Pakistan captain’s over-confidence could ruin hopes

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Shahid Afridi has tried to be diplomatic while speaking to the media ‘officially’ but his body language has been quite different in off-the-record sessions. Sometimes he has been found very arrogant and occasionally he passes the impression of disowning the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 2010 having been selected before his appointment as captain.

Shahid probably wants to have the cake and eat it too. He aims to kill two birds by firing just one shot. No questions would be asked obviously if the team returns triumphant from the Caribbean and he will quite proudly claim the credit for victory. And if the team gets jolted he might simply say the combination given to him was not to his liking.

“Our team is geared up to tactically and technically live up to the expectations of the nations to accomplish the task in the West Indies,” he told APP Correspondent Ehsan Qureshi in an interview in Karachi prior to his departure to Lahore on his way to St.Lucia on April 24.

“Without the prayers of the nation and supporters across the world, Pakistan team can not achieve anything. Besides playing patriotically for Pakistan we needed support of countrymen and media,” he added.

“My appeal to the national media would be healthy in criticism but should keep the interest of Pakistan above all. My mission as a captain and with the support of players and team management to keep the team away from any controversy,” he pointed out.

“I like to lead the team from the front because of my style and I always believe in an aggressive approach which had his stigma throughout his career. We are fully equipped to face the challenges in West Indies. He got well balanced team in batting and bowling and we have to further lift the standard of fielding,” the Pakistan captain remarked.

“Fielding is crucial area in this fastest version of the game and a lot of hard work was done to raise the standard. We are ready give our best and rest with Almighty,” he stressed.

Shahid dispelled the impression that Pakistan may face trouble in batting department. “It’s altogether different in T20 cricket. We got a lot of firepower in our batting. We are initially planning to start the innings with Muhammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. We have experienced Misbahul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Akmal, Khalid Latif and Salman Butt,” he said.

He expected spinning tracks in the West Indies and considered Pakistan’s bowling attack potent enough to come good on all kind of surfaces.

“Saeed Ajmal and Muhammad Hafeez would be the off-spinners to complement my leg-spin. We have adequate resources in the fast bowling department as well with the likes of Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq,” the Pakistan captain believed.

“T20 is very tough and demanding cricket and we can afford to take any team lightly. We even can not take Bangladesh lightly as they possess a number talented cricketer in their line-up,” he concluded.

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Karachi set to host 13th Sindh Games 2010 in June

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The city of Karachi will be hosting the Sindh Games for the third time in 24 years as the 13th edition of the premier provincial event will be staged here during in the first week of June.

The Government of Sindh, with the collaboration of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), has announced to organize the 13th Sindh Games 2010 in Karachi from June 1 to 5. Karachi had earlier hosted the Sindh Games in 1989 and 1999.

Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Sindh Sports Minister, and Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, have pledged to hold the event at different venues of Karachi in a befitting manner.

As in the past, he said, all the five regions of the province, Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana would be taking part in the 13th Sindh Games.

“This is a special year during which the Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games are scheduled to be held. The Sindh Games will have added significance in order to provide an opportunity to our athletes to prepare for these international events,” Shoaib Siddiqui, who is also the Secretary of the Sindh Sports Board (SSB), remarked in a recent interview.

“Athletics, basketball, boxing, badminton, bodybuilding, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, netball, swimming, softball, squash, table tennis, taeknowndo, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu would be part of the 13th Sindh Games,” he revealed.

“The tournaments in the indigenous games like kodi kodi, malkhara, wanjh watti, shootingball will also be held while the proposal of having the Twenty20 cricket making an entry in the Sindh Games was under consideration,” he added.

The Sindh Games, it may be recalled, was launched by the SOA in 1986 with the inaugural event staged at Larkana. The 2nd Sindh Games was held at Mirpurkhas in 1987 followed by one in Karachi in 1989.

The infighting and the subsequent litigation kept the provincial Olympic body dormant for a number of years, prompting the SSB to revive the Sindh Games in 1991 at Hyderabad. The fifth, sixth and seventh editions were also organized by the SSB at Sukkur (1993), Larkana (1995) and Mirpurkhas (1996).

The SOA dispute was resolved in 1996 but they have had to seek the financial assistance from the provincial government for holding the Sindh Games all along. Its eighth and ninth editions were staged at Karachi (1999) and Hyderabad (2000) before yet another long break.

The Sindh Games was revived in 2006 with Hyderabad hosting it for the second successive time. The 11th edition was held at Sukkur in 2008 with Larkana having played host to the 12th Sindh Games last May.

Dr Mohammad Ali Shah and Shoaib Siddiqui are credited to have organized the last Sindh Games against the heaviest of odds in Larkana. The weather was not particularly friendly to a sporting event during the month of May but the Sindh Sports Minister as well as the Sindh Sports Secretary remained convinced that the athletes would benefit a great deal by competing in rough and tough conditions.

