Osman Samiuddin
Stupidity of staggering proportions
After a recent and fairly commendable upturn in fortunes, once again Pakistan shoots itself and watches bemused as the world sniggers
Osman Samiuddin
A fortnight of Walkmans
The Champions Trophy has hardly been what it's cracked up to be, but now, with ODIs in terminal decline, it might show there's hope for the format yet
Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ICC World Twenty20 final, Lord's
A time to laugh, a time to heal
Pakistan's win will do little in literal terms for the war on terror but it has brought respite from death and bombs and given a nation the gift of celebration
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Men with je ne sais quoi
Pakistan's march to the final is a tale of teams who sometimes do things nobody expects them to... more
All emotion, no logic
Why the PCB's move to press charges against the ICC for the loss of the World Cup is misguided... more
Sad, but it's the right call
The ICC's decision to remove Pakistan from the list of World Cup hosts was inevitable; now Pakistan must focus on finding an alternate base for their future home contests... more
The right choice by default
Younis Khan happens to be Pakistan's sole realistic choice as captain; he's probably the right one as well... more
And what of Pakistan?
England's decision to return to India highlights the double standards most countries exhibit when dealing with security issues... more
A soft target, an old hand
Geoff Lawson was a convenient whipping boy, but it just may be that Intikhab Alam is the right choice for Pakistan at the moment... more
A devastating decision
The decision to effectively cancel the Champions Trophy completely alienates Pakistan - as a cricket team and as a nation... more
Split wide open
Cricket's clash of cultures is now more pronounced than ever, and money lies at the root... more
How many leagues can cricket sustain?
Why the marketer's dream of a Premier League in every country is a pie in the sky ... more
Throwing it all away
The tragedy of the latest scandal to envelop Mohammad Asif is the potential loss of his gifts to Pakistan and cricket... more
The final episode in the Shoaib soap opera?
This affair is not a drama anymore, just a series of pathetic jousts between an unruly fool and a succession of inept administrations. Where will it end?... more
An unfortunate, hard-biting reality
Ultimately, there is no clear wrong or right in this. Pakistan lose out in many ways but Australia's decision not to tour cannot be wholly and forcefully condemned... more
Welcome to the inquisition
The IPL, and its creator the BCCI, is sparing no rod to make sure the ICL is ground into the dust - the rest of world cricket be damned ... more
A glimmer of hope
The failures of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan have given the other players an opportunity to take charge and the response has been heartening... more
Misbah walks the finishing tight-rope
Misbah-ul-Haq's only flaw is that he doesn't yet finish, he doesn't leave an asterisk beside his name often enough... more
Passing on the choker tag
Pakistan v South Africa, 5th ODI, Lahore
Pakistan threw it all away in a manner to rival the best efforts of their opponents, South Africa... more
The Pathan takes charge
Pakistan v South Africa, 3rd ODI, Faisalabad
On some days it just isn't worth anyone's while, running into Shahid Afridi... more
Blinded by spin, Pakistan lost the contest
In between the start of the ICC World Twenty20 and South Africa's arrival at the end of September, Pakistan became a nation of spin... more
The Twenty20 hangover gone wrong
Pakistan v South, 2nd Test, Lahore, 2nd day
While the bowlers seemed to forget the yorkers against the tailenders, Pakistan's batsman did no better, appearing to be stuck in the Twenty20 mode... more
The stodge and the fury
Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Karachi, 4th day
Following Jacques Kallis's hundred, Younis Khan's madcap counter in the last session showed that Pakistan are also in the game, though only just... more
Pakistan tangled in their own web
Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Karachi, 4th day
When did spin, not pace, become Pakistan's calling card?... more
Malik finds his slot
Shoaib Malik and Paul Harris were the stars of the day... more
A day where left-arm spinners dominated
Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Karachi, 2nd day
Two left-arm spinners took six wickets between them today in the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa. Is the art of left-arm becoming fashionable again?... more
South African batsmen get their house in order
Pakistan v South Africa, 1st Test, Karachi, 1st day
Win the toss, bat first, top order fires, score big; as first-day plans go, it is hardly out of the box, but when it comes off, down to the last letter as it did today for South Africa, tried, trusted and tested will do... more
Drastic fantastic comes easy to Pakistan
Pakistan might be better tuned to Twenty20's frequency than others
A semi-final appearance in a major tournament after the year Pakistan have had, including only a seventh win from 35 matches in any type of game against Australia since 1999, is reason enough to overplay the significance of this tournament... more
Muddy waters run deep
The only active internationals to sign for the ICL are from Pakistan - an indictment of the players, the PCB, and the relationship between the two... more
Logic has gone for a six
Just why was Yousuf omitted from the Twenty20 squad?
