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ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Schedule

2015-02-09T08:38:00.001-08:00

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Asia Cup: Pakistan beat India by 1 Wicket

2014-03-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

Tournament: Asia Cup, Match 6, India v.s. Pakistan

Venue: Mirpur, Bangladesh
Date: March 02, 2014
Result: Pakistan beat India by 1 wicket
Man of the match: Mohammed Hafeez

India, Pakistan ODIs: Head to head

(Pakistan's ODI record against India, to date)

The Last Man Standing

Eminem will be disappointed in Afridi but the Pakistani fans are on the other side of that feeling. The best interpretation of what goes through Afridi's mind when he takes guard, in my mind, is that as soon as he finishes marking, Eminem whispers in his head "Will the real Shahid Afridi please stand up" and pretty much every time Afridi responds with an ugly kitchen sink throw at the ball usually making the umpire set the stumps again for the next bat. Yesterday, however, Afridi kept sitting to Eminem's calls and played like we have begged him to for almost two decades to no effect.

When the adrenaline from that nerve wreck of a match settles, probably somewhere down the years, Afridi himself will wonder how different his career would have been had he approached every innings like yesterday? He had everything on his side, age, luck, fan following, energy, opportunity to be the Leonidas to our Sparta, yet more often than not he responded to his "real slim shady" call and sadly for a career spanning 16 years (and counting), that one thing never changed.

Pakistan's Favourite Journey; The See-Saw Road
How often has Pakistan proven that Pakistan is the adrenaline to the body of Cricket? It wasn't the fact that the iconic Bollywood actor/director Farhan Akhtar was in the audience that the script of the match was more thrilling than a James Patterson top seller, the only real explanation probably was that, "that's how we roll".

The fact that you don't know which side of Pakistan will turn up on a day makes them a dangerous opponent. It's a flaw that has been so ingrained in our existence that it now appears as a tactic, an approach, a usual way, a "just something we do".

The Hafeez Ritual
Performing against India in Asia Cups has become part of the package that Hafeez brings now along with his trademark LBW wicket of an Indian opener in the unorthodox bowling spell of opening the innings. Last time it was 105 and Gambhir LBW in 1st over, yesterday it was 75 and Dhawan LBW in 3rd over.

Kohli, The Captain, Arrives
Though he has lost 2 matches as skipper, to the noticing eye, Kohli has shown traits of a brave, innovative and adventurous skipper, hinting at interesting times ahead for Indian.

Shuffling the bowlers for 1-2 over spells, keeping Ashwin for the 50th over, not using the 5th bowler, when three of the used 5 were not doing as expected. These are signs of a leader who is not afraid to try unorthodox methods, who has the guts to take bold decisions in tough situations and make them work. A leader with such abilities and guts has traditionally brought the best out of average teams (Imran Khan in 92WC) and India certainly being above average can probably hope for a secure future post Dhoni.

Arrived later than sooner but arrived in style, Brendon McCullum

2014-02-18T04:08:00.001-08:00

Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Aquib

2013-01-10T09:48:00.002-08:00

Performance of various Pakistan Cricket Captains

2011-12-06T07:10:00.001-08:00

The stats are valid up to December 05, 2011

Pakistan's performance under Misbah-ul-Haq as Captain ... (Continued 18/02/2014)

Overall performance and performance against various countries.

Cricket Injuries [Not for the faint hearted]

2011-09-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

[Brendon McCullum had to retire hurt for treatment after getting hit on the nose by a short ball from Brett Lee, Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat, Big Bash League, SCG, December 16, 2011]

[Keegan Meth of Zimbabwe after being hit directly on face on his follow through]

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Rilee Rossouw Injury From Lasith Malinga SLPL

English Cricket Structure

2011-08-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Shoaib & Sachin Lookalikes ...

2011-04-17T15:55:00.001-07:00

WC 2011, The End, A fanatic's tale

2011-03-31T07:21:00.001-07:00

I am a Pakistan and cricket fanatic and I feel like I am dead. I can't describe the feeling I am going through but the closest I felt like this was when I lost a closed one in their match against life. Some of you might now conclude I am sick, I maybe but I am in pain and it hurts so badly that I wish everything just ends now and at this exact moment. There are scars that a fanatic takes to grave, 96 quarter final loss, 99 final loss, 2003 early exit and yesterday are a few such scars that you know are for lifetime because the pain of their wounds when inflicted tells you exactly that.

So we lost the much anticipated semi-final to India and it is even hard for me to put into words how difficult it is for me to write this sentence even though it has been almost 24 hours since it happened. I am now at my workplace but finding it literally impossible to do any work, the pain is unbearable so I hope writing something down might sooth some of it.

The anticipation to the 30th March match pretty much started as soon as the India-Pakistan semi final was realized. I don't know how much would you agree to it but being a die-hard Pakistan and cricket fanatic, from that moment onwards the usual symptoms of a fanatic panic attack started to appear one by one. Some of the symptoms include loss of productivity at work, playing and replaying of cricket and national songs and videos, occasional mood swings, frequent dreams about winning and losing scenarios, the constant and consistent rise in the heartbeat, the growing feeling that time is losing speed so on and forth. A fanatic suffers from all these symptoms and trust me they grow rapidly as the D-Day approaches. In the recent years the symptoms are often accompanied by emotional/motivational tweets and facebook status updates often turning into a cross-border-tweet fire. The profile pictures change to your flag or favorite player or favorite game memory.

