Can Cricket Compete With Football?

The biggest sport event on Earth, the FIFA World Cup-2010 is about to begin. Being held in South Africa, this will be the 19^th edition of the World’s most popular global event. FIFA World Cup is truly the biggest sports event when it comes to the craze, popularity and devotion. Even the Olympic Games cannot compete with the excitement and craziness that a FIFA world cup ignites. Soccer world cup is such a big event that people (like me) who normally do not follow football, are bound to take interest in the game!

Football or Soccer is the planets’ most popular game. Soccer has the world’s largest fan following on Earth. It’s fast, it’s exciting and it’s highly competitive. People are crazy about Football.

FIFA, the Federation of International Football Association, is the worlds’ most influential and powerful sport governing body.

So, why I opted to write on Soccer World Cup-2010? Actually, I got the feeling that I should write something about the comparison between Cricket & Soccer, or ICC & FIFA, for that matter.

Soccer is said to have a Chinese origin, where it was discovered by the English and is now the most followed sport in 93 countries with a two-billion population. 

FIFA has 208 member nations. The English Premier League (EPL) and the Champions League are the most popular football leagues. Soccer also has the largest base of diehard fans, players and professional leagues in the world’s largest economy, Europe.

As mentioned above, the FIFA World Cup is the biggest and most lucrative sporting event in the world. The 2006 tournament, involving 64 matches, 32 nations and television coverage in 214 countries, had a cumulative television audience of 26 billion people. According to another report, the final between Italy and France was watched by 700 million viewers.

Well, everybody knows Soccer or Football is the world’s most popular sport. But which sport comes 2^nd, it is highly debatable. The popularity level is measured in terms of total estimated followers/fans for a particular sport. The most recent records as

Sania Mirza Weds Shoaib Malik: Tennis Ball On Cricket Pitch!!

By: Sana Khan

A surprising but pleasant news hit the world this week when the two sports stars from Pakistan and India confirmed their engagement reports. Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan Cricket Captain and Hot and sizzling Sania Mirza, the top Indian Tennis Star are going to get married in the mid of April.

This is not the first time a wedding is being taken place between an Indo-Pak couple: There are plenty of such examples including former Pakistan Cricket Star and current Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Team, Mohsin Khan who married Rina Rai, an Indian Film Actress. Apart from the celebrities from India and Pakistan, there are dozens of couples belonging to the two rival countries and living a happy life together.

The Pakistan Cricket star Shoaib Malik hails from Sialkot, Punjab. Sania Mirza, on the other hand belongs to a Hyderabad Deccan, India. Both are Muslims.

I was personally shocked to hear this news, because there is no match between hot Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik. Oh come on, these two are totally different individuals, from totally different backgrounds, play totally different sports, and represent totally different (in fact, rival) countries. But maybe this is why it is said that couples are made up in the skies! In other words, “Rub Ney Bana Di Jorri…”

But there is one common thing between Shoaib Malik and hot Sania Mirza (of course, apart from being Muslims), and that is

Will IPL Survive?

Well it’s a difficult question to answer, isn’t it? The Indian Premiere League (IPL) has come up with a bang. Everyone in the Cricket World, especially in India, is talking about IPL, the Indian Premiere League. How long IPL Indian Premiere League (IPL) will survive?

Let’s have a look at the top pros and cons of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) on Indian Cricket, Asian Cricket, and International Cricket:

 IPL Pros:

IPL generates money: The Indian Premiere League is a unique platform where every cricket player, international or local Indian cricket players, can earn billions of dollars for a single season. No other cricket league provides such huge revenues for cricketers like the Indian Premiere League (IPL) does.

IPL as platform for Young Indian Cricketers: The Indian Premiere League (IPL) is providing a great platform for the local, upcoming Indian Cricket players. These youngsters have the wonderful opportunity to play with stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Kumar Sangakara, Shane Warne, Brett Lee… and the list goes on and on. Indian Premiere League (IPL) also provides a huge opportunity for the youngsters to get exposure, get experience to play under pressure and of course, earn a lot of money.

IPL Has Glamour: The Indian Premiere League not only provides money, but it has all the glamour from the Indian Film Industry the Bollywood. Hot Indian Actress

Match-Fixing: Which Pakistan Cricket Players Are Involved & Why?

