Lately I have noticed cricinfo basically copying and pasting from esp. Dawn and Dailytimes websites. I mean literally word for word!!
I was expecting better from them. Whats worse they don’t even acknowledge the original source!!
Talk about ‘sasti’ journalism. Make of it what you will…
(cricinfo today)
Former players question team composition
Former Pakistan players have blamed the side’s unexpected loss to Sri Lanka in the Galle Test on poor team composition, with Moin Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz questioning the absence of Fawad Alam, a left-hand batsman who also bowls left-arm spin, from the XI.
“[Alam] scored 80 odd runs in the warm-up game, he’s also an excellent fielder and a player who can also bowl left-arm spin, I fail to understand why he was left out,” Moin, a former captain, told AP.
Pakistan were set 168 to win the Test and began day four needing 97 with eight wickets in hand. They proceeded to lose all eight for 46 runs in the first session.
Former fast bowler Sarfraz criticised captain Younis Khan’s decision to bring himself on in the first session of the Test and said key bowlers Abdul Razzaq and Danish Kaneria had been left out. “I was watching the [batting] collapse on television and told myself ‘maybe its just a dream, the real match will begin afterwards,’” Nawaz said. “It was unbelievable the way our batting collapsed, I was not expecting such a performance. Where was Abdul Razzaq, where was Fawad Alam, where was Danish Kaneria?”
Ijaz Ahmed, the former Pakistan batsman, said there was a psychological problem with the side’s batsmen when it came to chasing small totals and suggested a batting coach. “Both coaches [Intikhab Alam and Aaqib Javed] are bowlers so it leaves only captain Younis Khan and… vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq to guide other batsmen,” Ijaz told Geo TV. “I think we should have a batting coach who can teach the finer points of the game to our batsmen.”
http://www.cricinfo.com/slvpak2009/content/current/story/413259.html
(Dailytimes last night)
Wrong team picked, says former Test cricketers
*By Rizwan Ali *
ISLAMABAD: Sarfraz Nawaz and Moin Khan were among a host of former Test cricketers who blamed bad team selection for Pakistan’s stunning 50-run loss to Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the first Test at Galle. “Where was Abdul Razzaq, where was Fawad Alam, where was Danish Kaneria?” asked ex-Test fast bowler Nawaz. All three of those Pakistan players watched from sidelines as the batting order succumbed to disciplined Sri Lankan bowlers for a paltry 117 in the last innings – chasing modest 168-run for victory on Tuesday. Pakistan were in sight of victory when play resumed with two days remaining, needing just 97 runs to overhaul the victory target with eight wickets in hand.
However, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (4-15) and seamer Thilan Thushara (2-21) hurried the Pakistan collapse and the visitors lost their last eight wickets for meager 47 runs to be bowled out in the second innings.
“I was watching the (batting) collapse on television and told myself ‘maybe its just a dream, the real match will begin afterwards,”’ Nawaz said. “It was unbelievable the way our batting collapsed, I was not expecting such a performance.” Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who led his country to victory in the Twenty20 World Cup in England last month, had to come on to bowl before lunch on the first day of the test match. The move surprised Nawaz. “It shows that you haven’t done your homework and left out two of your key bowlers,” Nawaz said, referring to Kaneria and Razzaq.
Another former Test captain Moin blamed poor team composition and said left-handed batsman Alam should have been included in the XI. “Alam scored 80 odd runs in the warm-up game, he’s also an excellent fielder and a player who can also bowl left-arm spin, I fail to understand why he was left out,” Moin said. It could have been highest run-chase at Galle International Stadium in 14 Test matches as the teams have struggled batting fourth at a venue which was completely rebuilt after the Tsunami struck Sri Lanka in 2004. “There is some psychological problem with our batsmen as we have struggled to achieve small totals in Test matches for quite a long time now,” another former Test batsman Ijaz Ahmed told Geo Television.
Ahmed suggested Pakistan’s batting needed to be fine-tuned and the Pakistan Cricket Board should hire a specialist batting coach. Presently Pakistan team coaches are former Test leg-spinner Intikhab Alam and ex-Test medium fast bowler Aaqib Javed.
“Both coaches are bowlers so it leaves only captain Younis and somewhat vice-captain Misbahul Haq to guide other batsmen,” Ahmed said. “I think we should have a batting coach who can teach the finer points of the game to our batsmen.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\08\story_8-7-2009_pg2_9
