Wasim Akram 1992 World Cup final

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Re: Wasim Akram 1992 World Cup final

Just seems like yesterday…

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AFRIDI as Captain...would ensure a WIN against the CLUCKIES (Irish Butchers) and dont take me lightly----as the majority of Irish Players at WC-07 are butchers and chicken dealers! They were fed up of their wins...as some were in trouble of extending their leave---from their bosses back home :)

Naah....AFRIDI not cut out as Captain....yet...he is a leader...if you let him play HIS game! Like he said to me "Yarra....meiney tow apna khel khelna hai....ye saala Bob jo kahe!! mein tow ball nahin roukonga...mera dimagh ghoom jataa hai agar koi bowler mujhay aik dow difficult ones phenke"
I told him that his weakness is now obvious on opponents..hence he should be more careful...to which he said; "Yarra Raju Bai....aap theek kehta hai...magarr 'umm' jo hai...so hai" :)

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*A Tale of Two Bowlers (The aftermath of Pak-India Series)
*
In The aftermath of Pakistan's one-day series loss to India, a fair amount of criticism has been leveled at our batting lineup, both for its inability to deliver runs and for the policy of keeping the top three batsmen ?

Inzimam, Muhammad Yousuf and Younis Khan ? low down the order and sending in less experienced players first. Personally, I?m not too worried. After all, our middle order has been performing so well in recent times that they were only due a couple of failures. Let?s not forget that Yousuf and Younis scored over a thousand runs between them in the test series just before the one-day matches, and Inzimam has been in the sort of form that saw him score at an average of 75 in tests and 45 in one-dayers over the last year and a half ? and that?s counting his failures in the India series. Admittedly, the opening dilemma we?ve had since the retirement of Saeed Anwar remains unresolved.

That is one issue Bob Woolmer will need to sort out over the coming months; at present I?m inclined towards Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi, simply because in one-day matches an Afridi success up front makes life much easier for the rest of the batsmen (an Afridi failure is something they?re used to dealing with), and Salman has the makings of a very capable opener, if he would only start using his feet more. Still, the success of Shoaib Malik at number three ? he now has nearly 1200 runs at 43 in that position ? coupled with Younis? increasing assurance down the order, suggest that too many changes will not be needed.

For me, a much bigger concern was what the series revealed about our bowling. Barring the excellent Muhammad Asif, none of the bowlers were able to trouble the Indian batsmen with any consistency; in only one match out of five did India look unlikely to score in excess of 300. That just goes to show the difference that the presence of a really world class bowler like Shoaib Akhtar can make to an attack. On the face of it, Shoaib?s returns in the Karachi test were ordinary ? 3 wickets for 107. Yet the pressure that he generated at one end with his hostile pace was worth far more. It never allowed the Indian batsmen to settle down, and made them easy pickings for the likes of Asif and Razzaq. Sachin Tendulkar is a great batsman, but it is no coincidence that his return to form came about only after Shoaib had been ruled out of the one-dayers.

But while the presence of Shoaib is a huge boost to the team, it takes more than one great bowler to become a world-beating side. In their heyday in the 1970s and 80s, the West Indies had no less than four match-winning bowlers at a time. Much of South Africa ?s dominance in the late 90s rested on the pairing of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock; since Donald?s retirement they?ve never had the same edge that they used to. And of course, what has made Australia such a great side over the last few years is their ability to call upon the services of both Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Last year?s Ashes showed that Warne?s heroics alone were not enough, without support at the other end ? both England ?s wins came in matches in which McGrath was injured. And the outcome of our series against India illustrates that this argument is as true for one-day matches as for tests. Shoaib can take us only so far at a marathon event like the World Cup, particularly with his current injury concerns: he just had surgery on his knees and may need more in the future due, reportedly, to a degenerative arthritic condition. Of our present lot of bowlers, Rana Naved is solid and committed but with no pretensions to greatness; Muhammad Sami is brilliant on occasion but much too inconsistent; Asif and Umar Gul are promising but inexperienced; and Danish Kaneria is still unproven in one-dayers. All could make for excellent support bowlers, but for another spearhead we need to look elsewhere.

Who better for the role than Saqlain Mushtaq? His record speaks for itself: in addition to his 208 test wickets at an average of 29.83, he took 288 one-day wickets at 21.78 ? that?s a better average than Shane Warne, Abdul Qadir and Muttiah Muralitharan. It was his presence alongside Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis that made us the best bowling side in the world in the mid-late 90s. He invented the doosra, took four consecutive five wicket hauls in tests against India (the bane of his fellow spinners), and had such control that he was regularly called on to bowl at the death in one-day matches. He is currently 29, the prime age for a spinner. And yet he has completely disappeared off the radar. By and large, a combination of erratic selection and injury are to blame. Like McGrath, Saqlain is a rhythm bowler, at his best when he plays consistently. Yet despite bowling reasonably well in the lead up to the 2003 World Cup, he has since been picked in one series only to be dropped in the next. He was only given three World Cup matches, two against minnows that the fast bowlers had largely finished off by the time he started bowling. Then he played one match on South Africa ?s tour to Pakistan . After that he was picked for the one-day series against India in 2004 and not given a game, only to be brought in for the first test in Multan on a flat track against a Virender Sehwag at the peak of his powers. He was subsequently dropped and soon after his injury troubles started, which have largely kept him out of consideration until now.

With the World Cup just a year away, now is the time to include Saqlain in our preparations and to give him the same support that Shoaib Akhtar is getting in recovering from his injury. Once he is match-fit ? the tour to England in July is a reasonable benchmark ? he must be given every opportunity to perform, in tests and one-dayers. Saqlain is not the sort of bowler who is going to immediately pick up ten wickets on his return from injury, but if allowed time to settle into a rhythm, he will be back to his match-winning best. It is worth remembering that, flushed with success after our triumph against India in India last April, many were arguing for Shoaib Akhtar to be dropped from the side altogether. Fortunately, the team management gave him another chance and he responded by bowling us to a series victory against England . It would be only fitting if Saqlain pulls off a similar performance this summer. But if not, he will do so in the next series, or the one after that. After all, as anyone who witnessed Sachin Tendulkar?s century in Peshawar should know, form is temporary.

Class tells in the end.

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Wicket taking deliveries bowled by Wasim Akram were simply magic.

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Waiting

waiting

waiting

~**~ Tussi Baray ----- Ho ~~~~ ~**~
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u sure afridi talks that way????
or u just putting it that way to show his pathan side????

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My friend....I do not procastinate...not one word I would write which is not endowed by the facts.

All the three Afridis---> Shahid, Mushtaq & Tariq...I know very closely, are one of the best behaved people I may have come across in Pak-Cricket....and their Dad being a strict father--highly religious---is an icon for them and well knit khandaan.

Normally--it's Shahid's tone and speaking manner. I am not aware of his classic english/grammar and tone he may be demonstrating otherwise.

Khush Rahein........

-Raju

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awesome :omg:

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JM's omission from 1992 WC squad!

When the team was in initial stages of selection....there was a very serious difference of opinion on Saleem Malik between JM & IK. JM thought SM was a waste of space---IK was of view that he still had some meat! Javed Burki being an adhoc guy then plus Majid Khan despite being the cousin.. infact all three JB, IK & MK being FIRST cousins to each other---sort of never met eye to eye with each other. Soberest amongst them was or is... Javed Burki a CSP and highly articulated and akroo guy but very professional and methodical.

MK supported JM's thoughts and got ditrched. JM being thick headed but a sly fox....abstained from attending further practices at the Qaddafi..and IK was too happy to board Emirates for Dubai enroute to Melbourne without JM.

I raised a hue 7 cry upon JB but he said he can't interfere. As it is....JM was a target...the media remained bereft except for questions and answers to no one but just in articles.

When we got clobbered by Windies---IK ko Naani ke bajaye JM yaad aagaya!! and as JB told me---now he wants JM flown by a rocket. IK was clever to keep JM in the 16 list which had to be submitted to the ICC before the start of this great event.

As JM told me----it was the first time ever--during their close association--that Imran warmly embraced JM at the MCG ground--that too upon JM's invitation with open arms---when celebrations on winning the cup were aglore. I couldn't see that then--as we were going wild PLUS... Aussie girls equally celebrating England's defeat!!:) with us.

==============

The real part I played in getting JM back in loop after another serious fight between him & JB and MK...was six months before the World Cup-96.

JM fractured his foot when he was practicing on nets playing football. That saw him off the Sri lankan tour--when Inzy emerged. After that people thought it was JM's career end...! In my mind loomed the great opportunity of a fete for Pakistan--if only JM would play WC-96 which will make him the only Cricketer of the modern cricket world--to have bplayed SIX consecutive World Cups since their launch in 1975 at England. Forces were perpetually lobbying against JM with IK at their back.

JB was Chairman Pakistan automobile Corporation then..and besides he was also Chairman of the Adhoc Committee of the PCB and in 1995 tour of Australia---he made me the chief coordinator for Pak team for Karachi Test which Inzamam and Mushtaq...took to win on 9th wicket partnership (and how Ian Healy remembered dropping that catch..when i reminded him of it in Brisbane in 1999 :) ).

I made a strategy to somehow---make both the thick headed; JM & JB agree yo meet each other--as I knew both of them very closely. Mas'ala ye thah ke dulha ko manao tow dulhan naraaz aur dulhan ko manao tow dulha naraaz!!! but I hung on heels--slow and fast and finally it was decided that we meet at JB's house on 42nd street at PECHS Block-VI at 11 pm that the media and others may not know--as JM coming to his office was breaking news!. So we met.....and they both remained silent till I broke the ice by saying "JB...chai waghera nahin hai?" to which Burki said "Yaar..my wife is away and there's no domestic help..sorry about that Miandad" on which their conversation started...and JB asked JM whether he is fit and that still in form etc--as JM had not played TEST/ODI past a year or more then. JM in his typical tone said "Allhamdoulillah...kabbhi bhi teerye karwalein.....taiyaar houn...aisi koi baat nahin hai".

