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Patel helps India avert innings loss
Toss not only reason for defeat: Dravid
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Complacency factor at play in Lahore
Stop criticism or I’ll quit: Inzamam Lahore Test party falls prey to cynicism Imtiaz’s appeal Notes from Pakistan
BBMB will clash with North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPC) in the final of the sixth Inter Central Power Board Cricket Tournament being organised at Nangal tomorrow. In the semifinal matches today, BBMB defeated Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SIVN) while the NEEPC defeated Power Grid Corporation Ltd. (PGCL).
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Patel helps India avert innings loss Lahore, April 8 Odds were heavily stacked against the visitors when they resumed their second innings on the fourth morning at 149 for five but optimists were hoping of a miracle from the Multan Test triple-centurion Sehwag, overnight on 86. He added only four runs before perishing to paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled at his best in the series to take 3 for 62. A gritty unbeaten 62 by baby-faced Parthiv Patel and a few lusty blows from Ajit Agarkar (36) enabled India to avoid the humiliation of an innings defeat. The visitors were all out for 241, leaving Pakistan to make 40 runs for a victory which they achieved for the loss of Imran Farhat’s wicket shortly after lunch. After an excellent spell from Akhtar, it was leg-spinner Danish Kaneria who found India’s tail easy meat in taking 3 for 14. The massive first innings lead of 202 by Pakistan, which made 489 against India’s 287, proved too much in the end for the visitors. Pakistan’s medium-pacer Umar Gul was named Man-of-the-Match for his 5 for 31 on the opening day when India self-destructed with the decision to bat first on a lively wicket coupled with some irresponsible batting by the top order in both the innings. The visitors now go to the deciding Test at Rawalpindi starting April 13 after giving a desperately-needed boost to Pakistani bowling which had neither clicked in the one-day series nor in the Multan Test which India won by an innings and 52 runs. The Indians managed to dismiss Farhat (9) to reduce the margin of defeat even as fellow opener Taufiq Umar played the winning shot to mark the victory amidst vociferous cheers from the paltry crowd that had gathered at the Gaddafi Stadium to witness a remarkable victory by the home team in a do-or-die encounter. The defeat also meant India failed yet another time to break their jinx of squandering the lead in an away Test series, a shortcoming which captain Rahul Dravid had promised to set right ahead of the crucial encounter. In recent years, the Indians have thrice won a Test only to lose the next match in the series. The trend started in Zimbabwe three years ago and continued in the West Indies in 2002 and in Australia late last year. Resuming at the overnight score of 149 for 5, the two overnight batsmen Sehwag and Patel, who desperately needed to survive the first hour’s play when conditions favour the bowlers, played out the first six overs without seeming to be in any discomfort. But the seventh over from Akhtar spelt doom for India as the tearaway fast bowler sent back Sehwag (90) and Pathan (0) in the same over to bring his team within sniffing distance of a win. Sehwag played a rather rash shot, fishing at an outgoing delivery from Akhtar to succeed only in nicking it to Kamran Akmal behind the stumps much to the jubilation of his teammates who needed his wicket to close all escape routes for the visitors. His 134-ball 90 came in 214 minutes and contained 14 boundaries. The left-handed Pathan, promoted ahead of Ajit Agarkar after his gutsy 49 in the first innings, managed to survive just four balls as he fell prey to a rising delivery from Akhtar. Pathan tried to fend off a short pitched delivery but could not keep it on the ground as the ball ballooned up for Taufiq Umar to take the catch behind the slips cordon. With the Indians slumping to 160 for seven by the seventh over of the morning and with no other recognised batsmen to come, the visitors had absolutely no chance of saving the match. It was just a matter of whether they could avoid an innings defeat or make the opposition bat again. But Patel and Agarkar unleashed some amazing shots to wipe out the deficit as they sought to give India a decent lead by playing attacking cricket. Patel also executed some superb shots on both sides of the wicket and took three runs off Gul to notch up his second Test half century. The pair put on brisk 75 runs for the eighth wicket before Kaneria brought an end to their association by getting the scalp of Agarkar who edged the ball to Umar. The remaining two Indians wickets fell quickly as both Anil Kumble and Lakshmipathy Balaji failed to even open their account, leaving Patel undefeated on 62, equalling his highest Test score.
