Glory for Sri Lanka, agony for India

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sri Lanka’s task of winning the final of the Micromax Cup 2010 was made easier by the lackluster performance by the Indian batsmen once more. With the youngsters not prepared to meet the challenge and Virender Sehwag unable to translate the promising start into something substantial there was only one team that looked focused on clinching the trophy in Dambulla on August 28.

India had reinforced their batting by axing bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and bringing in Rohit Sharma. But they were unable to come good even on the easiest batting track witnessed during the competition as the ball had dominated the bat in the earlier games.

While the Sri Lankans were clinical in approach, as they normally do, the intensity was lacking in the Indian camp. The stage was set for the young guns to make amends for their past failures in the tournament but neither of them displayed the determination expected of them after having an extended run in the international arena.

Only Dinesh Karthik was unlucky to have been given out when the ball was nowhere close to his bat when he attempted to leg-glance Lasith Malinga in the opening over of the innings. On any other day that could have easily run for four leg byes but this time the ball landed in the gloves of the diving Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, whose vociferous appeal prompted umpire Asad Rauf to raise his finger.

Sehwag had already played a couple of gorgeous cover drives yielding boundaries earlier in the over and all Karthik was needed to stay there and rotate the strike which he couldn’t.

Much if not all depended on Sehwag to carry the fight to the Sri Lankans while chasing the target of 300. He had started off in a spectacular fashion and all his boundaries were coming from the meat of the bat. He, however, ran himself out in bizarre circumstances much to the delight of the home crowd.

Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli looked in the process of building a prosperous partnership but it was cut short against the run of play when the former got the faintest of edges while executing an unorthodox shot. Kohli didn’t last much longer either although his stay in the middle was a bit longer than earlier games.

Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma continued to disappoint leaving the responsibility on the shoulders of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni whose lone vigil kept the match alive at least theoretically till the end. He was last man to be dismissed for 67 as India lost the game by 74 runs.

"If you are able to build partnerships is the only way you can chase something close to 300. Most of the batsmen got the start that was needed we wanted at least a couple of batsmen to score big. Even if they had scored close to 60-70 odd runs, it would have been a close game if we had converted our starts," Dhoni said at the end of the match.

“It was the best track given to the players in this series I felt it played quite neutral under the lights also. The base of the wicket was really hard and, though there was grass on top of it, it played the same throughout the game," he added.

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India’s young batsmen fail to meet the challenge yet again

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Edged and gone. It was a length delivery outside the off stump and he has a lame poke at it. He fished out and got an edge.

That has been the story for the India’s promising young batsmen, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and even Suresh Raina in the Micromax Cup 2010 being held in Dambulla where the ball has been seaming around quite a bit and batting is much more a challenging proposition than going out and compile heaps of runs on the placid pitches at home. They have kept the opposition wicketkeepers and slip fielders busy all along.

Although skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and premier batsman, Virender Sehwag, who has once again shown how to make the adjustment on a different kind of surface, have played down the failure of their young brigade but I am sure they must be getting sick with the sight of their ‘future stars’ falling apart so tamely.

The technique of all four youngsters, Karthik, Kohli, Sharma and Raina, has been found wanting on tracks where the ball moves and it poses a serious question mark against them. They have been at sea against the balls doing a bit in the air or off the wicket.

Their repeated soft dismissals have brought the team under immense pressure. Two times they were rescued by Sehwag and when he was unable to deliver on the other two occasions India lost heavily after being bundled out for 88 and 103.

India's scores after 15 overs in their league matches have been 54 for five, 47 for three, 56 for five and 81 for four. Whatever the fate of the final against Sri Lanka, the Indian selectors will have to reassess their young batsmen before picking them up again for future games.

While Sharma and Kohli have failed to impress with the bat, they have caught the attention also for not accepting the verdict of the umpires. Every time Sharma is given out he has something to pass the impression that the umpire has committed a blunder by ruling him out.

