Uncle J Rod's Petition Pays Off!

About a month and a half back Uncle J of Cricket with Balls started a petition to get David Hussey into the Australian cricket team.

The arguements were all strong since Hussey Jr. was blasting away in the domestic matches, while the Aussie's international batsmen were struggling against an overgrown Adam's apple (referring to Uncle J's reference to Ishant Sharma).

That petition attracted some 130 signatures on Uncle J's blog. The petition was also added onto a facebook group and then it was said to be doing the rounds of the streets of Australia.

I don't have the total count of how many people actually signed the petition but Cricket Australia selectors probably got hold of it and realised that they had to bow down to the demands of the Aussie public.

This morning when CA announced the squad for Australia's tour to the Windies in May, David Hussey was part of the 14 man ODI line up.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Uncle J on all his efforts to get David Hussey into Office! Your work has paid off Uncle J. I know you are mighty pissed at Bryce McGain being ignored but savour this moment of glory - David Hussey is in the team because of you.

In another expected announcement, Micheal Clarke took over as the Vice Captain of the team following Adam Gilchrist's retirement and Brad Haddin replaced him as the #1 wicket keeper.

The Aussies have been going through a transformation of sorts since the heavy load of retirements during last and this season. And this is another step within the tranformation phase.

Will they hold on to their status as the #1 team in the world? Only time will tell.

Uncle J - now I suggest a petition for the inclusion of your very own Bryce McGain.

Gul is back & Bazid Returns from the Wilderness

As I had mentioned a few days ago, there were no surprises in the Pakistan squad announced for the first 2 ODIs against Bangladesh.

The only difference between my squad and the PCBs was the inclusion of Rao Iftikhar instead of Yasir Arafat and the return of Bazid Khan to the squad. Khurram Manzoor, whom I had kept as a 3rd opener was let out after scoring a 50 in his only ODI against Zimbabwe 2 months back.

I know that Bazid did well in the recently held Pentangular Cup and was the 2nd highest run scorer of the competiton, but Khurram deserved some more matches after his lone appearance.

Bazid Khan, son of former Pakistan International Majid Khan, played 3 ODIs for Pakistan back in 2004-05. He played 2 ODIs against the touring Zimbabwe side near the end of 2004 scoring 12 and 0. His next ODI was mid of 2005 when he scored 66 against the West Indies in St. Lucia.

He hasn't played for Pakistan since.

Anyone notice the pattern of dropping batsmen for no reason at all?

Bazid dropped for over 2 years after scoring 66 in an ODI and now Khurram after a debut 50. I hope Khurram doesn't have to wait for another 2 years for his next ODI.

In more positive news, Umar Gul returns to the team after a long lay off with a back injury. He has played a few one-dayers in the ongoing ABN Amro Cup and seems to be fit enough. We can only hope that he doesn't break down again.


In the pace deprtment, Gul is joined by Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, and this domestic season's leading wicket takers - Wahab Riaz and the latest pace sensation Sohail Khan.

Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed will open the batting and the rest of the cast and crew comprises of the same usual suspects.

Both Mohd. Yousuf and Shahid Afridi are part of the 16 despite reports of Geoff Lawson demanding their exclusion.

Mohammad Asif is expected to be fit for the last 3 ODIs. I've heard that Asif is desperate to play so that he can convince the PCB that he is fit enough so that they clear him to play in the IPL.

There was no place for Shoaib Akhtar who is still facing disciplinary charges.

The Squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Bazid Khan, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz.

How Good is Virender Sehwag?

What is the relevance of 319?

Its quite high if you are the only triple century scorer of your country and hold the record for the highest test score by a test batsman from your country.

The relevance is even higher if its your second triple century that places you in the same league as Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara.

And finally, it puts you at an entirely different pedestal if with that score you hold an Indian batting record and you don't have the surname Gavaskar, Tendulkar, or Dravid.

Thus 319 is of great relevance to Indian cricket as well as Virender Sehwag who smashed those runs in a mere 304 balls. Fastest ever triple century, 10th consecutive century above 150, and all mentioned above is what was special about Sehwag's innings. Definitely a treat to watch.

Uncle J has even mentioned all that he could have left to watch that innings LIVE. It was THAT good.

But how good is Sehwag really?

Apart from his first 4 test centuries, all the rest (10 of them) are 150+ scores, a fact that has been well documented over the last few days. These 10 centuries have come in a span of a bit over 4 years between December 2003 (195 vs Australia) and March 2008 (319 vs South Africa).

Less than 3 test centuries per year - does that place him among the greats?

Sehwag scored 151 against Australia in his previous test. But there was a gap of 7 tests and 13 innings between the 151 and the century before that - 180 against the Windies at St. Lucia. He had only 2 fifty plus scores in those 13 innings with a best of 65.

Between the 180 against the Windies and his previous century - 254 against Pakistan - there were 6 tests and 11 innings during which he scored only 1 fifty, an unbeaten 76. Plus, between the 254 and his previous century, also a double (201) against Pakistan, he played 9 innings in 6 tests scoring only 1 fifty.

Sehwag definitely scores big when he gets to a 100 but his centuries are few and far in between. They are quite dispersed and the scores are inconsistent in between the 100s. Compared to his 14 centuries, he has only 13 fifties, which highlights the inconsistency of scores between the 100s, but at the same time shows his ability to score big, really BIG when he does.

Despite being inconsistent can he be considered as a great?

Moving on, I think that there is one fact that goes entirely against Sehwag. Sachin has been criticized in the past for not playing enough match winning innings for India. I'm afraid that the same can be said about Sehwag.

India have won only 1 out of the 10 tests in which Sehwag scored over 150. While India drew 6 of those 10 tests, they lost 2 of them - to Pakistan in Bangalore when he scored 201 and to Australia in Melboune when he scored 195. The current one will in all probability end in a draw.

Have Sehwag's innings been of importance to the team? Not exactly.

They haven't secured wins for India apart from in Multan when he scored 309 against Pakistan. Nor have they been 2nd innings match-saving type knocks - all of them have come in the first innings.

Definitely an entertaining batsman with the ability to keep on scoring once he gets set, but is he one of the greats as Sanjay Manjrekar has described?

Special he is, no doubt about that. But great? Not really. What's your call?

Pakistan's Triple Threats

Australia's withdrawal from touring Pakistan have left them with a series against the lowest ranked team rather than the highest ranked team. Maybe thats a good thing - this way Pakistan can start from the bottom and work their way up. They conquered Zimbabwe this January and now its only apt that they go on and do the same with their Bengali brothers.

I reckon the PCB should organize a series against the Windies next followed by one with England and New Zealand. They can play the top 4 after that.

As it happens in Pakistan, every series is preceded by selectorial problems. This time is no different.

Triple Threat (Wrestlemania Potential) - Lawson vs Afridi vs Yousuf
Last week there were some news reports regarding Geoff Lawson not wanting Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi in the ODI team. The reasons apparently given by Lawson were lack of fitness / poor fielding and inconsistent performer respectively for the 2 senior players.

How true is that? Partly. Lawson has argued for Afridi's and Yousuf's exclusion from the team but the reasons given are very different from the actual ones.

It is no secret in Pakistan that Afridi has been lobbying for the captaincy of the ODI team. Thus his dominating presence in the dressing room and the field has made Shoaib Malik very insecure and uncomfortable.

While Yousuf is still sour over his exclusion from the 20-20 squad, and since Inzamam's retirement, has become a reclusive figure in the dressing room distancing himself from the rest of the team. Again it is a commonly known fact in Pakistan that these days Yousuf plays for himself rather than the team.

So is Lawson / Malik justified in requesting the selectors and the board to exclude these 2 cricketers from the ODI team? Lets have a look.

This season, starting from the series against South Africa in October under Shoaib Malik and Geoff Lawson, Yousuf has played 14 ODIs, scored 792 runs, and averaged 88.00. This includes 2 100s and 6 50s including an unbeaten 99. His string of scores reads 53, 117, 58*, 5, 53, 82*, 12, 16, 99*, 74, 72, 38*, 5, 108*.

More than anything else, Inzamam's absence seems to have had a positive effect on Yousuf's ODI performance probably due to addedd responsibilities. On the back of the above performances I really don't think Lawson or Malik are justified. Nor is the Paki public, which feels that Yousuf has batted selfishly in recent times.

During the same period, Afridi has played 13 ODIs, scored 297 runs, while averaging 33.00. At the same time he has picked up 13 wickets. My views about Afridi are known to whoever reads my posts regularly. A Pakistan team without him is incomplete.


Triple Threat (Survivor Series) - Akhtar vs Asif vs Gul
Its inriguing that this combination has never played an international match together. The reasons for that are known to all so I am not going to dwell on those.

Sallu, the Chief Selector, said a few days back that he was waiting to hear about them before finalizing the squad. While Mohammad Asif an Umar Gul were waiting fo fitness assessments, Shoaib Akhtar is waiting for the verdict on his disciplinary issues.

Gul has been passed fit. Asif declared himself fit yesterday only for the PCB to come out today and say that Asif is not ready for the series against Bangladesh. Did Asif announce his return to fitness so that he doesn't miss out on the IPL? Maybe. Reports today also mentioned that the PCB will not allow him to play the IPL so that he can get some rest. They have already stopped him from appearing for a county side.

Whether Akhtar will face disciplinary charges or not will not be known for some time as the committee is yet to give its verdict and it will not do so anytime soon. Akhtar might as well consider his international career over. Whats he got to lose when he's got the King Shahrukh Khan backing him in cricket as well as bollywood. Akhtar should just play for the Kolkata Knigt Riders, do some movies, party hard, and live life King size! After all one should do what he's best at.

Such stories are the norm in Pakistan. I wouldn't expect any surprises in the Pakistan squad. Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, and Khurram Manzoor will be announced as openers. Malik, Yousuf, Younis, and Misbah will make up the middle order. Afridi and Fawad Alam will be the allrounders along with keeper Kamran Akmal. And the bowling will be comprised of Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, and Yasir Arafat. Plus Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Hameed, Khalid Latif, Anwar Ali will get a look in during the course of the 5 ODIs.

I'm not sure what kind of boost would a series against the Bengalis will provide Pakistan cricket. Apart from a few passionate followers of the game like me, the majority would be watching Kolkata Knight Riders taking on the Bangalore Royal Challenders rather than a Pakistan vs Bangladesh ODI.

Even I would be flipping between the 2!

Smartest Bidder or Favorite Team?

The current poll on Well Pitched asks you "who was the smartest IPL bidder?".

The current voting count is at 70 and that is by far the highest number of votes we have receivd for any of our polls. Usually the number used to range from 15-25.

Why the increase? It could either be because of the large interest that the IPL has generated or cause of the general increase in traffic on Well Pitched, which is owed to Uncle J, Soulberry, and Ottayan for guiding readers here. And also to some googlers searching items like "how tall asif tanvir", "Shahrukh Khan Ganguly Akhtar knight rider national anthem", and "sohail khan fastest ball".

Out of the 70 votes casted, the Kolkata Knight Riders are considered the smartest by a vast majority - 31 or 44.3% of the votes went to Shahrukh Khan's team. I did think he bid very smartly but some of the votes could also have been due to the cricketing Knight Riders being everyone's favorite team. Almost everyone's.

Hyderabad was voted 2nd with 17 votes - 24.3% followed by Chennai who got 6 votes. The rest got 5 votes or less.

Each team got at least 1 vote, which is why I say that the voting was probably done according to the team one is supporting rather than according to who you think was the smartest bidder.

Which franchise do you think has been the smartest thus far? In terms of their bidding for cricketers as well as their marketing. At the same time also let us know who you're supporting.

The Microsoft Cup - Part II

And now for the second and final installment account of the tape ball tournament held on the Microsoft campus. In the spirit of full disclosure I’d like to tell you that this was a nameless tournament – I have christened it the “Microsoft Cup” for a very unique reason which you will find out at the end

From the outset I observed a couple of essential rules that added some definition to the chaos:

Rule 1: Hit every ball for a six, even if it means losing your middle stump in the most ignominious way

Rule2: A Yorker is the best first ball and the best last ball. Anything more or anything less goes for a six (especially with the 20 yd side boundaries).

An unusual but entertaining event was when a batsman on an adjacent field hit a huge six. These balls would land in the middle of our match – stopping the game. Some hits from a neighboring game would even land beyond the cover boundary of our field drawing ooh’s and aah’s of respect and admiration.

