Silence descends on Karachi after defeat to India
Karachi: An eerie silence descended on Pakistan’s biggest city on Sunday after its national cricket team was annihilated in the much-hyped up World Cup game against India in Adelaide. Dubbed as ‘war without the guns’ the passionate Pakistani cricket community including former players, pundits, critics and fans were left disappointed and dejected after watching Misbah-ul-Haq and his men fail to stop the Indian juggernaut against them in World Cup. Since the wee hours there was an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation for the match here as boys and girls dressed in the traditional green shirts went around blaring horns and playing songs before finally getting down to watch the live action. Big screens were installed at closed and open spaces as fans converged to watch the match. In the distance one could hear horns blaring and at times even celebratory gunfire during the match when Pakistan did well. But these times were few and at the end of the match it was the same old story for the fans. “Now we have to wait for another four years to try to end this jinx. Yaar what is this team… didn’t they realise the importance of the occasion. Look at how Dhoni and his players remained focused,” an irate cricket fan Sabrina said in the upmarket Clifton area. There was a grudging admiration for Virat Kohli in the cricket discussions taking place at pan shops, coffee outlets and tea stalls as the roads which were supposed to be filled with fans celebrating remained deserted even after the match. (PTI)
Amitabh makes impressive commentary debut
Adelaide: With his famed baritone, supertsar Amitabh Bachchan today made an impressive commentary debut in the high-voltage India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match, here on Sunday. The legendary actor started off his on-air stint with former India captain Kapil Dev and ex-Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar in the pre-match show. Bachchan, 72, then eased into the commentary box with Akash Chopra and Akhtar for company. Trying to get his field placements right and making sharp comments about opener Shikhar Dhawan’s technique against the short ball, Bachchan seemed to pick up the ropes of commentary pretty quickly. Kapil soon joined the towering Bollywood legend in the box and the Haryana hurricane egged on the actor to keep up the good work. The joy continued for many a Bachchan fan, as Rahul Dravid and Arun Lal also shared the microphone with the matinee idol as they discussed India’s winning moments in the World Cup. Keen to know about the actor’s whereabouts during the 1983 Prudential Cup final, Dravid, looking like an avid Bachchan admirer, got his answers from the man himself. Sitting in the Hindi box for the first half-hour of the match, Bachchan not only saw a six from the blade of Dhawan but was also witness to Rohit Sharma’s wicket in the eighth over off Sohail Khan. (PTI)
Ajmal slams Umpire Davis for referrel decision during WC match
Karachi: Pakistan off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal on Sunday alleged that ICC umpire, Steve Davis had victimized Pakistan after he ruled Umar Akmal caught behind on a referral decision during their high-octane World Cup opener against India in Adelaide. “Steve Davis never upheld any appeal when I bowled and I had to always ask for a referral to get a wicket when he was the umpire,” Ajmal said on Dunya news channel. The channel played up the dismissal of Umar Akmal during the match as a supposed conspiracy against Pakistan. And Ajmal and two other former test players, Sarfaraz Nawaz and Imran Nazir also backed his arguments. “Steve Davis has always had issues with us and even when we didn’t want him for a match no one listened to us,” Ajmal said. The show’s presenter highlighted the fact that Davis had made negative comments about Pakistan after the militants attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009. (PTI)