SPORTS Tuesday, 31 March, 2015
PCB SECURITY DELEGATION LEAVES FOR DHAKA A high-level security delegation of the Pakistan Cricket Board left for Dhaka today to review security arrangements for the impending tour by Pakistan to Bangladesh. An official in the board said that the security delegation would review the arrangements for the team at the grounds and hotels before submitting a report. “Unless the security delegation says otherwise the tour is on as the government has also given us clearance to go ahead with the tour,” the official said. Pakistan team is due to leave for Bangladesh on April 13 and will play three ODIs on April 17, 19 and 22nd and a T20 match on the 24th. They will also play two Tests from April 28 and May 6 although details of the venues have still to be released. Cricket relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have not been very cordial for the past three years as the PCB was unhappy with the Bangladesh board for twice pulling out of confirmed tours to Pakistan. The PCB had initially demanded a 50 percent share in the revenues earned from the upcoming series but later settled for a deal where the Bangladesh board will take care of all expenses of the touring side. SPORTS DESK
PAKISTAN’S CRICKET BOARD CHIEF NAMES ALI AS ODI CAPTAIN LAHORE
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AKISTAN’S cricket board chief on Monday named batsman Azhar Ali as the national side’s new one-day international captain, despite the fact he has not made the 50-over team in more than two years. The 30-year-old replaces Misbah-ul Haq, who retired from ODIs following Pakistan’s World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual champions Australia. Ali has played just 14 ODIs, the most recent in January 2013, when he contributed two with the bat as Pakistan beat India by 85 runs at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. He was not even included in the final 15-man World Cup squad, but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan insisted he had
proved himself in the domestic Pentangular Cup. “Azhar Ali has been appointed captain because of his leadership skills, team spirit and character,” Khan told reporters. “I know Azhar Ali was not in the team in the last two years but his performance in the Pentangular series proved that he deserves to be the captain.” Ali was also named as vice-captain for the Test side, which Misbah will continue to lead, while big-hitting allrounder Shahid Afridi stays on as Twenty20 skipper. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed was named vice-captain for both ODIs and T20s, a move that appears to cement his place in the side. The 27-year-old was left out for the early matches of the World Cup but when he was finally called up, he responded with some dazzling glovework and Pakistan’s first
century in the tournament since 2007 in the last group game against Ireland. Misbah led the side in 87 of his 162 ODIs, winning 45 of them, and has been a beacon of dogged stability in the often-turbulent world of Pakistani cricket in recent years. Ali acknowledged he had a hard act to follow. “It’s a huge responsibility and I hope that all players will support me. I salute him (Misbah-ul-Haq), the way he served and the way he played. His services are unforgettable,” he said. “It is a very difficult task to replace him and it (Misbah’s departure) will create a huge gap especially in one-day cricket.” With Afridi also bowing out of the 50-over game, Pakistan face a period of rebuilding in the coming years, with the batting in particular in need of improvement after some shaky performances at the World Cup.
ICC ANNOUNCES TEAM OF THE ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015 de Villiers and Morne Morkel, with Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara as wicketkeeper-batsman. Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor, who finished with 433 runs in six matches, was named as the 12th man.
SPORTS DESK The team was chosen by a select group of experts who were given the task of picking a balanced side on the basis of performances in the tournament ICC announces Team of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 - Cricket News Brendon McCullum was chosen as the captain of the team, following his aggressive, innovative and inspirational leadership during the 44-day tournament. Brendon McCullum named captain of the side that includes five New Zealanders The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the team of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with Brendon McCullum as its captain. McCullum was chosen as the captain following his aggressive, innovative and inspirational leadership during the 44-day tournament that was the cornerstone of his team’s progression to the final where it lost to Australia by seven wickets. In doing so, McCullum
TeAM OF THe ICC CrICkeT WOrlD CuP 2015 IN bATTINg OrDer:
also scored 328 runs in nine matches with four half-centuries at a strike-rate of 188.50. The team was chosen by a select group of experts* who were given the task of picking a balanced side on the basis of performances in the tournament. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections. In addition to McCullum, the side includes four New Zealanders – Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Daniel Vettori – three Australians in Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc, two South Africans, AB
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand (captain) Martin Guptill (New Zealand) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) (wicketkeeper) Steven Smith (Australia) AB de Villiers (South Africa) Glenn Maxwell (Australia) Corey Anderson (New Zealand) Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) Mitchell Starc (Australia) Trent Boult (New Zealand) Morne Morkel (South Africa) Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) (12th man)
ICC General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, chairman of the panel, said: “The panel had an extremely difficult choice of selecting a 12-member squad at the back of an outstanding tournament, highlighted by some eye-catching individual performances including two double-centuries, 38 centuries, two hat-tricks and 28 four-wicket hauls.
PAKISTAN NEED TO FOCUS AND INVEST IN DOMESTIC CRICKET, SAYS SHAHID AFRIDI SPORTS DESK Afridi, who announced his retirement from one-day internationals after the World Cup and will now lead the national T20 squad, said Pakistan needed to take care of its domestic players. Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that Pakistan needs to ‘focus and invest a lot’ in its domestic cricket in order to be able to compete in a rapidly changing game at the global level. Afridi, who announced his retirement from one-day internationals after the World Cup and will now lead the national T20 squad, said Pakistan needed to ‘take care’ of its domestic players. “If we now want to defeat the big guns and become a consistent side, we will have to do lot of hard work on our grass root level cricket. There is a need to provide more facilities to our players in domestic level,” Afridi said on a local TV channel. Afridi, who played in 398 ODIs, said that it was only Pakistan with its ‘raw talent’ that was still able to defeat big teams like South Africa and Australia despite limited resources and limitations. “No other country would have survived for long as a strong outfit internationally if it stopped hosting Test teams at home. Pakistan has not hosted a Test side since 2009 and yet our players have still managed to keep things going and keep getting good results even against good sides,” he said. Afridi said that cricket has ‘changed a lot’ and Pakistan also now have to ‘move with the times and improve its system’. He praised outgoing ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq for leading the side ‘sensibly’ for the last four years. “Misbah is a very good human being and for four years he did a good job despite all the pressures and problems. I enjoyed playing with him,” he said. He also took potshots at former Test captain Muhammad Yousuf for his brash comments. “I respect Muhammad Yousuf a lot because he was a much bigger player than me but some of the comments he makes are personal and make no sense at all. It does not do him any justice to talk such nonsense on a channel and keep on attacking me as a player,” Afridi said. Yousuf recently said that Afridi was never such a ‘big player’ to warrant ‘adulation and popularity’ Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad.
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Sachin Tendulkar hails Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz for spell against Australia Sachin Tendulkar has hailed Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz for producing the standout bowling spell of the Cricket World Cup. Australia sealed their fifth 50-over world title on Sunday courtesy of a dominant seven-wicket victory over fellow co-hosts New Zealand at the MCG. However, Michael Clarke’s side were given a significant scare before prevailing in their quarter-final against Pakistan in Adelaide, as Wahab posed all sorts of problems in an eye-catching six-over burst early in Australia’s chase. Operating at express pace, the left-armer removed David Warner and Clarke in his opening spell, reducing Australia to 59-3 in pursuit of 214. Wahab should also have picked up the wicket of Shane Watson, but Rahat Ali was guilty of a terrible drop at fine-leg. SPORTS DESK