Stadium: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Time : 03:30 GMT | 09:00 IST | 08:30 PKT|

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India Playing XI:

Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma.

Pakistan Playing XI:

Mohammad Hafeez (c), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Irfan, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Azhar Ali, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul.

Highlights of the Match

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and Elect to Field.

India Inning:

* MS Dhoni (c)(wk) scored 113* Runs (SR 90.40).
* Suresh Raina scored 43 Runs (SR 48.86).
* Junaid Khan took 4 wickets (Eco. 4.78).
* India was Scored 227 / 6 in 50.0 overs (Run Rate: 4.54).

Pakistan Inning:

* Nasir Jamshed scored 101* Runs (SR. 76.52).
* Younis Khan scored 58 Runs (SR. 96.67).
* Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 wickets (Eco. 3.00).
* Pakistan was Scored 228 / 4 in 48.1 overs (Run Rate: 4.73).

Match Result : Pakistan won 6 wkts.

Stadium: Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.

Time : 11:30 GMT | 17:00 IST | 16:30 PKT|

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India Playing XI:

Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma.

Pakistan Playing XI:

Mohammad Hafeez (c), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Irfan, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul.

Highlights of the Match

Toss: Pakistan won the toss elected to field.

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and Elect to Field.

India Inning:

* Yuvraj Singh scored 72 Runs (SR 200.00).
* MS Dhoni (c)(wk) scored 33 Runs (SR 143.48).
* Umar Gul took 4 wickets (Eco. 9.25).
* India was Scored 192 / 5 in 20.0 overs (Run Rate: 9.60).

Pakistan Inning:

* Mohammad Hafeez (c) scored 55 Runs (SR. 211.54).
* Nasir Jamshed scored 41 Runs (SR. 128.13).
* Ashok Dinda took 3 wickets (Eco. 9.00).
* Pakistan was Scored 181 / 7 in 20.0 overs (Run Rate: 9.05).

Match Result : India won 11 runs.

Stadium: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Time : 13:30 GMT | 19:00 IST | 18:30 PKT|

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India Playing XI:

Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma.

Pakistan Playing XI:

Mohammad Hafeez (c), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Irfan, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul.

Highlights of the Match

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and Elect to Field.

India Inning:

* Gautam Gambhir scored 43 Runs (SR 104.88).
* Ajinkya Rahane scored 42 Runs (SR 135.48).
* Umar Gul took 3 wickets (Eco.6.25).
* India was Scored 133 / 9 in 20.0 overs (Run Rate: 6.65).

Pakistan Inning:

* Mohammad Hafeez (c) scored 61 Runs (SR. 138.64).
* Shoaib Malik scored 57* Runs (SR. 114.00).
* Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 3 wickets (Eco. 2.25).
* Pakistan was Scored 134 / 5 in 19.4 overs (Run Rate: 6.76).

Match Result : Pakistan won 5 wkts.

۔۔۔اے ایف پی فائل فوٹو۔

ڈھاکہ: بنگلہ دیش کرکٹ بورڈ (بی سی بی) نے اگلے سال کرکٹ ٹیم پاکستان بھیجنے کی منظوری دے دی ہے، ٹیم دورے کے دوران میں ایک ون ڈے اور ایک ٹی ٹوئنٹی کھیلے گی۔

 اے ایف پی کے مطابق، بی سی بی نے 2013 کی شروعات میں دورہ پاکستان کے لئے رضا مندی ظاہر کردی ہے۔

 ذرائع کے مطابق، پاکستان کرکٹ بورڈ (پی سی بی) کی جانب سے کھلاڑیوں کو بنگلہ دیش پریمئیر لیگ (بی پی ایل) کیلیے این او سی جاری نہ کئے جانے کی وجہ سے بی سی بی نے دورہ پاکستان کیلیے منظوری دی۔

 واضح رہے کہ 2009 میں سری لنکن ٹیم پر لاہور میں ہونے والے حملوں کے بعد یہ پہلا موقع ہوگا جب کوئی غیر ملکی ٹیم پاکستان میں کرکٹ کھیلنے کے غرض سے قدم رکھے گی۔

 دوسری جانب، پی سی بی کے ترجمان نے کہا کہ فی الوقت انہیں بنگلہ دیش کرکٹ بورڈ کی جانب سے اس حوالے سے کرین سگنل نہیں ملا ہے تاہم دورے کے لئے بات چیت چل رہی ہے۔

افواہوں کے عین مطابق، پاکستان کے کرکٹ سیلیکٹرز نے آل راؤنڈر شاہد آفریدی کو ہندوستان کا دورہ کرنے والی ون ڈے ٹیم میں شامل نہیں کیا۔

  آفریدی کو ٹیم کا حصہ نہ بنانے کی وجہ ان کی خراب فارم کو قرار دیا جا رہاے ہے۔ تاہم اس کے باوجود انہیں ٹی ٹوئنٹی ٹیم میں جگہ دی گئی ہے۔

 اب اگر ‘اسٹار آل راؤنڈر’ ٹیم میں جگہ برقرار رکھنا چاہتے ہیں تو انہیں ٹی ٹوئنٹی فارمیٹ میں اچھی کارکردگی دکھانا پڑے گی۔

 دوسری جانب، مایہ ناز بلے باز یونس خان کو ان کے وسیع تجربے کی بنا پر مڈل آرڈر کو مضبوط کرنے کے لیے ہندوستان جانے والی ٹیم میں شامل کیا گیا ہے۔

 اس کے علاوہ سیلیکٹرز نے اسکواڈ کو تشکیل دیتے ہوئے تین نئے اور بعض کم تجربہ کار کھلاڑیوں کو بھی شامل کیا ہے۔

 ایک اور قابل ذکر پیش رفت جارحانہ انداز میں بلے بازی کرنے کے لیے مشہور آل راؤنڈر عبدالرزاق کو ٹیم میں شامل نہ کرنا ہے۔

 محمد حفیظ کے خلاف بیان دینے کے بعد انہیں اسکواڈ کا حصہ نہ بنانا، کوئی حیرت ناک بات نہیں۔

 ادھر پاکستانی کرکٹ شائقین ٹیم سیلیکشن پر تقسیم نظر آتے ہیں۔

 جہاں نئے چہروں کو شامل کیے جانے پر خوشی ظاہر کی جا رہی ہے وہیں آفریدی کو ٹیم میں شامل نہ کرنے پر سیلیکشن کمیٹی تنقید کا نشانہ بھی بن رہی ہے۔

 ڈان اردو آپ سے جاننا چاہتا ہے کہ

 کیا آپ ہندوستان دورہ کے لیے اعلان کردہ ٹی ٹوئنٹی اور ون ڈے اسکواڈ سے متفق ہیں؟

 کیا آفریدی ون ڈے ٹیم میں شامل ہونے کے حق دار ہیں؟ اگر نہیں، تو کیا یہ پیش رفت ان کے کیریئر میں نیا موڑ ثابت ہوگی؟

 کیا نا تجربہ کار کھلاڑی ہندوستانی دورے کا دباؤ برداشت کر پائیں گے؟

 آپ کے خیال میں اس دورے پر کون کون سے کھلاڑی کامیاب ہوں گے؟

 ڈان اردو آپ کی قیمتی آراء کا منتظر رہے گا۔

Shahid Afridi

Separated from Afridi, the players cut from the ODI squad that run over to the UAE were: deserted-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, speedy bowlers Aizaz Cheema and Sohail Tanvir, and allrounder Shoaib Malik. Asad Shafiq was in addition left out as a result of damage.

