Thursday, January 15, 2015
Nigerian soldier: ‘Troop morale is very low’
Blindness no barrier to ambitious Egyptians
‘Lord of the Rings’ tower could be tallest in Africa
Leading vaccines for Ebola show real promise
2014 ‘bloodiest’ year for media in Palestinian territories: report
GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Last year was the deadliest ever for journalists working in the Palestinian territories, a Gaza-based watchdog said Thursday, months after a bloody war in the besieged enclave.
“2014 was a black year for freedom of the press in Palestine… and it was the worst and bloodiest,” the Gaza Centre for Press Freedom said in its annual report.
The report accused Israel of committing 295 separate “violations of press freedom” across the occupied Palestinian territories.
These resulted in the deaths of 17 journalists during the 50-day Gaza war in July-August, including that of an Italian photographer working for Associated Press.
Israel also arrested or detained an unspecified number of journalists, denied freedom of movement to local media workers wanting to leave the blockaded Gaza Strip, and partially or completely destroyed 19 buildings housing editorial operations during its bombardment of the territory during the conflict.
The Palestinian authorities also committed 82 violations of press freedom, including arresting or summoning 28 journalists, and injuring or assaulting 26 more.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas in densely-populated Gaza, home to 1.8 million people, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
See elephant crush a car
Trafficked boy reunited with family
Video shows anti-terror raid in Belgium
2 die in Belgian anti-terror raid
Copa del Ray: Torres double dumps Real Madrid out of Cup
MADRID: Fernando Torres scored his first Atletico Madrid goals in eight years as the La Liga champions dumped holders Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey 4-2 on aggregate after a 2-2 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday.
Already leading 2-0 from last week’s first-leg, Torres stunned the hosts inside the first minute when turning home Antoine Griezmann’s pass to hand Atletico a vital away goal.
Sergio Ramos pulled a goal back for Real, but Griezmann and Torres repeated the trick seconds into the second-half to restore Atletico’s lead.
Fresh from winning the third Ballon d’Or of his career, Cristiano Ronaldo ensured the home side at least salvaged a draw on the night, but they have now failed to beat Atletico in five meetings this season.
Atletico will almost certainly face Barcelona in the last eight, who travel to Elche later on Thursday holding a 5-0 first-leg.
Torres was only starting due to an illness suffered by Mario Mandzukic in the day before the game, but had by far his biggest impact since returning to the Spanish capital.
“I am very happy. It was a game in which we had to feel comfortable due to the result in the first-leg and the early goal allowed us to play the game we wanted,” Torres told Canal Plus.
“The tie was never in danger. We didn’t have to sweat it out.”
Meanwhile, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti was left to lament the defensive errors that undid much of his side’s fine attacking play in the first hour.
“I am delighted with how the team played in the first-half. You can’t play better,” said the Italian.
“The worry doesn’t come from not taking our chances because we played with pace and intensity. The worry comes from the defensive mistakes we made.”
Ronaldo paraded the Ballon d’Or in front of an adoring full house at the Bernabeu prior to kick-off.
However, it took just 46 seconds for Atletico to silence the home fans as Griezmann broke down the left and squared for Torres to turn home his first Atletico goal since May 2007.
Real then laid seige to Atletico goal in search of the four goals they needed to progress to the last eight.
Gareth Bale saw a flicked header easily held by Jan Oblak, whilst the Slovenian was on hand to somehow prevent Ronaldo turning home Karim Benzema’s knock-down moments later.
However, Atletico’s second choice ‘keeper was at fault when the hosts levelled after 20 minutes as he got nowhere near Toni Kroos’s free-kick and Ramos gratefully headed into an empty net.
Mario Suarez made a desperate clearance from just in front of his own goal line to prevent Ronaldo giving Madrid the lead and Oblak made a smart low save from Marcelo as the visitors held on till half-time.
And incredibly Atletico struck again within a minute of the restart after half-time in similar fashion as Ramos gifted the ball to Griezmann, who fed Torres and he cut inside Pepe to slot home his second goal of the night.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea striker could even have had a hat-trick moments later as he wriggled past Ramos inside the area, but Griezmann took the loose ball from his teammate and smashed a shot just wide.
Ronaldo restored parity on the night for Carlo Ancelotti’s men when he stooped to head in Bale’s cross from the left nine minutes after the break.
