Loud Thinking

Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

Rather than going for criticising the players, who are failing in their performances, I want to change the attitude and infuse passion and intensity in the team.

The attitude of the players must be changed, so that each player thinks he is playing for the country; and must display the maturity and responsibility, as if, he was the PM of Pakistan and captain of the team.

According to Nido R. Qubein,
Quote. “Literature and history are full of people who suffered from handicaps, had talents that were inferior to those around them, lived in the worst of circumstances, or faced many defeats.

Yet, many of these people are listed among the winners in life’s Hall of Fame.

The secret is this: Whether you reach success or failure in life has little to do with your circumstances; it has much more to do with your attitude…with your faithful courage…with your choices!

You see, non-achievers blame their circumstances; winners rise above their circumstances. Some concentrate on the blank wall that boxes them in; winners always look for a way to get under it, over it, around it, or through it.

Surround yourself with positive influences. When you are surrounded by negative thinkers, image, or materials, it is easy to get bogged down in hopelessness.

Read inspiring books and magazines. Listen to motivational recordings and speakers. Attend positive-thinking seminars or programs. Make it a point to read or watch or listen to something positive and inspiring at least once every day.

Associate with positive people. Look for friends who feel good about themselves, people who have the attitude of gratitude. People who need to tear down others are not happy with themselves and are not good for you or your attitude.” Unquote.

Players must give their best, forget about the result and leave it to Allah.

Players should and must also support and cover up the weaknesses of each other, so that it becomes the duty of the comrades to convert the failure (s) of a colleague into the success of the team.

Create a Life You Can’t Wait to Live

by Zig Ziglar

You are about to experience the life you can’t wait to live—one filled with passion, peak performance and purpose.

After twenty-plus books on motivational subjects, and countless speeches and seminars on living the abundant and fruitful life, I’ve got some things to share with you that I believe will motivate you the same way they have motivated me.

Creating a life you can’t wait to live is experienced by living with genuine passion, striving for peak performance, and fulfilling one’s purpose.

I don’t care what the field of endeavour is—sports, business, science, medicine, education, ministry, public service—I don’t believe that anyone will perform at his or her peak without passion. Life’s too tough to get to the top without passion. You’re going to fail, be taken advantage of, be disappointed by people you trust, disappoint yourself, run out of resources—almost every day you’re going to encounter a good, solid, logical reason why you ought to give up. And without passion, you just might. That’s why passion is the prerequisite for peak performance.
Peak performance is dependent on passion, grit, determination, and a willingness to do something poorly until you can do it well. True peak performance is influenced by the condition of your physical, spiritual, business and family life.

The third part of the equation—purpose—is something I have come to believe is a key to the whole dynamic of motivation.

I’ve met people all through my life who had passion of a sort. But because their passion wasn’t fueled by purpose, it would come and go in bits and pieces. They were trying to generate their passion out of their own energy day after day, something that’s ultimately unsustainable. Scientists have yet to invent the world’s first perpetual-motion machine— everything runs down or runs out of gas eventually, including human beings trying to maximize their peak performance day after day.

I believe this book can help motivate you to connect the dots in life, little by little. The end result will be a picture of beauty, purpose and fulfillment—a life you can’t wait to live.

– Zig Ziglar

PCB must immediately contact ICC, to ban cricketers dress with zippers, in all future matches including the ensuing ODI and T20 matches, scheduled in the next few days between Pakistani and South African teams; and also REPLACE THE BAISED AND APARTHEID MINDED REFEREE FOR THE UPCOMING ODI AND THE T20 SERIES MATCHES, IN THE UAE.

Height of ICC’s double standards… Apartheid is also double standards.

Can Mr. David Boon, the ICC’s match referee for the Pakistan vs South Africa 2nd Test, being played at Dubai, explain his following statement reported today, by the ESPNcricinfo.

“Match referee David Boon said: “After discussions with Mr du Plessis, he has elected not to contest that charge, but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball, and that the imposition of a fine of 50% of his match fee is appropriate considering the circumstances.”

Now following questions must be answered by the ICC.

1. When Du Plessis elected not to contest the charge, what does it mean? Obviously he pleaded guilty and the player himself admits he was NOT innocent.

2. Then why the match referee David Boon declared him innocent and Not guilty by saying the following words “but I am also satisfied that this was not part of a deliberate and/or prolonged attempt to unfairly manipulate the condition of the ball”?

