England get lifeline as Pakistan’s batters collapse

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan’s batsmen were found wanting once more in the conditions that were not ideal for batting. The extra bounce of the Kennigton Oval pitch undid the stroke-makers who are more comfortable in doing the business on the placid sub-continental pitches where they take things for granted.

No matter how batting friendly the pitches may be in England the ball is always going to do something in the air and the bounce can vary. The Pakistan batsmen have often struggled whenever the ball has moved and what happened on June 7 was reflective of their mindset.

It was a must-win game for hosts England, after having been shocked by the Netherlands in the opening game. They rose to the occasion magnificently and as skipper Paul Collingwood noted in his post-match comments it was one of those days when all the eleven contributed their bit to record an emphatic victory.

England made amends to their disastrous start to the competition and their 48-run win over Pakistan took them to the next round without worrying for the outcome of the last league game.

England looked the better side and more significantly they were able to translate their supremacy into a resounding win. Pakistan appeared jaded and their batters were at sea while forcing the pace against a spirited bowling attack that possessed the variety as well as the punch.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson swung the ball appreciably and hitting them out of the park was always going to be laden with danger. The spin duo of Adil Rashid and Graeme Swann also bowled exceptionally well to create more pressure on the batsmen.

Collingwood proved himself an impressive leader. His proactive captaincy kept the batsmen guessing and there was not a single moment during the course of the game when the England captain passed the impression of losing the focus.

England, put into bat by Younis Khan, didn’t get off to a flying start as Shoaib Malik brought off a spectacular catch to dismiss Ravi Bopara in only the second over of the innings.

The runs were hard to come in the initial overs and it needed the brilliance of Kevin Pietersen to wrest the initiative. Luke Wright also chipped in with a cameo but it was the knock from Pietersen that laid the foundation for a huge score.

England denied themselves the chance of posting an imposing total with their inability to go after the spinners. Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi were allowed to return the kind of figures they might not succeed in achieving while playing domestic T20 tournaments in Pakistan.

England finished at least 15 to 20 runs short of what had looked likely after the impetus provided by Pietersen. They had to settle with a score of 185 for five in 20 overs.

The England bowlers came on striking at regular intervals to prevent any onslaught from Pakistan at any stage of their innings. The asking rate kept on mounting with every dot ball and the pressure of finding boundaries nearly every ball was too hot to handle.

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Yuvraj, Ojha prevent catastrophe of 2007

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Bangladesh may be a soft opposition for other teams but they have always been a formidable opponent for India, who have had the knack of failing against the weakest of outfits.

Bangladesh had spoiled India’s party in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and Rahul Dravid’s team, rated as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, was back home even before the second round.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s lads are the firm favourites to annex the ICC World Twenty20 title for the second time running and there are very few people who’ll dispute India being the strongest team to have taken the field in the competition.

By virtue of being the defending champions, the Indians have been placed alongside Bangladesh and Ireland in a Group that’s not the toughest. Two of these three teams will advance to the second round and in probability India had to one team with a fierce tie expected between Bangladesh and Ireland for the other slot.

But you can never be sure about the Indian team, who are yet to win a major international event after having entered as the favourites. It can’t be mere coincidence that their most memorable performance has come when they began as underdogs.

Kapil Dev’s team that lifted the World Cup in 1983 was hardly billed to proceed to the semifinals. They won the World Championship in Australia in 1985, under Sunil Gavaskar, after a poor season at home. Similarly India hardly had any chance of laying hands at the trophy when Dhoni’s outfit went to South Africa for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007.

India are head and shoulders above any other participating team in this particular event. Yet one can’t really be sure how far will they go, given their unpredictable and inconsistent record in the past.

Bangladesh was the first hurdle again and there were quite a few moments in the game when it appeared that history would repeat itself at Trent Bridge and India would be biting the dust yet again.

Yuvraj Singh and Pragyan Ojha, with their sterling performances, avoided the mishap for India and Bangladesh, who threatened to create yet another upset, was silenced to submission in the end.

It’s looked quite strange the manner in which India went about their business. Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma provided them a solid start but the middle overs were consumed in consolidation rather than making effort to take charge.

India, being the superior side, should have dictated terms rather than waiting for the final overs to put their feet on the accelerator. The tactics could easily have backfired and it was the sheer belligerence of Yuvraj saving their face. His fantastic stroke-play at the fag end allowed India to collect 59 runs from their last four overs. It was his 18-ball 41 that helped India post a fighting total.

Bangladesh were very much in the hunt and it was a brilliant spell of left-arm spin bowling from Ojha that derailed them. The Twenty20 international debutant dismissed the dangerous duo of Junaid Siddique and Shakib Al Hasan in his first over to bring relief for his captain. He took two more wickets to earn the Man of the Match award.

