It says something about Australia—and a whole lot more about the other world teams—that with just two seasoned world-class batsmen, two proven performers with the ball and aided by an all-rounder with reasonable experience they comfortably won the Champions Trophy.

Out of the line-up that India faced when they last played Australia in March 2008—the two finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series that India won—only five familiar faces lifted the Champions Trophy. With this win, Australia is back to the top of the ICC ODI rankings; followed by India, South Africa and New Zealand. South Africa and India are very confounding cases; both of them were jostling for the number one position for quite some time before the Champions Trophy. The consistent cricket that they have played over a year reflects their rise in ODI rankings.

Their performances in big tournaments, on the contrary, can best be defined by the immortal words that Lewis Carroll gave Alice in his masterpiece Alice in Wonderland: “Curiouser and Curiouser!” These words came to Alice after she fell down a rabbit hole and was so bewildered by what she saw that she even forgot to speak proper English. It is since then used as literary shorthand to describe wonder and disbelief; and the kind of perplexity that India and South Africa display in major tournaments.

With the 2007 World Cup in sight, Aussie legend Greg Chappell was taken as India’s coach in May 2005 and fellow Australian Tom Moody took over Sri Lanka. In far away South Africa Mickey Arthur replaced Ray Jennings as the national coach. The first big World tournament for the new coaches and their teams was the 2006 Champions Trophy in India.

India was knocked out in the first round at home. South Africa reached the semi-final but got blown away by a Chris Gayle tropical storm that hit Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Gayle blasted 133 not out and the Windies chased 259 with 6 overs to spare. Australia routed the West Indies to claim the only silverware missing in their impressive collection.

In the last 6 world tournaments going back to the 2004 Champions Trophy in England; South Africa have not reached a single final and India have crashed before the first hurdle 5 times and they eventually won the solitary event where they went ahead; an uncanny position for consistently-winning teams.

India was out of the 2007 World Cup in the filtering process of the initial stage. They lost two of their 3 qualifying matches. South Africa got to the semi-final, and Smith said he’s never seen the squad so confident after winning the toss against Australia. That became a non-issue as the ‘Pigeon’ was on full flight that day in St. Lucia; nibbling the heart of South African batting and leaving them bleeding at 27 for 5 in 9.5 overs. McGrath got Kallis, Prince, and Boucher in his first spell. Australia trampled South Africa on their way to the final.

Greg Chappell resigned after the World Cup, having spent 18 months with the team and Moody moved on from Sri Lanka. Dhoni led a young Indian team that had an indifferent start to the inaugural World T20 championship in South Africa and faced two must-win games against England and the fancied South Africa.

Yuvraj came in to bat with India at 155 for 3 and 3.2 overs left against England; he was on strike when Stuart Broad came in to bowl the 19th over. It was a spectacle or a bloody carnage depending on how one saw it; 6 massive sixes in six balls got Yuvraj to 50 in 12 balls. He used the depth of the crease with great anticipation to get under the ball and time it beautifully, without ever committing early. With 218 runs on board, England fell short by 18.

The last match of the Group stage between South Africa and India was an organiser’s delight: all three teams—South Africa, New Zealand, and India—had a chance to go to the semi-finals with the probabilities in that order. After a bad start, a gritty performance by Rohit Sharma (50) and Dhoni (45) got India to 153. Two great moments in the field and three perfect deliveries reduced SA to 31 for 5 inside 6 overs. Boucher and Morkel took the score to 97 for 5 in 16 overs; 29 needed in 24 balls to qualify and 57 to win; South Africa finished on 116 for 9 in 20 overs.

In the semi-final Yuvraj came up the order and was brilliant again: 70 in 30 balls. India posted a healthy 188 and Australia fell short by 15. Dhoni and his young team lifted the championship in a fight-to-the-finish final with Pakistan.

The defending champions crashed out of the 2009 version at the first hurdle; losing all their three big games. South Africa was brilliant throughout and had accounted for everything, even for the inherent unpredictability of this format.

Pakistan reached the semis in tatters; their journey was nothing short of miraculous. It can be best described by the modifiers used in headlines after they lost to England. Sloppy Pakistan face litmus test—this classic was before the Netherlands game. Then rusty, lacking discipline and erratic; the analysis after the New Zealand match said Charismatic Pakistan.

The semi-final for which South Africa had accounted for everything, they could not account for one man; neither with the bat nor with the ball. Afridi came in at number 3 and made the fastest fifty of the match in 34 balls; very slow by his standards—since he has an ODI hundred in 37 balls against Sri Lanka. His bowling figures were 4-0-16-2; the only bowler to take two wickets and the most frugal. With 29 needed in two overs, Umar Gul bowled the 19th over, perhaps the best over at death that cricket has seen for a while. Just six singles and the buffer of 23 for the last over was more than enough.

When Pakistan met Sri Lanka in their Group match at Lord’s on the 12th of June, the green and blue intermingled; they stood alongside each other in their first meeting after that Lahore morning. And after the wheel turned a full circle to bring these two teams as final adversaries, it became an event that transcended sport. That this final was being played was in itself an immensity that made the game and its result completely inconsequential.

