The ICC World Twenty20 2009 will be the second time a world event for Twenty20 cricket has been held.
The event, which feature 12 teams in the men's tournament and eight teams in the women's competition, will be staged in June 2009 at Lord's, The Oval, Trent Bridge and Taunton.
The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 competition took place in South Africa in September 2007.
The competition, which lasted for just two weeks, was a thrilling event which culminated in India's dramatic five run defeat of Pakistan at Johannesburg.

Your Ad Here
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts

Wanted: Success, for many reasons - Pakistan Privew

<<


Shahid Afridi in action, Pakistan v Australia, only Twenty20 international, Dubai, May 7, 2009
Shahid Afridi will play a key role in Pakistan's chances© Associated Press
Related Links
Player/Officials: Mohammad Aamer | Shahid Afridi | Umar Gul
Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20
Teams: Pakistan

Few sides really need to win - or do very well - the World Twenty20 as badly as Pakistan. Few sides will be as rusty as Pakistan. And few sides are as capable of them of pulling off something special, especially in this format.

Pakistan's travails on and off the field need no repeating. Suffice to say, on the field, they have lurched closer and closer to what was once thought to be unthinkable: a team you have no particular opinion about, a team that doesn't set any pulses racing. For Pakistan, that is a fate worse than defeat, or death. So a triumph here - a good run even - would be as significant a boost on the field as winning a battle against militants off it.

It won't be easy given their rustiness - nobody, not even Bangladesh, has played less international cricket since January 2007 than Pakistan. And they were the only country whose players weren't represented at the IPL; instead they warmed up with a conditioning camp and a hastily-arranged domestic Twenty20 tournament. But for Pakistan, Twenty20 is like finding yourself back in the galli you have played cricket in all your life. The angles, the run-stealing, the yorkers, the spin, the-poor-fielding-with-crucial-moments-of-quality, the big-hitting, clarity emerging only from chaos; as in South Africa two years ago, there is a natural familiarity and comfort with the format.

Additionally, the draw seems so kind to them, it can only be a trick. You would think England - averse as they are to the format and obsessed in this summer of all summers - and Netherlands should be negotiated (though Dirk Nannes on a bouncy, green pitch has headlines written all over it). And, if all goes to form, they avoid Australia, India and South Africa in the Super Eights. Sri Lanka and New Zealand are proper threats where a semi-final place is concerned, but given their records against them, there is no question Pakistan would face them, rather than any of the big three. Once you're in the semis, strange things begin to happen.

Strengths

The variety in their bowling attack: Shahid Afridi's leg-spin is as effective as it has ever been, in restricting runs and taking wickets, and Saeed Ajmal's strangely-trajectoried off-spin and doosra is an unexpectedly useful foil. In Umar Gul, Pakistan have one of the format's very best bowlers, pace or slow. Now they only need for Sohail Tanvir to break free from the shackles of indifference that have gripped him since the start of the year.

Weaknesses

Around Pakistan's batting swarm an uncomfortably high number of question marks. Is Salman Butt really a Twenty20 opener (a strike rate of 94 and one fifty in 13 internationals), given his inability to at least rotate the strike when not finding the boundary? Is Younis Khan cut out for this format - he himself seems unsure about it, hinting recently it may be his last Twenty20 assignment - and if so, what position is best? What is Shahid Afridi's best position, and Kamran Akmal's?

X-Factor

Depending on whether or not they play, Shahzaib Hasan and Mohammad Aamer: Hasan is an explosive opener, mostly unseen, but highly recommended by Rashid Latif. Aamer is the whippy left-armer with Wasim Akram's stamp of approval: a fantastic first-class debut season that has seen his confident rise, his time may come if Sohail Tanvir continues to misfire. Pakistan's history of thrusting unknown names into the mix is long and established.

Key Players

If Pakistan end up doing well here, a number of things will have to have happened. Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi must've taken a fair few wickets, Kamran Akmal must've scored some runs, Misbah-ul-Haq must've played a few remarkably cool hands and Afridi must've played at least one madcap, match-changing innings. Given the form and mood he is in, Afridi could be the real key.

Twenty20 form guide

They looked rusty in the warm-up loss to South Africa but too much should not be read from the defeat. They looked up for it in decimating an admittedly weakened Australia before that, but missing the IPL, crucially, could go either way for Pakistan's players: they may not be as tired as some, but neither might they be as attuned to competitive Twenty20 as others.

Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Shahzaib Hasan

<<

READ MORE >
, , , |

PCB mulls dropping Ajmal from T20 squad

The Pakistan Cricket Board is seriously considering withdrawing the offspinner Saeed Ajmal from the ICC World Twenty20 squad as they await the results of the tests done on his bowling action.

Ajmal's doosra was reported by the umpires during the second one-day international against Australia in Dubai last month but was allowed to continue bowling till an assessment of his action, done by the ICC's appointed biomechanist Bruce Elliott, is completed.

"Elliot is supposed to send a report based on the tests to the ICC in 14-days time maximum but he can do it earlier," Saleem Altaf, the PCB's chief operating officer, told Dawn. "So we are waiting to see what happens. But we are also pondering the possibility of pulling him out of the [Twenty20] World Championship and including a reserve player."

Ajmal and Shahid Afridi are the only two recognised spinners in the World Twenty20 squad.

Meanwhile, the PCB has asked Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam to submit the medical report on Shoaib Akhtar's skin infection, which forced the fast bowler to skip the high-altitude conditioning camp at a mountain resort in Bhurban. He was adviced at least 7-10 days of rest.

"We want to have a look at the medical report because players are supposed to attend the conditioning camp which is primarily meant to check their fitness and endurance levels ahead of the World Twenty20 Championship," Altaf said.

Shoaib was included in the squad despite a long history of breakdowns and fitness problems.

READ MORE >
, |

Shoaib to miss training camp

Shoaib Akhtar's latest fitness concern, a skin problem, has ruled him out of Pakistan's training camp for the World Twenty20, coach Intikhab Alam said.

"The doctors have advised Shoaib Akhtar at least 7-10 days of rest and he will not be the part of the training camp," Alam told AP from Bhurban. Pakistan's six-day training camp, to be held at a mountain resort, will begin on Thursday.

The World Twenty starts on June 5, and Alam was hopeful Shoaib would be available for the tournament, where Pakistan are in Group B along with the Netherlands and host England. "I hope he will be fully fit before the all-important event," he said.

A host of injury problems have combined to restrict Shoaib's appearances at the international level over the past six months. He missed the one-dayers against West Indies in Abu Dhabi last October due to a calf injury, while a knee problem ruled him out of the Tests against Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Shoaib did play the entire limited-overs series against Australia in the UAE over the past month, but he was nowhere near his best, taking three wickets at 50.66.

READ MORE >
, |

Lack of cricket won't harm Pakistan's chances - Afridi

Shahid Afridi believes Pakistan's recent lack of international cricket will not hamper their chances at the World Twenty20 in England next month. Since January 2007, no team has played as little as Pakistan's ten Tests and 50 ODIs. Even Bangladesh, the weakest Test-playing nation, have played 15 Tests and 55 ODIs and teams such as Australia and India have played nearly three times as much cricket in that time.

The lack of Pakistani participation in the IPL has also not helped, but Afridi, fresh from a successful battle with the Australians, believes Pakistan are strong enough to overcome the dearth. "I don't feel our lack of cricket will make much of a difference because we are still a strong Twenty20 side," Afridi told Cricinfo. "We have a pretty similar team to last time with only a few changes and we have Younis [Khan] as captain now. He has done well and taken the team along with him so far and he will be vital come England."

Afridi himself will be a vital plank in Pakistan's challenge, especially given his fine recent form. He was the leading wicket-taker against Australia, a consistent, nagging threat on slow, low surfaces and pole-axed their batting in Pakistan's crushing Twenty20 win in Dubai. Few will forget either that he was player of the tournament in South Africa two years ago.

England, where he has been effective with the ball in ODIs, offers a different proposition, however. "Wickets in England might be slower, a little less bounce so I'll make slight adjustments to my bowling," he said. "Maybe a bit more flight, but generally, as an ODI leggie, you have to be straight and tight and that works in most conditions."

Until the series against Australia, Afridi's form had been uncertain, especially poor with the bat, over the last year. In 18 matches before the series, his highest score was 28. His bowling, though considerably improved, lacked wicket-taking penetration; in 11 ODIs against established teams last year, he picked up nine wickets.

Pressure was building for his place in the side to be scrutinized. "I don't take or give pressure, no matter what anyone is saying about me. I knew I was backed by the coach, the captain and the team and that is all I needed."

But the form dip did spur him on to a more concentrated fitness and training regime. "It's come about through a lot of individual effort. I've worked really hard on my fitness levels. I used to be tired after bowling six to seven overs previously and then struggle. I've also concentrated in the nets on my lines and lengths because for a legspinner this is vital, especially in ODIs. Abdul Qadir [the chief selector] has helped with tips, though it is easy to listen and harder to actually execute."

Significantly, there were indicators of a revival in his batting fortunes. Though there was still no fifty, a couple of unusually responsible, properly constructed 40s stood out. The fight to curb his instincts, Afridi said, goes on. "I have really fought with myself in the ground, talked to myself a lot during my batting. I've had to control myself because I need to score runs for the team - that is the priority. I want to continue it in England, where I've had some success batting in county games. You need to counter the initial overs there but after that, conditions for lower-order guys like myself, are pretty good."

READ MORE >
, |
free counters