Our team, the “Superstars” was an all-Pakistani outfit. I’d like to believe we played sensible cricket, but that is definitely an oxymoron in the context of tape ball cricket. We cruised through the early round games with a couple of interesting episodes. In one of the games our opener was facing one of your typical tape cricket bowlers. He had a small 2-3 step run-up but he was as close to being a spin bowler as Warne is to being a fast bowler. He was basically hurling fast off cutters from a standing start, varying his line and length very deviously. Our guy decided to upset his rhythm by walking down the pitch. The bowler was quite furious, maybe too furious - his action changed into a hearty chuck in mid stride. The situation was absurdly unexpected and his action was so unlike his natural action that everybody on the field was flabbergasted. All of us on the sidelines burst out into laughter and the batsman was perplexed. The leg umpire called a no-ball and the game continued. Later on the same individual (captain of the team) was keeping wickets when one of his fielders missed a catch at the long on boundary and scooped the ball over his head for a six. The captain was again very angry and chucked his keeping glove at the fielder – his arm impressed us all because the glove flew beyond the umpire, narrowly missing him and the off-strike batsman.

Another interesting character was a club cricketer from India who had apparently played at the state level. Rumor had it that he used to play a game in one state and then travel then next day to another state for another game. His remarkable control while bowling fast-medium pace was impressive because he was bowling yorkers directed at any stump at will.

And finally to the story behind the “Microsoft Cup”. The rest of our league and knockout games went well and we found our selves in the finals. Since our semi ended before the other one, our entire team went over to watch the other semi final in progress. The side batting first consisted of friends and were another group of Pakistanis. They had posted a huge score of 96 in 6 overs and the side batting second now needed 21 runs in the last over. Our excited chatter behind the keeper was a bit distracting to the batsman on strike who asked us to keep it low. We duly obliged, but when 15 were needed of 3 balls and the 4th ball had just been bowled, we heard a loud crunching sound. One of our star players had been heading back and had unknowingly stepped on one of the standard Styrofoam cups found all over the Microsoft campus.

A fracas ensued, with the batsman on strike accusing us of colluding with the bowling team and deliberately distracting him. Needless to say, the game descended in a farce. He accused the umpire of being incompetent and demanded that the ball be bowled again. Since the ball had been a dot ball, we felt the distraction was just being used as an excuse. This was one of the most absurd moments in my cricketing experience.

We faced our friends in the final and got comprehensively thrashed. Regardless of the final outcome, the fate of the “Microsoft Cup” had already been sealed at the end of the second semi final. Poor sportsmanship at any level is in bad taste.

16 Years Ago On This Date...

Pakistan won the ODI World Cup on this day. 25th March 1992.

Not many Pakistan cricket fans will forget that date.

Maybe if we as a country had more to be proud of or had we won the world cup 4 times like the Aussies, 25th March wouldn't hold much significance. But the fact that that is the only time that Pakistan won the world cup and that too of a sport that is close to religion and life for some, 25th March is significant. It is very significant.

That period of the early 90s was also a good overall period for sports in Pakistan. Apart from the cricket world cup, Pakistan won the hockey world cup in 1994, Jansher Khan was the number 1 ranked squash player at that time, and Mohammad Yousuf (not the artist formerly known as Yohanna) was the world snooker champion. Sadly such is no more the case.

Moving back to happy times.

I was all of 12 when the 1992 world cup took place, and I was just starting to get the grasp of the nitty gritties of cricket as a player and a watcher.

The '92 world cup collided with the boom of the sattellite dish in the Middle East and watchingm LIVE cricket on TV apart from the tournaments held in Sharjah, was a new phenomenon in the UAE.

The dish in our house was installed on the day Pakistan was to start its campaign against the Windies. By the time the decoder caught the signal, Rameez Raja was approaching his 100 and Pakistan's innings was coming to a close.

Pakistan lost that match and also those against India and South Africa. A miracle gave them 1 point in the washed out match against England in which they had been bowled out for a mere 73. After the first 5 games out of 8 in the group stage, Pakistan had only managed to beat Zimbabwe and they had all of 3 points.

With 3 matches to go, the competition seemed over for Pakistan and the newspapers were full of criticism and some journalists had even gone to the extent of reporting the details of the flight that the Pakistani cricketers would be returning on.

The build up to the world cup was hardly any good for Pakistan. Skipper Imran Khan had a shoulder injury, which prevented him from bowling. Their pace spearhead Waqar Younis had broken down with a stress fracture of the back and was ruled out of the world cup. Javed Miandad had been initially dropped from the squad due to indifferent form and Saleem Malik was named the official Vice Captain. Miandad only made it to the squad when Imran Khan informed the management that he won't be able to play in the initial matches.

The squad comprised of a number of inexperienced young cricketers with minimal international experience - Inzamam-ul-Haq, Aamir Sohail, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed were only a year old in international cricket.

Moreover, with Miandad captaining the side ahead of official Vice Captain Saleem Malik when Imran Khan sat out the first few matches, Malik led a mini revolt inside the dressing room disturbing the young inexperienced team.

Many books and documentaries on Pakistan's '92 world cup victory have done the rounds and I'm not sure if this story has been told before. I am sharing it cause it is my favorite and it will probably go down as the moment that turned the tide for Imran Khan's cornered tigers.

The night before the match against Australia, Imran Khan had summoned his troops at the team hotel. Pakistan had just arrived at Perth from Brisbane where they had lost their match to South Africa. The team dressed in their green coats and khaki trousers waited for the skipper and in some time Imran Khan turned up wearing a T-shirt with a tiger printed on its front.

It was then that he spoke to the team about his dream of winning the world cup. About how he wanted everyone to pick themselves up. About how Saleem Malik should think whether he wants to play for Pakistan ever again or not. About how the Pakistanis were cornered like tigers and they had to win all their matches from here and also hope that other results are in their favor for having any chance to make it to the semis. Imran Khan spoke to each member personally in that meeting. He even held a press conference after that requesting the Pakistani public that he believed his team can do it and they all should pray for them.

Pakistan beat Australia the next day. They had never beaten Australia at Perth before that and I doubt they did ever again, but if anyone gets the chance to watch that match again, do so to see what Pakistan can do on a day they believe in themselves.

