Younus finally ready to meet Butt

 Younus Khan, the sacked former Pakistan cricket team captain has decided to meet with chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to clear things creating confusions among the board and him.

Sources told The Sports Encounter on Monday that this is for the first time that Younus has showed his willingness to meet with any PCB official after the lifting of the infinite ban in June.

Younus has finally decided to clear the things and resolve the matters so as to save his already darkened career from further destruction.

 Younus who in the recent days was giving a strong message to the board that he is fit and perfect for the game was continuously being ignored by the selectors after the indefinite ban removal.

Sources have said that Younus’s no coordination with the board along with no contact after the ban removal might be the basic reason behind his non selection.

 It is due to this reason that PCB has ordered in a stiff way that Younus should contact the board within a week otherwise legal proceedings would be carried against the already grounded cricketer after the issuance of a show cause notice.

 Authentic sources in the regulatory body of PCB have apprised The Sports Encounter that the senior

batsman, who is in Lahore for the national T20 championship has finally agreed to meet with the PCB Chairman, Ijaz Butt as a reply to the notice issued.

 The sources said that Younus’s point of view was clear as he said that he is not at all egoistic neither he has any problem in meeting with the board officials adding that he is perfectly available for a week in Lahore.

 Sources have further revealed that stiffness and no elasticity is being shown from the board side as the chairman PCB was of the view that performance can be ignored, what important is to meet with him and resolve the matters regarding the ban imposition.

 It must be remembered that Younus Khan was among the seven players who were either banned or fined after returning from the Australian tour in March but an appellate tribunal later removed the bans and also reduced the fines.

Younus along with Mohammad Yousuf were the individuals who faced hard decisions in the form of indefinite ban from the team in March.

Five other players – Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal – were also either banned or heavily fined.

 But later on the judgments and orders of the appellate tribunals, the bans were removed and fines were reduced to half. All the players except Younus had apologised to the board and accepted their mistakes, clearing the way for their return.

The appellate tribunal hearing the ban matter was of the view that the board had acted hastily in imposing ban on Younus as proper deliberations should be done mentioning that the board has the authority to start fresh proceedings from the beginning by issuing a show cause notice to Younus Khan if it feels that the former captain is in violation of any code of conduct.

At the same time the tribunal also reminded that the PCB board Chairman has the authority to forgive any player thus reduce or remove his suspension or any other punishment.

Ahmed Qayyum, Younis’ lawyer commenting on the current scenario said that he and his client are waiting for the showcause notice to be served but at the same time now his client wants immediate solution to the matter adding that for this purpose he is ready to meet anyone.

Important aspect is that Younus previously took a stand on the fact that he cannot apologise on any thing that he hasn’t done in addition to the proposal that he is ready to clear his name from the false charges being imposed on him.

Pakistan aims for 'maximum' victories before cricket World Cup

Pakistan's one-day captain Shahid Afridi aims to put his faltering team back on track by winning the "maximum number" of matches in the lead up to next year's cricket World Cup. "Victories serve as a tonic, which is why we should try our best to win as many matches as possible before the World Cup.

It will raise our morale and give us much-needed confidence before playing the World Cup," said Afridi.
"For us, the World Cup is an all-important assignment and we have to ensure that Pakistan field the best possible team in the event," said Afridi. 
"It's critical for us to try out our best possible players in the upcoming series against South Africa and New Zealand so that we are clear about our World Cup squad."
Afridi, 30, is often accused by some critics of "interfering" in selection matters but the all-rounder believes that as captain, it is his job to give much-needed inputs before the national team is decided.
"I make it a point to give the selectors my input because I'm the one who has to get the desired results from my team on the field," said Afridi.
"What I want from them is a pool of 20 players from which we can finalise our World Cup squad and I was hoping to get it ahead of the series against South Africa."
Pakistan are scheduled to leave for Abu Dhabi Oct 23 for playing two Tests, an equal number of Twenty20s and five One-day Internationals against South Africa.
The series, which begins with a T20 game Oct 26 is Pakistan's home series but will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai because of security-related issues.
While Afridi will lead Pakistan in the limited-overs matches, experienced batsman Misbah-ul-Haq will be their captain in the Test series.
After the UAE, Pakistan will play a full series against New Zealand in New Zealand. The series will conclude just weeks before the World Cup and Afridi believes that Pakistan should make up their mind about their World Cup squad before the New Zealand series. 
"I would suggest that we should send those players to New Zealand, who will be playing in the World Cup," said Afridi.

PCB issues show cause notice to Afridi

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was issued a show cause notice by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday for expressing his reservations over the selection of the team for the upcoming series against South Africa.
Afridi was retained as skipper for the One-Day Internationals and the Twenty20 matches for the upcoming series which will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Afridi spoke about the team selection with Kamran Shahid on the TV show ‘Frontline’ on Express News, where he hinted at not being consulted for the squad’s selection.
He added that a few players suggested by him would have made the team stronger

Captaincy goes to Misbah-ul-Haq, but why not Younis Khan?

