We love to covince ourselves with reasons on why Pakistan will go on to lift the trophy. Many have written on the same subject, and a couple of the reasons listed below might also be identical to the ones you have read earlier. There might be more (definitely), but these are the similarities between the 1992 campaign and the the one underwary right now. Some of these repeated themselves in our victory in the T20 World cup in 2009 as well, and back home when a particular series of events recur and give us what we want to see.. we stamp them as pre-requisites for times to come. Let's have a look and feel good till we can :

1) Intikhab Alam

Ask a newborn in Pakistan who do you want as the National cricket teams coach and he'l say Intikhab Alam. He wouldn't even know how Intikhab uncle looks like but he'l know that this was the same coach who was with us when we won the World cup in 1992 and even when we won the T20 World cup in 2009. Even though he isn't coach, his mere presence has charged the team up, or maybe it's just the effect of a rare sane person in the squad.

2) Aqib Javed

One more personality in the same category as above is the man who was spotted by Imran khan when he was 17 years old. He bowled in the 1992 World Cup with the intelligence that can be branded as gifted (who can forget his slower delivery which got Mark Greatbatch).
Give him extra points as he was the bowling coach in the T20 campaign in 2009 as well. Imran Khan always said he was more intelligent than Wasim and Waqar, it's time to show the world how true this is.

3) Led by a Khan

The only times we have won World Titles was when our leader had a Khan tag.
Imran Khan did it 1992
Younus Khan did it in 2009
and Shahid Khan will do it in 2011

4) Beating the unbeaten

New Zealand was an unbeaten side in the 1992 WC, the only side to beat them was Pakistan. The cornered tigers actually humbled them twice. The most memorable was the one that came in later in the Semi finals

South Africa romped over all their opponents in the 2009 T20 WC, until the men in green put the breaks on in a nail biting finish

Our men have already given an indication on what is to come by beating the unbeaten Aussies and putting to halt what has been an amazing winning streak of 34 games on the trott spanning 3 World cup tournaments.

5) Dethrone Australia

Whom did we dethrone when we won the cup in 1992 ?
Australia

Whom do we have dethrone when we do it again on the 2nd of April 2011 ?
Oops ! Australia again


The only two times we won the title, the captain quit (atleast that particular form of the game). Imran khan called it quits after 1992 and Younus khan announced his retirement from the T20 version. Only if Afridi can make a similar announcement, this should be the final nail in the coffin.

Here's to Pakistan's Third ICC World Title !

I'm no fan of PCB, I think that's pretty clear. But, I'm also not a fan of this knee-jerk reaction by former cricketers to slam PCB at every opportunity. It seems to be as entrenched a tradition as any in Pakistan.

Today, I read an article on Cricinfo about former crickters attacking PCB for the defeats in Sri Lanka. Here are some of the comments:

Former captain Aamer Sohail said the decision to experiment with makeshift openers was baffling.

"No one, from the board officials to the team management, seems to have a clear plan in mind," Sohail told AFP. "Some of the decisions make no sense, like two regular openers were sent to Sri Lanka but we used makeshift openers in the series which we have lost now."

...

Another former captain, Zaheer Abbas, said the blame lay with the PCB. "The World Twenty20 win had hid all the weaknesses in the team and the cricket board," he said. "Since this board has taken over we have lost the Champions Trophy (hosting rights), we have been stripped of World Cup 2011 matches and we have failed to handle the team, so this is total mismanagement, which is unacceptable.

"The coach (Intikhab Alam) must go, and the captain (Younis Khan) also lacks the qualities of a good leader."

Former chief selector Abdul Qadir was unhappy with the nature of the defeats. "They should feel ashamed," he said. "Defeats are part and parcel of the game, but shameful defeats are unacceptable."

To Aamir: ok, you have a point. But Pakistan has had an opener problem ever since you and Saeed Anwar left. At least you should know that. They couldn't persist with Butt. And there are some contenders so they have to try them out at some point, and given the dearth of international cricket for Pakistan, there are only so many opportunities they have.