They went on to beat Sri Lanka in the next game and New Zealand as well who had not lost a single game the whole tournament. Australia managed to beat West Indies in their final league match, which gave Pakistan a ticket to the semi finals. 1 extra point from a rained off game had pushed Pakistan through. It was truly a miracle.

The rest, as everyone says, is history.

Pakistan had won 5 matches on the trot, new heroes were born, Imran Khan's dream had come true, and the Pakistani tigers had won the cricket World Cup!

These memories will hardly ever go.

Wasim Akram's deliveries to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis

Inzamam-ul Haq's 60 off 37 when he walked out looking at 8 runs an over for victory

Moin Khan's strange shot for 6 in the semi that all but sealed an impossible chase

Javed Miandad doing the sajda after the semi win

Aamir Sohail pointing Botham to the dressing room

Mushtaq Ahmed's googly to Greame Hick

Aaqib Javed's diving catch off Graham Gooch and running around the park

Rameez Raja's running catch to seal the victory in the final

Imran Khan and Javed Miandad hugging after winning the cup

These are moments that are etched in the memory forever.

25th March, this day 16 years ago. I will never forget.

Pakistan Pooled with India

Not only for the Asia Cup in June but also for the Champions Trophy in September.

Both the tournaments are being held in the "safety concerned" Pakistan and Sri Lanka has been named as the alternative venue for both. For the sake of Pakistan Cricket, I hope that Pakistan is declared safe enough for the Asia Cup and the Champions Trophy.

With PPP announcing their candidate for PM and rumours of Pervez Musharraf shifting base to hideout in Turkey, probably a "safe" Pakistan is not too distant in the future.

The more interesting part though is that in both the competitions, India and Pakistan have been pooled in the same group. A garanteed Pakistan-India clash will definitely boost ticket sales and will provide the domestic season the energy it needs.

Is this a casting coup by the adminstracrats or did the seeds actually play a role in this?

For the Asia Cup its Pakistan, India, and Hong Kong in the same pool. With the top 2 going through to a "Super 4" stage the Asian teams shouldn't have a problem here unless HK pulls an Ireland.

For the Champions Trophy its Pakistan, India, Australia and the West Indies. This pits the Asian sides against the defending champions (the Aussies), and the winners and runners up of 2004 and 2006 (the Windies). Only 2 teams will go through to the semis - tough one there for the Asian sides.

Scheduled or June and September, its high time top internatonal cricket returns to Pakistan.

Afridi Boom Booms 84 off 27!

The ABN Amro Cup, the domestic one-day competition in Pakistan, kicked off on the 20th of March with as many as 10 matches played all round the country.

This is the first time that both the regions and the departments are playing a domestic one-day competition together. I'm not sure if this is a good thing. 22 teams taking part in a tournament focuses too much on quantity rather than quality, but then at the same time a larger number of players are given an opportunity to play.

I prefer domestic competitions on the lines of the recently held Pentangular Cup. It pits the best against the best and the quality of cricket is at a higher level.

With the amount of cricket being played at the ABN Amro Cup, it will be impossible for me to cover every match, but I will keep posting about the more noticeable performances during the competition.


Shahid Afridi, who is captaining his department Habib Bank rather than his usual team Karachi Dolphins, smashed a 27 ball 84 leading his team to a comfortable victory over Quetta. Chasing 214, Afridi's whirlwind knock helped Habib Bank achieve the target in only 28.2 overs as Habib Bank won by 5 wickets.



Afridi walked in at the fall of the 3rd wicket with the score on 76 to join Younis Khan at the crease. Younis got out on the same score to leave Habib Bank at 176-4. Afridi then smashed 7 sixes and 8 fours in a mere 27 balls setting up his team's march to victory.



Thats Afridi at his best. 74 runs while standing at the crease. 15 of the 27 deliveres he faced were sent to the fence or over it. Must have been a treat to watch.

Had he not holed out, it could have been a faster effort than a 37 ball 100!

Order Order !!

The timeline:

2006: Mohammad Yousuf breaks Sir Viv Richards' record for the most test runs scored in a calendar year. On top he also breaks the record for the most number of centuries in a year.

Fast Forward...

July 2007: PCB conducts a 20-20 camp and several 20-20 matches between leading players of the country in preparation for the T20 World Cup. Mohammad Yousuf fails to make an impact in the practice games and is excluded from the World Cup squad on the basis of being a poor fielder and being too old for the T20 game.

August 2007: In protest over shabby treatment from the PCB, Mohammad Yousuf signs with the ICL despite PCB's claims that all ICL signatories will be banned from international and domestic cricket.

September 2007: Nasim Ashraf and PCB enter into negotiations with Mohammad Yousuf and convince him to cancel his ICL contract because Pakistan require his services. PCB is successful as Yousuf cancels his ICL contract, returns the signing amount and the PCB announce that Yousuf will play for Pakistan. Moreover, PCB aslo secure an IPL contract for Yousuf and give him a handsome renumeration for choosing Pakistan over the ICL.

October 2007: ICL file a case against Mohammad Yousuf for dishonoring the contract. PCB state that they will take care of all the legal hassles and Yousuf has nothing to worry about.

February 2008: An Indian court passes an order that Mohammad Yousuf cannot play for any league competing with the ICL till a final verdict is given. The IPL cricketers' auction Episode I takes place and 77 international cricketers are sold to Indian multinationals and bollywood stars. Noone bids for Mohammad Yousuf.

March 2008: The IPL cricketers' auction Episode II takes place and another 14 cricketers are auctioned but no Mohammad Yousuf yet again.

Today (March 19th, 2008): The Mumbai based arbitration court announces that there will be a final hearing for the case on March 29th before a verdict will be given.

March 29th, 2008: What will the verdict be? Or rather, what should it be?

Mohammad Yousuf has thus far blamed the PCB and the BCCI for not pressing on his case with the court and also for not garanteeing to the IPL franchises that he is able to play so that they bid for him.

Who should really be blamed? The PCB? BCCI? Yousuf? The ICL? or the IPL? Or maybe the lawyers fighting his case? Or the judge?

King Pairs!

No its not about batsmen who have been out of the first ball they have faced in both innings of a test match.

Nazhar recently did a post on Alan Davidson describing Wasim Akram as the best swing bowler - in the comments section Straight Point mentioned that Wasim & Waqar have more than a 1,000 wickets collectively. Thats when the idea for this post crossed my mind.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis have a combined number of 787 wickets in test matches. That number is even higher at 918 in ODIs, giving them a collective amount of 1,705 wickets.

