No one wants to tour Pakistan
As someone who has watched Pakistan play cricket on numerous occasions overseas, as well as in Karachi, I can tell you the experience is enormously different at home. Overseas, the seats are comfortable, the stadiums in pristine condition, the crowds well-behaved, the food non-threatening and no eyesore security grill to separate the playing area from the spectators. At home, the seats will put your rear to sleep, the biryani is spicy enough to make you wish you brought antacid with you, and the frighteningly energetic crowd is so loud that you can’t speak to the person next to you without the aid ...
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Is Shahid Afridi above the law?
I joined in, wholeheartedly, as millions of Pakistanis rejoiced over our recent triumph on the cricket ground against Bangladesh. In a nation where cricket is followed with religious fervour, it is no surprise that cricket heroes like Shahid Afridi are exalted to the level of saints. This may be the reason Afridi’s recent outburst, at the Karachi Airport, was swiftly brushed aside as justified, with no official follow-up save for a brief statement issued by the cricketer that implicitly condoned his actions. The public’s acceptance of his actions is disturbing to say the least. Granted, Afridi’s consistent contributions on the cricket ...
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Bangladeshi Tigers: Not ready to roar just yet
It seems they are not quite ready for the big games after all. The cricketing fraternity was quite pleasantly surprised with the Bangladesh resurgence at the Asia Cup. They defeated the current world champions India, former champions Sri Lanka and came quite close to defeating Pakistan – also a former champion – on two occasions. In fact, the final went down to the wire, and was not decided until the last ball. Bangladesh dominated the entire match; they bowled brilliantly and restricted Pakistan to what seemed like a barely adequate score of 236. Had it not been for the heroics of Sarfaraz Ahmed ...
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Sweet victory, sour grapes: Bangladesh’s almost win
Although he is not my first Bangladeshi friend, Rohaan is definitely the first diehard Bangladeshi cricket fan I have ever met. He reminds me of how I used to be about cricket: crazy, emotional, passionate and frustrated. This March, the Bangladesh cricket team went all out to give their millions of fans, including Rohaan, a reason to cheer; something they have been longing for for a very long time. At the Asia Cup 2012, the Bangladeshi team crossed all sorts of hurdles to make it to their first big final. On the final ball of a nerve bursting over, they were just ...
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Pakistan’s Asia Cup victory: Silencing the naysayers
You’re sitting at the office swamped with work and don’t want to do it – it’s the usual mood before a long weekend. Add to it the opportunity to watch Pakistan battle it out with Bangladesh for the crown of the Asian championship, and you have people just willing the clock to strike five. It was in this mood that we sat in the lunch area streaming the match live at around 1.30 PM on Thursday. During that passage of play, Pakistan lost two cheap wickets. Some declared that we were going to lose this, some weren’t sure and some ...
Read Full PostKohli: The future of Indian batting
India has always produced exquisite batsmen from Viswanath to Vengsarkar, Azharuddin to Tendulkar; from this pedigree, another star has emerged that shines brighter than the other young guns around. Virat Kohli has set himself apart from his contemporaries with such dominant performances that India’s batting future seems to be secured. Actually, in the last few weeks we have had a glimpse of that future twice; once, when Kohli led India to a successful run chase in Australia, chasing 321 from 36 overs. And again yesterday, when India completed their highest, Kohli was at the ...
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Whatmore: Magician or mistake?
With the appointment of Dav Whatmore as coach of the national team, several former Pakistan players and fans have voiced the opinion that removal of Mohsin Khan from that position was an uncalled for action, considering the excellent run of results the side had enjoyed under him, notwithstanding the recent drubbing at the hands of England in the limited-overs series. However, an overview of Pakistan’s performance over the last year-and-a-half indicates that the good results that they enjoyed predate Mohsin’s appointment as interim coach. That’s why it would be unfair to the likes of former coach Waqar Younis — under ...
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Fear and loathing for military coups
Three unrelated stories reported in the mainstream media recently gave me an emotional high — and a low. The first story was about a decision by a court in the Turkish capital of Ankara to indict and charge the leader of that country’s 1980 coup with crimes against the state. Bravo! This was a high. But a sudden low came with a news piece on a tribunal’s decision in Bangladesh to send 90-year-old Ghulam Azam, the country’s most prominent Islamist leader, to jail, pending trial for war crimes. The 90-year-old was accused of helping the Pakistan Army in the 1971 ...
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Seraikistan is our right
Seraikis are not ‘south Punjabis’, just like Pathans aren’t ‘north Punjabis’. Stop calling them southern Punjabis; it’s in bad taste. Having one’s cultural identity reduced to a geographical variant of an alien ethnicity is unpleasant. People should realise how incredibly offensive it is when they claim that Seraiki is just a dialect of Punjabi and not a different language. Seraiki is an ancient language, rich with heritage that represents its people. Some even argue that linguistically, Punjabi may be a relatively recent relic of the Sikh invasion, while Seraiki, with its original Sanskrit script, might be significantly older. It’s ironic how a ...
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Pakistan’s Test side shows promise
Last year when that dreadful News of the World (NoTW) sting named some players in a fixing scandal, many feared the death of Pakistani cricket. With international teams already refraining from touring Pakistan, allegations of corruptions almost completely isolated Pakistani cricket. As this year ends, we find Pakistan slowly, but surely, roaring its way back into the cricketing world. All credit must be given to the players who have somewhat managed to recreate the market value that was once associated with this brand of cricket. Pakistan’s form in ODIs this year has been nothing short of spectacular. With 24 wins and ...
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