< 1 minute readIt seemed about time that Misbah-ul-Haq hit a Test hundred. One fifty wasn’t much of a Test record for someone we seem to write about on an almost daily basis. He hit 161 not out against India, largely in partnership with Kamran Akmal who hit 119. Akmal’s innings should ensure
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Wasim Jaffer gets a big hundred
< 1 minute readRahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were fairly predictable thorns in Sohail Tanvir’s side, but Wasim Jaffer was a thorn the size of a pickaxe handle. Jaffer actually made his Test debut back in 2000, when he was looked on as the latest great batsman from Mumbai, the town that brought
Continue readingSohail Tanvir is Pakistan’s ‘go to’ bowler
< 1 minute readBecause if you go to anyone else, you have to enter an isolation unit and get decontaminated afterwards. We don’t know for definite, but we imagine that Sohail Tanvir’s in a bad mood. Sohail’s one quarter of a four-man attack and one of the other quarters, Shoaib Akhtar, has got
Continue readingOpen verdict on Bob Woolmer’s death
< 1 minute readYou could have guessed, couldn’t you? Bob Woolmer’s death has veered from sad to sickening and back to merely sad again. It was to be expected that no real conclusions would be drawn. We’re going to put most weight by the part where they say that there was ‘insufficient evidence
Continue readingIndia get home
< 1 minute readIt may have got to 93-3 chasing 200, but with Sachin Tendulkar there, it never really felt in doubt. The man’s a pro. Shoaib Akhtar did his best, taking 4-58, but this was the right result. If India’s tailenders had managed to stick around for even a moment in their
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq ready and positioned
< 1 minute readWell, here we are again. The first Test between India and Pakistan is still poised, it could still go either way and again so much depends on Misbah-ul-Haq, who’s one of the not out batsmen. Man of the match awards hardly ever take account of context. You’ve got one batsman
Continue readingAnil Kumble leads from the front
< 1 minute readWe have a friend who follows from the front. It’s not very productive when you’re trying to get somewhere and you realise that the person you thought was leading the way is in fact shuffling along with no clue as to where he’s going. India’s new captain, Anil Kumble, took
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq run out failing to ground his bat
< 1 minute readOr himself for that matter. If you didn’t see Misbah-ul-Haq getting run out for 82, you’ll get an idea as to what happened from the accompanying picture. Misbah was about to make his ground after a quickish single. The throw came in from Dinesh Karhik at backward point and Misbah
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq in Test cricket
2 minute readWe labelled Misbah-ul-Haq a Twenty20 specialist during that format’s World Cup. That was a bit misleading because we don’t particularly believe in being a specialist in one format or another. The best cricketers play the match situation and the best batsmen weigh up what to do to score runs against
Continue readingSachin Tendulkar tries to camouflage his brilliance
< 1 minute readWell we’re onto you, young Sachin Tendulkar. Just because some young tyro hasn’t learned to turn fifties into hundreds, doesn’t mean we won’t spot real talent when it stares us in the face. This lad’s one to watch. India beat Pakistan in the fourth one-day international and in so doing
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