Peaceful Strokes

Pakistan in a strong position in spite of Sachin`s brilliance...

Live: Pakistan v India

India 284-8 (46 overs) v Pakistan 329-6
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Ras

India closing in but will they prevail?

Live: Pakistan v India

India 314-8 (48 overs) v Pakistan 329-6


Ras

Pakistan wins this one....

Ind 317ao 48.4 ovs Pkn 329-6

Congratulations!

Ras

While I believe in hospitality, I think Pakistanis maybe going overboard:

``A miscalculation by television umpire Asad Rauf could also have played a role in Pakistan`s five-run defeat in the first one-day international against India in Karachi, a media report said at Rawalpindi on Tuesday.....

``When Mohammad Kaif took that brilliant catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik with the total on 340 on the fifth ball of the 49th over Moin had crossed over from the non-striker`s end and he should have taken the strike on the final ball of the over instead of the inexperienced Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan,`` (http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2004/mar/16ump.htm)

A great match again....

Congratulations to both the teams....

This time we made the career of Shahid Afridi.. (just like we made the careers of Lance Klusener and Hayden)

(I desperately hope the Indian bowling improves in the coming matches)

- Avkrishna

Well, I have a thought...

Why don`t we make a seven-game series of one-day 50-over match between India and Pakistan. Apparently, they are very evenly matched. The winner will be the four games out of seven. And here`s the catch: whoever wins 4 of 7, India or Pakistan, gets all of Kashmir as part of their country. That way everyone`s happy, no continuing bloodshed, the losing team congratualtes the winning team, and the spectators go back to their usual everyday work, social, and domestic problems. Another day, another rupee. No?

Well played Pakistan Congratulations.

The good thing for India is that Sachin hit his groove.

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

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?

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..........

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.

Romair,

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

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

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.

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...........

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