Amazing Razzler stuns proteas!

Ah Razzaq, he was due a long time, having not scored a fifty for 4 years and tonight he went berserk on South Africa. Abdul Razzaq produced an inning that he and everyone else will remember for a long time, as he single handedly blasted Pakistan to a sensational win by scoring an unbeaten 109 from just 72 balls that included 10 sixes . Pakistan chasing 287 were always not the favorite, until Razzaq took over. Out of Razzaq's 72 balls he faced, he played 35 dot balls. Nearly half, yet he finished the game in Pakistan's favor.

Cricket equipment: Tips

As a cricket player you know the importance of having the right cricket gear for yourself. You always want something that's the right for you. You don't want a bat that too heavy for you, you don't want pads that are too big for you and you don't want a helmet that doesn't offer you good protection. Bottom line is, you always want the gear that suits you best and in which you feel comfortable. Here is a video from Clover-dale masterclass cricket and these guys have some good advice to offer when it comes to cricket gear. Check it out!

Cricket equipment that I own

If you are someone who plays cricket for at club level or even just for fun, you probably some of your own cricket equipment such as gloves, bat etc etc. In this post I will share with you guys some of the cricket equipment that I own.

Power-play dreamer batting gloves: Now I got these gloves last year, they are a value of $50 and they are a very good pair of gloves. They are thick and offer good protection and they also have a nice design.

CA Somo pads: These pads are actually pretty old but they are still very usable. They are pretty light weight and I like them :P

SG Aero TUFF Helmet: Now I actually bought this online, from cricketstoreonline, and I am very satisfied with this helmet, it's pretty light weight, offers you good visibility, has a good grill, solid construction and lastly it has that adjustable strap so I can adjust it to my preference. Cost me $30. Here is the link to where I found it: http://www.cricketstoreonline.com/products/SG-AERO-TUFF-Navy-HELMET.html

Now unfortunately I don't have a cricket bat yet, but I will be getting one soon. I will make a post about that too once I get it.

What cricket equipment do you own? Share it with me in the comments!

Shoaib Akhtar Interview About Boots and Fast Bowling

Shoaib Akhtar, for years and years he terrorized batsmen with his extreme pace and aggressive approach. Young guys even today try to copy his action, his run up and even his hair style. I found this video on youtube, that shows Shoaib Akhtar giving an interview with Dean Jones and he is talking about the shoes that he wears and a little about fast bowling. Check it out!

Pak vs SA 1st ODI tomorrow: Will Pak batsmen step up their game?

The ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa will face each other in the 1st ODI tomorrow. Needless to say I am very disappointed with the performance of the Pakistani batsmen in the 2020 series. Therefore the big question is will they step up their game?

SA are without a doubt the favorite coming into tomorrow's game. They have a streak of 9 ODI wins coming into this series. Pakistan however have had a very bad ODI record so far this year. They lost 5-0 to Australia, then lost to India and Srilanka in the Asia cup and won from Bangladesh. Then they lost the ODI series against England 3-2.

Lets see how Pakistan will fare tomorrow. Good luck to both teams!

MRF-Wizard: A bat that will last a long long time

There is this bat that one of my friends uses called the MRF-Wizard, this bat actually has the same profile as the bat which Brain Lara, the great West Indian batsman used. Now the cool thing about this bat is that if you want a bat that will last you a long time, then no doubt the MRF-Wizard is the way to go. This bat has only 6 grains which means it will require lots and lots of knocking but it also means that it won't break that easily and should last you a few years.

Here is what one of the respectable cricket gear sites called http://www.cricketstoreonline.com says about this bat:

The Wizard carries the same traditional profile as Lara's blade, with excellent balance, pickup and power. High spine, contoured edges with a low sweet spot. Weight range from 2.8oz to 2.13oz. Complete with MRF holograms and MRF embossed grip. Grade 1 willow.
Made from the finest English willow, the Wizard has a minimum of 6 straight grains.

Solution to Pakistan's batting woes!

As a Pakistani fan it has really been frustrating for me to see Pakistan's batting fail over and over again. I mean the bowling has been amazing but the batting has been really disappointing, take it in, how many times alone this year have we seen Pakistan's batting lineup collapse? Sometimes even in small chases. It's just really disappointing.
Well I have something to share, that I think is the solution to Pakistan batting woes and that is to get a better batting coach. Not just any coach but someone who has loads of experience with batting. The reason is that, if you look at Pakistan's batting lineup these days most of the players are youngsters, they are new in team and they need someone to guide them and make them a better at batting. It's not that they don't have talent, in fact they have a tremendous amount of talent in them. Take a look at Umar Akmal for example, he is such a talent but again he is young and needs someone to guide him. Same thing goes for all the other batsmen.
Bottom line I think they need a new batting coach, someone like Inzamam would be a good option. What do you guys think?

Pakistan lose the 1st T20 :(

Poor batting yet again cost Pakistan the 1st T20 against South Africa in Dubai. I don't understand why the Pakistani batsmen try to play such brainless strokes. The start off so well but their batsmen get out try to play shots that are just unnecessary e.g today Imran Farhat go out trying to play a totally needless shot, similarily Afridi who was doing great and raced to 25 from 7 balls. Having hit 2 sixes he tried to hit another one but mistimed it.

I hope Pakistani batsmen soon realize that they don't need to hit every ball outside of the park and need to realize and adopt with the situation that their team is in.

Best opening combination for Pakistan

Openers, good openers are an extremely vital part of any team's batting lineup. If openers can provide their with a good start at a good pace, it really helps the rest of the top order and the middle order and takes pressure away from them. Trouble is it's not very easy to find a good opening combination. Such is the case with Pakistan, in the last few years they've tried quite a few combinations, Salman Butt and Imran Farhat in tests. Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed in ODIs and a lot of the same ones have been tried for multiple formats but it just hasn't worked out very good. I mean don't get me wrong, sometimes their openers have had some very good partnerships but when you compare the performance of the Pakistani openers to Australian openers or team India openers, their performance is far better than the Pakistani openers.

Seeing the fact that this has now been a problem for a few years, I decided to make this post and share with you guys the players who I see as good long term contenders for the openers job.

The contenders:

Salman Butt: A classy left handed opener with subtle wrists that make him like the classy Saeed Anwar. He cover drives are just glorious to watch and he score runs at different paces in different situation. That makes suitable for all formats. He came into the team and was handed the opening job from day 1 and has impressed overall.

Kamran Akmal: Karmran Akmal is a wicket keeper batsman whose explosive nature can turn the tide on any opposition, making him perfect for opening in Twenty20 and ODIs. There is very doubt about the quality of his batting, the purity in his drives and the strength that he displays with his cuts and pulls has a very strong feel to it.

Imran Nazir: Another one of those explosive batsmen produced by Pakistan. He has been in and out of the side but really this guy is the ideal player you would want as an opener for Twenty20 and ODI's because he can make the most of the powerplay and can put bowlers under pressure right from the start.


That's it, now I know some of you will be surprised that why do I think that there are only 3 contenders when there are a lot of other openers such as Shahzaib Hasan, Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Mohammed Hafeez etc etc. Well the answers is simple, Shahzaib and Nasir haven't really played that much cricket for Pakistan yet so lets see how they perform in the future as for guys like Farhat and Hafeez, yes, he has played quite a few matches for Pakistan as an opener he hasn't had much success like the above 3 contenders and they still has quiet a few areas to improve on. Hafeez in particular has been very disappointing and he actually averages better as a bowler than as a batsman. Moreover he scores runs at a slow pace and I he is just not the right guy to be given the job of opening. He will be better off at #6 (imho).

Anyway, that's about it for this post. See you next time :)

Raza Hasan: Future spin prospect of Pakistan

Spinners have always been an important part of the bowling line up for every cricket team. Now a days its a must have for every team. A spinner that knows what the heck he's doing is vital. They try to confuse batsmen with their variation and make him do a mistake. Spinner play a vital role in winning games and getting timely breakthroughs.

Pakistan cricket team has been blessed with quite a few legendary spinners in the past such as Abdul Qadir, the guy who revolutionized the googly, Mushtaq Ahmed who is currently the spin bowling coach for England and Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the doosra.

Another emerging player from the spin factory of Pakistan who might be the next spin prospect of Pakistan is the left arm leg-spinner Raza Hasan. Born in Sialkot city of Pakistan, Raza Hasan is an 18 year left arm orthodox spinner. He is very young but he is as clever as a fox, this guy knows what he is doing. He made his First-class debut for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and impressed by taking 3 wickets for 24 runs and helped bowl his side to an innings victory. He also impressed against the Zimbabwe U-19 team by taking 9 wickets in the series. This also earned him a call-up for the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Currently Hasan has played 2 First-class matches , 9 List A matches and has also 5 Twenty20 matches in the domestic circuit. His stats are impressive in every level. Below is the summary of his stats in First-class, List A and Twenty20.

