World Cup 2007: A Legacy To Be Left Behind

my angrezi is poor...this article is bad...either ti should have been

(a) returned to author for proof reading and editing

or

(b) somebody in the dark editorial room (zeemax ?????) should have done the editing

its as if a macaca had been given a keyboard, and anothe trained macaca was given the job of editing !

One of the greats mentioned, a Inzimam ul Haq has a dispicable worldcup average of 23runs and the distinguished achievement of averaging only 6 runs in the previous cup (2003) with a highest score of 9runs only. Now if that is a measure of greatness then we should all play someother game.

Pakistan does not have a chance in hell simply because they are not prepared and except for Yusuf and Yunis none of their batsmen are showing any form.

Indian prospects are bright with a solid batting lineup, decent bowling attack and spirited captiancy.

However, favorites are the Saffies simply because they are the perfect team to win the cup. Batting, bowling and most importantly fielding in all departments the Saffies are hitting all cylinders. Having said that, this is cricket and any thing is possible.

This author must be a Pakistan lover and not a cricket lover. First of all let me say that i am from Pakistan and Pkaistan has no chance in hell to win thee world cup without M.Asif and Shoaib Akhtar. With them they are one of the best teams despite what Indian fans say. Secondly, South Africa is the most complete team and will be very very hard to beat. They have the best bowling attack in the world with batsmen showing great form. Australia are dangerous but tired. India does not have (and never will) even a decent bowling attack and unless they bat first and make 300+ runs in every game will find it very difficult to reach semis.
However, this author is a nincompoop if he thinks that without Asif and Akhtar Pakistan is still 3rd behind Autralia and SA and that ENGLAND has a better chance than any team in the world. Out of the 8 better teams England is the worst and it will be a miracle for them to even beat themselves. New Zeland is a much better team than it is said and they deserve a mention here. Inzi is a bad captain. They won the world cup with Imran at the helm and Inzi was just a player. Now that he is the leader, only Allah can save Pakistan but for some reason I dont think he will be too happy with Inzi right now.

re: hasanmahmood #3

Fast bowlers are not likely to play a big role in this tournament. WI pitches are slow like South Asian pitches. Batsmen will find it easier to score runs off quick bowlers because the ball comes on to the bat. But against slow bowlers they will have to manufacture risky front-foot strokes. We will see plenty of catches in the deep and stumpings in this World Cup.

This will be a tournament dominated by slow bowlers and batsmen. Asif and Shoaib`s absence should not make a big difference. Inzy can win this one for Pakistan if he does the following:

1. Bowl Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir in first 10-15 overs.
2. Bowl Rana Naveed at the death (He has one of best economy/strike rates in final 10 ovs)
3. Bowl Razzaq, Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Hafeez and Kaneria from the 15th till 40th over
4. Alternate between two slow bowlers at the death on one end

With this strategy, Pakistan can limit the opposition to 260-280 runs which is not a tough target in ODIs any more. Our batting can certainly score these many runs against any bowling attack on West Indian pitches.

It is sad commentory on people that have no inteest in game of cricket and morbid curisity about Gandhi, Jinnah, K and just dirty politics.
I agree with writer that ``pindi express`` is real fire power travelling at over 100 mph at ease. He is world`s fastest bowler. Once he set on bowling is devasting batsman. Worlds best batsmen are nervious against him. I am hundred percent convinced that some foreign powers tried to disqualify by charges of doping. Fortunately he came out as uncontaminated gold and is going give nervious breakdown to all opponents. He is like atomic and hydrogen bomb of cricket truely. Nobody can stand in his way its like sream roller demolishing batting legends.

Re: # 5
Pindi express is like legend of Ironman Mike Tyson , nobody can last too long against his bowling. He is real hero of pakistani cricket surpassing all .

Optimism for Pakistan.
1. If Shoaib and Asif play? They can if they get the dopes flushed out and use untraceable masking agents, or they run the risk of their lives.
2. If Inzi comes up the order, runs like a rabit and achives a strike rate of at least 80% by the 35th over and an overall team run rate of 4 by then.
3. Uses his bowlers as wicket takers and not run pluggers like English alrounders used to do.
4. Bowling resources take wickets at crucial stages to slow the tempo.
5. Any one amongst Arfidi/Imran plays out 15 overs with a strike rate touching 100%.
6. If there is a need to fiddle with the batting order, sending Razzaq upfront to play himself in before the slog overs begin.
7. As an opener, Hafeez to play straight bat and block one end.
8. Malik to play both as grafter and slogger.
9. Inzi comes out of his defensive approach and captains aggressively.
10. Big teams like Australia and South Africa play very badly in the super 8/semis.
To sum, Pakistan needs professionalism, Good performace and mother luck to reach the semis. Thereon its anybody`s game

Re: # 5 given the evidence currently available, this speed is possible only if the ``chinese nandrolone`` (sic: The NEWS - when the story broke) is undetected.

