Saturday, December 11, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Gambhir's century takes India to easy win
Jaipur: A breezy unbeaten 138 from skipper Gautam Gambhir and his second-wicket stand of 116 with Virat Kohli took India to an eight-wicket win over New Zealand at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Wednesday. India reached its target of 259 with seven overs to spare.
After being sent in by Gambhir, the New Zealand innings saw three pairs post 50 partnerships, but the biggest was only worth 65. This, and a late burst of wickets from Sreesanth, who finished with four for 47, prevented the Kiwis from setting India a truly challenging target.
Wary of the effect the dew might have on the spinners deeper into India's chase, Vettori threw the new ball to offie Nathan McCullum.
He gave away just three from his first two overs before Gambhir stepped out and split the cover-mid-off gap. The left-hander's feet were moving smoothly, his right leg thrusting fully at anything full and wide. He brought up India's 50 with a clip off his legs for four off left-armer Andy McKay, and his own with a double to fine-leg off Scott Styris.
Unusually scratchy
At the other end, an unusually scratchy Murali Vijay survived two leg before shouts from Vettori off two balls, the first going with the arm and possibly sliding down leg, the second striking him off the inside edge. An over later, the left-arm spinner had his man, bowled missing a slog sweep off a too-full delivery.
Vettori kept the field in for Kohli, not the wisest idea considering he'd made hundreds in his last two ODI innings. The landmarks came one after the other. Kohli brought up his 50 with a hook off Southee that beat fine-leg haring to his left. A single off McCullum brought up the 100 stand. Gambhir jabbed McKay over mid-wicket to reach his eighth ODI hundred.
His previous century, at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka last year, was also composed in Kohli's company.
Kohli spanked McKay down the ground, whipped him between mid-wicket and mid-on, and then — probably finding batting a little too easy — pulled him straight to short mid-wicket.
He didn't reach his third straight hundred, but this innings was possibly even better, for its imperious ease of strokeplay, than the 105 at Guwahati.
Yuvraj Singh got off the mark with his 50th ODI six on Indian soil, a typically flourishing swat over mid-wicket off McCullum. Gambhir flashed McKay for three consecutive fours past a hapless point.
The batsmen tore chunks off the target with authoritative strokeplay. With three required, Southee delivered a leg-side wide which Hopkins didn't gather properly, allowing the batsmen to complete two and put India 2-0 up.
Earlier, Gambhir chose to let his unchanged attack bowl before the onset of dew. New Zealand made two changes from Guwahati, Grant Elliott and the injured Daryl Tuffey making way for Tim Southee and skipper Daniel Vettori.
Brisk start
Martin Guptill rattled the boundary boards off the first and third balls of the innings, glancing Ashish Nehra off his hips and driving him past cover. Jamie How also got four from his first ball, cracking a wide one from Sreesanth in front of point. In his second over, Sreesanth got one to leave How late and kiss his edge through to the 'keeper.
Kane Williamson walked in and kicked on straightaway with three leg-side boundaries in two Nehra overs.
Munaf Patel replaced the left-armer, and immediately stemmed the run flow with his metronomic back-of-a-length, with the odd ball dipping in.
With Ashwin ensuring no let-up of pressure from the other end, the scoring rate dropped under four.
Guptill reached 50 with a leg-side single off Yuvraj. Till that point, he had struck only three fours off 82 deliveries, and celebrated the milestone by swinging Yusuf Pathan over cow corner for six.
But yet again, a wicket stalled New Zealand just when the innings seemed to pick up momentum. Ashwin went around the wicket to Guptill and found his edge with the carrom ball.
Styris reached 50 with a flicked single off Ashwin, reaching the mark off 49 balls. A single to Vettori in the same over brought up New Zealand's 200 and 2,000 ODI runs for the skipper. Then Sreesanth came back in the 46th over and dismissed Styris and Vettori off two balls.
