1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

That will be a big mistake IMHO. Ajmal is poor against lefties, remember Hussey and besides Rehman is bowling very well, is a better fielder and batsman, i wouldnt risk Ajmal.

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

you know, even that lad Bishoo has potential. He was bowling quite disciplined

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Pakistanis play spin well, but you are right in that Bishoo's bowling has been pretty impressive.

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Thanks for sharing....

So now I fully understand your posts....and why they appear so tough ....you actually have an anxiety disorder and thats why when you see conflict you either post adversely or shut the door.

Let me tell you a trick - When Pakistan starts loosing....remember its just a GAME.......

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Awwww… we’ll miss you here! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

I will be at work during the first innings but i plan to finish my work early and beg my colleagues to let me leave.

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Saeed Ajmal has become too predictable…can take a wicket or 2 but will concede lots of runs…and he is poor with bat too…so Rehman can take a wicket or 2…concedes less runs and can bat a bit too…so Rehman’s preferrence is better over Ajmal this time… :jhanda: :slight_smile:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

To beat…India first have to win from Australia…not an easy task though…lol

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

I think…Pakistan will stick to the same composite they played against Australia… :jhanda: :slight_smile: and again Good Luck to Pakistan… :jhanda: :slight_smile:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Pakistan’s bowling variety allows extra batsman

   With the kind of  choice he has, each bowling change Shahid Afridi makes has ensured that  batsmen are unable to fall into the kind of rhythm they thrive on. On  the pitches of the subcontinent, that is often a winning ploy
       Osman Samiuddin in Mirpur

March 22, 2011

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/129500/129569.2.jpg

Through their unexpectedly smooth progress to the quarter-finals, the one question that has been asked of Pakistan repeatedly has been about the balance of the side. The Akmal brothers and Shoaib Akhtar hijacked matters temporarily, but the only on-field issue has been whether Pakistan have been playing a specialist bowler short to guard against the insecurities about its batting.
On the surface, much of the uneasiness about the combination is an instinctive, intangible one, a knee-jerk reaction to years of Pakistan sides geared around the bowling. No Pakistan team ever plays a bowler short, do they? It gives this combination initially a defensive feel, designed to make sure they can cover the weaknesses in their batting by taking from the strength of their bowling. And Pakistan play best when they are the aggressor, when they have specialists doing what specialists are meant to do.
In the loss to New Zealand, when Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib and Abdur Rehman bowled the last four, pivotal overs, the folly of this strategy came through. Chasing 300-plus subsequently, it wouldn’t have made a difference whether they had six, seven or eleven batsmen in the side. Razzaq, who is a vital but underused component of this strategy, made a half-century at No 8, an effort lost on the game.
But after the win against Australia, a revision was in order and the true intent of what Pakistan have been trying to do seeped through. The comfort of Razzaq at eight was, after all, designed precisely for the kind of small innings he played against Australia, an unbeaten 20 that soothed frayed nerves. More tellingly, his two wickets earlier in the day meant Pakistan’s attack looked just as Pakistan’s attack is meant to look.
Though not conclusive either way, five wins in six games means the dilemma doesn’t matter so much right now. And it matters even less because the attack they have played with, a bowler short or not, has actually done so well. “The way our boys have bowled in this competition has been amazing,” Shahid Afridi said, with some justification ahead of Wednesday’s quarter-final in Mirpur with West Indies. “All the credit [for our progress] goes to them for that. [Umar] Gul, Rehman, [Mohammad] Hafeez, Razzaq all have been bowling very well, Wahab [Riaz] as well.”
They are joint-third on the list of team wicket-takers in the tournament, behind South Africa and India and equal with their quarter-final opponents. But for a rain-curtailed game against Zimbabwe, in which they bowled less than 40 overs, they would likely be higher. They also have the top wicket-taker and joint-fourth top wicket-taker of the competition in Afridi and Gul; the latter is the form paceman currently in the world.
But for variety, they are unmatched. In the first-choice XI they have played in the previous two games, they have every modern-day bowling option you can imagine. They have a right-arm fast bowler, a left-arm fast bowler (and both are fast, not fast-medium or some such dilution), a left-arm spinner, an offspinner, a legspinner, a right-arm medium-pacer; save for the chinaman, each and every angle is covered here. They have new ball wicket-takers, old ball reverse-swingers, death-over specialists, choking spinners through the middle, attacking ones through the same.
Just in case of injury or form, they have Shoaib’s pace, Saeed Ajmal’s off-spin and Junaid Khan’s left-arm angle as back-up. So well-stocked have they been with options, they’ve even opened with spin, something they hadn’t done in 13 years before this, and with some success.
And Razzaq apart, each and every one of them have done precisely what they have been asked to, and done it consistently. Hafeez has bowled nearly six overs a game and been miserly (only 4.08 runs per over conceded). He’s picked up big wickets regularly, including Ricky Ponting and Upul Tharanga in the two biggest group games. Rehman has gone for only 4.42 an over, building a hurried and sustained pressure at one end.
These are the sweats, not the glory-seekers.
With this kind of choice, each bowling change Afridi makes has ensured that batsmen are unable to fall into the kind of rhythm they thrive on. Each change has brought a change of pace, a change of angle, a change in the degrees of turn to account for; in short, a different challenge.
On the pitches of the subcontinent, that is often a winning ploy.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/story/507514.html](http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/story/507514.html#comments)

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Go Green shirts go!!! :jhanda:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Bhai mere .... This is my (and probably many others) main masla :(

Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst ..... After all it's just an game isn't it :D :(

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Nice assist! Now, how much do you charge for on-line consultation?

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

If Chanderpaul is playing,Pakistan need not worry abt any score .Chand wills core 30 off 100 balls and put W.I under pressure.

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Tomrrow's Prediction

If Pakistan Bats first:
Pakistani openers will start off with a decent partnership but will succumb to West Indies bowlers. The Middle Order will suffer some stupid outs, but the lower half will stabilize with Afridi coming through big time. Pakistan will score between 260-280 runs.

West Indies will start off disastrously but middle order will stabilize things and build up a good partnership but the run rate will be low due to stifling Pakistani bolwing. Akthar will take some big wickets. West Indies will be all out by 220 by the 45th over.

If West Indies Bats first:
West Indies will get off to a good start but will lose their openers in quick succession by the 10th over. The middle order will have no answer to Pakistani bowling attack with 1 or 2 players emerging to stabilize the run rate. West Indies will be all out by 180-200 by the 45th over.

Pakistan will get to a mediocre start with batsmen again failing to score big runs. West Indies bowling will slowly chew away at Pakistani batting line up. The Middle order will get things going with some 4 and 6 and Afridi coming through on some major runs, scoring above 50. Pakistan will squeak by in the 48th or 49th over to win a close contest.

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Go Green :k:

:jhanda: :jhanda: :jhanda: :jhanda:

off to bed early to wake up @ 4

:wave:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Hayyee I am so excited can I ask again does someone has link for that :bummer:

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Remember this Nazia Hassan song!

‘Dil Bolay Boom Boom’

One of my closest friends is from Delhi, but the country closest to my heart is Pakistan, therefore when it comes to the game of cricket, I want that the Cricket World Cup be lifted by nobody else but by Boom Boom Man. Sorry dost, I do not mean to imply like Brutus to Caesar ‘it’s not that I love you less, but I love Rome more’, but simply that I would prefer that you stay away from the world cup, Ms. Tripathi
If there is only one thing Gora Sahib did correctly, it has to be the game of cricket. It is popularly believed that cricket evolved from a sport that was played by the house of King Edward I in the 1300s. It was played on low sheep pastures and the batsman’s job was to defend the sheep fence gate. Hence, I assume, the shape of the wicket and the bales that need to be defended in the modern day game.
The game has managed to survive for more than half-a-millennium, but then so has the English monarchy, making it one of the older games in the sports arena. My research lead me to believe that baseball brings its seeds from an, ‘old English game of rounder’s and its cousin, the more formal and genteel game of cricket.’ Ah, cricket is a formal game, no wonder high tea with biscuits and cucumber sandwiches partners well with it.
Come this world cup I decided to watch a match with Ritu over a cup of tea and some homemade French biscuits, ‘hey, I think we‘ve come to a point in our dosti where we can watch a cricket match together, say what?’
‘Maybe, which country yours or mine?’ she asked.
‘You tell me?’
‘I’m thinking India, maybe Pakistan, nahi yaar, neither. What do you think?’
I thought for a moment, and out came, ‘let’s watch India play South Africa,’ or ‘maybe not’ said the righteous little lady sitting on my right shoulder, ‘what if it compromises your friendship,’. I looked sharply to my right no one there, and then came a familiar voice from the left, ‘duplicity, the art of true friendship, learn it and exploit it, it’ll do you good. You must watch it together because India will lose giving you the opportunity to do splits in your head with a forlorn expression.’
I hesitantly listened to the voice on the left, I pondered for a moment and smoothly said, ‘Dear friend Ritu, because I consider you my friend I will graciously chose to watch an Indian match with you. I promise to enjoy it. ‘
Come Friday night, I packed my little bag and snaked to Ritu’s door. Once settled on the comfortable lounger I munched papri, nibbled French biscuits, sipped a delicious cup of tea and waited for my friend to lose steam, sounds devious and fun. ‘No guilt, all’s fair in love, war and sports,’ was my mantra for the night.
Hour to game time, I tried to occupy myself with magazines, B4U, CNN, the tsunami, idle chitchat, but nothing worked. Gnawing guilt, the voice on my right and the devil inside kept playing a game of hide and go seek. Who do I pay heed to? I felt like Hamlet.
Come game time my mind was consumed, so many conflicting thoughts, I felt like I was in an old Indian movie where the camera is spinning around the protagonist and there are loud conflicting voices coming from all directions. I needed some air.
Once outside I took some deep breaths and walked towards the edge of the railing. The view was mesmerizing, my friend’s house sits atop a hill and the whole city sparkled from below. The quiet night, absolute silence and then I heard it, the sound that gave me clarity, the solo of a little cricket, a brief pause, and then another solo cricket song from a different direction. The two then started croaking a duet! I had my answer.
My dear friend I need to leave. The simple fact, I want Pakistan to win the World Cup, it gives me real pleasure. I enjoy seeing India lose a cricket match, but it gives me real displeasure to see you sad, this is a contradiction in emotion but no hypocrisy, no duplicity. Therefore let me walk away lighthearted with a smile in my heart and joy sans guilt.
The next Pakistan match is tomorrow. I have learnt my lesson, I shall enjoy this one with a group of Pakistanis, no guilt, no complicated emotions, just one Nazia Hassan song — Dil bolay boom, boom.

http://blog.dawn.com/2011/03/22/dil-bolay-boom-boom/

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

:D

On a serious note...do you think Pakistan can chase a big total against this WI bowling attack?

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Re: 1st Quarter-Final: Pakistan v West Indies at Mirpur, Wed March 23

Thanks for sharing :k: