Look who is talking

I won't name anyone but I have seen quite a few cricketers who have been rubbing mud on the ball and that is also tampering," Akram told espnstar.com. " If umpires are not watching then I don't know who is. In this IPL, umpires should look for players who are putting mud on the ball because you can't alter the state of the ball with anything.

"Around the 18th, 19th over in places like Rajasthan, Mumbai or Ahmedabad where there is red soil it is difficult to see the ball under lights and by putting the mud on the ball these players are trying to contain the batsmen or get wickets." 

Look who is talking ? The masters of ball tampering now taking on moral policing role to put a lid on ball tampering. He has done it umpteen times and his country’s captain actually bites the ball to tamper it on live cameras.

Pakistan beat West Indies in a mess up

It was a good scoreline. Pakistan won by 5 wkts. They messed up. 134 was not a huge score. Not at all. Yet the big guns made a mess. In the end the kid Akamal and the Boomer chewing gum saw it in the end that their team gets through the upset.

Misbah, Yusuf, Malik failed and thats just going to raise more brows in their country. Beating West Indies could have been a walk in the park for the Greens, but they are Pakistan. Lest they mess, they wont be the team they are. Mavericks...Their next game is against the Indians. And its not a Friday. Its a Saturday. 2003 / 3/ 1 was also a Saturday. It was Centurion then, its centurion now.

Tendulkar, Dravid, Nehra, Harbhajan were then in blue. Younis, Yusuf, Afridi were in green.

Got to see an agression in Pakistan team, the agression they showed under Wasim Akram, not under Imran Khan. Under Imran Khan, the players were more like soldiers who have taken to whites to fight the "war" against India.

Under Inzy, the Pak team mellowed and that basically gave the likes of Asif and Akhtar a chance to go wild, my view. Dare somebody do that under Akram or Imran, the player would have ended his career. Today serial offenders like Yusuf, Asif, Akhtar continue to play and get away.

Chuck out a few losers from Pakistan team and they should be a good team back to the glory of 90s. And yes PCB too.

Special thing about India vs Pakistan

While every match will be important, the game against India, as always, will be special for both the sides," Gul said. "No rivalry can match the India-Pakistan rivalry and I think the match will be something billions of people all over the world will be waiting for.

"For us, the match is also important for the simple fact that we haven't beaten them in an ICC event and we're desperate to break that sequence [Pakistan have actually beaten India in the 2004 Champions Trophy]

Yo baby, we are waiting for the same too. More than you. More than any other game. And did we forgot to add that the game is in Centurion, the place where Sehwag demolished Waqar's career for good and Sachin pushed Akram to retirement before teaching a couple of lessons to Shoaib Akhtar.

India and Pakistan are special teams. Even special is their rivalry and even special is when India beats Pakistan. You see forgetting those tormenting 90s Sharjah defeats when every match used to be scheduled on Friday for some unknown reasons. Those humiliating moments of 90s when the umpires wont budge to call off the game even if it was dark and the batsmen couldnt see the ball. That was the age when likes of Imran Khan used to add fuel in the fire by saying let Kashmir be decided on Sharjah. Idiot.

It feels special when Indian team of 90s wipes out those painful memories by beating Pakistan convincingly. In fact its now ages Pakistan last won a ODI series against India (2-4 in 2005 and before that in 1999). In between its 3-2 for India in Pakistan, 4-1 in Pakistan and then again 3-2 in India.

A generation of players in India played with an inferiority complex against Pakistan in Sharjah. Bring in any new player and he would excel against India. That was till Saurav Ganguly came in. Tendulkar had shown that the Akrams, Imrans, Qadirs and Waqars can be hit, but team didnt have the confidence till then. Ganguly changed it all and now Dhoni is carrying forward before Dravid did it in 2006.

India vs Pakistan is most awaited match now after all damp series in England, SL and elsewhere. Time for some crackers and time for some rivetting, breath taking action. Who better than India and Pakistan vs each other.

Akram on Akhtar

Wasim Akram says correct on Shoaib Akhtar that his career is over. No later this statement came and also the news broke out that he is in further trouble with Butt and he s been issued notice...

Well we never know few appeals and cases later Akhtar could still be in the team and competing with Amer for a slot. When MoYo can come in and along with Misbah who is now off for long time can keep youths like Alam and Akamal junior out of the ODIs, then why not Akhtar.

Wonder if somebody in Pakistan listens to Wasim ? He is one of those sane ex-cricketer in the subcontinent who speaks some sense.