ICC World Twenty20, 2009

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[Sadaf Gondal]

England can shine even without stars, says Pietersen
LONDON: Kevin Pietersen has warned Australia that England no longer have to rely only on their star players to produce match-winning performances.

The former England captain is impressed with the way Andrew Strauss's team made light of his absence and that of Andrew Flintoff in the recent one-day series against the West Indies.

Pietersen was ruled out with an Achilles injury, while all-rounder Flintoff has yet to recover from a knee operation.

Yet it had little impact on England's fortunes as they swept to a convincing one-day series win against the West Indians.

Pietersen believes that is an encouraging sign for England as they build up to the start of the Ashes series in Cardiff on July 8.

"England are not relying on one or two players," he said. "If you look at Australia during their good times, if (Matthew) Hayden didn't perform, (Adam) Gilchrist did, and the best thing about what's happening now is that if I fail like I did when I got a first-baller at Lord's, we still got a decent total.

"I've actually been quite annoyed when people have said the likes of Ravi (Bopara) are my rivals to counter the Australians.

"I am with Ravi all day every day, I love the bloke, his confidence, the way he plays without fear, the way he talks about things and the way he doesn't worry - I love his approach and it's something a lot of the players can learn from.

"(Stuart) Broad has been exceptional, Matty Prior is somebody who has improved so much as well and James Anderson produced a brilliant display at Durham the other day - I don't care who you are, you're not playing that sort of bowling well."

In a bid to be at peak fitness for the Ashes, Pietersen has been working with former athletics coach Mark Young, who is now the England and Wales Cricket Board's head of physiotherapy and previously worked with top athletes including Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.

"He said this Achilles injury is something he has seen on a daily basis in athletics so he could diagnose it and see what the problem was straight away," Pietersen said.

"He has put me on balancing boards to make sure my balance is right. I have had to close my eyes to make sure my balance is right and really start thinking about my feet.

"Standing on the balance board for the first time, I was like a clown and I was all over the place, but I'm now not too bad and can balance for 30 seconds with my eyes closed."

Young told Pietersen he is still a fortnight away from road running, which has formed an integral part of his fitness programme in recent years and is thought to have caused the current problem during his time in the Caribbean in the winter.

[Sadaf Gondal]

Twenty20, new country for old men


NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya may be the oldest cricketer at 39 in the World Twenty20, but he has just as much chance of achieving success as any youngster.

The batting exploites of retired Australians Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist in the recent Indian Premier League have only made the “age v youth” debate more interesting in the latest format of the game.

The 37-year-olds comfortably won the opening round, with Hayden emerging the tournament’s leading scorer with 572 runs in 12 matches and Gilchrist the second-best with 495 in 16.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Gilchrist was also named the player of the tournament for leading the 2008 bottom-placed Deccan Chargers to the title-triumph this year. “The success of the senior players in the IPL highlights the fact that Twenty20 can accommodate all cricketers — if they are good enough — regardless of their age,” said Gilchrist.

“Like baseball, you will see that as T20 continues to develop, older players, especially batsmen, will start extending their careers to their late thirties and beyond.”Also speaking strongly in veterans’ favour were India’s Anil Kumble, 38, Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, 37 and Australian Shane Warne, 39. The spinners proved with their match-winning spells that performance mattered more than age.

Leg-spinner Kumble, who quit international cricket last year, set the IPL on fire with an amazing 5-5 performance (v Rajasthan) before ending up the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker with 21.

Off-spinner Muralitharan, the world’s leading bowler in Tests (770 wickets) and one-day internationals (505), was as disciplined as ever, grabbing 14 wickets for semifinalists Chennai. India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who has opted out of T20 internationals, also batted for the veterans, saying that age was no barrier to success.

“It’s a cricketers’ game, so it really doesn’t matter whether you are young or old. It’s a cricket match,” said Tendulkar, the world’s top scorer in Tests (12,773) and one-dayers (16,684).

If further proof was needed of the veterans’ significance, it was provided by Warne who marshalled his limited resources remarkably well to lead Rajasthan to victory last year besides excelling as a bowler.

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Jayawardene leads Sri Lanka to victory against Bangladesh

NOTTINGHAM: Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene top-scored with 43 to lead his team to a tense four-wicket win over Bangladesh in a World Twenty20 warm-up on Tuesday.

After Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya put on 34 for the opening wicket, Jayawardene looked poised and powerful in his innings, even hitting Mahmudullah for 15 in the eighth over.

Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul Hasan rescued Bangladesh with a 70-run sixth wicket partnership to help their team post 151-6.

Bangladesh, defeated by Australia at the same Trent Bridge venue the day before, were 17-2 by the third over with openers Tamim Iqbal, who took three boundaries off Farveez Maharoof''s first over, and Junaid Siddique back in the pavilion.

Raqibul finished unbeaten on 38 while Mushfiqur hit 34 from 28 balls while Mashrafe Mortaza struck two straight fours to get the score above 150.

[Sadaf Gondal]

[Sadaf Gondal]

Four-star Johnson keeps New Zealand in check


LONDON: Mitchell Johnson took four wickets as Australia restricted New Zealand to 147 all out in their ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Oval here on Tuesday.