Torres, making his debut for Atletico on loan after returning to his boyhood club for whom he scored 82 goals between 2001 and 2007 this month, was then removed by Diego Simeone with Arda Turan joining Griezmann in attack.
Benzema had one final chance to set up a grandstand finish, but he blasted over on the volley from close range to ensure Madrid’s winless streak against Diego Simeone’s men continues.
Unanimous resolution: NA censures French weekly over cartoons
The National Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the caricatures published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The resolution was tabled by Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.
The lawmakers also staged a rally outside parliament against the cartoons which have been roundly criticised by Muslims across the world.
“This house strongly condemns the printing and reprinting of blasphemous caricatures … by the French periodical and also takes serious note of the continued trend of their re-production in numerous other newspapers and magazines of other Western capitals,” read the resolution.
“This house genuinely believes that freedom of expression should not be misused as means to attack or hurt public sentiments and religious beliefs, and in this regard Article 20 of the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights must be followed by all states,” it said.
The resolution added that “the house is of a firm opinion that such malicious attacks on the sanctity of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and all other messengers of Allah amount to hate speech.”
“These are deliberate attempts to incite violence, create discord, widen misunderstandings among civilisations and thereby provide opportunities to terrorist elements to capitalise on public sentiments. This house strongly condemns all kinds of violence under whatever pretext. Islam is a faith of peace and tolerance. Nobody should be allowed to distract this universal and all-pervading message and spirit of Islam.”
The resolution called upon the international community, particularly the member states of the United Nations, the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take decisive steps to stop such practices.
In a statement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the publication of the caricatures by the French weekly and said that “freedom of speech should not be used to hurt the religious sentiments of any community.” He called on the international community to discourage the publication of provocative material.
Earlier, while speaking on the floor of the lower house, lawmakers from both aisles strongly condemned the ‘malicious’ act of the French press and urged the government to take up the issue at the international forums.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah said the act had not only hurt the sentiments of 1.7 billion Muslims across the globe, it could also instigate violence which would be later tagged as terrorism. “Only Muslims would be singled out for blame [in case of violence],” he said.
Former minister Ghous Bux Maher termed the action a ‘conspiracy to provoke Muslims’. MNA Jamshed Dasti said the Muslim world should have a ‘special force’ to act against such acts. Minority MNA Khalil George said the Christian community in Pakistan strongly condemned the printing of the caricatures and termed it a ‘blow to international peace’.
Other developments
Earlier during proceedings, the National Assembly deputy speaker announced Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNAs Imran Khattak, Ali Muhammad Khan, Sheharyar Afridi, Khayal Zaman Orakzai, Azhar Jadoon, Dawar Kundi, Murad Saeed, Qaiser Jamal, Asad Umar, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Nafeesa Inayatullah, Sajida Begum and Lal Chand had been absent from the house without leave for 40 consecutive days.
Opposition parties also blocked a resolution of the government for extending the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Ordinance 2014 for another 120 days.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
Boko Haram’s escalating wave of terror
Are we resilient or just forgetful?
The devastating attack on Peshawar’s army-run school has left a deep gash in our country’s history. Many of us have been told that time heals, and I’ve noticed that life in Pakistan has the tendency to keep moving. The record-breaking wedding season is continuing at an optimal pace. Mehndis still welcome us to streams of colour, lively dances and ample quantities of food. Wedding ceremonies are still jubilant social occasions that are beginning to strongly resemble marathons as people race to multiple events. In some cases, New Year’s Eve was celebrated with the utmost vigour, complete with blaring music and flashing strobe lights.
People still want to go out for coffee, visit new restaurants and enjoy the cities they reside in. When we walk into a restaurant, coffee shop or wedding, are we necessarily disconnecting ourselves from the world outside? There have been ongoing debates about how the Peshawar attack will soon feel like a distant memory. The anger and hurt that consumed us weeks ago will slowly dissipate. Are we extremely resilient or utterly forgetful? Are we already done mourning? Maybe these questions do not have to demand a staunch ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
From sectarian violence to ruthless honour killings and heinous attacks on innocent minority groups, Pakistan is a country that has witnessed a great deal of pain. Since 2003, approximately 55,000 people, including security forces’ personnel, have lost their lives at the hands of terrorist violence. The death of more than 130 children in Peshawar must not be treated like another string of fatalities that Pakistan will, as always, face resiliently. Tahira Qazi, who fearlessly risked her life for the children in her school, should not have died in vain. However, at the same time, people should not be judged for trying to carry on with their lives. Considering Pakistan’s turbulent past, having the ability to fall back into a normal routine can be helpful since hearts and minds that remain continuously distraught might not possess the strength to endure future ordeals. One should find a gratifying balance in which the country’s plight is not left behind in the midst of an increasingly busy lifestyle.
