And Boom Boom Afridi turns 32

The first time he batted in international cricket, aged 16, he hit a century off 37 balls, a world record that still stands. The decade since that debut is littered with similar feats. HE, the maddest of crazy maxes, A colorful all-rounder introduced to international cricket as a 16-year-old leg spinner, surprised everyone but himself by hitting the fastest one-day hundred. 


The eleven sixes he struck equaled the record for most in an ODI innings. He also became the youngest player to score an ODI century and was named man of the match. This Powerful Hitter who hit the world's fastest century at the age of 16, Turns 32 Today! Yes, I am talking about the One and Only SHAHID KHAN AFRIDI!

Almost anyone who loves Cricket and follows it with Passion, over the last few years, has experienced what might be termed ‘Afridi’ Moments. These are times, as you watch the Entertainment appear in cricket, when the Bat is lifted and eyes protrude and sounds are made that bring spouses in from other rooms to see if you’re O.K.

The facts and stats will describe the scenario where we can see and judge his records as the one of the best Limited over cricket player. I don’t see why anyone would be surprised considering the number of match winning performances Afridi has come up with, in Pakistan colours. It would be difficult, actually impossible; to shed some light on all the performances but some of his best performances will be credited here.
It rains sixes when Afridi bats. Yes, he has hit more sixes than any other batsman in ODI cricket, but that’s not all. He has hit seven sixes or more in an ODI innings five times. He has scored more than 25 runs in an over in an ODI on 4 different occasions.Afridi has won the man of the match award in a T20 6 times, which is more than any other cricketer in the world. Shahid Afridi is the highest wicket taker in T20s. He also holds the record for the best bowling figures in a T20 by a captain. Besides Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi, no one else has scored more than 6,000 ODI runs and taken more than 300 ODI wickets. Afridi is the 7th highest wicket taker of all time in ODI cricket.
His last Match winning performance was When He scored a half-century before taking five wickets to steer Pakistan to a hard fought 26-run win in the fourth day-night match over Sri Lanka at Sharjah stadium on 21th November, 2011

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Pakistan cricket was nearing its doom when a lost gem regained its shine and saved it. It all started from the ICC World Twenty20 2009. When the tournament started on 5th June 2009, nobody knew that by the time it would end a man will have solely led his country to glory, nobody knew that someone, who wasn’t expected to, would rise to the occasion and nobody knew that BOOM BOOM AFRIDI will be back in style!

Afridi is someone who has performed consistently better as ODI captain. His ability to lead the team in these tumultuous times has been commendable; three of our core players have been suspended, our wicket keeper decided to fly to England hours before the team was meant to play a series-decider while the players of his choice are not included in the squad.


We heard of the dual word, ‘Boom Boom’ when he punished the Indian bowlers with sixes after sixes in New Delhi. This nickname was given to him by none other than Ravi Shastri, while he was commentating on an India-Pakistan ODI.

The trademark arms-aloft celebration makes everyone, not only girls, go CRAZY! When Afridi strikes the pose and the crowd roars its approval, any neutral venue would become a home away from home.
Afridi’s presence on the team adds much needed aggression. While his mighty hitting has sent chills down the spines of bowlers around the world, and his controversies have been the talk of the town, Afridi has rather quietly established himself as the most prolific leg-spinner.

And even after being married, Shahid Afridi is the ladies number one choice. The opposition batsmen might not enjoy his bowling or the bowlers might not relish his wild batting but his silky hair, his Charming smile, his raising of the index fingers towards the skies drives the girls crazy.

Being the apple of every eye, he has the support of his captain and the rest of the crew. He has the backing of his nation in green Boom Boom T-shirts, chanting his name in any cricketing arena he steps into. He is an experienced campaigner who was mistakenly trained by those forces who always wanted him out of the team. That 16 year old boy was taught to make successful comebacks as he was the favorite scapegoat of the then selectors for any defeat. They kept him out of Tests so much so that he lost his heart for it and they made this enormous talent sit in the dressing room and kill time. Now this 32 year old man knows better than any how to respond when pushed against the wall.

I sincerely hope that he doesn’t miss any international cricket for Pakistan and continues to achieve more than he already has on the cricket field.

A VERY HAPPY 32th BIRTHDAY Boom boom.

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BPL: Blessing for Pakistan's World T20 Preparations

It was whether their fans mass, their quality of cricket in this format or just the matter of availability, ease in communication and brotherly relations with Bangladesh that all the franchises chosen to pick the Pakistani cricketers to fill most of their overseas player seats. In fact, some of the teams, like winners Dhaka Gladiators and Duronto Rajshahi were looking to be a Pakistani side (let's consider we are before 1971)

Whatever the way, it has really proven to be a great Blessing (as they say Blessing in Disguise) for Pakistani Cricket and especially it's preparations for World T20 - just over six months away, given the way people are tired of it's recent form and losing the last two matches and hence T20 series from almost an invincible position.

There were plenty of Pakistani players who really came out as stand-out performers and have given selectors a lot of luxury by giving them plenty of talent and variety to pick from (and I am talking about in-form players, not just raw talent).