New Zealand: M. Guptill c Saha b Ashwin 70 (102b, 3x4, 1x6), J. How c Saha b Sreesanth 5 (13b, 1x4), K. Williamson b Munaf 29 (46b, 4x4), R. Taylor c Kohli b Yusuf 15 (23b, 1x4), S. Styris c Saha b Sreesanth 59 (56b, 5x4, 1x6), D. Vettori b Sreesanth 31 (32b, 4x4), G. Hopkins (not out) 11 (12b, 1x4), N. McCullum (run out) 12 (9b, 1x4), K. Mills b Sreesanth 13 (6b, 1x4, 1x6), T. Southee (not out) 2 (1b); Extras (lb-5, w-6): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs): 258.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2- 64, 3-96, 4-161, 5-219, 6-219, 7-243, 8-256.
India bowling: Nehra 9-1-45-0, Sreesanth 9-1-47-4, Munaf 8-0-34-1, Ashwin 10-0-52-1, Yuvraj 9-1-48-0, Yusuf 4-0-23-1, Raina 1-0-4-0.
India: M. Vijay b Vettori 33 ( 58b, 2x4), G. Gambhir (not out) 138 ( 116b, 18x4), V. Kohli c Taylor b McKay 64 ( 73b, 8x4), Yuvraj (not out) 16 ( 11b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (w-8): 8; Total (for two wkts. in 43 overs): 259.
Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Vijay), 2-203 (Kohli).
New Zealand bowling: N. McCullum 9-0-37-0, Mills 7-0-49-0, McKay 7-0-59-1, Styris 3-0-20-0, Vettori 8-0-32-1, Southee 5-0-33-0, Williamson 4-0-29-0 .
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Jacques Kallis hits ton after England set early pace
Jacques Kallis hit his 33rd century in Tests as South Africa recovered from 127-5 to reach 279-6 on day one of the third Test against England.
Kallis made a chanceless unbeaten 108, and featured in an 89-run stand with Mark Boucher (51) for the sixth wicket.
James Anderson and Graeme Swann each took two wickets for England, who opted to field first on winning the toss.
South Africa dropped Makhaya Ntini for Friedel de Wet in the only change made by either side at picturesque Newlands.
Middlesex captain Shaun Udal later confirmed his county were setting their sights on offering a Kolpak contract to the veteran paceman, should he now go on and announce his retirement from international cricket.
After England won the toss and put South Africa in to bat, the focus in Cape Town quickly switched to how South Africa could overturn their 1-0 deficit in the series.
And that they still had a reasonable chance to do so when stumps were drawn was all because of Kallis.
With the start of play delayed by half an hour following some light morning showers, and a thick layer of cloud concealing Table Mountain, the attacking move for a captain to win the toss was clearly to field first.This three-figure score put him fifth on the all-time list of Test century-makers as he went ahead of Steve Waugh, and one ton shy of Brian Lara in fourth place.
Andrew Strauss's tactic was instantly rewarded when the fourth ball of the match produced a wicket. Anderson sent down a wicked delivery, just back of a length and seaming away from Ashwell Prince.
The out-of-form left-hander nicked it to wicketkeeper Matt Prior and England, still buzzing after the win in Durban, were on the march.
They should have had their next wicket just three balls later when Graeme Smith leant forward and across to drive Graham Onions through the covers only to get a thick edge.
He turned round, expecting Swann to complete an easy catch but England's star turn in recent times, fielding at second slip to protect Paul Collingwood's fractured finger, made a terrible mess of the chance, with Jonathan Trott attempting in vain to grab the rebound.
With the ball continuing to seam about, England pressed on. Although Smith released some pressure with a couple of pulled boundaries off Onions, Stuart Broad was convinced Hashim Amla had feathered an edge behind which umpire Daryl Harper missed.
Strauss asked for the review, but despite an audible nick on the stump microphone the evidence was not conclusive enough for third umpire Aleem Dar, and the not-out verdict remained.
