^Plus PAF's F-16s would be patrolling the skies during the matches. :)
Seriously, all this dramabaajee for a cricket series. Why not just call it off.. or take it some place else...
P.S: I have a feeling Tendulkar is going to excuse himself from this tour. I do not see any other player following suit though. How I wish Agarkar's family could pursuade him not to go !
Do you want us to start a “Agarkar stay at home campaign on KK”
LoL That would be fun.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Some1: *
How I wish Agarkar's family could pursuade him not to go !
[/QUOTE]
Just email him with the msg, 'you are harkat-ul-mischiefs prime target'.
Could you cc it to nehra too?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by karina: *
Just email him with the msg, 'you are harkat-ul-mischiefs prime target'.
Could you cc it to nehra too?
[/QUOTE]
Now where is that email address of Sachin's.
oo yaar hum bhi to gae thay na jub ball thakray sahab dhumkiyoon per dhumkiyoon de rahay thay…muger inhein to kisi ne koi dhamki nahien di phir kahay ka durna…i think they relize that its easy for them to win from aussies in australia but very difficult to win from paki tigers in Pakistan…Allah help us in giving white wash to india…Ameen
We can beat Pakistan: Ganguly
Wisden Cricinfo staff
February 16, 2004
With the Indian government having given the go-ahead for the tour of Pakistan, Sourav Ganguly insisted that it was one that he and his players would look forward to. Speaking to the Mid-Day newspaper in Mumbai, Ganguly said, “Most of the team members have not played any Test cricket in Pakistan. So we are kind of keen to go there.” Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, who made his debut there in 1989, none of the Indians have played a Test match in Pakistan.
The go-ahead for the tour came last Saturday after intense media speculation that the home ministry would seek a postponement until after India’s parliamentary elections were completed in May.
Ganguly had been quoted earlier as having concerns about the security, but he appeared to be satisfied following the visit of a three-member BCCI delegation last week, one of whom was a security expert from the home ministry.
There had also been much innuendo about several top players skipping the tour, but Ganguly suggested that wouldn’t be the case. “I will not force anybody to come,” he said. “If any cricketer is concerned about security in Pakistan, I think we should accept that.” According to Mid-Day, All the senior players they spoke to, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, were prepared to make the trip.
Ganguly’s biggest headache will be putting together a penetrative bowling attack, with several frontline bowlers nursing injuries. Harbhajan Singh will miss the tour, having had surgery on his bowling hand just over a month ago, while Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble are doubtful with shin and shoulder injuries respectively. And it remains to be seen whether Zaheer Khan will recover in time from the hamstring injury that cut short his Australian tour.
“I think if we go at full strength, we can beat Pakistan,” said Ganguly. “Pakistan will be formidable rivals at home. We have to seriously think about the fitness of the bowlers. We should go with an off-spinner. In the absence of Harbhajan, we should find one off-spinner who can produce big turn.”
The itinerary for the tour has yet to be finalised, and it’s understood that the Indians aren’t too thrilled with the prospect of having to play in Karachi and Peshawar. The Indian squad will be finalised later this month, and it’s expected that the players will assemble for a short training camp before crossing the border.
i pray to God that the Indian team arrives safely, has a warm and endearing time, departs safely and gets trounced by Pakistan in all the matches, Ameen.
Pakistani Islamic parties promise trouble-free Indian cricket tour](http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/040216/323/em4ei.html)
KARACHI (AFP) - Key Pakistani Islamic parties have hailed resumption of cricketing ties between Pakistan and India and promised a trouble-free tour aimed at fostering people-to-people contacts.
“We believe there is nothing wrong if the two countries resume sports links, particularly cricket,” the main fundamentalist party, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), said.
“Our political stand is very clear on Kashmir, but we welcome the Indian team in Pakistan as we have welcomed the Indian parliamentarian and other social groups,” JI spokesman Sarfraz Ahmed told AFP on Monday.
“Pakistanis are peace loving people, they love cricket and will not create any problem for visitors.”
India’s radical Hindu party Shiv Sena, credited with digging up a pitch at New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground just before India snapped cricketing ties with Pakistan in 1999, on Monday opposed the resumption of the sporting links saying it harmed national security.
"Politics and sports are two different things. We are not even against dialogue with India, " said Ahmed whose party backs a Kashmiri struggle against Indian rule.
“I don’t play cricket and I don’t know cricket. Most of our activists were not aware of the game, but if peace between the two countries can come through cricket why not,” spokesman for the hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Qari Usman said.
A three-member Indian security team after a visit to Pakistan last week expressed some reservations over the longer stay in southern port city of Karachi and the northwestern city of Peshawar, on the border with Afghanistan.
The proposed itinerary includes a Test match in Peshawar and one Test and a one-day game in Karachi.
The six party Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) which heads the government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and provincial cricket association have requested Pakistan Cricket Board not to relocate the Peshawar Test.
“The people of NWFP would be disappointed if the match is not played there,” Usman said.
India is due to play three Tests and five one-day games on their first tour of Pakistan in 15 years.
The Indian government on Saturday cleared the tour, the final programme of which is due in two days.
The two countries Monday, began three-day peace talks, first in more than two years, in a cordial atmosphere to improve bilateral ties following a landmark summit between Indian and Pakistani leaders last month.
dream on gulli’ u won’t beat us @ home in ur wildest of dreams!!! if wat gulli’ is saying is true then that’s gr8 news for pak, habaju’ missing, anil kumble also missing hopefully, kumble was the main destroyer for india against pak in 1998/1999 test series in india, he took 21 wickets in 2 test matches, closely followed by saqi with 20 wickets. so yes there’s an advantage. with ajit and zaheera hopefully missing 2 we have a gr8 chance against a weak indian side.
LUC, I would rather they came with their full strength team and lost, that would be nice.
^^ i agree with Ehsan bhai, it wont be fun with thier frontline players.
Sadqay jaiyay iss la-ilmi pe! 
A tale of two HINDU marriages :
Laxman's in India AND Kaneria's in Pak
[thumb=E]laxman1284_5583990.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=E]kaneria1284_3948866.JPG[/thumb]
Congratulations to both. The question is will they be concentrating on the upcoming series now or will their thoughts be elsewhere. :D
Thx for the pics Some1.
India reassure players](BBC SPORT | Cricket | India players 'yes to tour')
Dalmiya says he is happy with security arrangements in Pakistan
Indian cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya says his players will be excused from touring Pakistan if they decide to withdraw because of security concerns.
Officials hope to confirm the itinerary for India’s first full tour of Pakistan for 14 years this week.
But Dalmiya insisted he would not force any player to go if they were concerned about the threat of terrorism.
“I will accept that. After all, we are going to play a game of cricket and we are not going to fight a war,” he said.
"It is not mandatory that one has to go. To perform at the optimum level it is important that the player is physically and mentally tuned to his optimum.
"Therefore, unless he is feeling good and free, he will not be able to perform so we don’t like any player to go under pressure.
"But remember that not a single player has come forward. It is speculation in the media but no one who has talked to me has said they were in doubt.
“All the players are precious to us. At this juncture, if anyone wants to come to us and say that he is feeling uncomfortable, we would say ‘OK, it doesn’t matter’.”
No one has told me that he’s not going - but some players may still have problems
India captain Sourav Ganguly
A security delegation sent to Pakistan by the Board of Control for Cricket in India has now returned home.
Their findings have still to be discussed by the BCCI, but delegation member Ratnakar Shetty said they had not asked for any venue changes.
The proposed itinerary includes Tests in Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi, and five one-day internationals.
“The security official who accompanied us will submit his report to the home ministry on Tuesday, following which the Indian cricket board will also meet to finalise the schedule,” said Shetty.
But it cannot be rubber-stamped until BCCI president Dalmiya returns from London, where he is attending an International Cricket Council meeting.
Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Sami-ul-Hasan told the BBC, meanwhile, that security experts might be permitted to accompany the Indian squad.
“This issue was discussed with the visiting Indian delegation in Lahore,” he said.
Full details for the tour, including security, will be incorporated in a memorandum of understanding being finalised by the two cricket boards.
The tour was given the final go-ahead last weekend by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after days of speculation regarding security concerns.
And team captain Sourav Ganguly has said he expects a full-strength team to make the trip.
“No one has told me that he’s not going, but some players may still have problems.” said Ganguly.
“If some of them choose to make themselves unavailable because of security concerns, we will have to respect that.”
Indian delegation rejects Tests at Karachi, Peshawar
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI: The Indian delegation that returned home on Monday from Lahore has conveyed to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that it would not prefer to play Test matches at Karachi and Peshawar.
Sources in the Board said although the venues for the Indian team’s tour in March-April are yet to be finalized but the Indian officials had indicated to the Chairman that they would prefer not to play Tests at these two venues and instead stick to just One-day Internationals.
Karachi and Peshawar were also shunned by the touring South African and New Zealand teams in recent months because of security concerns. But a board official said on condition of anonymity that the PCB was keen to have a Test at Karachi although it might agree to the Indian suggestion to have a One-dayer in Peshawar instead of a Test match as planned earlier. “The Indians objection at playing a Test in Peshawar is basically that the stadium does not have proper facilities to host a match of longer duration. But about Karachi their argument is that having the Indian team stay in Karachi for a period of over a week would be a security risk,” he said.
The PCB has planned to have the third Test in Karachi followed by the first One-day International which means that the Indians are supposed to stay in Karachi for over 10 days given the rest days also.
“Basically the Indians want their team to remain in Karachi for a shorter duration of time and this means that if the PCB is keen to have a Test and ODI in Karachi it would have to break both matches instead of having the tourists play them in succession,” the official said.
The Board has already shifted the three-day tour opener from Karachi to Multan. The first Test is also confirmed at Lahore. The official confirmed that the Indian board would not be able to confirm and convey their itinerary requirements before Friday because their President Jagmohan Dalmiya was abroad.
“Which means by the time the Indians get back to us and we discuss and finalize the itinerary it will be early next week,” the official said.
The one problem facing the PCB is that if the Indians insist on not playing tests at Karachi and Peshawar, it would restrict the choice of venues for the three tests to just Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.
And the last two cities also have problems with limited facilities for players, officials and the media at the stadium while in Faisalabad the quality accommodation is also not enough to host the large contingent of people and media corps expected for the series.
The stadium in Multan is excellent but again there is an accommodation problem there.
Oh no, what is the pcb going to do now? They can't have 2 test matches in one venue, can they?
I would wait until this appears in a more credible paper.
Some1 where abouts did dani-nani get married!