PCB's Pakistan or ICL's Pakistan?

I have been reporting on the Australians who have taken the IPL by storm. Coaches, assistant coaches, domestic players, strength trainers - you name it and the IPL teams have these Aussies on their pay roll.

One glance at the other 20-20 league and you see that its the Pakistanis who are making the ICL their very own.

The Lahore Badshahs was an all Pakistani outfit that made it to the finals of the ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge with an unbeaten run of 7 wins. In the finals they were stopped by another Pakistani, Abdul Razzak, who also won the player of the series award.

Lahore Badshahs won a lot of hearts in India and the public back in Pakistan followed them with intent. People around Dubai were also buzzing about how good the Badshahs looked.

Inzamam's leadership, the fielding, the attacking strokeplay from Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, and Hasan Raza were all admired.

Mushy's guile and Saqlain taking wickets again reminded everyone about the great spinners Pakistan used to once have.

Azhar Mahmood showed how he has been treated so unfairly by the Pakistan selectors. And Abdul Razzak made sure that the PCB and its selectors have a lot more than just egg left on their face.

The Badshahs success and popularity across India, Pakistan, and elsewhere also led the ICL to hastily organize a 3-way tournament including teams from Pakistan, India, and a World XI.

The ICL have siezed on the classic India-Pakistan rivalry and it has given their league a new look altogether.

But what does this mean for Pakistan?

Domestic stars have left their departments and regional teams high and dry to play in India. Inzamam is leading a Pakistan XI, which can easily pass of as an international team. And the public is actually enjoying watching a Pakistan team that looks unbeatable. It doesn't matter who the competition is.

Is this good?

Initially I thought it was great since it brought an altogether different atmosphere to the ICL. But going forward if the Lahore Badshahs / ICL Pakistan do become the invincibles within the league, the fans will be somewhat divided. Who would watch an international side that easily beats the minnows but looks like one itself when facing tougher competition?

Already the public is more interested in the progress of ICL Pakistan in the ICL 20s World Series than it is in the on going international series against Bangladesh.

I heard that a victory parade in Lahore was being planned for the Lahore Badshahs before Razzak came to spoil the party. The same is being planned for ICL Pakistan if they win the 20s World Series. I can already sense the buzz around such a victory parade if it does happen.

The cricket starved Pakistani public will appear in thousands to watch Inzamam and his troops on a bus top driving from the airport to the Gaddafi or wherever else. Would they even care that the international team is playing Bangladesh?

Kapil Dev has announced that they are looking to take the ICL to Pakistan. In the next season the ICL will look to hold the Badshahs' matches in Lahore and Karachi. Talks are already taking place for this to happen in October. Its a great business move considering the interest the Badshahs have created in Pakistan.

But it definitely divides the public.

Imagine what would happen when an international team is touring Pakistan in October. There will be an ODI going on in the Gaddafi with Shoaib Malik and his men taking on Australia or South Africa. At the same time, Inzamam's Badshahs will be taking on the Hyderabad Heroes at the Lahore Gymkhana or the Garrison Cricket Ground.

Where would you go? Who would you rather watch?

There's a certain nostalgic factor associated with the Badhshahs. At the same time they are playing more exciting cricket than the international Pakistan team. The public is anti-PCB and the Badshahs boasts of players who have been projected as those treated unfairly by the cricket board.

The public's sentiment is with the Badshahs / ICL Pakistan.

The Pakistanis have 2 teams to support on the world stage. We may be fortunate but its also a dilemma. I hope the international team is not lost among the hype the Badshahs create.

I want the Badshahs' / ICL Pakistan's success but not at the expense of Pakistan's international team.

The Paki Bad Boys

Over at Cricinfo I just read a list of XI cricket bad boys according to Martin Williamson. He had one earlier in January as well.

Basically, Martin Williamson has put together 22 bad boys of cricket including teams and individuals who have been up to no good such as Botham and cannabis, Gibbs and match fixing, packer's rebels, Warne and drugs, other match fixers, and a whole lot more.

Even though Martin Williamson has covered a lot, I think he has missed out on some more interesting bad boys of cricket from Pakistan. I cover them here.

(Note: some of these may have been reported, while some are from first hand information available to the author).

The Carribean Rum
Starring: Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mustaq Ahmed, Aqib Javed
On the eve of the first test match between Pakistan and the West Indies during Pakistan's tour of 1993, Pakistan's bowling attack was held up by the Grenada police at a beach. They were caught with rum, marijuana, and 2 suspicious looking females. The police held them on charges of marijuana possession and the 4 spent a night in jail as the first test was pushed ahead by a day. The incident was widely reported and the Pakistani press initiated a religious attack on them. Wasim and Waqar were the captain and vice captain of the team.

