Monday, 24 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Junaid Khan-5 wickets.
And just to think his place in the side was questioned instead of Wahabs!! He has bowled great this series so far, exremely impressive at just 21!! Had the fielders not let him down, he would have eased to a ten wicket haul. Here are his 5 wickets in the first innings of the Sri Lanka test:
Pak vs Sri Lanka: 1st test. Review.
What do i say for the result of this match? I'm just speechless. The match has been drawn, even though Pakistan was in a dominating position the first three days. They slipped the match out of their hands, literally.
1st day: Pakistan was right on top this day! The position they had gained was truly dominating. Misbah won the toss and chose to field first on a batting track and was highly criticised for that, till the match started. Sri Lanka all out for 197! Each bowler except for Hafeez contributing, and young 21-year old pace bowler Junaid Khan higly impressed with a 5 wicket haul. We grabbed every opportunity we got and totally flattened the opposition on a batting track. The bowlers all bowled the right areas and lengths, courtesy to the Sri Lankan batsman too, for playing bad shots. By the end of this day, everyone was pleased with Pakistans efforts, and dissapointed with Sri Lanka's.
2nd day: Pakistan on top again. Pak: 259/1. Hafeez out on 73, while Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar had a good partnership going. Taufeeq had already reached three figures and Azhar had made a fifty. Sri Lanka only got one breakthrough in the ninety overs bowled that day, so credit to the Pakistani batsman for spending time patiently in the middle.
3rd day: Well done Taufeeq! Reaching a double century! Nothing but praise for this guy. This was the first double century by a Pakistani opener since 1992. He played a patient and well constructed innings, extremely impressive. Shafiq made an unbeated 26 from 94 balls, i have to admit, i expected much better then him. Especially when Pakistan was looking to push the pedal and make some quick runs. He went totally in shell and hardly played his natural game, plus there was lack of technique. He really has got a lot to learn and i think the coaches will have to work on him.
So, the end of this day Pakistan were 511-6 dec. Great right?
We declared and got to bowl at Sri Lanka for a few overs. Umar Gul; trapped opener Paranavtina first ball LBW. The rest of the day Sri Lanka easily got 43-1 but mainly because luck was with them.
4th and 5th day day: And then it all fell apart.. Drop, drop, drop and drop! Pakistan dropped 5 chances. 5! Hafeez and Younis messed up big time. Our bowlers bowled beautifully, no doubt about that. It was the butterfingers in the team that lost us the match. Hafeez dropped two consecutive edges from Junaid Khan...both sitters. I bet if the fielding had been good, Junaid would have eased to ten wickets. Basically, thanks to all the missed opportunities by the fielders, Sri Lanka reached 483 with Kumar Sangakarra making a big double hundred and prasanna jayawardene finding form with a 120. Both of them would have not gotten that far had the slip fielders been able to hold on to the ball. We had set a huge lead on them, but Sri Lanka overcame that and put us a lead of 170. We got the target of 170 in 21 overs, and we turned it down. We didnt even try even though it was possible. Had we sen Shafiq to open instead of Taufeeq or something like that. But we hardly tried!! I think that was too defensive of Misbah, as a captain, you have got to take risks sometimes. If Pakistan had lost a few early wickets, then we could have gave up the chase, but we didnt even try.
Result: A really dissapointing draw even though victory was in our hands at the beginning. At the end of the match, all the confidence and the upper hand is with Sri Lanka now.
Pakistan has GOT TO improve their fielding, letting go of opportunities can easily change the course of test matches. Our bowlers are great, but our fielders have to back them up effectively. We have a lot of positives to take from this match, such as Junaid Khans bowling and Taufeeqs batting, but the negatives can easily outshine those. We have a lot to work on.
So the series is 0-0 at the moment, the next match begins on Wednesday, and inshallah, victory will be ours.
