England tie with India in World Cup thriller

BANGALORE: A masterly century by Sachin Tendulkar and an inspired bowling spell by Zaheer Khan led India to a nail-biting tie against England in their World Cup Group B match on Sunday.

After India slammed 338 runs, England were coasting before Zaheer produced a superb bowling spell to take three quick wickets to revive India’s fortunes.
The match went down to the last ball with England needing two to win but they managed to get one to tie the match — a result that was loudly cheered by all those lucky enough to witness it at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Earlier India’s total revolved largely around Sachin Tendulkar’s (120) 47th one-day international century and a record fifth in World Cups.
In reply, England’s run-chase was set well on its way helped by a cracking century by skipper Andrew Strauss (158), the first century by an English captain in a World Cup.

Mohammad Ashraful back from the brink

DHAKA: Mohammad Ashraful thought he had played his last innings in the World Cup before his part-time bowling gave him a new lease of life during Bangladesh’s Group B must-win game against Ireland.

Former skipper Ashraful, who was not selected for Bangladesh’s opening match against India, was out for one run playing a suicidal sweep shot in an important stage of the innings, which put his future in doubt.
As he trudged back to the pavilion, the 26-year-old feared that pens were already being sharpened to write his one-day international obituary.
His two wickets for 42 runs not only gave him the hope of reviving his one-day career but also helped Bangladesh win the game by 27 runs.
“It was a very painful moment for me when I got out,” Ashraful told Reuters in an interview on Monday as he reflected on the dramatic game three days earlier.
“I thought maybe I played my last innings in this World Cup. I was really very disappointed.
“But when I started warming up for fielding, our fielding coach and trainer cheered me up.
“Tamim (Iqbal) and Shakib (Al Hasan) also came to encourage me and they asked me to get ready for bowling.”
He continued: “I finally came on in the 12th over, bowled two overs in the power play, did well, which gave me confidence.
“Then I changed ends and got a wicket (caught and bowled Ed Joyce). It came as a big relief. When I got the second wicket, it took all the pressure off,” said Ashraful.
When Ashraful bowled all-rounder Andrew White for his second wicket he celebrated in a manner as if that alone had won Bangladesh the game.
“The celebration came from inside. I didn’t really plan for it,” said Ashraful.
Ashraful bowled nine overs in the match and the first seven of them were extremely tight. If he had not received some punishment in his last two overs, his bowling figures would have been even more impressive than they were.
In his 165-match ODI career, the longest by a Bangladeshi, Ashraful has bowled nine overs only once previously and that was back in 2002 against the West Indies.
Ashraful, who bowled leg spin at the start of his career before turning to off spin, has only 17 wickets to his credit in a career spanning nearly a decade.
Ashraful, however, planned to pay more attention to his bowling after the Ireland game, and he believes it can also help cement his place in the squad.
“I have been bowling for the last two years but I didn’t get that much a chance to do it in international cricket,” he said.
“Hopefully, I will bowl regularly now. Both coach and captain know that I am interested in bowling,” he said.

Pakistan to keep momentum going – Saurav Ganguly

Most people had termed Sri Lanka to be the favourite to win this match but as I always believe, it is the team in form on that particular day which took away the honours.
Pakistan needs to be congratulated for the win, but at the same time Sri Lanka will have to be careful in preparing wickets.
They have to prepare the twenty-yards in such a way that the team batting first after winning the toss doesn’t carry away most of the advantage. The wicket at Premadasa slowed down as the game went on and run-chase was extremely difficult.
I have liked the Pakistan team as much I have seen them till now.
Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq at four and five will have crucial role to play in the tournament and will be the anchor for the team’s batting. The Pakistan think-tank have set the batting line-up in such a manner that it portrays perfect balance with Afridi and Razzaq at seven and eight.
The Pakistan bowling also looks to be in good health with Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar leading the pack. Afridi seems to have developed hugely as a bowler and is leading with his heart.
They could have won the game with ease had they not let off Sangakkara and Chamara Silva early on.
It will be interesting to watch Pakistan in the next few games, waiting to find out as to how they keep the momentum going.
Sri Lanka, I have always believed, is a top heavy batting team. They rely heavily on Sanga and Mahela and if these two fail to shoulder the team Samaraweera, Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews seem to lack the wherewithal to carry the burden.
Sri Lanka is definitely missing Lasith Malinga in their scheme of things. His ability, experience with the new ball and at the death is being surely missed by his team.
The big matches are now on in this World Cup and it’s time for the cricket fans to sit up and take note. One needs to keep a close eye on how the big guns are shaping up for the final onslaught from the quarter-final stage.

Imran shocks Shehab 5-4 in 6-Red Snooker Championship

 Pakistan’s top ranked cueist Imran Shehzad won and lost a match in the last-32 round of inaugural Asian 6-Reds Snooker Championship in Chanthaburi Thailand.
Imran registered an exciting 5-4 win over Mustafa Shehab of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first match round of 32.
Imran, who suffered a shock defeat against newcomer Muhammad Shahid in the final of NJI 36th National Snooker Championship here, chalked out his best win in the Asian event, when he overpowered Macau Indoor Asian Games gold medalist Shehab in a fully extended nine-frame contest.
Lahore-based recovered from 1-2 and 3-4 down to carve out 0-53, 33-0, 0-43, 34-22, 18-48, 38-37, 19-44, 31-22, 45-0 victory.
However in the second match of last-32 round, Kamal Chawla of India beat Imran Shahzad 5-3.
Imran after losing the first two frames came back strongly and took the next three frames in row to gain 3-2 lead.
Kamal Chawla showed a great fight back won the three frames in a smart fashion to record 43-24, 46-0, 0-66, 10-31, 07-31, 44-08, 57-0, 37-21 win.

World Cup final venue fails fire inspectionWorld Cup final venue fails fire inspection

 Wankhede Stadium, venue for the Cricket World Cup final on April 2, has not met fire safety standards, the chief fire officer for Mumbai said on Friday.
“We will soon write a letter to the MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) stating there is a need to comply with fire safety norms at the stadium. Once they abide by the terms we would again conduct an inspection,” chief fire officer Uday Tatkare was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
“The team has found that the newly renovated stadium has many loopholes in its fire safety mechanism. The stadium must be in compliance with the fire safety conditions,” Tatkare said.
The stadium also failed an inspection by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in December but earlier this week was given the go-ahead for its three World Cup matches starting on March 13.
“Among the mandatory fire apparatus are … water hydrants, internal riser system for the stands, no-smoking indicators, fire alarms and extinguishers have to be installed,” a Mumbai fire officer told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“There are some lapses which they need to look into.”
The MCA, responsible for the stadium, was confident it could comfortably meet the fire brigade’s demands.
“The fire brigade officials had come for a visit few days back and they had suggested a few safety norms after their visit,” Association secretary Lalchand Rajput told Reuters on Friday.
“We are working on those and we will be ready. There is absolutely no worry. There has been no formal letter from the fire department yet.”
The ICC’s tournament director Ratnakar Shetty told Reuters:
“I am not aware of this. I am not in Mumbai.”
The World Cup starts in Dhaka on Saturday with a match between co-hosts Bangladesh and India.

Butt, Amir maintain innocence, will appeal

KARACHI: Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir returned to Pakistan on Sunday and pledged to clear their names of corruption charges that earned them bans of at least five years each from an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal.

