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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The way forward for Pakistan cricket
All the rumours of sacking Misbah as captain have been laid to rest after Pakistan’s victory in the Asia Cup. The fear of Pakistan going downhill after the ODI series lost against England is no more there. Pakistan cricket has been stable, and for once the cricket season ended on a high note with not much to worry about. But what’s next for Pakistan? There are still many unanswered questions like: Who will be the next captain for Pakistan? Which new bowlers will have a future in the team? For how long can we persist with spinners as our main weapon? Who is the right ...
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Why should Afridi steer the ship?
On March 30, 2011, when the team lost to our arch rivals and eventual champions, India in the semi-finals of the coveted 2011 World Cup, this is what our team captain at the time, Shahid Afridi had to say: “I want to say sorry to my nation. We tried our level best but couldn’t make it. I am pleased with the way my team played throughout the competition.” He apologised for leading a fragmented, jaded, and weak team to the top four; something which he envisaged on February 9, 2011. The talismanic all-rounder was ...
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What to learn from the series against England
The Pakistan vs England series has finally concluded in the UAE and as the records state, we managed to beat England 3-0 in the Test series. However, England were good enough to beat us 4-0 in the ODIs and also 2-1 in the T-20s. Sadly, the latest defeats have spoiled the show for us big time. The losses have undoubtedly exposed our batting line up. If we look at the stats, we owe the Test series win to our spin bowling and the England side’s inability to play our bowlers. But here is what we have been doing in the batting department ...
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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 ...
Read Full PostTeam Misbah did us proud
Victory against any opposition is sweet. But when you win against the world’s top Test team, it is memorable. Pakistan beating England by 72 runs last week has to go down as one of the best successes of the Pakistan cricket team. Defending just 145 against one of the best batting line ups of the world would have been a tough job in any case, but Pakistan never let England off the hook. Surprisingly, the chief destroyer was Abdur Rehman who grabbed six wickets for 25 runs in just 10.1 overs. Saeed Ajmal supported him well with three wickets for ...
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Pakistan cricket, soaring through the ranks
It wasn’t a very long time ago that words such as ‘stability’, ‘consistency’ and ‘Pakistan’ were never used in the same sentence. However, since the spot-fixing trial, it seems that the Pakistan players and the incumbents at the board have finally grown out of their primitive mind set and realised what needs to be done. The emphasis displayed on consistency in selection and backing of players has been crucial to Pakistan’s success in the one dayers and Test matches. And, of course, the fear of real jail time and extended bans seems to have worked in favour of Pakistan. Pakistan now sits comfortably ...
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Grooming batsmen for all conditions
Our think-tank in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should analyse the needs of the different formats of the game. The Pakistan cricket team shouldn’t just be a side that can play a good T20 match or an ODI – they should be prepared to play all the different versions of cricket, and the PCB should prepare them accordingly. I am glad that under Misbahul Haq the team is finally learning the essentials of Test cricket. They are spending time in the middle and accumulating runs rather than treating it like a one-day match. The results are obvious; the team has started to perform consistently, and the ...
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Mohammad Hafeez: The sweetly timed turnaround
About 18 months ago, Mohammad Hafeez was wondering where he had gone wrong — he probably hadn’t seen himself play cricket. His comeback series after almost three years in the wilderness – the 2010 World Twenty20 – lasted six matches, 39 runs and two wickets. So when he was selected for the limited-overs squad to take on England that summer, shock prevailed. He hadn’t scored a half-century since December 2006 and despite an all-rounder’s tag, failed to get more than three wickets since October 2003. He averaged 18.6 with the bat after 48 ODIs. There was a huge uproar following his selection ...
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Team Green: Wish you all the best!
Last year in November 2010, Pakistan cricket was going through a very tough time. Already reeling under the dark clouds of spot-fixing shenanigans, a representative team lost to Afghanistan in the semi-finals of the Asian Games in China. As always, a loss in Pakistan is attributed to match-fixing while a win is credited to ‘qaum kee duayen’ (the nation’s prayers). “How can Pakistan bounce back from this low of losing talented cricketers with the cricket World Cup just a few months away?” This was the question which perturbed many Pakistani fans like me. But as they say, the sun needs to set ...
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