1st day: Pakistan was right on top this day! The position they had gained was truly dominating. Misbah won the toss and chose to field first on a batting track and was highly criticised for that, till the match started. Sri Lanka all out for 197! Each bowler except for Hafeez contributing, and young 21-year old pace bowler Junaid Khan higly impressed with a 5 wicket haul. We grabbed every opportunity we got and totally flattened the opposition on a batting track. The bowlers all bowled the right areas and lengths, courtesy to the Sri Lankan batsman too, for playing bad shots. By the end of this day, everyone was pleased with Pakistans efforts, and dissapointed with Sri Lanka's.
2nd day: Pakistan on top again. Pak: 259/1. Hafeez out on 73, while Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar had a good partnership going. Taufeeq had already reached three figures and Azhar had made a fifty. Sri Lanka only got one breakthrough in the ninety overs bowled that day, so credit to the Pakistani batsman for spending time patiently in the middle.
3rd day: Well done Taufeeq! Reaching a double century! Nothing but praise for this guy. This was the first double century by a Pakistani opener since 1992. He played a patient and well constructed innings, extremely impressive. Shafiq made an unbeated 26 from 94 balls, i have to admit, i expected much better then him. Especially when Pakistan was looking to push the pedal and make some quick runs. He went totally in shell and hardly played his natural game, plus there was lack of technique. He really has got a lot to learn and i think the coaches will have to work on him.
So, the end of this day Pakistan were 511-6 dec. Great right?
We declared and got to bowl at Sri Lanka for a few overs. Umar Gul; trapped opener Paranavtina first ball LBW. The rest of the day Sri Lanka easily got 43-1 but mainly because luck was with them.
4th and 5th day day: And then it all fell apart.. Drop, drop, drop and drop! Pakistan dropped 5 chances. 5! Hafeez and Younis messed up big time. Our bowlers bowled beautifully, no doubt about that. It was the butterfingers in the team that lost us the match. Hafeez dropped two consecutive edges from Junaid Khan...both sitters. I bet if the fielding had been good, Junaid would have eased to ten wickets. Basically, thanks to all the missed opportunities by the fielders, Sri Lanka reached 483 with Kumar Sangakarra making a big double hundred and prasanna jayawardene finding form with a 120. Both of them would have not gotten that far had the slip fielders been able to hold on to the ball. We had set a huge lead on them, but Sri Lanka overcame that and put us a lead of 170. We got the target of 170 in 21 overs, and we turned it down. We didnt even try even though it was possible. Had we sen Shafiq to open instead of Taufeeq or something like that. But we hardly tried!! I think that was too defensive of Misbah, as a captain, you have got to take risks sometimes. If Pakistan had lost a few early wickets, then we could have gave up the chase, but we didnt even try.
Result: A really dissapointing draw even though victory was in our hands at the beginning. At the end of the match, all the confidence and the upper hand is with Sri Lanka now.
Pakistan has GOT TO improve their fielding, letting go of opportunities can easily change the course of test matches. Our bowlers are great, but our fielders have to back them up effectively. We have a lot of positives to take from this match, such as Junaid Khans bowling and Taufeeqs batting, but the negatives can easily outshine those. We have a lot to work on.
So the series is 0-0 at the moment, the next match begins on Wednesday, and inshallah, victory will be ours.
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| Both Sangakarra and Taufeeq reached great double hundreds, but Sanga's was more impressive as thats what saved Sri Lnka from losing. |
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Zaka Ashraf, can he make the difference needed?
Last week an announcement was made, the announcement that every Pakistani cricket fan had been waiting for. Ijaz Butt is now no longer chairman of PCB!!! That is probably the best thing that happened to Pakistan cricket since hes arrived (other than the t20 world cup, of course). Maybe for once, PCB will actually be in peace. Zardari has come to his senses and and not prolonged butts tenure. So, the new man in is Zaka Ashraf who is the president of the ZTBL bank. I'm ecstatic that Ijaz Butt has finally left the PCB, but i'm a bit worried about this new man. He has come from a business background, so i guess that means he might be better then handling issues better then Butt. But the thing is, Ashraf had absolutely nothing to do with sports before he was appointed chairman. He has a totally agricultural background and had nothing at all to do with cricket. So wouldn't it have been better to have chosen someone with some experience? Such as Zaheer Abbas who had also applied for the job? Ashraf is a great businessman, but considering that he has no cricket background, him becoming the chairman, the person who makes and influences all the decisions made for Pakistan cricket....is kinda bizarre.