New Zealand lost openers Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder for a duck apiece and collapsed to 21 for five inside six overs before a stand of 71 between Scott Styris (42) and Peter McGlashan (49) revived the innings.

Johnson though finished with fine figures of four for 20 from four overs.

Australia made an ideal start after New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss at a sun-drenched Oval

Fast bowler Brett Lee had the dangerous McCullum caught behind after the batsman chased a wide ball while Ryder was out to left-arm quick Johnson's second ball, caught at long leg by Peter Siddle off a hook.

The Black Caps then slumped to six for three when Martin Guptill, one ball after cover-driving Johnson for four, chipped him to Nathan Hauritz at mid-on.

Taylor though restored Kiwi morale with a cover-drive four off a Siddle no-ball. He then took advantage of the ensuing free hit with a four down to fine leg and then made it three boundaries in as many bulls with a pull.

But Siddle, like Lee and Johnson, struck in his first over when, two balls later, Taylor mistimed a drive to Australia captain Ricky Ponting at mid-off and was out for 14.

Things got even worse for New Zealand when 21 for four became 21 for five after all-rounder Jacob Oram was run out without facing a ball following good work by Johnson.

However, the experienced Scott Styris counter-attacked by lofting Siddle for a superb straight six into the Pavilion and next ball giving himself room to drive the seamer for four, a boundary that brought up New Zealand's fifty.

McGlashan then got in on the act by pulling Siddle for six.

But the stand was broken when Brisbane-born Stryris, like McCullum before him, chased a delivery which would have been called wide and was caught by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, off Johnson. His 42 had come in 28 balls with two sixes and six fours.

[Sadaf Gondal]

Breaking News : Pakistan Players Abused after SA Defeat
In a disappointing and unecessary episode at Nottingham on 1st June shortly after Pakistan's defeat to South Africa, Pakistan players Salman Butt and Ahmed Shehzad were verbally abused by a small group of drunken Pakistan fans.

The incidents occurred when the 2 opening batsmen came back onto the field of play when the match against South Africa had ended. Looking for some batting and fielding practice some of the Pakistan players returned to the Trent Bridge pitch only to be confronted by the so called Pakistani supporters.

Speaking exclusively today to PakPassion, players agent Azhar Majeed who was nearby and witnessed the incident said that "the lads in the crowd were clearly drunk and when Ahmed Shehzad and Salman Butt came out to get some batting practice, the fans started to throw some disgusting comments the players way".

Azhar added "the players were very upset as they were already disappointed after the defeat and the team performance and the last thing they needed was this abuse".

The crowd at Trent Bridge on Monday was largely Pakistani and mainly well behaved, but there seems to be a small element of troublemakers who go to the Pakistan matches to cause trouble and previous Pakistan

[Sadaf Gondal]

Alam confident of good results in T20 World Cup
LONDON: In spite of not playing much Twenty20 cricket since losing to India in the finals of inaugural ICC World Twenty20two years ago, Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam feels his team will put up good show at ICC World Twenty20 2009 starting on June 5.

Beaten finalists in inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, Pakistan would be regarded as title contender in second edition of the event. However, a shortage of recent top-class experience in format and lack of international cricket have hurt its chances. Pakistan played only one Twenty20 International this year, beating Australia in United Arab Emirates in May.

Intikhab says his side has capacity to quickly adjust when tournament begins on Friday at Lord’s. “We have tried to prepare ourselves with whatever we could possibly do. Boys have worked hard in training and I am confident we will get good results.”

Pakistan is in easy group, taking on Netherlands and host England. A win against either opponent will almost certainly be enough for a place in Super 8 stage.

Shahid Afridi will be trump with his hard-hitting batting and fast leg-spinners, which troubled Australia in a recent series. Fast bowler Umar Gul, best bowler in inaugural event, could also trouble batsmen in seaming conditions here. Paceman Shoaib Akhtar was initially selected in squad, but he dropped out for medical reasons and subsequently replaced by Rao Iftikhar.

Intikhab urged his batsmen to post big totals. “I feel 170-180 is a good score in English conditions because with bowling we have, we could defend it.”

Pakistan lost to South Africa by 59 runs Monday in first warm-up game of the tournament. They conceded 186 runs to Proteas and then bowled out for 127 runs. They lost five wickets in five consecutive overs, from overs 8 to 12.

Pakistan take on England in its first T20 group game on June 7 at The Oval and face the Netherlands on June 9 at Lord’s.

