Drawing Tests against SA to be morale booster vs Kiwis: Misbah

 

KARACHI, Nov 27 (APP): Pakistan’s Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq Khan believed that drawing a 2-test match series against the formidable South Africa was a creditable show which gave a great deal of confidence to the team for next month’s tour to New Zealand.“The team put up a fighting show and holding powerful South Africans to a draw in both the test matches was a great sign,” he told Sports Correspondent Ehsan Qureshi in an exclusive interview on Saturday.“I feel proud and satisfied that I contributed something in saving both the games for Pakistan. I want to serve the country with best of my abilities,” he commented.

“I don’t want to prove any of my critics wrong with my batting but only want to serve the country,” he said modestly.
“The credit goes to the whole team not only to me or Younis Khan. It was a team effort all the way,” Misbah, who scored 212 runs at an average of 53.00, said.
“The upcoming series against New Zealand will be tough. But the confidence the guys gained against South Africa will be a booster,” 36-year-old veteran batsman, who had scored 1128 runs in 21 test matches at an average of 38.37 with two centuries and seven fifties, said.
“I know the ball will be moving around in New Zealand. But our team really did well in the tour against Kiwis last year,” he remarked. Absence of pacers like Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif may be felt.
“But I think there are some good pace bowlers around in Umer Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, hopefully Wahab Riaz will also get fit. We have to rely on the available resources and the team provided by the selectors,” he maintained.
“I will give my feed back to selectors to finalise the test team,” pointed out.          
Commenting on the wild-stroke Umer Akmal, he said Umer is talented batsman but test matches need patience which is the core issue.
“Umer is aggressive by nature and went after the bowling and paid the penalty. I hope he learns from his mistakes,” he observed.  
Responding to another question about the availability of leg-spinner Danish Kaneria for tour to Down Under, he said it was upto the Pakistan Cricket Board and selectors to decide about it.
Similarly, on the selection of former Pakistan Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal, he said it was again the domain of the Board, however, as far as his personal opinion was concern, he would like them in the team.
Talking about the showing of newcomer Adnan Akmal, he said Adnan was also talented but it would take him time to learn the trick of the sport with the passage of time.
When asked to compare Sarfraz Ahmed with Adnan, Misbah said he was optimistic about them but rest is with the Selection Committee.

Yousuf, Shabbir resign from Wapda

Pakistan cricket is never short of controversies. You just want it, they come up with the one. In the latest such infamous affair, two senior players of the national cricket team showed their unwillingness to accept each other’s existence in the same time during Pakistan’s biggest domestic tournamnet.

Former Pakistan skipper, Mohammad Yousuf and fast bowler Mohammad Shabbir have resigned from Wapda’s team after developing severe differences with captain of the team, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, sources told The Sports Encounter on Saturday.

Wapda are due to take on Karachi Blues at the National Stadium in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s fifth round match starting from November 28 (tomorrow).

Mohammad Yousuf recently came back from Dubai after struggling from an injury and couldn’t represent Pakistan in the two-test match series against South Africa.

According to sources, after returning to Pakistan, Yousuf contacted Rana Naved to let him play in the Wapda team in a bid to regain his fitness ahead of the national team’s New Zealand tour.

Rana Naved categorically refused to let Yousuf be part of his side after which both Mohammad Yousuf and Shabbir Ahmed resigned from the team as protest.

It is important to mention here that both Mohammad Yousuf and Shabbir Ahmed were part of the notorious rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) which came under the shadow of match fixing.

Rana Naved has recently got his ban overturned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and now is taking part in the domestic competition.

After parting ways with Wapda, Mohammad Yousuf will now represent Lahore Shalimar in the remaining matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while Mohammad Shabbir would play for Lahore Ravi.

Talking exclusively to The Sports Encounter on phone, Mohammad Yousuf said that he would take part in the 6th round match of country’s premier domestic tournament from Lahore Shalimar against Karachi Whites at South End Club and he would reach Karachi tonight.

However, he refrained from commenting on his feud with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and team management of Wapda

Kamran, Malik in running for Pak WC squad

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal are expected to return to the national side for the forthcoming New Zealand tour and are also tipped to feature in the preliminary squad for next year's ODI World Cup in the subcontinent.

