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October 12, 2007

Virender Sehwag will lead the India Blue team

India's top three cricketers - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid - will not take part in the upcoming NKP Salve Challenger Trophy with the selectors deciding to rest them in view of the busy schedule ahead. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan have also been rested from the tournament to be held in Ahmedabad from October 25 to 28.

Virender Sehwag, who was not part of India's one-day team, will lead the India Blue team while Mohammad Kaif was named captain of India Red. Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel will captain India Green.

All the players who have joined the Indian Cricket League were not named in any of the three teams announced by BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah through a press release. Although the release did not specify why the senior players were left out, a BCCI source said it was done only to give them some rest ahead of the series against Pakistan and Australia.

Pakistan were scheduled to visit India in November and December for three Tests and five one-dayers which would be followed by India's tour of Australia.

The tournament will provide a chance for Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina and others who are looking to cement their place in the Indian team. Murali Kartik, who got a surprise recall to the senior side after a long gap midway through the ongoing series against Australia, has found a place in the Green team.

Each team will play once against each other to decide the finalists.

Teams:

India Red: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Karan Goel, Gautam Gambhir, Subramaniam Badrinath, Virat Kohli, Ravneet Ricky, Praveen Kumar, Mahesh Rawat (wk), Pragyan Ojha, Sidharth Trivedi, Ishant Sharma, Pinal Shah, Srikant Munde, Paresh Patel.

India Blue: Virender Sehwag (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina, Neeraj Patel, Arjun Yadav, Joginder Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Amit Mishra, Yo Mahesh, Randeb Bose, Swapnil Asnodkar, Rakesh V Dhruv, Saurav Bandekar

India Green: Parthiv Patel (capt/wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Murali Kartik, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar, Niranjan Behra, Iqbal Abdullah, Pankaj Singh, Munaf Patel, Gagandeep Singh, Anirudh Srikant, Satyajeet Parab.

November 28, 2005

Inzamam-ul-Haq has often talked of the need to handle pressure as being the key to succeeding in international cricket. His best innings, as detailed below, have been compiled when the pressure has been at its greatest, and Inzamam at his most unflappable.

Inzamam-ul Haq's best innings: leading Pakistan to victory in the World Cup semi-final

60 v New Zealand, Auckland, 1992 World Cup semi-final. Pakistan won by four wickets.
The innings that catapulted Inzamam onto the international map helped Pakistan win the World Cup, and encapsulated what he means to Pakistan. He came in at 140 for 4, with 123 runs still needed at more than eight an over. Guided by the wily Javed Miandad in a partnership of 87 and abetted by some clean hitting, he departed 37 balls later with Pakistan on the verge of a famous victory. He rates it as his best innings "for the pressure I was playing under".

138* v Bangladesh, Multan, 2003. Pakistan won by one wicket
In his home town for a comeback series after a disastrous World Cup and an embarrassing defeat against newcomers - pressure, what pressure? Inzamam farmed the strike superbly, mixing defiance with aggression as Pakistan chased 261 on a seaming wicket. He then ran out Umar Gul and teetered precariously between villain and hero as the debutant rabbit Yasir Ali came out to bat with four still needed. Inzi got the strike, flicked behind square for his 20th boundary, and ensured he became a hero. "I just kept thinking there was no way we could lose this Test," he said.

Inzamam-ul-Haq lashes out during his matchwinning innings against Bangladesh

329 v New Zealand, Lahore, 2002. Pakistan won by an innings and 324 runs
A masterly knock in searing heat, and one in which the last 108 runs came mostly in boundaries as Inzamam battled severe cramps. He batted for nearly 10 hours, hit 38 boundaries, and dispelled doubts over his fitness. It was Pakistan's most comprehensive Test victory. "I was trying to break the world record by hitting boundaries - I only had Danish [Kaneria] left." Inzamam hit three of his nine sixes off Brooke Walker in one over before perishing chasing a fourth.