They were swapped by Younis Khan, Haris Sohail,Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, and Zulfiqar Babar. Younis and Gul were causing comebacks after to be being cut out for the arrangement in opposition to Australia. Speedy bowler Riaz was coming back to the squad after final playing in the Asia Cup in March, while batsman Sohail and left-arm spinner Babar gained their lady call-ups to the one-day squad.

“Dropping Afridi was a demanding determination,” Pakistan’s boss selector Iqbal Qasim stated at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “He is doubtlessly an essential player and has the capability to win an amusement, however the choice has been taken in the investment of the crew. We did hold him in the T20 squad and assuming that he performs well he can win back his ODI place sometime to come. Then, we are searching for a youngster as Afridi’s trade and I am positive we will discover the right man soon from the household circuit.”

Pakistan lost the World Twenty20 semi-last to Sri Lanka and from that squad allrounders Abdul Razzaqand Yasir Arafat, and opening batsman Imran Nazirwere left out. Shafiq and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan were harmed.

Quick bowler Junaid Khan , who was an astonishing oversight from the World T20 fight, came back to the squad, and Ahmed Shehzad, Babar, Asad Ali , seven-foot tall Mohammad Irfan and Umar Amin were the alternate incorporations.

Irfan had been chosen in 2010 for an ODI sequence in opposition to England, however yielded 37 and 40 in first two matches and was dropped for whatever is left of the succession. He has been on the household circuit inasmuch as then and in this period’s President’s Trophy, he took 27 wickets in eight matches. He likewise took 11 wickets in the Faysal Bank T-20. He has been leaned toward in front of Under-19 quick bowler Ehsan Adil, who was the second most astounding wicket-taker in the President’s Trophy after Babar, with 53 wickets. Adil likewise took 10 wickets in four household T20 matches.

“Irfan is an astonishment bundle,” Qasim stated, while illustrating why Irfan was favored over different remarkable entertainers. “No one is demoralized, I know we have Ehsan Adil and Imran Khan on the seat sitting tight for the call yet they can be recognized soon. They are our fate prospects. Irfan as of now is in exceptional structure and he has the tallness focal point and might be our amazement bundle. I am positive he will satisfy our needs and will perform so great.”

“India’s exhibition in opposition to England hasn’t been great and their chips are down. Contrasted with our side, they have consistently relied amply on their batsman and we were more successful with the ball. In this way, we have chosen an adjusted blend with the agreement of both the skippers and the mentor. We have constantly whipped them when we are dependable with the batting, with bowling as leeway, so I trust the proposed crews will have great effects on the tour.”

Pakistan are planned to play two Twenty20 internationals and several ODIs in India from December 25 to January 6. The players will gather for a seven-day camp in Lahore between December 14 and 22 before leaving for India on December 22.

ODI squad: Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar.

Twenty20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shehzad.

Source:ESPNCricinfo

On the other hand, veteran batsman Younis Khan was recalled for the ODIs on back of his experience in India and as a reliable option in the middle order.

Several young players, three uncapped and several with limited outings were also included in the squads as the selectors indicated their will to experiment and show some faith in the youth.

Another mentionable exclusion was that of veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq but given his outburst against T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, it wasn’t surprising that the Lahore Lions player was kept out of the touring side.

Pakistani cricket fans have been divided on the team selection and while some have backed the excitement of youth over experienced players, other have lamented the exclusion of star all-rounder Afridi.

Do you agree with the team selection for the T20 and ODI squads for the tour of India?

Does Shahid Afridi deserve a place in the ODI squad? If not, will this mark a turning-point in his ODI career?

Will inexperienced players be able to cope with the pressure of playing in a high-pressure series against India?

Who are your picks for star performers for the ODI and T20 matches?

Dawn.com invites its readers to share their opinions and views…

Younis Khan returns to the ODI squad – File photo by AFP

LAHORE: Former captain Shahid Afridi was left out of Pakistan’s one-day international squad but kept his place in Twenty20 internationals when Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) selection committee announced the teams for the up-coming limited-overs tour of India.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim revealed the squads in a delayed press conference at PCB’s headquarters at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Monday.

The selectors picked three uncapped players who have shown impressive performances in domestic tournaments. These include leg-spinner Zulfiqar Babar – who was the leading wicket-taker (62 in nine matches) in the recently-concluded President’s Trophy – as well as batsman Haris Sohail – who scored 673 runs in five matches in the tournament top-scored in the same tournament and pacer Asad Ali, who topped the wickets tally (15) in the domestic Twenty20 competition that ended on Sunday.

Former captain Younis Khan made a surprise comeback into the ODI squad after having been left out of the team for the series against Australia in August-September. The 35-year-old has only managed 167 runs in his 10 ODI performances this calendar year.

Meanwhile, Afridi, who has taken 35 wickets and scored 408 runs in the 23 ODIs since the World Cup semi-final against India last year, which Pakistan lost in Mohali, was left out of the ODI line-up on the basis of poor form.

Qasim said Afridi would have to “prove his performance in the two T20s if he wants to be considered for future ODIs.”

He said the same applied to veteran all-rounder Razzaq, who starred for champions Lahore Lions in the domestic tournament.

Opener Imran Nazir, all-rounder Yasir Arafat and pacer Mohammad Sami, who were part of Pakistan’s squad at the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in October, were dropped while left-arm spinner Raza Hasan and middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq miss out due to injuries.

Seven players were recalled by the selectors on back of recent performances. Umar Amin, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan and Ahmed Shahzad were called in for the T20 squad while Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat are part of the ODI squad.

The announcement for the two 15-member squads comes nearly two weeks before the opening match of the tour, a T20 match in Ahmedabad on December 25, and a day after the final of the domestic Twenty20 cup.

Pakistan will fly to New Delhi on December 22 and play the first Twenty20 match in Bangalore three days later.

The second Twenty20 match will be played in Ahmedabad on December 27 followed by one-day matches in Chennai (December 30), Kolkata (January 3) and Delhi (January 6).

Twenty20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Ahmed Shahzad

One-day international squad: Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali.

It took more than two years to research and to compile this series. Hours were spent going through old newspapers and magazines tucked away safely in Dawn’s archives section. Politicians, sportsmen, artistes and friends were approached to share with us images that would capture the political and cultural zeitgeist of what Pakistan was like between 1947 and 1977.

A Pakistan that was a very different creature compared to what it started to mutate into from the 1980s onwards.

In this final installment of the Also Pakistan series, we share with you the last bits left in the arsenal of images that we were able to collect in the last couple of years.

Images of a strange, alien place that was also called Pakistan.

Previous Parts:

Also Pakistan-I

Also Pakistan-II

Also Pakistan-III

Also Pakistan-IV

Also Pakistan-V

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Rare photo of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, shaking hands with future Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, in Quetta, in 1948.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Bugti became a critic of the state and joined Sindhi, Baloch, Bengali and Pashtun nationalists to oppose the government of Pakistan.

In the 1970s however, he sided with the state and the populist government of Z A. Bhutto during the third Balochistan insurgency against the government and the Pakistan Army and was made the Governor of Balochistan.

Twenty years later Bugti once again turned anti-state, and in the early 2000s helped revive an armed insurgency in Balochistan. He was eventually assassinated by the Pakistan military in 2006 in a missile attack.

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The Pakistan hockey team playing against Great Britain at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Notice how a Pakistani player is sprinting across the field completely barefooted!

This 1956 Pakistan team that was desperately low on resources and money not only topped its qualifying group in Melbourne, but went on to reach the finals of the tournament where it was beaten by India 1-0 in a closely fought contest.

