All of a sudden it seems that former test cricketers are finally getting together to run cricket in Pakistan.

Better them than the bureaucratic administrators who had been doing the job thus far.

While Intikhab Alam and Ijaz Ahmed will get together to watch the Pentangular Cup match (read: Shoaib Akhtar) between Punjab vs Federal Areas match in Islamabad from Friday, a host of former cricketers have been invited by law minister Farooq Naek on Saturday to join the 15-member committee that is reviewing the constitution of the PCB.

Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Saleem Malik, and Rameez Raja have been included in the existing committee, which also includes Najamuddin Khan, who as Sports Minister had tried to nominate himself as the PCB Chairman before Ijaz Butt was nominated by Zardari.

Farooq Naek is the Chairman of the committee, while Shoaib Malik and Misbah-Ul-Haq have been its members since it was formed.

So my question - what happens to Ijaz Butt once the constitution has been reviewed? What if the committee decides that the Chairman should be elected through a democratic process involving the state associations?

If the committee is serious about improving the constitution then Ijaz Butt's appointment seems to be an interim one as further changes can be expected when the new constitution is put into place.

But then this could very well be a dragged and long drawn process - it took this constitution 8 years to get drafted!

So how long it will take the new one and how many Chairman the PCB will have during this time is something I don't even want to think about.

Though I hope that Farooq Naek and his committee are more serious than the previous men who have tried to do the same.

I've heard that this committee has been reviewing the constitutions of the cricket boards in India, Australia, and South Africa in order to gain ideas on improving the PCB's constitution.

This committee is also trying to come up with idea on how to restructure domestic cricket in Pakistan.

Hence the inclusion of Miandad, Wasim, Malik, and Rameez makes sense. But why not Imran Khan who has been talking about changing the domestic structure for the last 4 decades?

Will these men be able to change what has been there for as long as cricket has existed in Pakistan?

Including making Shoaib Akhtar perform without breaking down?

Surrey have released Saqlain Mushtaq, who served the county for 11 years, in order to sign Harbhajan Singh.

Due to Saqlain's ICL links, the BCCI had not allowed Harbhajan to sign with Surrey for this last season.

However, the Surrey boss has now made it clear that they will not be going into the next season with an ICL player on board and that this will also allow them to sign up Harbhajan Singh.

Hence Saqlain, who plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, has been released from his contract.

I guess the world is still far away from accepting ICL players, and I thought we were moving closer to that.

So where does this leave Mushtaq Ahmed, who also plays for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, as England's spin coach?

I think a more consistent approach is required from the ECB. Surely the counties' and the ECB's interests should be aligned.

I believe Shahid Afridi made Saleem Jaffar's job easier after he stroked a 36 ball 59 in an effort to chase the target that Federal Areas set for Sindh on the final day of their Pentangular Cup match.

Federal Areas declared their 2nd innings on 411-3, setting Sindh an unlikely 367 to get in 50 overs.

Sindh's innings started off well with Khalid Latif and Khurram Manzoor giving them a fiery start but 2 quick wicket pegged them back.

Afridi, the Sindh captain, found the perfect time to come back into some form as he shared a 116 run partnership for the 4th wicket with Khalid as the two tried to up the tempo.

However, once Afridi left after smashing 6 boundaries and 2 sixes, the target seemed out of reach and Sindh ended the day on 247-4.

Jaffar would have been pleased with Afridi's performance as well as that of the other players on his Watch Monitor.

He should be thinking on these lines:

Umar Gul [21(15), 6-39 & 1-32]: He seems fit enough. We need to put him on a training program with the proper diets and excercises. Mental Note: take a leaf out of Shane Watson's book.

Sohail Tanvir [45(74), 5-100 & 1-23]: Why did I put him on a watch again? He has no fitness issues. His form has always been good. He needs to be disciplined thought. Mental note: Keep away from Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Warne.

Shoaib Akhtar [18(26), 2-43 & 1-51]: He seems fit but he got hit around by 20 year olds. He is past his prime. We should not burden ourselves with him anymore. Mental Note: No future.

Shahid Afridi [17(21) & 59(36), 1-55 & 0-96]: I should tell him that I was wrong asking for him to improve his batting form. He should continue concentrating on his bowling. Mental Note: Improve batting but not at the expense of bowling.

Faisal Iqbal [32(75) & 19(47)]: I wonder when he'll achieve his potential. Mental Note: Watching him only for Javed bhai.

This is what I think he should be thinking but he very well could be thinking that Gul and Tanvir need to improve their form and fitness because they are always under par in international matches and that Shoaib is their biggest fast bowling hope and that Afridi should have won that match instead of throwing his wicket away for 59 and that Faisal is Pakistan's middle order future!!

Think again Jaffar sahab!

Before you continue, I suggest you first read the crash course below.

Warriors Get a Name

The first sponsorship deal for a team for the Champions League was sealed recently when it was announced that the Western Australia team, the Warriors, would be sponsored by the Rambal family.

The Rambal family, a business family group in Western Australia, have been major sponsors of the WACA for over a year now and have bagged the naming-rights for the Warriors team.

As a result the Warriors side taking the field in the Champions League will be called the Rambal Warriors.

The Logo in the post below is now replaced with this one.

The Stallions lose Players

Despite winning the domestic 20-20 competition this season for the third time in a row, the Stallions have been massively weakened due to a number of their key players joining the 'rebel' ICL.

Imran Nazir, who captained the Stallions to their previous 2 titles, is their biggest loss, while Naved Ul Hasan, Hafiz Khalid, Shehzad Malik, and Mohammad Asif are other key players missing from their line up due to the ICL and other reasons.

Loyalty Program

Micheal Hussey, Albie Morkel, and Morne Morkel will have to undergo some sort of loyalty programming if they are not allowed to play for their preferred teams in the Champions League.

Hussey would rather play for the Warriors while the Morkel brothers would prefer to play for the Titans, however certain contractual obligations may force them to play for their IPL teams.

The respective coaches, Tom Moody and Richard Pybus were hopeful that the players would be allowed to play for their states.

Hussey's inclusion in the Warriors team would give them a batting order comprising of Marsh, Ronchi, Pomersbach, Hussey, North, and Voges - Thats some line up!

The Rangers or the Royalty?

Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals to a dream win in the inaugral IPL earlier this year. He will be captaining them in the Champions League as well.

Warne could come up against his former team, Victoria, whom he captained in the Australian domestic season years ago.

Victoria is Warne's home team and he has long been associated with them. How would he feel playing against them?

Would be a great watch!

Stay tuned for more Champions League updated leading up to the tournament.

When England and Australia introduced cricket to the world over a century ago, little did they know that one day their regional teams will be vying to play in a competition being held in India, which over a century ago was being ruled by the British.

Who would have believed back then that one day Middlesex will be taking on Victoria in Mumbai.

That is exactly what will be happening on the inaugral day of the Champions League.

The one cricket spectacle that can catch the imagination of billions around the world was launched in Delhi last week.

The first ever Champions League will take place between December 3rd and 10th in India.

Lalit Modi and company officially launched the competition this Thursday where the draws for the groups were held and various awards were given out to top 20-20 performers of the season.

Even though the teams are not actually cricket clubs, the involvement of regional / state teams from domestic competitions of test playing nations in a tournament, is the first baby step towards promoting club cricket around the world.

Football, arguably the most popular sport in the world, has relied on the 'club culture' for over a century and there's no reason why cricket cannot replicate the formula for taking the sport to a wider global audience.

The number of doors that this can open for cricket are unimaginable in my view.

Here's a look at what the Champions League will throw our way.

The Groups & The Teams

Group A:
Victoria Bushrangers
Middlesex Crusaders
Pretoria Titans
Chennai Super Kings

Group B:
Rajasthan Royals
Sialkot Stallions
Natal Dolphins
Western Warriors

Bushrangers, Crusaders, Titans, Super Kings, Royals, Stallions, Dolphins, Warriors - ever seen such a diverse mix of participants in any sort of competition?

Reminds me of the WWE!

You've got royalty, you've got men going for battle, you've got animals, you've got fish, and you've got gardeners!

And you've got them from Australia, South Africa, England, India, and Pakistan.

Lalit Modi has managed to bring them all together in India.

One can easily imagine a similar competition played out over a longer period, maybe a decade or two down the line involving teams from New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Brazil, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Netherlands, Ireland, and many others.

Globalization is an understatement.

The Matches

The opening match of the Champions League will be played in Mumbai between Victoria Bushrangers, the winners of the KFC 20-20 competition in Australia, taking on the Middlesex Crusaders, the winners of England's 20-20 competition.

The top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the semi finals. The final of the tournament will take place in Chennai a week after the opening match.

The Captains

Bushrangers and the Warriors, the Australian teams, are captained by Cameron White and Marcus North respectively.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, will be leading the Sialkot Stallions, while MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, will be leading the Chennai Super Kings.

Retired former Victorian, Shane Warne, will be leading the IPL champions Rajasthan Royals, and Middlesex will be captained by Shaun Udal.