How can this be done? We should consistently remain vigilant of the promises being made to us instead of turning numb in the wake of mounting difficulties. We need to see initiatives moving beyond committees, subcommittees and press conferences. People should not be wary of challenging elected leaders under the presumption that our institutions will be destabilised. At the end of the day, the Constitution is supposed to protect the people. The great effort politicians are making to preserve Pakistan’s fragile democracy should filter down to the security and safety of the country they are leading. If we are being told that the presence of terrorism in the country will no longer be tolerated, then the government should be clamping down on the epicentres of these hate spewing radical ideologies that continue to thrive. Arrest warrants should not merely be issued, but legitimately acted upon. Guests speaking on news outlets cannot, under any circumstances, be given airtime to overtly criticise minority groups that are already suffocating under the weight of misconstrued beliefs. This reflects poorly on an organisation’s personal values and ethics.
Verbal and written pressure on our governing bodies should prevail. Ideally, life can still go on without us forgetting. If the Peshawar incident does not wake us up, then nothing will.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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A Nash equilibrium in Sindh politics
There is a potential deal between the PPP and the MQM that could potentially end the dysfunction that defines Karachi and Sindh politics. The deal would benefit both parties, energise their base of supporters and create a more cooperative environment that the province as a whole would benefit from. There is just one problem with it: it could well mean the effective end of the careers of the current crop of Sindh PPP politicians.
At the heart of the dispute between the MQM and the PPP is the manner in which Karachi and Hyderabad are governed. The MQM wants elected local governments with fiscal and administrative autonomy: local politicians, funded by local taxpayers, solving local problems. A deal that gives the MQM the local government system it wants and the PPP the kind of budget concessions that would ensure that Karachi does not keep its wealth to itself is the most logical way to solve this dispute. But the parties cannot seem to come to an agreement.
The PPP leadership cites many reasons — some legitimate, some bogus — for why it believes the system of local government the MQM wants is a bad idea. But it never states its real reason: if the PPP allows elected local governments in Sindh, the iron grip of the aristocrats that currently dominate the ranks of the party’s elected officials will be broken. After all, it only takes about 300 or so votes to win a union council seat. Anybody, no matter how poor they are, can conceivably compete for that. Of course, a union council seat unto itself has no real power, but it is conceivable that a promising new politician could work his/her way up from those lowly ranks to more substantive positions like a seat on the district council. The more talented could even hope to win a district nazim seat or even an MPA election.
In effect, elected local governments lower the barriers to entry for positions of political influence, something that the patronage-focused aristocratic politicians in the PPP view as a threat to their power. They cannot allow this to happen.
It is, of course, easy to vilify these politicians for holding the entire province hostage in their bid to cling to power, but their behaviour is entirely rational. After all, if they have a veto on the very institutional reforms that would do away with their own political influence, why would they not exercise it? The key to end this logjam is to break their veto power.
The only entity that has the ability to do so is the national PPP leadership. There are certainly plenty of incentives for the PPP’s leadership to want change in Sindh. The party is in desperate need of fresh blood in its ranks, as well as replacing the current moribund group of MPAs with some people who are actually interested in governing. That, after all, is the only way it will get its national profile back, particularly among voters in Punjab. So why not go for it?
It all comes back to game theory, specifically the Prisoners’ Dilemma. The optimal outcome would be for National PPP to stop colluding with the Sindh PPP and trust that the voters will back its new strategy and new candidates. However, the voters do not know who these new candidates are and may choose to stick to the faces they know. Meanwhile, National PPP leadership knows that voters may not like their new candidates and so they stick to the current Sindh PPP leadership as well.
It is a perfect Prisoners’ Dilemma. And as students of game theory already know, the problem with the Prisoners’ Dilemma is that it is in a Nash equilibrium, meaning that neither party has any incentive to change their existing strategy. That, unfortunately, is where Sindh politics has been stuck essentially since 2008.
A Nash equilibrium, of course, is not unbreakable. But it will require hard work and risk-accepting behaviour, something that the national PPP leadership has not shown an appetite for since December 27, 2007.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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The same page?