Kohli is not much different either. He was stunned and didn’t move when given out caught behind by Ashoka de Silva in the game against New Zealand. He stared at the umpire and looked at his partner before stirring into action and walking away very slowly indeed.

It was Kohli’s faulty technique and not an umpiring blunder. It was a length delivery just outside off stump and he pushed out at it with bat away from the body. The replays confirmed that there was some noise plus the snickometer also showed there was a nick.

It’s really strange to find these young batsmen struggle so much even against not the most lethal bowling attacks. How can they be expected to come good when the quality of bowling is of the highest class? They need to improve their technique and temperament if they wish to succeed at the international level.

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Indian fast bowlers prove so-called experts awfully wrong

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I hope that the so-called experts who assessed the various bowling attacks of the world for a website the other day did get the opportunity of watching the Micromax Cup 2010 do-or-die encounter between India and New Zealand at Dambulla on August 25.

The ‘learned’ trio of Ian Chappell, Allan Donald and India’s own Sanjay Manjrekar had described the Indian bowling as the weakest in world cricket these days. Well if India’s second string of quickies were good enough to reduce New Zealand to 53 for eight before eventually bowling them out for 118 it reflected their potency more than anything else.

It was the quartet of Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma who bowled superbly to engineer an impressive 105-run victory for India that took them to the final.

It’s not often that the Indians play four fast-medium bowlers in a game but the conditions in Dambulla prompted their think-tank to do away with the conventional strategy of relying on spinners.

The conditions at Dambulla were certainly in favour of the fast bowlers, particularly under lights, but they still needed to put the ball in right areas and create pressure in order to defend a modest total of 223.

Kumar started the slide and Nehra, who didn’t concede any run apart from three wides in as many overs, joined in the act soon. Sharma broke the threatening fifth wicket partnership before Patel removed three batsmen in quick succession to seal the fate of the game.

Only Sharma would have been a certainty if India were not handicapped by the injuries to their key fast bowlers. Zaheer Khan and Shantikumaran Sreesanth would definitely have carried the burden of attacking the opponents with the new ball, had they been fit.

Another ‘key’ element missing from the Indian bowling attack in Dambulla is the wily off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, whose vast experience of international cricket makes me an automatic choice in the playing eleven.

The Indian bowlers, unlike the South Africans, Australians and Englishmen, have had to bowl in very tough conditions at home. The pitches in India of late have heavily been loaded in favour of the batsmen and life has been tough for their own bowlers.

Well the Indian fast bowlers had to be grateful to Virender Sehwag for having given them the runs to play with in the crucial game against New Zealand. Had Sehwag not batted in the typically aggressive style of his to compile yet another ODI century, the Indians would have been in dire straits.

"Since I was in form, I thought I will score more than the others. If I take more strike, then there is a smaller chance of others getting out," the mercurial opener remarked after having played one of the greatest ODI knocks of his career.

"The wicket was behaving better today than it did in the other matches and I knew in the first couple of overs that if I applied myself and batted cautiously, then it will be a good track to bat on. So in the first few overs, I was just watching how the wicket was behaving and after that I started playing my shots. I knew once I start playing my shots, the bowlers will be on the back foot and they will give me more loose balls," he added.

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South Africa, not Australia, have best bowling attack

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I came across an interesting discussion, featuring three former Test cricketers, in which the present day bowling attacks in world cricket was the subject.

The trio of Ian Chappell, Allan Donald and Sanjay Manjrekar shared their views and it was unsurprising to find them more or less on the same wavelength. But I have my reservations about their assessment.

They have rated South Africa and Australia as the best bowling attacks followed by that of Pakistan and England while pushing India and Sri Lanka to the bottom.

Manjrekar, for a moment, looked off-target if not totally out of mind in his observations. "When you look at bowling attacks from around the world Australia will still perhaps be No.1, because you can imagine that attack being pretty good on Indian conditions, in Sri Lanka as well," he was quoted as saying.

