KARACHI: As the Pakistan Cricket Board ponders on holding its own version of the Indian Premier League (IPL), former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad denounced the idea saying such a move would destroy the game in the country.

Miandad said the IPL is nothing but entertainment and lacks quality.
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The extremist political party, Shiv Sena, has returned out of its political hibernation of sorts with a fulmination against Pak players currently playing in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League. The party’s executive President Uddhav Thackrey asked the IPL authorities to ban Pak players from playing in the league. His diatribe came just hours before Mumbai Indians’ home game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

He labeled Pakistanis as enemies of the entire nation and reminded everyone that his party has been campaigning against them playing the country. “They (Pakistanis) are the enemies of the entire nation and we have been opposing their playing here for many years now,” he told reporters.

Some habits can be difficult to break and Sena is bound by its old ways of engaging in irrational chauvinism. Perhaps if someone could apprise them of the fact that the world has entered a new millennium – that of cultural convergence, tolerance, and globalization- they might just reinvent their old partisan attitude.

Anyways not many people usually lend their ears to the Sena, and besides people are so engrossed with the IPL at this moment that they have no time to heed the senseless Sena.

This is a fairly simple prognosis as Shoaib Akhtar has always come up with flashes of blinding brilliance but has always failed to replicate them with any consistency.

Shoaib Akhtar has attended so many hearings that he might fancy his chances as an attorney or arbitrator. But his figures of 4-11 in 3 overs against Delhi Daredevils indicate that he need not mull any alternative careers as yet. Many analysts with all their cricketing acumen and recondite knowledge thought he will not have much of an impact. He has planted a tight slap across their face and proved them embarrassingly wrong.

But yours truly is adventurous enough to stick his neck out and say that Akhtar’s maiden IPL match might be a false dawn and that he will not come close to anything like it in the forthcoming matches. This is a fairly simple prognosis as Shoaib Akhtar has always come up with flashes of blinding brilliance but has always failed to replicate them with any consistency.

He is no stranger to controversies and injuries resulting in long layoffs, and subsequent come backs. He normally doesn’t finish an entire series and I can only remember his performance against a touring England side more than a couple of years ago where he lived to the hoopla normally associated with him. However, the ban might bring the best out in him and he might like the IPL for the light work he is supposed to perform - albeit in a very tense environment – compared to international cricket.

The staggering average of 98.33 in the IPL qualifies him for a place in the august order of Saint Bradman I (and the only) of Oz.

There have been many scintillating performances by several Indian youngsters in the first edition of the IPL but the poster boy undoubtedly happens to be King XI Punjab’s adopted prodigal son, Shaun Marsh. The batsman burst on the IPL scene unheralded, sans any burden of his own repute. The Aussie swashbuckler has certainly lived up to his father’s name. But the initial auguries suggest that Shaun will be able to carve an identity independent of his father Geoff Marsh’s.

The 24-year Western Australian is now the lynchpin of the King XI Punjab’s batting lineup and makes it a point to see his side home with ritualistic diligence. He has accrued 295 runs in five matches at a venerable average of over 90 and with yawning ease. The staggering average of 98.33 qualifies him for a place in the august order of Saint Bradman I (and the only) of Oz.

It is his consistent and methodical belligerence, game after game, which has made him the blue-eyed boy of his team.

Just imagine, they only need to rope in Srinath and Prasad to complete a full length Indian bowling lineup of yore with Joshi and Kumble already in their ranks.

The IPL has captured the imagination of cricket lovers in India and - if initial indications are anything to go by - around the world. The competition is waxing with every passing day and it is very difficult to tell the sides apart. However, sides like the Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians have almost thrown themselves out of contention even as other sides are upping the ante. These sides seem to have shot themselves in the foot with the players they have opted for.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Dravid placed his trust in men quintessentially incongruous with the tersest format of the game. And the skeptics will feel vindicated after the Royal Challengers have hardly presented a challenge to their rivals.