Here is my squad for T20 after considering the Pakistani team's recent performances and BPL as well. This is overall squad, not just comprising of BPL participants 

Top Order: 

1-) Ahmad Shehzad, 

2-) Imran Nazir,

3-) Shahzaib Hassan

(Nasir Jamshed should have been in this list, but he is suspicious because of match-fixing allegations to be fair enough)

Middle Order: 

4-) Umar Akmal, 

5-) Shahid Afridi

6-) Hammad Azam, 

7-) Azhar Mehmood:  Australians recalled Brad Hogg after 4 years and at this age. Azhar still can play for couple of years. He is all-rounder but has dropped in pace now, but batting alone is enough to win him place in the side, 

Fast Bowlers: 

8-) Mohammad Sami: A bowler who has pace and can bowl yorker should always be in a T20 side. I remember him being smacked by David Hussey, but still he has pace and is in form and has become much experienced and accurate since then, 

9-) Umar Gul, 

10-) Aizaz Cheema, 

11-) Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan: Leading fast bowler of the Big Bash. He has variety and there is no reason why he should not be in squad

Spinners: 

12-) Saeed Ajmal, 

13-) Mohammad Hafeez: He has been all over the place with bat, but I want to give him chance as still he is very cheeky with ball, though must change his no in batting position to let him remind that opener position is not any-more for granted.

These are 13 guys in the squad. For remaining two positions, there is strong competition between Kamran Akmal (he can play as a batsman), Abdul Razzaq and Asad Shafiq. So I leave it to readers to select there. To me, Asad Shafiq will have to miss out unfortunately, but inevitably. 

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LARA TO GIVE FEATURE ADDRESS FOR SIR VIV

ST JOHN’S, Antigua: Organizers for the week of activities to celebrate the 60th birthday of the country’s only living national hero, Sir Vivian Richards, have announced the inclusion of former West Indies captain and record holder for the highest First Class score.

Brian Lara.Lara, according to one member of the planning committee, Zorol Barthley, will join three cricket legends along with another former player here in Antigua as they celebrate with Sir Viv.

he Trinidadian is expected to give the feature address at a banquet slated for next week.

“Sir Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadley, Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Everton Weekes will be here and they should arrive on March 6 and will participate in the golf tournament on March 7; that’s the Wednesday or the ‘Pink It Day,’” he said.

“Sir Everton doesn’t play golf but he will be here and be supporting and we also captured a major signing where at the State Banquet to be held on the evening of Thursday March 8, Brian Lara, double world record holder who would have had those records here at the ARG, will deliver the feature address.”

According to Barthley, the campaign starts Wednesday, as specially printed T-shirts will be on sale during Antigua & Barbuda’s Friendly International against Trinidad and Tobago at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds (SVRCG).

The committee, Barthley said, has secured permission from Antigua & Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), a sport once played by Sir Viv, to sell the commemorative shirts during the country’s first warm-up match as they prepare for the semi-final round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The weeklong festivities will begin March 3 with the Breast Friends – Antigua walk from historical Antigua Recreation Grounds (ARG), where Sir Viv made the fastest Test century to SVRCG.

The highlight of the week will be the Breast Cancer Awareness event ‘Pink It Day’ on March 7, where Antiguans and Barbudans and fans across the globe will be asked to wear pink and/or purchase one of the specially commissioned ‘Pink It’ T-shirts that will be available from February 27. All proceeds raised will go to Breast Friends – Antigua.

On March 7, there will also be an Invitational Golf Tournament at Cedar Valley Golf Club that will feature three of the four other living cricketing knights.

The week of activities will also include a joint church service with Sir McLean Emmanuel, who is celebrating 50 years as a calypsonian.

Sir Viv celebrates on March 7.
This story was taken from the Antigua Observer Newspaper.

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Amla confirmed the series victory for SA

South Africa (231/4 in 38.2 overs) beat New Zealand (230/10 in 47.3 overs) by 6 wickets.

South Africa after winning the first match, meet New Zealand in second match at McLean Park, Napier. Same like 1st ODI, the Protease batting line was enough to chase the target easily. In the second ODI The Black Caps were asked for batting by South Africa after winning the toss.

Guptill made a strong comeback in second ODI, he was failed in the first match. His opening partner Nicol failed to deliver in the match, he was given out on LBW shout of Tsotsobe when he was on 11. Brendon McCullum joined Guptill after the first wicket fall, both the batsmen put a partnership of 107 runs for the second wicket.

Guptill celebrated his 16th ODI fifty, but didn't go that far with his batting and got out on 58 runs. Williamson failed to score big runs in this important match and got out on 13 runs. McCullum after scoring 85 runs was caught by Ontong,  Tsotobe was the bowler. It was only Guptill and McCullum innings that helped New Zealand to put 230/10 in 47.3 overs.

The upcoming batsmen couldn't survive against the speed of Morne Morkel, Morkel took 5 wickets and helped his team to receive a low target to chase. Franklin, Ellis, Mills, Southee and Nethula were the victims of Morne Morkel who couldn't do anything special for his team to win this match.

South Africa introduced new pair in the absence of Graeme Smith, Kallis opened the innings with Hashim Amla. Once again the opening pair failed as Kallis got out on 4 runs, Mills was the bowler who took his wicket. Du Plessis who played a vital role with AB de Villiers in 1st ODI win was promoted to one down position. He and Amla built a partnership of 69 runs for the second wicket, Du Plessis was the second victim of New Zealand got out on 34 runs.

Duminy joined Hashim Amla who was looking dangerous on the other end, both the batsmen took the scored to 167 runs. Same like earlier match, Duminy failed to score his first 50 in the series, he got out on 43 runs. The dangerous Hashim Amla looked nervous at ninety, he was caught by McCullum on 92 runs, Nethula was the bowler. Ontong joined his captain Devilliers after Amla's wicket, the batsmen didn't waste the balls and complete the target in 38.2 overs. M Morkel for his brilliant bowling figure was given man of the match award.


MATCH SUMMARY
New Zealand: 230/10 in 47.3 overs
South Africa: 231/4 in 38.2 overs
Man of the Match: Morne Morkel

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Haddin, Lyon in for Caribbean ODIs

Australia's National Selection Panel (NSP) announced the Australian squads for the limited overs component of the VB Tour of West Indies.

Talking about the squad, National Selector John Inverarity said: "The ODI squad is the same as the squad for the Commonwealth Bank Series finals beginning next week with the addition of three players in Brad Haddin, Nathan Lyon and George Bailey.


"Shane Watson and Mike Hussey come back into the T20 squad to provide a great deal of experience and power to the batting line-up. If we were to select our best T20 team to play next week the top seven in order would be Watson, Warner, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Bailey, Wade and Christian. Hence, there was simply no room on this occasion for Shaun Marsh, Travis Birt and Aaron Finch. Though Peter Forrest is in the T20 squad, it is not anticipated he will be in the team and is there as back-up.


ODI Squad: Michael Clarke ( Captain ), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Nathan Lyon, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Matthew Wade ( Wicket Keeper ), David Warner

Twenty20 Squad: George Bailey ( Captain ), Shane Watson, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Nathan Lyon, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Matthew Wade ( Wicket Keeper ), David Warner

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Sehwag out, Pathan in, as India announced their squad for Asia Cup

Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India's one-day squad for next month's Asia Cup, with Virat Kohli taking over as vice-captain. Sachin Tendulkar has been picked for the tournament, while allrounder Yusuf Pathan and fast bowler Ashok Dinda make comebacks.

 Zaheer has been rested after a long tour of Australia, in which he played all four Test matches but missed four ODIs. His place has been taken by Dinda, the second highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy this season and leading bowler in the Duleep Trophy. Dinda has played five ODIs and three Twenty20s for India, but last appeared in June 2010.

Yusuf's only game for India since a disappointing one-day series in the West Indies was a one-off Twenty20 international against England last October, but he marked his return to competitive cricket with a 78-ball 114 to power Baroda to a 52-run win over Saurashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has been rewarded with a recall.

Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar and Irfan Pathan have kept their places, while Jadeja has retained his allrounder's slot despite returns of 101 runs at 16.83 and three wickets at 109 apiece in the CB Series. Raina too has held onto his spot despite a tally of 182 runs from eight matches in the CB Series. Rohit (79 runs in five matches) was also persisted with.

India's first match of the Asia Cup is on March 13 against Sri Lanka. The other participating teams are Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh. The Asia Cup runs from March 12 to 22, with the final to be played in Dhaka.

Indian Team Squad: MS Dhoni ( Captain & Wicket Keeper ), Virat Kohli ( Vice-Captain ), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda

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Samit Patel to play in tests, as England announced their 16 men squad for Sri Lanka tour.

The England selectors today named the England Test squad for the forthcoming series against Sri Lanka. England will play two three-day games in preparation for the two Test series against Sri Lanka beginning on 26 March.

The 16-man squad includes Kent off-spinner James Tredwell who has played one previous Test for England in 2010, and Nottinghamshire all-rounder Samit Patel who is uncapped at Test level.

While the main squad will depart for Sri Lanka on 10 March, seven members of the squad will travel to Sri Lanka ahead of the main touring party to acclimatise and begin preparations for the Test series. England batting coach Graham Gooch will lead the training camp involving Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Steven Davies, Monty Panesar, Samit Patel, Matt Prior and James Tredwell.

 National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: "We have selected a squad that we feel will be able to make best use of the conditions we are likely to encounter in Sri Lanka. There is no doubt that this Test series will be a challenging one but it is exciting that players have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have learnt from the disappointment of the Pakistan Test series and can make further strides in developing the skills needed to succeed on the subcontinent."

Squad:  Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Steven Finn, Samit Patel, James Tredwell, Tim Bresnan, Steven Davies, Monty Panesar 

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Kohli brilliance keeps India alive

India (321/3 in 36.4 overs) beat Sri Lanka (320/4 in 50.0 overs) by 7 wickets, also received the bonus due to which they are alive in the series.

Match 11 was one of the best match of triangular series, it was a high scoring game that ended in India's favor. Outstanding innings were seen from both teams players, especially Kohli, Dilshan. Malinga, the front line weapon of Sri Lanka failed badly as he conceded 96 runs in 7.4 overs with 1 wicket.

