PAK UMPIRE ALEEM DAR WISHES RETURN OF INTERNATIONAL CRICKET IN PAKISTAN

Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has expressed desire for the return of International Cricket in his native country in the near future once the security situation of the country improves.

Dar, while giving an interview to a local newspaper, said, “It’s really unfortunate for Pakistan that it is currently completely isolated. I understand that it’s a big drawback for our players and match officials which is discouraging. But I am hopeful that the time will come and Pakistan will be able to hold its games in the country instead of playing its home series away but we need to be patient.”

Pakistan has not hosted any international cricket event since March 2009, after the touring Sri Lankan cricket team was ambushed by alleged terrorists in Lahore. The attack took place when the team was going towards the Gaddafi Stadium to play an ODI against the host country.

This attacked claimed the lives of eight Pakistanis while injuring six Sri Lankan players. The ODI series was immediately called off and the tourists were flown back to their country.

This incident caused an international embarrassment for Pakistan, making the country a no-go area for foreign countries.

Since the attack, no foreign country has agreed to take part in any international cricket activity in the terrorism-hit state of Pakistan. This has created a big problem for cricketing authorities in Pakistan because now they have to use the services of a third county to host home series. Pakistan has been using England and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as its offshore base for hosting all home tournaments.

While talking about the World Cup, Dar, who is the most respected umpire in the world of cricket for his commendable decision-making ability on the field, said, “Participating in an event like the World Cup is always a great honour for a player as well as the official.” This is Dar’s second World Cup as an umpire; he officiated the final of the 2007 World Cup with former umpire Steve Bucknor (West Indies) that was played between Australia and Sri Lanka in the Caribbean.

Dar is currently ranked as the number one umpire in cricket after winning the ICC Umpire of the Year award consecutively in 2009 and 2010.

Dar, who has officiated 62 Tests and 127 ODIs, is expected to make the upcoming World Cup error free, which is set to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Two Pakistan umpires to officiate IPL matches

 Pakistan cricketers may not featurein the Indian Premier League, but two umpires from the country-- Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf -- have been included in the panelof umpires for the fourth edition of the hugely successful league.

Sources in the Pakistan board said that the BCCI hadasked for the two umpires, particularly Dar, to be allowed toofficiate in the IPL matches.

"Both will go to India for the IPL games with theapproval of the PCB and the International Cricket Councilafter officiating in the World Cup," a source said.

Dar was named the ICC umpire of the year for the secondsuccessive year recently, while Rauf is also on the ICC eliteumpires panel.

The IPL will be held in India from April 8 to May 22 but,for the third year running, none of the franchisees would behaving Pakistani players.

One source said that Pakistan''s former Test player andnational team manager, Talat Ali, would also be featuring inthe IPL.

"It is unfortunate that once again the Indian board hasnot shown interest in allowing our players to take part in theIPL but, as it is, our players would be engaged in a Test andone-day series in the West Indies during that period," asource said.

Cricket Canada seeks Indian visas for Pakistan-born players

Cricket Canada has urged theInternational Cricket Council to help its three Pakistan-bornplayers obtain visas to enter India for the World Cup, whichgets underway in the sub-continent on February 19.

Vice-captain Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan and HamzaTariq are still awaiting visas.

Cricket Canada is hoping the ICC would alter thetournament schedule, which sees Canada playing four of theirsix group games in India.

The Canadian team wants get the games to move Bangladeshand Sri Lanka if visa woes continue for their players.

Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said all effortsshould be made to solve the problem immediately.

In the World Cup, Canada are in Group A, which alsoincludes title holder Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Zimbabwe, Kenya and New Zealand.

Sarfraz Nawaz appreciates Pak's 'morale-boosting' win against New Zealand

Former Test cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz Saturday appreciated national Cricket team victory over New Zealand in the third ODI. The entire team performed well in the match specially Mohammad Hafeez, who scored his first one-day century and Shahid Afridi blasted the equal-fastest half century in New Zealand as Pakistan levelled their one-day series, he told a private TV channel.
He said: “It has boosted the morale of the national team and would affect the performance of entire team.” He hoped that team would play in same spirit in next match and World Cup. To a question, Sarfraz said that there is a need of further improvement in all disciplines including bating, bowling and fielding. He said that some of the players’ physical condition is not good and suggested them to work hard to ensure to be fit for the World Cup.

PCB set to retain Afridi as skipper for World Cup

The Pakistan Cricket Board chairmanIjaz Butt in all likelihood will announce Shahid Afridi as thecaptain of the Pakistan team for the upcoming World Cupalthough some players back Misbah-ul Haq as the leader.
According to sources, Butt has decided to now stick withAfridi as captain although there is still a divided opinionabout the fact that some consider Misbah to be a betterchoice.

The scales seemed to have heavily tilted in favour ofAfridi after the dashing batsman smashed 65 off only 25deliveries during Pakistan''s series levelling win against NewZealand yesterday.

"Butt has come to the conclusion after discussing thecaptaincy issue with the team management and others that itwould be unwise to change the captain at such a stage andsince Afridi has been the ODI captain since late 2009," asource indicated.

He said the board would most likely end the captaincydebate by announcing the captain in next 24 hours.

There was plenty of debate in the cricketing circlesafter the PCB announced the World Cup squad of 15 players lastmonth but didn''t name the captain.

Many former players consider Afridi to be tootemperamental to be given the responsibility of captaining inthe World Cup and others warning against changing the captainat so late a stage.

Former Pakistan captain, Shoaib Malik has also added hisvoice to the captaincy debate supporting Afridi.

"I don''t think it is a good move to change the captainnow. When Afridi is leading the team since the last one year,it makes no sense to change him now," Malik said.

Malik also called on the board to follow a consistentpolicy while appointing a captain.

"Anyone who is appointed captain should be given a longrun to prove himself. A captain must be given security andassurance he will be there for a proper period of time thatway even the players will throw their full weight behind him.