Ever since the horrific and beastly attack on the children and teachers of the Army Public School (APS), Peshawar, we have heard over and over again, indeed ad nauseum, the mantra: ‘All (the leadership) are on the same page when it comes to combating terrorism in all its forms and (that hackneyed, horrid word again!) manifestations.’
We then saw a flurry of All-Parties Conferences (attended by the PTI too); the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty; hangings aplenty starting with those accused of complicity in plans to attack GHQ and assassinate the Commando. We saw many meetings of parliament to ‘debate’ military courts as a panacea for ending terrorism through quick trials of accused terrorists. Interviews were aired on the media galore; some religio-political parties disagreeing and then making solemn promises of everyone staying together, then again abstaining to vote.
The Senate too, dominated by the PPP, which has always been antithetical towards military courts, was also swayed in the end when its leader, former president Asif Ali Zardari, decided to lend his support to the prime minister and the government, and voted for military courts, the good Senator Raza Rabbani breaking into tears whilst voting against his conscience. Respect, Raza.
The PTI, whilst its MNAs have not yet vacated their apartments in the quite filthy and unkempt MNAs’ hostel, nor given up their cars in the use of NA committee chairmen and other perks, such as free first-class air travel, took cover behind its fig-leaf of resignations and did not attend parliament, despite the fact that the attack took place in the province it runs, or purports to run through its Islamabad-based CM. This was obviously a ploy to shield itself should things not work out the way they are intended to. At the end of it all, after a frenetic 15 days of freely flowing pious words showing much resolve and backbone, and so on and so forth, the whole shoot began to unravel.
The attack happened on the awful day of December 16, 2014; by January 12, 2015, 27 days later, when the school was to be reopened, all of the above seemed to disappear into thin air. Just the COAS was seen inside the school with a smattering of ‘civil society’, meeting children and encouraging them on. The prime minister and other political leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
At 11:11am on January 12, 2015 Imran Khan tweeted: “Planned to be with our brave children who returned to APS today along with Reham & CM KP, but we were advised to postpone visit as COAS was going today for what we were told was a ‘soft’ opening of the APS. But we will be there with our brave children this week.”
Could it be that the prime minister and other political leaders were so advised too?
If so, wrong move. The reopening of the school was the day when the entire leadership of the country should have been seen in the APS Peshawar, offering prayers for the dear departed, meeting the returning children, and praying for the school’s future and the well-being of its teachers and pupils.
That was the day when politicians of all shades: members of the civil service, the military, schoolteachers from other schools, and civil society, should have come together as one to send a tough message to the beasts who so wantonly butchered so many innocents and literally tore the country’s heart out.
For, remember, that whilst many thousands of children have been mercilessly killed in the past along with adults, the graphics of the present attack, and the sheer number of just children massacred was mind-boggling. It brought the country together at long last. Indeed, the fiasco of the Imran Khan visit of January 14 would have been avoided too, the pictures of the gathering of all proving to be inspiring to all those involved in the fight against terror.
I might add that it is good to see that convicted sectarian killers are also getting their due, and that at least three have been executed by now. The test of this whole exercise, of course, will be the execution of Salmaan Taseer’s self-confessed, garlanded, and much-kissed executioner who is fast turning his fellow inmates AND jail guards into fanatical killers too. His first victim through a jail guard’s gun is a blasphemy accused named Mohammad Asghar, a naturalised British citizen, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago. Mercifully, he was just wounded in the attack which has become an international incident.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the IS is reported to have started recruitments in Helmand province of Afghanistan on our very doorstep. A report on CBS tells us that in spite of the Afghan Taliban warning people not to defect to the IS/Daish:
“Afghan officials confirmed for the first time Monday that the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is active in the south, recruiting fighters, flying black flags and, according to some sources, even battling Taliban militants.
“The sources, including an Afghan general and a provincial governor, said a man identified as Mullah Abdul Rauf was actively recruiting fighters for the group, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“General Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the army’s 215 Corps, said that within the past week residents of a number of districts in the southern Helmand province have said Rauf’s representatives are fanning out to recruit people. ‘A number of tribal leaders, jihadi commanders and some ulema (religious council members) and other people have contacted me to tell me that Mullah Rauf had contacted them and invited them to join him,’ Khan said.”