It was decided that we'll meet again at the NSK the next day where JM would arrive as a surprise and JB would ask him to pad up and go to nets. Salim Jaffer--then in UBL was summoned by me--to be ready for an over or two to JM....which however never happened but JM got in the squad as JB got convinced.

The most interesting episode came when the Pak fixture with South africa on WC-96 at Karachi..got in jeopardy when JM refused to play--as no.6 and at the stadium Arif Abbasi summoned me from the Guest Enclosure---and told me to do something to prevail upon him as Karachi crowd would go bananas!!! if JM is not announced in the team on mic. I went to JM who was really in some pain..back ache hence a special announcement was made by me on the mic on behalf of JM and crowd roared..with slogans against Wasim Akram. We lost that match till came another one against England at Karachi....and same situation....to which I took JM by the throat and said...this is your home ground and possibly your last WC match..dont be a daft..!! play!!!! and he agreed... and instatntly came an announcement from Islamabad....that JM has been awardec Rs.600,000/- for becoming the only player in the world to have played SIX consecutive WC matches...the record which is very hard to break if even emulated.

Later whatever happened in India during WC-96..we all know well and if it hadn't been for the hatred and thick-headedness of Wasim Akram towards JM as he made that idiot Amer Suhail...Captain for that quarter-final at Banglore and had it been JM the captain..we had just too good chances to make it to the semis.

-end

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But scorecard shows it was IK who was missing from the line up not JM (infact JM was leading the team).

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You are absolutely right! I got mixed up.

I just spoke to JM..while he confirms that there was this issue on SM which kept him back…it was at the personal call of Nawaz Sharif that he finally decided to move for Australia..a month after the team had left.

The match against Windies was mastered under him…and IK had declared his ‘shoulder’ injury (which he ensured would remain obvious to the world..even during the final at the MCG where his certain actions showed the viewers as well…when we shouted at him)…

If you all carefully watch our ALLAH BACHAYO WC-92 match against England…where the rain sent as ABABEELS to help us get ONE point.. you’ll see how bereft the situation had remained.

My apologies—and the reason I got bereft on JM missing from Windies match is—that I attend around 500 mails daily at office and on my yahoo, gmail, hotmail and rediffmail domains..which becomes a rhyme or reason to go bonkers also…plus most of what I write is per memory.. which sometimes..not often..gilts me.

The fact however remains…that IK never wanted JM fow WC-92…
WHY? well…since I am a diehard “NATIONALIST” I cannot further say or touchbase on UNNationalistic grudges…almost all the segments of our society has in our country.

Thanks for checking me out–I appreciate such checks & balances.

-Raju

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Arjay Uncle - While I appreciate all your posts with inside news and all but there are somethings that are so blatnatly obvious that to prove them otherwise would be a big mistake.

Again with all due respect I would like to point out a couple of things you posted. You said, and I quote :

"He took an edge on JM by virtue of being an Oxford student and quality English which JM lacked otherwise IMO...JM beat IK hollow! on the game as well as Captain....as IK never had a 'foxy' mind of tricks up his sleeves. IK largely depended on JM on field and the moves during the critical moments of the game.

Get the DVD of of the 'sixer walla' ODI of Sharjah and watch carefully when IK & JM are batting/struggling against Indians on a fairly high run rate to catch... and watch how JM is guiding IK...."

Not just Pakistani but people around the world agree that purley as a cricketer Imran was head and shoulders above any other Pakistani cricketer and one of the finest cricketers ever produced. Now I dont know how you can rate JM as a better crickters than IM but than again everyone is entitled to their personal opinion.

Now let's come to the captaincy side where as you say Imran never had a "foxy" mind and depended on Miandad with on field moves. You gave the example of the Sharjah ODI which is no doubt one of the finest wins for Pakistan cricket and stated that Imran was guided by Javed during the run chanse. Well no one ever doubted that Javed was a better batsman than Imra nand ofcourse Imran should have listended to the guy better equipped with the situation.

Now while the Sharjah wins ranks right up there with the best of Pakistani victories so does the the win in '92 World Cup Semi-Final. Watch that match carefully and see when Malik got out Miandad turned around and signaled to the pavillion to send "left handed" Akram to the crease next. It was the "un-foxy" Imran who decided agaisnt it and sent in Inzamam. Arent we all grateful now that Imran did what he did ?

You blamed Imran for not producing anyone to succeed him, well Imran's Vice-Captain was JM and in your own words he was better than Imran anyway so he didnt really have to be prepared. Imran passed on his bag of tricks to people like Akram and Waqar which have brought more than a 1000 international wickets. Who did Miandad pass the torch to ?

I am sorry if some points in this post offended you, it certainly was not my intention.

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Raju uncle pakray gay. Ab jawab dain saday Lahori Munday ko.

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Raaju Unkil Jaali Unkil hai... :D

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Re: Wasim Akram 1992 World Cup final

Raji ban gaya gentleman