 Anderson had the big wicket of Graeme Smith straight after lunch |
Not long afterwards, Smith survived a marginal lbw against Onions. England did not use up their one remaining review - and sensibly so because, although Hawkeye suggested the delivery was clipping the bails, there was enough doubt and so on-field umpire Tony Hill's decision would not have been reversed.
The second wicket eventually came on the stroke of lunch, as Onions - persisting with straight, full deliveries at Amla - finally had his reward when the right-hander's penchant for playing across the line was exposed and he fell lbw.
South Africa were in decent shape at 51-2 at lunch but seven balls into the second session Anderson struck again when Smith edged the same sort of delivery that had removed Prince to a tumbling Prior.
It was an important tonic for England, because the clouds were now lifting to make batting so much easier.
So when Kallis and De Villiers busily launched into an important partnership, the tourists needed a couple of lucky breaks.
They got precisely the opposite when De Villiers survived a concerted appeal for caught-behind off Swann. Harper was again the umpire involved and this time England did not review the decision, perhaps chastened by the earlier experience.
Replays showed visible deflection after the ball passed the bat, and to make matters considerably worse when Prior took off the bails the batsman had his foot in the air - but England had not really considered the stumping.
 There was a healthy contingent of England fans at Newlands |
De Villiers now pounced on a couple of shorter balls from Swann to hit boundaries but had not made good his escape when justice was done for England. Attempting to clip a ball through the on-side he tamely chipped a catch to Strauss at short mid-wicket and England celebrated wildly as they ended an important 76-run partnership.
There was more joy to come from the very next ball when JP Duminy got a thin edge and Prior did the rest, leaving South Africa in strife with half their wickets gone and 150 not yet on the board.
Boucher, one of the South Africans whose position in the side has been questioned, responded to the situation with some positive cricket, including three consecutive fours in a rare poor Swann over.
By tea, Kallis had reached his half-century and South Africa were 183-5, but there was reverse swing on offer now for England's bowlers.
Eventually, Broad capitalised with a delivery that curved back into Boucher, removing the right-hander lbw.
South Africa pushed Dale Steyn two places up the order from his customary number 10 berth, and he responded solidly as Kallis reached his century by driving a wide full-toss from Kevin Pietersen to the extra-cover fence.
It had been a masterful innings from the 34-year-old whose most alarming moment came when he top-edged a pull shot over the slip cordon.
If there was only one really memorable shot played, a dreamy on-drive for four off Onions, it was a classic example of how building an innings in Test cricket is all about high-quality defence and putting away the bad ball.
Steyn was dropped on 22 late in the day after Anderson had taken the new ball, but it was a tough chance missed by Trott diving yards to his right at third slip.
With 6.4 overs left of the scheduled 90, bad light returned to bring the players off and play will start 15 minutes early on day two at 0815 GMT.
Twenty20 May be the End of One-day Cricket
The days when coloured clothing and light towers lit up the night, when queues snaked for literally miles outside the MCG and SCG, and when fences were pulled down at the WACA because the "sold out" signs had gone up.
When microphones bashed out songs between overs, and canny canines and pop stars weaved their magic at the intervals.
Same game, same popularity, same gimmicks, same television ratings to drool over, same queues and public adoration.
The only difference is the Big Bash goes for 40 overs and is completed within four hours, a much faster and more frenzied version of the 50 overs a side format that provided Kerry Packer with day and night live television content.
Interesting then, that fans and the cricketers are suggesting that of the three formats of the game to take a backseat, the first in line is the 50 over games.
Three decades of the same smash and grab has worn thin (or perhaps too long).
The constants of the game are Tests and the Sheffield Shield, the backbone of this nation's cricket that defy time, change, wavering public opinion.
So it is interesting to note that Mike McKenna, a marketing guru whose sporting background is six years at the Essendon Football Club before joining Cricket Australia in April of 2005, has a mandate to determine the future of the Big Bash in Australia.
