Mohammad Yousaf stepped down to make way for Mohammad Hafeez

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) December 2, 2012: Former Pakistan skipper and veteran cricketer Mohammad Yousaf has stepped down as captain of Lahore Lions in favour of the current Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez for the National Twenty20 Tournament.

Talking exclusively to TheSportsNEXT.com at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday, Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) president Khawaja Nadeem Ahmad said, “Yousaf has showed a big gesture and stepped down as captain on the pretext that Hafeez is the Pakistan captain and is the right choice to lead Lahore Lions in the National T20 Tournament.”

Khawaja Nadeem said Yousaf had a meeting with Hafeez and he conveyed his feelings and decision to the latter who praised the gesture of the former. “Hafeez was not initially agreed to lead the Lahore Lions but Yousaf made him realized that it is better if he leads the side as he has the honour of being the national captain of Pakistan T20 team,” he said.

He rejected a questioner that Yousaf withdrew from the captaincy due to the pressure of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “It has nothing to do with PCB and this is the personal decision of Yousaf and no one pressurized him,” he added.

President LCCA welcomed Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision for shifting T20 tournament to Lahore owing to security situation in Karachi. “It is very wise decision of Chairman, PCB to have the tournament in Lahore where adequate facilities are available at the three centres, Gaddafi Stadium, LCCA and Bagh-e-Jinnah grounds, for holding the matches in a smooth manner,” he added.

“Lahore was to hold the event last year but it was shifted to Karachi at the last moment, owing to the outbreak of the dengue epidemic in the province. That was a precautionary step, and Lahore didn’t come up with any protest”, he said.

Now when the event has come back to Lahore, there has been a bit of an outcry from Karachi.

Reacting to that, Khawaja Nadeem said: “No one city should have monopoly over hosting national or international cricket. Rather it should be evenly spread all over the country, with all major cricketing centres getting their due share. And it can be said without any fear of contradiction that Lahore is and has been a major cricketing centre for well over a century. People in this city, like everywhere else in the country, too are quite keen on cricket and deserve the opportunity to watch it from the stands”.

More than anything else, said Nadeem, this also provides all concerned in these parts to refresh and improve on cricket organization skills and be well-versed in tackling the security issues. “This is essential so that when international cricket comes back, Pakistan as a nation could host them in a befitting manner”, concluded the LCCA president.

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Mohammad Hafeez to represent Lahore Lions

By Aftab Tabee

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 20, 2012: Pakistan’s Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez has decided to play for Lahore Lions in the upcoming National Twenty20 Cricket Tournament 2012 which will be played from December 2-10, 2012.

Talking exclusively with this scribe, Mohammad Hafeez who has been leading the Faisalabad Wolves in the previous editions of the domestic Twenty20 competitions, said that he was forced to relinquish his ties with the Faisalabad region only due to one man.

“President Faisalabad Region Anwar Chaudhry has been interfering in the team’s matters for a long time which has left me with no option to part ways with the team”, Mohammad Hafeez said. 

Pakistan’s Twenty20 skipper said that Mr. Anwar Chaudhry had been poking into the team management’s matters which had put him under stress as captain of the Faisalabad Region. He added that the latest example of Anwar Chaudhry’s high-handedness is non-selection of Zeeshan Qazi for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy squad of Faisalabad Region despite of taking the most number of wickets. Instead, brother of former fast bowler Shahid Nazeer was inducted into the Faisalabad squad, he added.

President Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA), Khawaja Nadeem has also confirmed Mohammad Hafeez’s inclusion in the Lahore Lions squad for the upcoming T20 tournament.

The Lahore Lions will be led by former Pakistan skipper and legendary batsman Mohammad Yousuf and will also have the services of Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal who are integral part of the national Twenty20 cricket team.

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PCB keeps Misbahul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez at charge

Monitoring Desk

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportNEXT) October 26, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to retain Misbahul Haq for Tests and One Day Internationals and Mohammad Hafeez for Twenty20 Internationals as captain, PressTrustofIndia reported Friday.

Quoting a PCB official, the PTI reported that PCB chief is satisfied with performance of both the captains. “There are no plans to make any changes in the team management and the same set up will continue for the tours to India and South Africa starting from December," the official added.

The official further stated, “The chairman had long discussions with Mohammad Hafeez and coach Dav Whatmore and he feels that with Hafeez doing a good job in gelling the team there is no reason to immediately search for a new captain for the Test and ODI teams”.

Misbahul Haq, who is 38 now, is taking an active part in the Presidents Trophy first-class tournament representing Sui Southern Gas Company but has failed to score big runs as he slumped to a pair in his first match and so far has scored 102 runs at a meager average of 17 runs per innings.

