Peaceful Strokes

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rsridhar #97 I hope you are not being serious when you start bragging about India`s economic success on a board to discuss cricket. How childish can you get!!

It is only in war that there are winners and losers. In cricket (at least as far as true sports fans are concerned) and in economics (as far as anyone who understands something about development economics is concerned) there are no winners and no losers. If the game is played well, or if an economy is doing well, EVERYBODY benefits. Think about this. Is this really such a difficult concept to understand?

Perhaps the spirit shown by the two teams and by the cricket fans from India and Pakistan who watched the matches should be something to learn from, I think. While it is natural to support one`s home team, it is done with no ill-will towards the other team. This may require some thought too.

There are enough idiots on chowk like arjun and jay who have no clue about what is going on in real life and who seem mentally incapable of grasping the above concepts, and I am really get surprised when I see you joining them.

HE #91 Thanks for describing a bit of the pindi match. Now I wish I had seen it. Good to see that the pindi club ground continues to serve its purpose (Although I always thought the ground was a bit small for international cricket). Next match is March 18 I believe, and I think I`ll try to see it live. Starts at 11:30 pm local time here though, and that could be a problem (or madness, according to my wife).

I think Kiran Baloch should be brought in at one-down for Pakistan:

``KARACHI, March 16: Pakistan`s opening bats woman Kiran Baloch smashed the highest individual score in history of women cricket in the one-off Test against West Indies at National Stadium on Tuesday.

26-year-old Hyderabad-born Kiran blasted an unbeaten 242 as Pakistan women declared their first innings at 426 for seven wickets at tea break after resuming at their overnight score of 242 for one.

By stumps on the second day in the four match series, West Indies were reeling at 72 for five wickets in their innings, still needing another 204 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Envis Williams with eight runs in 82 minutes batting and Verena Felicien with five were at the crease when play ended for the day. Shaiza Khan caused the main damage in Caribbean batting ranks with three wickets for 21 runs in nine overs.`` (www.dawn.com)

So, Pakistan kicked India`s butt in mens cricket today and is about to kick West Indies butt in women`s cricket. Who would have thought......

re: #95 by Romair

If we had sent Razzaq in after Yasir Hameed`s dismissal at 225/3, Pakistan could have added another 20 runs to the total. Inzamam could have nudged around for 1s and 2s, Razzaq could have gone for the big ones. But Younis slowed the momentum at a time when Pakistan could afford to take risks. In an effort to accelerate, Inzamam decided to clobber the Indians and in the process lost his wicket. This was a big blow since an in-form Inzamam could have pulverized the Indian bowling during the slog overs.

Saqlain`s problem until the last World Cup was that his hand started ``second-guessing`` him. As spinners progress in their careers, they often find that their hand reflexes stop obeying their brain signals. Qadir, Hirwani and Maninder Singh had the same problem. When you want to bowl an offspinner, your hand ``decides`` to bowl a straight one. When you want to bowl a googly, your hand ``decides`` to bowl an offbreak. Basically the nerves around the hand develop a ``rogue brain`` of their own. Secondly, Shoaib Malik and Saqlain have similar actions and bowl the same type of delivery. Selecting Saqlain means Pakistan will have to drop Shoaib Malik (a better allrounder) or not bowl him (which would be bad too because he bowled well in Karachi and got rid of Tendulkar at Pindi).

PS: Having listening to Inzamam`s interview on Karachi, I am pretty sure his wife (or some ghostwriter) wrote those articles for Hindustan Times. ``Aaloo`` doesn`t come across as an essay-writer.

Did anyone catch Inzamam`s swearing (in Punjabi) when Shabbir misfielded Dravid`s glider at third-man??

great games played in a great spirit (good to see--after all its ONLY a game after all!) BUT...the pitches are SO dead and batsmen-friendly that it is ruining the cricket. I really don`t understand why, given our plethora of express (150 kph +) bowlers we don`t produce really FAST pitches so we can keep the Indians hopping and ducking. Especially in the Tests...and none of them are really comfortable against real pace (except Sachin) which should be our trump card...except by producing featherbeds we are ruining our advantage. After all India have one of the best top 6`s in the world so why give them batting wickets?!

and why isn`t Saqlain an automatic pick in this team?! (Instead of Shoaib Malik)

re:#90 by Romair
Romair and other idiots are only left to rant. Cricket is all they have got. I already grant it to them. This is the only field they can outclass India. Economically, India has far outpaced Pak, so much so that Ayaz Amir got a Delhi Belly when he returned from India recently (see his artilcle in Dawn). In all other spheres, India outclasses Pak so much so that Mushy the whore was seen pleading with Aishwarya Rai during a Press interview not to act in anti-Pak movies!

Meanwhile an interesting article from a Chinese: China is feeling threatened by India` s economic growth:
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=329651
Sridhar

while I am no expert on cricket, i can perhaps throw in my two cents here.