CA chief executive James Sutherland has handed him a blank piece of paper and asked him to be ambitious to find a specific and separate space in the cluttered Australian cricket calendar for the Twenty20 Big Bash.
Grey hairs have blossomed on many foreheads of cricket officials since, mainly because the mandate involved being "customer driven".
In other words, what do the fans want? The answer, from considerable research that surprised nobody, is the majority want to watch cricket during the December-January holiday period.
Similar thinking in the late 1970s resulted in one-day cricket taking over many traditional dates, including the Australia Day weekend Test in Adelaide.
Today fans and players alike believe one-day games should be the first format to be down-graded.
While McKenna and his committee ponder what can be achieved to best suit the fans (including television viewers), the blank piece of paper has been screwed up many times.
Would anyone dare to suggest that Melbourne's Boxing Day Test, or the New Year Test in Sydney, be shunted aside to make way for the Big Bash?
Cricket Australia's Peter Young said McKenna had a difficult assignment because his challenge was to avoid making a decision on what is most convenient to CA and to come up with the best scenario according to customer research.
"All things being equal, the way we would prefer to do it is play the Big Bash during the December-January period when people are on holidays," Young said.
"Whether that is achievable is problematic."
The Big Bash is here to stay, and it will become an integral part of the summer, especially with eight and possibly 10 teams in the helter-skelter format. It is a hit already, attracting massive television audiences and huge crowds.
However, while it would be easy for McKenna to say the new phenomenon should suddenly take centre stage at the expense of Test cricket, he must consider equally the traditions of the game.
The wheel turns. Test cricket is vibrant in this nation, and the December-January period is the peak viewing period.
If Tests are not played then, who would be able to attend to support the traditions of the game?
Especially when they cannot be played at night, when more would attend, because of an inability to unearth an acceptable ball.
Whereas, one suggests, the Big Bash will be popular, overwhelmingly attended and a focal point of television viewers whenever it is played.
Well done Asif and Sami "Pakistan dominate in Sydney"
Inspired by controlled aggression of Mohammad Sami and the guile of Mohammad Asif the Pakistanis tore through an anxious Aussie line up that had been put in to bat by Ricky Ponting amidst dark clouds and seaming conditions. The collapse, triggered initially by a hostile burst by Sami (3-27), was topped off by Asif with a career-best of 6-41.
Ponting’s decision to bat first on such a surface may have seemed odd to the puzzled experts but it was characteristic of the confidence he has had in his team over the past couple of seasons. This time around, however, the lateral movement off the pitch and the discipline shown by the visitors was too good for the home side. Simon Katich’s replacement, Phil Hughes, was first to go off a full, wide delivery by Sami that was grasped by Faisal Iqbal at second slip. Hughes, who has a batting average of 52.44 from five tests, has failed to live up to his potential in the last couple of opportunities and did so again despite being dropped by Umar Akmal earlier. Sami was rewarded again for good lines and pace when he first got Ricky Ponting playing an awkward pull shot and then the in form Shane Watson with one that completely squared the batsman up. The Karachi quick had bowled 4 overs, 3 maidens and picked up 3 wickets for only 5 runs at that stage.
Asif soon got on the scoreboard bowling Michael Clarke with a customary in-dipper and accounted for Michael Hussey soon after. Hussey’s 28 off 52 balls seemed to be guiding the Aussies home to some safety but his departure followed by that of Marcus North off successive balls put paid to any such hopes. Brad Haddin punched back the hat- trick ball back to the bowler and signalled his intentions of a counterattack. But his adventure was soon over as he tried to clear mid-off where Mohammad Yousuf took a simple catch.
At 62-6 Nathan Hauritz and Mitchell Johnson combined to exhilarate the bewildered crowd, hammering Danish Kaneria in particular. Asif broke the stand of 44, nipping through Hauritz’s defence first before nailing Johnson who edged one to mid-off. The final contribution came from Umar Gul, who looked rusty but managed to pick up Doug Bollinger. As the last wicket fell Pakistan faced the risky proposition of batting for half-an-hour before close in dimming light.
