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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

No Pak players in IPL IV auction


The involvement of Pakistan cricketers in the spot-fixing controversy has blown away their hopes of participating in Indian Premier League-IV. The IPL’s Governing Council (GC), which met on Sunday here, has decided not to include any Pakistan players in next year’s auction.
A BCCI top official said that the GC was of the view that they didn’t want to malign IPL by including tainted players. “At present seven Pakistan players are being probed for match-fixing. And we have no idea how deep-rooted the problem is. The entire team is under ICC anti-corruption radar and that’s why we decided to keep them away from the auction,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were placed under provisional suspension by International Cricket Council (ICC) after British tabloid News of the World broke the spot-fixing scandal during the Lord’s Test against England. More recently, allegations of wrongdoing were made against four more players — Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal and Imran Farhat.

Zulqarnain loses another lawyer

LONDON: Pakistan’s former wicket-keeper, Zulqarnain Haider, is falling short of supporters as he embarks further upon the path of truth and honesty.
Zulqarnain Haider
Amid worries regarding threats to his family based in Lahore, Zulqarnain was dealt another dent on Monday when his lawyer, Natasha Malik, withdrew her support for the troubled wicket-keeper.
Zulqarnain, who decided to leave the national team in United Arab Emirates after taking Pakistan to an unlikely victory in the fourth One Day International against South Africa, is due to unveil the names of the players and officials in the country’s domestic cricket who are involved in the menace of match and spot fixing.
Earlier, Ansar Barni Welfare Trust also decided against taking case of Zulqarnain Haider.
Natasha Malik told British media the reasons why she decided to quit Zoly’s War on Match and Spot Fixing. She said that the wicket-keeper is adamant to numerous offers made by the Pakistan Cricket Board therefore she had to change her mind and give up her weight behind him.
Zulqarnain Haider
Last week, Zoly said on his facebook page that he would soon reveal the names of those who have made huge bucks for selling the name of country and their teams.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) then decided to leave out former skipper Shoaib Malik, wicket-keeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, and Danish Kaneria owing to possible show of dismay by the International Cricket Council which is working with the PCB to root out the menace of corruption from the game.
It would be interesting to see which players, Zulqarnain would name sometime this week as this would open a new Pandora Box of rumours and speculations regarding level of corruption in Pakistan’s domestic cricket structure.

Cricket Special Report: Dark Clouds Hanging Over Pakistan Cricket

 Before Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010, Pakistan cricket was struggling big time as no international team was ready to travel to Pakistan because of the security problems and the mismanagement of the affairs in Pakistan Cricket Board. If that was not enough, politics within the senior players of the team made the situation worse.
Nevertheless, the initial part of the England tour gave a lot of hope to the cricket fans in Pakistan, as a young Pakistani team defeated Australia in a test match after 15 years and levelled the series against the giant opposition. Then, Pakistan also won against England at the Oval to bounce back in the series. These performances were quite commendable considering that it was completely a young unit led by a young captain.
During the Lord’s test, the real nightmare started for Pakistan cricket through the spot-fixing controversy which completely destroyed Pakistan’s image in the cricketing world, although nothing has been proven yet. One should also keep in mind that the newspaper ‘The News of The World’ is known for yellow journalism and its controversial past.
Because of the media reports, Pakistan lost the services of its 3 main players immediately as the test captain, Salman Butt and the most dangerous fast bowling pair of the world, Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif were suspended by the International Cricket Council until the final hearing of the spot-fixing case.
The controversy came at the peak of these players careers. Salman Butt was made the captain of the test team recently and was hinted as the future captain of Pakistan in all formats of the game. Apart from captaincy, he was coming of age as a batsman in both test cricket and the limited overs format. In the absence of the senior players, he was emerging as the most reliable batsman for the country.
On the other hand, Muhammad Amir was proving to be one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in the world with some extra-ordinary performances in England. He was the Man of the Match in both the test victories against the Aussies and the English. Still in his teens, he was predicted to have a long and bright career ahead of him. The other pacer, Muhammad Asif has had a career that is full of controversies but not lacking extra-ordinary performances on a number of occasions. He has an immaculate control over his line and length and the ability to move the bowl in both directions make him a lethal weapon for Pakistan, especially in the longer format of the game.
In short, these 3 players were influential in whatever success Pakistan has tasted in recent past.
If the suspension on the players was not enough, because of some ridiculous management of the affairs, Pakistan Cricket Board has put itself in such a position that every measure taken by the PCB has a question mark hanging over it. The Zulqarnain saga has rubbed salt in the wounds of Pakistan cricket.
Already without 3 of their main players, Pakistan cannot pick some of the other senior players like Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik as there is a shadow of doubt that they have also been involved in some wrong-doings.
With the ICC World Cup only two and a half months away, Pakistan cricket is under dark clouds right now. The need of the hour for Pakistan is to have a strong management which can put his house back in order and fight its case in front of the ICC in an appropriate manner. After all, Pakistan is a team which brings a different flavour with it in big events and has a big fan following all over the world.     

Get behind Pakistan, Wasim urges fans

LAHORE: With Pakistani team being part of so many controversies of late and their One Day Internationals skipper Shahid Khan Afridi complaining of not getting players of his liking in the national squad, Pakistani cricket fans are as loyal as ever.

Wasim Akram
And when they are urged by none other than cricket hero Wasim Akram, they are all on the back of their national cricketers for the ICC World Cup 2011 to be staged jointly by India, Sri Lanka, andBangladesh.
Talking to reporters in a rallying call during a ceremony unveiling the ICC World Cup trophy here Monday, the legendary former left-arm fast bowler asked the national to get behind their cricketers ahead of the biggest tournament.
“Let’s forget the problems that have dented Pakistan cricket in recent days and support our national team with a renewed trust and a positive frame of mind for the World Cup title”, Wasim said.

Wasim Akram
A spot fixing crisis dented Pakistan in August when the national team was touring England. Due to the allegations made by a British tabloid News of the World, the International Cricket Council suspended three of the crucial Pakistani players including Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and young Mohammad Aamir.
If that wasn’t enough, the ICC also stopped the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from selecting Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal for the New Zealand tour pushing Pakistan cricket further into the turmoil. It is highly unlikely that the PCB gets ICC clearance for the selection of the duo for the flagship event.
Wasim was of the view that Pakistan is one team that can surprise any top team on any given day and said that off-the-field problems have definitely marred the preparations but there is still hope for a remarkable Pakistan comeback.
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