Opinions on... Shahid Khan Afridi

Shahid Afridi is a joy to watch. Like Virendra Sehwag his game is untouched by modern coaching techniques. Both offer such tremendous value to their teams that often strategies are formed around the pure skills they offer. Both have evolved their skills, keeping a strong connection to their roots and culture.

Born, a Pathan, in a tribal areas near Afghanistan, where the word of the Afridis was the law, Shahid Afridi considers gun toting 12 year olds as "part of the culture". Shooting a gun is a "normal thing" to him and he often goes to a shooting range near the Afghanistan border to fire M16s.


Not known to put any amounts of thought in his decisions and actions, he himself has no clue what he would do next. When asked about his approach to batting, he once said that he always aims to play out 3-5 overs before going for his shots. There is no evidence that he has actually ever done that. What he plans and what he executes are completely distinct things. However he is quick to admit that even if he plans to play out the initial overs, if he does see a hittable ball, first up, he naturally finds himself going after it. So much for having a plan.

Shahid Afridi

True to his character, he announced his decision to quit test cricket and then realized he had done a foolish thing. He was back in a fortnight. Its a pity he has not played many Test matches, because talents like him can truly flourish in the free formats of Test cricket. Limited overs cricket is too restrictive for men like Shahid Afridi and Virendra Sehwag.

Like Sehwag he can turn a test match with a few moments of Afridi-style madness. In a Test match in India, that was going nowhere after the sides had scored more than a thousand runs in the first innings, he scored a 26 ball 50 in the second innings and then returned the next day to claim VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, to consign India to a shock defeat. India's batting might was unable to secure a series clinching draw in the face of Afridi's onslaught.

Pakistan never really put their faith in him as a Test player but they backed him to lead them in the 2011 World Cup over his exact opposite in terms of style and temperament, Misbah-Ul-Haq. The decision that seemed ill advised at that point, proved quite the opposite.

Shahid Afridi led Pakistan admirably and honorably. En route to the World Cup semi-finals they lost only one game and as was with the semi-finals the reason was the same. Dropped catches. For Shahid Afridi and Pakistan this will be one World Cup miss that will hurt for a long time.

Right through the World Cup, Shahid Afridi was refreshing as a leader, always smiling in front of his opponents while constantly cajoling his players. His trademark X man stance on taking wickets and catches is going to be an enduring image of this World Cup. Had Pakistan won it all; and they sure came close to do that; it would have remained in public memory like Johnty's run out of Inzamam-Ul-Haq.

Even through the high tension game against India, Afridi never seemed to forget that it was after all, just a game of cricket. He was cordial with everyone on the Indian team and did his part to ensure that emotionally charged sentiments from the outside, did not spill over on the field by engaging in more than one ways with his Indian opponents.

Whether it was a pat on the back to Sachin for surviving a catch a glance and a knowing smile at Zaheer while batting, offering his greetings after an Indian win, Shahid Afridi finally made me understand why he is most beloved in his country.

See also...

1. Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar
2. Portraits: Shahid Khan Afridi
3. It's Dhoni's turn

Catches win matches

At some point you have to stop feeling sorry for Pakistan. Like South Africa who always choke whenever they are on the verge of greatness, Pakistan never give themselves a chance just when you expect something reasonably rational from them.


After India, if there is a team that I can't resist watching, its Pakistan. When the West Indies were at their peak I was incapable of appreciating the cricket they played. With Pakistan, the connection was instant. Their cricket is all heart, unfinished, un-coached in a western sense and un-apologetically individualistic. They defy all conventional wisdom and embrace homegrown insight, without getting preachy about it. Their ways to victory have always been distinct from the rest and their approach to the crafts of batting and bowling is most traditional. Steady batting and wicket taking bowlers.

