Akram nails two in two

'Wasim's World Cup ripper of rippers came with a sequel hot on its heels'
Melbourne, 25 March 1992


The first World Cup final to be played under lights, the only one to take place in Australia, and the last one not to feature the Australian team. The two finalists are the team that did best in the group stage - England, astonishingly - and the one that came roaring into form just in time - Pakistan.

The game ebbs and flows nicely. Derek Pringle's tidy outswing puts England on top before two grizzled maestros, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, fight back with a stand of 139. With a fluent 40 from their latest discovery Inzamam-ul-Haq, and a buccaneering 33 from Wasim Akram, Pakistan set a target of 250.

England stumble to 69 for 4 in the twilight, but then Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb drag them back into it. They put on 72 and Imran is forced to turn to his sole spearhead, Wasim (Imran himself is bowling with a bad shoulder, and Waqar Younis has missed the whole tournament). Wasim has to find something special. It helps that his speciality is reverse swing at high pace. He ambles in to Lamb, round the wicket, and fires one in towards his pads. It shapes in, then darts away, beating Lamb's baffled prod and taking out the off stump.

Chris Lewis comes in at No.7. Wasim goes wider on the crease and greets him with what appears to be an off-side wide, but it curls back wickedly late and takes out the off stump again. Wasim went on to play one-day international cricket for longer than any other bowler - 18 years, 356 games, 502 wickets - but he never bettered those two balls.

Pakistan's pace battery raring to go

Pakistan's bowling attack for the ICC World Twenty20 could provide some anxious moments to opposition batsmen with the addition of the country's newest fast bowling sensation Mohammad Aamer to its pace battery. The attack already includes Umar Gul, the leading wicket-taker at the last World Twenty20.

Gul said he wanted to do better than last time and would attack the batsmen right from the first ball. "We have a balanced attack and if we bowl to a tight line and length, then we can get teams out or restrict them to gettable totals."

Gul said he preferred bowling first change since more swing could be obtained. "It's the ideal time to not only stop the flow of runs but to take wickets. We came so close to winning the title in 2007 but it was bad luck. This time round we want to finish it without a blemish. The title, nothing less, is the aim."

Aamer, a 17-year old left-arm fast bowler from Rawalpindi, has said he wants to emulate his idol Wasim Akram's success in the 1992 World Cup when he plays in the World Twenty20.

"I want fairytale success, and will do my best for it," Aamer said.

Aamer, a protégé of Akram who had called for his selection to the national side in July last year, was born only two weeks after Akram's feats at the 1992 World Cup but said he had watched videos of his idol and that attracted him to cricket. "I was never interested in joining the army. I was attracted by cricket and by Wasim Akram," he said. In his maiden first-class season, Aamer took 56 wickets in 10 matches for Rawalpindi. He also picked up 15 wickets in List A games and was picked for the Bangladesh tour which was postponed. Along with Mohammad Talha, Aamer is regarded as Pakistan's latest pace sensation.

Shakil Shaikh, the official who spotted Aamer, said his swing and pace was handy. "Aamer's strong point is that he can judge a batsman after a few deliveries and then plan his deliveries," Shaikh said.

Akram has tipped him to be a revelation in the World Twenty20. "I have watched him more than once and he's impressive with over 140kmh speed and can swing the ball both ways."

Success will cheer up Pakistan - Younis

Pakistan's captain, Younis Khan, is ready to turn England into his team's home away from home, and views success in the World Twenty20 as the best way to make his troubled nation smile again.

Since the atrocities outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in March, in which eight security and transport personnel were killed in a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus, Pakistan's cricketers have been forced into exile. They were barred from competing in the IPL, and their only action since the attack was a low-key ODI series against Australia in the UAE.

Now, however, they are on the world stage in a big way, lining up alongside England and Netherlands in the group stage of a competition that, but for a moment's aberration from Misbah-ul-Haq against India in September 2007, they might well have won at the first attempt.

"It is special to be back on the world stage," Younis told reporters at Lord's. "Especially in Twenty20s, and especially in England. We are suffering from not playing regularly, and no-one is coming to Pakistan, but all the time in the last few months I have been talking to the boys, and telling them to do well [in this tournament]. There are a lot of media here, and [if we succeed] we'll be well on our way to our mission, so to speak. It's very important for us."

There has been much talk in recent weeks about overkill of the Twenty20 format, and burn-out of the game's star players, but such issues couldn't be less of a problem for Pakistan, who are desperate to get stuck into some meaningful cricket. "If you don't play regularly, you don't have that match fitness," said Younis. "But the beauty of international cricket is that it is changing all the time in different conditions, so we feel fresh and will do well in England, in'shallah."

Younis admitted his team's security for this tournament had been stepped up from previous visits to England, but added that such a situation had become common-place for Pakistan. Of greater importance was the opportunity that the visit provides his young players, especially with the prospect of a return to England next summer to play a Test series against Australia.

"Playing in England is everyone's dream," said Younis. "I have been over here for county cricket [with Yorkshire], and my first Test at Lord's was fantastic for me. Playing cricket in Pakistan would be better, but we have problems as everyone knows. England is the home of cricket, it will be good for our youngsters to learn to play in any conditions. Sometimes here it rains, sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold."

With that in mind, Younis said that his team's tactics would revolve around a more patient game that has sometimes been witnessed in Twenty20 cricket. "I have a couple of plans," he said. "T20 looks short, but it's not - 120 balls is enough. If you bat normally but with energy, especially in the middle order where you need good running between the wickets, [a score of] 180-190 is very easy.

"In English conditions the new ball does seam, so you need someone like Salman Butt who can play for 20 overs. But in the middle order, we have big hitters like Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq, he's a top Twenty20 batsman. So we are not lacking in players."

Afridi's power-hitting game might have been designed with Twenty20 cricket in mind, but Younis was careful not to expect him to shred the opposition every innings. "Afridi was one of best players of the last tournament," he said. "As a captain I have a few good players, but the main thing is everyone respects him. He'll come in and though it's not possible to hit every ball for six, the expectation is there. He's always done a good job for me, and he'll do good for Pakistan."

Reflecting on the near-miss in 2007, Younis admitted that there had been a few players in tears at the end of the final in Johannesburg. When five runs were needed for victory, Misbah mistimed an attempted scoop over fine leg and lobbed a simple chance to Sreesanth on the edge of the circle. But he remained confident that his team could achieve at least a top-four finish this time, and maybe even go one better than two years ago.

"The finishing touches were not there in 2007," said Younis. "But it was fantastic to be a part of that team in the final. Some guys were crying at the end, but in T20 everything can change. My confidence is that I'll take this trophy to Pakistan, but if the plan works ins'hallah it'll be an achievement for us to finish in the top four.

"We have a lot of followers all the time in England, and a lot of cities here have Pakistanis and Indians," he said. "That's the main reason I'm happy to be in England. Our fans are fantastic back home, they are lovers of T20, and now it's dependent on us to prove ourselves. If we play good cricket it will be good for our nation. These days the whole nation is depressed, and only cricket [can lift it]. If we play good and win something, they will cheer. To finish in the top four, my nation will come again and start cheering."

PCB panel ends work on Asif case

The PCB committee looking into fast bowler Mohammad Asif's 19-day detention at the Dubai Airport for drug possession has concluded its work and will pass on its recommendations to the board chairman Ijaz Butt.

"We concluded our work into this case today after meeting Asif," Wasim Bari, PCB director HR and head of the three-man committee, told Cricinfo. "In a day or so, our recommendations will be passed on to the board chairman and they will take further action."

Though the committee has remained silent on the possible punishment - unconfirmed reports in recent days suggest he might receive a heavy financial penalty only - it is now clear that Asif was deported from Dubai and might not find it easy to travel there again. As Pakistan are likely to be playing in the UAE regularly in the future, it is a concern for the board.

"Asif didn't provide any document to us as he had said he would about his deportation and future entry into Dubai," Bari said. "We have given him plenty of time to hand it in and given him flexibility but he didn't provide us with anything. He did turn up today and we thanked him for his cooperation." The committee itself has a letter from the Dubai public prosecutor stating that Asif was deported.

Asif turned up for the final hearing today with his lawyer, but the lawyer was not allowed to attend, the committee arguing it was an internal board hearing and not a legal matter as such. Asif did not insist on the lawyer's presence.

Asif was detained in Dubai last June on his way back from the first season of the IPL. In documents in the possession of Cricinfo, prosecutors in Dubai confirmed that he was found with a small quantity of opium; he was let off without a charge ultimately, local authorities arguing that the offence was a 'trivial' one and a case not worth pursuing. But in the documents it clearly states that Asif was deported.

Asif is currently banned from playing any form of cricket till September, after he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone during the IPL last year. That was already the second time in his brief international career that he has tested positive for the same steroid, having once done so just before the Champions Trophy in 2006.

Miandad seals it with a six

The shot that rang out around the world

Sharjah, 18 April 1986

Sharjah had become a hotbed of India-Pakistan rivalry, its stands crammed full of expats and its executive boxes jam-packed with celebrities. Television had begun to cast its mesmeric spell upon the people of South Asia, and the combatants were rising in stature on the world stage, flexing their pulling power.

Pakistan had never really won any tournament of significance, and even the imaginatively titled AustralAsia Cup looked beyond them as Javed Miandad orchestrated a faltering run-chase. Even down to the last over, India were in command, Javed's battling century futile.

A boundary was required off the last ball, with one wicket in hand. Pakistan's premier batsman took what seemed an eternity to survey the outfield, at one point looking as if he was counting the number of fielders.

Chetan Sharma knew what to do: a yorker would seal Pakistan's fate, and another victory over the old enemy. The thinking was perfect but the execution flawed. Sharma's yorker emerged as a low full-toss that Javed propelled with savagery over midwicket. Even before it cleared the boundary, Javed had raised his arms, sprinting off the pitch in celebration.

With one shot he became a national hero. Gifts were lavished upon him. And Pakistan began a run of success against India that was attributed to the psychological power of that six.

Lack of cricket won't harm Pakistan's chances - Afridi

Shahid Afridi believes Pakistan's recent lack of international cricket will not hamper their chances at the World Twenty20 in England next month. Since January 2007, no team has played as little as Pakistan's ten Tests and 50 ODIs. Even Bangladesh, the weakest Test-playing nation, have played 15 Tests and 55 ODIs and teams such as Australia and India have played nearly three times as much cricket in that time.

The lack of Pakistani participation in the IPL has also not helped, but Afridi, fresh from a successful battle with the Australians, believes Pakistan are strong enough to overcome the dearth. "I don't feel our lack of cricket will make much of a difference because we are still a strong Twenty20 side," Afridi told Cricinfo. "We have a pretty similar team to last time with only a few changes and we have Younis [Khan] as captain now. He has done well and taken the team along with him so far and he will be vital come England."

Afridi himself will be a vital plank in Pakistan's challenge, especially given his fine recent form. He was the leading wicket-taker against Australia, a consistent, nagging threat on slow, low surfaces and pole-axed their batting in Pakistan's crushing Twenty20 win in Dubai. Few will forget either that he was player of the tournament in South Africa two years ago.

England, where he has been effective with the ball in ODIs, offers a different proposition, however. "Wickets in England might be slower, a little less bounce so I'll make slight adjustments to my bowling," he said. "Maybe a bit more flight, but generally, as an ODI leggie, you have to be straight and tight and that works in most conditions."

Until the series against Australia, Afridi's form had been uncertain, especially poor with the bat, over the last year. In 18 matches before the series, his highest score was 28. His bowling, though considerably improved, lacked wicket-taking penetration; in 11 ODIs against established teams last year, he picked up nine wickets.

Pressure was building for his place in the side to be scrutinized. "I don't take or give pressure, no matter what anyone is saying about me. I knew I was backed by the coach, the captain and the team and that is all I needed."

But the form dip did spur him on to a more concentrated fitness and training regime. "It's come about through a lot of individual effort. I've worked really hard on my fitness levels. I used to be tired after bowling six to seven overs previously and then struggle. I've also concentrated in the nets on my lines and lengths because for a legspinner this is vital, especially in ODIs. Abdul Qadir [the chief selector] has helped with tips, though it is easy to listen and harder to actually execute."

Significantly, there were indicators of a revival in his batting fortunes. Though there was still no fifty, a couple of unusually responsible, properly constructed 40s stood out. The fight to curb his instincts, Afridi said, goes on. "I have really fought with myself in the ground, talked to myself a lot during my batting. I've had to control myself because I need to score runs for the team - that is the priority. I want to continue it in England, where I've had some success batting in county games. You need to counter the initial overs there but after that, conditions for lower-order guys like myself, are pretty good.

A defeat but a respectable one

Pakistan fans should not be too despondent at their team's defeat to Australia. Playing any international sport occasionally puts you at a disadvantage and that's before we consider the issue of neutral venues.

Most importantly, Pakistan managed to play out a scheduled series without disruption, and a blueprint has been established for the survival of Pakistan cricket until the domestic environment improves.

Had it not been for their traditional batting frailty, Pakistan would have easily won this series against a weakened Australian team. But batting skills probably suffer most from any absence from the international circuit.

As Pakistan showed in two of the matches, it is possible to gloss over frailties and lack of match practice in the shorter forms of cricket. When Pakistan return to Test cricket we will then know the true extent of their plight.

Nonetheless, it is important to take positives from this series. In particular, the spin combination of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal helped Pakistan remain competitive throughout.

Afridi, now certainly a senior statesman, extracted more turn than he usually has. We will need more evidence before we can decide if it was the environment or Abdul Qadir's influence. Ajmal impressed too, and if he can avoid a damning verdict from ICC's technical committee he will be an important addition to Pakistan's squad.

On the batting front, there was little of genuine cheer other than the final match-winning partnership between Kamran Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq, which helped Pakistan succeed from a position that usually sees them fail.

For many fans, Akmal's presence in the team defies the logic of his performances but he occasionally produces an innings of this nature that makes you wonder how valuable he could be if he could master both his trades at once.

Misbah, too, has flattered to deceive in his own way, often taking Pakistan to the brink of victory but succumbing to stupidity on the threshold of an individual triumph. Here both men held their nerve to finish the series with a respectable result for Pakistan.

The future, provided that it includes regular international cricket and the return of Pakistan's ICL cricketers, can be viewed with a degree of confidence by Pakistan. Indeed, Younis Khan's team should be able to develop into a potent force in limited overs cricket. It is in the Test arena that their lack of opportunities will hurt them.

Whatever happened to the ICL players?

Pakistan have announced their T20 World Cup squad. Much of the squad picks itself, a couple are new and unexpected, one at least is a surprise omission (Iftikhar Rao, a regular in Pakistan's squad over the last two years), while at least another is lucky to be included on reputation (Shoaib Akhtar). Indeed, a typical Pakistani selection.

I am surprised and disappointed, however, that no escapees from the ICL have been included. Anybody who saw Imran Nazir's brutal innings in last year's ICL final will wonder how he missed selection? Other players, such as Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf, will have hoped for a recall to national duty.

Now you might well argue that none of these ICL ex-cons has a decent case for selection. You might also argue that they chose to line their pockets instead of lining up for their country. Nonetheless, the PCB had an opportunity to resurrect an international career or two, and it missed it. This failure of nerve is especially unwelcome as the PCB has been threatening defiance on behalf of its ICL cricketers, exciting players who might now never return to international cricket.

PS Well done to all you eagle-eyed readers who spotted that Sohail Tanvir is in the squad. Thanks--and what a relief.

India forced Asia split on 2011 World Cup - Mani

Ehsan Mani, former ICC president, believes Pakistan was manoeuvred out of its hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup by a split within the Asian bloc, led by India, and an inert ICC approach to examine viable solutions. Pakistan, said Mani, was thus left with no choice but to begin legal proceedings against the decision.

Mani, who served as president from 2003-06, is acting as an advisor to the PCB in the dispute and is widely thought to be man who prompted the move to initiate legal action. He has told the PCB, however, to keep "back-channel communications" with the ICC open throughout the dispute.

"I'm afraid so and I'm very sorry to say it," Mani told Cricinfo, when asked whether India had manipulated the situation to its advantage in order to squeeze Pakistan out of the tournament. "This was a time when India should have come forward, shown leadership and said 'It's all four of us as hosts, or none of us.'

"Asia got worried they would lose the 2011 World Cup altogether and decided to dump Pakistan. It is the first time in my 20 years association that I have seen Asia split this way. It speaks volumes of the PCB's PR perhaps," Mani said.

Mani also took aim at the ICC, saying it had not shown enough initiative in searching for a solution to Pakistan's plight. "The ICC should have looked at the security situation as a whole, they should have at least met with Pakistan beforehand. When I was president, there was a lot of pressure to suspend Zimbabwe. I refused, until I had met them personally. I did and eventually they asked to be suspended themselves.

"There was no pre-meeting dialogue with the PCB here and ICC should have taken the lead in that. Pakistan is a problem, so let's talk to them. I said to the ICC you should have thought of alternative solutions. They said the PCB had not put any such proposal forward but the ICC should have been examining these things.

"Many things were wrong. The ICC should have done an assessment of all four countries and gotten governments involved. Also, if Pakistan gets the Champions Trophy hosting fee even if that event was taken away, why does the same logic not apply for the World Cup?"

Acknowledging that the relationship between the ICC and the PCB are "not good," Mani said Pakistan was left with no other option. "They were between a rock and a hard place. They were marginalised, losing the hosting money - what was their choice? Roll over quietly, or make some noise? Pakistan feel they were misled at the meeting and had no idea this was going to happen. One should have been upfront about it."

Mani has advocated swapping the World Cups of 2011 and 2015, so that the next tournament is switched to Australia and New Zealand and the 2015 edition comes to the subcontinent. He asked the ICC about the swapping option and was told that "Australia and New Zealand were happy to host the 2011 World Cup but also wanted to keep the 2015 tournament."

But Mani urged the PCB to keep the doors of communication open with the ICC. "Ties between the two are not great. What I've advised them is to keep the legal process on but along with a high-level diplomatic process. Keep that channel open. I told the PCB that professional advice was needed but keep talking to them. I tried to speak to the ICC but couldn't get through to them. They kept saying 'you don't know all the facts' which I found disappointing." 

PCB gives Asif another chance

The PCB has given fast bowler Mohammad Asif another chance to prove he was not deported from the UAE last year for possession of opium. A PCB statement on Monday said Asif was absent from the latest sitting of the three-man committee inquiring into his reported deportation as he was in the United Kingdom "without informing the board or the inquiry committee". It has set June 1 as the date for its next meeting with Asif.

Asif had earlier verbally informed the committee that he was not deported after being detained for 19 days in Dubai on June 1 last year when 0.24 grams of opium was found in his wallet at the airport, as he made his way back to Pakistan after playing in the IPL. Documents from the Dubai public prosecutor leaked to the press confirmed the identity of the substance Asif was found with and also his admission that he had used a substance, although he denied that it was opium.

If Asif was indeed deported, he would be unable to ever return to the UAE, thereby casting serious doubts over his international future as Pakistan are scheduled to play most of its home matches there owing to security fears after the Lahore terror attack in March.

"We have scheduled our next meeting on June 1... to facilitate your presence in the meeting," Wasim Bari, the PCB inquiry committee head, wrote in a letter to Asif on Monday. "In case you are unable to attend because of various reasons, kindly inform us so that the committee can proceed forward and finalize its recommendations to the (cricket) board to close this inquiry."

Asif was also banned for one year by the IPL last September for testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone during the tournament. In 2006, Asif was suspended for one year by the PCB after testing positive for nandrolone, but the ban was overturned on appeal.

PCB issues legal notice to ICC for World Cup exclusion

In the first official response to the ICC's decision to exclude Pakistan from hosting the 2011 World Cup, the Pakistan board has issued a legal notice to cricket's governing body, calling the decision to do so discriminatory and "legally flawed."

The ICC decided at a recent board meeting in Dubai to take away Pakistan's share, as one of four co-hosts, of the World Cup matches. The move came after terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team during their February-March tour, which was itself the first major bilateral contest in Pakistan since October 2007. A number of teams since then had refused to visit in the wake of an unsettled and increasingly violent domestic backdrop. The meeting also said that international cricket was unlikely to return to Pakistan till 2011.

Ijaz Butt, chairman of PCB, had hitherto maintained a stony silence on the decision, to the ire of much of the population here. But at a press conference at the board's HQ in Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium, flanked by senior officials and legal advisors, he said that the manner in which the ICC decision was taken was "legally flawed...unfair and discriminatory" and that Pakistan intended to fight for its right as co-host.

The notice has been sent through its legal advisors Mark Gay, of DLA Piper, and Tafazzul Rizvi, the PCB's legal consultant. "We are most concerned about the manner in which the ICC took this decision," Butt said. "There was no notice prior to the meeting that a decision of this nature would be taken. There was no proper security assessment of Pakistan nor of the other Co-Hosts of the 2011 Tournament. We believe that more could and should have been done to review the actual situation to deal with the matter on a non-discriminatory basis. We will push for the matter to be expedited."

In particular, Pakistan's gripe, Butt clarified, was that the status of the 2011 World Cup was not on the original agenda of the ICC Board meeting on April 17 and 18 (when the decision was made). The implication is that Pakistan wasn't given a fair opportunity to defend its case as a co-host.

"This issue was not on the agenda," Butt said. "There was a discussion of the Sri Lankan attacks on the agenda and this topic came up. They never gave us notice and it was not on the agenda. We want to revoke the decision full stop."

Butt repeatedly pointed to what he claimed were also uncertain security environments in the other co-hosts - India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - and said that provisions are in place for such decisions to be taken as late as 18 months before an ICC event, something that would have given the board time to prepare a security plan and for inspections to be carried out. It is the absence of this process, more than anything else, which has seemingly spurred the PCB's move to send a legal notice.

The legal notice has been sent to the ICC president David Morgan and under the ICC's constitution, the PCB is asking for the matter to be referred to the disputes resolution committee. "The matter has been submitted to the president of the ICC's dispute resolution committee. He can either refer the matter to the dispute resolution committee which is made up of ICC's officials or to the independent arbitration before the court of arbitration sport court. The PCB prefer impartial arbitration in the interest of justice, equity and fairplay."

If the disputes resolution committee fails to come up with a satisfactory solution, the option to take the case further remains. "There are two options with the disputes resolution committee," Salim Altaf, the board's chief operating officer, told Cricinfo. "Normally all disputes are resolved there. But if there is no satisfactory resolution, then the case can be sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland."

Ratification of the ICC's decision was expected to take place at the annual board meeting in June, though now that no longer seems a foregone conclusion.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo