Excellent points. Couldn’t have said it better. :k:
If this is the last match Akhtar played for Pakistan, I for one will not be very sad. Best of luck Shobby in your next venture. Try Punjabi films next. I heard Sultan Raahi died.
I don’t know. you tell us.
I don’t want him picked. if under his gorilla like exterior is the endurance of a 12 year old, he should do what he does best - sit out of crucial matches for good and change the crucial bit to all matches.
It’s funny now I remember the kinda BS he sprouted against the Ws last year. Reallly came back to bite him in the ass, didn’t it? 
sambs, I recall you didn't want Shoaib to ever play for Pakistan again after the world cup but I didn't hear you demand he be dropped before this test match. I reckon you were probably glad that the selectors didn't agree with your viewpoint when he single-handedly destroyed NZ last year either.
Xtreme I don't unfortunately pick the team. It is his attitude which has me steaming. I remember a match between WI and England in the late 70's at Headingley. Malcolm marshall broke his arm. not hurt it, broke it, just like Shoaib it was not his bowling arm. He came on to the field and bowled WI to victory by taking 5 odd wickets. Now that is commitment, that is discpline and that is what I call a superstar. He didnt cry off and sit in the pavilion.
Similarly again in the early 70's in Karachi against WI, Sadiq Mohammed batted with a broken jaw and Wasim Raja with a broken ankle to save Paksitan from defeat.
If Shaoib showed 1/100th of this commitment I would respect him. As it is I have nothing but contempt for his behaviour.
To be quite honest I get fed up with people comparing Shoaib to Marshall's, Wasim's and Waqar's. He is not in that league and not many bowlers are for that matter. With Shoaib you get a flawed genius - one who is capable of winning a personal war against Tendulkar the world's best batsman, but also one who's fitness and mood swings are legendary. Pakistan selectors can't afford to be wise after the event and have to pick their best bowlers otherwise the same people who are calling for Akhtar's head would be lynching the selectors if we got drubbed without him.
I hear the fitness coach had a big fallout with Inzimam over the way he was working the bowlers in the nets. I'd like to know what that was all about. My view is that if Shoaib is detrimental to the team spirit then the management should have dropped him, that is their failing not his. Anyway, maybe Shoaib might have taken more wickets if was bowling for the Indians against our batsmen. We tend to hand our wickets away a lot cheaper.
Not only did Malcolm Marshall bowled the Windies to victory, he also came out to bat so that one of the West Indies batsman could get his hundred.. now that's a team man :)
No one is comparing Shoaib with Marshall, you need to read my post again. What I was referring to was the commitment Marshall showed with his broken arm. We are not talking here about who is a better bowler.
Again, I have no idea about Shoaib's committment, those who are in the camp must know it better. The question then arises should he be playing or not? My view is yes but it needs someone at the top like Imran Khan who would never allow any player of his to act as he likes. If Shoaib isn't pulling his weight then it's a direct slap on the face of Javed and Inzimam who should not in that case keep playing him.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
During the course of last few series, Shoaib produced goods for pakistan on consistent basis. And do not forget that he carried an injury against South Africa in first test, still played and produced goods so let us not jump to conclusions and start maligning him to the hilt. He has been a vastly improved team man in last few series.
And that particular incident in the match, he was trying really hard and the wrist was obviuosly hurt, so it seemed believable. I cannot see whats in his heart so wont malign him.
Regarding the concerns Inzi and Miandad had raised regarding his injury; kindly consider how frustrated inzi and miandad are right now due to Shoaib's failure to produce goods on consistent basis in this series so their doubts are understandable.
I personally give him the benefit of the doubt considering his attitude and commitment he has shown in last year and the whole-hearted performances, despite no results, in this series. He had excellent figures and had every chance to improve on his series figures so his injury concerns may have been true.
[/QUOTE]
Just curious, if you give him such generous benefit of doubt, then how do you explain his 2 Sixers with full stretched arms in the first over? Was it a miracle that happened? Even all the commentators were targeting him, and indeed they should have to the fullest.
Drop his ass from team for sometmie, even if it means Pak losing every series. If Pakistn can survive without 2 W's, they can win w/o him.
Just Drop him and let him play county as long as wishes ...... then tell Sami to be just himself and nothing else ...... bowl ur heart out as u did it yesterday and on an other day u'll get this "best bating line-up" ...... Once Shobby is dropped with no signs of a comeback he may (i highly suspect it) gets his act together and see it all as ateam-game ...... also we the fans + Media should stop praising him after a good performance to hights for which he is not ripe at all and maybe never wil be .....
A message to rest of our bowlers .... this socalled "best bating line-up" isn't that good as the media (mostly Indian) is praising them ..... we've seen what happend in Perth and Lahore ...... on a pitch where Sami is able to score 49 and Fazl 25 (who BTW according to Sidhu don't even know how to hold a bat) there is no problem for Dravid (Out atleast on 4 occasion LBW, Bat-Pad and twice dropped) and co to score this target of 600 ...... Question is to our 5-6 Batsmen with the exception of Asim Kamal what's needed to bat at Test-Level ????? Will they learn from Dravid and Co. that if u r not given by the umpie u move forward to make the best of ur luck ..... unlike Inzi being plumb on one ball but not given though but obliging very next ball ?????
Drop them all except: Asim, Dani, Kamran
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SalmanNY: *
Just curious, if you give him such generous benefit of doubt, then how do you explain his 2 Sixers with full stretched arms in the first over? Was it a miracle that happened? Even all the commentators were targeting him, and indeed they should have to the fullest.
[/QUOTE]
I will wait for further thigns to unfold rather than jumping on conclusions and maligning him to no end. Yes his contribution to the team in this series has been thouroughly disappointing and on those basis alone he deserves to be reprimanded or maybe dropped but just on 'miraculous healing' that should not be the case.
I just heard Wasim on ESPN and he made a valid point ke people tend to target Shoaib every time he fails to perform. Sometimes things work, sometime they dont and i have played enough Shoaib and can say that he comes to captain and coach in case of a problem, doenst matter who the captain is, but to blame him for 'feigning' injury is ridiculuos.
This is what bbs has to report on incident.
**
Inzy queries Shoaib injury**
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq hit out at the attitude of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar following their home Test series defeat by India.
Shoaib was off the field with a back problem throughout day three of the third Test in Rawalpindi.
But it did not prevent him hitting two sixes and four fours in making 28 off 14 balls as the match came to an end.
“It is difficult to bat like that when one is injured,” said Inzamam, whose side lost by an innings and 131 runs.
"Everyone has seen his attitude, I don’t have to comment on it, but only those who are interested in playing for Pakistan should be picked.
"I have heard that Shoaib told someone that he did not want to bowl because I was not giving him the field he wanted.
"If what he said is true, I will insist that action be taken against him because comments like this have a negative impact on the whole team.
“You are not expected to behave like this in professional cricket.”
Inzamam insisted his side’s chances had been affected by a series of injuries to seam bowlers during the series.
Shabbir Ahmed and Abdul Razzaq played in the first Test only and Umar Gul suffered a back injury after taking six wickets in the second game.
Shoaib’s injury left Mohammad Sami and Fazl e-Akbar as the only two seamers available to Inzamam as India piled up a total of 600 in the third Test.
“It was disappointing not to put up a good performance. Credit goes to India. They batted well and their bowlers constantly put the pressure on our batsmen,” he added.
Vice-captain Yousuf Youhana said the Pakistan batsmen also had to take responsibility for the defeat.
“We gave up too early. We need to show more fight. We have a good batting side, but no patience. If we had shown patience, maybe we would have saved the match.”
Youhana said Pakistan needed more time to build team spirit, which would not be helped by half a dozen players heading off to fulfil county contracts in England.
“Everybody needs money. That’s why they play there. I don’t think anybody likes to play in England because they have a very hectic season there.”
Fractured wrist, injured intercostal musle and hitting sixes?
wow i only thought superman culd do that but wot can ya say???>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If report by BBC is really true then Shoib should be thrown out and PCB should make an example out of him. This will put everyone else whoever wana show some tantrums into place.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Zero_one: *
**Just Drop him and let him play county as long as wishes* ...... then tell Sami to be just himself and nothing else ...... bowl ur heart out as u did it yesterday and on an other day u'll get this "best bating line-up" ...... Once Shobby is dropped with no signs of a comeback he may (i highly suspect it) gets his act together and see it all as ateam-game ...... also we the fans + Media should stop praising him after a good performance to hights for which he is not ripe at all and maybe never wil be .....