The South African teams, Titans and Dolphins, will be led by Pierre Joubert and Ahmed Amla (Hashim's brother) respectively.

Where else will you find a french play cricket amongst the elite?

The Awards

Shaun Marsh, who topped the averaged in both the IPL (Kings XI) as well as the KFC 20-20 Cup (Bushrangers), won the best average for a batsman award.

Sohail Tanvir picked up the award for best bowling figures for his 6-14 for the Royals against the Super Kings, which are also the best bowling figures in all official 20-20 cricket, excluding the ICL.

Charles Langeveldt won the best strike rate for a bowler award for picking a wicket every 9 deliveries for the Cape Cobras, while Graeme Napier of Essex won the best stike rate for a batsman award with a SR of 195.2!

Brendon McCullum (Knight Riders) won the award for the highest score of 158 that he hit in the opening math if the IPL, and Yusuf Abdullah from the Natal Dolphins won the award for the best economy rate of 4.32.

A special award was given to Shoaib Malik for leading the Sialkot Stallions to 3 consecutive 20-20 titles while remaining unbeaten in 16 successive 20-20 matches.

Thats the longest winning streak in 20-20 cricket for any team. The Australia of 20-20 cricket?

Now that you have been familiarized with the Champions league, I can talk about the more interesting stuff related to the tournament.

Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir, both of whom are being "closely montitored" by Saleem Jaffar and his selection committee, had good days out on the field on the 3rd day of the RBS Pentangular Cup.

While Tanvir helped Federal Areas restrict Sindh's lead to 40 odd runs with a 5 wicket haul, Gul demolished Baluchistan with a haul of 6-39 leading NWFP to a crushing innings victory.

Gul is captaining the side in Younis Khan's absence, who is helping out South Australia down under, and has been put on a fitness watch by Saleem Jaffar.

This effort of his should remove any doubts Jaffar had.

Tanvir's 5-100 is also promising as he was up against a powerful Sindh batting line up.

Shoaib Akhtar, who took 4 spells to complete 9 overs the other day, bowled another 4 overs yesterday and picked up another wicket.

I wonder if Jaffar thinks that his stamina is improving.

Afridi, captaining the defending champions Sindh, is on a form watch, and I doubt his effort of 17 in the first innings would have done Jaffar proud.

But then why is Afridi's batting form being assessed again?

Stay tuned for updates on Jaffar's monitor during the Pentangular Cup.

Younis Khan is not playing the on going Pentangular Cup in Pakistan as he is busy fulfilling his Australian commitment.

Earlier this year Younis Khan announced that he had been signed on by South Australia for a short stint with them in November-December this year.

My good friend at Cricket with Balls told me that South Australia was one of the weaker sides in the domestic competition down under and that anything that Younis would be able to bring to the side would be great for them.

Younis landed in Australia about a week ago, and though he didn't make an impression in his first outing in the Ford Ranger Cup (the ODI competition), South Australia did manage to sneak in a penultimate ball victory over New South Wales.

SA won by 4 wickets with a ball to spare chasing 261, but Younis was bowled by some Bird for only 3.

For a more descriptive account of that victory and Younis, see this.

Younis' next innings in Australia was also nothing to talk about as he was sent back to the dressing room of the first ball he faced on the 1st day of the Sheffield Shield game between SA and NSW.

He was caught behind off Thornely. Wasn't Thornely the wicket keeper?

On the final dat of the match, however, Younis Khan finally lived up to his reputation as he guided SA to a draw int he 4-day game.

Younis scored an unbeaten 71 as SA ended the final day on 300-5 after NSW had posted a mammoth 576 - 263 runs ahead of SA's 1st innings score.

Always good to see a Pakistani do well in Aussie land.

The RBS Pentangular Cup started 2 days ago with the defending champions Sindh taking on Federal Areas and NWFP taking on Baluchistan.

Saleem Jaffar, the chief selector, has stated that he and his selectors are going to closely monitor the performance and fitness of some players during the Pentangular.

Based on their assessment they will then select a squad for next month's ODI series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

Out of the players being closely watched, one is Faisal Iqbal.

Why exactly?

Another is Shoaib Akhtar.

Understandably so.

Shoaib bowled 9 overs during day yesterday. He took 4 spells to bowl those 9 overs. Sohail Tanvir bowled 20 during the same time, and Rao 19!

Saleem Jaffar who was present at the ground said "He is just lacking in stamina".

You gotta be kidding me man!!

Shoaib has been lacking in stamina for the past decade! Thats been his only problem.

Thats our chief selector and thats what he concludes after "CLOSELY MONITORING" a performance?

I'm dissappointed in myself for not knowing that Lawson's time was up.

I'm dissappointed that I actually trusted what Ijaz Butt said in his 1st press conference.

For a moment I had forgotten that this was Pakistan, where no one sticks to their word. Where everyone says big things to hog the headlines and then forgets about them.

Some people have said to give this new administration some time.

I was doing exactly that when Ijaz Butt said that Lawson would stay till his contract expired and then let go.

Little did I know that Ijaz Butt would make a U-Turn within a week!

So what happened Mr. Butt?

I thought the board had no money to pay off Lawson in case they fired him - where did you get the money suddenly?

When you met him on Friday, you promised to get back to him after discussing certain issues with the board. Instead Lawson heard on TV that he was being fired - what happened to that discussion?

The start of the new Chairman's term has been nothing less than dramatic.

It's as if Chota Rajan has been welcomed by Karachi and he has gone about business by initially getting rid of all of Dawood Ibrahim's men and traces.

In came the new PCB Chairman and out went the COO, the media director, the HR director, the Chief Selector, various other staff members, and now the coach.

Who next?

Now lets hope this Ijaz Butt seriously means business and is not only speaking for the sake of it!

Over at the ICL, Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the doosra (the second / other one), is busy showing the world his new delivery - the teesra! (the third one).

What he does is, is that he holds the ball with an offspinner's grip, but instead of the open-end of the hand facing the cover region (off side for a right handed batsman), it faces the midwicket region (the leg side for a right handed batsman).

Can you picture that? I tried to explain it the best I could.

And then he delivers the ball by rolling his fingers over it and the resulting delivery is more like a top spinner.

It's gotten him plenty of wickets so far in this ICL season - 2-19 and 3-26.

"It has been said that good captaincy is like pornography - it's hard to define but you know it when you see it."

That is Ian Chappell talking about how good MS Dhoni is as the captain of India.

Really Ian, pornography?

He even worded his article that way making various inferences to the X-Rated stuff.

Read the title: "Give it to the Keeper".

He even presents video evidence, which he describes as: "....the period in the game when Anil Kumble was off the field and stand-in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led a vibrant India...."

And he goes on "....a team that looked far superior to the one that performed in pedestrian mode a few hours later ....".

Later on he talks about why Kumble was given charge initially saying "He was the ideal person to fill in for a short period until Dhoni was ready to do the job..."

He then talk about grooming and the animal stuff - "Anybody who watched .... and still thinks Dhoni needs more grooming has attended too many dog shows"

The best part though comes when Ian starts to describe how Dhoni made his partners feel.

He starts with "Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir set off aggressively .... but Dhoni did plenty to assist his own and the team's cause".

From there he moves on to the kind of atmosphere that was created because of Dhoni's aggression - "Most importantly he created an atmosphere where the players enjoyed the contest"

He then cites some examples:

"Sehwag was a classic example. He had a smile from start to finish, enjoying his team-mates’ success ...".

"Zaheer Khan was like a man possessed, heavily involved ..."

"...Sachin Tendulkar behaved like an exuberant 18-year-old..."

From there he talks about the opposing partners and then concludes with "It has been said that good captaincy is like pornography - it's hard to define but you know it when you see it."

In times like these for Pakistan cricket, atleast some people have something to cheer about - for Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, and Mushtaq Ahmed it was a significant day.

Javed Miandad was included in the PCB Governing Board, a position that was held by Ijaz Butt before he became chairman.

So if you're not a successful coach, you are given a post in the Pakistan board. When will we see Lawson wear a suit?

This may also resurrect Faisal Iqbal's career!

Saleem Malik got his life ban overturned by a Pakistan court after 8 years.

Azharuddin has hope I guess and Cronje can now finally come back from the dead!

Malik talked about setting up a cricket academy. Really? Who is going to join this academy?

Or rather what is he going to coach in this academy - How to lose a match? Or how to set your team up for victory, run some partners out, and then throw your wicket to lose the match?

Mushtaq Ahmed has been appointed spin coach by the England Cricket Board.

There's hope for the ICL players!

Mushtaq is going to work with spinners in England's test and ODI squads as well as in ECB's development programs.

I didn't know they had spinners in England's squads and development programs.

Nonetheless, a great achievement for someone who is involved with the ICL and who was not allowed to be Pakistan's assistant coach due to being charged in a match fixing inquiry, the same one that banned Malik 8 years ago.

High time someone thinks about the current players in Pakistan!

