Shane Bond - A Great Loss to Test Cricket

Shane Bond only played 18 Tests for New Zealand in his entire career. Injury forced him to miss another 46. But when he played, he played like a true champion. Taking 87 priceless wickets, that enabled New Zealand to win 10 of those 18 Tests and he himself was awarded Man of the Match a whopping 4 times.

Had he played more and continued to dominate the batsmen world over, he would have become the next Richard Hadlee, the greatest fast bowler produced by the New Zealand. His untimely and unfortunate retirement from Test Cricket this month puts an end to that dream.

Shane Bond will though continue to represent his country in one-day internationals and T20 matches. So we may see some records tumble and some spectacular victories for the Island Nation.

T20 Series Schedule - Pakistan vs New Zealand - Dubai

Here is the schedule of Pakistan vs New Zealand T20 Series in Dubai, UAE. The T20 series follows a three ODI series in neighbouring Abu Dhabi.

Nov 12
20:00 local | 16:00 GMT | 21:00 PKT
1st T20: Pakistan v New Zealand at Dubai

Nov 13
20:00 local | 16:00 GMT | 21:00 PKT
2nd T20: Pakistan v New Zealand at Dubai

Pakistan vs New Zealand - ODI Series in Abu Dhabi

Here is the schedule for Pakistan vs New Zealand ODI Series in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It will be followed by two T20 matches in Dubai.



Tue Nov 3         
15:00 local | 11:00 GMT | 16:00 PKT    
1st ODI - Pakistan v New Zealand
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
   
Fri Nov 6         
15:00 local | 11:00 GMT | 16:00 PKT
2nd ODI - Pakistan v New Zealand
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
   
Mon Nov 9         
15:00 local | 11:00 GMT | 16:00 PKT
3rd ODI - Pakistan v New Zealand
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

IPL Champions without the Champions

Watching IPL Champions league is like watching a Knight's duel without umm, the actual Knights. Pakistan, the unquestionable champions of T20 Cricket, are missing in action which is not only odd but shameful as they are currently the hottest property in town.

Pakistan is the only country to have made it to the World T20 World Cup final twice and are current Title holders. Boom boom Afridi has mesmerized many a batsmen with his cunning googlies and beautiful strokeplays is not only the best all-rounder in this format of the game, but also the best player by a long shot. The death over bowling has been totally redefined by Umar Gul, Pakistan's most dangerous slog over bowler. Not only does he make it impossible for batsmen to score off him, but takes crucial wickets to falter any run chases by the opposition batsmen. This year, when Pakistan won the World T20 World Cup, it was truly special since none of their players were invited to play in the IPL and were therefore considered a team which did not have the requisite experience to win any matches. Not only did they win the World Cup in style, but on the way, they defeated the top teams in the tournament.

The first season of IPL (when Pakistani players actually featured), exploits of stars like Umar Gul, Sohail Tanveer made the tournament not only exciting but made it possible for Shane Warne's team to lift the title. Did I mention that the best bowling figures are also held by Sohail Tanveer of 6 wickets for 18 runs in unplayable 4 overs. A feat not yet repeated by anyone in IPL thus far.

In the rebel ICL T20 league, Pakistani team was the most exciting and watched team in the tournament. Always making it to the final and playing some entertaining and exciting cricket. Players like Abdul Razzaq, Imran Nazir and Rana Naveed ul Hassan had become a household name.

With no Pakistanis featuring in the Champions league, it is no surprise that it is hardly being followed in Pakistan by the cricket fanatic fans. The newspapers hardly report its progress, and fans never discuss it. It is as if, there is no tournament being played and no cricket happening.

It would truly have been a challenging tournament if Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan's reigning champion team in domestic tournaments) were invited and allowed to match their skills against the best of the World. It would have been a far more exciting tournament if Pakistani players were allowed to represent various IPL teams that they signed up for many years back.

Making cricket hostage to politics is not only shameful but also deprives the fans of some exciting cricket. Sports is always above politics and sportsmen are there to build bridges not burn them. India's hegemony over cricket and the world's governing body turning a blind eye to this “apartheid” is not only pathetic but shameful as well. It seems Australian, British and South African boards are more interested in earning revenues from the Champions league than making it a level playing field for all teams and players.

Maybe one day when ICC (International Cricket Council) can stand up to BCCI (Board for Control of Cricket in India) and make sure that such distorted tactics are not carried into the playing field would we truly enjoy the cricket. Till then, let the boring cricket continue to play in the world.

ICC Farce Awards 2009

It is disappointing to say the least. And each year my passion for following them weakens and desire to write a review disappear. Next year, I may not even comment about the ICC Cricket Awards.

