The Asia cup is right on the corner but there are chances of it being distracted by the weather. Just look at the cloud cover over whole Sri Lankan island (I wished some of it were diverted to Karachi instead ;)), jokes apart but literally, this was not a good time to stage an international tournament in Sri Lanka, although its mentioned Dambulla has been the driest of all places in Sri Lanka, still the amount of cloud cover would not allow matches to be completed, (read ICC Champions Trophy 2002 played in Sri Lanka and there were many rain disrupted matches including the final)
Similarly was the reason the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, which was scheduled to be stage in Pakistan, but was shifted to South Africa giving preference over Sri Lanka amid the same reason. I know it would be a tricky situation for ACC as-well, to convince teams like India and Pakistan who've a tough schedule ahead and even Bangladesh would be arriving directly from England after completing their ODI series against the hosts, to shift this bi-annual tournament somewhere later this year. Leaving Pakistan because of security conditions, it would have been shifted to India and the next one, in 2012 to be Sri Lanka in compensation, else it wont be possible that in this season, even the central parts of Sri Lanka not receiving their shares of rains.
On the other hand being positive, bowlers would get ample support on this track as on normal circumstances, this track is known for its bowler friendly conditions as its windy, humid and sweaty, so I suppose we should not expect high scoring matches over here compared to Premadasa Stadium or SSC in Colombo.
Even Pakistan just after winning the ICC World T20 Title in 2009, found it difficult to handle the winds and the conditions here which suits Lankans. So I just hope inspite of the weather game, we would expect a good game of cricket.
Unfairness in selection of Pakistan team, by not selecting the ones who're capable of keeping wickets, instead of the top dogs selecting again and again after costing an almost won test match!
As Osman Samiuddin in his latest article on CricInfo clearly states:
The elder Akmal has actually been rewarded by being made top dog again. Someone should tell the fool of an understudy Sarfraz Ahmed, who didn't even make it to the 35 probables, to drop four catches and screw up a Test (read match notes) and then very publicly oppose the selectors and board. Then there'll be no removing him from the top spot.
Isn't it unfair to the youngster after being a performer in domestic and relatively better keeper behind wickets than elder Akmal, leaving him [Sarfraz Ahmed] personally I feel was better choice than Kamran Akmal as I think he needs a rest and secondly we need to groom another keeper in Sarfraz Ahmed who can keep wickets in his [elder Akmal] absence and later by permanently keeping for Pakistan.
Its nothing new in Pakistan Cricket, there have been time when Rashid Latif and Moin Khan used to play and they had stiff performance competition between them which helped Pakistan and Pakistan Cricket but now just because this backup thing have been ignored, these old dogs are repeated again and again, leaving the youngsters hopeless for their future in Pakistan cricket.
Look at Australia, while Gilchrist was playing, they groomed Brad Haddin, and now when Gilchrist retired, Brad was the perfect replacement, and they [Aussies] didn't lag in that dept, as severely as we are facing, as we've been insisting with Senior Akmal since 2003, apart from a T20 match against South Africa under the captaincy of Inzi for Zulqarnain Haider and a complete series for Sarfaraz Ahmed in 2008 edition of Asia cup played in Pakistan, apart from that Akmal has been insisted permanently without any backup plan.
Speaking of backup plan, this whole Pakistani team for Sri Lankan Asia Cup and England tour had been selected on reputation, no offence because if there was a permanent process for backup plans, players like Malik wouldn't be selected, and they had to prove themselves to be part of Pakistani team. Just because they were selected without letting them know the importance of this green shirt and blazer they wore, like a spoiled child they'll act again and again.
Leaving Younus Khan for a tough series in Sri Lankan Asia Cup and England might prove harmful for Pakistan Cricket
For a batter, having a consistent track-record in tests in a team more famous for its unpredictability than anything else, how can you expel him from all forms of cricket when you don't even have the evidences against him regarding creating disturbance in the team and demoralizing the team spirit during New Zealand and Australia tours, where he was literally present in ODIs against Australia!
Shame upon the current management of Pakistan Cricket Board alias Pakistan Cricket Butt since Mr. Ijaz Butt has taken the position as the chairman of the Cricket board, acting more like the circus elephant who got free from its cage and now wants to settle score with the circus master.
Just imagine saving Malik with expense of greats like Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan is a big mistake and will haunt Pakistan Cricket for long, similarly the case with Justice Qayum's report on involvement of Pakistani players in match fixing, which still haunts Pakistan and Pakistani Cricket 10 years after the report was first published.
Still yesterday when team was announced from the pool of 35 players for upcoming Asia Cup to be played in Sri Lanka, Younus Khan was literally ignored saying he was not impressive. On the other hand, PCB kept their stance of taking U-Turns, and this time they again took one when they claimed that there was no such ban on Younus and he can be selected on wish of the chairman.
Why wasting and insulting such a player? I don't know which kind a managerial skills are they showing, its neither scientific nor human side management, now which kind of new managerial table have they define? For god's sake don't humiliate players like that, first clear you own collars when all problems are started from your end.
Click image to enlarge!
Summary from Wikipedia
This graph details the Test Matchperformance of Younis Khan. It was created by Raven4x4x. The red bars indicate the player's test match innings, while the blue line shows the averageof the ten most recent innings at that point. Note that this average cannot be calculated for the first nine innings. The blue dots indicate innings in which Younis finished not-out.
This graph was generated with Microsoft Excel 2002, using data from Cricinfo and Howstat.
The information in this chart is current as of 16 December 2007.