While the World Cup tries to recover from the murder of Bob Woolmer more than the departure of two former Asian powerhouses, the lesson for India and Pakistan is a simple one: "You have four years to prepare a team of professional sportsmen (and that also means athletes), selected by committees that implement a ruthless meritocracy, and supported by cricket boards that run the business and the administration rather than meddle with team affairs."

Of course, India and Pakistan will do none of these things. They will flatter to deceive and then recreate this shambles in the next World Cup. This tournament has reminded us that life is more valuable than sport but it has also clarified that arrogance, decadence, and incompetence are not a formula for success. Let's hope that the introspection this World Cup has induced will help India and Pakistan understand what professionalism is all about. If they have any lingering doubts they might spend the next few weeks watching how Australia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka expect equally high standards from the aged and the inexperienced.

This World Cup has ambushed Asia's giants but it has also shown them how far they have been left behind in international one-day cricket. It will take some serious structural and attitudinal reform to be properly competitive again.

I guess both pakistan and india should be more and more agressive and professional in their approach if they want to survive in international circuit as heavy weights.Otherwise both of them have seen what their future is going to be if they are taking defensive decisions,having aged players,defensive captains,poor management.Now i would like to talk about pakistan,first of all i think they must have a strict and agressive person as Chairman of cricket board,more like touqeer zia rather than Shehryar or Ashraf..etc ..i think intikhab alam should be the new coach,younis khan or shoaib malik captain.only 100% fit players must be there.No more compromises on fitness atleast,then salman butt should be back in the side,he is the most talented of the openers and future captain(going to be the 1st agressive captain of pakistan after a long time inshalah).He and malik should be the openers,middle order is fine.now i ll like to say that shoaib and asif are more responsible for this defeat,they must be punished atleast.

Arithmetic error - the tournament has been stripped of eleven heavyweight games (if at all that), not twelve.

"But the tournament has been stripped of twelve heavyweight encounters."

My foot. If Pakistan and India were both comprehensively beaten by Bangladesh and Ireland, what chances do you think they would have had in the Super 8's? They would have gotten rolled over by the other "heavyweights" just they got rolled over by West Indies and Sri Lanka.

End of story.

I have been discussing the format of this tournament for some time now and to most that I've talked to the format is too harsh on a team for just one bad day. I'm glad that you've raised this point. Some might call it an excuse asking why only India and Pakistan had to see that one bad day. But it can be safely claimed that no matter how incompetent these two sides were, they were at least good enough to be in the super 8's. An elimination from there would have surely happened, for both weren't good enough to get to the semis (At least Pakistan wasn't, India was actually one of the strongest team on paper going into the tournament).

We all know how ruthless every other side will be in the next round, and it's safe to bet that Ireland will go home without a triumph. Although, Bangladesh are strong enough to upset at least England and New Zealand, they will definitely not make it to the semis. It is therefore useless to have a format that doesn't take into account factors such as a bad toss or a green top with a cloud cover or several other things that can really cause a major upset. Super 8's is supposed to have the eight best teams of the tournament against each other. We can now ask, are Ireland & Bangladesh two of the best teams in the tournament? The format should have aided in selection of the best teams. It was instead put forward as means of fitting in the minnows.

I think we should be discussing the trial by Media that is taking place off not only the team.But Pakistan as an entire nation.

This blog is an eye-opener to the cricketing authorities in Pakistan. We have failed miserably in every sports, we know that how much resources have been allocated to 16 people. This is not only failure of our cricket team but also a true reflection of our system. We have been ruled by two percent majority of this country who learned all the rules from west but never implemented anything in Pakistan. Criket is an industry like IT to be run as Microsoft Corporation. We need a corporation run by Marketing, Finance, Organization major guys

Only thing I agree with is that Super 8 stage is deprived of 11 not 12 heavy weight matches. Bangladesh has beated Australia in England. Any team can lose one-day match and thats what happened with India and Pakistan. I am sure, they are capable to win next 20 matches in a row against Bandladesh and Ireland without any problem.

I think the truly depressing thing about the disgusting state of Pakistani cricket today is that it is really a microcosm into our equally disgusting society. We as Pakistanis keep trying to look at cricket as the only thing that is above the rot in our society, and hold these players to higher standards than we hold our politicians, civil servants and generals. These guys are also Pakistanis and they have grown up in the same depraved society. I agree with you Kamran...... in four years the Pakistani team will be held to the same unreasonable standards and will fail once again.

pak cricket has recd more than its fair share of criticism...most of the post ireland reactions were overreactions. fact is, they were ranked 3, before the world cup, for quite a long period of time...that they slipped in one match doesnt indicate that teams like NZ, SL, Eng and WI have become better.

No matter how badly Pak and India played OR you can say how good their opponents were on that day, I would put 100% blame on ICC. More than 1 Billion passionate fans in the two countries, people deserve better than three games to watch in the current format of WC. We all know upsets could happen at any stage, and match fixing cannot be ruled out either, regardless neither Bangladesh nor Ireland are better teams overall than Pak and India. This WC comes after four years and majority of cricket lovers were deprived watching the premium cricket tournament by having groups and qualifying requirements for the top ICC test nations.

We already have such grouped format called ICC knockout tournament that we witnessed in 2006, WC is something that would have given a world champion title and ICC should not forget that Pak did manage to win the WC in 1992 after being almost out of the tournament. I believe the idea of Super8 came from failures of ICC from previous WC in 2003 where unfortunately South Africa was left out with Kenya going into the semi finals due to stupid rules. However ICC failed to realize the upset factor and hence failed to realize that we may not get the top 8 ranked teams by ICC in super8.

My recommendation would be to scrap the group system completely. Have the minnows play in groups and practice games with test nations. Super8 should be the top 8 teams in the past four year’s performance and shall play round robin to truly judge who is superior. Minnows, ICC can bring two top minnows based on the group performance into super8 or super10. Current Super8 will definitely represent true winner as it’s a round robin format, unfortunately, you will not have the two strong teams with maximum number of viewers participating in this battle.

I am sure and everyone would agree, teams tend to bounce back and have done so in the past given the opportunity. In 2007 WC, such opportunity was not presented to India and Pakistan. I am Indian fan and I really wanted to see how India would have performed against all top ICC teams, which was deprived due to idiotic rules of ICC. I hope ICC would learn from this mistake and correct the future of cricket, they better learn as they would be losing 70% of total estimated revenues by not having India and Pakistan participating in the True world cup stage.

well its about time PCB and BCCI will come to some sense. i just wonder like we could probably make a TV show like "the next great cricketer" something like that to get around ur country and look around for more talent and I am sure we will find some great cricketers in our country who will make our country proud.

Now hold on there........i dont get it y the world cup is given so much importance????i mean yeah it is the biggest tournament in the sport of cricket but its not the only thing.....the 4 years in between world cups are not only to build up for the next world cup .many other important tournaments also take place during this time.......getting knocked out from the world up does not mean the end of the world!!!!!!!!!

I would support the termination of Pakistan's current status as a cricketing nation, and drop them to Associate nation status, either for a set period (i.e. six months to a year) or until they get their act together both as an administration and as a team. It will only do them good, and that will subsequently do good for world cricket. Also it should give the Associates the decent competition they have been crying out for (i.e. Kenya).

India would be put on probabation, however the same result would apply if significant changes to Administration and subsequently the team were not made within a period of say six months to a year. A further assessment would be made at the end of this period, and if the situation had not improved, they would be relegated to Associate status like Pakistan. Again it would only do them good.

Zimbabwe would of course have it's status completely revoked and a ban put on matches against the country. Zimbabwe is currently on the verge of civil war, and until their problems are revolved it would be criminal of the ICC to turn a blind eye.