The Lahore Badshahs are playing the Mumbai Champs as I write and the last 10 ball sequence has been:

4 4 4 6 6 6 4 6 6 4

And Imran Farhat just got out after scoring 21 off 8 deliveries. He was the one who hit the 2 4s and 2 6s.

The previous over that went for 30 runs was faced by Imran Nazir. He's batting on 38 of 10 deliveries.

I have never seen anything like it.

The Badshahs are 59-1 in 3 overs!

Oh the bowlers - Johan Van Der Wath & Micheal Kasprowicz.

The Lahore Badshahs got to 50 in 2.3 overs. 15 deliveries!

Thats the fastest 50 in ICL's 2 year history - Is it the fastest opening 50 partnership in any form of cricket?

I don't think I've seen a faster one.

Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Harbajhan Singh
Amit Mishra

Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
RP Singh / Sreesanth
Amit Mishra

The first one for home tests and the 2nd one for tests in Australia, England, South Africa and elsehwere, will win India a lot of test matches going forward.

It reminds of the times Pakistan used to have Wasim, Waqar, Aquib, and Mushtaq.

If Ijaz Butt's comments are to be believed, talks of a possible merger between the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League were held during the recently held ICC moot in Dubai.

During that meeting the BCCI was asked to meet the ICL officials to possible come up with a solution regarding the league and its players considered to be rebels.

Ijaz Butt, at his 1st press conference since taking over as PCB Chairman, claimed that a merger was suggested.

Butt has definitely come out with something that was discussed behind closed doors and this would definitely not please the BCCI or the ICC.

At a time when Pakistan cricket requires all the support it can get, Butt cannot afford to get on the wrong side of anyone, let alone the BCCI.

Lalit Modi & Co. are sure to come out with a reaction soon.

And I can almost see the grins on the faces of Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev.

What I don't understand though is that how can the smartest cricket brains in the world (they should be that if they're heading the national cricket boards) even think about a possible merger between the IPL and the ICL.

A league with 17 teams including multiple teams from the same region hardly sounds feasible.

So why would these so called cricket brains even think of such an idea?

In my view, the simplest solution is to allow the ICL players to play for their regional teams in domestic competitions and also allow them to be considered for international duty.

No one has to do anything more. And I doubt the ICL is looking for anything more. Maybe they want the BCCI's help in gaining access to more grounds and facilities for holding matches and practices, but surely they are not looking for the two leagues to be merged.

So why is the ICC even discussing such a solution?

The best solution, one that I would like to see, is that the bans on the players be lifted and the ICL winners be granted entry into the 20-20 Champions League.

That for me is the ideal scenario. Not an IPCL!

A question I would like to ask all Australians as they surely haven't seen anything like what happened in Mohali for almost 2 decades.

The more younger ones wouldn't have seen their team being outplayed like this in their lifetime.

So how does it feel like to be on the other side?

Once the new Chairman, Ijaz Butt, took over the PCB, changes were expected by everyone; however, no one really expected the changes to take place this rapidly.

PCB's management, the selection committee, and the team management have all changed since Ijaz Butt took over, and will continue to do so over the next few months before the big series against India in January 2009.

PCB Management

A number of Nasim Ashraf's yes men have been asked to leave office and more will be doing so in the coming weeks.

Shafqat Naghmi, PCB's Chief Operating Officer, is the latest one to resign from his post. Rumours are however suggesting that Naghmi will not be allowed to leave till an investigation into the PCB's operations under Nasim Ashraf is completed.

The news doing the rounds is that financial irregularities have been discovered and Naghmi along with Nasim Ashraf have been at the centre of them. While Ashraf may be able to escape scott-free, Naghmi would have to bear the brunt.

Salim Altaf, who was fired a few months ago by Nasim Ashraf for leaking news to the media is back in the PCB offices owing to his association with Ijaz Butt.

Salim Altaf has always been involved with Pakistan cricket one way or another, but what he has exactly done during all this time is a question mark. Its also unknown as to in what capacity he has been brought back.

Over the next few weeks, Ijaz Butt is expected to hire a fresh team to manage the PCB including a CEO, COO, and other directors for HR, marketing, media, etc.

This necessarily may not be a bad thing as majority of the management who have been asked to leave were part of the Nasim Ashraf camp, and Ijaz Butt has every right to have a team of his own.

Furthermore, being a former test cricketer, it may also be a good thing that Ijaz Butt is looking to hire professionals with some sort of cricket experience, unlike the administrators and bureaucrats who managed the board under Nasim Ashraf.

Selection Committee

Chief Selector Salahuddin resigned the day after Ijaz Butt took over.

Even though he mentioned that he left because he wanted Ijaz Butt to appoint his own selection committee, the true reasons behind the resignation was the tampering of the squad chosen for the T20 Quadrangular in Canada.

Since then the Sports Ministry has come out and said that a PCB official had asked for a change in the squad, which was approved by the Ministry. Who exactly that official was, we don't know but rest assured he is one of the men who have been asked to leave by Ijaz Butt.

Shagqat Rana, who was part of the selection committee, has also resigned since then, while the 3rd member of the committee, Saleem Jaffar, has been appointed as the Chief Selector by Ijaz Butt.

Jaffar's appointment is however an interim one with his immediate tasks including selecting the squads for the Hong Kong Sixes and the 3 ODIs against the West Indies next month.

It is believed that Ijaz Butt will find a replacement for Jaffar by the end of the year, in time for preparation for the series against India in January.

Former test cricketers Ijaz Ahmed and Shoaib Mohammad have been appointed selectors under Jaffar. Whether they are interim members or permanent is yet unknown.

Once again, a selection committee comprising of former test cricketers can only be a good thing.

Team Management

Manager

Talat Ali, who was the manager of the team for 2 years resigned after the T20 Quadrangular in Canada.

News reports again suggested that Talat Ali resigned with the view that the new Chairman should hire his own team, however a certain controversy on tour in Canada is believed to have resulted in Talat Ali's sacking.

Firstly, Ijaz Butt was never happy with the fact that Talat Ali invited Nasim Ashraf to the team's dug out during the match against Zimbabwe in Canada.

Secondly, some players complained against Talat Ali for not informing them about a particular team dinner that was held for all participants by the hosts in Canada. Half the Pakistan players did not attend because they were not aware of the dinner, while the other half were left embarassed as they were not dresssed appropriately, again because they were not aware.

Sultan Rana and Yawar Saeed have been named as the managers for the Hong Kong Sixes and ODIs against West Indies respectively, while a permanent manager is expected to be named before the end of the year.

Coach

Ijaz Butt openly criticized Geoff Lawson soon after he was appointed as PCB Chairman, which led everyone to believe that Lawson's days were numbered.

I still believe that Lawson's tenure will be over after the ODIs against the Windies, however Lawson in his latest interview thinks otherwise.

There is strong speculation that Waqar Younis will take over as coach before the series against India. Waqar is definitely lobbying for the position and it seems that Ijaz Butt is more in favour of a Pakistani coach rather than a foreign one.

Waqar or no Waqar, Lawson will definitely be going as Ijaz Butt has announced that Lawson's contract will not be renewed when it expires in April 2009. I won't be surprised if he's allowed to leave much before that.

Captain

With the axing of Talat Ali, and the speculation surrounding Lawson, it seemed that Shoaib Malik was living his last few days as Pakistan captain as well.

Misbah, Afridi, Younis were all being rumoured to take over as captain. Besides Misbah, the other two were also heard lobbying for the post and speculation was that one of them would take over by the end of the year when Malik's term expires.

But all that took a back seat after a meeting was held yesterday between the 3 cricket heads - PCB Chairman, Chief Selector, and Captain.

Following the meeting it was concluded that Malik will now have a greater say in squad selection as well as the team composition.

Now that's interesting to say the least. How Malik got his way with Ijaz Butt and Jaffar is still a mystery.

This is a drastic change from the previous policy, where the selection committee had total control over team selection.

How this will change the team comprosition will also be intriguing to witness.

Malik's problems with Afridi and Younis are well documented - will this lead to their axing or will Malik include them despite his differences?

Imran Khan and Wasim Akram showed that a captain with all powers is the way to go in Pakistan, however Inzamam showed why it should never be allowed.

Which way Shoaib Malik will go, we can only speculate right now, but this in no way means that Malik's status as captain following December is secure as Ijaz Butt has stated that Malik's term will be reviewed once the current one ends.


Thus come the series against India and Pakistan could be taking the field under a new man.

Time will only tell whether these changes will bring about a change in fortunes for the Pakistan team or not, but one thing is definite - Ijaz Butt is here with a plan and that plan has kicked off with operation Clean Up.

Look what I found!

An ICL ad using Shahrukh Khan!

Check it out yourself here on Bollywood.tv.

I wonder if its Bollywood TV that have blundered not knowing that King Khan is a part of ICL's rival, the IPL.

Or is it the Solicitor, who are sponsoring this.

Or whether the ICL knows about this and are letting it be, hence using SRK's brand power.