Son of a Pitch
Starring: Aamir Sohail
Back in the late 80s the Pakistan U19 or the Pakistan A team was on a tour of Zimbabwe. The XI for the next morning had been announced by the captain after a practice session and Aamir Sohail was not in it. When the teams turned up at the ground for the match they found that the pitch had been dug up and play was not possible. It was later found out that Aamir Sohail had paid the ground a visit the night before and dug it up because he was not in the playing XI.

Canadian Potatoes
Starring: Inzamam Ul Haq
By now a famous incident that took place in Toronto during one of the Sahara Cup tournaments between Pakistan and India. There was a spectator in the crowd with a mega phone chanting "aloo, aloo, aloo" (potato, potato, potato) at Inzamam every time the ball came to him. At a later stage during the match, Inzamam who had been fielding in the covers moved to 3rd man close to where the spectator was. As the over ended the 12th man - Mushtaq Ahmed walked around the boundary line with a bat. He handed the bat to Inzi who jumped into the crowd and threatened to beat up the man with the mega phone. He took a few swipes but missed as the security held him at the right moment. For once I would say, thank God Inzi did not connect - if he had he would have been serving time for murder. Instead he got suspended for a few matches.

Love in the Air
Starring: Shahid Afridi
The Pakistan team was flying back from Sri Lanka after a tour in the late 90s. In the flight, Shahid Afridi decided that he was in love with this girl sitting across the aisle. He walked up to her and declared his undying love only to see the girl's brother walk up and punch Afridi in the face. The Pakistani players held Afridi just in time otherwise the protective brother would have had his face disfigured. Recently in a TV interview Afridi was questioned about the incident and his reply was: "Today I am a father of 2, but back in the day I used to fall in love with every beautiful girl". Its funnier when he said it in urdu: "aaj to 2 bachon ka baap hu lekin jawaani ke dino me jo khubsoorat chehra dekhta tha, usse pyar ho jata tha".

Rocked at the Sun Fort
Starring: Hasan Raza, Atique Uz Zaman
The setting was the Sun Fort hotel in Lahore, the occasion was Pakistan team's camp at the Gaddafi stadium, the purpose was training for Pakistan's tour of England in 2001, and the incident was getting caught with call girls. Javed Miandad, the Pakistan coach at the time, caught Hasan Raza and Atique Uz Zaman with call girls in their hotel rooms. The 3 players were suspended for a certain period of time. The newspapers were full of religous attacks yet again. It was later reported that a hotel staff member had told Javed Miandad that some girls were visiting the players' rooms.

High on the Highway
Starring: Hasan Raza, Taufeeq Umar, Misbah ul Haq, Zulqarnain Haider
Drunk driving and carrying alcohol without a license is a grave offense in the UAE. Cars and licenses are confiscated and the guilty are put behind bars. The law here is quite strict.

The Eurasia Cup in 2006 was played in Abu Dhabi and involved the A sides from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and the international teams of UAE, Netherlands, and Ireland. Pakistan A defeated the lankans in their last group game and had a day off before the final against India A - availing the day off the 4 Paki players left for Dubai from Abu Dhabi around mid night. They were on their way back at 6am when the police hauled their car over for speeding. The driver was a local Pakistani friend of the players who was reeking of alcohol. On checking the boot of the car, the Dubai police found cans of beer and took the 4 players and the driver to jail. The players were only released on the insistence of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council and other top officials but not before 8pm on the eve of the final of the tournament.

Hasan Raza scored a match winning unbeaten 106 and shared a 4th wicket partnership of 174 with Misbah who scored 73 to lead Pakistan A to a 6 wicket win in the final the next morning. Taufeeq Umar gave them a solid start with a run a ball 40.

Casino Royale
Starring: Ijaz Ahmed
The 1999 World Cup final was to start at around 10am London time. The players woke up at around 7am to see Ijaz Ahmed walking into the hotel. When questioned he admitted that he was out all night gambling at some casino. Strangely enough he played the final and was let off scot free.

Match Fixers
Starring: Pakistan
There were too many players involved in this to list them down here and its a chapter that I hope remains closed in Pakistan despite Shoaib Akhtar coming out with disturbing facts. I know it was prevalent throughout the 90s and early 2000s, I hope to believe that after the 2003WC no player was involved in it, but I also know that its difficult to rid this menace off Pakistan when boys at the mere age of 16-17 are offered tens of thousands of Rs. back home to perform poorly for their clubs, departments, and regional teams.

