I am available: Younis Khan

Sunday, November 01, 2009
DUBAI: Pakistan skipper Younis Khan is ready to come out of his retirement from Twenty20 cricket and play in two Twenty20 matches in Dubai on November 12 and 13.

“If team needs me and since matches are to be held in Dubai, it will be nice to play here,” he remarked Saturday in Dubai.

Younis retired from Twenty20 cricket after leading Pakistan to victory in T20 World Cup in June in England. He is not named in Twenty20 squad for Dubai that is being led by Shahid Afridi.

Asked what prompted him to return to T20 cricket, he said: “A lot of people especially many youngsters told me it is important that I continue playing T20 cricket too. If they still want and if my country still needs my service for this form of game, then I am ready. I will do anything for my country and for my teammates. So you may see me in T20 cricket again.”

He had quit as captain following match fixing allegations during Champions Trophy but Pakistan Cricket Board refused to accept his resignation. Younis said about incident: “I have just come out of a huge controversy. This time my whole nation was behind me. I am happy each and every one in Pakistan backed me in the incident. Today my mind is free and I can concentrate on my captaincy and on my form as well as the team.”

He feels New Zealand will not be an easy team to beat despite absence of many of their top players due to injury. “The positive factor about New Zealand is that they play as a team. They do not depend on only one player and that is why they reached final of Champions Trophy despite injuries to their top players. It will be tough competition here,” he said.

It was New Zealand that upset Pakistan’s chances of reaching the final of Champions Trophy by beating them in the semifinal.

On whether this series would be a revenge series for Pakistan, Younis said: “It will not be a revenge series but we have desire in our mind to defeat them. We cannot easily forget defeat to New Zealand in the semifinal.”

On New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori’s remark that Pakistan pacer Mohammad Aamer will be most dangerous man in team, he said: “We have many match winners and not just Mohammed Aamer alone.”

Read more »

Ronaldo wants Rooney at Madrid

Sunday, November 01, 2009
MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo believes his former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney should follow him to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo left Old Trafford in the summer for a record £80million fee to complete a dream move to the Spanish giants and, while admitting Rooney is unlikely to leave England any time soon, he thinks the striker would fit in at the Bernabeu.

“Wayne would be a sensation out here. I think we could do with Rooney to help us out,” Ronaldo told The Sun. “He would be brilliant if he came. This is the ideal place for the world’s best players and there’s little doubt he is one of them.”

He added: “Wayne has all the skill and determination you need to make a fine career here.

“He has shown just how good he is over the last few years in England.

“And there’s no doubt he would be the same sort of player in Spain. It would be lovely to see him here one day at Real Madrid.

“I realise it would take a lot for him to move from England. “He loves the country, he loves Manchester and he is a Liverpool boy. And United is a good club for him. But you never know what could happen in the future.”

Read more »

Moment of truth for Pak as World Cup qualifiers begin

KARACHI: The moment of truth for Pakistan hockey arrives in Lille, France, on Saturday when the seventh-ranked team faces the 26th-ranked Italy at the Metropole Club in the first encounter of the World Cup qualifiers.

The national hockey team is featuring in the six-nation tournament as a consequence of losing the Asia Cup final by 0-1 to Korea in May.

The qualifiers, beginning Saturday, will conclude on Nov 8 and Pakistan have to beat all the other participating teams in order to play in the 2010 World Cup to be played in New Delhi, India, from Feb 28 to March 13.

They play their second match against 23rd-ranked Russia (Nov 1), third against 17th-ranked France (Nov 3), fourth against 14th-ranked Japan (Nov 5) and fifth against 22nd-ranked Poland (Nov 7) while the final will be played on the concluding day (Nov 8).

The team that has met several challenges in the form of dropping an important member due to fears of doping, injuries to players and visa hassles since the start of the preparatory camp for this tournament, finally reached its destination on Oct 25 to be informed by the event’s organisers that the pitch where the matches were to be played would not be ready until Oct 29.

Therefore, they had to carry out their training sessions as well as play the practice games with local clubs at an alternate venue.

Playing friendly matches with the competing teams was out anyway due to shortage of time.

The team had earlier planned to leave for Europe on Sept 24 to play three Tests with hosts France on the 27th, 28th and 30th that were to be followed by two Tests against Poland (Oct 3 and 4) and three against Belgium (Oct 6, 7 and 8).

But unable to acquire Schengen visas enabling them to freely tour through Europe, on time, they had to reschedule their programme twice. Later, they dropped Belgium to play in Poland and France alone and then it was decided that they fly directly to France.

Pakistan have never missed playing in a hockey World Cup since its inaugural tournament in Spain in 1971. Winning that title, they went on to win three more — in Argentina in 1978, in India in 1982 and in Australia in 1994.

