Team pakistan- All the best for Semi Final

A semi final match of ICC World Cup 2011 between Pakistan and India  will be played at Mohali on 30th March 2011. It will be a clash of nerves and luck. Both teams are playing well and have enough talent to challenge each other. India has the benefit of home crowd and ground. Lets hope a houseful crowd at Mohali will watch a good game of cricket.

People are forecasting the result of this much hyped and eagerly awaited semi final. According to some at Mohali five matches were played between Pakistan and India and Pakistan were the winners in all five. On the other hand Pakistan have never won a single match against India in the history of ICC World Cup. But there is always a first time! Keep your fingers crossed

Geoff Lawson who has coached Pakistan in recent past says “Pakistan have played some good cricket, their guys look really good… and it could be a Pakistan-New Zealand final”

Our very own Rashid Latif puts weight behind India against Pakistan and says “India in India are favourites, there is no doubt,” but i think the better team on the day will win.

Ricky Ponting goes a step further and claims that “They(India) will beat Pakistan in the semifinal and go on to win the World Cup now,” At the moment Mr. Ponting! I doubt your prediction. If a Pakistani gives statements of the sort he will definately face trial on the charges of ‘match fixing’. We will take one game at a time as Afridi said!

Imran Khan says “Pakistan bowling is superior but India’s batting is better. It will depend on the killer instinct, on that ability to seize the opportunity when the opponent makes a mistake. Both teams have it.”

As they say ‘when going gets tough,  the tough gets going’. It was true for Pakistan who were  in the middle of all the negative things in the game of cricket. They have been one of the stand-out teams so far in this tournament and now find themselves just one match from their first World Cup final since 1999. Pakistan’s team spirit and Afridi’s inspirational role has been  the notable features of their run to the semifinals.

I wish Team Pakistan to stay focused and united. This match is not end of the world but I hope the end of match brings this radiant and brilliant smile on Afridi’s (and every pakistani’s) face Inshallah.

Boom boom Afridi

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Pakistan vs Australia

Cricket runs in our blood. The ‘hurt’ in the recent past overcame that love but I must say ‘winning’ is a great healer. Everyone is the cricketing world likes to write us off. Our image was tarnished with scandals and terrorism. We in spite of being the victims were convicted. When we lost the right to host the worldcup being played in South Asia my heart cried silently. Our stadiums were deserted and our players looked upon with doubt.

What has happened so far in this World cup 2011 proves that actions always speak louder then words. When Pakistan won against Kenya, Zimbabwe and Srilanka not many appreciating words were heard blaming the weakness of the opponents. Now that Pakistan defeated Australia, who has not lost a World cup match for 12 years, we all have taken a sigh of relief, a breath of joy and a moment prayer, Thanking Almighty Allah.

Pakistan were the last team to overcome Australia at a World Cup and it was they who brought Ricky Ponting’s 34-match unbeaten run to an end with a four-wicket victory in Colombo to secure top spot in Group A.

Pakistani team is not full of ‘super stars’ but are playing like a team. They always bowled well but this time excellent fielding supported our bowlers. Australian batmen never settled facing the Pakistani attack. Shahid Afridi has a few more chances out in the field to change his image of being someone who will come and swing his bat even if its not needed and hundreds of spare balls are left. Saying this I do not mean to take any credit away from him for gelling the whole bunch together and motivating them to play with a spirit that shows on the field.

Afridi’s team’s commitment is complimented by Waqar younis being around who says to the players “This is your job. I do my job I get paid for it, now you do your job.’ It is a simple, professional interaction. Forget friendships and matey-ness. Let’s make it professional. ‘My job is to tell you, teach you and so on. Your job is to do it. You do it. If I make you do something and you don’t get results, then you come and tell me, “You said this and it didn’t happen.”‘ But then you have to put your head down and do it properly. But this culture will not change overnight.” Read more.

I hope Pakistan’s best performance is yet to come! All the best Team Pakistan. May Allah help you.

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Aamir butt Asif

Muhammad Aamir, Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif are on their way back to Pakistan. You can see their care free smiles, not a trace of guilt!

They are not charged by the Scotland Yard so is this the relief of getting away with what they did or they didn’t do anything?

These three players accused of spot fixing are due to return to Pakistan tonite. People are preparing for eid tomorrow so they may sneak out of the airport without being bowled over by tomatoes and rotten eggs or may be “shoes” which is the new weapon of public resentment.

They are innocent until proven guilty BUT who is responsible for the destruction of Pakistan cricket? They brought shame and humiliation to Pakistan. Even our respectable rulers said “hamarey sar sharam se jhukk gaye hain!!” (without realizing how many times their actions brought shame to us).

Anyway, what is done is done, so far. Once they get back their assets should be seized until case against them is finished. PCB should take some responsibility now. These are Pakistani players accused by a UK newspapers and investigated by their police. We should conduct our own independent inquiry to punish them if they are guilty or save them if they are innocent and are wrongly accused. Wake up Supreme Court! we may need action and direction from the Chief Justice.

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Match Fixer Mazhar Majeed

I’ve been doing it [match-fixing] with them for about two-and-a-half years and we’ve made masses of money,” Majeed said. A shocking claim made by a 35 year-old man who was arrested by police last night on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.

According to Telegraph Mazhar Majeed, a London-based businessman, has been accused of accepting £150,000 from an undercover journalist in return for telling Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to deliberately bowl three no-balls last Thursday and Friday.

Mazhar further says “I manage 10 of the players, I do all their affairs like contracts, sponsorship, marketing, everything really. The players would never tell anybody else. They were the ones who actually approached me about this.”

The News of the World reporters filmed meetings with London-based middleman Mazhar Majeed, who told them in exactly which overs of the Fourth Test the no-balls would be delivered. “This is no coincidence,” Mr Majeed told them as the action developed as he had described.

The Daily Mail goes on to write “Scotland Yard are understood to have launched an investigation into accusations that pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir colluded with fixers by bowling no-balls to order. Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal are also alleged to have been involved.”

Pakistan tour manager Yawar Saeed added: “I can confirm we are aware of the allegations. Scotland Yard (Metropolitan) police are with us now at our hotel and we are helping them with their enquiries. ”This is as much as I can say at the moment.”

Salman butt with mazhar majeed

This shameful revelation makes one wonder what has gone wrong to Pakistan cricket which has a glorious past. Our cricket history is full of heroes and victories but recent events call for a complete change in the management and the playing eleven. They should be punished in such a way that newcomers dare not indulge in such activities. If we keep on calling players like Asif again and again then we will never have a international quality team.

Players cannot make such fixed-deals without involving the management so when the trial begins everyone from the top management should be tested. A complete clean up of the whole system is required. Take their pays back,  seize their accounts and make them an example for all. Allah blessed them with talent, oppertunity and fame but they did not deserve it. I am not accusing anyone until after the judgement. Scotland Yard already made an arrest from the hotel Pakistan Cricket team is staying and I hope more arrests will take place. Mazhar claims 7 out of playing eleven or may be 10.!!!!

Once investigation has started lets dig deep as we all remember the 1999 World cup final at Lords, the way Pakistan lost after playing superbly in the event, and many more such matches. Lets wash our dirty linen in public this time….nothing behind closed doors.

Pakistani cricket fans are so heart broken that they will not make any more cricket heroes in near future. Good bye cricket, the cricket we loved and lived!

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imran khan

I don’t have to do this,” Imran Khan tells me earnestly. “I could have a very easy existence. I could go on TV and make so much money, live like a king.” Instead the retired international cricketer, and former husband of Jemima Khan, has dedicated his life to politics back home in Pakistan. Jemima, the daughter of the late financier, Sir James Goldsmith, may just have bought a £15 million stately pile in Oxfordshire, but Imran lives hand-to-mouth on a farm outside Islamabad. He grows his own vegetables and tends cows on his land in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Since he founded his party, Tehreek-e-Insaf (the Movement for Justice), in 1996 on an anti-corruption platform, he has campaigned against the elite hogging all the resources. He personally sold all his cricketing memorabilia to fund a cancer hospital in memory of his mother, who died of the disease, and he has opened a vocational college in a poverty-stricken area of Pakistan.

Imran, 57, took nothing from Jemima’s fortune when they divorced, so when he runs out of money he does a brief stint as a TV pundit. But he is completely unmaterialistic. “You achieve inner peace when you give away what you have,” he says.

This week he is in London to talk about the crisis in Pakistan, but he has never liked city life. His parents used to take him up in the hills each summer as a boy, and now he takes his sons Sulaiman, 13, and Kasim, 10, hiking and shooting partridge when they visit his farm. He has built them a mini-cricket ground. “They are quite good,” he laughs.

Gone is the handsome playboy who spent his nights in Annabel’s and squired gorgeous women, including Susannah Constantine and painter Emma Sergeant, around town. He still has those patrician looks but these days Imran would rather stay up all night talking politics than nightclubbing.

Last week I watched him give a talk to students in London. Mostly bright, politicised young Pakistani-Muslims, they treated him like a rock star. His sense of urgency was palpable, as is his fear that Pakistan might implode at any minute.