Unfortunately, Pakistan will always have the image of "only bad boys play cricket" and their players will keep getting involved in controversies around the world. At the same time we are fortunate enough to have such intriguing characters playing cricket in Pakistan that we will continue to be entertained by them on and off the field.

None of them though reaches the heights of the bad boy image that Shoaib Akhtar has been able to create for himself. Or for that matter Shane Warne. who do you reckon is the bigger one? Warne or Shoaib? Or does Sir Ian Botham go above them?

Stand up to the BCCI !!

"The ICL headquarter in Mumbai has been flooded with calls from leading Pakistani cricketers who are willing to join the breakaway league"

- Former Pakistan Captain Inzamam Ul Haq who led the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge and is leading the ICL Pakistanis in the ICL 20s World Series.

Moin Khan, who is coaching the teams captained by Inzamam, is also the ICL agent for Pakistan. He gets a neat commission from the ICL for every Pakistani player he signs on and has been instrumental in getting together an international looking Pakistan side for the league.

The presence of big names like Inzamam have led a number of Pakistani cricketers to jump ship. Ignorance on part of the PCB is another factor leading players like Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Sami joining the ICL bandwagon.

You can't blame the cricketers - for apart from being ignored for national duty, they earn more from the ICL than from playing domestic cricket and maybe even earn more than their IPL counterparts.

The PCB here failed on several accounts.

• They failed to provide the 'rebel' cricketers with enough confidence that they still have a future in Pakistan.
  
• They failed to increase pay packages for domestic cricketers. Or at least for those who had represented Pakistan or were on the fringes.
  
• They failed to negotiate IPL packages for these cricketers. The Badshahs were a hit in India so theres no reason why the BCCI would have ignored these cricketers, which have proved to be big crowd pullers.

Where does all this leave Pakistan cricket?

Not in very good shape unfortunately.

The domestic competitions this year, despite having the first choice internationals, lacked subtance due to 18 of the countries' top cricketers playing in the ICL.

If another dozen or 2 dozen cricketers join the ICL it would leave the domestic structure in tatters with only 2nd and 3rd grade cricketers participating in it. Or rather only those whom the ICL are not interested in.

So what should the PCB do about this?

Its quite simple honestly.

Let the cricketers earn their livelihood by playing in the ICL and allow them to play domestic cricket in Pakistan. Its not that these cricketers don't want to play for their regional teams or departments - they do, the PCB has banned them.

Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar have a case filed with the High Court to overturn the bans. Abdul Razzak has filed one as well.

The sooner the PCB realises that the ban is unfair, and its only going to hurt them, the better.

But then if the bans are overturned the PCB will come into the bad books of the BCCI. They can't afford to do that.

Someone then needs to knock some sense into the BCCI. Who can do that? The ICC? CA?

All the national cricket boards need to come together and stand up to the BCCI. They need to let the BCCI know that they are at a loss since they are not getting a share of IPL revenues and at the same time they are losing cricketers to the ICL because of their support to the BCCI.

I hope that sanity prevails and the boards don't go for a cut in IPL revenues as opposed to having their domestic cricketers back.

Long Live the ICL!

After the Lahore Badshahs won their first match of the ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge, I mentioned elsewhere that knowing the Pakistani players I wouldn't be surprised to see them reaching the final undefeated and then losing it. That is exactly how ICL's 2nd edition ended last night.

I think I said it on Soulberry's blog or it could have been on Ottayan's. I tried looking for it but couldn't find it. (SB & OTT, can you help?)

The Hyderabad Heroes beat the Lahore Badshahs twice in 3 days to clinch the best of 3 finals and the ICL Trophy.

Both the finals were intense close games. The first one saw the Heroes winning by a narrow margin of 6 runs with Abdul Razzak's 3-18 restricting the Badshahs to 137 while chasing a target of 144.

The 2nd one was even closer. The match ended in a tie. Defending 130, the Badshahs did well on the back of Rana Naved's 5-22, who took the last 2 wickets in the final over of the Heroes' innings to help tie the game.

The match was then decided by a bowl out, which the Heroes won 3-0. All the Lahoris missed the stumps! Anyone remember the 20-20WC group match between Pakistan and India?

Abdul Razzak was declared player of the series for his outstanding all round performance in the tournament - He finished as the highest wicket taker of the tournament with 18 from 10 matches at 13.38 apiece. Add to that his 183 at 22.87 and he displayed what the international Pakistan team has been missing. Its also a boot to the face of the selectors that dropped him from the 20-20 World Cup Squad last year.

The Badshahs took the the ICL by storm and were huge crowd pullers. Inzamam led the team with passion and the energy displayed by the players on the field was something one doesn't see in a typical Pakistan side. They definitely improved the standard of the tournament, which augurs well for the ICL's future.