Former test captain Butt and pace bowlers Amir and Mohammad Asif were foundguilty of corruption by the tribunal on Saturday in Doha.
Butt was banned for 10 years with five of them suspended if the 26-year-old does not re-offend and takes part in a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) anti-corruption campaign.
Asif, 28, was banned for seven years with two suspended under the same terms as Butt, while 18-year-old Amir was given a straight five-year ban.
Only Amir, whose lawyer said he would appeal, has a realistic chance of playing international cricket again.
Five-year bans were the minimum an independent three-man tribunal could impose under the ICC’s anti-corruption code once it had concluded that Butt, Asif and Amir were guilty of spot-fixing in the fourth test against England last August.
Butt and Amir encountered no hostile reception when they exited the airport and both maintained their innocence.
“I am innocent of the charges made against me and I stand by what I say. I will not rest until I get the ban overturned,”
Butt told reporters at the airport.
“I don’t think our arguments were heard properly and the ban is unjustified.”
Amir expressed similar concerns with the hearing.
“I am innocent and I was confident they would clear me. The ban came as a total shock,” he said.
“We are waiting for the ICC to release the detailed judgement of the tribunal after which we will decide what to do but we have made up our minds to appeal the ban in the first instance.”
Butt said he wanted to see the detailed judgement to find out on what grounds the tribunal had handed down such lengthy bans.
“We will appeal the ban once we get the judgement and study it. But we definitely want to clear our names from this ban,” he added.

Messi hat-trick puts Barca 10 points clear

MADRID: Lionel Messi’s brilliant hat-trick fired Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday that set a record for consecutive La Liga victories of 16 and stretched their lead over Real Madrid at the top to 10 points.
The Argentine World Player of the Year struck twice in 12 first-half minutes and again in the 79th to move two goals clear of Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring charts with 24 goals.
The victory lifted the champions to 61 points from 22 matches and beat the previous best for straight league wins set by Alfredo Di Stefano’s Real in the 1960-61 season.
Real, who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Osasuna last weekend, can trim the gap back to seven with a win over promoted Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu on Sunday (1800).
Villarreal earlier squandered a chance to close within three points of Real and lost their unbeaten home record when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against promoted Levante.
The loss, their first in 12 home games this season, leaves them on 45 points, six behind Real and four ahead of fourth-placed Valencia, who host promoted Hercules in Sunday’s late kickoff (2000 GMT).
Athletic Bilbao boosted their chances of a place in Europe when goals from David Lopez, Gaizka Toquero and Fernando Llorente gave them a 3-0 home win over 10-man Sporting Gijon.
The victory lifted the Basque club to fifth place on 38 points, a point above Espanyol who were three goals down by the 18th minute at Almeria and eventually lost 3-2.
MESSI MAGIC
Atletico were looking for a morale-boosting result at the Nou Camp that would keep their hopes of European qualification alive but any prospects of derailing the Barca express were effectively snuffed out by two moments of Messi magic.
His first goal in the 17th minute was a trademark dash in from the right wing and he left several opponents trailing before arrowing a low shot past David De Gea.
Spain striker David Villa slipped the ball through for Messi to score his second in the 29th. Atletico captain Antonio Lopez got a foot to the ball but Messi burst clear and clipped a shot in off the right-hand post from close range.
The 23-year-old had a powerful header acrobatically saved by De Gea before he beat Diego Godin to a loose ball and prodded it over the line to complete a memorable treble.
“I am happy with the win against a tough team who are not going through the best time and that could have made things hard for us,” Messi told Spanish television.
“I am not thinking about being league top scorer at all,” he added. “The important thing is that we continue this winning run as we have Real Madrid just behind us and we know they will fight to the end.”
Atletico are seventh on 30 points, seven behind Espanyol and eight adrift of Bilbao.
In other games on Saturday, Getafe thumped visiting Deportivo Coruna 4-1 and Real Mallorca were held to a 1-1 draw at Osasuna as Japanese midfielder Akihiro Ienaga made his debut for the Balearic Islands club.
Real Zaragoza and visitors Racing Santander played out a 1-1 stalemate.