However, the veteran middle-order batsman is confident that runs will soon follow his bat. He told reporters, “It happens and I can sense the runs are around the corner already in the last match I stayed at the crease for a while and the confidence is returning. I am sure the runs will come when the tournament starts after Eid break as lot of matches remain in the season”.

It is important to mention here that both Misbahul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez represent the same team in the domestic cricket tournaments.

When asked about the PCB’s latest decision for using Kookaburra balls in domestic cricket matches, Misbahul Haq appreciated the initiative saying it would help local cricketers to get in terms of the international level.

“I feel the decision of using Kookaburra balls will at least help in decreasing the gap between domestic and international cricket. Both bowlers and batsmen will get a fair idea of how the ball behaves”, he added.

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Zaka Ashraf settles Razzaq-Hafeez row

By Nadira Mushtaque

PCB chief settles differences among Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday held a meeting with Pakistan’s Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez and veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to settle their bilateral issues and imposed 0.1 million rupees fine on Abdul Razzaq, sources told TheSportsNEXT.com.

As per sources, the PCB authorities have backed the Twenty20 captain after Razzaq sprayed venom against him upon his return to Pakistan from Sri Lanka after Pakistan crashed out of the tournament in Semi-Finals.

Abdul Razzaq was of the view that he deserved a place in the playing-eleven and Mohammad Hafeez ruled him out of the match while skipper put burden on team management for making Razzaq sit out of the must-win match.

Following his media outburst, the PCB chief kicked Abdul Razzaq out of the squad for the upcoming Hong Kong Super Sixes where he was initially included as captain.

Sources also claimed that Abdul Razzaq’s inclusion in the Pakistan-India series was also under question for his breach of contract but the veteran all-rounder took a U-turn by submitting his apology to the PCB chairman.

Following the apology, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf summoned both Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Hafeez in his office on Friday where he meddled between the two all-rounders.

Sources said that during the meeting Abdul Razzaq offered his apology to Mohammad Hafeez for his remarks and PCB chairman resolved the issue between the two cricketers.

Sources also claimed that following the resolution of the issue, the PCB may recall Abdul Razzaq back into the squad for the Hong Kong Super Sixes 2012.


Later, speaking at a joint press conference, Abdul Razzaq publicly admitted his mistake saying the incident made him sad and now he was happy to move on forgetting the past.

Mohammad Hafeez told reporters, "There are conflicts everywhere but we should forget the past and think about the future".

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Pakistani, Indian senior cricketers face quit calls

By Abhishek Manroa

NEW DELHI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 6, 2012: Pakistani and Indian skippers are under tremendous pressure to step down from their position after their respective team’s exit from the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 2012.

 

Indian cricket team crashed out of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 at Super Eights stage while its arch-rival Pakistan was knocked out by hosts Sri Lanka in the first Semi-Final by 16 runs the other night.

While India’s performance was not up to the expectations of the local fans, Pakistan did manage to finish among the four best Twenty20 teams in world cricket but despite of a great show, former cricketers and local media has really gone after Mohammad Hafeez and his men.

The center of criticism in both Pakistan and India are the senior cricketers where Indian media has lamented Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir. Across the Line-of-Control (LoC), Pakistani media has took apart senior cricketers like Shahid Khan Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, and Yasir Arafat.

The main argument behind the stern criticism is the pace of the shortest format of the game which is best-suited for younger cricketers as players like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin have impressed the Indian fans while Pakistani fans feel upbeat about Raza Hasan, Asad Shafiq, Nasir Jamshed, and Umar Akmal.

Former Pakistan Test fast bowler, Sikandar Bakht told TheNation on Friday, “There is a lesson in every defeat. For Pakistan, there are genuine concerns about the performance of their five to six senior players. They have remained inconsistent in the mega event”.

Sikandar Bakht showed no hesitation in naming these cricketers as he was of the view that skipper Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Nazir had failed to impress in the ICC flagship-event therefore Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should make a decision about future of these players and replace them with new blood.

Aaqib Javed, another former pacer, who now does coaching for United Arab Emirates, had identical thoughts about the senior Pakistani cricketers. He said there were several young players who could take on the baton from the senior generation of cricketers and get going.

Former Test captain Aamir Sohail showed great disliking for opening batsman Imran Nazir and questioned the rationale behind his selection for such a huge event. "His inclusion in the team spoiled the team's composition. He tries to hit every ball and does not know to take singles”.

Basit Ali, the match-fixing whistleblower, was of the belief that it was worrying to watch Pakistan failing to chase an easy target of 140 runs. Demanding the PCB to do away with foreign coach Dav Whatmore, Basit Ali said, "We don't need foreign coaches in the presence of Javed Miandad and other Pakistani cricket legends”.