According to sources close to the national selectors, both the players have impressed with their recent commitment to domestic cricket and also with their form.

Both the players were dropped for the ongoing series against South Africa with fingers also pointed on Kamran's alleged involvement in spot-fixing.

"But now the International Cricket Council has given the Pakistan Cricket Board clearance to consider Kamran for the coming events," one source said.

Malik has been in prolific form in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, where he scored a fifty, a double hundred and a hundred while Kamran also notched up a century in the ongoing round of matches.

The national selectors are also said to have got clearance from PCB chairman Ijaz Butt.

"The selectors will announce squad for the tour to New Zealand later this week while they have to announce the preliminary World Cup squad by December 19," the source said.

The source said that the selectors had also been told by Butt that Shahid Afridi will continue to lead the Twenty20 and ODI teams while Misbah-ul-Haq will be retained as captain for the Test matches in New Zealand.

"The selectors have now asked the Board for clearance on leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and all-rounder Rana Naved," the source said.

He said both players will be required to be given a green signal by the integrity committee of PCB for selection.

Kaneria was due to join the national team for the ongoing Test series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai but was held back at the last moment by the Board.

Sources said the decision to hold him back came after ICC indicated that Kaneria was still part of an ongoing spot-fixing investigation in England.

Kaneria and his fellow Essex player Mervyn Westfield are presently under investigation for trying to defraud bookmakers during a pro-40 overs match involving Essex and Durham.

However, the police did not charge Kaneria for lack of evidence but Westfield is now under trial.

England’s Coach Andy Flower Undergoes Cancer Treatment

The English team was without their head coach Andy Flower on the second day of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, because he had to undergo a surgery to remove an outgrowth in his right cheek, which is believed to be cancerous.

According to the English Cricket Board, Andy Flower is fine and there is nothing to worry about. The ECB spokesperson said, “As far as he is concerned, it is business as usual. He was not at the game today, because he had a melanoma taken out - which was successful. At this stage, he is expected to be fine.”

The spokesman went on to say, “He went off for a routine check, and they said they felt it prudent to take it out. He may well be back on deck tomorrow, or most definitely the following day."

According to details, it was this week, when Flower noticed the growth and decided to get it checked. Luckily, for him, the doctors detected his carcinoma just in time before it could spread. He was advised to get it removed, to avoid any future complications. The 42-year-old decided not to take any chances and opted for the surgery.

According to details, the growth was not big enough to be dangerous and only a minor operation was required to remove it completely. Flower is expected to recover before the end of the Test.

Australia has the most qualified cancer doctors in the world and the English Coach picked the right place to get his cancer removed. Early diagnose of Andy’s cancer means an almost complete eradication of the disease from his system. He is now recuperating from the surgery in the team hotel. Although, Flower was not in the ground to watch his bowlers rattle the Australian batting line up, but he was given a pleasant surprise by the news that his bowlers had given the Aussies a tough time on his return to the hotel.

In the absence of the head coach, the fielding coach Richard Halsall has been given charge of the national squad.

Flower has played 63 Tests scoring 4794 runs and 213 ODIs scoring 6786 runs for his national side Zimbabwe, where he played most games as a wicketkeeper.

The former Zimbabwean batsman has been a phenomenal coach ever since he joined the English squad in 2007 as an Assistant Coach. However, his real skills became prominent when he was finally made the head coach of England. Ever since, England have been gradually improving in their game and today Andy is coaching an English side which is being considered as the strongest English outfit in nearly twenty years. It was under Flower’s impressive coaching that England, for the first time in their history, managed to grab an ICC trophy by becoming the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Champions.

Flower has managed to bind all the English players as a tight unit and now every player is giving his best to perform for the team. It is because of the coach’s attitude that there exists complete harmony among the members of the squad and this is the reason why every player is backing his teammate. Andy Flower has done a great job with this English outfit and the boys are out there to make him proud.

The story of Pakistan Cricket

Pakistan cricket it seems has always been a hub of controversies. The superstars of the country have been nothing less than mischievous. Be it for smuggling drugs into the UK on the England tour in their shoes, back in the glorious Imran Khan days or for being seen in night clubs in South Africa with women. It seemed like Pakistan cricket had it all.

But I guess God had different plans for our cricket. Plans those were grander in nature for any of us to comprehend. Just when we thought that our cricket could not get any more controversial than Bob Woolmer’s, lets just say it, ‘unanticipated’ death, a new bullet of notoriety hit us when our Test captain, along with two of his pacers got suspended after a leaked tape, alleging their involvement in a spot-fixing case.

Just when the world and team Pakistan were busy in assessing the loss in terms of spot-fixing, a lot more happened. Who could have imagined that a player with only a single Test match to his credit will suddenly go ‘missing’? Without a trace, Zulqarnain just vanished off the face of the earth. He left trails on Facebook and sent text messages to a journalist. Only to re-emerge in London, the man soon applied to seek asylum, claiming there were ‘grave’ dangers to his life.

Thinking over the facts of Pakistani cricket and all the controversies that it has been surrounded with, one just wonders how all makes sense. How could anyone possibly connect the dots? But the more is tried, the further it depicts a spider web. Reasons, it seems, are required merely to justify things or events. Pakistanis need not justify any of it.

So what if Pakistan players get caught smuggling narcotics into a foreign territory? So what if our superstars hang out with women in night clubs? So what if the only team in the history of cricket has forfeited a test match? So what if the coach is nothing less than murdered? So what if they reached the semi-finals of the Twenty20 world cup by just winning two matches? So what if the players are charged and suspended in a spot-fixing case? The answers are uncertain and the management attitude wants to keep the things that way.

If an analysis of Pakistan cricket is conducted, one can realise that everything is a mess. No matter how bad things are, they are still ignored. Nothing seems unfair. Nothing seems too notorious. Nothing seems too out of order. Blinded by passion for the sport, people would do just about anything to keep this one thing going on when everything else seems to fail in the country.

Cricket has been that one ray of hope that has kept many alive. So yes, all of it is justified when it comes to Pakistani cricket because when everything else has turned its back, the sport has been there to provide something to cherish, something to live for. For a nation where cricket is just about next to religion, there is no need for a ‘reason’ or ‘justification’ for anything – perhaps this is what one calls blind faith.

However the mismanagement over the last few years has exposed the so called coordination between the team and the officials. This has dented the sport badly. But it seems that neither the Pakistan Cricket Board is interested, nor the Patron in chief. If this attitude carries on, then it is likely that Pakistan Cricket will have to face tough days ahead. For a nation which follows the game religiously, this will be mere humiliation for them.

SHOAIB AKHTAR'S CHANCE

There was a time when fellows like legendary Waqar Younis, Ian Bishop and Allan Donald were in a dog fight to become the world's fastest bowler. All of them were almost equally quick. This thing continued till the debut of a boy who emerged from Rawalpindi, Pakistan in December 1997 and in no time he left these big names far behind as far as the race of  being called the fastest bowler of the world is concerned.

He was named as ''The Rawalpindi Express''by his fans. He is, yet another genius from the Pace factory that is Pakistan. He became the first bowler to achieve the mile stone of bowling 100 miles per hour and still none of the other fast bowlers of the world have reached it.That was the time when everyone from a young boy to an old man used to wear T-Shirts with Shoaib’s name and picture on it.

Young lads used to copy his hair style, his bowling action, his dressing etc. He is known as an angry young man from day one of his career. Some of my friends, who have played first class cricket in Pakistan and played against him, said that he is a monster and is just like a power house. The glimpse of his aggression also reflects in his personality out of the field which also is a reason of his decline and made his career full of controversies which affected his career badly.

For example, his issues with the late coach of Pakistan team, Bob Woolmer and a fight with his fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif when he hit him with a bat. He faced many fines and many other punishments for those acts. Shoaib had many fitness problems during his career which also affected his career badly. Sometimes I think if Shoaib would have played like all other players without controversies and by maintaining better fitness level, he surely would have been one of the greatest Pakistani paceman.

