Chacha Cricket – Pakistan`s Biggest Fan

 Chacha Cricket – translated from Urdu as ‘Uncle Cricket’ – is Pakistan’s most famous spectator.Dressed from head to toe in green, with a sequined star and crescent moon on his hat and a flag permanently in hand, he is to be found at every Pakistan match. Naturally, he won’t be missing the upcoming series in India either.

‘Yes I am arriving. I may miss the first ODI in Guwahati (Nov. 5) but will certainly be present at Mohali (on 8th November),’ he confirmed.

‘I have come to Lahore (from Sialkot) for my visa application and requested the board to sponsor my India trip. If they don’t, the ARY digital TV channel has promised me to make my trip possible,’ he added.

‘I shall be watching all remaining ODIs and Tests. I love Test matches better than one-dayers.’

Born in Sialkot, north-west Pakistan, the 60-year-old Abdul Jalil watched his first international match on the Colin Cowdrey tour of 1969. He has the reputation of being Pakistan’s number one fan, and since 2000 his trips have been sponsored by ‘well-wishers’.

Chacha first attracted media attention at Sharjah (he was a regular there too) while he was working at Abu Dhabi. He invariably lists Javed Miandad’s last ball six off Chetan Sharma as the best match he’s witnessed.

‘Chetan Sharma always rues the fact that I consider that match the best, but undoubtedly Miandad’s heroic effort can never be erased from memory.’

Chacha started to be recognised by other Pakistan fans and a cult soon developed around his patriotic slogans.

The saddest match for him is the India-Pakistan encounter during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

‘Pakistan capitulated without a fight and I was very depressed after that,’ he recalls.

‘Jive, Jive Pakistan,’ he chants – ‘Long live Pakistan.

‘My love is cricket – and happiness.’

ICL still part of Atapattu’s plans

Marvan Atapattu, who should be a certainty for the first Test, accepted an invitation from Sri Lanka’s sports minister to tour Australia only after checking his diary to make sure the trip didn’t interrupt his plans for November.

Atapattu has been approached by the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and if the unofficial tournament had been on track for the start of this month it is likely Atapattu would be in India instead of making polished runs in Brisbane.

Atapattu blames a breakdown in communication with the team management for his exclusion from the side since the World Cup and he was originally left out of the squad for Australia before the government intervention.

“This came along through the sports minister [Gamini Lokuge] who asked if I could go on the trip to Australia and my answer was: ‘Okay, I’ll go if that Australian trip fits into my plan.’ I am 37 and at this stage I cannot be here and there if I don’t have a plan. It’s the last days of my cricketing career so I have to have a plan.”

His plan in the three months before the recall did not involve holding a bat and he has not played since a stint for the English celebrity club Lashings five months ago. In June Atapattu rejected an offer to face Bangladesh because he had not appeared in any international games in the previous 18 months – due to a back injury and his problems with the selectors – and felt he was lacking in matchplay.

However, the condition did not apply for this trip and the poor preparation makes his form on the tour even more exciting. He enhanced his chances of playing in the first Test at the Gabba next Thursday by adding 48 in the first innings of the tour match against Queensland to the 56 he scored in Adelaide last week.

“A lot of things have happened,” Atapattu said. “They should not have happened like that. It’s out of my control, it’s the way it is and it’s how the system works. My focus is now to score runs given the chance. It will be that way till I leave Australia.”

Atapattu would have retired after the World Cup had he made an on-field contribution and he is unlikely to be a long-term prospect for the side. “I did not play a game in the World Cup and that was not the road I wanted to go out from in international cricket,” he said. “That’s the only reason I’m playing still.”

A move to the ICL is attractive for Atapattu, but it would mean an end to his international career as Sri Lanka plan to ban any of their players who join the league. “That’s one of the options I have when I have enough with these guys,” he said.

While his future is clouded, he is in no doubt over what a series victory over Australia would mean. “That would be the top of my list,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for us. We almost have everybody we’d want in a side to beat Australia. This is a great chance to try and capitalise on that.”

Don’t take Tendulkar lightly: Kaneria

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar might not evoke terror in the hearts of touring sides like his days of yore, but Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has warned his team not to take him lightly as the genius might just have a few points to prove in the forthcoming series.

“He may be getting on in years but he remains a master batsman and as far as I know, he would really be gritting his teeth to prove a point or two to us and to his critics,” said Kaneria.