I have a feeling that Zardari may have shown a bit of favouritism when choosing Ashraf as chairman. If so, i cant wait for Zardari to leave too. Although, Ashraf has shown a lot of interest in being chairman and has made a lot of positive statements so far. He really hopes that he becomes a good chairman. Ashraf has been appointed at a crucial time, we are still in a rebuilding phase and are about to have a series with one of the major teams in test cricket. Plus the spot fixing trials are coming up too. So will this guy, Ashraf be able to do what Butt hadnt been able to do? Find the balance needed? Can he have a tenure which wont be as sparked as controversies like Butts?
There is one thing that is confusing me though, PCB has stated that Ashraf cant be the chairman till hes not the chairman of the ZTBL bank, and just last month, Zardari had extended his ZTBL bank chairman tenure for another month. So what is this going on? Is the Pakistan cricket board chairmanless at the moment? Or is Zardari just playing games?
I'd just like to remind Zardari that cricket...is this countrys passion, our honour lies in cricket. Cricket is the one thing that usually brings this country together. We have the talent to do well and make our country proud. So this matter should be taken seriously, because it will affect the future a lot.
I have a feeling that Zardari may have shown a bit of favouritism when choosing Ashraf as chairman. If so, i cant wait for Zardari to leave too. Although, Ashraf has shown a lot of interest in being chairman and has made a lot of positive statements so far. He really hopes that he becomes a good chairman. Ashraf has been appointed at a crucial time, we are still in a rebuilding phase and are about to have a series with one of the major teams in test cricket. Plus the spot fixing trials are coming up too. So will this guy, Ashraf be able to do what Butt hadnt been able to do? Find the balance needed? Can he have a tenure which wont be as sparked as controversies like Butts?
There is one thing that is confusing me though, PCB has stated that Ashraf cant be the chairman till hes not the chairman of the ZTBL bank, and just last month, Zardari had extended his ZTBL bank chairman tenure for another month. So what is this going on? Is the Pakistan cricket board chairmanless at the moment? Or is Zardari just playing games?
I'd just like to remind Zardari that cricket...is this countrys passion, our honour lies in cricket. Cricket is the one thing that usually brings this country together. We have the talent to do well and make our country proud. So this matter should be taken seriously, because it will affect the future a lot.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
MI vs. RCB. CLT20 FINAL PREVIEW.
This is it! After 2 weeks of brilliant and exciting cricket, this is what it comes down too, Mumbai Indians versus the Royal Challenger Bangalore in the final. So now no matter what, the new champion is going to be an indian team, this is an indian final now, a repeat of the indian premier league semi-final.
In less than 24 hours, there will be a new champion. Both teams have match winners included, but the way the teams have changed a lot since the indian premier league, its going to be a hard guess for this encounter. Mumbai have lost a lot of players since the indian premier league, theyre hardly the same team they were back then. Rcb still going good, thanks to their top three batsman, but losing Luke Pomersbach and Zaheer Khan are turning to be big blows because theyre bowling has turned out to be just horrible this season. While Mumbais batting has been a bit of a worry this tournament, but with rcbs bowling it may not be that bad.
This will be really interesting contest because so far, Bangalore has won their last two games chasing 200+ on a great batting track. Chasing has always been really hard in Chennai, as bangalore saw in the IPL final. So, if Vettori wins the toss he will most probably bat first and RCB will try their best to put up a huge score. The thing is, will RCB's poor bowling be abloe to defend it?
And, if Mumbai bat first, RCB's poor bowoling might let them go to a huge score. In both scenarios, the odds are totally with Mumbai. Especially because then new ball is going to be in lethal Malingas hands, Gayle and Dilshan will have to be extremely careful against him. Considering how his yorkers seem to be getting more and more accurate, and his match winning abilities even stronger.
