Kamran Abbasi
British Asians can electrify this World Cup
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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It was an amusing juxtaposition. The Oval was pulsating and bursting at the seams as Asia's old enemies got excited over a "warm-up." Meanwhile, a meagre politely-applauding crowd watched the home nation at Lord's. The matches were equally one-sided but the atmosphere at The Oval was worthy of a World Cup Final.
I approached The Oval expecting a buzz but fearing a riot. My mind goes back to my first India-Pakistan match, an unofficial one-dayer in the early 1980s that took place in the small Yorkshire town of Harrogate. Possibly ten times the ground capacity had crammed into the ground and onto the pitch, with the boundaries pulled in to accommodate the fans. There was passion, an uneasy tension, and countless pitch invasions. At one point, an Indian fan ran across the pitch waving his country's flag, and several hundred Pakistan fans immediately chased after him. Who knows what happened to him?
Just under thirty years later, British Asians are equally passionate about their teams, perhaps surprisingly so as each generation places mistier memories between itself and its familial homeland. Yet at The Oval both sets of fans sat side by side, often stood side by side, and frequently chanted side by side--chants influenced by football rather than Bollywood.
Full postCricket crunch will kill this great sport
Cricket is in danger of overkill, and the IPL and its imitators in other countries are playing a major part
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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The drum beats of the World T20 are beginning to sound. The last gripping tournament already seems a distant memory. World cricket has been transformed in these last two years as has the political situation in Pakistan. While the English media talk of this world tournament as little more than a precursor to the Ashes series that will follow, Pakistan cricket will view the next few weeks with the utmost importance.
My hope is that the World T20 will restore some perspective, some romance and fascination. We do now have a glut of fixtures and contests, and this development has been too fast, too haphazard, and driven too much by greed. Worse still, the ICC looks to have lost control of the governance of the game and its ordered global development. Cricket's administrators and television companies have lost sight of what is important.
By comparison, football has bowed to some degree to similar pressures but it has managed to preserve a sense of theatre and surprise. FIFA, for all its stifling bureaucracy, manages to enforce a rigid order which means that no national association is bigger than the sport's governing body. Cricket has suffered the rule of the English and Australians, and now sits at the mercy of India. Such individual force is a bigger problem in cricket than football. No country should be bigger than the sport.
Full postWhoa Shoaib! Too much information
It is hard not to draw the conclusion that the PCB's press release is clearly designed to cause Shoaib the maximum embarrassment
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
You might argue that transparency is King, and that the PCB has a tradition of being unnecessarily secretive. Unfortunately, Pakistan cricket also has a long history of damaging leaks and official gaffes.
Now, it isn't a great surprise that Shoaib Akhtar is once more unfit to play in a tournament that he has been selected for. It may not be a great surprise to some who have tut-tutted over Shoaib's lifestyle that he has picked up a dose of genital warts. Nonetheless, like every patient, Shoaib deserves his privacy and today's public announcement is way too much information.
Full postA legal battle where nobody wins
It might be legally flawed or it might not but the ICC's decision to withdraw World Cup matches from Pakistan was hardly a surprise
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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It might be legally flawed or it might not but the ICC's decision to withdraw World Cup matches from Pakistan was hardly a surprise. The simple fact that sets Pakistan's situation apart from other troubled countries is that the Pakistani authorities promised presidential level security but failed to provide it. There might be conflict in the rest of Asia but none of Pakistan's neighbours has made empty security promises. It is a situation without a saving grace or a get-out-of-jail card.
Under these circumstances, it is hard to see any cricketer or cricket board trusting the PCB and the Pakistan Government in the immediate future. This depressing reality will be hard to accept for Pakistan fans, especially those who will be cheering on the PCB's latest legal battle.
But the PCB's complaint will produce no winners, nor will it persuade anybody to tour Pakistan. The only beneficial outcome for Pakistan cricket might be that the ICC could be forced to put together a hefty compensation package. Either way, this legal stupidity will add further evidence to the view held by potential tourists that the PCB has lost touch with reality.
Full postWhatever happened to the ICL players?
Pakistan have announced their T20 World Cup squad
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan have announced their T20 World Cup squad. Much of the squad picks itself, a couple are new and unexpected, one at least is a surprise omission (Iftikhar Rao, a regular in Pakistan's squad over the last two years), while at least another is lucky to be included on reputation (Shoaib Akhtar). Indeed, a typical Pakistani selection.
I am surprised and disappointed, however, that no escapees from the ICL have been included. Anybody who saw Imran Nazir's brutal innings in last year's ICL final will wonder how he missed selection? Other players, such as Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf, will have hoped for a recall to national duty.