	Matches	Wickets	BBI	Average	Economy	Strike rate
First-class	2	8	3 for 24	16.12	2.73	35.3
List A	9	17	3 for 13	19.05	4.04	28.2
Twenty20	5	6	2 for 27	25.33	7.6	20

For a bowler his age these stats are impressive, now its true that he probably won't get an international call up anytime soon and I think that's good for him since he still doesn't have much experience in the domestic circuit and if you through him right into competitive cricket he is not going to do so well (we've already seen that with Mohammad Irfan). However he definitely looks like one for the future. He is still very young only 18 and he has a lot of people to seek advice from such as Saqlain, Saeed Ajmal (the current spinner in Pakistan team).

Interview with Imran Gulzar

You guys know that I am a huge cricket fan, cricket fan who supports Pakistan cricket team. Today I have an interview with a man who just like me is also a cricket fan, perhaps an even bigger fan than me and he also supports Pakistan cricket team (PCT), to such an extent that he is an extremely active admin in the Pakistan cricket team facebook fan page which is the largest unofficial page of Pakistan cricket team with more than 50,000 fans and the 2nd largest overall. His name is Imran Gulzar. Now lets get to the interview.

Can you introduce yourself please?

A natural cricketer and cricket expert,who's opinions and thinking about the game works more often,He has some knowledge about Pakistan cricket for both domestic and international levels and always likes to share it with the true fans of Pakistan Cricket Team.

Where does your love for the game come from? Does everyone in your family feel the same way about the game or are they more of "Study Study Study" type?

None of my family members are that much passionate about the game it's only me who feels cricket is a part of my life.But they never objected me at the same time.

Do you currently play in any cricket clubs?

I use to go for net practice some times, but due to tight schedule of work, I am unable to play it regularly but I am planning to be regular,as it would help me stay more in touch as well.

Lefty or Righty?

Right arm med bowler and R/H middle order batsman

Who is your favorite batsman/bowler? It Can be either in the Pakistan team or another team.

Sachin/Mcgrath, and Kallis/Imran Khan as Allrounders

Can you tell us what was the most incredible thing that you've done in cricket i-e any innings, spells, shots etc etc that you can't forget?

There are many so can't single out any 1, I got a good consistent history

What was your favorite "Pakistan cricket team FTW" moment?

1999

Can you please tell us what lead to create the "Pakistan cricket team" page on facebook?

Loss of Sydney test, where our team was needing our support badly but no one was there for them, so i took that initiative.

Were your surprised at how well it went? Like were you surprised when you saw that all of a sudden you are getting thousands and thousands of fans?

Not really as we got the best possible team of admins, all got much knowledge about PCT.And our content is key of our success as we got the best possible posts, & I was expecting this sort of response, In coming January our page will complete it's one year and I bet we would have much more than 100k fans then.

How do you manage all this? I mean keeping such a large audience constantly updated is a challenging job. Is there anyone else that helps with it?

When ever I got time on PC(office/home) and when there is no PC, I use mobile to keep my page active.

Any future plans that you would like to share?

Yes we made fans page on twitter, made a group of PCT which is also 1 of the largest of PCT with over 5k fans and will be largest soon,and soon we are going to launch our website as well, with a wonder team of writers.

Are there any websites that you would like to promote?

No never, PCT is a self made page. PCT made many pages at the same time but never got help from others. We had to deal one time with a page to promote each other a few days ago but after some time we canceled as we don't need such things.There are 1000 like coming daily what more you need for your page, I think it's enough so no need to promote.

That's all folks, I would like to thanks Mr.Imran Gulzar for his time, I really appreciate it. You guys can check out PCT's facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/PCT.FB and become a fan ;) and you can also visit Imran's personal blog at http://imrangulzar.blog.com/.

Younis Khan could make a 2020 comeback?

If you have been reading my blog, you might read read the post about Younis Khan having finally solved his problem with the PCB and is now back in the ODI squad and the test squad as well (most likely). Well I went to check the cricket news this morning and saw that Younis might be coming to 2020 cricket as well. Now i read that and i thought "hmmm, i don't think that's a good idea". Younis retired from 2020 cricket in 2008 after leading Pakistan to the 2020 worldcup victory. Now i don't think it is a good idea because 2020 requires player that are hard hitters of the ball, players who can just go out and hit with needing much time to settle in, whereas Younis Khan is the type of players who needs some time to settle in to make a big score and that's he is perfect for Test and ODI's as well. However 2020 is a very short format and is all about making runs in quick time, so i don't think it's a good idea for Younis to comeback to 2020. What do you guys think?