So Shoaib in WC is out of the question. Do not think he will make it.

Also it doesnot bode well for the moral stature of Inzy to have known and certified Druggies on his team - that some of them are charsies is a different matter though.

The truth is that the teams from the Indian Subcontinent have a good opp this time round of doing well. The WI pitches are like those back home. So really SL, PAK, India and WI should take up the four places in the semis! That would be real fun and a sight to behold!

Re: # 4

Dear H_E,

You state the following:

``Inzy can win this one for Pakistan if he does the following:

1. Bowl Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir in first 10-15 overs.
2. Bowl Rana Naveed at the death (He has one of best economy/strike rates in final 10 ovs)
3. Bowl Razzaq, Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Hafeez and Kaneria from the 15th till 40th over
4. Alternate between two slow bowlers at the death on one end ``

According to your thesis, Pakistan will play with only two specialist batsmen (Inzi & Yusuf), four allrounders, one wicketkeeper and four specialist bowlers. Given the current batting form of Pak batsmen, this theory is flawed to start with. One day cricket revolves around batting unlike test cricket which is a mix of bowling and battting but is generally won by sides with a better bowling attack.

And one final correction, there is no Shahid Nazir in the Pak one day squad. As per the original plan, Kaneria had also been left out but for the doping problems and poor bowling performance by the other seamers compelled Pak think (stink) tank to change course.

First of all.. kudos to all the Paki Bashing..

``This author must be a Pakistan lover and not a cricket lover``
Simple. Sarcastic and to the point.

Well my initial impression of the article was.. Yeah rite in your dreams buddy..

Firsts with a team which has been facing problems of consistency and injury problems.. Pakistan is among the top guns.

Secondly, Pakistan has mostly failed to chase targets and although Indian cricket has been that for some time but they have been able to better themselves over time. Till the psychology of the OH OVER 250 RUNS scored by an opponent team doesnt subside we will not win any match.

Lastly but not the least most Pakis are not very ``enthusiastic`` about Pakistan`s chances of winning the World Cup..and hence may not turn up in droves to witness matches..

I guess the ones that are the faves to win

Saffies.. Zoolanders.. Indies..Aussies..

Who should Win...

Saffies.. and/or Indies..

`My Money is with the south africans this time`

It is clear to me that the analysis on tha pakistanis is a non-optimistic one but rather a hopeful one. Other than that , after reading all the other interacts , the author is not Saying Pakistan Will win.

I agree with England thou, they won 3 in a row against australia under a miraculous spell of good luck. Pakistan is the dark horse as the article says.

And yes the South Africans look the best team to win it at the moment.

Adieu Razzaq.
The tamasha begins

Re HisExcellency
First off, when you talk about Umar gul and Shahid Nazir like you are talking about Wasim and Waqar, you don’t sound very ingenious. Secondly after the South African tour your idea of keeping Rana and bowling him in the final overs is also ridiculous. He might have been good in the past but based on his current form even the commentators are at a loss at his selection. We all know why Rana Sahab is on the team(it is called Inzi key uthana shab ji). Lastly you are giving too much credence to the fact that your other bowlers can keep batsmen at bay. Yes the wickets are slow but that does not mean that other batmen will just be sitting there like lame ducks against our second-rate bowlers like Gul. Because of the slow pitches, batmen will have a field-day against our bowlers. Your opinion of chasing 260-280 is also wrong. Looking at the form of Maulvi Inzimam in the World cup and seeing that the only three batsmen in form are Malik, Younis(only on slower pitches), and Yousuf it is hard for me to imagine them chasing 260-280 on a consistent basis.

Also ijaz, when have you seen Maulvi Inzimam doing anything remotely intelligent as a captain? Sure he has won by sheer dumb luck but can you actually point out a great decision taken by him that might have defined his captaincy.

Lets all wait and see how India is going to beat us without great bowlers so convincingly that we will be hiding our tails and putting our collective heads in the sand.
People stop being so damn optimistic and look at the reality because unless you do so, PCB will keep doing what it does and you will always be stuck with the mindset that mediocre bowlers like Gul and Rana are the best we can do.

Let`s not forget Sri Lanka!