But its LIVE and FREE telecast of ICL matches, why would one need SRK to market that?

Hmmm.

I wonder if the BCCI knows about this.

Or has SRK done this knowingly?

I love leg spinners.

I may not be as passionate about them as JRod but I still love them.

They make the game exciting to watch.

Those subtle few steps to the crease, the twirl of the arm, the rip of the fingers, the flight of the ball, and that bamboozled batsman who sees the ball spin across him and past the off stump - very few sights beat this one in cricket.

Since Shane Warne retired last year, I have been waiting for a leg spinner to emerge who would make cricket as exciting to watch as Warne did.

The Aussies took Beau Casson to the Windies and I remember tuning into the test late one night just to watch a new leg spinner bowl.

Considering he was Warne's apparent long term replacement, my anticipation was high despite warnings from JRod that he wasn't all that.

Casson hardly impressed.

The IPL provided a lot of excitement as there were a lot of leggies in action.

I watched Warne all over again, along with Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, and the Warne understudy at the Rajasthan Royals - Dinesh Salunkhe!

But the IPL provided only 4 overs each from them. At the most. That wasn't enough for either of these bowlers to show what they were all about.

A leg spinner needs a stage to perform and that stage is Test cricket.

I was still looking for that 1 leg spinner to emerge.

Ajantha Mendis provided a lot of excitement in the India - Sri Lanka test series over the summer, but he's not a leg spinner.

Exciting yes, but in a different way. Its his mystery element that makes him exciting. There's no rip, no twirling of the arms, no oohs or aahs.

Great bowler that Mendis, but not the leg spinner I had been waiting for.

When the Australian test squad for the ongoing India - Australia test series was announced, there was one name there that I had seen do the rounds of Cricket with Balls for the last year.

That name was Bryce McGain.

He was a leg spinner. He was from the same state as Shane Warne. He had had a successful domestic season in Australia.

And he was to debut at Bangalore.

JRod had gone on about him for over a year so I was sure that he was something to look forward to.

That leg spinner whom I had been waiting for was finally here.

Almost!

A shoulder injury booked McGain a flight back to Australia.

Cameron White, the Victoria captain and also a leg spinner, was sent to India to replace him.

I had first heard of White a long time back when in one article it was mentioned that he was the next blonde leg spinner that would take Australia by storm.

That was a long long time ago as since then White had become more of a batsman and only a part time leg spinner.

Watching White bowl in the 1st test at Bangalore was fun. He brought a lot of passion into the game as was evident when he took that wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. His first.

But that excitement, that rip, that wrong one, the one that pitches on leg and goes past off, the oohs, the aahs were all missing.

It was never expected to be there to begin with.

The wait for that leggie had to continue I thought.

When news regarding Kumble's fitness did the rounds before the Mohali Test, I thought India would go in with 3 seamers and Bhajji.

Which is why on Friday morning, I was surprised to see Amit Mishra in the XI.

That led the blood cells racing again. Another leg spinner to debut.

I had first seen Mishra in the IPL and had been impressed by him.

Bak then, I had also wondered why Piyush Chawla was playing internationals and not Mishra.

When Mishra took the ball in his hand yesterday, I glued myself to the TV.

Yet another leg spinner was going to bowl his first ball in test cricket. I wondered if he was the leg spinner I had been waiting for all this time.

His first over told me he could be.

His third over, where he bowled Katich off an inside edge, got me thinking that he was definitely the one who would make test cricket as exciting as Warne did.

His 9th and the day's last over, where he trapped Clarke plumb in front with a googly, made me realise that Mishra was it.

Finally I got what I had been waiting for.

Finally test cricket had unleashed another leg spinner who will make it exciting to watch.

Finally the world will see another bowler take a few steps, twirl that arm, rip those fingers, flight that ball, pitch it on leg, and spin it across the batsmen.

Occassionally, the world will also see the wrong ones, and the flippers, and we will all ooh and aah in anticipation of a wicket.

He is playing this test due to an injury to Kumble. Mishra's future probably depends on Kumble's fitness but I hope India can find ways to keep him in the XI despite Kumble's presence.

Because to do otherwise will be gross injustice to the talent this man possesses.

I have been waiting for you Mishra.

And I don't want to wait anymore.

No ageing star should need to announce his retirement for you to make that spot in the XI your very own.

Saurav Ganguly, who is pushed into retirement, who has a miserable record against the Aussies, who was Brad Hogg's bunny in the series prior to this one, who till yesterday had 1 century in 20 odd tests against Australia, top scores with 102 to guide India to a significant total.

And you still want him retired?

Shakib-Ul-Hasan, a 21 year old left arm spinner, who declined an ICL offer, who till yesterday had a mere 3 wickets in 6 tests with a best of 2/44, demolishes the New Zealand batting line up with 6-31!

And you still think Bangladesh are minnows?

Just when one thought that leg spin was a dieing art form after Shane Warne, we first saw Cameron White make an impressive debut against India, then we saw the same White triple his wicket tally by getting India's top 2 scorers out today, and then we saw Amit Mishra bowl his 1st delivery in test cricket, pick a wicket up with his 18th, and another with his 53rd!

And you thought you would never see a leg spinner who gives it a rip?

All this in one day and you thought test cricket was boring?

The ICC, or rather David Morgan, has ordered the BCCI to meet the ICL officials.

So its going to be Shashank Manohar one on one with Subhash Chandra.

Thats big!

Thats Wrestlemania main event big.

Thats Larry King Live big.

Thats like asking Osama to meet up with Bush to sort out their differences. Or asking the Chief of Pepsi to meet the head of Coca Cola to discuss ambush marketing!

Thats like ordering Dawood Ibrahim to meet the Indian Government to reach a resolution.

I wonder what they are going to talk about?

How can the two meet and be civil to each other?

Well actually it would have been better had it been Sharad Pawar or even Lalit Modi meeting Subhash Chandra. Thats where the real bad blood is.

Maybe Shashank Manohar would have a soft spot. Now thats a thought.

What can the conclusion of such a meeting be?

Beats me really.

Maybe the ICL champions will get a crack at the Champions League title!

We all want that don't we?

I do!

But seriously - Shashank vs Subhash - whose providing the live coverage? I'd pay a fortune to watch it LIVE on Pay Per View!

Bring it on guys.

Thumbs up to David Morgan really. Maybe he should run against McCain and Obama!

On 27th September, 2008 Well Pitched became 1 year old.

It has been quite a ride!

Thanks to Naked Cricket, I am honored to be recruited as the latest BORED member of the BCC!.

Remember when I said this?

And when AP Webster said this?

Remember when I raved about him here?

He just played in the T20 Quadrangular in Canada and in his first three T20 Internationals he picked up figures of:

4-0-15-4
4-1-17-4
4-0-23-3

Thats 11 wickets in 3 T20 matches at an average of 5.00 and a strike rate of 6.5!

In 13 ODIs he has 33 wickets at an average of 10.81 and a strike rate of 18.0!

In 3 Tests he has 26 wickets at an average of 18.38 and a strike rate of 37.6.

All those 26 test wickets are of the best players of spin in the world.

Where have you seen better?

When has anyone excited you more?

Fawad Alam is one of the many players whose career I have followed closely.

In my previous post about Fawad, I talked about his rise at the U19 and domestic level that led to his inclusion in the Pakistan side and described his prolific domestic run scoring.

In that post I also mentioned how he was one of the most under rated cricketers in Pakistan.

Fawad's recent performances for the Pakistan Academy on its tours to Zimbabwe and Kenya in August and September were exceptional as he ended both the tours as the leading run scorer on either side.

He continued his good run of form in the recently concluded RBS National 20-20 Cup, and has shown glimpses of that in the ongoing T20 Quadrangular in Canada.

I called him the finisher in my previous post and he proved just that against Sri Lanka two nights ago as he smashed an unbeaten 23 off a mere 9 balls to lead Pakistan to a nail biting victory.

On the Academy tours, however, he showed that he can also be the anchor and the team's primary batsman. Fawad batted at number 3 or 4 for the Academy team and with every match looked a better batsman.

He started the Zimabwe tour with scores of 55 and 5* in the Academy's 202 run victory in the first 4-day match and followed that up with a 101 and 9 in the next match, which the Academy also won (by 6 wickets).

In the 3 ODIs that followed, Fawad knocked 4, 68, and an unbeaten 100 in comprehensive victories for the Academy side. By the end of the tour Fawad had piled up 342 runs at an average of 68.40 in 7 innings.

The tour of Kenya started with a 4-day game, in which Steve Tikolo's 170 and 94 had set the Pakistan Academy an unlikely target of 364 with 3 and a half sessions to play.

Fawad was in his element again maintaining his outstanding form while stroking an unbeaten 108 on the last day of the match to lead the Pakistan Academy to a 4 wicket victory on the final evening of the match.

Having hit 3 centuries in his last 5 matches against Zimbabwe and Kenya, Fawad was looking in supreme touch going into the second 4-day match against Kenya.