Hobart stadium hosted the Do and Die match of India, India after winning the toss elected to bowl first. Both Jayawardene and Dilshan laid a partnership of 49 runs for the first wicket, Jaywardene was caught by Sehwag on 22 runs.. Sangakara and Dilshan batted carefully and put a partnership of 200 runs for the second wicket, both the batsmen scored centuries as well.

Snagakara looked in hurry as he scored 105 runs from 87 balls, he was bowled by Kumar (8 fours, 2 sixes). Dilshan kept dominating from the other end, he scored his career best 160* runs from 165 balls which included 11 fours and 3 sixes. With the help of Sangakara and Dilshan master innings, The Islanders ended their innings total on 320/4 in 50.0 overs.

In chase of big total the two big-guns for India "Sachin Tendulkar" and "Virender Sehwag" gave a start of 54 runs. Sehwag got out on 30 runs while Tendulkar left the ground on 39 runs, Sachin century was still in debate but he failed to make it. Gambhir and Kohli had settled a win in their minds so as India needed a bonus point to keep alive in the series. Gambhir concentrated on singles while on the other hand Kohli focused on boundaries, Kohli targeted the front-line bowler of Sri Lanka "Malinga" who was struggling with his pace.

Raina joined the inform Virat Kohli as Gambhir made his way to the dressing room, Gambhir got run out on 63 runs. Raina entrance helped India to boost the run rate, both the batsmen didn't allow the Islanders bowlers to come back in the match. Also their hard-hitting gave the essential bonus point. Kohli faced 86 balls for his unbeaten 133* runs (16 fours, 3 sixes), while Raina made unbeaten 40* runs from 24 balls (3 fours, 1 six).

India achieved the target in 36.4 overs after losing 3 wickets, Malinga presence went against Sri Lanka as he was the expensive bowler in the match. Virat Kohli for his unbeaten match winning performance was given man of the match award. India will have to wait more for Match 12 between Australia and Sri Lanka, if Sri Lanka win that match then the Blue Shirts will go back to India, in shape of loss the Islanders will make their way to home.

MATCH SUMMARY
Sri Lanka: 320/4 in 50.0 overs
India: 321/3 in 36.4 overs
Man of the Match: Virat Kohli

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England owned the series, due to Misbah's brilliance

England win the match in an emphatic style to take the series away 2-1, by shattering Pakistani Skipper Misbah's stumps off the last ball.

After the 2nd match emphatic win by England, the 3rd match of the T20 series was a decisive one of the series.

England won the toss in this all important fixture and elected to bat 1st on a low turning pitch. England start was a good one as the openers put on a partnership of 29 runs on a difficult pitch.

After Craig Kiewetter loss, Kevin Pieterson was joined by Ravi Bopara, who proved to be a guest of just 2 balls. Kevin Pieterson stood like a wall on one end as wickets kept losing from other end cheaply. Morgan, Baistow, Buttler all fallen quickly. Only Patel played a little cameo inning of 16 off 10 balls.

Kevin Pieterson continues on playing well and impressively and scored a well deserved half century in the process. Pakistani spinners bowled well especially, Ajma,l who took 4 wickets in his quota of 4 overs, for just giving away 23 runs.

A man who faced the 1st ball of the innings Kevin Pieterson, goes on to face the last ball of the innings and guess what, it was disappeared for a huge six which at the end was proven to be the match winning six..Kevin Pieterson scored an unbeatable innings of 62 runs off just 52 balls.

In response, Pakistani openers didn't start their innings well at all as Hafeez was proven to be just a guest of one ball and was gone caught & bowled by Dernbach. The youngster Awais Zia played a much better then the previous match and scored 23 runs off 28 balls.

Asad Shafiq was joined by Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, when Zia falls on 23. They both put on a useful partnership of 28 runs in  low scoring match. Asad Shafiq was unlucky as he was run out, while playing really well on 34. Meanwhile, Misbah was joined by Umer Akmal.

Misbah continues to play really slowly and putting the pressure on his other end batsmen. Umer akmal was caught by Swann off the bowling of Broad, when the score was 113-4 in 18.3 overs. Afridi joined his skipper Misbah, when Pakistan was in need of 17 runs off last 9 balls.

Pakistan was in need of 13 runs from last over. Pakistan were hoping a cameo from BOOM BOOM, but he was unable to produce it, as he was run out on 3 on the 2nd delivery of the 20th over.

Pakistan required a six of the last ball of the innings to win the match and series, and guess what, Misbah was on strike, who was himself responsible for leaving too much runs at the end. But, Misbah was unable to become Pakistan hero as he was bowled by Dernbach 28 off 32 balls.

Kevin Pieterson was given Man of the match and Man of the series.

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England women demolished New Zealand women with a white wash

The England Women have won the fifth and final Twenty20 match against New Zealand at Queens Park in Invercargill by five wickets. Chasing 110 to win, England looked comfortable throughout their innings and made the winning runs after 18.5 overs. 

New Zealand were put into bat after losing the toss and got off to a solid start reaching 75 for two after 13 overs. Opener Suzie Bates made 20, before Sara McGlashan and Amy Satterthwaite put on 50 for the third wicket.

McGlashan top-scored with 29, closely followed by Satterthwaite with 25, but when both fell in quick succession the run-rate slowed down dramatically.

