Micromax Asia Cup 2010 Full Schedule and Fixtures

Note – Match Timings are based on Indian Standard Time (I.S.T)

Match : 1
Date : 15th June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 2
Date : 16th June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : Bangladesh vs India
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 3
Date : 18th June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 4
Date : 19th June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : India Vs Pakistan
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 5
Date : 21st June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : Bangladesh Vs Pakistan
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 6
Date : 22nd June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm.
Team : Sri Lanka Vs India
Venue : Dambulla

Match : 7
Date : 24th June, 2010
Time : 2.30 pm
Team : Final
Venue : Dambulla

Click Here To Bet on your Favourite Team which can go on to win the final of the Micromax Asia Cup 2010

Sri Lanka have the best record by far in the history of the Asia Cup by winning 3 of the last 4 tournaments including the previous 2 Asia Cup Editions held in 2004 and 2008. India on the other hand has been the best Sub-Continent Team since January, 2008 by winning 42 matches out of 72 matches played, whereas the other 3rd strong team – Pakistan who have a good Asia Cup Match Win Record after Sri Lanka, Pakistan has the won 11 of the last 14 games that they have played in the Asia Cup Tournaments.

Overall It’s going to be an exciting tournament with the 3 giants of the Indian Sub Continent along with Bangladesh battling out for supremacy in the Micromax Asia Cup 2010, Sri Lanka is still the clear favorite despite the absence of Jayasuriya, but their terrific Asia Cup form in the last 15 years and Home Ground Advantage make them again a clear favorite to win this year’s Micromax Asia Cup 2010.

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Various Reasons given by the IPL Management were Non Availability of the Pakistani Players during the IPL,  and According to some of the franchises, It was all due to the current volatile political scenario between India & Pakistan and Government Preassure that they could not take any chance by picking a Pakistani Player today by paying millions only to relieve him if the political situation changed between the 2 countries at a later time.

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Till yesterday speculations were ripe that Current Pakistan T20 Skipper Shahid Afridi will be the hottest pick in this 3rd IPL Players Auction & the 8 franchises will bid tough to get him in their squads, But Surprisingly it was the Hard Hitting All – Rounder from Trinidad and Tobago,  Kieron Pollard who walked away with this honour as Mukesh & Nita Ambani owned Mumbai Indian’s bought out Pollard for a huge sum of USD $750,000 only after they quoted the top bid in a historical Tie- breaker bid round in which along with Mumbai Indians, Pollard was aggresively sought after by Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Shane Bond – The Top Speedster from New Zealand who marks his foray into the Indian Premier League after decamping from the ICL, was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a sum of USD $750,000 which they won in a silent Tie-Breaker Bid Round along with Deccan Chargers.

Losing Bond to Kolkata Knight Riders did not dent the hopes of Deccan Chargers as they decided to buy another young promising fast bowler – Kemar Roach of the West Indies for  a staggering amount of USD $7,50,000. The same amount as Pollard and Bond. Roach’s claim to fame is the series Down Under in Australia where he consistently troubled Ricky Ponting with short pitched deliveries, Deccan Chargers will be hoping that he spearheads their opening pace attack alongside the Indian Left armer R.P Singh & they might replace him in the place of his West Indian Team mate Fidel Edwards who unfortunately did not have too much of a good outing for the Chargers in last year’s IPL, which eventually was won by Deccan Chargers.

Another Young Cricketer alongside Roach who was sold for a much higher price than the base price was South African left arm fast bowler – Wayne Parnell,  he was bought by Delhi Daredevils for a price of USD $610,000. Eoin Morgan, the England batsman, was picked up by Bangalore Royal Challengers  for USD $220,000. Mohammad Kaif, the only Indian up for auction, went unsold in the first round of bidding but was later signed up by Kings XI Punjab for $ USD 250,000.

Ex International & Former ICL Stars Justin Kemp and Damien Martyn from South Africa and Australia were sold at their base price each since barring 2 franchisees, no other franchisee bid for them & eventually Kemp was bought by Chennai Super Kings & Damien Martyn by Rajasthan Royals, both were sold at their base price of USD $ 100,000.

Thissara Perera was the Only Sri Lankan who was bought by  Chennai SuperKings for USD $50,000, Adam Voges makes his IPL Debut with Rajasthan Royals who bought him for USD $ 50,000, and Yusuf Abdulla’s Contract was again bought by his previous team – Priety Zinta & Ness Wadia owned Kings XI Punjab for a sum of USD $ 50,000.

Only three of India’s Under-19 players, priced at Rs. 800,000 each, were eligible to play in the IPL and they were chosen by a draft system. Bangalore picked U-19 captain Ashok Menaria, Deccan went for Harmeet Singh and Mumbai opted for Harshal Patel.

But The Major Controversy of the entire IPL 2010 Auction was the fact that not a single Pakistani player of the 11 on the auction list – including several of the World Cup-winning team – were completely ignored by all the franchises, ironically the 1st player whose name was called in the Auction was Pakistan T20 Skipper Shahid Afridi, but to a major surprise – No Franchisee bid for him, The same fate greeted other promising cricketers from Pakistan including Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir, Sohail Tanvir,  Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naveed and Imran Nazir. None of the 8 franchises were keen to buy any Pakistani Player into their squads.

Afridi was shocked and in an interview with the Press stated – “The way I see it, the IPL and India have made fun of us and our country,” he said. “We are the Twenty20 world champions and for me the attitude of the franchises was disappointing. I feel bad for the Indian people who, I am sure, wanted to see us play in the IPL this year.”

Abdul Razzaq, the allrounder, said politics and sports should be kept separate. “They have basically tried to hurt our cricket and image and this is most disappointing because I believe there should be no politics in sports,” Razzaq was quoted as saying by PTI. “In the end it is the IPL which has lost out because the fact is our players have star value and are the best in T20 cricket.”

Sohail Tanvir, the best bowler in the inaugural IPL and an instrumental part of the Rajasthan Royals’ title win, wondered why so much effort was put into getting the clearance from his country’s board and government if none of the franchises wanted to buy Pakistan players.

“They mean to say none of our players are good enough to be in the IPL,” Tanvir said. “I am sorry to say the franchises have taken a decision not based on cricketing sense but on political grounds which is a shame and has hurt the image of the sport.”

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said the apprehension over the availability of Pakistan players was the main reason for them being unsold. “Franchises are no more ready to spend $7-8 million on someone who won’t be available for the tournament,” he said. “It not only exhausted their purse but also wasted slots. They want only those players who would be available for the tournament. They are spending money and they want to get the results.”

Shilpa Shetty, the co-owner of Rajasthan, echoed Modi’s words. “We were not convinced about their availability and that’s why we did not want to take any risk,” she said. “If someone is not going to be available, why bid for him.” She also said that though they had watched Tanvir over the past year, they were looking for a batsman.

The co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, Ness Wadia, had a different take, pinning the non-sale of Pakistan players to the lack of open slots for the franchises – 67 players were auctioned for only 13 vacancies. “I do not think that the Pakistan players were ignored purposely,” he said. “Many Australian players were too not auctioned. In fact, last year we suffered because of Australia.”

“Given the current relationship between India and Pakistan, we didn’t want to take a risk,” said a franchise official. “Imagine if we filled up two slots [out of 10] with Pakistani players and were then told that they couldn’t travel, or that their security couldn’t be guaranteed.”

The Fact That All the Pakistani players were ignored by the IPL franchises despite being the current T20 Champions proved that the Current Volatile relations between India & Pakistan, and Politics played a major role which as a result proved that IPL as a major sporting event was marred by Politics, and no franchisee was willing to take their chances of buying Pakistan Players at huge prices only to lose them in the end because of a political reason.

The End Result – Cricket Fans might suffer and they will surely miss seeing the current T20 Champions and talented stars like Afridi, Gul, Razzaq & Aamir playing in this year’s IPL.

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The list is a mix of rising stars such as Kieron Pollard and Eoin Morgan, and ICL returnees like Shane Bond and Damien Martyn in addition to Pakistan players returning to the IPL-fold. The list includes players from all eight Test-playing nations other than India, with 11 players from Pakistan, Australia and South Africa; nine from Sri Lanka; eight from England and West Indies; four from New Zealand and one each from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Canada and Holland.

The list also includes Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, who had played for Deccan Chargers in the first season, and Sohail Tanvir, who struck the winning runs for Rajasthan Royals in the final of the inaugural edition. Pakistan’s finds of 2009, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Akmal, are also in the list, as are ICL-returnees Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq and Naved-ul-Hasan. Pakistan’s players did not participate in the IPL in 2009 following a deterioration in diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

West Indies boast an impressive group of contenders; chief among them is Trinidad and Tobago’s Pollard, whose clean, ruthless hitting in the Champions League Twenty20 could merit a lucrative IPL contract. Ramnaresh Sarwan comes back on the auction list while, for South Africa, left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell is in the fray for a deal.

Here is the complete list of the 66 International Players Listed To Be Auctioned in the IPL 2010 Auctions to be held on January 19th, 2010:

Australia: Brad Haddin, Philip Hughes, Doug Bollinger, Ashley Noffke, Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Clint McKay, Graham Manou, Ben Laughlin, Jason Krejza, Damien Martyn

England: Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Robert Key, Anthony McGrath, Monty Panesar, Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Swann, Jonathon Trott

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Aamer, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir

South Africa: Zander de Bruyn, Wayne Parnell, Tyron Henderson, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt, Yusuf Abdulla, Vernon Philander, Johan van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Vyk, Justin Kemp

Sri Lanka: Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Zoysa, Upul Tharanga, Thissara Perera, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Chanaka Welegedara, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara Silva

West Indies: Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Daren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Kemar Roach, Sulieman Benn

New Zealand: Grant Elliott, Lou Vincent, Shane Bond, Nathan McCullum

Zimbabwe: Murray Goodwin

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan

Canada: Rizwan Cheema

Netherlands: Ryan ten Doeschate

The Base Price Of All The 66 International Players Listed For the IPL 2010 Auction is given below -

* 250,000$ - Shahid Afridi, Brad Haddin, Graeme Swann

* 200,000$ – Kieron Pollard, Eoin Morgan, Wayne Parnell, Doug Bollinger, Sohail Tanvir, Mark Ramprakash

* 100,000$ – Shane Bond, Mohammad Kaif, Kemar Roach, Umar Akmal, Shakib Al Hasan, Tim Bresnan, Daren Ganga, Justin Kemp, Nuwan Kulasekara, Wavell Hinds, Kamran Akmal, Phillip Hughes, Damien Martyn, Imran Nazir, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chamara Silva, Lendl Simmons, Upul Tharanga, Jonathan Trott, Sulieman Benn, Grant Elliott, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Misbah-ul-Haq

* 50,000$ - Tyron Henderson, Rory Kleinveldt, Jason Krejza, Nathan McCullum, Thissara Perera, Johan van der Wath, Rizwan Cheema, Zander de Bruyn, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Graham Manou, Anthony McGrath, Vernon Philander, Morne van Wyk, Adam Voges, Nuwan Zoysa, Yusuf Abdulla, Clint McKay, Monty Panesar, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Chanaka Welegedara, Darren Bravo, Murray Goodwin, Thilina Kandamby, Robert Key, Luke Pomersbach, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Lou Vincent

* 20,000$ – Ashley Noffke, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ben Laughlin, Kaushalya Weeraratne

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Jan 3-7: S Africa v England, 3rd Test (Cape Town); Australia v Pakistan, 2nd Test (Sydney). 4: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation t’ment (Dhaka). 5: India v Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation (Dhaka). 7: Bangladesh v India, Tri-Nation (Dhaka). 8: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation (Dhaka). 10: India v Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation (Dhaka). 11: Bangladesh v India, Tri-Nation (Dhaka). 13: Tri-Nation final (Dhaka). 14-18: S Africa v England, 4th Test (Johannesburg); Australia v Pakistan, 3rd Test (Hobart). 15-30: U-19 World Cup (New Zealand), Ireland v S Africa + 3 other matches. 16: England v Hong Kong, U-19 WC (NZ) + 3 other matches. 17-21: Bangladesh v India, 1st Test (Chittagong). 17: Australia v Ireland, U-19 WC (NZ) + 3 other matches. 18: Afghanistan v England, U-19 WC (NZ) + 3 other matches. 19: Ireland v US, U-19 WC (NZ) + 3 other matches. 20: U-19 WC (NZ), 3 matches. 21: England v India, U-19 WC (NZ). 22: Australia v Pakistan 1st ODI (Brisbane). 23: U-19 WC qtr-finals (NZ). 24: Australia v Pakistan, 2nd ODI (Sydney). 24-28: Bangladesh v India, 2nd Test (Dhaka). 25: 1st semi-final & play-off matches, U-19 WC (NZ). 26: Australia v Pakistan, 3rd ODI (Adelaide); Play-off matches U-19 WC (NZ). 27: U-19 WC (NZ), 2nd semi-final & play-off matches. 29: Australia v Pakistan, 4th ODI (Perth); U-19 WC (NZ) 3rd place play-off. 30: U-19 World Cup final (Lincoln, NZ). 31: Australia v Pakistan, 5th ODI (Perth).
Feb 3: NZ v Bangladesh, only T20 (Hamilton). 5: NZ v Bangladesh, 1st ODI (Napier); Australia v Pakistan, only T20 (Melbourne). 7: Australia v West Indies, 1st ODI (Melbourne). 8: NZ v Bangladesh, 2nd ODI (Dunedin). 9: Australia v West Indies, 2nd ODI (Adelaide). 9-13: World Twenty20 q’fying competition (Abu Dhabi & Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Gp 1: Ireland, Scotland, Afghanistan, US. Gp 2: Holland, Kenya, Canada, UAE. Finalists qualify). 10: Australia women v NZ women, 1st ODI (Adelaide). 11: NZ v Bangladesh, 3rd ODI (Christchurch); Australia women v NZ women, 2nd ODI (Adelaide). 12: Australia v West Indies, 3rd ODI (Sydney). 14: Australia v West Indies, 4th ODI (Brisbane); Australia women v NZ women, 3rd ODI (Melbourne). 15-19: NZ v Bangladesh, only Test (Hamilton). 17: Australia women v NZ women, 4th ODI (Melbourne). 18: Australia women v NZ women, 5th ODI (Melbourne). 19: (tbc) Pakistan v England, 1st T20 (Dubai); India women v England women, 1st ODI (Bangalore). 20: (tbc) Pakistan v England, 2nd T20 (Dubai). 21: Australia v West Indies, 1st T20 (Hobart); Australia women v NZ women, 1st T20 (Hobart). 22: India women v England women, 2nd ODI (Hyderabad). Australia women v NZ women, 2nd T20 (Hobart). 23: Australia v West Indies, 2nd T20 (Sydney); Australia women v NZ women, 3rd T20 (Hobart). 24: India women v England women, 3rd ODI (Hyderabad). 26: NZ v Australia, 1st T20 (Wellington); NZ women v Australia women, 1st T20 (Wellington). 27: India women v England women, 4th ODI (Visakhapatnam). 28: Bangladesh v England, 1st ODI (Mirpur); NZ v Australia, 2nd T20 (Christchurch); West Indies v Zimbabwe, only T20 (Port of Spain, Trinidad); NZ women v Australia women, 2nd T20 (Christchurch).March 1: India women v England women, 5th ODI (Visakhapatnam). 2: Bangladesh v England, 2nd ODI (Mirpur). 3: NZ v Australia, 1st ODI (Napier); NZ women v Australia women, 1st ODI (Queenstown). 4: West Indies v Zimbabwe, 1st ODI (Georgetown, Guyana). 5: Bangladesh v England, 3rd ODI (Chittagong); India women v England women, 1st T20 (Mumbai). 6: NZ v Australia, 2nd ODI (Auckland); West Indies v Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI (Georgetown); NZ women v Australia women, 2nd ODI (Invercargill). 7: India women v England women, 2nd T20 (Mumbai); NZ women v Australia women, 3rd ODI (Invercargill). 8: India women v England women, 3rd T20 (Mumbai). 9: NZ v Australia, 3rd ODI (Hamilton). 10: West Indies v Zimbabwe, 3rd ODI (Kingstown, St Vincent). 11: NZ v Australia, 4th ODI (Auckland). 12: West Indies v Zimbabwe, 4th ODI (Kingstown). 12-16: Bangladesh v England, 1st Test (Chittagong). 12-April 25: Indian Premier League. 13: NZ v Australia, 5th ODI (Wellington). 14: West Indies v Zimbabwe, 5th ODI (Kingstown). 19-23: NZ v Australia, 1st Test (Wellington). 20-24: Bangladesh v England, 2nd Test (Mirpur). 27-31: NZ v Australia, 2nd Test (Hamilton). 29-April 1: MCC v Durham (Abu Dhabi).April 9: LV= County Ch’ship starts. 25: ECB 40-over League starts; Indian Premier Lge final (Mumbai).
World Twenty20 (West Indies, April 30-May 16)Group A Pakistan (A1), Bangladesh (A2), Australia.Group B Sri Lanka (B1), NZ (B2), Zimbabwe.Group C S Africa (C1), India (C2), Qualifier One.Group D West Indies (D1), England (D2), Qualifier Two.April 30: Gp D – West Indies v Q2 (Georgetown, Guyana). Gp B – NZ v Sri Lanka (Georgetown).May 1: Gp C – India v Q1 (Gros Islet, St Lucia). Gp A – Bangladesh v Pakistan (Gros Islet). Gp D – England v Q2 (Georgetown).May 2: Gp C – India v S Africa (Gros Islet). Gp A – Australia v Pakistan (Gros Islet). Gp B – NZ v Zimbabwe (Georgetown).May 3: Gp B – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Georgetown), Gp D – West Indies v England (Georgtown). May 4: Gp C – S Africa v Q1 (Bridgetown, Barbados), Gp A – Australia v Bangladesh (Bridgetown).Super EightsMay 6: A1 v D2, C1 v B2 (Bridgetown) May 7: A2 v C2, B1 v D1 (Bridgetown) May 8: C1 v D2, A1 v B2 (Bridgetown) May 9: C2 v D1, B1 v A2 (Bridgetown) May 10: B2 v D2, A1 v C1 (Gros Islet) May 11: B1 v C2, D1 v A2 (Gros Islet) May 13: 1st semi-final (Gros Islet) May 14: 2nd semi-final (Gros Islet)May 16: Final (Bridgetown)
May 5-16: Women’s World Twenty20 (West Indies). 16: Men’s & women’s World Twenty20 finals (Bridgetown, Barbados). 19: West Indies v S Africa, only T20 (Port of Spain, Trinidad). 22: West Indies v S Africa, 1st ODI (Port of Spain). 24: West Indies v S Africa, 2nd ODI (Port of Spain). 27: West Indies v S Africa, 3rd ODI (Roseau, Dominica). 27-31: England v Bangladesh, 1st Test (Lord’s). 30: West Indies v S Africa, 4th ODI (Roseau).June 1: Friends Provident Twenty20 league starts. 2: West Indies v S Africa, 5th ODI (Kingston, Jamaica). 4-7: England v Bangladesh, 2nd Test (Old Trafford). 10-14: West Indies v S Africa, 1st Test (Kingston). 17: Ireland v Australia, only ODI (Dublin). 18-22: West Indies v S Africa, 2nd Test (Basseterre, St Kitts). 19: Scotland v England, only ODI (Edinburgh). 22: England v Australia, 1st ODI (Rose Bowl). 24: England v Australia, 2nd ODI (Cardiff). 26-30: West Indies v S Africa, 3rd Test (Bridgetown, Barbados). 27: England v Australia, 3rd ODI (Rose Bowl). 29: England women v NZ women, 1st T20 (Chelmsford). 30: England v Australia, 4th ODI (The Oval).July 1: England women v NZ women, 2nd T20 (Rose Bowl). 2: England women v NZ women, 3rd T20 (Hove). 3: England v Australia, 5th ODI (Lord’s). 5: Australia v Pakistan, 1st T20 (Edgbaston). 6: Australia v Pakistan, 2nd T20 (Edgbaston). 7: England women v Ireland women, only ODI (Kibworth). 8: England v Bangladesh, 1st ODI (Trent Bridge). 10: England v Bangladesh, 2nd ODI (Bristol); England women v NZ women, 1st ODI (Taunton). 12: England v Bangladesh, 3rd ODI (Edgbaston); England women v NZ Women, 2nd ODI (Taunton). 13-17: Australia v Pakistan, 1st Test (Lord’s). 15: England women v NZ women, 3rd ODI (Derby). 17: England women v NZ women, 4th ODI (Barnsley). 20: England women v NZ women, 5th ODI (Lord’s). 21-25: Australia v Pakistan, 2nd Test (Headingley). 21-24: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 1st Test (Northampton). 27-30: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 2nd Test (Scarborough). 29-Aug 2: England v Pakistan, 1st Test (Trent Bridge).Aug 2: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 1st ODI (Riverside). 3: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 2nd ODI (Riverside). 6-10: England v Pakistan, 2nd Test (Edgbaston). 7: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 1st ODI (tbc). 9: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 2nd ODI (Arundel). 10: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 3rd ODI (Arundel). 12: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 4th ODI (Canterbury). 13: England U-19 v Australia U-19, 5th ODI (Canterbury). 14: Friends Provident Twenty20 Finals day (Rose Bowl). 18-22: England v Pakistan, 3rd Test (The Oval). 26-30: England v Pakistan, 4th Test (Lord’s).Sept 5: England v Pakistan, 1st T20 (Cardiff). 7: England v Pakistan, 2nd T20 (Cardiff). 10: England v Pakistan, 1st ODI (Riverside). 11: ECB 40 League semi-finals. 12: England v Pakistan, 2nd ODI (Headingley). 13: LV= County Ch’ship, start of final round of matches. 17: England v Pakistan, 3rd ODI (The Oval). 18: ECB 40 League final (Lord’s). 20: England v Pakistan, 4th ODI (Lord’s). 22: England v Pakistan, 5th ODI (Rose Bowl).Nov 25-29: Australia v England, 1st Test (Brisbane).Dec 3-7: Australia v England, 2nd Test (Adelaide). 16-20: Australia v England, 3rd Test (Perth).26-30: Australia v England, 4th Test (Melbourne).Jan 3-7, 2011: Australia v England, 5th Test (Sydney).While every possible care has been taken in the compilation of this calendar please note that dates and venues are subject to change. CricketFever.org cannot be held liable in the event of any alteration or inaccuracy.

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Match Scorecard & Ball-by-Ball Details

A Nation battling Terrorist Attacks on a daily basis, An Attack on a visiting cricket team a few months ago threatened to isolate it’s national team and the country as a whole from the rest of the cricketing world with all the countries cancelling their tours citing security reasons. To Make Matters Worse, The ICC cancelled all the matches which were alloted to Pakistan as a Host Nation for the 2011 Cricket World Cup & also shifted the Champions Trophy to a different Country, Pakistan’s players were barred from playing in the season 2 of the Cash Rich Indian Premier League with many of it’s franchisees terminating its contracts with the Pakistani Players. – Clearly a Nation on the brink of Isolation from World Cricket.

When The Pakistani Team landed in UK For the Second ICC World Twenty20 in June, Many people predicted this side as a dark horse purely on the basis of sheer talent present in this side, But Not many people or Cricket Analysts predicted that this side can actually turn out as champions because they had already assigned that title to the defending champions India & to South Africa – one of the most disciplined & professional Cricket Side in the World. And to an extent they were to be proved right as Pakistan suffered 2 heavy losses to South Africa & arch rivals India in the Warm Up Games before the start of the Championship and then to England in a Group match, Matters got even worse when the Pakistan Skipper made outrageous comments in press conferences by defining T20 Cricket as more of Fun & Entertainment for the Crowds & an odd comparison to a WWE Wrestling match, resulted in a furore especially among the Cricket Selectors back home in the PCB & lead to the Chief Selector Abdul Qadir resigning from his post.

Fans were frustrated and were preparing to see their team exit before the Super 8’s nearly with all the talent present in the form of Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Misbah struggling so far in the tournament. – Pakistan enters in a Do or Die Situation where only Winning could keep them alive in this World Cup.

There is a Famous Quote – “History Repeats Itself” – Pakistan = The Cricket Team had faced a similar situation in the 1992 World Cup Pakistan lost three of their first five games and would probably have been eliminated but for the Adelaide game against England being rained off. The revival started with convincing victories over Australia and Sri Lanka at the WACA, before back-to-back wins against highly fancied New Zealand put them into the final. Wasim Akram’s mastery of swing did the rest.

If it was Wasim Akram in 1992, This time for the first time – Pakistan had many match winners – Gul, Afridi, Ajmal, Aamir & Razzaq who revived the complete turn around and scripted a grand revival for Team Pakistan & especially for Younis Khan, New Zealand was blown away by accurate deadly yorkers of Umar Gul which tore the Kiwi batting to shreds, Ireland was taken care off with a joint team effort and Pakistan qualified for the Semi Finals. This time they had to play South Africa who were undefeated in the tournament and looked a balanced side with the punters predicting this side as the potential tournament winner. But Sadly for them One Man discovered his form with the bat – Shahid Afridi – The Man known as Boom Boom Afridi – with the potential & sheer talent by which he can blow any bowler away, who till this match was struggling even to get to a double figure score. he comes to bat at No.3 and plays a rather subdued and mature inning & compiles a fifty & later delivers two knock out punches with his quick leg spin by dismissing inform South African batsmen – Gibbs & A.B De’Villiers by knocking their stumps back & raising his left arm in triumph towards the crowd – South Africa never recover from this blow & Pakistan becomes the only team in T20 Cricket World Cup history so far by qualifying to the finals of the World T20 for the second time.

Sri Lanka being the other team apart from South Africa to remain undefeated in the tournament so far with its Opening batsman – Dilshan being the highest run getter & who gets better with each game invents a new kind of slog – scoop pull over the keeper’s head leaving the opposition bowlers bewildered, with the middle order ably supported by Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene & Chamara Silva. With its’ bowlers in great form especially the 3 M’s – Malinga. Muralitharan & Mendis, And after the Semi Final drubbing which they handed over to West Indies – It clearly became the hot favourites of the punters and Cricket experts alike as the most balanced side with an inform batting attack capable of defending any total & the batting lineup clearly in form to chase any total. – The Odds favouring Sri Lanka & once again Pakistan became the Underdog – A Situation which the team loves as they can play with any preassure and only with the intention of Winning.

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. Pakistan were committed not to repeat it this time.

And When the Final did start – Pakistan produced a totally different kind of Performance – Which not only stunned the Sri Lankan Batsmen but also the World, A Performance which was Clinical, professional and un-Pakistani !! Resolute. Restrained. Mature. Measured. Not in the most bizarre of your dreams would you associate these words with Afridi. But those very words summed up his performance today. He wanted the responsibility, he grabbed it and fulfilled it. And his approach to the game was a microcosm of how Pakistani played the final.

It was a clinical, thought-out and utterly professional display. Very un-Pakistani. Yorkers didn’t thud in to the pads or uproot stumps; there were no magic moments from the spinners either; and the ball didn’t fly over the ropes. Bowlers stuck to the game plan and mixed short length deliveries on a regular basis, batsmen relied more on single’s & two’s, formed partnerships & again it was the Boom Boom Man – Shahid Afridi – Resolute. Restrained. Mature. Measured. Not in the most bizarre of your dreams would you associate these words with Afridi. But those very words summed up his performance today. He wanted the responsibility, he grabbed it and fulfilled it. And his approach to the game was a microcosm of how Pakistani played the final. His consecutive magical performances both with the ball & the bat in the semi finals and final made the huge difference & enabled Pakistan to be crowned as the Twenty20 Champions.
And as Wasim Akram had rightly written in his column that to bring out the best in Afridi, pamper him – tell him he is important – give him his freedom & he will perform and Perform he did and that too at such a stage which will be forever recorded in the history of Pakistan Cricket – The Day when Pakistan bought it’s second World Cup Home after 17 years.Younis Khan followed in the footsteps of his hero Imran Khan and lifted a World Cup for Pakistan. Each intervening year has made this victory sweeter. Younis also followed his hero in two other ways. First, he managed to pull together a disjointed Pakistan team into a world beating unit. Second, he announced his retirement–but only from Twenty20 cricket.

He may as well. How can you beat the drama of this moment? The past years of desperation in Pakistan; isolation in international cricket. No cricket ground you can call home. A nomadic life with sporadic international cricket.

At the end Younis Khan dedicated the victory to Bob Woolmer, his mentor, and to the long-suffering people of his homeland. And Thus 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.”

A Rise of A Team Like a Phoenix – From Being Called as an Underdog to Eventually be Crowned as a World Champion.

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