Pak’s ''''risky'''' decision to rest key pacers for Zimbabwe tour paid off: Mohsin

Karachi, Sept 16 : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Selector Mohsin Khan has said that the decision to rest fast bowlers Umer Gul and Wahab Riaz and inject new talent, including fast bowler Aizaz Cheema and leg-spinner Yasir Shah, into the team for the Zimbabwe tour has paid dividends. The team, featuring new faces, whitewashed Zimbabwe in the three-match one-dayers after winning the one-off Test.
Mohsin felt exonerated since it never was an easy task to attain such results against a resurgent Zimbabwe, who were enjoying an excellent run after defeating Bangladesh.
“If I’ll say I was not afraid that the decision would bounce, I’d be wrong. There were some fears because we took a risk, but they were taken with honesty in the team interest,” The Express Tribune quoted Mohsin, as saying.
“We wanted to test new faces to form a back-up pool, which is my prime objective since I took over as the chief selector,” he pointed out, adding, “Today, I can say we have back-up of players in nearly every department.”
Talking about the chance they took over a tricky opposition, Mohsin said, “We never took Zimbabwe as weak opponents, but at some point, we had to take chances to give new players opportunities ahead of the tough series against Sri Lanka and England.”
Mohsin said that the tour has so far been successful for Pakistan, adding that the team''''s “splendid performance” against Zimbabwe “deserves applause”.
The chief selector, however, warned the team of complacency in the Twenty20s, noting that Zimbabwe had the ability to bounce back.
“It [Twenty20 series] will be a different ball game,” he said. “The Pakistan team would have to work hard to beat the hosts because in this format, any team can win.”

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Qureshi-Bopanna slip in rankings after US Open loss

Rohan Bopanna (L) of India and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (R) of Pakistan at the 2011 US Open.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has dropped five places in the ATP rankings after his semi-final loss at the 2011 US Open.
Qureshi is now ranked 15th in the doubles individual rankings while Indian partner Rohan Bopanna is at no. 14. Together, the Indo-Pak Express is ranked at no. 7 in the new ATP rankings.
Mike and Bob Bryan of the US continue their dominance of men’s doubles tennis and lead the rankings.

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Pakistan’s ACT performance will put pressure on seniors: Junaid

KARACHI: Pakistan’s national hockey team manager Khawaja Junaid said on Tuesday that he was not ruling out the comeback of senior players into the national team provided they proved their form and fitness in the camp.
“Good performance from the younger players in the recent Asian Champions Trophy has created more competition and seniors will have to prove their form and fitness to make a comeback into the team,” he said in an interview on Wednesday upon his return from Ordos, China.
Selection committee headed by ex-Olympian Hanif Khan rested veteran players like goalkeeper Salman Akbar, penalty-corner expert Sohail Abbas and forward Rehan Butt for the ACT and yet Pakistan managed to reach the final of the high-profile event which was decided on penalty-shootout.
“I will present my viewpoint and feedback to the selection committee and the PHF and it is upto them to decide the future of the seniors,” Junaid commented.
“But one thing is clear that now the seniors will have to fight for their places in the team because the youngsters have shown their potential in the event. It now creates more competition among the players for the London Olympics squad,” he stressed.
Coach Junaid described the loss in the final “as sheer bad luck” and said the boys put up a great show. Commenting on the wasted penalty-corners in the regulation time, he admitted that it was unfortunate that the Pakistanis could not get the best out of the corners which came their way.
Junaid said while Shakeel Abbasi and Haseem Khan were outstanding among the forwards, teenagers Ali Shan, and Umer Bhutta showed the spark upfront.
Responding to a question about former Pakistan captain and centre-half Waseem Ahmed, he said he had a good tournament plus young guns Muhammad Rizwan, Kashif Shah and Tausiq also proved their worth. He dispelled the impressions that Pakistan midfield and defence was weak.
The coach expressed hope that Pakistan will be able to develop a pool of players before the next year’s Olympic Games and added that the team’s next assignment in Australia, where they will appear in a 3-nation event in October, will further help the young guns to establish themseveles.

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Pakistan thrash Maldives 4-0 in AFC U-16 opener

KARACHI: Pakistan teenagers got off to a great start in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Football Championship qualifying rounds as they thrashed Maldives 4-0 in the opening match at Ali Al Sabah Stadium, Kuwait City under lights on Tuesday.

Pakistan boys maintained their fine run after winning the SAFF U-16 Championship victory as they torn apart Maldives defence.

According to report received from Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Pakistan took the lead after 13 minutes when Muhammad Bilal scored off a well-placed pass from star striker Mansoor Khan. Bilal's shot hit the post and went in as Pakistan went 1-0 up.

Three minutes later, Mansoor got his name on the scoresheet when his well-placed shot just inside the box found the net as Maldives defence were in complete disarray.

At half-time, Pakistan looked comfortable 2-0. In 63rd minute, a Mansoor Khan cross found the head of Bilal, who flicked it on for impressive winger Sher Ali who finished with aplomb as Pakistan went 3-0 up and took the game well beyond the reach of Maldives. Midfielder Raza Ali then made it 4-0 when his 20 yard shot flew past the goalkeeper three minutes later as Pakistan ended the game with a dominating performance over their fellow SAFF rivals.

In other games of the group, Yemen was held 1-1 by UAE, Kuwait came from behind to draw Afghanistan 1-1 earlier in the day to avoid a humiliating loss. The results mean that Pakistan is currently on top in Group B with three points. Pakistan now faces hosts Kuwait in next game on Thursday.

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