An unbeaten 21 from Liz Perry helped New Zealand finish at 109 for six after 20 overs.

Man of the match Anya Shrubsole again posed problems for the Kiwis and finished with figures of two for seven off four overs. .

It was team effort with the bat for England who successfully chased down the total with seven balls to spare.

Four players finished in the twenties with Sarah Taylor top-scoring with 24. Jenny Gunn finished off the game with a four to see England victorious with five wickets and seven balls in hand.

Morna Nielsen was superb with the ball for the White Ferns and finished with figures of four for 10 from four overs.

England won the Twenty20 series four nil. The two sides meet for the first of three ODIs on in Christchurch on Thursday.

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Part 2 - Reply to Mr George

Before proceeding with the final part of this reply, first thing I want to clarify is that it's not a blog against Misbah. His innings at semi-final alone is enough to speak itself. Mr. George tried to compare Afridi and Misbah himself and I disagree with a no of things in it and hence replied. You can disagree with me as well and can reply. I will answer to all the replies (to all 3 parts) in a final post later this week after publishing the final post. Thanks

Now, lets proceed with the 2^nd part of Mr George's post:

"Misbah's real problem - and it is a problem without a solution - is that he is not Afridi. The populist adoration for Afridi - for his charisma, his talent and his aura - is boundless. Misbah, with his more prosaic qualities of reliability, calm and consistency, is overshadowed by comparison. While logic might back Misbah, emotions are with Afridi.

When Afridi drops a batting glove a nation stoops to pick it up. When Afridi fails with the bat - and, unpalatable though it will be to Pakistan supporters, he fails with the bat rather too often - a nation mourns his ill fortune. When Misbah scores 50, a nation frowns upon the slow pace at which he scored it. Misbah could invent a cure for cancer and someone will claim that Afridi would have done it with more panache."

If we sub-divide the above paragraphs, we come to these points Mr George is trying to make:

Point 1-) Misbah's real problem is that he is not a superstar like Afridi and hence doesn't have nation's backing.

Reply: That's true that noone except Tendulkar matches the charisma and the way Afridi is adored by the fans. A 30-40 made by him is cheered more than a fifty by any other player. His 5-wicket haul against Canada is cheered much more than Saeed Ajmal's against England. May be since latter came in a losing cause unluckily.

But it has not much to do with captaincy. When Afridi came back to the side against Sri Lanka, people didn't talk about making him captain. They were simply happy to see him playing again and performing. 

When Younis Khan was the captain, a similar figure to Misbah, noone asked to replace him with Afridi and people gave credit of World T20's win to Younis as well despite his nothing contributions in super six and knock-out stages. If you talk about calm captaincy, then Younis tried his best to deny Pakistan of world T20 by giving Fawad Alam (I used to hate Afridi as well for backing this man) decisive over in the semi-final and bowled Gul one short of his quota.

The thing which became enemy of Younis and now Misbah's captaincy is they themselves. History is not hidden from anyone. Younis became a dictator in Champions Trophy 2009 and in series against New Zealand, denied Afridi (vice-captain) to have a say in selection and added slow players like Khalid Latif in the side while crowd were already tired of seeing him watch tick-tick.

Not much is the different story here: Misbah was afraid of Afridi's inclusion and then recently included Malik for nothing else politics. And the way he played along with Afridi was self-explanatory. Misbah was all over the place and couldn't even give strike to Afridi while he was dealing in sixes and fours from other end. I would again say its not Afridi's, Misbah's or PCB's property, it's Pakistan's team

If you talk about being superstar, then who would be more than Shaoib Akhtar? But Afridi took an extremely bold and brave decision by sitting him in the big semi-final and playing the unknown Wahab Riaz. Didn't Afridi take the whole nation on then?

Point 2-) Misbah has qualities of 

a-) Calmness

b-) Reliability

c-) Consistency

which are overshadowed by comparison with Afridi

Reply: 

a-) Calmness:

True. He is calm even under pressure. Like the innings he played against Australia and India in 2007's inaugural T20. But this calmness also brought Pakistan on the receiving end at Mohali. When he left more than 30 runs to be scored of Zaheer Khan's over. It's totally unacceptable.

b-) Reliability & Consistency:

I have analyzed the stats of both players since the day Afridi took the captaincy (in June, 2010),  and this is what I came across:

Misbah

Matches: 38, Runs: 1143, Average: 47.62, Hundreds: 0, Fifties: 9, 4s: 67, 6s: 14, 

Strike-rate: 68.44 (lowest for anyone has scored more than 1000 runs in this duration)

Batting Index (Avg * SR/100) : 32.591

Catches: 15

Man of the Match Awards: 2

Man of the Series Awards: 0

Afridi

Matches: 45, Runs: 1042, Average: 27.42, Hundreds: 2, Fifties: 3, 4s: 91, 6s: 37,

Strike-rate: 128.80 (highest for any batsman who has scored more than 200 runs in this duration)

Batting Index (Avg * SR/100): 35.317

Catches: 11

Wickets: 66, Average: 27.22, Five-Wicket Haul: 5 (most in this duration) 

Man of the Match Awards: 8

Man of the Series Awards: 2

I leave the decision to be made by the readers.

Point 3-) Misbah could invent a cure for cancer and someone will claim that Afridi would have done it in a more flamboyant manner 

I don't really understand this statement. Author is now going far beyond in exaggeration. Doesn't he?

iv-) Emotions are with Afridi, while logic backs Misbah (author has put himself into hot water by this sentence as I am now going to prove it's wrong. Again by logic)

Reply will be posted in the final part very soon. Thanks

Writer is a Computer Engineer from UET, Lahore and has been analyzing Cricket since 2005. He can be accessed via mail or FaceBook

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Australia in Finals, after an emphatic win over India

Australians hammered down the Indians by 87 runs to make it to the finals of the CB series and leaving a very tough and small chance for Indians to qualify for the finals.

After a defeat for Australians from the hands of Sri Lankans, the 10th match of CB series had become a very important match for both Australians and Indians. 

The Aussies team were looking fragile as their permanent captain Michael Clarke has to left out of this match due to an injury. So, the Vice-Captain Shane Watson was given a chance to lead his team for the 1st time.

In this all important fixture, Australia won the toss, and decides to bat 1st. The Australian start was not impressive at all as Watson, the skipper goes cheaply. Soon Forrest was also departed, when the score was only 26-2. David Warner played an impressive innings of 68 runs to give his team a better start. Warner was dismissed, when the score was 107-4.

David Hussey and MS Wade put on a very useful partnership of 94 runs for the 5th wicket. Both the batsmen departed soon as they completed their individual half centuries.

Indian bowlers were able to bowl in right line and length in the slog overs to restrict Australian team to a chase-able target. Indian bowlers only give away 47 runs in the last 10 overs of Australian innings to restrict them to 252-9 in 50 overs.

In reply to chase Aussies 1st innings total of 252-9, the Indian opened their innings with their two most experience batsmen Sehwag and Tendulkar. The Indian start was below par as usual ( referring to recent past ), both the openers were back to pavilion only in the 1st 7 overs of the Indian innings.

After, when the openers were cheaply dismissed, Gambhir and Kohli tried their best to keep their team out of trouble but both batsmen also falls quickly. At the score of 89 runs, India have lost half of their side.

Dhoni came to the crease, when India were in an immense amount of trouble and only a miracle from him was required to chase down the target. But the skipper Dhoni was also unable to show some resilience and fight, and was dismissed by Hilfenhaus on 14, when the score was 126-7.

The remaining lower order batsmen were also removed rather handsomely by Aussies bowling attack to take a comprehensive win of 87 runs over Indians.

With this big margin win Australia qualifies for the Final of the CB series leaving India with a very small chance of qualifying to the finals. After the 10 matches of CB series, the points table is as follows:

Teams	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Points	Net RR
Australia	7	4	3	0	0	19	+0.553
Sri Lanka	6	3	2	1	0	15	+0.426
India	7	2	4	1	0	10	-0.887

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England bowlers level the series 1-1

England wining the toss decided to bat first, It was a good toss to win. Pietersen and Kieswetter provide good opening stand of 35 runs where Pietersen was caught by Saeed Ajmal. Bairstow played a brilliant innings of 60 runs which helped England to score 150 runs .

England second wicket fell just with the gap of 3 runs when Umar Gul lbw Bopara on 1. Wickets keep falling regularly as there was no big partnership seen throughout the innings. Kieswetter was the second highest scorer with 31 runs of 46 balls.

Umar gul bowl quite sensibly who took 2 wickets with the economy of 7.75 runs. It was a hard day for spinner, Afridi was expensive with economy of 9 runs per over. Pakistan opening order failed yet again, Mohammad Hafeez was caught behind in very first over.

Misbah lazy innings of 13 runs in 24 balls put lots of pressure on rest of the batting line up. Afridi and Hammad Azam fought hard till the end but couldn't make it for their team. Afridi was the highest scorer with 25 runs. Hammad Azam showed aggression but it didn't last long yet it add much to the scoreboard. He scored 21 runs of 13 balls which includes 3 fours and a six.

Fin took 3 wickets and confirms the victory for his team where as Broad and swann took two wicket each. Dernbach and Bopara took shared one, one wicket . Bairstow was man of the match for his splendid innings of 64 runs which includes 5 fours and 2 sixes.

MATCH SUMMARY
England: 150?7 in 20.0 overs
Pakistan: 112/10 in 18.2 overs
Man of the Match: JM Bairstow

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De Villiers show make it SA win

South Africa: (254/4 in 45.2 overs) beat New Zealand (253/9 in 50.0 overs) by 6 wickets with 28 balls remaining

 The black caps put a decent total on the board but the Protease fight back after losing early wickets and won the match by 6 wickets. Captain of South Africa scored unbeaten 106* runs and confirmed the victory for his team. New Zealand after winning the toss at Wellington decided to bat first.

Guptill, the top performer for New Zealand in last matches failed to deliver in 1st ODI. Guptill got out on 7 runs, captain Brendon McCullum joined Nicol after losing the 1st wicket. Both the batsmen took the scored to 58 runs, Nicol was the second batsman got out on 30 runs.Williamson and Brendon McCullum scored half centuries so as put a partnership of 79 runs for the third wicket.

Ryder who was blamed for the loss of final T20 match against South Africa failed to answer his critics, he scored 6 runs. Williamson was the sixth victim of South Africa got out on 56 runs, New Zealand got in trouble with his loss. But it was Franklin (32) and Ellis (20) which helped New Zealand to put a total of 253/9 in 50.0 overs. Tsotsobe, Morne Morkel, Peterson and Kallis shared 2, 2 wickets each.

After putting a decent total on the board, the Black Caps fast bowlers gave a great start to the team. Amla failed once again, he was bowled by Southee on 8 runs. Graeme Smith gone on 9 runs while Jacques Kallis fall on 13 runs. Ab de Villiers joined Duminy when Kallis was caught by Williamson, Bracewell was the bowler. Both the batsmen put a partnership of 90 runs on the board and helped the team to control after early blows. Duminy was the fourth and last batsman of South Africa got out on 46 runs, total was 135. 

Youngster Faf du Plessis who was playing his 19th ODI match played a big role in the chase with his captain. Both the batsmen didn't save the wickets only but also improved the run rate with good individual strike rate. Ab de Villiers scored unbeaten 106*  (3 fours, 4 sixes) from 106 balls while Plessis scored 66* runs from 49 balls (9 fours, 1 six). South Africa achieved the target in 45.2 overs after losing 4 wickets, AB de Villiers for his unbeaten knock was given man of the match award.

MATCH SUMMARY

New Zealand: 253/9 in 50.0 overs

South Africa: 254/4 in 45.2 overs

Man of the Match: Ab de Villiers

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Reply to Mr George (Editor: Cricinfo)

Yesterday, I came across an article/news on the famous Cricket website: Cricinfo in which writer has tried to compare Misbah and Afridi and have been over-defensive for Misbah-ul-Haq and went far from reality.

I tried to reply to the writer, Mr George Dobell but unfortunately Cricinfo didn’t post my comment and amazingly it has posted quite immature and even same comment verbatim twice.

Anyways, here I would like to reply to that article:

He starts Misbah’s  defense;

“It is not hard to understand why Misbah might have been irritated. He assumed the captaincy of Pakistan in late 2010 with the team disgraced and defeated. Not only that, but he was denied some of the nation's best players due to their involvement in the spot-fixing controversy.”

i-) Me, you and everyone in the world know that Afridi took the charge of the team immediately after the spot-fixing crisis (and in England at the time when British media was almost asking for Pakistani Cricketers head) and he integrated the team so well to lead them to victory at Oval and Lords after so pessimistic time. Don’t forget it was the time when WADA conducted the dope-test of Umar Akmal, Afridi, Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar and barred the home team and clearly Pakistani Cricket was all but over due to conspiracies by west. Had Afridi not rejected the Oval ODI’s spot-fixing claims sternly and haven’t had lead his team well, may be we would already have seen the last of Green shirts.

ii-) Misbah would never have been a captain till now if he had all the senior players in the team. Misbah only could groom due to youngsters around him and hence no politics. And don’t forget that he and Shoaib Malik were the two guys responsible for Younis Khan’s downfall by deliberately losing test matches in Sri Lanka, 2009. Hope you all remember that, if not, I will soon post another article about it.

Further he does extreme of exaggeration without any grounds:

“He responded better than most could have dreamed possible. Not only did Misbah restore the good reputation of Pakistan cricket on the pitch, he has done so off it, too.”

i-) How did Misbah restore the good reputation of Pakistan Cricket on the field? If you mark victories against Zimbabwe, Ireland, Bangladesh and weakened Sri Lanka as beyond dream achievements, then please try to sleep longer and dream higher. This is what any test country’s 2^nd XI is supposed to do.

Compare it with Afridi who took the team to semi-final (and fell short in semi-final courtesy…..yeah you all aer spot on) which according to Mark Nicholas: “You exceeded the expectations of all of us”, became the first captain in 12 years to beat the Australian juggernaut (the same team which clean swept Pakistan across all formats just year ago)

ii-) Off the field. I would love to know what has Misbah done compared to the man who has been selected United Nations  Ambassador for Anti-Drugs, convinced the likes of Daniel Vettori and Herschelle Gibbs to come and play Double-wicket tournament in Pakistan. Can you believe it, an individual convinced superstar to come to a country in which Sri Lankan team was all but massacred.

Let’s proceed further:

“He has led Pakistan to five Test series victories out of seven - the other two series were drawn - including the recent 3-0 whitewash of England, the No. 1-ranked Test team. On Thursday he led Pakistan to victory over the No.1-rated T20 team in world cricket and afterwards vented his frustration at the media - and the Pakistan media in particular - who seem to want Shahid Afridi restored as captain.”

i-) Let me write down these test series victories:

A.    Beat NewZealand 2-0    Fair enough it’s good achievement.

B.    Beat Zimbabwe 1-0        Can we count it even as a test match?

C.    Beat Sri Lanka 2-0           This Sri Lankan side is by no mean a test competitive side. I remember Geoff Boycott said on eve of this series that I would fancy all of Sri Lankan bowlers which is very true.