3. If the illegal act of the SA cricketer was NOT DELIBERATE AND THERE WAS NO UNFAIR MANIPULATION, then what for the poor and innocent SA player has been fined and penalised so HEAVILY, with a 50% match fee fine?

4. Here, isn’t it a case of giving the offender a safe passage and letting him scot free, in a most honourable manner?

5. Hope ICC remembers very well that during the Oval Test match, neither the Pakistani denial was accepted (there was also no TV fottage or any other evidence of any Pakistani player’s involvement in the alleged ball tampering) nor later on, when it was officially CONFIRMED that no ball tampering was done, the result of the match was awarded against Pakistan, which in any case was the innocent team.

6. Last but not the least, ICC must also recheck and confirm if the guilty Proteas player was tampering the ball with closed eyes, then please remit his heavy fine, as well, absolutely in line with the treatment meted out to the South African captain GC Smith, when he claimed an unfair catch in 1st Test at Abu Dhabi; and was allowed to go Scott free, on the excuse that his eyes were closed, although, he claimed the catch by raising his both hands and jubilantly ran directly towards the umpire.

The question before everyone particularly the ICC and the match referee David Boon, is that whether the umpires changed the ball and granted 5 penalty runs to the Pakistani team, under the latest ICC Test match playing conditions coming into effect from 1st October, 2013 rule 42.1.1 or 42.1.2 ?

If rule 42.1.1 (quoted as below) was applied, then

why the umpires did not allow the batsman at the wicket to choose the ball as per clearly specified law (a) and did the bowler’s end umpire inform formally the captain of the batting side of what did occur as per (d) below?
a) change the ball forthwith. The batsman at the wicket shall choose the replacement ball from a selection of six other balls of various degrees of usage (including a new ball) and of the same brand as the ball in use prior to the contravention.
Additionally the bowler’s end umpire shall:
b) award 5 penalty runs to the batting side.
c) Inform the captain of the fielding side of the reason for the action taken.
d) Inform the captain of the batting side as soon as practicable of what has occurred.
e) Together with the other umpire report the incident to the ICC Match Referee who shall take action as is appropriate against the player(s) responsible for the conduct under the ICC Code of Conduct.

However, if the rule 42.1.2 was applied quoted as below:

42.1.2 If it is not possible to do identify the player(s) responsible:

a) change the ball forthwith. The umpires shall choose the replacement ball for one of similar wear and of the same brand as the ball in use prior to the contravention.
b) the bowler’s end umpire shall issue the captain with a first and final warning, and
c) advise him that should there be any further incident by that team during the remainder of the match, steps 42.1.1 a) to e) above will be adopted, with the captain deemed under e) to be the player responsible.

Why did the bowler’s end umpire, NOT issue first and final warning as per 42.1.2 (b) to GC Smith? And if the warning was issued to the SA Captain, then why after the match AB de Villiers said the following on record, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, quoted as below:

Quote “De Villiers said there was uncertainty as to what they were being penalised for: “I don’t even know where the message came from. There were no warnings, no talk of it. I still don’t know the facts.” Unquote

As such, all the above mentioned facts must be cleared by the ICC and the match referee. It should also be explained that whether De Villiers was speaking a white lie, or did the elite ICC umpires, miserably failed in performance of their duties as per law; and gave undue benefits and advantages to the South African team, at the expense of the Pakistani team?

RJ Tucker didn’t gave out LBW to AB de Villiers, on an appeal from Saeed Ajmal, when the TV footage showed that the ball was really missing the leg stump, but alas..! It was hitting the middle stump.

It looks for ICC, any illegal act done by the foreign players and foreign umpires with CLOSED eyes, are PARDONABLE acts and they can get away, even with murder.

However, the eyes of the umpires are always wide open to warn Pakistani players for overstepping on the pitch, for which even the third umpire, constantly reminds over wireless communication, to the on field umpire.

They say love is blind…. It looks so is the ICC (Indian Cricket Council)… When it comes to dealings with Pakistan.

In this connection, till date, no action has been taken against South African captain GC Smith, for claiming a false catch in the 1st Test played at Abu Dhabi, on the pretext that when he took the catch, his eyes were closed, notwithstanding the fact that after taking the catch he immediately claimed it, by raising his both hands (in hands up position) in the air and jubilantly ran towards the umpire. But then who will dare punish captain of the Proteas team, as both GC Smith and the ICC CEO David Richardson, are from the same country i.e., South Africa.

Under the situation the word “APARTHEID” comes to mind very painfully, which is very appropriately defined as below, by the www.vocabulary.com

Apartheid was a racist political policy in South Africa demanding segregation of the nation’s white and non-white populations. This law requires separation in all forms, reminiscent of parts of the United States before the Equal Rights Amendment.

The law of apartheid came into being with the South African election in 1948. So it makes sense that the word’s history goes back to that date, from the Afrikaans word for “separateness.” It comes from the Dutch, with the “heid” part meaning “hood,” for “apart-hood.” Many people referred to it as “apart-hate,” an apt description for a policy that brutally oppressed an entire people based solely on their skin color. The system was ended in 1993.

Link:- https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/apartheid

There is a debate going on in the Pakistani cricketing circles, that should Misbah ul Haq be retained as captain of the Test and ODI teams or not?

Firstly, it should be made clear to every player that if anyone is removed from the captaincy, it does not mean the end of his playing career. In the past we have seen that when legendary Sir. Ian Botham was removed from the captaincy of the England’s team, not only there was a big spur in the performance of Ian Botham, but in the entire English team, as well.

Generally, people appreciate the batting prowess of Misbah ul Haq. However, he is also being criticised for startlingly wrong team selections, unimaginative batting order decisions, defensive field placings, wrong bowling schemes and his own very slow start of the innings, even in the ODI matches. On an over all basis, now he is being labeled as a defensive captain.

In particular, MUH’s moves in South African tour dented his reputation very badly, when he unnecessarily called players from Pakistan, even before the start of the first Test match. Moreover, his media statements also even before the start of the series, confirmed that he had surrendered the series before the first ball was was bowled. One should never be over awed by the paper strength of the opposition. Going by the analogy of MUH, the Zimbabwe should have also surrendered before the start of the series against Pakistan. And now MUH has the guts to say that he was not a defensive captain. Yes, he is in fact, not worth even a defensive captain, which was a label affixed on Zaheer Abbas, as well.

Captains are sheer brain and cricket is played in the mind, just like a chess game. But in MUH’s case, we are at a loss to know that he is totally devoid of the common sense, which he amply exhibited in South African series, when everybody knew that Hafeez was bothering their batsmen with new ball, MUH made sure, he was not given the new ball, at many such moments. The whole of Pakistan knew how much Irfan bothered the SA batsmen on their pitches, but he was not selected to play the first Test match. We can easily write the details consuming reams of papers, about the common sense decisions not taken by MUH, in selection of players and during the currency of the games, specially during the South African series, champions trophy in England, West Indian and Zimbabwe tours.

Now the question is what is expected from a captain? Firstly, it should be remembered that in all the team games, the role of a captain in the game of cricket, is of the prime importance. A cricket captain is invested as is an American president, with a fanciful suite of powers and responsibilities, more than any one man can bear (Link:- http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/clarke-versus-cook-ashes-a-defining-test-for-captains-20130710-2poxm.html) A good captain can make a poor team good and a good team great (link:-http://m.wikihow.com/Captain-a-Village-Cricket-Team) Here, we remember late AH Kardar, who had to lead a pack of Pakistani players, out of which 8-9 players were the worst fielders. But then, he always used his players in such a manner, that their weaknesses were least exposed to the opponents.

Captains in cricket have to have a brain to create victories, because victories are never offered by the opponents in a plate, rather it is carved out on the chess board of the cricket field.

It is the foremost job of the captain to always keep his team players so charged up, focused and motivated that victories are snatched from the jaws of the defeat; and not that defeats are snatched from the jaws of the victory; as happened with our team, twice in the recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe.

The captain is also required to do the following:

Know what you’ll do if you win the toss. Think about the conditions, the points system and the relative strength of your team. If in doubt then go with your teams strength, if you’ve lots of good bowlers then bowl first. If you all bat then bat first. Once you’re on top, you’ll probably win.

Attack in the field. Bowlers bowl better with attacking fields. Always attack the new batsman. If a batsman hits two similar shots into the same place then put a fielder there. Always have a plan – or look like you have one. Never keep the same field for two different batsmen. Be active!

Practise catching and throwing more than any other team at the nets and before a game. Catches really do win matches. No-one means to drop a catch so encourage everyone to go for everything and praise everyone for every genuine attempt. Keen fielding teams win most of their games.

Role Allocation. Give everyone a role in the side and make them feel important, then let them get on with it. Encourage everyone to express themselves – spinners to toss it up, pacemen to bowl fast, stroke makers to hit it and stone wallers to rotate the strike without getting out. (Link:- http://m.wikihow.com/Captain-a-Village-Cricket-Team).

