Tag: Cricket

Can it be the much needed reset?

Can it be the much needed reset?

Now field hockey is not synonymous with glitz and glamour in many regions its been played. Over the years what used to be a primarily asian dominant sport of flair in 80’s and 90’s growing up , has dissolved for a better word into a european game .Some of the changes have tried to make it different from a sport of 2 halves of 35 minutes with quarters of 15 replacing it. The penalty shoot out also has changed. No longer the strokes are used but an ice hockey version of a running motions are attempted.

The branding of the sport is such that Champions Trophy an annual tourney of six best teams originating in Pakistan has also ended . An asian offshoot of it ,the Asian champions trophy, started in 2011 as teams in Asia expanded the game.Now in its 8th edition, it travelled upto north eastern mongolian borders of China in Hulunbuir. In addition to the hosts, defending champs India , Korea, Japan , Malaysia and Pakistan took part.

The Pakistani team who had won this tourney on three previous occasions had found recent decade quite daunting in terms of even reaching world tourney. With no particaption in the pro league ,the olympic and world cup non qualifications meant tourneys like these take on added importance.They faced challenges not only with India but Japan and Korea. They haven’t had much success with either of them as recently.

The favourites India eased into three quick wins. Pakistan on the other hand had leads in all their group games. They lost leads versus Malaysia and Korea for 2-2 draws. In the game vs Japan, they finally preserved the lead in a painful 4th quarter which they struggled to hold onto.They took a 2-1 win.They were much stronger against the hosts and marched into the semis with a convincing 4-1 win.

India eased their way to wins in all games and this theme continued all throughout minus their game with Pakistan. Although I expected a thrashing or somewhat similar scoreline from asian games in Hangzhou last year when they won 10-2, it was almost the opposite. Pakistan started well and attacked. They scored first as well. The pace and momentum changed as India used its initial penalty corners to good effect.They took a 2-1 lead at the half. The second half was superb Pakistan lost two of its men to penalties losing nearly 15 minutes of action. Still the defence was good and denied any goals in the shorthandedness. Both teams ended with 10 men. India prevailed but a great display of valour shown by the Greenshirts. It was India ‘s toughest test by far.

In the knockouts though, Greenshirts met their match. China not to be subdued with a home crowd backing took the lead and weren’t affected by the leveller. Not able to capitalise , the game went into the a shootout. Pakistan missed all the attempts and played the worst shootout ever. India managed to win the semi vs korea to advance to the final where they were able to out manoeuvre the hosts 1-0 to defend their crown.

In the bronze medal game, however, they played well. Korea took the lead. Pakistan struck back with a plethora of goal in third quarter and led Korea again 3-2. It ended 5-2 as both Hannan and Sufyan bagged two goals each. The attacking was obvious. It was the second time in the tourney that Pakistan reversed the korean lead within seconds.

For the Greenshirts, another blown semifinal. It wasn’t really news but they could have played better the cluthc moments. Thats what tourneys come down to. Those clutch moments. When you Penalty corners dont materialise and your shootouts are weak, it will result in falling back in the tide.

As for the positives, Tahir Zaman’s induction has helped the team. Hannan Shahid and Sufiyan Khan alongside Ahmad Nadeem were excellent throughout. Hannan bagging the emerging player of the tourney last year now had a six goal tourney. Nadeem had 4 goals of his.

For the reset to happen though, Pakistan need to be better than this. Their youngsters are good but willl need grooming.Their penalty corners have to improve. Their shoot outs also look a lot to be desired for as they have been found wanting at this.The discipline at times with penalties is another factor as time in the sinbin can be costly for defence. Having said that, it was good to see a fresh breath of their flair in field hockey.

WT20 2024 : Early reflections !

WT20 2024 : Early reflections !

In an era where every year is an ICC event of some sort , the WT20 has now come to the North America this year in 2024. Format wise there are 4 groups of 20 teams, the most ever for a WT20. This includes pre tourney seeded teams who if advance will determine two Super 8 groups.Then the top 2 from each group play semis. Who would have thought that seedings would have helped decide one team’s matches all till the final !Yes, its the World t20 folks again from USA and West Indies as joint hosts. USA are playing only because they are hosting rather than qualifying formally.And Yes Economics dictates the motive behind seedings as its TV run era.