There are talks doing the rounds that the next tournament could see similar sides from Sri Lanka, South Africa, and New Zealand. There are also reports that the ICL is considering adding a 4-day competition and a 50-50 competition to their annual calendar of events.

If that happens the ICL may as well be operating as the largest competitor to the ICC rather than one to the IPL or the BCCI.

The tournament has been a success, the crowds have been entertained, TV coverage has been lapped up in India and in a big way in Pakistan, and the ICL seems to have firmed its footing in the cricketing world despite all the barriers that were thrown at it. The only complaint I have is that TV coverage is not extended to the Middle East, but I guess with time that will also happen.

Sidharth Monga on Cricinfo questions whether anyone will watch the ICL once the IPL takes off. And also if the Indian market has room for two 20-20 leagues. With the cricket craving population of over a billion I think India has room for 10 such leagues! Ok maybe 5.

Mr. Monga, ICL's 2nd edition is over and its next tournament that kicks off on 9th April will be over on the 15th, a few days before the IPL kicks off. The ICL has ensured that they don't clash with their competition and smartly so.

This brings me to ICL's next tournament which starts in 2 days. Its called the ICL 20s World Series and is a triangular tournament between ICL India, ICL Pakistan, and ICL World.

I tell you the ICL keeps getting bigger and better!!

ICL Pakistan will be captained by Inzamam Ul Haq and coached by Moin Khan. It will comprise of the Badshahs' team members joined by Abdul Razzak and Shabbir Ahmed.

ICL World will be captained by Chris Carins and coached by John Emburey. The team will comprise of the galaxy of international stars on the ICL roster including Damien Martyn, Marvan Atapattu, Nathan Astle, Micheal Bevan, Craig McMillan, Lance Klusener, Chris Harris, Ian Harvey, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Adam Parore, Jason Gillespie, Shane Bond, and Micheal Kasprowicz among others.

ICL India will be coached by Steve Rixon and the team will be announced soon. It will be comprise of the best performers of the just concluded ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge.

The ICL 20s World Series promises even more entertainment from the ICL. Each team will play the other twice in the league stage and then the top 2 will contest the final on 15th April.

Smartly planned and scheduled right before the IPL.

In a way the ICL has also helped the IPL. It has generated such wide interest from the public that will just spill over to the IPL with non stop 20-20 action for viewers. So Mr. Monga, I think India has enough appetitie for 2 such leagues, and as I said maybe enough for 5 such leagues as well.

Long Live the ICL!

Subhash Chandra, Kapil Dev, and all of you at Zee and the ICL board take a bow.

Shoaib Akhtar in Hotter Soup - The WAR Continues...

The PCB banned Shoaib Akhtar, Nasim Ashraf gave a press conference, Shoaib gave an interview to GEO, Hamid Mir disclosed off-camera talk, Shoaib confirmed off-camera talk on other TV channels, and now it has all come back to bite Shoaib on his back side!

To read about what has happened over the last few days since this war started, read here, here, and here.

Had Shoaib remained quiet after the ban, seemed apologetic for his indisciplinary acts, and filed an appeal, maybe, just maybe, he could have gotten away with it. He has filed an appeal and the PCB is setting up an appellate tribunal to her it out but I highly doubt Shoaib would be listened to this time round.

His vindictive interviews to the media regarding match fixin, former cricketers, the PCB, and Nasim Ashraf have completely back fired.

1. The ICC have stated that the ACU is going to question Shoaib - this is going to get him or others into serious trouble. In order to keep intact whatever little integrity he has left, he cannot go back on what he has said. If he speaks the truth and is able to give some sort of evidence, it could potentially shake up cricket in Pakistan, India, and South Africa.
   
2. The IPL have disallowed Shoaib from playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders - Lalit Modi said that since the IPL was looking for global acceptance they had to follow international guidelines, thus it would be wrong of them to allow a player banned by a home board to play in their league. Fair enough, but there could be more to this. Ottayan has pointed out that it was the BCCI that requested the ICC to question Shoaib regarding his claims of being approached by bookies in India. This could have triggered the BCCI barring Shoaib from the IPL.
   
3. Nasim Ashraf and the PCB have filed a defamation case against Shoaib - a lawsuit demanding millions of dollars in compensation for making derogatory comments about the PCB and Nasim Ashraf has been filed by the PCB. If he cannot provide evidence against Nasim Ashraf and his "fee cuts", Shoaib is going to be poorer by some $3 million! Plus I doubt the tribunal will reverse the ban following these statements.


