Bangladesh look to break Pakistan's momentum

Pakistan begins its first full tour of Bangladesh with a one-off T20 International against the home side at Dhaka on Tuesday. Pakistan are riding high on their impressive win against Sri Lanka across all formats. On the other hand, Bangladesh have shown glimpses of talent but are a side struggling to make a lasting impression, often falling away at crucial times.

An unusual serenity and calmness surrounded the Pakistan team when it arrived in Dhaka. Usually embroiled in controversies, Misbah’s men have looked a calm and collected unit off late. The fans alike have started believing in the team, even more so after coming out on top of difficult situations in the recent series win against Sri Lanka.

The team flew directly from UAE, and only injuries have brought changes to the squad. All-rounder Abdul Razzaq and left-arm pacer Junaid Khan will both miss the tour due to injuries. Fast bowler Mohammed Khalil has come in the side. Skipper Misbah has indicated that they will field a full-strength side, rubbishing any impressions that they are taking Bangladesh lightly. The task will not be easy for their opposition, with Pakistan boasting of the three highest wicket-takers in T20 International history.

Bangladesh have made improvements through leaps and bounds in recent years. At times they take the world by a storm, while at others, even their staunchest supporters are left saving face. The team should use the recent win against West Indies in the T20 as a morale-boosting example and continue to believe that they can, on their given day, overcome even the best sides in the world. And realistically, the T20 format presents their best chance at achieving so.

In terms of their squad, former captain and experienced batsman Mohammad Ashraful has been axed owing to consistently poor performances. All-rounder Farhad Reza returns to the national side after three years, during which he signed with the breakaway Indian Cricket League and was thus banned by the BCB. Wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim will lead the side, and Shakib al Hassan will pose the greatest threat to the opposition.

The two sides have met four times in the shortest format of the game, with Pakistan winning each time.

Sri Lanka look to end tour on a high note

After comprehensively outplaying Sri Lanka throughout the tour, Pakistan will look to reign supreme in the shortest format of the game as well when the teams clash in Abu Dhabi for their one-off Twenty20 International. Surprising as it may sound, Pakistan are ranked seventh in ICC T20 rankings – a format they seem best suited for. On the other hand, Sri Lanka are ranked second on the table, and the only notable success they have had since World Cup has come in T20s only.

Sri Lanka look extremely out of ideas to arrest their woeful slide. While the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket gives them their best chance on tour to rectify it, their chances of doing so look slim against a Pakistan side gaining momentum with each win. Pakistan, on the other hand, are hungry for more wins, not only to put aside their off-field controversies behind them, but also to improve their seventh-placed ICC T20 ranking – something that took Misbah ul Haq by a shock. Of the last 10 T20 matches, Pakistan have won only three, two of them against the minnows Zimbabwe.

Injuries have depleted both sides with valuable talent, though Sri Lanka’s loss is more damaging on two counts. First, injuries to key players hamper the team’s hopes of change in fortunes. Secondly, their bench strength does not possess the same firepower and abundance in talent as Pakistan’s.

Mahela Jayawardene, who missed the last ODI as well, will be missed at the top of the order. In addition, skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan will wait on his fitness to decide whether he plays or not. For Pakistan, Abdul Razzaq had already been ruled out. In addition, Junaid Khan also suffered an abdominal tear during the last ODI and has been ruled out for six weeks. Such injuries will allow both sides to blood more youngsters into the side. Sri Lanka are likely to give Kosala Kulasekara and the experienced Ajantha Mendis a go. For Pakistan, Umar Akmal is likely to keep wickets again.

The match is scheduled for a late evening start on the weekly holiday of Friday. Therefore, a packed house should not be surprising. Interestingly, Pakistan have lost both their previous T20 games at this ground and will be hoping to set that record straight.

