Archive for February, 2015
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 09:18PM
February 13th, 2015 | 
Author: Out of Box Suggestions for Team Selection for Mother of All Matches..!
Rationale
1. Since the Adelaide oval is a small ground, even a score of 350+ will not be a safe score.
2. Good fielding will be the difference between victory and defeat.
3. Bowling penetration will ultimately decide the outcome of the match. Hence, Pakistan must repeat must play with 5 frontline bowlers.
4. Harris Sohail comes in into the team as a batting all rounder; and as a sixth bowler leaving no place for Sarfraz in the playing eleven.
5. Umer Akmal should also play as a wicket keeper.
6. Younis Khan has been coming very early (on many occasions) as a one down. Now he should be asked to open the innings with Ahmad Shahzad, which is necessary, because of the very weak fielding abilities of Nasir Jamshed. Keeping in view that at the most, only 4 players are allowed during the non-power play overs, our team can not enter into the field, even with a SINGLE weak fielder.
7. As such, the batting order of the 6 regular batsmen is proposed as following:
– Ahmad Shahzad
– Younis Khan
– Shoaib Maqsood
– Misbah ul Haq
– Harris Sohail
– Umer Akmal
8. The following 5 bowlers may be played against India.
– Muhammad Irfan
– Rahat Ali
– Ehsan Adil
– Shahid Afridi
– Yasir Shah
9. Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan have been omitted, due to the reason that Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil are better choices available amongst the available resources.
10. The reasons for exclusion of Nasir Jamshed and Sarfraz Ahmad have already been explained above.
11. The suggested final line up is given as below:
– Ahmad Shahzad
– Younis Khan
– Shoaib Maqsood
– Misbah ul Haq
– Harris Sohail
– Umer Akmal
– Shahid Afridi
– Rahat Ali
– Yasir Shah
– Ehsan Adil
– Muhammad Irfan
Left outs
– Nasir Jamshed
– Sarfraz Ahmad
– Wahab Riaz
– Sohail Khan
Second Option:
– If Younis Khan is to be dropped for his past batting failures then:
a). Sarfraz Ahmad can be included as a 6th batsman and he can open the innings with Ahmad Shahzad, if we are batting first.
b). Misbah, Harris Sohail or Shahid Afridi may open the innings, in case India bats first, because wicket keeper needs some rest, after strenuous ODI keeping stint.
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 06:54PM
“Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.”
—Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)
Philosopher, Poet, Critic
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 04:49PM
World Cup : Indian PM Narendra Modi wishes each Indian cricket team member on Twitter…
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/top-stories/World-Cup-Narendra-Modi-wishes-each-Indian-cricket-team-member-on-Twitter/articleshow/46216675.cms
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 04:17PM
Sat Feb 14 (50 ovs) 22:00 GMT
(prev day) | 11:00 local 03:00 PKT
1st Match, Pool A – New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
LIVE Cloudy11° C Sat Feb 14 (50 ovs) 03:30 GMT | 14:30 local 08:30 PKT
2nd Match, Pool A – Australia v England
Melbourne Cricket Ground
LIVE D/N AM Thunderstorms20 – 30° C Sun Feb 15 (50 ovs) 01:00 GMT | 14:00 local 06:00 PKT
3rd Match, Pool B – South Africa v Zimbabwe
Seddon Park, Hamilton
LIVE D/N Partly Cloudy13 – 25° C Sun Feb 15 (50 ovs) 03:30 GMT | 14:00 local 08:30 PKT
4th Match, Pool B – India v Pakistan
Adelaide Oval
LIVE D/N
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 11:03AM
In reply to the 4 Twitter messages of the Indian PM Mr. Narendra Modi I sent the following message:
My Twitter message to the Indian PM and the Afghan President:
@nayyarahmad: @narendramodi @ashrafghani Sir, why not allow the spirit of the game to unite the SAARC region and all SAARC government leaders jointly witness the ODI WC final in Melbourne on 29 March, 2015?
4 Twitter messages of Indian PM:
1. @narendramodi: Spoke to President @ashrafghani, PM Sheikh Hasina, PM Nawaz Sharif & President Sirisena. Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World Cup.
2. @narendramodi: 5 SAARC Nations are playing & are excited about the World Cup.Am sure WC will celebrate sportsman spirit & will be a treat for sports lovers.
3. @narendramodi: Cricket connects people in our region & promotes goodwill. Hope players from SAARC region play with passion & bring laurels to the region.
4. @narendramodi: Would be sending our new Foreign Secretary on a SAARC Yatra soon to further strengthen our ties.
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 10:30AM
My Twitter message to the President of the United States..!
@nayyarahmad: @BarackObama Look Mr. President where India is moving under Modi & u ignored to visit Pakistan…always…http://t.co/j5L3ew7eM0
Loud Thinking February 13, 2015 at 09:51AM
My reply to the US ambassador’s letter published in the daily “Dawn” today…
Dear Mr. Ambassador, kindly also inform how much the U.S. government has released to the GOP+NGO’s (separately) under the KLB $7.5 billion assistance programme announced in 2008.
This information is very vital to dispel any wrong image of the USA that it never honours its commitments to the full and backs out on some pretexts or other, like it refused to handover FULLY paid F-16’s; and later on demanded STORAGE charges for the planes, which were never to be handed over to Pakistan.
Therefore, your clarification and specific information on KLB payments to Pakistan will go a long way in building the image, reputation and credibility of your esteemed government.
Letter of the US ambassador
US ambassador’s version
From the Newspaper Published about 3 hours ago
YOUR editorial ‘Confusion after IMF review’ (Feb 8) stated that the government of Pakistan was disappointed when the US failed to commit an expected $250m for the rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons(TDPs). That statement is incorrect and mischaracterises the US commitment to helping TDPs.
The US is the largest donor of official development assistance to the Federally-Administrated Tribal Areas. Since October 2009, the US government has provided over $739m to Fata in humanitarian and development assistance. On Jan 14, Dawn covered US Secretary of State John Kerry’s remarks made during his visit to Pakistan last month where he underscored the US commitment of $250m to help those displaced by Operation Zarb-i-Azb. That commitment will continue US support to Pakistan with a three-phase package of civilian assistance to respond to the protracted humanitarian crisis and help facilitate the return and recovery of TDPs to Fata via rehabilitation and the long-term development of communities.
Beside this bilateral assistance, the US government through US AID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and its Food for Peace Programme (FPP) has provided lifesaving humanitarian aid through UN agencies and NGOs. Since June 2014, OFDA and FPP have provided approximately $180m in humanitarian aid to TDPs in Fata.
In coordination with other donors and the government of Pakistan, the US will continue to support programmes that create economic opportunities, provide access to social services, rebuild lives affected by the actions of extremists, and promote the rule of law.
Ambassador Richard G. Olson
US Embassy
Islamabad
Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2015