On the other hand, Indian cricket team is facing even harder response from the former cricketers as well as a hostile media as they have witnessed a visible decline from their last year’s triumph in the ICC World Cup 2011.

After failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 for the third consecutive time after winning the inaugural event in South Africa, former cricketers are demanding MS Dhoni and his men to decide on their future to leave way for the younger generation who has improved leaps and bounds at the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Former Pakistan cricket captain, Wasim Akram, who is coaching the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, put the whole blame of defeat on Mahendra Singh Dhoni mentioning his flawed selection policy.

Wasim Akram was quoted as saying for ESPNStar.com. "I am puzzled with the way the Indian team management has picked playing XIs. For example, I feel a wicket-taking bowler like Harbhajan Singh was missed against the ragged South Africans on Tuesday night.

Talking about Zaheer Khan, Wasim Akram stated, "I have said before that Zaheer has to choose the format of cricket he wants to play. I can't see him running in hard every ball and bamboozling batsmen with pace and movement. India must find replacements and very soon at that. India need fresh legs and stronger shoulders because they will be playing a series of matches at home from November”.

Wasim Akram was quick enough to name replacements for Zaheer Khan. "Where is Umesh Yadav? And Varun Aaron seems to be a forgotten name. With the new selection committee in place, both Umesh and Varun should be groomed to power India's pace battery. I hear Varun is injured. I think the BCCI needs to get after him and pull him out of his problems. At least Umesh should have been in the T20 squad," he added.

Amid all the criticism and calls for captain’s resignation, there were some positives for both Pakistan and India as Virat Kohli once again exhibited his true colors at the biggest stage for India while Pakistan discovered Nasir Jamshed as a proper batsman in their top-order. As far as bowling is concerned, Pakistan were more fortunate as they found Raza Hasan as a true replacement for Abdur Rehman but Indian bowling woes sustain as their skipper feels no confidence in the experienced Harbhajan Singh and he mostly put him on the bench rather than using his skills against the top opposition in the tournament.

Yuvraj Singh, who recently rejoined the Team India after beating cancer, was another factor to relish for the Indian cricket fans as he was among the top wicket takers for the Men in Blue with eight wickets. Yuvi was the second leading wicket taker for India as Lakshmipathy Balaji took nine wickets despite of going for too many runs.

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ICCWT20: Blunders and Controversies hitting Pakistan, Sri Lanka skippers

By Hamad Hussain

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 4, 2012: As former World T20 champions Pakistan and title favorites Sri Lanka will fight for the place in the final of ICC World T20 2012 today, I want to bring my readers’ attention towards the controversies hitting captains of the two teams during their Super Eights matches.

The much-awaited match of the ICC World T20 2012 was played between arch-rivals Pakistan and India on Sunday September 30, 2012. The match which had created the hype and caught attention of billions of people proved nothing more than a drop-scene as India outclassed Pakistan in a one-sided encounter. Every cricket follower is well aware that Indian cricket team always prefers to chase totals as batting is their prime strength. But on that day, when billions of people were watching the two bitter neighbors clash in Sri Lanka, Pakistani skipper Mohammad Hafeez made a blunder of decision when he won the toss and decided to bat first which ultimately laid the foundation of Pakistan defeat.

The strange decision of Pakistani skipper shocked not only millions of Pakistani cricket lovers but also his teammates as well as the team management in Colombo as it was decided in the team meeting that Pakistan will bowl first after winning the toss to reduce Indian chances of victory.

So far, Mohammad Hafeez is yet to justify his decision of batting first against India as cricket lovers are still trying to understand the logic behind Hafeez’s strange decision.

On the other hand, Sri Lankan cricket team were entered in controversy in their last Super Eights match against England when they sent Kumar Sangakkara for the toss despite of the fact that both captain Mahela Jayawardene and vice captain Angelo Mathews were playing in the match but Sri Lankan team management decided to give captaincy to Kumar Sangakkara in the important match.

It raised eyebrows of many cricket followers as this may be sign of some revolt or dispute within the Sri Lankan team as Mahela got back the captaincy this year after he resigned from the post in 2009. Sri Lanka had Kumar Sangakkara as skipper after Mahela but defeat in final of ICC 2011 World Cup against India prompted him to leave the job. Dilshan was named skipper but Sri Lankan cricket team had a horrible time under him, so Mahela was reinstated as skipper of Sri Lanka but latest twist in the captaincy game against England has certainly something fishing.

The Sri Lankan team management has give stupid reason of over-rate penalty to skipper as they feel that if Sri Lankan skipper will be fined for slow over-rate, then Mahela or Mathews may have to be left out from the semi-final as both were penalized for slow over-rate in last one year. As per ICC rules, if skipper is penalized twice in a year for slow over-rate, then he will have to serve one-match suspension from match referee.