"Getting everything in the air, trying to beat batsmen in pace and not using the surface at all by bowling the ball full-that's where Australia are good. They have got Mitchell Johnson who uses the length well. Doug Bollinger is also quite happy pitching the ball up. Australia and South Africa to me are the attacks that can perhaps make an impression in all sorts of conditions," Manjrekar, whose own career was cut short because of adopting some strange tactics, contended.

I wish Manjrekar had watched the performance of the Australian fast bowlers, whom he has showered with so much praise, during the two-Test series against Pakistan earlier this summer. In their present form neither Johnson nor Bollinger deserved to be any frontline Test team.

Yes South Africa possess the standout pace attack that can demolish any batting line-up with brutal force. They are the only team in the world having both the new ball operators, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, genuinely quick.

South Africa are fortunate to be blessed with genuine fast bowlers in their ranks whose aggression tests the best of batters in the business. They have a formidable support cast as well with Jacques Kallis being a more than decent fifth bowler.

Australia have had the most lethal bowling in the world until Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath were around. After their departure they have tried different bowlers but neither of them has been consistent enough for a long period. Their domestic structure has kept throwing talented youngsters but they have a lot to prove at the international level.

I fully agree with Donald that England, with a strong pace attack and a successful spinner in Graeme Swann, remained formidable in home conditions only and they would indeed be tested in Australia later in the year.

"It will be very interesting for them to go to Australia during the Ashes and bowl on those flat pitches. With the new ball, they are pretty good. James Anderson is the bowler for me who really stands out in that regard. Stuart Broad is pretty much a line bowler, he's quite aggressive. But in conditions with the Kookaburra ball, they are going to need something off the deck as well. So they are going to be tested during the Ashes," Donald reckoned.

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Rotary recognition brings smiles

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was quite a big day for me on August 21 as I was presented a Certificate of Excellence by two of the leading Rotary personalities of the country, Aziz Memon and Syed Shahab Balkhi. It was deemed as a great honour for our Rotary Club of Karachi Airport as well.

Obviously every award as a significance of its own but the Rotary recognition is something that’s dearer to the heart because of the noble causes being pursued by this leading international voluntary organization of which I have been a member for the past six years now.

There was even greater pleasure to have received the award from a man called Aziz Memon, who has been one of my role models for the last many years. He was not only responsible for motivating me to join Rotary in 2004 but he has remained an inspiration all along with his deeds and words.

Different people have different reasons to know Aziz Memon because he has been blessed with such a versatile personality and for whom the sun never sets. He starts his day at office before 9 each morning and trust me he has the same energy level when we meet him late at night in various ceremonies.

His time management, besides quite a few other outstanding qualities, is truly incredible and I am sure we need to learn from him. He has set very high standards for himself but most importantly he meets the challenge with a smile.

Aziz Memon had rewritten the Rotary history when he was District Governor in 2007-2008. Now Shahab Balkhi has also taken over the reigns at a historic time, having become the first Governor of the newly founded District 3271, covering Sindh and Balochistan.

The visit of Aziz Memon and Shahab Balkhi to Rangoonwala Community Centre, where Rotary Club of Airports convenes its weekly meetings on Saturdays, on August 21 was a Red Letter Day in the history of our club.

The Club President, Anwar Jabeen Qureshi, was both happy and relieved. So was the Club Secretary, Shah Mohammad Anwar. Both these gentlemen had worked extremely hard to put the acts together in making the necessary arrangements for the visit of the two dignitaries at a rather short notice.

The other members of the club present on the occasion were Abdul Hamid, Mohammad Nazakat Ali, Shamim Khan, Wasim Yousuf, Sameer Baig and Mahmood Nawaz.

Besides the award presentation by Aziz Memon, there was a full board meeting chaired by Shahab Balkhi as it was also the Governor’s Official Visit to the club.