4. The ICL looks out of the options list - Shoaib publicly spoke about slapping Inzamam and Moin Khan who are the captain and coach of the Lahore Badshahs respectively. Playing for the Lahoriyas is out of the question now. He could play for some other ICL team but then Moin Kan is the agent for Pakistani players taking part in the ICL and I believe he will put in all efforts to keep Shoaib out of it.

What now for Shoaib? I think he has bowled his final delivery in all forms of cricket.

Bollywood and Rakhi Sawant look like the more realistic option.

The WAR is ON !! - Shoaib Akhtar Rips Apart the PCB and Nasim Ashraf

Shoaib Akhtar appeared on Capital Talk on GEO TV last night.

Before I go on to disclosing what he said on and off camera, let me brief you on GEO TV, Capital Talk, and its host Hamid Mir.

GEO is a privately owned Pakistani television channel based and telecasted out of Dubai Media City. The onwers are also the owners of Pakistan's most widely read newspapers - Jang and The News. There are a number of talk shows aired on GEO and majority of them have the reputation of being anti-establishment. Capital Talk is one of them and Hamid Mir usually bounces on every opportunity to criticize the Government. At times rightly so, at times maybe not.

Back to Shoaib Akhtar.

The show was aired last evening and Shoaib Akhtar talked about how he has been victimized by the PCB and criticized Nasim Ashraf and the PCB of having double standards and personal vendettas against him. He said a number of other things, the key ones being:

• He said that the PCB had no right to ban him since he is not a contracted player and thus the PCB laws do not apply to him.
  
• He questioned Nasim Ashraf's eligibility to be PCB Chairman since he was a US citizen and not a Pakistani one.
  
• He blamed President Pervez Musharraf of nepotism saying that Nasimn Ashraf was chairman only because he was the president's friend.
  
• He brought up the match fixing issue mentioning that those players who were involved didn't get any bans and yet he was being banned.
  
• He also talked about instances where he was offered money to under perform yet refused to do so - he mentioned Johannesburg and India as the 2 places where he was offered money.
  
• He reminded everyone of the times when he played for Pakistan despite being injured or not fully fit because the team management demanded it.

Shoaib spoke about all this on camera. But what happened off it is what I think is going to start a war within Pakistan cricket!

Once the show ended, Star News ran a story on Shoaib Akhtar. They gave their views on him and reported about the ban and the reactions associated with it. Half an hour or so into the program the reporter contacted Hamid Mir via telephone.

Hamid Mir mentioned that he had just interviewed Shoaib Akhtar and spoke about the above mentioned points. As the Star News reporter probed further into Shoaib's criticism of Nasim Ashraf and the match fixing comment, Hamid Mir opened up and said that Shoaib Akhtar had made a number of glaring revelations off camera.

According Hamid Mir these were:

• Pakistani, South African, Indian, and Australian cricketers are all involved in match fixing.
  
• Shoaib Akhtar has been offered money to throw matches by cricketers from all these countries and in all these countries.
  
• Shoaib Akhtar slapped Moin Khan and Inzamam Ul Haq on 2 separate occasions inside the dressing room when they offered money to him to under perform.
  
• Briefcases full of money have been left in Shoaib's hotel rooms in South Africa and India by players from SA, Ind, and Pakistan to throw matches.

For Pakistani readers these stories have been heard of before but only partly - Shoaib getting into a spat with Moin Khan or Shoaib and Inzamam having arguements in the dressing room are commonly known facts but there were never any concrete stories as to why the spats took place. According to Hamid Mir, Shoaib Akhtar came clean on those incidents.

But even that is not what I think will shake Pakistan cricket. It is what Shoaib Akhtar said about Nasim Ashraf.

Hamid Mir told Star News that Shoaib Akhtar told him that he has always given a share of his match fees to Nasim Ashraf. Not only from matches played for Pakistan but also from those played for counties, World XIs, Asian XIs, etc. He also mentioned:

• The PCB Chairman demands a cut of the fees earned by all players representing Pakistan - whether is is their match fee for playing for Pakistan or their county contract.
  
• The latest cuts that are to be paid to Nasim Ashraf are those from the IPL contracts.
  
• All Pakistan players give a share to Nasim Ashraf to play for Pakistan.

After disclosing all this, Hamid Mir said that Shoaib told him that if his ban is not overturned he will go to court and go public with proof on all these allegations on Nasim Ashraf and the cricketers involved in match fixing.

Concluding his tele conversation with Star News, Hamid Mir signed off by saying that the PCB did not have any just reason for banning Shoaib and he thought that it had happened because of Shoaib treating Nasim Ashraf the same way he had treated former captains Moin Khan and Inzamam Ul Haq - i.e. with a slap.

In Hamid Mir's words: "ho sakta hai Shoaib ne Nasim Ashraf saahab ko bhi apne haath ka maza chakhaya hoga kabhi".

