KARACHI: The hearing of dope-tainted pacer Mohammad Asif has been delayed following the Mumbai rampage that left at least 101 people dead.Mohammed Asif was scheduled to leave for India today to appear before the Indian Premier League Drug Inquiry Tribunal on November 29.Asif had failed a dope test conducted during the inaugural IPL in which he played for Delhi Daredevils.

His `B` sample, tested in Switzerland, also came positive but the traces of the banned substance differed in the two tests leading to Asif challenging the validity of the process adopted to conduct the tests in the IPL.If the tribunal finds Asif guilty he could face a minimum two-year ban and more action from his home board. He is presently suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board for flunking the dope test.

Asif, who will later on be accompanied by his lawyer Shahid Karim, said he was confident of being cleared by the tribunal.

Click here to read more…

In the photo above, a small boy is seen feeding a colony of pigeons near the Sindh Secretariat, Karachi.

Photo is taken on October 4, 2008 and is courtesy of Syed Abbas Mehdi.

When I first saw the photo, the sheer number of pigeons reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie called The Birds. Photo to the right is a scene from the movie ‘Birds’.

KARACHI, Senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf has been recalled to the Pakistan squad for their one-day series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi later this month.Yousuf, who was not considered for a Twenty20 four-nation tournament in Toronto last month, has been included in a 15-man squad for the one dayers on Nov. 12, 14 and 16.

The squad also includes fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, whose exclusion from the side last month led to the resignation of chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed. Selectors have also recalled Nasir Jamshed after the opener recovered from a bout of malaria.

Khalid Latif, Anwar Ali and Sohail Khan, who all made the trip to Toronto, were left out of the squad.

SQUAD: Shoaib Malik (Capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Fawad Alam, Abdur Rauf, Saeed Ajmal.

Karachi(cricketnext): Pakistan`s controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will have to wait for his visa to play in the four-nation tournament in Toronto next month as the Cricket Board has still not been able to get the clearance for him.Shoaib`s name was sent in a shortlist of players for the four-nation tournament starting from October 10 but the Board was unable to obtain a visa for him.

“He was in England playing for Surrey and we didn`t have his passport. So he has to wait. We will now send his name in the second list most probably,” one board official said.

Shoaib will also know by next week from the Lahore High Court whether he can play in Pakistan and for Pakistan without paying a fine of seven million rupees imposed on him by the appellate tribunal of the Board.The tribunal had reduced his five year ban to 18 months but instead enforced the seven million rupees fine which the fast bowler has not paid as yet.The Board has sought clear directives from the High Court if the pacer can play without clearing the fine first. The court has asked Shoaib to appear in person in court at the next hearing.

Click here to read more…

KARACHI, Pakistan cricket team fast bowler Muhammad Asif has that cricket is not only his bread and butter but his passion also.Muhammad Asif said he couldn’t even think about staying away from playing cricket, adding such thought scare him. He expressed these views at Asghar Ali Shah stadium in Karachi.

Regarding dope issue, Asif added he would appear before officials of Pakistan Cricket Board along with his lawyer on October 11. He appeared confident about making a comeback in national squad.

KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistan will play cricket in the Gulf as part of a nine-million dollar deal, officials said Thursday, providing foreign experience to a side struggling to find teams willing to come to their country.Several international teams have refused to tour Pakistan amid security fears sparked by terrorist attacks, including the weekend suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed at least 60 people.The deal would help the Pakistan Cricket Board “fill its coffers” and give appearance money to the players, the board`s chief operating officer, Shafqat Naghmi, told AFP.

“It`s a major boost and we have signed the deal worth nine million dollars for a period of three years with Dubai sports city,” Naghmi said.

Details of the deal were to be announced in the next few days.Pakistan cricket was badly hit after the elite eight-nation Champions Trophy due to be held in the country this month was postponed over security fears.That proved a double blow after Australia postponed their full tour to Pakistan in March — also on security grounds.

Click here to read more…

KARACHI, Pakistan cricket team’s fast bowler Suhail Tanvir on Friday termed Australian tour to India as “double standard”.

In an exclusive interview, Suhail Tanvir said Australia had refused to tour Pakistan over security concerns, but decided to go ahead with Indian series despite Delhi blasts. Tanvir termed it as double standard on part of Australia.He said, Pakistan has not seen much cricket the whole year after Australia’s refusal to tour Pakistan.

Karachi: Pakistani batsman Mohammad Yousuf has questioned selectors over his continued omission from Pakistan’s Twenty20 team.

“You go and ask great players like Wasim Akram and Inzamam Ul Haq if I don`t deserve to play Twenty20 cricket. If they say I should be dropped then I will quit all cricket. Yousuf was left off a shortlist for next month`s four-nation tournament in Toronto, Canada.

“I just don`t understand what criteria there is for selecting the Twenty20 players,” he said, adding that he believed he was the best batsman in the Pakistan team.

Mansoor Sohail, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman, said Yousuf`s comments were “unwarranted”. “The selectors know what is best for the team,” Sohail said.

This picture depicts the simple pleasures of youth, but also a sad reality.Here are children playing cricket in a class room of an abandoned school, in Sector 4 of Korangi, Karachi. This photo appeared in the daily Dawn of September 14, 2008.

The sad part is that this school was completed in April 2003 but has not seen regular classes yet. Newspaper reports say that that drug addicts have also made home in empty class rooms. May the drug addicts stay away from the kids!

KARACHI, Former Pakistan captains Ramiz Raja and Intikhab Alam have urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to review its rules to make sure countries do not pick and choose tours.Their demand came after Australia decided to tour India despite last week’s bomb blasts in New Delhi that killed over 20 people, having repeatedly refused to travel to Pakistan over security concerns.

“For Pakistani cricket administrators, players and fans the situation is very frustrating and it is wrong and I think the fault lies with the ICC,” Raja said on Thursday.

Australia postponed a test tour of Pakistan earlier this year for security reasons and were among the four nations who refused to send teams for this month’s ICC Champions Trophy, forcing its postponement until October next year.

ICC rules stipulate hefty fines on teams refusing to tour under its Future Tours Programme (FTP) unless it is due to issues beyond the visiting side’s control. Raja was critical of the rules.

“What is wrong is that the ICC have got rules made up for certain blocs to quit cricket in certain areas at their own will and this pick and choose policy must stop,” he said.

“The ICC needs to review existing conditions and change the rules at their level.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has accused Cricket Australia of double standards for agreeing to tour India while snubbing Pakistan’s security assurances.