This has not happened for the first time with Pakistan Cricket supporters. Yes I am talking about Match-Fixing in Pakistan Cricket. When everyone in Pakistan, support the Pakistan Cricket Team, they pray for their national Cricket team’s success, they talk about Pakistan Cricket Team and Pakistan Cricket players with great passion, love and respect. Why these ‘great’ heroes of Pakistan Cricket, sell their national pride for a small sum of money. The Match-Fixing is a monster which has swallowed the pride of Pakistan Cricket; it has brought shame, disrespect and humiliation to the Pakistan Cricket and disappointment for the Die-hard lovers of Pakistan Cricket.

Why am I writing about Match-Fixing today? Because I just read news about a Senate’s Committee of Sports, who has held a meeting with top brass of Pakistan Cricket Board, including Mr. Ejaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. After the session, the senators told the media that “We have witnessed some solid evidence suggesting that more than one player of the current Pakistan Cricket team was involved in match-fixing”. The senators also said that the “evidences were circumstantial but convincing”.

In one of my earlier posts, I had strongly supported the bans, fines on Pakistan Cricket (you can read this post to know the reasons why I supported the decision).  But at that time, it was not clear that one of the reasons behind these penalties were Match-Fixing. I can’t understand why the hell in this world only Pakistan Cricket players are accused of Match-Fixing. Why Pakistan Cricket heroes sell their identity, their pride, the love of their fans for earning a few dollars? Are they morally dead?

It has been confirmed that Ex-captains of Pakistan Cricket team, Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousaf, and Shahid Afridi were not involved in Match-Fixing. And I firmly believe (somehow) that none of these players can be involved in such a criminal activity as Match-Fixing. However, the reports suggest that the players of Pakistan Cricket Team who are involved in Match Fixing

Indefinite Ban on Younis, Yousaf: Pakistan Cricket in Shambles?

I was shocked (just like all of you) when I heard this news. Pakistan Cricket got a bad day. There were media reports about one year ban on Pakistan Cricket players, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan and fines on Shahid Afridi (the Boom Boom of Pakistan Cricket), Kamran Akmal, and Umer Akmal, but no one was expecting a lifetime ban on players like Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousaf who are the backbone of Pakistan Cricket Team.

In the last post I had discussed about the Pakistan Cricket Board Committee’s Recommendation on Bans, Fines of Pakistan Cricket Players. In that post I had supported the committee’s recommendations for the ban and fine on Pakistan Cricket Players citing the different reasons. However, when I read the news about the lifetime ban on Mohammed Yousaf and Younis Khan, I was totally surprised. Both them are the most senior, experienced and skillful batsmen in the Pakistan Cricket Team.

So, what’s my take on this decision from Pakistan Cricket Board? Well, I totally support the Bans and Fines on Pakistan Cricket Players. I know some of the bans (especially the ones imposed on Mohammed Yousaf & Younis Khan) seem to be a bit harsh, but let me tell you

The dilemma of Pakistan Cricket!

Have you ever thought why there are so many problems with Pakistan Cricket or any other sport for that matter, like Hockey?

Believe you me, like all of you, I am also disappointed with the performance of Pakistan Cricket team in the recent times. Except from the T20 World Cup, Pakistan’s performance has been rather humiliating. But what is more important is the reason behind such a ‘consistent’ poor show. Well, of course there are many reasons behind the Pakistan cricket disaster. But I believe the root cause is Politics!

To me, the major reason is the way the institutions are run in Pakistan; like other institutions, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board or the Pakistan Hockey Federation (for that matter) are appointed by the President of Pakistan. There is no criteria whatsoever that can be followed in this process. Since nothing in Pakistan is free of politics, the appointment of the head of PCB is mainly undertaken on

Does Shoaib Akhter Deserve A Place in Pakistan Team?

The man who hit the 100 miles per hour speed milestone in fast bowling, not too long before but today he is struggling to make his place in the Pakistani National Cricket Team: Yes you are right, I am talking about Shoaib Akhter.

Shoaib has had a very short but volatile career on the field. Since his debut in Test Cricket against the West Indies in 1997 at his home ground Rawalpindi, Shoaib has spent little time in the field than in courts, press conferences, gossips, controversies etc.

Now, the current board has declared that Shoaib Akhter’s international career has come to an end! The Rawalpindi Express has played the last test in 2007 against India; about 4 years back… that’s a lot of time guys!

I tell you what, I don’t agree to the most of decisions and comments made by the Ejaz \Butt-led PCB. However, I don’t find any arguments against this one! It’s sad enough to say such words about a player of Shaoib’s caliber. He is fast, furious and deadly, but only if he is fit.

Among other things that have kept Shoaib out of the ground, poor fitness has been the major hurdle. I know he gets unfit because