The question that arises here is that what Sri Lanka will do if they reach in the final of the tournament and their skipper will get penalized for slow over-rate?

The stupid decision may have something to do with the conflicts in the team which Sri Lankan team management is trying to hide.

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Pakistan into WT20 Super Eights with 8wkts win over Bangladesh

By Jawad Hussain

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) September 25, 2012: It was one of those luckiest days when Pakistani batsmen raised their game to clinch victory for the nation and what a day they chose to steal the limelight as Pakistan needed their heroics badly enough to book a place in the Super Eights stage of the ICC World Twenty20 2012.

 

It was Imran Nazir’s day in Sri Lanka who, for the first time in the tournament, unleashed his big hitting abilities to the optimum as he smashed all Bangladeshi bowlers all across the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and achieved a highly important victory for Pakistan.

Imran Nazir hit 72 aggressive runs from just 36 balls at a strike rate of exactly 200 runs per 100 balls as he cruised to the ICC World Twenty20 2012’s fastest fifty from only 26 balls and eclipsed Chris Gayle’s record of hitting fast half century from 25 balls earlier in the tournament.

It was a day meant to break many records for Pakistan as Imran Nazir’s strike of 200 runs per 100 balls was the second-highest for a Pakistani batsman for a half century. Umar Akmal tops the list with strike rate of 206.45 runs per 100 balls when he smacked Australia in 2010 during his 64 runs innings.

Pakistani batsmen also made a new record of chasing down their highest target ever in Twenty20 International cricket beating their previous best of 165 against Australia in 2007.

Imran Nazir and skipper Mohammad Hafeez amassed 124 runs for the opening wicket partnership which is their second best opening wicket partnership in Twenty20 Internationals. Interestingly, the top two opening stands have come against Bangladesh and the top opening stand of 142 runs was scored during the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

Another interesting statistics about the match was that the match’s cumulative run-rate of 9.12 was the seventh highest for those World Twenty20 matches which had over 30 overs bowled. It is also the second highest match run-rate in a World Twenty20 match involving Pakistan after that 2010 ICC World Twenty20’s semi-final between Pakistan and Australia.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and decided to use his batting might to leave Pakistan with a massive chase in a bid to expose a vulnerable Pakistan batting line-up which is not renowned for chasing down totals.

Bangladesh looked desperate right from the word go and openers Tamim Iqbal (24 from 12 – 5 fours at strike rate of 200) and Mohammad Ashraful (14 from 13 – 3 fours at strike rate of 107.69) got their team off to a flying start scoring 34 runs for the opening wicket from just 3.2 overs.

Bangladesh’s tactic of promoting Shakib Al Hasan up the order at one-down position once again paid huge dividends as he used his bashing skills to the optimum to score 84 runs from only 54 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes. He scored his runs at a strike rate of 155.55 runs per 100 balls which is the fourth-highest for a fifty-plus score by a Bangladesh batsman in Twenty20 internationals.

A stupid mix-up between Shakib and Tamim put an end to a promising innings of the left-hand opening batsman as Pakistani skipper Mohammad Hafeez ran like Usain Bolt to clip the bails before he could make his ground.

Bangladesh were two down for 61 runs in the sixth over and were looking good to score a huge total after a decent launch-pad provided by the opening batsmen.

Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim joined former captain Shakib and both batsmen added 68 more runs into the total from 53 balls before medium pacer Yasir Arafat got rid of the right-hander for 25 from 26. The Bangladesh captain mostly played a second-fiddle role in the partnership and hit only one boundary and as many six during his innings.

Shahid Afridi soon got rid of Mahmudullah for a duck but Nasir Hossain (16 from 13 – 2 fours) and Shakib Al Hasan took their team’s total into a formidable position with some late hitting as Bangladesh scored impressive 175 for six from their 20 overs, their best total against Pakistan.

Bangladesh hit a total of 22 boundaries and three sixes during the course of their innings and scored 61/2 from their powerplay overs besides scoring 39/2 in the last five overs.

Apart from Shahid Khan Afridi and Yasir Arafat, Pakistani bowlers looked all rusty and scrappy as skipper Mohammad Hafeez went for 28 from his three, Sohail Tanvir went for 25 from his three for a wicket, while Saeed Ajmal went for 32 from his four overs. The worst bowling figures for Pakistan were achieved by fast bowler Umar Gul whose short-pitch bowling on a batting friendly pitch earned him figures of 0/43 from three overs, his worst bowling figures in Twenty20 Internationals.

Pakistan had come into the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 with the pride of having the world’s most lethal bowling attack but their fast bowlers have lost sheen a little bit and have leaked a lot of easy runs which should be a point of concern for the team management.