As for India and South Africa, the perplexity is at the opposite ends of the spectrum—India’s bane has mostly been the first hurdle, in fact the first match; and for South Africa it has usually been near the end. India needs to wake up and get their act together for the first match and South Africa needs to avoid sleeping near the end.

ICC awards, 2009 ceremony held on 1st October, 2009 in Johannesburg was a little surprising one then usual. First at the most prestigious award Mitchel Johnson was selected as ICC Player of the year, well his performance justifies it to some extent but his recent memories in the most influenced series Ashes 2009 wasn’t good at all. although the closest contestant was Dhoni who already have ODI player of the year.

Gambhir named as Test player of the year clearly for his runs at an average of 80 odd. Closest contestant could be Strauss for his role in England’s Ashes win but awards seem to care statistics more. Dhoni is ODI player of the year with some handsome average and leading Indian side to an almost number 1 position in ICC rankings having some set backs most recently elimination from ICC Champions Trophy. In nominees closest was Sehwag but he wasn’t that consistent. West Indies Chanderpaul had played a very important role in whatever West Indies achieved throughout the year.

Dilshan named as Twenty20 International Performance of the Year for his impressive performances in calender year specially in World Twenty20 in England. But they seems to went for statistics clearly here, Shahid Afridi is more influential for his team success specially those two performances in semi final and final of World Twenty20 in England to help Pakistan take trophy home. He performed throughout year with bowl, and with bat when needed. He became a main weapon for team taking wickets and restricting batsmen to score freely. Umar Gul performed well too with accurate economical bowling but Afridi was a very strong contestant for the award. With no disregard to Dilshan brilliance I feel Afridi might be a more interesting choice for this. I might have gone little too far with this but hell thats what I feel.

Dhoni selected as a captain of world test and ODI teams, while having a good competition by Smith. New Zealand once again won Spirit of the Cricket.

Aleem Dar claimed Umpire of the year breaking six year continuous run by Simon Taufel.

PS: Wasim Akram is also included in ICC Hall of fame.

It would be near impossible to find a genuine cricket lover across the eight major cricketing nations who would not be shattered to see the game moving ahead without a substantial role of Pakistan. On the contrary there would be millions lamenting that tours to Pakistan have suffered for a few years for reasons that are beyond the control of either the administrators or the fans of the game.

In this season even indifferent observers would have turned serious followers had they been witnessing how Pakistan cricket navigated through a dark, treacherous period and emerged joyous and unscathed on the other side; in the process they also sparked unadulterated joy among millions of supporters back home. Forget home; they must be even lifting the spirits of the rival camps.

Younis Khan and his team have given the other Test playing nations enough reason to see the fact that it would be a collective loss for all cricketing nations if tours to Pakistan remain stalled. Tours though are not decided by cricket captains and emotional fans; more so as the aftershocks of Mumbai and Lahore would be felt acutely by the governing bodies of countries scheduled to tour Pakistan.

On their part though, Pakistani cricketers have done enough for the world to take notice. On Wednesday they gave another proof—if it was at all needed in the first place—on why the game of cricket is so much poorer without the incendiary brilliance that their team brings to this rather small mix.

It was not an ideal surface to bat on but it produced a match that single-handedly justified the Champions Trophy. The Aussies put Pakistan in after winning the toss and bowled 50 overs with intensity to restrict Pakistan to 205. The chase began like a typical Aussie hot pursuit, with boundaries raining. At 62 for 2 after 12 overs, the seasoned Ponting and Hussey took charge; Ponting extra cautious while Hussey free-flowing. The Aussie captain perished in the 32nd over—to a slog-sweep off Malik caught wide of square leg, courtesy a great effort by Umar Gul.

It was just a precursor to the period that I call the ‘Pakistan Factor’. This elusive and dangerous quality that makes a Pakistani team lethal is scientifically defined as the product of mass and velocity: commonly called momentum. And in its own peculiar way, this momentum does not run contrary to the Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle*—one of the fundamental pillars of Quantum Mechanics named after the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who presented it in 1927. In simple cricketing terms it can be used to say that momentum can be observed but what triggers it remains elusive.*

When Pakistan began their World T20 campaign this year, they played England in the first game and lost by 48 runs. A match report said: ‘Pakistan was well short of their best, especially in the field where they dropped at least four catches and produced countless more sloppy pieces of groundwork. … maybe suffered from knowing they have a second chance against the Netherlands …but this defeat was so heavy that even a win in that game might not be enough.’

Pakistan won against Netherlands and then lost to Sri Lanka. They then defeated New Zealand emphatically, and something that can’t be measured accurately triggered what could be seen plainly: Pakistan had gained momentum. Pakistan qualified to the semis as the 4th team to take on the unbeaten South Africans.

Osman Samiuddin, Pakistan editor of Cricinfo, in a preview to the T20 semi-final called it first a clash of ethos, of philosophies and even of time, more than a semi-final. It was the art of cricket against the science of it, cricket’s future against its past.

South Africa had all bases covered. “The whole machinery is intimidating …the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins… they have also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They are well-oiled, and their psychologist talks about 120 contests and of processes over outcomes. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts. They are cricket’s future.

Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don’t control extras…. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. They did hire a psychologist though, and you can only imagine what those sessions were like… There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a ‘Pakistan’: that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don’t plan or account for it.”

Osman hits the nail on the head when he says that it is not something that Pakistan plan for; meaning that it happens and also meaning that it is in harmony with my ‘not-so-scientific’ comparison with the revolutionary theory of the Quantum Physics genius Heisenberg.

Pakistan took on South Africa and despite scoring a gettable 149, Afridi turned the game on its head by taking Gibbs and De Villiers cheaply and almost back to back. Sri Lanka had been the more consistent team in the tournament; but in the final it was Pakistan that was more hungry.

Ponting sensed the danger today as his strike rate of 50 suggests; rarely does he score 32 runs in 64 balls. Asif was back in the 40st over after a dull first spell; Ajmal had sent Ferguson back a while ago. Then followed the madness, the brilliance, the call it what you like, the-what I like to call as the Pakistan Factor.

Rana Naved started a new spell in the 41st over and his fifth ball, an in-swinging dipping yorker, shattered Hussey’s off stump; it was as if lightning had struck. Hussey left after a fluent 64; 31 needed from 9 overs with 5 wickets left.

It was already crazy when the back-from-hell Asif made it absolutely maddening in the 42nd over; Hopes drove straight to mid-off and Younis pouched a low catch. Johnson survived a run-out scare; White had no such luck. The fifth ball was an Asif special: It landed on a good length outside the off and cut back sharply to pierce the bat pad gap and shatter the timber behind; an unbelieving pale White made his walk back. Twenty-three in 36 balls with 3 wickets in hand and Rana Naved bowled two maidens on the trot.

In between the maidens Johnson hit a four and was deceived the very next ball by an Ajmal beauty; a short and quick doosra that Johnson misread and it came back to crash his stumps. Australia had needed just 36 runs in the last 10 overs with six wickets in hand. Seven of those 10 overs yielded half of the runs at the cost of 4 Aussie wickets. It was sheer madness, it was pure magic, and it was quintessential Pakistan. It was something that would have made Werner Heisenberg—the 1932 Nobel Prize winner in Physics—smile.

Only Pakistan could have brought Australia to such a desperate situation in an otherwise one-sided contest. And only Australia could have survived a tsunami like that and yet manage to cross the line. If unpredictable is the word for Pakistan then the Aussies can best be summed up as unyielding. Lee and Hauritz saw Australia home in the last ball of the match.

Pakistan now moves ahead with the momentum that makes them so lethal by their side. It would be tempting to put your money on them but it would not be wise: Some things are best left uncertain.

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*Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that it is not possible to simultaneously measure both the position and momentum of a particle with precision. Conversly, it also means that more the precision in measuring one of them the greater would be the inaccuracy in measuring the other. There are many ways to define and derive the principle. It is one of the fundamental building blocks of Quantum Theory.

The principle was at the core of dialogues between British physicist David Bohm and the 20th century ‘spiritual thinker’ J. Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti was spotted and raised by The Theosophical Society: which he left saying what remains as his most famous one-liner, ‘Truth is a pathless land’. The dialogues are available in a 1985 published book titled The Ending Of Time. It is the Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle that prompted Albert Einstein’s famous comment, “God does not play dice.”

The second most prestigious tournament in everyone’s third-favourite format of the game is nearly here. Can you contain yourself? Here are the Group A runners and riders:

• Australia will no doubt have had a confidence boost from driving a steamroller over England over the latter part of the summer, but doubts remain over how they will perform when faced with tougher opposition. Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson are a potent combination with the ball, and there seems to be no shortage of batsmen able to make runs (foremost amongst which, of course, is Ricky Ponting).

• India may be missing Virender Sehwag, but will be amongst the favourites as they look to improve on their last showing at a 50-over tournament, when they didn’t make it past the first round of the 2007 World Cup. Since then, however, India have won an ICC tournament in South Africa – the same year’s World Twenty20 – and there is enough quality in the side to beat any opponent on the right day.

• Pakistan don’t go into the tournament with the best of 50-over form, having lost series against Sri Lanka (twice) and Australia, but players such as Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf retain the ability to produce match-winning performances. Like India, memories of a disastrous World Cup two years ago will be difficult to dispel.

• The West Indies go into the competition still in disarray, with a side full of reserves as the contract dispute rumbles on. Although progress seems to have been made on that front, this competition is likely to be little more than a further embarrassment for the WICB.

ICC Champions Trophy Warm-up Matches

Pakistan v Sri Lanka
Played at Willowmoore Park, Benoni (neutral venue)
Date : 18 September 2009 – day/night (50-over match)
Match Start Time: Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

Match details
Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

Toss No toss
Umpires BF Bowden (New Zealand) and DJ Harper (Australia)
Reserve umpire SJ Davis (Australia)

Pakistan squad
Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Yousuf, Naved-ul-Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Younis Khan

Sri Lanka squad
TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, DPMD Jayawardene, SHT Kandamby, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, KTGD Prasad, TT Samaraweera, KC Sangakkara, WU Tharanga, T Thushara

Seamers Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekera ripped through Pakistan’s top order as Sri Lanka won the first One Day International by 36 runs here on Thursday.