It could be a result of sour grapes on the part of Shoaib Akhtar or it could be a case of political motives on part of Hamid Mir but the kind of facts that have been disclosed, whether true, false, or exaggerated, are bound to shake up Pakistan cricket.

Shoaib has a case on his hands - against the PCB, against the cricketers, and against the man that banned him, Nasim Ashraf.

He claims he has proof of match fixing, nepotism, and demand of shares from players' fees.

He has threatened to go public with all these facts and proof.

Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has already passed on his request to the PCB to overturn the ban.

A lot has already happened within 36 hours of the announcement of the ban.

I sense a lot more is in store. The War has just started and I believe it will end in a reinstated Shoaib Akhtar and a sacked Nasim Ashraf.

Lahori Shehzaade

Cricket20 is a website that covers everything and anything related to 20-20 cricket around the world. Be it the ICL, the IPL, the Pro20, Stanford Series, KFC 20-20 they have it all on Cricket20.

The website also publishes global rankings of domestic 20-20 teams from around the world and what I'm glad to see is that they don't bar the ICL teams from being ranked - thank God some people still have sense.

In their most recently updated list, the Lahore Badshahs are ranked at #3 behind the Victoria Bushrangers and the Sialkot Stallions.

The Lahore Badshahs are in their 1st season of 20-20 cricket and have swept aside all opposition in the on going ICL Edelweiss Grand Championship winning all 7 of their matches.

Led by former Pakistan captain, Inzamam Ul Haq, the Badshahs is made up of former international cricketers from Pakistan and a number of them have made a solid impact in the ongoing ICL tournament.

Here's a look at a few of the outstanding performances:

Inzamam Ul Haq: 50* off 43 deliveries to lead them to a 5 wicket win over defending champions, Chennai Superstars.

Azhar Mahmood 5-13 to dismiss the Hyderbabad Heroes for a paltry 86. He is also the 2nd highest wicket taker of the championship.

Imran Farhat: 94 off 54 balls with 8 sixes against the Chandigarh Lions leading the Badshahs to a match winning 187.

Hasan Raza: Bettered Farhat's effort, smashing an unbeaten 98 off only 52 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes to lead them to another match winning 187 against the Mumbai Champs.

Mushtaq Ahmed: 3-20 to bowl out Delhi Giants for only 103. Imran Nazir smashed a 47 ball unbeaten 60 to lad the Badshahs to an 8 wicket win.

The ICL Edelweiss 20s Challenge enters the semifinal stage today with defending champions Chennai Superstars up against Hyderabad Heroes.

The Lahore Badshahs have entered the semis as the only team that has remained unbeaten in the 7 league games and they play the Kolkata Tigers tomorrow.

Moving back the above mentioned Cricket20 rankings - currently there are 22 teams on that list. Another 8 will be ranked once the IPL gets underway this month. Which of the IPL teams do you reckon will make it to the top 5 of this list?

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.

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.

Here come the Lahore BADSHAHS!

Team: Lahore Badshahs (Translation: Lahore Kings)
Coach: Moin Khan
Captain: Inzamam Ul Haq

The Squad
Openers: Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Taufiq Umar
Middle Order: Inzamam, Naveed Latif, Hasan Raza
Allrounders: Azhar Mahmood, Abdul Razzak
Wicketkeeper: Humayun Farhat
Fast Bowlers: Mohammad Sami, Rana Naveed Ul Hasan, Shabbir Ahmed, Riaz Afridi, Shahid Nazir
Spinners: Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Arshad Khan

Reading those names as part of a Pakistani squad would seem that a Pakistan A side is touring for a series of matches. This is not Pakistan A, its the Lahore Badshahs team taking part in the 2nd edition of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that gets underway in a weeks time.

Apart from the 6 teams that participated in the 1st edition of the ICL, the 2nd edition, "ICL 20s Grand Championship" will feature another 2 teams: Lahore Baadshahs and Ahmedabad Rockets.
In the last 2 days Osman Samiuddin, Ian Chappell, and Asif Iqbal have raised their concerns regarding the bans placed on the cricketers joining the ICL. I did the same a few weeks back demanding the rule of the free economy in cricket - Read here and here.

There is a clear distinction between the IPL and the ICL - the former boasts of current international stars, while the other of retired or ignored ones. Then why are these national boards depriving these cricketers of their livelihood?

Moreover, the ICL 20s Grand Championship will run from 9th March to 7th April, thus concluding over a week before the IPL gets underway. ICL has smartly scheduled its competition so it doesn't clash with the IPL and even then the BCCI seems to have a problem with it. They have left no stone unturned in trying to block it with barriers of all forms -including support from the ICC and other national boards.

