CLARKE wants to retain his captaincy

Michael Clark said he is ready to continue with the responsibility as a captain of Australian T20 squad besides bad performance in ICC world T20 cricket tournament. He said that he needs to rediscover his attacking nature of game to become a successful T20 operator. He said in an interview that he has no intention of leaving captaincy despite being not able to make a statement with the bat.

In the herald sun on Thursday, Ricky ponting said he was impressed with the leadership qualities that Michael Clarke possesses. Afterwards eve, Shane Warne defended Clarke by saying that Clarke was the best captaincy option and No. 3 for the Twenty20 team. All these statements came when Australia came back home after losing the final to England.

"Who knows? Maybe I need a little bit of that back," Clarke said. "Everybody has a different role in our team though and that is one thing that players certainly are aware of, and you need to do your role to the best of your ability.

"For me my role is not the same as Dave Warner or Shane Watson. I always want to perform, I always want to score runs, it doesn't matter what form of the game I'm playing, but like I said in this game, sometimes you can't always make those runs."

Clarke's future as the T20 captain is still in doubt, and his future will be decided in the next few weeks when the selectors will select the squads for the upcoming tour of England. It will be interesting to see whether the selectors still will pursue with Clarke or not as he himself is determined to take the role ahead.

"No doubt [I want to continue], I'm disappointed we couldn't win the World T20, win the final, but I've really enjoyed the opportunity," Clarke said. "I've loved playing with the guys, I've had a lot of support from people back at home, the people who came and watched the games in the West Indies, and family and friends, so it's been great and I'm enjoying it."

"It always hurts losing to England in any form of the game, but obviously a lot of guys in both teams that won't take part in the Ashes series," Clarke said. "They will take confidence out of it, no doubt about it, but I can guarantee the way we've been playing Test and one day cricket of late, or even T20 cricket in this tournament, we're very confident."

Well this is new cricket for you where everything is possible !

END of ICC T20!

The third audition of ICC WORLD T20 turned out to be very successful. The tournament made its success due to the atmosphere being provided by the Caribbean crowd. T20 cricket is always unpredictable and some matches proved it. The cricket being played was of superb quality. The tournament ended with little controversies. In the end, the biggest discussion going on regarding tournament is the WINNERS of this cricket trophy. The best two teams made it into the finals.

The winners of previous tournaments always provide plenty of stories; India's victory in 2007 sparked a revolution, Pakistan's in 2009 was a triumph against the odds and now England's was a historic moment for a side that had failed in world events for 35 years. And to break their duck, they beat a team that had produced some wonderful, scientific, intelligent, skilful and pleasurable cricket over two weeks. As the intellectuals say, Australia don’t give you success you have to earn it and guess that is what England has done, they earned their success through good cricket.

This year's tournament was characterized by large, boisterous crowds, especially when the home team was playing.


From start to finish the tournament was full of intrigue. Could West Indies spark a revival? Could Afghanistan make an upset at world stage? What would the new skill or shot be this time? What new techniques will be employed by the teams?
West Indies didn't make the semi-finals, which was a disappointment for the local crowd, because when they did play, the crowds produced a memorable atmosphere. Huge issues remain in West Indies cricket that need resolving..

Afghanistan were crushed by their two Test opponents,They were not overawed by India's superstars and after slumping to 23 for 6 against South Africa bravely avoided the lowest Twenty20 international total. They still impressed many !

The major disappointers were the India and South Africa; one troubled by the short ball, the other unable to make a run chase. Both teams have much to ponder over the next few months. south africa must be looking forward to win the series against westindies to gain some confidence back in the side.

Pakistan were the most lucky side in the tournament. Their victory against South Africa (and England's against New Zealand) earned them a semi-final berth where they lost the best everTwenty20 international match played as Mike Hussey played a blinder with his 24-ball 60. Pakistan were as unpredictable as ever, playing terribly against England, but raising their game against South Africa and showing the aggressive mindset with the bat needed to tackle Australia's attack.

New Zealand had a good outfit but could not perform; srilanka on the other hand will be pleased to get a berth in the semi-final once they lost their start off spinner murlitharan due to injury.

The 9.30am starts for many matches, purely for the Indian TV market, also weren't ideal. However, unlike in 2007, there were no insurmountable problems and the ICC certainly learnt from previous mistakes over pricing and accessibility.
No one invented a new shot this year, but the skill levels continued to rise. Batsmen have never been so confident in their ability to clear the boundaries, yet outright slogging was a rarity. Bowlers at both end of the pace scale enjoyed success - Dirk Nannes made superb use of the new ball, while Graeme Swann's spell in the final was a master class of offspin.

Dirk Nannes was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, despite going wicketless in the final against England

The format's rise has brought many challenges to game, and some still sniff at the concept, it has also done a huge amount of good and what the last two weeks has shown is that nothing matches the intensity, passion and skill level of international competition

pakistan is defeated but not disgraced !

