Pakistan hopes hurt by captaincy confusion: Inzamam

[IndiaGuy]

KARACHI: Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq says Pakistans World Cup chances have been hampered by the boards delay in naming a skipper for the tournament.

I fear the same fate as 2003 and 2007 for this team because just three weeks before the World Cup, the players dont know who will lead them in such a big event, Pakistans most-capped player told the Daily Jang newspaper on Monday.

I blame the cricket board for creating this crisis, he added. By not announcing the captain it has created two groups in the team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced their final World Cup squad but held back on naming a captain with all-rounder and one-day skipper Shahid Afridi vying for the role with test captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

They are two groups in the team: the Shahid Afridi group and the Misbah group, and in these circumstances it is unnatural to expect this team to perform well, Inzamam added.

The veteran of 120 tests and 388 one-dayers said the board would be committing suicide by changing the captain so close to the World Cup starting on Feb. 19 and co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

There is already uncertainty in the team and this will only create more friction and problems, he added.

BOARD BLAMED

If they dont perform in the World Cup some players will be made scapegoats as usual when it is the board which is to blame for the crisis.

The 40-year-old former batsman was captain at the last World Cup in the Caribbean when Pakistan were shocked by minnows Ireland and exited in the first round.

In the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan were also knocked out in the group stages with Inzamam scoring just 19 runs in six innings.

Former captain Javed Miandad, however, advised the players to just focus on cricket.

We have a good one-day combination which can do well in the World Cup but the players first need to adopt a more professional approach, Miandad told Reuters, adding that they should avoid making unnecessary statements to the media.

They must learn from someone like (India batting great) Sachin Tendulkar. He has scored so many runs and hundreds but you hardly ever hear him making any claims in the media. He performs like a professional.

Miandad and Inzamam were members of Pakistans victorious 1992 World Cup squad.

Source :http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/24/pakistan-hopes-hurt-by-captaincy-confusion-inzamam.html

 

[KhanHaripur]

South Africa won their ODI series against India 3-2

 

[KhanHaripur]

Yusuf Pathan reacts to being hit on the shoulder by a Dale Steyn bouncer, South Africa v India, 5th ODI, Centurion, January 23, 2011

 

[IndiaGuy]

Pak players must learn from Sachin: Miandad

Karachi: Former captain and director-general of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Javed Miandad, has urged Pakistani cricketers to learn from from the achievements of Indian batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar.
Rather than letting their on-field performance speak for them, Miandad feels that the players are happy to brag about their performance in media.

"We keep on reading and hearing about some of the players making claims about how they will deliver, but on field that is not happening and it is a big letdown for the nation."
"I would advise them to just focus on their game and go for improvement and take every match seriously. The players need to realise cricket is played on the field.
"They should learn from Sachin who has had a wonderful career and scored century after century but one never hears him making tall claims about his performances or achievements. He is a proper professional and someone our players can learn from," the veteran of 124 Tests insisted.
Miandad also called on captain Shahid Afridi to take more responsibility as a player and lift the team by example and said that the all-rounder has got enough amount of talent and he should channelise it properly.
"He shouldn't be playing the way he is. Imran Khan is a great example of how a captain should perform. Imran lifted the team in the 1992 World Cup. Afridi needs to start doing that himself. He did it during the World T20 Championship, so he is perfectly capable of delivering," Miandad said.
Miandad emphasised, "He (Afridi) has immense talent which he does not utilise properly at times."
Urging the players to take the current one-day series against New Zealand seriously, Miandad said, "Unfortunately, what I noticed was that the players didn't appear serious about their business in the first match in Wellington' they took things lightly. In international cricket, this is not acceptable."
Pakistan, who are currently engaged in an ODI series against Kiwis, failed to replicate their performance in Tests against the hosts and lost the series opener by nine wickets after being bowled out for just 124 runs in 37.4 overs.
Adding greater significance to ongoing series in view of the upcoming World Cup, Miandiad reiterated that losing it could have a big impact on their performances in the mega event.
"It is important for the players to realise that once they get into a losing streak, it will be difficult for them to come out of it in a high-pressure event like the World Cup," the former batsman cautioned.
"The players must realise they are fortunate to get such a series just before the World Cup," Miandad said, while expressing his surprise at the relaxed attitude of the players in the first match.
"They need to realise the significance of the World Cup when every Pakistani is praying for their success. The tournament comes once in four years and everyone expects the team to fire in the World Cup."
"No excuses can be accepted and the players must also realise that if they perform well in the World Cup, how much of a boost it would be for Pakistan cricket which is facing so many problems," he added.
The players just need to get more serious about their performances. I believe they have the capability of winning the series in New Zealand and also doing well in the World Cup
but for that, they need to focus on their shortcomings and strengths and use them properly," Miandad said while pinning hope on the present ODI outfit.

