Archive for the ‘World T20’ Category
"attitude of the Indian players "
“I was a bit disappointed,” Afridi told Pakistan’s Geo TV. “It didn’t appear to me by the attitude of the Indian players that they wanted to play against us. On the face, they said they would like to see cricket between the two countries but I think in their hearts they thought otherwise. Their attitude and behavior while playing against us showed this.”
Oh really Shahid ? I thought Your team was royally thumped by Indians in a warm up game. 8 wkts is a huge margin. World champs then beat to-be world champs. Gee. Indians really didn’t want to play you? What makes you feel so? The collections of the match of the tournament went to Lahore victims. And this game saw the best possible crowd in the tournament. I find this statement really absurd and typical you showing off your arrogance as on the field when barring the semis and finals of world t20, you try and whack every ball out of the park and then meekly get out. No wonder you earn more critics than supporters dude. I hoped some sensible statement from the architect of the T20 World champion team and in return I find this totally insane and absurd statement. In fact 2nd in row after your infamous jibe at VVS after IPL last year. Your point that VVS isn’t a T20 player might have some merit in it, but the fact remains that he is a part of winning IPL team and you were not.
How come guys like you think you can have both sides of a coin? Your board, your cricketers want Indian board and teams to bail your cricket out of the mess it finds itself in (nomadic existence and stuff) and then you guys have to make such insane and uncalled statements. After Javed Miandad and Ijaz Butt, you are the third one in this category of anti-India brigade. Its simple and clear : if you expect Indian thing to help you out, just stop making this ridiculous statements.
Indian media welcomes Pakistan Victory
Welcome gesture from otherwise insane Indian media. May be one of the reason Indian media is gaga over Pakistan victory is the sudden loss of Indians in the World T20, else before the loss everything related to Indian cricket was golden goose. Now its a Pakistani golden goose. Not that I am complaining.
Pakistan wins
Meanwhile Kudos to Younis Khan and army to have won this WWF’s que fun cricket. So we shouldnt be taking this win seriously right Younis mia ?
And my blog is first one to blog on Pakistan victory.
Pakistan need 140 to win
lol.
Pakistan would remember the greatest choking act in their history in 2007 WT20 final when Misbah gifted us the WT20. Who is going to do that role today?
May be Pak let the game slip once they got 6 wkts. And Umar Gul was sorted out today along with Ajmal. All pre-final heroics aside and final aside. 130s cud be a bogey for Pakistan. 10 yrs ago they could set 133 run target for Aussies and today they chase 6 runs more.
A cracker of chase in cards…..Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik would be the key.
Which was better ? 1992 or 2009 ?
No, no thats not right. Class of 2009 cannot be linked to the grand daddies of 1992. May be for all #1 to #11s there could be an encore or even worthier kids in 2009 class than 1992 daddies, yet they dont have anybody who comes around 10% of what one man who had 2 in 2 had.
“Pakistan matters because no team could have pulled off what they have just pulled off and in the manner they did. Their march has not been just a great cricketing tale or a fine sporting one; it is a simpler, more important one of how men do things sometimes nobody expects them to, of how from any darkness light can emerge. Even if we’re not sure how the tale was written, how long it will go on and when, or whether, it will happen again, we must celebrate it, be grateful for it and not forget it. “
War n all thats fine. Despair and light now at the end of tunnel analogy is fine. But if you attribute this journey to the final as great cricketing tale, then I very much doubt the knowledge of history of the author of the above article. Not taking away anything, the only worthy opponents pakistan have beaten up in this tournament is SA. They didnt get a chance to play against Australia or India. They lost horribly to England and Sri Lanka.
If anything was great cricketing tale, then it was in 1992 for Pakistan, 1999 for Australia and 2003 for India in 50F world cup. Written off. Beaten mightier teams consistently. And with ease. Perhaps thats greater cricketing tale than this one. 2007 journey was way better than this one. When they beat SL, Australia, NZ enroute to the finals only to lose to their bogey nation India.
Pakistan win would do hell of good to their country and their cricketers, but it wont change the realities and the biggest question right now :”Future of Pakistan cricket in Pakistan”. May be they can sing the Guru song “Kuch der hume sone do” (read kuch der hame jashn manane do). But then they would need to answer this question bit too soon cos the World Cup 2011 isnt that far.
Questions for Pakistan and Sri Lanka
I just hope there would be cricketing logic and reasons for any team to win the WT20. No emotional bullying should be done. Whosoever will win, will do it on the basis of its cricketing skills and tactics. Dedicating the trophy to somebody or some event is fine, but saying we were deserved winners cos we didnt play cricket for X years or months would be aghast. Subcontinental teams have this tendency to over hype the things.
Two years back India won the inaugral WT20 and entire nation rejoiced cos it had seen the despairity of the WC2007. They wanted a victory and they got it. Since then to now, Indians hardly did anything wrong. And this wrong step and Indian players were again put on a pedestal by inept media and even inept ex-cricketers. If India would have retained the title, nobody would have gone ahead and attributed the victory to 11/26. Though Sachin did that for the Chennai win., that was wrong imo.
No amount of cricket win can compensate for the tragedy of such a huge intensity like LTTE war or 11/26 or the so called war agains terror in Pakistan.
I would also be keen to watch the reactions of Younis Khan, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad if Pakistan wins T20. Would Younis continue to say T20 is fun and WWF cricket ? Would Javed and his rival Imran Khan continue to write off T20 ? And what joking statement would Ijaz Butt give? And what happens to PCB administration which i hope wont turn square and would turn effecient? What happens to Pakistan cricket? Will it continue to perform good one day, best the other and ridiculous the next ? How would they perform in Sri Lanka series and the CT series ? Will they be a force in ODIs and Tests which would matter in the long picture ? They are langering in the bottom of this two old formats.