Tendulkar faces heat ahead of series because of growing disenchantment of selectors, fans and media alike with Indian seniors, and with the youngsters proving their worth by winning the Twenty20 World Cup. The axing of Rahul Dravid will also put additional pressure on the seniors.

Kaneria, left out of Pakistan’s one-day squad but spearhead of their Test attack, also likes what he has seen of young guns such as Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa.

“Gambhir and Uthappa are two exciting young Indian batsmen. They look extremely positive and aggressive and are good understudy of Yuvraj Singh who now appears to have come of age,” stated Kaneria.

Kaneria also suspects that India would have slow pitches prepared to draw the teeth out of Pakistan’s fangled pace attack.

“That has been their strength and for sometime now, they are opting for two-spinner theory. If it was Harbhajan-Murali Kartik against Australia; it was Ramesh Powar-Piyush Chawla duo who worked well for them in England.”

Malik picks Yuvraj as the danger man

NEW DELHI: In what promises to be another high-profile series, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik brings to the media interaction a laidback calm — there is no bluster and seldom does he say anything that does not come out in measured tones.

If that is any indication of the kind of cricket his side intends to play, then India need be wary. The more expressive coach Geoff Lawson made it plain that the T20 final loss — which Malik termed as ‘history’ — still rankles the Pak team. “We have got a few scores to settle,” the Aussie asserted.

Pakistan are in the Capital for the fourth bilateral series between the two nations in as many years. They kick off with a warm-up game against the Delhi Ranji squad on Friday and then play five ODIs and three Tests through November. “It is always exciting to play against India. We love playing here and always look forward to coming to India,” said Malik. “There is no tension in coming to India. We speak urdu and so do you.”

Asked to pick out the most dangerous Indian batsman, Malik had no hesitation in naming Yuvraj Singh: “He is in good form at the moment and is definitely the danger man.” That the loss of Inzamam-ul-Haq has left a void in their middle order as of now was apparent in Malik’s admission that the former captains’s place “is yet to be filled up”. He once again asserted that Rahul Dravid “is a very good player and it is good for us that he is not playing”.

You have to keep knocking the door: Kaarthick

NEW DELHI: With even a senior batsman like Rahul Dravid being punished by selectors for loss of form, a comparatively rookie Dinesh Kaarthick seems to have taken his omission from the Indian team for the first two cricket one-dayers against Pakistan in his stride.

But Kaarthick is determined to stage a comeback in the team sooner than later; his mantra being ‘keep knocking at the door’.

The 22-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer struggled in his last 10 one-dayers, averaging 19.33 with a highest score of 44 not out, which cost him his place in the side. But he answered the selectors with a match-winning unbeaten 116 in the Challenger Trophy final just a day after the team was announced.

“You have to knock and knock on the door. Being picked or dropped is part and parcel of the game,” Kaarthick said.

Kaarthick, who had replaced Dravid for the final ODI against Australia in Mumbai but ended up with a duck, was not insecure about his position in the team.

“I don’t think about these things because it is the selectors’ job. My job is to play and I know I still have room for improvement. There are many areas I have to work on and I am working on them,” he said when asked if he was expecting a recall for the last three ODIs against Pakistan.

Dravid should stick to number 3 slot, says Chopra

GURGAON: Former off-spinner Nikhil Chopra feels Rahul Dravid, who was unceremoniously dropped recently, should stick to number three slot to cement his place in the Indian cricket team.

“He has to play at number three, if he wants to hold permanent place in the team,” Chopra said on Thursday on the sidelines of a golf programme at Unitech Karmal Lakelands Golf Course.

He said Dravid playing at one-down would also strengthen the team’s batting line-up.

“It would strengthen Indian batting order upto number five and six,” he added.

Chopra also said there should be some hidden reason behind former captain’s exclusion from the team for the upcoming first two one-dayers against Pakistan.

“I don’t think an experienced player like Rahul can be sacked only on the basis of his (non) performance in a couple of matches. There must be some reason which is beyond obvious,” he said.

Dravid was dropped from the team following a string of poor scored in last few ODIs.

Chopra, however, said the team was bolstered by the return of Virender Sehwag.

“I think the team is doing very well. It has become stronger after come back of (Virender) Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir while Pakistan’s batting is struggling at this time.”

Chopra also walked on ramp with Kapil Dev, the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indian Cricket League but dismissed suggestion of joining the rebel League.

“Just because Paji (Kapil) plays golf and so do I, we came here together,” he said.

Pakistan want no acrimony in India series

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Pakistan cricket coach Geoff Lawson said on Thursday he hoped the series against rivals India starting next week would be played without the acrimony that marred the home team’s recent one-dayers against Australia.

Pakistan’s team landed in Delhi on Thursday for the fourth bilateral series between the rival countries in the last four years amid tight security.

Skipper Shoaib Malik and Lawson said they were ready for the usual tension and wanted to avenge the Twenty20 World Cup loss.

“I think it is bigger than the Ashes,” Lawson told a news conference, referring to the renowned Test series between England and Australia. “It is a national rivalry and a little more than a cricket game.

“We tied a Twenty20 (league) game and lost in the final,” he said. “We’ve got a few scores to settle.”

The clash follows India’s 4-2 defeat by Australia in their one-day series last month which was marred by verbal clashes between rival players on and off the pitch and racial taunts from the stands aimed at Andrew Symonds.

INCIDENT-FREE CONTEST

Lawson hoped it would be as incident-free as the home series against South Africa which ended on Monday with the visitors clinching the test and one-day series.

“We just played a series against South Africa — very hard, tough, non-compromising cricket,” he said. “But there was not one bad word said between the teams.

“The series was played in a very fine spirit, as cricket should be. I hope this series is played in exactly the same style.

“We’ve got a captain who likes his players to behave properly on the field,” he said. “I’m pretty sure MS Dhoni likes his players to do the same.”

Malik said the teams were evenly matched despite Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif being sidelined with an elbow injury.

Pakistan play a warm-up one-day game on Friday against the Delhi Ranji team. The five-match one-day series starts on Monday and will be followed by three tests.

The teams have toured each other’s country annually since 2004 when India went on a full tour of Pakistan after a 14-year break due to political tensions between the two neighbours.

Pakistan looking to settle scores

The Pakistan cricket team, led by Shoaib Malik, arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening to a rousing reception at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Addressing a press conference later, the newly-appointed captain and Australian coach Geoff Lawson declared that the team wants to settle a few scores in India.

“Our defeat in the Twenty20 World Cup final is history and we are here to play a new series,” Malik said, while Lawson added that Pakistan would try to avenge the Twenty20 World Cup final defeat against India.

“We lost the final of Twenty20 World Cup to India, so we have some scores to settle,” he said. Asked what went wrong in the final overs in the Twenty20 World Cup final, Malik replied: “Twenty20 defeat in the final of the World Cup is history. That chapter is closed.”

Malik was effusive in his praise of the India’s batting, but singled out Yuvraj Singh, saying, “The manner in which he is playing is simply superb.”

He disclosed that there would be no replacement for fast bowler Asif, who had to opt out of the team because of arm injury.

“He will rejoin the team the moment his injury is heals,” he added. He and Lawson felt Shoiab Akhtar’s return to the team will strengthen the bowling attack but expressed hope that the controversial fast bowler, who is back in the side after a 13-match ban for indiscipline, would make himself more useful.

Talking about the problem of young captains, like him and his counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni, handling senior cricketers, Malik left Dhoni to fend for himself, saying he is comfortable the seniors in h is team.

“I have played with Shoaibbhai (Akhtar), (Mohammad) Yousuf and Younis (Khan) for a long time and we get along well. They have been very good to me and co-operated a lot. So I don’t see it as a problem.”

Asked whether India-Pakistan series are losing interest because of their frequency, Malik replied: “I don’t think so. The more we play, the better it is for us. Indo-Pak series is always very exciting and it’s a gentleman’s game. So the more it is, the better it is.”

He expressed happiness that the Pakistanis would not have to face former India captain Rahul Dravid as the latter has been dropped from the Indian squad for the first two ODIs.

He praised left-arm seamer R P Singh, saying, “He has emerged as an extraordinary bowler. His line, length and pace, everything has improved. He looks a different bowler altogether since we last played against him. Anyway, we have a plan in place to disturb his rhythm.”

Lawson stood by Misbah-ul Haq and Shahid Afridi and dismissed talk that both were out to reckless shots that cost Pakistan the Twenty20 World Cup final and recent series against South Africa.

“Well, without Misbah, we would not have reached the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in the first place. And Afridi, well, you know what kind of player he is. It’s not that they play reckless shot only. They have done something outstanding to reach from where they played those shots.”