We want to learn the art of reverse swing: Taylor

New Zealand head to the World Cup having capped their one-day series lossto Pakistan with a face-saving victory, but face an uphill battle to repeat punch-above-their-weight heroics of past editions of the tournament.
Semi-finalists at three of the past five World Cups, New Zealand won Saturday’s match by 57 runs after a century from Jesse Ryder and a 120-run partnership between Scott Styris (58 not out) and Nathan McCullum (65) helped them to an imposing 311 for seven.
Pakistan had already won the series 3-1 before the game at Eden Park and while the motivation may have been not as intense as earlier, a quickfire 58-run partnership between Shahid Afridi (44) and Sohail Tanvir (30) had threatened to snatch victory before they were bowled out for 254.
“A bit inconsistent (for the series) but in saying that we were close in the other matches,” vice captain Ross Taylor told reporters. “Key people probably didn’t step up and other players got out at crucial times.
“The two matches we did win, players did step up so it shows that when we do step up we’re a competitive side.”
While the series finale showed New Zealand can be competitive, it failed to cover a dismal run of one-day results since August.
New Zealand had won just one of their previous 12 completed one day internationals on three tours of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India — the hosts of the upcoming World Cup — and began the series against Pakistan on an 11-match losing streak.
A nine-wicket victory in the first match at Wellington ended the streak, but also raised expectations for the rest of the series, which were not realised.
Too often, the top-order made promising starts but got out to rash shots when they needed to push on.
They also failed to keep the scoreboard ticking over when the field was spread, seemingly preferring to take the risk of clearing the boundary riders on the small grounds and instead hitting it straight to them.
The bowling at the death of an innings was also inconsistent, which the bowlers were aware of, Taylor said.
“I think it’s an area we have not performed where we would like,” he added.
“The bowling up front has been pretty consistent but the death bowling is an area we haven’t quite mastered.
“We are trying to master the art of reverse swing bowling with the rough wickets in the subcontinent, it’s an area that we need to keep getting better at.”
There were also issues over the composition of the batting order, though the Eden Park match indicated they had settled on a lineup for the World Cup with Brendon McCullum opening with Martin Guptill and Ryder coming in at three.
“There has been a lot of talk on the batting order and we don’t want to get too funky with it,” Taylor said.
“We wanted to keep Guptill there (opening) and Brendon has had a successful time there and Jesse coming in a little bit later then it extends him out (through the innings) and shows he can dominate spinners when the power play is on.”

United Pakistan a very dangerous side: Saleem Yousuf

KARACHI: Former Test wicketkeeper Saleem Yousuf believes that a united Pakistan  side could prove dangerous at 2011 World Cup.
“As a united team, Pakistan team is going through purple patch after taking unbeatable 3-1 lead over New Zealand,” he told APP in an interview at Karachi Gymkhana here on Thursday.
“It’s a good comeback after disastrous start in the six match one-day series,” the 51-year-old Yousuf, who featured in 32 Test matches and 86 ODI for Pakistan between 1982 to 1990, said.
“If Pakistan team maintain the same momentum, they can be good team in the World Cup in sub-continent conditions,” he said.
“Pakistan is capable of reaching beyond the quarterfinal rounds. This side is a good combination and is proving adversity brings out the best in them.”
“There are no stars in current Pakistan team. But their are several utility cricketers, who could prove good for the team,” he said.
“It was important that team remained focused and jelled during the World Cup.
“We can recall 2007 World Cup when a powerful Pakistan team’s crashed out in the preliminary rounds. We must take lessons from the past to this year’s World Cup,” he stated.
Yousuf was of the opinion that Pakistan was showing marked improvement in the field but more efforts were required from the players.
“Its nice to see Younis Khan taking three catches in the field,” he commented.
“But we got to improve in fielding department as well substantially curbing the tendency to concede too many extras. ,” Yousuf , who carried Pakistan to an exciting victory over West Indies in 1987 World Cup, said.
He expressed his delight that there were no controversies on the current New Zealand tour.
“Any controversy on off the field badly at this moment will badly affect Pakistan players,” he added.
He praised the batting show by young opener Ahmed Shehzad, who scored his maiden hundred.
“Its good sign for team ahead of World Cup for the team and the player,” he commented.
He also complimented Misbah-ul-Haq for his consistent batting display in Test matches as well in ODI series.
Yousuf advocated Shahid Afridi as captain for the World Cup stating that a change at this stage will not be good for team.
Commenting on the performance of Kamran Akmal, who is making a comeback in the team, he said the wicket-keeper was an experienced player and his presence could be good for the team.