Source : http://cricketnext.in.com/news/pak-players-must-learn-from-sachin-miandad/53520-13.html

 

[IndiaGuy]

Zulqarnain Haider 'ready to sue' PCB
Islamabad: Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider says he is ready to take legal action against his country's cricket officials for casting doubts upon his mentality.
The wicketkeeper has sought asylum in London since leaving the team hotel in Dubai last November during the series against South Africa, saying he received death threats from match-fixers.

A Pakistan Cricket Board inquiry into Haider's actions was told by some support staff members of the national team that Haider had a complex personality, was a "weak nerve" person and "a person who is easily convinced into believing whatever is said to him."
Haider wrote on his Facebook page on Monday that he "is ready now 2 (to) sue PCB about mental illness report..."
He plans legal action against inquiry committee comprising PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed, team coach Intikhab Alam and former security manager Khawaja Najam Javed.
The inquiry committee, which interviewed Haider by telephone, submitted a report in November saying it could not recommend any action against him. Instead it asked the PCB to write to Haider and ask him in writing what happened in Dubai which forced him to fly to London.

 

[KhanHaripur]

Cricket-India's Dhoni blames batting woes
Sun Jan 23, 2011
CENTURION, South Africa Jan 23 (Reuters) - India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has blamed his team's fragile batting for the one-day series defeat in South Africa.
India, set 268 to win in 46 overs, lost the final one-day match by 33 runs after crashing to 119 for eight at Centurion on Sunday, losing the series 3-2 after being 2-1 ahead.
"The batting department has not been good in these one-day internationals and that was the main reason we lost the series," Dhoni told reporters. "We should have got 268 today.
"Batting has been a difficult task in this series, you want to take the opposition on, but then you can lose wickets. We weren't really able to see a prolonged slog because of the wickets that had been lost.
Dhoni said some of his batsmen had not had enough quality practice sessions.
"But they are experienced players and, playing 30-35 ODIs a year, they are used to handling up-and-down form. So I'm hopeful it won't be the same at the World Cup."
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said they would take confidence into the tournament.
"The World Cup will be very different. Jacques Kallis will be back and it will be batting-friendly conditions, so it follows that we'll be looking at different combinations. But it's nice to have confidence and some momentum when we step on to the plane," Smith said.
Smith, who will lead South Africa for the second time at a World Cup, said his side had been battle-hardened by their thrilling series against India.
"When we were 2-1 down, we were under pressure and needed to play well. It was hard cricket, we needed to be at our best to win and that's what you want ahead of the World Cup," he said.

 

[KhanHaripur]

An International Cricket Council inspection team is concerned about the readiness of two of India's best known stadiums for the World Cup which starts in less than a month.
The ICC's imspectors have already visited Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, which has been completely rebuilt, and they're heading for Kolkata's Eden Gardens today as organisers rush to overcome construction delays plaguing some venues.
World Cup organisers have dismissed fears of a repeat of last year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, when many venues were seriously delayed and scruffily finished.
The World Cup, jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, opens on February 19, and the final in Mumbai is on April the 2nd.


Copyright 2011, Radio New Zealand

 

[pakeeza1990]

yes izmam says Wright and i am agree with the statement so Pakistan Cricket Board should take the Decision of the Captaincy very soon otherwise the moral of the team will be very down .