Pakistan cricket team is all set to depart for England where it will play four Tests, a historic Twenty20 International and five ODIs against the hosts from July 13. It may be remembered here that Pakistan have not lost a Test series in England in the last 24 years. Our team management must keep in notice that the English team would take on Pakistan with a vengeance after losing the Test and ODI rubber late last year here in Pakistan.

The Pakistan selectors recalled forgotten pacer Shahid Nazir for the third time in 15 months although he has not played top level cricket since 1999. It may be recalled here that last year Shahid was summoned to India from Sri Lanka where he was busy with the national A team. Then he was brought to the West Indies for a full Test and ODI tour but only as a 'spectator'. It is worth-mentioning here that Shahid was not considered even in the preliminary 21-man Pakistan squad for the England tour. However, after the recurrence of ankle stress fracture to express pacer Shoaib Akhtar, the PCB selectors recalled him for the 10-week important tour.

The hat-trick of 'comebacks' in a short period is a strong evidence of Shahid's potential and it's quite obvious that PCB can't call an ordinary bowler again and again for national duty. It's Shahid's extraordinary swing bowling skills and accuracy that paved way for him. In other words we can say that the PCB authorities themselves have admitted Shahid's outstanding talent.

Shahid, who has played eight Tests and 17 ODIs, made his last Test appearance in March 1999 against Sri Lanka. The cricketing circles have welcomed the selection of Shahid Nazir in the national side particularly in the absence Shoaib Akhtar. Shahid, who enjoys better first-class averages (19.94) than giants like Sarfraz Nawaz (24.62), Imran Khan (22.32), Wasim Akram (21.64), Waqar Younis (22.33) and Shoaib Akhtar (26.38) etc, has sufficient experience of bowling in English conditions. In England, Shahid, who has a 12-year first-class experience, must be used as a first choice strike bowler along with the gifted Mohammad Asif. His fantastic first-class averages reflects his strong grip on the ball and an ability to contain the opposing batsmen.

Shahid Nazir, 28, is still enjoying fantastic form and fitness and definitely he can be called a most effective speedster among his contemporaries. He has a smooth and attractive run-up, reasonable pace and above all sheer amount of accuracy in his bowling.

Many cricket critics think that Shahid should have been given a sufficient chance in the national team much earlier. A pacer like Shahid Nazir, who has all the ingredients of a complete fast bowler, could prove very useful on seaming English pitches.

It is expected that Shahid, who has enough cricket left in him, can play a leading role for Pakistan especially in the present circumstances when Pakistan are struggling to find quality and fit fast bowlers.

During the last one and half years, PCB has developed a strange habit of 'picking and then ignoring players without giving any chance'.

The recalled pacer Shahid Nazir was the first victim of PCB's strange policy. Shahid, who happens to be younger than seamers Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Akhtar, was a part of one-day squad in India and also remained with the team during the entire West Indian trip last year but surprisingly he was not given a chance to play even a single match out of nine One-day Internationals and two Test matches that Pakistan played.

There were a couple of occasions in India and then in the West Indies when he could have been tried but strangely skipper Inzamam kept faith in not-so-impressive pacers like Rao Iftikhar and Mohammad Khalil etc and consistently ignored Shahid, who grabbed 52 wickets at just 12.75 ave during the 2004-05 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy event.

In India, when Pakistan lost the first two one-dayers, at that stage the captain could have given a chance to his fresh bowlers but he didn't do that. Similarly in the West Indies, after winning the first two games of 3-match ODI series, Shahid should have been given an opportunity in the third and 'meaningless' match but sadly the team management did not bother to think about him. Now it has to see whether Shahid would get a chance in England to exhibit his potential or not.

Similarly slow bowlers Abdur Rehman and Tahir Khan were also selected for recent Sri Lanka tour but were sent back home without giving any game. Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, who has been named in Pakistan A team for Australia tour, was first chosen for Sri Lanka ODI series and then two one-dayers against India in Abu Dhabi but surprisingly he was not considered for any of the ODI games and thrown into the vicious circle of 'in & out' without giving him any international exposure.

Pakistan selectors also recalled pacer Mohammad Sami, who has been sidelined since the Tests against India in January. Sami played against England last year but was dropped when India visited Pakistan due to poor performance but in the same tour when Shoaib Akhtar was unfit he played last two ODIs but failed to impress. Sami, who struggled to regain lost touch, was again overlooked when Pakistan team visited Sri Lanka in March last.

One fails to understand the criteria according to which Mohammad Sami has been chosen. Is a five-year Test career not enough to assess someone's potential?

