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Is fast-bowling a fading art?
Ever since I started following the game of cricket, the aspect that has fascinated me the most is the sight of a genuinely quick paceman running down from his bowling mark to rattle a batsman. I still...
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Our team’s unpredictability is the opposition’s cruellest enemy!
By now, the Sachin Tendulkar farewell Test and retirement euphoria has, considerably, died down and the Pakistan cricket are currently being tested by the Lankan Lions, on their desert ‘home’ tour of...
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So what if Gul won the T20i Performance of the Year Award, we still need to...
There was a time when yorkers used to be the favoured delivery of every seam bowler, especially in those matches that had limited overs. This was usually played when the opposing team was looking for...
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Underdog alert: Let Sarfraz Ahmed play, PCB!
He bats like Saeed Ajmal and keeps like Kamran Akmal. He is simply a quota player. No one knows why selectors are so kind to Sarfraz Ahmed. These are some of the many comments which have been posed...
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Asia Cup 2014: 12 years of Pakistan and India mêlée, who will win tomorrow?
They don’t come bigger than this. No. When you talk of sporting rivalries what comes to mind? Australia Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks in rugby? Ashes? Brazil and Argentina in football? None of...
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Pakistani sports channels and death by advertising
As I write this, Umar Gul has just bowled out a Bangladeshi batsman. Gul screams in celebration, begins to jump with his fists in the air and then there’s Rameez Raja with a cup of tea in his hand....
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PCB selection committee: Out with the old, in with the ‘not-so-old’
Most people will agree that Pakistan cricket has produced countless greats over the past 60 years; from Hanif Muhammad to Shahid Afridi (or Younis Khan, for those who will argue on Afridi), our history...
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A trip down memory lane with, Morven Gold, Dentonic and Naz Pan Masala
Before Cable TV made it big, there was a time when households in the country only had access to one local channel – that channel being PTV. This changed in 1988 with the launch of PTN (People’s...
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Can Saeed Ajmal break the ‘curse’ of being the best bowler of Pakistan?
Over the course of several decades, one constant factor in Pakistan cricket has been the quality bowlers it has produced. From masters of reverse swing to the fastest bowler in the world, and from...
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Umar Akmal: From child prodigy to cricketing enigma
Umar Akmal came onto the international cricket scene when the national team was surrounded by catastrophe. Rebellions, groupings, match-fixing and a loathsome competition for captaincy were the...
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Defeating our demons
On January 6, 2010, I sat with my head in my hands as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Some brilliant (read: not) captaincy and some strange fielding – attributed largely to Mazher...
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Misbahul Haq for 2015 World Cup Captain!
November 3, 2011 was arguably the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket. Former Test captain Salman Butt, along with the sensational pace duo of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif had packed...
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This is for Hobart
The morning of November 22, 1999 was nippy and blustery, typical Karachi winter weather. I woke up early with an air of expectation. Christmas was coming early this year and Eid was going to follow....
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Why is Pakistan a pariah at the Lord’s Cricket Ground?
Being out of place is a funny feeling – it’s nothing unbearable but it always keeps you outside your comfort zone. For an expat Pakistani, life in the UK is fraught with pangs of this feeling. This is...
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Through the eyes of a fanatic: Pakistan, the World Cup enigma
Cricket is a game for the fanatic. You don’t like the sport, you love it. You sacrifice sleep, plead for divine intervention, wield undying beliefs and hold faith that despite needing eight runs of the...
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Pakistan versus India: The ultimate World Cup jinx
On February 15, 2015, India and Pakistan will lock horns and kick-start their respective World Cup campaigns. India versus Pakistan is not, and never has been, an ordinary cricket match, it is much...
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Pakistan cricket’s comic side, explained in Pak-India matches
There are two ways of approaching an India-Pakistan cricket match being played in the World Cup. You can lose yourself in unbridled passion and get set up for either rapturous joy or deep gloom. Or you...
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I, for one, am not looking forward to the Pakistan versus India match
Many Indian cricket fans do not yearn for their team to win the World Cup title as much as they want their team to win against arch rivals, Pakistan. Since the dawn of partition, there has been a...
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As a Pakistani fan you will go through these 7 stages of grief
I have been following the Pakistan cricket team ever since I can remember. After the stinging loss against India in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final, I felt a personal duty to rectify the wrong. The...
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My interview with Misbahul Haq, Waqar Younis and Moin Khan
For the third time, I check my voice recorder to make sure the device is in operational order. Yes, it is fine. Of course it is fine. I wipe away my sweaty palms on the fabric of my jeans and allow...
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