Adil Najam

One of the earliest posts I did on ATP was called ‘Tangay Walla Khair Mangda.’ It was a Picture of the Day post and used the tanga/tonga picture that we now often use on the masthead.

The song by that name is a particular favorite of mine, both for its music and for its message. As I was listening to it today, I was reminded of that post and how far this blog has come since then. We now have more readers than I had ever imagined having, a bursting set of discussions, and a whole host of new friends who we have never seen but meet each day.I am thankful for all of this. But I must confess that sometimes – especially as I sometimes sift through needless sarcasm, provocations, and anger in the comments section – I miss the old days.

Much like I sometimes miss going to school on a tanga, even as I conference-hop across the globe on huge impersonal jetliners. There is something more personal, more civil, more familiar, more human about small communities. In a tanga, even a communal one, you get to know everyone. You share your ganderis with everyone when you are in a tanga. In a jetliner you sit next to someone for 22 straight hours and often do not share a single word; and when you do it is more likely to be a nasty look because they pushed back their seat too far or something!

As you can see, I am in a rather pensive mood today. I apologize. That is why I was listening to this song. It always cheers me up.

I must confess, I still see my own role on ATP as that of the tangay wallah. I cannot take people where they do not wish to go. Its their journey and their destination. But like actor Lala Sudhir and singer Masood Rana in Baba G.A. Chishti’s immortal song, I too see, as the song says, ‘banda rang rang da‘ and I too sing the song of ‘Khair’ (I guess here it means something like ‘goodness’ and ‘friendship’) for everyone. That, I guess, is the best that one can ever do.

So, dear friends, here is a video of the song – from the 1964 movie Daachi. The video quality is really bad, but the sound quality is descent. Do watch it if you can. It is really quite wonderful once you get past the picture quality. Note, for example, the shaadi band, the train, the guy on the bicycle and much more. But if you can, focus on the words. I hope even non-Punjabi speakers will get the gist: peace and friendship to all!

Guest Post by Umera Ali

Women Protection Bill, 2006 (“WPB”) has finally passed, in an overwhelming majority vote, by the Pakistani Senate. MMA in a last attempt to make WPB ineffective suggested 17 amendments, which were all rejected by the Senators. Having already been cleared by the National Assembly, the only thing left, procedurally, for the bill to become law of the land is Presidential consent.

WPB is the first step towards changing the draconian rape and adultery laws, which were implemented by the President Zia-ul-Haq. The present Musharraf government has fought very hard to get these changes through and to make these amendments possible. This is not to suggest that these amendments are in anyway adequate or enough, however, they are the first step. WPB has been severely compromised by the pressure from MMA. They were some changes suggested by them, which have been incorporated in the Bil (text of changes available courtesy of eteraz.org). However, the entire text of the Bill still remains unavailable; therefore, it is very difficult to comment on the same with any certainty.

Clicking on the photos in this article will take you to that individual’s career record site at cricinfo.org. The rankings noted in the following are valid as of November 25, 2006.

The recent post on statistics of leading Pakistani batsmen (here) prompted me to look at the ICC’s ‘Best Ever’ Player Ratings, to see where our players stand.

ICC ratings take into account the quality of the opposition and the overall context in which each performance was achieved, unlike simple averages. Also, the ‘best ever’ ranking attempts to show how good players were at their peak, rather than over their whole career. As such, they suggest how players from different eras would have compared, though not everyone may agree with the conclusions drawn.

Generally speaking, ratings of over 800 indicate that the player has consistently produced outstanding performances, while anything over 900 is world class. There are only 19 bowlers and 20 batsmen who have achieved Test ratings over 900, out of the hundreds who must have played in the last century or so. Pakistan has two bowlers, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis, and one batsman, Mohammed Yousuf, in this elite group.