It is true that Mohammad Sami has good pace but his effectiveness especially against quality batting is very much open to every one. To make the things more clear, one can check his worst Test bowling record.

It may be recalled here that Sami has been a regular member of the Pakistan cricket team barring a few short gaps since his debut but unfortunately he never proved himself as a quality fast bowler during his five-year international career. His figures (47.15 per wicket average in Tests and 28.37 in ODIs) are enough to gauge his status in international cricket.

Probably Sami is the only bowler who has been a regular member of Pakistan cricket team, a leading Test nation, despite such a horrible figures. As per his past performances Sami does not deserve a place even in the A team of Pakistan but surprisingly he has been selected constantly as a strike pacer despite the availability of several quality seamers.

Missing Mushtaq Ahmed

As expected the 2006 FIFA World Cup is turning out to be a set of dramas. The preliminary-round matches have been very much exciting, auguring well for the contests ahead of the coveted competition.

If the world's top team and defending champions Brazil could just managed to beat a spirited Croatia 1-0 in Berlin, Sweden were stunningly held to a 0-0 draw by the determined Trinidadians; One of tournament's strongest favourites England had an ordinary start against Paraguay, with the 1966 World Cup champions just winning 1-0.

On the other hand there have been a few one-sided games too with the second-ranked Czech Republic outclassing the USA 3-0, Mexico trouncing Iran 3-1 and Spain crushing Ukraine 4-0. Hosts Germany had a super start to their campaign against Costa Rica 4-2 in Munich, followed by a narrow 1-0 triumph against a fighting Poland. Meanwhile, the French, the 1998 champs, got off to an average start, after being held to 0-0 by Switzerland at Stuttgart.

The whole world is engrossed in football these days, following each and every development taking place in Germany. Young and elderly, all are enjoying the super party.

But wait. In the hustle and bustle of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, some are spoiling the party, both on and off the field, one wonders intentionally or unintentionally. Talking of messing up the gala off the field, if some badly behaving fans were arrested in Dortmund a few days back, the on-field damage is also being perpetrated.

On June 12, one of Europe's big football powerhouses -- Italy -- took on Ghana at Hanover in a Group E match. A big Italian victory against the lowly rated Ghana was being generally expected. But against all the odds the African side gave Francesco Totti's Italy a very tough time from the very beginning of the first half. Italy, the three-time world champions, could only score their first goal in the 40th minute through Andrea Pirlo and then made it 2-0 as substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta netted the ball in the dying moments of the game (83rd minute) to confirm a winning start for Italy in the 2006 World Cup.

Ghana, playing their first World Cup finals, even came very close on a few occasions to take lead in the first half, challenging much experienced opponents Italy. Poor finishing, at times, cost Ghana what would have been a shocking win over the overwhelming favourites Italy.

Players and referee remain the main activators of the game on the field for more than 90 minutes in a football match. Therefore the on-field actions of the players, and those of the referee are regarded as paramount in making a game interesting and result-oriented.

While the players are naturally and rightly bound to try their best to take their team to the winning stand, a referee, 'the man in black', is always expected to be staunchly neutral in his duty, which is termed highly sensitive, specially in an international contest of supreme value.

While watching latter stages of the second half of the Italy-Ghana game of the 2006 World Cup, one gets the feeling that the referee, Carlos Simon, couldn't perform the job which is required to be done in a totally neutral way. There were no less than two occasions -- between the 70th and the 80th minute of the game, when one noticed the referee could perform his job in a much better way than what he actually did.

Specifically speaking of one glaring incidence, Carlos, from Brazil, denied the Ghana side a penalty in the 79th minute when there was a clearly visible rough tackling by the Italian players near their goal area. At least a free kick, if not a penalty, was the simple justice, the justice that could not be done.

Now why the referee didn't give the penalty (or a free kick) is a big question, for the game's world governing body, FIFA.

There may be many around the world who might not have noticed the referee's let-offs in the final moments of the Italy-Ghana encounter and there might have been many other lapses made by the referees, playing their roles in different others matches of the world's biggest extravaganza, which the common followers didn't spot.

But is it not the fundamental responsibility of the game's top authorities, FIFA and the World Cup organisers in Germany, to make sure minimum of (referee) errors are made in the world's top competition followed by billions? Of course it is, because if it isn't then whose job it is. Because after all the blame has to be faced by any authority and being fair with the contestants and the game itself, it should none but the top authorities.

Coming to the reasons behind Carlos's blunder in the Italy-Ghana game, one also admits that in the end Carlos is a human being who can, and will, make mistakes. However, there should be a marked difference between the number and gravity of lapses made by a referee supervising a World Cup match and those conceded by an adjudicator conducting a club game in the suburbs of Hamburg or Mexico City.

But looking from the other angle can't there be other reasons? World Cup being played in a European country, the team getting the favour (Italy) is also European, the relatively higher profile of Italy as a major football force (with Ghana being 'nowhere near' them) -- there can be several causes, all of which need to be studied thoroughly. And another big cause can be Italy -- a member of 'elite world community', playing against Ghana -- a 'perfect part of the Third World'. And if this is the reason, though no one can be sure, then football, being an essential tool to bring the nations closer, is surely being brought into disrepute, a scenario not to be welcomed in any case.

Just prior to the 2006 World Cup, the FIFA-appointed referees had vowed to clamp down on serious fouls in the games, but then after witnessing the injustice, done with Ghana that doesn't seem to be the case exactly.

FIFA has decided to use computer technology to detect controversial goals during the ongoing World Cup and one thinks the same sort of technological involvement should also have been introduced to identify the extent of foul play, chiefly the body fouls. And because this, the technological connection, wasn't set up, in this modern age, the bloopers, though a few may be are marring the football showpiece.

One can cautiously say that the performance of the referees, managing the World Cup, should also be checked very thoroughly prior to the majestic competition so that a relatively controversy-free World Cup can be guaranteed.

The 18th World Cup football tournament is spreading delight in various forms throughout the world these days. However, the Carson-like errors can bring a very bad name to the game, though many may term his Hanover gaffe a minor miss. Still, the deviation caused a major loss for the sufferers, the Ghanaians.

What is suffering? Everyone has an idea, in the first instance from their own case. Individual humans suffer a multitude of afflictions. Some come randomly such as loss of Nauman Bader, a thoroughbred cricket statistician, even a better human being. A wonderful man, a great friend he was. Here one must count his untimely departure a matter of bad luck. However, here one must also admit that all manners of things like this just happen to people with statistical regularity. Healthy appearance concealed the seriousness of his illness. Like in Pakistan cricket success, for quite sometime, has covered-up the potential failures.

Last Sunday, there was a wonderful piece written on Nauman by Gul Hameed Bhatti, the Group Sports Editor of 'The News International'. It was brilliant and one of the most poignant obituaries written on a cricket personality in local press now for quite some time. Simple, straightforward expression, a touch of personal feelings and facts jotted down in a sequence. It was about Nauman's fond remembrance. One wonders, where we write about departed souls, we would soon be contemplating to put in writing an obituary of country's cricket if it would be run in a manner it had been in recent years.

Post World Cup 2003 Pakistan cricket suffered physical pain when so many of their top stars slipping into oblivion. Pre World Cup 2007 this physical pain has wafted to the suffering of the heart and self-esteem, which has been every bit as painful as the real pain. The pain of conscience is never far away, a reminder of things done or left undone to one's own and others' detriment, physical moral or spiritual.

As Pakistan prepares for their tour to England, most of the critiques assemble their thoughts to talk about team selection while missing the future perspectives of how cricket is being run and where would we end-up shortly. Pakistan cricket management, adequately resourceful has still not been able to draw future plans. So, in this case, one finds physical and emotional categories of suffering.

They all involve the more or less passive experience of pain that is common to all suffering. Seeing a plethora of PCB policies being busted, some half-done, some only on paper and all talking aloud, one experiences the pain, and one just can't help feeling it, even if one wants not to suffer. Time has come that radical changes take place otherwise we would suffer perhaps as self-inflicted punishment for a bad run of events. It has been happening to us. We should flog ourselves, the pain we have endured, though self-caused and experienced unreceptively.

We read everyday the statements regarding PCB thinking of establishing thirteen regional academies, sponsoring school cricket and offering hefty scholarships to the schoolboys. It is a recognisable fact that nowhere in the world school cricket is supported by the cricket boards. Adding to our liabilities, like an NGO or a private charity we have gone to the level of offering stipends to talented school cricketers. Over-ambitiousness or merely plans on paper are synonym, one and the same. When are we going to come out with practicable stratagem and turn plans into dexterity? We need to stop being illusive.

The belief that heralded the arrival of Shaharyar M Khan, who has been given a much broader scope of authority than most of his predecessors, was that he would be the architect of top-modelled bench strength through activation and remodeling of the National Cricket Academy, one that would produce results as contemplated. The search seemed to be for a model that would endow with a structure within which to build up the Pakistani character.

