Pakistan cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq has held a meeting with the national team's  coach Dav Whatmore to plan for future training camps and introduction of new players.

KheloPakistan are proud to present an exclusive conversation with Shaan Masood. Shaan, is a Pakistan A player who has represented Pakistan at Under 15 and Under 19 level. Here he talks to us about his career thus far and his hopes for the future.

As part of the continual interviews we are conducting with the Under 19 cricketers ahead of the Under 19 Asia Cup & World Cup this summer Khelopakistan.com brings you an exclusive interview with Pakistan’s Under 19 leg spinning all-rounder Usman Qadir. Usman is the son of arguably Pakistan’s greatest test match spinner Abdul Qadir who inspired a whole generation of leg spinners & left a lasting legacy for all.

“Criticize me I wont mind but please don’t abuse my family.”

That was Wahab Riaz’s message on twitter after Pakistan lost against India in Asia Cup and Wahab gone for 50 runs in 4 overs without a wicket in that match. When abusing didn’t stop even after this tweet by him, he de-activated his twitter account to avoid such abusive behavior. Last year when Pakistan lost world cup semi final to India, a number of Pakistani fans were praising Wahab for his bowling performance of 5/46 in that semi final. A few weeks ago when Pakistan lost ODIs & T20s series against England hundreds of Pakistani fans were abusing captain Misbah. I myself received so many disgraceful texts about the Pak captain that I can’t repeat those here. When Pakistan whitewashed England in test series, most of such fans were showering praises on Misbah & team Pakistan, they were calling them their true heroes & lions. It has been the attitude of sub-continent cricket fans since long that one day they worship their cricket heroes and the other day they want to kill him. Even the legends like Wasim Akram & Sachin Tendulkar have faced such ‘SILLY CRITICISM’ by the angry fans. Cricket or any other sport is for fun and entertainment of the people and they should enjoy it instead of being aggressive by the result of the game. If we are true fans of the game then we should appreciate the good performer and encourage those who couldn’t perform well on a given day.

Such aggression isn’t shown only by fans but so many times cricketers behave in this way as well. Virat Kohli, one of the most talented batsmen of this era, is often found using foul gestures while playing. After the Asia Cup match between Pakistan & India a picture was posted by some newspapers/websites, showing the reaction of three century makers of that match on completion of their centuries, in which Hafeez & Nasir were bowing to Allah whereas Kohli was abusing. Prior to that during India’s visit to Australia, Kohli signaled ‘Middle Finger’ to the crowd while fielding in 2^nd test match in Sydney. It’s really hurting to see such attitude of a top-class player. India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08 was marred by the famous Monkey-Gate incident, which had even threatened the tour being cancelled. Andrew Symonds reported that he was called a monkey by Harbhajan Singh (all those who understand Hindi & Urdu know very well what Harbhajan actually said in Hindi). Players shouldn’t cut loose they should remain cool-headed and need to remember sports are not a war. You try your level best to win but appreciate your opponent if he performs better than you. 

A few months ago when it was announced that Bangladesh had agreed to consider touring Pakistan in return for the PCB’s vote in the ICC presidential elections, I had a feeling then that as soon as the PCB had given their vote to Bangladesh’s candidate Mustafa Kamal, that Bangladesh would do anything they could to renege on the agreement and wriggle out of touring.

I initially thought it would be on grounds of their security team finding that security measures weren’t up to scratch after their inspection visit to Pakistan in January of this year. Yet it seems the PCB went all out, leaving no stone unturned when it came to the security measures being put into place. This left Bangladesh without any wriggle room or opportunity to find an excuse not to tour.

Rumours abound that the BCB were trying to get backing from other nations in regards to touring Pakistan, but that none of the other nations agreed. A PCB official was also quoted as saying that a third unnamed nation was in fact, rather than giving support, actually putting pressure on Bangladesh not to tour Pakistan. Further doubt was cast on Bangladesh’s intentions after Kamal himself was quoted as saying: "We won't go if everything doesn't happen within the standard practice, which is the allocation of match-referees, umpires and all things by the ICC". Kamal was referring here to the ICC’s power to refuse to send neutral match officials to any place they deem unsafe. Although the ICC have allowed non-neutral officials to participate in such cases, it seems Kamal would be keen on using any refusal from the ICC to send neutral officials as an excuse not to tour.

 
Now fast forward to the Asia Cup final and the row over the ‘collision’ between Aizaz Cheema and Mahmudullah. Bangladesh have appealed to the Asian Cricket Council about the incident, saying that they should have been awarded a 5-run penalty, something which is stipulated in cricket law if a batsman is deliberately obstructed during a run. This whole saga seems rather trivial to me. The cynic in me tells me that this could be the start of Bangladesh’s strategy to temporarily inflame the relationship with the PCB

Bangladesh defeated by Pakistan in a nail-bitting final of Asia Cup by 2 runs. Although, Bangladesh could not succeeded to claim the trophy, but they claimed the hearts of millions of Bangladeshi cricket fans by providing unmatched performances in the whole tournament. Though, Bangladesh was defeated by Pakistan in the first match too, but they brought the match in a very close situation. Pakistan very hardly managed to win the match. Then in the next two matches against India and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh's performance level was at its peak. The tigers beated India and Sri Lanka by 5 wickets, which was a great achievement.

In my 25 years of following Pakistan I have seen it all; or so I thought. Apart from the action on the field, everything that can happen off it has happened but yesterday the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) stooped to the lowest if the lows by appealing the decision of the Final of the Asia Cup, to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), citing a incident where they claimed all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad was deliberately blocked from taking a second run by Pakistan Fast bowler Aizaz Cheema.

Before the game, and after I have never seen Pakistani fans actually supporting the opposition in a game. Dhaka on the 22nd March 2012 was a case in reason. Many Pakistani fans felt that a win for Bangladesh would be great for cricket. Even myself,for my sins, had openly stated that I wouldn't mind losing the game but as always wanted Pakistan to win.

Imran can be followed on Twitter.

As soon as Afridi steps his foot in Karachi, he’s all headlines again! Not for his performance in the Asia Cup final, which made him man of the match, the chewing of balls, neither his hot temperament during a match or even the so called captaincy-rivalry between himself and current captain, Misbah-ul-Haq. This time he’s in news for his ‘bashful’ behavior towards a fan as he stepped in Karachi Airport, returning from Bangladesh, after winning the much-hyped Asia Cup series. 

Today, twenty years have passed since Pakistan’s historic triumph at Melbourne. It’s a day many Pakistanis look up to with pride. A day Pakistan beat their colonial masters to stake a claim on dominance of the cricketing world.

For many, the 1987 heartache at Lahore had been cured.Talents that would carry the mantle of Pakistan cricket in years to come had been unearthed. A glorious career of an able and charismatic leader had come to a befitting climax. 

Being Pakistan’s solitary world cup victory, makes it even more special for the Pakistani fans around the globe. Pakistan’s journey in this tournament epitomized their innate ability to leave the opposition flabbergasted with their inconsistency.

Even the most optimistic of opinions would have written them off halfway through the tournament. It was a safe bet against a team which had managed a solitary win in its first five games. Yet it took one man’s unshakeable resolve and a stroke of luck to drive Pakistan to top of the world.

Bangladesh has always been considered as the weakest among the four top cricketing nations in Asia. The recent Asia Cup played in Bangladesh must have created second thoughts in everyone's mind. The team that has the poor record in the Asia cups was never considered to compete let alone win games in this edition of the Asia Cup. But, surprisingly, the Bangladeshis have out-perfomed themselves.

Bangladesh started with a closely competed game against Pakistan. Where they lost to Pakistan by 21 runs, but they did manage to bring panic to the Pakistani ranks. The thing about their newly reformed team is that they are much more settled than any of the other teams. They have some amazing players like Shakib Al Hassan who has played specatcularly throughout the past few years and Tamim Iqbal who continues to blossom. Some new additions to the team like Nasir Hossain has bore-fruit for the team. This new Bangladeshi team continues to improve and the support they've had from their fans clearly tells that Bangladesh is soon going to be a force to reckon with.

The most amazing feats Bangladesh have achieved have really mesmerized the whole world. They did not just beat India and Sri Lanka but the way they have played their cricket is simply mind-blowing. The settled batting order and the amazing bowling partnerships between the spinners have more than just won games for Bangladesh. The other noticeable improvement in the current Bangladeshi side is the fielding. Young guns like Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah have really transformed their fielding. This makes them much more dangerous and difficult to score against since the spinners have done a remarkable job.