Shahid Afridi bowled his best spell of bowling in recent months as he went for only 20 runs from his four overs for a wicket, while Yasir Arafat captured three wickets for 25 from his three overs. Mohammad Hafeez failed to utilize his bowling resources rather judiciously as despite of leaking 29 runs from his earlier two overs, he preferred Umar Gul over Yasir Arafat in the death overs which showed his lack of awareness of his available resources and how they had performed earlier in the game.

However, Mohammad Hafeez made up for his captaincy blunders with the bat as he along with Imran Nazir (72 from 36 – 9 fours, 3 sixes) scored 124 runs for the opening wicket from just 81 balls thus taking the game away from Bangladesh.

Just like Bangladeshi captain Mohammad Hafeez (45 from 47 – 6 fours) played a second-fiddle role in the partnership as Imran Nazir unleashed his big shots brutally and mustered the Bangladeshi bowlers with no mercy.

When Imran Nazir was removed by Abul Hasan, he had taken Pakistan on road to victory already but skipper Mohammad Hafeez followed him in the same over to deal Pakistan a double blow.

Nasir Jamshed (29 not out from 14 – 2 fours, 2 sixes) and Kamran Akmal (22 not out from 15 – 4 fours) showed no signs of panic and took Pakistan to 178 for two from 18.4 overs as the Men in Green achieved the target with eight balls to spare.

Expectedly, Shakib Al Hasan, the only quality player in Bangladeshi side, was the star performer with the ball as well as he gave away only 23 runs from his four overs while Abdur Razzak also bowled rather miserly for figures of none for 30 from his four. All the other bowlers were belted hard by Pakistani batsmen as Mashrafe Mortaza (3-0-30-0), Shafiul Islam (2.4-0-35-0), Abul Hasan (3-0-33-2) and Mahmudullah (2-0-24-0) looked unimpressive.

Imran Nazir was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant knock of 72 from 36 balls as Pakistan have joined South Africa, Australia and arch-rivals India in Group 2.

Pakistan will play their next match against South Africa on September 28, before taking on arch-foes India on September 30, and then will face off against Australia on October 2, 2012.

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ICCWT20: Pak victory over Kiwis fills Lahoriites with joy

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNext) September 23, 2012: The enthusiastic youth of Lahore expressed joy over victory of Pakistan cricket team in their first match of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 (ICCWT20) against New Zealand terming it collective effort of the whole team.

They seemed overjoyed by the victory and chanted slogans ‘Pakistan Zindaabad’.

Zulkifle, captain of Imperial Cricket Club, said that Pakistan team had highly professional and talented players and it had potential to win the Twenty20 World Cup. The team played like one-unit and won the opener in great style. Farhan, emerging player of the club, also lauded the team’s efforts especially the brilliant performance of Saeed Ajmal, Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez who guided Pakistan team towards victory.

The club’s executive committee member Faisal also felicitated captain Mohammad Hafeez and all the team members on this great victory in the T20 World Cup. He urged the players to keep the same spirit in the upcoming matches as well.

Meanwhile, most of the citizens, who arranged big screens in big grounds to witness the match, expressed great joy over the team's victory and hoped that Pakistani players would continue performing well and bring back the Twenty20 glory to Pakistan.

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Who is the best T20 player in last two years?

By Adrian Meredith

VICTORIA, Australia (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: The LG ICC Awards didn't award a T20 player of the year. I think that they should have. So I have worked out the best performances in the past two cricket seasons (since the last World T20), which was held exactly two years ago.

 

So here are the results:

WI vs RSA: 3 - R McLaren (RSA), 2 - KA Pollard (WI), 1 - JH Kallis (RSA)

WI vs RSA: 3 - J Botha (RSA), 2 - JE Taylor (WI), 1 - DJ Sammy (WI)

NZ vs SL: 3 - SB Styris (NZ), 2 - DL Vettori (NZ), 1 - KD Mills (NZ)

NZ vs SL: 3 - Kulasekera (SL), 2 - SL Malinga (SL), 1 - NL McCullum (NZ)

Zim vs Ind: 3 - YK Pathan (Ind), 2 - R Vinay Kumar (Ind), 1 - PP Ojha (Ind)

Zim vs Ind: 3 - SK Raina (Ind), 2 - AB Dinda (Ind), 1 - M Vijay (Ind)

Pak vs Aus: 3 - Umar Akmal (Pak), 2 - Mohammad Amir (Pak), 1 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak)

Pak vs Aus: 3 - Mohammad Amir (Pak), 2 - SNJ O'Keefe (Aus), 1 - DP Nannes (Aus)

Eng vs Pak: 3 - MH Yardy (Eng), 2 - EJG Morgan (Eng), 1 - GP Swann (Eng)

Eng vs Pak: 3 - TT Bresnan (Eng), 2 - SCJ Broad (Eng), 1 - RJ Sidebottom (Eng)

RSA vs Zim: 3 - GC Smith (RSA), 2 - LE Bosman (RSA), 1 - JP Duminy (RSA)

RSA vs Zim: 3 - JP Duminy (RSA), 2 - BRM Taylor (Zim), 1 - CJ Chibhabha (Zim)

Pak vs RSA: 3 - CA Ingram (RSA), 2 - JP Duminy (RSA), 1 - LL Tsotsobe (RSA)

Pak vs RSA: 3 - J Theron (RSA), 2 - CA Ingram (RSA), 1 - LL Tsotsobe (RSA)

Aus vs SL: 3 - S Randiv (SL), 2 - SPD Smith (Aus), 1 - NLTC Perera (SL)

NZ vs Pak: 3 - TG Southee (NZ), 2 - MJ Guptill (NZ), 1 - LRPL Taylor (NZ)

NZ vs Pak: 3 - NL McCullum (NZ), 2 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak), 1 - Mohammad Hafeez (Pak)

NZ vs Pak: 3 - Abdul Razzaq (Pak), 2 - Shahid Afridi (Pak), 1 - Ahmed Shehzad (Pak)

RSA vs Ind: 3 - RG Sharma (Ind), 2 - MN van Wyk (RSA), 1 - SK Raina (Ind)

Aus vs Eng: 3 - SR Watson (Aus), 2 - EJG Morgan (Eng), 1 - KP Pietersen (Eng)

Aus vs Eng: 3 - AJ Finch (Aus), 2 - SR Watson (Aus), 1 - MG Johnson (Aus)

WI vs Pak: 3 - D Bishoo (WI), 2 - LMP Simmons (WI), 1 - R Rampaul (WI)

WI vs Ind: 3 - DJG Sammy (WI), 2 - CD Barnwell (WI), 1 - SD Badrinath (Ind)

Eng vs SL: 3 - DPMD Jayawardene (SL), 2 - SL Malinga (SL), 1 - KP Pietersen (Eng)

SL vs Aus: 3 - TM Dilshan (SL), 2 - DA Warner (Aus), 1- MDK Perera (SL)

SL vs Aus: 3 - BAW Mendis (SL), 2 - DPMD Jayawardene (SL), 1 - SR Watson (Aus)

Eng vs Ind: 3 - JW Dernbach (Eng), 2 - AM Rahane (Ind), 1 - EJG Morgan (Eng)

Zim vs Pak: 3 - Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), 2 - CK Coventry (Zim), 1 - Asad Shafiq (Pak)

Zim vs Pak: 3 - Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), 2 - KM Jarvis (Zim), 1 - T Taibu (Zim)

Eng vs WI: 3 - RS Bopara (Eng), 2 - AD Hales (Eng), 1 - C Kieswetter (Eng)

Eng vs WI: 3 - GE Mathurin (WI), 2 - BA Stokes (Eng), 1 - MN Samuels (WI)

WI vs Aus: 3 - SR Watson (Aus), 2 - DT Christian (Aus), 1 - KA Pollard (WI)

WI vs Aus: 3 - DR Smith (WI), 2 - DA Warner (Aus), 1 - MN Samuels (WI)

Eng vs Pak: 3 - GP Swann (Eng), 2 - Umar Gul (Pak), 1 - KP Pietersen (Eng)

Eng vs Pak: 3 - JM Bairstow (Eng), 2 - ST Finn (Eng), 1 - Shahid Afridi (Pak)

Eng vs Pak: 3 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak), 2 - KP Pietersen (Eng), 1 - JW Dernbach (Eng)

NZ vs RSA: 3 - MJ Guptill (NZ), 2 - TG Southee (NZ), 1 - JL Ontong (RSA)

NZ vs RSA: 3 - RE Levi (RSA), 2 - MJ Guptill (NZ), 1 - JEC Franklin (NZ)

NZ vs RSA: 3 - J Botha (RSA), 2 - JD Ryder (NZ), 1 - Hashim Amla (RSA)

NZ vs Zim: 3 - MJ Guptill (NZ), 2 - H Masakadza (Zim), 1 - KS Williamson (NZ)

NZ vs Zim: 3 - BRM Taylor (Zim), 2 - JEC Franklin (NZ), 1 - H Masakadza (Zim)

Aus vs Ind: 3 - MS Wade (Aus), 2 - DJ Hussey (Aus), 1 - DT Christian (Aus)

Aus vs Ind: 3 - P Kumar (Ind), 2 - R Sharma (Ind), 1 - G Gambhir (Ind)

