The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan has beaten Afghanistan in the only T20 which was played in Sharjah, UAE. Hafeez was the captain of Pakistan and apart from running Sohaib Maqsood out, played well & took Pakistan home. Afghanistan played really well and proved that they are the worthy qualifiers for the ODI & T20 world cup . Afghanistan have some really good players and have the potential to beat any side in world cricket.  Following websites have more details about this match. 1. AFG vs Pak, Only T20I, Sharjah 2.  Sharjeel debuts, Afghanistan bat 3.  Pakistan win thriller against Afghanistan in only T20 at Sharjah 4.  Pakistan vs Afghanistan T20 in Sharjah: Pakistan register thrilling six-wicket win HOME

Misbah-ul-Haq  has hailed Pakistan's maiden ODI series win against South Africa as a "really big achievement". Pakistan also became the first subcontinent team to win a series in South Africa when they edged the hosts  by one run  in Port Elizabeth to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead with one game remaining. "It is a really, really big achievement for us, especially for this young team," Misbah said. "They are going to start believing that they can perform well. I think that is what we were lacking in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and lost few games which we should have won. It is a good comeback for the confidence of the team. In the future we can come with better confidence, and winning a first bilateral one-day series in South Africa means something to us." Misbah praised  Saeed Ajmal  and  Junaid Khan  for bringing Pakistan back after  AB de Villiers  and  Hashim Amla  had taken South Africa to a winning position. The hosts needed 36 off 38 deliveries w

Usually once a series is won there is not much to get excited about but this is a little different. Pakistan , who have already racked up what their captain  Misbah-ul-Haq   called "a really big achievement" by beating South Africa for the first time in a bilateral series, stand to add to it. Victory at Centurion will make them only the second team to whitewash South Africa in an ODI series of three matches. Although South Africa will be concerned with avoiding that fate, they also have the smaller picture to consider. While the Twenty20 side has found its rhythm, the ODI outfit cannot seem to do the same. Batting inconsistencies continue to work against them and even though one game cannot help them fix it, it may be an opportunity to solve some problems. Without Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis , some of South Africa's next generation will be on display and with public speculation mounting about whether there is space for the two stalwarts in the set-up, this wil

The opener  Graeme Smith  will be replaced by Henry Davids for South Africa 's third and final one-day international against Pakistan in Pretoria on Saturday. Smith has been allowed time off following the death of his grandmother, Cricket South Africa said on Friday. South Africa are also without J acques Kallis and Dale Steyn, who are sitting out the game as a precaution because of the three-match 50-over series against India starting next Thursday, which will be followed by two Test matches. Steyn has a mild side strain and Kallis a badly sprained little finger. Pakistan have already won the series after success in the first two ODIs in Cape Town last Sunday and Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, which they won by one run. Read the full story here.  HOME 

By Sikander Hayat  Pakistan has continued their winning streak and have beaten Bangladesh comprehensively in the first cricket test being played in Bangladesh . Younis played the main role by scoring a double hundred while Hafeez & Asad Shafiq scored hundreds. All Pakistani bowlers bowled well especially Rehman and Ajmal were unplayable for Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a weak opposition but I am liking this new Pakistan which is more consistent and reliable in finishing off the opposition than many other Pakistani sides of recent years . Misbah ul Haq does deserve a lot of credit for this transformation and I would like to thank the English judge in the corruption case regarding spot fixing. 

By Sikander Hayat Verinder Sehwag is playing a gem of an innings against West Indies in Indore. He has been a great servant of Indian cricket over the years and have made many fans throughout the world with his masterful batting. He has made triple hundreds before in test cricket but he is the second man to score a double hundred in limited overs cricket after Sachin Tendulkar. He has played in todays match like someone who is in complete command and has ample time for his shots.Darren Sami, the West Indies captain has no options left to stop Verinder Sehwag as he has used all his bowlers both full time and part time. This is how wikipedia describes Sehwag " Virender Sehwag  (born 20 October 1978), affectionately known as   Viru , the   Nawab of Najafgarh , or the Zen master of modern cricket ,   is one of the leading   batsmen   in the   Indian cricket team . Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first

By Sikander Hayat This was going to happen sooner or later. With no clear direction, with all the people kept in dark, Pakistan was bound to face this indignation . Well done PPP , well done Army and well done to the impotent/corrupt/incapable politicians. You have succeeded in doing what nobody else could. You have turned Pakistan into a Greek tragedy . Jang Group Online