MB Malik Bubber Sher

I know quite a few people who are fans of the Bubber Sher bat by MB, its a bat that has some serious edges and is perfect for 2020 cricket. Take a look at the video review and find out for yourself.

What's your favorite bat manufacturer?

Cricket bat, these days there a number of different manufacturers that make bats. I have to favorite ones, Gunn and Moore (GM) and Grey Nicolls (GN), Why? Well I am the type of person who prefers bats that have a wide blade and GM and GN are the two companies that are famous for making bats with wider blades.

Anyway, what's your favorite Cricket bat manufacturer, do share it with me in the comments.

Younis and PCB resolve issue

You guys won't know how happy i was this morning when i went to the cricket news and saw that Younis Khan, the former Pakistan captain and PCB have finally resolved their issue. Younis Khan had been on the sidelines for 10 months due to some issue between him and the PCB. However he is finally back and has been included in the ODI squad for Pakistan's series against South Africa. This is great, finally the PCB did something good for the Pakistan team and their fans. Younis Khan is a very experienced player and has a very handsome average with the bat in both ODI's and Tests and it will definitely be great for Pakistan to have his services in their upcoming series.

The Ashes: Who are you supporting?

The 2010 Ashes series between England and Australia is only a little over a month away. It will be England who will be defending the urn, this time on enemy territory. The English will remember what happened the last they came to Australia, they received a 5-0 trashing in the ashes back in 2006-07. However England have come a long long way since then. They have had a very impressive summer and their squad this time looks far better then they've ever had.

Personally i will be supporting England because they are a far better unit they ever were and based on their recent performances both with the bat and the ball I feel that they deserve it more than the Aussie (they haven't had the best of the summer). However, i want to know who you guys will be supporting in the Ashes this time. Do share it with me in the comments.

Historic moment for Bangladesh cricket

Bangladesh, has always been considered a weak cricket team, although their performance in the past year or two has increased a lot. However this is special, Bangladesh have completed their 1st ever series whitewash against top oppositions by beating NewZealand 4-0 in the 5 ODI series (the other game was washed out). I would like to congratulate them as this really a wonderful moment for Bangladesh cricket and their fans.

Pakistan cricket team selection: A JOKE!

Ever since Ijaz Butt got appointed as Pakistan cricket board's (PCB) chairman, Pakistan cricket team selection is now based on politics rather than the performance of the players. It has become a game of bribery. Rather than looking at how players are doing in the domestic circuit and using that to determine which players to pick for what format, the squad gets picked way before that domestic season even starts.

Recently Pakistan cricket team's squad for was picked for their upcoming series against South Africa in Dubai and I looked at squad and i was like "what the hell is this?". 1st of all the squad with was picked without consulting that team captain, Shahid Afridi or the coach Waqar Younis, like What's up with that?

Moreover, they chose the wrong players for the different formats e.g Fawad Alam got picked in the T20 squad but was ignored for the test squad, there's no logic in this. Sohail Tanvir who has represented Pakistan in quite a few ODIs and has actually produced some very good performances got completely ignored??? Younis Khan, God knows what the PCB chairman has against him. He has been completely ignored consistently, that's ridiculous considering that fact that he is the former captain, one of the senior players with plenty of experience.

However that's not it, the worst part was the return of Mishab-ul-Haq as a captain of the test squad, yep that's right. Only in a country like Pakistan would a player struggling with his form (batting in his case) and has been out of the team for a long time return as a captain. I mean that's ridiculous this guy was almost announcing his retirement a couple of months ago and you are going to bring him back not just as a player but as a captain??? Where is the logic in that?

Surely we can see the flaws in the selection of Pakistan cricket, this needs to be sorted out quickly. We need to remove Ijaz Butt as the chairman of PCB because this is not a leader and if he stays he will finish Pakistan cricket.

Eoin Morgan: My favorite batsman (right now)

Most cricket fans today will have a batsman that they like to watch the most aka they favorite batsman. I am no exception, though admittedly my favorite batsman tends to change from time to time. However, currently my favorite batsman is Eoin Morgan. Let me tell your a little bit about him. He is an Irish born cricketer who plays for England. He used to play for his native country Ireland but he switched to England.

The reason i like Morgan is because he has an amazing technique, it's just really cool to watch. Another thing about him is that he is gifted with a calm head. No matter how much in danger his team is, he stays calm and doesn't really succumb to the pressure or play stupendous shots like a lot of players would do in pressured circumstances.