Zeeshan Ashraf’s men may be in a do-or-die situation at the moment but they are also the favourites, according to the experts of the game.

Flying Horse Samiullah believes that the national side has a much better chance against the other competing teams who are all much lower down in world rankings.

‘There should be nothing stopping the team from winning the event provided the players play responsibly,’ he said.

Chief Coach Shahid Ali Khan said before leaving for France that they better win or they return as zeroes instead of heroes. ‘We have practiced very hard and are hoping for the best results. The boys, too, are in first-class shape. But winning is all that matters otherwise everything adds up to zero,’ he had announced.

Meanwhile, showing confidence in his boys, skipper and fullback Zeeshan Ashraf had said that they still shouldn’t underestimate the other seemingly-mediocre sides.

The team is a good combination of new talent and experience. Centre-half Wasim Ahmed, forward Rehan Butt, and goalkeeper Salman Akbar joined the team directly in France while the remaining 15 left from Lahore last Sunday.

Besides the World Cup qualifiers in France, two other qualifiers are also scheduled to take place — in New Zealand (Nov 7-15) featuring China, Malaysia, Austria, Scotland and Wales besides the hosts, and in Argentina (Nov 17-22) featuring Belgium, Ireland, USA, Czech Republic and Italy besides the hosts.

The nine teams that have already qualified for the World Cup comprise hosts India, Canada (Pan American Cup champions), Korea (Asia Cup champions), Australia (Oceania Cup champions), South Africa (Africa Cup champions), England (Euro Hockey Nations’ champions), Germany (silver medallist of Euro Hockey Nations’ Cup), Netherlands (bronze medallist of Euro Hockey Nations’ Cup) and Spain (fourth-ranked team of Euro Hockey Nations’ Cup).

Team

Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar and Nasir Ahmad.

Fullbacks: Zeeshan Ashraf (captain), Sohail Abbas and Mohammad Imran.

Halves: Mohammad Irfan, Wasim Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar, Fareed Ahmad and Mohammad Rashid.

Forwards: Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi, Haseem Khan, Abbas Haider, Akhtar Ali, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool and Mohammad Zubair.

Read more »

Pakistan begin WC qualifier campaign in style

KARACHI: Penalty-corner specialist fullback Sohail Abbas lived up to expectations as Pakistan thrashed Italy 5-0 in their first match of the hockey World Cup qualifiers, played at the Metropole Club in Lille, France on Saturday.

According to the information received here, the match saw as many as three goals being scored on penalty-corners with Sohail converting two in the 31st and 47th minutes. The third was scored by fullback Mohammad Imran in the 43rd minute.

The first half score was 1-0 in favour of the favourites with four goals coming in the second half. The last two goals were both successful field attempts by forwards Mohammad Zubair and Haseem Khan in the 52nd and and 68th minutes, respectively.

Pakistan play their second match on Sunday against Russia, who beat Japan 4-0 in the first match.

Pakistan - Italy 5:0 (1:0)
PAK 31mn Sohail ABBAS (PC) 1:0
PAK 43mn Muhammad IMRAN (PC) 2:0
PAK 47mn Sohail ABBAS (PC) 3:0
PAK 52mn Muhammad ZUBAIR (FG) 4:0
PAK 68mn Abdul Haseem KHAN (FG) 5:0

Standings:

Pakistan 3pts
Japan 3pts
France 1pt
Poland 1pt
Russia 0pt
Italy 0pt

Read more »

All Set For ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Champions Trophy 2009 held to begin from the 22 September to 5 October at Wanderers Stadium and Centurion Park in Johannesberg in South Africa. Two teams from two group of four will form the semi finals with the final played on 5 October.

Last year tournament was supposed to be happen in Pakistan but was postponed until October 2009 due to security concerns after the attack on Sri Lankan teams. Group A consists of Australia, India, Pakistan and West Indies Group B consists of England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen stars of England team will not play for ICC Champions. Australia defeated England in the recent 50 over series and England became the first team to lose a series by 7-0. After the beginning of Twenty20, the popularity of 50 over game has declin

Read more »

Davide Grassi Injury Knocks Aberdeen

Davide Grassi has been discarded for three months from Aberdeen after experiencing a triple cheekbone fracture. This accident happened when Co-Operative Insurance Cup defeated Dundee, his head clashed with defender David Cowan.

As a substitute to Sone Aluko on the left of midfield, Grassi was signed for this match. Sone Aluko will not play match for another month as he is in Nigeria squad for the Under-20 World Cup held in Egypt. This tournament will last for until the 16 October. Davide Grassi had signed a one-year contract with Aberdeen in the month of August. This injury happened just five minutes into the loss of 3-2 to the first division side.

Read more »