Pakistan should not play quarters in India: Akram

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is right in saying that the team should top the group to avoid playing its quarterfinal match in India, feels former skipper Wasim Akram.

"I agree with what Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have said that they would not like to play their quarterfinal in India," Wasim said from Colombo.

The former fast bowling great pointed out that it would be better for Pakistan to play their quarterfinal in Sri Lanka or then in Bangladesh.

"In these two countries Pakistan will get a lot of support and many Pakistani supporters will find it easier to reach these countries to back their team compared to India," Wasim said.

He said there was always extra pressure playing in India for Pakistani players and that is why they were looking at remaining in Sri Lanka for their quarterfinal.

"But I don't think it will be a problem playing their semifinal or final in India because by that time the team would have played a knockout match and would be over their nerves," he added.

Wasim also advised the Pakistan team to avoid giving too many statements in the media.

"I think their main focus should be on cricket you don't need to discuss everything in the media. There should be an element of secrecy about which team you are playing or if any player is unfit. No need to discuss everything in the press," he said.

Pakistan's former captain Imran Khan also backed the policy of players giving minimum statements in the press.

"It also depends on who is speaking because when you come into the media you must be able to express your thoughts clearly many times I have seen that cricketers have landed up in trouble because what they wanted to say and what they eventually said was not the same thing," Imran stated.

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Muralitharan itching to have a go at Ponting & Co before his exit

COLOMBO: Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia go back a long way. It's a relationship that started off on a terribly acrimonious note 16 years ago, when the legendary off-spinner was called for chucking for the first time Down Under. Over the years, it kept getting worse, with even the Australian Prime Minister openly questioning the world's highest Test and ODI wicket taker's action.

Of late, though, it has only got better. To the extent that the Aussies were keen on flying down the Lankan great to impart a lesson or two to their budding tweakers, a possibility that would seem like a joke when the tensions were at their worst between the two parties.

With Muralitharan in the final twilight of a glorious career, all bad blood seems to be a thing of the past... but there is still something about Australia that fires up the old fox. Before he walks away from the limelight, Murali would love to make the Aussies dance to his tune for one last time. And his words before Sri Lanka's big game against Australia on Saturday night at the Premadasa radiated as much. The 38-year-old is in no mood to take Australia's no-more-invincibles status for granted. For him, the challenge won't be easy, but it will have to be won.

"Australia have won in all conditions. They have won the last three World Cups in a row. They are still the No 1 side in one-day cricket. They are the team everybody wants to beat," he cautioned on Thursday after the Lankans sweated it out for three hours at the P Sara Oval to brace up for the bout.

The Aussies have looked inadequate against spin, both in the warm-up games and in the opener against Zimbabwe. Murali, however, doesn't think that the Aussies look under-cooked against a turning ball, and lack experience. "Whether it is spin or pace, the Aussies play it well and are experienced. They have players who have been there for eight-nine years in the team," he points out.

Sri Lanka won their first-ever ODI series against Australia last year Down Under. Shouldn't that be a major confidence booster? "That win was memorable and we can take heart from it, but this is a new game, and that result counts for nothing."

The newly-laid Premadasa pitch too should reduce the Aussie fears, he assures. "It is not a typically Sri Lankan wicket, the batsmen can hit the ball around. It will basically be 50-50. The wicket takes a bit of spin, but remains good for batting," he says.

The spin king then tried to lessen the hype around the clash. "We are just taking it just as another game. Our main objective is to qualify for the quarterfinals."

In between, he wanted to treat this as "just another game". "Everyone in the team is upbeat. We are anxious to beat them," he said. When an Aussie journalist asked him if he would have loved to have more left-handers amidst Ricky Ponting & Co, he flashed a cheeky smile, before saying: "It doesn't matter. I love bowling to the right-handers more than the left-handers."

The match, going by Murali's words, won't be able to match the abnormally high-scoring epics that India is witnessing. "In Sri Lanka, if you are really batting well, you can score more than 300. But in Indian conditions, smaller grounds and faster outfields mean 350 is achievable."

