New skipper, new squad: Let’s beat Sri Lanka!
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced the squads for the tour to Sri Lanka yesterday. The three formats got their own tailored squads with the T20 squad coming up with the biggest surprise. Hafeez has been made the captain for the format and vice-captain to Misbahul Haq in the other two formats as Misbah stood down from international T20 cricket. No formal retirement announcement has been made as yet. Hafeez is affectionately called ‘The Professor’ amongst the team members and is known to think deeply about the game, its strategies and plans, making him the most logical successor to Misbah. He will ...
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Why we hate Misbah
First of all, let me apologize for the misleading headline. This is not a hate article about Misbahul Haq, nor is it one which supports him. When Pakistan lost to England, almost all of us decided to blame him for the defeat. Like all of our country’s misfortunes and losses, we decided to make our captain the scapegoat. Let us recall the events that culminated in Pakistan’s defeat. We had an opener (Hafeez) who didn’t score a single run, Afridi who got run out for three and didn’t take any wickets, Umar Gul who got hit around by Pietersen, a pitch as dead ...
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Misbah is not the problem
If attack is the best form of defence, Misbahul Haq surely doesn’t believe in it. He is a calm character whose presence on the field is barely felt at times and – on some occasions – hardly even matters. He’s patient so he waits until he gets a chance to pounce and at times, it backfires. But he has built a reputation, and a good one, to steer Pakistan past many obstacles in dire circumstances and, while the adrenaline levels remain low, fans ought to be proud of the results ‘captain cool’ has achieved since he has taken charge. The criticism ...
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The rise and fall of Dhoni and Clarke
It is often said that success is easy to obtain but very difficult to maintain. Winning the World Cup was the biggest thing that happened to Indian cricket in recent times. It was a rather young side that went on to scale new heights a few months ago. Maintaining momentum and hunger after such a spectacular achievement was a big challenge for India. Sadly, the team failed to live up to that challenge. Looking at India’s overseas record in Tests since the World Cup, it is evident that the fizz has gone out of their performances. Also, considering the current scenario, it ...
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The topsy-turvy roller-coaster ride of Bangladesh cricket
A year ago, Bangladesh cricket was settling down after a win against England and a loss to Ireland in the space of five days. They had barely sat down after the rollercoaster ride when crushing series wins over New Zealand and Zimbabwe followed. Then a World Cup came along, throwing up some more shockers: be it the stinkers against West Indies and South Africa or the unforgettable win over England. Just months later, Bangladesh cricket is staring down the barrel again, losing the Test and One-Day International (ODI) series against Zimbabwe. As in September 2010, on the eve of the historic New ...
Read Full PostHas Dhoni lost the Midas touch?
The same captain who inspired India to a World Cup win not long ago followed by the IPL trophy for his franchise. He was the captain magnificent, leading from the front and was always calm in the face of the storm, thwarting it to achieve sometimes improbable wins. However, those days seems to be long gone. Six months after what were surely the best moments of his life, his world has come apart. Once the euphoria of the trophies wore off and Dhoni and his team came up against test champions England, they were crushed! Dhoni’s own form with the gloves and ...
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Misbah-ul-Haq saved Pakistan cricket
Whitewashing Zimbabwe is not a great indicator of any cricket team’s progress. And while Bangladesh’s latest annihilation on their tour to Zimbabwe aptly marketed the home team’s marquee return to international cricket, it also spoke volumes of Bangladesh cricket’s perennial decline. They played such habitually mediocre cricket, that gauging any sign of improvement in Zimbabwe’s first post-hiatus display was almost impossible. There is no doubting the abundance in talent, with the likes of Sibanda, Taylor, Taibu and Vitori in the ranks, Zimbabwe has the makings of a quality cricket side. However, can Pakistan afford to over hype their recent successes against them? Historically, ...
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Afridi, as I see him
Two bloggers face off on Afridi’s controversial resignation – were his actions justified or did ego get the best of him? The Pakistan Cricket Board had it coming: Zainab Imam Someone had to go against them and who better than Shahid Afridi – Lala to his fans – who not only says he has public support and doesn’t need anything more, but also behaves like it. Many believe that Afridi has a personal agenda against the board which is why he, loved and hated for his mercurial temperament, has taken the bull by the horns. They point to the day he announced ...
Read Full PostShane Warne: Never Test captain, always a legend
A question that will be asked for ages to come, as the greatest leg spinner of all time bows out from cricket, would be: What would the world have seen had Shane Warne been Australia’s Test captain? In a career spanning almost 20 years, Warne has divided opinions globally and more so in his native country where some believe he was the messiah of cricket, making leg spin sexy again, while others thought him to be a constant source of embarrassment to the country due to his bad boy behaviour. He was accused of two of the biggest crimes in the game, ...
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Afridi out, rhythm broken
Shahid Afridi might be a heartthrob who stars in fancy Pepsi commercials, and flaunts his hair in a shampoo ad campaign, but he is much more than that. Our nation loves him because he is bold. He violates conformity, embraces flamboyance and transmits synergy characteristics found in successful leaders. He led Pakistan to a laudable campaign in the 2011 World Cup, given the instability and chaos that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was in. We lost to archrivals India in the semi-finals in Mohali. We hated it. But we forgot that it was just not Afridi’s fall to take. Yesterday the ...
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