Strange are the ways of Pakistan cricket and a new controversy or scandal is as synonymous with the national obsession of the country as the dawn of a new day.
Veteran middle order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq has returned to the national team after a lapse of four months with the added responsibility of leading the team in the two test match series against South Africa in the UAE next month.
The 36-year-old was left out of the national team after his unimpressive show in the T20 World Championship where Pakistan lost in the semi-finals.
Misbah was for the time, the only choice available to lead the national team for the series as the majority of the players in the fifteen member squad were either establishing or re-establishing themselves in international cricket.
Misbah will lead the side in the absence of Salman Butt who led the team admirably in England by winning two out of the five tests under him.
Butt has been ruled out of the South African series as he is suspended from international cricket for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing during and before the English tour.
He along with pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer are fighting a legal battle to save their careers and would have their appeal case hearing on the 30^th and 31^st of this month  - right when the ODI series against the Proteas would take place.
Meanwhile, the squad includes many surprises including the return of opener Taufeeq Umar after a gap of 4 years. The left hander was touted as the next great thing after a string of good scores in top flight cricket including two hundreds against the Proteas.
One of those hundreds came in South Africa during the 2002-03 tour when the hosts won a two test series 2-0.
His career like most Pakistani batsmen of modern times tapered off and he was dropped from the team after the 2006 tour of England.
Since then, Taufeeq has been a recluse in the national setup. This tour gives the Lahore born batsman the opportunity to cement his spot in the national team.
Taufeeq Umar will partner Imran Farhat at the top of the innings, in what would be a re-union of a partnership that was involved in three successive 100 plus stands in the ODI series against New Zealand in 2002.
The two have combined well with each other even in the longest format of the game and had the shades of the legendary opening duo of Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail in them.
Also making a comeback in the test fold are bowlers Mohammad Sami and Abdul Rehman.
Sami was unlucky to miss the UK tour despite an impressive spell in the only test match that he featured in Australia.
The pace bowler from Karachi sent the top three Aussie batsmen packing within the space of his first six overs in the second test of the disastrous tour down under earlier in the year.
In the second innings of the same match where Pakistan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Sami had a simple chance floored by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.
The talented yet inconsistent pace bowler was part of the team for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. He failed to cement his spot in the staring eleven with Pakistan relying on as many as four spinners in the last stage of that tournament.
The two match series against South Africa is another acid test for the Pakistan cricket team and one hopes that the team would succeed in putting up a decent fight against one of the top ranked test nations in the world.

Second marriage out of question: Wasim Akram

Pakistan's cricket legend and former national captain Wasim AkramWasim Akram has said a second marriage is out of question at the moment.
Akram's wife Huma died of multiple organ failure at a hospital in Chennai last year.
In an interview to Pakistan's Samaa TV, Wasim Akram said he wasn't planning for a second marriage. He was asked about reports that he could have relations with Bollywood actress Sushmita SenSushmita Sen.
Akram said Sen is pretty and he would like to be paired with her if he chose to work in movies, but denied reports that they were dating.
There were reports of him dating with the Bollywood actress during the times they were hosting a dance show on in Indian TV channel.
He said he was a romantic person and would also like to take Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie for a date.
About the Pakistani cricket affairs, he said he was always available to help young boys and his national team.
Akram was also asked about his reported rivalry with another famous bowler of his times Waqar Younus. He said they were both competing with each other and that was good for the team.

Misbah the best cricket brain in Pakistan - Lawson

Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson believes Misbah-ul-Haq has the "best cricket brain" in Pakistan and is well-placed to handle the Test captaincy, surprisingly handed to the 36-year-old last week.

Misbah was thought to be out of national reckoning when he wasn't picked for the Asia Cup or the tour to England earlier this year. But a disastrous sequence of captaincy appointments left the board, in their own words, with little choice.

Lawson is well-placed having been coach during Misbah's return to international cricket three years ago during the 2007 World T20, a tournament which he nearly won for Pakistan. That sparked the most productive phase of his career and it was in Lawson's time, between 2007 and 2008, that he established himself in the middle order; in five Tests under Lawson, he averaged 78 with two hundreds and a fifty; he averaged 41 in 28 ODIs, and over 67 in the ten Twenty20s Pakistan played with Lawson in charge.

Misbah was vice-captain to Shoaib Malik during that time and took over on one occasion, leading Pakistan to an ODI win over India in the 2008 Asia Cup in Karachi. "He definitely has the best cricket brain and intellect in Pakistan cricket," Lawson told ESPNcricinfo. "He has a statesman-like demeanour which so many Pakistan captains have lacked and he handles adversity analytically not emotionally. He knows how to get the best out of players and he is a winner, note his outstanding domestic record as a leader."

Several former players, including Wasim Akram have expressed their surprise at the appointment. Mostly it stems from Misbah's age - even though he is, for now, captain for only two Tests against South Africa - but also from his batting form.

His comeback ended initially in September 2009, when he was dropped for poor form. He returned, however, during the subsequent tour of New Zealand and Australia at the insistence of Mohammad Yousuf, who was captain at the time.

More disappointing returns on that tour formed part of a broader decline since Lawson's departure. He averages 24 in nine Tests since Lawson left in October 2008, and 21 in 19 T20Is. An average of nearly 40 in 16 ODIs since then is not enough to assuage the concerns of some that he doesn't command an automatic place in the XI.

"He works very hard on his fitness and his cricket skills so physically he will be in good shape," Lawson said. "The question is simply one of age and reactions. Has he got the sharpness to be productive at international level at 36? The captain leading or failing by example can have a significant effect on any team but especially Pakistan. He deserves this but Ideally he should have been captain six years ago."