A new beginning for Pakistan cricket
We have heard this time and again in the last decade or so that a new era has begun in Pakistan cricket, yet every time the era has drifted away in oblivion, replaced by another.
Once again we hear the same cries from the administrators, management and players alike as they aim to bury the ghost of the spot and match fixing scandal that haunted them on the ill-fated tour of United Kingdom.
They are still under the pump as they square up for an intense T20, ODI and Test match series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in UAE. The three players accused of spot fixing the fourth and final Test against England at Lords are yet to be cleared and even in UAE at
least one match is set to be overshadowed by the controversy.
That match would be the second ODI that is slated to take place on the 31st of October in Abu Dhabi, on the same day two of the accused players Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir would be told of the findings of Mr. Michael Beowulf, who would be giving
his verdict on the last day of the two day hearing in the ICC headquarters at Dubai.
Butt and Amir have filed appeals against the provisional suspension slapped on him by the governing body of the game on 2nd September, a week after the shocking controversy erupted.
Meanwhile, the action on the field begins tomorrow as Pakistan take on the Proteas in the first T20 international at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Led by the swashbuckling Shahid Afridi the Pakistanis would be hoping for overwhelming crowd support in the first ever T20 international between two Test teams at the venue. The large Pakistani expat community is set to throng in at the venue in support
of their cricketing heroes.
Pakistan has had the wood on the Proteas in the shortest format of the game having won two out of the three matches, with both their wins coming at crucial stages of the T20 World Championships.
In these events the men in green sent Graeme Smith’s men packing out of the tournament, the first instance being the 2009 edition in England followed by the win in this year’s encounter at St.Lucia.
On both occasions Pakistani spinner choked the protean batsmen denying them big boundaries as they attempted to chase down meagre targets.
Once again the spinners would be crucial to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s chances in the two match series. Besides Afridi they have Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, who can tie down the big hitting batsmen especially if the wicket offers some turn.
The Pakistanis also have a decent fast bowling attack in the form of Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul, who is the leading wicket taker in international T20. These three also have the ability to reverse swing the ball and Umar and Shoaib can both
generate speeds in the excess of 90 miles per hour.
Pakistan’s batting has also been bolstered with the return of former captain Younis Khan, who led the team to the 2009 T20 World title in England.
Other than the experienced one down batsman, the men in green have explosive batsmen in Shahzeb Hasan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq.
The quartet can change the game at any stage with their big hitting abilities. The T20 series would also be immensely important for Shahzeb http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990, who was in scintillating form in the recently concluded National T20 championship.
Shahzeb led his Karachi Dolphins team to the final of the event and was declared the best batsman of the tournament, averaging more than 100 runs per innings.
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