Now you might well argue that none of these ICL ex-cons has a decent case for selection. You might also argue that they chose to line their pockets instead of lining up for their country. Nonetheless, the PCB had an opportunity to resurrect an international career or two, and it missed it. This failure of nerve is especially unwelcome as the PCB has been threatening defiance on behalf of its ICL cricketers, exciting players who might now never return to international cricket.
Full postA defeat but a respectable one
Pakistan fans should not be too despondent at their team's defeat to Australia
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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Pakistan fans should not be too despondent at their team's defeat to Australia. Playing any international sport occasionally puts you at a disadvantage and that's before we consider the issue of neutral venues.
Most importantly, Pakistan managed to play out a scheduled series without disruption, and a blueprint has been established for the survival of Pakistan cricket until the domestic environment improves.
Had it not been for their traditional batting frailty, Pakistan would have easily won this series against a weakened Australian team. But batting skills probably suffer most from any absence from the international circuit.
Full post This could be your moment Younis
This period will be a test of leadership
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
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After many false dawns, Pakistan cricket will confront its new way of life. It is fitting that the moment arrives against Australia, the country that plunged Pakistan cricket out of its period of glory with the double blow of the 1999 World Cup Final defeat and the match-fixing controversy whose flames were lit with approaches to Australian cricketers.
Now, while the rest of the world's cricketers strut in the surreal atmosphere of the IPL in South Africa, Australia have honoured a commitment to play Pakistan in the desert. Too little too late, will be the reaction of many Pakistan fans, but Pakistan cricket is currently eager to dine out even on breadcrumbs.
Nor is this time for self-pity. Pakistan's cricketers may justifiably feel that domestic and international circumstances are conspiring to crush their spirit, yet the Age of Khan must also be the Age of Pragmatism. Here is where the survival instinct must kick in and a desire to hold your head up high in the face of the storm.
Full postNo tears for this World Cup loss
Pakistan cricket must focus on what is important: ensuring that it retains a viable domestic structure and regular international cricket
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The ICC's decision to drop Pakistan as a venue for the next World Cup is a reasonable one. Pakistan's failure to protect Sri Lanka's cricketers looks even more shocking considering the level of security that now surrounds Pakistan's players. The failures of Pakistan's government and cricket board will take many years to recover from.
In the meantime, Pakistan cricket must focus on what is important: ensuring that it retains a viable domestic structure and regular international cricket. Trotting the globe is a lifeline for Younis Khan's team, an imposition that offers their only hope to remain competitive. When Pakistan take the field against Australia next week they should breathe in the relief of their new nomadic way, embrace it, and make it a success.
Of course, the international community should do more to support cricket in Pakistan but we know it won't. In these circumstances, hosting international matches is unimportant provided that neutral venues can secure sufficient revenue to sustain Pakistan cricket. A cricket series or tournament is fundamentally a revenue generating opportunity; for proof look no further than the IPL in South Africa. But keeping the sport alive is the utmost priority, and the lost chance to host a World Cup and other international matches is the least of Pakistan's problems.
Full postA wilderness age, a battle for survival
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Many of us love sport for its unpredictable twists and turns. Let's take the final one-day match of England's tour, for example. Or the captivating fluctuations in fortune of the English Premier League. On-field events are the focus of our fascination, a blessing that Pakistan cricket has not received for almost two years.
Pakistan's upcoming series against Australia offers a glimmer of hope that cricket might steal the headlines from non-playing controversies and tragedies. For the blight of Pakistan cricket is that off-field twists and turns have become so routine and so miserably damaging that a series without unnecessary distractions would be a cause for celebration.
Full postIPL must support Pakistan's cricketers
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The possibility of the IPL moving offshore brings sadness and perhaps opportunity. Cricket is now so cowed by fear of terrorism that three South Asian nations have had key tournaments disrupted within weeks of the Lahore attacks. While a contest between Pakistan and Bangladesh would have struggled to set the pulse racing, the Indian Premier League managed to enthrall even the most skeptical of cricket fans. Much of that fascination was created by the passion of India's cricket fans, the biggest losers if the tournament is relocated.
The opportunities, however, carry their own fascination - especially for Pakistan cricket fans. Importantly, a successful offshore IPL will ease Pakistan's transition to a team of globetrotters. Furthermore, the PCB and IPL could consider reinstating Pakistan's cricketers if the tournament is outside India. Is that too much too ask? Aren't all nations victims of terrorism? Why should Pakistan's players be penalised and prevented from participating in a purportedly global tournament? Don't Pakistan's cricketers require support from the international cricket community to help competitive international cricket to survive in Pakistan?
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