Murali conveyed his displeasure about the "stupid" spot-fixing allegations against a couple of players in the Lankan team and "the need to play well rather be emotional about this being my final World Cup," but he was open to the idea of helping spinners in any part of the world in the future, even Australia. "If anyone wants my expertise, I will definitely help. It is something God has given me. And it is something that I can pass on to other people."

Before doing all that, he surely wants one more 'parting' crack at the Aussies.

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World Cup: Indian team not taking chances for Ireland match

BANGALORE: Ireland's upset victory over England must have certainly sent some danger signals to the Indian camp. The home team must have nursed thoughts of resting Zaheer Khan against Ireland in the next match on Sunday but this result could change everything. No wonder, the Indian paceman was in action at the nets at the KSCA B ground on Thursday.

Before Kevin O'Brien took the wind out of the England side on Wednesday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, there was a possibility that Zaheer Khan, India's bowling spearhead, would be wrapped in cotton wool and kept away from the matches against the minnows, who have all on a sudden become the dark horses. With the bowling line-up as fragile as Zaheer's body in recent times, it would have made great sense to keep the left-armer, who single-handedly changed the game around against England on Sunday last, away from action.

Not anymore, after Kevin O'Brien's assault on the English bowling and a total as big as 327 chased down in almost unrealistic fashion. But now India's main task is to beat Ireland in Bangalore on Sunday and the Netherlands in Delhi on Wednesday to qualify for the quarterfinal and then take stock to see if anyone needs to be rested.

Zaheer took his time taking to the ball but when he did, he didn't exactly hold back. He is not used to bowling too much at the nets and invariably will not bowl at all on match eve but as and when he does bowl, he is dead serious. So much so that even at the nets, he is one bowler who uses the measuring tape to mark his run-up.

On the morning, it was not just Zaheer who was serious. The bowlers were all there, perhaps having realized that they have come under flak for the right reasons; they must have also realised that a placid pitch does not mean they are helpless. Even Harbhajan Singh was seen flighting the ball for a change.

The most impressive was Ashish Nehra, whose one shout of anguish for a ball he dropped down the leg side to Virat Kohli said it all. The Indians have been doing a lot of planning in the last three days, mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton even holding a drawing board discussion before the start of the nets on Thursday. And obviously one of the points that must have come up is the futility of bowling on both sides of the wicket and making batting even easier in the batsmen-friendly conditions.

Interestingly, after India's tied game last Sunday, some reports underlined the fact that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was clueless when England, led by their own skipper Andrew Strauss, went on the rampage. But what could Dhoni have done if the simple practice of 'bowling to the field' was not followed. And just as he can't tell Sachin Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag how to bat, he cannot be expected to tell Harbhajan and company how and where to bowl.

Which is perhaps why the management, instead of having their boys spending all the time batting and bowling, started the morning practice by asking them to throw some tennis balls into buckets. It was probably an exercise to improve concentration and cohesion, whatever that meant. After that the team was persuaded by Tendulkar to unveil their own version of the sprinkler dance made famous by the English players after their Ashes triumph.

It may all may have been done to keep the spirits going but the bottom line is this: Come Sunday, India are up against another challenge. It may be against Ireland but the fact that the tickets have been sold out means that the fans at least haven't taken anything for granted.

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Sachin and India: Tale of two majestic growth stories

The 1990s was a time of awakening for the Indian economy. It was a time of VCRs, Walkmans and Maruti-800s. It was an age when still cameras needed roll film, there was only one Bachchan, Air India was still making money and the gift-toting NRI uncle was treated as a VIP. It was also the era of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

If Manmohan Singh broke the shackles of the nation's economy in 1991, the same happened on the cricket field through the bulky bat of a 5-foot-5 batsman with a squeaky voice and the most vicious on-drive ever. Tendulkar, with his middle-class upbringing in suburban Mumbai's Sahitya Sahawas, went where no man had gone before.

As our economy began its majestic rise, the nation saw hope in this genius from Indian cricket's capital. Finally, we had a player who went after the impossible. If Gavaskar was the man who staved off defeat, Tendulkar was the prodigy who always eyed victory... he was the competitor who gave the opposition a taste of their own medicine. Cowed down for years, it was time for India to hit back, whether in business or on the cricket pitch — and hit back we did, with aplomb.

