stages of the second day’s play and South Africa were very much in the game at the start of the third day’s proceedings.

It was Laxman’s fluency that tormented the charged up bowlers and their shoulders dropped when the balls were dispatched merrily to every part of the ground. Dhoni kept his company all the way and together they built a magnificent partnership that entertained the big crowd and consolidated India’s position.

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Incredible India somehow overcome all obstacles to retain top ranking

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I incline to agree with all those experts and critics who believe that India won’t be able to retain the number one ranking in Test cricket. Not because the Indian team carries any real weakness or lacks depth and character.

The reason why they would find it tough to be top ranked side is simple. They have to overcome far too many obstacles than any other team to continue their winning streak despite being in the possession of the best outfit in business.

We have already witnessed how difficult it has been for them to register victories even after dominating the rivals. They were threatened more by the weather in Bangladesh than the team they were confronting.

The weather very nearly ruined their chances of squaring the just concluded Test series against South Africa. It’s quite extraordinary how the Nature comes to halt the Indian progress so frequently. No other team has to be wary of such factors.

Yes only weather could have saved South Africa in the Kolkata Test after they had a conceded a monumental first innings lead with over two days to spare. Obviously Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra were to be deadlier with men round the bat on a pitch offering them more assistance than in the first innings.

There was only one result possible, unless outside factors intervened, once Mahendra Singh Dhoni had declared the innings in the closing stages of the third day’s play.

The first sign of the outside factors came into the equation right away as the light faded dramatically after just five deliveries of the South African innings and the Indian bowlers were deprived of the opportunity of a crack at the batsmen who must have been fatigued after having done leather chasing for almost two days.

Then the heavens opened and considerable amount of time was lost on the fourth day. There had not been any signs of rain in the earlier part of the series but it just came when the South Africans needed to get some relief.

India had to take seven wickets on the fifth and final day to translate their dominance into victory. The morning was bright and sunny but the injury to their spearhead Zaheer Khan meant the quarter of their bowling power had been lost before taking the field.

Not surprisingly the Indians were frustrated by each and every player who came into bat. Even last man Morne Morkel batted with the steely determination of Geoff Boycott while Hashim Amla appeared to be in greater control of the situation than even Don Bradman would have been at any point of his career.

History is witness to the fact that the oddest things have happened against India. It would have had come as no surprise if the South Africans had escaped with a draw even after having been outplayed in every department of the game.

Well India just managed to take the last wicket that helped them win the Test, level the series and retain the number one rank. Dhoni was obviously a very relieved man when Harbhajan took the final wicket with barely a few minutes play remaining.

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