New Pak Captain

Pakistan has changed their captain and set a new captain.

May be they needed it.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday replaced Shoaib Malik with Younis Khan as captain of the national cricket team after a humiliating defeat against Sri Lanka, its chairman said.

Malik led Pakistan to their worst one-day defeat -- by 234 runs -- in the third and final one-day international in Lahore on Saturday to give Sri Lanka a 2-1 series win.

"Malik has accepted to step down after the Sri Lanka defeat and we have appointed Younis as the new captain for an indefinite period," PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters.

"We haven't sacked Malik. In fact, I met Malik and told him about the situation, as the whole nation felt disappointed over the team's poor performance and a lot of people wanted a change," said Butt.

"That is why I requested Malik to step down and he gracefully accepted."

Malik was appointed captain after Pakistan's first round exit from the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. His tenure as captain was extended for an indefinite period earlier this month.

However, the 2-1 series defeat against Sri Lanka sparked furious reaction in cricket-mad Pakistan.

The sports committee of the Senate also summoned Malik, coach Intikhab Alam and chief selector Abdul Qadir on February 9 to explain the defeat.

Butt said coach Alam and team manager Yawar Saeed were also asked to submit a detailed report on the team's loss.

Asked about Younis refusing the captaincy on two previous occasions, Butt said the player must have had his reasons.

"He (Younis) must have some reasons for not taking the captaincy," said Butt, referring to when Younis refused to lead Pakistan after the team's exit from the 2007 World Cup citing personal reasons.

Younis also refused to lead the team in the Champions Trophy held in India in October 2006, just a day after he was appointed skipper, saying he did not want to be a dummy captain.

He was reinstated captain, however, for the Trophy after Nasim Ashraf replaced Shaharyar Khan as PCB chairman.

Malik led Pakistan in 36 one-day internationals -- 12 defeats and 24 wins -- including a Pakistan record 12-match winning streak.

Malik also led Pakistan in three Tests, losing two and drawing one.

In contrast, the 31-year-old Younis has led Pakistan in six one-day matches, winning two and losing four.

Younis will resume duties in the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka next month.

History for Murali

Today may be the day for Murali. He is just a bit away from recording a history.

Lets have a look.............

Sri Lankan ace spinner Muttiah Muralidaran, who is already the world's leading taker of Test wickets, is poised to become the leading bowler in one-day internationals.

Barring injury or a spectacular sudden loss of form for the 36-year-old, that new record is likely to come in the five-match one-day series against India, starting here on Wednesday.

Already the world's leading wicket-taker in Tests with 769 scalps in 125 matches, the off-spinner needs just three wickets to surpass former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram's mark of 502 in one-day internationals.

"We will be very happy when he gets the record. It is another milestone for him and another one for Sri Lankan cricket," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene told reporters on Tuesday.

"Everyone knows the amount of hard work he has put in over the last 16 years, going through a lot of hardship. Now, after a few games, or even tomorrow, he might hold the records in both Tests and one-dayers.

"That's an amazing effort for a guy who started as a fast bowler and then turned into an off-spinner."

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was sure the "champion" Sri Lankan spinner would complete a bowling double in the series, but his team would make him work hard for the record.

"He is a brilliant bowler and has been very consistent. He is a champion bowler," said Dhoni.

Jayawardene said his team was keen to clinch a fourth successive one-day series after beating Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

"India are a very competitive side. They pose a tough challenge for us and we are looking forward to that," he said.

"Their batting looks better this time, with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag returning to the one-day squad. I think batting will be their strength. They also have two good pacemen (Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma)."

India won the last one-day series 3-2 in Sri Lanka without Tendulkar, Sehwag and Sharma, who were injured.

The Sri Lankan captain, without a half-century in his last 12 one-dayers, said he had been working hard on his batting and hoped to regain form.

"I'd like to get more runs and contribute more to the team's totals. This is something I have been working really hard. I hope I get it right against the Indians," said Jayawardene.

Indian captain Dhoni said his team had to adapt to the conditions early.

"We have two experienced players (Tendulkar and Sehwag) with us this time. A lot depends on the conditions here and we have to adapt quickly."

ICL vs PCB

Basically if there are 2 countries who lost good players due to ICL cricket tournaments, are

PAKISTAN

BANGLADESH

So, there should be some negotiation indeed.

Pakistan's Indian Cricket League (ICL) recruits have finally restarted a legal process to fight the bans imposed on them by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from playing domestic and international cricket.

A letter has been sent by the legal firm of retired judge Fakhruddin G Ebrahim to the PCB on Tuesday on behalf of the players. Currently, however, the communication is not "a legal notice", a board official said.

"No legal action is being taken just yet but we have received a letter from the firm," the official told Cricinfo. "The letter asks us why we have banned them and under what rules."

The board has not responded yet, though it is understood the issue will be brought up at the ICC executive board meeting due to take place in Perth on January 31. Only after a clearer picture emerges from there will they respond to the queries.

The move comes more than a year after a group of ICL players, led by Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar, first attempted to take the matter to court. They started the process towards the end of 2007 but it then petered out. The process has started again, said a prominent ICL player, because the environment is ripe for it.

"We tried doing it in 2007 but Nasim Ashraf [the then PCB chairman] had too many connections in the government of the time," the player told Cricinfo. "Whenever we did something or tried, it would come up against a dead end because Ashraf would use his friends in power to stop proceedings. So we decided to just wait it out till the government changed. Now it has and so has the administration and we feel, from the comments they have made, that we can progress this time."