The Governor, who was generous enough to recognize our project of Mobile Library & Resource Centre in his speech in the installation ceremony on July 10, had a lively interactive session and he was thoroughly impressed by the efforts being made by the club.

He agreed that once the pilot project of Mobile Library & Resource Centre became ready our club will be in much better position to seek partner corporate organizations to spread it further.

He was informed that our club will be actively participating in community service by providing equipments to needy schools and colleges, donating books to educational institutions and public libraries, donating sewing machines to needy women, donating equipments to charity hospitals, holding free eye camps and medical clinic and holding career development seminars for youth.

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England fans should get ready for another Ashes whitewash

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

If Andrew Strauss and his team have the capacity to lose a Test match to the Ijaz Butt XI playing under the banner of Pakistan then I am afraid no force on earth might be able to save them from whitewash in the upcoming Ashes battle in Australia.

England could only be saved by rains or floods or any other natural calamity Down Under during those Test match days. The manner in which England got outplayed at The Oval there’s very little chance of them coming to terms to the Australian brand of cricket in the Ashes series due to start in just a few months time.

Even in the absence of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist, having retired after whitewashing England four seasons ago, Australia’s mental toughness remains second to none and they have faltered rarely even with their depleted outfits.

Yes Ricky Ponting’s team had also suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Pakistan earlier this summer in England but the Aussies have played that kind of untidy cricket once in many years.

Australia’s fast bowling was at the lowest ebb in the two-Test series against Pakistan that pushed Ponting to the corner and he had to look to the part-timers for wickets in conditions conducive to seam movement.

It was amazing to watch the trio of Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus having forgotten the elementary lessons and not being able to put the ball in the right areas against batsmen who were themselves shy of attacking them.

If Ponting had to throw the ball to the likes of Shane Watson, Steve Smith and Marcus North for wickets on the Headingley pitch against the inexperienced Pakistan side it reflected total chaos in his arsenal.

I can’t recollect the Australian fast bowlers bowl as poorly as they did in the Headingley Test where they should have made up for the shortcomings and failures of their own batsmen.

Australia can’t be expected to falter again and that too in their own den where the conditions would be entirely different. The bounce of the pitches will test the England batsmen who have now been struggling to put their acts together in the home series against Pakistan.

Ponting appears fully determined not to let England escape and his recent statement of pursuing another whitewash now makes greater sense following the debacle of the hosts at The Oval.

England are currently in possession of the Ashes which they had regained at home last summer with Strauss having led the hosts to the famous victory.

Now the victorious skipper of 2009 should get ready for facing the music in 2010-11. The story might not be dissimilar to one after 2005 when England had clinched the Ashes after 18 long years.

Ponting’s fierce determination and the recent loss of confidence of Strauss could be a major factor in pushing England to the wall once more.

The England fans traveling in large numbers to Australia for witnessing the Ashes battle will have be patient as their endurance level would severely tested.

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Lackluster England gift victory to Ijaz Butt XI

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

England, leading 2-0, had to play extremely poorly to self-destruct themselves in third Test at The Oval to keep the series alive. They performed below par to lose the game by a margin of four wickets in the end.

The margin was not the issue. England were not expected to allow Pakistan, in all sorts of problems, to come close. In fact it was being anticipated that the series would be closed without any fuss before the fourth and final Test.

Isn’t it remarkable that the team forced to make wholesale changes emerged victorious against an unchanged confident outfit that had fared consistently as a well-knit unit for past few months.

There was so much chaos surrounding the selection and composition of the Pakistan team that was being branded as the Ijaz Butt XI at home following the ouster of the deserving players having performed exceptionally well in the national tournaments.

There were protests, demonstrations and press conferences in Karachi over the omission of the talented cricketers of the city on the eve of the third Test and the chairman of the national selection committee, Mohsin Hasan Khan, also hailing from Karachi, had literally gone underground.