— PTI
Scoreboard
India (1st innings): 287 Pakistan (1st innings): 489 India (2nd innings): Chopra lbw b Akhtar 5 Sehwag c Akmal b Akhtar 90 Dravid run out 0 Tendulkar lbw b Sami 8 Laxman b Gul 13 Yuvraj c Akmal b Sami 12 Patel not out 62 Pathan c Umar b Akhtar 0 Agarkar c Umar b Kaneria 36 Kumble st Akmal b Kaneria 0 Balaji lbw b Kaneria 0 Extras
(lb-8, nb-6, w-1) 15 Total (all out in 62.4 overs) 241 Fall of wickets:
1-15, 2-15, 3-43, 4-88, 5-105, 6-160, 7-160, 8-235, 9-241. Bowling:
Shoiab Akhtar 17-4-62-3, Mohammad Sami 26-6-92-2, Umar Gul 13-1-65-1, Danish Kaneria 6.4-2-14-3. Pakistan (2nd innings): Farhat c Yuvraj b Balaji 9 Umar not out 14 Hameed not out 16 Extras
(nb-1) 1 Total (1 wicket in 7 overs) 40 Fall of wicket:
1-15 Bowling: I Pathan 4-0-25-0, L Balaji 3-0-15-1.
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Toss not only reason for defeat: Dravid Lahore, April 8 Dravid, who chose to bat first on a lively wicket which was fully exploited by the home side’s pace trio, said immediately after the match, “when you lose, there are a lot of little things that need to be looked into. Toss is one of them but not the only reason for the loss.” Later at a press conference he defended his decision saying that the team had batted first in far more difficult conditions such as Headingley and Nottingham, but he chose to forget that England does not have bowlers like Pakistan’s. In the same vein, Dravid said, “In hindsight, if I had known we would be four wickets down in the first session, I would not have batted.” Dravid denied that his decision betrayed overconfidence. “It is not that we were overconfident. Our batsmen have been doing well. In retrospect, there are a lot of areas you can look back. We wish we could have batted better.” “The toss is not the reason for the defeat. We have batted in far more difficult conditions in Headingly and Nottingham in the recent past. It is just that we did not bat as well as we could have done in the match,” Dravid said while giving due credit to Pakistan for the series-levelling win. “They were deserving winners as they played good cricket right through the match.”
Asked whether some of the umpiring decisions had proved detrimental for the team, the stand-in captain said “the better team won. Umpiring is a part and parcel of the game. Both the teams should accept what they get. We lost because we did not play well enough.”
— PTI |
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Gul grabs stumps
before time Lahore, April 8 The affable seamer from the squash fertile town of Nawa-e-Kali near Peshawar was so eager to celebrate the win that he took one of the stumps out to keep it as a souvenir as soon as the Indians were bowled out in their second innings today. “I picked up the stump to keep it as a souvenir but team-mates told me we need 40 runs to win,” said a beaming Gul, deservedly declared man-of-the-match for his five for 31 which saw India being bundled out for 287 in the first innings. Gul, who produced a beauty of a delivery to bowl VVS Laxman in the second essay, did not hesitate in declaring that ball “the best delivery I have ever bowled. I hope very many will follow in my career.” For Gul, former great Wasim Akram’s call was a source of motivation.
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Complacency factor at play in Lahore Old habits die hard. The adage seems true when it about the Indian cricket team.