So there we have it! I reported last week that Daish wall-chalkings had appeared on walls and gates in the strategically located village of Wah, now home to hundreds of ‘Taliban-types’. Is it too much to ask that a uniformed presence, or at least patrols, are visible in the environs of the area? Forewarned is forearmed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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Woody Allen to make magic on small screen
SAN FRANCISCO / LOS ANGELES: Woody Allen will make his first foray onto the small screen, writing and directing an online series for Amazon.
The Internet retailer rolled out the news of Allen’s series on Tuesday, two days after winning its first major awards at the Golden Globes following years of experimentation with developing original programming.
The deal with Allen, 79, who has said he doesn’t use email or own a computer, puts the filmmaker at the heart of Amazon’s strategy to use original content to woo consumers and fans.
Filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher and Guillermo del Toro have all made recent forays into television. Premium cable networks like Time Warner Inc’s HBO and Amazon’s online streaming rival Netflix have offered directors the chance and resources to tell longer-form stories over several episodes and hours.
“I think any programme developer or producer or director who has a series or script or anything, at this point they’re looking at Amazon as on par with Netflix and really the whole rest of the ecosystem,” says Paul Verna, a senior analyst at market research company eMarketer.
Amazon has been spending more on content overall, including $ 100 million in the third quarter alone on original shows, in the latest sign of founder Jeff Bezos’ hunger to dominate businesses from books, to phones to entertainment.
Allen’s yet-to-be titled series will be a half-hour show, Amazon said, adding that casting announcements would be made in the future. The series will be shown exclusively on Amazon’s Instant Prime Video service next year.
The famously press-shy Allen joked that he was not sure how he got involved in the project.
“I have no idea and I’m not sure where to begin,” the Oscar-winning director said in a statement. “My guess is that Roy Price will regret this,” he added, referring to the vice-president of Amazon Studios.
Known for his ironic insight into contemporary life, Allen has starred in many of his own films, including generation-defining comedies like Annie Hall.
The deal cements Amazon’s credibility following Sunday’s Golden Globe win for Transparent, which is about a man transitioning to live as a woman. The show’s lead, Jeffrey Tambor, also won a Globe for best actor in a TV comedy series.
“Amazon needed to prove they were a serious player in television because there was always kind of a question mark of how real are they,” said Eric Deggans, National Public Radio’s TV critic.
Like Transparent, Allen’s upcoming series and 13 new pilots for programs that Amazon will unveil soon.
The Amazon Studios division began operations in 2010.
Allen, who makes a film almost every year through art-house studio Sony Pictures Classics, has joked about his profitability as an artist.
“The two biggest myths about me are that I’m an intellectual, because I wear these glasses, and that I’m an artist because my films lose money,” he once said. “Those two myths have been prevalent for many years.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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Jacqueline Fernandez de-glamorises in Brothers
MUMBAI: Actor Jacqueline Fernandez, who has created ripples with her glamorous look in most of her films, will be seen in a complete different avatar in her next film Brothers.
“In terms of my looks in Brothers, it’s definitely not a glamourised look. It’s very realistic,” she said.
“We have to keep it that way because of the type of role that I am playing. We are trying to push the envelope with a lot of characters in Brothers. We are going out of the way and being honest to our roles,” she added.
The film, also starring Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra and Jackie Shroff in key roles, is produced by Karan Johar and is expected to hit screens on July 31.
Last seen with Salman Khan in Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut Kick, the former Sri Lankan beauty queen has worked with directors like Sajid Khan, Mohit Suri, Abbas-Mastan since her debut in Bollywood with Sujoy Ghosh’s 2009 fantasy drama Aladin.
When asked how Brothers will be different from her past films, she said: “In Brothers, I am going into a zone that is something that I have not done before.”
“It’s a very simple and desi character. It’s also a character that I think a lot of people would not have expected me to do. This is exactly the reason why Karan approached me for this. I think as an actor it is amazing to shock your audiences,” she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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Rahat Kazmi’s new play opens at Napa
KARACHI: The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) has once again returned to the stage, this time with the Rahat Kazmi-directed play Aik Diary Jo Kho Gayi. The play, which is an adaptation of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, opened on Thursday, January 15.
The play, which has been adapted by Sameena Nazir, is set in Korangi Creek, Karachi, in the year 1987, during martial law. It tells the story of how Rabia Kalam (Zarqa Naz) migrates from East Pakistan and is forced to move into her sister’s house, along with her two daughters Amina ‘Amy’ Kalam (Jia Khan) and Jasmine Kalam (Erum Bashir), after the death of her husband.