To Zaheer Abbas: Wow. Yes, losing the Champions Trophy and WC 2011 hosting rights was totally PCB's fault. Newsflash - Pakistan has been virtually under siege by terrorists for the last few years. A former PM, the Sri Lankan cricket team, and a major hotel in the capital are among the more well-known targets. But of course, this is all PCB's fault. I mean, if Ijaz Butt could just grab an assault rifle and some army fatigues and take care of the terrorists, we'd have been able to host both tournaments. Simple as that! And as for Intikhab Alam - he's the only Pakistan manager/coach who has won us World Championships, so you may want to rethink that. Re: Younis Khan, ok, you may have a point. But substantiate it - give examples.

To Qadir: Hmmm, are you still kicking yourself in the balls for relinquishing your selection duties a bit too early, so that you are made a laughing stock when Pakistan won the T20 WC??? Sounds to me like that. Has it occurred to you that Pakistan are playing a much superior team, and are just outclassed? And that playing their first Test series in so long may have had something to do with it.

Rashid Latif seemed to be a voice of reason:

Former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, however, ruled out changes in management and said the fault lay with the players. "Changes are not the solution," Latif said. "I think the team needs to go back to basics and there should be no interference in team planning. The team must play to its own plan."

Here's the simple truth - Pakistan is not a good ODI or Test team at this point. They are ok in T20 and were able to put together some remarkable performances to win the WC. But in the longer forms of the game, they are rusty and the players lack the temperament. This is something that will hopefully change once they play more international cricket; to expect them to immediately perform great in all arenas is unfair.

I think the pool of players is pretty good (even if the final selection/order can be tinkered around with). And Management is doing a decent job by getting Pakistan lots of international cricket after somewhat of an exile. But the lure of T20 and a weak domestic structure is changing cricketers' habits, and that especially impacts Pakistani cricketers who are almost genetically inclined to play T20 style in all forms of the game.

Is there justifiable criticism to be made against the PCB? Yes, always. But is this knee-jerk shouting and screaming by ex-cricketers for heads to roll justified after every single loss, especially this series? I don't think so. If there is criticism, put some reasons out there, and offer some solutions. I'm a huge fan of ex-cricketers like Zaheer and Qadir (and even Aamir to some degree! :), and mean no disrespect to them, but I think that they have all had their chances to make changes in PCB and the cricketing setup, but they enjoy being armchair administrators instead.

Oh, and if you thought the mental image of Ijaz Butt with a gun was too much too handle, well here's something to make that image permanent!

If this news report from Zee is to be believed, Pakistan's team management has been shaken up and has started to think.

Shocking!

They should have done the thinking before embarking that plane to England.

"It is just the start and the players just reached England on Sunday, so they are acclimatising to the conditions. There is no panic but definitely now the option of playing Akmal as an opener and bringing in Fawad Alam in the late order is under consideration" sources in the team told reporters.

I wonder who these sources are.

I heard Intikhab Alam mention the "acclimatising to the conditions" comment and that the players were a bit rusty because they had just arrived in England, but in that same press conference, Intikhab talked of the importance of using regular openers.

So I'm not sure who is thinking of the option to open with Akmal and bringing in Fawad Alam.

Whoever it is, he's some smart ass who needs to be listened to.

I have been talking about including Fawad Alam in the middle order since I don't even remember when.

Fawad is no doubt one of the most talented batsmen in Pakistan who has season after season proven his credential at the domestic level.

With Younis, Misbah, and Malik not in the best of forms, its high time Fawad comes into the mix.

And I hope that this thought is not only under consideration but actually implemented as well; starting with the warm up game against India.

The same source according to the Zee report also said, "The positive thing about playing Fawad at number six or seven is that it adds depth to the batting as he is a reliable and sticky player in any form of the game and he also adds more options to the bowling."

Well about bloody time they realised that!

Shoaib Akhtar is fuming at his omission from Pakistan's squad for the ICC World Twenty20.

Oh yes, he is fuming!

He's not fuming over the little information about his genital warts that has become public, but he's livid over the fact that he has been left out of the squad.

Shoaib thinks that he is fit to play and he wants to be a part of the World Twenty20.

The small problem is that Shoaib missed Pakistan's training camp up in the mountains, and he also missed the practice matches that the Pakistan probables played in Lahore over the last 3 days.

That resulted in Shoaib's omission.

But now Shoaib says that he is fit to take part and lead the Islamabad Leopards in the RBS 20-20 Cup that gets underway in Lahore from the 25th.

