Shoaib Akhtar - The ultimate fast bowler

Today came the much expected announcement that Shoaib Akhtar would be retiring from cricket at the end of the World Cup. Before the tournament in the sub-continent, we mentioned on Stani Army that should Shoaib play any significant role in Pakistan’s campaign, it may lead him to decide to call it a day and go out of the game on a relative high. Today Shoaib took the step and made the emotional announcement to a packed media room.

Whilst it would be easy to concentrate on Shaoib’s run-ins with the law, it would be unfair to do so at this moment. Since early 2010, you could see a contriteness and maturity come over him, but sadly, it had only now come when his body was gone. Despite all his misdemeanors, he still provided cricket fans with box office entertainment and brought undescribable joy to millions of Pakistan fans. When he played, he was the envy of every supporter of every opposition team Pakistan faced, yet at the same time, was respected by these same opposition supporters for his unrivalled brilliance.

Not only did he have exceptional pace, but he also exhibited cricketing intelligence that made him stand out from the other out-and-out fast bowlers of his era. Like the design of the modern sports car, even when standing still Shoaib looked fast. With a long and aggressive run up, the Rawalpindi express charging in at full pelt was a sight to behold, as he made the best batsmen in the world look like tail-enders. Cricket is generally known to be a batsmen’s game, yet when Shoaib was bowling, it was a bowlers game.

Two of his most memorable feats were his bowled dismissals of India’s Rahul Dravid and the great Sachin Tendulkar in successive deliveries, and his record of the fastest ball ever bowled.

The two deliveries to Dravid and Tendulkar came in a Test match at a packed Eden Gardens in 1999. Here is the footage, as first Dravid’s stumps are shattered, and then Tendulkar walks in to have his middle stump uprooted to pin drop silence. It was the first time Akhtar had ever bowled to Tendulkar, and he sent the master on his way with a golden duck. Watch the footage, listen to the commentary, and feel the joy in Akhtar’s reaction and cry. Many Pakistan fans would say that had he achieved nothing else in the remainder of his career, that in itself would have been enough.

The second of the two balls that silenced 100,000 Indian spectators at Eden garden, 1999

The second memorable moment was when he bowled the fastest delivery ever recorded, to England’s Nick Knight, in a World Cup game in 2002. Clocked at 100.2 mph (161.3kmph), he beat his previous questioned record of 100 mph (161 kmph), to settle the debate once and for all. No doubt it also provided the highlight to Knight’s ordinary international career, as he will be telling his grandchildren for time to come, that he faced the fastest ball ever bowled and survived, not only walking away with his wicket, but also with his body fully intact. Even at this tournament, with fast bowlers like Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, Lasith Malinga and Kemar Roach on show, it is Shoaib who has managed to steal the show by bowling the fastest ball of the current World Cup in the match against Sri Lanka, recorded at 98 mph (159 kmph).

For what he brought to the game, you could debate whether or not Shoaib can be considered a great. But in my view, had he stayed on the straight and narrow, there would be no argument about not just whether he was great, but whether or not he was the greatest fast bowler to have ever lived. But still, even if his statistics (which are pretty good) and his achievements may not show it, to every Pakistan fan he is a great, and someone that cricket should still celebrate. Shoaib brought a lot to the game and fast bowling will never be spoken about without the mention of his name.

The irony is that Shoaib’s announcement comes on the same day as we saw another potentially unfulfilled Pakistani talent – the man ready made to step into Akhtar’s shoes – Mohammed Amir, in court here in London, over match-fixing allegations. Yet let’s concentrate on the positives of this announcement. What a boost for Pakistan’s World Cup hopes. If Shoaib and his team mates ever needed another reason to go all the way, Shoaib has just provided it.

Some quotes from Shoaib’s press conference:

“I’m focusing on the match against Australia. If I don’t play I will make sure every guy gets my help and if nothing else then I will carry water onto the field.”

“The first day, when I got announced for Pakistan, I did not believe that someone like me could play for this greatest team ever,”

“The best moment was when I got the first kit for my first Test and I had a huge star on my chest. I wore that kit and I slept in it and I couldn’t believe I would wake up in it. I did not take it off for three days.”

The best batsman he bowled against?

