Asian Test Championship

As India coast to victory with 10 wickets in hand

at lunch ka waqfa, is this just the calm before the storm ? They have lost matches in which they were similarly coasting to victory. Anything can happen. If Pakistan lose, it won`t come as a surprise. If India lose, it will.

Betting odds in favor of India are now 5-1. I suggest that Salim Malik & Ijaz Ahmed place their bets on India now, with whatever they have saved thru their test careers to supplement their retirement funds, cause they won`t be playing any more international cricket barring an act of

G-D.

Need Tips on how to place a bet with a Bombay bookie? Just ask Javed Miandad, he seems to know exactly how others do it.

For tips on how to smuggle drugs, just call up Qasim Umar & that Younis chap who played on Pakistan`s last tour of India, under Imran.

India off to a good start this morning. 57/0 and having seen off the opening spells of Shoaib Akhtar & Wasim Akram without loss. Waqar, Waqar, Waqar! It would have been nice to have him as first change ....

Re: Rana Ransher

Hate to disagree with you, but yaar cricket is not the beautiful game....now if you want to talk about a beautiful game, shall we discuss croquet?
Now that is a civilized game and if you know the rules of the game, you`ll know what I am talking about!

Still looking forward to our little tete a tete on cricket once this on-going non-sense ends! On a sarcastic note, I hope that whoever wins, there is a little destruction afterwards and something gets burned or killed!

Well the stage is set for a thriller. It`s going to be a nerve wrecking day in India and Pakistan and very exciting night here in USA. Cricket fans with weak heart and high blood pressure are advised to stay away from thier computer and TV screens:-) A true batsman can not do better than what Saeed Anwar did yesterday. He deserved a double yesterday but ran out of partners. Some highly irresponsible batting by Pakistani middle order and late order batsmen but by now Pakistani fans are quite used to it so no big surprise. IMHO I guess it is time that we say good bye to Ijaz and Malik. Both have been given enough chances and both have jeopardized Pakistan`s batting more than enough.

As far as situation at hand is concerned now it all depends upon pace duo and spin doctor. No doubt that Dravid, Azhar and Tendulkar are poised to win this match but the main hurdle is Ramesh. This guy is a fine opener and in good form. If Pakistan gets rid of both openers in first session(depends if Wasim and Shoaib take advantages of overnight dew and morning breeze) then Pakistan can definitely win this match. This match is very important for India because it will be the last test they will be playing in front of home crowd for a while. Even if they win this match, rest of the championship matches they will play in front of a hostile crowd (SL & Bangladesh).

As far as we fans go we can keep our fingers crossed and utter tthe words ``May the best team win`` just for the sportsmanship sake:-) Good luck.

There is heroism, and then there is cricket heroism.

The genius of batting is craftsmanship as much as attitude. In Pakistan, the story is told of Saeed Anwar, a debonair left-hander who once carried his bat for 188 in Calcutta when the chips were down. With this he joined the ranks of the great Pakistanis - Hanif Mohammed, Asif Iqbal and Javed Miandad among them - who have wielded a bat to beat the odds. His memory inspires and elevates us.

Oh, and you all remember what eventually happened in that match, don`t you ? If not, tune in tonight :-).

Saad

PS: Rehan, yaar ... sorry. Tum muddat say ghaib thay iss leeay `RR` daikh kar tumhari taraf dehan nahiN gaya.

Besides Saeed Anwar and Yousuf Youhana, a really
pathetic batting effort by the Pakistani side.
They could not even wait for Saeed to get his double century.
India should have been chasing at least 50
more runs to win.
Afridi and Azhar`s ducks and the (again) pathetic
1`s by Shoib and Captain Wasim Akram need to be
highlighted here. Let us hope that these guys
can contribute now in the bowling and fielding
arena to tilt the game in Pakistan`s favor.
And let us also hope that like Saeed, Tendu does
not suddenly re-discover his batting skills.

Ras

Re: ALL

1. Saeed Anwar`s century...did I call it or did I call it?

2. Enough of this Afridi crap..this guy has zero temprament. They need to kick him out for a couple of years, and while they are at it lets get rid of this new WW guy, Ijaz and Malik.