Imran Farhat and Salman Butt negotiated well, playing with soft hands and bringing their bodies behind the swinging deliveries. The umpires, prompted by a Bollinger short ball that thudded into Farhat’s gloves, finally called time in the fifth over of the innings.
Pakistan will be satisfied with their overall performance today but will be mindful of the fact that the pitch conditions will be pretty similar tomorrow morning. If the overcast condition plays its part on the second day, Sydney could see another round of collapses.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
"Bangladesh Tour is Ideal to Test the Youngsters" SLC Chairmen
Chairman of the Selection committee Ashantha De Mel addressing the media gathering at SLC auditorium today stated that the upcoming tri series in Bangladesh is an ideal platform to test the younger players. He further went on to mention that Sri Lanka’s explosive opener Tillekaratne Dilshan fully deserved the Vice Captaincy handed over to him for this tour taking in to account his contribution to the team on and off the field.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara also praised the attitute and the contribution of Dilshan and expressed his whole hearted satisfaction at the appointment of Dilshan as his deputy. Commenting further, Sangakkara expressed his ambition to develop the bench strenghth of the team on the road to the World Cup 2011. This will be done by providing experience to the younger players who have performed exceptionally in the recent and forthcoming tours.
Sri Lanka’s national Coach Trevor Bayliss expressed his satisfaction at the selection for the forthcoming tri series and pronounced a sense of excitement with the inclusion of young players for the tournament.
The press briefing was organised by SLC in order to facilitate media personnel to raise questions related to the team selection issues and questions related to the recently concluded Indian tour. Many questions were raised by the present local and international journalists and a comprehensive report on the press conference will be published on this website shortly.
Members of the selection committee Vinodhan John, Don Anurasiri and Chaminda Mendis also participated for the event.
Test Record of Ricky Ponting
Nathan Hauritz claimed his maiden five-wicket haul as Australia wrapped up a comprehensive 170-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test in Melbourne — giving captain Ricky Ponting a record 42nd Test win.
FOTA has blamed world motorsport’s governing body after the teams’ representatives walked out of a meeting, claiming the future of Formula One was once again “in jeopardy.”
Dutch international Ryan Babel threatens to leave English Premier League side Liverpool unless he is picked to play in more games by manager Rafa Benitez.
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan has signed an extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until 2013.
Greece international central defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos has completed his transfer to English Premier League side Liverpool after signing a two-year contract with the club.
Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini is under intense pressure after his side’s humiliating 4-0 defeat to third-flight minnows Alcorcon in the Spanish Cup.
David Haye has set his sights once more on a fight with Vitali Klitschko after defeating Russian giant Nikolai Valuev to win the WBA heavyweight championship.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o are both kept under wraps by their former team-mates as Italian side Inter Milan hold Champions League holders Barcelona to a Group F goalless draw at the San Siro on Wednesday.
World-record signing Cristiano Ronaldo scores on his debut as Real Madrid kick off the Spanish football season with a shaky 3-2 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday night.
Warwickshire batsman Jonathan Trott will make his England Test debut in the Ashes decider against Australia at The Oval next week after the selectors ignored calls for wholesale changes.
Premier League big-spenders Manchester City will renew their search for a new world-class striker after ending their interest in Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o.
Olympic champion Elena Dementieva becomes the latest seeded casualty at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo — losing 6-2 6-7 6-1 to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the second round.
Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi have been retained by Force India for the 2010 Formula One season.
Brazilian forward Maicosuel scored the only goal to give Hoffenheim a 1-0 win over Freiburg on Sunday, a result that lifts them up to fifth in the Bundesliga — knocking Bayern Munich down to sixth.
Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni will attempt to book a trip to next summer’s World Cup finals having secured his own future by signing a new two-year contract to remain in charge.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores his fourth goal in as many La Liga outings as Spanish champions Barcelona match their best start to season since 1997-98 with a 4-1 trouncing of Racing Santander, but the summer signing also suffers an injury blow.
