Pak VS SA T20s, What Went Wrong?

Batting first after winning the toss in the T20s was foolish on Afridi's part. There is always the dew factor in the sub continent and UAE, which makes batting a lot easier in the second innings, and gripping the ball a much harder task.

Pakistan's 11 out of 26 T20 wins have come batting 2nd, that's 42% of the wins. 

Pak has lost 6 out of 15 T20s batting 2nd, that's 40% of the losses. 

Overall loss ratio when batting 2nd is 33% only.

So to say that Pakistan are not good chasers is over generalizing the team's performance in ODIs and Tests. The fact is Pak should have bowled first, at least in the 2nd T20, knowing that SA had the conditions a lot easier when batting in the first T20.

Hafeez bowled well in both matches, Afridi should have let him finish his quota in the first T20 instead of bowling Razzaq in the closing overs. Its not the same in UAE as bowling on English seaming tracks at 78 mph. Razzaq's got a good record bowling in the powerplay, but when chasing 120s, teams are only going to use him as a punch bag.

Shahzaib Hassan should be kicked out of the team till the World Cup, and Imran Farhat till the 2015 World Cup. Personally, I'd like to see Razzaq coming one down, and Shahzaib after two down when Kamran Akmal is back. Razzq is good against fast bowlers, Shahzaib played the spinners well in the domestic tournament (he hasn't played one in T20s for ages since he gets out inside the first three overs.)

And somebody should tell Misbah he can prove his Test credentials in the Tests, no need to mess up the T20s.

Dire Straits-Brother in Arms

This song is about the Falklands War, which was going on when Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler wrote the song. The Falklands War was a conflict between Argentina and England over islands off the coast of Argentina that each country claims rights to. The islands are British territories, but in 1982 Argentina tried to reclaim one of the islands. Britain reclaimed their territories, but lost 258 soldiers in the conflict. The song was inspired by Knopfler's father remarking "We shouldn't be making war on our brothers in arms."

These mist covered mountains

Are a home now for me

But my home is the lowlands

And always will be

Some day you'll return to

Your valleys and your farms

And you'll no longer burn

To be brothers in arm

Through these fields of destruction

Baptism of fire

I've watched all your suffering

As the battles raged higher

And though they did hurt me so bad

In the fear and alarm

You did not desert me

My brothers in arms

Step Aside, Mr.Ponting!

After the retirement of Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Mathew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn, Australia's decline in Test cricket was expected but now that it's right in front of us, it surprises. 

Ponting was made captain in 2004 and till December 2007 had lost only three Tests as captain. In January 2008, India beat Australia in the Perth Test. To prove that it wasn't a fluke, India beat Australia in another two Tests in October of that year to take their home series. Mixed results meant Australia's aura of invincibility had by then tarnished.

A home series loss against South Africa gave a sense of what was coming. But Ponting reinforced his claim on captaincy by winning the away series against the South Africans. The loss of the Ashes though, for the second time in England, when Ponting had recovered them in style through a 5-0 drubbing of England the last time the two teams had met (2006-2007), meant there were calls for taking the captaincy from him. Ponting responded with seven Tests wins on the trot, albeit against weaker Test sides (Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies).

The date: 24th July 2010, the venue: England, the opposition: probably the weakest Test side Pakistan ever had, and Australia were beaten by Pakistan in a Test match for the first time in nearly fifteen years, after 13 consecutive wins against Pakistan. Ponting was disappointed but not as disappointed as he was when two months later his team lost against India again, this time by just one wicket. 

Second and last match of the series, Ponting would have been dreaming of victory after his side had scored a formidable 478 in the first innings and got Sehwag out cheaply. But Sachin Tendulkar, with his new habit of scoring runs even when India wins, churned out a double hundred and a fifty to seal the match for the Indians, and Ponting was left with another record, that of being the first Australian captain in 22 years to lose three consecutive Tests and the first to lose all matches of a series since 1982.

Ponting had always had the support of former captains, but now that Geoff Lawson has called for his axing and Shane Warne, regarded as the best captain Australia never had, tweeting furiously about his tactics for Nathan Hauritz in the last Test, it looks as if this Ashes series will be the last for Ponting as test skipper. Australia is still number one in ODI rankings, but it wouldn't save Ponting post the World Cup next year.

In his tenure, Ponting has lost five Test series in six years which by Australian standards is a lot. Australia has slipped from 1st to 5th in the ICC Test rankings, and it will be the first time since the rankings were introduced that England would be ranked higher than Australia at the start of the Ashes. To be fair to Ponting, some of the matches he has lost as a skipper were very close matches, a 1 wicket loss to India, a 3 wicket loss to Pakistan, and a 2 run loss to England. But the fact remains: he has yet to win a Test in India or a series in England. And it looks like he won't be getting another chance.

Zardari's Net worth and Education according to Wikipedia!

President Zardari is 2nd on Pakistan's rich list after Mian Muhammad Mansha. This is how his source of income has been described by Wikipedia.

Rank	Name	Net Worth ($ USD)	Age	Residence	Sources of income & wealth	Industries
1	Mian Muhammad Mansha	1 bil[1] - 5 bil[2]	62	Islamabad	Nishat Group, MCB, Adamjee Group, Nishat Chiniot power	Textiles, Banking, Energy, Transport
2	Asif Ali Zardari	1.8 bil[3]	54	Islamabad	Government of Pakistan	Politics, Food, Investment, Real estate (Acquired mostly through corruption)

According to a news report, British officials had trouble finding the school Asif Ali Zardari is said to have received his graduation or equivalent qualification from. The PPP says it was the London School of Economics and Business. But, no one seems to know for sure where that is.About his educational background there is some contoversy: "While a candidate for parliament, a position for which a 2002 rule requires a college degree, Zardari claimed to have graduated from a college in London called the London School of Economics and Business (LSEB). The 2002 rule was overturned by Pakistan's Supreme Court in April 2008.^"

In a written response to questions about London School of Economics and Business, an Edubase official told Dawn, "I have been unable to find evidence of this institution."

Pakistan officials in 2002 established a rule that a candidate for Parliament must have a certain level of college education.

Pakistan Cricket Team's Selection

Pakistan Team's 15 member squad for the ODI and T20 series against South Africa in the UAE has been announced.

I hate to say this, but Shoaib Malik does have a place in the ODI team considering the upcoming World Cup. If Misbah can play, so can he, its just a matter of controlling him and his group-bndi outside the ground. Misbah deserved his chance because of his performance in the domestic ODI competition.

Somehow, the selectors have seen sense and dropped Umer Amin and Azhar Ali from the ODI squad. Azhar deserves a chance in the Test series though, especially if the pitches are good for battting. He's had a rough time in his early days, playing in England against good seamers, so he should get a chance to play in the tests against South Africa.

The bittersweet news is the exclusion of Kamran Akmal, replaced by Zulqarnain Haider due to Akmal's appendicitus operation. Akmal's batting will be sorely missed, his keeping probably not.. Haider should stay for the tests if he keeps well. No need for a keeper who can bat if he can't keep.

Tanveer Ahmed gets a chance, lets see if he gets to play. Asad Shafiq retains his place and rightly so. Except for the last two ODIs against England, he looked good in the series.

Intikhab Alam makes a comeback, this time as the manager. I guess Ejaz Butt can't sleep without the knowledge that the team has a 70 year old Baba Ji with them. Shaid dua'ain kerne k kam aatay hain. 

I would've liked to see Rana Naveed or Rao Iftikhar in the squad, both are good bowlers in limited overs cricket, especially in sub-continental conditions. In Amer and Asif's absence they could have been included.

The captain hasn't been announced yet, can't see why. If Afridi is in the squad, he's got to be the captain. Perhaps, Prince Butt is mad again !

Pakistan squad: Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanveer Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider (wk).

Mr. President! Tu Bn Insaan!!

Paray likhy nojawan tery mulk day jawan
Hath vich phary degree tey apni pehchan
Jithay deko jithay deko berozgari da tofan
Phirday nay gali gali paisa karay har kam
Ethay sar-e-aam
Jinaan hathan vich kadi hondi si kitaab
Onaan hathan vich halat pharaye hathyar
Zindagi tu jeevain mani batihay nay haar
Aye kiss da asool Aye kiss da qanoon
Jinun dekho panda ek dojay da khoon
Hunr char patloon Paraha likha Punjab
banan chaly si saray dy saary siyasatdan
pichli hakomat sari buri tarah nakaam
bhari apni dukan Dr.Qadeer Khan
dy ghar nu bana gay deko jail da makan
jinain delai sano sari duniya di akhan vich
ek navi pehchan
tenu mera tey meri awam da salam

Mr.President, mera teray tu eko sawal
Tenu nazar nai andy mery mulk dy halat
Teray tu teri awaam pochy subhu shaam
Jery kity say tu wady sady nal sar-e-aam
Tera apna kalaam roti kapra makan
Na vaich hor apna deen emaan
Hunr ban insan ban insan hunr ban insan...

The 11th Commandment

I wasn't sure about Jeffrey Archer's The 11^th Commandment at first, it seemed like any other modern thriller from its back cover. There was the same *CIA, FBI, mafia and a lone detective playing multiple roles* kind of story. Since I'd already borrowed it, I began reading and found it too fast paced for my liking, may be because I had been reading the slow paced Inheritance Cycle before that. Connor Fitzgerald is the CIA's best man and he's close to his retirement. However his last mission takes him to Russia, where he's supposed to assassinate the presidential candidate, Victor Zeremski, an aggressive leader looking to reignite the Cold War.

Part two of the book caught my attention. It reminded me of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, especially its last couple of pages. If you've read it you can guess what happens in The 11^th Commandment. Fitzgerald's friend Jackson makes the ultimate sacrifice to get him out of Russia, and from thereon, I couldn't put the book down until the very end. The numerous twists and turns in the story, taking you from the Oval Office in the White House to a Russian Mafia boss's luxurious hideaway outside St Petersburg, make it a must read.

It’s the first Jeffrey Archer book I've read; I hope his other books are as good as this one!

Laws of Cricket

With growing concerns about lack of interest in cricket, especially the longer formats, ICC had been looking at making changes in the game which will bring crowds back to the stadiums for Tests and ODIs. However Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which is responsible for the laws of the game, has come up with quiet a few changes in the laws of the game which might offend some of the die-hard fans. From October 1, 2010, following changes will take effect:

Umpires will now make all decisions regarding bad light without consulting the batsmen

This is probably a good decision, considering how many teams waste a lot of time in the last session of a Test. Batsman are seen asking for adjustment of the sight screen, changing gloves, taking an unscheduled drinks break, bowlers taking time in getting back to their run-ups, field changes after every other ball, which not only frustrate the other team but also the viewers. 

However we won't be seeing anymore of matches like the Karachi Test in 2000 when England won in near darkness.

At least one umpire will also now be required to attend the toss and the winning captain must notify his counterpart of his decision to bat or field immediately.

Previously, captains could choose to bat or bowl until 10 minutes before the start of the game, but in some cases, to the losing side’s disadvantage, this was being exploited to keep the other team in the dark for too long – and therefore contravened the Spirit of Cricket.

Preventing bowlers from delivering the ball with their front foot having crossed an imaginary line between the middle stumps e.g. declaring they were bowling over the wicket but releasing the ball as if they were bowling round the wicket.