D.    Beat Bangladesh 2-0      Self-explanatory

E.     Beat England 3-0            This is an achievement, but we should also confess that if we exclude only Saeed Ajmal, then it would have been a different ball game altogether.

ii-) what was Misbah’s role in that victory? He needs a TNT perhaps as a catalyst to speed up his innings. A man who played 10+ overs and still couple of boundaries. Man! Its T20. To be fair enough, barring Hafeez and Gul no one played good enough.

Then he quotes Misbah:

"I won't comment on any specific individuals, but you can hear it yourself when you listen to the reports in the media. I also say even after winning we shouldn't go overboard - we should base such discussions on facts. Appreciate the attributes in the team which are to be admired - even after winning, pinpoint specific mistakes - if a player isn't making centuries, or a bowler is not taking wickets, then discuss those points.

i-) When Afridi came back to side in Novemeber last year, it was Misbah who was more frightened from his come back than the Sri Lankans. Don’t believe? I have heard it in live interview from Misbah’s favourite coach, Mohsin Khan that “Misbah was earlier on worried at Afridi’s comeback, but not anymore” WTF??? Is it Misbah’s family heredity or Pakistan’s national team that he would be afraid of Afridi’s arrival and curious for Malik’s inclusion. Please explain this.

Misbah continues:

"What we shouldn't do is start speaking ill of individuals. As a team we lost the ODI series: don't blame one player or just the captain. The dramatic changes highlighted are unnecessary. It is these players that have won you six series. If we made mistakes and lost a series against a top team, then we should be backed. If the proposed changes highlighted by the media were implemented, we would have six captains and six different teams up to the World Cup in 2015.

i-) How funny it is. What those six series were? Let me recall you if you forgot them.

These are the ODI series Misbah has captained so far:

1-) Ireland

2-) Zimbabwe

3-) Sri Lanka

4-) Bangladesh

5-) Afghanistan

6-) England  (He forgot that he lost the 6^th one)

Now tell me which of the above series is good enough to be written in your CV as a player or captain? Only Sri Lanka? Right. Who was the Man of the Series then? Yeah be realistic.

ii-) 2015’s world cup: Its good that Misbah himself started the talk of 2015’s world cup as teams have set an eye on it as well. Misbah cant even carry drinks in 2015 world cup and should voluntarily resign from ODIs, not only captaincy. Ricky Ponting’s example is in front of everyone.

Then Misbah completes at self-contradicting statement:

"We cannot improve if we continuously ask for captains and teams to be replaced after losing one series. You have to back your players at a certain level."

Can you believe it? The guy who didn’t hesitate for a moment to steal the captaincy after Afridi’s unfamous sacking as captain is now saying such a things. Come on Misbah. Atleast not you to say such a words. You were part of Younis downfall as I mentioned before.

Now I would like to know your decision. Please bring forward your feedback till the remaining half publish (within couple of days InshaAllah).  Have to watch the T20 now ;)

(Contd. Remaining half in Part 2)  

(Link of the discussed article: http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-england-2012/content/current/story/555126.html)

Writer is a Computer Engineer from UET, Lahore and has been analyzing Cricket since 2005. He can be accessed via mail or FaceBook

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Sri Lanka is on top with a nail-biting win in CB series

The 9th match of CB series between Australia Vs Sri Lanka was a very important match. Sri Lanka won the match by 3 wickets in the last over of chase, after a very good batting display by Aussies. Sri Lanka, who at the start of the series were looking down and out, has now topped the points table of the tri-series.

Australia won the toss in this all important game and elected to bat 1st. The start of Australian innings was not that good as Wade was dismissed by Kulasekara, when the score was only 5. The other opener David Warner also dismissed soon by Maharoof, when the score was only 27. Forrest was joined by the skipper Clarke with Warner dismissal, both the batsmen made a very useful partnership of  154.

Clarke played a useful innings of 72 runs and was dismissed by Mathews. On the other hand, Forrest goes on to score his maiden hundred. Forrest was also dismissed by Mathews on 104. Australia continued their way to score a big total, and the end Australia was able to score 280-6 in 50 overs.

In reply, the Sri Lankan start was impressive, the Sri Lankan openers give their team a good start to chase down a big target. The start was dominated by their skipper Jayawardene, who scored a very impressive and dominating knock of 85 runs off just 81 balls. Another upcoming great talent from Sri Lanka, Chandimal, was also heart touching in his very important innings of 80 runs.

When Chandimal goes down, the score was 243-5 in 44.2 overs. At the time the Aussies bowlers tried hard and took 2 quick wickets. But Prera played a cameo of 21* runs in just 11 balls to give their team a great victory at the 2nd ball of the last over.

Man of the match award was given to the Sri Lankan skipper "Mahela Jayawardene" for his important innings in his team chase.

Sri Lanka had made this Common Wealth Bank ( CB ) series very interesting after defeating the Aussies in the last over of a wonderful chase. After the result of 9 matches of  CB series the points table is as follows:

Teams	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Results	Points	Net RR
Sri Lanka	6	3	2	1	0	15	+0.426
Australia	6	3	3	0	0	14	+0.318
India	6	2	3	1	0	10	-0.733

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