How will they take the WC11 hosting issue ? Will the possible win force Butt to go and give even stupid statements in the media and make a further joke of himself and PCB?
For SL, it would remain how they would turn around their poor ODI record after their possible triumph. How long would Jaisurya continue to play? take him out and SL opening remains a poor cog for the team. None of the openers tried have succeeded untill Sanga or Dilshan opened. But then is it long term solution? Similar to what India did with Mr Useless. SL bowling evokes massive orgasm from cricketing viewers, but what about batting. Except Dilshan, Mahela, Sanga and Jaya their batting looks brittle. They havent really exploded and went beyond 160 in any of the games after league game against WI.
Whosoever wins, would be good for the cricket in their country. But the intensity of 2007 would forever be missing in this tourney just cos the BLUES and the YELLOWS have lost. As in India and Australia. These 2 teams remain the top teams of the international cricket in terms of quality, entertainment and skills. Yeah yeah call me names but then i havent reeled anybody. People have choices. Homer has anything Indian, anything mumbaian his choice. Damith has SL as his choice, Q has Pakistan as his choice, Raj has Tamil Nadu and CSK as his choice. And me the devil blogger has India and Australia as his choices. So when everybody has his own choice and they stand by their choices, why just single me for criticism.
SL favorites for final
For Sri Lanka, their batting is a concern. Yesterday Dilshan and Jaya accounted for 120 of the 158 runs. Bowling remains sparkling, but if Pakistan win the toss and do an encore of their semi-final then on this brittle batting, Lankans would find themselves on rough patch. But then SL have 4 Ms now where as Pakistan have 1 MA and I UG in addition to free for all 1 SA.
The other good thing is the new champion would get to keep the trophy only for 10 months as the next World T20 would duly return to its original and deserved champions.
Lankans favorite
Saffers favorites!!
Today it’s the first semi-final between South Africa and Pakistan. As per my memory suggests, the two teams haven’t clashed with each other in any major world cup since 1999. And till then its Saffers who edge past Pakistan easily. 1992, 1996 and 1999. So SA has a boogey over the Pakistanis. I don’t see that result being changed tonite. If Pakistan have Umar Gul, Saffers have Parnell and Steyn along with Albie Morkel. If Pakistan have Ajmal then Saffers have Botha, Duminy and VanDeMerve. If Pakistan have Spinach Razzaq, Saffers have Jacques Kallis who turned around his T20 fortunes, thanks IPL 2. Graeme Smith, Gibbs, AB, Kallis, Duminy certainly sound heavier than Butt / new kid, Younis, Afridi , Akamal, Misbah. But then this is Pakistan for you. Let me say this is not 1992 for them. The quality of that team isn’t just there in this team. Imran, Inzy, Wasim and Mushtaq were a class apart. Not to forget the Six-man Javed Miandad.
Saffers have had a great season this and a T20 world champs win would just ensure them a great capping off. Isnt it? Pakistan haven’t actually done anything great to suggest that they deserve to win this trophy this time except beating Ireland (their 2007 bogey), Netherlands and moaning Kiwis. Contrast that to SA who have now beaten Scotland, New Zealand, England, West Indies and outgoing champions India. Blame it to the format of the tournament or whatever, if Pakistan go through to the finals, they wont be the deserving champs. Though it would do a hell lot of good to the embattled country lacking the cricket and something good to cheer them up. But then do they have the ability to stop the Saffers on roll ?
Misclleanous!!
We never termed India as favorites for T20 record owing to its record in T20 format post 2007. The only reason India were titled favorites was that they were defending champs. Just like Australia is a default contender for every ODI world cup. It’s a different thing that Australia live up to the bill, India did not. But then T20 is hardly a format to be taken too too seriously. Sour grapes.
India is in red hot form in ODI since 2008. They have won everything. CB series, SL ODI series, NZ series, Eng series. Big thing. SA comes close in that record. Won in all conditions with Australia and SL being the toughest. Only one series triumph at home. The point here I drive is India are strong contenders for the ODI trophies not withstanding its T20 record. Australia aren’t the same team anymore in ODIs. Pakistan play almost no cricket and when they play they are extremes. So beating them isn’t a big news this days for India. SL are on slide in the ODIs. But they cannot be discounted just cos they have Sanath and 3 Ms. West Indies, England and Kiwis would always be bridesmaid. The only strong consistent teams based on the current record in oDIs are India and South Africa who now have 8-2 record over Australia in recent times.
The next big thing is CT 2009 in South Africa. Something which would test India’s roadmap to 2011 which began in 2008 with the axing of Rahul and Sourav from the ODIs. I still doubt if Rahul is really not worth ODIs. Given the displays from the so called talented Rainas and Sharmas, Rahul would give complex to any youngster with his adaptability and consistency. It would depend on performance in CT to guess how good India is to win its 2nd title in 28 years – the CUP of LIFE that matters. Good thing about it is, the cup is being played in India and India have never lost before semi-final in home world cups, but then they have never won any semi-final in Indian world cups. So don’t host the world cup semi final in India in either of Eden Gardens and Wankhede.
Yes I know its over rating India right now, but then few days later there would be very little posts on Indian cricket in this blog as the rest season would beckon and Aussies would thump Poms in the Ashes, so that’s going to be the focus then.
My predictions : Australia 3, England 1.