It seems you have to be an Australian or an Indian to have an impact at the award ceremony. All other players will be ignored even if they perform extraordinarily. Umar Gul, has been a master in the death overs for many years. His performance has twice taken Pakistan to the final of World 20/20 and winning many other crucial matches. Shahid Afridi's leg spin, in all forms of the game, is now the most lethal among all currently playing spinners. Greme Smith has led his team to a Test #1 spot and many great victories during the preceding year. Yet, all these and more such great players do not find themselves ranked among the best. Or even worthy of any awards.

Dhoni being named captain of Test and One-day eleven is nothing but a farce! Chosen over Greme Smith, Ricky Ponting and even Yunus Khan! I mean, all three captains performed far better than Dhoni in the preceding year and yet they were left out. If it were Ricky Ponting or Greme Smith, I could have understood. But please, Dhoni! He is worthless when they play outside India and against great teams.

Gautham Gambhir as the best test cricketer! Really, he cant even be a regular in the team and keeps getting dropped and yet he is awarded with the Test Player of the Year! Whatever happened to all other great stars during this time? What happened to greats like Kevin Peterson, Kumar Sangakara, Jayawardene, Greme Smith, AB DeVillears, Yunus Khan, who are regulars and perform well in all conditions. What wrong did they do for not being chosen!

As regards, the Test team of the year. It does not feature anyone from Pakistan or South Africa. It's a shame not to include anyone from there especially when Greme Smith, Yunus Khan and Muhammad Yusuf are currently ranked among the top 10 batsmen in the world. It seems, stats count for nothing and performance is secondary when it comes to ICC annual awards in cricket.

ICC seems to only reward Indians and Australians more so over the rest of the world. It not only belittles the world's contribution to the game of cricket, it actually makes the award biased. If the award does not get balanced soon, it will loose its charm and will only be remembered as a ICC Farce award!

Pakistan one up against India

Pakistan 302 for 9 (Malik 128, Yousuf 87, Nehra 4-55) vs India 248 (Dravid 76, Gambhir 57, Ajmal 2-31, Afridi 2-39). Pakistan beat India by 54 runs.

Pakistan's encounter with India at Centurian Park today could be dubbed as the final before the final of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. Today, 1.2 billion people around the world were glued to their TV screens (and in some cases their Computer Screens) watching and tracking every bowl and every shot as if the world's survival depended upon it.

There was tremendous pressure on players on both sides to perform beyond their natural capabilities. There was no room for error and every shot had to be perfect and every bowl, a wicket taking delivery. It was as if, cricketers were born and groomed to play today's encounter.

When Pakistan batted, India's bowlers went from being ordinary to being really “lifeless”. Even though they had made early inroads into Pakistani lineup by snaring the openers, yet Ishant Sharma, RP Singh or even Harbajan Singh were not really masters of their game. Spraying runs in boundaries and leaking singles regularly, they let the subdued batsmen come out of their shell and break free into a run fest rarely seen. With the result, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yusuf milked the Indian bowlers to their advantage. Scoring well over 200 runs in a better than run a ball partnership to lay the foundations for a big score for Pakistan.

While Afridi and Ajmal proved once again why Pakistan considers their spin duo as the most dangerous in the world, Harbajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan struggled to control their line and length. Pakistani spinners not only checked the run flow but took crucial wickets at critical junctures to break India's back. Where Indian spinners found no spin and help from what seemed like a lifeless track, Afridi and Ajmal were able to outfox Indian batsmen, including Dravid, who is probably one of the best players of spin, into false strokes with regular intervals.

India had their moments though. Gautham Gambhir and Suresh Raina breaking out of their shell to score some quick runs in fours and sixes. Yet there was no method to their madness. It seemed, every bowl was there to be hit and every stroke had to be a six and that it was not a 50 over game but a T20 encounter. Contrast to that, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yusuf constructed their innings not on stupendously huge sixes, but on singles and doubles that were readily available through out the game. While Dravid, who played a well crafted 70,  never came out of his shell and nor really threatened to take the game away from Pakistan,  yet Malik, who took over 70 deliveries (Dravid like) to score his first 50, took half of that to score his next. His acceleration was not only Afridi like, but it really took India out of contention of ever getting back into the game.

There were some memorable moments in the game for Pakistan. Mohammad Aamir, Pakistan's teen sensation was able to snare the wicket of Tendulkar (twice his age) early in his innings. And Shoaib Malik bettered his top score to 128 and probably played an innings of his lifetime. A quiet and subdued player, he has delivered more for Pakistan than he is credited for. It was also great to see Mohammad Yusuf playing one of his iconic knocks and steering Pakistan out of trouble into a comfortable victory seat.

It still needs to be seen if Pakistan can keep this winning streak going any longer. Three more games to win in a row (Australia, Semi Final and Final) before they can safely lift the Champions  trophy. Three more sensational matches to play. And if they played like they did earlier this year to lift the World T20 title, then they are truly the worthy Champions.

ICC can keep tournament out of Pakistan, but can the world keep the trophy away from Pakistan? Three more matches we will all know the truth.