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Gayle the magnificent

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The West Indies have had the habit of throwing it away after promising starts and even the brilliance of Chris Gayle at times has got undone by the follies of his teammates. But the story was little different at the Kennington Oval on June 6 when they bulldozed Australia by seven wickets with as many as 25 balls remaining to kick start their campaign in the ICC World Twenty20 2009.

Gayle produced yet another sensational knock and more importantly he left at a stage when the job was as good as done. There were just a few runs to get with far too many balls at their disposal when he holed out probably in pursuit of a personal landmark.

He was batting on 88 and the West Indies were 13 runs away from victory. The only way he could have reached his hundred was to deal in boundaries. Brett Lee was the bowler, having had a nightmarish day. Gayle’s eyes lit up when Lee pitched another one up but the stroke got more elevation than distance and the catch was taken in the deep.

Gayle left the field to a standing ovation by the crowd who had been treated to some of most brutal strokes. Mind you he was toying with the Australian bowlers who were experienced and knew their job. The West Indian captain deserved full credit for having come up with something exceptional to guide his team to a most emphatic victory.

Obviously Gayle was the man who did the job but it would be unfair to ignore the contribution of his young opening partner, Andre Fletcher, who lent him perfect support in the big chase.

It was Fletcher, not Gayle, who began the onslaught in pursuit of a target of 170. They had a plan to make the most of the first six overs and Fletcher was assigned the task of starting the carnage. He showed great confidence in his abilities and was not overawed by the big reputation of the bowlers he was facing.

Fletcher’s unorthodox strokes provided the West Indies an exhilarating start and for a moment Gayle looked content to play second fiddle. This allowed the tall left-hander to get the feel of the proceedings and once he got into the top gear there was nothing that went unpunished.

Ricky Ponting tried every option he had up his sleeves but the breakthrough didn’t come until it was too late. The Australians might have regretted not having a specialist spinner in their side as the part-timers were unable to stem the flow of runs.

Earlier in the day, the West Indian fast bowlers had done a wonderful job by rocking the Australian top-order. Jerone Taylor got his team off to a cracking start by scalping the dangerous Shane Watson and Ponting in the very first over of the game with the neither of the two managing to open their account. Michael Clarke also perished early forcing them to look towards consolidation rather than force opponents to submission.

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12th Sindh Games revive sporting culture in Larkana

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The 12th edition of the Sindh Games concluded with a colourful ceremony at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Sports Complex in Larkana on May 31 with the Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah declaring the Games closed.

He paid rich tributes to the Provincial Sports Minister, Dr Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, to have dared holding the Games in the month of May, that’s generally considered hot from the sports point of view.

“We have known that the outdoor sports events in our country are staged in the season of winter or spring. But Dr Shah deserves credit to have given us the concept that the Games could also be held successfully in summer. The success of the 12th Sindh Games proved the point that every season is suited to sports if the events are managed professionally,” he observed.

The Chief Minister, while congratulating Karachi Region for clinching the trophy once more, urged the athletes of the other four regions to continue working hard for improving their performance in the future events.

He presented the winners trophy to Dr Frahan Essa Abdullah, chef de mission of the Karachi Region who was then carried on shoulders by the elated members of the victorious contingent.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced that the next edition of the Sindh Games will be staged in Karachi. He announced a grant of Rupees five million for the sports department for holding the 12th Sindh Games in a splendid manner.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Shah observed that his mission was to spread the flame of sports in every nook and corner of the province and he needed the support of the provincial government in fulfilling his ambition.

“I was advised by certain quarters to postpone the 12th Sindh Games or move it to any other venue in view of the weather conditions here. But it was my commitment to the people of Larkana to hold the Games here and we were able to organize it successfully despite all odds being stacked against us,” he said.

Dr Shah believed that the interior regions of the province deserved greater attention as they lacked the infrastructure facilities that didn’t allow their athletes to progress beyond a certain level.

The Provincial Minister for Local Government, Agha Siraj Durrani, who himself holds a black belt in karate, was highly appreciative of the efforts of Dr Shah and his team for having braved the hot weather and organized the Sindh Games so successfully in Larkana.

Ahmed Ali Rajput, Secretary, Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), in his speech, highlighted the various challenges that had to be met in holding the Games.

The welcome address was delivered by Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Sindh, in which he acknowledged the support of the concerned quarters in accomplishing the task of holding the Sindh Games.

“According to the directives of the government we are working tirelessly to develop sports culture in the province. It’s our desire to engage the youth in healthy activities with sports being on top in the list of our priorities,” Shoaib Siddiqui said.

