Sri Lanka Agree To Tour Pakistan

In an effort to revive international cricket in Pakistan, the PCB is in talks with its Sri Lankan counterpart for a short ODI and Twenty20 series later this year.

According to Pakistan Cricket Board sources, Sri Lanka Cricket is ready to send its team for the short limited overs series but want the Test rubber to be played in the neutral venues of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"The talks with the Sri Lankans have been pretty positive so far and we are hopeful the series will be split into two parts with the limited over games in Pakistan," one source said. "They have also indicated that they might come and play the limited over games in Pakistan," he added.

Under ICC's Future Tours Program, Sri Lanka are due to tour Pakistan in October-November this year for three Tests, five ODIs and a one-off T20 match. But with no international team having toured Pakistan since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, doubts still hang over the prospect of the series

Pakistan have no problems playing in India: Afridi

Pallekele (Sri Lanka), March 15 (IANS) Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who earlier voiced concern over playing in India, Tuesday said his team was ready to play the quarter-final in any venue.

'It does not matter to us where we play our quarter-final. The biggest issue for us was to qualify for the knockout stage, and we have done that now,' Afridi said after beating Zimbabwe in the World Cup.

'We are ready to play our quarter-final at any venue now.

'What I said earlier is a thing of the past. Right now we are just happy to make (it to) the quarter-finals. If we remain in our confident mode, it does not matter where our venue is.'

Afridi had earlier said that playing in India will attract more pressure on the players. Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe Monday.

In the knock-out stage, India will host a quarter-final in Ahmedabad, a semi-final at Mohali) and the final at Mumbai.

Pakistan last toured India in 2007. The two countries have not played each other in a bilateral series due to strains in India-Pakistan ties.

Afridi reckoned that the team was over the spot-fixing controversy involving former captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.

'The off-the-field problems for us are over now. The mood is one of confidence in the dressing room. We now just want to end our group with a win over Australia. We have the firepower to do that,' he said.

Pakistan play their last league match against defending champions Australia in Colombo March 19.

Pakistan is now free of controversies: Waqar

 Pakistan coach Waqar Younis feels that spot-fixing scandal and disciplinary issues involving the players, which had stained the image of game in the country, were things of the past and said that the national team is back on a winning track.

"I think the most satisfying thing for me right now is that the team now believes in itself and is back on the winning track. I feel our team is now out of this cycle of controversies and is now focusing on its cricket and that is very satisfying for me as coach," Waqar, who completed a year in the office as the coach, said.

"There is always a fear lingering in the mind that our team should not be dragged into another new scandal. We have tried very hard to keep the players away from such issues and just let them focus on their cricket and the results are now showing," Waqar said after his team beat Zimbabwe to enter the quarterfinal stage of the World Cup.

Waqar was appointed coach in March last year after the team's disastrous tour of Australia where they lost all the Test matches besides being hit by a host of disciplinary issues.

"There was a time when I took over as coach and spent most of time in my room out of fear that should I go out and hear some new scandal or controversy about Pakistan team.

"It was a painful period for me when all these controversies kept cropping up one after the another and I was literally avoiding people," the coach said.

Waqar reiterated that it was one of the tough phases of his life and the incident also dented the teams morale.

"I think the time when this spot-fixing scandal broke out it was the difficult period of my life and it was also very difficult for the team itself and it did affect their morale and focus," he added.

The 39-year-old, under whose captaincy the team made an early exit in the 2003 World Cup, said that it was challenge for him to coach the team in the World Cup.

The former captain admitted that he took the coaching job as a challenge and his foremost task was to keep the players united and not run down any individual.

"People tend to get fed up with coaching jobs after a while but I took up this assignment as a challenge and knowing well that if I can transfer my energy and passion to the players things will turn around and that is happening now.

"We have also tried to incorporate a policy of consistency in the team so that every player knows what is expected of him and I am thankful to God that now the results are showing," Waqar said.

He said Pakistan still had a long way to go in the tournament but backed his team to topple Australia in their last group match on March 19.

"If we can beat Australia which we are capable off it would mean a great deal to the players and raise their morale for the knockout stage matches," he said.

Waqar targets Australia scalp

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis wants his side to move into the World Cup quarter-finals in style with victory over Australia in their final Group A fixture.

Both sides have already qualified for the knockout phase and Younis views the match in Colombo on Saturday as an opportunity to make a big statement.

Australia have won the last three World Cups and have not lost at the tournament since Pakistan triumphed in the group stage at Headingley in 1999 - they have since put together a 32-match unbeaten streak.

"They are such a big team, world champs and haven't lost (in the World Cup) for ages," Waqar said.

"That is an opportunity. If you beat them you can leave a mark and teams will think twice about playing against you."

Ambition

Pakistan came into the tournament on the back of a turbulent year but Waqar is far from satisfied just to make the quarter-finals.

