Emotional reasons

No team should win a major tournament on emotional reasons or cindrella reasons. Just cos one team has been attacked in a country or just that due to that attack, the country where the attack happened, the cricket dies there, it doesnt mean that both countries should be favorite to win the World T20.

Its a simple reasoning. Perform consistently with bat, ball. Win against strong teams and win the trophy.

Emotional reasons should never propel a team to being termed as favorite. If Pakistan and Sri Lanka have to win the World T20, they would need to fire as a team. Not on the basis of what happened in Lahore 2009.

Cricket is in danger of overkill, and the IPL and its imitators in other countries are playing a major part. We require a formula that preserves the novelty of encounters. The familiarity of combatants will breed contempt among viewers.

I am a fan of T20 and to my surprise I enjoyed last year’s IPL tournament. I have been unable to watch this year’s tournament because my concern is that Pakistan and its cricketers are being systematically marginalised by certain elements of the international cricket community. The removal of Pakistan’s champions from the planned T20 Champions League tournament is further evidence to support that view. I find it hard to watch tournaments from which Pakistan’s players have been deliberately excluded.

Contradictions. Paradoxes.

Kamran, you enjoyed last year’s IPl cos Pakistan players were part of it and likes of afridi were busy fighting with VVS. You liked then. This year your own PPP government banned your players crossing Wagah to play in India cos the ………………..(obvious reasons). So now you dont like IPL.

Damn you man. Pakistan was removed from CT hostage, World cup hostage and now RBC(S) cup champs are kicked out of CL later this year. Rather than pointing this to India or BCCI, go find whats happening in your country. Bombs in Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and every where. What do you expect ? More attacks like SL on world cricket teams ?

You guys blame India for everything that goes wrong with your cricket, but when it comes to eating a cake of riches, you want to be part of CL or IPL. When your players aint a part of IPL or CL, you hate it. Your cricket players meet with Modi, ex-players call IPL a tamasha. Rameez Raja blames IPL first and then bares his soul in IPL with some ridiculous commentary (along side other commentators).

Your players wanted to be part of ICL. Another Indian thing. Fascination for India doesnt go. You think you can kick us in the back, call us money brokers or whatever, you feel and then you want us to come back and embrace you in IPL or CL.

Say more of this stuff and I am sure BCCI wont pay heed to any PCB requests to help itself out of its mess. Remember BCCI is all powerful with money in its kitty. PCB doesnt have sanity, logic, pratical sense and moreover the money. So if you want us to help you out, keep your damned mouth shut and pack off Butt, Miandad to Swat.

Pakistan doesnt need Yousuf and Razzaq

literally in their squad for Tests or ODIs. It would not only hamper the momentum of the current squad who are used to absence of this 2 ICL stars. I mean it doesnt make any sense for the likes of MoY and Spinach king to retire, comeback, ICL, no ICL, ICL, no ICL and then suddenly they feel good for their country. Just cos there is a change in guard for Pakistan captaincy, MoY wants to come back.

I feel Inti and Qadir should take a hard stance here and shut the door for good on this 2 guys who feel they can get away with anything they can do. But then you dont know which side Butt will land his bum.

A T20 lowdown and high up

Which is the strongest team in the T20Is ? Is it India or Pakistan or Australia or South Africa ?

Or for that matter Sri Lanka or New Zealand ?

India are the defending world champions in the format which they won in 2007 comprehensively. In true Australian way circa 1999.

Having lost to NZ in the Super 8 stage, they needed to win 2 out of 2 games and didn’t they win all and 2 more. 4 in all.

Here is the win loss record for all teams (exclude BD and Zim)

Twenty20 record for each team

Team	Played	Won	Lost
Pakistan	17	13	3 (1 tie)
India	13	7	4 (1 tie + 1 NR)
SL	13	8	5
SA	18	11	7
Aus	21	11	10
WI	11	4	5(2 tie)
NZ	21	8	11(2 tie)
Eng	15	6	9

Pakistan have won 13 games of 17 it has played. Now does that make them the strongest. Well no. 7 of them are against minnows.