A team that looked invincible only last week, has shown such inconsistency this time that people are now forced to believe that this bunch of players are as vulnerable as any other team. But it’s nothing new. Similar things have happened in the past and there is no guarantee that it would not happen again in the near future. The very pattern of winning one Test and losing the next one has surely something to do with complacency factor. Indians were in the right frame of mind after the victory in the one-day series. They looked confident of beating Pakistan in the Test matches too. Once the Indians conquered Pakistan at Multan, I am afraid to say that the self-belief perhaps had vanished. An overseas victory means so much for the players that they somehow get overawed by the occasion and get complacent. Such self-satisfaction surely plays a negative role while preparing for the next game. When the team loses, it gets determined to set the scores right in the next outing. As a player, I have experienced it myself. But somehow, disaster strikes the Indians always after a big win. Keeping in mind the earlier incidents, I did anticipate a little dip in the Indian performance this time. The defeat in Zimbabwe and the loss in the Melbourne Test were ample evidence for me to believe that the rhythm would be hampered after the comprehensive win in Multan. How does a team overcome the complacency factor after a big win? Should they avoid celebrating the victory or underplay it until they win the series? The team will have to sit and decide it’s own course of action in the future. Rahul Dravid may be blamed in some quarters for his decision to bat first. Frankly, the team batted worse than it did in the first innings at Lahore. To me, winning the toss and electing to bat was certainly a positive move. More than the bowlers bowling well for the Pakistan team, its the Indian batsmen who fished too many outside the off stump deliveries and caused their own downfall. Gul was the only bowler who hit the right line, while Shoaib and Sami were still searching for line and length. The wicket appeared to be a good track when Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh were batting. A batting side, which has scored 600 and more runs in two consecutive Tests, can only fail because of complacency. Ajit Agarkar does not appear to be match fit. I fail to understand why players, that, too, injured ones, get into a Test eleven without playing a practice game. I can well understand a player making himself available out of sheer anxiety to make the side, but the team management will have to have a proper tool to measure the match fitness of the player. I guess the victory in Multan had overshadowed the selection process. The Indian bowlers, especially Pathan and Balaji did well despite their limited experience. On such wickets, a bowler may appear to be bowling well, but there is always something that will elude them from taking wickets. There is a thin line demarcating the wicket taking length and the line that only makes it appear that the bowlers are bowling well. I am sure Balaji and Pathan will learn these tricks of the trade soon enough. Had Kapil accompanied the team, the great bowler would have sorted out these subtle issues with the youngsters. Doubting the Indian batsmen’s form would be foolishness. But questioning their level of preparations will not be an unfair one.— Chivach Sports
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Stop criticism or I’ll quit: Inzamam
Lahore, April 8 Inzamam said he was not opposed to criticism but some of the negative remarks by former Pakistan cricketers in the last few days had been extremely “demoralising” for the team and “had crossed all limits”. “The criticism of the team is too much, it has become difficult to continue. I will have no hestitation in relinquishing the captaincy if it continues in this way. It does not help the team at all,” Inzamam said after Pakistan scripted a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against arch rivals India to level the three-match Test series 1-1. “I am not opposed to criticism, but it should be positive criticism, it should be constructive. Such negative criticism does not help anybody. Since we have won the match, I want to express my resentment now,” he said. Several former Pakistani cricketers had gone on the offensive against the home team after it lost the one-day series and the first Test in Multan. Inzamam said coach Javed Miandad also felt the same way. “Javed bhai is also very upset by all this. It is not that I want to quit because we lost some matches. It is because I feel strongly against it (such criticism),” he said. The captain said the comprehensive victory today was a “good answer” to all the detractors who should have backed the team rather than pulling it down. “As former cricketer, we expect them to back the team when it is not doing well but they only demoralise the players by their remarks. It is not a good thing,” he said while admitting he was under tremendous pressure as a captain. Calling the series-levelling victory as a “great comeback”, he said, “we worked very hard and I am happy that we could achieve this victory. The next match will be very interesting. We will be mentally prepared for the contest.