In Sachin, Indians saw the aggression of Richards, the technique of Gavaskar, and the heart of Kapil. And when he entertained them, they forgot their troubles, rooting for the "little bundle of dynamite" who made 'blond bombers' look pedestrian. For Sachin, failure was not an option. Old women prayed for him, executives skipped office, and an entire generation dreamt of becoming cricketers. While the 'Little Champion' was at the crease, there was always hope.

Carrying a super-heavy bat, synonymous with the burden of the nation he bore, he had his days on the pitch and as had our roaring economy. If there was desert storm in Sharjah where he single-handedly destroyed the Australian attack), then there was also the sensex crossing the 10,000 mark. 'Sensexational' said one TOI headline, 'Batman Begins' said another. Our forex reserves went up at the same speed with which 'Tendlya' accumulated hundreds. "We lost to Sachin," Aussie captain Steve Waugh once said.

As India's software engineers began putting their stamp on global markets, a resurgent Team India, inspired by Sachin, started doing something they had rarely done before — winning abroad. Once that barrier was breached, there was no looking back.

Of course, it's not just his batting talent that has always been revered (or the fact that he turns the ball more than any Indian spinner)...but also the humility that this magician brings to the turf. This is the same person who sits atop a mountain of advertizing cash. Remember the commercial where every kid wears a Sachin mask, or the one where the soundtrack screams 'Sachin aala re', echoing the thoughts of millions of Indians. Even now, he seems omnipresent.

Through the years, as India's economy gained momentum, the economy of the Tendulkar household didn't do too badly either. Sachin's pathbreaking multi-crore deal with WorldTel made him cricket's first millionaire. Not that he let it affect his game. He stayed in the zone, the monk with the Ferrari.

Now, 20 years after the reforms that transformed our sleeping economy into a crouching tiger, and ages after an enthusiastic boy convinced his skipper to let him open the innings, we are one of the two fastest growing big economies in the world, while that teen with the squeaky voice has become a legend. Still, when he goes out to bat, India holds its breath.

Batting for posterity
• Sachin has scored highest aggregate runs and maximum 100s and 50s in both Tests and ODIs game. He also holds the record of most 90s in ODI, getting out 18 times in the 90s
• Has hit 1,943 ODI and 1,892 Test fours, which is the highest for any batsman
• Played 177 Tests and 446 ODIs, the highest by any player
• His 21-year, 71-day career is the longest among current players as well as cricketers who have played more than 100 Tests
• Is the only player to score more than 1000 Test runs six times and 1000 ODI runs seven times in a calendar year
• In the 2002-03 ICC World Cup, he scored 673 runs, the highest for any player
• In 1998, he scored 1,894 runs in ODIs, the highest number of runs scored by any batsman in a calendar year
• Has scored 9 hundreds against Australia, the highest against any team by a single batsman
• Has scored 1,778 runs in the 42 innings he has played at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in UAE, his highest on any ground
• Has faced 778 different bowlers, of whom 528 have failed to get him out even once
• Of the 250 bowlers who managed to get him out, Brett Lee has been the most successful, scalping him 14 times
• Sachin has scored 600 runs off Muralitharan, his highest off any bowler
• Has faced 47,788 balls in international cricket. This is equal to 7,965 overs
• In his over 21-year career, he has spent 1,145 hours on the pitch
• The total distance he has run to score all these runs works out to 711 km