Left armer Thushara finished with 3-29 and Kulasekera took 2-30 as Pakistan struggled against Sri Lanka’s 232-9 and were bowled out for 196 in 44.4 overs at the Rangiri International Stadium.

The tourists, beaten 2-0 in the preceding Test series, slipped to 134-8 before tailenders Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer boosted the total with a rollicking ninth wicket stand of 62 runs.

Gul top scored for Pakistan with 33 off 21 balls, including four boundaries in one over from fast bowler Lasith Malinga. Teenager Aamer made 23.The pair took the total to 196-8 when both batsmen fell in the space of two deliveries to hand Sri Lanka the lead in the five match series.

Aamer was run out by a direct throw from Mahela Jayawardene, before Gul was bowled by Malinga next ball.Earlier, Sri Lanka recovered from their own top order failure to post a competitive 232-9.

The hosts had collapsed to 131-6 by the 34th over after Pakistan captain Younus Khan won the toss and elected to field in overcast conditions.All rounder Angelo Mathews (43) led the late revival, with the last four Sri Lankan wickets adding 101 valuable runs before the 50 overs ran out.

Star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who missed the preceding Test series with a knee injury, marked his return with an aggressive 32 off 15 balls that included four boundaries and a six.

Sri Lanka were unable to build partnerships against the accurate Pakistani attack, which revelled on the slow wicket.Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya failed to take advantage of two dropped catches and fell for 15, while opening partner Upul Tharanga struggled to make 17.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara hit 36 and Jayawardene scored 33 in his 300th one day international, but none of the other top order batsmen settled in.The duo put on 48 for the third wicket before Sri Lanka lost four wickets for 38 runs to slip from a promising 93-2 in the 22nd over.

Pakistan surprisingly left out 19 year old batsman Umar Akmal despite his unbeaten century in a practice match on Monday.

Sri Lanka were bolstered by the return of Muralitharan, the world’s leading wicket taker in both Test and one day cricket, and fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

The second match will be played at the same venue on Saturday.

The third and final test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan ended in a draw and a 2-0 series victory for Sri Lanka in what was Chaminda Vaas’s final test series.

Vaas announced his retirement from test cricket before the final test, but took only one wicket in his 111th match to end with 355 overall – Sri Lanka’s second highest test wicket taker after Muralitharan. Pakistan’s first innings was led by a partnership of 167 between Khurram Manzoor (93) and Mohammad Yousuf (90). Shoaib Malik (45) also contributed in a partnership of 75 with Yousuf, but then the innings fell away. From 285-4, Pakistan fell to 299 all out thanks to a five wicket haul from Thushara and 3-47 from Kulasekara.

Pakistan came out strongly, taking the wicket of Warnapura with the very first ball of the innings. Paranavitana also fell within the first six overs for five, but the captain Kumar Sangakarra was adding runs quickly to help Sri Lanka recover from their early losses. He scored a 56 ball 45, but fell to leave Sri Lanka at 63-3. Jayawardene (79)  and Mathews (31) helped Sri Lanka to recover in a 71 run partnership, but Danish Kaneria was looking a threat with his spin bowling. He removed the pair and finished with 5-62 overall, with  Dilshan (44) becoming his final wicket as Sri Lanka were all out for 233.

With a 66 run lead, Pakistan had a chance to turn this advantage into a point from which they could secure a consolation victory. However, they fell to 67-4 and looked in trouble until a partnership of 119 between Misbah-ul-Haq (65) and Shoaib Malik (134) took them to 186-5. They weren’t safe just yet though, but the star of the innings Malik shared another large partnership, this time of 133, with Kamran Akmal (75) to take Pakistan to a safe position. Akmal and Gul (46) also piled on the runs at a quick rate, leading to a Pakistan declaration at 425-9. Herath finished with another five wicket haul, taking 5-157 from 46 overs.

Sri Lanka needed an unlikely total of 492 runs to win, meaning that the draw was the more likely option for them. After a poor first innings batting performance, Pakistan would have fancied their chances but Sri Lanka came out in a better fashion second time round. Pakistan struggled to make breakthroughs as Paranavitana (73), Samaraweera (73) and Mathews (64*) all reached fifties, with the captain Sangakarra reaching 130*. With the steady batting performance, the match ended in a draw with Sri Lanka finishing on 391-4.

Man of the Match: Kumar Sangakarra for his century in the final innings, which helped Sri Lanka to save the match.

Pakistan remained on course to win the third and final Test against Sri Lanka after denting the home team’s chase of a world record target on Thursday.

Sri Lanka, set an improbable 492 to sweep the series 3-0 after they had won the first two Tests, were 183-3 in their second knock at stumps on the fourth day at the Sinhalese sports club.

When play begins on the fifth day for the first time in the series, the first Test ended in four days and the second in three Pakistan will need seven wickets and Sri Lanka a further 309 runs in 90 overs.

No team has scored 492 runs in the fourth innings to win a Test match. The highest successful chase so far is 418-7 by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.

Sri Lanka were given a minimum of 150 overs to get the runs after Pakistan declared their second innings at 425-9 soon after lunch with former captain Shoaib Malik making 134.

Sri Lankan openers Malinda Warnapura and Tharanga Paranavitana put on 83 for the first wicket in 25 overs, their best partnership of the series, to raise visions of a history-defying feat.

But the fall of three wickets in the final session set Sri Lanka back even as skipper Kumar Sangakkara returned unbeaten on 50, having surpassed the 7,000-run mark in his 83rd Test on the way.

Thilan Samaraweera was the other batsman at the crease on 20.

Warnapura, who made 31, was unfortunate to be given out caught by English umpire Ian Gould as television replays showed the ball from Danish Kaneria go off the pad to the short-leg fielder.

Paranavitana went on to make a fluent 73 before tapping an easy catch to Fawad Alam at forward short-leg off Malik to make Sri Lanka 139-2.

Kaneria picked up his second wicket soon after when Mahela Jayawardene, who plodded for 29 minutes to make two, poked at a wide ball and edged a catch to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.

Earlier, Pakistan added 19 runs to their overnight score of 300-5 when Akmal fell in the day’s fourth over after making 74 during a sixth-wicket stand of 133 with Malik.

Tailender Umar Gul showed there were no hidden demons in the pitch as he helped Malik add 52 for the seventh wicket, himself contributing 22 in the partnership.

Malik was dismissed after a six-hour vigil at the crease when he holed out in the deep off spinner Rangana Hearth. The right-hander hit 13 fours and two sixes to shore up Pakistan’s innings after they had collapsed to 67-4 before lunch on the third day.

Gul helped himself to his highest Test score of 46 from 50 balls before he was caught at deep square-leg attempting a fourth six off Herath.Left-arm spinner Herath returned with 5-157 from 46 overs, his second five-wicket haul in as many matches.

Pakistan’s declaration marked the last stint at the bowling crease for veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas, who retires from Test cricket after the match with 355 wickets from 111 Tests.

The 35-year-old, who was overlooked for the first two Tests, claimed just one wicket in 39 overs in his final match.

Sri Lanka took a 2-0 series lead with victory over Pakistan in the second test of the three match series.

It was Sri Lanka from the word go as they dismissed Pakistan for 90 in their first innings, with Kulasekara taking 4-21, Thushara 2-21, Mendis 3-20 and Mathews 1-15. Shoaib Malik’s 39* was the top score in an innings where only three people made it past ten runs.

A first innings lead was hardly expected of Pakistan, who would be trying to keep Sri Lanka’s score as low as possible. Umar Gul and Saeed Amjal took 4-43 and 4-87 respectively, but an innings of 87 from Kumar Sangakarra helped to take Sri Lanka to 240, a lead of 150. A strong second innings show from Pakistan would be needed to make the game last longer, though it would be hard to get a substantial lead.

Things started off in a much better fashion for Pakistan. The first wicket to fall was that of Khurram Manzoor, who scored 38, which left the score at 85-1. Fawad Alam and the captain Younis Khan then took control, with Alam in particular being the highlight. In what was the best innings of the match, he scored 168 runs in a 200 run partnership. Younis Khan scored 82 of these, but then his wicket sparked a collapse. From being in a dominant position at 285-1, nine wickets fell in the space of 35 runs as Pakistan threw away the potential advantage they had. No other players passed ten, but Kulasekara took 4-37 and Herath 5-99 to make Sri Lanka’s target 171.

This they reached with ease, scoring at over five runs an over. Warnapura scored 54 at a strike rate around 100 to get Sri Lanka off to a safe start, then Sangakarra and Jayawardene finished the job with 46 and 37* runs respectively to give Sri Lanka a seven wicket win and an unassailable lead in the series.

Man of the Match: Nuwan Kulasekara for four wickets in both Pakistan innings, which were key to the Sri Lankan win.

After their shocking display in the first innings, Pakistan fought back in their second innings of the Second Test against Sri Lanka, closing day 2 on 178/1, having clawed back the first day’s deficit through impressive displays with both bat and ball.

First, it was Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal who took the game by the scruff of the neck, finishing with four wickets each as Sri Lanka were restricted to 240 all out, having been 164/3 overnight. Gul in particular was instrumental, kick-starting the comeback with the wicket of Sangakkara and ending with figures of 4-43 and as the cheapest of Pakistan’s bowlers.

After the innings break, it was debutant Fawad Alam (one of my ‘ones to watch’ from last year, albeit as an all-rounder – this was the first time he had opened the batting, as far as I can tell, in any form of the game) who took over, erasing criticisms and memories of his first innings failure with a fine knock, ending the day unbeaten on 102.

Pakistan are still only 28 runs ahead in the match, but the turnaround since yesterday has been dramatic -yet another compelling argument for the continuing primacy of Test cricket.

Pakistan senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who returned to international cricket with a cracking century against Sri Lanka in the first Test, zoomed to the number one spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings.

After snapping his ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League, Yousuf marked his return to the national team in style, hitting a pivotal 112 in the first innings at Galle.

The numero uno status, which Yousuf attained toppling his skipper Younis Khan, gives Pakistan a 1-2 position in the table for the first time since the rankings were introduced in June 1987.