Darren Bravo stars as T&T surge to the title

Trinidad & Tobago surged to the Caribbean T20 title for the second time in three years after beating Hampshire by 36 runs in the final at the Kensington Oval.

It was a fitting result, with T&T the best team in the tournament having won all their games bar a rained-off group fixture against Hampshire. Having already sealed their place in the lucrative Champions League by virtue of being the best Caribbean side, T&T were free to entertain in the final.

On the day it was Darren Bravo that starred, emphasising again the glittering talent that West Indies fans desperately hope can shine at the World Cup next month. In front of a healthy crowd he ensured Denesh Ramdin's decision to bat first was vindicated, despite an accurate start for Hampshire's new-ball pair.

Danny Briggs, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner who will return to the Caribbean with England Lions in February, gave Hampshire an ideal start by removing Adrian Barath in the first over. Alongside Simon Jones, who ended the tournament joint top wicket-taker with 12 at 10.25, the pair restricted T&T to 10 for 1 after three overs.

Thereafter, with the change in bowling, Darren Bravo cut loose. Tall, elegant and demonstrating again that Twenty20 batting extends beyond vein-popping power, he scythed five fours and two sixes in a 28-ball stay that changed the match. His clean striking down the ground, including a four and a six in successive deliveries from Chris Wood, was a notch above anything else in the game.

He found a willing partner is Lendl Simmons (31) and was eventually dismissed for 41 by the impressive Briggs. Ramdin's late flurry, making 33 from 19 deliveries pushed the score up to 147.

If the target looked difficult during the innings break, it became much harder after Ravi Rampaul's maiden first over. Jimmy Adams couldn't get him away and set the tone for a scrappy Hampshire effort with the bat. Johann Myburgh fell second ball to Samuel Badree, beaten by a tossed-up legspinner and after making a promising 23 James Vince was the next to go, missing a pull shot to be bowled by Jason Mohammad's offspin.

After 10 overs Hampshire 55 for 3 and had a chance but Sean Ervine, who may well have played his last game for Hampshire after rejoining the Zimbabwe set-up, fell to Mohammad and the chase fell away. Kevon Cooper picked up two wickets with his accurate medium-pace and despite a lone 28 not out from Benny Howell, Hampshire ended well short.

Meanwhile, the third-place play-off was a tighter affair with Jamaica holding off a spirited chase by Windward Islands to win by 9 runs.

The victory was crafted on Xavier Marshall's careful 36, an unbeaten 43 from 21 balls from Danza Hyatt and a solid all-round bowling effort.

ICC demands answers after Aamer plays

KARACHI: International cricket chiefs are demanding answers on why suspended Pakistani paceman Mohammad Aamer, at the centre of a corruption probe, played in a domestic club match, an official said Wednesday.                               The 18-year-old Aamer, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, was suspended over allegations of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year in a case that shook the global game.

But media reports in Pakistan said Aamer featured in a domestic club match for Pakistan Army against Rawalpindi despite being suspended from all forms of cricket that come under the umbrella of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“The ICC wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board on the matter on Tuesday,” an ICC spokesman confirmed to AFP from its headquarters in Dubai. A PCB spokesman confirmed they were investigating the issue.

“Yes, we have come to the knowledge of Aamer playing a match in Rawalpindi and we are investigating the matter,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told AFP.

An ICC anti-corruption tribunal heard the case relating to the three suspended players in Doha, Qatar, last month and is due to announce its verdict on February 5.

All three were provisionally suspended by the ICC in October, with the world governing body’s code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved. The maximum punishment is a life ban.

Afridi likely to be retained as World Cup skipper

According to well-informed sources in the board, all indications show that all-rounder Afridi will lead the side during the mega event staring from Feb 19, to be held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The sources said that Ijaz held a half an hour discussion with the PCB chief operating officer today following his extensive talks with the team management in New Zealand this week.