As has been mentioned in the articles I linked above, the key question here is what are the ICC and the national cricket boards getting out of this? The IPL benefits only the BCCI, the franchisees, and the auctioned cricketers - the other cricket boards get nothing out of it and neither does the ICC.

This just makes the BCCI the big bully monopoly earning billions and the ICC, PCB, CA, ECB, etc its partners in crime who get what?

Intriguing I think.

Intangibles

I am back after a long absence - and it is good to be back. My life has just been extremely busy with work and nursing a back injury and then over the past month or so have just been more involved with other happenings in the world. I will stick to cricket on this blog as this is a cricket blog and besides it is good to be back and writing on cricket because cricket is important.
I am also an avid Basketball and NFL fan. I have been following the NFL playoffs over the last few weeks and that got me thinking on how in American sports the commentators, experts and analysts know and understand the game so much better than their cricket counterparts.
I am really tired of the cricket commentators stating the obvious; making comments that any of my casual female family cricket fans can make. I am tired of phrases like "the last thing they wanted at this stage was to lose a wicket" Can somebody please tell me when it is a good stage to lose a wicket? When will we stop hearing the experts say that the batting team should aim to get maximum runs without losing wickets and the bowling team should try and get wickets giving away a minimum amount of runs. Oh really? How many years of international cricket does one have to play to come to that realization?
We need experts, analysts and commentators who can point out how Inzimam used to keep maximum strike against Muralitharan, point out Steve Waugh's grit and determination in adverse situations where his 30/40 proved to be the difference in making his team win, etc. Some times it could just be something as subtle as a bowler setting up a wicket for his mate on the other by bowling a tight line. I would like to see a commentator praise the bowler bowling the line and length rather than giving all the credit always to the bowler taking the wicket. Similarly, sometimes it is a couple of shots that a batsman plays (not necessarily boundaries) that completely upsets an on form's bowler line and length. Now it would be something if we got the commentators and experts talking about that rather than how well a batsman scoring a century played, which honestly even my grandmother could tell all of us.

Inzamam's Heroes & Lara's Champs

Many doubted that the rebel ICL will ever go through due to the bans on players from their boards, the launch of the IPL, and various other operational issues. However, against all odds, Kapil Dev (chairman of the ICL executive board) announced the composition of the 6 teams taking part in the 20-20 competition in ICL's 1st year.

Click here to see the complete composition of the Hyderabad Heroes, Kolkata Tigers, Mumbai Champs, Delhi Jets, Chennai Superstars, and Chandigarh Lions. The coaches of these teams are prominent former international cricketers. I would've thought Moin Khan and Micheal Bevan, two of the coaches, would have been good to play as well. Wonder why they're coaching.

The captains haven't been announced yet but Inzamam and Lara are expected to lead their teams - the Heroes and Champs respectively. The Pakistani fans should look forward to watching the Hyderabad Heroes in action as it not only includes Inzi, but also Abdul Razzak and Azhar Mahmood. Moreover, Moin Khan is coach of the team. Ambati Rayudu, the 22 year old touted to be India's latest batting prodigy, would love the prospect of batting along side Inzamam Ul Haq.

The Aussies should be looking forward to supporting the Chennai team, coached by Bevan, which includes Stuart Law and Ian Harvey. I still remember the 1996 world cup semi final between Australia and the Windies where the Aussies were 4 down for 40 odd before Law and Bevan scripted a remarkable recovery. What a partnership that was.

Lara will play alongside Nathan Astle for Mumbai, while the Chandigarh team looks like a strong outfit with internationals Cairns, Farhat, Marshall, Hall, Sodhi, D. Mongia, and Tuffey in the ranks.

The ICL looks set to get underway as soon as the issue of grounds get settled. Rumours flying around are that grounds in Sharjah, a private club in Karachi, and a few around India will be used. the prospects would have even been brighter had the IPL not been launched but then nothing flourishes without a little bit of competition. And rebels are always welcome.

Let the ICL roll...

Inzi - Our Best Batsman

The Pakistan - S.Africa series has come to an end in a rather disappointing fashion for the home side. I believe most people were expecting a better outing and a result in Pakistan's favor in the ODI series and it appeared that way till 30 minutes or so before the match ended. Oh well, I believe the banging my head against the wall and pounding my fists on the floor has been my source of lamenting and allowing myself the much needed outburst and reading Q's post has definitely covered it so thoroughly that I am not going to dwell on it more and move on.....