Yousuf was second when he was removed from the rankings table early in 2009 as Pakistan had not played a Test match since before the qualification date for the rankings.

Even though Yousuf with the bat, Pakistan made a mess of things on the fourth day of the Test when it lost eight wickets for 46 runs to lose by 50 runs while chasing a modest 168-run target.

Younis, who scored 25 and 3 in the Test, paid the price for his failures as he not only dropped to second position but also conceded 30 valuable points.

His Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 9 and 14, also faced the brunt of a poor Test, after being dropped two places to fifth position.

Sangakkara’s fall has benefitted Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies. Both the left-handers have moved up one place each to occupy third and fourth places respectively.

Thilan Samaraweera has dropped out of the top 20 after slipping two places to 22nd, Tillekeratne Dilshan had fallen two places to 27th, Kamran Akmal has dropped one position to 30th and Salman Butt has slipped to 52nd position after losing two places.

Among the Test bowlers, Pakistan pacer Umar Gul have dropped four places to 18th position while Sri Lanka spin wizard Ajantha Mendis slipped three places to 28th spot.

However, Galle Test’s surprise hero Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who took 4-15 in the second innings, has jumped eight places to 48th position.

Pakistan left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamer, who had returned with a figure of 6-117, has entered the table in 60th position while Younis, who had figures of 2-23 and 2-27, has zoomed 29 places to 83rd spot.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the Test all-rounders list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori in third position.

Pakistan was cruising toward a win in the first Test after debutant bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Aamer produced three wickets each to end Sri Lanka’s second innings cheaply on Monday.Chasing 168 runs to win, Pakistan needed 97 more runs to win at stumps on the third day with eight wickets in hand and two days to spare.

Spin bowler Ajantha Mendis took his first wicket of the match when he had Khurram Manzoor caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene for 15 runs. Captain Younis Khan did not survive longer as he was trapped lbw by seamer Anjelo Mathews for three with the total on 39.

Mohammad Yousuf (12 not out) was batting with opener Salman Butt (28 not out) at stumps.

Sri Lanka resumed their second innings trailing Pakistan by 50 runs but its much-vaunted lineup crumbled under pressure to be dismissed for 217.

The hosts were in early trouble on the third day, Monday as opener Malinda Warnapura was out second ball of the day caught by Khan at slip off seam bowler Umar Gul.A responsible 68-run partnership followed between Tharanga Paranavitana and Rangana Herath that appeared to form a base for a higher total.

Khan then struck just before the lunch interval, trapping Herath lbw for 15 and Sri Lanka were 70-2 at lunch.Aarmer propelled a collapse in the middle session grabbing three wickets in the space of two runs.

His first breakthrough came when he dismissed in-form Paranavitana one run short of his second half-century of the match. Paranavitana nicked a ball that shaped away from him to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. His 58-ball innings included five boundaries, complimenting his 72 in the first innings.

Soon Jayawardene (0) and captain Kumar Sangakkara (14) departed to Aamer in a similar fashion. Tillakaratne Dilshan (22) and Thilan Samaraweera (34) had good starts but they were unable to convert them into big scores under persistent pressure from the Pakistani bowlers.

Aamer returned 3-38 while Ajmal recorded 3-34.

The start of play was delayed Monday after overnight rain, and Sri Lanka resumed at 0-0 after surviving one over without loss the previous evening.

On Sunday, Yousuf celebrated his return to Test cricket with 112 runs that helped Pakistan reach 342 all out in its first innings in response to Sri Lanka’s 292.

Yousuf was involved in two crucial partnerships with Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik during his innings that brought him his 29th Test hundred.
Nuwan Kulasekera was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with 4-71 while left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara took 2-77.

Pakistan’s most senior batsman, Yousuf had been exiled from Test cricket for 19 months after he signed up with the rebel Indian Cricket League. But he was recalled by the authorities to tour Sri Lanka after he broke links with the unsanctioned Twenty20 league.

The Test is the first between the sides since a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team and its security convoy during a Test in Lahore in March.

The build-up to the imminent Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan may have brought up memories of two recent meetings between the sides – the recent World Twenty20 final, and of course the sadly curtailed Test series of four months ago – but there’s change afoot for both sides.

For the hosts, Kumar Sangakkara takes over as captain, whilst Muralitharan, Vaas and Malinga are all absent, opening up opportunities for the likes of Angelo Matthews and Suraj Randiv to make debuts (and for Kulasekara to front the Test attack). Sri Lanka have never won a Test series at home against Pakistan, and in fact have only won a single home Test against the tourists, but their batting form is impressive enough to make the sorts of scores that can remove defeat from the equation.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf returns from his self-imposed (and self-rescinded) ICL exile, whilst Mohammad Aamer, supremely impressive at times in the World Twenty20, could be in line for a Test debut. The feelgood factor from that tournament hasn’t worn off yet, but bowling Sri Lanka out twice will be a challenge even for an attack featuring the brilliance and form of Umar Gul.

I am posting some of my favourite pictures from the World T20 2009. Shahid Afridi showed the world why he is one of the best cricketers in the world. I have always been a fan of Shahid Afridi and in this tournament he became every Pakistani’s hero.

Pakistan Zinadabad!!!

Boom Boom Afridi

Afridi's return to Karachi

The underdogs estatic after winning the World Cup

The Man who won the World Cup

Sending the South Africans home

The best catch of the tournament. Unbelievable!

Afridi proving that he is still one of the best batsmen in the world

Shahid Afridi – The guy who brought home the T20 World Cup

Pakistan captain Younis Khan has advised his fellow players to revise their contracts with the Indian Premier League following the team’s World Twenty20 victory.

“After all, these players are now World champions and highly marketable. There is more value on their performances.Why should they keep on having contracts with the IPL franchises on same old contracts,” Younis said.

He pointed out that top players like Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Misbah-ul Haq had signed contracts for USD 100,000 or less with the IPL when it was launched in 2008.

“But now the scenario is different. These players should talk to their agents in India and ask them to go for a hike in price from the IPL franchises,” he said.

Pakistani players could not take part in the IPL second season which was shifted to South Africa from India due to security reasons.They were advised against travelling to India for the IPL because of the strained relations between the two countries after the Mumbai terror attacks.

But IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said after Pakistan’s World Cup win that he saw no problems in Pakistani players returning to play for their franchises in the IPL next year provided the Pakistan government gives them permission and the Indian government also clears them to play in India.

Younis said any money earned by the players from the IPL would be beneficial for them and for Pakistan as the money would come to Pakistan.

“I am happy if any of our players can be better packages in the IPL for next season,” said Younis, who ended his contract with the Rajasthan Royals before the second season of the IPL.Younis has also announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket after Pakistan’s World Cup win.

Indications are that Pakistani players including Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir might get a chance to play for their franchise in the Champions League planned this year while Shahid Afridi is also being targeted by Australian state side, New South Wales for Twenty20 cricket.

Asked about the return of the players from the Indian Cricket League to the national team, Younis said it was a good development as this would strengthen the team.

“But I would like to see these players who are now leaving the ICL why they joined this league in the first place.”

Younis was also critical of statements from Imran Nazir and Rana Naved, who have resigned from the ICL asking for surety they would be selected in the national team.

“How can any player be given surety they will play for Pakistan. Razzaq has returned to the team and performed well so he is playing.”

The ECB have announced that Pakistan will play two Tests and two Twenty20 matches (no ODIs, interestingly) against Australia in England (and possibly Wales – the venues are yet to be confirmed) next July.

Previously, hosting matches in England had been considered too expensive for the PCB, but that obstacle seems to have been overcome. English fans (as well as UK-based Aussies or Pakistan fans) can now look forward to Afridi vs Johnson and Gul vs Ponting at a ground near them.

A Pakistan with momentum is a beast that cannot be contained. England discovered that fact to their cost in 1992 at Melbourne, when Imran Khan’s cornered tigers sprung at their throats to seize the country’s first major global title. And now, a generation later but in a campaign of distinct and glorious parallels, Sri Lanka have also sampled the unstoppable alchemy that occurs when cricket’s most emotional and temperamental participants find a way to meld their ambitions to their deeds.

It doesn’t always end up this way. Two years ago against India, in the inaugural World Twenty20 final in Johannesburg, Pakistan blew their chance for glory when Misbah-ul-Haq choked on his emotions at the end of a stunning match-turning counterattack, and chose the wrong ball to flick over fine leg. And then, of course, there was Pakistan’s last appearance in the 50-over World Cup final, against Australia right here at Lord’s in 1999, when the conviction in the performance and the margin in the result – eight wickets – exactly mirrored today’s effect and upshot.

In fact, it is a decade and a day since Pakistan’s demolition at the hands of Australia, and only two players remain from that match. Abdul Razzaq bowled two overs that day for 13, having limped to 17 from 51 balls while batting at No. 3; Shahid Afridi flogged two fours in 16 balls, and wasn’t called upon to put his legspin into practice. Ten years and a thousand memories later, Razzaq and Afridi rose to the needs of the hour and turned themselves into the game’s critical performers. Like the identities of the teams in this poignant final, it was a detail that can only have been scripted by the fates.

“Me, Shahid and Razzaq, we were chatting with the guys: ‘Please this time we will hold our nerves and make our final touch’,” said Younis, who added how surprised he had been by the maturity of Afridi’s batting. “He took singles,” he said in admiration of a man who added calculation to his aggression, and paced the chase to perfection. Two lusty swipes into the stands thrilled a packed Lord’s, but not half as much as the scruffy leg-bye with which the title was sealed. Rare is the Pakistan team that puts substance over style, but when it occurs, the overall effect is electrifying.

As for Razzaq, he had his own reasons to impress – his omission from the last World Twenty20 in South Africa was the catalyst for his defection to the ICL, which in turn led to his two-year exile from international cricket. He cut through the red tape last month, but only returned as a replacement for the injured Yasir Arafat last week. Nevertheless, he slipped effortlessly into his time-honoured utility role, this time as an under-rated old hand to balance the youthful aggression of Wasim Akram’s acolyte, Mohammad Aamer. After nine deliveries of the final, old and young had claimed a pair of ducks between them. And those lead weights of expectation had been alchemised into gold.