- making of this many runs perhaps says less about the batting skills, and more about the pathetic bowling of the two teams

- let us assume that this match were to go into the final over with India requiring 10 runs to win. If Shoaib were to do the final over, how many of us can predict confidently that he could have stopped India from making 10 runs? I venture to say very few of us. While Shoaib`s utility in the team may just be to add a ``glamour`` or ``frenzy`` factor for the pakistani fans, the real working bee is Sami.

- If the third match turns out to be another 600+ runs game, i for one will get tired of this series

HisExcellency #91: I think Younis Khan is doing alright. He has scored in both matches, at a run a ball, with an average of around 40. That is not bad for someone who has been out for so long, and is playing for his career as a cricketer. He is a good fielder also, and doesn`t get flustered.

The only change that needs to be made is to replace Shabbir with Saqlain. The spinners have been doing ok in this competition, despite the fact that there are no high quality spinners playing on either side. Saqlain was one of the best one-day bowlers in the world, when he started playing county cricket. Everyone who returns from country cricket (Saqlain, Razzaq, Sami) seems to become a poorer bowler. But I think Saqlain is still quite good. His inclusion will give Pakistan three spinners and three pacers.

The other change that needs to be made is to move Razzaq ahead of Younis Khan. Razzaq is currently the hardest hitting batsman in the world. He destroyed New Zealand under pressure, and has destroyed India. He can score faster than Afridi and Sehwag, even though he comes in when the field is spread out.

The only weak link in the team currently is Razzaq`s bowling. He bowls around the same speed as the Indian pacers (82 mph). But for some reason has lost his edge, after returning from counties.

On batting wickets, Afridi shoud play. On difficult wickets, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir or Taufeeq Umar should come in. And on wickets helping fast bowlers, Shabbir should replace Saqlain.

I still think Wasim had a year or two left in him. He should have been retired from Tests and kept in the 1-day squad. He is better than Shabbir, Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Razzaq, as a bowler (and maybe even as an all-rounder).....

P.S. Inzamam has been writing some really nice articles for www.hindustantimes.com. I wonder how he learnt English so quickly...........

tahmed32: Yes, the game was played at Pindi club ground.

This series is getting more interesting with each match. What a spectacular game at Rawalpindi. Shahid Afridi and Yasir blew away Zaheer and Balaji from the word go. Afridi`s blitzkrieg was unstoppable; Yasir should have score a 100. Having scored 175 in 25 overs, Pakistan should have scored 360. Pakistan should drop Younis Khan; he failed to accelerate when the situation demanded in both ODIs. I was expecting Yuvraj, Powar and Tendulkar to get smacked around for 7/8 runs per over. But they kept it relatively tight. However, all kudos goes to Nehra. This dude never gives up & handles pressure very well. The inswinger that trapped Moin LBW was a beauty.

The latter half of the day belonged entirely to the 3 S`s: Sachin, Shoaib and Sami. If anybody had doubts about the class of Shoaib Akhtar, today those doubts were laid to rest. The ball that uprooted Sehwag`s offstump was virtually unplayable. Shoaib was also more economical today than in Karachi. Sami still conceded a few wides and no-balls but made up for everything with his seething pace and accuracy. Today his yorkers were right in the block-hole and his line was right around the offstump. Above all, Little Master` Sachin singlehandedly scored 44% of the total runs scored by India. What an innings. No rash strokes. No chances. Pure genius. All the Laxmans, Sehwags, Dravids and Gangulys of the world cannot replace one Tendulkar. India needs Tendulkar to stay at the crease throughout the 50 overs, even if that means getting him a substitute runner.

re:#86 by wajahat
``Abey, teri gaand mey khujli ho rahi hai kya? Sala Chootiaya.
Sridhar

Romair,

Surely you are willing to lay a similar claim to Leeds during a Pakistan-England
match.

Romair
``We hold the one-day series in Srinigar. Whomever the crowd supports, gets all of Kashmir.......... ``

I guess you mean Srinagar.. boy you Azad Kashmiris have really been alienated from Kashmiriat ..

In any case the match was lost by the Indian team because the hotel apparently had a big spread of various Dals for the Indian team (with hing offcourse).. i cant find the news article, but it was i think on rediff. This is definately an ISI conspiracy.

godot #88: I have always had a similar theory:

We hold the one-day series in Srinigar. Whomever the crowd supports, gets all of Kashmir..........

I was so disappointed with the idiocy of Javed Miandad and Inzimam in the first match that I didn`t bother to see this one. i hope that they have recovered by now or was that sheer good luck?

YESSSSSS

The best team won the day, Yes, the joy of victory. Sweet victory, congrats to the Pakistani team. Deserved it completely.

Get ready guys , 4-1 Series Defeat for India, here it comes......Yesssssssssssss