Robotic Aleem Dar keeps 100pc record in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

KARACHI: Although Pakistan cricket team failed to play in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, a Pakistan umpire did play a crucial role in the final showdown in India’s financial hub.Aleem Dar. Courtesy: Getty ImagesAleem Dar, who has won the ICC Umpire of the Year award for two times, was as cool as a cucumber during the whole tournament as his umpiring intellect earned him a huge respect among the participating cricketers.With the new Decision Review System (DRW) taking its first flight in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, pressure surged to all-time high on the ICC Elite Panel umpires including some of the best of the business.A number of their decisions were challenged during the tournament not only by the ICC Test Playing Nations but also by the cricketing minnows and a lot of these challenges were successful making International Cricket Council (ICC) to accept the utility of technology in giving the game of cricket a fair look.Aleem Dar With umpires like Simon Taufel, Ian Gould, Billy Doctrove and Billy Bowden getting their decisions turned down by the DRS, there was an umpire, from Pakistan, who maintained his 100 percent success rate during the all-important ICC mega event.Aleem Dar was as faultless and absolute in his decision making that none of his decisions could be turned down by the use of technology and cricketers on most occasions refrained from taking chances against his calls.A total of 57 reviews were taken against Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar but to the surprise of all the cricket crazy people out there none of his decisions proved wrong by the technology, a man with robotic approach to umpiring.

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Pakistan tour to West Indies starts April 18

KARACHI: After finishing among the top-four cricket teams in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Pakistan’s next stop is West Indies where they will play two Test matches, five One Day Internationals and a Twenty20 International.Pakistan Tour to West Indies Pakistan are leaving for West Indies next week where they will start the tour with a practice match against University of West Indies at Gros   Islet

The first official match of the tour would be played on April 21 when Pakistan will take on West Indies in the only Twenty20 International at Gros Islet.The tour will then gradually grow to the 50-overs action where Pakistan will play five One Day Internationals on April 23, 25,28, May 1, and 5.The Test series will start from May 12 at Guyana while the second test match would be hosted by St. Kitts from May 20.

Pakistan Tour to West Indies 2011
No.	Action	Opponent	Date	Time	Venue
1	Practice Match	Pakistan vs University of WI	18-Apr	1700 PST	Saint Lucia
2	Twenty20I	Pakistan vs West Indies	21-Apr	2300 PST	Saint Lucia
3	1st ODI	Pakistan vs West Indies	23-Apr	1830 PST	Saint Lucia
4	2nd ODI	Pakistan vs West Indies	25-Apr	1830 PST	Saint Lucia
5	3rd ODI	Pakistan vs West Indies	28-Apr	1830 PST	Barbados
6	4th ODI	Pakistan vs West Indies	1-May	1830 PST	Barbados
7	5th ODI	Pakistan vs West Indies	5-May	1830 PST	Guyana
8	2-day Practice Match	Pakistan vs To Be Decided	8-May	1900 PST	Guyana
9	1st Test Match	Pakistan vs West Indies	12-May	1900 PST	Guyana
10	2nd Test Match	Pakistan vs West Indies	20-May	1900 PST	Saint Kitts

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Huge monetary perks for Men in Green

KARACHI: A super show in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 has made the Men in Green a millionaire cricket team.Ijaz Butt The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been struggling with monetary problems in the last three or four years due to international cricket scarcity in the country but a brilliant performance by Shahid Khan Afridi and his men seems to have pushed back all the financial pressures Nobody had fancied Pakistan playing semi-final at the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 but Shahid Afridi led from the front and inspired the team to play semi-final at Mohali. Unfortunately, Pakistan lost to India, who eventually won the title, but their great run of victories have earned them at least one million and fifty thousand US dollars (1,050,000 USD)Sources told The Sports Encounter that the five victories in the group stage of the tournament 300,000 US dollars while the reward for making it to the semi-final stood at 750,000 US dollars.

During the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Pakistan played a total of eight matches, winning six of them, which also included victories over giants Australia and runners-up Sri Lanka.The International Cricket Council (ICC) will hand over the money to the Pakistan Cricket Board which will distribute it among the players as well as team officials.This is not all! Pakistani cricketers are also expected to bag huge cash prizes by the PCB and top government officials for making national anthem heard on Indian soil as Punjab Chief Minister has already taken the lead by announcing Rs0.5 million for each cricketer who took part in the mega event.

The PCB will also get from the sports governing body another 8 million US dollars for being co-hosts.At the end of the day, the nation is happy on Pakistan cricket team’s performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup while the cricket board is also excited by the fact that its monetary woes will go away, for the time being.

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Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar arrives Lahore

Updated at: 0640 PST,  Monday, April 04, 2011

LAHORE: Warm welcome was accorded by a big crowd to Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar, who gave cent percent performance in cricket World Cup 2011, after his arrival at Allama Iqbal International Airport in the wee hours of Tuesday.Talking to media persons Dar said, "I am proud to represent Pakistan in the final of the cricket’s mega event was played between India and Sri Lanka.He thanked the Government of Pakistan and Government of Punjab for granting him Pride of Performance award.Dar while praising Pakistani performance in the mega event said that overall performance in the world cup was satisfactory but they took two or three wrong decisions like power play were not taken on time.He said defending champion Australia and hot favourite South Africa were failed to reach in the semi-final while Pakistan qualified but unfortunately was defeated by India.It is worth mentioning here that not a single decision of Aleem Dar was withdrawn through UDRS, an umpire referral system.Dar said UDRS is a good system and the systems would help to improve the performance of the umpires.

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Afridi, Tendulkar in ICC's World Cup Eleven

Updated at: 1949 PST,  Sunday, April 03, 2011

MUMBAI: Pakistan captain Shahid Khan Afridi and India’s great batsman Sachin Tendulkar along with Sri Lanka’s star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan have been named in the International Cricket Council's team of the World Cup announced on Sunday The World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka contributed four players while champions India just three to the ICC’s team of the tournament India defeated fellow tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a man-of-the-match winning 91 not out.But the ICC's five-man panel of experts, looking at the World Cup as a whole, opted for Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as skipper.The other Sri Lankans in the team were dashing opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who made his final international appearance.India's trio were Sachin Tendulkar, a World Cup winner at the sixth attempt, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh -- the man of the tournament -- and left-arm quick Zaheer Khan.Khan was the tournament's joint most-successful bowler with 21 wickets along side Pakistan leg-spinner and captain Shahid Afridi.The global govering body's all-star XI was completed by the South Africa duo of batsman/keeper AB de Villiers and fast bowler Dale Steyn and Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.ICC's team of the World Cup (in batting order)Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Kumar Sangakkara (SL,captain/wk), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), AB de Villiers (SA), Yuvraj Singh (IND), Shane Watson (AUS), Shahid Afridi (PAK), Dale Steyn (SA), Zaheer Khan (IND), Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)12th man: Tim Southee (NZ).

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Sri Lanka star in ICC's team of the World Cup

Updated at: 2343 PST,  Sunday, April 03, 2011

MUMBAI: World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka contributed four players and champions India just three to the International Cricket Council's team of the tournament announced on Sunday.India defeated fellow tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a man-of-the-match winning 91 not out.But the ICC's five-man panel of experts, looking at the World Cup as a whole, opted for Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as skipper. The other Sri Lankans in the team were dashing opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who made his final international appearance. India's trio were Sachin Tendulkar, a World Cup winner at the sixth attempt, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh -- the man of the tournament -- and left-arm quick Zaheer Khan. Khan was the tournament's joint most-successful bowler with 21 wickets alongside Pakistan leg-spinner and captain Shahid Afridi. The global governing body's all-star XI was completed by the South Africa duo of batsman/keeper AB de Villiers and fast bowler Dale Steyn and Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.ICC's team of the World Cup (in batting order): Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SRI), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI, capt/wkt), Mahela Jayawardene (SRI), AB de Villiers (RSA), Yuvraj Singh (IND), Shane Watson (AUS), Shahid Afridi (PAK), Dale Steyn (RSA), Zaheer Khan (IND), Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI) and 12th man: Tim Southee (NZL)

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ICC unveils Cricket WC 2015 logo

Updated at: 2139 PST,  Sunday, April 03, 2011

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has unveiled the logo for the Cricket World Cup 2015 to be held in Australia and New Zealand, Geo News reported on Sunday.Australia and New Zealand would co-host the 11th World Cup after 23 years.ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat describes this logo as "a dynamic logo which captures the cultural influences in the two host countries"."The ICC, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket have all worked together with the consultancies to produce this beautiful logo. On the back of a hugely successful ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, I am sure that it will gain recognition over the next four years as we use it in promotional, marketing and partner activations," he added."Hosting an ICC Cricket World Cup is a great honour as well as a great challenge but we are sure both New Zealand and Australia are up to that challenge," added Vaughan.

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Murali disappointed by international farewell

Updated at: 1835 PST,  Sunday, April 03, 2011

MUMBAI: Sri Lanka star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan admitted his last international appearance had been a letdown following a six-wicket World Cup final defeat by India.The record-breaking 38-year-old, the sole survivor from Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup final-winning team, was not the force of old with injuries appearing to hamper him as he bowled a wicketless spell of eight overs for 39 runs.They were respectable enough figures but hardly the kind of astounding analysis that became commonplace in Muralitharan's career, which yielded 800 wickets in 133 Tests and 534 in one-day internationals, both world records.It was a little bit disappointing because my main aim was to win the World Cup," said Muralitharan on his return to Colombo on Sunday. "But unfortunately we couldn't do that because India was a better side on the day.Sri Lanka, who made 274 for six on the back of Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten century, saw fast bowler Lasith Malinga strike twice early on to remove openers Virender Sehwag (nought) and Sachin Tendulkar (18).However both Muralitharan and fellow off-spinner Suraj Randiv (none for 43) were able to follow-up.We got enough runs on the board 274 was a good score. Malinga took two vital wickets but after that we couldn't crack their side especially in the middle part. The spinners didn't take enough wickets, that was the main reason."If I or Suraj took a few wickets then the story would have been different. These things happen in cricket so you have to move on and I'd like to wish the team well for the future. Hopefully, in 2015 they'll bring home the Cup." Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, speaking after the match, had defended his decision to play Muralitharan despite the talismanic bowler's knee, hamstring and groin problems.It's one of those rare days where he hasn't really done the job for us, but that's maybe one in 100 games that happens," Sangakkara said. "He's our best bowler, even half fit. But he was fine, he was almost at full fitness. I don't think it was an issue." "We're going to miss him terribly. Unfortunately, we couldn't give him a great send off but that's the way it goes. We were out-played and we have to accept that. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made a man-of-the-match winning 91 not out, said it was because of his familiarity with Muralitharan that he'd promoted himself above man-of-the-tournament Yuvraj Singh in the batting order. "I have played a lot with Murali and I know his doosra well," said Dhoni, a teammate at IPL side Chennai Super Kings. "He knows it too. I put pressure on him.Muralitharan's big finish was probably when he took a wicket with his final ball on home soil as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in the semi-final in Colombo, with thousands of fans watching him chaired round the ground.He has also won plaudits for his Foundation of Goodness charity, set up to help Sri Lanka from the carnage of the massive 2004 tsunami, and Muralitharan recently announced plans to build a sports complex for war-displaced civilians.

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World champions India eye new golden age

Updated at: 1343 PST,  Sunday, April 03, 2011

NEW DELHI: India plotted a new era of cricket domination on Sunday after their stunning World Cup success confirmed their status as the sport's only superpower.The comfortable six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai, India's first world title since 1983, was also being viewed as a reflection of the country's growing commercial and political muscle."In the last three to four years India has done well in shooting, badminton, tennis, hockey and football," said winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni."We are growing as a sporting nation. But cricket is special because of the infrastructure. "It all started with the 1983 win. Then two big players, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar, came on the scene, followed by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid."It is due to them we are getting a lot of money and respect. We are trying to pass it on to the next generation."Dhoni, the son of a steel factory worker, is a multi-millionaire thanks to a career which has seen him become the first man to captain a World Cup and World Twenty20 winning side.His team are also top of the world rankings for five-day Test matches. Throughout the six-week tournament, he was a regular on match-day TV commercials, endorsing everything from ceiling fans to mobile phones to high-end property.But there will be little rest for his in-demand champions. India have a packed upcomimg programme, including tours of the West Indies, England and Australia before the year is out, as well as home internationals.Yet before any of that comes the latest lucrative edition of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League, starting on April 8, with Dhoni having led the Chennai Super Kings to victory in 2010."I don't think we are getting enough time off. There's no time to realise we have won the World Cup." Significantly, even before the last celebratory firework exploded in the Mumbai night sky on Saturday, the team's paymasters were keeping them sweet with rewards of $225,000 per player for capturing the trophy. Indian newspapers revelled Sunday in victory, hailing Dhoni's men as heroes for a new generation."The World At Our Feet" crowed the front page headline in the Times of India."The wait has ended and a new legend has been born," the Times said, putting Dhoni's squad on the same pedestal as the 1983 side."Windia!" was the banner headline in the Indian Express.

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