What one witnessed in that match was a repeat of what two 16 year olds by the name of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli had done almost 2 decades ago.

Kenya had been bowled out for 209 very close to the end of days play on day 1.

Pakistan's reply began in unconvincing fashion as Khurram Manzoor walked back to the pavilion at the end of the 1st over.

That brought Fawad Alam to the crease in only the 2nd over of the innings.

A day and a half later, as the Pakistan Academy declared on 665-2, Fawad Alam and Raheel Majeed had added 612 runs for an unbroken 3rd wicket partnership, with Fawad on a career best 302 and Raheel on 318.

The Pakistan Academy also ended the Kenya tour unbeaten sweeping the ODI series 3-0.

With scores of 83,14, and 25 in the 3 ODIs, Fawad ended the tour with 554 runs in 6 innings at a remarkable average of 138.50.

In the ongoing T20 Quadrangular in Canada, Fawad did not play the 1st match against Canada. He played the next against Sri Lanka but came to bat at number 9. And in the next against Zimbabwe he just walked out to bat to hit the winning runs.

Though he won the match for Pakistan at number 9 agaist Sri Lanka, I think that is too low for a batsman of Fawad's quality.

There is no doubt in my mind that he needs to bat in the top 6. Not only in 20-20 cricket but in ODIs and test cricket as well.

This is the best time to put Fawad at the deep end.

He has a very impressive first class record and he is at the top of his game at the moment.

The question though remains - how does Fawad fit into the top 6 of a Pakistan line up?

8:08 am GMT

That Sachin Tendulkar becomes the highest run scorer in test cricket?

The whole of India, and probably the whole world, has been waiting for this to happen for atleast 5 years now.

It is one of those things that people have known would happen one day, but when exactly, no one really knew.

So with 28 runs to go to equal Brian Lara and 29 to surpass him and with 40 odd overs left in the days play...

Will Sachin do it?

Is today the day that over a billion people have been waiting for?

8:15 am GMT

26 runs to equal and 27 to become the record holder.

Will he do it today?

8:33 am GMT

18 runs to equal and 19 to get past Brian Lara!

Will he? Won't he?

8:39 am GMT

17 left to get the record.

9:20 am GMT

Holed out to short cover for 49, 1 short of a half century and 15 short of the world record.

I guess 13th October 2008 will not go down in history then.

What a pity!

The T20 Quadrangular being played in Canada enters its last day today where Pakistan takes on Sri Lanka in the final and Canada and Zimbabwe go head to head in a 3rd place play off.

Pakistan taking on Sri Lanka in the final was expected, but I doubt anyone expected Pakistan to get there unbeaten.

I also doubt anyone expected the Canadian side to put up a fight against all 3 international teams.

Canada pushed Zimbabwe to the last ball and into a bowl out, and they gave Sri Lanka a mighty scare last night. Plus they had Pakistan in serious trouble on the opening day of the tournament, but thats not saying much - even the Irish get Pakistan in trouble every now and then.

We have seen in the past that the 20-20 format provides the lesser teams more of a chance against the stronger sides. Someone pointed out that its too less a time for the flaws to show.

Very true I think.

So the question then is that should the ICC promote 20-20 among the associate nations? Should it be used to attract countries such as the USA and China?

It will definitely be more appealing to the viewers there, plus if these lesser teams feel that they can actually compete against the likes of Australia, India, and Pakistan then they would be more serious about their cricket.

So is 20-20 the tool to take cricket to untapped parts of the world?

The flip side of this though is that cricket runs the risk of being known as only 20-20 around the world.

If the associate nations are bombarded with 20-20 tournaments left, right, and centre, then how would their teams be developed for the ODI game and test cricket?

But then, do they even want to play test cricket?

Or does the ICC really want to take test cricket to the rest of the world?

If its all about the promotion of the game and generating dollars then 20-20 is your tool and the world is waiting for someone to involve them in it.

"There used to be a bloke who gave himself out by walking when he'd hit the ball. The popularity of that within his team-mates may be shown by the fact that since his retirement, they no longer reply to any emails, phone calls or text messages."

Poor Adam Gilchrist feels left out.

But maybe the Aussies are just too buy trying to plot the Indians' downfall to reply to you Adam. What makes you think it has anything to do with your walking?

For all those who thought:

1. Australia were the weak side going into the 1st test against India

2. Ricky Ponting cannot score in India to save his life

3. The ICL had killed Bangladesh cricket for good

4. The Sri Lankans would not bend over to please the BCCI

5. Harbhajan would maul the Aussies

Think Again!

I feel sorry for the New Zealanders. But Bangladesh has suddenly excited me!

I also feel sorry for the Indians - Ponting is back in form. Maybe he'll get to Lara's record before Sachin does!

This week has been an eventful one for Pakistan cricket.

In the span of 2 days one witnessed the Law Minister holding a meeting with 5 leading cricketers, the announcement of Pakistan's squad for the 20-20 quadrangular in Canada, the announcement of a new PCB Chairman, and the resignation of the Chief Selector.

Were all these events connected to each other?

As news reports would tell you, they most definitely were.

But there's more to it than meets the eye.

The appointment of Ijaz Butt was expected months ago. Cricket Files and Leg Slip had both discussed it in August soon after Nasim Ashraf's resignation.

Then why did it take so long for the announcement to be made public?

Why did Najamuddin Khan, the Sports Minister, and Farooq Naek, the Law Minister, get involved in these cricket politics?

Why did Salahuddin Ahmed resign as soon as the Pakistan team for Canada was announced?

Who inducted Shoaib Khan into the squad instead of Saeed Ajmal?

Who included Khalid Latif in the squad in place of Nasir Jamshed?

Who picked 6 fast bowlers and no spinners in the 15 man squad?

Why was the issue of Shoaib Akhtar's fine ignored all of a sudden?

Were Mohammad Yousuf's and Yasir Arafat's visas for Canada really rejected?

Why haven't Saleem Jaffar and Shafqat Rana, the other 2 selectors, resigned?

Why did Saleem Altaf, who had been sacked by Nasim Ashraf, accompany Ijaz Butt to the press conference?

Why is the Pakistan media projecting an amicable resignation, while Cricinfo is reporting one done through disgust?

There is a lot happening behind the scenes in Pakistan and I don't have the answers to a lot of these questions. But I sure do want to know.

Probably more stories will come out in the open over the next few days.

Either way I am sure to have more answers than questions after the weekend.

Pakistan also begins its T20 quadrangular campaign tomorrow against Canada followed by matches against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on the next 2 days. I will cover this after the weekend as well.

Till then...

The Sialkot Stallions completed a hatrick of domestic 20-20 titles as they beat the Karachi Dolphins by 7 wickets in the final of the RBS National 20-20 Cup last night.

Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first but the Dolphins' batsmen struggled against the pace of Sarfaraz Ahmed (2-23) and the spin of Shoaib Malik (2-29).

Besides Fawad Alam, who scored 40 off 31 deliveries, none of the batsmen got going as the Dolphins' innings closed at 125-9 in 20 overs.

Khalid Latid (15 off 16), Naumanullah (14 off 19), Afridi (12 off 9), and Sarfraz Ahmed (16 off 10), all got starts but none of them could build on them.

The Stallions got off to a good start with Kamran Younis (31 off 37) and Mansoor Amjad (39 off 35) easily scoring off the Dolphins' bowling.

As soon as Afridi came on though, the tide turned as the Stallions' scoring rate dropped and they lost a few wickets, but 125 was never going to be enough.

Brothers Shoaib Malik (19*) and Adeel Malik sealed the game for the Stallions in the last over of the innings as Adeel smashed an unbeaten 23 off only 11 deliveries with the help of 2 sixes and a boundary.

This was the Stallions' 3rd victory in a row in the domestic 20-20 championship and they now join the champions and the runners up from the IPL, Australia, South Africa, and England in the inaugral 20-20 Champions League to be held in December.

Shoaib Malik, the Stallions' captain, was declared man of the match for his 2 wickets and unbeaten 19 at the end of the innings.

Salman Butt was declared the best batsman of the tournament - with 152 runs from 3 innings, he was the highest run scorer in the tournament.

Sohail Khan, who created domestic records with his bowling last season, got the best bowler award for his 6 wickets in 4 matches even though his Dolphins skipper, Shahid Afridi ended as the highest wicket taker in the tournament - 7 at an average of 11.28.

Afridi's Dolphins failed to win the title, ending as runners up for the 2nd time in a row and this win definitely puts Shoaib Malik ahead if him in the captaincy race.

Retirement deal or not, who cares.

The best of them have to go one day and some of them don't realise when the time is right. In times like these the board intervenes and makes sure they get a good farewell.

This has happened in Australia for a long time now and I'm glad that India and Pakistan are starting to do the same.

Its no secret that Inzamam went under a retirement deal last year. At the end, it didn't matter whether he chose to retire or was forced to. His time was up and he got a resounding farewell.

I'm sure Saurav Ganguly will as well. For he sure deserves it.

