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Grapevine tells us that some smart arse Aussie reporter asked Afridi how he bit the bullet to take up the crown of thorns, the bed of nails – Pakistani captaincy, especially during a tough tour Down under.
Afridi didn’t want to be a Sohail Tanveer, trying to be cheeky down under (anatomically !!). He preferred the Sehwag route we are told.
“Sorry, we are sportsmen we have nothing to do with guns. In fact we are very friendly guys and we don’t have bullets either”
Afridi being Afridi, he had a point to prove. He wanted to teach some basics to that silly Aussie journo who spoke about those instruments of violence and the enablers.
Firstly, he wanted to tell the Aussie journo world that the Pakistani cricketers had a bite
But most importantly he wanted to prove that Pakistani cricketers are indeed non violent sports people (The Asif – Shoaib instance, with some assistance from him was just an aberration) and they don’t carry guns to have access to bullets.
All they have access to, are balls. And so he had a ball
With Afridi, Mind your language
Diamond Balls
A purple cap and not a diamond studded ball - what were you thinking Lalit Modi?
They probably used up all the diamonds and gold they had in that IPL trophy not leaving any room for something like this.
I doubt that. I think Lalit Modi just doesn't know about this.
If he did, Sohail Tanvir would have been a rich man today.
And RP Singh in the race to be.
What about a diamond bat?
They've been beaten to the ball, but maybe Lalit Modi and the IPL could be the first ones to manufacture such a bat!
Who is responsible?
Suddenly they seem to be playing as a unit, you see a Sohail Tanveer and Umar Gul bowling in tandem complementing each other. With a greenhorn in Saeed Ajmal testing the WI batsmen with his doosras and Rao Iftikhar finding a good rhythm, the
Even the wicket keeping atrocities of Kamran Akmal seem not be bothering the Pakistanis. Before Rahul Dravid crosses Mark Waugh’s 181 catches in test cricket, I am sure Kamran would cross 250 in all forms of cricket. Well the 250 are catches again, but the dropped ones. But he seems to be more than making-up for his wicket keeping when he comes out to bat, we saw a blinder of an innings followed by a very responsible one from him.
Looking at the way the Pakistani team is playing now, I thought its time we found who is responsible for this? Who is responsible for their suddenly playing well?
Is it because of the shake-up in their board?
Is it because Geoff Lawson was sacked?
Is it because Shoaib Malik is still the captain of the team?
Is it because of Intikab Alam coming in as coach / manager?
Is it because Misbha has not played that Dougie Marillier shot for a while now?
Is it because of Shoaib Aktar being in the team but not in the 11?
Is it because of Mr Zardari, the new patron of the board?
Is it because Salim Malik has been cleared in the match fixing case?
Is it because Imran Khan is not getting enough column centimeters in the Pakistani press?
Is it because Javed Miandad has been keeping quite for a while?
Is this because Younis Khan has forgotten his captaincy dreams?
Is it because Gen Musharraf, the one time patron of PCB concentrates on his golf these days?
What is the reason?
This Q needs A (rather A’s)
What do you think?
* A couple of months is a deliberate mathematical blunder, as part of your A’s you can also try since when !!
BCCI is paying the selectors… Huzaa!! ICL is happy
It seems BCCI has decided that paying the selectors means that a good team (without any bias… what an oxymoron!!) would be selected. And the ICL is happy about this development. No, not because BCCI is paying the selectors. It is because Mr. Krish Srikanth is going to be the chief of selectors.
To understand their happiness we need to rewind a bit and go to the first match (league stage) Chennai Superkings played Rajasthan Royals in IPL. Krish Srikanth was then a star commentator cum a mascot for the Chennai team. Sohail Tanveer, the Pakistani pacer was in the middle of a brilliant spell and so was Srikanth, in the middle of a free flowing commentary session.
Srikanth was so enchanted by Tanveer that he said "Tanveer Jabbar, what a brilliant bowler he is…" Little did Srikanth or for that matter anybody in the commentary team notice this. Perhaps they didn't know who Tanveer Jabbar is. He was a batsman who represented Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy in the 90's and the son of Abdul Jabbar who might have played alongside Srikanth, for Tamil Nadu during the 80's. Most of us would have missed this faux pas, but I am sure everyone would agree that our man is bad when it comes to remembering (right) names or putting forth his point of view. And that too when occasion demands.
And yes… I know you guys would have guessed it right as to why ICL is happy with this development. For those who didn't get it… Imagine Srikanth reading a team out like this…
"and T P Singh, Kiran Powar and whaadoucal*… Rajagopalan Satish complete the 15 member squad. The last three are in due to their splendid performance in domestic cricket". I am sure Pawar and Modi have other ideas, they might probably have found a voice over artist to speak (announce the names) out while Srikanth mimes in the background after the selection meetings.
What a performance that would be…
On a completely different note, right from when I was a child I have always been fascinated by this adage "Throw peanuts, get monkeys!!" I realized that there is a converse to this adage which is equally striking and true, "Throw bundles of currency to monkeys, they would still wait for the peanuts". I am sure the people in BCCI know this and have factored this when they selected this bunch of wise men to select.
* That is Srikanth's way of recalling something on air... Used freely on men, animals, place & things, it stands for "What you call"!!
PS: From the same IPL match (Raj Vs Chen) here is another gem from the man… Thanks Bhaskar!!