Canada, Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland. Exclude those 6 of them and the record then reads

Pakistan

10

6

3 (1 tie)

Out of this 6, most impressive record is against the Aussies. 2 out of 2 (2007 WC and then in 2009 desert safari). They have favorable record against England (1 out of 1) and New Zealand (1 out of 1)

At par with Sri Lanka (2 out of 4). They are yet to beat India in this format, the biggest parameter to test their strength in any format. 1 of them has been a tie (bowl out went to India for points distribution)

And the most famous T20I match, they lost to their bitter and toughest opponents thanks to an ill timed scoop by Misbah. They are yet to beat SA in this format. They haven’t played WI in any of the games so far.

Not the strongest of the records you see.

Lets take India to the sword.

Played 13. Won 7, lost 4. Out of the 4 , they have lost 3 to one single team – Kiwis. In fact they are yet to beat the Kiwis in this format. They lost the first super 8 game in 2007 and then 2 again in the Kiwi tour in 2009. They have one game washed out against the minnows Scotland, so we are no minnow bashers.

Out of the 7 victories we have, 2 against Aussies, 2 against SA (no loss), 1 against England, 1 against SA and 1 against Pakistan. The other loss came to Australia in 2008 when they were bowled out for a paltry 74.

Strongest ? Not quite. The 3 losses to Kiwis take off the sheen from the claim to be the strongest. Point of concern is since 2007 triumph, the champs have played 5 games, won 2 and lost 3. The only comprehensive win coming against Australia in Brabourne in 2007. They almost lost it against Lanka in 2009, thanks to Pathan bros who got team home.

Sri Lanka

13 played, 8 victories and 5 losses.

Minnow bashing. Yes. 4 against minnows. 4 against good countries. 2 against Pakistan, 1 against England and New Zealand. Err no. Not strong. No no no. Mind ittttttt, they hold the world record in this format too for the highest score. Phew. 260 in World T20 against minnows Kenya. Add 6/952, 443/6 or 8 in Tests and ODIs respectively. Credible.

WI, NZ and England fizz out owing to their on and off record.

We remain with Australia and South Africa. Unfortunately they have pretty on and off record too. Esp Aussies, they started off with a bang this year with 2 of 2 victories down under, thanks to David Warner, but they lost the steam in South Africa and desert safari. Aussies have a 50% ratio here, pretty low by their standards. But we should not forget that they come back hard at a trophy they haven’t won. Go back to Champions trophy, the 2006 edition. They won it comprehensively. It’s a different matter altogether, that this year its going to be India once again as the CT goes to SA and we win almost everything in SA. Won the IPL – 2, The World T20 2007 and almost the WC 2003, the first T20 in SA in Durban. Didn’t we ?

Its more of a day factor, the team that plays well the given day wins, but its to the consistency factor which decides which team remains the strongest. Out of the facts I diagnosed here, it’s a outright result. INDIA. They haven’t won any cheap game, they haven’t lost to major teams except Australia and Kiwis. IMO they are the strongest in the format, but then again only till the next T20 is played.

Main Hoo na

Indian Javed Miandad is back………

Miandad ka muh band karao, 50 paise inaam pao

I expected it from the Indian cricket board but it was very disappointing to see that no board has spoken out against it,” The News quoted Miandad, as saying. He charged the BCCI of influencing the decisions of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and boards of other cricket playing countries.

“I have realized now that everything can be bought with the power of money. India with the power of its money has earned the support from all stakeholders and we find no one who could listen and support us,”

You should say listen and support me, Javed Blabber Miandad. Not us dude. I guess you should be moving with a clown hat and a tape on your mouth. Enough of it son. You just proving you are a lampoon. Pakistan’s Shrikhand.

SP says it with full humor ji. Cost to keep himself quiet. Nothing in this birth ji. he has had this banter against Indians since his playing days. When he used to come to bat, he used to sledge Indians. Thanks the Indians were fickle minded those days, they caved in. This age no one gives an rat’s ASS to this dude.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/cricket/13+money+has+subdued+principles+miandad-za-02

More rants.