Despite the power evidently vested in Shaharyar M Khan, several other factors have railed outrageously against smooth progress. Some thought Shaharyar couldn't have been expected to supply the lift straight away because he was thrust into an environment whose culture was one of upheaval. Nonetheless, in three years at the helm, he could hardly hit the ground running. Added to that, seemingly there is the lack of clarity. It appears that PCB are still not clear about their priorities, their policies and the achievable objectives. The need for a fully operational NCA before the planned ventures such as the installation of thirteen regional academies is actually what is warranted. Logically, a fully active NCA should have charters dictating the future functioning, type and infrastructure and number of regional installations. How do they feel about themselves? We don't know. Future development, so we hear, is always done after the results are achieved from an institution functioning practicably; without which plans even on paper become superfluous.

Sporadically we have been illusive. About illusion now we have Jonty Rhodes, South Africa's incredible fielder. He has been hired by the PCB to improve fielding skills of their players. We must be waiting for a miracle, to see Rhodes using a magic wand, and in about two weeks turning Pakistan cricketers into highly proficient fielders. Rhodes, quite sensibly in his first interview opined that he was in the country to try changing the fielding attitude. Changing attitude in mere two weeks, we must all be truly optimistic. And in case if the PCB only intended to see the attitude of their players changed then why not to employ services of local greats such as Ijaz Ahmed etc. Ijaz may well not be rated amongst Goliaths like Rhodes but still he was one hell of a fielder with a killer's attitude. It is fast becoming a fashion to sign up foreign coaches by most of the boards. Is it a farce?

The present policy of the Pakistan selectors, which requires them to pick the team without being provided a strong back-up has caused the sport to self-destruct before it has the opportunity to achieve the purpose for which they have been incorporated. Under current policy, so it seems the selectors are not independent and not in control. Yasir Hameed had a bad time in Abdu Dhabi during the EurAsia Cup and despite being a gritty opener and the one who had batted diligently in the previous years has been left in the lurch. Allegedly, he is being disciplined. Formulated to address the selection hassles, the present selectors look set to achieve nothing more than introducing complexities. There is no semblance of balance.

Against England and India at home, Pakistan avoided taking the leap with a performance that revealed the capacity to win without a miracle. Everybody contributed and it was blessing that no madness had to be induced to win the Tests. Selection and eerie management have provoked more bitter criticism for the lack of strategies. It seems there is not much the selectors can do really, there are a lot of things coming from inside.

For most, it seems that the Pakistan team would tour England under a cloud of uncertainty. One thinks the PCB managers needed to be smarter in some of the things they did. Betting on enormously talented pair of Salman Butt and Imran Farhat both flashy left-handers looks dicey. The top order fragility had marred Pakistan's growth as a team with formidable packing order. Opening on docile pitches in Pakistan, Sri Lanka or India with Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt or Butt and Imran Farhat may well have disguised the gravity of problem but in England they are likely to be tested to the hilt. With successive wins and Shoaib Malik producing results, one thinks weíre getting close but still not getting to the goal.

Now with Taufiq Umar, Asim Kamal and Rafatullah Mohmand not in the fray, it has become a big mystery to define what it means to go to England and expect fill-in players or flashy stroke makers taking Pakistan to substantiality. So it is for the cricket public that is drifting away in distress. The aspiring cricketers are at the heart of it, but until they can figure out what they want to be, how much they are prepared to do to get there, and how much support they will get from the administrators, the unpredictability formula will remain-because that has been the one constant in their lives.

Where is Asim Kamal, a batsman with eight half-centuries in twelve Tests? Only, Shahid Nazir's arrival is a good omen. After rejuvenating his career, Nazir had gone to India in 2004-05 and to the West Indies and ended-up as a joy rider, a bystander. Now he is expected to replace the devastator, a genuine spearhead Shoaib Akhtar. What should we expect from Shahid with such a background? Only miracles!

Efficient cricket management is the premier requirement to develop one's bench strength, to evolve futuristic plans, to rehabilitate the infrastructure and to take cricket to the grassroots. This is a crazy world with all kinds of strategies and plans being evolved now more than ever, there is a common refrain too on whether a management is good, bad, or whether it's clean or unclean. In this kind of environment, perhaps it doesn't matter but people who have been in the place for sometime will tell you that administration is one of the most important things, which should influence the future change. But it's easier said than done because managements tend to be savvy. So, it's difficult to sometimes judge, whether you can trust a management or not? Sometimes, history is a very good indicator of whether you can go back and trust and figure out whether this management is going to create cricketing resource as game's most powerful custodians. If you're looking for something to chew over, some thoughtful seeds for mental cultivation, visit the Pakistan Cricket Board set up in Lahore-to think in or take away.