Quite possibly the best way to sum up Kazmi’s adaptation of the Brighton Beach Memoirs would be through its multi-layered stage design.
Just like the (divided) rooms within the house, the play explores a multitude of storylines pertaining to caste, politics and coming-of-age topics, like independence and puberty, all of which reach a tipping point at the dinner table in the presence of the family patriarch Moinuddin (Akbar Islam).
The cast includes Tariq Raja and Ahmer Hussain as two brothers, Fareeduddin and Kaleemuddin, respectively. Aik Diary Jo Kho Gayi will be performed every Thursday to Sunday from January 15 to February 1 at Napa. The next play to be performed at Napa would be an Urdu translation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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Families wait and pray as divers search
Injury concern: Anderson a doubt for tri-series opener
SYDNEY / MELBOURNE: England pace spearhead James Anderson is a doubt for the tri-series opener against Australia in Sydney as he recovers from a knee injury, revealed skipper Eoin Morgan on Thursday.
Anderson looked fit on his return to the team in their 216-run hammering of a local side in Canberra on Monday, but sat out Wednesday’s win over the Prime Minister’s XI.
Morgan said the decision was made to rest their spearhead to give him the best possible chance to play in Friday’s tri-series opener.
“It was more managing his workload coming back from injury,” Morgan told reporters. “We decided that he wouldn’t be able to play three games in a week. So in order for him to be fit for selection, we needed to up his workload in the nets.”
Anderson is the only injury concern heading into the one-day international. “Everybody else is, to my knowledge, at the moment fit for selection,” added Morgan.
The skipper praised Ian Bell’s 187-run knock against the Prime Minister’s XI, the highest innings by an England batsman in a competitive 50-over match, and said it epitomised the ruthlessness his side needed to succeed.
Their first priority will be to beat India and Australia in the tri-series to boost confidence ahead of next month’s World Cup.
“It’ll be nice to be sitting here at the end of this series with some silverware and be confident in where we’re going as a side,” he said. “I know throughout this series it might throw up a couple of things because Australia can be a difficult place to tour, a difficult place to adapt to conditions, but I certainly think that we’re one of the sides that finds it a lot easier to adapt.”
Dhoni refuses to elaborate on retirement decision
Ahead of leading India in the ODI tri-series against Australia and England, MS Dhoni refused to elaborate on his sudden retirement from Test cricket.
The 33-year-old stunned the cricketing world — and a completely unaware India team — when he announced his immediate Test retirement after the drawn third Test against Australia in Melbourne last month.
India’s World Cup-winning captain again had nothing to say in the subject as he launched the Indian one-day team’s new kit ahead of their first tri-series game against Australia in Melbourne on Sunday.
The closest he came to addressing the issue was when he was asked about his time off since that Test. “”It has been good, a few days off,” he said.
And that was it. There were a few prepared comments about the uniform, but no questions were allowed from the assembled journalists.
The microphone was handed to Kohli, one of the few Indian players to enhance his reputation during the 2-0 Test series loss to Australia.
“It’s been a very eventful month and a half since we came to Adelaide,” said Kohli. “I’ve enjoyed every day of it. It’s been challenging at times, but that’s where international cricket is.
Dhoni, who is one of the world’s highest-earning sportsmen, was India’s most successful Test captain, winning 27 of the 60 Tests he led the national side in, with 18 losses and 15 draws.
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Pakistan condemns Waziristan drone strike
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday evening condemned a drone strike that killed seven people on the border between North and South Waziristan.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government reiterated its oft-stated position that such strikes violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The government again demanded that such strikes should cease immediately.
At least seven suspect militants were killed, and five others were injured, when a compound was targeted with missiles by a US drone in Wocha Darra of South Waziristan Thursday morning.
Five suspected militants were killed on the spot, and two others later succumbed to their injuries.
The supporting cast of 92
KARACHI: Imran Khan’s class of 92 included 14 players but not all of them possessed the talent and class that made them eventual ends. At one end he had a wizard in Wasim Akram, a prodigiously gifted batsman in Inzamamul Haq and a true fighter in Javed Miandad.
Unsurprisingly, the trio of Javed, Inzamam and Wasim entered the club of legends through some mesmerising feats spread over decades. Meanwhile, the likes of Aamir Sohail, Mushtaq Ahmed, Aaqib Javed, Ramiz Raja, Ijaz Ahmed, Saleem Malik, and Moin Khan enjoyed fairly successful careers before bowing out of the game, most of them unceremoniously.
