What Pakistan gave cricket
Pakistan continues its legacy of being the most innovative and creative nation of cricket. Now Saeed Ajmal is working on inventing a delivery that has never been delivered in the history of cricket. A few days ago he said that he was working on a new type of delivery, which he will bowl in an upcoming cricket series against England. In an interview with PakPassion.net, answering a question as to whether he has actually bowled this new type of delivery on which he was working on during the World Cup, Ajmal said: “I didn’t bowl it because I wanted to stick to my best ...
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T20: A league of our own
Cricket’s future in Pakistan is bright! But the prospects of Pakistan in international cricket look bleak to say the least. Isolated from the world of cricket, fans at home are hungry to see live action at their local stadiums. Instead, they are forced to see their stars perform on TV as they play “home series” in places like New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and England. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has become a laughing stock and its management, a back page joke. Our captain, Misbahul Haq, calls playing for Pakistan equivalent to “mental torture.” The ICC, while attempting to do ...
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Wimbledon: Has the US dropped the ball?
American tennis is a shadow of its former greatness. At Roland Garros in Paris, no American woman was seeded anywhere. The top seeded American man was Mardy Fish. And nothing against Fish, but I doubt anyone is betting that he will win a Grand Slam anytime soon, or even in his entire career. The last man from the US to win a Grand Slam, Andy Roddick is fading, and has just exited Wimbledon. In fact, for a very brief period albeit, but earlier this year, for the first time in the 38-year history of the world tennis rankings, no US man or ...
Read Full PostAfridi’s dilemma: Play to your strength
Shahid Afridi has been representing Pakistan for the last 15 years but he is still unsure about his role in the team. Afridi joined the Pakistan cricket team as a leg spinner, when Mushtaq Ahmed was injured and the former was asked to join immediately to replace him. At that time, Afridi was one of the highest wicket-taking bowlers at the under-19 level. As a result, he was considered a reliable spin bowler but no special attention was given to his batting. However, this changed soon, for Afridi, in his second One Day International (ODI) and his first international inning, ...
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Dolled up to say goodbye
Nothing will hit us more than the prospect of leaving school. We haven’t even sat our AS levels, but we can already feel the pinch. And no event sums this up more than the end of year farewell. Whether your school farewell takes place in a fancy hotel, or whether it consists of you passing around biscuits in the science labs, whether it’s for the Matric, O’ Level, Inter and A’ Level, the fact that you will be this dolled up to say goodbye must strike a chord somewhere. Hence this conversation in Physics class: “Do you think orange would be too ...
Read Full PostIndia’s ‘small hearts’ and Afridi’s big mouth
I’ve never been Afridi’s biggest fan. But his recent form with the ball, and his leadership in the World Cup changed my mind…well, sort of. I have always found him to be mercurial. From scoring a hundred in 30-40 balls to getting out after playing the most atrocious shot in the books, Afridi has even bitten into a cricket ball. A day after his return to Pakistan, he held a brief press conference on his front porch. Lala fired back to a question asked by one of the reporters regarding Pakistan’s defeat against India. He questioned why Pakistanis look towards India with ...
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The banned trio and the unjust punishment
The troubled trio involved in the spot-fixing case has finally received a verdict that has ruined their cricketing careers – a severe but expected decision. Cricket fans had earlier speculated that Mohammad Amir would be cleared to play with a penalty or short ban but the five year ban has put a big question mark on his career and in the minds of cricket fans. The bans imposed on 26-year-old Salman Butt and 28-year-old Mohammed Asif have as good as finished their careers; 10 and 7 year bans mean that at this age, they have a rare chance of making a ...
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Adios, Murali!
One of the greatest stories of this generation might be coming to an epic end. It’s not just a story of a sportsman’s ability or the undisputed talent that a man can possess, but one which epitomises the triumph of strong human character. It is also a story of a man who knew he was past his peak, his body had gone through 18 years of wear and tear and he was honest enough to decide to walk away from the game, rather than be pushed or even nudged to do so. Muttiah Muralitharan’s illustrious career was one of undisputed talent, unconventional genius, and some wickets to ...
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World Cup 2010: Why there was more than one winner
I’ve been following Dutch Football since the first time I became cognizant of what a World Cup means, in 1998. The one thing every World Cup has had in common is that the Netherlands and Spain are two teams who have traditionally had issues of performance on the world’s greatest stage; perennial losers that never achieved what their true potential could have afforded them. The Final of the 2010 World Cup forever changed all of that, for both the teams. I could go off on a rant about missed chances, but each team had their fair share of those. We could ...
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