T20 format has helped Test cricket: Afridi
KARACHI: Contrary to Mohammed Yousuf's assumption that T20 cricket would eventually destroy Test cricket, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi says it has actually made the five-day games more result-oriented.
Test skipper Yousuf feels that batsmen these days are paying more attention to adjust to the slam-bang format and hardly care to develop technique, which is essential to be successful in Test cricket.
However, T20 skipper Afridi differs with Yousuf. "I don't think that will happen because Test and ODIs both have their own charm. Infact I would say T20 cricket has introduced a more positive attitude in players and led to Tests also being played more aggressively and being more result oriented," Afridi said.
"What we need to do is strike the right balance in our teams for all three formats of the sport," he added.
Afridi advocated the need to develop the national teams according to the abilities of the players.
"Already we have certain players who are Test specialists including Yousuf himself, then they are players who are specialists for the limited overs cricket and in the third category they are players who are adjust in all three forms of the sport.
"It would not be a bad idea if we can build our Test, ODI and T20 teams according to this policy. We need to groom and develop our players accordingly," Afridi said.
Afridi, who was dropped for the Test series against Australia, said he was always available for his country and if the team management or selectors asked him to join the team for the Tests he would not hesitate to join.
"I would be willing to sacrifice my contract with South Australia if the team needed by services in the Test matches," said Afridi who had announced that he wants to concentrate on ODIs and T20 cricket until the 2011 World Cup.
Afridi said he still believed that Pakistan could beat Australia in the remaining two Tests if the batsmen perform well.
"We should take heart and play the last two Tests with more vigor and focus," he said.
Gary Kirsten is overburdened: Dhoni
MUMBAI: It was supposed to be a routine pre-tour press conference. But a candid Mahendra Singh Dhoni made sure it wasn't. The Indian captain revealed that the team was missing bowling and fielding coaches, resulting in an increased workload on head coach Gary Kirsten. On the eve of the team's departure for the tri-series in Bangladesh, Dhoni added that Kirsten had his hands full.
"To some extent, it does affect the team. You need a specialist coach to get the best out of the players. Gary looks after so many things. He has a lot on his plate," Dhoni said, adding, "That's the way it is. It's an administrative issue now."
The cricket board, in a sudden and surprising move, sacked bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh in October and the two positions are lying vacant since.
While BCCI roped in Australian Mike Young for a short stint as fielding coach, he is not available now. "Mike is not available for the Bangladesh tour. Fielding is one aspect of the game that is important in every format of the game," Dhoni said.
The need for the fielding coach has become more and more pronounced in view of the team's falling standards and appalling catching. Dhoni recalled, "We dropped quite a few catches in the last series and we will try to rectify that. Good fielding really helps, especially in the middle overs, with four good fielders inside the circle who can save singles," he said.
On his recent ban for two ODIs over slow over-rates, Dhoni said that his bowlers did struggle with the problem but improved as the Lanka series progressed. About death bowling, another problem area, Dhoni felt that the team was improving there too.
Meanwhile, there were enough hints at the press meet to suggest the Team India had also begun taking the first steps of preparations for 2011 World Cup. A core group of Dhoni, Kirsten and Sachin Tendulkar have started pondering little things which need attention. "There are small things were concentrating on. We have a pool of cricketers to pick from; we are focusing on having an injury-free team as much as possible, fielding and catching is an area where a lot of effort is being put in. The World Cup is going to be in India and naturally there is going to be a lot of expectation," Dhoni said.
Despite India's impressive run in 2009, there have been areas of concern which Dhoni and Kirsten want ironed out. Fielding, for instance, is a big worry. So is the lack of form of India's attack lately that has brought trouble for Dhoni. Beginning with the tri-series in Bangladesh, the skipper has set his sights on thorough improvement.