Their fierce determination silenced the critics and the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, had publicly recognized the grit of the provincial sports functionaries for having blessed Larkana with a magnificent event

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Modi to go down fighting

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The high-profile IPL Chairman and Commissioner, Lalit Kumar Modi, is not going down without a fight. He is believed to be set for moving to the Bombay High Court on April 23 to question the legality of the IPL Governing Council meeting on April 26.

Modi has contended that as IPL Chairman only he was entitled convene a meeting of the Governing Council. This came after the BCCI President, Shashank Manohar, had accused Modi of breaching confidentiality.

"Modi violated the confidentiality clause by putting out share holding details on Twitter," the BCCI President was quoted as saying when Modi had tweeted about Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar's sweat equity in the IPL Kochi team.

Sharad Pawar, the Vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), had made the announcement following a meeting with BCCI President that the governing council of the IPL would meet on April 26 to discuss the future of the competition's commissioner, Modi, at the centre of allegations regarding financial irregularities.

"Manohar met me today and he briefed me about the situation. The IPL governing council will take a unanimous decision on Modi's resignation and, thereafter, we will take the required action,” Pawar, who appointed Modi during his time as President of the BCCI, stated.

"The governing council will take the decision in the interest of cricket. Don't forget Mr Modi is also a vice-president of the BCCI and our total approach and past experience is we always take collective and unanimous decisions that everyone is party to, including Lalit Modi," Pawar added.

Modi has come under scrutiny after the IPL's affairs became the subject of a government inquiry amid parliamentary allegations of money-laundering.

The IPL offices were raided by tax officials investigating the allegations. They reportedly spent seven hours questioning IPL staff, including Modi, who has denied any wrongdoing.

Modi had revealed on his Twitter account that the girlfriend of Shashi Tharoor, a junior government minister, had invested in a consortium awarded the new IPL franchise in Kochi. The revelation caused a political storm, and forced Tharoor's resignation.

Modi has issued a statement denying newspaper allegations that he has been charged with betting and laundering. He called the reports "absolutely baseless, ill-founded and motivated" and promised to "initiate appropriate legal action against" a "defamatory and malicious campaign against him by a motivated section of media".

The Income Tax department has been scanning the IPL bid papers and a series of allegations of financial irregularities against Modi with the prospects of a detailed inquiry against him to track the irregularities.

A probe has already been set out with the department examining the data on bids and financial details of various franchisees stored in Modi's office computers. With the ongoing probe not only the IPL financial records would come under scrutiny but also the tax details of BCCI with regard to IPL will come under the scanner.

Modi, credited to have masterminded the launch of the IPL, has also been accused of going overboard in taking many crucial decisions for which he could face the music.

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Sehwag out of World Twenty20 once more

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Easily the most destructive batsman in every format of the game, Virender Sehwag will be missing the Twenty20 World Cup for the second year running. According to the reports the explosive Indian opener has suffered a shoulder injury, which has ruled him out of the ICC World Twenty20 beginning in the West Indies on April 30.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), preoccupied of late with the crisis in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has announced that Sehwag has been advised rest for three to four weeks and has been replaced by Tamil Nadu batsman Murali Vijay in the 15-man squad with Gautam Gambhir being made the vice-captain.

There was no mention, however, in the BCCI statement about the details of the latest injury sustained by Sehwag having played all 14 IPL-3 league matches for Delhi Daredevils.

Sehwag wasn’t at his best in the IPL-3 having scored only 356 runs at an average of 25. His last appearance in the IPL was on April 18 as his team failed to make it to the semifinals. Since he was deemed fit when included in the World Twenty20 squad the injury must have occurred during the course of the IPL-3.

Sehwag was unable to play for India in the ICC World Twenty20 last year because he had sustained a shoulder injury during the IPL-2 in South Africa, shortly before the World Twenty20 was due to begin.

He had accompanied the national the squad to England but was not able to play a game. His absence was not felt in the first round where India, the defending champions, thrashed their rivals convincingly but he was missed in the second round where India lost all three matches to get themselves were eliminated.

Murali Vijay, who has been in spectacular form in the IPL-3, has been chosen as Sehwag’s replacement for the upcoming event but the hugely talented youngster, who has also been India's back-up opener for Tests as well as ODIs in the recent past, could find it very hard to smash the bowlers at the international level.

There’s a feeling that Robin Uthappa, who played for India in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, would have been a better choice than Vijay. But then Uthappa has been playing in the middle-order for the Royal Challengers Bangalore that might have prompted the selectors to go for a specialist opener in Vijay.

It doesn’t really matter if Vijay plays or Uthappa was included in his place because India would always be missing Sehwag because he possesses the ability to win the match on his own.