For a while now they had been good enough to cover for their only weakness; fielding. Pakistan have never been a great fielding side. They never had to. Sprawling on the ground to save a few dozen runs is beneath their style of cricket. Prevention has been their preferred choice. Why put your fielders in a position to dive, when you can just get the bloody batsman out. For Pakistan, this style has worked well for decades but yesterday at Mohali, their catching cost them a place in the world cup final against a team they beat comfortably in the league phases.

The game was more one-sided than the 29 run margin suggests and the blame for that should go to the dropped catches.

To me when India lost 9/29 against South Africa, it highlighted how good a team India are to take a game to the final over in spite of the monumental collapse. Pakistan dropped 4 Sachin Tendulkar catches. It highlights how good their bowling is. Good enough to have Sachin Tendulkar 85 / 4

While batting, Misbah played the kind of an innings Javed Miandad would whole heartedly endorse. Problem was he did not have any believers in his approach. All Pakistan needed to do to make a match of the semi finals was to hold on to their catches and bat around Misbah. Instead they gave Sachin 4 lives, viewed Misbah's innings as a liability and completely lost the plot and the World Cup

Crude Oil and Gasoline

Crude oil and gasoline are both combustible, highly inflammable and can devour anything when raging into a full blown fire. But both have completely different characteristics.

Pakistan and India's cricket teams are like that. Pakistan is like crude oil, earthy, raw and needing a refinery. India, on the other hand, are refined under John Wright and Gary Kirsten, methodical and in full bloom.

But both teams on their day have the same impact. They annihilate the opposition.


This Pakistan team is perhaps the worst of the ones that India has encountered in a World Cup. This is probably the first match-up where India will not be "upsetting" Pakistan if they won. From 1992 to 2003, with Wasim, Waqar, Anwar and Inzy in their ranks, Pakistan were one of the elite teams. However, in each of these encounters, India got past them, despite being the undeserving one. Except perhaps in 2003, where Tendulkar was simply unstoppable.

2011 brings about a first where India outranks Pakistan in the star stakes. With Sehwag, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Zaheer and Harbhajan, India are formidable on paper. Throw Gambhir, Kohli, Ashwin and Pathan in there and one has a frenetic line up, likely to bash the opposition into submission.

Pakistan, however, boast a very, very formidable bowling attack. The key question for them is going to be whether Hafeez has the ability to contain India. Gul and Afridi lead the bowling and Misbah is leading the batting. But that's three against Tendulkar, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj and Zaheer.

A wipeout? India have a clear edge. Pakistan is putting pressure on themselves by bringing their prime minister to watch.

It's going to be India with Sehwag and Kohli leading the way.

Portraits: Shahid Khan Afridi

Should I play Shoaib Akhtar?

See Also

• Opinions On Shahid Afridi
• Portraits @ Opinions

India to concede '92 and '99 wins to Pakistan

There is no such thing as the 'Law of Averages'. I first heard this term during the 1987 World Cup, when after a streak of Indian wins, Ajit Wadekar in a television interview, suggested that India are due for a loss as indicated by his mastery over the 'Law of Averages'. 

Now, I am no mathematician but there is wikipedia.

The 'Law of Averages' is a layman term for what really is a 'Law of large numbers'. Roughly what it is, is that if you toss a coin (as an example) for a large number of times, the number of times it lands on "heads" will start going towards its probability. Which is 50%. It means that if the number of times Mahendra Singh Dhoni captains India approaches infinity, he will likely have won 50% of the tosses. Every thing 'large' in mathematics is conveniently abstracted as 'infinity'. Many Indian cricket followers don't think that's likely (Dhoni winning 50% of his tosses) and hence don't believe in the 'Law of large numbers'. 

For them, including many influential people in the BCCI, the 'Law of Averages' is easier to comprehend and thus they believe its the truth.

Needless to say, Indians's are very worried about their 4 game winning streak; 6 if you consider T20; against Pakistan in World Cup games. The BCCI has convinced themselves that as per 'the law' they so believe in, India will lose their semi-finals against Pakistan.