Something about his stats caught my eye which very few people know. His record as an opening bowler is relatively much weaker than an old ball bowler. He averages 27.48when he comes to ball as the opening bowler, which is not that good. If he bowls as the 2nd bowler, his average is 24.84which is good but not that great but if we have a look at his stats at position of number 3 and 4, they are just remarkable. As first change bowler his average is 21.61 which is outstanding and as 2nd change bowler he is the best ever of Pakistan has ever produced at an average of 15.84 which is just like dream for a bowler at international level.

May be he is also the one of many Pakistani cricketers who failed to identify their strong points. Sometimes I think about him that if he had played regularly and used to bowl as first or second change consistently, he might have been even bigger name than Imran Khan and the 2 W’s.

He is now 35 years old at the end of his career but still his speed is in mid-nineties which is awesome but the thing which has now became a worry is that he is tired after 1 or 2 overs. At his peak we have witnessed that big names of cricket batting history used to struggle against him but now a day’s he is even hammered by domestic level or club level batsmen.

His performance against the 2nd strength side of Somerset was alarming for Pakistan cricket as he is a key figure for Pakistan for the upcoming world cup, especially considering the fact that Amir and Asif's positions are doubtful after the spot fixing scandal. Now almost all his fans have disappeared and the same people who used to love him are now ignoring him, neglecting him and even criticizing him.

You can say the real face of the world is now right before his eyes and he is trying to get the same status back which seems almost an impossible thing to achieve his stardom now, but nobody knows what can happen next moment with the Rawalpindi Express. May be he will give tremendous performance like Glenn McGrath did in his last world cup or he could be a total flop. We can just hope that he achieves the best fitness level ever to give his 100% for his country and prove his critics wrong who claim that he is finished now.

We know 180 million people are praying for him, can he end his career with a final hurrah with a World Cup win? Let us wait and watch..!!

Umar Gul`s secret weapon

DUBAI: Pakistan pace bowler Umar Gul has claimed that he has added a new `secret` delivery to his armoury on which he dismissed South African middle-order batsman A.B. de Villiers` on the second day of the first Test on Saturday.

“This secret delivery is my new weapon which I will be using in the coming matches,” he said at the Dubai Stadium.
Umar took three wickets in 19 balls for just five runs to destroy the South African batting on day two, after failing to take a wicket on the first day. “I will try to use the new ball in the same way I used it this morning.” —APP

Afghan coach says he used India example to inspire team

Afghanistan coach Rashid Latif has said he inspired his team for the Asian Games final against Bangladesh by narrating how underdogs India beat the all-conquering West Indies to win the 1983 World Cup.
"The Indians were not as fit as their rivals, nor was their skill superior to the West Indies, yet on that day they played better and won," Latif told AFP.
"My team here was the fittest and they had good skills too, but I warned the boys not to take Bangladesh lightly." Having stunned favourites Pakistan in the semi-final yesterday, Afghanistan proved worthy opponents against Bangladesh, taking the final to the last over before losing by five wickets.
Latif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, said Afghanistan's ultimate aim was to play Test cricket.
"The result proved me right, but I am happy we are on the right path.
We will improve further if we play the big teams regularly.
The aim is to be a Test nation soon and play against the best.
I want to bring youngsters into the game so the sport continues to grow in Afghanistan." Afghanistan have made rapid strides, rising through the ranks from the lower divisions of the World Cricket League.
They played in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean earlier this year and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2011 World Cup.
Mohammad Nabi, the Afghanistan captain, said passion for the game kept the players going.
"The war has been going on for three decades, but we have been playing cricket there for the last 10 years despite the lack of proper facilities or grounds.
Cricket has caught on back home.
More people are playing the game or following it on radio and TV." Nabi was disappointed to lose the final, but said the silver medal had buoyed his team for the five-day Intercontinental Cup final against Scotland in Dubai from December 2.
"We want to play as much as possible, wherever possible.
The aim is to join the big league." Afghanistan received backing from Bangladesh, who won their country's first ever Asian Games gold medal.
"We are celebrating, but I hope Afghanistan will celebrate too because they deserve the silver medal," Imran Sarwar, the Bangladesh coach, said.
"They are a very good side and I am sure they will become a top team in the near future.
Their rise has been remarkable.
"This was not an easy win at all.
We expected them to make around 100 or 110, but they went to 118 and then kept us under pressure till the end."