USA and Canada who played the first cricket international in 1844 in New York , kicked off the tourney with the highest scoring match to date in Dallas’s Grand Prairie stadium in a night game in Group A. Aaron Jones of barbadian descent led them to a fine win with his 94 off 40 balls. At Providence , Windies escaped an early embarrassment against Papua New Guinea with Roston Chase lietrally helping out with the ball and bat in the short win. Uganda, Afghanistan and New Zealand make up the rest of Group C. Uganda losing their opener by a huge margin to the Afghans scoring 58 only.

One of the early buzz for this tourney has been the new hybrid pitch made espcially for New York. The Adelaide made pitch curated in Florida and made especially for the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in Long Island has received a lot of stick.The venue itself was developed in 4 months. The two paced pitch and the poor sandy outfield right in the middle of what used to be Eisenhower Park ,is speculated to be the flagship US venue for marketing purpose. This PR move so far didn’t too much for cricketing credential. In a Group C opener, Sri Lanka were all out for 77 vs South Africa. Ireland made only 96 vs India. Both were easy wins for the chasing sides. Canada fared better in their win against Ireland managing 137 , a win of 12 runs.

This venue is also scheduled to host June 9 game between India and Pakistan the big money spinner for ICC.However, concerns have been raised about the pitch’s safety as notably by Andy Flower’s statement.It seems the hybrid pitch will take time to settle. The outfield might be another matter still. Both teams are in group A with hosts USA, Canada and Ireland.

Speaking of Pakistan, in group A , the 2009 champs and last tourney’s runner up had the worst start possible in Dallas. With a roasting hot 10.30 am start in the Texas heat, Pakistan succumbed to early wickets before posting a 159 which was considered a low total on that flat track. At one stage even 159 was looking unlikely. The hosts were cruising at one stage and even at 111/3 were poised to win in regulation.Then the nerves of the newcomer to cricket struck which led to a mini comeback. However Haris Rauf couldn’t defend 15 in the final over which gave us the second super over of this WT20. USA dominated that with Iftikhar and Shadab unable to chase 19 to win. Pakistani batting has always been fragile but their non existent middle order alongside lack of a quality spinner will become the achilles heel. The result sent the Pakistani diaspora into sheer chaos as can be expected. Pakistan ‘s preparation in the build up and the turmoil off the field for several months can only be described as “sheer buffoonery” that was evident at the CWC2023 as well. They are a shadow of the team they were as compared to the last two T20 cups.

The first super over of the tourney was between Oman and Namibia, a group B clash in Bridgetown. Another low encounter where both teams were tied at 109. David Wiese , the perennial T20 leaguer showed his all round experience defending the super over target at Bridgetown. Australia and England sqaure off in bridgetown clash in this group. Aussies began with some stutter but overpowered Oman behind Marcus Stoinis. The rains had plans for Scotland – England as the former stormed to 90/0 in 10 overs before the heavens opened and the match was abandoned.

In Group C ,Afghanistan is showing the rest of the Asian teams how to compete at this level. First they performed at CWC2023 where they finished 6th only due to run rate with wins against England, Pakistan Sri lanka and the Netherlands.Fazalhaq Farooqi has provided the two best spells in his first two games with 5/9 and 4/17 respectively.Afghans gave Kiwis a first match scare dismissing them for 75 after posting 159. Rehmanullah Gurbaz again led a century stand for the second match in the row and tops the early scoring charts, likewise Fazal heads the bowing with his 9 scalps.

Netherlands who caused a surprise beating South Africa in 2022 and 2023 cups led off with an easy win over Nepal at Dallas chasing 106. They are in group D and face South Africa in what is deemed as “Group of Death”. They clash in New York as well on June 8 hours before Aussies and the Poms in Bridgetown. The other teams being Sri Lanka and Bangladesh .At the same venue ,Bangladesh also started their campaign with a low scoring chase in which they scraped through win over Lanka chasing 125.Richad Hussain for Bangladesh started off his cup with a 3/22 start, part of instigating the Lankan collapse.

Its a small sample size to gauge from but Afghans have started well in WT20 . Their body language on the field is vastly different to yesteryears. India were clinIcal but the Irish are struggling. The defending champs England have yet to be tested. As far as the associates are concerned, USA and Canada have produced shock wins. With more matches on the weekend to spice up around the India – Pakistan encounter, New York and the World gets ready for more WT20 !

Stay tuned to the SWYT channel for more !

Whitewashed !

Whitewashed !

It had been 17 years. England hadn’t toured on Pakistani soil since 2005. Two sides who have become very different since that era.Both have gone to become WorldT20 champs since but England repeated that feat only weeks before arriving in Pakistan. Pakistan had beaten England twice in their relocated home series of 2012 ( a 3-0 whitewash ) and in 2015, both in UAE.England had only two wins away from home against the Greenshirts in 1961 and 2000 before this series.

You would think the odds would be in the home team’s favour but they were far from it. Earlier in the year, Pakistan lost to Australia despite a series of dead tracks made at home.With two flattening draws, some last test heroics and brave tactics by Pat Cummins got the Greenshirts a final day target as a bait.They capitulated and lost by over a 100 runs.

Ben Stokes their English counterpart had similar feelings going into the opening Rawalpindi test on day 4. He braved the benign surface to launch an offensive in the second innings with 343 tasked as a target for the hosts to take the lead. It paid off . For a time when Pakistan were 269/5 and 84 runs in sight of the total, it looked they might have the game. Just like Lahore earlier in this year though they lost five wickets for 9 runs and England had their win on a surface that looked like even 10 days won’t yield a result based on the high 1st innings scores. Ollie Robinson starred with 4 second innings wickets.

In Multan, England again scored briskly but only to be dismissed within 52 overs for 281. Abrar Ahmad on debut took 7.Pakistan were at one stage cruising with 142-2. Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel (who had a surreal breakthrough series ) were comfortable until the evident collapse of 8/60 ended with Pakistan well short and another 79 run lead conceded.England capitalised and scored 275 setting the scene for another 350 plus chase. Pakistan at one stage being 290/5 with Mohammad Nawaz and Saud again at the crease just 65 adrift of the target. Unfortunately both went quickly.Mark Wood took four and the hosts succumbed to 26 run loss. England had won the series on Pak soil. Harry Brook ‘s second innings century took centre stage.

With pride to play for in Karachi as well as Azhar Ali ‘s final test match appearance in the renamed National Bank Cricket Arena,Pakistan won the toss and batted for a change. Their 304 never looked enough though. England took a 50 run lead. Harry Brook had another ton. Abrar and Nauman Ali, the two spinners who took the new ball took 4 each. In the second innings, the hosts were 164/3 at one stage with you know who, Babar and Saud. This time an 18 yr old debutant Rehan Ahmad produced a huge third day evening spell taking a five for on debut.Pakistan again collapsed in a 7/72 fall this time to set a target of just 166. Its considered poor in these lands especially on day 3 Karachi pitch. England knocked off 112 off those on the same evening for the loss of two wickets in 17 overs. They completed the whitewash early on fourth morning needing only 11.1 overs.Ben Duckett who also had a good series scored a brisk 78 ball 82 in the chase.

Pakistan had never been whitewashed at home since 1952 when they entered the test arena.They had clearly not been doing well losing 4 straight home tests in two series. They were clueless on the ill prepared wickets and their bowling hardly had a punch.Rawalpindi had received a second de merit point in nine months for such a poor wicket. There was time lost on all days in Multan and Pindi due to light issues but England’s Bazball approach ensured they got the runs fast enough to yield two results.In Karachi, the hosts just didn’t press their advantage enough both times with the bat and succumbed to spin easily.They hardly looked like taking 20 wickets and with loads of time left, it was a debacle not only in terms of score lines but of a timid mindset that was exposed. They had several debutants but none in the fast bowling department came close to even a performance, It was if they had a team stripped of quicks all series.

England on the other hand starred in all departments. Harry Brook had a better series than anyone else and took the honours handsdown. Jimmy Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood starred as well. Jack Leach was their leading spinner and wicket taker.The Barmy Army was in full voice throughout the series trumpeting “Dil Dil Pakistan ” in all the venues cheering the whitewash.Pakistan fans were few and far between as if they had lost the appetite for watching any tests regardless of return of this format from UAE.Babar Azam’s captaincy and the Greenshirts themselves didn’t have much left to offer and both would have to change pretty soon for their upcoming homestand against New Zealand.