The current board administration under Ijaz Butt has been far more ambiguous about the ban on the players than the one under Ashraf and seems far more willing to look for ways out of the situation. Pakistan has 19 players in the ICL -- some of them, like Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf, still good enough to play for the country.

Javed Miandad, the PCB's director-general, has openly called for the bans to be removed claiming they hurt Pakistan and are only in place to appease BCCI interests. Butt, however, has been vague and often confused over the stance. He insists it is up to the ICC to resolve the matter and that the PCB does not want to ban the players.

"We don't want our players to be banned because they have contracts with the ICL," Butt said on a TV show two weeks ago. "But unfortunately we can't do anything unless the ICC changes its stance on this issue.

"The PCB has not directly banned the players, We have banned them under the ICC rules," he said. "The rules state that no tournament can be held without the home board's permission and, in the case of the ICL, the Indian board [BCCI] does not recognise it as it runs its own league, the IPL."

We now hope its end.

Now football vs alcohol

Last day I reported that there was a cricket player who had to go to the rehabilitation centre for the 2nd time and now choose either cricket or alcohol.

Today another player had to pay for drinking.

Chelsea and Nigeria's John Obi Mikel has been charged with drinking and driving, police confirmed Monday.

The 21-year-old was stopped by police at 5.30am (0530GMT) on Saturday, after being seen driving his Range Rover "erratically" near his club's ground in London's Fulham Road.

Mikel was not a member of the Chelsea team which beat Ipswich 3-1 at home in the FA Cup fourth round later Saturday.

He is due to appear at West London Magistrates' Court on April 3.

Cricket vs Alcohol

Andrew Symonds, an Australian cricketer will now have to choose either he wishes to take cricket or alcohol . He possibly can't cut it out . Really a bad news for cricket.

Andrew Symonds will be sent to rehab for a second time in five months and not be considered for the Test tour to South Africa after his radio diatribe against Brendon McCullum.

Symonds's drinking woes and penchant for getting himself in trouble has CA power-brokers at breaking point, but they also have serious concerns about his state of mind, the 'Herald sun' reported.

During a rambling and alcohol-fuelled radio outburst on Friday, Symonds called New Zealand batsman McCullum a "lump of …." after New South Wales signed him for the final of the domestic Twenty20 competition.

Who is for Whom

Did Who did try to do that for our help or else? Think about it . Here what happened.......

Adviser to Prime Minister Syed Modasser Ali stressed the need for ensuring quality, safety and efficacy of medicines to protect public health, says a press release.

The country will continue to participate in World Health Organisation (WHO) initiatives to address the public health problems posed by sub-standard, spurious and falsely labelled medical products, he added.

The adviser made these points while addressing the ongoing 124th Session of the Executive Board Meeting of WHO in Geneva.

Modasser said it would be unacceptable to Bangladesh to introduce issues relating to intellectual property infringements or trademark violations under the pretext of combating “counterfeit” medical products.

Such misplaced attempts, going beyond the mandates of WHO, would affect the supply of generic drugs in developing countries and harm their pharmaceutical industries.

The adviser's firm position in this regard led to the rejection of the WHO report and draft resolution on the issue of 'counterfeit medical products' placed for the board's consideration.

Bangladesh is a member on the 34-member WHO Executive Board for 2008-11.

It was widely apprehended that the controversial draft resolution would have had adverse implications for the growth of pharmaceutical industries in the country.

The debate over the WHO report on 'counterfeit' medical products was generated by the activities and recommendations made by the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeit Taskforce (IMPACT) within the WHO Secretariat.

Syed Modasser Ali questioned the legitimacy of IMPACT as it was not duly endorsed by WHO members, saying that the IMPACT definition of 'counterfeits' could also include legally produced generic drugs.
How nice!!!!!!!!!!!

Corrupted politics

The most common political violence is the violence by the govt. party against opposition party members in Bangladesh.

Now we are to observe it . Another example is here. Possibly will last for 5 more years.

Awami League cadres allegedly kidnapped a BNP man at Naldanga of Natore yesterday and demanded ransom for his release.

Some AL cadres, including Dulal and Mamtaz, went to the house of BNP supporter Abdur Rahman at Hapania Basbhag village in a motorbike at around 11:00 am and picked him up.

Before leaving the scene, the AL cadres told Rahman's son Abdul Mannan to send them Tk 10,000 for release of his father.

Mannan complained to police who refused to record any case in this regard.

When contacted, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Naldanga Police Station said Rahman borrowed money from Dulal and Mamtaz. They are his relatives and he was refusing to pay them off.

“How can it be an abduction case if his relatives took him to their house for getting back the money?” the OC posed.

In another incident, at least ten people were injured as AL men attacked the house of Natore sadar BNP's acting general secretary Akhtaruzzaman Hares at Laxmipur Kholabaria village on Sunday night.

Earlier in the evening, the villagers caught AL activist Roky Mia and beat him up when he along with a gang of masked men attempted to kidnap Aktaruzzaman's nephew Jahirul Islam.

AL men later attacked Aktaruzzaman's house, beat up his family members and ransacked his house.

Aktaruzzaman was admitted to Natore Sadar Hospital. A case has been lodged.

The question is that ,will the guilty get punishment or reward from govt? We are awaiting their movement.