Instead of taking a look at the collective number of wickets of bowling pairs, I decided to take into account the combined wickets taken by bowlers in matches that they both played in.

I restricted this to test matches only.

I also excluded spinners for the initial analysis since I wanted to compare fast bowling pairs to the 2 Ws.

Plus, as always in my statistical posts, I restricted this to the last 20 years for thats as far back as my first hand knowledge of cricket goes.

This is what I found:

Walsh & Ambrose sure played a lot together. Had Wasim and Waqar played as many games, they would have picked up over a 100 more wickets than the 2 West Indians. The 2 Ws averaged more collective wickets per match than the Windies stars and also had a slightly better collective average.

There was no point looking at England or New Zealand. For the kiwis, the highest wicket taker, Richard Hadlee was before the era I am looking at and their next best fast bowler is Chris Cairns with 230 odd wickets. While for England, their leading pace bowlers of this era - Hoggard and Caddick have less than 500 collective wickets. I didn' bother checking their wickets in matches played together.

For India, 6 out of the top 10 wicket takers are spinners. The 4 pacers are from different eras. However, it will be interesting to see where the pairs out of Zaheer, Ishant, RP, Pathan, and Sreesanth are 10 years down the line.

Sri Lanka is absolutely intriguing. Apart from Murali and Vaas, there is no other bowler who has reached even a 100 test wickets. Jayasuriya has 98 and is 3rd on the list behind a 700+ and a 300+ wicket taker.

If we look at Murali & Vaas as a pair then they go beyond Walsh & Ambrose. In 87 matches that they have played together they have taken a total of 825 wickets at an average of 23.75 with 52 5WI and 18 10WM! That also gives them 9.5 wickets per match.

But there is a pair that betters them as well.


Glenn McGrath & Shane Warne. In 104 matches that these 2 played together, they picked up 1,001 wickets at 23.17 apiece. Thats a remarkable 9.6 wickets per match. Plus they took 51 5WI and 9 10WM.

They are definitely the King Pair for me. No one even comes close to their tally of over a 1,000 wickets.

However, if we're looking at fast bowlers only, I will go for Wasim & Waqar rather than Ambrose & Walsh. Had Waqar not missed a few years due to injury and strained relations with Wasim or had Wasim played more tests near the end of his career, the 2 Ws could have eached even greater heights. Yet, they remain the best exponents of swing ever.

Who is your king pair? Have I missed anyone out? Where do you think Murali and Vaas will finish? How about Ishant & RP Singh, how many will they get? Will anyone go beyond the 1000?

Heartbreak Hayden

"I want to sit down with him and see if there is any way we can move forward with our relationship because it hasn't been great."

Reading that statement makes me feel like a disappointed girl is trying to patch things up with her boy friend. She obviously feels that the relationship has soured and come to a stand still but her heart wants to take it forward cause she misses all the love.

But its not a girl.

Its Matthew Hayden, and its look like he's missing his daily fix of weed. After 2 and a half months of making love with Harbhajan Singh, Matthew Hayden wants more of him. Watsup Matty? Missing your Indian love?

The Aussies talk about being tough on opponents and getting under their skin and here's one trying to get on the good side. Did Bhajji get the better of Matty? Or is it just Matty's conscious speaking?

He went on to say:

"I'd like to see where he's at and see if we can patch up our differences. Frankly, everyone is sick of it."

So the Aussies are sick of the Indians beating them at the verbal game they have perfected over the years? Or what exactly is it that is driving the Aussies sick? I sense 2 interesting nights at the pub for Matty and Bhajji when Mumbai and Chennai meet during the course of the IPL, if Bhajji accepts the proposal.

Matty's next comment was:

"If anything, the IPL will help us"

So he sees the IPL as an event that will help rekindle the flame with his lost love. Its just been 2 weeks since the Indians left Australia and Matty's already heartbroken. Missing the action Matty? You should have toured Pakistan, Afridi would have been a good fling on the rebound.

Then there was a final comment that caught my interest:

"There can be a sense of hypocrisy there. You know, I cross myself when I get 100, then I'm at first slip giving it to the Indians. At what point do you cross the line?"

So basically, its Matty's religious self that is feeling guilty or rather like a "hypocrite". I guess Matty paid a visit to the confession box after the series and he was told that this is what he should do.

Whats intriguing to me about all this is that I have never before seen an Aussie come out like this trying to patch things up with an opponent they have pissed off. There have been so many in the past and the Aussies have been brutal and ruthless with all of them on and off the field.

So why does Matty feel the need to 'patch things up'?

My guess is as good as yours.

Bowlers Take Sindh to Pentangular Cup Title

Shahid Afridi held aloft the Pentangular Trophy after Sindh beat Punjab by an innings to become the Pentangular Cup 2007-08 Champions.

When I reported at the end of play on day 2 of the match, I predicted an innings win. I've done it before on Soulberry's blog and I've done it here now. I think I should quit blogging and open a up a cricket betting business or something like that. Any takers?

(Uncle J - I took this tip from your part 2 of a 'guide to writing a cricket blog'. Bold prediction, but I didn't edit)

Resuming their innings 119 runs ahead at 303/6, Sarfraz Ahmed (82*) and Anwar Ali (33*) - the captain and star of the 2006 U19 world cup win respectively, led Sindh to a match winning total of 417 with an unbroken 8th wicket partnership of 88 runs before Afridi declared the innings 233 runs ahead.

Punjab's star-studded batting line up, for the 2nd time in the match, folded in front of the pace of Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali and the spin of skipper Afridi. Punjab were bowled out for 202 as Afridi picked up 3 top order wickets and Anwar Ali wiped out the tail with the last 4 wickets in quick succession.

Brief Scores:
Sindh beat Punjab by an innings & 31 runs.
Punjab 1st innings 184 (Sohail Khan 4-58, Shahid Afridi 2-25)
Sindh 1st innings 417-7 declared (Sarfraz Ahmed 82*, Faisal Iqbal 65, Wahab Riaz 4-99)
Punjab 2nd innings 202 (Misbah 51, Anwar Ali 4-45, Shahid Afridi 3-60, Sohail Khan 2-41)

The Microsoft Cup – Part I

From the wet wintry overcast weather, lush alpine greenery and snow capped mountains in the background, you could mistakenly think Redmond, WA is simply part of the American rural backwater – just another stop on the way to some of the best ski slopes and hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest. But then if you navigate around “1 Microsoft Way” you come across a un-remarkable corporate sprawl, with wide expanses of black asphalt parking lots and cookie cutter office buildings with reflective glass.