Its only apt that his farewell series is against Australia, just like Steve Waugh's was against India.

I wish the BCCI flies Steve Waugh down for the 4th test to present Ganguly with some sort of memento for his service to Indian cricket.

What a wonderful moment that would be!

I have always been a Ganguly fan, but not many in Pakistan like him. He is arrogant, mean, rude, in your face, and has that ability to get under your skin.

These qualities coupled with him being a thorn in Pakistan's flesh are reasons enough to hate him and boy do the Pakistanis hate him. They hate him with a passion.

I, on the other hand, have always admired his attitude. If he got under the skin of the Pakistanis, he did so under the Aussies too. And that too at a time when the Australians were unshakeable.

Steve Waugh was ruthless and the cricketing world faced his wrath. But he faced Ganguly's.

That series against Australia in 2001 is what changed my opinion of Ganguly. I became an avid fan then and remain one to date.

As his career comes to an end, here are my 10 favorite Ganguly moments. Ones that will remain in mind forever.

10. Love on First Sight

I remember that India was having problems finding a suitable partner for Sachin at the top of the order in ODIs when in a match against South Africa during the Titan Cup in 1996, out walked Ganguly to open the innings with the little master.

Ganguly's 54 in that match and his partnership of 126 with Sachin was the beginning of not only India's, but the world's best ever opening combination in ODIs. The 2 went on to add another 6,000 odd runs at the top of the order.

9. Dream Debut

I was following India's tour to England in 1996 with keen interest as Pakistan's tour was to follow. England easily won the 1st test of the 3 match series against India, which resulted in India making some changes to its line up for the 2nd test at Lord's.

Out went Sanjay Manjerekar and Sunil Joshi and in came debutants Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

Ganguly walked out to bat at the fall of the 1st wicket and on debut he knocked his maiden test 100 scoring 131 and helping India to a total of over 400. Dravid was unlucky to miss out on a debut 100, but he along with Ganguly went on to become half of India's Big 4, who will now be playing their last test series together.

8. Home Coming

Ganguly had scored 13 test 100s in 90 odd tests matches but that 1 century on his home ground (Eden Gardens, Kolkata) and a double 100 had eluded him throughout his career. He managed both feats against Pakistan in the space of 2 test matches at the end of last year (2007).

He scored 102 in the 2nd test of the 3 test series in Kolkata and he followed that up with a career best 239 in the 3rd test of the same series. I still remember watching those innings and they had Ganguly written all over them. The patented strokes through the offside, the dancing down the wicket, and the fisted pump celebrations. It didn't matter that they were scored on flat tracks against mediocre bowling. They were scored nonetheless.

Considering that he played those knocks less than a year ago, it is hard to believe that he is no longer considered a force in India's middle order.

7. Threatening the Record Books

I distinctly remember hoping for Ganguly's dismissal near the end of India's innings as he smashed the Lankans to all parts of the ground during their match in the 1999 World Cup.

He finally got dismissed in the final over of India's innings, having smashed an astounding 183 off 158 deliveries, and all of us heaved a sigh of relief as Saeed Anwar's record remained intact.

He shared a 2nd wicket partnership of 318 with Dravid as India piled on 373-6 in 50 overs. I believe these were records at that time for either the best ever of 2nd best ever partnerhip and score.

6. Comeback Kid

Ganguly's career seemed over after his fall out with coach Greg Chappell and his axing from both the ODI and test squads at the beginning of 2006. He sat the whole year out but returned to the fold as India's batsmen struggled on the tour of South Africa at the end of 2006.

First he saved India with a top score in a side game against one of the first class sides and then followed that up with an unbeaten 51 in the 1st innings of the 1st test. That 51 was the highest score on India's side and went a long way in ensuring that India took a 1-0 lead in the test matc series against South Africa.

Quite a comeback Ganguly had made and it was all through determination and hardwork, which he had showed the selectors during India's domestic season.

5. Decimating Pakistan

Ganguly the batsman had arrived a year ago and now it was time for Ganguly the bowler to rise.

In the late 90s, Pakistan and India played an annual series of 5 ODIs in Toronto in what was called the Sahara Cup. The one held in 1997 had Ganguly written all over it. He played some fine knocks during the tournament but it was his bowling that left Pakistan in tatters on more than one occasion.

In the 3rd ODI of the 1997 Sahara Cup, Pakistan had bowled India out for 180 odd and looked set to chase down the total easily. I remember watching Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi punish the Indian bowling and 180 didn't look daunting at all.

But then came on Ganguly who utilized the swing conditions to perfection and his frustrating medium pace got him figures of 5-16 in 10 overs as Pakistan were bowled out for less than 150!

Those figures remain his best bowling figures to date.

4. Spoiling Waugh's Swansong

When Dravid and Sachin score 1 run between them, it doesn't augur too well for the rest of the Indian batsmen. Reeling at 62-3 against Australia at Brisbane in Steve Waugh's farewell series, I remember watching a determined Ganguly walking out to the middle.

By the end of the 4th day of that 1st test, Ganguly had scored an impressive 144 off only 196 deliveries to help India past Australia's total that saved them the test match. It was a brilliant knock by Ganguly who had been pinpointed as the weak link in India's batting line up prior to the test series.

3. Turning the Tide

Throughout the 90s Pakistan held a psychological edge over India, but all of that changed one dark evening in Dhaka in 1998.

It was the final of the Silver Jubilee Cup and Pakistan had set India a target of 315. If history was anything to go by, India's innings would have folded for 200 odd that night, but Ganguly had different plans.

He smashed 124 while opening the innings as India inched close to the target. India won the match in the last over in fading light and that day all the psychological holds Pakistan held over India were wiped out.

2. The Final Frontier

It was Steve Waugh's final frontier and Ganguly denied him. Though it can be argued that Laxman and Harbhajan denied Australia, Ganguly was at the forefront of it all.

The celebration that Ganguly broke out into as Sameer Dighe hit the winning runs is still etched in my memory. I remember being a part of the crowd at our college cafeteria watching the closing moments of one of the most entertaining test series ever.

I remember McGrath bowling to Dighe and Ganguly sitting in the dressing room all tense and nervous. Dighe got India home and Ganguly ran on to the field. I can never forget Ganguly's look after winning the series against Australia.

Magic it was. And I'll tell you Indians a secret. All of Pakistan was behind you then!

1. The Gangulian Wave

I think this moment is the most appropriate Ganguly moment. It is something that defines him and describes the kind of competitor he was / is.

Many ridiculed him because of this and suggested that such acts are not deemed suitable to a captain of an international side.

But in my mind this was one moment that had Ganguly stamped all over it and I sure enjoyed it. I am sure it was also enjoyed by all of India and many others as India pulled off the most unlikeliest of run chases in the Natwest Trophy Final against England in 2002.

This is probably the one single moment that will remain in people's memories as the years go by and Ganguly's legacy is remembered and told to generations that follow.

He was India's best captain ever and his captaincy record will remain untouched for some time to come.

Those who hail Dhoni today and regard him as one of the finest leaders should remember that it was Ganguly who started what Dhoni is continuing today.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end for Ganguly and I hope that in this series he is able to produce some more memorable moments that can eclipse a few of the ones listed above.

The Dolphins and the Stallions both won their semi finals against the Leopards and Lions respectively to set up a repeat of last season's domestic 20-20 cup final.

The Final - Preview

Tonight, the Shahid Afridi led Dolphins will take on the Stallions, who are led by Shoaib Malik and are also the defending champions.

Afridi will be eager to add a 2nd title to his cap after leading the Karachi side to the Pentangular Cup title earlier this year.

Afridi will also be looking to avenge the loss the Dolphins faced at the hand of the Stallions in the same final last season.

Afridi did not play that final as he had left for Hajj just a day before, but he was instrumental in taking the Dolphins that far.

Tonight, Afridi will be keen to prove a point and get one up on Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik.

It is no secret that Afridi has been lobbying for the Pakistan captaincy, while Malik has been trying to get Afridi out of the Pakistan team.

This rivalry between Afridi and Malik will definitely be witnessed in today's RBS 20-20 Cup Final between the Dolphins and the Stallions, who are looking to win the tournament for a 3rd consecutive time.

The Semi Finals - Review

Last night in the Semis, the Karachi Dolphins eased past the Islamabad Leopards who were bowled out for only 68 on the back of an outstanding bowling performance.

Sohail Khan (2-5), Anwar Ali (1-13), Malik Aftab (3-17), and Afridi (1-9) were too hot to handle for the Leaopards who lasted for only 16 overs.

The Dolphins got to the total in only 10 overs with the loss of 1 wicket.

The 2nd semi final between the Sialkot Stallions and the Lahore Lions was a much closer contest, with Malik's team winning by a mere 6 runs.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Stallions' innings never got going as they ended their 20 overs on 117-6 with Abdur Rehman and Mansoor Amjad unbeaten on 16 and 12 respectively. Kamran Younis, with 36 off 54 balls, was their top scorer.

