Pakistan cricket is dying: Shoaib Akhtar

February 27, 2015

Lahore, Feb 27: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has said that he has been saying for the last four years that Pakistan cricket is dying and there is need to revive it with proper and planning and sincere efforts.

Talking about the poor structure of Pakistan domestic cricket, Shoaib said: “It’s not stagnation but it’s the collapse of cricketing culture.

It’s a failure of Pakistan’s first-class cricket, of its grassroots.

Shoaib Akhtar

It’s a failure of living legends who failed to inspire, including myself.

I also blame myself as we failed to inspire youngsters.

He said that after 1995, the Pakistan team was troubled a lot because of match-fixing allegations.

“Pakistan continued to lose in the wrong manner in the 1999 World Cup finals, despite having a great team, but lacking in leaders.

The team has been leaderless for over a decade which is because of failure of the structure of Pakistan cricket.

He added: “All of this has nothing to do with Misbah.

When I say Misbah can do it, it’s because I have faith in him.

I know he’s a brave guy, who can pull it off.

Having said that, this is the weakest Pakistan team we have ever seen and it reflects a failure of the administration and the first-class structure.

After Pakistan lost to India first and then to West Indies badly, Shoaib said: “After Pakistan lost badly against India, I got a lot of criticism which really boiled up my blood.

What I really wanted was Misbah to take a lead.

I really think Misbah can manage if he comes in a one-down position and takes charge of the batting, because I know this is an immature Pakistan batting line-up, which only Misbah can lead.

If he takes charge, comes in after the openers and bats till the 30-35th over, when Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi can come in and play the only game they know.

“Pakistan has three batsmen who don’t know how to defend.

I have always maintained that Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood are modern day Shahid Afridis.

They don’t know how to build the game, but they know how to hit the ball.

That was what my criticism was all about.

If Misbah doesn’t do that, I can assure you that Pakistan team will not go through to the quarter-finals,” the ex-pacer added.

About selection of Pakistan team, Shoaib said: “I think losing Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez as an opener and a leading off-spin bowler, I really think Misbah doesn’t have the bowling attack, neither does have a mature batting line-up which can take him through to quarter-finals.

When asked which team was favorite to lift the cup, Shoaib replied: “I think South Africa has a chance; they had an off day, but they are contenders.

New Zealand and Australia are favourites for sure.

The team with all the belief and faith is India.

When asked if he was offered a coach or selector job by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), what would be his response, the Rawalpindi Express said: “I have always voluntarily tried to help the national team.

The reason why I said these harsh statements are because I want people to know that Pakistan cricket is dying.

Someone has to speak the truth.

In order to become better you have to admit that you are wrong.

It’s a failure of the PCB, but at least, it is trying.

Najam Sethi is a brave man, but he needs to get rid of the clutter within the governing board and first-class cricket, and we need to open up cricket at the grassroots level.

“Pakistan cricket needs to improve to generate revenue.

They players need to think out of the box in order to make money, since they have been isolated for a number of years now, and will continue to be like this.

Since players are not getting enough pay in first-class cricket, and don’t have inspiring heroes, and losing like this, you’re eventually losing the interest of your fan base,” he added.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

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