Pakistan favorites against embattled Sri Lanka in dead encounter

Rallying on their impressive run, Pakistan will be keen to dent Sri Lanka further as the two sides meet in the inconsequential final one-day match at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Sri Lanka started the series at No. 2 on ICC ODI rankings and have already slipped to number four. Pakistan, on the other hand, edged past England and will be looking to solidify their fifth slot further.

After back-to-back wins, Pakistan’s confidence is sky high. From the lows of failure to a come-from-behind win in the fourth match, all masterminded by flamboyant Shahid Afridi, the team has continued its unbeaten run in bilateral series this year. And the team knows that to put all the controversies behind them, they need to keep winning irrespective of the series result, and that will keep Pakistan hungry for a win in the final game.

Pakistan may fiddle around a bit with their line-up, to try different combinations and test their bench strength. Umar Gul has looked out of sorts in the last two matches and may be rested to give Sohail Tanvir another chance. Another surprising omission has been that of Junaid Khan who impressed in the test matches as well. Shoaib Malik who looked out of sorts in the previous game is likely to retain his place as all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has been sent home due to injury.

For Sri Lanka, their abysmal tour keeps getting worse. Their experienced players have failed to carry the team over the line, and the youngsters have been unsuccessful in translating their immense potential into on-field results. On Sunday the team failed to chase 201, their last seven wickets collapsing for 19 runs. To make matters worse, Sri Lanka have injury concerns that may hamper their performance even further. Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan is expected to lead the side despite injury. Mahela Jayawardene though has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour and has flown back home.

Given the unpredictable nature of performances on both sides, another close encounter cannot be ruled out on the slow, low pitches of Abu Dhabi. The match will be crucial not only for the teams’ viewpoints, but also for individual players to stand up and be counted with both teams looking to score psychological points ahead of the Twenty20 international.

Sri Lanka battle to keep series alive

Sri Lanka enter into the fourth ODI facing a grim battle to avoid yet another series defeat following the World Cup. Misbah ul Haq, on the other hand, will be looking to continue his impressive run as skipper and cap a series win against the No. 2 ODI side in the world.

The third ODI provided a sensational display of hard-fought cricket, with Pakistan’s energy and fighting spirit coupled with some astute captaincy completing their 21-run win.

Mohammed Hafeez’s Man-of-the-Match performance adds some confidence to the top order, though the middle-order needs to patch up having failed to reach a total of 300+ after being well-set in the third ODI.

Pakistan’s spinners will look to continue tormenting their opposition, with Saeed Ajmal almost unreadable for the less-experienced Sri Lankan batsmen. The fast bowlers looked less impressive, though Umar Gul ended up with three wickets.

One department where Pakistan have to improve considerably is their fielding. Pakistan were lucky to come out winners after missing several run-outs and other half-chances, and they will be keen to avoid complacency in the department.

Sri Lanka’s tendency to keep losing wickets regularly continues to cost them heavily. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s return to form would ideally spark a change in fortunes. Besides looking to build partnerships, their batsmen also need to work on their running between the wickets, as many mix-ups were witnessed on Friday. Mahela Jayawardene, having just reached 10,000 ODI runs, will be hoping to contribute heavily in the coming games to lead a struggling middle-order.

For the Sri Lankan bowlers, consistency is what their aim must be. Though they made a good comeback in the later overs, they were all over the place to begin with, allowing Pakistani openers a good opening stand.

Team news
Pakistan have no major reasons to spring around changes as Sohail Tanvir may be given an extended run. Sri Lanka could bring in left-arm Chanaka Welegedera, replacing the injured Suranga Lakmal, for underperforming Dilhara Fernando to provide control and variety.

Ground
Cricket returns to Sharjah after a long gap as two-test playing nations will be in action here after eight years. The last such match was the 2000th ODI, played between Pakistan and Zimbabwe in 2003. The pitch is renowned for favoring the batsmen, with many high-scoring day/night thrillers having been played in the 1990s.

Pakistan wary of resurgent Sri Lanka

If there’s something you’re sure of about Pakistan going into every match, it is their unpredictable nature. After a convincing win in the first win, Pakistan gave Sri Lanka a much-needed morale-boosting win to level the series. The teams clash for a third time on Friday, and getting your nose ahead in this game may ultimately prove crucial in the context of the series.

Sri Lanka would be buoyed by the return to form of their key batsmen Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene, both scoring half-centuries. The batting though still has some questions to answer, as a total of 235 seemed disappointing following a breezy start when they reached 50 in 10 overs. Angelo Mathews, playing purely as a batsman, will have to do more to justify his position at No. 6. The bowling, though won them the match, still largely depends on Lasith Malinga and can be seen as a handicap. While Thissara Perera looked threatening, the rest of the bowlers easily allowed Pakistan to come back after being 3-11 inside four overs. Suranga Lakmal missed the second match through injury, and is still uncertain for the third ODI.

Pakistan must realize that despite outdoing Sri Lanka in all departments of the game overall, the series is still level. It is the key moments that Sri Lanka seized on Monday and Pakistan need to avoid a repeat of those. Umar Akmal’s 91-run knock is a welcome sign, but the 21-year old batsman still has to learn to take his team over the line to consider his job done. Mohammad Hafeez has failed in two outings thus far, but there are no alarms yet over his place in the team. Sloppy running and poor batting let them down on Monday, and the coach Mohsin Khan is expected to have come hard the players to avoid a similar situation. In the bowling, Aizaz Cheema may make way for left-arm pacer Junaid Khan who is also known for his controlled bowling in the death overs. Saeed Ajmal yet again proved expensive in the final overs, bringing back memories of the infamous T20 semi-final against Australia in 2010 when Mike Hussey took Ajmal to cleaners.

Upbeat Pakistan look to extend lead

After roaring to a convincing victory in the first match, Pakistan will be keen on carrying the winning momentum in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Monday. Sri Lanka, the World Cup finalists, though have plenty of worries going into the match, having tasted very little success in the past six months.

Pakistan could not have scripted a better performance than the show they put up on Friday. The fast bowlers started off well, maintained the pressure and eventually the spinners breathed down Sri Lanka’s batting with contained bowling and crucial wickets. Bowling will once again be the key for Pakistan, and the blend of youth and experience is allowing them to adjust into their own roles well. The variety at Misbah ul Haq’s disposal is also something any captain would cherish on the slow, low surfaces of Dubai. The bulk of the batting is yet to be tested, though half-centuries from Imran Farhat and Younis Khan should do their own confidence a lot of good plus silence their critics to some extent. The all-rounders give Pakistan some easy breathing space, with hard-hitting Abdul Razzaq coming in at number eight. But all eyes will once again be on Shahid Afridi, expectations from whom are sky high following his Man-of-the-Match performance on his comeback.

Sri Lankan dressing room presents a totally opposite scenario to that of Pakistan. Their batting woes fail to go away, and even wholesale changes to the squad from the test series brought little luck, if any. Their batsmen need to get their act right urgently, as too many batsmen threw their wickets away to soft dismissals. Failure to convert the starts into big scores has been a recurring problem for the Tigers. The bowling also looked toothless, though it can be argued that it was a result of trying too hard defending a paltry total of 131. Lasith Malinga looked off-color but such is his threat that he can come good any moment. Suranga Lakmal continues to impress and if Pakistan are complacent against him, the latter can be caught off guard against Lakmal.

The conditions will be similar to the first match played here, with warm temperatures expected throughout the day/night encounter. The captain winning the toss is likely to favor batting first. Interestingly, the team winning the toss on this ground has won only once out of six attempts.

Pakistan gear up for Lankan aggression in ODIs

After winning the three-match test series 1-0, Pakistan face Sri Lanka in the five-match one-day series starting in Dubai from Friday.

While the tests produced defensive batting reminiscent of the early 90s, the crowds and the audience alike will hope for the one-day series to yield some attacking cricket – something that has been a characteristic of the two sides, specially in the shorter versions of the game.

The match-fixing story: More than just meets the eye

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So the match fixing saga has returned yet again, after one whole decade of the ugly Hansie Cronje and Co. incident. It has been reported that upto seven Pakistan players are involved in match-fixing with pacers Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif named at the forefront for bowling deliberate no-balls at predetermined times. The whole controversy centers around the arrest of an alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed who has reportedly been arrested from the team hotel.

Now we are not trying to deny any of the facts that have been reported in the media - it may ultimately be true - the manner in which all this has transpired raises quite a few questions.

You-su-full of Stubbornness

Now you might be getting bored reading post after post on the beloved captain Mohammad Yousuf. But then, if there's one thing Yousuf has learnt from Shoaib Akhtar it has to be how to remain in the limelight. Unfortunately though, he is also in the news more for all the wrong reasons than right ones. So since Mr. Captain considers himself so worthy of all the attention which he was denied while he was not appointed captain in 2007 or when he went away to ICL, we have decided to give him his due share.

On the eve of the fourth ODI in Perth, Mohammad Yousuf makes some very interesting comments in an interview. For the sake of Yousuf, lets not be too critical and lets try to find out (read: dig deep) the 'positive' aspects of his statements. So here we go:

Why Pakistani players should not be a part of IPL

By now everyone knows that the much-awaited auction for the third edition of Indian Premier League has happened amid a lot of controversy. From the final shortlist of 66 players, none of the 11 Pakistani players were bid for. It has caused a stir in the discussion circles, and a lot of furore has been noticed in Pakistan. But CricketIsMyLifeline will show you a different view - a view that everyone should consider. We will tell you why Pakistani players were not selected.

So starting off, lets begin with what our topic is. There is nothing wrong in being patriotic. Its the Indian Premier League. As the name implies, its supposed to be 'Indian'. Its not like the World Series Cricket in 1970s that had representation from around the world. Its 'Indian Premier League' so give Indians a chance to showcase their talent. And why do we say so? Simply because on the international front, Team India does not get a chance to do so.

Forget 3 Idiots when you have THE Idiot!

We have so often heard the famous quote: 'Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt'. Mohammad Yousuf perhaps needs to be taught this in Urdu since he clearly does not understand the meaning of it currently. Lets have a closer look:

'Ricky Ponting erred by batting first.'
Captains worldwide do play mind games. But one has to be mindful of the fact that it doesn't come and hit you in your face. Too bad Mohammad Yousuf had to jump to conclusion without realizing his own fate. Aptly, Ricky Ponting replied after the match with: 'I wonder what was Yousuf thinking with all those defensive fields'.

The Hots & The Nots of 2009

Its been yet another eventful year of cricket. Thrilling finishes to performance excellences on the field; and awards and honours to controversies off the field. Here's a look at ten of the 'Hot' and the 'Not' events of the year.

No. 1
HOT - Akmal Brothers
The duo from Pakistan combined to put in the rare glimpses of excellence from Pakistan this year. Umar burst on to the scene with a bang, scoring a whirlwind century in Sri Lanka. He also ended as the top run-getter in his debut test series against New Zealand. Kamran also played a pivotal role in Pakistan's triumphant T20 campaign besides putting in consistent performances in the ODI format. The two brothers leased life and energy into the Pakistan team.

NOT - Hussey Brothers
After starting the year strongly with impressive performances, the Hussey brothers faded away. David fell away so much so that it cost him his place in the team while Mr. Cricket aka Michael Hussey's graph kept tailing downwards with pressure ringing on him from the experts calling for fresh blood.


No. 2

ICC kisses BCCI's feet, once again

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body of cricket, has once again proved its inability in stamping its own authority and instead bowing down to the pressures of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This latest development surrounds ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP) post 2012. ICC president David Morgan has suggested that the home-and-way component of the current FTP could be done away with. This would mean teams no longer have to play two minimum bilateral series every six years, once at home and the other on away soil.

The suggestion should ring alarm bells on two counts.