Afridi didn't join MQM

There were rumors that Shahid Afridi joined MQM, the photo that is use in that news is very old. People are trying to get popular with fake news like this, facebook pages owner wants to get more fans and bloggers owner want to earn money on increasing terrific on their blogs. Kindly, don't ruin someone life for your own benefits. Regards "TEAM AFRIDI".

This picture is very old .

Razzaq unsure about getting Indian visa for CL T20

Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is jittery about obtaining an Indian visa to represent Leicestershire in next week's Champions League Twenty20 and has sought the English county's help in the matter.


Razzaq, a centrally contracted player of the Pakistan Cricket Board, starred for Leicestershire in their successful bid to become the English national Tewnty20 champions last month.

By virtue of his contract with Leicestershire, Razzaq is now qualified to represent them in the Champions Trophy as well.

But sources close to the allrounder said he was anxious about being able to make it to India on time and has sought the assistance of his county to secure the visa.

"The Indian High Commission has yet to issue him the visa to travel to India and he is worried he might miss a couple of early games which are so important for any team," one source said.

Razzaq played regularly in the rebel Indian Cricket League around the same time the official Indian Premier League was launched.

No Pakistan team has taken part in the Champions League tournament in its first two editions so far due to the strained relations between the two countries.

ALEEM DAR DESERVED TO BE HONOURED AT THE ICC ANNUAL AWARDS: AHSAN RAZA

Ahsan Raza, an umpire from Pakistan, has claimed that he had actually dreamt of compatriot Aleem Dar winning the ICC Annual Award for the best umpire of the year for the third consecutive year in a row.

Raza stated, “Believe it or not, I had a dream where Aleem was certain to win this trophy for the third year in a row. He (Aleem) rightly deserved this award. He is bound to get an amazing reception when he returns to Pakistan.”

Dar was officiating in the series between Australia and Sri Lanka, but was invited over to London by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in order to attend the award ceremony on Monday, September 12, 2011.

According to sources, “ICC had specifically asked India’s Shavir Tarapore to replace Dar as TV umpire for the 2nd Sri Lanka-Australia Test, so that he can be available for the function.”

The 43-year-old umpire from Pakistan first officiated in an international game back in 2000. He was very confident in decision making and got selected in the ICC umpire’s panel very soon.

Dar’s first major tournament as an umpire was the World Cup in 2003. He did a very good job in the Mega Event and earned in spot in the ICC’s elite panel along with some other brilliant umpires like Simon Taufel from Australia.

This was just the beginning of a successful journey from the proud Pakistani. He went onto officiate the World Cup Finals in 2007 and 2011 and has also been performing his duties in the Ashes series between England and Australia for the past many years.

Apart from Dar, there were a couple of players from Pakistan nominated in the awards. Fast bowler Wahab Riaz and batsman Azhar Ali were named in the category for the best emerging players, but the award went to West Indies’ rising star Devendra Bishoo.

However, Pakistan’s Umar Gul was selected in the ODI team of the year. He was the only player to get the honour even though there were some solid performances from players like Shahid Afridi, who was the highest wicket-taker of the World Cup this year.

The umpire versus technology… Aleem Dar wins

There was a time when the umpire’s decision was final. For good or bad, he wasn’t questioned. There was also a time when Pakistan’s umpires were said to be a fiercely patriotic bunch, who didn’t mind giving decisions in the home team’s favour — just ask Mike Gatting or any Indian who had the fortune/misfortune of touring Pakistan in the early 70s and 80s.

It was almost impossible to defeat Pakistan at home. Of course, they had a very good team but if the old wives tales are to be believed the umpires did their best to err. It wasn’t a reputation that did them any good.

But technology came along and forced the umpires to change. In the old era, some of the decisions were so atrocious that it only reinforced the feeling that some technology can surely help. Whatever shortcomings individual bits of equipment might have, that having some form of referral system, even if it consisted only of a third umpire with access to normal TV pictures, it was or at least seems to be a better way of conducting a game.

Aleem Dar was voted to the award by the 10 full member captains as well as the eight-man elite panel of match referees.. Getty Images.

And no one in the current cricket establishment showcases that change more than Aleem Dar. The umpire from Pakistan won the David Shepherd Trophy for the ICC Umpire of the Year for the third year running.

And he has won it by standing firm in the face of technology.

Technology, on it’s own, teaches us to mistrust umpires — makes them human and capable of error after error. As we see decisions getting over-turned, it’s hard not to feel for the umpire. He seems to shrink to nothingness. His mistakes shown on a giant screen, the crowd boos, the player’s smirk and the umpire can only shrug his shoulders and look away.

But this is why Dar is special. The more you watch him get things right, the more you realise that umpiring, in a strange way, is a sport too. Teams all around the world have learned to trust his eye and very rarely does he get any decision wrong. It’s his consistency that has won him accolades wherever he goes.

Other competitors were Steve Davis, Ian Gould and five-time winner Simon Taufel. Dar, 43, officiated in five Tests and 13 ODIs during the voting period, including the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka. Dar was voted to the award by the 10 full member captains as well as the eight-man elite panel of match referees. He received the award from ICC Hall of Fame 2011 inductee Alan Davidson.

From a time when Pakistani umpires were said to be the worst in the business to a time when they consistently rank as the best in the world, Dar has sure changed things around. Of course, it also helps if you take up the job when you are pretty young.

