Naqvi brothers excel in Sindh Swimming

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Brothers Mazhar Naqvi and Mustafa Naqvi came up with standout performance to guide the Karachi Club to title victory in the 50th Sindh Swimming Championship 2010 staged at the Karachi Gymkhana.

The Naqvi brothers displayed their brilliants skills at the Karachi Gymkhana Swimming Pool which brought to an end the 15-year-old dominance of the famous Habib Public School.

The teenaged Mazhar in particular was absolutely brilliant grabbing as many as seven gold medals. He emerged triumphant in 50, 100, 200 freestyle and 50,100, 200 meter in open category besides being a component of the winning 4x100 Relay medley relay. He was the unanimous choice for the award of the province's best men swimmer.

Mazhar, who also broke a few long-standing records, was easily the most versatile all-round swimmer in the two-day gala and was adjudged the best swimmer in the open category. He broke as many as four records during the course of the championship held over the weekend.

"My first ambition is to win a gold medal in men nationals in freestyle and later desire to represent Pakistan in South Asian Games and Asian Games," Mazhar, a 17-year-old student of Lecole School of Advance Studies, remarked after his terrific performance.

He complimented his rival and friend Aneeq Anwar for his outstanding performances in the competition.

"We are desirous of improving the overall standard of Sindh province in swimming. We are also eager to make our presence felt in a big way at the national level,” Mazhar added.

Deriving inspiration from his elder brother, Mustafa stole the limelight in the Under-16 age category by grabbing as many as four gold and seven silver medals. He won the gold in 50, 100 meter butterfly 200 meter freestyle and 50-meter breast stroke.

Mazhar and Mustufa faced some challenge from the immensely talented Aneeq Anwar, who also displayed superb performance in open as well as Under-16 contest. Aneeq and Mustafa were jointly declared the best swimmer in U-16 competition.

Aneeq, a student of Defence Public School, pocketed five gold medals and as many silver medals to also emerge as one of the stars of the championship.

Karachi Club dominated the event as they accumulated 198 points to lead over 300 swimmers contest. Karachi Grammar School secured second position with an aggregate of 167 points pushing the holders Habib Pubic School to the third position with a tally of 139 points.

Mazhar Naqvi (Open), Aneeq Anwar and Mustufa Naqvi (U-16), Saad Amin (U-12), Muhammad Bilal Qasim (U-14), Reza Munir (U-10) and Mirshah Pasha (U-8) were declared as the best swimmers in their respective categories.

Member National Assembly and famous television personality, Khushbakhat Shujaat, was the chief guest in the presentation ceremony and she distributed medals and trophies among the outstanding performers.

The President of the Karachi Gymkhana, Younus Rizwani, was also present on the occasion alongwith the top officials of the Sindh Swimming Association, Shahbaz Qureshi and Mohammad Ali Shishmahal.

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Return of Younis to bolster brittle middle-order

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

If Younis Khan is fit and the form has not deserted him totally he would walk into the Pakistan side any time. He has been one of the very few consistent batsmen in the line-up that had generally struggled for runs.

More than form and fitness it were his differences with Ijaz Butt, the proprietor of Pakistan cricket for the last couple of years, that kept the prolific number three batsman out of the national team for so long.

It has been the hallmark of the Ijaz Butt era during which the national interest has been compromised repeatedly for the pleasure of just one individual who considers himself above the law.

Yawar Saeed and Intikhab Alam, the principal advisors to Ijaz Butt, have left no stone unturned in damaging the cause of the national team in order to get closer to their master. In return they have been getting the joyrides one after the other.

Ijaz Butt and party experimented with various options but they could not find replacements for the likes of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan in particular with the inexperienced and less skilled youngsters faring as miserably as one would have expected.

Yousuf, a former captain, had to be recalled in the middle of the summer, albeit with the intervention of a political heavyweight, but he has been ruled out the Twenty20s and One-day Internationals against South Africa after rupturing his abductor muscles.