— PTI |
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Lahore Test party falls prey to cynicism Old enemies who are now thick pals in the midst of cricket’s biggest diplomatic exercise should be very happy with the state of the series. One-all and a decider to go. That will, of course, set the tongues of the conspiracy theorists wagging again. What a remarkable coincidence as first one captain and then the other is run out in the second innings in the two Tests even as their side is facing massive defeat! That fact alone should be enough for the rumour mills to work overtime. Parthiv Patel’s resistance may have helped avert the ultimate coincidence of consecutive Tests ending in innings victories for two different sides. All this cynicism is, however, sickening. Such cynicism also spoiled the great party because so few have really turned up to see the Test matches, even in Lahore where the home team, bouncing back after the Multan mauling, had been in winning form from day one and the ticket prices at the Gadaffi Stadium had been slashed. But then modern cricket has prospered on television money. Is there a better visual medium to capture the heroics of Virender Sehwag as he takes on Shoaib Akhtar who is thought to have bowled the fastest ball ever in the history of Test cricket? — 100.8 mph if the somewhat erratic speed gun is to be believed. There, there, cynicism
again. Sehwag’s first-ever half century in the second innings of a Test points to many things. Most of all to a remarkable journey of the mind from controlling the twirling of the bat in an aggressive manner in the slam-bang world of the limited-overs game to team and talent-relevant performances in the grander theatre of Test match cricket. Six centuries in 22 Tests give Sehwag a conversion rate that approximates to Sachin Tendulkar’s 33 in 113. For those statistically inclined, Sachin scored four hundreds in his first 22 Tests and Sunil Gavaskar seven. All of Sehwag’s centuries and this near one have been scored in innings starting against the new ball handled by some of the world’s best bowlers, from Pollock through Harmison and Brett Lee to Akhtar. More importantly, Sehwag’s success has paved the way for India’s batting dominance of the last couple of seasons. The middle order owes a debt of gratitude to a batsman in the cavalier mould who has taken on the new ball with the minimum of fuss and footwork and sent it crashing worldwide into hoardings, mostly of Indian companies. There were days in Indian cricket when critics raged against the eccentricities of Krish Srikkanth in the Test match arena. Today, they pay endless tribute to a style the man may have adapted, if not quite invented. Sehwag has refined such aggression to the extent that he dominates fast bowlers like Viv Richards used to -dismissing them from his imperious presence with panache and a degree of fearlessness that rattles them. Sehwag dares to stay firmly in territory few have consciously dared to step into for fear of the selection axe that used to chop off such impertinence at the first sign of failure. Srikkanth had to fight years for recognition for his unique attacking mode of play. ‘Viru’ is fortunate in that Indian cricket has matured in the world of modern cricket to be in a position to appreciate such nonchalance at the start of an innings as to contemplate striking a six over point. What this knock in a losing cause symbolises is there is a Sehwag Mark II operating from the batting crease. This version is more aware of strengths that are best enhanced by a minuscule degree of judiciousness in the form of choice of ball to strike. He did fail himself in the end by the big waft way beyond off stump but we do not carp about such minor
matters. Sehwag’s form will help determine what happens in the decider in Rawalpindi. His consistency this season has helped shape India into a formidable batting outfit. This Test may have been lost because Sehwag did not expand on his quickfire 39 in the first innings. The problem is he will not be such a force if he curbs himself unduly. Finding the balance is going to be his biggest challenge.
— UNI |
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I am no angel, says Shoaib Lahore: After bowling one of his fiery spells to bowl Pakistan to a stunning nine-wicket victory over India in the second cricket Test here on Thursday, express fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said he was ‘not an angel’ and ‘still learning day by day.’ “I am not an angel, I have my bad days and good days. I am still learning day by day,” said Akhtar who bowled consistently above 90 mph mark. The Rawalpindi Express first picked the crucial wicket of the dangerous Virender Sehwag and then, in a display of top class fast bowling, peppered the young Irfan Pathan with a series of short pitched deliveries before having him caught in the second slip with a snorter. Akhtar was happy he found the rhythm that was lacking until now in the series and said the strategy was to bowl in short bursts at top speed. “The idea was to just bowl at the right areas and bowl in short bursts of three-four overs.