Nothing illustrates more lucidly the mysterious, whimsical workings of Pakistan selection committees than the decision not to select Mohammad Yousuf in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa... more
Pace lessons - past meets future
The latest pace bowling camp in Lahore was as good a finishing school as any in Pakistan... more
All you need is pace
Shoaib Akhtar on life, death and fast bowling as the raison d'etre of existence
Even on the sidelines, Shoaib Akhtar is a magnet for the spotlight and plays his starring role to perfection... more
The World Cup merry-go-round
The coaching clearout that has followed the World Cup... more
South Asian shuffle
The joy of cricket has moved south and east on the subcontinent
Cricket's spiritual base in the subcontinent has shifted from its long-time home in India and Pakistan southwards to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka... more
Darkest before dawn
What lies ahead for Pakistan cricket as they search for a new captain, coach and selection committee... more
So long, Inzi
Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Group D, Jamaica
Like Bob Woolmer, this is not the way Inzamam-ul-Haq should have bid adieu to cricket, or at least ODI cricket, stumbling out of the World Cup disastrously... more
Hope and half a team
The team being Pakistan a shambolic selection can still usher in a great run
In fact, if you inhale hard enough, you might just catch a whiff already of an impending clear-out post-World Cup, just like 2003... more
What's gone wrong with Kamran Akmal?
Pakistan in South Africa, 2006-07
Kamran Akmal's wicketkeeping form has slumped alarmingly since 2006. Osman Samiuddin speaks to Rashid Latif and Wasim Bari to try and spot the reasons for the decline... more
The best, the worst, the Warne-derful
The highs and lows of 2006 relived... more
The latest twist in Shoaib soap
Pakistan in South Africa, 2006-07
Shoaib Akhtar's ommission from the Pakistan squad to tour South Africa is just another twist in the saga that is his career... more
The Afridi affair
Can team and player make up before the World Cup?
Osman Samiuddin on the fickle relationship between Shahid Afridi and Pakistan cricket... more
Sarwan: ODI champion, Test maverick
Pakistan v West Indies, 2nd Test, Multan
In the absence of West Indian journalists, it was left to the local breed to express surprise at the dropping of Ramnaresh Sarwan. No injuries, it was pointedly announced, so it must have been form... more
Creating a winning team
Attendees were to formulate a strategy to enable Pakistan to win the World Cup... more
Headline
... more
An intriguing battle beckons
West Indies in Pakistan, 2006-07
Pakistan will take any cricket, soft or hard, after the autumn they have just undergone. Just playing, you sense, will be relief enough... more
Running with scissors
There is little need for a self-inflicted migraine
Osman Samiuddin looks at Nasim Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, and how his remarks on religion have really revved up the chattering classes... more
A deeply stirring spectacle
Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 3rd match, Champions Trophy
Osman Samiuddin watches Pakistan bounce back from their recent travails... more
Pakistan revert to familiar disarray
Reports in Pakistan are suggesting that Mohammad Yousuf has been appointed captain for the Champions Trophy in place of Younis Khan, who earlier today refused to take up the Pakistan captaincy. ... more
More than an inconvenient truth
When Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove decreed Pakistan guilty of ball tampering on the afternoon of August 20, 2006, they were venturing into uncharted international territory... more
Justice still awaits
Having seen Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan team cleared of ball tampering charges and Pakistan the country, a slur removed and its honour restored, sights were set trained on Darrell Hair... more
Otherwise pandemonium
Pakistan tour of England, 2006
Pakistan outright lost the Test series against England this summer and though they drew the one-day international series, never has a draw been more a loss than this... more
It's Hair's word against Pakistan's
England v Pakistan, 4th Test, The Oval
Not much clarity has yet emerged from the stinking carcass of the match on any of the many grave issues involved. One thing though is becoming clear and it is a time-honoured truism; like the tango, it takes more than one.... more
Painful and sadly predictable
England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Headingley, 5th day
Lurking nastily beneath all the hopes Pakistani fans must have harboured last night at the prospect of a spectacular heist lay the fear of a day like this... more
Pakistan defy Headingley history
England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Headingley, 2nd day
Osman Samiuddin watches a Pakistan side defy the history of Headingley... more
Trouble in the left-arm front
A history of Pakistan's struggles against left-arm spinners
Pakistan's Old Trafford shellacking was, a Pakistani paper sagely observed, one of their worst ever under Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq ... more
The opening conundrum
Osman Samiuddin tracks Pakistan's age-old dilemma - the search for that seasoned, durable, Test opener... more
These boots were made for filling
Pakistan's age-old dilemma - the search for that seasoned, durable, Test opener - still remains... more
Inzamam or Younis?
Inzamam-ul-Haq or Younis Khan? Osman Samiuddin ponders over the big question... more
The thin red line
Pakistan v India, 3rd ODI, Lahore
Nowhere are lines between success and failure thinner than in ODIs... more
Inzamam's reaction leaves a bad taste
Peshawar dismissal row rumbles on
Osman Samiuddin on how Inzamam-ul-Haq's post-match reaction to his controversial dismissal at Pashawar was so wide of the mark... more
Shoulder injury forced Rana out
India in Pakistan, 2nd Test, Faisalabad 2005-06
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan's surprising omission from the second Test at Faisalabad was the result of a minor shoulder injury... more
Playing safe could mean sorry
India in Pakistan, 2nd Test, Faisalabad 2005-06
The omission of Naved-ul-Hasan may backfire... more
Sami the enigmatic
Just what do you do with the boy Mohammad Sami, asks Osman Samiuddin... more
Making a pitch for favourable weather
Wasim Akram wanted them hard and bouncy. Inzamam-ul-Haq wanted them fast and bouncy. The PCB, according to its official newsletter, also wanted them fast and bouncy.... more
Amber signal
Umar Gul reflects on his last crack at the Indians two years ago... more
And now for the weather
As the fulcrum of Pakistan's first conventional home season - hosting two series of three Tests - since 1998-99 approaches, an infrequent theme lingers through it - the weather... more
Throwing out the stigma
Osman Samiuddin weighs in on the chucking controversy... more
Grace under fire
Inzamam-ul-Haq's best innings have been compiled when the pressure has been at its greatest, and Inzamam at his most unflappable... more
An 8000-strong multitude
Pakistan's thinning spectator numbers
Eight thousand isn't exactly the intimidating throng but those familiar with downwardly spiraling spectator numbers in Pakistan will think it heaven-sent... more
Return of the prodigal
Hasan Raza survives the sieve of Pakistani selection
Incredulously, given Pakistan's not unjust reputation for wanton squandering of talent, Hasan Raza is still around... more
A tumultuous past
Encounters between Pakistan and England have rarely lacked for drama, controversy and incident. Cricinfo charts a troubled 51-year relationship, leaving out only two series - those in 1971 and 1996 - that went off without any trouble... more
Shock, stock and spin
Danish Kaneria remains a matchwinner for Pakistan
From five years ago, England will find a changed Kaneria. He has improved, sharply in the last year, and unsurprisingly, for a successful legspinner, he doesn't lack for confidence. In his breakthrough series last year against Australia - 15 wickets and R... more
Spinning hangovers and opening gaps
Pakistan's choice of picking five spinners, for the series against England, will make the headlines but choosing only one specialist opener leaves one stumped, writes Osman Samuiddin... more
An oriental art comes full circle
Reverse swing is playing a huge role in the current Ashes series and experts are analysing every aspect of the art. What's all the fuss about... more
On collapses
What to watch for when New Zealand play Pakistan... more
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