One would almost have thought that the Indians had invaded their neighbours. In the end, it was only a bunch of Pakistani cricketers not selected for the third edition of the IPL by the franchises that caused so much furore in the Pakistani parliament that there have been talks of boycotting anything and everything remotely Indian.
The potential embargo could involve cricket matches – which already do not exist – hockey games, which occur once in like a gazillion years, and even Bollywood films. Or at least that is what most voices that matter in Pakistan are suggesting. Phrases ranging from insult to the Pakistani cricket team to insult to the country as a whole have been doing the rounds, as some players have termed it as a ‘conspiracy against Pakistan as a whole which was being hatched for the last three or four months.’
Really now, while being hurt and disappointed at not been selected for one or other franchise for the IPL and not making that quick buck is only justified, the rest of the jamboree that seems to have followed is nothing short of over-reaction.
The critics from Pakistan have pointed fingers at everything plausible. The Indian Government, the IPL functioning committee and the franchises have all been blamed, and for someone observing it as a neutral, one cannot understand what the shenanigans are all about.
It is a private tournament, which like any other multi-national company in the world is not governed by what the government says. At best, it can consult the government and any decision that it has to take has to be its own prerogative, not the government’s. This was evident in the previous year’s IPL when the tournament had been shifted to South Africa despite the government asking them to postpone the whole tournament.
That leaves the IPL and the franchises, and one cannot see how a collective decision to exclude the Pakistanis would have benefited either one of them. In fact, the IPL committee would understand that the presence of Pakistani cricketers and the ensuing following of the game in that country would make for better revenues for the league. And one cannot see any real motive behind conspiring to deliberately do this after strategising for a definite period of times.
The hard and cold fact is that the performances of the teams depend on players who would be there through the entire duration of the tournament; players for whom the franchises did not have to worry too much about after having a lot on their plate already. So, if the visas of such players did not arrive on time because of the cold vibes existing between the two governments, then, it sure could have been an issue for the team unity; apart from adding to the unnecessary things to ponder about for the owners.
While it is easy to say that politics and sport should not be mixed, it is much more difficult to implement it. Gone are the days when cricketers or sportsmen could live in that cocoon of safety despite the existing threat to the world security; and in the prevailing scenario, it is only evident that the Pakistani cricketers touring India – or vice versa – would elicit an unnecessary security threat to those concerned.
Mohammad Yousuf must be a changed man. There cannot be any other way to describe him otherwise. For a cricketer who quit Pakistani cricket in a huff to join the rebel Indian Cricket League T20, then had events flipping and flopping between the two extremes of being a Pakistani international cricketer to being christened a pariah to their cricket, to being selected as the captain of the side, his recent worry on how Pakistani cricket was suffering due to the excesses of T20 makes him go a long way in their cricket.
Probably Yousuf does understand that if anything, his T20 career is all but finished. It was done and dusted even before the teams went to South Africa for the 2007 edition of the ICC World T20, when the selectors had refused to select him in the squad. Mind you, his international career had been on a relative high at that moment, but the wise men clearly saw what he hadn’t; the format needed someone with the penchant to field better than he ever did, and run between the wickets in a manner that Yousuf would have probably never imagined in his life. So, almost three years after that fateful unacceptability of change, the batsman seems to have reconciled to his fate and realised that the likes of ICC World T20 and IPL may not be his cuppa coffee anymore. Especially after not a single team wanted to bid for him during the IPL auctions and then, with the deteriorating Indo-Pak relations over the last one year or so.
It is no surprise then, that the Pakistani captain is all of a sudden worried about the future of Pakistani cricket in relation with the T20 cricket. However, and I understand this is only conjecture – and a far-fetched one at that – I would like to see what Yousuf does if he does have the fortune of being selected by one of the franchises in any of the forthcoming IPLs. Sachin Tendulkar has retired from T20 cricket, and so has Ricky Ponting. Will Yousuf reject the contract to set a benchmark and for the betterment of his nation’s international performance? Only time can tell!
Talking of Yousuf and the country that he is touring currently – Australia – the KFC T20 Big Bash got underway this week. The first round of matches saw Queensland take on Victoria, Western Australia play South Australia and Tasmania feature against New South Wales. The incentive is there for all the teams to grab; a chance to represent their side in the Champions League T20 for a multi-million dollar prize money!
New Zealand international cricketer Ross Taylor had been picked up by Victoria in place of Sohail Tanvir and he immediately stuck gold with a 36-ball 58 and took the previous year’s runner-up to 157/8 in their 20 overs after having slumped to 5/3 at one stage. Andrew Symonds’ return lasted all of 14 balls in which he scored 16, but with 37 needed off the last four overs and with four wickets remaining, it could have been anybody’s game. Rain intervened, and the Bulls were fund four runs short of the target.