Dar, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2000, joined the Emirates Elite Panel in 2004. In the voting period of these awards, Dar stood in five Tests and 13 ODIs. He stood in the ICC Cricket World Cup in the India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where he was an on-field umpire in eight of the matches, including the final between India and Sri Lanka.

There is another reason why players like him — he treats everyone equally and is not likely to treat himself as a child of a higher god. He keeps it cool in the mind; so cool that at times his robot sidekick hardly ever has a chance to get involved. And in the eyes of many, that’s why he’s really good.

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Be ready for Sri Lanka, England test

Pakistan team should prepare themselves for the upcoming Sri Lanka and England series as presently they are jubilant after winning one-off Test and one-day series 3-0 against cricket minnows Zimbabwe. But it was bad luck for Pakistan that their bowling attack failed to bowl Zimbabwe team all team out in the three ODIs.

After the return of spearhead Umar Gul and fast bowler Wahab Riaz, there will be tie between Tanvir Sohail and Aizaz Cheema who will make his way in the team and will create difficulty for the selectors. Cheema proved to be the most successful bowler of the series as he also took four wickets in the final one-dayer.

Will Cheema be able to keep his spot in the Sri Lanka home series to be played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah as these wickets help spinners and it will be imperative for the selectors to include an extra spinner? According to cricket gurus, the inclusion of left-arm spinner Raza Hassan will be very fruitful for Pakistan as Raza can be very successful blower on slow turning tracks of the United Arab Emirates. He is the only spinner in available lot who can bowl very well under pressure.

Pakistan has had opening problems for ages and Imran Farhat has been a centre-piece in that problem and it was a high time to try out Rameez Raja Junior to see if he can form a good solid pair with Hafeez, who is doing very well now. In opening, Imran Nazir is also performing well in the domestic cricket and waiting call from Pakistan Cricket Board. Nazir is now pretty mature opener and his inclusion will strengthen Pakistan team batting line-up.

In middle order, Pakistan have a dependable senior batsman Younus Khan who played well in the series but sometimes he threw away his wicket while playing irresponsible shot. He must remove his this weakness and play responsible knock. At number three, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are the best choices.

Misbah failed to play his mark during the tour though Shoaib Malik inclusion strengthen the team batting but he looked off-colour in the series. He had to gain form for inclusion against Sri Lanka series.

All-rounder Abdur Razzaq should also be recalled for Sri Lanka and England series as he is a good all-rounder and can turn tables on opponents on his day.

Umar Akmal has to change his batting attitude as he always threw his wicket when he is at 30s and 40s. He should remove this weakness and start play with determination to convert 30 or 40 into fifty and then century. Rush of blood is harming his cricket.

Adnan Akmal is an ordinary wicket-keeper and he must improve his keeping and batting to cement his place in the side. The PCB should also include an extra keeper for Sri Lanka and England series to avoid any injury scare. Sarfraz Ahmed and Salman should be included in reserve players to avoid any incident.

Kamran Akmal should be called as a batsman and should also be checked in keeping as well because when a good player returns to cricket either he performed extra ordinary or lost all his form and then sacked.

In bowling, senior bowlers’ presence is necessary along with young bowlers to give them exposure in big matches as some time young guns fail to deliver so senior a must for their guidance.

The PCB must prepare a spinners pool for the UAE home series as wickets at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are slow and started turning after couple of days’ play. Zimbabwe series has become history now and Pakistan team now should go forward with full strength. If Pakistan want to win series against the heavyweights, they should go with complete homework to avoid any embarrassment.

Dengue threat over Pakistan's National T20 Championship

KARACHI: The Karachi City Cricket Associationhas asked the PCB to either postpone or shift theNational Twenty20 Championship out of Lahore due to the Dengue epidemic prevailing in the Punjab province capital.

KCCA President Siraj-ul-Islam confirmed he has sent a letter to the PCB on the issue and requested it to either postpone or relocate the event.

"The Dengue virus which is prevailing in Lahore these days and which has caused so many deaths and so many people have been diagnosed with the disease is a serious matter for us," Bukhari said.

"Some of our players have shown reluctance to travel to Lahore at this time to play in the national event atleast until the Dengue virus is controlled by the Punjab government," Bukhari added.

The Dengue virus has spread in Lahore and other parts of the province with the Punjab Health Department reporting yesterday that 412 new cases were confirmed while five more people died from the mosquito borne disease.

So far, nearly 5000 patients have been diagnosed with the disease in Lahore alone and are being treated at different hospitals where a state of emergency has been declared by the provincial government.

The PCB has scheduled the event from September 25 at the Gaddafi stadium. Bukhari said that he had also offered the PCB to shift the tournament to Karachi in case of a tight schedule of the national team.

"It is a serious situation that needs to be looked into and Karachi now is an ideal venue for the event and I am sure people here will also come in large numbers to watch the matches," the KCCA secretary said.

A PCB official said that a final decision on the tournament would be taken after the return of the board Chairman, Ijaz Butt and chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad from London.

The KCCA will field two teams in the national event, the Karachi Dolphins led by Shahid Afridi and Karachi Zebras led by Danish Kaneria.

Interestingly Afridi told Geo News channel that he was confident the event would go ahead in Lahore as the Punjab government would be able to control the disease in the next week.

According to Afridi there was still time left for the tournament to be held. The KCCA and PCB have a recent history of anomysity with the board recently removing the secretary of the assocaition, Ejaz Farooqi for giving critical statements on selection matters.