Already, it is routinely described as a “failed state”. From day one he opposed the War on Terror and “the American puppet politicians in Pakistan”. The decision to send the army into the tribal areas of the North West Frontier, to flush out al Qaeda terrorists, simply fuelled extremism. “It’s civil war in the making,” he says shaking his head. “They were like a bull in a china shop, fighting one or two guerrillas with aerial bombing of villages. That turned people against the army and a new phenomenon was created: the Pakistan Taliban.” It’s made him believe even more passionately in socio-economic justice. “You will have no problem with extremists in Pakistan if you have democracy with a welfare state,” he tells the audience.

By the end of the evening he looked shattered. Half his life is spent in transit and his close friend tells me he is wearing jeans instead of the usual suit because he forgot to pack a belt. When I meet him two days later at Ormeley Lodge, near Richmond Park, he is still fielding calls about a wave of bombings in Pakistan, and trying to have high tea with his sons. The Georgian childhood home of his former wife is where Imran stays whenever he is in London, as a guest of her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith. The wing where we meet is modest: with a pool table and well-worn sofas.

He speaks cordially — if carefully —about his ex-wife. “It’s a very tricky thing, divorce, and toughest on the children. But as divorces go, ours has been the most amicable. The anger and bitterness comes when there is infidelity. But there was no infidelity,” he says firmly. “I realised her unhappiness in Pakistan and she, after trying her best, found she just couldn’t live there. So that’s why it ended, it was just a geographical problem, and we couldn’t sustain a marriage like that. If you care for someone you don’t want to see them unhappy. My connection with the Goldsmith household is just as it’s always been. They [Jemima's siblings, Zac and Ben] are like my younger brothers. And Annabel is as close to me.”

His marriage suffered because of his political zeal — he didn’t stand in the 2007 election, arguing that there could be no democracy while the judges were still controlled by the ruling party. But now politics is a mission for him, not a career. “If someone offered me a political career, I would shoot myself. Having to get votes through making compromises, no thank you. “The classic example in Englandis Tony Blair.

How did the people go wrong with him lying all the way? He sold the idea that there were weapons of mass destruction. If there had been conscientious politicians in your assembly who weren’t worried about their political careers, he would never have got away with it.” Many people think his involvement in politics is a way to keep alight the adulation he craved as a cricketer, but after leavingAitchison College in Lahore (the equivalent of Eton), he studied politics at Keble College, Oxford. Former cricketing colleagues — Imran played for Worcestershire and Sussex — recall an intense young man who hated pubs (as a Muslim he doesn’t drink) and public speaking. He returned to cricket once more at the World Cupin 1992, aged 39 when he captained Pakistan to victory.

But his spiritual awakening had come in his early thirties after witnessing his mother’s agonising death from cancer, without access to proper treatment and painkilling drugs. “She was in such agony that after she passed away I had to consciously discipline myself to shut out the memory of her pain.”

He consulted a mystic who “made me realise I had a responsibility to society because I was given so much. It created selflessness”. Imran approached Pakistan’s richest men — many had been schoolfriends — for help in raising £25 million to build a cancer hospital, but quickly learned that wealth and generosity don’t always go hand in hand. Instead, he took to an open jeep and toured 29 cities in six weeks, asking ordinary people for help. “In those six weeks I changed. I realised the generosity of tea boys, taxi drivers, the poorest people bringing 10 rupee notes — and also their faith. I collected £14 million in those six weeks.” Today the hospital treats 70 per cent of patients for free.

Although the dictatorial president, Pervez Musharraf, resigned in 2008, Imran has no faith in the current “democratic” government, now headed by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto. Imran talks passionately about how the rich in Pakistan travel by jet and have tax-evading bank accounts in Switzerland.

He may insist that support for his Movement for Justice party is growing, but the truth is he is still perceived as a maverick outsider. And his romantic past hasn’t helped. Conservative voters bring up the love child with Sita White (Imran has never publicly acknowledged Tyrian, now 17, as his daughter; but since her mother died in 2004, he has been involved in her upbringing). And of course there’s his marriage to Jemima, a half-Jewish, half Catholic heiress.

Despite converting to Islam and learning Urdu, Jemima — 20 years Imran’s junior and still at university when they met — was accused (falsely) of trying to smuggle antique tiles out of Pakistan. The final straw, says Imran, was in 2002 when she was accused of studying under “the blasphemer Salman Rushdie” because his book, The Satanic Verses, had appeared on her university reading list. Protesters torched posters of Jemima. “She was really shaken up by that and moved to England, so that was a big crisis for me.”