Bangladesh and Ireland should be rewarded for their efforts in this World Cup by the ICC, by providing them with more matches in their home countries. It is a prime opportunity for the ICC to promote the game, but the window will close if they do not act quickly.

It could be a Blessing in disguise. Now atleast, we will be back to drawing boards(very important) and prepare some good enough plan for the years to come.

i got an idea..
let the RUDE teams play ALONE in the carrabian!
and start our OWN world cup!!!
both teams are free now :). The best thing: both India and Pakistan will be in the Final and a subcontinental team will win :D!!!

My, my ---- from euphoric articles where Pakistan was the only team capable of beating Australia to this! However, you have finally got it right - we are rapidly being left behind in both forms of International cricket.

Even though it may be a favourite topic of subcontinental sports writers and its incompetent cricket administrators, let us not dwell and write on the next World Cup as it is 4 years away. How many times have we heard. years in advance, that "this game-or-that (no matter how meaningless) was good preparation for the World Cup". Does everything have to revolve around the World Cup? Is it the sun and are we the planets circling around it? In which case Australia must be Jupiter, SA Saturn, and Pakistan (pls feel free to interchange with India)must be Uranus (pun intended!)
Instead, as suggested, Pakistan should concentrate on "structural and attidunal reform", it's immediate schedule, and more importantly on real cricket (yes - Test cricket!).

P.S. If anyone suggests that Shahid Afridi should become the next captain of our cricket team, should bungee of Minar-E-Pakistan without the cord. In my opinion, this single celled being is one of the reasons our young batsmen have adopted a "lapaytoo" style of batting.

Rightly said so, however, more than Pakistan, India will feel the heat. There are several unbiased reasons for this. First of all, the huge amount of commercial advertisment and sponsorship money that went into the hopes of India winning the world cup. Up to 3000 crores were invested, and this amount is angering the fans too. But the fans do not care too much about the financial aspects as much as the loss of respect for this sport in a cricket mad nation. Pakistan never looked like a team urging with confidence and a well prepared team, with controversies regarding Shoaib Akhtar and Mohd Asif having hit the team hard. There was unrest among the players always and no such unity and I always believed this was never Pakistan's world cup. Although I was pretty shocked when they were handed the defeat by the Irish, I expected them to qualify for the super eight stage easily. Then again, it horrifies me to say this, but I firmly believe the betting mafia is behind this loss. But, the failure behind India is not that the players did not care, but the administration and the FANS themselves that have pampered them too much and made them bigger than the "Bollywood" stars. In terms of quality Ricky Ponting matches and even goes par the quality possessed by Sachin Tendulkar, yet he is the highest paid cricketer in the world with more than 50% of that salary coming from advertising revenues! How many advertisements do you see Ricky Ponting in? None.
The difference between Australia's management and India's management is there aim. BCCI is like
a "cash cow" and just wants to be rich at the expense of pride and integrity. Australia wants to develop the finest players in the world so that when they play the sport everybody knows who they playing against. Half of the job of getting the victory by Australia is done when a country knows they going to play against Australia. That is so because those countries know that when they step on to that circular field, they are gonna expect nuthing less than ruthless agression. Australia will never succumb under pressure and that is why the opposition knows that the only way to beat them is to be better than them on that day.
India possesses the quality of players but
doesnt possess a well unified team. They succumb easily under pressure. 48/2 and you know that the team is done and they are goona loose. Australia wont even say die if they are 48/9 Down. Brett Lee will come and hit 50 runs and save there face.
As a true Indian cricket fan, I do not loathe India's loss every country loses, but I hate the way they lose and do not committ towards the game. There is no fighting spirit, they decide the game evern before its over. THEY SELF DESTRUCT!
What I fear is, there will be changes to the
team and a lot of other repecurssions, but after few months when India plays a new series and the world cup fever is gone, BCCI will be back to its normal roots of "MONEY MAKING" and fans will forget whatever happened and cheer on their so called GODS. Very few true cricket fans like me will actually understand now that "I SHALL NOT WASTE MY MOMENTS OF LIFE IN SUPPORTING CORRUPTION;
BUT ONLY THE SPORT ITSELF!"

I was hoping that any one of South Asian teams would bring the world cup home. This would make the next world cup very interesting as this region would be hosting and defending the cup. With the shocking elimination of Pakistan and India, the onus is onto Sri Lanka now. Bangladesh has done well but they are still a long way from reaching the final.
Pakistan has been eliminated for its poor leadership. I am sure they have a very good captain in Yunus Khan available to them. They will definitely rebound.

Mr Abbassi,

I think you have hit the nail on the head on this issue.

I agree with every facet of your critique on the respective teams bar one.

Understandably the prospects of having the likes of matches such as India vs Aus or Pak vs South Africa etc, would be exciting, and would look pretty at face value and on drawcards. But all this would determine is the vast gap in quality when comparing players and administration from Pakistan and India to that of the other top 8 nations.

They do not deserve to scrape through when they are beaten and beaten comprehensively by these so called minnow teams.

At the end of the day the world cup is about the best team that performs, not about the names of the countries these players represent, because if this were truly the case then I think India and Pakistan would be two very disgraced nations, a view which I do not hold.

There is an air of arrogance and a problem of corruption that India an Pakistan Cricket must come to terms with. Otherwise results like these will become the norm, and these two countries will sadly, if not already, become the laughing stock of world cricket.

I agree. I am pakistani, and do think that its good for future of Cricket that Pakistan and India are not going through. Its time to face reality.
Cricket indeed is losing its soul, and the irate obsessive effergy burning fans of india and pakistan are not helping. It is but a just a sport.

I am glad we are both out so that we can spend 4 years reflecting on what has happened here. Every cricket fan who has played backyard cricket or at any other level should ask themselves why they keep playing the late cut when it always gets them out, instead of throwing objects at the cricket players's homes.

Well all left to say is that both the teams have to start preparing for the next one in four years and definitely there will be some new faces in the team and also in the management

Dear Kamran,

You must be joking when you talk about meritocracy (Definitely not in India especially when politicians or people with vested interests run cricket boards).

In addition to this, you have regional factions, political factions, quota systems etc, etc.

India got what they thoroughly deserved. Indian batting superstars, barring a few, are all flat track bullies.

MONEY IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL EVIL. Put an end to this & cricket might reach the glory days again.

Assalam u alaikum Kamran,
Yes, I do agree with you when you say that these two teams didn't play as well as they could have. Infact, both of them played very very bad cricket. However, at the same time, I am not particularly impressed with the format of this WC too. It seems more of a knockout than anything else. As you said, 12 matches will do down the drain with Ireland and Bangladesh playing.
Upsets do occur now and then but to banish teams on account of one upset is truly unfair. Remember, Zim beat SA and Ban beat Pak in 1999 but both SA and Pak played so well that one reached the final and other the semi-final. SL were also beaten by Kenya in 2003 but they also reached the semis. Heck, even the mighty Australians were beaten by Ban in an ODI less than 2 years ago. On account of this year's format, all these teams would never have made it so far. I seriously feel that the ICC should have made a less stringent format than they have come up.