122 v India, Karachi, 2004. India won by five runs
Inzamam out-batted the world's best batting line-up and did it with a nonchalance that bordered on the psychotic given the target (350). He flicked, cut, swept, drove and ran hard to a majestic century, taking Pakistan to within five runs of victory. The shot of the day? A lazy flick off a good-length ball from a bewildered Ashish Nehra through square leg for four. An innings not likely to be forgotten by those who saw it.

Chasing 350: Inzamam-ul-Haq made a valiant 122 against India

201* for United Bank Limited v Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 1989. UBL won by six wickets
The innings that propelled him into the national limelight. After a young speedster by the name of Waqar Younis had ripped through PNSC in the first innings with 6 for 33, Inzamam came in at one down on a seaming wicket and proceeded to dominate a line-up that included the Test bowler Azeem Hafeez and Amin Lakhani, a veteran left-arm spinner, for 249 minutes. Haroon Rasheed believes it to be the best innings he has seen. "It was a difficult track - and he was only 19 at the time, but he destroyed them."

184 v India, Bangalore, March 2005. Pakistan won by 168 runs
One down in the series and a second series loss to India in one year beckoned. The entrance was much as usual; Pakistan in trouble at 7 for 2, Inzamam looking distinctly unworried. He carried on much the same way from the moment he hit his first boundary, a hunched push with a little hop for afters through cover. Thereafter, he varied only in tempo not temperament; till 50 you barely noticed him, but after it, right after lunch, he detonated. By the time he approached his 21st century, he had settled down again, methodical in his singles and easy in his boundaries. He departed to his first ball on the second morning, but by then with Younis Khan, had put Pakistan well on their way to a series-leveling win. It was the 16th time out of 21 that his century had led to a win.

Scourging England: Inzamam-ul-Haq equals and goes past Javed Miandad

86 v India, Mohali, March 2005 Match drawn
Inzamam's angriest innings, and thus one of his best. In a huff he walked out after, improbably on another flat pitch, Pakistan's top order contributed three horrendous dismissals to the first ten runs of the second innings. Soon after he began, he poached three boundaries in an over from Balaji. The last one, no more than a crouched defensive push to the right of mid-off, warned of his mood and form. Anil Kumble, a traditional tormentor, was bludgeoned back over his head in signature Inzamam style. When he departed 105 balls later, for the second time in a year, he had sparkled brightest among the most celebrated modern day batting line-up, and more importantly, given Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq a base from which to save the match the next day.

109 & 100* v England, Faisalabad, November 2005 Match drawn
Only in comparison to what he had been doing for the past year, do these innings pale slightly. They seemed inevitable, given how composed and untroubled he had appeared through the series. He steadied the ship in the first, only to be dismissed in contention, but for the second, on the final morning, he saved his best. He resumed on 41, with only the tail, albeit stodgy, for company. Refusing to farm the strike conventionally, he allowed his partners to take away time, while he took the target further away from England. He scored 59 off the 85 runs Pakistan made that morning, six of them from a thunderous slog off Harmison over the back over his head. The two innings prompted Michael Vaughan to call him the only difference between the two sides throughout the match. Oh, and he also equalled and then broke Javed Miandad's long-standing record as the highest century-maker for Pakistan.

'Inzamam is Pakistan's best batting talent'

October 7, 2007

Rameez Raja: "Inzamam had this ability to score runs when it mattered the most, under pressure"

Rameez Raja: Inzamam-ul-Haq is all set to retire from international cricket after the second Test against South Africa and the world will miss a genius, so here's wishing him all the luck.

I first heard of Inzamam from my brother Wasim Raja, who had taken him with the Pakistan U-19 team to the West Indies in 1988. Traditionally the U-19 set-up would throw up names of fast bowlers, but to hear a batsman being spoken about as a genius was a pleasant surprise.

Later, at the end of the year, Inzamam attended a nets session of the Pakistan team for a try out and the rest, as they say, is history. He had to wait for all of us to finish our session, and I distinctly remember, in the dying light at the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore, he hit the Pakistani bowlers into the stands, pulling so ferociously that almost all the balls were lost. He had presence, power, a great eye, and time to play fast bowling. We had surely unearthed Pakistan's best-ever batting talent.

