Pakistan, Welcome to Hyderabad

Dear Mr Choudry

Thank you for writing the article regarding my native city. I will truely stand with the words 'Pakistan, welcome to hyderabad'. The city is forgotten by authorities as long as sports are concerned. last time i went to the stadium was way back in 2002 probably, when South African under 19 was visiting Pakistan, and this stadium wasnt looking welcoming at all to visitors and hosts equally. later this stadium became shadi ground and what not. Hope PCB shall constantly take care of stadium and sports fans in the city.

cheers

Dear Akber

First I would like Thank for your reply which I never anticipated. Let me clarify things one by one.
About the LTTE, the LTTE has issued an apologized for the killing of our late Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE in its press conference have said that they will never target any sportspersons. Yet the South Africans cancelled the tour. I do have the official speech delivered by the LTTE spokesperson. U cannot expect the same thing from Al-Qaeda and the religious mullahs/fanatics. Actually speaking foreigners are vulnerable to riots, insurgency and bomb blasts.They avoid those areas. When Punjab was boiling with the Khalistan, forget cricket, even Indian were afraid to venture in Punjab. When insurgency broke in Kashmir, tourism was reduced quite substantially. Winter sports were cancelled in Gulmarg. In the 1989 when foreign tourists were kidnapped and beheaded by the Pakistani backed militants Hizbul Mujahidden and Lakshar Toeba, many forigen countries had issued a warning to their citizens to refrain from visiting Kashmir. You can expect cricket and other sports (indoor and outdoor) to be played in Karachi when things are normal, not when there are bomb blasts in every nook and corner of Pakistan. Your own former Prime Minister Benair Bhutto was assisnated last December despite the top class security. In the first week of January 26 policemen were targetted by a suicide bomber.

Regards

iqbal

Yes, and India too were very brave when they did not pull out of the triangular series in Sri Lanka due to the bomb blast in Colombo. South Africa left immediately. The bomb was attributed to the same Tamil Tigers who successfully used a suicide bomber in India against a campaigning former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

The 2002 Sheraton hotel attack was in the aftermath of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan - an when security had not adjusted to the post-9/11 world. Nowadays, hotels and convention and sport venues receive good security.

In addition, I doubt any group's intention to deliberately target cricketers, given the love of cricket in the masses, but you never know.

Unfortunately, as long as Pakistan is the transit passage for US and other forces at war in Afghanistan, foreigners will be targeted, but cricket should be safe as terrorists rely on public sympathy a lot.

Generally, the chance of dying in a traffic accident is still hundreds of thousands times more than dying in a terrorist attack. About 600 people have been killed in India since 2001 due to terrorist activity, and approximately the same number during the Khalistan movement - and if you count the Air India bombing by Sikh separatists, even more. Divide that by the Indian population, and you get the picture.

I don't know what you meant by 'mughal king' in parantheses. Are you referring to my namesake who presided over the golden period of Indian history?

In my humble opinion, what suicide bombers do is 'horrible', not 'silly'. According to research by Professor Pape, 'The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide-terrorist campaign-over 95 percent of all the incidents-has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw.' [http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/terrorwar/analysis/2005/0718suicide.htm]

“Pakistan, welcome to Hyderabad” was the sign held up by a bevy of schoolgirls, still in uniform, who had come to see the one-day international match being played in Niaz Stadium.”

Dear akber (Mughal King)
The school girls should first welcome the visiting team Zimabawe for taking biggest risk of playing cricket in Pakistan. After the French Karachi blasts, the French Embassy was closed for one full year. The New Zealand team who were staying in the hotel close to the French Embassy had a close shave with death. Pakistan continues to one of the most unsafe places in the 21st century. I am not sure whether the cricket players of the visiting team will go in one piece after visiting Pakistan. It just takes one suicide bomber to do something silly.

Regards

Iqbal Singh (Amritsar-Indian Punjab)

Sigh, I watched that match (and much of the 1982 series) live as a ten year old. What a licking our team got!!!

Those Paki cricketers they were the real stuff, when they were playing India it was like fighting a jihad for them you cud see the gleam in their eyes, the fight in their heart. Even ordinary crickteres were transformed into fearless ghazis on the field. Not unlike the current bunch of sissies, often far more talented and longer beards but not the same steel in their heart.

The Good Lord does not make men like that any more not in Pak at least.

Regards

nice article akber ..

I like your way of writing.

i hope we read more from you in future

meenug,

I agree that Afridi's batting form has not been what it was, but maybe his fans' expectations are too much

His record over the last 15 one-days (compared with all):
Mat Runs Bat Av Wkts Bowl Av
251 5284 23.48 215 35.81
15 310 28.18 17 35.76

[source:http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/42639.html?class= 2;spanmax2=25+Jan+2008;spanmin2=8+Feb+2007;spanval2=span;template=results;type=a llround;view=cumulative]

Also, a quick look at his rankings (ultimate evaluation):

ODI all-rounder: #8, only Pakistani in top 10
ODI bowler: #22, top Pakistani, tied with Anjum and Bhaji, ahead of Shoaib Akhtar, Asif and all Pak bowlers
ODI batsman: #56, just behind Salman Butt - definitely needs to be above this.

And this is interesting: in tests, his batting ranking is ahead of Shoaib Malik (the captain) and Salman butt (v. captain), and the captain dropped him from tests in India.

In test bowling, he is #6 pakistani, but ahead of Shoaib Malik.

In addition, his sheer presence on the field, crowd-pleasing play, and aggression in batting, bowling and fielding, adds several more notches to his regular stats.

No wonder Pakistanis love him, especially in ODIs.

[Back to the match. The crowd wanted Boom Boom Afridi with adoring signs held by innocent children for whom he is a hero.]

Basking in the past glory?...the guy is zero as of now if u check is last 15 matches average.
His pakistan carreer is over, only India is going to help him by getting him few bucks.