— PTI
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Imtiaz’s appeal Lahore: Former Pakistan captain Imtiaz Ahmed on Thursday made a fervent appeal for more cricketing ties with India saying ‘’not only the game but the people of the subcontinent will benefit” from it. “Cricket is followed by millions across the border and the current series has proved that cricketers can act as goodwill
ambassadors between the two countries,’’ he said. The former skipper singled out Sachin Tendulkar and said ‘’Sachin has a fan following which can be envy of any superstar of Bollywood. Tendulkar does not need any praise from me because his performances speak for him.’’ He also praised Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq saying in the ongoing series,’’
He has showed his true class.’’ Showering praises on the players and the crowd, he said,’’
What excites me is the way the Indians and Pakistanis are playing their cricket. I am very thrilled with the
exemplary behavior of the fans in my country.’’ Being a famous wicketkeeper of his time, Imtiaz is highly impressed by young Parthiv Patel.
— UNI
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Notes from Pakistan Once a formidable opponent, legendary Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad turned a gracious host as he feted his former rivals at a dinner. Former Indian captain Gundappa Viswanath, accompanied by Dilip Vengsarkar, Syed Kirmani and Kiran More, all former India Test players who have played against Miandad, found their Pakistani host to be a simple human being. Miandad is now the coach of the Pakistan team.
“He (Miandad) has always been close to us,” Viswanath said. What did they talk about over dinner? “Well, we talked about a lot of things, generally. We of course talked plenty of cricket, but we also discussed movies.” Viswanath is also close to former Pakistan batsman Wasim Raja, the elder brother of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief executive Rameez. “We had a lot of things common between us,” Viswanath said. “Whenever we met as International Cricket Council (ICC) match referees, we would recall the tours we made to each other’s country.” Wasim, who is no longer an ICC referee, is based in England, while Viswanath lives in Bangalore. *
It increasingly looks like former Pakistan captain and tearaway Waqar Younis’ career is all but over. The fast bowler, who formed a formidable pair with Wasim Akram and swung the world’s best batsmen out, was very keen on staging a comeback ever since he was dropped after the 2003 World Cup. But the selectors have continuously ignored him, though there was a talk that he would be called back during the ongoing series against India. Now the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is seriously planning to give him a formal farewell. Although Waqar had turned down a PCB request of a farewell
One-Day International against South Africa last year, it seems the “burewalla bombshell”, as the bowler is often referred to, has reconciled to the fact that it is indeed the end of the road for him. PCB chief executive Rameez Raja said he would discuss a farewell match with Waqar after he returned from his present trip to India. His retirement would then be formally announced. “He called me up from India the other day. Let him come back and we will call a press conference and announce it,” Rameez said. *
After singers Daler Mehndi, Jagjit Singh and Sonu Nigam, it is now the turn of Saif Ali Khan, Sushmita Sen and Malaika Arora to tour Pakistan. They are slated to perform in the coastal city of Karachi “very, very soon”, an advertisement in Dawn announced on Thursday. Production and events group IndusTree is organising the event about which they are not disclosing anything more at present. *
In order to achieve 100 per cent literacy at the primary level, the Punjab government here is taking measures to ensure free education for every girl child in the province. It has decided to give a monthly stipend of Rs.200 each to girl students from Class VI to Class VIII in all government schools. Free education up to matriculation will be provided to girls in select districts. Initially, the stipend scheme is being introduced in selected low-literacy districts for girls who attain 80 per cent attendance in schools. The two schemes have been launched under the Punjab education sector reforms programme.
— IANS |
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BBMB win by 4 wickets Ropar, April 8 In the 30-over match SIVL were all out for 126 in 27 overs. In reply BBMB made the required runs in just 16.1 overs for the loss of six wickets. In the other semifinal bating first, PGCL made 187 in 30 overs. NEEPC attained he target with just one ball to spare for the loss of six wickets.
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