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Shoaib Akhtar ready for India's chucking offensive

          Islamabad: The Indian cricket think tank, including skipper Sourav Ganguly, is reportedly aiming to pressure Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar by triggering a whispering campaign about his bowling action. According to the News, Pakistan team officials have come to learn of this move through their media sources and have reportedly expressed unhappiness over India's mind games. "We know that the Indians have been behind a whispering campaign about Shoaib's action being under scrutiny in this series by the umpires and match referee through their media corps," a Pakistan team official was quoted as saying. "We realize it is all a ploy to start a controversy in the press about Shoaib's bowling action and try to put him under pressure and disturb him in this series as he is a potential match-winner. But he is ready for such a situation," he added. The report described Ganguly as a master at "exploiting the media" to play mind games with the opposition and sometimes with even his own players and officials.

Sachin Tendulkar snaps at scribe on match-winning abilities (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: India's master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was not his normal cool self when a Pakistani journalist questioned his ability to win matches for his side. "Go home and check the score books," was Tendulkar's pat reply, according to the News. The question referred to Sachin's knock of 141 off 135 balls in the one-day international against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, which India lost. "Thanks for letting me know. But my hundred today would have had a greater value had my team won," a visibly annoyed Tendulkar said. Describing the wicket as not easy to bat on in the second innings, he said, "The ball was stopping and coming on. One had to be very selective in his shots. And, I think, they bowled pretty well on the track. They were pushing the ball through all the time." To another query as to how he was feeling about being in Pakistan, Tendulkar said in Urdu: "I am very happy to be here. The hospitality has been very good and I am enjoying the tour."

Ganguly: Batting down the order keeps me away from runs (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly says that his run-scoring abilities have been limited by the fact that he is batting down the order. When a Pakistani journalist asked about his continuing drought with the bat, the "Bengal Tiger" retorted: "That has got to do with the position I am batting on. I am batting at No. 4, but when I was opening the batting, I used to get extra overs to bat. But it is important to score a hundred." According to the News, Ganguly's last one-day ton came 18 innings ago against Kenya in the last World Cup. Defending his decision of selecting Ashish Nehra, he stoically said: "The injuries don't heal overnight. His ankle was really swollen but in the morning of the match we pushed him to play because it was an important match." The Indian skipper was visibly uncomfortable when it was pointed out that extras had contributed the second highest total after Tendulkar's pulsating 141 runs. "You can't expect all the batsmen to score all the time. In that case we would have totals running into thousands. Everyone has his good and bad day. It is all about partnerships. I had a 75- run partnership with Sachin. Rahul, too, had a 100 run partnership with him and one-day cricket is all about building partnerships," he elaborated.

Lahore cricket ticket chaos: Fans cry foul (Go To Top)

          Lahore: Cricket fans have alleged that all the tickets for the last two one-dayers to be played between India and Pakistan here on March 21 and 24 were not put on sale and their efforts in security tickets went in vain. According to the News, the diehard fans had lined up in the wee hours to buy tickets for the Imran Khan and Fazal Mahmood enclosures. But disappointment prevailed when the bank staff dealing with the sale of the tickets directed them to go to other booths located near the general enclosures. Many of them rushed to the new booths even as some exchanged hot words with the bank's staff over the inconvenience caused. Meanwhile, giving in to the public pressure, the authorities sold two tickets per person, instead of five as earlier promised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The report further said that the sale continued for only an hour. Those who did not get the tickets expressed their sheer disappointment and said tickets in bulk were not put on sale. "It was unfair as we came here at 5 a.m. in the morning and after waiting for hours we were told that tickets are sold out," said Pir Mohyuddin who came all the way from Gujarat to buy tickets for his family. Meanwhile, much interest has been generated after Pakistan levelled the ongoing cricket series at Peshawar on Tuesday. The report said that tickets for the last two ODIs were being sold like hot cakes. According to the paper, the tickets for the elite seating area of the stadium - Imran Khan and Fazal Mahmood enclosures - which cost Rs. 1500 each, were earlier sold out online, and the remaining were put on sale at the exclusive booths of the Gadaffi Stadium.