"On a given day, players take 50 to 100 catches as part of our training sessions but still sometimes things go wrong. To lessen the margin of error as much as possible is our aim," said Dhoni on the issue of overall improvement.
In fact, the tri-series in Bangladesh marks the beginning of another hectic year for Indian cricket and the skipper felt the more the team played the better.
"Our aim is to try and win every match, every series. Rotating players, trying new things, giving the youngsters opportunities can be a part of the preparation but the aim is to first win and then if there is an opportunity available, try new things," he said.
T20 Triumph Fails to Illuminate Year of Cricketing Gloom
While Pakistan were placed fifth in the ICC rankings — both in Tests and ODIs — it finished the year being at sixth with no immediate hopes of improvement.
In stark comparison, arch-rivals India began the year at number three in the international rankings of the two versions of the game, but finished as the leaders in Tests and were an impressive second in the ODIs.
Pakistan ended 2009 on a dismal note, losing the Melbourne Test against Australia by a heavy margin of 170 runs.
While Pakistan failed to win any One-day International event or Test series, as many as four captains led the national team during the year which shows the inconsistency of the board administration in this vital area of the game.
But the worst incident of the year, and possibly in the history of the game, was the terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.
The harrowing incident not only tarnished the image of Pakistan cricket beyond repair, it was also the last straw in destroying the prospects of international cricket in Pakistan.
The ghastly incident prompted the already apprehensive cricket-playing nations across the globe to cancel all scheduled assignments in Pakistan and to withdraw from their commitments in sports events also for an indefinite period.
However, the emergence of dashing Umar Akmal as middle-order batsman and sensational paceman Mohammad Aamir are definitely among the rare highs that Pakistan cricket experienced in 2009.
India, cheesed off at the Nov 8 attacks in Mumbai, cancelled the scheduled tour of Pakistan in Jan-Feb due to the strained political relations with Pakistan.
It not only deprived Pakistan of revenue in billions of rupees, but also deprived the cricket-mad fans in the country of some high-profile, competitive cricket.
Pakistan played nine Tests in 2009, losing four and winning only one. It lost two Tests to Sri Lanka, one to New Zealand and the last against the Aussies at Melbourne last week.
Sri Lanka won the first leg of ODIs 2-1, after losing the first at Karachi which included a mind-boggling 234-run crushing win in the series decider at Lahore, which triggered the replacement of Shoaib Malik as captain with Younis Khan.
The Islanders then revisited in Feb to play two Test matches. After the first Test ended as a high-scoring draw in Karachi, the second one at Lahore created history when a bunch of terrorists attacked the visitors bus at Liberty Chowk while it was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium.
Seven Sri Lankan players were injured while eight policemen, guarding the players, were killed on the spot.
As the fans and media watched the the incident in horror and disbelief, the hapless Sri Lankans departed for home with dark clouds hovering over the future of international cricket in Pakistan.
The incident literally rocked the country and took away all kinds of sports events scheduled in Pakistan for an indefinite period.
Pakistan suddenly was the pariah of cricket and was deprived of its share of 14 matches of the World Cup 2011 that were to be staged here.
Not only were the matches removed, they were arbitrarily distributed to India and Sri Lanka by an enraged ICC. Even the World Cup Secretariat, which was to be originally set up in Lahore, was taken away abruptly.
But with so much damage caused by the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankans in Lahore, it was ‘amazing’ that neither the PCB nor the government took any major action against the officials responsible for the “unpardonable” security lapse.
In fact, Wasim Bari, the then human resources director, who was
responsible for coordinating security matters with the senior govt officials along with Director Cricket Operations Zakir Khan, was elevated to the post of Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The PCB did, however, protest the snatching of the World Cup matches at the ICC meeting and managed to pull off around 14 million dollars in compensation for the deprivation after serving a legal notice to the international body for stripping its rights of hosting the World Cup.
Almost one week after the heartbreaking incident, the PCB was ready to send its national team to Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series without really confirming the security situation there. However, the aftermath of Sri Lankan attack saw Bangladesh refusing to host Pakistan for the series.
