Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan

Shoaib and fellow paceman Mohammad Sami were missing along with opener Imran Nazir when the list of 15 players was revealed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Misbah-ul-Haq was promoted to the top income bracket to join captain Shoaib Malik, batsmen Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf and pace bowler Mohammad Asif.

But Shoaib Akhtar was apparently missing from the list. PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said earlier this week: “He struggled to bowl four to five-over spells and he had some fitness issues as well. “He should have contacted us and started working on his match fitness. We don’t know anything about his fitness as yet. “Ever since the Indian series concluded he has not contacted us at all. We don’t even know if he has returned from India.”

Explaining PCB Contrants Pakistan Cricket writes:

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Teeth Maestro.

Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that Pakistan would not withdraw as hosts of the Asia Cup, scheduled in June. Ashraf had reacted to an offer by his Sri Lankan counterpart Arjuna Ranatunga to host the tournament due to the security situation in Pakistan following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

“There is no way we would withdraw as Asia Cup hosts, then I don’t know why they [Sri Lanka] had to make such an offer,” Ashraf told The News in Karachi. Ranatunga confirmed that Sri Lanka was willing to act as a back-up should both sides agree on a neutral venue but left that decision to Pakistan.

“We have written and asked Pakistan if we can host the Asia Cup,” Ranatunga told AFP in Colombo on Thursday. “It’s a sensitive issue, but we will understand if Pakistan refuse us.”

Personally I think its good that Nasim Ashraf has responded to the Sri Lankan offer but at the same time I hope the situation in the country holds up to allow the Asia Cup to take place without incident

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Teeth Maestro.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has downplayed reports of a rift that has emerged between the national selection committee and the team’s management over a number of issues, mostly revolving around the make-up of the team.

The schism first emerged on Pakistan’s tour to India, with what appeared initially to be a miscommunication over the identity of a replacement player. The selectors, in apparent agreement with the coach and captain, had initially agreed on calling up Abdur Rauf as replacement for the injured Umar Gul.

Having announced it officially during the second Test at Kolkata, the board changed tack later that evening and decided to send Rao Iftikhar Anjum instead. It is now understood that Shoaib Malik, the captain, and coach Geoff Lawson had wanted Iftikhar Anjum all along and convinced the board directly later, thus bypassing the selection committee.

Before the series began, a heated debate is said to have taken place between Salahuddin Ahmed, chairman of selectors, and Geoff Lawson, the coach, over the matter.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Teeth Maestro.

When I first heard of Harbhajan Singh being banned for three tests following his alleged racial remarks at Symonds in the last test match between India and Australia. The first thoughts that came to my mind were a feeling of déjà vu ala Oval gate. As was the case back then, proven later on in court much to the chagrin of the holy supporters of cricket in England. A sub continental team was hung at the gate without any proper evidence.

The team this time around is India, who although having an emotionally charged series with the Aussies when they toured India, do still come across as a much more demure team than the Aussies. Or perhaps that is the case to me since I am from the sub continent and thus understand what we consider insulting while Australia does not. Harbajhan Singh is reported to have called Symonds a monkey on field, which he and his team mates vehemently denied. Thus the case before the match referee was specifically Symond’s and his Aussie team mates saying Bhaji did it while Tendulkar and the other Indian players saying he did not.

What then made the ICC Match referee decide in the favor of the Australians? Without any proper footage or audio evidence to have suggested that Bhaji actually made those remarks. While nothing was done by this body when the Aussies “pushed off” an Indian official from stage after winning their last tour? This is the point which has now been taken up by the BCCI and the Indian team management and the current tour lies suspended. Ponting and his men on the other hand are acting like their normal holier than thou selves and claiming they have done nothing wrong and that it is not a big deal. The whole point is the Referee believing the Aussies over the Indians is much more of an “insult felt” to the Indians then the actual disciplinary action.

As far as sledging and on field antics are concerned, although Team Australia has gotten less disciplinary actions against them on the record, they are second to none in this facet of the game. They are known to use sledging and any psychological tactics necessary to dismantle an opposition’s concentration and take a winning edge on the field. So was this basically another aggression on the Indian Physic which went wrong? Or did Bhaji actually say something to the effect?

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by .

This piece was originally written about six months ago for my previous blog, that I am unable to access due to technical glitches, http://balltempering.blogspot.com and was also self published on www.chowk.com

Fast Bowling Resources in India & Pakistan
It must rank right up there with the mysteries of the world, that two countries with same race, similar people, resembling culture and almost equal fervor for sport of Cricket, the mystery being, how come Pakistan has and continues to, produce fast bowlers where as India is yet to produce even one quality fast bowler. Javagal Srinath was fast in the initial stages of his career but later on he also became medium pacer, Kapil was a medium paced swing bowler from day one although India has over 1 billion people, about six times more then Pakistan, and equally passionate about their cricket but still not a single fast bowler.

It is an interesting and intriguing study to compare these two countries and the reasons that have contributed to such anomaly.
There are no apparent reasons for that; no one has been able to put a finger on any such element that can explain this oddity. Many theories have been mooted by many an expert and respected players, ranging from Geoff Boycott to Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz and Aqib Javed, have all tried to explain this phenomenon in some detail. Some of these theories have some substance and make sense but still do not explain the vast difference in its totality.

This article at Cricket Bloggers of Pakistan has been composed by Hifazat Ahmad.