Who cares about rallies WHEN AFRIDI IS ON A ROLL

Who is Tiger for you ? the one who say or the one who deliver ?

LAHORE – Choosing to watch Shahid Afridi hit Sri Lankan bowlers for boundaries all over the place in the one day international between the two countries in Sharjah on Sunday, people overlooked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Faisalabad rally, dubbing it to be the ‘usual waste of time’. Ironically for PML-N, as soon as Mian Nawaz Sharif commenced his speech, Afridi came on to bat. For many, the choice was clear. “Sunday is a day to relax and to be entertained. Who cares about the rallies when Afridi is on a roll,” said Chaudhary Murtaza Asif, a student.
“Afridi makes us happy. What has Nawaz Sharif done for us except give us things to worry about,” said Mutaki Awan, an O Levels student.

Interestingly, in a poll held on Facebook that asked “What is more important to watch today?” and offered “Pak vs Sri Lanka Match” and “PML-N Jalsa” as options, a whopping 94 percent selected the match as their answer while only 41 opted for the rally.
Facebook statuses and comments on different pages showed that the people were more interested in watching the cricket rather than the rally. Citizens were of the view that PML-N should have arranged the rally on some other day. “There is nothing special in PML-N’s rally. They hold it every other day,” said another young boy, who runs his own website, Ali Ashraf.

Some, few and far between, chose to watch the rally on TV. A die hard fan of Mian Nawaz Sharif, Ali Sheikh, updated his Facebook status to “well spoken Mian Sahib” after Nawaz Sharif said he had spent 10 years in Saudi Arabia for Pakistan.

Many were of the view that after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s successful rally in Lahore, every party had started the ‘stunt’ of holding rallies and they had nothing consequential to say. They also said PML-N was trying to copy PTI’s rally by playing music and copying the stage and the seating arrangement.
Khan’s page, Jaagutho, updated its status to, “PML (N) jalsa a total “copy cat” and “me too” approach. Hope they can also copy the integrity and declare their real assets.”

Facebook users also shared the video of PTI’s show at Dhobi Ghat ground and said the crowd was much more enthusiastic and fervent in Imran Khan’s rallies.
“I don’t understand what Nawaz Sharif wants to achieve by holding these public meetings of patwaris,” said Zeeshan Iqbal, a student.

Source: Pakistan Today

My predictions & it’s outcome :)

As predicted by me earlier on a blog i.e. http://tinyurl.com/6jzfl58, Pakistan India match as once again put into hell of politics, on the name of cricket diplomacy and like always, Pakistan sacrificed….shame of zardari & company for using such filthy tactics and entering from back-door to justify it’s rule + an effort to strengthen the governance just before cabinet elections …..

but never ruled out the performance of Indians, my congrats to the indian team its a great day of victory for them because they played really really well through the world cup and had the most difficult matches and they played em really really well and because they weren’t willing to toy with their peoples emotion un like the paki’s selling out their people’s faith for just a pile of cash …

just like every time…

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Here’s the evidence 🙂

If you want more proof, then listen to this audio, in which you can hear same bookie’s voice.

Will ICC investigate the England vs India match?

How did world's best batting lineup not bat the whole 50 overs after Tendulkar's century?

I was unable to understand why England was unable to secure a victory against India in the recent Group B World Cup match until I heard the breaking news on TV. Shane Warne’s Twitter prediction, although it reached me late, resolved the whole matter.

Warne wrote on his Twitter account:

warne888 Shane Warne

Looking forward to the game between india and England today should be a cracker… My prediction a tie !

Soon after the match ended, Warne tweeted again:

warne888 Shane Warne

Before u think there was something untoward re prediction of a tie, thought it was going to be a cracker-tie was tongue in cheek-but right

Is it a coincidence that a cricketer – who has previously been involved in match-fixing controversies –  “predicted” an unusual match outcome which then actually materialised? Let’s not forget that he is still playing in the controversial IPL and has good relationships in the land of bookies.

Predictions in cricket are usually about victory or about a close contest, not about a draw. It is not like soccer or hockey where draws are routine. One day cricket matches rarely result in draws, but this is a different case altogether.

India’s batting collapse

After Sachin Tendulkar’s outstanding innings in this match, no one knows what happened to the strong Indian batting line. Why could it not survive for a complete 50 overs?

To me, the reason is that the Indian batting line-up is over-rated by their media and cannot survive when it needs to; they can only perform well in favourable conditions. The same happened yesterday.