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By Sikander Hayat Younis Khan is back. He asked for forgiveness and was pardoned by Ejaz Butt. I do not know how Pakistan cricket team works and how the affairs of the team are run. Selections are made on personal like or dislike of the board chairman. To be in the team, one has to be in the personal good books of the chairman. At the moment Pakistan cricket team is a team of retards who have never spent a day in any school and do not know the ways of the civilization. The mental capacity of the individual players on the team seems quite low on the scale from 1 to 10. Pakistan used to win from positions from where it seemed impossible to win but this bunch somehow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Pakistan lost nearly all matches in Australia at the start of this year and people thought it cannot get any worse. But what Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif ( a serial offender ) and Muhammad Aamir did in England was beyond my or any Pakistani's imagination. Ignominy of all ignominie

By Sikander Hayat Was this match & the last match fixed by England? Its an allegation. Go prove it wrong. Joking aside it was a masterful performance by Pakistan. Abdul Razzak played a brilliant innings at the end for Pakistan and than Umer Gul proved his worth for Pakistan by once again tearing English batting apart. There were dropped catches by Afridi & usual wicket keeping howlers by Kamran Akmal but despite all that Pakistan prevailed in the end and squared the series two all. Related Posts: 1. Why British Tabloid (Gutter Press) Spreads Hate Against Pakistan, Pakistan Cricket Team & Muslims In General 2. Shahid Afridi Takes Six Wickets Against Australia in Dubai 3.Pakistan Beats India By 54 Runs 4.Pakistan Wins The Cricket Series In Abu Dhabi

By Sikander Hayat No matter how good Kamran Akmal is in batting, his performance with the gloves is nothing but abysmal. He single headedly cost a test series in Australia by dropping half a dozen catches in Sydney and now in Nottingham he has done the same. I believe he needs to be rested and someone one else be given a chance. Kamran can still play one dayers/20 20s but he is not a good enough wicketkeeper to play in the test cricket in his current form. On top of that there are consistent rumours about his involvement with the match fixing and other disciplinary issues. It is time to reassess his contribution to Pakistan cricket team and if found wanting than dropped from the team immediately. Related Posts: 1. Can Pakistan beat Australia Today? 2. Muhammad Sami & Muhammad Asif Destroy Australia 3. Is T20 Cricket Killing Pakistan Test Cricket?

By Sikander Hayat This is a million dollar question. To a neutral observer it’s a no brainer. 40 runs with 7 wickets in hand, surely Pakistan cannot lose from here. Stranger things have happened when Pakistan steps on a cricket ground. The ghosts of Sydney are still haunting Pakistan and the only way to exorcise them is by beating Australia today. Salman Butt will consider himself the luckiest man on this planet if Pakistan pull this one off. After 15 years of humiliation and 13 consecutive defeats, Pakistan is on the verge of a breakthrough and they better win this one.

By Sikander Hayat Muhammad Aamer dropped not only a catch but with it a match as well. Muhammad Aamer dropped Ricky Ponting at the start of his innings and he went on to score a double hundred. I said earlier as well that Pakistan can never be a good test team or for that matter a good cricket team until it holds all of its catches. A bad piece of ground fielding here and there is forgivable but not a dropped catch. When Aamer dropped the catch, Muhammad Asif the bowler was a sight to behold. Dropped shoulders, dejected and devoid of any positive body language. Pakistan lost the match there and then. Related Posts: 1. Is T20 Cricket Really Killing Pakistan Cricket?

By Sikander Hayat England bowlers have been found to be involved in tampering the ball during the test at Cape Town. ICC have decided not to take any action despite the fact that the television cameras clearly show Stuart Broad & Jimmy Anderson doing ball tampering to make the ball reverse swing. My only question is that if this was Pakistan, the whole world media, the ICC and everyone else would have been crying at the top of their lung capacity to say Pakistanis were cheats but in case of England, there are no voices to be heard from the “esteemed” British media and the rest of the world. Why are there double standards when it comes to Pakistan? Why England crickets are not called cheats when clearly they were involved in cheating. When Pakistan had a great bowling attack in the form of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis & Shoaib Akhtar, who could bowl reverse swing at 100 miles per hour, it was called cheating but when England bowlers bowl reverse swing, it becomes art. You decide.