[Sadaf Gondal]

Wanted: Success, for many reasons
Few sides really need to win - or do very well - the World Twenty20 as badly as Pakistan. Few sides will be as rusty as Pakistan. And few sides are as capable of them of pulling off something special, especially in this format.
Pakistan's travails on and off the field need no repeating. Suffice to say, on the field, they have lurched closer and closer to what was once thought to be unthinkable: a team you have no particular opinion about, a team that doesn't set any pulses racing. For Pakistan, that is a fate worse than defeat, or death. So a triumph here - a good run even - would be as significant a boost on the field as winning a battle against militants off it.
It won't be easy given their rustiness - nobody, not even Bangladesh, has played less international cricket since January 2007 than Pakistan. And they were the only country whose players weren't represented at the IPL; instead they warmed up with a conditioning camp and a hastily-arranged domestic Twenty20 tournament. But for Pakistan, Twenty20 is like finding yourself back in the galli you have played cricket in all your life. The angles, the run-stealing, the yorkers, the spin, the-poor-fielding-with-crucial-moments-of-quality, the big-hitting, clarity emerging only from chaos; as in South Africa two years ago, there is a natural familiarity and comfort with the format.
Additionally, the draw seems so kind to them, it can only be a trick. You would think England - averse as they are to the format and obsessed in this summer of all summers - and Netherlands should be negotiated (though Dirk Nannes on a bouncy, green pitch has headlines written all over it). And, if all goes to form, they avoid Australia, India and South Africa in the Super Eights. Sri Lanka and New Zealand are proper threats where a semi-final place is concerned, but given their records against them, there is no question Pakistan would face them, rather than any of the big three. Once you're in the semis, strange things begin to happen.
Strengths
The variety in their bowling attack: Shahid Afridi's leg-spin is as effective as it has ever been, in restricting runs and taking wickets, and Saeed Ajmal's strangely-trajectoried off-spin and doosra is an unexpectedly useful foil. In Umar Gul, Pakistan have one of the format's very best bowlers, pace or slow. Now they only need for Sohail Tanvir to break free from the shackles of indifference that have gripped him since the start of the year.
Weaknesses
Around Pakistan's batting swarm an uncomfortably high number of question marks. Is Salman Butt really a Twenty20 opener (a strike rate of 94 and one fifty in 13 internationals), given his inability to at least rotate the strike when not finding the boundary? Is Younis Khan cut out for this format - he himself seems unsure about it, hinting recently it may be his last Twenty20 assignment - and if so, what position is best? What is Shahid Afridi's best position, and Kamran Akmal's?
X-Factor
Depending on whether or not they play, Shahzaib Hasan and Mohammad Aamer: Hasan is an explosive opener, mostly unseen, but highly recommended by Rashid Latif. Aamer is the whippy left-armer with Wasim Akram's stamp of approval: a fantastic first-class debut season that has seen his confident rise, his time may come if Sohail Tanvir continues to misfire. Pakistan's history of thrusting unknown names into the mix is long and established.
Key Players
If Pakistan end up doing well here, a number of things will have to have happened. Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi must've taken a fair few wickets, Kamran Akmal must've scored some runs, Misbah-ul-Haq must've played a few remarkably cool hands and Afridi must've played at least one madcap, match-changing innings. Given the form and mood he is in, Afridi could be the real key.
Twenty20 form guide
They looked rusty in the warm-up loss to South Africa but too much should not be read from the defeat. They looked up for it in decimating an admittedly weakened Australia before that, but missing the IPL, crucially, could go either way for Pakistan's players: they may not be as tired as some, but neither might they be as attuned to competitive Twenty20 as others.
Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Shahzaib Hasan

[Sadaf Gondal]

India-Pakistan clash to raise funds for Lahore victims
India and Pakistan's eagerly anticipation clash at The Oval tomorrow has been designated as a "Catch the Spirit" match by the ICC, a fundraiser to help support families of the victims of the attack on the Sri Lanka team and officials in Lahore in March.
Funds raised through a variety of initiatives during the match will also support the Peace and Sport projects across Asia.
"The Board wanted to do something to assist the families of the victims of the terror attacks on the Sri Lanka team and match officials in March, and using this high-profile match with a sell-out crowd as a vehicle to do that makes excellent sense," said David Morgan, the ICC president.
"'Catch the Spirit' is one of the themes of the ICC's ongoing centenary year of 2009 and it highlights the respect with which the game is played around the world. We are extremely grateful to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the hosts, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Surrey County Cricket Club, for allowing the match to take place under this banner."
"We hope this match, watched by millions both at the ground and around the world will portray cricket in a positive light, make a positive contribution to the lives of those affected by those terrible events in March and contribute to assisting community-based projects across the Asian subcontinent that promote peace through cricket."
Ijaz Butt, the PCB's chairman, added: "The attack in Lahore was a terrible shock and we have immense sympathy for all those who were affected by the incident.
"The PCB provided support to the families of the victims immediately after the attack and it is encouraging to see the rest of the cricket world coming together in this way."
Details of how spectators and companies can contribute to the initiative will be announced during the match.

[Sadaf Gondal]

Pak meet India in Twenty20 warm up today
OVAL: Pakistan will take on India in Twenty20 warm up match today. This would be the first encounter between the two teams after Mumbai attacks.

The money collected from today’s match will be given to the affectees of attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Pakistan and India both faced defeat in their respective warm up openers. South Africa beat Pakistan while New Zealand defeated India. Both teams met in Twenty20 World Cup final two years back.

Pakistan team manager Yawer Saeed said green shirts would face India with full strength without giving rest to any key player.

Geo Super will telecast the action live from Oval for cricket fans.