With Sachin Tendulkar unwilling to represent the country in the Twenty20 games India could well be short of experience once more and they might face the prospects of returning empty handed once more from the Caribbean.

Although the slow and low pitches in the West Indies are understood to be to the liking of the Indians but they might never be able forget the nightmare of the 2007 World Cup when they had failed to qualify for the second round.

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Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat ruled out due to injury

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yes, Umar Gul, an experienced fast bowler, has been ruled out of the of the ICC World Twenty20 due to start in the West Indies later this month due to an injury like all-rounder Yasir Arafat.

The clarification is very much needed here because of the ongoing chaos and mess the Pakistan cricket is in at the moment. Quite a few celebrated performers didn’t make the squad because of ineligibility.

Umar and Yasir were very much eligible for selection and both of them featured in the Pakistan squad for what has also been acclaimed as the Twenty20 World Cup.

Umar had sustained a shoulder injury during a practice session at Lahore’s National Cricket Academy while Yasir was struggling to get out of his calf injury. Neither them could not clear the fitness test conducted at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on April 18.

Their absence has been described as a big blow to defending champions Pakistan, who have replaced the injured duo of fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Irfan.

"In mutual agreement with captain and coach, we have decided that we will not take a chance with half-fit players,” chief selector Mohsin Khan was quoted as saying.

"We recommended the names of fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and uncapped Mohammad Irfan as replacements for the injured players. We have picked Sami from the list of five reserves we had kept for the World Cup," he added.

"Umar Gul would be missed in the Twenty20 World Cup and this is disappointing that he is not the part of the team," Mohsin remarked.

Umar was hopeful of recovering in time but coach Waqar Younis and chief selector Mohsin Khan insisted that no player will be part of the squad unless fully fit.

The lion-hearted had come up in sterling performance in the last two editions of T20 World Cup and was the leading wicket-takers for Pakistan on both occasions. In fact he has taken the highest number of wickets in Twenty20 Internationals, having scalped no less than 43 batsmen in 26 matches.

He also recorded the best Twenty20 bowling figures when he took five wickets for six runs against New Zealand in the second World Twenty20, which Pakistan won in England last year.

The Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi, also expressed his disappointment at Umar’s absence but hoped that the team will cope with the situation.

“Umar is our best bowler, but we have to cope with it and now Sami has to replace him and perform,” he observed.

Sami, who clocked 90 miles an hour, has played 34 Tests and 83 One-day matches for Pakistan but he has yet to play a Twenty20 International. Irfan is a lanky left-arm quickie, who has not represented the country as the international level yet.

Pakistan have been placed in Group A of the ICC Twenty20 and they will play their first match against Bangladesh on May 1 in St Lucia before taking on Australia the next day at the same venue. The tournament starts on April 30 and ends on May 16

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Minister resigns following IPL controversy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, has been reported to have resigned from the Union cabinet on April 18, after days of relentless controversy over his alleged involvement in the bidding for an IPL team.

According to the reports from the Indian capital, New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has forwarded Tharoor's resignation letter to the President with the recommendation that it be accepted.

"It’s a voluntary resignation. I don't want to embarrass the party. I want parliament proceedings to go on, hence I have decided to resign," Tharoor is believed to have written in his letter.

Tharoor's association with the Kochi IPL and the bidding process for the team had come under fire leading to the issue becoming a major controversy and claiming the seat of the minister.

The 54-year-old Tharoor, a writer and a former Under Secretary General at the United Nations, tendered his resignation after the Congress core group, comprising the top leaders of the party, sought it.

He also had an audience with the Prime Minister during which is he is understood to have explained his position. He had met Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony separately in a bid to convince them about his innocence.

Tharoor was accused of helping his friend, businesswoman Sunanda Pushkar, in acquiring a stake in the Kochi IPL team. Pushkar, who has a sweat equity valued at Rs 70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise, announced earlier in the day that she had resigned from Rendezvous Sports World, which is one of the stakeholders in IPL Kochi.

"Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my involvement, I can no longer find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL activity in the future. I therefore voluntarily offer to return to Rendezous the sweat equity they offered me. I do not wish to ask for compensation for my services rendered to them," Pushkar said in a statement.

Pushkar also denied having acted as a proxy for Tharoor and said that the Rendezvous Group had given her equity as payment for her marketing expertise and her help in putting the bid together.
Tharoor, a first time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, got into controversy after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Pushkar had equity stakes in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), which heads the consortium that owns the Kochi team.

The controversy over the ownership of the Kochi franchise became public after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed the composition of its stake holders on his Twitter account.

The role of the high-profile Modi behind the deals in the IPL has also been questioned but he appears to be having total support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at present.