South Australia then had their international stars, Keiron Pollard and Shahid Afridi, win their first game against Western Australia. First, Pollard spanked a 31-ball 45, and then Afridi ran through the WA innings with a 4/19 in his four overs.
In the third game, Dave Warner of the NSW Blues smacked the quickest fifty ever in the competition off 18 balls, and despite a strong start by Tim Paine – 48 off 18 – the rest of the Tasmanians collapsed to 163 all out to hand the opposition over a 32-run win.
As Indian cricket grapples with the existence of pitches that could lull some of the biggest insomniacs to sleep, the Indian Premier League has had a couple of worries of their own. The IPL had sent in a proposal to raise the number of teams in the tournament to ten, from the year 2011, but this had most of the franchises rejecting the offer.
The rationale behind the refutation was that the profits would then get reduced, but the messrs Lalit Modi and his marketing team seemed to have gotten their way. The chief of the IPL managed to convince most of the team owners that the introduction of two more sides would have contrasting changes to the sides’ fortunes to what they envisaged; more teams would end up getting the profits up. In all probabilities, this is not too far from the truth because given the kind of brand that the IPL has created for itself, it is only natural that the selling price of the additional two teams would be much more than the price that Mukesh Ambani had had to pay for his Mumbai Indians.
Also given the knack that Modi has for negotiations and re-negotiations, one is not too sure, but there is a reasonable possibility that the deal with the broadcasters could also be tweaked – read, the broadcaster would be cajoled into paying more – and hence the central kitty of funds would automatically increase for the sides. Apparently, the only side which has had a problem with this is the Chennai Super Kings, which is owned by N.Srinivasan, who, incidentally, is also the secretary of the BCCI. In many quarters, Srinivasan and Modi have said to have locked horns over many issues, including the most recent one related to the termination of the contract of IMG – the management company which manages the IPL.
While the things are hazy about which direction the issue would turn to in the coming weeks, one can be sure that it is not the last that one has heard of from the pair from BCCI.
Less than one year back, the Pakistani government had banned their cricketers from participating in the IPL – or any other sporting event in India – due to the delicate situation between the two countries. For now, not only has the Pakistani government given the players permission to feature in the tournament, but also has had the PCB waiting anxiously for the invites. PCB COO Wasim Bari has said that while the players were ready to play in the next edition of the IPL, they have yet to receive any formal invitation from the IPL failing which, the visa process will be a non-starter.
Unsurprisingly, the Pakistani players will be in hot demand for the next season’s IPL as winners of the ICC World T20 side. Even in this year, Pakistan has won nine of the 11 games that they have featured in, making them the most successful side in the format. Add that to the manner in which the likes of Shahid Afridi has matured as an all-round cricketer, and the remaining likes of Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer and Shoaib Malik are suited to the youngest format of the game, it does seem that the franchises will be gunning to get some of them in their sides.
Talking of T20 news from around the world, 12 teams are battling it out in the Asian T20 Cup. China, Afghanistan, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, Hong Kong, Nepal, Saudi Arab, Malaysia and Bahrain will compete in this tournament, which will end on the 30th of November. The top three sides from this tournament will join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and China in the Asian Games.
To end this piece, here is another trivia. The oldest cricketer ever to debut in a T20I is Sunil Dhaniram from Canada, the only one over the age of 39 to do so. The oldest from a test playing nation to debut in the T20I format is Floyd Reifer while representing West Indies against Bangladesh at 37 years and ten days.
Courtesy Cricinfo and Getty
Pakistan has won the second edition of the ICC World T20 by beating Sri Lanka rather easily by eight wickets in the finals. Sri Lanka had gone into the game having not a single game, but were outplayed by a team that batted, bowled and fielded much better than them.
Sri Lanka had opted to bat first, but lost wickets at regular intervals to slump at 70/6 and with only Kumar Sangakkara at the crease. In partnership with Angelo Mathews, Sangakkara added a nice little 68 to get the Lankans to 138 in their allotted 20 overs. And on a pitch that looked to have something for the pace bowlers, the target looked a trifle dicey.
However, the Pakistani batsmen were disciplined, without being too flashy and yet, scored the runs at the desired rate. The openers, Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan did get out in quick succession, but Shahid Afridi’s continuing form and Shoaib Malik’s cool head took the Pakistanis past the total and won them the tournament.
Afridi’s knock won him the man-of-the-match, as did his 1/20 in the four overs, while T.Dilshan won the man-of-the-series for being the highest scorer of the tournament. It was a pity that he had to end up being on the losing side today!
One would almost have thought that the Indians had invaded their neighbours. In the end, it was only a bunch of Pakistani cricketers not selected for the third edition of the IPL by the franchises that caused so much furore in the Pakistani parliament that there have been talks of boycotting anything and everything remotely Indian.