I don't agree with you on the comments "The players, of course, have only themselves to blame (along with their cricket boards and their coaching staff) although being wrong footed in one encounter looks a harsh methodology to condemn these two great cricketing nations to four years of waiting". Because cricket is all about one; i.e; one ball, one run, one catch, one drop,..etc.
Again our own pathetic approach, i.e; if we are out of the WC, the world will miss good criket. Again I would say, grow up dude, cricket would be at its best.

i think its a good thing that ind and pak are out of wc because they didn't show the fight and spirit required 2 win the cup. as far as pakistan is concerned, there is a long road ahead. alot of work has to be done. the first-class structure has to improve and we must have proper academies to train the players. we should also make different kinds of pitches other than flat pitches so that our batsmen improve their performance on these pitches. and we must arrest bookies around the country and get rid of match-fixing ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Yes, Bangladesh!! This South Asian minnow turned giant is not an overnight phenomenon. It has its deep roots to a long learning-mentoring dependency of it neighbors India and Pakistan.

Although I've not been following cricket as I did 6/7 years ago, I remember the days when WWs (Wasim and Waqar), and the likes of its contemporaries from Pakistan and India came to Dhaka, Bangladesh for coaching and mentoring its bretherns in the east. In turn, Bangladesh learnt how to apply such highly professional and unparallel skills in some big games.

Their triumph against Pakistan and India in the later years proved that they were only learning through the mentorship of their idols and gurus - a testament of an evolution of cubs to tigers.

South Asian cricket has come a long way. For the rest of the world cup '07, lets divert our focus to the two current 'giants' representing the region - the Lions and the Tigers. What other wild and tough personality do the world cup want from the south Asians. Its a pity that all eyes are still on the departed India and Pakistan.

To all my Indian and Pakistani fans, lets root for the roaring lions (and don't forget the lesser wilder kind.. the tigers)!!

When Pakistan failed to make the super six stage in the 2003 World Cup, all Pakistani fans were given the hope that the preparations for the 2007 event had begun. For four long years we waited to see those preparations in the field and saw Pakistani team hit rock bottom. My prediction is that nothing will change in the next four years. The knee jerk reaction of sidelining the senior players in the name of grooming a fighting unit will fall on its face once more.
After trying all gimmicks, foreign coaches, religiosity, computer analysis and seminars; maybe its time we tried something more basic like professionalism. Instead of crediting Allah for wins and blaming Qismet for defeats, maybe we should try teamwork and never say die attitude.
1992 World Cup winning team had no foreign coach, didn't have the luxury of computer analysis of opponents and they didn't have an overdose of religion for the team. What they did have was a captain who refused to surrender, an experienced street fighter as a pillar of middle order batting and a team that was lead from the front. I think it's time to try that recipe once more.

This 'preparing for the next WC' baloney should end. Professional sides should make it their mission statement to win each and every tournament. Until India and Pakistan focus on excellence rather than WC success there will be no end to this quadrennial madness

I can't speak for Pakistan but you may as well kiss cricket in India goodbye after it was taken over by a third-rate politician. It'll go the way of hockey, football and athletics.

Until and unless there is an air-tight law banning politicians or their cronies from controlling sports-bodies, India will not win any international trophies.

I'm not so sure what to make of your artical Kamran. What I agree with is the ideal of meritocracy. The strength of Australia, Sth African and even England & NZ has come from hard fought domestic competition. No player in the top side feels safe while hearing how well players in the domestic comp are playing.. just look at how old hussey was and how well he was performing before he could get into the Aussie Side.

We must adopt a strategy of what we know, not who we know.

Finally I am deeply disturbed at the death of Bob Woolmer. I don't know if I can continue to support Pakistan after such a case. I would have assumed top level security for the coach of a such a volatile nation. We honestly didn't deserve him... if he can take 1/3 the salary of his neighbour coach, accept all the politics of our system, work around our arrogance, accept failure where there shouldnt' have been any, then should we really repay him and his family with this grief..

With India out now as well, we should really be looking at what you earlier commented on a couple of days ago on wether or not commercialism is being prioritized higher than performance. I'm sure ESPN is right now..

But congrats to Ireland, they look the goods and well done to bangladesh, they're now about as old as Sri-Lanka was before they started to make a mark on world cricket and I think mohd ashraful is wonderful batsmen.

Kamran,

First, let me start by saying I have never felt so much pain in my heart at the demise of anyone whom I had no relation and had never met. It was first Wasim Raja last year and now Bob Woolmer. Loss against Ireland became irrelevant after I learnt the news of Woolmer’s Demise. Still, it got worst after Jamaican Police conformed that some cruel hands took his life manually. Like many of your other readers I can not wait to see justice handed to those who have committed this heinous crime.

Now, to your Blog I would rather say “Minnows trying to walk into Giant Shows”. Ever observed a child trying to walk into his or her Father, Mother Older Brother or Older Sister’s shows? How happy the child feels taking few steps in Giant shows only to trip over and get hurt.
All children love to walk and act like elders. It has never happened that a child’s feet grew bigger overnight just because he/she tried his/her elder’s shows the night before. Similarly, minnows may have spoilt Giant’s party at the world cup (and yes, I agree with you the Giants have themselves to blame rather then the skills of these minnows) but to me, these upset results would do more harm than good to the game. Should the sport be promoted among associate teams? Yes. Should these minnows be allowed to participate in a competition of the magnitude of World Cup? Absolutely not! All it will do give the cricketers and followers of these minnows a false notion that they are ready to lock their horns in all kinds of Bull fights, only to get batter and bruise time and again. For years, I, among many other followers especially from the sub continent believed we have the talent therefore we could rule the cricketing world the way other top teams have. We could be like Australia. But boy, harsh reality hit like a Heavy weight punches a light weight out of the ring. After being hit and thrown out of the ring many times, I now firmly believe that talent and good wishes alone are never going to make Pakistan and Indian cricket teams dislodge Australia from its rightful place. If any team is going to dislodge them from top spot for a considerable period of time will be a team that will improve on all standards set by Australians on and off the field. For this, we have to go through a rigorous grind of what you have mentioned in your blog.

There are no short cuts for the Giants.

There will be no Short Cuts for the Minnows.

It is ironic that the two countries who play the most one day international cricket and place the greatest importance on it will be missing from the competition proper. The nature of cricket is that upsets are always a possibility and every major cricket country has suffered a loss to a minnow at some point over the last few years. It is just that Pakistan and India were unfortunate that it happened at the World Cup. The more disturbing trend is the burning of photos and stoning of houses has now almost become accepted as the norm following losses. This all combines to make create pressure on the players, who after all, don't lose cricket matches on purpose.

Out go the Giants

The giants of the sub-continent had exposed their soft bellies and the minnows did not flinch to take their prized scalps. Both Bangladesh and Ireland deserve to play in the Super 8, much to the chagrin of the shocked Indian and Pakistani fans.

In any competition, Goliath can be vanquished by David and both India and Pakistan should not be depressed by their early exit. The boards, selectors and officials instead of tendering resignation and taking responsibility for the poor performance of their teams, should professionally analyze the reasons behind the poor performance of their teams in WC 2007 and take appropriate measures to prevent a repetition of such shocking display in the future competitions including the next World Cup.

The Cricket control Boards in Pakistan and India have to address the issues responsible for the early exit of their teams, which were being described as leading contenders for WC 2007. Even as a lay man, after watching their performance in the Champions Trophy, I did not think India or Pakistan had any potential to win the World Cup 2007. Even than, I had hoped like millions of other fans that both these teams will go to the round of Super 8's. I still find it hard to swallow that India and Pakistan have been eliminated by the Minnows.

Games are won by teams who have professional athletes, selected purely on grounds of merit and prepared to play to their full potential.

The Indian and Pakistani teams relied on their aging stars, who failed to deliver in the hour of crisis. Under stress, the teams crumbled and allowed opponents with lesser names and lowest rankings to conquer and eject them from the tournament.