In view of the foregoing and keeping under consideration of the long term interests of the Pakistani cricket, which has to plan for upto June-July 2017 Test matches championships and 2015 ODI World Cup, there is no doubt that at the best we have a 50:50 chance that Misbah ul Haq will be able to continue till the above named two important events. Therefore, we have no option except to appoint Younis khan as captain (with certain factors of fitness, age, experience, class and abilities in his favour more than any other cricketer in Pakistan) to give him a fair chance to rebuild the team for the next 3-5 years. Yes MUH must be retained to play as a seasoned batsman in team, as long as he is able to deliver.

An Open letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Sports Affairs in the country – Way forward

Honourable Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Sahab,

AoA.

Sir,

It may not be a news for you that Pakistanis are a true sports loving people. Nothing unites the nation more than the news of an international level victory in any sporting arena. I am greatly surprised about the fact, that why our successive governments failed to channelise the energy of our youth, towards the various traditional and non traditional sports, to lure them away from the engulfing culture of drugs and related crimes.

It should also be understood that Pakistanis not just only love the sports, they also understand its very basics as well. While victories are celebrated like a festival, defeats suffered after putting up a good fight, are also duly appreciated.

Nevertheless, the masses are so intelligent that they can easily smell the rat, when our teams lose to the minnows like Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe etc. Similarly, the whole nation knows how politics coupled with corruption, has spoiled the sports in the country, which has earned the distinction of the worlds BIGGEST nation, NOT to have earned a single medal in the Olympics, since the year 1994. While much smaller and poorer countries like Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Kenya, have proved that winning medals at international levels is just a matter of commitment, dedication and simple hard work, sans politics.

In the past, luckily our cricket, hockey, squash and some other sporting teams and players have been bringing laurels for Pakistan; with very little money, extremely small size governing boards and minimal politics. Gradually, the foundations of key sports in Pakistan were eaten up by the greed of money, rampant corruption, nepotism, politics and incompetencies of the successive governments, sports managers and the players combined.

If, we have to put the sports in Pakistan back on the right track, two basic things are necessary. Firstly, a vision and secondly, visionary leaders, to put Pakistan back on top, at the worlds’ sports map.

As far as, the vision is concerned, nothing ever said about sports can match the following quote of Mr. Nelson Mandela, “Sport has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”

Now, taking a cue from the above mentioned statement of Mr. Nelson Mandela, it is suggested that Pakistani government should slightly re-phrase it and declare the following as its mission statement: “Sports has the power to change Pakistan…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite Pakistani people in a way that little else does. It speaks to the Pakistani youth in a language they understand. Sports can create hope for the entire Pakistani nation where once there was only despair, lawlessness, hunger, poverty, drugs, suicide bombings and alarming increase of suicides, due to the economic hardships. It is more powerful than government in breaking down the menace of terrorism which has blown the country to the smithereens.”

Coming to the visionary leadership, may be Pakistan is very lucky in the sense that its current Prime Minister, is himself a born sportsman. Moreover, if in the past, we had world class sports administrators cum leaders, like Syed Wajid Ali, AIS Dara, Brig. Rodham, AH Kardar, Air Marshal Noor Khan and last but not the least Zakir Hussain Syed; then even today we are lucky to have a great sports administrator cum leader (AVM Farooq Umar), who can be appointed as advisor to the PM, for revamping the entire sports canvas of Pakistan, in consultation with the provincial governments, all the sports governing bodies and sports lovers of the country.

The need for a dedicated advisor to the PM on sports matters is all the more urgent and necessary, keeping in view of the imminent lurking danger of the imposition of international sporting ban, on the participation of Pakistani players, due to the dispute, arising out of the warring sports bodies in the country, which may cause unimaginable and irreparable loss to the sports in Pakistan.

it is hoped that the above submissions, if juxtaposed with your recently announced package for youth, may bring the desired results for which, you have been dreaming about, for so long.

Wishing you all the success and Godspeed in your endeavours to turn around Pakistan, in all walks of life.

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

The statement of Mr. Najam Sethi tonight over the Geo TV program “Score” conducted by Mr. Yahya Hussaini that “India has money and it is the need of our players to play in India” is such an insult of the self respect of the nation, our cricket players and the PCB that no condemnation of this statement shall be enough.

The Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, must take immediate action against the chairman PCB, for degrading and demeaning entire Pakistani nation and our players in such a blatant manner.

Black day in the history of Pakistan’s cricket. Red letter day for the Zimbabwe cricket.