Inept fielding can undo Indian batsmen’s great work

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Indians came perilously close to conceding the first One-day International of their five-match series at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot on December 15 even after having posted their highest-ever ODI total.

The relief on the face of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was obvious when he had come out to have a few words with Ravi Shastri who was conducting the presentation ceremony at the ground.

While recognizing the great spells from left-arm bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, that saved the day for India, Dhoni minced no words in stating that it wasn’t the greatest day in the field where they very nearly lost the match while defending a massive total.

You didn’t need to be an expert to assess the situation. It was Indian’s pathetic fielding that let them down and all but undid the great work of their batsmen. They would have brought the schoolboys to shame such horrible was their display in the field.

Although the Captain Cool had not spoken about the lapses in the field that day but he has come out in the open as his team prepares for the second game in Nagpur on December 18.

Dhoni has expressed concerns at the fielding and he has every reason to feel worried from the performance of his teammates who were guilty of dropping three sitters at Rajkot after having spilled a dozen or so catches in the Twenty20 Internationals besides making mess of numerous run-out opportunities.

"We were fielding well in patches and not dropping catches at the international level. You may drop the odd difficult catch but straightforward chances need to be taken. In the last three-four games we have dropped a lot of regulation catches. Of course it bothers me,” Dhoni admitted.

"At the same time it will be solved at some point because of the effort that we are putting in. We are hoping we don't drop catches in this game," he observed.

Dhoni was not shorts of words in praising the brilliant bowling at the death by the duo of Zaheer and Nehra that saved India’s blushes at Rajkot.

"It was one of the best in the past year. I have always said we had not been very consistent with the death bowling. In the last game, in the last five overs we gave away only 27 runs. It was a very good effort. Ashish Nehra bowled five overs in a row. There was a bit of reverse swing going which actually helped us a bit,” the skipper said.

"Normally you don't get wickets like that. It was not a big ground with the straight boundary not more than 60-65 yards. Since the wicket was so nice, it was easy for the batsmen to clear the field. It's important not to give easy singles," he added.

"In the last T20 game here there was good bounce. The wicket for the match looks like good and flat. I had a conversation with the curator," Dhoni concluded.

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Zaheer, Nehra bowl India to thrilling victory

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was the day of batters at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground in Rajkot on December 15 where as many as 825 runs were plundered in 100 overs in the first One-day International between India and Sri Lanka but it were the bowlers who had the last laugh.

Left-arm quickies Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who had gone for plenty in their earlier spells, returned to bowl exceptionally well under pressure to guide India to a victory that had looked extremely unlikely a short while earlier.

Both the left-armers, having leaked far too many runs in their opening overs, were right on money in the closing stages of the game to bring the crowd back to life. Remember the boundaries had rained all day and the bowlers had been belted to all parts of the ground. To bowl tightly under these circumstances of quite an accomplishment and both Zaheer and Nehra deserved the credit for rising to the occasion.

The Indians, as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted in the presentation ceremony, were guilty of not getting enough runs in their final overs despite the blistering start. They were expected to post a much higher total than what they achieved after having raised the 300 of their innings in 34.1 overs for the loss of only wicket.

India have had this tendency of not making the most of the slog overs and very rarely have they amassed the quantum of runs that’s normally expected from any other team in the final stages of the innings. How would they justify getting only 114 runs in the last 16 overs of the innings after having being 300 for one.

Virender Sehwag led the charge in the usual manner of his, blasting 146 off 102 balls. Useful contributions from Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni laid the foundation for a gigantic total. None of the middle-order batsmen could make a significant contribution and the Sri Lankans had every reason to feel pleased after having contained India to 414 in 50 overs.

Set to score 415 on the flattest of tracks, the Sri Lankans were helped by sloppy fielding that made the bowlers suffer more than anticipated. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga's 188-run opening stand wasn’t unexpected the manner in which the Indians were letting the ball go past them.

Kumar Sangakarra tormented the Indians with a breezy 90 off 40 balls but there was more likelihood of a comfortable Sri Lankan victory rather than the hosts pulling it back.

The drama, however, began when the Sri Lankan captain chose to take the batting powerplay. He himself became the first casualty and then Harbhajan Singh got two key wickets including that of Dilshan who made 160 off 124 balls.

The match had become wide open after the mini-collapse but the half century sixth wicket partnership between Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews put Sri Lanka back on top.

The Indians fielded marginally better in the last two overs. Zaheer was literally unplayable in the penultimate over the match, yielding only four runs and resulting in two run outs. Nehra, entrusted with the job of delivering the final over with 11 needed, bowled magnificently to win the day for India.