The Lions' spinners Sohail Ahmed (3-22) and Waqas Ahmed (2-17) had done a brilliant job in keeping the Stallions' scoring rate under check.

What should have been an easy target for the Lions looked too much at the end as spinners Kamran Younis and Shoaib Malik gave away only 30 runs in 8 overs between them, picking up 3 wickets along the way.

Only Salman Butt, with a 38 ball 32, put up some resistance as the Lions ended their innings on 111-6. Waqas Ahmed tried a lone hand at the end smashing an unbeaten 31 off only 12 deliveries but the Lions fell 6 runs short.

Mohammad Yousuf took 34 deliveries to score 17, as he failed for the 3rd time in this tournament.

The Final - Prediction

Tonight as the Stallions look to defend their title against the Dolphins, I safely put my money on Shahid Afridi and his team.

The Stallions have won the previous 2 domestic 20-20 tournaments but this time round they are missing key players in Imran Nazir, Mohammad Asif, Rana Naveed, Shahid Yousuf, and Shehzad Malik.

The fact that they have got to the final without these players is a major achievement but tonight against a strong Dolphins side, the Stallions will have their hands full.

The Dolphins could easily pass as an international side with the likes of Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif, Naumanullah, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali, and Sohail Khan in their ranks.

Their batting and bowling looks more balanced than that of the Stallions and I believe the Dolphins are the favorites to walk away with the title tonight.

Since Nasim Ashraf was a personal adviser and friend of Pervez Musharraf, it was only apt that he resigned as the PCB chairman hours after the Pakistan president resigned from his post.

Either way, he wouldn't have stayed long post Musharraf considering the mess he had put Pakistan cricket in over the last 2 years.

The Pakistan president is the defacto Patron of the PCB according to the constitution, which now makes Asif Zardari just that. That man as the head of anything is just laughable but thats a point for another debate.

Zardari has now been patron of the PCB for a month but he has not been able to appoint a PCB Chairman yet.

No one really knows why but I believe that at the moment there are way too many people lobbying for the post and I guess Zardari is waiting for the best 10% offer to be made to him.

In the meantime, as Zardari made calculations on his "cut", the Federal Sports Ministry decided to take over the PCB. Since there's no chairman, as per the constitution the Sports Ministry becomes responsible for the board's operations.

If this remains, cricket will be treated like hockey and football is in Pakistan and that is not good news.

If you thought that was bad news, worse was to follow when we heard that Najamuddin Khan, Pakistan's Sports Minister, had sent his name to the ICC as the PCB Chairman to attend the ICC moot in Dubai later this month.

Since the PCB comes under the Sports Ministry, the Sports Minister became the defacto PCB Chairman.

But why?

The chairman of the hockey and football boards were elected by the Sports Minister. So why didn't Najamuddin elect a chairman for the PCB? Why did he decide to become chairman himself?

We all know the answer to that.

The PCB after all is one of the richest institutions in Pakistan, let alone being the richest sports body in the country.

But that's not it. The power struggle for the top PCB post was just starting.

Farooq Naek, the Federal Law Minister of Pakistan and a member of Zardari's ruling political party, is currently reviewing the constitution of the PCB in order to remove its "flaws".

Naek has been assigned to do so by Zardari, who will not name a chairman till this review is over.

This review has been on-going for a few weeks now, however what took place yesterday is what created ripples in the cricketing circles around Pakistan.

Farooq Naek held a meeting with 5 key cricketing figures of Pakistan - Wasim Akram, Inzamam Ul Haq, Rameez Raja, Saeed Anwar, and Mushtaq Ahmed.

According to Naek, he met them in order to get their views on the PCB constitution and how they think it can be improved.

But, there's much more to it than just that.

Why did Naek meet these specific people?

Wouldn't Imran Khan have been the most appropriate person to meet for this purpose?

Members of the PCB and the Sports Ministry are part of the 15-man committee currently reviewing the PCB constitution. Where were they?

Did Naek deliberately keep them out?

This has upset Najamuddin, the acting chairman of the PCB, and he now thinks that Naek is trying to take control of the PCB.

This power struggle is going to kill cricket in Pakistan I tell you! This needs to stop!

Anyhow, coming back to Naek's meeting with Wasim, Inzamam, Rameez, Saeed, and Mushtaq.

Among a number of things suggested to Naek, the one thing that caught my interest was the suggestion to form a Cricket Committee.

These are the suggestions that were made by the 5 regarding the Cricket Committee.

1. Form a 5-member Cricket Committee
2. Committee to have final say on all decisions
3. Independent committee not reporting to CEO or Chairman
4. Members must have experience of over 50 test matches

Thus, in effect, what this means is that the committee can over rule any decision made by the selectors, CEO, or the Chairman. It gives the 5 committee members autonomous power in running Pakistan's cricket.

Good or bad?

Its a great idea to have former experienced test players running cricket in Pakistan.

Plus its happening successfully in India I believe with the likes of Gavaskar and Shastri sitting on a similar committee.

But full autonomy just doesn't sound right. Not in Pakistan.

What is bothering me right now is the fact that it seemed like Wasim, Inzamam, Rameez, Saeed, and Mushtaq were lobbying for themselves. Pushing their own personal agenda rather than thinking about cricket in Pakistan.

All 5 have played more than 50 test matches for Pakistan thus making themselves the ideal candidates for the committee.

There are only 25 Pakistani cricketers who have played more than 50 tests and 3 of them are current players - Yousuf, Younis, and Kaneria.

That leaves 22, which includes the likes of Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Bari, Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad, Mudassar Nazar, Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Mushtaq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Raja, Saleem Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, and Moin Khan.

Different reasons such as association with the ICC, ICL, match fixing, academies, political parties, coaching, coupled with bad relationships with the PCB easily rules all these 16 out of a seat in the Cricket Committee.

The remaining 6 possible members are the above 5 who met Naek along with another former captain, Waqar Younis.

One report in fact even mentions that Waqar met Naek, however he wasn't there as per my understanding.

The fact that Rameez Raja has been lobbying for the post of PCB Chairman, it could be that the 5-member committee suggested was Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Saeed, and Mushtaq.

So are these the men that can get Pakistan cricket out of trouble?

Are these the right men to run cricket in Pakistan?

They may be better than most and better than the politically appointed bureaucrats but their involvement with Pakistan cricket can only spell trouble.

Wasim Akram has forever been haunted by the match fixing ghost. Justice Qayyum's report, which the PCB swears by, has clearly stated that Wasim not be given any post of authority within cricket. So how will the PCB justify his inclusion in a Cricket Committee with all powers?

Inzamam-Ul-Haq captained Pakistan from 2003-2007 and when he was in control, Pakistan cricket went from bad to worse. Great batsman no doubt, but he in a leadership position within Pakistan cricket, would be disastrous. Moreover his involvement with the ICL will also be a problem. How will the PCB justify an ICL player being a part of their board set up?

Rameez Raja served as CEO of the PCB under 2 different Chairmen, and he couldn't do anything to improve the state of cricket in Pakistan. At the end he chose his media career over his PCB one, which just shows how committed he really is to the cause of Pakistan cricket.

Saeed Anwar has been uninvolved with cricket for over 5 years now. He has not been in touch with the game and spends almost all of his time giving and attending religious sermons. He admitted that religious activities came between his cricket, so there's no reason why they wouldn't come in between now.

Mushtaq Ahmed was also implicated in the same Justice Qayyum report. In addition his association with the ICL as well as talk of him working with the ECB / England as a spin coach will not allow him to devote much time to Pakistan cricket.

Waqar Younis is probably the least tainted one out of the lot but his relationship with Wasim, Inzamam, and Mushtaq is questionable. His feud with Wasim is well documented while his removal as bowling coach in favour of Mushtaq when Inzamam was captain left him hurt.

All these reasons are why I think these 5 will never make up the Cricket Committee. Or even if they did, the world would have a problem with them because of their history.

All of them, except Rameez, were involved in the match fixing scandal and implicated by Justice Qayyum. Two of them are involved with the rebellious ICL. One of them has been out of cricket for 5 years. One was accused of being a dictator, while another was termed unpatriotic for helping Indian bowlers. Three of them have been blamed for emphasizing on religion rather than cricket. And two of them have been blamed for keeping new talent from coming up. And all of them have been involved in the player power struggle.

On the flip side, Pakistan may not have a better choice than them.

So would you give Pakistan cricket in their hands?

Imran Khan did and that too with a lot of faith. They were part of arguably the best XI Pakistan ever had.

So are they the saviours of Pakistan cricket?

Think about it.

The Dolphins, Stallions, Lions, and Leopards easily won their must win matches on the last day of the league games to seal a spot in the semi finals of the RBS National 20-20 Cup.

Group A

The Karachi Dolphins eased past the Abbotabad Rhinos winning their match by 6 wickets after bowling the Rhinos out for 96. The inexperiences Rhinos had no answer in front of the pace of Anwar Ali and Malik Aftab along with the spin and guile of Afridi and Faraz Ahmed.