Pakistan were then forced to host the ODI and T20 home series against Australia at the neutral venues of Abu Dhabi and Dubai but lost the five-ODI series 2-3 before winning both T20 games.
The only real high point of Pakistan cricket arrived when the team went to England for the T20 World Cup as absolute underdogs and stunned the world by lifting the trophy.
The victory not only resurrected Pakistan’s image to a great extent, it sent the emotionally-scarred nation into a frenzy.
It was the first hugely positive news for the people of this war-torn country who had only experienced blood and gore, deadly bomb blasts, displacements and economic crisis over the past few years.
As a well-knit Pakistan under the able leadership of Younis Khan tamed Sri Lanka in the final by eight wickets, millions danced in the streets and chanted slogans against the terrorists, vowing to defeat all odds for a better Pakistan.
However, the massive impact created by the exuberant Pakistan team in England faded rather quickly.
Pakistan were outclassed in every department of the game by Sri Lanka in their own backyard and they won the three Test series 2-0 only to follow it up with a 3-2 ODI series win.
Pakistan’s next big assignment was the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. They had an average run in the mega event but their meek submission to a lowly-rated New Zealand in the semis again sparked a big controversy.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports Chairman Jamshed Dasti soon afterwards issued a statement, alleging the players were involved in match-fixing during the event.
The NA body subsequently summoned PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, Coach Intikhab Alam, Manager Yawar Saeed and Captain Younis Khan for a grilling session on the debacle in Champions Trophy.
Younis, cheesed off at the allegations hurled at his side, chose the NA session to tender his resignation from captaincy that stunned everyone involved.
Later, Younis agreed to return as skipper on his own terms and the PCB eventually relented. Controversial manager Yawar Saeed lost his post as manager while associate manager Shafqat Rana was also shown the door. The PCB chairman named Younis as captain till the 2011 World Cup, subject to fitness.
As things unfolded, Pakistan lost the ODI series 2-1 to New Zealand in Abu Dhabi amid rumours of a rebellion against Younis the skipper.
Visibly perturbed by the reports of groupings against him, Younis requested the PCB chairman for a break from the three-Test series against New Zealand.
Accepting it quickly, the chairman appointed Mohammad Yousuf as the third captain of the year after Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan.
A new-look Pakistan side overcame initial hiccups in New Zealand before finding its feet to level the three-match series 1-1, thanks to a magnificent comeback of dope-tainted Mohammad Asif to international cricket.
On the management side, National Cricket Academy Director Aamir Sohail tendered his resignation, citing interference in work, a similar argument was put forward by Abdul Qadir and Javed Miandad in their resignations as chief selector and diretor general, respectively.
Saleem Altaf was the fourth among Ijaz Butt’s hand-picked Test cricketers who was shown the door when the Governing Board acceded to the chairman’s desire to remove Altaf as COO.
The Governing Board failed to assert itself on many issues, including the ad hoc appointment of Financial Officer Mohammad Naeem, a close relative of Ijaz Butt.
Pakistan Cricket Experts feel 2009 been The Worst
According to some of the former Pakistani cricketers, the year of 2009 has been the worst one in the recent history of Pakistan cricket. According to these former players, the deadly terrorist attack which took place on Sri Lankan cricket squad in the month of March, damaged Pakistan’s image on various ways.
It may be remembered that as many as 7 cricketers of Sri Lankan squad were wounded in the said attack. The event took place as Sri Lankans were approaching the venue for a Test match Lahore.
As one of the fallouts of the event, no other international cricket squad toured Pakistan. In another significant development, the ICC, the parent body of world cricket, shifted out 2011 Cricket World Cup matches from Pakistan.
However, the former cricketers agreed that becoming the champions in World Twenty20 in England, was one of the better moments. Under the leadership of Younus Khan, Pakistan secured the championship of World Twenty20 in the month of June, 2009.