Younis has now stepped aside from Twenty20 cricket, much as Imran Khan bowed out on a high in 1992. For all his quiet insistence that this competition lacks the prestige of the 50-over World Cup, he knows that he and his players have achieved something wonderful, and every bit as lasting as the memories forged by Imran, Miandad, Wasim and Mushtaq, way back in the mists of time.

“I’m the second Khan winning a World Cup for Pakistan, so I’m very proud of my Khans,” said Younis. “This is my dream. I dreamed all the time of lifting the World Cup. My thinking in all my career is that I will be remembered for a team like 1992. I was not in the Imran Khan team, and this is a dream come true. I’m really happy. Though this World Cup is Twenty20, at least we won our second World Cup. This is a gift to our whole nation.”

He is not wrong. To get a sense of how much Pakistan needed this victory, you have to look beyond the bedlam in the stands at Lord’s where a shimmer of bouncing green shirts gave a surface-level glimpse of the euphoria, and instead burrow deep into the parks and gullies of Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar, where a nation starved of joy has been given the timeliest succour. It is arguable, in fact, that there has been no more timely sporting victory since a newly unified South Africa won the Rugby World Cup back in 1995.

Where Francois Pienaar’s Springboks drew a newly unified nation ever more tightly together, the achievement of Younis’s men has been to help slow the fragmentation of a state that is rapidly being considered by the world at large to have failed. Both the captain and his Man of the Match hail from the troubled North West Frontier Province, and Afridi himself from the Khyber Agency, the symbolic frontline of Pakistan’s War on Terror. Chaos can seem at times to be embedded in the Pakistani DNA, but as both men showed in their performances in this tournament, it does not have to be this way.

“If you see the whole nation, where law and order is not good, we are from them,” said Younis. “How can we be consistent? With these kind of things going for us, if you see our cricket it is all the time suffering from a lot of things. After that we are still winning the World Cup. It is a great achievement for us. I am requesting to all of the countries you must come to Pakistan. Everybody knows law and order is not good but it is not our fault.”

For the moment, any prospect of cricket resuming in Pakistan is futile, despite the joy of this occasion and the hope for the future that it generates. But in the shorter term, what we witnessed at Lord’s today was the will of a troubled nation to pull in the same direction. From the fight within the team to the reaction around the stands, it was clear how much the notion of Pakistan still means. Next summer, the prospect exists of England hosting their “home” Test series against Australia. Today was a taster of the euphoria that would bring. It must be allowed to happen.

The second World Twenty20, staged in England, ended on Sunday. Pakistan were the winners, whilst England Women triumphed in their competition. Here is a review of the highlights and the key players of the tournament.

Five highlights of the World Twenty20

• Dutch Triumph: When the Netherlands took on England in the first match of the tournament, barely anybody expected them to triumph. However, it went down to the last ball which they scraped a two off to win the match and begin the World Twenty20 in style.
• Boundary fielding: With many batsmen going for the big shots, the boundary fielders would want to stop those sixes. Many spectacular catches occured right on the edge of the boundary, but the highlight was Angelo Mathews’ six-saving fielding. With the ball already over the rope, he jumped up and parried it back onto the field without touching the ground to save the six.
• Death bowling: In a limited overs game, the death has always been an important time for both batsmen and bowlers. It was the bowlers who starred at the death in this competition, with players such as Umar Gul and Lasith Malinga bowling perfect yorkers to rip out the stumps.
• Early exits: Everybody likes to see an upset, unless it is happening to them. There were upsets around, with the dangerous Australia being sent home after the first round thanks to the West Indies, and holders India finishing bottom of their Super 8 group without a single win.
• Victory at last: For the two victorious teams, Pakistan men and England women, it all ended perfectly. For the women it was a further show of their dominance of their game, and for Pakistan it sent out a message to the other teams that despite terrorism problems in their country, they just want to play cricket.

Star Performers

There were plenty of big performances to go round from both batsmen and bowlers, though the tournament held for success for the bowlers. Here are the leading players of the tournament:

Most Runs:

• Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) – 317
• Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 238
• Chris Gayle (West Indies) – 193
• Kamran Akmal (Pakistan) – 188
• AB de Villiers (South Africa) 186

Most Wickets:

• Umar Gul (Pakistan) – 13
• Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) – 12
• Saeed Amjal (Pakistan) – 12
• Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) – 12
• Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) – 11

Best Economy Rates

• Ravindra Jadeja (India) – 5.00
• Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) – 5.32
• Darren Sammy (West Indies) – 5.37
• Nathan McCullum (New Zealand) – 5.42
• Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) – 5.50

Overall, the competition was hugely successful, with huge crowds of support and tonnes of top quality cricket being played.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Sunday hailed Younis Khan and his teammates for winning the World Twenty20 title in England.

In a message to Younis, Zardari congratulated the Pakistan captain and his team for bringing laurels to the country.

Zardari said it was really a team effort by the Pakistan side which made the whole nation proud.

Gilani, on his part, made a telephone call to Younis to greet him and the team. The Prime Minister also praised Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul for the sterling performance in the tournament.The Prime Minister also invited the team to a reception on their return.

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