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Yousuf, Razzaq set to return to Pakistan team shortly

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may be prompted to recall early the duo of Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq whose resignations have reportedly been accepted by the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Both Yousuf as well as Razzaq can still be drafted in the Pakistan line-up because the batting simply has lacked the consistency in the recent past. It will come as so surprise if both of them make it to squad for Pakistan's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

The Pakistan cricket has certainly missed Yousuf’s anchoring role in the middle order and the enterprise of all-rounder Abdul Razzaq as their replacements have failed to deliver on a regular basis.

Since Yousuf and Razzaq are desperately needed to boost the struggling Pakistan side, it looks extremely likely that they might have been approached by the PCB officials with the solid offer of an immediate return to the national team if they distanced themselves from the ICL.

It’s debatable whether the PCB should have been so lenient in pardoning them for having compromised on national interests. Both of them, and all other who joined the ICL, knew that they were ruling themselves out of international arena since the ICC did not recognize the League.

The ‘rebel’ cricketers received astronomical sums for having ditched their national boards that’s why some of them have not welcomed players associated the ICL right away.

The PCB could have also waited for sometime before recalling the ICL contracted cricketers, even though they had resigned from the League.

Drafting them back into international cricket from the moment they have resigned from the ICL doesn’t reflect wisdom. The cricketers, who benefited so much financially for having abandoned the national team, should have been made to wait for some time before recalling them.

But the officials of the PCB must be having their logic that may not look logical to the ordinary mortals. They were issuing public statements that they were willing to take them back even when they were engaged in the ICL.

“Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq are available for selection now and that is a good thing. Cooling period doesn't come into it,” Wasim Bari, a former Pakistan, now Director Human Resources at the PCB, was quoted as saying.

Wasim Bari obviously conveyed the sentiments of the people at the helm of the affairs in the PCB, who displayed so much of fondness for Yousuf out in the open despite his controversial moves during the past few years.


Yousuf, high in demand after accomplishing the record of highest number of Test runs in a calendar year, had signed a contract with the ICL in 2007. Then came the news of him ditching the ICL and getting a hefty fee from the PCB for doing the same.

Yousuf was eager to play IPL, after his ‘deal’ with the PCB, but legal complications didn’t allow him to fulfill this particular desire and he rejoined the ICL instead in late 2008.

Everyone believed that Yousuf’s career with Pakistan was over once he was back at the ICL. But he has been granted a new lease of life lately and his international career is likely to resume soon.

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Games last a few days, memories last a lifetime

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Sindh Minister for Sports, Dr. Mohammed Ali Shah, declared the 12th Sindh Games open at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Sports Complex in Larkana on May 28, as originally scheduled.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Shah, the famous orthopedic surgeon, who is also the President of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), remarked that sports was a more than useful tool in combating crimes.

“The promotion of sports is actually a fight against crime. We have been working on the strategy of building infrastructure projects all over the province so that our people could have the access to better sporting facilities,” Dr Shah observed.

Earlier in the day the provincial minister had performed the inauguration of astrotruf at the Khuhro Complex, having fulfilled his promise that he had made very long ago.

“This is a gift for the hockey players in Larkana. Now they have the opportunity to fine tune their skills and take their game to another level,” he said.

There was more good news for the sports enthusiasts in Larkana as Dr Shah announced that Rs 400 million would be spent on projects to develop the hockey grounds in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Sports Complex as well as the Khuhro Sports Complex.

He reckoned that there’s much sporting talent in Sindh in general Larkana in particular and greater efforts were needed to provide them the platform to unfold their skills.

He pointed out that the events like the Sindh Games go a long way in promoting sports from the grassroots level and he was eager to have it on a regular basis.

The 12th Sindh Games, being organized by the Sindh Sports Board (SSB), an organ of the Government of Sindh, with the collaboration of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), would certainly test the participating athletes.

The contests are being held in 24 disciplines for men and 10 by women besides the four indigenous games and the exhibition event tug of war.

The men athletes are in action in athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, boxing, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, netball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tae kwendo, tennis, throwball, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu while the female athletes are engaged in the disciplines of athletics, badminton, basketball, hockey, karate, netball, softball, table tennis, throwball and volleyball.

Meanwhile thanks to the efforts of Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, to the Government of Sindh, the athletes and officials of the 12th Sindh Games have been provided the insurance cover.

“Injuries and hospitalization are also covered besides the accidental death. This is probably for the first time in the country when the athletes are being provided with the insurance cover during a sporting event. In fact the athletes as well as the officials will be covered for a period of one month, from May 27 to June 26,” Shoaib Siddiqui revealed.

The Sindh Games has returned to Larkana after 16 years. The first-ever Sindh Games were held in this town in 1986 and then the fifth edition was staged in 1993.