“After getting all the feedback and suggestions, the PCB chief knows that it would be a risky move to change the ODI captain at this stage and it would be better to continue with Afridi,” the sources said.

They also added that while Ijaz and some other board officials had lost faith in Afridi over his attitude and repeated violations of the board instructions in recent months, the feedback from the players and the management had tilted the balance in the all-rounder’s favour.

According to sources, the senior players in the touring side in New Zealand including Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal were backing Afridi and wanted him to continue as the World Cup captain.

“The PCB chairman has a difficult decision to make because he has to ensure there are no issues or conflicts within the team just before the World Cup,” the sources added.

The PCB chief is likely to announce the World Cup captain this week after some more deliberations in New Zealand.

Sources even indicated that Ijaz was facing pressure from the top over the captaincy issue.

“Most of the major sponsors who have invested lot of money in the tournament in Pakistan have already prepared their campaigns with Afridi as captain in their commercials and are concerned about any late change in the leadership, said a inside source at the PCB.

“These companies are also lobbying within the government to ensure that the Pakistan board does not change Afridi as captain for the World Cup.”

The PCB has come in for severe criticism from a number of former players for delaying in naming the captain for the mega-event since Pakistan remains the only one of the fourteen competing teams not to have named the captain as yet.—Agencies

Vettori slams batsmen after another weak display

NAPIER: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has issued a scathing critique of his side’s top order, describing their performance as “unacceptable” in their latest defeat by Pakistan.

Pakistan lead the six-match series 2-1, with one game washed out, after winning the third encounter by two wickets with an over to spare on Tuesday.
In a series being used to fine-tune for the World Cup, New Zealand have gone downhill since romping to a nine-wicket win in the first game, and the second was washed out.
Pakistan won the third match by a commanding 43 runs and were just as dominant in Napier.
On a McLean Park pitch tailor-made for batting, and which Vettori rated as worth at least 300 an innings, New Zealand struggled to 262-7 thanks largely to a salvage mission by the middle and tail batsmen.
Pakisan knocked off the target with an over to spare to take a psychological edge going into the fifth match at Hamilton on Thursday.
“Being five for 80 at McLean Park, I don’t think that’s acceptable. It’s a great batting deck and it’s just not acceptable,” Vettori said as he analysed yet another top order failure by New Zealand.
“I was pleased with the way (James) Franklin and the two McCullums (Brendon and Nathan) scrapped to give us a score, they all played exceptionally well to give us credibility, but five for 80 is just not good enough.”
Franklin, who was brought into the side at the last minute when Jesse Ryder pulled out with a finger injury, top scored with 62 from 75 balls.
He also featured in New Zealand’s two highest partnerships, 62 with Brendon McCullum (37) and 64 with Nathan McCullum who posted his first half century and was unbeaten on 53 at the close.
Misbah-ul-Haq, who has toyed with the New Zealand bowling throughout the Test and one-day series, showed how easy the pitch was to play with an effortless, and career best, 93 not out.
He bolstered the Pakistan innings with an 89-run partnership with Younis Khan (42) and then a 40-run stand with Abdul Razzaq (23).
But while Misbah provided the necessary runs for victory, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi gave credit for the win to his bowlers who destroyed New Zealand’s recognised batsmen.
“The track was heaven for the batsmen, and I think the way the boys bowled they really bowled well and and I think the credit goes to the bowlers,” he said.
Left-armer Wahab Riaz was the prime wicket-taker with three for 51 from 10 overs while Abdul Razzaq slowed the scoring with a miserly one for 16 off seven.