Two years later the marriage ended. Jemima has continued to impress as Unicef special representative — and a passionate advocate for democracy in Pakistan. “Frankly I never understood the media image of her as a socialite,” Imran tells me. “I never thought she would fit into that role because she’s very bright, she’s very political.”

But then Imran is a mass of contradictions himself. In the past, he has argued that the pressure on women to work has contributed to the breakdown of society in the West: “My mother was the biggest influence on my life, a proper mother.” Yet he believes that “a woman should be able to reach her full potential”, and he set up his university in a remote, conservative part of Pakistan precisely so local women could get an education for the first time in the region’s history. And he reminds me his three sisters are high-powered career women with children.

Pakistan is Imran’s passion and he feels little nostalgia for London — except as the place where his sons live: “Fatherhood has given me the greatest pleasure in my life. And hence it was very painful, the divorce, because that [being separated from them] was the main aspect. But I am basically a goal-orientated person, it’s never been about making money or a job. My passion is there so I only come to England to see my children.”

Imran has a core group of friends he has known for 40 years here. Setting up this interview, I came across a devoted group of Londoners — from lecturers to hairdressers — who give up time and money to support his party. “They know I do not have to do this, that it’s a big personal sacrifice,” he says.

He finds it desperately sad that he has to defend being a Muslim. “The most important thing to understand is what’s happening in Pakistan, and this war on terror is not a religious issue, it’s a political issue.” No religion allows terrorism, Imran insists, but “people pushed into desperate situations will do desperate acts”.

It doesn’t make him popular. He’s been dubbed a Taliban supporter by the same enemies who once called him a Zionist sympathiser. Critics say his politics are idealistic and unworkable in a country bailed out of chaos periodically by military regimes, but Imran insists democracy can be a street movement: “Yes there’s a fear, will Pakistan survive? But in a way it’s very encouraging because you can see the politicisation of the youth. That’s how it starts, in the campuses. Sixty-five per cent of Pakistanis are below the age of 25.”

This probably explains why four days ago, with the help of Jemima, Imran set up his own Twitter page. Back home, he says current affairs programmes get higher ratings than Big Brother.

“Our Paxmans are the most watched in Pakistan today.” Is he handing over the baton? He smiles wearily. “Basically I want the young to come in and upset the whole equation.”

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Shahid Afridi

Pakistanis love Shahid Afridi and are ready to forgive him for everything. Afridi  instantly won the hearts of every Pakistani when he scored the quickest century years ago. We loved him even if he threw away his wicket or tried to eat the ball! Because  his body language on the field shows his sincerity to the  team and to the  country.

With years of experience behind him we accept and pray that he proves to be the right choice to captain Pakistan. Pakistan’s legendary former captain Imran Khan spoke out in support of Shahid Afridi on Friday, saying the all-rounder should be given a long innings to stabilise a team hit by controversy.

“Afridi should be given a long run as Pakistan captain,” Khan told AFP, saying that frequent rotations at the top destablise the team.

“Who else if not Afridi?” said Khan.”I think if they had made anyone else captain, problems would surely have persisted, so I think Afridi was the best choice available.” Read more.

Afridi!  do not defame your team mates in public, you are the captain, talk to them personally. Define rules before the match begins and no blame game afterwards. If you do not want them to look at girls, tell them. Best of Luck!

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Shoaib-Malik-Sania-Mirza

Unbelieveable……Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik will wed Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. Sania’s father Imran Mirza confirmed to media. This wedding will raise some very interesting questions. The barat will have to go to India to officailly bring the bride home! Will Sania come and live in Pakistan? Will she play from Pakistan in future???? Interesting …. but too early to answer.

Let us wish the two of them best of luck because the relationship between these two neighbours have never been an easy ride.

As per reports, the two sports stars have been in an affair for the last six months, which had led to Sania’s earlier engagement to break. Malik was engaged with Ayesha Siddiqui also from Hyderabad Deccan on June 3, 2002 while Sania on the other side was engaged with childhood friend Sohrab Khan which ended in January 2010.

The wedding ceremony of Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza will take place in India while the valima reception will be hosted by Malik on April 16 or 17 in Lahore.

“I desire to get married soon. You will soon get some good news but it depends on my family. I fully expect to get married this year,” Shoaib had said in a recent interaction with the media.More.

Technorati Tags: Cricket, indian tennis star, Pakistan, sania mirza, shoaib malik

Shahrukh Khan

In democratic and secular India a muslim does not even have the freedom to express his opinion in mere words! Even a man like Shahrukh Khan who has a muslim name only and  has married a hindu lady and his way of life does not have a slight resemblance to a muslim. He has brought so much fame, wealth and goodwill to his country, India. He has been a true ambassador and a role model for Indians but ….when and if he says something which no matter how just but has a slight a inclination towards Pakistan….his sincerety is questioned!!!

