Adil Najam
UPDATE:
India won the TwentyTwenty final in a thriller, after setting Pakistan 158 to win and then bowling Pakistan out (with three balls to spare) for 152. IK Pathan from India was names Man of the Match for very tidy bowling (3/16 from 4 overs) while Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Series.
ORIGINAL POST:
I have resisted writing about the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament in South Africa till now. But now I can resist no more. All is set for a thriller final game against India.
What more could one ask for… well, actually, one could ask for Pakistan’s TwentyTwenty winning streak to continue into the Final game against India in Johannesburg on Monday!
Pakistan is on a roll. And this is no fluke. The victories against Australia and Sri Lanka were brilliant and breezing past New Zealand in the semi-final today proved that this is not just a lucky streak.
The young team under a young captain and a new coach seems to have finally found its stride. And it is about time…
Much of our cricket coverage this last year has been depressing. Umpire controversies, a disastrous World Cup Exit, death of a coach, players misbehaving, and more. So, this good news is very welcome. It is all the more welcome because other news these days is much less than welcome.
India, too, has had a spectacular T20 tournament. In fact, the most memorable moments of the tournament till now were the 6 sixes in an over by Yuvraj against England.
That the game between India and Pakistan in the T20 tournament had ended in a tie will make the anticipation about the final even more nail-biting.
Neither team goes in as favorites. Both go in on a roll. Its should be one great game!
While I am happy that India won, I want to congratulate the Pakistani young cricket team for a great performance in the final and throughout the tournament. Please do not be hard on your players, especially the youngster Misbah. They did a great job. Misbah was consistenly solid with his bat. He is going to be great player for Pak in the years to come. The game easily could have gone either way.
One thing I was disturbed with was with Malik’s distateful comments bringing religion into cricket. As a Indian Muslim, I feel insulted by his insinutation that he speaks for me. I think it is time for the ‘Maliks’ to conentrate on their country and stop pretending that they represent all the Muslims of the world.
I apologize for a few of the comments from Indians using bad language and petty thoughts. Mods can you please edit these out. I think the spirit of the picture of the girl with the two flags on her face should be maintained please. Most Pakistani comments have been very gracious in this very honorable defeat and I think most Indian comments have also been gracious. Let us not the few trying to score cheap political points mess things up please.
Mr. Kashmiri’s comment is the most ridiculous comment I have ever read here (which is saying something!).
Are you saying, sir, that if the team were better muslims then we would have won! For God’s sake (Khuda kay liye)! Maybe instead of looking for cricketing abilities we should look for people who can recite dua-i-qanoot!
Khuda hum sabb ko jahilouN say bachai!
“There may be as much nobility in being last as in being first, because the two positions are equally necessary in the world, the one to complement the other.” - Jose Ortega u Gasset.
One needed to win for the other to lose. But paradoxically, there would be no winner without one side losing.
It would have been a shame if there had been a meek surrender from either team. The fact that both sides fought tooth and nail till the last ball and the match momentum swung toward either side like a pendulum gone beserk is testament to their desire to win.
Also the fact that two teams from Asia, knocked out in the first round of the 50 over World Cup, restored the faith of their zillion fans by their sheer talent and youthful zeal was wonderful to see.
As an Indian, I wanted India to win and make no bones about it. But Pakistan did not disgrace themselves and put up one hell of a show. I sure as hell hope that we reach each ICC tournament final and put up a great show each time. Err - Australia might have something to say about that - but then, nothing wrong in hoping.
As a side note, the Pakistani captain’s comments about religion were in poor taste. I thought Irfan Pathan saying “mashallah” to Ravi Shastri as he received the Man of the Match negated Malik’s comment in the best possible way.
@Syed Hafeez Imran
You can’t be more wrong. It was Misbah who carried the game in the end when all the batting order had collapsed. He truly played impressively, maintained his cool. It was rightly said by commentator that the match is not between India and Pakistan. Its India against Misbah ul Haq.
Not to take away anything from Pakistani bowlers. They did their job well. It was a good match and lets not criticize where there is nothing to criticize.
All in all, it was a match worthy of a final and I expect that the young Pakistani team came off it a much better team in terms of learning and experience.
Is there is any chance of conspiracy to let India won by ICC.
T20 is for money, and India has the largest market of sponsers. Without Indians enthusiam, there is no future of cricket.
Just a wild guess.
Kishtiyyan sahil pay aksar tootee hain pyar ki> same is the case with our cricket. oooooppppppppsssssss!
A great game! I think it was just great that the final was between the two sub continent teams.
It was a thriller and the real winner was cricket.
Pakistan made a few strategic errors and in some cases lost nerve at crucial momments
In my view, we made a mistake by choosing Yasir Arafat over Fawad. This created a long tail. The spinners had been able to contain and provide breakthroughs and we would have had more options. The pace attack was well looked after by Asif, Umar and Tanwir. We should have sent in Afridi up the order and if he had stayed even for 2 overs, Pakistan would have had a head start.Sending Akmal at # 3 was not wise, specially after the fall of the early wicket, He was out of form and under pressure. Why not use Yunus there I think one wicket which was the turning point was the run out of Imran Nazir. He was going great guns. It was not a run they should have risked with his groin injury
Hafeez gave his wicket cheaply - it was a soft dismissal . Seemed as he was giving catching practice to the slip frielder. Yunus played an uncharecterstic shot which was not his game and really not required. When will Afridi learn. He should learn from batsmen like Yuvraj, Pietersen, jaysuria who tempertheir agression and stroke making with some sense - and get results. He is wasting his natural talent and a performance ratio of one in ten is not what we are looking. However he is still an assset with his bowling, fileding and enthusiasm on the field
Msibah, oh Misbah. So near and so far. In both matches he gave a sterling performance but seemed to have lost his cool at the finish. ONE run in two balls and 6 in 4 balls was not a task that was huge or unattaitianable. His shot selection was poor and he succumbed to pressure
On the whole, Shoaib Malik’s captaincy was inspirational and good, he led from the front and seems to have a good cricketing mind and is a thinking captian
A performance that conveys promise for the future. We have to maintain the commitment, energy, team work and spirit, fitness and hard work.
Asif seemed a bit jaded and below par and not up to his usual standard
We have found new talent in Tanwir, and Misbah. The opening slots still are a source of worry
On to the next series, South Africa and then india. We should do well