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Well deserved ICC recognition for Ahmed Mustafa

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Ahmed Mustafa is one of the very few persons to richly deserve the ICC centenary medal awarded upon the recommendation of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He happens to be one of the winners of the medal to be presented by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to 1000 special volunteers from all over the world in recognition for their contribution to the sport.

Ahmed Mustafa is certainly one of those people having dedicated their lifetime to develop the game at the grassroots and nurture the stars of the future. He’s credited to have produced three Test cricketers, Azam Khan, Faisal Iqbal and Owais Shah, who had not even entered their teens at the time of joining his Cricket Coaching Centre (CCC).

The CCC, his labour of love, has helped many other kids fulfill their ambition of playing first-class cricket. The likes of Ali Hussain Rizvi, Mohammad Masroor, Saad Wasim, Mohammad Javed, Maisam Hasnain and Fahad Iqbal had to be grateful to the training they received at the CCC to build their career.

Ahmed Mustafa himself was an aggressive top-order batsman who was not afraid to attack the bowling in an era when the occupation of crease used to be the name of the game. He was one of the contemporaries of the great Hanif Mohammad, whose batting technique was second to none.

Having played for Karachi and made quite an impression, he narrowly missed getting the Pakistan cap because of a tragic road accident. He was in contention for a slot in the national squad when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a heavy vehicle that caused serious damage to his legs.

He remained associated with the game all along and created a sensation by founding the first-ever cricket academy of the country by the name of Cricket Coaching Centre (CCC) in July 1987.

What a great service to the game he did by having established the CCC! The boys from all over Karachi rushed in to avail the opportunity. Ahmed Mustafa set tough guidelines for selecting the boys for grooming and training. He didn’t believe in doing it for the purpose of public relations. Neither did he approve the idea of making money from coaching as all the services at the CCC were provided free of cost to the trainees.

The CCC has completed two decades of its existence. In fact it has been there for more than 22 years now. Its silver jubilee is not very far away. Ahmed Mustafa has managed to keep the institution afloat, with the support of his like-minded friends, despite the heaviest of odds.

Although laid low by his deteriorating health during the last couple of years, he has still been working with missionary zeal to contribute his bit in the cricket development by running the CCC with limited resources at his disposal.

Quite a few coaching academies have come into prominence in the recent past but it’s the CCC, founded by Ahmed Mustafa, meriting special mention for having pioneered the idea.

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Salahuddin reckons India’s batting too good

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan’s former chief selector and an ex-Test all-rounder, Salahuddin Ahmed, has reckoned that India happen to be the only cricket team in the world capable of winning a match at the strength of their batting.

“Yes India’s batting right now is simply too good for every format of the game. In cricket you generally need greater strength in your bowling department to engineer victories but this current Indian side has the rare capability of manufacturing wins primarily through their batsmen,” Salahuddin, respected for his clarity of thought and depth of knowledge, remarked after watching India down Sri Lanka with consummate ease in the end in the second Twenty20 International in Mohali on December 12.

“The Indian batsmen have mastered the craft. They hardly invent shots of their own. Rather they have perfected the art of dominating the bowlers by wisely executing the pure cricketing shots. Their current lot is incredibly talented and there is a fierce competition for every batting position,” he remarked.

“Look what happened in Mohali tonight. The target of 207 in 20 overs wasn’t a piece of cake. They needed to play to their potential to do it and they did exactly that to level the series,” Salahuddin pointed out.

“Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag provided them the usual bright start. Both of them have been in terrific form and they complement each other very well. When Gambhir departed, Sehwag took over. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipped in with a flurry of big shots that allowed India to remain on top of the game,” he commented.

“Finally it was the birthday boy Yuvraj Singh who took the responsibility of guiding his team to victory in front of his home crowd. It was yet another dashing knock from the left-hander who looks like improving with every outing. He has every shot in the book and he is not afraid to come down the wicket to loft the ball,” Salahuddin observed.


“It was a Twenty20 game, a format in which India have been least successful in the recent times. They have been more consistent in One-day Internationals and Test matches, mainly because of the accomplishments of their batsmen. They owe their success to their batters with the bowlers providing the supporting role,” he felt.

“The Indians have the most formidable batting line-up for Test matches where they have the specialists like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who are well versed in occupying the crease for long time. With the flamboyance of Sehwag and Gambhir up the order and the dashers like Yuvraj and Dhoni to follow the big five it’s obviously a nightmare for any bowling side more often than not,” Salahuddin continued.