Ban vs Pak: 3 - Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), 2 - Shoaib Malik (Pak), 1 - Nasir Hossain (Ban)

Pak vs SL: 3 - Aizaz Cheema (Pak), 2 - LD Chandimal (SL), 1 - Umar Gul (Pak)

Ind vs Eng: 3 - KP Pietersen (Eng), 2 - ST Finn (Eng), 1 - RS Bopara (Eng)

Zim vs NZ: 3 - BB McCullum (NZ), 2 - BRM Taylor (Zim), 1 - KD Mills (NZ)

Zim vs NZ: 3 - BB McCullum (NZ), 2 - MJ Guptill (NZ), 1 - CJ Chibhabha (Zim)

RSA vs Aus: 3 - SR Watson (Aus), 2 - JP Duminy (RSA), 1 - PJ Cummins (Aus)

RSA vs Aus: 3 - J Theron (RSA), 2 - WD Parnell (RSA), 1 - MR Marsh (Aus)

Ban vs WI: 3 - MN Samuels (WI), 2 - Mushfiqur Rahman (Ban), 1 - Shafiul Islam (Ban)

RSA vs Ind: 3 - CA Ingram (RSA), 2 - JH Kallis (RSA), 1 - G Gambhir (Ind)

SL vs Pak: 3 - NLTC Perera (SL), 2 - Sohail Tanvir (Pak), 1 - HDRL Thirimanne (SL)

SL vs Pak: 3 - Shahid Afridi (Pak), 2 - Mohammad Sami (Pak), 1 - Yasir Arafat (Pak)

Eng vs WI: 3 - AD Hales (Eng), 2 - DR Smith (WI), 1 - RS Bopara (Eng)

NZ vs WI: 3 - CH Gayle (WI), 2 - KA Pollard (WI), 1 - SP Narine (WI)

NZ vs WI: 3 - SP Narine (WI), 2 - CH Gayle (WI), 1 - DJ Bravo (WI)

SL vs Ind: 3 - AB Dinda (Ind), 2 - V Kohli (Ind), 1 - IK Pathan (Ind)

Aus vs Pak: 3 - Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), 2 - Sohail Tanvir (Pak), 1 - Kamran Akmal (Pak)

Aus vs Pak: 3 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak), 2 - Kamran Akmal (Pak), 1 - George Bailey (Aus)

Aus vs Pak: 3 - DA Warner (Aus), 2 - PJ Cummins (Aus), 1 - MA Starc (Aus)

Ind vs NZ: 3 - BB McCullum (NZ), 2 - V Kohli (Ind), 1 - IK Pathan (Ind)

Eng vs RSA: 3 - JH Kallis (RSA), 2 - J Botha (RSA), 1 - J Duminy (RSA)

Eng vs RSA: 3 - C Kieswetter (Eng), 2 - JC Buttler (Eng), 1 - TT Bresnan (Eng)

Winner: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan) with 13 votes.

Runner up: Shane Watson (Australia) with 12 votes.

Others with lots of votes:

11 votes: JP Duminy (South Africa)

10 votes: MJ Guptill (New Zealand)

9 votes: BRM Taylor (Zimbabwe), Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)

8 votes: CA Ingram (South Africa), J Botha (South Africa)

7 votes: KP Pietersen (England), DA Warner (Australia)

6 votes: J Theron (South Africa), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Jaques Kallis (South Africa)

Congratulations to Mohammad Hafeez!

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Glenn Maxwell inspires Australia to ODI series win over Pakistan

By Jawad Hussain

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 4, 2012: Australia showed better nerves to defeat Pakistan by three wickets to clinch the three-match One Day International series by 2-1, thanks to a brilliant unbeaten half century by all-rounder Glenn Maxwell at Sharjah Cricket Ground on late Monday.

Australian skipper Michael Clarke won the toss and asked Pakistan to bat first as he was afraid of bowling with a wet ball in the evening which proved costly the other evening.

Pakistani opening pair right-hand batsman Mohammad Hafeez (78 from 97 – 4 fours, 2 sixes) and left-hand batsman Nasir Jamshed (48 from 75 – 6 fours) got the home team off to a solid start with a 129-run partnership from just 159 balls thus establishing a perfect launch-pad for the strong hitters in the middle order.

However, once the opening partnership was broken, Pakistan started digging their own grave as a promising decision by skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to promote “all-rounder” Shahid Afridi (7 from 6 – 1 four) at one-down position actually backfired.

Shahid Afridi never looked comfortable gripping his bat and once again Pakistani top cricketers kept hiding their injuries to make sure they don’t lose their place in the team.

Asad Shafiq (27 from 35 – 1 four) then joined Mohammad Hafeez but this time it was the right-hand opening batsman’s turn to leave the crease as Pakistan slipped from 0/129 to 3/155 from 32.2 overs.

Pakistan still had several weapons in their armor as skipper Misbah ul Haq (25 from 39) joined forces with Asad Shafiq to ease off things a little bit but once again skipper took too many balls to score his runs without hitting even a single boundary.

Their slow progress put the lower order under tremendous pressure as Umar Akmal (Duck) and his brother Kamran Akmal (2 from 3) never helped the cause and in the end a lone fight by Azhar Ali (27 not out from 30 – 2 fours) helped Pakistan to a reasonable total of 244 for seven from their 50 overs.

Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc was once again the star performer for the Aussies with the ball as he captured four wickets for 51 runs while Mitchell Johnson (9-0-33-2), for the first time in the series, looked impressive. Skipper Michael Clarke also took a wicket during his 12-ball spell for only three runs.

Australia needed a good start in chase of a good target and their openers David Warner (21 from 33 – 3 fours, 1 six) and David Hussey (43 from 45 – 3 sixes) manhandled the only Pakistani pacer in the lineup, Junaid Khan in his initial overs.

Australia raced to 44 in the ninth over when left-arm off-spinner Abdur Rehman got rid of Warner who tried to hit him out of the park but ended up in safe hands of Shoaib Malik.

Australian captain Michael Clarke (32 from 34 – 4 fours) kept the momentum going for his side as he managed to add another 44 runs for the second wicket from 50 balls as only when things started slipping in the tourists’ way, Saeed Ajmal got into the act and got rid of Aussie skipper as well as David Hussey and dangerous George Bailey (1 from 6).

Saeed Ajmal came at a striking distance of picking up his old rival Mike Hussey, on naught, with a doosra as the ball hit Mr. Reliable right in front of the stumps but Billy Bowden thought the otherwise and Pakistani cricketers found little confidence to challenge the decision thus offering the dangerous batsman a crucial reprieve.

Mike Hussey went on to score 65 runs from 72 balls hitting seven boundaries and a six to make the run-chase viable for the Aussies with 51-run partnership for the fifth wicket in company of Mathew Wade (22 from 46 – 1 four).

When Junaid Khan dismantled furniture behind Mike Hussey, the Aussie had already done enough damage to hand the task to young all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (56 not out from 38 – 4 fours, 3 sixes) who used his big-hitting talent to help Australia get the target with 18 balls to spare.

Pakistani fielding remained sloppy and Kamran Akmal once again proved too sticky as he missed an easy chance to stump Mathew Wade off Azhar Ali. In the crucial stage of the match, Azhar Ali dropped Glenn Maxwell which proved too costly in the context of the game.

In the end, Australia won the third and final One Day International by three wickets to clinch a narrowly-contested series.

Saeed Ajmal has been the real challenge for the Aussies in the series and once again he was the top bowler for Pakistan as he captured three wickets for 37 runs. Shahid Afridi showed big heart to bowl his 10 overs despite of an injury to his left-hand but his effort made no impact as he proved too expensive and leaked 62 runs from his quota. Junaid Khan also proved an expensive option for Pakistan as he gave away 42 runs from his six overs for two wickets while Abdur Rehman captured two wickets for 42 runs.

Mike Hussey was declared Man of the Match for his 65 runs while Mitchell Starc was named Man of the Series for his 13 wickets in three matches.

Talking at the prize distribution ceremony, Australian skipper Michael Clarke said, "Can't have been prouder of the guys. Maxwell is a wonderful talent, today is a great example of a team performance. The bowlers got us back after they were 100 for none. To be able to chase those runs against that attack is special. Starc has had a good series, he has hit the wicket hard, bowled with good pace. I don't want to take anything away from the other bowlers."

Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq was of the view, "The way we started, 15-20 runs short at the end. Credit to Australia the way they chased. Wasn't easy! Little bit of dew factor, outfield was also quicker in the second part of the game. Nasir Jamshed had a wonderful series, Shafiq and Azhar were positives, bowlers bowled well. I think after the game you can say we should have done this and that. All the time when we lose the game it is like this. Other bowlers are also wicket-takers. Probably, in hindsight, if I had continued with him [Ajmal], it could have been a different result."

Man of the Series Mitchell Starc said, "It has been warm, sweaty and the dew factor as well. We wanted to come out and perform rather than just keep talking. Overall it has been a good tour."

Man of the Match Mike Hussey said, "It [heat] was not as bad as the last game in Abu Dhabi but it was still quite oppressive. Fantastic innings from Maxwell! To hit the ball like that on a pitch where the ball was dying was something. They have some great spinners. It is a very satisfying victory. It is up there among the toughest places to play cricket. No point complaining. It is the same for both teams."

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