da aviator aposta： It may be amusing to some, but to me its quite amazing that the fateof the world’s premier cricket tournament may be decided by theweather
da betsul： Javed Miandad22-Feb-2003It may be amusing to some, but to me its quite amazing that the fateof the world’s premier cricket tournament may be decided by theweather. I am used to seeing rain and cricket go hand in hand duringEnglish summers, but the World Cup could certainly have done withoutthe stormy weather. One team that will not be complaining too muchabout the weather is host nation South Africa, for whom the rain -which denied the West Indies valuable points against Bangladesh – wasa shot in the arm after some shock losses.
© ReutersBut the cricket itself, in all fairness, has been exciting, and therehave already been some interesting results through the inclusion ofteams like Bangladesh, Holland, Namibia and Kenya. Their inclusion hasnot only made things difficult by stretching the World Cup into a longdrawn-out affair but also by wrecking a few teams’ plans by collectingtwo points from rained-out games and almost pulling off an upset ortwo. One must give these spirited “minnows” a lot of credit. Many maythink that the one-sided games involving lesser teams drag down WorldCup standards to the level of farce, but the new blood, in my opinion,has made the tournament more interesting on a global basis and willcertainly help in the growth of cricket.Apart from the rain and the odd one-sided game, this Cup saw moredrama when England and New Zealand forfeited their games againstZimbabwe and Kenya respectively. Highly charged global politics andsecurity concerns have, I feel, driven some people paranoid. I don’tthink sport and politics should ever mix, for politics of any kind hasonly been detrimental to the game. If the International CricketCouncil classifies a venue as safe, the teams should be willing toplay there – simple as that. If some teams are going to opt out of agame or two, why play in the World Cup at all? The individual boards,moreover, are going against ICC rulings, so if there is talk ofpenalties imposed on the countries, the ICC would only have mysupport.
© CricInfoPakistan, in its World Cup foray so far, has had a different set ofproblems. Their approach in the first game against Australia was muchtoo casual. Where has the famous fighting spirit gone? Where is thepride of playing for Pakistan? I thought Wasim Akram bowled a superbfirst spell and exposed the Australian weakness – the middle order -but once Wasim was taken off, the weaker aspects of Pakistan cricketallowed Andrew Symonds to take the game away. Given the opportunity,Pakistan should have been able to finish Australia off, for that iswhat wins matches in top-class cricket.Controversy dogged this match too, and I was surprised to see WaqarYounis lose his cool and bowl two beamers at Symonds, consequentlybeing barred from bowling further in that match. Waqar is a verysenior cricketer and an experienced one. Surely he should have knownthat such adverse publicity can only harm team morale.But bygones are bygones, and there is yet a World Cup to be won. Tobring it home to Pakistan, their batting will have to play a moreresponsible role. After all, if Rashid Latif down the order can scoreruns, why cannot Inzamam ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana? These two batsmenhave the responsibility of holding the middle order together and scorethe majority of their team’s runs. Failing to do so against Namibiawill be something that Pakistan would have discussed after the game.One must also remember that during Pakistan’s sole World Cup win, in1992, Inzamam was the key batsman for the side, and here too in SouthAfrica, a decade later, he must start firing immediately.Pakistan’s fixture against Namibia ended predictably, with theirbatting hardly able to withstand the Pakistani pace attack. I was gladto see Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have an extended bowling stint inthat game, for their next match – against England – has the potentialto be a deciding one as far as Pakistan’s campaign is concerned. A winat Cape Town will help them breathe a little easier before theircrucial encounter against India.England too will be out of sorts after going through the wringerduring the Zimbabwe controversy, and their win against Namibia wasnone too convincing. There is thus a big chance for Pakistan to beatthem, but it will take a good game-plan and an excellent execution ofit in the middle.Strategy, indeed, seems to be the buzzword in this tournament.Watching this World Cup from the armchair, I can closely follow eventson the field, watch replays over and over again, and this is exactlywhat Pakistan must also do – observe. If they learn from watchingtheir opposition closely, it will help them formulate precisestrategies that will go a long way in helping them win the Cup.