"To say that we have achieved a lot here because we didn't qualify the last two times (2003 and 2007) would be wrong," the former paceman said.

"The most important game is the next one because from there when you jump into quarters we need to get some momentum.

"Once you get to the quarter-finals, the real game starts there - the game of nerves, the pressure game."

Waqar does not see Pakistan's sixth position in the International Cricket Council rankings as a fair reflection.

"For me Pakistan is number one without any doubt and all we have to do is do our best to beat them (Australia) on the day," he added.

Into the final eight

A facile win over unfancied Zimbabwe on March 14 was enough to take the Pakistan cricket team to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but all the questions that hang over the team are yet to be answered. A match against the minnows was never going to provide answers about our inexperienced opening batsmen, inconsistent fast bowlers and consistently awful fielders. Even wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, currently among the most disliked men in the country, was able to get through the match without any mishaps. Our next match, against Australia on March 19, is purely academic in terms of qualification but a victory is still vital as we need a confidence boost before what is sure to be a tough quarter-final.

Five matches into its World Cup campaign, Pakistan is still tinkering with its line-up. We still haven’t been able to figure out if Umar Gul should be opening the bowling (all evidence points to the fact that he can), what Abdul Razzaq’s role in the team is and whether calling Kamran Akmal a wicket-keeper is a violation of the Trade Descriptions Act. By this stage of the tournament, most of the other teams have figured out their best combinations and abandoned reckless experimentation.

The interminable group stage still has a few days to run before it mercifully ends. Most of the remaining matches will be interesting only to see who our opponents will be in the final eight. If there is one team we should be keen to avoid, it’s arch-rival India. Not only have we never defeated our neighbours in a World Cup match, the only way we will have to leave Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and play a match in the hostile environment of India is if we are drawn against the hosts. The identity of our opponents is out of our hands for now, though. And this Pakistan team need fear no one. As temperamental and inconsistent as it may be, it is capable of taking on and defeating the best on its day. Having now reached the quarters, it may finally be time to ask the question that has been on everyone’s minds: Can we do it?

Kamran Akmal is too heavy, says Rashid Latif

It was a simple, regulation catch but Pakistan’s players celebrated it as if Kamran Akmal had held a blinder to dismiss Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor in the very first over of their World Cup Pool A game here on Monday.

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, patted Kamran on his cheeks while their teammates joined the celebration after Taylor — Zimbabwe’s most dangerous batsman — was dismissed on the fifth ball of the day by medium pacer Abdul Razzaq. The bowler was almost ignored as Kamran took centre-stage.

Five days back at the same venue, Kamran had allowed a double reprieve to another Taylor and he made Pakistan pay for the let-offs. Ross Taylor, the New Zealand vice-captain, smashed an incredible 131 to guide his team to a 110-run triumph and Kamran seemed to be in serious trouble.

Pakistan thought about replacing Kamran with his younger brother — Umar — behind the stumps but the younger Akmal was ruled out of the match against Zimbabwe because of an injured finger.

Like the number 23 that he wears on his shirt, Kamran has become quite an enigma.

His supporters regard him as a perfect choice as wicketkeeper at least for the limited-overs game because of his batting skills.

But his critics, who seem to outnumber Kamran’s supporters quite overwhelmingly, believe he is one of the weak links in the Pakistan team because of the opportunities he squanders behind the stumps and should be replaced by a more reliable gloveman.

So what’s dogging Kamran, who began his career as a bright young cricketer and was once regarded among the leading stumpers in international cricket?

The problem could be his weight, comments Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper.

“When he (Kamran) joined the Pakistan cricket team in 2002 his weight was 68-kg but now he weighs 79-kg. He is over-weight because a wicket-keeper in international cricket should be under-weight like a jockey,” Latif told ‘The News’ on Monday.

Latif, a former Pakistan captain, recommends that Kamran should do some long-distance running regularly. “During off season, he should run 10 miles every day. Apart from that, swimming, crunches, push-ups and heavy short sprints can also help him.”

Latif believes that heavy training in the gym has ‘destroyed’ Kamran.

“Gym training has destroyed his career,” he says. “He looks like a beach boy rather than a cricketer.”

Kamran is also dogged by other issues, says Latif. “His concentration level is not good, he seems mentally disturbed. That’s why there are so many lapses behind the stumps.”

The 29-year-old Kamran has scored 2835 from 133 One-day International appearances at an average of 27.25 and has struck five ODI tons. But his last century (116 not out) came almost two years back against Australia in Abu Dhabi and since then he has rarely played any big knocks.

Latif is of the view that Kamran can do better with the bat if he shows more patience at the crease. “He is good batsman but he tries too many shots early on. He can improve his wicket-keeping and batting if he is willing to work harder.”