The BCCI high-command seems to be right behind Modi at the moment but there’s pressure mounting for transparency and accountability. The IPL Commissioner has been calling the shots all along and it remains to be seen if he will survive the ongoing Kochi controversy.

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Tendulkar to miss out in World T20 even in purple patch

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan's captain for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 to be held in the Caribbean, Shahid Afridi, has reckoned that Sachin Tendulkar's absence from the Indian team for the tournament will be a blessing in disguise for the other sides.

Tendulkar had voluntarily ruled himself out of international Twenty20 matches in 2007, before the inaugural World Twenty20, in order to preserve himself for the longer formats. But there have also been indications that the grand master distanced himself from the shortest version of the game at the international level to let Mahendra Singh Dhoni lead the side without the pressures of having ‘veterans’ under his command.

The truth probably lies somewhere in between and there’s every likelihood that a combination of factors influenced his decision.

His success with the bat in the ongoing IPL-3 leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind about him being more than suitable for every format of the game. He has been leading Mumbai Indians by example and in the manner in which he has scored runs of late makes everyone feel that he’s the man in form.

He was not a part of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in 2007 in South Africa which India won under Dhoni. Neither was he a member of the side that was humiliated in the second edition of the tournament in England last year.

In other words Tendulkar has not been in the scheme of things as far as India’s T20 plans are concerned. The Indian selectors and their team management, for reasons best known to them, have not made much effort in persuading him to play T20 Internationals either.

The Indian think-tank appears convinced that they won’t be needing Tendulkar for T20 and in such circumstances the iconic batsman, having all conceivable batting records under this belt, could not be expected to plead to anyone. He has chosen the right course letting his bat make the statement all the time.

Tendulkar has been in the middle of yet another purple patch and there were suggestions that he might be reconsidering his decision but, like a wise man, he has ruled out such a possibility.

"The way he has blossomed in the last few years, he is only getting better and better as a batsman. If he is not playing for India in the Twenty20 World Cup, it is certainly a big advantage for other teams.If Tendulkar had played in this World Cup, I am sure he would made big impact for India," the Pakistan captain felt.

“Age has not had any effect on Tendulkar's powers. With every match he seems to be growing as a batsman and getting better. He is playing like a teenager. There is no sign of age affecting his game at all," Shahid added.

"The biggest thing that he still enjoys playing the sport and he is hunger for runs has not died at all," he said. I think even in Twenty20 cricket you need to bat properly and at times even playing out 20 overs is a big challenge for a team. You need to play orthodox cricket," he pointed out.

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Shoaib Malik weds Sania Mirza finally

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Pakistan’s former cricket captain Shoaib Malik finally tied the knot with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza married on April 12 in the latter’s hometown of Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Both of them are now expected to be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) amid reports that they would continue to represent their countries in their respective sports.

The marriage between two of the leading sports personalities has been covered widely by the media and even the reputed British newspapers like The Guardian, The Independent and the Evening Standard have reported the event in-depth.

There were huge controversies before the marriage and yet another one has rocked them right away.

It has been reported that Shoaib has paid Indian Rupees 6,100,000 as mehr which is the gift given by the groom to his bride at the time of marriage, a prerequisite for a Muslim marriage. The gift can be given in the form of cash or gold or other form of wealth and is aimed at giving a financial security to the wife in the case of divorce or death of the man.

According to the reports it’s not the huge sum of money that has been questioned but it’s actually the massive difference between the one he paid to his earlier wife has caused some concerns.

The fact has been brought to light that Shoaib had paid a meagre Rs 500 mehr to Ayesha Siddiqui, whom he divorced recently, while Sania Mirza got a grand price.

Shaoib was reported to have married Ayesha in 2002 over a telephonic nikah but later claimed that she was not the girl he fell in love with as the photographs sent to him online were that of another girl.

The prolific Pakistan all-rounder, however, finally confessed having married Ayesha and divorced her just a few days before his marriage. He is believed to have agreed to pay Indian Rupees 15,000 rupees as maintenance to Ayesha for a span of three months, which broke down to 5,000 rupees per month.

His marriage plans with Sania had been jeopardized when Ayesha, another Indian woman, had lodged a complaint, claiming that Shoaib married her in June 2002 and accused him of subjecting her to cruelty and harassment by denying that the wedding took place and by trying to marry another woman.

Ayesha’s family, however, withdrew the police complaint after some elders brokered a divorce between the pair and cleared the way for the wedding with Sania.

The much talked about marriage between Shoaib and Sania has taken place finally and their future life will be watched with interest as well.

It remains to be seen in particular how Sania would be able to extend her career as a tennis star. She has been acclaimed as the queen of Indian tennis for quite sometime. Will she manage to regain her fitness and continue representing India in future is a question in everyone’s mind?

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