“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed bowling against them but they are my very top of the favourites. Inzamam is there. I loved bowling against [Adam] Gilchrist, I loved to hate him but he was very tough. Ricky Ponting was another great. This guy not only played, but he won matches, he had so much ability. I really wish to see him play for another few years for Australia. Then my favourite, Brian Lara, who was so elegant I lost myself in his elegance. I only bowled three balls to him, and they were my favourite three balls, but I felt very sad when I hit him and he had to leave the ground. But these are the players I really, really enjoyed bowling against. I wish I could, but it’s my good luck that I never bowled to that guy Viv Richards. That is my good luck.”

Free bets free bet placed in favour of Pakistan progressing beyond the group stage would have been scarce beforehand given their previous record at the tournament, but given their performances so far, they may now be backed to go all the way.

Pakistan sealed their passage through to the quarter finals with a seven wicket win over Zimbabwe earlier in the week with a game to spare, but the former fast bowler has moved to quell the excitement, and insists the team are not looking beyond their final group game against Australia on Saturday.

“Right now we are thinking of only Australia,” he said. “If you win that game, then your morale will be such that you won’t worry about any team you play.”

Australia will provide a stern test for Pakistan, and are currently unbeaten at the World Cup since the 1999 tournament, a sequence stretching back 34 games. While Pakistan have guaranteed their qualification from the group they could still finish anywhere in the top four which would mean a more difficult quarter final tie, and Waqar is wary of letting the standard of cricket drop.

You have an option (whereby) you could play the No. 4 team (from  group B) whose morale will be down,” Waqar said.

“But momentum is very important and necessary. Australia are such a big team, world champions, and they haven’t lost for ages. That is an opportunity. If you beat them, you leave a mark. You can look at the next matches and teams will think twice about playing against you.”

The form book suggests Pakistan will struggle against the powerful Australians having lost nine of their last eleven meetings in the shorter form of the game, and Ricky Ponting’s side have been installed as firm free bet favourites.

By Pete South, guest poster.

The offending tweet on Premachandran's twitter page, was carried on the Cricinfo site via their 'World Cup on Twitter' feed

For some reason, the Indian writers on Cricinfo have a strange fascination with Pakistan cricket. In the past it’s been the likes of Sidarth Monga and Samit Chopra, and this time it was Dileep Premachandran on his twitter feed. Premachandran writes for Cricinfo and should be well aware of his position. He also knows full well that his comments are going onto the main site so the excuse that it’s his personal twitter page doesn’t quite wash.

Not very professional for the largest cricket website out there to be publishing personal insults directed at players by their writers.

Akmal was dope tested before the World Cup. Unfortunately they tested for the wrong kind of dope

Pakistan’s unbeaten record at the World up came to an end with an almighty crash today, as they were put to the sword by Ross Taylor.

In all honesty, Pakistan followers would have known that there was a performance like this just around the corner, and on closer inspection, this unbeaten run wasn’t as special as it was being made out to be anyway. Two of the three victories came against minnows, in games that were not as comfortable as they should have been. The only real decent victory was against Sri Lanka, and one good game is no winning run. Certainly this false sense of things going well may be the reason why they have failed to make the necessary changes in team personnel.

Chief architect in today’s defeat was wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal who dropped three catches – two off Ross Taylor, when he was on 0 and 4 respectively. Taylor went on to make an unbeaten 131, helping New Zealand make 102 runs off the final 5 overs.

Many of those that have called for Kamran to be axed must be banging their heads against a wall right now. Had he been a South American footballer, his mistakes would have seen him go into hiding in fear of his life. The captain and coach need to take the decision and take the gloves of Kamran for the rest of the tournament, even if they still play him as a batsman or, they should drop him outright. As a friend of mine once said, maybe it’s time to drop Kamran just so he knows how the ball feels.

The other two concerns are over the places of the opening pair and that of Abdul Razzaq. The ‘winning run’ has masked the failling of Ahmad Shahzad and Mohammad Hafeez at the top. Apart from Hafeez’s 32 against Sri Lanka, the two have failed to pass 13 runs in all of the other innings of the four games played. Asad Sahfiq needs to be brought in for one of these two.

The main criticism about Razzaq’s place has been his poor bowling. Today he was brought on near the end when Shoaib Akhtar was removed after being plundered for runs. Razzaq duly did worse. It was a crazy and desperate decision by captain Afridi, to bring Razzaq on in place of Akhtar, merely replacing Akhtar’s pace for Razzaq’s lack of and making things easier for Taylor. If Razzaq is used solely as a batsman in the side, Pakistan have to make scape for their other pacer in the squad, Wahab Riaz.