Despite the poor performance and the loss in both forms of the game, this series will be remembered in positive light in years to come because it included the farewell test of Pakistan's greatest batsman and one of modern cricket's greatest batsman, Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Inzi burst into the spotlight and was an instant hero after the '92 WC semifinal cameo! And really never looked back or disappointed since then. He has played numerous match winning innnings for Pakistan, probably has one of the best ratios of innings to win a match ever, his batting average in both forms of the game is outstanding and his captaincy record is one of the best for any of Pakistan's captains.

However, Inzi brought more to the game. So much more! He brought intangibles. He would always face the opposition's best bowler, in recent years I remember it was always Inzi who would face up to Murali and protect his teammates. Or who could forget the test match in India when Pakistan had lost early wickets and Inzi came in and hit Balaji for emphatic boundaries.

The cricketing world will also miss Inzi, the person. In numerous countries and by numerous people he was called an excellent ambassador of his country, a title not given to too many Pakistanis. His dry wit humor was just too classic and outright funny!

Words cannot describe the impact and the service Inzi has provided Pakistan cricket and cricket in general. Inzi will be missed and really it was so great to see this batsman get a farewell test match and bow out of the game with the tribute that he merits (albeit that he still has so much cricket left in him and should still be playing!), especially when other greats like Akram, Waqar, Anwar did not get a farewell test.

A Graphical Tribute to Inzamam

I have been meaning to honor Inzamam in my own way for his contributions to Pakistan cricket. Q has already written a great piece on Inzamam's last test (I posted it for him), I'd like to focus on the statistical highlights on Inzamam's career. Ive always wondered how statsical highlights related to achievements on the field such as wins, best innings etc. After all a triple century is still counted a sa century when it comes to stats.

So, here it is, my own tribute to Inzi. Below you will find a plot of Inzi's test career, with career highs called out. the circular bullets represent statistical accomplishments, while the square ones represent other notable highs. Drag a square on the graph to zoom in on an area.

Let us know what you think - Im thinking about comparing Inzi and Miandad's stats next since there had been all that talk about Inzi falling just short of Miandad's run tally by 3 runs. Stay tuned for more.

Inzamam's Last Test

Since this is Inzi's last test, I thought I'd share some of his more interesting stats. Since he's done with ODIs, I'll start with that. Everyone knows that he's played the highest number of ODIs (378) and scored the highest number of ODI runs (11,739) for a Pakistani player, both if which are also the 3rd most in the world behind Sachin and Jayasuriya. However, other ineresting and lesser know facts are:

As an 18 year old, Inzamam was invited to the Gaddafi Stadium nets by Imran Khan during a Pakistan team net session in preparation for the WI tour of Pak in November 1991. Inzi batted in the nets and flayed all the bowlers to all parts of the ground and hit all of them into the stands as well. The bowlers bowling to the 18 year old were: Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed.

Inzi made his debut against WI in Nov 91. Batting at 3, he scored 20 before being bowled by Maclom Marshall. That match ended in a tie.

In his next 5 ODI innings - 1 against WI, and 4 against SL - Inzi opened the innings with Rameez Raja and his scores were 60, 48, 60, 101, and 117. (I wonder why they never stuck with him as opener)

In his 2nd ODI against WI, he bowled 3 overs of left arm medium pace and also took the wicket of another new player in the international scene, Brian Lara.

After his first 5 ODIs, he was selected in the Pakistan team for the 1992 world cup. That world cup was also the first for Sachin, Lara, and Jayasuriya.

Out of his 10 centuries in ODIs, all except the last 2 against India in 2004 have come in winning causes.
Inzi's 83 half centuries was a world record till Sachin Tendulkar scored his 84th against England last month. Today, Sachin scored his 85th against Australia. Inzamam stands 2nd in the all time list.

His highest ODI score is 137* scored against NZ in Sharjah in the semi final of the AustralAsia Cup in 1994.

He shared a 263 run 2nd wicket partnership with Aamer Sohail during his innings of 137*. At that time that was a world record for the highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs. Since then, this record has been broken several times, but it remains a Pakistani Record and the 2nd highest partnership ever for the 2nd wicket after Sachin and Dravids 331 against New Zealand as well.

His 144 6's on ODIs is the 6th highest in the world and 2nd highest for a Pakistani batsman after Shahid Afridi. His 969 4's is also the 6th highest in the world, and the highest for any Pakistani batsman.

Inzamam has held 113 catches in ODIs, which is the highest for a Pakistani player, however the 13th in the list for all players.

He played 86 ODIs as captain, the 3rd most for a Pakistan captain after Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. He won 51 ODIs as captain, the 3rd highest number after Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. His success ratio as an ODI captain is the same as Wasim Akram's and better than Imran Khan's.

If anyone has any other interesting facts / stats - please share.