All countries’ll be given full security: President Zardari

Officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) here today met with President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of the board.

The President directed to improve the performance of the national cricket team.

Present at the meeting held at the Aiwan-e-Sadar were chairman PCB Ijaz Butt, CEO Saleem Altaf, director-general Javed Miandad, director HR Wasim Bari, federal minister for sports Pir Aftab Jilani, federal secretary sports Ashraf Khan and Sindh minister for sports Dr Muhammad Ali Shah.

The PCB officials gave briefing to the President on the projects of the board, Champions Trophy scheduled in September-October, Sri Lanka’s recent tour of Pakistan and other matters.

Ijaz Butt told the President that the PCB would organize an international tournament in memory of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, on which the President assured him of his fullest cooperation in this regard.

The President welcomed the Sri Lankan team’s tour of Pakistan and said that Pakistan is a safe country for sports.

He said that the foreign countries must tour Pakistan and the government would provide them every possible security.

In view of Pakistan’s worst defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the recent home series, President Zardari directed the PCB officials to improve the performance of the national team.
The President distributed prizes among the prominent performers in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Twenty20 Championship.

PCB demands report on Pakistan’s worst defeat

The predictable fallout from a disastrous loss to Sri Lanka in the series-deciding ODI at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore has begun with the PCB asking Shoaib Malik and the Pakistan team management to submit a detailed report of the loss by Tuesday.

Pakistan were bowled out for just 75, their lowest total at home, and it resulted in their heaviest defeat ever in terms of runs, by 234 runs, in the third ODI third ODI on Saturday. Malik, coach Intikhab Alam and chief selector Abdul Qadir have also been summoned by the senate's sports committee to explain the reasons behind the loss.

"I have instructed Yawar Saeed (manager) and coach Intikhab Alam to give their detailed comments on the defeat in the next two days so that we can find out what happened. The board wants to know what has to be done to rectify the situation and set things right,"

Ijaz Butt, chairman of the PCB, said.

"We can't tolerate such poor performances from anyone. Like others I am also surprised at the way our batsmen played but I can't make any further comment until receiving a detailed report,"

he added.

A number of aspects of the performance are likely to come under the scanner, from the dropping of Sohail Tanvir, to going in with three spinners when all the talk had been of using pace.

Salman Butt's decision to go off the field with two overs left in the Sri Lanka innings, which eventually prevented him from opening the innings and requiring a re-jig in the batting order was another in a long line of costly mistakes. Asked whether the team management was aware of the rules, Butt said the opener had been told by the manager, but got late.

"It could be one of the reasons because [Salman] Butt was one of the in-form batsmen. However, there is no excuse too be bowled out for just 75,"

the chairman said.

Pakistan down to fifth position in ODI rankings

Pakistan have slipped one place to fifth in the ICC One-day International ranking table following their 2-1 series defeat at home to Sri Lanka.

Although Shoaib Malik’s team won the first ODI of the series in Karachi, it then proceeded to lose the second and third matches after impressive displays by the visitors.

That means Pakistan lost three ratings points and dropped below New Zealand into fifth place on the table.

For their part, Sri Lanka has gained two ratings points from that series and as a result stay in seventh position but they are now just one point behind England in sixth spot.

Meanwhile, Nuwan Kulasekara, the Sri Lanka medium-pacer, has climbed to No.2 in the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers after an impressive run of performances since his return to the team in April 2008. In that period, he has taken 40 wickets at an average of 18, including five wickets in the last two ODIs of the series against Pakistan, where he wrecked the top order to help his team win both the games by sizeable margins.

Kulasekara moves ahead of team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan — who is now in fourth place — while Australian left-armer Nathan Bracken has fallen to the No. 3 spot.

Two Bangladesh players — Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza — have made it to the top ten after a series of notable displays against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home. Shakib — who has climbed 15 places to reach No. 6 — has taken 11 wickets in his last six ODIs at 10.81, while Mortaza, now ranked ninth, has fared just as well, with 14 wickets in as many games.

For Pakistan, Sohail Tanvir’s failure in the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka — he conceded 85 runs in 12 overs for a wicket and was promptly dropped — has cost him a place in the top ten. He slips ten places to No.17.