Re: Rana Ransher

Still have a feeling Tendulkar is going down early tomorrow.

Re: Rehan

tussee kham kha ee sanjeeda horay ho, I was exaggerating.

Faraz

sud afsos, I could not even see the game today. Where did Saeed Anwar score runs? Were a lot of them in the slip area? Did he give any chances or this was unblemished. Anwar is a good strokes player,but to be honest I feel that he is also not very dependable, and has the tendency to play across earlier in his innings. Nevertheless, yesterday he played a big innings for Pakistan.

Very difficult to say who is going to win. Believe that Pakistan has an edge because India will be chasing a 273 runs total on the fourth innings. Pakistan will miss Waqar Younus a lot.

Waseem and the young fast bowler will share 5 wickets a piece. It is really a big tukka.

Hope to see the game today.

Nadir

@nd Innings!!!!
Pakistan all out for 316.
Saeed Anwar not out 188.
We certainly have quite a game here.
Too bad Afridi had to follow Tendulkar`s
duck.
Saeed need not be present for us to honor
him. He can send his shoes on tour to various
US cities.
We know that India CAN win this game. The
question is CAN they do this tomorrow?

Ras

Oh God
Srinath just missung a hat-trick. Ganguly coming down too slow and taking that one bounCe.

With Pakistan all out and India set a target of 279, the game in definitely open for both sides to win. However, I have to agree with Mofeez that Wasim Akram must be sorely regretting leaving the third genuine quickie, Waqar, out for Mahmood. As things turned out, this wicket is helping the fast bowlers who have a little extra in their arsnel,but stock bowlers like A.Mahmood & Prasad are not taking wickets. And the Allrounder Mr. A.M who replaced the specialist Waqar, managed to score 2 ducks in the match. Could Waqar have done worse?

Pakistani batsmen with the exception of S.Anwar ofcourse, were PATHETIC. They made Srinath look UNPLAYABLE.

Well, the awaited irresponsible display of batting

by Pakistan has begun. Srinath strikes again as both Y.Y & Shahid Afridi squander Pakistan`s commanding position by losing their wickets to irresponsible shots. Afridi is an opener who can`t face fast bowlers ! Needs to grow up and learn to play first class cricket for a few years more. Totally immature.

Y.Y heard my prayers and answered them after the tea interval and picked up the pace. India just took the new ball, but these 2 are looking set at 51 & 150 each, even though Saeed Anwar has slowed down his rate of scoring.

Tea interval, day 3. Yousuf Youhana is on 16 after 71 balls faced. Making about 1 run in the last hour. This guy is suppose to be a stroke player! While the need to bottle up one end is completely understandable, since Saeed is scoring the runs at the other, its frustrating to watch Y.Y. He needs to open and play some shots. He should be comfie by now at the crease, and with Laxman & Ramesh on Pakistan should pick up the pace. Sirinath will be bowling again in another 10 overs, and is fairly likely to take wickets with the new ball. The time to score some runs is now.

Ijaz gone, Saeed Anwar on 97 * - another great 2nd innings effort by Saeed Anwar - lead 110 and 7 wickets in hand. Folks, we have a game and Pakistan is poised to win it :=) Saad`s theory will hold and Akram, Shoaib, Azhar, Saqlain and Afridi will be handful. I give Akram 3 and Shoaib 5!!

It is interesting that all 3 wickets were caught behind and pakistan is at a 3 run per over rate. Saeed has a strike rate of 71. Not bad.

Pakistan lead by 75 runs at lunch, with 2 wickets down. Cricket is an unpredictable enough game that things can come apart at any moment given the recent fragile look of the Pakistani batting on the current tour of India. So even while Pakistan look like they are coasting with Saeed Anwar at the crease, all it takes are a few irresponsible shots, and India will be back in the driving seat. Pakistani batsmen have proved themselves more than capable of playing irresponsibly within recent memory. With the way the wicket seems to have eased off somewhat, i think Pakistan needs to put up a total of at least 350 runs on the board in their second innings to put India under serious pressure. And, they need to bat thru till at least the afternoon of the 4th day`s play.

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