Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mohammad Yousuf wins Test Player of the Year Award
In Johannesburg, South Africa, in an awards ceremony dominated by Australia, Mohammad Yousuf made Pakistan proud by winning the prestigeous Test Player of the Year award on the back of a tremendous year with the bat. He was also named in the ICC Test team of the Year alongside players like Matthew Hayden, Michael Vaughan, Ricky Ponting (capt), Kevin Pietersen and Michael Hussey. Mohammad Asif was the only other Pakistani player to be named in the Test team of the year.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Akhtar failed to handle the fame, says Imran Khan
The failure of Shoaib Akhtar to cope with the fame accorded an international sportsman has been a tragedy for Pakistan cricket, says former captain Imran Khan.
"He has such great potential (as a fast bowler) he could have done wonders but he has let himself down for being in the news for the wrong reasons," Imran told Reuters on Saturday.
"That's a big tragedy for Pakistan cricket. Shoaib has failed to handle all the fame," added Imran, who is in Dubai to raise funds for his cancer hospital.
"The frequent changes of Pakistan captain has further compounded Shoaib's problems," said Imran.
"Shoaib is a clear case of unfulfilled potential...and has to take all the blame for following controversies."
"He has such great potential (as a fast bowler) he could have done wonders but he has let himself down for being in the news for the wrong reasons," Imran told Reuters on Saturday.
"That's a big tragedy for Pakistan cricket. Shoaib has failed to handle all the fame," added Imran, who is in Dubai to raise funds for his cancer hospital.
"The frequent changes of Pakistan captain has further compounded Shoaib's problems," said Imran.
"Shoaib is a clear case of unfulfilled potential...and has to take all the blame for following controversies."
Akhtar accuses Afridi of instigating spat
Shoaib Akhtar blamed Shahid Afridi for the spat which led him to hit Mohammad Asif with a bat in the build-up to the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
Akhtar told a news conference on Saturday that he would lodge an official complaint against Afridi with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The 32-year-old said he lost his temper during a nets session on Thursday after Afridi made an offensive remark about his family.
"Afridi was responsible for the fight. He made some ill remarks about my family. And I could not tolerate them," said Akhtar, who had struck Asif on the thigh with a bat during a heated argument.
"I never hit Asif intentionally. It just happened accidentally. In my 10 years with the team I have never fought like this with anyone. But Afridi's remarks provoked me." Asif was just trying to stop us from fighting, he said. He said he was devastated at having to return home.
"This incident has shattered me. I have been painted as a villain by the media. I just wanted to clear the facts of the incident today," he added.
Afridi told Geo TV from Johannesburg that he was shocked at the accusations made against him by Akhtar.
"He has always been like an elder brother to me. I don't know why he is lying but I know if I had not stepped in Asif could have suffered more injuries," he said.
Asif suffered a bruised thigh following the incident.
The Pakistan board has placed an indefinite ban on Akhtar and a disciplinary hearing is to be held after the team returns from South Africa.
Akhtar told a news conference on Saturday that he would lodge an official complaint against Afridi with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The 32-year-old said he lost his temper during a nets session on Thursday after Afridi made an offensive remark about his family.
"Afridi was responsible for the fight. He made some ill remarks about my family. And I could not tolerate them," said Akhtar, who had struck Asif on the thigh with a bat during a heated argument.
"I never hit Asif intentionally. It just happened accidentally. In my 10 years with the team I have never fought like this with anyone. But Afridi's remarks provoked me." Asif was just trying to stop us from fighting, he said. He said he was devastated at having to return home.
"This incident has shattered me. I have been painted as a villain by the media. I just wanted to clear the facts of the incident today," he added.
Afridi told Geo TV from Johannesburg that he was shocked at the accusations made against him by Akhtar.
"He has always been like an elder brother to me. I don't know why he is lying but I know if I had not stepped in Asif could have suffered more injuries," he said.
Asif suffered a bruised thigh following the incident.
The Pakistan board has placed an indefinite ban on Akhtar and a disciplinary hearing is to be held after the team returns from South Africa.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Shoaib : History of Trouble
1996: Takes 25 wickets on the Pakistan A team's tour to England. Pakistan manager reports him for indiscipline and he is dropped from the Pakistan one-day squad going to Toronto for one-day series on the basis of report.
2000: Pakistan board fines him 50,000 rupees ($870.8) for indiscipline on manager's report after tour of Australia.
2003: Dropped from Pakistan team after World Cup and PCB Chairman tells him his career is finished if he does not improve his behaviour and discipline.
2004: Disciplined by match referees in Australia for rude gestures against Australian batsmen in the tests.
2006: Banned for two years after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone in an internal drugs test carried out by the PCB. A three-man appeals tribunal later clears him of doping offences.
2007: Has a dressing room spat with coach Bob Woolmer during the second test at Port Elizabeth against South Africa caught by television screens. Withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad just hours before the team prepares to fly out to the West Indies.
August 2007: Shoaib is fined 300,000 rupees by the team manager and board for leaving a training camp in Karachi.
September 2007: Shoaib is recalled from the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa after a bust up with team mate Mohammad Asif.
2000: Pakistan board fines him 50,000 rupees ($870.8) for indiscipline on manager's report after tour of Australia.
2003: Dropped from Pakistan team after World Cup and PCB Chairman tells him his career is finished if he does not improve his behaviour and discipline.
2004: Disciplined by match referees in Australia for rude gestures against Australian batsmen in the tests.
2006: Banned for two years after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone in an internal drugs test carried out by the PCB. A three-man appeals tribunal later clears him of doping offences.
2007: Has a dressing room spat with coach Bob Woolmer during the second test at Port Elizabeth against South Africa caught by television screens. Withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad just hours before the team prepares to fly out to the West Indies.
August 2007: Shoaib is fined 300,000 rupees by the team manager and board for leaving a training camp in Karachi.
September 2007: Shoaib is recalled from the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa after a bust up with team mate Mohammad Asif.
Akhtar Sent home from Twenty20 World Cup after hitting and injuring Mohammad Asif
On th eve of first Twenty20 World Cup in a bizarre but not entirely surprising episode Shoaib Akhtar has been reported to have injured fellow fast bowler and teammate Mohammad Asif after a heated argument broke out between the two of them during the net session in Johanessberg. Shoaib has immediately been sent home from the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa by the first available flight.
The incident, occurred in the nets on Thursday when a heated argument led to the 32-year-old Akhtar striking his fellow fast bowler on the thigh with a bat.
"A decision has been taken to call back Shoaib on the basis of an initial inquiry by the touring team management," PCB chief executive Shafqat Naghmi told reporters. "Shoaib has admitted hitting Asif," he said. "Thankfully Asif didn't suffer any major injury apart from a bruise on his left thigh and he will be okay." He said a full inquiry would be held when Akhtar returned to Pakistan.
Akhtar told the Indian television channel NDTV: "I am feeling very bad. Sometimes you do things in a fit of temper".
No decision has yet been taken on a replacement for Akhtar, which is allowed under tournament rules, but a PCB source said paceman Mohammad Sami was being lined up.
PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf was shocked by the incident.
"It is a shameful episode," he said. "For the time being we have supported the team management's decision to send him back but once the team returns home there will be a more detailed disciplinary hearing." He did not rule out the possibility of Akhtar facing more disciplinary action including a possible long-term ban. He also said the board would not allow any player to violate team spirit.
"We are giving a lot of importance to discipline and any player who violates the norms has to face the consequences," he added.
National Academy coach Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, said the PCB should ban Akhtar for life.
"There must be a life ban imposed on him because this is an incident that has embarrassed all of us and is a black mark for our cricket community," he said.
Former test captain Aamir Sohail said the board had taken the right decision.
"Senior players have a responsibility in the team and what Shoaib did was sad," he said. "The incident needs to be investigated thoroughly."
Akhtar has a history of run-ins with players and officials and has been reprimanded on several occasions.
The incident, occurred in the nets on Thursday when a heated argument led to the 32-year-old Akhtar striking his fellow fast bowler on the thigh with a bat.
"A decision has been taken to call back Shoaib on the basis of an initial inquiry by the touring team management," PCB chief executive Shafqat Naghmi told reporters. "Shoaib has admitted hitting Asif," he said. "Thankfully Asif didn't suffer any major injury apart from a bruise on his left thigh and he will be okay." He said a full inquiry would be held when Akhtar returned to Pakistan.
Akhtar told the Indian television channel NDTV: "I am feeling very bad. Sometimes you do things in a fit of temper".
No decision has yet been taken on a replacement for Akhtar, which is allowed under tournament rules, but a PCB source said paceman Mohammad Sami was being lined up.
PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf was shocked by the incident.
"It is a shameful episode," he said. "For the time being we have supported the team management's decision to send him back but once the team returns home there will be a more detailed disciplinary hearing." He did not rule out the possibility of Akhtar facing more disciplinary action including a possible long-term ban. He also said the board would not allow any player to violate team spirit.
"We are giving a lot of importance to discipline and any player who violates the norms has to face the consequences," he added.
National Academy coach Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, said the PCB should ban Akhtar for life.
"There must be a life ban imposed on him because this is an incident that has embarrassed all of us and is a black mark for our cricket community," he said.
Former test captain Aamir Sohail said the board had taken the right decision.
"Senior players have a responsibility in the team and what Shoaib did was sad," he said. "The incident needs to be investigated thoroughly."
Akhtar has a history of run-ins with players and officials and has been reprimanded on several occasions.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Yousuf Shortlisted for Cricketer of the year & Test player of the year award
ICC short listed the nominees for various awards to be handed out on Sep 10 in Johannesburg before the start of 20/20 world cup. Yousuf has been able to make it to the shortlists of Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards. He is the only Pakistani left in the final race after Mohammad Asif was cut from the long list of Cricketer of the Year.
For ICC's major prize of Cricketer of the Year, Yousuf competes with Kevin Pietersen, Ricky Ponting and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Mohammad Yousuf is competing with Kevin Pieterson and Muttiah Muralitharan for the Test player award. It will be important to see how ICC decides on this since on paper it looks like Yousuf is the sure winner with a record of 944 runs in 10 innings at 94.4, however Pieterson with 1255 runs at 54.4 and Murli with 43 wickets at 11.6 a piece are strong contenders.
Although Yousuf had a stellar year with the bat but considering ICC's bias against Pakistan and Yousuf's being out of favor with PCB it seems highly unlikely that he will be able to win any of these awards. If that happens it will be another great injustice to one of the most prolific batsmen of recent years who has a history of being tagged as under achiever despite his heroics. Yousuf's biggest problem has been that for most of his career he had to live under the shadow of other great names such as Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Everytime he performed he was immediately compared to these two greats and he always came up short. Another of his undoing has been that he has never been a flashy player like a Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Akhtar. He had always been the quite accumulator who seemed to always have fun with his batting whenever he was out in the middle, always focused on his task never caring about what the spectators wanted him to do. For an odd reason his speed between the wickets has also been overshadowed by a few run outs, so much so that he was once labeled as second most likely batsman to be run out behind Inzamam. When put as a question, to this he once smilingly replied that he is likely to get run out because of his speed and enthusiasm to sneak runs where they weren't possible, unlike Inzamam. Anyway, it will be important to see if the cricket world continue to do injustice to this great batsman, failing to acknowledge his contribution to the game of cricket.
For ICC's major prize of Cricketer of the Year, Yousuf competes with Kevin Pietersen, Ricky Ponting and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Mohammad Yousuf is competing with Kevin Pieterson and Muttiah Muralitharan for the Test player award. It will be important to see how ICC decides on this since on paper it looks like Yousuf is the sure winner with a record of 944 runs in 10 innings at 94.4, however Pieterson with 1255 runs at 54.4 and Murli with 43 wickets at 11.6 a piece are strong contenders.
Although Yousuf had a stellar year with the bat but considering ICC's bias against Pakistan and Yousuf's being out of favor with PCB it seems highly unlikely that he will be able to win any of these awards. If that happens it will be another great injustice to one of the most prolific batsmen of recent years who has a history of being tagged as under achiever despite his heroics. Yousuf's biggest problem has been that for most of his career he had to live under the shadow of other great names such as Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Everytime he performed he was immediately compared to these two greats and he always came up short. Another of his undoing has been that he has never been a flashy player like a Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Akhtar. He had always been the quite accumulator who seemed to always have fun with his batting whenever he was out in the middle, always focused on his task never caring about what the spectators wanted him to do. For an odd reason his speed between the wickets has also been overshadowed by a few run outs, so much so that he was once labeled as second most likely batsman to be run out behind Inzamam. When put as a question, to this he once smilingly replied that he is likely to get run out because of his speed and enthusiasm to sneak runs where they weren't possible, unlike Inzamam. Anyway, it will be important to see if the cricket world continue to do injustice to this great batsman, failing to acknowledge his contribution to the game of cricket.
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