Yet this Ijaz Butt XI managed to win the third Test against all odds. Call it the Blessings of Ramazan or the Will of God the impossible was made possible once more.

It’s astonishing how the England batsmen collapsed against debutant Wahab Riaz, who had captured just a handful of wickets in first-class cricket at home earlier in the season and his selection was being debated.

England were generous in presenting a debut gift to Wahab Riaz in the shape of a five-wicket haul in his first-ever innings in Test cricket. It’s a kind of feat that many of the greatest bowlers of all time failed to achieve.

Unlike Australia who had collapsed to a meager total on the first day of the Headingley Test, after Ricky Ponting had opted to bat first after winning the toss in overcast conditions, England did recover following not too sensible move of Andrew Strauss to do the same at The Oval.

Strauss could have been better off inserting the vulnerable Pakistan batsmen on the first morning when the pitch offered greater life to the fast bowlers. I don’t know why the England captain chose to bat when he had a decent pace attack in the shape of James Anderson, Chris Broad and Steven Finn to attack the opposition visibly short of confidence.

Strauss was guilty of putting his own batsmen under pressure and not surprisingly they couldn’t come good. It was the eighth wicket partnership between Matt Prior and Broad that saved them from humiliation.

Strauss, not looking the leader in command, committed another fatal blunder by dropping a sitter at first slip off lastman Mohammad Asif when Pakistan were just a few runs ahead. That was the easiest of chances that the England captain missed. In the context of the match it was the costliest miss.

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Century or no century Sehwag reigns supreme

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Virender Sehwag, the most explosive of all present day opening batsmen, was deprived of an ODI hundred in controversial circumstances and he had to contend with an unbeaten 99 instead as he guided India to a much needed victory over Sri Lanka at Dambulla in the ongoing Tri-nation series for the Micromax Cup 2010, also featuring New Zealand.

Although he made 99 off just 101 balls the innings looked a bit out of character from the blade of a man who doesn’t normally allow the bowlers to settle down. It was one of those days when he was in a mood to bat with a calculated approach fully realizing the gravity of the situation.

His partnership with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had taken India out of danger in the must-win game, after yet another horrible top-order collapse, and he took the charge when the target had come well within the reach.

Sehwag’s belated onslaught opened the window for another century from the belligerent opener besides earning the vital bonus point for the team. Once in full try no bowler in the world can contain him and he was in complete control once more while assaulting the Sri Lankans.

Dhoni, not surprisingly, was also very keen to let his partner reach the landmark and it was just a matter of one more run for Sehwag with India still needing five for victory when off-spinner Suraj Randhiv began in what was certain to be the last over of the game.

Sehwag was not happy when four byes were conceded at the start of the over but he still had a chance to do it. After failing to pierce the field on the next couple of deliveries he took the aerial route and cleared the fence.

But that was a no-ball which meant that India had actually completed the win without the last stroke from Sehwag. Although it was a six but he was credited with nothing, as per laws, leaving him stranded on 99.

Randiv had overstepped by at least a foot when the scores were level to leave causing some resentment in the Indian camp. Sehwag, during the post-match presentation ceremony, couldn’t hide his emotions and he charged that the tall off-spinner had deliberately no-balled to deny him a hundred.

Sehwag, however, was happy that India collected the win and bonus point irrespective of the fact that he completed his century or not.

"The ball was doing something in first 10 overs so I batted cautiously and tried to build partnerships, and after that I played my shots. I was not worried about runs, I knew if I batted 30-40 overs, then match will get over in 40 overs, I just tried to not play the rash shot," he explained why he took so much time to open his shoulders.

"We discussed in the meeting that someone has to play 30-40 overs, especially someone from the top order. I was just trying to play as long as I can, I was just waiting for some loose deliveries to hit for four," he added.

Dhoni very rightly was full of praise for Sehwag for having taken the responsibility once more when the chips were down.

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