The Royal Challengers, for one, have far too many batsmen who can play the sheet anchor role. Dravid, Kallis, Jaffer and Chanderpaul are batsmen who can only find a place in a T20 side based on their potential to carry the weight of the entire team on their mature shoulders and be the glue that holds the inning together. But then there is only enough space for a lone lynchpin in a T20 side – blame it on its laconic nature. They need to certainly give Wasim Jaffer the pink slip – with all due respects, of course. Rahul Dravid also needs to quickly chart out his future course and decide upon his role in the batting lineup. As for Jacque Kallis, the only thing that comes to his rescue is his all-round skills as this virtuoso has not really come to terms with T20.

They need to inject some fresh blood when the opportunity to do is made available to them next season. I don’t understand the reasoning behind picking the likes of Kumble and Joshi for the IPL. Just imagine they only need to rope in Srinath and Prasad to complete a full length Indian bowling lineup of yore. They have decent fast bowlers and the Bangladeshi left-arm spinner, Abdur Razzak, can be persisted as the lone spinner in their side.

I can almost sense a major overhaul of the Royal Challengers next season. Also I can wager my life savings on this team finishing in the bottom four this season.

A recent survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers Association reveals something that is not a great secret. The survey results indicate that a very large percentage of English cricketers would like to play in the IPL and some even in the rebel ICL. In fact out of these cricketers another significant portion of them have even indicated that they would risk retiring from international cricket prematurely in order to play in the IPL. It is high time the ECB takes note of this and allows its players to play in the lucrative league. Players like Paul Collingwood, Kevin Petersen and Andrew Flintoff have openly expressed their desire to play in the league, if given a chance. They would be huge hits with the crowds in India too. The Cricket Board in England should see the writing on the wall and allow their cricketers to participate in IPL before there is some kind of ‘uprising’ or ‘revolt’ against the board.

The pitch that was used for the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers was egregious to say the least. Such a wicket is normally not prepared inadvertently; at least Indian cricket history does not suggest that. But the home team had nothing to gain with such a horrendous wicket. A dustbowl is highly unpredictable and games played on them can go either way.

So it is difficult to imagine that the Knight Riders themselves would have demanded such a wicket from the curator. The wicket started dilapidating from the point the first ball of the game was delivered. The two teams were virtually playing a T20 game on a track far worse than a 5th day pitch of a test match. A track like this is completely out of place in a purportedly professional league like the IPL.

The match should have been called-off due to the baneful playing conditions – the odd ball was perilously taking off from a length – and the crowd handed a refund. The cricket on display was sore for the eyes, as for the most part, the batsmen were awkwardly dancing around the crease. Andrew Symonds, who braved the pitch for a tenacious 32, summed it up when he complained that such a wicket should not be used for a T20 game.

The Royal Challengers put up a shocking display in IPL’s inaugural match but they were quick to redeem themselves. However, the Rajasthan Royals might have given the precursor of things to come in their match against the Daredevils.

Pulling no punches, the Rajasthan Royals are not imperious in any regard, contrary to their name, and appear to be a pedestrian side. They emerged as the lowest spender during the IPL player auction. Now it seems that whatever little money they spent wasn’t spent judiciously. Although the side has some youth, it seemingly lacks youthful zeal and exuberance.
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Alright people Mark Ramprakash is not coming to IPL. Who is Ramprakash some of you might ask? Well, he represented England in the early 20th century before the First World War. No, I am just being sarcastic. Mark Ramprakash represented England between 1991 and 2002 sporadically giving glimpses of his much touted batting talent. He is currently playing first class cricket for Surrey.
Rajasthan Royals had communicated their interest in him to the Surrey management, which the county declined after giving it diligent thought.
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Michael Vaughan, the English captain with a puritanical countenance, has enunciated his displeasure at the IPL ban on English players. Vaughan feels that the ban imposed by the ECB is naïve. “I’ve heard so many people say that all the best players in the world are there and you want to go and play in it,” the English skipper said. His statement is a little out of the blue as Kevin Pietersen has been functioning as the English team’s official spokesperson on IPL matters hitherto.

Meanwhile, IS Bindra, member of IPL’s governing council and soon-to-be ICC’s principal advisor, bristled at the idea of English players rejecting their national contracts to play in the IPL. “We will not have any player revolting against their establishment and becoming part of the IPL,” he explicitly told BBC Sport.
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