To most of the world, this is the den of the evil empire; the scheming software giant that is Microsoft, seeking to dominate the world of technology by any means possible. To any cricket lover new to the area, things would be equally dark and unpromising. It rains here continuously from Fall to Spring – if its not raining, its pretty dark and depressing. The ground stays wet till the summer, so there really cant be any hope of playing serious cricket. Cricket does pick up in the summer, as this article by Reuters mentions. There is a serious and well-structured 50 over a side hardball, cricket league that involves “home” and “away” games. Star performers are selected for state-wide “all-star” outfits and even get to travel to California. But as this article mentions, this type of cricket is played mostly by local Indians. The Pakistanis as I will go on to explain turn to other forms of cricket.

However, all is not lost in the winter months. To keep its employees happy, Microsoft does have world class soccer fields that have great drainage and in fact the surface is an artificial grass called FieldTurf. The same surface is used in many professional stadiums in the US, including Qwest field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. In the company’s own words:

FieldTurf’s grass fibers are surrounded and stabilized by a special blend of “synthetic earth” - FieldTurf’s patented mixture of smooth, rounded silica sand and rubber granules.

What this surface means for cricket is that there is never any standing water and the small pieces of rubber that come with the surface add to the playing conditions. After an overnight rain, the surface becomes slick with moisture, the pieces of rubber add unpredictable bounce and an intelligent bowler can really take advantage of the conditions. And, as I will go on to explain, the surface is also conducive to some serious swing bowling. Add Pakistani’s and some willing Indians to the equation and you have the makings of some serious battles.

Any true Pakistani cricket worth his salt is brought up playing “tape ball” cricket. These days everybody talks about the IPLs and ICLs and the wham bam action of 20/20 cricket. But if you know anything about the Pakistani psyche, you will know that we want big action and we want it fast. That’s where tape ball cricket comes in. You will find a game going on in the streets of Pakistan with people of every age playing no hold barred with a tennis ball that has electrical tape tightly wound around it. The Indians Ive seen playing cricket here prefer to use a heavier rubbery ball which they refer to as “MRI”. The Pakistani’s unsurprisingly use taped tennis balls.

Now, on to explaining the finer details of this setup. The games are usually played in a street with houses on the sides. Any hits into people’s houses can at the worst result in broken windows, the banning of cricket on the street and at best result in you being declared out. The best of shots are straight hits for six. For the bowlers it means trying to bowl at express pace with plenty of yorkers and slower ones thrown in. It also means trying to swing the ball from the get go with potentially devastating consequences. If the tape is wound tight in an uneven way, the ball is not a perfect sphere and tends to swing from the start. Once it hits the rough road surface a few times, the tape breaks apart from a few places and reverse swing can be unleashed in even the very first over! Yes, Ive said it – Pakistani reverse swing bowling owes a lot to tape bowling. Have you ever seen a Pakistani bowler getting worked up about the umpire changing the ball (ok, routine changes only)? Batsmen of the street always examine the ball if it swings prodigiously and inevitably ask the opposing captain to supply a freshly taped one. I myself have played endless “test matches” on the streets with a half tape ball (only one half taped). What Wikipedia has to say about the physics of reverse swing , only reinforces my belief that any Pakistani bowler has an acquired ability to reverse swing the real ball because of his tape ball experience. Maybe Sami didnt play tape ball cricket?

Wikipedia says that when a conventional cricket ball "becomes very old—around 40 or more overs old, it can begin to swing towards the polished side rather than the rough side."

This is exactly what happens with a non-pristine tape ball. For ideal inswing, hold the side with the biggest tear away from the desired direction of swing, and then hand it to a tear-away fast bowler. Forget about the 40th over, a tape ball swing from the first over… what was that I said about being Pakistani ☺

Now, lets rewind to Redmond. The FieldTurf surface has prickly artificial grass which is wet. The dew makes the tape wet, lose grip on the ball. Tears that open up can be fully exploited for swing. And if there are 2 simultaneous games along the breadth of the soccer field, the batsmen can exploit a 20 yard off and legside boundary and all things become even. Imagine having the goal line as the point boundary and the kickoff line as the legside one.

Now that I have hopefully set up the stage for tape ball cricket in Redmond, WA, I will talk about a 6 a side, 6 over per side tape ball tournament that occurred over the last 3 weekends. Even though I was called in as a replacement, I managed to deliver one match winning performance, one Misbah-like damning performance and witnessed some never-seen-before type occurrences that are made for blogging.

Opinions and personal experiences on the joy/curse of tape ball cricket arewelcome.

On a more serious note, I hope and pray that things improve in Pakistan and that our street cricketers can once again return to their cricketing habitat without having to fear for their lives.

Smith Displaces Tendulkar for Top Spot

Smith displaced Tendulkar for the top spot in the ICC ODI Batsman rankings. Ponting, M Yousuf and Hayden round up the top 5. The age old saying of nothing beats experience is demonstrated in the ODI batsman rankings.

Vettori is on top of the ODI rankings for bowlers with Bracken, Bond, Vaas and Mills completing the top 5. 3 of the top 5 ODI ranked bowlers are Kiwis.

Australia and New Zealand are definitely dominating the ICC ODI rankings. The rankings are definitely a good way of determining current form - though I would like to see some revisions to the rankings. This will have to be a later post when I have constructed exactly what I would like to see changed :-)

I will leave by saying that ICC should also publish their ICC ODI Umpire Rankings! :-)

Best Swing Bowler

Somebody told me that during the lunch break of the England versus New Zealand, Alan Davidson said that Wasim Akram was the best swing bowler he has ever seen by a long way! I could not agree with that statement any more.

Akram could do things with the cricket ball that nobody could before and nobody has been able to since. He made the ball talk! Mark Waugh once said that if he was born again, he would like to be Wasim Akram because he can win matches in so many different ways by himself.

One of Akram's greatest strengths was his uncanny ability to know his limitations and his strengths and bowl accordingly. He never tried to lengthen his run up or bowl faster. He was always focused on bowling the best!