Anomalous bowlers

The Indian bowlers hardly fought back. It was strange that they managed to topple the England’s batting line up thanks to Zaheer Khan. Now if it had been Wasim, Waqar, McGrath or Shane Warne, it would have been easier to digest. But Khan is someone who averages around 30 runs per wicket and has never enjoyed the status of being a fast bowler.

Munaf Patel averages 29 runs per wicket and was unable to prevent 14 runs from the tail enders but somehow managed stop two runs on the last ball.

More mysteries

There is a big question mark surrounding Yusuf Pathan’s fumbled save at mid-off and the English batsman not making any attempt of a second run on the last ball.

As someone who has played cricket professionally, I believe there is no cricketer in the world who does not seize the chance to win – even at the cost of his wicket – on the last ball of the match.

A batsman always runs blindly to meet the target, just to take a chance or to confuse the opponent in case there is an expected over-throw or any such miracle.

In my opinion, there is no chance that after the making 338^th run, the batsmen are satisfied about leveling scores, especially when winning the game was not difficult. The English batsmen, however, went ahead to congratulate the Indians like nothing had happened.

Was it nerves?

There could be psychological reasons behind England’s inability to defeat India. They were playing in a stadium where the audience was largely pro-India, a crowd that is known to be hostile. Remember the Sri Lanka/India semi final in the 1996 World Cup and Test match between Pakistan and India in 1999 when players had to leave the ground because of rowdy Indian supporters?

But this cannot be the only reason behind England’s astonishing performance; the question is ‘who asked the English batsman not to score a winning run?’

Questions to be answered:

• Will the ICC investigate this match for corruption?
• Will the ICC punish cricketers if they are guilty?
• In the land of bookies, can ICC assure the cricket playing nations that the tournament will remain clean?
• Will the culprits be saved for the “greater good of the game”?

Waiting game goes on for Pakistan trio

By Martin Parry

For (AFP)

An anti-corruption tribunal against Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer ended Tuesday with no decision and a further hearing scheduled for February 5.

The three face charges of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year in a scandal that rocked the sport. It is alleged that they conspired in the bowling of deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s Test — claims they all deny.

They were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September, with the world governing body’s code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban and maximun life out of the game if corruption charges are proved.

The hearing began last Thursday but Michael Beloff, commissioner of the three-man independent tribunal, said they needed more time to consider the issues.

“The tribunal have throughout been very conscious of the importance of these proceedings to the three players and the wider world of cricket,” he said in a statement read to media waiting at the Qatar Financial Centre venue.

“Representations have been made to it to reserve any decision on the charges still before it until it has had sufficient time to give the issues careful consideration and until it is able, at the same time as handing down its decision, to provide written reasons.

“This would not be feasible in the timeframe agreed for this hearing in Doha.

“The tribunal has therefore determined to continue its deliberations and hold a further hearing in Doha on the fifth of February of this year, at which its decisions will be handed down to the parties and any consequential matters will be dealt with.

“Until that date, all three players will remain suspended from all cricketing activities.”

None of the players or their lawyers were immediately available for comment although fast bowler Aamer told reporters earlier in the day that it had been one of the hardest times of his life.

“You can see my eyes are sore because I have not been able to sleep for the last few days,” he said.

“I have been talking to my parents and they have tried to raise my confidence. I know a lot of people are praying for me because its a matter of my career.”

Former Pakistan players expressed disappointment that no verdict was reached.

“It’s absurd,” former captain Zaheer Abbas told AFP.

“The International Cricket Council has kept the players hostage for the last five months and now they have deferred the decision, which is inexplicable.”

Another former captain Asif Iqbal was also surprised at the delay.

“The ICC has taken so much time on this case and have spent so much money on it and yet could not take a decision… it is strange,” said Iqbal.

“I am surprised at the delay.”

The scandal came to light when Britain’s News of the World claimed that seven Pakistani players, including Butt, Aamer and Asif, took money from bookie Mazhar Majeed to obey orders at specific stages in the Lord’s Test in August.

Scotland Yard detectives raided the team hotel in London, reportedly confiscating a huge amount of money from former Pakistan captain Butt’s room.

All three men enlisted serious legal heavyweights to state their cases them with paceman Asif, 28, represented by Allan Cameron, brother of British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Former Test captain and opening batsman Butt, 26, was represented by British-based lawyer Yasin Patel, while 18-year-old Aamer’s legal team was headed by Shahid Karim from Pakistan.

It is seen as the worst scandal in cricket since that of South Africa’s Hansie Cronje.

A decade ago the former South Africa captain, who died in a mysterious plane crash in 2002, was revealed to have accepted money from bookmakers in a bid to influence the course of games as well as trying to corrupt his team-mates.