_________________________

Famous Pakistani intellectual, novelist and playwright, Ashfaq Ahmad saying a prayer at the grave of British Romantic poet, Percy Shelly, in 1955.

Ahmad started out as a progressive thinker and writer with a growing interest in Sufism. In the late 1960s he went on to endorse and support Z A. Bhutto’s ‘Islamic Socialism’.

In the 1970s during the Z A. Bhutto regime he further rose to become one of the most respected intellectuals and TV playwrights in the country.

Most of his plays of the period revolved around the underlying social tensions between the liberal zeitgeist of the time, the early populist Socialism of the Bhutto regime, and the conservative strain of Islam that had begun to assert itself from 1976 onwards.

By the early 1980s Ahmad grew out of his former progressive and quasi-socialist mould and moved close to the military dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq.

As a playwright he attempted to provide the reactionary dictatorship a more soulful face through his TV plays of the 1980s.

He was hosting a well-received show on the philosophy of Sufism on PTV when he passed away in 2004.

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British fishing enthusiasts show off their big catch at one of Karachi’s many beaches.

This picture was taken in 1957 when these men (father and son) set a record of sorts by catching a 60 lbs Barracuda from the waters of the famous Sandspit beach of Karachi.

Today this beach is considered to be too polluted to support fish like the one seen in the picture.

_________________________

A 1955 photograph of famous American painter and illustrator, Norman Rockwell, on a boat with a press photographer (right) and a Sindhi fisherman (left) at Karachi’s famous Kemari area.

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Poster of Pakistan’s ‘first Socialist film’, Jago Hoa Sawera.

The film was released in 1959 and was scripted by famous leftist intellectual and poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

The story revolved around the daily struggles of a poverty-stricken family of a fisherman. The film is sometimes also believed to be the region’s first ‘art film’.

Though critically acclaimed, the film was a box-office flop. However, it did win a gold medal at the 1959 Moscow Film Festival.

Its director, A K. Kardar, also submitted it to be nominated in the Oscar’s Best Foreign Film category, but the submission was rejected. Kardar explained the rejection as a sign of Hollywood’s “ideological bias against art with Socialist content.”
Nevertheless, the film was finally screened in the US 40 years later at the New York Film Festival in 2008.

_________________________

People waving Pakistani and American flags from the balconies of their apartments at Karachi’s Burns Road as US President Dwight Eisenhower’s motorcade passes by during his visit to Pakistan in 1959.

From the 1970s onwards, Burns Road became famous for inexpensive restaurants serving delicious Pakistani food, but today it is one of the most congested and polluted areas in Karachi.

The apartment building seen in the photo is still there but in a much depleted condition.

_________________________

A 1961 poster published by the Tourism Board of Pakistan to attract western tourists to visit the capital city of the rugged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Peshawar.

Although the poster showed Pashtun tribesmen with rifles, they were not allowed to carry them in the city.

However, Pashtun men with colourfully painted fake guns (as shown in the poster) were hired by the government for the tourists’ amusement.

In the 1980s the guns became quite real during the US and Pakistan backed anti-Soviet ‘Afghan jihad’, and by the 1990s the tourists had all but disappeared.

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The Queen of England, Elizabeth, riding with Pakistani head of state, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, in an open-top car through the streets of the Saddar in Karachi during her visit in 1961.

Both sides of the road were packed and lined by college and school students and thousands of onlookers.

Till the early 1960s Saddar was one of cleanest areas in Karachi. Between the late 1960s and early 1970s it was lined with bars, nightclubs and famous shopping spots and became the place to be for middle-class Karachiites looking for entertainment and shopping.

Today, however, Saddar has become one of the city’s most overcrowded and ragged areas; a sad shadow of its glorious past.

Karachi’s Christian community was also largely concentrated here, and Saddar still has some of the most magnificent churches in Karachi.

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A 1962 photo showing Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of American President John F. Kennedy, disembarking from a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane at London’s Heathrow Airport and being greeted by the plane’s flying and cabin crew.

Ms. Kennedy went on record saying that PIA was one her favourite airlines.

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A mural painted by famous Pakistani painter, Sadequain, in 1961. In it the painter tried to capture the history of ancient Muslim philosophers, biologists, astrologers, mathematicians and chemists.

It was his homage to Muslim men of learning. It is said to be one of his finest and most ambitious works that was huge in both size and influence.

_________________________

A Pakistani girl, Aqba (second from left), seen here celebrating Christmas with US President, John F. Kennedy and his family at the White House in 1961.

Aqba who belonged to a working-class Pakistani family that had managed to migrate from Pakistan’s Punjab province to the US city of Washington lost Aqba for a while when the young and extremely bright girl ran away from home and ended up outside the White House.

She was taken in by the President’s family, gifted a dress (the one she is seen wearing in the picture), welcomed to celebrate Christmas with the President’s wife and children, and then softly persuaded to rejoin her struggling family.

No one quite knows exactly what happened to Aqba, even though some reports suggested that she went on to graduate in Law from a Washington college and stayed in the US while her family returned to Pakistan in the 1980s.

_________________________

A group of fighter pilots of the Pakistan Air Force posing just hours before the start of the 1965 Pakistan-India war.

Some of these men never came back, while others were later send to Libya, Jordan and Saudi Arabia (in the 1970s) to train the air force of these countries.

The 1965 war however ended in an awkward stalemate.

_________________________

The Pakistan hockey team on its way to defeat India in the hockey semi-final of the 1968  Olympics in Mexico. Pakistan then went on to beat Australia in the final to win the hockey gold medal.

_________________________

A telling image from Pakistan’s first horror and ‘X-Rated’ film, Zinda Lash (The Living Corpse) – a modern (and voluptuous) retelling of the story of vampires and Dracula in a Pakistani setting.

Released in 1967 the film became an instant box-office hit and was then repeatedly shown on the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) during its late Saturday night film slot.

It was released on DVD in 2002.

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A 1966 photo of the beautiful Punjab University in Lahore. Notice the double-decker bus. Such buses were quite common in Lahore till the late 1960s.

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British journalist, Tom Waghorn, seen here typing a report while sitting on the slopes of Torkhum near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 1968.

Today this area is only ventured by violent Islamist militants and the Pakistan military. Even the local Pakistani Pashtuns fear to tread here, let alone Westerners.

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Special postal stamp issued by the government of Pakistan to celebrate the winning of the 1971 Hockey World Cup by the country’s hockey team.

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Pakistani Test cricketer, Aftab Gul (third from left) and a friend (right) chatting with a couple of policemen during the Pakistan cricket team’s tour of England in 1971.

Gul was a highly talented opening batsman and should have represented Pakistan in a lot more Tests than the six he played between 1969 and 1971.

It was not his talent that restricted him from becoming a regular in the team. It was rather his erratic temperament and issues of anger management that limited his playing career.

Gul was a fiery left-wing student leader and had led various student protest rallies against the Ayub Khan dictatorship in 1968.

But throughout his stint as a student leader and agitator, he continued to play cricket and was selected for the Pakistan side in 1969.

In spite of the fact that he scored heavily in his last series against England in 1971, he lost interest and began studying to become a lawyer.

Gul was also a passionate supporter of Z A. Bhutto and his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

This was something rather common in the Pakistan cricket teams of the 1970s in which such illustrious players like Mushtaq Muhammad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Intikhab Alam and Javed Miandad were staunch Bhutto fans.

Gul returned to political activism in 1977 when the Bhutto regime was overthrown by Ziaul Haq in a military coup.