Cricket is a professional sport and teams have to be built around professionals, who can be counted on delivering a consistent and predictable performance. A mix of young and old is not bad at all, provided the best talent is on display and the world can applaud the spirit of every member in a cricketing squad committed to play at the highest possible level.

If India and Pakistan can learn from their mistakes, overhaul their boards, improve their selection process and put in place a clean and effective management system, these two teams will come back strongly to stun the very best in World Cricket.

Let us look on the bright side of things.One Day Cricket is like a pyjama;every one fits into it.

Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two. You cannot make Omelets without breaking the eggs.

However, you've got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants.

When you fall on your back side the only place you can look is up.

Compliments to Navjot Sidhu for his wisdom

I read this articel with interest. While not being in the postion to really comment on the accusations, I find them somewhat ironic in light of the the criticisms made against the Australian team by Indian and Pakistani commentators and fans for years, particularly recently from Sunil Gavasksar, about their arrogance and poor sportsmanship.

Perhaps Gavaskar might now eat his words? In light of the ast year, I really don't think either India or Pakistan, especially Pakistan, are in any position to talk about poor sportsmanship and genteel behaviour, even without agreeing with the point of view expressed in this article.

As for arrogance, maybe it is the cultural differences, but I don't see the much vaunted humility and gentility that many subcontinental fans and writers say their players possess, unlike the Aussies. I see "living in an ivory tower" petted princes who lack a real work and team ethic, what australians call working class ethics. What you call arrogance inthe Aussies, I call enormous self-belief and confidence that comes not from class and privilege, but from years and years of very hard work amongst the toughest competion, and from strong team bonding, from supportive " mateship".

Yes, the Australian team aren't perfect, but they are professional, and they play for team and for their team pride as much as for themselves. That is what creates their high standards. And when they lose or play badly, they don't immediately then blame it on someone else.

Yes, do go and watch them and the other professionals in the next few weeks, India and Pakistan. I don't think the Cup will be devalued by your absence, but by the "unsporting" attitudes that lead to your exits.

Until the priorities of the BCCI and the PCB shift to cricketing aptitude rather than financial endorsements, Indian and Pakistani will be perenially stuck in this state. The respective boards have showed the unwillingness to compromise their own financial profit for the sake of the cricket team. Personally, I dont believe any sport athletes deserve the kind of sums they enjoy. Definitely not after performances in the 2007 World Cup.

You are quite right in your perceptions Kamran. Unfortunately though, you speak as an optimist that the future can be brighter for both Indian and Pakistani cricket. The men who run these organisations are businessmen whose interest lie only in the money they make, not the results the cricket team yields. And they are businessmen who have such pulling power in the Powers-That-Be, so who exactly is in a position to take them down? Only more businessmen, whose interest lie along similar lines.

Unless there is a radical upheaval of the BCCI and the PCB, this merry-go-round of mediocrity will continue, and Indian and Pakistani fans will continue to bemoan their team's lack of success. Mind you, I think they play a major problem as well, with their unabashed fanaticism of the game. Maybe if they were to boycott the game and resist taking part in the profiteering schemes of the BCCI and PCB, then maybe the interests may just shift slightly to cricket...

I am not very hopeful that there will be any change in board's working particularly in Pakistan. After every match, every series, every world cup, there are huge cries for change that never will be because there cannot be, as the people involved are happy with the status quo of just making money and hell with everything else. Just take a look at what Mr. Shaharyar Khan has written in his article. I just want to ask him that if you were aware of such things why did not you take some strict action, why did you let the things be the way they were, if you could not do anything why did not you simply resign citing your differences. The same is the case with all the other chiefs that we have had and all the others that we will have. Its better just to forget cricket as we have forgotten hockey and squash and other sports.

Mr. Abbasi, I seriously think it was not the arrogance of the India and Pakistan that saw them out, but their fearfulness and lack of courage. As for pakistan, I believe it was the pakistani teams's new found excessive religiosity bordering on superstition and submitting to "Qesmat" instead of taking things in their own hand. I have not seen many people writing about this, but seriously, what the Pakistani team has turned into, from a proud and self-reliant who drew spiritual support from religion, to one completely letting decide their qismat.

The picture you have used in your blog is as they say equal to thousand words. Look at Inzi lifting his finger in almost preacher like manner and sitting on the ground is so unprofessional I know it's our culture but when you are competing in high performance sports you follow the norms. I remember Inzi did a similar sit down right in the middle of Multan Stadium after loosing a test to India. I am so glad Inzi as a captain has retired but very sad that Inzi the batsmen will no longer be available to entertain us.

Dear Kamran,I have been following your blog for a while now,keep up the good work.As far as Pakistan and India are concrened,it might be a blessing in disguise.Especially for Pakistan with unfortunate demise of Bob and resignation of Inzi.We can blame the team(boys and PCB)up to certain extent.They are the product of their enviornment which unfortunately does not reward hardwork,honesty and professionalism(last term is alien to most Pakistanis).Mostly its hollow slogans,moral corruption,croniism and cockiness!Like we say in punjabi"nirry phunay Khani".
Unfortunately look at whats happening in the country; judicial crises,EU ban of PIA,war in the tribal areas and last but not least strange plotical bedfellows(Benazir and Sharif),do we expect sane and responssible citizens let alone cricketers.The difference is that these poor cricketers have to go out and compete on one one basis at the intrenational level with far superior bunch of professionals.
I am not gonna go near match fixing,a whole different beast.My suggestion, hire a local coach (Imran says Aiqab?)anybody for heavens sake, and istill some sense of pride,teamwork and PROFESSIONALISM.Imran says ther is no dearth of talent.After all these years fate has put him back in his place(feel bad for his kids),perhaps he should rethink his political carrier and join the 'cricket' club.
Asad.
USA.

It wouldnt be the wc if the minnows dont surprise many of us and take out a major contender. In 2003 Kenya surprised all of us and reached the semis. It is unfortunate though that it had to be Ind and Pak to be knocked out but cudos to Bangladesh and Ireland to progress as far as they did

It was just a couple of weeks ago when many poeple thought that the non test playing nations would affect the flow of the tournament. Well, they surely have done something extraordinary about but for the delight of their own fans and not for poeple from cricketing mad nations like India and Pakistan. I think the moving on for Ireland and Bangladesh into Super Eghts are upsets in themselves but surely happened for the betterment of this game.
Being a Pakistani, my heart has been hurt quite badly but still it makes me feel happy that cricket is moving in the right direction.

Good Luck Ireland and Bangladesh !!!

Right on money Kamran but unfortunately ground reality is that nothing will change for Pakistan cricket. As long as we have illetrate cricketers coming, having no clue of what to do once getting big, nothing will change. And mind you, when i say illetrate, that does not mean knowing how to speak English. Its all about a certain behaviour, your getup, the way you move around etc etc; a behaviour acquired only when you have exposure to world outside your village/town. Case in point, just look at the cricketers in the 70s and 80s, it was just a different breed.

No matter how fancy coach Pakistan gets or how powerful selection committee is formed, unless and until you start getting a breed of cricketers i just mentioned above, there won't be any change. Four years later, we still would be talking about the same issue. Professionalism is not a quality which one is born with but it is rather instilled. However it requires the right attitude which unfortunately Pakistani players do not have.

"But the tournament has been stripped of twelve heavyweight encounters." Looking at the way India and Pakistan played,I would say that the tournament has been blessed with the removal of 12 over-hyped mismatches in Super 8. Maybe the game between India and Pakistan could have been a heavy-weight tussle. But no point ruing what has gone before. Both teams had their chances and true to their type, they flunked the test.

in pakistan, as long as u do not produce some well educated cricketers, cricket will always remain a quandry.

noting gonna change. we sub-continentals never were sports persons.. actually we dont deserve to play any sport for we lack the passion and desire that is needed to compete or even simply participate.. sports merely are not a test of your skill but your character and mental strength also which unfortunately we sub-continentals lack.. can anybody imagine any our teams competing like australia, south africa or even newzealand, thinking you can win even after you concede 400 runs. the answer simply is a big NO.

Yes kamran, agree with you on all counts. Firstly, the World Cup has indeed been robbed of 12 massive encounters and in all probability we'll see the other stronger teams make a feast out of the 2 minnows that caused the demise of the Asian giants. But then, the last 2 world cups have had such surprises, Zimbabwe squeezed through to the Super 6s in 1999 and Kenya was in the Semis in 2003(have we forgotten that).
Having said that, its sad to see the likes of Inzy, Sachin and Dravid go out in their last world cup(most likely for Sachin and Dravid too) without a fight and in the most unsuited of ways.
You're right. Nothing will change, there will ups and downs and by the next world Cup all would have been forgotten and media will be in a frenzy..ooh aah India/Pak will again rule TV screens, effigies will be burnt, houses of players will be stones and we shall march on to yet another edition unchanged.

Dear All,
Mr. Kamran Abbasi has been doing a courageous journalism for a long. I appreciate his writing and he has always been doing his best highlighting the facts of the situation. No doubt minnows has become giants and giants have become minnows. In my opinion the Twos (Ind & Pak) were not aware of the format of this WC hence, they did not prepare themselves. They were hyped by media about their strength and winning the world cup, but sadly they must understand that there is no ifs and buts in cricket and one bad day can ruin your planning. This is what happened with the two cricket crazy nations. I do not agree with you Kamrab Sb that there is going to be a major changes in the Board and their functioning. It is easy to say and hard to work. We need courage to do this but they can not do. Politics is there and it is a dirty game. There is no dearth of talents in these two countries but it is a matter of professionalism as to how we polish the talent. One day game is the game of youth and enthusiasm. India bite dust with Bangladesh just the ageing factor and against Sri Lankan they were just beaten because of ageing as the fielding was superb. This is the area the Sri Lankans are better than India and Pakistan. In ODI we need fit of the fittest player in the playing eleven but we have unfit of the unfittest in the playing eleven. How come you win a tournament if our fitness level is below mark. Results will automatically come if you have young guns and fittest in the line to play. As I expressed earlier in my writing that The Sub Continent Teams will emerged victorious and Sri Lankans looks more contender than India and Pakistan. Now the two neighbourers are out and Sri Lankans are there to fight the battle for me. The way they are playing, I guess they will carry this World Cup. But they have worked very hard and all credit goes to their Coach Tom Moody who is the youngest coach of any team and I believe his inputs are valuable. He visited Carribian before the WC to assess the situation. It is very beneficial. It is a long planning of four years journey. It is time for Indian and Pakistani to forget this WC and start refurbishing for the next 2011 which will be played in the sub continent. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best otherwise, minnows will be giants and giants will be minnows in 2011.

I agree with your article and specially where you comment that India and Pakistan needs athletes.

I think in that statement itself is the solution to our woes. It is really very simple instead of looking for talent alone in respect to a players selection in our part of the world, i feel that we should be looking instead at the prospect from the point of view of how good is he as an athlete.

And as an athlete we have to determine how good they are mentally and physically to play this game and when this has been ascertained and weighted highly in any selection do we then look at the level of talent in that prospect.

For a superior athlete/cricketer will always prevail over a talented cricketer case in point the australians.

For all we have as part of the Indian and Pakistani team are talents and nothing else, and this talent fails us time and time again. Lets look for athletes, those who not only crave to compete but also justify their stardom by achieving new heights consistently.

Yes kamran, agree with you on all counts. Firstly, the World Cup has indeed been robbed of 12 massive encounters and in all probability we'll see the other stronger teams make a feast out of the 2 minnows that caused the demise of the Asian giants. But then, the last 2 world cups have had such surprises, Zimbabwe squeezed through to the Super 6s in 1999 and Kenya was in the Semis in 2003(have we forgotten that).
Having said that, its sad to see the likes of Inzy, Sachin and Dravid go out in their last world cup(most likely for Sachin and Dravid too) without a fight and in the most unsuited of ways.
You're right. Nothing will change, there will ups and downs and by the next world Cup all would have been forgotten and media will be in a frenzy..ooh aah India/Pak will again rule TV screens, effigies will be burnt, houses of players will be stones and we shall march on to yet another edition unchanged.

Well Kamran, once again I disagree with your views that the teams lost due to, "arrogance, decadence, and incompetence." Definitely Pakistan's exit out of the world cup is not due all those reasons. To a certain extent incompetence yes, but not the other two. In my opinion, the main reason being, their three key players were not in the team i.e., Shoaib, Asif and Afridi, if they were there, Pakistan would have been on the top in their group. I am not relying on the theory of "IF's & But's" You may call it introspection and I would call it retrospection as well as the analysis of what actually happened and it gives you that much information about Pakistan's failure to reach the super 8.

Whereas, India had a full strength team, and on paper they were the best batting line up in the world. Calling them "Paper Tigers" might be like rubbing salt on their wounds, but thats a fact. It is for the Indian fans to decide whether they agree with your views or not. But for Pakistan, I can say they were not arrogant. In fact they were too docile in their approach and thats due to the overdose of humility and lacking professionalism.

The last match Inzamam played against Zimbabwe was, the Inzamam we remembered, the Inzamam we were so used to see batting at number three, he batted aggressively and with authority BUT, he ran out of his luck, or his luck deserted him on St. Patrick's Day. There is no need to cry over split milk now. What Pakistan needs now is to choose a young captain and then the whole team later on.

So, first lets see who is capable of taking that captain's role? I know a lot of people will not agree with my views, but thats not important for me, I am not here to win a popularity contest, but to express my views like everyone else on this blog.

Mohammad Yousuf is a great batsman and he should not be put under pressure with additional burden. And, he is not young from cricketing point of view. Pakistan needs a captain who can lead them beyond 2011 and NOT announcing his retirement in the next world cup.

Younis Khan, he is not a player for ODI's and definitely not for twenty20's. He came into limelight because of the sharp contrast to Inzi's laid back, lackluster attitude. At times his decisions are too weird and he is kinda obstinate in his strategy. His proverbial GodFather Imran Khan is again canvasing for him and also asking for Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed's inclusion. But, do we need his raving, ranting and rambling?

Shoaib Malik, he is too docile and very humble to be a leader. He has proved his humility and willingness by accepting to bat at any position (its good to see that he played well in all those slots) but for a leader thats a kinda spineless characteristic and not a prerequisite of a leader. He can be groomed and start as a vice captain.

I won't hesitate to reiterate my earlier opinion because, its my opinion, not egoistically but, as a matter of fact and given the circumstances and the resources available, Shahid Afridi would be the ideal candidate. He is charismatic, flamboyant and shows his exuberance in every department of the game. He is only 2 runs short to score 5000 runs in ODI, with that he will probably be the third player in the world after JayaSuriya and Jacques Kallis to score 5000 runs and take 200 plus wickets in ODI's.

Given that privilege of leading the team he would probably become more sober in his batting style and goes on scoring more runs in the years to come. Compared to Younis Khan (30), he is (27) three years younger in age and four years senior than him in the team. Therefore, if age or experience is a criteria in deciding the role of captaincy, he is a better candidate than Younis Khan. Don't judge him as a batting all-rounder but, judge him as a bowling all-rounder. He is also a very good fielder.

As regards players respecting the Captain, if the Board announces that irrespective of his performance, the Captain is there till 2011 and beyond, it will make a big difference in the attitude of the players that the Captain has full backing of the Board.

Induction of youth in the team is good but, I am against "a total revamp" of the whole team or sacking of the senior players as an immediate action to please the nation after the world cup defeat.

Pakistan has already experienced the problems they had in the past when all of a sudden all the senior players were sacked. It took a long time to rebuild the team. They definitely need to make two or may be three teams i.e., for tests, ODI's and twenty20 and both Y & Y should be playing in test teams only.

I don't like Shoaib Akhtar's tantrums and "dramay baazi & pangay baazi" but, he should be in the team for at least a couple of years i.e., if he can survive without getting injured and remains fit. People of Pakistan should not get emotional about punishing the players or asking them to take retirement etc., they have to be realistic, calm, composed and supportive. Induction of new and young players should be gradual. It will not only help them in building the confidence of those younger players but, it also acts like an antidote when there is a the sudden rise, fame to stardom status occurs, it gets into their head.

India and Pakistan's media, commentators, even general public is very good in making comparisons like, Salman Butt is a new Saeed Anwar. Mohammad Asif is Pakistan's Glenn McGrath, Kamran Akmal is better than Adam Gilchrist, Suresh Raina is the new Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan is India's Wasim Akram etc. Dhoni is another example from hero to zero.

So, people should let go this tendency of praising, worshiping their heros and then discarding them as zeros.

So, chosing a captain and a coach is the first step. And step by step approach is the best approach.

Well its good that new teams come and perform but its bad that 2 big gaints of the criecket history out of the game.Its not the matter that these teams perform bad,these teams have to perform bad bcz of many reasons.
1. Captaincy problem in both team.
2. Coach problem
3. Match Fixing
and many many more.....

The early exit of India and Pakistan has injected
the much needed curiosity and has made this world
cup all the more unpredictable. Kudos to the ICC
for structuring the initial stage of this tournament in it's present form. This kind of setup provides equal oppurtunity to every team in
the group to make it big and at the same time does
not provide an unfair advantage to the top two teams in the group. An early banana skin match
could well ensure your early ouster. This is exactly what happened to India and Pakistan.
For India it was a case of missed opputunities
and for Pakistan a ruthless shock and a great loss. On the flip side India now has 15 permanent
models who can walk the ramp for one month.
It is heartening to note that productive man-hours would not be wasted and fans can catch
up on their sleep.

Such pessimism Kamran sahab?

But I guess it's not unfounded. The Pakistanis only brush with any form of professionlism has ended with the tragic demise of Bob Woolmer. The next coach will difinitely be a Pakistani, not only because the masses want a desi coach but also because no foreign coach will take up this challenge at least for a long time.

It's depressing, but our team will learn the true worth of having Bob only now after he is gone.

And yes, four years down the road, I expect nothing more from this team then what they've achieved so far.

Can someone please brainwash Imran Khan somehow to take over PCB as coach, chairman, chief executive or some other post we can create for him. All cricketers respect him and he does have great intuition for the game. After the departure of Bob and Inzi from the team, the boys need a strong figurehead to look up to.

Imran bhai, I implore you... the Pakistani people need you to take care of their cricket much more than their politics right now...

The exit of two great giants from this world cup is pretty harsh because they just had one bad day in office and they knocked out of this world cup. atleast they both deserves a fair chance or wild card to play in super eiaght.I hope ICC should look at it.

Well said; and for India and Pakistan - well deserved.

The teams on the basis of early performance (natural or bookie induced) did not deserve to go ahead. However, a format like this also robs the charm of Super 8 - not because our teams are not there - because going by what happened in later matches (Bd vs SL and Ir vs WI) the only match Ireland and B'desh are likely to win are the one they play against each other in the Super 8's.

This makes a mockery of the system. The Super 8 is down to a Super 6. If you take the current form and erratic nature of England and West Indies it is not difficult to guess who are the last 4. With India and Pakistan the chances that they would raise their game in proportion to the pressure back home was always there and a few surprises could be expected. In any case I can not remember when India and Pakistan have had a great start and end to any WC campaign. Its been either of the two - a great start or a great end.

However, it does not take anything away from the determination and professionalism showed by Ireland and Bangladesh. Sport is about being better on the given day and they were the better teams by far. Congratulations and best wishes to them.

Well said Karman!
But after all giants are giants no matter what !
May be we needed this push in the back to take us to the next level in the future.
The talent in India and Pakistan needs to be tapped properly and some serious efforts are required now from the people who matter in cricket in these countries.
I am sure we would be back with a bang and countires like Bangladesh or for that matter Sri lanka will be shown their 'true class' 2011 world cup. Take my words....

Think about the lost viewership. The lost revenue. The 12 useless games we will see as the lucky minnows that made get a grip on reality. There might be one or two more upsets, but it is clear from here that the Super 8's (more like Super 6 and Lucky 2) format won't allow the lucky to forge ahead. Of course, they will cause for painful viewing while they last. It might be a blessing in disguise for the likes of me, those unhealthily addicted to the game: Rather than look forward to each and every game, and so miserably fall behind in my studies, I get to have days off from watching cricket on those "lucky" days. Overall, the progression of the minnows to the next level is great at their respective national levels. It is otherwise an unfortunate development really. I am sorry if I sound overly demeaning. But if Australia were to bat first and post 350-odd, I would rather watch Dravid and co. have a go at it. but maybe that is just me...

Absolutely right the early exit of two asian giants is good for cricket and now the boards will concentrate on cricket.

Hi Bloggers.

One of the main problems in Pakistan cricket is that we keep going around in circles. It is a vicious cycle of under achievement that we cannot seem to break. After every heartbreak there is an outcry. Heads roll, promises are made - but when the dust settles Pakistan cricket goes back to its lethargy. Its all old wine in a new bottle. The same ideas that were tried in the past - and failed. Will this time be any different?

There is talk of bringing back Javed Miandad? What new ideas or professionalism will Javed bring that he couldnt implement during his first tenure? We have to think professionally. Otherwise cricket will go the way of hockey.

Saima Kamal
New Jersey

I completely agree with Kamran's assessment of the way India and Pakistan fared in this World Cup. It was indeed refreshing to see the numerous 20/21 year olds from Bangladesh do so well! Would it be so bad to axe jaded veterans such as Sehwag/Tendulkar/Ganguly and Inzamam/Younis Khan for now and give some youngsters a chance to prove themselves on the big stage?

I couldn't agree more with Kamran Abbasi. It was disappointing to see Inzamam and Sachin bow out of the World Cup without showing even a glimpse of their tremendous talent. Till such time as the Cricket Boards in India and Pakistan do not get their acts together the teams from both countries will continue to flounder on the International stage. Arrogance and over confidence is possibly genetically inherited by both countries.
Bangladesh deserved to progress to the Super 8 stage as did Ireland, good luck to both

I dont think that WC will benefit in anyways by the early exit of India and Pakistan as the world cricket is surviving on the money generated by these two countries,Pakistan was never a favourite
to win this cup bcz of the recent scandals,but India's early exit was unexpected.
There is a chinese proverb "In every crisis lies an opportunity" both these countries will have to change their domestic cricket,administrative culture,and instead of sticking with big names they might induct young talented players on merit.
I think Pakistan and India will take care of their
cricket structure, but the question is who will fix ICC,I think Pakistan team was ambushed by ICC
we have still not seen any hard green seaming pitch in the WC other than Pakistan Matches.
The Umpiring Row,the conditions they all show how fair ICC is towards Pakistan.
Even if Pakistan had progressed in the second round they would have been taken care off by some dubious decisions in key matches we have seen it in the past.
BoB's murder and the pitch of pakistan and Ireland
match are directly related,the Irish team clearly had the heads up about Pakistan team and the Pitch.
It is evident from the fact, the way Irish bowlers bowled and the way their field setting for each and every player was right on the money was
a little astonishing we have seen experienced Captains stuggling at times,a new captain with limited experience could not have done that without inside information about the opposition
and a heads up about the playing conditions,
This is also reinforced by the fact that heavily favorite Pakistan was not the favorite just before the match Ireland was 1-8 favorite on the betting sites.Also it is known that SA coach gave information about Pakistan team to Irish team,but
such information was only relevant for SA conditions and the Pitch prepared by ICC was exactly according to SA conditions.

Now why Bob was killed ?
Did he bet on Pakistan and failed to Pay?
Did he leaked inside information on Pakistan and was punished by the rival betting groups who got effected?
Some people are suggesting that Pakistan deliberately lost to Ireland, this notion does not hold bcz of the fact that they knew losing to Ireland will end their chances to progress in the WC and also End the careers of some Big Players.
No matter how much the money is involved no player would like to end their career in such humiliation
secondly the current team never had such reputation also.
Long story short people investigating Bobs murder
should start within ICC and should question and investigate Chris Broad as a start.

well india's performance is somehow similar to pakistan performance in 2003 too strong on paper and rubbish on ground.
i want to say something about cricket. pakistan always need a bit of cushion I think each team need a cushion but we are not the kind of team that can hit the ground running. In this tournament if u loose one match u are in big trouble. In 1992 we all know that at what stage of the tournament Pakistan played like a team. If you know what I mean.

I think inzi is slightly right that you need a bit of luck. Pakistan is always a shaky starter they always show their true game in the latter stages and I am afraid that if this gona be the format for the next worldcup we are in big trouble. I am sure if India and Pakistan would have gone to the next stage they would be difficult teams to beat but cricket world cup should have a format in which teams can recover from error the margin of error should not be this narrow

Embrace new reality:
--------------------

While both India and Pakistan have dipped to new lows in their cricketing history, Bangladesh has scaled new heights and is basking in glory.

Out of the two South Asian heavyweights though, only Pakistan with its current fiasco can be termed as a dysfunctional giant. The cricketing affairs in Pakistan are being run on an ad-hoc basis with direct intervention from the top which is a sorry state of affairs to continue for so long.

It’s a matter of time before the truth in its entirety comes to the fore. Now it is becoming an open reality that the team captain had more than total sway over the selection process and related matters. It seems that even the selection committee had a token role. This speaks volumes of the dysfunctional status of PCB.

The foremost need of the hour is to resurrect PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) as an independent institution and free it from the yoke i.e. the Presidency. Nothing short of this would suffice! How the hell on earth, the head of the state that has a plethora of domestic issues as well as heaps of political problems at hand to deal with at the international level would retain focus on this entity is beyond comprehension.

We strongly believe that the fall out for the PCB and the game of cricket in Pakistan is going to be positive.

To label team India which had a stable look going into this World Cup as such is a little harsh and an unjust overreaction. Mega stars like Tendulkar, Ganguly, and others who racked up lucrative deals in the past are going to be affected the most as they stand to loose new corporate sponsors as a result of the team making an early exit from the World Cup.

On their part, the players had no motive other than to play good cricket to the best of their abilities. How, it did not translate into a success story is for a different reason, altogether.

The defeat against Bangladesh was in part attributable to loosing the toss but again this should take nothing away from a resurgent and an aspiring team who have been knocking around/at the door for rather long and are just about ready to make a splash in to the big pool. This is a factual reality and should be recognized as such.

For their part, Sri Lanka continued their build up with a strong all around talent and hardly had a weak spot showing anywhere down the order. This apparently was not the case with India and certainly a far cry for Pakistan.

In the case of Pakistan, the harsh reality has dawned for those at the helm of affairs after it’s too late. The supporters can draw their own parallels in the case of India but again the reckoning would be a little late!

We have no choice but to embrace the new reality that has dawned wearing a different look.

Agreed, it will surely take some major attitudinal reform to turn things around with Pakistani cricket and there is every chance that we might be writing the very same lines after four years. If Sri lanka can do it so can we. I just hope that next in charge is more competent and determined.

One day cricket has suddenly transformed over the last year or so. Over 300 scores have become a norm and previously quiet periods in the game have been replaced by constant aggression. In this changing game fitness, mental toughness and clinical professionalism is the need of the hour and our teams lose out on all three counts. Its 50% about ability and 50% about method now. Lets hope are teams are able to bridge this yawning gap.
Initially I had thought the world cup format was brilliant with the top 8 teams qualifying to the super 8s and playing each other. But i was wrong. The format should ideally elevate only teams who are serious contenders for the cup into the next round. That has not happened. There should be a sterner test in the first round and qualification should not be based on one upset as was the case for Bangladesh and Ireland. But i guess no format can be fool proof.

"But the tournament has been stripped of twelve heavyweight encounters."

So, if Pakistan & India had made it through, their match-ups against the other sides would have been classified as 'heavyweight encounters'??? Why? Neither side deserved to get through, and neither side deserves to still be thought of as one of the cricket world's heavyweights. Use that description for the sides that have earned it...

How very appropriate that cronyism should lead to the downfall of the BCCI team -would anybody in their right mind call it an 'Indian' team - and to think that man of supposed great integrity Dravid would be the crony corporate capitalist in chief. Meritocracy-shamatocracy Dravid was doing what the modern corporatised Indian does, and as for expecting change you might as well these modernists to address the exponentially growing gap between the have nots and the haves, in the new ersatz model of free market democracy that is New India. At least a Gavaskar and Dev had gumption and still speak their mind, Tendulkar used to but he is now just as ersatz a model of Tendulkar, adept more at making easy money than scoring hard runs. Isnt that why we loved him so much before, for making hundreds at Perth and South africa where all around him beta a retreat to square leg. How ignominious a farewll but how appropriate perhaps. How I wish he would prove me all us wrong now.

I being a Sri Lankan would say that Both Pakistan and India are very talented teams packed with players who can hit the ball well and bowl.

Unlike the Australians, the Asian Cricket Officials do not for what reason prefers to retain the big names such as Tendulkars and Sehwags when there are better players who have perfomed better than them.

Tendulkar may have created records, but can he win matches in his current form, no ?
Sehwag, a match winning batsman in poor form, who hit a century against the minnows, but against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka he could do nothing !!!

Haq should have given way long time ago, I believe religion is important in several ways, but one cannot mix religion with sports, can you ?

Pakistan does have very talented bowlers and batsman, but why do they suddenly rise and then die a natural death ??
They have extermely super bowlers and there are so many available in the country. Why can't these bowlers having potential be guided and coached by the two W's and mould them into a team where they can be match winners ?

I would say that politics should stay out of sport, follow the example of Australia where even a good batsman such as Hayden was dropped. He practised, got his technics right and has become a better batsman !!!
Also the Aussies knows when they have to go and they do it in style too or else they are asked to go !!!

Politics out of Sport, let the respective officials run it and one will find a better Pak and Ind outfit.

Azad

It’s for you to do the next thing - Boycott the products

Burning posters of Indian players and beat the pictures with sandals doesn’t help at all. We have next series with Bangladesh and once we started winning one or two home series everything will be forgotten. But if you are determined and a real fan than this is what can be done to reflect your real anger.

Boycott the products endorsed by the cricketers till we get the next World Cup is home. This means, you will try all other options before opting for products endorsed by cricketers.Last biscuit you will pick from rack will be Sachin’s Fit Kit. Look for any other insurance first before taking up Dravid’s Max life insurance. Similarly, for Dhoni’s 7 up, Hero Honda, Reebok, BPCL's premium fuel Speed, Sona Chandi Chyavanprash, Mysore Sandal soap, Bank of Baroda, these should be the last of the brand’s we should pick till we have other options. Also any next brand where you see the cricketer with it, that should be on your next boycott list.

This we should do till we get the next World Cup home NO EXCEPTIONS!

Tell this to all your friends who are real Cricket fans and you will do some good to Cricket.

India and particularly pakistan have indeed been left Way behind in the constantly evolving and improving world ODI cricket… Pakistan specifically shud take a cue with the way Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have been playing…they are constantly scoring close to 350 runs in each match while Pakistan can do that only after every 30-40 matches… this simply implies Pakistan are 20 times at least lower than these three teams when it comes to ground reality and not just the stats of the so called stars in Pak team…

The problem is not much with the player technique but its in their mentality… to be literally correct, the Pak players are plain stupid individuals and as a Pak cricket fan, this is the most disturbing aspect… the game has evolved so much that all the old doctrines like holding ur wickets till the end to launch in the last 10 overs etc have been obsolete long way back in 1996 when Srilanka demolished that concept… Aussies picked up from where SriLanka left and thanks To Gilchrist and Co. never looked back… Pak on the other hand always live in the past… after the early fall of openers Pak Team Always go in ‘Block every ball’ mode till 35-40 overs and when they say ok let’s wake now…all the wickets tumble as they terribly try to smash every ball…. Simply Hopeless Intellect….

As Kamran mentioned, the team needs to throw away this arrogance and approach the game with an objective open mind… We don’t need stars like old Inzi and so called Future captain Younis (even when he has an avg of just 30!)… we need a thinking cricketer in the first place… We shud do a South Africa here, bring in a new young captain from domestic arena…I believe Hassan Raza is the best choice as age is in his side, he is among the best batsmen in the domestic arena for the last 10 years and He not only captains Karachi team but also Habib Bank team that include all stars… so With inzi gone, Younis shud b sacked as well to be replaced by Hassan Raza and Asim Kamal… and for God Sake pls. remove the clown Kamran Akmal, no other wicketkeeper had missed 12 chances in one test series and he managed to do that in just one match… If he is selected for his batting, then Younis can b included in the squad to bat at No. 7 and keep wickets…Pls. dun even think he’s among the best wicketkeeper batsmen around even in these days as Gilchrist, Sangakkara, Boucher, Dhoni and McCullum are way consistent, destructive and better than him!

kamran , nothing will happen all remains the same even after 50 years we r a different nation all together.

India vs Pakistan series ANYONE ???????

ahahahahhahahahahahah

i doubt PCB will do anything seriously over restructuring of board and team as they failed to do so after last world cup as well where pakis showed equally shamefull performance

Another giant laid low!!!

thanks for your thoughts mr. abbas. i guess pakistan needs to play with minnows,i.e the babies of cricket in-order to find some genuin form.

i also strongly believe that the future of pakistan cricket is in complete darkness and according to me only a few cricketing brains like the IMRANS, ZAHEERS, AKRAMS, WAQARS, RAMIZ ( in the roll of selectors & coaches) will be able to bring back the glory by selecting a strong and competant team

Both India and Pakistan have only themselves to blame for the first round exit. They very well knew that potential dangers of banana skin encounters in such format. This is what exactly happened.Murphy's law says, things if can go wrong , they go wrong at most in-appropriate time.
This is what happened, both of them were given knock out punches on the same day ie 17th march.
It is wrong to blame Bangladesh and Ireland for robbing the exitement in WC. They are here to win and let others win irrespective of opposite team status.
The fact is both India and Pakistan never deserved to be in second round. Both are over hyped and full of underperformers. So lets hope in next WC in sub continent we'll be able to see Ind-Pak encounter. Hopefully with young and fresh blood it promises to be mouth watering.
But for that to happen both have to play well enough to progress further.

Serves them right as they are better off while making ad films......but they are not to be blamed fully for the failures the management is also the culprit. In the case of Pakistan the board prepared dead pitches for our players to practice and play and they fail when the pitch is a grassy top they fail totally like in the case of Ireland's match...so we need to have pitches like that so it is easy for them to adjust to the seaming conditions.

We also need a change in the board management and hire our ex-players who can help the junior players and same goes for India. Winning and loosing is a part of game it depends on luck as well as the professional approach towards the game....so we have to groom our players in a professional manner to handle pressure situations....Long live the Asian giants they have the capability to bounce back with a force

Very happy to see both Pakistan and india out of the world cup. It is time for the 2 boards of cricket in both countries to wake up PCB and BCCI. If they want their players to play good crieket they need to wake up and see why they fail again and again on foreign pitches. The TRUTH is both India and Pakistan have the worst pitches in the world. Batting pitches. Our batsmen don't know the ABC of playing on foreign pitches. Only sometimes few of our Indian and Pakistani batsmen get lucky. Hardly anyone is consistent. Look at the greats and they failed time and time again Sachin and Inzi; top 2 of the world's highest ODI run scorers and just look at their pathetic performance. If the ball moves a little bit our batsmen look like under 13 cricketers who are just starting their crieket. This will happen again and again and in every single tournament. As long as PCB and BCCI do not start making world class pitches and our batsmen don't start playing alot of home cricket on good fast green tracks they will fail each and every time. We do not have bowlers like Imran, Wasim, Younus and Shoaib (maybe 2 more years) any more who will bail the team our each and every time. We have average bowlers now and it's time our batting need to make hugh totals which the bowlers can defend e.g. over 300 in each match. Hope PCB and BCCI will make some good tracks so that our teams can finally start winning in Australia, England, W.Indies, South Africa etc.

well said.Now we all think about the future .Leave the past.Now pakistani cricket board has to take good and bold decisions.There should be no coach in pakistani team and captain should have maximum powers.Pakistan should try to produce some more Fast bowalers.And finally for GOD sake make your pitches fast as Australia or South Africa.Else you will repeat the history.

Kamran what I’m gonna say is something outside the subject here. But I felt compelled to write abt it
To all of them who say religion is different from cricket and religion cannot be brought into cricket – I would like to ask them where in islam does it say that when you are on duty your first priority should be to propagate islam????? Or where does it say, if you are a captain or leader you should always give preference to only bearded good muslims irrespective of how good hes to perform that job even when you know there is someone more deserving for that particular job??????????? With all due respect to inzi can someone PLS REPLY TO THIS
Working hard to be an expert in your field (as long as the work you do doesn’t go against islam) is also part of being a good muslim. Its not just worship which most people fail to realize
So just because some so called “Muslims” don’t follow the guidelines of Islam you cannot blame religion for that.
Islam is a way of life which we need to implement in every aspect of it. Some people think islam should be followed only during sicknesses, at funerals and may be on Friday nights, but NOT during work and play because that’s the part of our lives we think we can handle on our own. May Allah forgive us for even thinking this way. Aameen!!!

i agree with the view that india and pakistan have been left far behind in one day cricket (more pakistan than india)...but to say that there absence will affect the super 8 is foolish. i also thought that pakis adn indians might do better in the super 8's and given the surprising antics of the pakis to be giants one day and miniscule little ants the next one or two upsets would have been possible. but watching the aus vs SAF game all my illusions are gone. both the teams would have been battered to a pulp! and besides the chances for pakis and indians upsetting aussies or SAF are equal to bangla or ireland upsetting them. all said and done the deserving teams have progressed.