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India’s performance in ICC World Twenty20 could suffer due to IPL

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

As they say excess of anything is bad. The Indian cricketers have undoubtedly been in huge demand over the last few years in particular and their authorities have kept them engaged literally round the clock.

The excessive workload can have negative impact that there’s every possibility of India’s performance suffering in the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in England because their cricketers have had very little time to relax after the grueling second edition of the high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL) that lasted over a month in South Africa.

All the 15 members of the Indian squad, who are preparing to board the flight to England, were engaged in the IPL 2009 and they had returned home just a few days ago. They certainly deserved a reasonable break after having been in action in the most demanding format of the game for well over a month.

The present lot of Indian cricketers is indeed immensely talented and incredibly tough mentally but they are after all human beings and not machines. With the added pressure of having to defend the title they won in South Africa a couple of years ago, they will have to come up with something extraordinary to do the business once more.

The Indians certainly appear the strongest team in the world for the Twenty20 games on paper but extending their top form on a continuous basis could be a very tall order even for them.

By scheduling the IPL 2009 so close to the second ICC World Twenty20 the Indian cricket administrators have also passed the impression that they hardly cared for the global event.

But what they forgot was the fact that the Twenty20 cricket had exploded in India only after their team had won the inaugural World Cup in 2007. It was the triumph that led a turnaround. 

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was born soon after India had been crowned as the world champions in Twenty20 cricket. There was an unprecedented boom and cricket had come alive in the country that had gone into a state of mourning following the debacle of their fancied team in the Caribbean just a few months ago.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), for some reasons, didn’t own the ICL and the International Cricket Council (ICC) was not left with any other option than to lend support to the Indian Board.

The movers and shakers in the BCCI came out with their own brand of Twenty20 cricket that led to the creation of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

They mobilized all their resources to produce something that was nothing short of sensational. The game of cricket was taken to another level by the IPL.

The IPL has indeed done a favour to the Indian cricket as it has provided a solid platform for their upcoming as well as established campaigners to showcase their talents to an international audience. 

But it’s up to the BCCI to decide whether they could also compromise their national interests by promoting the IPL. Hosting the tournament so close to the ICC World Twenty20 looked a debatable move. 

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Joyrides by PBSA officials to hurt Pakistan snooker

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) earned goodwill and recognition over the past couple of decades for having worked with transparency and missionary zeal.

The dynamic leadership of Ali Asghar Valika took the Pakistan snooker to new heights and the game progressed in leaps and bounds over the years. At times snooker was even considered as the most popular sport of the country after cricket of course.

Snooker earned laurels and medals for Pakistan. Mohammad Yousuf won the World Amateur Championship in 1994. Shaukat Ali captured the gold medal when snooker was included in the Asian Games for the first time in 1998. Earlier the same year Yousuf had annexed the Asian title. Pakistan’s cueists went on to bring home medals in the 2002 Asian Games as well.

Asghar Valika had to quit the PBSA in controversial circumstances last September and the new set of office-bearers were left with a daunting task of putting things back in order.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, who succeeded Asghar Valika, displayed tremendous enthusiasm and energy to come to grips with the challenges but he has come under fire of late for having promoted joyrides.

He was found wanting in coming up with a convincing answer to justify the presence of two officials with as many cueists during the recently concluded 25th Asian Snooker Championship 2009 staged in China.

During the media launch of the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2009 at the Karachi Club, Alamgir Shaikh was asked how their Association, which was unable to hold the Latif Masters due to the shortage of funds last year, became so rich overnight that it could afford sending as many as two officials with the two cueists.

The PBSA President was also in a spot of bother when questioned about the wisdom behind sending two officials and not allowing the young duo of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad to have the facility of a coach to turn to during the course of the Asian Championship.

“Bilal Mughal, whose services were acquired to conduct a three-week training camp on the eve of the departure to China, is basically a coach only for the beginners. That’s why we didn’t deem it proper to take him for the Asian Championship,” Alamgir Shaikh opined.

The PBSA President, however, looked towards the heavens when reminded that the same Bilal Moghul was appointed coach for the national team during the Asian Championship last year in Dubai.

The snooker circles have pointed fingers at the policy of the present PBSA office-bearers, accusing them of being engaged in joyrides at the expense of the game.

Alamgir Shaikh conceded that the performance of the Pakistan’s cueists in the recently concluded Asian Championship was the worst-ever for a long time. “Yes it’s true that our youngsters were unable to deliver. Debutant Asif fared a little better, forcing his way into the knockout stage of the competition but Sajjad was a big disappointment throughout the event,” the PBSA President admitted.

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