In 1980, Gul was accused by the dictatorship for allegedly being a member of Murtaza Bhutto’s left-wing urban guerrilla outfit, the Al-Zulfikar (AZO).

Police claimed to have found Russian-made missiles from Gul’s resident in Lahore. Gul escaped to London and stayed there in exile, only returning after Zia’s demise in 1988.

Today he is a barrister in Lahore.

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Bodies of Bengali intellectuals, teachers, journalists and students lying in a ditch, 1971.

Thousands like these were killed in the former East Pakistan by the death squads operated by the Pakistan Army in 1970-71 for supporting Bengali nationalism and the separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan.

Bengali militant nationalists publicly executing suspected pro-West Pakistan Bengali collaborators after East Pakistan managed to separate and create the independent Bengali majority state of Bangladesh in January 1972.

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Cover of a 1972 PIA Wine & Spirits menu.

Between 1962 and 1978, PIA was continuously placed on various 10 Best Airlines of the World lists.

PIA was also one the first airlines to introduce in-flight entertainment and also famous for having one of the widest varieties of dishes and alcoholic beverages on offer.

Today however, PIA is largely a bankrupt enterprise.

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A 1973 press ad of Karachi’s Oasis nightclub. Oasis that was situated on what is now Awan-i-Saddar Road (then called Club Road), was one of most popular nightclubs in Karachi, along with Playboy (that was located right beside Oasis), The Excelsior (in Saddar), and The Horseshoe (on Shara-e-Faisal).

Women shown in the ad are belly dancers invited from Beirut and Istanbul.

Oasis closed down when nightclubs and alcohol (for Muslims), were banned in 1977. It was demolished in the 1985 and converted into a ‘wedding garden.’

(Photo: Dawn newspaper, February, 1972).

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Female student supporters of the left-wing National Students Federation (NSF), seen here during the 1972 student union elections at the Karachi University.

(Photo: The Herald).

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Women at a New Year’s party at Karachi’s Hotel Metropole (1973).

Today half of the hotel is an office complex while the other half was converted into a ‘wedding hall.’

(Photo: Daily News).

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The left-wing National Students Federation (NSF) holding a corner meeting at the Karachi University just before the 1973 student union elections. Behind the speaker is graffiti quoting Chinese communist leader, Mao Tse Tung.

(Photo: The Star). 

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European ‘Earthwalkers’ in Islamabad, 1973. They had arrived in the Pakistan capital to raise awareness about environmental issues.

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A 1973 photo of men enjoying a sizzling dance performance at a ‘kotha’ in Karachi’s infamous red light district on Napier Road.

Napier Road comprised one of the largest number of ‘kothas’ in the 1970s in Karachi, that mostly carted to the entertainment (and other) needs of lower-middle and working-class men.

(Photo: Daily Jang).  

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A montage of headlines screaming about the expulsion of the Pakistani Ahmadis from the fold of Islam.

Also seen is the copy of the constitutional deliberations and clauses finalised by the country’s National Assembly in 1974 that turned the Ahmadis into a minority faith separate from Islam in Pakistan.

The move was initiated by anti-Ahmadi agitation by Islamic parties who then pressurised the Z A. Bhutto regime to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslim.

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1974: Islamic scholar and founder of the Jamat-i-Islami, Abul Aala Maudidi, holding a press conference during which he explained his party’s support for the government’s move to declare the Ahmadis as non-Muslim.

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A 1974 picture of students relaxing outside the Arts Lobby at the Karachi University.

The Arts Lobby was a stronghold of leftist and liberal student groups, whereas students from the science departments largely supported rightist student parties such as the Islami Jamiat Taleba during student union elections.

(Photo: The Herald)

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A group of students hang-out for a smoke and a chat outside the main canteen of the Punjab University in Lahore (1973).

(Photo: The Herald).

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An article (published in the May 1974 issue of Pakistani magazine, The Herald) on one of Pakistan’s most famous painters, Bashir Mirza.

Mirza remained a prolific painter in the 1960s and 1970s but stopped painting (as a protest) when the military overthrew the democratically elected government of Z A. Bhutto in July 1977.

Mirza only resumed painting after the demise of Ziaul Haq and return of democracy in Pakistan in 1988.

He passed away in 2000 due to liver failure.

_________________________

Hippie tourists enjoying themselves at a hut at one of Karachi’s many beaches in 1973.

Karachi beaches were a favourite haunt of wandering hippies arriving in droves from western countries in the 1970s.

(Photo: The Star)

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European hippies relaxing outside a cheap food joint on Burns Road in Karachi.

The second image shows two more inside the room of a cheap hotel in Saddar, Karachi. Both pictures were taken in 1972.

(Photo: The Herald).

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A 1973 press ad of the United Bank of Pakistan (UBL). It was one of the largest private banks in the country but was nationalised by the Z A. Bhutto regime in 1972 that won the 1970 election (in West Pakistan) on a socialist manifesto.

Which is why modern socialist and pro-working-class imagery is used in this particular ad.

_________________________

Famous Pakistani painter, Jamil Naqsh, captured here working in his studios in Karachi in 1973.

Naqsh’s paintings remain to be one of the most expensive buys.

_________________________

A group of friends pose outside their class at the Karachi University in 1973.

(Photo: The Herald)

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Various leaders of the Muslim world gather inside Lahore’s historic Badhshahi Mosque to say the evening prayers.

The picture was taken during the 1974 Islamic Summit organised by the government of Z A. Bhutto in Lahore and in which dozens of heads of state of Muslim countries took part.

Bhutto wanted to use the occasion to open a third front in the Cold War dominated by the US-led West and the Soviet-led communist bloc.

Bhutto also explained the summit as an expression of his regime’s idea of ‘progressive Muslim democracy’ and ‘Islamic Socialism’ – even though most of the attendees were either monarchs or dictators.

Seen in the picture are PLO chief, Yasser Arafat (in dark glasses), Z A. Bhutto (in a Jinnah cap), Libyan leader Colonel Qadhafi, and Saudi monarch, Shah Faisal.

_________________________

A 1974 magazine feature on 1970s’ pop icon, ‘Maulana Hippie.’ His real name was M. Hussain Talpur and he hailed from the Sindh province.

His interest in adorning outrageous ‘hippie attire,’ and his carefree demeanour earned him the name Maulana Hippie – a name that was also enacted to mock his more religious detractors.

Talpur also ventured into film production but was not very successful and by the late 1970s he was history.

_________________________

Libyan leader Colonel Qadhafi waving to an enthusiastic crowd during the 1974 Islamic Summit in Lahore.

It was this speech given on the grounds of Lahore Stadium after which the stadium’s name was changed to Gaddafi Stadium.

(Photo: Daily Jang)

_________________________

A 1973 photo of fiery poetess and writer, Fahmida Riaz, lighting a cigarette during a poetry recital in Lahore.

After the 1977 military take-over, Riaz was harassed by the Ziaul Haq dictatorship.

She finally escaped to India with her husband and stayed there in exile till Zia’s demise in 1988.

_________________________

Video grab of Pakistani cricket fans enjoying beer at the first Test match during Pakistan cricket team’s 1974 tour of England.

_________________________

American tourists enjoying a ride on a tonga in Rawalpindi in 1975.

_________________________

A 1974 press ad of Red & White cigarettes.

In the 1970s Pakistani cigarette brands had started to target middle-class women smokers, a practice that was discontinued (on the instructions of the government) by the government after 1976.

Cigarette advertising was totally banned from TV, radio and the print media in Pakistan in the early 2000s.

_________________________

A 1975 photo of a hash (cannabis) shop in Kohat. Various such shops sprang up to mostly cater to the rising number of Western hippie tourists who would travel by road from Turkey through Iran and then enter Pakistan from Afghanistan.

The government tolerated such shops as long as they were not offering harder drugs like heroin on the menu.

In fact heroin was a rarity in Pakistan till 1980 when Pakistan’s involvement in the anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan triggered the arrival of a flood of guns and heroin into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

In 1979 there was only one reported case of heroin addiction in the country. By 1985 Pakistan became the country with the second largest number of heroin addicts.

_________________________

German archaeologists at the ancient ruins of Taxila in Pakistan in 1976.

_________________________

Pakistani boxer Jan Muhammad Baloch, seen here with former Governor of Punjab, Mustafa Khar (left) in 1975.

The picture was taken when Baloch, who had already won a gold medal in the 1970 Asian Games in South Korea and represented Pakistan at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was honoured by the government when he won a gold medal at the RCD Boxing Championship held in 1975 in Istanbul, Turkey.

_________________________

A 1975 poster highlighting Pakistan’s Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun and Punjabi folk singers.

The Pakistan government in the 1970s aggressively promoted the distinct cultures of Pakistan’s various ethnicities due to which folk music became a popular part of the programming on state-owned television and radio.

This particular poster was printed to advertise the featured artistes’ performance during the 1975 International Folk Music Festival in Washington DC.

_________________________

A 1976 photo of the award ceremony of the Pakistan Open squash tournament which was won by Qamar Zaman.

This was the beginning of Pakistan’s long dominance of world squash (that lasted for almost 15 years – mainly on the shoulders of Jehangir Khan and Jansher Khan).

By 1976 most of the Pakistani players seen in the photo were already placed in the top-ten rankings of international squash, especially the four seen in the picture (from left): Mohibullah Khan, Gogi Allauddin, Torkam Khan (Jehangir Khan’s elder brother who tragically died at the young age of 21), and Qamar Zaman (seen here standing in front of the trophy).

_________________________

A photo of one of the 1970s most popular celebrity couple, Saira Kazmi and Rahat Kazmi.

Both were TV actors, even though Rahat did act in a few films as well, and for a while was hailed as ‘Pakistan’s answer to Amitabh Bachan.’

He continued to appear on TV and on stage throughout the 1980s, whereas Saira went on to become a highly respected TV director.

_________________________

A special stamp issued by the government of Pakistan in 1976 to mark the centenary of the 1776 American Revolution.

_________________________

The Pakistan cricket team on its way to win its first ever Test against Australia in Australia in 1976.

Many believe this was the point from where the Pakistan team began to be taken seriously as a Test side.

Up against a strong Australian squad and on fast pitches, Pakistan drew the first Test, lost the second but came back to win the third game and draw the series 1-1.

Pakistan’s victory was set-up by Pakistan’s fast bowling pair of Imran Khan who took 12 wickets in the match, and Sarfraz Nawaz.

Seen in the picture (from left): Sadiq Muhammad, Wasim Bari, Mushtaq Muhammad, Imran Khan and Rodney Marsh.

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Another image of the third Test of the Pakistan-Australia series in 1976.

Skipper Mushtaq Muhammad is seen arguing with the Australian umpire who had warned Imran Khan for bowling bouncers at Dennis Lillie.

Also in the picture are twelfth man Wasim Raja and behind the umpire, a fuming Imran Khan.

_________________________

Nasir Zaidi, the first journalist to be mercilessly flogged in public by the Ziaul Haq dictatorship in 1978.

General Zia had toppled the democratically-elected regime of Z A. Bhutto in July 1977, promising a new order based on ‘Islamic laws.’

Between 1978 and 1982, dozens of journalists and political activists were flogged for opposing the dictatorship.

_________________________

The February 1978 cover of The Herald. The issue contained a detailed report and feature on various draconian laws imposed by the Zia dictatorship in the name of Islam.

Though imposed to ‘Islamise the society,’ they ended up creating deadly fissures between various Muslim sects in the country.

Also, if one compares the crime data and that of alcohol and drug addiction of the 1947-77 period with that of the 1978-2005 period, crime rose three-fold and there was almost a ten-fold increase in drug addiction.

Incidents of rape, terrorism and corruption too rose dramatically.

Such were the ‘laws’ and doings of the dictatorship that Pakistan is still struggling to recover from the madness that they unleashed.

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

فائل تصویر

کراچی:پاکستان نے روایتی حریف بھارت کیخلاف محدود اوورز کی سیریز کے پیش نظر دسمبر میں زمبابوے کا طے شدہ دورہ آئندہ سال تک ملتوی کردیا ہے ۔

پاکستان کرکٹ بورڈ کے اہلکار نے اے ایف پی کو بتایاکہ ہم نے زمبابوے کرکٹ بورڈ کو دورہ آئندہ سال تک ملتوی کرنے کے لئے تحریری طور پر لکھ دیا ہے کیونکہ اس کی تاریخیں ہمارے دورہ بھارت سے مل رہی تھیں۔

پاکستان نے دو ٹیسٹ ، تین ایک روزہ اور دو ٹی ٹوئنٹی میچز کی سیریز کھیلنے دسمبر کے اوائل میں زمبابوے کا دورہ کرنا تھا۔

بھارت نے پاکستان کو 25دسمبر سے تین ایک روزہ اور دو ٹی ٹوئنٹی میچز کی سیریز کے لئے دورے کی دعوت دے رکھی ہے جو کہ 2007ء کے بعد سے دونوں ملکوں کے درمیان پہلی دوطرفہ سیریز ہو گی ۔

بھارت نے نومبر 2008ء میں اپنےاہم تجارتی شہر ممبئی میں حملوں کے بعد پاکستان کیساتھ دوطرفہ کرکٹ تعلقات معطل کردیئے تھے ، ان حملوں میں166افراد ہلاک ہو گئے تھے ۔

نئی دہلی کا الزام تھا کہ حملوں میں پاکستان میں موجود شدت پسند ملوث ہیں اور اس نے ان حملوں کے بعد ٹیم کو پاکستان بھیجنے سے انکار دیا تھا ، اس کے بعد سے پاکستان اور بھارت صرف کثیر الملکی ایونٹس میں ایک دوسرے کے آمنے سامنے آئے ہیں ، دونوں ٹیمیں حالیہ دو میچز گزشتہ سال موہالی میں عالمی کپ اور رواں ماہ کے اوائل میں کولمبو میں ورلڈ ٹوئنٹی ٹوئنٹی سپرایٹ میچ کے سلسلے میں ایک دوسرے کے مدمقابل کھیلی تھیں۔

کامران اکمل پاکستان ٹیم کی کپتانی کریں گے۔ فائل فوٹو

لاہور: ہانک کانگ سپر سکس کرکٹ ٹورنامنٹ ستائیس سے اٹھائیس اکتوبر تک ہانک کانگ میں منعقد ہوگا۔

 پاکستان ٹیم کے کپتان کامران اکمل ہوں گے جبکہ دیگر کھلاڑیوں میں عمر اکمل، اویس ضیاء، حماد اعظم، یاسر شاہ، جنید خان، اور تنویر احمد شامل جبکہ شفیق احمد ٹیم منیجر ہوں گے۔

 ٹورنامنٹ میں پاکستا ن، ہانک کانگ ،آسٹریلیا، جنوبی افریقہ، انگلینڈ، سری لنکا، بھارت، ہالینڈ شامل ہیں۔

 ٹیموں کو دو مختلف پولز میں تقسیم کیا گیا ہے۔ پول اے میں آسٹریلیا، انگلینڈ، جنوبی افریقہ، ہانک کانگ اور پول بی میں پاکستان،بھارت، سری لنکا اور ہالینڈ کی ٹیمیں شامل ہیں۔

آل راؤنڈر عبدالرزاق کو چودہ دن میں شوکاز نوٹس کا جواب دینے کی ہدایت کی گئی ہے۔ فوٹو اے ایف پی

لاہور: پاکستان کرکٹ بورڈ نے آل راؤنڈر عبدالرزاق کو کپتان اور مینجمنٹ کے خلاف بیان دینے پر شوکاز نوٹس جاری کردیا ہے۔

آئی سی سی ورلڈ ٹی ٹوئنٹی میں شرکت کے بعد وطن واپسی پر قومی ٹیم کے مایہ ناز آل راؤنڈر نے کپتان محمد حفیظ پر سیمی فائنل میں نہ کھلانے کا الزام عائد کیا تھا۔

پی سی بی نے عبدالرزاق کی پریس کانفرنس کا نوٹس لیتے ہوئے انہیں کپتان اور مینجمنٹ کے خلاف بیان بازی پر شوکاز نوٹس جاری کرتے ہوئےچودہ روز میں وضاحت طلب کرلی ہے۔

یاد رہے کہ ورلڈ ٹی ٹوئنٹی کے سیمی فائنل میں سری لنکا کے ہاتھوں شکست کے بعد ہفتے کو وطن واپس پہنچنے پر ال راؤنڈر نے اپنے گھر پر ایک پریس کانفرنس کا انعقاد کیا تھا اور اس میں کپتان محمد حفیظ پر نہ کھلانے کا الزام عائد کیا تھا۔

انہوں نے کہا تھا کہ وہ سری لنکا کیخلاف سیمی فائنل کھیلنا چاہتے تھے تاہم کپتان محمد حفیظ نے انہیں اس اہم میچ میں نہ کھلانے کا فیصلہ کیا تھا۔

دوسری جانب وطن واپسی پر کپتان محمد حفیظ کا کہنا تھا کہ عبدالرزاق کو سیمی فائنل میں نہ کھلانے کا فیصلہ ٹیم مینجمنٹ کا تھا اور انہیں اس لیے نہیں کھلایا گیا کیونکہ ٹیم کو اس اہم میچ میں ایک اضافی فاسٹ بولر کی ضرورت تھی۔

During the India Pakistan game it appeared like 4 out of 5 Sri Lankans at the game had adopted Pakistan as their home team.  Thousands of fans had Sri Lankan shirts on and were waving Pakistan flags or had their face painted with the Pakistani flag on it.  They were as Pakistani as you could get, for just the three hours.

It’s been one of the highlights of this tournament.

People picking their second country to follow, or following a whole new country just for qualification purposes while supporting them as much as they could and the cheering of superhuman feats no matter whose team performs them.

That stopped tonight.

Outside the grounds I swear some of the very same people I saw screaming for Pakistan a few nights back were now chanting “Go home Pakistan”, “bye, bye, Pakistan” or “Sri Lanka Zindabad”.  Pakistan fans coming out of the stadium were greeted by laughing or taunting Sri Lanka fans who had long forgotten that Pakistan were there second favourite side and were now happily giving them some stick.

This is more of a party than a tournament.  And I’m not just talking about what goes on player’s hotel rooms.

Because of the setting, the amount of games in quick succession and the nature of double headers, it’s been far less patriotic than a bilateral series or even a world cup.  If you are here to support your country, you are probably also going to see neutral games as well.  It’s how this tournament is.

But tonight all that disappeared.  The Sri Lankans had been cheering Chris Gayle supporting the Pakistanis and getting excited at Shane Watson, but not any more.  Tonight Pakistan was the opposition, not their second favourite team.

Watson or Gayle can be sure that their sixes will be met largely by silence followed by an ICC firework.

The Sri Lankan fans can now see themselves winning this.  They really want to win it.  They even started partying like they were winning it.  One fan drinking what appeared to be arrack as he hung out of the sunroof of a car while wearing a Sri Lankan shirt and wrapped in a Sri Lankan flag was certainly enjoying the victory.  There seemed to be more fans outside the ground than could ever fit into the ground.

Most of them, when there wasn’t a Pakistani fan to laugh at, were already calling Sri Lanka the champions.  Why wait to Sunday when you can start celebrating now.

The party bit of this tournament has definitely ended, the party in Sri Lanka may not end for quite some time.

Result: I missed Afridi’s last ever innings (well it could be) by deciding to wash my hands. Dilshan now won’t get beaten to death by a sack of rambutans.

Other people have it too.   Some scientists believe that alien abduction and ghost stories can often been explained away with this condition.

Ofcourse it’s also possible that there really is someone in my room, and in my hazy freshly woken state I just don’t see them get away time and time again.

The nightmare for Australia was that their middle order was exactly as shit as they thought they were.

That they couldn’t score against the spinners, wouldn’t rotate the strike and under extreme pressure would fall apart.

Every night Australia has had this dream, and every night of the tournament they wake up screaming and check beside them to make sure Shane Watson is still there.

Tonight, Shane Watson wasn’t.

It was just as ugly as all the nightmares suggested.

In the end all they needed to score was 112, and they did that because Mike Hussey was awake the whole time, although it didn’t seem like he was always conscious.

You could also give all the credit to Pakistan for almost flat out refusing to try pace, and for being really good.  But let’s focus on how utterly shit Australia looked without Watson making runs.

Now they have two games in which to fix this problem.

Knock out games.

And they’ll have precisely no warm up matches between now and them to practice.

But on the plus side, it’s not a nightmare, it’s a reality.  Doesn’t that feel better?

Result: Shane Watson bleeds human blood, and Shoaib Malik ruined the 20 overs of spin thing.

Many men will dance with each other, some will dance because of the cricket, others will not notice the cricket.

People will stop you and ask you to take their picture, you get good at making a clicking sound with your tongue.

Pakistani fans will abuse Kakmal and Malik.

India fans will abuse Rohit.

Suresh Raina will shush the crowd, and that will make them love him.

Various men of various nationalities will say, “Hey England, fuck you”.

The cheerleaders will look completely jaded unless they think a camera is on them.

Police officers will smile at you.

Police officers will scowl at you.

Police officers will tell you not to go somewhere and you’ll nod and act dumb and go there anyway.

More dancing.

Flags will be waved in a way that only dislocate your shoulder.

Both sets of supporters will look happy at the same time in a way that will confuse you.

Pakistani supporters will stare mournfully at the screen for longer when their team does something really stupid.

A wicket is the greatest moment ever. A six is greater than the greatest.

The crowd will chant Sachin’s name even though he is not there.

A slog will get as much cheer as the prettiest drive Kohli can muster.

Men will stroke each other’s mullets in a tender yet probably completely hetero kind of way.

70% of the crowd will have their countries shirt on.

Someone will take a photo of his mate posing with another friend, then they will all confer on whether the photo is any good, and if not they will reshoot it again and again until everyone is happy with the photo.

You’ll be asked if you are on facebook.

People with face paint are more likely to dance.

People with wigs are more likely to scream.

Pakistani fans will leave earlier enough that they don’t have to deal with too many Indian fans on the way out.

Indian fans will stay, dance and cheer the tv interview.