By Sikander Hayat Kamran Akmal single handedly cost Pakistan a match which was in the hands of Pakistan. He dropped 4 catches in the second innings. This is criminal. This guy has cost Pakistan the match. This is it. Pakistan has lost it. Kamran Akmal is really down on confidence and needs to be rested for some time. Australia played really well aided by the worst captaincy in recent times. Pakistan's negative tactics had put them in a very bad situation. Absolutely rediculous captaincy by Muhammad Yousuf. Pakistan needs to have three different teams for each format of the game. Otherwise there is no chance in hell for this Pakistan who have lost all 7 test they played last year and the first one this year.

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan have not won a test match against Australia for last 15 years but tomorrow Pakistan has a historic chance of winning one. At the end of 3rd day’s play, Australia are 80 runs ahead in their second innings with 2 wickets remaining. Pakistan bowled really well, especially Danish Kaneria & Umer Gul bowled with great heart. Umer Gul proved that his inclusion was the right one and took important wickets at important times in the second innings. The match would have been over by now if Kamran Akmal had not given Australia at least five chances during the day. It was a day when he forgot to keep wickets and just like his brother Umer Akmal forgot to catch as well. He must up his game both in wicket keeping and batting to give Pakistan a chance to win. His batting could prove vital on the 4th day when Pakistan will chasing in their second innings. Pakistan will be chasing a score between 150 & 200 and given how Pakistan has fared in the past run chases, it wi

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan squandered a chance to push Australia out of the test match in Sydney . The wicket of Muhammad Yousuf was crucial and his dismissal was a tame one when he was completely set and timing the ball sweetly. Given that Pakistan is playing against Australia, this match is evenly poised. Pakistan have a very poor record of chasing even small totals in the 4th innings and chasing anything above 150 would be a very hard task indeed. Pakistan should have batted Australia out of the match but given the fragility of Pakistan batting and lack of hundreds impeded their progress. Any hopes of an easy victory are no longer in the minds of fans but the fears that Australia will score above 400 and win the match are bugging every Pakistani supporter. Umer Akmal needs to understand that he is playing test cricket and not T20 because every time he comes to bat, he wants to hit every ball out of the park. The dismissal of Muhammad Yousaf sparked an almighty and very fam

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan cricket team played really well on the first day of the Sydney cricket test and bowled Australia out for 127. Muhammad Asif took 6 wickets and Muhammad Sami took 3 wickets to put Australia under great pressure after Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch which was green with overcast conditions. This decision might come back to haunt him later in the match which despite losing time on the first day is moving fast on the first day in cricketing terms. One full innings is over and Pakistan are 14 without loss of any wickets. The most amazing thing about this match is the return of Muhammad Sami and as I wrote previously, this is the last chance for him to prove that he has what it takes to be the spearhead of the Pakistani attack. Muhammad Sami was the biggest difference from the last match when after Muhammad Aamer and Muhammad Asif had no back up. Rauf should never had played the last match but what’s done is done and now is the time i

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan cricket team captain Muhammad Yousuf has said that T20 cricket is affecting Pakistan’s performance in test cricket. He made these comments after losing the Boxing Day test match to Australia. I believe that it is not the T20 cricket which is hampering Pakistan’s test cricket but wrong selection for each format is to be blamed. Pakistan have lost last three series in Australia 3-0 , 3-0 and 2-1 respectively under different captains and at a time when there was no T20 cricket around. So blaming T20 is not the answer to our problems. Instead embracing it as part of future of cricket will make the job easier. Pakistan has bundles of talent in its domestic cricket but we keep insisting on using the same players for every format and even when cricket board shows some courage to leave these powerful players out, the powerful lobby in Pakistani media comes into action and put so much pressure on the cricket board that they have to bring these players back into the t

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan lost the Boxing Day test match without a fight on the last day. The whole team was practically out before the lunch session and Australia cleaned up the remaining two wickets after lunch. As I said in my earlier posts, this Pakistan line up is capable of around 250 runs in an innings and anything beyond 250 is out of their reach and there was ample evidence of this fact in the match. Australia won the match convincingly and it seems that they will win the series 3-0 as well. After all Pakistan lost the last two series in Australia 3-0 so it wont be much of a surprise but this Australian team does not have McGrath or Warne. Pakistan must somehow muster courage so that individuals can score hundreds as it seems that after scoring about 30 to 50 runs they think that they have done their jobs and there place in the team is secure. The other most important thing is the fielding. Pakistan lost the match because of their abysmal fielding on the first day when they g