A message to rest of our bowlers .... this socalled "best bating line-up" isn't that good as the media (mostly Indian) is praising them ..... we've seen what happend in Perth and Lahore ...... on a pitch where Sami is able to score 49 and Fazl 25 (who BTW according to Sidhu don't even know how to hold a bat) there is no problem for Dravid (Out atleast on 4 occasion LBW, Bat-Pad and twice dropped) and co to score this target of 600 ...... Question is to our 5-6 Batsmen with the exception of Asim Kamal what's needed to bat at Test-Level ????? Will they learn from Dravid and Co. that if u r not given by the umpie u move forward to make the best of ur luck ..... unlike Inzi being plumb on one ball but not given though but obliging very next ball ?????
Drop them all except: Asim, Dani, Kamran
[/QUOTE]
hmmmm so you pick out 2 rare instances where the batting failed and decide to base your view on that.. nice! Australia failed in Sri Lanka on a couple of occasions where the pitches are supposed to be even easier to bat on compared to India/Pakistan.. so does that make up a very poor batting line-up? Think before you post.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Arun: *
hmmmm so you pick out 2 rare instances where the batting failed and decide to base your view on that.. nice! Australia failed in Sri Lanka on a couple of occasions where the pitches are supposed to be even easier to bat on compared to India/Pakistan.. so does that make up a very poor batting line-up? Think before you post.
[/QUOTE]
OK u want more ...... Well what about the home tests against NZ, WC-Final, ODI Final vs. AUS in India, the VB Series where India lost 3 out of 4 + both finals ...... shall i continue ???
I think u missed my point but never mind ..... we're also supposed to have the best bowling line-up for WC 2003 ...... we all know how it ended so i would be careful to call a side BEST in either BOWLING or BATING unless the side performs on consistant basis at the highest Level for atleast 2-3 years and India r on their Best way to do it but then only time'll tell ...... and we all know who has done&doing it .... for sure not India, England, South Africa, Pakistan New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh !!!!!!
Let's see what India Produces against SA and AUS ...... although i think SA is much easier to beat since they r the worts team against Spin ...... Aussie on the other hand we've seen in SL !!!!!!!!
Mr Xtreme, I agree with you 100% mate, If he such a big problem why pick him in the first place, it doesnt make any sense
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
During the course of last few series, Shoaib produced goods for pakistan on consistent basis. And do not forget that he carried an injury against South Africa in first test, still played and produced goods so let us not jump to conclusions and start maligning him to the hilt. He has been a vastly improved team man in last few series.
And that particular incident in the match, he was trying really hard and the wrist was obviuosly hurt, so it seemed believable. I cannot see whats in his heart so wont malign him.
Regarding the concerns Inzi and Miandad had raised regarding his injury; kindly consider how frustrated inzi and miandad are right now due to Shoaib's failure to produce goods on consistent basis in this series so their doubts are understandable.
I personally give him the benefit of the doubt considering his attitude and commitment he has shown in last year and the whole-hearted performances, despite no results, in this series. He had excellent figures and had every chance to improve on his series figures so his injury concerns may have been true.
[/QUOTE]
what whole hearted performance??? he was the one who did not want to play the lahore test because of his lack of confidence before inzi n others persuaded to not be emotional disheartened. his bowling in the 1st test was Sh*tty. he and sami n everyone else in that game had no vision. like one columnist put it brilliantly: they were too short or tooo full, n when they werent both, they were too wide!
he was even ordinary in the first innings of the lahore test. had a better spell 2nd time around, and was average here as well. we shd not fool ourselves, he wasnt out of thsi world, he wasnt still the shaoib we know he could be.
i donno if u guyz see this, but whenever he sees that now the match or the series has got out of hand he quits on the team. he did just that. he was waiting for the new ball, n when even the new ball did not do the job[altho he did got rid of sachin], he faked an injury. he is the biggest coward i've ever seen.