For me, the main contest in this match will be Gayle, Dilshan and Kohli vs Malinga. All four of them have been brilliant throughout the tournament and are no doubt the key players in their teams.
Both captains, Harbhajan for Mumbai and Vettori for Bangalore have a tough job ahead of them as players but even more as captains. I think captaincy is a hard job in t20 cricket since its hard to decide which bowlers to go in for their spells, field placements etc. Vettori and Harbhajan have been succesful and non-successful in their bowling changes this tournament. Itll be interesting how both go about this match.
There have been such thrilling encounters this whole tournament, its hard to know what to expect from the final, but im sure its going to be as exciting as any final should be.
Prediction: Mumbai.
Support: Bangalore.
GO AAR CEE BBEEE!!
In less than 24 hours, there will be a new champion. Both teams have match winners included, but the way the teams have changed a lot since the indian premier league, its going to be a hard guess for this encounter. Mumbai have lost a lot of players since the indian premier league, theyre hardly the same team they were back then. Rcb still going good, thanks to their top three batsman, but losing Luke Pomersbach and Zaheer Khan are turning to be big blows because theyre bowling has turned out to be just horrible this season. While Mumbais batting has been a bit of a worry this tournament, but with rcbs bowling it may not be that bad.
This will be really interesting contest because so far, Bangalore has won their last two games chasing 200+ on a great batting track. Chasing has always been really hard in Chennai, as bangalore saw in the IPL final. So, if Vettori wins the toss he will most probably bat first and RCB will try their best to put up a huge score. The thing is, will RCB's poor bowling be abloe to defend it?
And, if Mumbai bat first, RCB's poor bowoling might let them go to a huge score. In both scenarios, the odds are totally with Mumbai. Especially because then new ball is going to be in lethal Malingas hands, Gayle and Dilshan will have to be extremely careful against him. Considering how his yorkers seem to be getting more and more accurate, and his match winning abilities even stronger.
For me, the main contest in this match will be Gayle, Dilshan and Kohli vs Malinga. All four of them have been brilliant throughout the tournament and are no doubt the key players in their teams.
Both captains, Harbhajan for Mumbai and Vettori for Bangalore have a tough job ahead of them as players but even more as captains. I think captaincy is a hard job in t20 cricket since its hard to decide which bowlers to go in for their spells, field placements etc. Vettori and Harbhajan have been succesful and non-successful in their bowling changes this tournament. Itll be interesting how both go about this match.
There have been such thrilling encounters this whole tournament, its hard to know what to expect from the final, but im sure its going to be as exciting as any final should be.
Prediction: Mumbai.
Support: Bangalore.
GO AAR CEE BBEEE!!
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Pakistan test squad for Sri Lnka announced.
Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Raiz, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan
Standby players: Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Talha, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah.
Thats the squad for Sri Lanka in the UAE. It looks like a pretty balanced squad, i feel that the bowling may be just a bit weak. I think Hafeez and Farhat should be used to open, and not taufeeq because he hasnt exactly impressed me nowadays and the other two are good enough. The bowling may be weak because Wahab still hasnt established himself as a test bowler yet and i am hoping that Umar Gul has rediscovered his test form. Aizaz Cheema highly impressed in Zimbabwe so a lot is expected from him, and also of Saeed Ajmal, who has the capibility to bamboozle any batsman.
I think that Adnan Akmal has been clean behind the stumps so far but to me, his batting has not impressed at all, he has batted like a tail ender, he really has to come up with a good innings if he wants to cement his top, otherwise Sarfaraz Ahmad wont mind a call up.
Before, i felt that it was harsh to have dropped Umar Akmal considering how he wasnt really able to perform the Zimbabwe test due to bad luck. But later Mohsin Khan made a statement that they had asked Umar has been asked to work on his batting for longer innings, i totally agree with that statement. He may have reached a century on debut but hasnt impressed much after that.
I support Shoaib Maliks inclusion in the squad and believe that he and Asad Shafiq both should get a fair chance to impress.
Key players: Hafeez, Younis, Ajmal, Gul.
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