Malik was the most high-profile casualty at the end of his career; caught in a match-fixing scandal that saw him exit the game in disgrace, condemned to a life-time ban.
Then there were three players who were part of the squad yet never made a telling impact on the field and their biggest contribution in the tournament was to warm the bench.
Zahid Fazal, Iqbal Sikander and Wasim Haider are the three forgotten characters of the World Cup 92 story and are never discussed in any vignette related to the tale of the historic triumph.
As Imran called on his players to fight like cornered tigers on the eve of the first of a series of do-or-die matches in Perth, he had in his mind already chosen the 10 soldiers that were to fight the battle from there on in and only a selection blunder in the semi-final at Auckland saw Sikander sneak into the playing eleven.
All three made sporadic appearances on the field during the last five match unbeaten Pakistan streak, a prostrating Zahid was one of the first shots captured by the broadcasters in the immediate aftermath of Ramiz’s catch to dismiss Richard Illingworth in the final; a moment that sent the entire squad, in fact the entire country, into raptures.
But otherwise the tournament brought no joy for the right-handed top order batsman from Sialkot. Imran, however, had identified Zahid as one of his match winners alongside Inzamam.
The captain’s trust in the gangly long-haired Zahid was well placed since in the early 90s Zahid was regarded as one of the finest batting talents in the country and Imran had seen him unfurl some of the awe-inspiring shots in his repertoire against India in a Sharjah final merely months before the World Cup.
The innings in Sharjah typified Zahid’s career — batting at number three, he serenely closed in on a maiden international hundred. But only two runs shy of the landmark, calamity struck and the youngster collapsed in the searing desert heat on a Friday morning.
That 98* (Retired hurt) was Zahid’s highest score in both Test and ODI formats. With the bat he contributed a measly 13 runs in two 1992 World Cup outings against South Africa and India and was subsequently only asked to field for the sick Javed or when one of the bowlers wanted to cool their heels for a bit.
Another vivid Zahid memory is a raging Wasim Akram shouting profanities at the substitute fielder after he moved a month after the ball had flown past him in the slips against Australia.
Iqbal Sikander, the second act of the supporting cast, featured in four matches in Australia and New Zealand.
At 33, Sikander was no spring chicken when he took the field for his ODI debut in Pakistan’s opening game of the tournament where West Indies pulverised the eventual champions by a 10-wicket margin. The leg-spinner fared better than the rest of his bowling mates, conceding a mere 26 runs in eight overs, albeit without a wicket.
Against South Africa and Zimbabwe, Sikander maintained a tight leash conceding less than four runs per over in the two matches while also snaring a wicket in both.
The semi-final though didn’t go according to the plan and legend has it that Sikander was only drafted in at the eleventh hour as the think tank failed to adequately read the conditions in the New Zealand cauldron of Auckland.
Figures of 1-56 from nine overs were a fair reflection of Sikander’s predicament against Martin Crowe and Ken Rutherford. The insipid performance turned out to be his last ever at the international level for Sikander,, with Ijaz Ahmed being a straight swap for him at the tournament final.
Wasim Haider, a bowling all-rounder, was 24 years old when he was asked to fill the considerable boots of Waqar Younis after the speedster’s back gave in a few days before the commencement of the cricketing extravaganza.
But Haider was chucked out of Imran’s strategy after failing to grab the headlines in his three appearances at the tournament against the West Indies, England and India.
Like Sikander, Haider fared decently in one match; the tie against India, where he bowled 10 overs for 36 runs, dismissing Ajay Jadeja with his fellow bench warmer Zahid taking the catch.
Haider also didn’t play for Pakistan again, his career ended with three games and a solitary wicket. In all he bowled 19 overs for 79 runs.
The World Cup returns to Australia and New Zealand for the first time since 1992 and Imran Khan and his heroes have found ample space in print and electronic coverage from both local and international outlets.
The supporting cast though hardly gets a mention since they neither blazed away like Inzamam nor failed spectacularly like Saleem Malik, and unlike Ijaz Ahmed they never got a chance to redeem their fortunes.
The trio has moved on after getting their share of the World Cup spoils. Sikander works for the Asian Cricket Council, Haider coaches Faisalabad while the most aloof and perhaps the most talented of the three, Zahid, leads a life of relative obscurity in Sialkot; the word is that he doesn’t even answer his cell phone.
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