Pakistan fans will wander the streets in packs of two and three, all wearing similar vintage replica shirts, hours after the game has been lost.

Result: Pakistan have a great bowling attack against anyone who isn’t India, Virat Kohli is batman to Watson’s superman.

When I finally got into the ground, a couple of hours after the Pakistan South Africa match had started, Pakistan were in the shit.  They were four down, and then five, and then Afridi.

All that travel, all that sweating, all that discomfort, no penis touching, and now I was about to see my least favourite team beat my favourite team.  At that point the World T20 could go and fuck itself in the ass.  I hated Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the ICC, T20 and Stuart Robertson.

Then the Umars committed Morkecide.

There is a brilliant billboard by a major Colombo round-about that calls Sri Lanka a paradise island.  You can look at it while you stay stuck in your sweaty tuk tuk.  Surrouned by all kinds of pollution.  Large buses trying trying to push you into some posh dickhead’s unnecessary four wheel drive. Occasionally you inch forward before an overly officious police officer decides he doesn’t like your lane anymore.

This tournament is a bit like that at its worst.

But then Umar fucken Gul and his elongated face come in and start slapping the ball around everywhere.  Quickly you realise you’ve travelled a long uncomfortable way, bowel movements are controlling your life, you’re away from your wife and unborn child,  your undies are all sweated out again and the hum of the air conditioner at night sounds like a Slovenian hit crew about to off you, but it’s worth a lot of shit to watch South Africa lose in person.

Result: My cock wasn’t touched, Pakistan won.

In fact, to prove my love for Pakistan cricket, I’ve never once punched Shoaib Malik in the face.

I’m not sure I love Nasir Jamshed. Maybe I do, and I just don’t know it yet.

The first time I ate pizza, I thought, that’s not bad, I’d like that again.

I only had one piece.

It never occurred to me that what I was eating was the single greatest food ever invented. It just tasted ok, and one piece lead to one whole pizza, which lead to two, two lead to three and three lead to the time I once ate 13 pizzas in 8 days.

So far I like what I see of Jamshed. It’s not much, it’s probably only two pieces worth. But he can play, and Pakistan need an actual batsman.

Not a Nazir like psychopath, not a wild hitter like Afridi, not a suicidal freak like Umar, not a dour plodder like Hafeez, not whatever the hell Kamran Akmal is, and not Shoaib Malik, ever.

Nasir could be what Pakistan need to help this amazing bowling attack win this tournament.

In typical fashion New Zealand fought their way back from utter disaster to lose with honour. Ross Taylor batted at six, so let’s pretend that they took this game as more of a hit out than an actual game type game.

Result: Shahid Afridi is 32 years old.

Love to love the “bwayz” in green?

Well, here’s your chance to tell the world what you think about them by describing the team using a tricolon.

What three words or phrases capture your feelings for the Pakistani cricket team?

Be Creative!

Younis Khan (R) plays a shot next to Sri Lanka’s Prasanna Jayawardene during the second day of second test match in Colombo July 1, 2012. — Photo Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday dropped seasoned batsman Younis Khan from a 16-man squad for a three one-day match series against Australia, starting in the United Arab Emirates later this month.

The matches will be played on August 28 in Sharjah, August 31 in Abu Dhabi and again in Sharjah on September 3.

The teams will also play three Twenty20s, for which a team was announced last month.

Khan, 34, had been a lean form during a five-match away one-day series against Sri Lanka last month, scoring only 10 runs in four innings.

He has so far played 245 one-days for Pakistan, scoring 6,824 runs, but his last hundred came four years ago. Also out of the squad is ace paceman Umar Gul, who managed just four wickets in four matches against Sri Lanka.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said both Younis and Gul, a 28-year-old veteran of 111 one-day matches, have been rested.

“If you look at the last series against Sri Lanka, both Younis and Gul were struggling with form so we have rested them for the two tough series ahead, the first against India in December and then against South Africa early next year,” Qasim told AFP.

Qasim denied Younis’s career was over.

“By no means (is it) over, he can stage a comeback after rest,” said Qasim.

Wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal, already recalled for the Twenty20 series against Australia, also bagged a place in the one-day team.

“We observed during the Sri Lanka series that our batting struggled, especially the lower order, so we included Kamran who gives solidity to the batting,” said Qasim.

Opener Nasir Jamshed, withdrawn from the team for Sri Lanka due to a finger injury, will also make a return, as will all-rounder Anwar Ali.

Ali, 23, has played just one Twenty20 for Pakistan, in 2008.

The three Twenty20s against Australia will be played on September 5, 7 and 10 — all in Dubai.

Squad: Misbahul Haq (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan, Anwar Ali.

The ICC rankings are updated in August every year ensuring that the latest performances of teams are taken into account. Since there was no Test series scheduled to end by August 1 or near it this year, the ICC made its annual update at the end of the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series which concluded on July 12.

The ICC Test rankings only consider performances of the past four years. Each year, after the annual update, the performance from four years ago is discarded from the rankings. (South Africa slipped down the rankings because their series victories in England and Australia four years ago were not considered). In the current case, all the performances from August 2008-2009 – the period in which Pakistan played only five Tests, did not win any and lost the series to Sri Lanka 2-0 – were not included.

The current rankings span over two periods of four years:

A)    2 years, from August 2009 to August 2011 – It has 50 per cent weightage in the rankings.
B)    2 years, from August 2011 to August 2013 – It has 100 per cent weightage in the rankings.

Next year, in 2013, when the ICC will again update its rankings, the performances from August 2009 – 2010 will not be evaluated and therefore, Australia’s 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in January 2010 will be excluded. Pakistan’s ranking could get a further boost after next year’s update but for that they must not run out of steam as they are set to play Tests against Zimbabwe in January, South Africa in February-March and West Indies in June-July.

This is not the first time that Pakistan has been given a boost in Test rankings. In July 2006, when Inzamam-ul-Haq was captain, Pakistan leapfrogged to number two, just behind Australia who were then number one. However, Pakistan’s stay at number two was fleeting. The very next month, in August 2006, Pakistan lost to England 3-0 and lost the number two slot. In the aftermath of that series, England replaced Pakistan as number two and the Ashes of that year, which started in November 2006, were contested between the top two Test teams.

Pakistan can improve their ranking further and climb up to number three as early as next month after the series between South Africa and England ends on August 20. England is currently number one with ratings of 122 while South Africa (number three, 113 ratings) is ahead of Pakistan (number four, 109 ratings) by a small margin. If England beat South Africa by a margin of 2-0 or better, it will see South Africa slip behind Pakistan and the latter rise up to number three – behind England and Australia (number two).

However, on a broader scope and with much optimism, Pakistan would want South Africa to beat England to become number 1 and would further want South Africa beat Australia in December this year. If all goes according to plan, then when Pakistan meet South Africa in February 2013, they will have the opportunity to beat the world number one Test side just like they did in UAE against England last winter. In the interim, Pakistan will hope that the outcome of the India-England series goes in their favour.

Mazher Arshad is a Cricket buff based in Islamabad who considers watching Cricket and giving insights of it as his foremost priority on social media.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

The biggest question in this squad is over the non-selection of Junaid Khan – the young quick who impressed one and all in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka, on the flattest of wickets. His back-to-back five wicket hauls gave the hope that not all was lost and that here could be a potential superstar for the future. What do we do with him? That’s right – exclude him from the series that follows.

If the reason is that he’s more suited to Test cricket then the selectors might have missed this – from a T20 game played last year where Khan defended seven runs of the last over for Lancashire. Given his performances, his exclusion is truly mind-boggling. Three five-wicket hauls in eight Tests – the selectors owe us an explanation.