Then the day arrives when India and Pakistan have to meet in the ground. The buildup to the final countdown varies from fan to fan, the optimists spread positive thoughts, the pessimists fade into corners praying to deny their forbidden thoughts and come out when they are proved wrong. I was the later kind, though I had my share of tweet bursts 24 or so hours before the match had to start but the last 24 hours they were painful. It is a pain you have bore if you are a fanatic, you are not sure of what you want, you don't want the time to fly you don't want it to stop either, you don't want the match to be abandoned you don't want it to be played either, you want to kill your forbidden thoughts and you don't want to be too optimistic either, you want to motivate everybody and you want somebody to motivate you too. It is so complex and torturing that for me it completely takes away my will and desire or appetite for food, sleep, study, work, move pretty much anything. The last 12 hours before the match started I took my Pakistan shirt out and then sat in a chair and stared at a screen (with occasional twitter updates) and I did that for straight 12 hours.

Then there is a brief patch between start of match transmission till players make it to the field that you breath a little easily. Perhaps because you have prepared enough over the past few days or perhaps you have surrendered to your positive or negative thoughts. In any case that patch is brief and the match starts soon. For this match, I watched the match outside Pakistan in a combined gathering of about 150 people with 3/4th Indians and 1/4th Pakistanis. The buildup was enormous, the moment you wear your country shirt you suddenly feel as you truly and deservedly represent it and have to take a stand for it, the goosebumps when somebody waves the flag in the crowd and the rush of blood when you see your heroes on the screen for the first time on that day its an intense mixture of adrenaline pumped joy and fear. The match started and I put up a flag next to the big screen and then roared in front of it facing a 3/4th opposition and it felt like I have just fulfilled the purpose of my existence. The match had its ups and downs which I don't want to think about right now, but the shouting and naray-baazi at every up and the shouting and naray-baazi in response to an "opposition's up" was tough to handle.

Towards the end some of us left the hall with the 4th Pakistani wicket and mostly left with the 5th or 6th wicket, the later you leave defines how strongly you feel the urge to support your team no matter what and believe in them till the last ball, all of which differentiates a fan from a die hard fan and a die hard fan from a fanatic, I left with the last ball because I knew from Afridi's face in that last over that his words would be emotional and painful and in terms of both emotions and pain I was full, I was overloaded, I was drowned making me perhaps not the most superlative fanatics, because they shed their first tears with the skipper apologizing to the nation, they choked with their skipper's last WC smile, they trembled as the skipper walked away. The journey as the team leaves is not new to a fanatic the hours you sit alone in silence, of which the early ones are the easiest because the pain hasn't yet settled, the thoughts and replays haven't yet started, the tears have helped with some calming but if you have been there once you know of what's coming. A tsunami of pain, anger, frustration, grief and loss takes you in and smashes you across its unlimited waves. You don't want to blame anybody or anything, you just want to not think or remember what just happened and that just proves the hardest thing to do. I haven't logged into twitter or facebook since yesterday, I haven't checked cricinfo, I haven't checked the newspapers, I have avoided gatherings and people where I would be asked questions or made fun of for being such a girl that I cry over cricket matches but having done all that I understand that there is no shortcut to this long road to recovery. It will take its time and toll, it wouldn't be any less painful then its predecessors and I will have to walk through all of it and at the end of the road I will have two options either to quit being a fanatic or wear the green jersey that hangs at the entrance of the other path and says "I am prepared for the next encounter", and that my friend is a difficult choice yet it always seems easier to wear the green jersey then quitting.

So I will suffer, I will bleed, I will suffocate, I will cry, I will lose hope, send me all the pain you can "semi-final" for I am sure that I will lick my wounds and get up sooner than later. I wore the green jersey yesterday and that I didn't do for no reason and that came with a responsibility that said no matter how difficult times will be or how painful the loses will be, I the proud wearer of this green shirt will survive through all the suffering the game has to send towards me yet I promise that I will rise again and I will roar again and I will have my share of joy and revenge because thats what my heroes have always done. They have risen to glories from the ashes of destruction and this association that I have with them I don't deserve it if I give up today or ever. There is no shortcut to this pain you are feeling but revenge, which we will have sooner than later but till we have it we keep our wounds sacred and fresh we protect them by scratching them when they start to heal, we bleed to know we bleed green.

So Team Pakistan and Shahid Afridi we are grateful to you all for putting up a brave effort, no doubt you could have done better but that is not the question anymore, the question perhaps is that given your circumstances and resources would any other team in the world have produced such an effort and this question my dearest beloved team needs no answer. As a matter of fact we the fans apologize to you for making things so difficult for you but we promise we will do better. We apologize to you on behalf of Ijaz Butt, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, we apologize to you on behalf of Rehman Malik and every other person who created difficulties for you and we are proud you conquered them all.

