ICC decides to decrease the number of teams in the next World Cup

As most of us are aware that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to decrease the number of teams in the 2015 Cricket World cup. The only teams who are granted permission to play in the upcoming 2015 Cricket world cup are the top 10 teams of the ICC. People believe that it's pretty useless to have teams like Ireland, Kenya, Canada and Netherlands in a tournament where the world champs are crowned. It seems very obvious that neither of those four teams will ever be crowned the world champs. The 10 teams who are granted permission to play in the 2015 Cricket World Cup are: Australia, England, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and lastly Bangladesh. In my opinion, I believe the ICC has made an excellent decision. Honestly, teams apart from the top 10 really make the World Cup boring because whichever team plays against them manages to win no matter what, which makes the matches considered as one-sided matches. An example would be the first 9 matches of the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the Sub-Continent. Those first 9 matches have really been one-sided, which pretty much started taking away people's interest from the World Cup. In conclusion, these teams should really not be allowed to play in big tournaments like the World Cup and to give these teams a chance to play, there should be a tournament hosted especially for these associated teams.

A THRILLER IN BANGALORE

On a thrilling day in Bangalore where a total of 676 runs were scored, a charismatic display of cricketing excellence yielded in a spectacular tie amongst an exhilarating encounter between India and England. The day began with India batting first putting on a mammoth 338 thanks to a splendid ton by the little master Sachin Tendulkar. The score, though monumental, was a smaller score than India could have gotten. In the latter stages of the Indian innings (40 overs onward), Yuvraj Singh had quite some trouble maneuvering the ball and finding frequent boundaries and as a result India were left 30 odd runs short.England began their reply strongly as the English Skipper scored a subjugating ton to put England in the driving seat. After 42 overs, with England requiring a mere 59 from 48 with 8 wickets in hand, the game looked all and done for India. But that was not to be. A fiery reverse-swinging spell from Zaheer Khan put the game in the balance.Slowly, the game began to sway towards India’s favour, this just one of many twists in this match. Finally, with 11 required from 4 balls, England’s Ajmal Shahzad hit an exceptional six straight over mid-on to again switch the equilibrium of the match. Subsequently, with the last ball requiring 2, Swann managed to get only 1 and an extraordinary tie was definitive. A lot was seen from this match today but perhaps the biggest was the exposure of India’s weak and susceptible bowling attack. Nevertheless, on a day probing for a resul, it shall go down as one of the greatest games to have ever been played in World Cup history.

Post Match Analysis: Lessons to Learn

First of all, I would like to congratulate all the Pakistani fans for the nail biting 11 run victory against Sri Lanka. Pakistan were off to a very fast start, but the run rate dropped during the middle overs the run rate dropped to around 4.5runs/over. The fans were very surprised by Pakistan's performance in the last 12 overs, Pakistan reached the 200 mark in 38th over, and in the last 12 overs, they only managed to score 77 runss, during which 5 of the 12 overs was the Batting Powerplay. Pakistan only managed to score 35 runss in the Batting Powerplay. They ended their innings with a total of 277/7. Sri Lanka started off their innings at a slow pace, but built on their total as the innings proceeded. In the first 13 overs, Pakistani fans started losing hope, but the 3 quick wickets between the 14th and 20th over raised their hopes and increased the confidence of the team dramatically. Srilankan Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Middle order batsman Chamara Silva built a partnership of 73 runs after Samaraweera became a victim of Shahid Afridi. Sangakkara's wicket was taken by the Pakistan Skipper Shahid Afridi on 169, which pretty much took the game away from the Srilankan team, but they fought till the last ball. In the end Pakistan came out with a nail biting 11 run victory. Overall it was a hard fought game by both teams. Now let's talk about some aspects of the game team Pakistan need to work on. First of all opening Partnership. The team requires a strong opening partnership from the openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad. Secondly, wicket keeping of Kamran Akmal, as we all know Akmal missed 2 stumpings of Srilankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara. So this proves that Kamran Akmal got some work to do behind the stumps during the team practise. Lastly, fielding of the rest of the team. Fielding of the team has been poor throughout the match, they have dropped 2 easy catches and have allowed many boundaries due to misfields. In conclusion, it was a very hard fought game played by both sides and if Pakistan work on the 3 aspects of the game i've listed above, iam assuring the Pakistani fans that they can make a major impact in this world and may even end up winning it inshAllah.

Butt, Asif, Amir Long Gone

Pakistan's former captain Salman Butt, and two of the best bowlers in the world Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been banned for 10, 7, and 5 years after an ICC tribunal found them guilty of Spot Fixing in the Lord's test in England last Summer. The trio cannot play any official sanctioned Cricket in the next 5 years. The suspension of Asif and Butt have been made on a condition that in the next 5 years, they should not make any further breaches of the code and participate in an anti-corruption program under sponsorship of the PCB. I totally agree with the bans placed on the trio and I am sure that many other people also agree with it also. All I can say about this ban on the trio is "THEY DESERVED IT".

Misbah sets up a clutch victory for Pakistan

Misbah Ul Haq's Unbeaten 93 has set up an emphatic victory for Pakistan in the 4th ODI against New Zealand, putting them ahead in the series 2-1. Misbah's return to the national side has really made a big impact in Pakistan's middle order. Misbah who was the 5th batsman to bat in the order, played an outstanding and very steady innings. He did not look for the big shots right from the beginning. He came out there and played like a sensible player, steadied his batting throughout his innings, which resulted in frustrating the New Zealand bowlers. The Black Caps were desperate to get Misbah Ul Haq out, but they were not successful in their objective due to Misbah's awesome strategy of batting. Fans are also aware that Misbah and Afridi are both in a race to find out who will lead the team in the 2011 Cricket World Cup late February. I believe this great performance from Misbah in the test matches and in the ODIs so far against New Zealand has increased his chances to take over Shahid Afridi's spot as Captain. Fans hope this awesome batting performance by Misbah Ul Haq continue in the remaining 2 ODIs against New Zealand.