Both Akmal and Razzaq have kept their place in the sides of the recent past because of the argument over their batting. Yet despite this, neither of them make up in their batting for what they give away in mistakes behind the stumps, in Akmal’s case, and giving away cheap runs when bowling in Razzaq’s.

Pakistan have a lot of thinking to do in regards  team selection if they hope to challenge the big guns in the knock-out stages of the tournament. It may well be too late now for the replacements to come in and make an impact, as the faith placed in some of the under-performing players begins to catch up with the team.

So who is the alternative option to replace Razzaq as Akhter’s opening bowling partner? Since Umar Gul has established himself as an old ball master, using him to open may see him become ineffective up front, and will also mean he has less overs to do what he’s good at nearer the end of the innings, the period where he is Pakistan’s main pace option. That leaves Wahab Riaz, the man that did not make the side for the first game against Kenya. To get Wahab in, someone has to obviously make way out of the side, but who?

Selected ahead of Wahab against Kenya was left arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Rehman is someone I’m a big fan of and his performance against Kenya was very encouraging. Would I drop him for the sake of getting Wahab in to open with Akhter? I think losing Rehman would be too big a blow. Whilst also being an accomplished batsman, his left arm spin brings something different to the side and he will be difficult to play on the sub-continent tracks.

Pakistan cannot open their bowling against Sri Lanka like they did against Kenya. They need to make a big call, somebody needs to make way. Personally, I would relegate Razzaq to bench for Wahab. Our batting line up is relatively deep already and with Razzaq coming in low down the order, he hardly gets enough time in the middle anyway, like against Kenya when he came in in the 49th over. The good thing  is that the loss of Razzaq’s batting ability would be covered somewhat by both Rehman’s and Wahab’s ability to hold the bat.

My team for the next game: Hafeez, Shehzad, Akmal, Younis, Misbah, U.Akmal, Afridi, Rehman, Wahab, Gul, Akhter.

Earlier in the week Afridi promised to do all he could to bring the World Cup trophy home after Pakistan were banned from hosting the tournament alongside India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh following the terrorist attacks of 2009, and he looked to make good on his promise with an impressive bowling performance.

Bigfreebet will have installed Pakistan as clear favourites, but their opponents were poorer than expected and sent down a joint record number of wide balls, unenviably matching the 37 the West Indies bowled in the 1991 tournament.

The Kenyans had begun the game well, and restricted a Pakistan batting attack looking to take advantage of their lesser opponents. Two wickets down with just 12 runs on the board, Kenya looked to replicate the success of the Netherlands against England yesterday by putting pressure on their esteemed opponents.

But the Pakistan middle-order came good as they accelerated through the innings, moving from 129-3 off 28 overs to an imposing 317-7; a figure which always looked out of Kenya’s reach.

Umar Akmal’s pacey innings of 71 from 52 balls lead the way, while Kamran Akmal (55), Younus Khan (50) and Misbah-ul-Haq (65) provided ample support in posting a large score for Kenya to chase.

Kenya completed a miserable day all round as their response failed to get off the ground. Jimmy Kamande’s side lost their last seven wickets for just 39 runs as they fell apart in the face of an aggressive Pakistan bowling unit, led by Afridi.

All-rounder Collins Obuya provided some resistance with a 58-ball innings of 47, one of only four to reach a double figures.

Pakistan will now move on to face Sri Lanka, who also won their opening game at a canter, on Saturday in Colombo. Big free bet will have trouble separating the two closely matched teams as they look to establish themselves as the dominant force in Group A.

By Thomas Rooney

Whilst overhead conditions were favourable to the English bowlers, it was a good track and for the Pakistani top five to make a combined score of just 40, some fault must lie with them. Nasser Hussain said in the break that when he was captain, batsmen did have the tendency to come back with a resigned attitude after being dismissed in swinging conditions, as if to say ‘ Oh well it’s swinging, there was nothing we could do’. Yet he went on to say that that should not be an excuse because that is the true test of the skill of the batsman, whether he can negotiate the movement or not. It’s obvious the skill of our batsmen was lacking.

Whilst there have been some encouraging performances here and there, it has to be said that our batsmen have so far failed on the whole. In the four innings we had against Australia, our highest innings total was just 289. For a Test match that is simply not good enough. So, what are our batsmen doing? What are they contributing to the team? If they are not making the runs, what is their purpose? Bangladesh had just finished playing against England in similar conditions and I would have to say that their batting line up looked much more composed and generally better than ours.

You have to feel for our bowlers, who after just around 50 overs, may well be out there bowling again if we fail to avoid the follow on. Let’s not forget that it is our bowlers that have scored almost half the total we have on the board right now anyway. The PCB should collect the wages of the batsmen by the end of the series and divide them up between the bowlers, because it is they who deserve it.

So, should we persist with the same batting line up and just be patient or should we send for Yousuf and Younis? Many of us had called for youngsters to be given a chance (Umar Amin and Azhar Ali), and we knew we’d have to be patient with the likes of Farhat, Malik and the Akmals, yet none of us expected them to be this bad. I think most fans expected better from this batting line up.

Most of the hype has been around Umar Akmal, yet so far he hasn’t even looked like anything special. Far too nervous and stuck in the crease, he seems to be there for the taking as soon as he gets in. As for his brother, well he will now be single-handedly responsible for losing Pakistan yet another Test as he did in Australia. Dropped catch, missed stumping, failed with the bat and was stupidly consulted for two reviews that he declined that would have gone our way.

Kamran Akmal needs to be dropped, to persist with him is just futile. He has had enough chances yet we are seeing the same mistakes, and that I’m afraid, is the bottom line.

Though the openers did very well against Bangladesh, they became unstuck against Australia, who look like a force to be reckoned with having got their selection right this time around. Salman Butt played a nice knock in the first game but, and there’s always a but with Salman, he let himself down when it really mattered. It’s fine to do well against Bangladesh but his poor innings against Australia, a game in which Butt-er fingers also dropped catch, has made his Bangladesh innings pretty much insignificant in my eyes. The question mark is still there; will Butt deliver with the bat when it’s really needed? I’ve certainly given up on him ever improving his fielding. I just feel Imran Nazir should be here in his place, as Mohammad Hafeez could quite easily have played the consolidatory role Butt is probably in the line-up for. Added to his batting, Nazir is also one of our best fielders.

Captain Shahid Afridi also needs to step up his game. Not only has his batting and bowling been poor, but so has his captaincy. Clapping the Salman Butt dropped catch is just not good enough. Imran khan would have stared at Butt until he disintegrated into the ground beneath him. These are grown men; there is no place for these niceties. Watch an Australia drop a catch and watch the reaction of the captain and bowler, and you could bet they won’t be clapping their hands.

Afridi also made a mistake by persisting with both Sami and Hafeez when they were leaking runs. I think Mohammad Asif needs to come in for Mohammad Sami, and be given his four overs up-front in which he could use the new ball to give us some high-class seam bowling. I was not sure why Abdul Razzaq was not bowling. It may be a personal choice of Razzaq’s so we cannot criticise the captain for that although it was Razzaq’s bowling that dragged us up off the floor in the last Twenty20 World Cup with some crucial wickets. Afridi needs to realise fast that he cannot rigidly stick to a game plan. Captains must be ready to adapt to conditions and any developments in play.

As we look forward to the rest of the tournament, the Australian game showed that Pakistan still have this inferiority complex when playing any western nation team. They need to change their mentality and play like Champions. They need to show that this Cup is theirs and that they are the best team in Twenty20 cricket not by luck, but on merit.

The last mention must go to Mohammad Aamer, who continues to be the shining light of Pakistan cricket. For an 18-year old to bowl a maiden 5-wicket last over in a World Cup game against arguably the strongest team, is not only a first, but probably a last. And it could only be a Pakistani kid couldn’t it?

Actually, sorry Aamer, I changed my mind. The last mention must go to Shane Watson, who is a living example that you do not have to have manners, be a decent person or be mature to be a cricketer. There is no place in cricket for swearing Shane. The “F… off” you directed at Saeed Ajmal was not only quite clearly visible, but also audible. Grow up Shane.

Lalit and his girls: The 'best' thing to happen to cricket since....football

they reach the final. But what if they do reach the final? Some would say that this is a big ‘what if’ but they’d be ignoring the recent big ‘what if’ which prevented Pakistan’s players from playing in IPLIII.

