"The man of the hour" Abdul Razzaq saved Pakistan from utter embarrassment and leveled out the t20 series [of 2 matches]with England. He hit a miraculous and extraordinary 48 runs off of 18 balls [equal to 3 overs]. How did he do it? Well hitting 5 sixes really helps make that kind of score! With all the chaos surrounding the PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board] and the Pakistani team's failure in Australia [11 straight loses and no wins]; this win was heaven sent. Although, One may wonder what's in store for Pakistani cricket. With rumors that the national coach will be sacked, the captains will be replaced, and the recent axing of the vice captain from the series against England, one can just pray for the best.With the world cup coming up and the current form of the team, it just makes a die-hard Pakistan fan turn into a nervous wreck. I Hope we can clear all the problems out before the world cup and concentrate on another victorious campaign. But I will have to say that Younus Khan will be missed. His leadership and presence in the team always gave the fans a sense of relief. But no worries, Afridi is an excellent captain and should be able to run a very successful campaign.
[Image © PA Photos]
The recent IPL snub of Pakistani cricketers is another attempt of the Indian government to isolate Pakistan from the international eye. It may sound like another conspiracy but it has many events backing it up. The attempts started last year with the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Indian involvement was suspected and even
made public by Lahore's Chief Capital City Police Officer Pervaiz Rathor. Although evidence was found against india, the Pakistani government decided not to point fingers and played down the Indian involvement in the terrorist attack. Later that year, Pressured by India, ICC stripped Pakistan of it's world cup hosting rights because it was considered an "unsafe" venue. Which was quite a surprising move as the rest of the hosting countries were all going through and are going through a conflict. Sri lanka was going through a civil war at the time, Bangladesh had a mutiny between it's forces [and is in chaos most of the time], India later that year had a terrorist attack killing 173 of their citizens and wounding hundreds more, and yet Pakistan was the one considered "unsafe". To his defence, Lalit Modi [the chairman and commissioner of IPL] claims that a quite number of international phenomenons were not selected in the auction as well. Well does the idiot Modi understand how big Pakistan is when it comes to Twenty20?!? We were runners up on the first T20 world cup and are the current world champions! The Lahore Badshahs [the one and only Pakistani ICL cricket team] won the ICL championship and some of it's most successful players were up for auction. Also, Pakistani players are acknowledged worldwide for their excellence in several countries' domestic leagues, most recently Shahid Afridi in the KFC bash in Australia, where he made his team which had lost all hopes reach the final. To further support my belief I have to point out the fact that the IPL in the beginning pleaded for the Pakistani players to join their league and made them go through many obstacles just to get them to be a part of the auction. And for what? For them to be discriminated against by the Indian franchises?!? Or to make the IPL more popular by using the stardom and popularity of the Pakistani cricketers?!? Pakistani players are huge in India [and were even used to advertise the IPL] but the Indian authority doesn't seem to understand that. In my understanding, India's ignorance and stupid behavior against Pakistan will be the cause of their fall in the international limelight.
The picture below displays the character of Lalit Modi, the commissioner and chairman of IPL [The girl is Preity Zinta]
The Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] has finally taken action and has sent ICC [International Cricket Council] a legal notice claiming that excluding them from hosting the 2011 Cricket World Cup is legally flawed. Finally the PCB grew some balls!!! I mean tell me if this makes sense; Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh were supposed the host the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka has a civil war going on, India always has some kind of violence going on and with 16 groups fighting to gain independence within India i don't think it'll ever stop [also has law and order problems going on that prevented the Australian tennis team from touring], Bangladesh recently faced mutiny by its armed forces and refused to host Pakistan on accounts of security concerns which resulted in cancellation of Pakistan series in Bangladesh in March, and Pakistan was stripped from hosting the world cup because of "unrest in the country". This action was clearly discriminating and another attempt to isolate Pakistan. Anyway the action is being challenged by PCB by a creditable lawyer and Inshallah victory will be ours.
After being on the silent side of batting [getting out early without making alot of runs like he used to] Shahid Afridi made a comeback yesterday with 24 runs of off 2.4 overs [16 balls]. And that wasen't just it; He took out 6 WICKETS and only gave away 38 runs while bowling! If you don't know cricket well you must be pretty confused right now lol. [don't worry whatever i just said are good things lol]. Anyway needless to say we beat Austrialia which is one of the best teams in the world and all that just a couple days when we were stripped from hosting the 2011 ICC world cup. Anway our victory should show those ICC bastards that Pakistan is one of the best teams in the world even today. The link for the full scorecard is below check it out and enjoy your day [i know i am!].
Pakistan Vs. Australia ODI Full Scorecard: Cricinfo
As some of you might have heard Pakistan is not going to be hosting the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The matches that Pakistan was supposed to host are now being split up by Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. The reason for this action was mostly because of the Lahore cricket team attack [Links About It Below] and the security risk in Pakistan. You can go ahead and thank the Taliban and who ever organized the Lahore attacks [ahummm...India...]. It's a pretty sad day for Pakistani cricket and Pakistani talent...
Pakistan has been stripped of hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup because of the "uncertain security situation" in the country, the ICC said.
"It is a regrettable decision (but) our number one priority is to create certainty and...deliver a safe, secure and successful event," ICC president David Morgan said in a statement.
"However, our number one priority was and is to deliver a safe, secure and successful event and the uncertainty created by events within Pakistan created a huge question mark over our ability to do just that."
The ICC added that Pakistan was unlikely to resume hosting any cricket at all until 2011. It also said the World Cup secretariat would be moved out of Pakistan to a location to be decided by the organising committee. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the other co-hosts, will now share the 16 matches that were to be held in Pakistan.
Ijaz Butt, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, expressed regret. "It's a disappointing decision but it can't be helped. Nobody wants to play in Pakistan following the attacks in Lahore," Butt said. He was referring to the attack on Sri Lanka's touring cricketers in Lahore on March 3, in which eight Pakistanis were killed and seven Sri Lankan players injured.
Pakistan were due to co-host the event with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka but the deteriorating security situation has posed a serious problem for the PCB. The news came during the first day of the ICC board meeting in Dubai.
Pakistan's status as a host of international matches has been uncertain for some time - the Champions Trophy was shifted out last year and, in January, India became the latest country to cancel a tour when they pulled out of a bilateral series. However, the Lahore attack seemed to have sealed their fate on hosting the World Cup.
The attack itself also came up for discussion at the meeting, with match referee Chris Broad, who was on duty for the Test, and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jaywardane (via telephone) giving their version of what happened.
It was decided that Lord Condon, chairman of the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, would lead a task team - including ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat and directors Jack Clarke and Shashank Manohar - would conduct a review of security arrangements for all international cricket.
The review, Lorgat said, would include an assessment of whether current security protocols employed by ICC Members were adequate and, if not, how they could be improved. It would also, if necessary, approach other sports to see if there was scope for information-sharing in the way security is conducted across major events around the world.
Reactions
* Saleem Altaf: "I don't know what has transpired at the ICC meeting in Dubai for this decision to be taken. But it is disappointing as we were keen to host the World Cup matches and were working hard on a security plan to convince the ICC and other countries."
* Javed Miandad: "Pakistan cricket is going through bad times and unfortunately the support and understanding we expect from the ICC and other countries is not forthcoming. There was still time left for the tournament and the board was willing to do everything to keep the World Cup matches and host them safely."
* Ramiz Raja: "The World Cup is a global event and I don't think the Pakistani people will like this ICC decision. How do you expect the sport to survive in Pakistan when the ICC is isolating Pakistan as a cricketing nation. This decision will hurt Pakistan cricket no doubt about that. It is a big setback for us."
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