“Just have a look at their record in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka. They were able to compile totals in the excess of 600 in the last two Tests. In fact they had crossed 600 for the loss of only four wickets or so on both occasions. Not surprisingly the Indians went on to win both games and there was not much Kumar Sangakkara could have done to prevent the inevitable,” he concluded.

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BCCI act before it’s too late

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), by requesting their South African parts to play a couple of Test matches at the expense of a few limited overs contests, have acknowledged the significance of the longest version of the game in which their own team is the best in the business.

It would have been a pity had the South Africans come all the way to India only to play One-day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. India and South Africa occupy the first and second positions respectively in the ICC Test rankings and it would have been a great injustice for the followers of the game not to have watched them lock horns in this particular format.

The BCCI has already taken the initiative, albeit after a lot of media criticism in which they were also labeled as the killers of Test cricket. Now the ball is in the court of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) and there seems no reason why they would not meet the request of the hosts.

Some quarters had feared that the future of Test cricket was being jeopardized by the BCCI move of accommodating maximum number of ODIs and T20Is with negligible provision for Tests.

Obviously quick bucks are there for the taking in the limited overs matches but the BCCI have now been prompted to go back to the drawing room and make allowance for some Test matches as well.

Every cricket team in the world is eager to play India these days. Now it was the duty of the BCCI to strike a balance and ensure that the paying public was provided every flavour of the game.

Yes time has certainly changed and life is moving at a faster pace yet there are millions of people who derive pleasure in the real thing. Who will dispute that a Test match is the ‘real thing’ in cricket.

It had looked surprising in the first place why the BCCI functionaries were showing so much disrespect to Test cricket because India is one country that possesses the largest number of passionate fans. They constitute the biggest market for cricket that India have become of late.

Probably the movers and the shakers in the BCCI, already the richest and the most influential cricket board, wanted to cash in on the growing popularity of the T20 matches that caught the imagination of the Indian public when their team won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007.

The BCCI should, however, not have lost sight of the fact that they do have a responsibility to take care of the people who are their actual strength. It are the big crowds at the grounds and the millions of television viewers sitting at home who have made them the most sought after entity. It’s payback time.

By having performed consistently in the limited opportunities that came their way, India have climbed to the top rankings in Test cricket. The Indian fans in particular would like to watch their heroes in action in the five-day games on a more regular basis.

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Younis out, Yousuf in

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

That’s how things stand at this point of time. Younis Khan is nowhere in the picture now, having refrained from making an appearance in the domestic circuit after having withdrawn himself from the tour of New Zealand. He has himself provided the opportunity for Mohammad Yousuf, the caretaker captain, to get an extension.

With Younis having disappeared from the scene, the stage was set for Yousuf to continue as captain for the upcoming visit to Australia. I think it made sense for the selectors not to have considered Younis for the Australian series because he was guilty of skipping the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Neither had he informed the selection committee or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about his availability.

As it turned out Younis, who might have had other ideas, was dropped from the Pakistan squad altogether let alone regaining the captaincy. Yousuf, as expected, was appointed captain for the Test as well as the one-day series against Australia.

Younis probably was under the illusion that he would be approached to lead the team again after Yousuf was done with the Tests in New Zealand.

There is another school of thought suggesting that Younis didn’t declare himself available purposely for the Australian series where he expects the Pakistan team to have a tough time on the bouncing pitches.

Only time will tell if Younis has made a mistake by not touring Australia. The Pakistan batsmen are expected to struggle while coming to terms with the Aussies but didn’t this mean that the senior batsman should have thought of coming to the rescue of the team.

Younis, with so much experience behind him, was more likely to fire on the Australian pitches where the youngsters could face chin-music if found wanting in handling the short-pitched deliveries.

For the sake of the team Younis should have toured Australia and helped the young guns in boosting their confidence. Here was an opportunity for him to enhance his reputation as a leader. But he has gone for the soft option of taking a rest when his team will be pitted against the strongest bowling attack of the world.

Yousuf will have a point for an even longer tenure as captain if he leads the team against Australia with some conviction and withstands the pressures with any degree of success.

Neither Younis nor Yousuf are natural leaders, unfortunately. Both of them have had to lead the side because of the lack of choice.
It will be hard for Younis to regain the captaincy if Yousuf succeeds. That must have been the understanding when Yousuf was offered the leadership during the course of the ODI series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The politics had taken its toll and almost the entire team had reservations about Younis, who was probably left with no option than to quit. I don’t think it had much to do with the result of the games. Such things have been part and parcel of the Pakistan cricket for quite sometime now.

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Thoroughly deserved reward for Dhoni and company

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The Indians, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have proved themselves as the most potent side in every form of the game in world cricket. While they have struggled for consistency in the limited overs contest, hurting their rankings, they have been a cut above the rest as far as the longest version of the sport is concerned and they richly deserved to be the top ranked Test side.

India have finally achieved moved to the top by winning the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. It's a just reward for an outfit possessing the most powerful batting line-up backed by a lethal bowling attack, having variety and more importantly the class and character to absorb the pressures of Test cricket.

Dhoni's proactive captaincy has been instrumental in letting the Indians translate their supremacy into convincing victories. In the past they were good to the extent of dominating their rivals but somehow lacked the finishing touch to make it count.

This Indian side with Dhoni at the helm of the affairs has been showing greater mental toughness than ever before. Sourav Ganguly and John Wright, in the capacity of captain and coach respectively, had revived the Indian cricket with their positive approach that provided them the self-belief to come good against the heaviest of odds.

Ganguly and Wright were chiefly responsible for bringing about a welcome change in the attitude of the players and there was a marked improvement in India's performance particularly in overseas games.

The combination of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell promised a lot but the totally unexpected debacle in the Caribbean during the 2007 World Cup upset every plan of theirs and the change of guard left their mission unaccomplished.

Anil Kumble did a fine job as captain of the Test team while Dhoni's impressive captaincy in limited overs games brought them more glories than agonies.

It was a matter of time for Dhoni to take over in the Test arena and it was during the home series against Australia last season when he was appointed the leader for all forms of the game.

Dhoni's own batting performance has helped India considerably in improving their ratings in Test cricket. Coming behind six world class batters, he has proved himself an ideal number seven batsman in the mould of the great Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, Adam Gilchrist.

Dhoni obviously has to score quite a few more Test centuries to be bracketed with Gilchrist but the manner in which he has batted there's very little doubt in one's mind about his abilities.

India also owe their recent conquests to one man called Virender Sehwag. His blistering knocks have enabled his team to get a head start more and his longer stay at the crease has meant disaster for the opponents.

Sehwag had looked set to become the first batsman in Test history to score three triple hundreds but a rare half-hearted shot ended his magnificent innings in Mumbai when just a few runs away from the world record.

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Federal Minister takes note of PBSA joyrides

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Federal Sports Minister, Pir Syed Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani, has taken a note of the continued joyrides of the officials of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) besides expressing his disappointment at the failure of Pakistan’s cueists in the recently concluded World Snooker Championship 2009 in the South Indian town of Hyderabad.

The Federal Minister has also categorically denied having personally requested the PBSA President, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, to attend the board meeting of the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) for pursuing Pakistan’s bid for the Asian Under-21 Billiards & Snooker Championship 2010.

“On the contrary the PBSA officials had submitted a request for a special grant to cover the costs for participation in the World Snooker Championship. Despite the financial constraints we facilitated them in the larger national interest and arranged for the payments,” Pir Aftab Jilani revealed.

“I didn’t advise any of the PBSA officials to visit India or more specifically attend a meeting for the purpose of getting hosting rights of any tournament in future. As a matter of fact we are perturbed by the reports that quite a few office-bearers of the Association have been traveling with the squad for the past one year or so,” he disclosed.

“Our Ministry is looking into the matter and the PBSA would be required to submit the utilization report of the amount of money they were paid,” the Federal Minister added.

“Like the whole nation we are also concerned about the deteriorating performance of our cueists in the international events despite being extended total support by the government,” Pir Aftab Jilani stated.

The cash starved PBSA, relying almost totally on the government grants of late, has continued to pursue policy of sending a good number of officials abroad despite the media criticism.

Two of their top functionaries, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh and Ali Asghar Valika, traveled to India on the pretext of attending the Board meeting of the ABSF. Another office-bearer of the PBSA, Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, accompanied cueists Mohammad Sajjad and Mohammad Asif as manager for the World Snooker Championship.

The President as well as the Honorary Secretary of the PBSA had also accompanied the cueists in the World Snooker Championship last year when the expenses were borne by the Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) while the Federal Sports Ministry and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) covered the costs of their travel to China for the Asian Snooker Championship earlier this year.

The snooker circles have remained critical of the tours being undertaken by the PBSA officials particularly at a critical time when the Association is almost totally dependent on the government grants.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued in Karachi on December 3, the PBSA acknowledged the sanction of the special grant towards the Pakistan snooker squad’s participation in the World Snooker Championship.

The PBSA President, Alamgir Shaikh, who returned home earlier and didn’t attend the ACBS meeting in Hyderabad, explained that they had to forego Asian Billiards & Snooker Championship 2010 because of security concerns and the event has now been allotted to India.

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