You will never expect Pakistan’s supporters feeling to hug their team in the time of defeat but you can sense this mood rippling around the fans after Pakistan’s loss to mighty Australia. Pakistan is traditionally known for its inconsistency, their bad performance, their comedy of errors in the field. You can expect Pakistan to be brilliant on one day and on the very second day you may see them losing to a team like Ireland. this is what Pakistani team is all about, you expect to be entertained, frustrated or bewitched at every twist and turn of the game.
To be fair, on this particular defeat, one can hardly blame Pakistan; they did the right things for most of the day. When you come up against the brilliance showed by hussey, you don’t feel ashamed of your defeat. i think everyone who understands and loves cricket will appreciate for what Australia achieved in this match.
The game did not deserve any loser, Pakistan played brilliantly for almost 36 overs of the game but Australia had the last laugh. i think the only thing which differentiated the two teams was the mental toughness, i was surprised to hear brad haddin during the match at the boundary that we are waiting for the last 4 overs and then we will go for winning it. i think it is in the Australian culture that never accept defeat unless you are really defeated.
The match will be remembered for years and years for brilliant skill shown by two great teams. Pakistan indeed is defeated but should not be disgraced. Pakistan was the under dogs for this match, they did nt give up, they went down fighting and when you go down fighting, you die with the honour intact.
There are still many things that Pakistan can cheer; they are the only team to play 2 finals and 1 semi-final of WORLD T20. Pakistani fan must be extremely angry at the defeat but they should accept defeat by thinking that their team fought hard but just could not end the game in their favour. I expect that Pakistan team should be welcomed with honour, warmth, affection and sympathy.
This is new cricket for you where everything is possible!

AUSTRALIA VS PAKISTAN 2ND SEMI FINAL PREVIEW

The second semi-final of ICC T20 will be played between the defending champions PAKISTSAN and hot favourites AUSTRALIA. Pakistan has just won 2 games out of the 5 they played whereas Australia has won all the 5 matches convincingly. Considering the current form of Australian team, there is no match for them.
Pakistan can still create upset and Australia must be aware of it. Pakistan team is facing problems with its combination; they have tried sami, asif n Khalid but they all failed. I reckon the team winning the toss will bat first and try to put runs on the board and then put opposition under pressure. Australia has chased only one match and that was against West Indies so Australia wont fancy chasing considering Pakistan spin attack.
If Pakistan bats first, kamran akmal will be the key, it is important for him to get start and give the coming batsman a platform for big hits. Shahid afridi played brilliantly against south Africa so he will also be a potential threat to aussies and they will be testing him on short pitched deliveries. If Pakistan socres more then 160, Pakistan will have an outside chance to win, bad nes for Pakistan is that, their start youn batsman, umer akmal has injured his back and probablt debuatant hammad azam will play instead of umer so Pakistan will be having a challenge to fulfil umer’s place who played exceptional cricket against southafrica and don’t forget, he is the current best fielder in the team so if he missed out, Pakistan will definitely miss him.
Australia has a perfect combination with smith impressing every one with his leggies. Australian openers have got starts, their middle has got starts, they have proved that even if their middle order fails, they still have the capability to score big.
St.lucia pitch might favour Pakistan because it is not a bouncy pitch, supports spinners so Pakistan must look to win this game.
I just hope that the match should be cracker, not a one sided contest.

ONE OVER CAN CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF THE MATCH

Most of the people would have slept in India thinking that India will win this game by more then20 runs and will still be in contention for the magical semi final spot. After scoring 163, dhoni would be feeling confident that he will defend not only this target but also beat them by 20 runs to remain in contention for semi final spot.
Srilanka required 107 in the last 10 overs, and considering the history of this tournament, it was near to impossible, book makers would have listed india favourites for the 39 overs but nobody thought that one over will change everything.
Srilanka required 32 runs to win from the last two overs, with no sangakara, no dilshan, no jayawardene and no jayasuria on crease; it was Mathews and kaugudere on the crease with vinay kumar, the debutant to bowl the penultimate over and ashish nehra to bowl the last over. I personally thought that india will win by a margin of at least 15 runs but i proved to be wrong.
They got 19 runs of vinay kumar over and they were left with 13 to win from the last over. Ashish nehra bowled the last over, who at the moment is the most dependable bowler for dhoni at this tournament, his first ball went for six, and srilanka required 7 to win from 5 balls, there was another twist in the over when Mathew got run out on the second last ball of the over with srilanka still requiring 3 to win. It would have been the greatest moment for kapugedare, he was confident and passionate, he hit nehra for six to long off and with it , left india thinking why did they kept playing IPL? :P
Now srilanka has almost secured place in the semi and they will be playing England.
This is new cricket for u, the modern day cricket. One over can change everything!

LUCKY PAKISTAN

Pakistan must invite england team for a dinner to show them how much they are greatfull to england team. pakistan surpsingly has qualified for semi finals. incredibly, pakistan has just won 2 games out of 5 and still managed to get into semi final, that what you call luck !
pakistan played good cricket against south africa, after losing 3 early wickets, two good partnerships lifted them to 148, and 148 would never have been easy for south africa considering pakistani spin attack. gibba was stunned by misbah's catch and it was the time for a awful, colorless team to get united and play like a team.
afrid must be appreciated by the way he marshalled his troops in the field, he was agrressive and at times, yelled at some of his fielders for sloppy work. every pakistani wanted to see pakistan team playing with passion and that is what was reflecting from pakistan yesterday.
ajmal and rehman bowled extremely well with ajmal taking 4 wickets was an exception on a pitch where south african spinner went for plenty.
pakistan watied for england to win the match, and it was a big relieve on part of afridi's head. probably, pakistan will be facing australia in the semi-final.
what should it be called? A blessing in disguise? an opportunity to take revenge of all the defeats in one match? will it be cracker or an one sider?
on paper, australia is too good for any team but considering the T20 format, any team on a given day can fall part so we will wait and see what happens ! :P

pakistan did well to reach 148

well after losing 3 quick wickets,pakistan still managed to score 148. that was a good effort. akmal brothers played really well especially the younger one, umer. he was the man who took the charge and left smith wondering about how to use his spin option.
razzak and misbah again failed today,but afiridi played well for his 30.
it will be interesting to see how south africa go about their chase considering pakistan has 4 spinning option and 1 quicky and 1 medium pacer.
cricket is a funny game, only one score of above 145 has been chased in this tournament, and it was against pakistan which england chased. cant wait for the match to start......