If Shoaib does turn out for the Leopards, it will be quite a slap on the PCB face, who have written to the ICC technical committee for approval to replace him in the World Twenty20 squad.

If Shoaib plays, then in front of the ICC he is fit and doesn't need to be replaced.

What will the PCB do then?

Stop him from playing the RBS 20-20 Cup?

They can sure as well try to, but I don't think it will work because from some reason the president of Pakistan is involved in the whole sham.

The PCB have apparently received a call from the President's house inquiring about why Shoaib was dropped from the World Twenty 20 squad.

That is not all but Shoaib Akhtar has also blamed Intikhab Alam for being responsible of keeping him out of the team.

Remember, it was Intikhab who first came out with the genital warts story.

The PCB statement came next.

A major controversy is brewing in Pakistan, and as always, Shoaib Akhtar is in the middle of it.

This is not the last you have heard of Shoaib Akhtar and genital warts!

No one really paid much attention to Intikhab Alam when he said that he was planning a spin trap for the Australians.

2 and a half hours into the 1st ODI, we know exactly what he was talking about!

Australia down at 131-9 with 8 wickets going to spinners.

6 out of those to one Shahid Afridi!

Who would have imagined?

Afridi with a 6 for and a best ever bowling effort in ODIs.

He has truly and surely been on fire.

While Saeed Ajmal has been completely unplayable.

He has spun the ball both ways and the Aussies have had no answer to him.

Afridi's leggies, googlies, offies, faster ones and Saeed Ajmal's offies and doosras have totally rocked the Aussie boat.

I couldn't have asked for a better start to my temporary career as a reporter from within the stadium.

And Intikhab Alam, you sir, were absolutely right!

It was Pakistan vs Pakistan A but it could have easily been mistaken for Pakistan vs Australia.









For Pakistan the Chapal Cup is a home series and they have arrived in Dubai 10 days prior to the first match in order to get accustomed to the conditions.

The Pakistan cricket team landed in Dubai at 6am on Monday morning.

Dressed in all green, Younis Khan looked as confident as ever, which I believe is a good attitude to have and display.






How different these conditions are from what Pakistan has to offer, only time will tell.





Younis was then asked what he thought about Australia resting some of its key players, to which he said that even then the world champions cannot be taken lightly as the replacements like Symonds, Watson, and Marsh are top players.







Younis then urged everyone to support Shoaib Akhtar and said that he deserves a full opportunity to prove himself and that all of us can witness how he bowls once the series gets underway and judge him after that.

The Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, which will host 2 ODIs and a 20-20 match between Pakistan and Australia later this month, is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds you will ever see.

The questions were raised.

How do you tackle him? how good is he? Do you read him from the hand or off the pitch? How many videos of him have you seen?

There was a brief response from the coach.

We have analysed him; we have a strategy, but that was between me and the team.

The media caught something:

Pakistan's batsmen have been practising on shorter pitches to try and counter the threat of Ajantha Mendis.

The key men spoke.

Intikhab Alam:

"I can't tell you the details but we are looking at everything. If Mendis was hit around by a player we check who the batsman was and how he went about it. Some say play him from the hand, some say off the pitch. But the thing is he's quick, so whatever we do, we have to decide properly. We will definately be positive and attack him."

Shoaib Malik:

“Mendis is a relatively new bowler and we have prepared a strategy to tackle him”

“It’s (the strategy) a secret and you will know about it during the series.”

Misbah Ul Haq:

"We will definitely try to attack and unnerve him"

"We saw him in the Asia Cup and even though he took four wickets, he went for a few runs"

"We are practicing a lot for Mendis"

"We're playing bowlers from shorter distances so we can counter the fast pace. There is no reason why we cannot handle him because all Pakistan players are good against spin."

“Nobody’s scared of him (Mendis)”

The Result.

BAW Mendis 7 0 41 0

Now that the dust over Mohammad Yousuf's defection to the ICL has settled, and Pakistan's new team management has taken control, we can look ahead to their up coming ODI series in Abu Dhabi against the West Indies.

The Pakistan team lands in Abu Dhabi tonight after going through a 2-day training camp at the National Stadium in Karachi (see pictures).

The camp was supervised by the team's new management including coach Intikhab Alam, assistant coach Aqib Javed, and manager Yawar Saeed. Ijaz Ahmed, who is part of the new selection committee, was also present helping the players with fielding drills.

All the right messages seem to be coming out of the camp with Intikhab saying that the players have gelled well and that the team is raring to go.

While Yawar has talked about how well disciplined the players have been during the camp.

How good everything really is, will only be witnessed once Pakistan they take the field and return to ODI cricket after a gap of 5 months.

Their last outing was the Asia Cup, in which they failed to make the final and prior to that was the Kitply Cup, which they won beating India in the final.

The squad that has been selected by the new selection committee, after monitoring a few players in the Pentangular Cup, includes all the familiar faces, yet their seems to be a different look to the team, particularly due to the absence of Yousuf and presence of Shoaib Akhtar.

Lets take a look at the probable team composition.

THE OPENERS

Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif

Salman has over time become one of Pakistan's most dependable batsmen and he is going to Abu Dhabi after a good string of scores in the Pentangular Cup.

Intikhab has said that he would use specialist openers in the 3 ODIs against the Windies, which means that Nasir will most probably partner Salman at the top.

The Salman-Nasir combination showed a lot of promise during the Asia Cup this year. If the selectors show some patience and persist with them, Pakistan could finally boast of a strong opening pair.

Khalid has been drafted into the squad in place of Yousuf and why an opener was chosen to replace a middle order bat is beyond my understanding. Surely there are other promising middle order batsmen that could have been selected.

On top there are other openers such as Khurram Manzoor and Shoaib Khan, that have done better than Khalid in the domestic competitions. Khalid is no doubt a talented batsman, but he should defnitely be lower down the pekking order.

THE MIDDLE ORDER

Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Misbah Ul Haq

After over a decade and a half, Pakistan will go into an ODI without either of Inzamam or Yousuf in the starting XI. Inzamam and Yousuf have been the backbone of Pakistan's batting line up in the past, a role they are now fulfilling for the Lahore Badshahs.

Yousuf was Pakistan's highest scorer in ODIs this year and his absence leaves a glaring gap in the middle order. With him not there Younis, Misbah, and Malik will have to play more responsibly and stand up to be counted.

In this situation, I would rather see Younis bat at 4 with Malik coming in at number 3. Malik has always done better in the top 3, averaging more than he does lower down, and with him leading the side its high time he does so by leading from the front.

Younis has become increasingly dependable lately and his experience at the number 4 position would do Pakistan good in Yousuf's absence.

Misbah has batted mostly at 5 or 6 and I believe he should now look to make the number 5 position his own. The team management might be tempted to put him in at 4, but I think Misbah is a much better batsman near the end of an innings than he is at the start.

THE ALLROUNDERS

Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam

Afridi returned to some batting form during the Pentangular Cup with a few good innings, but I wouldn't look at those with any hope.

His leg spin is invaluable to the team and his presence gives the team a more aggressive look, which Pakistan badly need during these times. Afridi is a good option to have batting at number 7 or 8, but as I have always maintained, he needs to be treated like a bowler who can bat a bit.

With Yousuf gone, this series provides Fawad with the perfect opportunity to cement his place in the top 6. Though he is more of a batsman, I have put him in this category as he would be required to fill in as a 6th bowling option.

Intikhab is right in saying that Yousuf's absence provides chances to youngsters. Not only that, but in my view his absence gives Pakistan a more balanced look as well.

THE WICKETKEEPER

Kamran Akmal

Akmal would finally feel comfortable knowing that he will not be required to open the innings and he can settle into his role in the late order batting at 7 or 8.

Akmal returns to ODI cricket after Sarfraz did the job during the Asia Cup, lets hope his gloves don't have any holes in them anymore.

THE SPINNER

Saeed Ajmal

Ajmal made an impressive debut during the Asia Cup and is the most promising spinner to come out of Pakistan since Saqlain and Mushy were sidelined 5 years ago.

He is an attacking off spinner and even though he may not have a permanent place in the XI, his presence in the side gives Pakistan's bowling attack the much needed variety.

THE PACERS

Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Abdur Rauf, Ifitkhar Anjum

Shoaib Akhtar returns to the ODI side after over a year and this is being viewed with a lot of skepticism.