Another thing i love about him is his trademark reverse, it's just a really cool shot to play/watch. It would give any batsman a special thrill if he were to play that shot. Let me show you a video of Eoin Morgan playing his trademark reverse sweep.

See how impressive that was ;). Eoin Morgan uses Kookburra bat (in case you are wondering).

Crazy drives (MAD SKILLS!!!!)

I was going through some cricket videos on youtube and came across a video of Jason (the guy who owns cricket store online) batting in the nets and my word, this guy can play. Below is a video where he shows his batting skills. Just watch his drives guys. I wish i could do that.

Want to buy the Mongoose bat?

Hey guys, i have a very exciting news for you today!

You probably know the Mongoose cricket bat by now, its a bat with a much longer handle than the normal bat would and it is designed for power hitters. Well if you want to get a your hands on one of them, cricket store online finally has them and its selling for $259. Click on the link below to check it out:
http://www.cricketstoreonline.com/products/Mongoose-MMI3-Short-blade-cricket-bat.html.

They even have a gallery where you can see how the Mongoose looks like :)

Tendulkar's bat/helmet

There is no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar is probably the best that we've ever know in the game of cricket. Some people think that maybe Tendulkar's success is also has something to do with his bats specification and alot of people try to emulate Tendulkar by using the same equipment as him.
So are you someone who wants to use the same equipment as Sachin Tendulkar?

Well here is the Forma cricket helmet, this has been worn by Tendulkar. Isn't that amazing :)

Tendulkar uses Adidas bat and if you are interested in it well click the link to view Tendulkar's Adidas bat

Good bat for youngsters: GN XIPHOS DESTROYER

Are you looking for a good bat for your young ones?

Well i was just surfing the Internet and came across the Gray Nicolls Xiphos Destroyer bat. This is a Kashmir willow bat and it's intended at the youth who don't play any serious cricket and just want to start learning the basics of the game. It sells at $49 and comes in the following sizes: 3,4,5,6, Harrow, LB, SH and LH, so it's available for kids aged 4 to 14.

SG Aero TUFF Navy Helmet

The other day i was just exploring cricketstoreonline.com when i came across this helmet called the SG Aero TUFF Navy Helmet and was originally 41.99 but now it was selling only 30 dollars. It definitely grabbed my interest so i click on the link and the 1st thing i noticed the helmet was that it was available in medium and small sizes, perfect for me because my head is small and therefore i would want a small helmet. Another thing that i really liked about it is that it's grill is very nice and it's also available in blue,maroon and green colours. Like i said i really liked this helmet since it was so good for it's price and i went ahead and ordered it.
My point is that i you are someone who is looking for a cheap helmet that will give a good bang for your buck i will definitely recommend you the SG Aero TUFF Navy Helmet

Your ideal cricket kit

Hey guys, I just thought I'll make this fun small little post asking you guys about your dream cricket equipment and what i mean by that is, what will you ideal cricket kit.
That means what bat your would like to have, what pads, what gloves, what helmet and so on. Feel free to share links to tell us a little bit about your favorite bat, pads etc etc. Now as my ideal cricket kit, I'll tell you my favorite in the next post :)

The Mongoose MMi3 cricket bat

Cricket bats, they come in all shapes and sizes these days. One of the newest types of bat that was introduced to in the 2009 edition of the IPL was the Mongoose bat. Matthew Hayden was the 1st player to use it and right in his 1st innings with the Mongoose he plundered 91 runs from 37 balls.

Here are some specifications of this bat:

• Revolutionary design hits faster, harder, further
• The shot that got you four now gets you six
• Conforms to MCC Laws
• 20% more power than a conventional bat
• 15% more bat speed
• Sweet spot more than twice the size of a conventional bat
• Massive edges from shoulder to toe

You can see this bat really is a beast, what are your thoughts about this bat? Do share them with me in the comments.

Where to buy cricket equipment online

One of the question that people ask me is where can you buy cricket equipment online? Now there are a lot of places that you can go but the place that i have found the most useful is a site called http://www.cricketstoreonline.com/.

This is a site owned by a guy named Jason who lives in America. He sells all kinds or cricket equipment (bats, helmets, pads, gloves etc etc) from a variety of different manufacturers such as GM, Kookaburra, CA etc etc. The reason i like this site is because it is a very well organized website. Jason even provides reviews for a lot of the products he sells and best of all the shipping is very quick. So go ahead and give it a shot ;)