Breaking loose
• Where It All Began | New industrial policy announced on July 24, 1991, opening up several sectors to private players and doing away with licences in many others
• Coming of NSE | Incorporated in Nov 1992, recognized as stock exchange in April 1993; debt market trading begins in June 1994, equity market in Nov 1994
• Privatization of Skies | 1992 private airlines allowed to fly scheduled flights. East-West, Air Sahara, Modiluft, Jet Airways among the early entrants
• FIIs Enter Market | Jan 1993 (just $200,000 over the whole month)
• Growth Rate | In 1994-95 (6.4%), 1995-96 and 1996-97 (8.0%), GDP grows at 6%-plus for three years running for the first time. In 2005-06 (9.5%), 2006-07 (9.7%) and 2007-08 (9.2%), it grows at 9%-plus for three years in a row
• Internet entry/penetration | VSNL offers dial-up net connections in six cities on Aug 14, 1995. The number of users in India has now crossed an estimated 100 million
• Delhi Metro Launch | DMRC incorporated on March 5, 1995, construction starts on October 1, 1998, first segment (Shahdara to Tis Hazari) inaugurated on Dec 24, 2002
• Golden Quadrilateral | In 1999, work starts on project to link Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata and Kolkata-Delhi through four-lane highways totalling over 5,800 km
• IT Superpower | Infosys and NIIT become first IT scrips in sensex on Nov 16, 1998; Satyam follows on Apr 10, 2000, HCL Technologies on Jan 10, 2002, and Wipro on Nov 10, 2003
• Malls/multiplexes | Crossroads Mall opens in Mumbai in Sep 1999, perhaps the first such complex in India
• NREGA | Enacted on August 25, 2005, scheme launched on Feb 2, 2006 from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh
• Mobiles cross 50-million mark | In 2005. In Oct 2004, no. of mobile subscribers (44.51 million) crossed no. of fixed line subscribers (43.96 million) for the first time
• Auto Sales | Annual passenger vehicles sales cross 1 million for the first time in 2004-05. Sales of all categories of vehicles cross 10-million mark two years later in 2006-07
• Sensex crosses 10k mark | February 6, 2006 intra-day, February 7, 2006 close
• Dish TV | First allowed in India in July 2006, there are now six DTH service providers with total subscribers estimated at 20 million.
• IPL | Started in 2008
• Nano's entry | Arguably the world's cheapest car rolls out on June 3, 2010

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UDRS fine with me, says Vettori

AHMEDABAD: The controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) has been in news after Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni termed the system as flawed.

However, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, whose team plays Zimbabwe at Motera Stadium on Friday, gave full marks to the system. "I have always maintained in the last two years that UDRS is good for the game," said the Kiwi skipper.

Coming to New Zealand's immediate task in the tournament, Vettori said the match against Zimbabwe was a must-win for both the teams. He said that though it will be a disadvantage for them to have not played Zimbabwe too often, the Black Caps are up for the task. "We have not seen too much of them recently. But we are in a must-win situation and have to play well to progress to the knockout stage," the skipper said.

"We have seen different kind of attacks in this tournament. If it was pace in the match against the Aussies, here it will be a lot of spin. But we are prepared for what Zimbabwe have got - a variety of spinners," he said.

When asked if New Zealand, like Zimbabwe, would go for spin first up, the skipper said it would depend on what team they would actually field.

"We have done that in both our previous games. The wicket here is pretty good. We played a Test match here not so long ago and we know it's going to be a good wicket," Vettori said.

He quickly added that New Zealand would surely play two spinners as it gives them the right balance. "Nathan Mc-Cullum and myself give the team a good balance as both of us we can bat as well," said Vettori adding that Kyle Mills, who had missed first two matches, is fit and likely to share the new ball with Tim Southee.

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It's experiment time for Dhoni & Co

BANGALORE: Just consider this: Indians have played their matches on a Saturday, Sunday and are again slated to play on Sunday. Maybe, it is just coincidence; maybe, it was planned. After all television companies have to get a return on their huge investment and thus the reluctance to take a chance even with India matches on weekdays.

The schedule has anyway given India enough rest between matches to recharge, not just physically but also mentally. For the past two days now, post the hard-fought tie against England, the Indians have been taking it easy in the team hotel, taking their mind off cricket and doing just enough with their bodies to keep them tuned.

On Wednesday, keeping in mind the afternoon match between England and Ireland, eight of the team members went through a light morning session at the KSCA B ground, while the seniors Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh stayed away along with Sreesanth and Suresh Raina. Dasher Virender Sehwag, away in Delhi to consult his personal doctor, hadn't rejoined the team until the evening.