The reason given was that the franchises could not be certain of the availability of the Pakistani players. So what do they exactly mean by that? Well, the Pakistani players would have been free from international duty in that period so this cannot have been what was meant. May be the reason is the fear that half way through the tournament, something happens in one of the two countries which would strain diplomatic relationships and heighten civil tension, causing Pakistan to call back its players for fear of attack in India. A big ‘what if’ in my opinion.

The most tasteless part of this IPL snub was that the Pakistani players were given false hope and led along until the very last minute, literally. Why did the eight franchises request the eleven Pakistani players up for selection if their policy was not to pick players that were not certain of availability? Well it is clear that something happened inbetween the period that these players were requested by the franchises and the time of the auction, and this is the sinister side to this whole situation.

With the franchises towing the same ‘non-availability’ line, it was obvious that the advice they received must of come from one source in that it was the same across the board. Clearly, all the franchises were in cahoots with one another and it was a collective and pre-planned shunning of the Pakistani players, even though this is being denied. If you are not convinced, are you telling me not one of the franchises would have been tempted by even a single bid for Afridi, Rana, Aamer or Akmal? Instead, when the names of these World Champions were read out at auction, there was complete silence in the room. It was so quiet that you could almost hear the little synaptic kerchings in Lalit Modi’s brain. It would be interesting to find out who it was that advised the franchises to make this change in policy and take this stance after they had no problem in requesting the players for auction initially.

Would the Indian crowds have turned on Pakistan's players?

When Pakistan’s players did not take part in IPLII, the argument from many IPL supporters was that it was the Pakistan government that banned the players from playing so the IPL was helpless. We argued then that even if our government had allowed the players to travel, they would have been stopped from playing somehow and that the Pakistan government merely made the decision easier for Lalit Modi. From what has happened this time around, it is clear that our belief was true.

The fact of the matter is, as soon as the time to organise IPLIII came around, those in the corridors of power began to think of ways in which to prevent Pakistan players from playing for whatever reason. The morally right thing to do would have been to begin to find ways of including them but morality isn’t something Lalit Modi will be known for I’m afraid. They waited until the end, hoping that Pakistan would prevent its players from travelling just like in IPLII, and making the decision easier for Modi and his cronies. But this time, both the PCB and the Pakistan government allowed the players to travel AND the franchises requested eleven of them to go under the hammer. As a result, something had to be done to stop them at auction and it quite clearly was.

I couldn’t care less if our players did not participate in that tournament and I certainly would not have minded had they been asked in good time, not to apply. But the immoral and degrading manner in which they were snubbed shows no class at all.

So, will the powers that be apply the same logic in the World Cup? Maybe they’ll do what they did here and leave it to the last minute hoping that Pakistan don’t make the final. But if we do make it to the final, the outcome of whether we are allowed to play will truly show us who governs world cricket.

When the match began and the West Indian batsmen capitulated, I was beginning to question what the West Indians were doing there and whether it would have been more worthwhile, for a top 8 tournament, for Bangladesh to have been included instead. Yet the West Indian fight back with the ball was encouraging even if the Bangladeshi players may feel they probably deserve to be at the Champions Trophy. Maybe the ICC could have told the West Indies board that if their contract dispute was not resolved in time, the Bangladesh team would go to South Africa instead. Let’s just hope the Windies carry on holding their own in the next two games at least.

As for Pakistan, the two stars of the show were teenagers, Mohammed Aamer and Umar Akmal. Aamer continues to impress after a successful T20 World Cup and Umar has just burst on the international scene and looks at home already. His innings today prevented a possible embarrassment. Being a usually attacking batsman, with a ODI strike rate above 100, he assessed the situation and played an intelligent innings along with Afridi to carry Pakistan over the finishing line. When Afridi was asked what he liked about him he said, “I love brave heart people and he is brave”. Watch out for him and Mohammed Aamer, 19 and 17 years old respectively, in the rest of the tournament, the latest fresh off the unmatched Pakistan cricket production line.

For Pakistan to win the tournament the batsmen need to perform but with arguably the best bowling attack in the world, we’re always in with a chance.  India are up next yet have been dealt a major blow with Yuvraj out of the tournament with a broken finger. This I think will have a major effect on what was deemed to be India’s strongest part of the game, their batting. The three others in the group, Pakistan, West Indies and Australia, will see this as a boost.