The art of reverse swing was really revolutionized by the 2 W's - Wasim and Waqar. I would say that the two of them are the best swing bowlers the game has ever seen. Boy, do I miss not having them in the Pakistan side!

Sindh & SOHAIL KHAN on Top

Shahid Afridi's Sindh edged closer to the Pentangular Cup Title as they ended day 2 of their championship deciding match against Punjab with a lead of 119 runs.

Winning the toss, Afridi put Punjab in on a green top Karachi wicket. The Sindh bowlers, led by Sohail Khan's 4 top order wickets, bowled Punjab's in form batsmen out for 184. Sohail's victims included internationals Salman Butt, Misbah Ul Haq, and Kamran Akmal.

Sohail Khan has been blistering form in his first ever first class season.

He tops the list for most wickets this season with 89 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 18.68.

That includes 21 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 16.33 in the on going pentangular cup. He tops the wickets list for this competition as well.

His haul includes as many as 10 five wicket hauls and 2 ten wicket hauls with an innings best of 9-109 and a match best of 16-189, which broke a 50 year old national record.

I don't remember any bowler creating such an impression on the domestic scene since Waqar Younis 2 decades ago. Its a pity the Aussies aren't touring, otherwise it would have been a good test for the 23 year old fast bowler. Or maybe for Ricky Ponting.

In response Sindh reached 303-6 at the end of day 2 on the back of a 140 run 4th wicket partnership between Rizwan Ahmed (79) and Faisal Iqbal (65). Wahab Riaz, the 2nd highest wicket taker this season, took 4 of the 6 Sindh wickets to fall including those of opener Khalid Latif (21), Rizwan, Faisal, and this season's leading run scorer Naumanullah (4).

With Fawad Alam (29) and Sarfraz Ahmed (25) at the crease, Sindh look set to gain a substantial lead and a possible innings victory given the kind of form Sohail Khan & Co. are in.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf missed the match due to 'personal reasons'. I wonder if those had anything to do with a green top. Misbah is captaining Punjab in Malik's absence.

Stay tuned for updates.

Inzamam in Familiar Territory

For as long as Pakistan chased down totals over the last 15 years, they relied on one man - Inzamam ul Haq.

Announcing his arrival at the world stage in grand fashion as a 19 year old during the 1992 World Cup he first showed his chasing abilities in the semi final of the tournament against the Kiwis. Following that Inzamam masterminded many a chase for Pakistan, with the most recent in memory being the last ball 4 he hit of Sachin to chase down a 300+ total in India a couple of years ago.

Nearing 40 now, Inzamam's abilities haven't gone away and he displayed his mettle again yesterday as he lead his Lahore Badshah's to a 5 wicket win over the Chennai Superstars in the ongoing ICL's Edelweiss 20s Challenge.

Chasing 158 in 20 overs, Inzamam walked out when the Badshah's were precariously placed at 32-3 of 5 overs, which soon became 47-4 in 7. Needing another 111 runs in 13 overs, Inzamam partnered with Naved Latif to hammer the Chennai bowling as the two added 77 runs in the next 9 overs. Once Naved departed, Inzamam was joined by Azhar Mahmood and the two then knocked off the remaining 34 runs in only 3 overs.

Inzamam remained unbeaten on 50 off 43 deliveries that contained 5 boundaries and a six and was also awarded the man of the match for his effort.

The Chennai team included Micheal Bevan (56 off 53), Ian Harvey (5 off 13 and 1-37), Russel Arnold (3 off 4), Adam Parore (3*), Shabbir Ahmed (0-41), and the 2 Kumarans.

The Lahore Badshahs looks like the strongest outfit in the tournament largely because the team includes all former Pakistan internationals, which is an added advantage over other teams that include players from all round the globe.

Knowing this team and the players in it, I can easily put a wager on them going unbeaten to the final and then losing it!

In other results thus far:

Ahmedabad Rockets beat Chandigarh Lions by 19 runs.
Points of interest:
Wavell Hinds smashed 59 off 43 for the Rockets.
Skipper Chris Cairns picked up 2 wickets for the Lions.
Matthew Elliot top scored for the Lions with 39.
Chris Cairns threatened to take the game away before he was undone by Jason Gillespie.

Delhi Giants beat Mumbai Champs by 6 wickets
Points of interest:
Champs' skipper Brian Lara ruled out of tournament with injury.
Stand in skipper Nathan Astle top scored with 32.
Shane Bond gave away only 18 runs in 4 overs to restrict the Champs.
Abbas Ali smashed an unbeaten 64 off 49 deliveries to lead the Giants' reply.

Watch this space for more updates on the Lahore Badshahs and the ICL.

Knight Rider is BACK!

I used to love the show in the 80s. Micheal Knight and Kit were heroes in their own right and I used to follow their adventures week in week out. Micheal Knight then moved on from chasing bad men to chasing bikini clad women and Knight Rider died.

I heard recently that Knight Rider was relaunched and a pilot has been aired with Micheal Knight's son and a new Kit.

But a different kind of Knight Rider was launched in India today.

It was the launch of Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders!

Finally we have an interesting name from one of the IPL franchises. After Super Kings, Royal Challengers, Royals, and Indians; Knight Riders is a refreshing change. And who else than King Khan to come up with something like that.

Team owner Shahrukh Khan, Team captain Saurav Ganguly, and Team Coach John Buchanan launched the name, logo, jersey, mascot, and anthem of the Kolkata team today.

• The logo is a golden helmet.
  
• The jersey is in black and gold.
  
• The mascot is a tiger called 'Hoog Lee', which King SRK announced as "not Bruce Lee, not Brett Lee, but better than all the Lees".
  
• And the anthem is in bengali with the lyrics "Karbo, Larbo, Jeetbo Re". Translated that means "we will do it, fight it, and win it".

Trust the king of entertainment to make his team the most interesting one out of the lot!

A video of the anthem has also been shot and SRK joked about John Buchanan learning some Bollywood steps for it. I can't wait to get my hands on that video - apparently Shoaib Akhtar, Ganguly, and King Khan all make an appearance in it.

Watch out IPL teams, the Kolkata Knight Riders mean business and they are ready to Rock n Roll!!