Ahmed Shahzad is another exclusion that’s beyond comprehension. The lad plays his first T20 in over a year against Sri Lanka in June 2012, scores the highest on either side and gets dropped for the next tour. The board has time and again cited his attitude as the biggest concern – he was dropped a year so he could go work on his attitude, he came back and was the highest scorer in the first game he played – what’s wrong with that? When was Pakistan cricket about guys with no attitude issues? In-fighting, player power, politics – all these have been a part of Pakistan cricket for the past two decades – what blasphemy has Shahzad committed? Before throwing Shahzad out and asking him to sort himself out, the PCB needs to sort its own planning out – do you want him or not? If not, do you have another 20 year old who’s touted to be a future star? No, Abdul Qadir didn’t call him the future Sachin Tendulkar for his attitude. This is no way to treat a talent.

Many have questioned Mohammad Sami’s inclusion in this T20 team – it’s interesting to note that in his last T20 game, he almost single handedly won us the game against Sri Lanka. Since his T20 comeback, Sami has figures of  five overs, 38 runs and four wickets – he’s bowled at great pace (quicker than anyone on the Pakistan side has bowled since Shoaib Akhtar left) and he’s done well to keep his place. If Sami’s past record is a concern then it should be known that he was ‘fairly’ dropped and had to perform in domestic cricket to stage a comeback. If he earned his place in the side, he needs to be given a decent run and not discarded after a bad game (something that happened to Sami after he went for 28 runs in that over against Australia in the previous world cup – after having the same batsman, David Hussey, dropped off his bowling earlier in the game).

Other individuals who have all the right to feel hard done-by are Shakeel Ansar, Harris Sohail and Hammad Azam. Sohail didn’t get a game and has been dropped while Azam is going through a bit of what Fawad Alam went through – a few games here and there, glimpses of talent, dropped, called back, another game or two and then dropped again – kudos to the PCB for their treatment of these young men. Ansar’s initial selection was questionable as he had been picked on the basis of a superb century in domestic cricket – one would think earning a call to the international side might need a bit more than a handful of brilliant innings. Kamran Akmal has been called back to the squad and, in all honesty, he is our best choice wicket keeper in T20 cricket because of his explosive batting. His keeping has been an issue but he has made fewer mistakes in T20s and is acceptable in the format mainly due to his batting – also, he does a better job than Umar Akmal. Abdul Razzaq’s call back shows further confusion on the selection committee’s part. If you drop a player and ask him to go play domestic cricket to prove his form, how are you calling him back if there was no domestic cricket played in the country? PCB will never crease to amaze.

The selectors seemed to have tried too hard to cover all bases with this squad. There are six all rounders in Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Abdul Razzaq and Yasir Arafat. Hafeez, Afridi and Saeed Ajmal are three names on the team sheet that won’t change throughout the T20 world cup and that means 12 overs out of the 20 will come from them. Malik is being picked as a batting all rounder but Hafeez has said that he might be used as a bowling option as well. Umar Gul is a certain starter. That’s 20 overs for you – in addition to that, Sami or Sohail Tanvir might be picked to open the bowling with Gul. Razzaq’s usefulness in Sri Lanka is restricted to the new ball especially with his pace – what use is it to select both Razzaq and Tanvir and drop Azam? Pakistan would have been better off with taking Tanvir and Azam as Razzaq’s form is unproven and Azam would’ve learned more by being with the team than sitting in Pakistan and watching the world cup on his television.

I am not pointing fingers – nor am I saying that the squad picked represents Pakistan’s best but the squad has been selected and, barring injuries, these guys will be representing our country at the T20 world cup. Save the name-calling, save the hate – get behind this team and support them all the way. On current form, many pundits might rate the West Indies as favorites ahead of us – not ideal but we’re at our best when we go in as underdogs. It is imperative to remember that T20 cricket is entertainment, just like the WWF.

A cricket enthusiast who practices accounting on the side. Based in Ottawa but firmly believes that he’ll lead the PCB one day.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

Despite the loss there was much to cheer for Pakistan. Foremost amongst them was the emergence of Junaid Khan as the potential leader of the pace attack. He had hinted at doing exactly that during an injury-ravaged second half of 2011, but a series in which he took 14 wickets at under 22 could be the signal of him accepting the responsibility that so many before him have failed to grasp at. Much has been made of how good, statistically, his start has been in Test cricket (after eight Tests he has 27 wickets; by comparison Aamer had 21 wickets at the same stage, while Wasim Akram had 28). But his excellence goes beyond just numbers. His bowling on the fourth day of the second Test – on a track as dead as the parrot John Cleese once held – was reminiscent of Shoaib Akhtar of yore, bowling full pelt on a wicket that offered him nothing. For a Pakistani pace attack, bereft of life – how else to explain the continuing existence of Mohammad Sami – one series loss must surely be worth the potential Junaid showed.

The positivity was not restricted to the bowling, though. This series offered proof of the continued significance of Azhar Ali – who is slowly becoming the man around whom this batting order is to be built. Azhar’s virtues – patience, hard-work, decision making and sheer bloody mindedness – are not what the average Pakistani fan romanticises about. But his record and his performances are silencing his doubters one at a time. Since his debut, in July 2010, only Kumar Sangakkara has faced more balls than him in Test cricket. But he is no Mudassar Nazar – a man who seemed to believe that his role as a batsman was to drive the bowlers and the spectators mad, rather than score runs. After 24 Tests, he has scored more runs than any of the trio that formed Pakistan’s greatest ever middle order (Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis) had scored at the same stage in their careers. Azhar’s posters may not adorn many bedroom walls, but his value as the lynchpin for Team Misbah cannot be underestimated.

Still though, Azhar has needed support. The drops in the form of the team’s senior citizens this year has been stark – Misbah’s average from 2011 to 2012 has fallen from 70 to 42, Younis’ corresponding figures are 85 and 36. At the end of last year, it would have been difficult to place your bets on Asad Shafiq to provide that support. He had averaged under 40 over the calendar year, and going into the England series had only two 50+ innings in 15 innings; all this despite the inflation provided by a tour of Bangladesh. The faith that had been given to him – something that has often been denied to many of his contemporaries and predecessors – seemed misplaced. But Asad Shafiq walked into last chance saloon and emerged victorious. He continued the theme of aborted starts in the England series, but his 40s and 50s had far more bearing on the games, in a low scoring series, than they had had previously. He has followed that with the Sri Lankan series where he has averaged over 60, and had three 50+ scores in five innings. It is going to be interesting to see whether this is the beginning of a purple patch or another file to be placed into the cabinet titled ‘Pakistani false dawns.’ Considering the application that has been used in many of the innings, the latter might be a safer bet.

But this is Pakistan, lest we forget. To wager on the future of the national team is as good an investment as a wishing well. Three years ago, Pakistan went to Sri Lanka with a similarly rejuvenated team – a team, and a captain, that had just captured the World T20 title. Pakistan lost the series by a score-line which was harsh to them. The captain would not play another Test match for 15 months. The best batsman in the series would play only one match after it. There were a multitude of reasons for why Younis Khan and Fawad Alam were ostracised in the aftermath of that tour – but few which could’ve been predicted when that tour finished.

So, as always, it would be idiotic to predict – or expect – anything with regard to the Pakistan team. Much more logical to stay on the bandwagon and see where it goes.

The writer is a sports nerd, and does not believe that opinions other than his own are valid. He can be found presenting his opinions as fact on his blog.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.