Re: # 13

``idea of keeping Rana and bowling him in the final overs is also ridiculous``
Ironically, he was termed as the ``The best ODI bowler at the death`` by CricInfo! :)

Re: hasanmahmood

When you talk of Wasim & Waqar, don`t forget the hammering they received in WC`96 which was played on similar pitches in subcontinent. You can`t use WC`99 and WC`2003 as your benchmark because of different conditions (high bounce, seam movement, hard surfaces) in these tournaments. Spinners and medium pacers dominated WC`96. Not only did Anil Kumble, Paul Strang, Roger Harper, Shane Warne, Mushtaq Ahmed and Damien Fleming take most wickets, they also had better economy rates.

On these pitches, you need conservative bowlers like Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Iftikhar Anjum and Asif. You don`t need an aggressive Waqar, Wasim or Shoaib Akhtar. The stats attest to this.

Re: hasanmahmood

If New Zealand can chase 300+ twice with only one quality batsman, Pakistan can certainly score 260-280 even if Inzy doesn`t return to form. And don`t forget that most teams in this WC don`t have too many good bowlers.

this world cup will be won by the team which fields best. NZ.

My money would be on Australia/ South Africa with covering side bets on NZ/India.
Somehow I cannot imagine Windies, England or Pakistan (without Shoaib) winning the World cup.

re: hasanmahmood

Now that Razzaq is out, we have no choice except to stick with Rana Naved. I agree his form of late has been depressing. But Rana is a great fighter, can bat well and knows this is his first (and last) WC.

I would rather have a struggling fighter like Rana in my team than a talented pushover like Faisal Iqbal or Mohammad Sami.

re: rf786

Kaneria and Razzaq (or his replacement) will not play in every match. I expect the following lineup:

1. Imran Nazir
2. K. Akmal / M. Hafeez
3. Younis
4. Yousaf
5. Inzy
6. S. Malik
7. S.Afridi
8. A. Mahmood
9. S.Akhtar* / Rana Naved / Kaneria
10. Umar Gul
11. Asif* / Rao Iftikhar

* Assuming they clears drug test

Kaneria will not be played against teams that play spin well (e.g. India, Sri Lanka). Pakistan will play 4 specialist batsmen, one wicket keeper, 3/4 allrounders and 2/3 specialist bowlers.

So the NCO Abdul ``Subedaar`` Razzaq has dropped out. Who will marshall the troops. Is this a small rebellion against Maulvi Inzy and Ayatollah Woolmer`s regime and their non-supprort of key players?

Just like Inthikab, Mushtaq and Miandad were mysteriously left out, mystery shrouds Razzaq.

http://www.rediff.com/wc2007/2007/mar/01akhtar.htm

Shoaib and Asif to miss World Cup

Pakistan pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been ruled out of the World Cup due to injury, a senior cricket board official said on Thursday.

Shoaib, who has played just one Test and four one-dayers since last February due to fitness concerns, has been unable to recover from a knee injury that forced him to be sent back from South Africa last month.

Asif has been carrying a niggling elbow problem since that tour and the pair were receiving treatment in London but neither will be fit enough to participate in the tournament in the Caribbean, which starts on March 13.

``Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Sami will be sent as their replacements,`` Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Wasim Bari told reporters.

The loss of the new-ball pair comes as a major setback to Pakistan`s hopes ahead of their opening match against the West Indies on the first day of the tournament.

``It is a big blow for us, but I am confident that Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Sami will live up to the expectations,`` team coach Bob Woolmer said.

``They will join the team in a week`s time and we hope to overcome our injury problems with a united team effort.``

Having said that the Caribbean pitches are not speed-supporting and it will be more like batting-fielding tournament then theres no doubt that it would be Proteas’ Cup for having their long batting line up with 10 batsmen (just 1 or 2 fragile batsmen) and Field Marshal Jonty.

Koalas with 7 batsmen and 4 of 7 are very dependable and Langurs also having similar batting line up (sorry I cant HONESTLY say about batting dependability) BUT then Mushis are behind Proteas with batting line up to 8/9 with HOPEFUL dependability and lost troops of Field Marshal.

Shahid Hashmi in Karachi
Friday March 2, 2007
The Guardian


The International Cricket Council is insisting on its right to see medical evidence of injuries to Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif before it will allow Pakistan to call up replacements for the World Cup. Shoaib and Asif were ruled out yesterday, Shoaib after apparently struggling with a knee injury and Asif with an elbow knock, and when the squad flew out to the Caribbean the two men taking their places, Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Sami, were left behind to await ICC clearance.

dear writer

Thanks for an excellent article!!!

I am leaving for world cup 2007 April12th-April16th in Barbados.........

Will you be there?

Re #26, Zeena,

Great timing! Don`t miss India vs Pakistan on April 15.