I was shocked to read what Bal Thakarey has to say about Shahrukh after Shahrukh’s comments about not including Pakistani players in IPL. It shows how much hatred and negativity this extremist hindu party has. I remember they expelled Jaswant Singh on writing about Mohammad Ali Jinnah. But read below and have a laugh…. (in todays sensible and educated times…)

Shahrukh Deserves Nishaan-e-Pakistan: Bal Thacheray

“Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Saturday said Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan deserves Pakistan’s highest civilian award, the Nishaan-E-Pakistan, for supporting the inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL.

In a scathing editorial in Saturday’s party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray said that the “Khan” inside Shah Rukh Khan must be crushed by the “Har Har Mahadev” war cry of the “Shivaji” inside the Hindus.

This was an oblique reference to Chhatrapati Shivaji’s killing of Bijapur general Afzal Khan, sent by Sultan Adil Shah II of Bijapur in 1659, at Pratapgad in Satara district of western Maharashtra.

The Shiv Sena hit out at Shah Rukh Khan, also the Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner, after he said he would have picked a Pakistani player for the Indian Premier League matches if his team had a slot.

IPL franchise owners did not bid for Pakistani players during the auction for the IPL III, which has snowballed into a major spat between the two countries.

The editorial said that if “Shah Rukh wants to give a red carpet treatment to Pakistani cricketers on the blood of innocent Indians slain by Pakistani terrorists from Kashmir to Mumbai”, then, Thackeray warned, the Shiv Sena will never permit it.

It pointed out that by supporting the cause of Pakistani players, Shah Rukh has insulted the memory of the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks – for which Pakistan may confer the Nishaan-E-Pakistan – but Indians will spit on him.

The editorial further noted that nobody from the Congress has raised a voice against Shah Rukh since he is considered close to Sonia Gandhi.

Thackeray wrote in his article that “since SRK has so much love for the Pakistanis the Bollywood actor could appoint 26/11 terror accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab as the captain of his Kolkata Knight Riders team and Mohammed Afzal Guru (facing death penalty for the 2001 attack on parliament) as the vice captain in the forthcoming IPL match”

Shiv Sena calls Shahrukh khan, Aamir Khan 2 Idiots, asks them to play in Pakistan.

Technorati Tags: Aamir khan, bal thacheray, IPL, ipl 3, kolkata knight riders, Nishaan-e-Pakistan, Pakistani players, RSS, shahrukh khan, shiv sena

Wasim Akram & Huma Wasim

Some people become a part of this global family via media. Being a cricket fan I have seen Wasim Akram and Huma wasim get married years ago and then their boys came along. They appreared on tv and news from time to time….today the news of her death made me sad. May Allah rest her soul in peace and give sabr to her family.

She suffered from a unique kind of bacteria which she got infected by after eating a meal. The bacteria strikes very rarely to any one in millions of people.

Huma Wasim was being flown to Singapore from Lahore, in a chartered plane for treatment but due to critical condition, the plane landed at Chennai, and after some days of treatment in Apolo Hospital Chennai, Huma died. She was flown in such critical condition against doctor’s advice.

Huma Wasim Passes away

CHENNAI: Huma Waseem, the ailing wife of Pakistani star cricket player Waseem Akram, has passed away at a Chennai hospital, India on Sunday morning; reports from Indian media confirmed her demise.

huma wasim

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Pakistan Cricket Team

Younus told reporters that a week long conditioning camp for the Champions Trophy will start in mid-September and the former captains will work on the “small weaknesses” of the players.

“This camp we will have former greats like Javed Miandad, Saeed Anwar and Waqar Younis work with the players to prepare them for the mega event. They can work on the small nitty gritty weaknesses of the players,” Younus said.

Miandad was on Thursday appointed as batting consultant by the Pakistan Cricket Board and will travel with the team to South Africa.

Younis said he had advised the PCB not to have a long conditioning camp before Champions Trophy because the holy month of fasting, Ramazan, would start soon and the players need rest or they would burn out before the major event.

He also disclosed that he had asked the PCB to arrange at least two counseling sessions for the players with a sports psychologist before the Champions Trophy.

“There is no doubt players are having problems adjusting mentally in pressure situations and developing self belief in close matches. We had a couple of sessions with a sports psychologist before the Twenty20 World Cup and it helped us win the title,” he said.

Technorati Tags: Champions Trophy South Africa, javed miandad, PCB, waqar younis, younis khan