Group B

Sialkot Stallions, the defending champions, easily chased their target of 143 against the Hyderabad Hawks as skipper Shoaib Malik and allrounder Kamran Younis hit half centuries.

Pacer Kashif Raza (2-24) and left arm spinner Abdur Rehman (2-24) had done well to restrict the Hawks to 142. Later Shoaib Malik (61* off 46) and Kamran Younis (65* off 56) came together to forge an unbeaten 113 run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take the Stallions into the semis with ease.

Group C

Multan Tigers, who had shocked the Panthers the day before, did well do get to 141 but could not restrict the Islamabad Leopards who chased the runs in 17.2 overs to improve their net run rate and qualify ahead of the Tigers and the Panters.

Shoaib Akhtar gave a much improved performance for the Leopards last night giving away only 14 runs in his 4 overs and picking up 1 wicket. U19 captain Imad Wasim (2-25) and the Leopards skipper Rao Iftikhar (2-36) did well to keep the Tigers down to 141.

Abdur Rauf and Kamran Hussain who had shocked the Panthers with their pace and swing could not keep the Leaopards quiet as domestic star Ashar Zaidi plundered an unbeaten 42 off 18 deliveries to take the Leopards into the semis.

Group D

In the last match of the night, the Lahore Lions beat the Rawal Pindi Rams by 21 runs as spinner Sohail Ahmed's 4-13 restricted the Rams to 150 as they chased 172 in pursuit of a semi final spot.

International openers Salman Butt (21) and Nasir Jamshed (23) had given the Lions an explosive start with a 43 run opening partnership in 5 overs, while Kamran Akmal ended the innings with a bang hitting 49 off 37 deliveries to take them to 171 in 20 overs.

Mohammad Yousuf failed for the 2nd time in a row scoring 10 runs before being run out.

Promising left arm pacer, Mohammad Aamer impressed again with figures of 3-13 for the Rams, while yesterday's hero Yasir Arafat went for 50 runs of his 4 overs.

Babar Naeem and Umar Amin started well for the Rams posting a 79 run opening partnership in 9 overs but then their innings fell through as Wahab Riaz (2-22) and Shakeel Ahmed (4-13) ran through the middle order.

The Semi Finals

Semi Final 1: Karachi Dolphins vs Islamabad Leopards
Semi Final 2: Lahore Lions vs Sialkot Stallions

Its good to know that despite all the media speculation regarding the seniors and all this talk about replacing them with juniors, the cricket authorities still show them the respect that they deserve.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association has gifted Rahul Dravid a Wall.

Class, Commitment, Concentration - Thats what is engraved on the wall and aptly so!

Its made up of 10,000 bricks to signify the 10,000+ runs Dravid has scored in both tests and ODIs.

So what happens when he reaches 12,000? They'll add more bricks?

The best thing I like about the wall is the electronic timer that will keep ticking over as Dravid keeps scoring international runs.

Brilliant idea. Job well done KSCA.

Today is the final day of league games of the RBS 20-20 Cup with the 4 semi final spots up for grabs.

This is what the points table looks like thus far.

Group A

The Dolphins with 2 wins out of 2 look set to make it from group A, however the Wolves do have an outside chance if they beat the Eagles by a high margin and the Dolphins lose to the lowly rated Rhinos.

Highly unlikely but possible.

This was the toughest group of the tournament with a former champion and a former runner up pooled together.

Looks like Afridi will be taking a shot at a 2nd domestic title for his team this year.

Group B

The winner of today's game between the Stallions and the Hawks will determine who will go through to the semi finals from Group B.

The Karachi Zebras were thrown out of the competition by the Hyderabad Hawks last night as they failed to chase a competitive 169.

The Hawks batting charge was led by allrounder Rizwan Ahmed who smashed a 43 ball 57 and experienced domestic player Shahid Qambrani who belted an unbeaten 48 off 36 balls.

In response the Zebras started in emphatic fashion with an opening partnership of 87 before the rest of the batting collapsed losing the 8 wickets for 25 runs. Left arm spinner Nauman Ali (2-16) and part timer Faisal Athar (3-7) were the wreckers-in-chief.

Shoaib Malik's Stallions, who are chasing their 3rd consecutive 20-20 title, are the favorites to join the Dolphins in tomorrow' semi-finals.

Group C

Multan Tigers' unlikely 7 wicket victory over the Peshawar Panthers last night has given them a strong chance of making it to the semi finals.

If the Tigers beat the Leaopards tonight, they will be through; however a victory for the Leaopards will give the Panthers a lease of life and net run rates will come into play.

Last night the Tigers' internationals, Abdur Rauf (2-11) and Kamran Hussain (3-10) sent the Panthers crashing to 103 all out as their famed batting line up of Yasir Hameed (8), Wajahatullah Wasti (2), Jannisar Khan (0), Rafatullah Mohmand (0), and skipper Younis Khan (0) fell to quality swing bowling.

The Panthers were reeling at 15-6 before Aftab Alam took them to a somewhat respectable total with a polished 52 off 49 deliveries.

The Tigers' batsmen, though inexperienced, easily reached the target in 16 overs, while losing 3 wickets on their way.

Group D

Tonight, the Lions will fight it out with the Rams for the final slot in the semi finals.

Last night, the Rawal Pindi Rams ended the Quetta Bears' campaign after they thrashed them by 75 runs.

The Rams' quality pace battery of Sohail Tanvir (3-20), Yasir Arafat (3-5), and Mohammad Aamer (2-13) helped fold the Bears innings up for 67.

Earlier Arafat had played a cruicial role with the bat scoring 35 off 26 deliveries, after the Rams had been struggling on 59-5, guiding them to a total of 142.

Semi Finals

These will be played out tomorrow and I think it will involve the Dolphins, Stallions, Lions, and Tigers. Though the Rams look like most likely of teams to upset te Lions.

Stay tuned for updated.

I tuned into one of the Indian news channels on the 3rd day of the match between Australia and the Board President's XI.

Those who watch these news channels would know how dramatic these reporters are. The way they describe an event or a person it seems like a Bollywood movie is playing and the reporter is narrating the drama unfolding in the background.

One such reporter was doing just that when he started about how Australia was playing mind games with India.

And what was the mind game?

Playing below their best against the BP XI.

The reporter suggested that it was the Australians way of making the Indians over confident.

He questioned the Australians' below par performance and spoke of how the Aussies were doing it deliberately to make Kumble & Co. over confident before the 1st test.

He seemed so serious in his accusations that it looked like he was sitting in Australia's dressing room the night before.

The news report kept playing clips of Rohit and Kohli smashing Krejza to all parts of the park and continuously showed Chawla break through Ponting's defences. They even showed Chawla trapping Clarke in front.

The reporter questioned Ponting's and Clarke's technique and wondered why Krejza was given so many overs.

Now for my questions to this Indian reporter.

Do you have no faith in India's cricketing talent and ability?

Do you not think that Piyush Chawla has a tremendous future as India's leggie?

Do you not think that this is the weakest Australian side to tour India in over a decade?

Do you not think that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have it in them to play for India for the next 15 years?

Do you really think Kumble & Co. will be over confident going into the 1st test?

Do you really?

The RBS National 20-20 Cup continued yesterday with 5 more matches as Pakistan Vice Captain Misbah found himself in a situation we have seen him in many a time.

The Faisalabad Wolves, winners of the 2005 domestic 20-20 title and runners up of the 2006 one, took on the Karachi Dolphins, runners up of the 2007 competition, in what was highlighted as the main event of the 2nd day of the tournament.

The match truly lived up to its potential.

Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first. The Dolphins' openers Khalid Latif (22) and Khurram Manzoor (34), both who have played a few ODIs for Pakistan this year, set about at a good pace putting together an opening partnership of 58 runs.

The rest of the Dolphin batsmen did not continue the good work the openers had done as their innings folded for 155.

Only Afridi who smashed 28 off only 12 balls could provide some impetus to the innings.

Saeed Ajmal, who had impressed one and all during the Asia Cup this year, was the pick of the bowlers for the Wolves picking up 3 wickets to bring the Dolphins innings to a halt.

156 should have been a gettable target for the Wolves, particularly with the likes of Hafeez and Misbah in the ranks but brilliant bowling by Afridi, Sohail Khan, and Anwar Ali left the Wolves stranded 8 runs short as their innings closed on 147-5 with Misbah stranded at the crease.

Requiring 14 to win of the final over, Misbah lost the strike of the 3rd ball and Ahmed Hayat could not get any of the next 3 deliveries away as Sohail Khan gave away only 5 runs in the crucial 20th over of the innings.

Misbah remained not out on 48 off 31 deliveries that included 4 sixes, while Sohail Khan ended with figures of 2-20 off his 4 overs.

Earlier, Afridi had done an outstanding job with the ball conceding only 16 runs in his 4 overs and picking up 2 wickets.

With 2 wins out of 2, the Dolphins look set to advance to the semi finals.