Inzy turned out to be a dressing-room delight as well. He had a very dry sense of humour. His fans and friends were once pestering him to describe the best way of playing [Muttiah] Muralitharan and his reply was, "The best way to play Murali is not to play him at all."

He was always in control of his emotions, which allowed him to think clearly through difficult cricketing situations. I would rate him as Pakistan's best player under pressure because some 19-odd centuries of the 25 that he scored were match-winning efforts. He had a Zen-like calmness, especially when he was batting with the tail, and that spurred everyone around him to play above their best. He never believed too much in practising, but he had this great ability to score runs when it mattered the most, under pressure.

As an individual, he weathered many regime changes to have an uninterrupted run as a Pakistani cricketer.

He has been great for Pakistan cricket. He was the ayatollah of the team and he will surely be missed.

For the better part of two decades Inzamam-ul-Haq has earned the respect of bowlers the world over. Cricinfo asked five men who went head to head with the man for their impressions of him.

Kumble has been among the very few bowlers who has had consistent success against Inzamam

Anil Kumble
He was one of the top five batsmen I bowled to in international cricket and I was fortunate enough to get him on more than a few occasions. He always had a lot of time, knew when to take the risk and when just to push along. He was very good at planning an innings.

Inzy could hang in there and control the game and guide the Pakistan batting, but at the same time he could occasionally become impatient.

I always felt that he was more vulnerable if he first faced spin when he came in than the fast bowlers, because against fast bowlers he could move his feet easily. I trapped him quite a few times in front of the stumps - not just because of his late foot movement, but also because I tended to bowl quicker since he was a bit suspect in front of the wicket.

If you weren't successful, he could be a challenge. As he proved against India, in his second-last Test here, in Bangalore during the 2005 series, where he just went on and on to pile up 184. My other favourite Inzy innings was the one against Bangladesh at Multan in 2003.

He was not someone who was aggressive in his body language; he was always self-contained. I don't think one could play mental games with him.

Favorite Inzamam shot The back-foot punch.

Allan Donald
Bowling to Inzy was almost like bowling to a brick wall. Everything about him was unfazed, nothing could rattle him - he was so solid. He was very calm of nature, and even as captain you felt he never got angry. The only time I saw him angry was when Pakistan were called off the field at The Oval last year.

As a batsman he was a very, very difficult guy to bowl to. He was not the most elegant batsman ever seen, but he was very effective in his own way - a bit like Steve Waugh; and I'm not comparing him to Steve Waugh, just comparing their natures. Inzi was very resilient and put a very high price on his wicket.

When he was playing really well he had all the time in the world and all the shots to go with it. He played from quite deep in the crease and that gave him more time. The minute you started coming a bit fuller, thinking you might get him through the gate, the timing of his shots was incredible. He had such good balance for a big guy.

Our strategy was to bowl a little bit fuller and make sure that it was on the off stump, and not middle and off, because he was very good working the ball off the stumps. In the first 15-20 balls he didn't really look to get into the ball or at the ball on the front foot, so we concentrated on bowling fuller and finishing on the off stump. Then we would try peppering in the short one from time to time, because the bounce had been his undoing here in South Africa sometimes.

You can't compare Inzy to any of his team-mates, or even former Pakistan batsmen. This guy, to me, was the one batsman who showed a bit more real guts: to get out there, apply himself, get over the hot period and get himself in Allan Donald

But over a period of time we realised we were wasting our time trying to bounce him early on because he almost wanted us to do that. What made our job difficult was he was very patient, and that was because he was very disciplined: He left a lot of balls and was a good judge of pitches and how to leave balls on the bounce or lack of bounce. He was good at wearing bowlers down. Sometimes it felt as though if anything was going to get him out it was him getting bored and playing a rash shot or running himself out. Mentally you couldn't upset him. It didn't matter what you said. In that respect he is like Jacques Kallis.

You can't compare Inzy to any of his team-mates, or even former Pakistan batsmen. This guy, to me, was the one batsman who showed a bit more real guts: to get out there, apply himself, get over the hot period and get himself in.

He was no doubt a great batsman and he would be in my top five: Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mike Atherton.

Favourite Inzamam shot My favourite Inzy shot was the straight drive. He didn't really look to hit through the line to a ball that was full: he would always hit it down the ground past the bowler, the hallmark of a top-class player.

Damien Fleming
During the 1994 tour of Pakistan, in the game before my Test debut, at Karachi I was the twelfth man and I was asked to put the champagne on ice when the ninth wicket for Pakistan went down. But by the end of it Inzamam and Mushy [Mushtaq Ahmed] put on 60-odd to win the game. Inzamam showed a lot of maturity, a lot of class, putting faith in his partner not to panic even if he was a No. 11. He was an intelligent cricketer.

I did get Inzamam a few times early in his innings. Being a swing bowler I backed myself to get a nick or to trap him lbw early, as he was never a great starter, but once he got going he covered all types of bowling, playing with no obvious weakness. Like all great batsmen, once he got in the zone he didn't throw his wicket away - he went on to get big scores.

For a big man he didn't try and over-hit the ball. And he didn't need to, because he had wonderful timing and immense power.

Hoggard thinks he has his man, at Multan in 2005

Yes, he could be quite slow on his bat swing and on getting his front foot down at times, and so a couple of times I hit his pad before the bat came down. But over the years his defences couldn't be breached and the only way out then was to build the pressure and make him run hard between the wickets without giving him any cheap singles or doubles.

I still remember his great hundred against us in Hobart in 1999-00. At one point I was pretty flattened out and out of ideas. So I came round the wicket and bowled a couple of dot-balls and pushed him back. Then I thought I would bowl him the slower one, the offspinner, which used to get a lot of batsmen driving on the up. It came out perfectly but he picked it up, waited for it to land and just smashed it through the covers for four. Normally the weight of the batsman is on the back foot and the loopy one brings them forward, and if they are not to the pitch of the ball it goes in the air. But Inzy adjusted his shot and his timing - and this was during the second innings when it was real difficult. Only great players can do that.

One of my lasting memories of Inzy was during his last trip to Australia [2004-05]. The Australian press asked him what he felt about Glenn McGrath targetting him during the series. Inzy's response was, "Isn't that what bowlers do?" Always made his point in his own way without saying too much.

Favorite Inzamam shot I like batsmen who hook and pull and Inzi was always a good one to watch in that regard.

Chaminda Vaas
It was always a challenge to bowl to Inzamam, one of the greats of international cricket in both forms of the game. It was not difficult to bowl at him as such, but his was never a cheap wicket - he always was among runs. You had to bowl in good areas; the margin of error against him was very, very limited.

As a left-armer my natural delivery to him was the inswinger and that seemed to put him in trouble often, but if it was not pitched properly he would dominate soon. What I mean by good areas is: good line and length, around eight inches up always, and keep hitting particular spots the pitch which would get him.

For him it came naturally: he was very relaxed, just like Mark Waugh and Carl Hooper. Without a doubt he is among my top five batsmen Chaminda Vaas

Inzamam was as strong in defence as he was in attack. He had good eyes and was a good timer of the ball. He always made many runs on subcontinental wickets against both pace and spin.

I have seen very few cricketers in international cricket who have so much time to play their shots. For him it came naturally: he was very relaxed, just like Mark Waugh and Carl Hooper. Without a doubt he is among my top five batsmen.

Matthew Hoggard
Inzamam is one of the greatest batsmen that has ever lived. And one of his greatest virtues was that he had so much time for his shots. That was because he always hung back; he didn't lunge at the ball and get forward mentally - like all great batsmen in history.

He was very much an accumulator of runs but, having said that, you didn't know what mode he would come out in to bat. He could switch from defence to attack without any trouble. And he always looked to bat for long time.

Part of his success was that he played himself in - just looked to stay in till he got the pace of the wicket and the bounce. He would try and make sure he was still there when the bowlers were in their third or fourth spells, because that's when he scored the majority of his runs.

My strategy to get him was simple. He was susceptible to the lbw early on, with the ball nipping backwards, as he didn't move his feet that much. And he was too good to get easily riled mentally. Having said that, he could surprise you with his aggression on occasions. I remember in my second Test, at Old Trafford, I hit him on the head and the next ball he tried to hit me out of the ground. Thankfully he didn't connect properly.

Favorite Inzamam shot The hook and pull were his best shots - he just had so much time to play them.

October 12, 2007

'Against pace, on his day, he was the equal of any and the same reflexes made him probably the best slip Pakistan has had'

This is my Inzamam moment. At Mohali in 2005, Pakistan's top order had imploded tragic-comically against an imposing deficit. 10 for 3 in the fifth and heavy defeat read the scoreboard when Inzamam walked out. If his mood has ever been dark at the crease, it was here.

Laxmipathy Balaji bowled the innings' sixth over; Inzamam struck three boundaries off the first three balls, none of them deserving their fate. The last I will remember till I remember nothing else: from the back, the contours of his love handles visible, he gently hunched forward. As the left heel landed, bat met ball, a forward push, no more, but mid-off never had a chance. His 86 was unusually hurried, and though men below him saved the Test, without Inzamam they had nothing.

Others will remember other shots, other days: a World Cup semi-final six; the last-ball poke past point in Ahmedabad; the triple; a Karachi hundred against India; the Multan escape. But they all speak only one truth, that when Pakistan absolutely needed him, he pulled through. Not always, because he was needed most days and he wasn't one for the nine-to-five life. But much more often than not, he did and that is precious.

The environment, the personality, didn't exist for him to become a glam lone ranger like Lara. Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan all helped ease the burden, not always equally. Neither was he as driven, as ruthless as Tendulkar, Kallis or Ponting. A louder media might have helped, but that hunger would've done so more. Against pace, on his day, he was the equal of any and the same reflexes made him probably the best slip Pakistan has had.

A touch distasteful maybe to recall what he wasn't - because what he was, was special enough - but in a time of such batting excess, it is important to situate him. The first time his average reached 50 was in his 92nd Test. Only from his 100th, marked with a century and win, did he sustain it. Tragedy is, it fell below the milestone in his final Test.

'He was a caricature before captaincy: aloo, overweight, loves a nap, (and his food even more)'

Aamir Sohail, never one to call a spade by any other name, got to the core of the batsman Inzamam: a great player, a rare blend of force and delicacy yes, but could he have done even more? Ten hundreds in 378 ODIs says maybe, as do ordinary records against South Africa and Australia, the best bowling attacks of his time.

Two of his finest came against the best: an unbeaten fifty against Australia to chase Pakistan's highest Test target and a 92 the equal of any century at Port Elizabeth. Seventeen match-winning hundreds out of 25, among the best rates ever, also settles many debates. Batting so far down the ODI order hurt his conversion rate, but in a stiff chase, the heat on, Inzamam was the sharpest tack, capable of innings chiseled from ice.

This is all to nitpick, of course, especially as Pakistan has less batting heroes than it should. Much more convenient to say that alongside Javed Miandad he is the greatest Pakistani batsman and undoubtedly, one of the best, most compelling of modern batsmen.

Captaincy brought out the human in Inzamam, despite his reluctance for the post. He was a caricature before: aloo, overweight, loves a nap, (and his food even more), comedy runner, loses runs when he loses pounds, hits fans. He probably didn't mind it, because nobody minds goodwill, sympathy and endearment the world over.

His dry, sharp wit, already known to teammates, emerged when he had to address press conferences. He was also honest: asked to assess an under-utilised bowler's performance once, he replied, "If he had performed I could've told you."

The Bangalore win, on the last afternoon to level the series, was the making of Inzamam as leader. The allsorts attack he used then would today be good, honest Twenty20 material. Yet somehow he tricked Mohammad Sami, Arshad Khan, Shahid Afridi and Danish Kaneria into believing they could dismiss the most frightening batsmen in the world. And they did. On the field, Inzamam was never more alert, more harassed, more proactive and under greater strain.

A reassuring presence

That sparked a 15-month period in which Pakistan prospered under Inzamam and Bob Woolmer. Suddenly Pakistan calmed down, came together. With the bat, Inzamam touched his peak; five hundreds in 11 Tests at over 80, as Pakistan beat England, India and Sri Lanka.

But subsequently decay set in. Inzamam's calm became inertia, he drifted from Woolmer and religion, glue one year, became distraction the next. That most human of all maxims, that power corrupts, afflicted him. As Pakistan stumbled out of the World Cup in an ugly daze, Inzamam was famously accused of being a dictator, haughty and a maulvi (preacher).

In truth, he did things this last year which he shouldn't be remembered by, notably a cranky, emotional, accusatory press conference. His last dismissal was strange, but in a career that long a blemish or two (an uneasy, indirect entanglement in matchfixing was another) is human.

With Inzamam departs the last of 1992, when Pakistan cricket was a different world. Not that it was stable before, but that world has since come undone. Inzamam didn't keep it all together; he couldn't for no one person could, but he was there through all of it, the highs, the lows, the thick, the thin: a reassurance. In that alone, there is greatness.

October 11, 2007

A hefty fine and a 13-match ban for Shoaib

Shoaib Akhtar has been handed a 13-match ban and a fine of approximately US$57,000 for a number of breaches of discipline, including his spat with Mohammad Asif in South Africa. He has also been placed on a two-year probationary period during which any disciplinary breaches could result in a life ban.

A three-man disciplinary committee of the board announced the results of their investigations in to four separate charges against Shoaib. The most serious of the charges was the fight with Asif, but others included playing a charity match without authorisation, making statements to the press about last year's doping case and holding an unauthorised press conference in Pakistan about the incident with Asif, which saw him sent back from Johannesburg.

The ban, however, includes the seven matches already played at the ICC World Twenty20 and the two Tests against South Africa. Effectively, it means he will be available for the last ODI against South Africa but more realistically, the tour to India.

"We have decided to ban Shoaib for 13 international matches," said Shafqat Naghmi, the Pakistan board's chief operating officer. "These include Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 matches. We have upheld the five-match ban given to him by Talat Ali in South Africa [for hitting Asif] and given him an eight-match ban on top of that. We have also fined him Rs3.4 million. The match-ban will run consecutively."

As well as deducting disciplinary points [a component in deciding central contracts] Naghmi added that Shoaib is now on probation and any breach of contract or disciplinary issues could result in a life ban over the next two years.

Shoaib, who was present at the press conference, has the right to appeal but said he was eager to put the matter behind him now. "I have apologised to Asif, my team-mates, the country. It was a nightmare for me and something that happened in the heat of the moment. I have suffered enough in the last four weeks.

"I want to put this matter behind me now and focus on cricket. I want to thank the board for considering this matter carefully. I will pay what penalties I have to but I want to get ready for India now."

The decision to select Shoaib for the India tour, to begin from November 1, or the final ODI against South Africa, will be left to the selectors now.

Fast bowler wants to play four-day game before return

October 11, 2007

Shoaib Akhtar: "I just want to repeat what I've achieved there, [like] getting Sachin [Tendulkar] out off the first ball"

Shoaib Akhtar, handed a 13-match ban and a fine for various disciplinary breaches, has said he is looking forward to the series against India in November, a tour he will be available for after serving out his ban.

"I want to go to India as it will probably be my last tour," Shoaib told a television channel in Lahore. "I'm 32 now and I don't think I'll have an opportunity to go back in four years' time. I just want to repeat what I've achieved there, [like] getting Sachin [Tendulkar] out off the first ball. I want to recall those moments."

Shoaib's ban includes the seven matches of the ICC World Twenty20, the two Tests and the first four one-dayers against South Africa. Shoaib said he was not looking to play the fifth ODI against South Africa in Karachi as he wanted to get some match practice before returning to international cricket. "I'm match-fit but I don't know about my match-bowling", he said.

"I want to play a four-day game at least before getting back. [I'd like to] bowl about 30-odd overs in a four-day game. I don't want to stretch myself to the limit before starting to bowl again."

Shoaib was also optimistic about his career ahead. "If I play another 80-odd ODIs in the next four years I can end with 400 wickets. That's my goal. The same with Tests - if I play another 35-40 Tests I could get 300-plus wickets.

"It would be nice to look back and say I have done something for my country and maximised my talent."