There was continuous pressure for the recall of another former captain Younis Khan and finally he was selected for the South African series after successfully negotiating a deal with Ijaz Butt.

Younis had received an indefinite ban in March for conflicting with Yousuf during the ill-fated tour of Australia at the start of the year. An arbitrator lifted the ban in June and it was manager Intikhab Alam who declared publicly that Younis has resolved all outstanding issues during a meeting with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.

“It's very good news that Younis is back. I am happy that all the issues are resolved and he is available for Pakistan. He is an experienced player and he would definitely strengthen the team,” Intikhab reckoned.

The diplomatic character that he has been all along, Intikhab didn’t care to explain why Younis was kept out of the side when he was available. Instead he passed the impression that South Africa were tougher rivals than Australia and England against whom Pakistan played earlier this year.

“We have to look forward as South Africa is a very tough team. Batting has been our main problem for quite some time, but if our batsmen played five-six sessions in a Test match, we have the bowling to restrict the South Africans. The experienced players have to take responsibility and put enough runs on board for the bowlers to defend,” he remarked in the familiar tone of his.

“I am happy to be back and eager to play for my country. I am available to play in all three forms of the game and it's up to the management to play me whenever they want,” Younis, having earlier quit T20 Internationals, stated after his recall.

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Dhoni makes waves of all kinds in Goa

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Reports indicate that Mahendra Singh Dhoni happens to be the most popular cricketer in the world after that man called Sachin Tendulkar. While Tendulkar has had an international career of 21 years now Dhoni is just 29-year-old not having been on the horizon for full six years even.

And there’s an area of the game where he has already overshadowed the Grand Master, who has numerous world records under his belt. Dhoni has proved to be an outstanding leader and his success record at all levels has simply been incredible so far.

No wonder he has been hailed as the best captain in the world at the moment, having accomplished conquests with consistency. No discredit meant to the feats of Tendulkar of late but Dhoni’s inspirational captaincy has been the key factor in the continued success of Team India.

Dhoni has been such a calming influence on a team that has the vast experience as well as the raw talent to come good in all conditions. He has been chiefly responsible for taking India to the top of the ladder in the Test rankings. The manner in which he is moving there’s very little doubt in one’s mind that his team would become the leaders in the other two formats of the game as well.

I had written the first-ever article on this blog exactly a couple of years ago captioned ‘Dhoni: The toughest not the luckiest.” He has proved me absolutely correct although it’s very difficult to the extent of next of impossible to predict about the success of any Indian in any given field with so many external factors involved.

Dhoni, I maintain, is an extraordinarily gifted soul who has perfected the art of concealing his emotions. Seldom does he react adversely in the grimmest of situations and commands complete respect from the seniors as well as the juniors.

I don’t know how many management books has he read or what else he does to enhance his own mental toughness the fact remains that he is the single greatest motivating factor behind the success of the new-look Indian team.

He knows better than anybody else than nothing could be taken for granted. He’s very much aware of the fact that you have to do the basics right first before thinking of further progress. He has set very high standards for himself but I get the impression that he’s not traditional hard task master who would scare any of his teammate.

Dhoni’s modesty has also had a role in ensuring the boys and elder statesmen in the side remain in peace and complete comfort under his leadership. He’s not willing to put undue pressure on any of them with everyone assigned a definite role.

The cool head of coach Garry Kirsten must have helped Dhoni considerably in extracting the best from the team in every situation. I think they represent an improved version of John Wright and Sourav Ganguly.

With the wet outfield preventing any play in the third and final One-day International against Australia on October 24, Dhoni availed the opportunity of celebrating the series win by spending time with wife Sakshi on Goa beaches.

The happy couple visited the Benolin beach where they were spotted splashing and canoodling together. It was a rare sight for the other visitors, who didn’t miss to capture the moment in their cameras and mobile phones.

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What’s more important Team India or IPL?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Isn’t it strange to learn that the movers and shakers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the virtual owners of Team India, have become so particular in taking care of their star players of late?

Isn’t in funny that they have decided in principle to field second string side for the upcoming home series against New Zealand in order to preserve the energies of some their key players?

I can’t understand the double standards of the BCCI. They have become so much careful and concerned for their cricketers all of a sudden during the middle of an international season.

Forget the World Cup. What about the Test and ODI series at home against New Zealand? What about the tour of South Africa which starts just a few days after the conclusion of the home series against the Black Caps?

Who had chalked out their plans? Who had finalized their itineraries? Who was responsible for ensuring adequate rest for the players besides ensuring that they fielded the strongest side in the park?

When the BCCI have so much influence in the affairs of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and all the member boards appear to be at their beck and call they had a duty to protect the interests of their own cricketers and the paying public.

What’s the fun in letting all the top guns participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Champions League, both of them being the babies of the BCCI, at the expense of their cricketers who should rather be motivated to give their sweat and blood for the national team?

I think the BCCI functionaries are playing around with the emotions of the millions of fans of Team India by compromising on their interests. There’s certainly no need now for having an IPL or Champions League when they already have a crowded international calendar.

Every country is more than eager to play with Team India for commercial reasons. India have had a formidable combination for every format of the game for quite sometime now. Their cricketers are crowd pullers in every continent of the world.

Besides minting money, which they can very well do by hosting more international matches, they have to think in terms of protecting the interests of the people of their own country. It are the people who have made the BCCI rich. It’s payback time.

Isn’t it a pity that the cricket-crazy towns will be denied the pleasure of watching the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh who are more likely to be rested for the ODIs against New Zealand?

Don’t the spectators deserve to see those legendary cricketers? The cricket matches have immense entertainment value and it’s the duty of the BCCI to strike a balance somehow.

I know they are more focused and interested in the television rights rather than worrying for how many people who turn up at the grounds but I reckon it’s unfair to field below strength teams in international matches.

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Kohli makes selection committee proud

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Well it’s an established fact that the selection committee gets all the flak when their team fails to deliver but they seldom get praised or even recognized when the boys picked by them succeed beyond expectations.

The chairman and the members of the selection committee are in the firing line for the slightest of mistakes but they are hardly mentioned when their tactical moves pay rich dividends.

India’s national selection committee, headed by Kris Srikkanth, deserve to be complimented for have reposed confidence in Virat Kohli who made them proud by a match-winning century in the second One-day International against Australia in Visakhapatnam.

Srikkanth, who was a rare attacking batsman in the Indian line-up of the 1980s, described the victory as a confidence-booster ahead of the World Cup. India's highest successful chase against Australia in the absence of five first-choice players, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh, certainly gladdened the hearts of the selectors.

"It was an important win in the context of the World Cup because it creates confidence in the team. When you win against the number one one-day team in the world chasing a record total, it is all the more satisfying,” he remarked in an interview.

“The way we approached the game was fantastic. The good sign is that the youngsters are putting up their hands and taking up responsibility. It has proved that we have strong bench strength. It's always heartening to see youngsters winning matches for you. It is a good sign for any country," Srikkanth said.

“We have held meetings with the captain, coach, team management and the BCCI. We know what they are doing with the board. We have drawn up a beautiful plan in coordination with all sides concerned. We're on track," he reckoned.

Kohli, in particularly, batted exceptionally well to guide India to a resounding five-wicket victory with plenty of deliveries remaining.

“Honestly I was struggling to get runs. I had not scored in last six-seven matches. I was under pressure. I was not hitting in the gaps. It was very satisfying and it gives you a lot of confidence when you score chasing under pressure. I will not say my place is cemented. I have to keep performing well in few more chases,” Kohli conceded.

“You try to learn from the mistakes. You tend to fail sometimes. This is part and parcel of the game. You do the basics right and train hard, it pays back. I didn't perform well in last two series. I could not convert my scores into big knocks. There was a struggle for a place," the youngster felt.

Well Kohli has to keep performing in order to stay in the team. With so much competition for the batting slots he needs to score prolifically in whatever opportunities that come his way. He also has to prove his worth on the livelier pitches that greet the Indians away from the comfort of home.

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India’s rare triumph in battle of young brigade

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It didn’t look like a true Australia-India game with both the countries packing their sides with an eye on the future rather on present. I don’t agree to the theory of both the nations having fielded a second eleven with the World Cup 2011, to be played in the sub-continent, in just a few months time.

The Indians have had this habit of obliging the visitors by not picking their strongest available side but the Australians have not been known for giving away caps cheaply. Therefore I was little surprised when they chose to enter the second ODI in Visakhapatnam with three inexperienced fast bowlers.

That seemed one of the reasons why the Indians got away with it this time round. Otherwise their young sides have often fared miserably with the disaster in Zimbabwe having taken place just a few months ago.

The Aussies proved too fragile themselves to contain the flamboyant duo of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina while defending a total of 289. Stand-in captain Michael Clarke didn’t have the ammunition to come good on the flattest of tracks.

I was under the impression that the match had gone Australia’s way once they had plundered 84 runs in the last five overs of the innings. Cameroon White continued to be India’s nemesis and the experienced Clarke had no problems in milking the bowling.

Australia, having been jolted at the start of the innings by the seasoned left-arm quickie, Ashish Nehra, seemed to have done a great job by setting target of 290 in the end because at no point one foresaw them crossing the barrier of 250.

As we have become accustomed to watching over the years the Indian bowlers were taken for far too many runs in the final overs after having exercised control in the earlier part of the innings.

But there was an unusual story when India began the chase. Having depended heavily on the tried and trusted trio of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir for kickstarting their innings they had three new faces with two of them, Murali Vijay and Shikar Dawan, failing not unexpectedly.

The third one, Kohli, turned it around with the knock of his life yet. His magnificent century lifted the home side and his productive partnerships with Yuvraj Singh and Raina settled the issue decisively.

It was one of the rare occasions when the youngsters had done it on their own for the home side who were prone to crashing in the absence of their star performers. Kohli proved many critics wrong with his technique and temperament.

There was not much element of surprise in the half-century of Yuvraj, having had to struggle for form and fitness for the past many months, but the knock of Kohli was something of a sensation.

Raina’s onslaught took the pressure off the limping Kohli, who celebrated his ton with a series of boundaries to seal the fate of the game. Ideally he would have liked to stay until the end but he was caught in the deep once more while attempting to clear the fence. We have seen him so many times getting dismissed in such a manner.

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ICC warning should serve as wake-up call for Ijaz Butt and protagonists

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Ijaz Butt has strong connections in the corridors of power and he has appeared least bothered about managing the affairs of Pakistan cricket in a professional career throughout his two-year tenure.

New records of nepotism and corruption have been created in his era and yet he has the burning desire to seek extension. He has brought the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the brink of disaster. If he’s allowed to rule a little longer it will come as little surprise to find Pakistan touching new lows.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has issued a strict warning to the PCB to implement a series of measures to solve problems faced by the country’s cricket or risk sanctions.

“The PCB must act and be seen to be acting to uphold the zero-tolerance attitude to corruption in sport and conduct a thorough review of players’ integrity, educate them, implement a process and introduce an anti-corruption code in their domestic cricket,” the ICC said in a statement after their recent two-day board meeting in Dubai.

“If the PCB fails to carry out the above to the satisfaction of the board within the next 30 days, the board will consider what further action (including, if appropriate, sanctions) is required in the circumstances,” it said.

The Pakistan cricket was rocked by allegations of spot-fixing in during the recently concluded tour of England, resulting in two separate inquiries. The ICC has ruled there was no evidence of spot-fixing in the third one-day international between Pakistan and England last month but another inquiry, relating to the Lord’s Test against England in August, is pending.

The trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohamnmad Amir was provisionally suspended by the ICC after alleged to have taken money from a book-maker to deliberately bowl no-balls in a Test match.

A couple of the top former Pakistan cricket administrators were critical of the ICC for having warned the PCB to take extraordinary measures to avoid sanctions over alleged corruption.

“It is damning. It means that the ICC has publicly called that PCB has to regain confidence of the ICC, and put them under pressure to take serious steps,” Ehsan Mani, a former ICC President, was quoted as saying.

Khalid Mahmood, who headed the PCB for a brief period in 1999 when the organization had as many as five different chiefs, described the ICC warning was an insult to Pakistan.

“The ICC warning is an insult to the whole nation. This step of the ICC is an evidence of inability and incompetence of the PCB officials and they have clearly mishandled the whole situation,” he remarked in an interview.

“ICC has cleared Pakistan of any corruption in the Oval one-day, Scotland Yard has yet to level any charges on the Lord’s Test inquiry, under these circumstances the ICC warning is biased and unjustified,” he felt.

Both these gentlemen appeared justified in defending the integrity of the nation but they should also have publicly condemned Ijaz Butt to have brought Pakistan to this stage where anything could happen.

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Tendulkar’s magic earns emphatic series win

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Sachin Tendulkar seems to be in the form of his lifetime and more importantly he desires to make it count. He has the same hunger for runs as he had 21 seasons ago while breaking into the international arena at the age of 16.

His brilliant knocks earned India a convincing seven-wicket win over Australia in the second Test at Bangalore. If India’s victory in the first Test at Mohali was a narrow one in what had remained anybody‘s game until the very end, they confirmed their superiority over the visitors by whacking them in the following game to be deserved winners of the series.

Tendulkar starred in both the innings. His double-century allowed India to surpass the huge Australian first innings total of 478 while his unbeaten half-century in the second outing ensured a hassle-free triumph for the hosts.

With the hero of the first Test, VVS Laxman, ruled out of the game due to injury and the prolific left-handed opener, Gautam Gambhir, also missing from the line-up, there was greater pressure on the shoulders of the tried and trusted trio of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar to take up the responsibility of piling up the runs.

Remember India are the only team in the world who register victories at the strength of their batters. It are primarily their top batsmen having been instrumental in taking them to the number one position in the ICC rankings.

Sehwag threatened briefly before disappointing the big crowd and Dravid lived to the reputation of failing on his home turf. The Indians were in a spot of bother and Ricky Ponting exerted pressure in a bid to square the series.

The one man who upset Ponting’s plan was none other than Tendulkar. He outthought the Australian skipper with his brilliant batting and none of the Australian bowlers could contain him. His total control inspired Murali Vijay and together they added more than 300 for the third wicket after the early departure of Sehwag and Dravid.

Another collapse followed after the fall of Tendulkar’s wicket on the fourth morning but not before he had completed a wonderful double-century to take his team ahead. India squandered the opportunity of registering a big lead as all the four bowlers failing miserably with the bat.

The Indian bowlers, however, made amends by dismissing Australia cheaply in the second innings and the home side had all the time in the world on the fifth and final day to chase down the target of 207.

Sehwag disappointed once again and Dravid was demoted in the batting order in order to let the young debutant Cheteshwar Pujara at number three. Vijay played another superb knock but the match was far from over when Tendulkar arrived at the wicket.

It was the third wicket partnership between Pujara and Tendulkar that brought India at the threshold of victory. Dravid had very little pressure when he walked in at number five with Tendulkar in full cry. They completed the job in a clinical fashion.

Tendulkar was very rightly adjudged Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series. He would have also collected Man of the Moment award if it was on offer. He will remember the Bangalore Test for a long time during which he also completed 14,000 runs.

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