I believe Pakistan has banned its players from touring India owing to whatever (obvious) reasons, so how come BCCI has a fault here. Speak to MMS dude. MMS as in the Prime minister of India.

Starting XI

IPL is over. Teams are back. India team is back too after being fragmented to ROyals, Kings, Indians(fake), Knight Riders, Chargers and stuff like that. India play their first game in T20 world cup against Bangaladesh, the nemesis who threw them out of the World Cup 2007. Since then a lot has changed. Though BD still aims it can humble the Indians again, I dont think thats possible. As a part of demotivating the BD team, the KKRs played Mourtaza in that IPL game and he got Appam’ed (Sreesanth term for being hit) for 26 runs in final (or 24) over. Asharful didnt get a game until MI’s last, so he is pissed too. Pissed and demotivated people dont make great teams.

My starting XI for India’s 1st game :

1) Sehwag

2) Gambhir

3) Raina

4) YUvraj

5) Dhoni

6) Sharma

7) Y Pathan

8) I Pathan

9) RP Singh

10) Harbu

11) Zaheer / Praveen (if Zaks is fit)

Can somebody beat this team ? Formidable.

Cricket needs to be sanitized

I hope and believe that with the end of season 2 of IPL the names of Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and Shahrukh Khan wont come up in the same breath as cricket. Cricket needs to be sanitized with the dirt this guys left in the soul of the game we adore so much, at times more than ourselves.

In bid to glamorize the cricket, the Bollywood and crap gained a touch too much prominence in the IPL. Remember one thing we always should that, the IPL was successful not cos of the glamor factor of this shitty stars, but due to the game. Due to those stars which have entertained us over the decades. The cricketing stars. Nobody else.

The price tags the cricketers carried was for their performance in the Tests and ODIs. The T20 players were not successful as the old horses or the current ones who are success in ODIs and T20s. Age, experience, retired, non retired doesnt matter. All what matters is cricket, its basics and its primary contests — bat vs ball, mind vs mind.

Cant wait to witness the cricket in its original form. If game would have continued to have prominence in the IPL, nobody (purists) would have complained. But the sidekicks, goons took over and cricket just lost its relevance.

Arm Ball for renovation

This is a new era and rebirth for Arm Ball. Arm Ball would undergo a major revamp and name change in coming few days. Arm Ball wont go off air for some fickle minded individuals. An exciting summer is up ahead in form of Ashes. And I would gear up myself for following every ball of every Test match of the pinnacle Test series for every Aussie and every Pommy. There has been a cleanup in the blogroll. Would network soon and add new blogs who would be level headed, have cricketing logic and focus on game rather than cities or ignore facts and figures for bias to the particular team or hate a particular nation.

Fake IPL player got me 6k hits in a space of month, best for any of my blog. Before IPL arm ball had 7956 hits. Now its close to 15k hits. Now would aim to get more hits in the future with the power of analysis, logic and comprehension. Regional bias, foul mouthed words, preachers, Shikhandis wont find a place here.

Long live Arm Ball.

England feel they are Ashes favorites

http://content.cricinfo.com/engvwi2009/content/current/story/406228.html

A clean sweep of 2-0 in ODIs and Tests over lowly out of sorts reluctant West Indies makes England feel they are good for Ashes. They feel they are a good bunch and can take on the Aussies and beat them. Aussies aint the same team as they were in 2005. Yet they are good enough to beat England today. If not 5-0 then 3-1 is a certainity, provided they dont play too bad cricket like they did in India and Australia.

True, the selection of Andrew M over Andrew S is a dampner, but they have got enough selection headaches in bowling department. And they would also mull over Mr Cricket. Do they play him or dont play him ? Average drop from 80 to 54 in a year.

English cricket is very fickle. One good performance and they feel they are best in the world. And then the next game, they are ruthlessly brought down to the earth 10 feet deep under.