Pakistan go into today’s round match against Australia placed in unfamiliar territory: A place in the last-four already sealed and the added luxury of testing bench strength.
Back-to-back, convincing wins over West Indies and India — preceded by wins against Sri Lanka and the Warriors in the warm-up matches — have produced the healthy bout of momentum and confidence that Younis Khan, Pakistan’s captain, will hope to carry forward into the semi-finals.
However, with Australia’s simplest route to the semi-finals resting in Pakistan’s loss, the onus is on Younis’ team to carry on the winning form, perform to their potential to ensure a hundred per cent record going into the knock-out round.
“Even with our last-four place confirmed, I’d still like to tell my players to play good cricket to our potential because we’re a top side when we do that and ensure the winning momentum is not lost,” Younis said in his pre-match press conference.
“We have improved considerably over the last few months and Australia is a very strong side, fresh from their recent win in England, so I would not label any favourites for the game. We have a great chance of winning and are very lucky to be in the situation where we only need two more wins to lift the trophy and we’ll be looking to do just that.”
While Younis is still nursing the fractured finger on the right hand — a direct throw from the same hand effected Gautam Gambhir’s runout on Saturday — Imran Nazir, with stitches on his right hand due to injury suffered early in the Indian innings, looks certain to miss out. Out of form Misbah-ul-Haq will replace him.
The forced absence of Imran, the only specialist opener in the squad, will mean promotion for either Shoaib Malik or Fawad Alam who looks set to feature for the first time in the tournament.
Mohammad Asif also looks certain to cash in on the situation and will most likely replace Mohammad Aamir with Umar Gul hoping to recover from a horror show against India.
The loss of Imran Nazir has left Younis unperturbed as he emphasised the importance of flexibility in the batting order and doing away with the need for specialist openers in the side.
“Imran is a useful batsman for us and I know there is an innings left in him for us in the tournament. His stitches aren’t serious and we might play him against Australia or may decide to rest him. Even if he’s omitted, it won’t be a problem for us since we have experienced players who have played in that position before. Also, in Twenty20 and ODIs, you don’t need specialist openers anymore as we’re able to adapt to situations.”
“In today’s cricket, your performance on the day matters the most and not past results. We won against a top nation [India] recently and are pitted against another now. There are no guarantees on who will take wickets or score runs but both teams go into the match equal.”
Pakistani spinning duo of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi caused problems for the Australians in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. With decent performances under their belt on the tour already, both Afridi and Ajmal are hoping for a repeat show. Ponting, though, shrugged aside any concerns and lauded his batsmen’s show against the Indian spinners.
“I’m obviously disappointed with the result against India as we were in a really good position,” Ponting said. “However, the positive out of that abandoned game was our batting, especially the show against spinners since we expect more of the same from Pakistan as well.
“It will be very disappointing if we lose to Pakistan and fail to progress,’ Ponting added. ‘However, it all depends on how we play knowing how dangerous Pakistan can be, especially with the kind of cricket they’ve been playing recently. We had a good result in the UAE and we’re hoping the lessons learnt there are utlised here as well.”
Younis was also wary of the fact that progress for India depended on Pakistan’s win at the Centurion today. With MS Dhoni, India’s captain, making it clear who he will be supporting — “We want Pakistan to win” were the words in his pre-match press conference — Younis has downplayed speculations that fielding a weakened team will undermine India’s effort.
“We wanted to be in a situation where we don’t need to depend on other teams for our progress. We have been lucky to be in this situation. Everyone knows the number of followers India has in Pakistan and vice versa. It’s cricket and life shouldn’t depend on winning or losing and we will give it our best to carry forward the winning momentum for our sake.”
© Faras Ghani 2009.
Published in DAWN newspaper, Sep 30, 2009.
Showing posts with label Imran Nazir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Imran Nazir. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tremendous response to APL in US, say organisers
The American Premier League (APL) will go ahead with its inaugural Twenty20 tournament from Oct 6, 2009, even if the ICC refuses to sanction the league, the organisers confirmed on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with Dawn, Jay Mir, president of the organising American Sports & Entertainment Group Inc (ASEG), remained optimistic about the ongoing negotiations with the USA Cricket Association (USACA) while confirming that the New York City tournament is ‘good to go’.
“As we move forward with our negotiations, it is worth mentioning that we haven’t received a rebel status as yet,” Mir said. “The ICC has advised players and officials to stay away from the league until a concrete decision has been made and I think it is in the best interest of USACA, APL and for the development of the game in USA that this league gets sanctioned,” he added. “However, since we are not depending on the official go-ahead, the first tournament will be held even if the USACA refuses to approve it.”
The maiden APL Twenty20 tournament has attracted big name players from all over the world, especially the ICL recruits deprived of cricket following the league’s season cancellation due to the economic gloom. According to Mir, APL has succeeded in signing Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzak, Taufeeq Umar and Shabbir Ahmed with Moin Khan acting as Premium Pakistan’s coach. It will be one of the six teams competing in the league.
“We have succeeded in recruiting Richard Hadlee as an executive consultant while also signing Graeme Hick, Nathan Astle and Adam Hollioake,” disclosed Mir.