With three more days to go for the match against Ireland (March 6), which will be followed by the one against the Netherlands in Delhi on March 9, the think-tank has obviously been busy.

Having found it tough to defend two totals of well above 300, questions are bound to have come up about the combinations to field in the remaining matches. Whether to stick to the four bowlers-seven batsmen theory, one that has served them for a long time, or if a fifth bowler at the expense of the seventh batsman would be the better option, would be the topics of discussion.

To chase or set targets in case they win the toss again is also likely to be debated. The standard practice is in day-night conditions a team winning the toss would bat first unless there are definite chances of dew. Well, accepted standards have to be set aside as the Indians have encountered some unusual problems, especially after having done so well with the bat.

A lot of work then for the think tank first, followed naturally by the implementation of those final plans. With two minnows up next, it is time to try out a few plans.

Praveen back after surgery

Along with the Indian World Cuppers, also present at the NCA on Wednesday, for altogether different purposes, were VVS Laxman and Praveen Kumar. Having missed out on the World Cup after being part of the original squad, Praveen is in town to continue his rehabilitation.

Only last week Andrew Wallace, the same surgeon who has treated Tendulkar in the past and whom Praveen had consulted for an opinion that led to his exit from the World Cup team, operated upon Praveen's elbow in London.

Back after the surgery, the seamer spent some time on Wednesday chatting with Ashish Nehra, himself affected by back spasms for the past week or so. Nehra, incidentally bowled off a full run-up on the day.

Test batting star Laxman, also rehabilitating after issues with his back, has been in Bangalore for the past couple of days.

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British press slams 'shamed' cricketers after Irish loss

LONDON: England's "shamed" cricketers came in for a slogging in the British press on Thursday after they crashed to a humiliating defeat against minnows Ireland in their World Cup match in Bangalore.

"England shamed by O'Brien," the tabloid Sun said in its headline.

"England were left looking like a pub side as Kevin O'Brien smashed the fastest ever World Cup century," the paper claimed.

England looked to be cruising in Wednesday's Group B match after accumulating 327 in their innings and reducing Ireland to 111/5. At this point, odds of an Ireland win were as long as 400-1.

However, pink-haired all-rounder O'Brien, who had never reached fifty in his nine previous World Cup innings, blasted a scintillating century to turn the match on its head.

The Telegraph's editorial attempted to put the shock three-wicket defeat into context.

"Over the years, England's national sports teams have been on the wrong end of some infamous defeats," it said.

"Until yesterday, America's 1-0 victory in the football World Cup of 1950 was probably the most notorious. But the extraordinary triumph of Ireland's cricketers in their World Cup group match in Bangalore must rank alongside any sporting upset of yore."

Richard Hobson, writing in The Times, lauded the swashbuckling batsman's unusual style.

"With dyed pink hair, Kevin O'Brien looked more like the frontman in a punk rock band than a cricketer yesterday and there was a strong element of punk about the innings that has left England clinging to their World Cup place," Hobson wrote.

"Bold and brash, raw and uninhibited, it was the equivalent of a snarling, two-fingered salute to the mainstream," he added.

The Telegraph's Simon Briggs highlighted O'Brien's unorthodox journey from club cricketer for the Papplewick and Railway Union teams to World Cup matchwinner.

"If it is a long way from Papplewick and Railway Union to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the shift from club cricket to the World Cup must be bigger still.

"But on the evidence of this insouciant innings, no one has told Kevin O'Brien, England's demolition man," Briggs added.

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew predicted England would find it hard to regroup after the breathtaking defeat.

"We've had a week of superlatives in Bangalore - the greatest matches, the greatest centuries in England's game against India, but clearly as a one-day innings Kevin O'Brien's magnificent 113 from 63 balls is up there with the best of them.

"England will be devastated by this result, (they) look like a team that will not go any further than the quarter-finals," Agnew said.

The Guardian's Kevin Mitchell echoed Agnew's concerns.

"Nobody in the aftermath on Wednesday seemed able to put a name to the malaise," Mitchell said.

"It was not tiredness... or was it a lack of diligence on the practice field, said those close to the action. However, through the prism of television at home, the image was clear enough in their body language."

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