So in this difficult time we stand together so that we rise together, there is no shortcut but I will be at the other end of this dark tunnel and I will be bleeding yet I will be bleeding green and that is how it will always be.

Team Pakistan you are my first love, I am a proud Pakistan and cricket fanatic and no loss can beat me ever.

Cricket WAGs

2011-03-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Michael Clarke & Girlfriend Kyly Boldy

AB Devilliers & Girlfriend

Mahela Jayawardene & wife

Alistair Cook (England) weds childhood girlfriend Alice Hunt

Shane Warne (Aus) with girlfriend Liz Hurley

Shahid Afridi (Pak) with Wife Nadia Afridi

Misbah & Wife

Imran Tahir (SA) with Wife

Hashim Amla's wife and Graeme Smith's maiden

Match 6: Back to the Future, Pakistan vs Australia

2011-03-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Pakistan 178 for 6 (Shafiq 46, Umar 44*, Lee 4-28) beat Australia 176 (Haddin 42, Gul 3-30)

Pakistan were the last team to overcome Australia at a World Cup and it was they who brought Ricky Ponting's 34-match unbeaten run with a four-wicket victory in Colombo to secure top spot in Group A. An impressive display in the field laid the foundations as the reigning champions were bundled out for 176 on a difficult surface, their lowest total in a World Cup since 1992, and despite a mighty effort from Brett Lee Pakistan were guided home by Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq.

Despite not having either team's progression at stake, the final group positions determine quarter-final opposition while momentum is also a factor. Both teams were hyped for the contest, and it came to an early head when Umar and Brad Haddin almost came to blows in the field. Australia were desperate not to relinquish a proud record dating back to May 23, 1999.

Shoaib Akhtar Retires from International Cricket

2011-03-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

[Press Conference Picture]

[ Audio files for his press conference ]

Match 5: Back on track? Pakistan vs Zimbabwe

2011-03-14T16:02:00.001-07:00

33rd Match, Group A: Pakistan v Zimbabwe at Pallekele - Mar 14, 2011

Zimbabwe 151/7 (39.4/39.4 ov); Pakistan 164/3 (34.1/38 ov)

Pakistan won by 7 wickets (with 23 balls remaining) (D/L method)

Match 4: Reality Bites, Pakistan vs New Zealand

2011-03-14T16:01:00.001-07:00

24th Match, Group A: New Zealand v Pakistan at Pallekele - Mar 8, 2011

New Zealand 302/7 (50 ov); Pakistan 192 (41.4 ov)

New Zealand won by 110 runs

Match 3: The Winning Spree, Pakistan vs Canada

2011-03-14T16:00:00.001-07:00

17th Match, Group A: Canada v Pakistan at Colombo (RPS) - Mar 3, 2011

Pakistan 184 (43 ov); Canada 138 (42.5 ov)

Pakistan won by 46 runs

#Fakmal The Akmal always in search of Ball/s never finding any ...

2011-03-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

[Epic] Ireland vs. England, WC 2011

2011-03-02T18:31:00.001-08:00

Match 2, So far so good, Pakistan beat SriLanka, CWC 2011

2011-02-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

Anyone out there who still thinks Pakistan are not dangerous contenders for the World Cup? With tremendous poise and skill in the middle overs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, to a strong 277, before Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akthar produced bits of magic to derail the chase. Chamara Silva threatened to pull off a thrilling heist with a flurry of boundaries, and Nuwan Kulasekara made one heroic last-ditch effort to reduce the equation to 18 runs from the final over. Umar Gul, however, held his nerve to steer Pakistan home and end a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket in Colombo

CWC 2011 - Pakistan vs. Kenya

2011-02-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with a comfortable win against Kenya. Pakistan looked comfortable throughout apart from the first 10 overs where the WC newcomers Ahmed Shehzad and Muhammad Hafeez were overpowered by world cup pressure and nerves. They never seemed to overpower their nerves and left Pakistan 20-2 in about 8 overs, but since then onwards it was an easy ride with Misbah (65), U Akmel (71) and Afridi (5 wkts), a WC record for a skipper, starring.

Pakistan Kit World Cup 2011

2011-02-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Really disappointing, almost everything, wtf was the idea behind an awkwardly weird, extra slim, extra long moon and a tiny misplaced star ...

really disappointing ...

Butt, Asif & Amir receive bans from ICC

2011-02-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

The NOTW sting operation resulted match fixing trio (Salman, Amir and Asif) received the verdict from ICC today after the hearing ended last month.

Salman Butt - 10 years ban (5 suspended)
Mohammad Asif - 07 years ban (5 suspended)
Mohammad Amir - 05 years ban (0 suspended)

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif & Mohammad Amir receive bans from ICC

2011-02-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif & Mohammad Amir receive bans from ICC

2011-02-05T11:48:00.001-08:00

Pakistan won ODI series in NZ after 16 years

2011-02-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Pakistan won the series 3-2 (L,W,W,W,L)

Watch Aus vs Eng 5th ODI Live

2011-01-29T19:44:00.000-08:00