When asked if the APL — as it seems to be following in the footsteps of ICL — could also be labelled a rebel league, Mir remained hopeful of the USACA’s decision and the fact that both organisations shared similar vision. “The reason behind ICL’s failure [due to financial reasons] was because they didn’t have backing from the national board [the BCCI]. I’m sure the decision-makers at the USACA are smart enough to understand that we also want to promote cricket in the United States and judging by the response we’ve had already, I can only imagine how successful we can be in achieving that goal.”
The tournament, due to played on a round-robin basis on the Staten Island Yankees baseball ground, will feature six teams vying for a semi-final berth that will be followed by best-of-three finals. Apart from Premium Pakistan, the tournament will comprise of an Indian, West Indian, American, Bangladeshi and a World XI.
According to Mir, the long term plan is to stage the tournament twice a year with locations varying across the continent. “Since our aim is to promote cricket, we have planned to stage the tournament across the continent from next year. It is a big event — an unprecedented event in fact in the history of the nation — and we want to ensure we launch is properly.”
The organisers’ keenness to get on with the league can be judged by the fact that, according to Mir, most of the sponsors have been confirmed, all participating teams have been finalised and that ASEG has received bids for television rights from multiple companies.
“The response has been phenomenal. We’ve had people enquiring about tickets already and offering their services to the league. There exists great excitement in the general public with regards to the tournament and what we’ve achieved in one month is just amazing,” said Mir. “We want to kickstart the game of cricket in the region and for that reason, I hope we get the USACA’s approval as players of this calibre do not deserve to be tagged as rebels.”
As the tournament details are released, a feeling of uneasiness has been felt around the cricketing world. Apart from the ICC cautions released last week, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) expressed its disappointment over Hadlees’ affiliation with APL. “’It’s regrettable that Hadlee has aligned with an unsanctioned and unofficial circuit,” Justin Vaughan, NZC chief executive, had told the Sunday Star-Times.
But Mir said the league will only promote the game in the US region through Hadlee’s services. “We will be promoting the game in the country with Hadlee,” Mir said. “Although cricket is being played across the continent, APL is serving as a door for the game to enter the US properly.”
© Faras Ghani 2009
Published in DAWN newspaper Apr 29, 2009
In an exclusive interview with Dawn, Jay Mir, president of the organising American Sports & Entertainment Group Inc (ASEG), remained optimistic about the ongoing negotiations with the USA Cricket Association (USACA) while confirming that the New York City tournament is ‘good to go’.
“As we move forward with our negotiations, it is worth mentioning that we haven’t received a rebel status as yet,” Mir said. “The ICC has advised players and officials to stay away from the league until a concrete decision has been made and I think it is in the best interest of USACA, APL and for the development of the game in USA that this league gets sanctioned,” he added. “However, since we are not depending on the official go-ahead, the first tournament will be held even if the USACA refuses to approve it.”
The maiden APL Twenty20 tournament has attracted big name players from all over the world, especially the ICL recruits deprived of cricket following the league’s season cancellation due to the economic gloom. According to Mir, APL has succeeded in signing Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzak, Taufeeq Umar and Shabbir Ahmed with Moin Khan acting as Premium Pakistan’s coach. It will be one of the six teams competing in the league.
“We have succeeded in recruiting Richard Hadlee as an executive consultant while also signing Graeme Hick, Nathan Astle and Adam Hollioake,” disclosed Mir.
When asked if the APL — as it seems to be following in the footsteps of ICL — could also be labelled a rebel league, Mir remained hopeful of the USACA’s decision and the fact that both organisations shared similar vision. “The reason behind ICL’s failure [due to financial reasons] was because they didn’t have backing from the national board [the BCCI]. I’m sure the decision-makers at the USACA are smart enough to understand that we also want to promote cricket in the United States and judging by the response we’ve had already, I can only imagine how successful we can be in achieving that goal.”
The tournament, due to played on a round-robin basis on the Staten Island Yankees baseball ground, will feature six teams vying for a semi-final berth that will be followed by best-of-three finals. Apart from Premium Pakistan, the tournament will comprise of an Indian, West Indian, American, Bangladeshi and a World XI.
According to Mir, the long term plan is to stage the tournament twice a year with locations varying across the continent. “Since our aim is to promote cricket, we have planned to stage the tournament across the continent from next year. It is a big event — an unprecedented event in fact in the history of the nation — and we want to ensure we launch is properly.”
The organisers’ keenness to get on with the league can be judged by the fact that, according to Mir, most of the sponsors have been confirmed, all participating teams have been finalised and that ASEG has received bids for television rights from multiple companies.
“The response has been phenomenal. We’ve had people enquiring about tickets already and offering their services to the league. There exists great excitement in the general public with regards to the tournament and what we’ve achieved in one month is just amazing,” said Mir. “We want to kickstart the game of cricket in the region and for that reason, I hope we get the USACA’s approval as players of this calibre do not deserve to be tagged as rebels.”
As the tournament details are released, a feeling of uneasiness has been felt around the cricketing world. Apart from the ICC cautions released last week, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) expressed its disappointment over Hadlees’ affiliation with APL. “’It’s regrettable that Hadlee has aligned with an unsanctioned and unofficial circuit,” Justin Vaughan, NZC chief executive, had told the Sunday Star-Times.
But Mir said the league will only promote the game in the US region through Hadlee’s services. “We will be promoting the game in the country with Hadlee,” Mir said. “Although cricket is being played across the continent, APL is serving as a door for the game to enter the US properly.”
© Faras Ghani 2009
Published in DAWN newspaper Apr 29, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)