Hopes Tops the List in Episode II of the IPL Player Auction

Part II of the IPL Player Auction was held today. I reported yesterday that Misbah and James Hopes were likely to recieve the highest bids in todays Auction and they in fact did. Well kind of.

Hopes was the most expensive player auctioned today as he went to Preity Zinta's Mohali for $300,000.

Misbah was picked up by Vijay Mallya's Bangalore for $125,000. I thought he would have gone for much more but I guess not many were interested in him, which is surprising. Misbah joins Darvid, Kallis, and Chanderpaul in the Royal Challenger's middle order.

A number of other international players, who were not listed in the 18 initially announced to be auctioned, were sold today as well. This had something to do with a list of names provided by the franchises to the BCCI.

The first English player was signed up with the IPL today - Dmitri Mascarenhas was picked up by Jaipur for $100,000 after an agreement was signed between Jaipur and Hampshire, who have released Mascarenhas for the initial part of the county season. Hampshire will reportedly be compensated for the time Mascarenhas is not available to them.

This just goes to show how the counties and boards are willing to oblige to the BCCI for the IPL, actions that are totally opposite to the ones bing shown for the ICL. Its quite obvious that Shane Warne, captain of Jaipur and Hampshire, would have played a role in the negotiations.

The other players auctioned today include:

Jaipur: Shane Watson ($125,000), Sohail Tanvir ($100,000), Morne Morkel ($60,000), and U19 players Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

Kolkata: Salman Butt ($100,000), Mohammad Hafeez ($100,000) and U19 players Iqbal Abdullah and Siddarth Kaul.

Mohali: Luke Pomersbach ($50,000), Kyle Mills ($150,000), and U19 players Ajitesh Argal and Tanmay Srivastava.

Delhi: Brett Greeves ($50,000) and U19 Pradeep Sangwan (Soulberry, your wish of Sangwan in the same team as Asif and Mcgrath has been granted).

(Know anything about Greeves Uncle J?)

Bangalore: Ross Taylor ($100,000), Abdur Razzak ($50,000), and U19 Shreevats Goswami.

Mumbai: Ashwell Prince ($175,000), and U19 players Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwary.

Chennai: U19 players Napoleon Einstein, Abhinav Mukund, Viraj Kadbe.

Why did Mumbai pay $175,000 for Ashwell Prince when no one was interested in him the first time round?

Many players still remain unsold, but reports indicate that they will be paid their base prices despite not playing for any team.

Earning money for no work? I am definitely in the wrong job.

Indian Batsmen Have a Good Eye

We all know that Team India currently boasts of one of the strongest batting line ups in world cricket. Thus naturally they all have a good eye, making them brilliant stroke players.

The picture below clearly shows what a good eye the Indian batsmen - Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, and Yuvraj Singh have. Lets not talk about their strokes.

Sachin Tendulkar is seen shying away from the bouncer and trying hard not to smile, while Yuvraj Singh seems to be looking away from what Uthappa and Karthik find amusing and concentrating on Sachin's new watch. He sure doesn't want to get into Deep(ika) trouble.

I wonder who captured this outstanding moment! He has out done the Indian batsmen with his immaculate timing.

Pentangular Champions - Sindh or Punjab?

The main event of the Pentangular Trophy begins this morning at the National Stadium in Karachi where Punjab takes on Sindh.

Its Shoaib Malik's team against Shahid Afridi's, its Pakistan's largest province against the 2nd largest, its Punjab's experienced batting line up vs Sindh's inexperienced, its Punjab's batting pitted against Sindh's bowling. And so much more.

The match has all the ingredients required for a potboiler and considering that it is being played on a lively track at the NSK, one can expect a cracking contest.

The winner of the match will be crowned the Pentangular Cup Champions. However, if the match ends in a draw, then the Federal Areas, which have played all their matches and currently lead the table, will be crowned Champions.

The Punjab batsmen, which resemble a Pakistani line up - Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah ul Haq, Shoaib Malik have been in tremendous form throughout the tournament, but they have played all their matches in Punjab (Lahore and Sialkot) on dead tracks. This is the first time they will be up against a strong bowling line up and that too on a grassy wicket. Will these batsmen continue their outstanding string of scores?

Sindh's bowlers Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali have wrecked havoc during the competition on the NSK wicket and they will have their hands full in front of a strong batting line up. They have also been well supported by the spinners Afridi and Kaneria. Will Sindh's bowling force live up to their potential?

Compared to Punjab's experienced batting line up, Sindh primarily comprises of Pakistan hopefuls in young openers Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif in addition to Naumanullah and Faisal Iqbal. Add Shahid Afridi to the mix and it looks like a strong batting line up, but still on the weaker side when compared to Punjab's heavyweights. Will the Pakistan prospects live up to expectations and make a lasting impression?

The contest will also pit Pakistan's number 1 wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (Punjab) and his understudy, Sarfraz Ahmed against each other. Will the junior outplay the senior keeper?

One can expect a nerve wrecking match that has the potential to be a cracker and go down the wire. The fact that the Championship is on the line makes it all the more exciting.

For those who get GEO sports, you can catch LIVE action starting 6:00am GMT. I will cover as much as possible right here.

IPL Player Auction Part II - Will Misbah be a Big Draw?

18 International players and 16 Indian U19 players are set to be allocated to IPL franchises tomorrow in what will be a 2nd auction for the international players and draft picks for the U19 players.

Jaipur aka Rajhasthan Royals spent only $2.9 million at the 1st auction, effectively leaving them $2.1 million for tomorrow, and thus are the best placed team to pick up more stars as the IPL Player Auction Part 2 gets underway.

The other teams are left with very little money totaling to a few 100 thousand dollars thus they may not be able to pick up more than 1 international player each at the most.

Misbah Ul Haq, who was arguably one of the best batsmen in last year's T20 World Cup, looks to me as the biggest draw at tomorrow's auction. I reckon if he was there in the first one, he would have been the highest priced Pakistani player but strangely he was missing.

Considering that Bangalore have $374,000 left in their kitty, which is the highest balance after Jaipur's, I see Shane Warne's Royal team picking Misbah up. If they do at a relatively low $400,000 or so, he might end up being the bargain of the tournament -a tag currently associated with Ricky Ponting.

The other players up for grabs include Mohd. Yousuf and Ashwell Prince who no one was interested in the last time round in addition to new entries:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez