An interesting thing happened during the Fortune Cup one-day series of Pakistan and West Indies in Abu Dhabi.  After completing his century, Younis Khan in a rare celebration, took his gloves off, took a note out of his pocket, and showed it to the cameras.

It read: “Moti, I miss you“.

I missed this show live but later when I saw the picture blogged, I pity him from his wife’s wrath (If she is who he meant the note for).  Though Gulf News thinks Moti is the former fielding coach.

Humor in Field, innit?

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…

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.

ICC could look again at result of forfeited Oval Test SYDNEY, ICC president David Morgan said Wednesday the result of the controversial 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan could be reconsidered after pressure from Marylebone Cricket Club.The result of the forfeited Test match was changed from an England win to a draw by the International Cricket Council in July but the MCC said on Sunday the move contravened the laws of cricket and set a very dangerous precedent.

Morgan, in Sydney ahead of next year’s women’s World Cup, said the ICC might look again at the decision, which was made before he became president.The MCC World Cricket Committee is a very responsible group, he was quoted as saying by media.

It is made up of some of the world’s top cricketers and chaired by (former England captain) Tony Lewis and I would be very interested in hearing what has been reported.I’ll be very interested to actually read their minutes and I’m sure they will make that available and it’s something we (the ICC) will have to consider very carefully.It was a decision that was made by the ICC and it’s a decision that I was not happy with.He added: I was president-elect and I didn’t believe it was appropriate to change the result of the England-Pakistan match.The first and only forfeit in the history of Test cricket took place in August 2006 when Australian umpire Darrell Hair and his West Indian colleague Billy Doctrove penalised Pakistan five penalty runs for alleged ball-tampering.

Click here to read more…

Fourth edition of National Twenty20 Cup concluded in Lahore today with Sialkot Stallions retaining the Champions title for third year running. Runners Up Karachi Dolphins were left wondering about their luck and skills as they have now appeared in 3 Finals in the past 4 tournaments and lost everytime.

Final Score: Karachi Dolphins (125/9), Sialkot Stallions (126/3). Detailed Scorecard here

Following have been winners and runners-up of 4 twenty-20 national tournaments that have been played in Pakistan so far.

2004/05: Winner: Faisalabad Wolves, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins
2005/06: Winner: Sialkot Stallions, Runners Up: Faisalabad Wolves
2006/07: Winner: Sialkot Staliions, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins
2007/08: Winner: Sialkot Stallions, Runners Up: Karachi Dolphins

13 teams from all over Pakistan took part in this year’s tournament. They were divided into 4 pools with winners of each pool qualifying for semi-finals. The points table at the end of pool matches looked as below.

Semi Final 1: Karachi Dolphins (69/1) beat Islamabad Leopards (68)
Semi Final 2: Sialkot Stallions (117/6) beat Lahore Lions (111/6)

Karachi and Sialkot both had a star-studded team. To me, atleast on paper Karachi’s team looked stronger with services of 6 players who have representated Pakistan’s national team.

Karachi was lead by Shahid Afridi. It also had Pakistan’s 5 other ODI players: Fawad Alam, Sohail Khan, Naumanullah, Khurram Manzoor and wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed.

Sialkot was lead by Pakistan’s national team captain Shoaib Malik and it also had the services of Pakistan’s 3 national ODI players Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rehman and Kashif Raza and 1 test player Qaiser Abbas.

Shoaib Akhtar ki wapsi

Ofcourse a big news for this year’s tournament has been the return of Shoaib Akhter. He played for Islamabad Leopards and his performance remained as follows

v Karachi Dolpins: 4 runs in batting and 3-0-22-0 in bowling.
v Multan Tigers: did not bat and 4-1-14-1 in bowling

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to arrange a home series have been dealt a blow as West Indies have opted not to tour next month because of security concerns.
Senior players had already expressed concerns about visiting Pakistan and the decision comes a week after the West Indies women’s team called off the Pakistan leg of their Asian tour.Donald Peters, the chief executive of the West Indies board, said negotiations are on to reschedule the tour. “We are in talks with the PCB at present with the hope of getting the tour deferred to another date, but at this time we are not going to tour the country,” Peters told Caribbean Media Corporation Sport.

“At the end of the last (WICB) board meeting, the directors wanted a security report on the situation in Pakistan and I contacted the PCB. I had requested a security plan from them that was okayed by their police and military.

“They got this plan and sent it to me and we were then looking further at getting an independent security firm but this was not done because we had decided that at this point it was not really safe for the players to go to Pakistan.”

Pakistan have already had two high-profile postponements this year: Australia’s tour was put off, as was the Champions Trophy. They have not played a home Test since October 2007 and the only tournaments they have hosted this year are the Asia Cup and ODI series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

MUMBAI: Three more players from Pakistan have joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
According to an Indian media report, Lahore Badshahs, led by Inzamam-ul-Haq, has acquired the services of three more Pakistani cricketers to play in the ICL.

These three cricketers are Tahir Mughal, Shahid Yousuf and hafeez Khalil while one more Bangladeshi player Nazimuddin has joined Dhaka Warriors, a new team in the ICL.

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…

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued an Invitation to Tender (ITT) Letter for Audio-visual Rights of International Cricket in Pakistan for the period 2009-2013.
In essence the Rights on offer constitute television rights for international cricketing events to be held in Pakistan which are controlled by the PCB, said a spokesman here on Friday.The ITT has been offered to leading broadcasters and agencies worldwide. Interested parties may acquire the ITT from the “Marketing & Commercial Division” of PCB at Gaddafi Stadium, over the next couple of weeks, while submission of bids is scheduled around the second week of November 2008.

The PCB expects that the entire process will be completed by the end of November 2008.

“The process that has been adopted for award of these rights is in accordance with international best practices and is being monitored by an independent forensic accountant of international repute and credentials. Ehsan Mani, former president ICC is advising the PCB management on the whole process,” he added.

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.