Pakistan Cricket Board

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named former captain and manager Intikhab Alam as the new national cricket coach on Saturday, a day after Australian Geoff Lawson was sacked.

Alam will take the helm for Pakistan’s upcoming series of three one-day internationals against the West Indies in November in the neutral venue of Abu Dhabi.

“We have appointed Intikhab as the coach as we found him to be the suitable candidate,” PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told AFP. “He will accompany the team to Abu Dhabi for the one-day internationals against the West Indies.”

The PCB sacked former Australian Test fast bowler Lawson on Friday after a string of poor results. He had spent just 15 months in the job, regarded as one of the toughest in world cricket.

The 66-year-old Alam has also been Pakistan coach and manager on several occasions, most notably during Pakistan’s World Cup title win in 1992. Former captain and master batsman Javed Miandad was also a candidate for the post.

Butt said the length of Alam’s contract was expected to be decided next week.

“We would like to appoint Alam for a two-year contract, but we have to get final approval from the members of the governing board,” said Butt, who took over as chairman earlier this month.

Alam said he would try to do his best for Pakistan.

“It’s a big responsibility,” Alam told AFP.

“It is not an easy job and I have taken up this assignment as a big challenge,” said Alam, who will abandon his contract with Punjab in India, where he was to take over this month.

IPL is far from being a carnival

New Delhi: The noises coming from the Indian Premier League’s workshop in Bangkok, where 130 people from various groups of stakeholders met over the last three days, are so positive that they resemble one of those self-help cults. Franchise owners praised the organisers, the organisers thanked everyone for taking part enthusiastically and laying the foundation to “take the game to the next levelIf you only listened to what the PR machinery rolled out, you would be forgiven for thinking the IPL was one big love fest.
 
But the true picture is not quite as rosy. Just as soon as the IPL’s PR machinery could trot out the measures they had taken to ensure franchises did not lose money, came a piece of news that has made analysts sit up and take notice. In Hyderabad, the board of the Deccan Holdings decided to put its IPL team up for sale, hoping to fetch $200 million, having bought the team for $107 million. This comes at the back of strong rumours of at least one other franchise looking to sell either the team or at least a significant stake.

What is an equally worrying sign is that chief executives of four of the eight franchisees have either been sacked or “moved elsewhere” before a ball is bowled in the second edition. Charu Sharma (Bangalore) was the first to go, sacked midway through the first edition. Yogesh Shetty who headed the Delhi team will no longer be with them, and Fraser Castellino, boss of the winning Jaipur team is reportedly also moving on to concentrate on other areas of the business. J Krishnan, who headed the Hyderabad team, has already given way to Tim Wright.

India Perfect From Start to End

Sachin Tendulkar’s record-breaking innings in Mohali on Friday, which saw him become the highest Test scorer of all time and the first man to pass 12,000 runs, was the foundation for a big total.

Sourav Ganguly was there to help him enjoy his celebration and went on to score a fighting century himself but it was the stand-in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who yesterday orchestrated India’s early push for victory with an attacking 92.

Good captains sense strategically important moments in the game and they act accordingly and Dhoni’s timing was absolutely perfect; not just with the bat but also his tactics.

Dhoni strode to the crease and immediately thwarted Australia’s ploy of unsettling the Indian batsmen with short-pitched bowling. He dispatched some glorious hook and pull shots to and over the boundary and not only did his brilliant counter-attack bring quick runs and thwart the Australian plan, it also boosted the confidence of Ganguly.

Where Ganguly had taken a couple on the body he suddenly started to pull the short stuff and their productive liaison provided India with a challenging total. With runs on the board, Dhoni then backed the bowlers with thoughtful field placings.

Zaheer Khan is now inside Matthew Hayden’s head and for the third time in this series he dismissed him cheaply. That was a big wicket for India but it got better when Ishant Sharma continued his mastery over Ricky Ponting, trapping him lbw. If the two Australians can’t reverse this trend it leaves India with a huge advantage.

Like a shark smelling blood, Dhoni took the opportunity to introduce debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra with Australia’s two most aggressive batsmen back in the pavilion. This move paid immediate dividends as the leg-spinner claimed Simon Katich as his first victim in Test cricket.

There was a vibrancy about India’s play that included a much-improved fielding display and more aggressive field placings. Dhoni is a natural leader and he had one last trick up his sleeve.

In the last over he suggested Mishra go round the wicket to Michael Clarke and the batsman, expecting a delivery pitched in the rough was late getting his bat forward to a wrong’un. India had ambushed their fourth victim on a day where Dhoni’s timing had been perfect from start to finish.

Just like 2005 when the Australians struggled against good swing bowling they currently have their hands full with a confident and well-balanced Indian attack. With Dhoni’s inspiring leadership and a confident bowling attack there is every chance that Tendulkar’s record breaking match will become a dual celebration in conjunction with an impressive Indian victory.

Cricket News

INDIA’s provocative paceman Zaheer Khan is the first player to be punished for poor behaviour in this hard-fought series after sending off Matthew Hayden during the second Test in Mohali.

Zaheer was docked 80% of his match fee for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game as Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the Indian players were emboldened by their strong position in the game to challenge Australia verbally.

“Quite often when you are the dominant team, you have better presence and better body language. That is what has happened in this game,” Ponting said.

Zaheer gave Hayden a send-off when the Australian opener fell to Harbhajan Singh after an aggressive 29 on the fourth afternoon in Mohali. Hayden then gestured to umpire Rudi Koertzen.

Zaheer has been a frequent antagonist in this series, clashing with Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin in Bangalore and claiming the Australians were incapable of taking 20 Indian wickets after the drawn series-opener.

“Clearly, this sort of behaviour is not acceptable at any level of cricket. It showed a lack of respect for the player who had been dismissed,” match referee Chris Broad said.

“Respect for the opposition was something that we talked about in the pre-series meeting I had with both captains and so it was disappointing that Zaheer behaved in this way. However, in considering the penalty, I took into account the fact that Zaheer had a good disciplinary record. He also pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and was very apologetic while also promising not to repeat the offence.”

ICC

Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan took a record seven wickets to dismiss New Zealand for 171 on Sunday and then scored 71 to give Bangladesh a 258-run lead at the end of the third day of the first Test.

Hasan’s haul of 7-36 in 25.5 overs was Bangladesh’s best bowling figures in a Test innings. The 21-year-old bowler overhauled Enamul Haque’s 7-95 against Zimbabwe in 2005 at Chittagong.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori took 4-39 to restrict Bangladesh to 184 for eight in its second innings at the end of play, following a top order collapse.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Hasan combined for a 56-run sixth wicket stand which ended when Rahim (32) was bowled by Iain O’Brien, with Bangladesh on 127.

Hasan’s 48-run seventh-wicket stand with Naeem Islam steered Bangladesh to 175, and included a knock of 50 off 105 balls with 9 boundaries.

Vettori picked up two late wickets with the new ball. He first removed Hasan, caught by Taylor, and trapped Islam leg before wicket for 19 with Bangladesh on 180. Hasan’s 71 run innings came off 151 balls with a dozen boundaries.

Mashrafe Mortaza (5) and Abdur Razzak (0) were undefeated at stumps.