Salman, Aamir to leave for Doha to know their fate

KARACHI: Pakistan`s suspended cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamir will leave for Doha on Thursday to find out the outcome of the spot-fixing case, a decision on which will be announced by ICC`s Anti-Corruption Tribunal on Feb 5.
The third suspended player — pace bowler Mohammad Asif — will fly to Doha directly from London.
“We have no comments to make on the verdict at this stage because we don`t know what the decision is going to come from the tribunal,” Shahid Karim the lawyer for Aamir said. He said any decision about appealing against the verdict of the three-member tribunal would be taken later on.
“The rules stipulate that if the players are not happy with the verdict against them, they can approach the Court of Arbitration of Sports and appeal the verdicts of the tribunal and that option is always available to us,” Shahid said.
The three players were suspended on Sept 2 last year on allegations of spot fixing in the fourth Test at Lord`s during Pakistan team`s tour to England.
In January, they attended a six-day hearing convened by the ICC tribunal which announced it was deferring the decision to February 5.
An official in the Pakistan Cricket Board said that until now the board had no role to play in the case. “We ourselves don`t know what the outcome of the case is going to be and the tribunal does not inform anyone including the ICC about its decision until it is announced,” he said.

Upbeat Sajjad eyes national snooker crown

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace cueist and Asian number two, Muhammad Sajjad is hopeful of regaining the spot on the national ranking charts when the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship breaks off at Karachi Gymkhana Billiards Hall on Monday

Sajjad, who recently returned competed in a professional ranking even in Thailand said that playing at the international level had made him a more skilful player and done his game a world of good.
“Because of big difference at national and international level I was not able to retain the number one ranking in Pakistan,” he told APP in an interview..
“I found it difficult to play on different tables in Pakistan after playing on the international circuit. Playing on consistent tables, alongside the top professionals has raised the standard of my game,” he said.
The 2008 and 2010 national champion said he was confident of claiming a title for a third time and that he expected a tough challenge from current Pakistan number one Imran Shehzad and number two Sohail Shehzad.
Sajjad is placed 4th in the national ranking currently.
He was the first Pakistani to win a Thai national ranking event last year on a wildcard entry.

Afridi with slight edge as fans join captaincy debate

ISLAMABAD: The die-hard cricket lovers of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have also joined the debate of who will lead Pakistan at this years World Cup and it seems dazzling all-rounder so far has an edge over Misbah-ul-Haq.

Pakistan squad for the mega event includes Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Muhammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir and Ahmad Shahzad.
In a causal chat with APP, a local taxi driver, Jahan Sher said, “I just cannot understand why the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has delayed to announce the captain on February 4. By not announcing the captain, the board has split the players into Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul Haq groups. In such circumstances I believe Afridi is the best possible choice to lead the team for the world cup.”
“If PCB chairman Ijaz Butt is waiting till February 4 to see how Afridi performs as captain in the one-day series in New Zealand then I don’t think that it is a wise move because this is not the time to change the captain. For the World Cup they should continue with Afridi,” Rahim Khan, a local passenger at a bus stop, said.
A government employee, Mir Shah said, “The team selected is good but I am bemused about the fact that naming a captain for such a big event has been delayed so much. No team in the world of cricket is named without a captain.”
Support for the now axed Mohammad Yousuf was also split as some fans believed the decision to drop the veteran batsmen would deal a severe blow to Pakistan chances. Others, however, were of the view the Yousuf was a spent force for ODIs.
“I don’t know about who will be the captain but Pakistan will surely miss Mohammad Yousuf. Our team’s chances of reaching even the quarter-finals are dull,” a private telecom company employee, Yasir Ali Khan said.
A government employee, Faisal Shah said, “I am happy they did not include Mohammad Yousuf this time. We need young blood. You can’t bet on the same horse to win your races for 20 years.”
Wishing good luck to the team, he said, “even if they lose, I hope they will put a fight until the end because you cannot win every match but you can put up a fight and at least try to win. I think the team is quite capable of giving a tough time to any opponent.”
There was also some support for the suspended fast bowler Mohammad Amir

“Pakistan cricket’s team is over confident and they lack respect towards the opponents’ abilities. I just wish that a miracle happens and Mohammed Amir get clears on February 5 from the International Cricket Council and gets included in the squad,” an optics shopkeeper at Aabpara, Salman Hadyat, said.
The captaincy issue it seemed had created doubts not only within the Pakistan setup but also the fans who were judging Afridi and Misbah on their current performances during the series in New Zealand.