Only time will tell whether Shoaib is back in full form and fitness, as Intikhab has been mentioning, or is this just like his previous comebacks, which will be short lived due to some reason or the other.

For Pakistan's sake, lets hope its the former.

His presence does provide impetus to the Pakistan pace attack, but no one really knows what Shoaib is going to bring to the table this time round.

Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir were in tremendous form in the Pentangular Cup, however they will need to put in strong performances to shed the tag of being T20 bowlers.

With the team management putting all their faith behind Shoaib and also looking to recall Asif, Gul and Tanvir would need to step up their performances to remain permanent fixtures in the XI.

Abdur Rauf has had a promising start to his ODI career picking up 8 wickets in 3 matches. He was impressive in the Asia Cup and provides a good back up option to Pakistan.

Why Rao Iftikhar continues to be considered is beyond me. Sohail Khan should have been in the squad instead of him. The selectors continue to sideline Sohail for unknown reasons. He has been Pakistan's best bowler on the domestic scene and deserves a prolonged run with the team.

He might have benefited with Shoaib and Aqib's presence with the team, but the selectors thought otherwise.

THE TEAM

On paper the team looks like a well balanced outfit but we all know Pakistan better than that to give them any label.

As unpredictable as ever, the new management would be looking for positive results. Intikhab has talked about resolving the small rifts that existed in the team. If he is to be believed then the Windies need to watch their guard for there is nothing more dangerous than a united Pakistan team.

Malik will for the first time have more say in the playing XI than he has had before so it will be interesting to see what combination he plays, but I think for now the starting XI does choose itself in the form of:

Salman, Nasir, Malik, Younis, Misbah, Alam, Akmal, Afridi, Tanvir, Gul, Shoaib.

I would like to see this batting order as well, however Malik would probably persist with Younis at 3 followed by Misbah and himself. That could be disastrous.

Saeed Ajmal's inclusion remains a dilemma as going in with 2 pacers is not an option, niether is him replacing Afridi unless Malik thinks so. Fawad could be the one to miss out if Saeed is to play but that would weaken the batting. It will be interesting to see how Malik handles this.

The team management has to fill in a number of roles and their task is cut out.

Everything will fall into place over the next few days as Pakistan land in Abu Dhabi today, hold their practice sessions tomorrow and on Tuesday, and then take the field on Wednesday.

Shoaib Akhtar could not have chosen a better day than today to display an outstanding bowling effort.

Saleem Jaffar, who had kept Shoaib along with many others on a close watch in the on going Pentnagular Cup, had announced that the squad for the 3 ODIs against the West Indies will be selected after a meeting in Islamabad today.

Saleem Jaffar along with Ijaz Ahmed and Intikhab Alam are in Islamabad watching the Federal Areas vs Punjab game.

It was openly known that the selectors and the coach chose to watch this game at the ground to have a look at Shoaib Akhtar.

But no one thought that Shoaib would be able to impress. His fitness was lacking, the stamina wasn't there, the determination was, but that was just not enough.

It was over for Shoaib. Even I thought so last week.

However, as he has done so in the past, he chose the perfect day to lead his team to a probable victory.

As the 3rd day of the match began, Punjab resumed their innings at 33-1, 126 runs ahead of Federal Areas with 9 wickets and 2 days to go in the match.

At the crease were Salman Butt, fresh from his 155 in the first innings, and Umar Akmal.

It didn't take Shoaib Akhtar & co. long to send the Punjab batsmen packing to the dressing room for 144 allowing their batsmen a day and a half to chase 238 for an improbable victory against a strong Punjab team.

Shoaib picked up 4-14 in 10 overs of hostile pace bowling, while Sohail Tanvir and Rao Iftikhar picked up 3 wickets each.

Shoaib was the most impressive out of the lot bowling at extreme pace and picking up the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, and Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik.

(Scorecard)

Shoaib was ecstatic after his performance and this surely would have sealed his spot for the tour to Abu Dhabi.

I honestly did not expect Shoaib to make it but he has.

Saleem Jaffar can surely not deny him after todays performance and I can't wait to watch him in full flow here in Abu Dhabi in just under 10 days.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Including making Shoaib Akhtar perform without breaking down?