So, in an unprecedented move, the BCCI has approached the ICC and MCC with a radical proposal. The proposal is as follows...

India are conceding the 1992 and 1999 world cup games, that they had won against Pakistan. 

The rational is simple, the BCCI explained. Those 2 wins were inconsequential in the whole scheme of things. The 1996 win, allowed India to contest the semi-finals and the 2003 win knocked Pakistan out of the Super Sixes round. So we want to hold on to those wins

We felt that the 'Law of averages' works in our favor going in to Wednesday's semi-finals at 2 games apiece. Also given that we have lost 2 semi-finals as a host nation. we believe the 2 trends will guarantee an Indian win.

Also, the BCCI added, we as a nation, have already rejoiced the 92 and 99 wins. People can't be unhappy over an event they were once ecstatic over.

When you are the BCCI, you can believe what you want and do what you please. We are still waiting to hear from ICC, if the proposal will be accepted

Portraits: Yuvraj Singh

That India needed Yuvraj Singh to fire to come anywhere near the World Cup was the pre-tournament wisdom. That in spite of Sachin and Zaheer on top of their games; it is Yuvraj who is the most valuable player on the team; is a bit baffling.

It tells a story. Yuvraj Singh is truly an ODI great. This is the good part of the story. The bad part; is that everyone else pretty much are passengers on the train en route to get Sachin a World Cup

See Also

• Opinions on Yuvraj Singh
• Portraits @ Opinions

England Match Report #5: Sri Lanka (Ashes devalued)

In these uncertain economic times. there is bad news for cricket. The ongoing ICC Cricket world Cup may guarantee a blockbuster closing but Test cricket's marquee event "The Ashes" has lost 75% of its valuation over the last few weeks. This according to the "American Institute for Valuations of all things Sports"  (AIVS)

Valued at well over $500 Million of today's dollars just before World War II, its valuation according  to AIVS Chief Valuator, Guesty Mate, peaked to about a $750 million dollars; also in today's dollars; in the 1950s. Its valuation has declined steadily since but what we are seeing now is an unprecedented acceleration in its devaluation.

After England, Australia and South Africa were all eliminated in the quarter finals, The value of the Ashes has hit an all time low. South Africa do not play the Ashes... technically... but their fortunes, recently have been linked to the value of the Ashes.

The MCC have always kept their distance from any organization that tries to put a monetary value on cricket's traditional trophy, claiming that the Ashes series is not for sale. Taking a dig at the IPL, the MCC President had said a few weeks back, that "unlike the IPL the Ashes is not about money"

Explaining the valuation model, Mr. Maite explained that it is common knowledge that the Ashes are not for sale but the value is an estimate of the probable bid the Ashes might receive if a private investor; lets just say Larry Ellison; were interested in buying the event.

When asked to comment on the ridiculously low valuation, Mr Maite offered a range of possible reasons. The Ashes thrives on exclusivity and adequate spacing between 2 series'; he explained. Potential investors are not taking the decision to host back to back Ashes as a positive. Neither Australia nor England are the top teams in either Test or ODI cricket and the market places no premium on T20 titles because they tend to change hands on a monthly basis. Investors are also predicting a slump in demand for the Ashes in Australia.

On the significance of 3rd party revenue generated from countries outside of Australia and England; traditionally there has been only a moderate demand for the Ashes in the Indian market but that was when both England and Australia were considered benchmark teams. Investors don't believe Indians will tune in to watch either Australia; who won only a single game against strong opposition; or England; who were completely spent by the time the quarter-finals arrived.

Then in uncharacteristic fashion Mr. Maite burst out; I mean f..k, what value does the Ashes have, when the holder falls a 100 runs and 10 wickets short of making a WC quarter final a contest? I say the $7.99 valuation we came up with is too darn generous.

Fake match reports from Real and sometimes made-up celebrities

• Opinions Match Reports