One must resort to optimism. There is a redeeming feature; PCB reacting to newspaper writings picked Rafatullah Mohmand, Shahid Yousuf, Wasim Khan and Mohammad Hafeez, the players who were profiled in 'The News on Sunday' in the last couple of months, albeit in the wrong teams.

No doubt the FIFA World Cup 2006 is a purely sports event that will continue to be fuelled and energised by the rivalry among the participating teams and the football fever of the fans, but it has by all means a direct influence on the business around the world, giving commercial impetus in most cases. The tournament will adversely affect the financial markets and the economy world wide by dissuading its fans from their duties at the work place.

Among the cities that enjoy direct business boom from the FIFA giant event is Pakistan's Sialkot. For Sialkot, it was definitely a great blessing to become the city of Iqbal, but it has added an international fame to its image because of its sports gadgets. The city has exported more than 56 million footballs worth Rs 9 billion on the eve of this world cup tournament to meet the demand of foreign buyers, thus putting the local manufacturers and exporters over-engaged in the soccer ball industry.††

Some 1000 plus entrepreneurs in Sialkot produce more than 85 per cent of the total soccer balls production the world over, with at least 40 million balls worth $ 210 million as annual output, thus contributing $ 800 million to the national exchequer every year. Its hand-stitched inflatable balls that have a history spanning over a century are its specialty. In the 1980s, Sialkot gained 'international celebrity' status when it produced the 'Tango' ball used in the World Cup event of 1982.

The tournament's coverage on the television channels the world over owes much to its sponsorship by the big multinational companies. Top among them stands the German sports group Adidas-Salomon that claimed to hold the top spot on the global soccer podium ahead of Nike, adding that its recently acquired Reebok brand and the upcoming World Cup had led to a surge in its first-quarter net profit. The group, locked in a fierce battle for supremacy with US-based Nike, said that net profit had leapt 37.0 percent from the equivalent figure in 2005 to 144 million euros.†

TV advertising slots during the coverage of the World Cup finals have reached a top price of 320,000 euros for 30 seconds on screen. The ARD channel had sold 70 per cent of its slots for the finals. The lowest price for a 30-second slot was 6,600 euros.

It is this background of flood of advertisements that resulted in a revelation during a survey two weeks ahead of the Fifa tournament that a third of Germans were growing 'annoyed' at World Cup-related advertisements and product tie-ins. For example, it aroused outrage in the host country when US brewing giant Anheuser-Busch paid 40 million dollars to be one of the tournament's 15 official sponsors, resulting in ban on all local made beer in favour of Budweiser. In the very same spirit, the organising committee head Franz Beckenbauer, urging the need for limiting money-making, demanded cleaning up the sport amid fears that it was selling its soul to big business.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, however, denied the complaint, saying that it was not commercialisation of football, but a partnership between football, the economy and television. But he indicated that changes to the marketing of the World Cup would be made after the tournament ends. "We will aim for the optimum, not the maximum," the 70-year-old former Swiss lawyer said.

A study shows the World Cup championship will provide a short term boost of 1.25 billion pounds to the British economy. The economic benefit would come mainly through increased consumer spending and higher business outlay on advertising. "The positive economic impact of the tournament will be in contrast to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, whose impact on the UK economy was negative, because the time difference of the Far East meant the majority of matches were played in the working day, adversely affecting productivity," it said. It was referring to the fact that four years ago, many people took time off work to watch the games on television at home and in pubs. This time around, an additional 720 million pounds will be spent regardless of how far England progresses in the tournament.

Retailers are beginning to already enjoy large sales of flat screen televisions ahead of the tournament's start. Sales of other goods such as replica shirts, novelty football related items and bunting all received boosts from the tournament. Should England reach the semi-final stage, there will be additional sales of drinks in pubs, clubs and off-licenses totalling 285 million pounds, while an additional 300 million pounds was set to be spent on advertising.

Football mania will, however, also accelerate the pace of spendings and bring business boom in these countries. In Japan, advertising agency Dentsu estimated the World Cup will generate sales of food and beverages worth 367 million dollars, while sports bars across Tokyo are being forced to take reservations to keep numbers in check.

The same spirit of English football mania will glimpse in England. Nearly one in four English people have said they plan to watch the games with a pint of beer in hand. Fans in England will spend 60 pounds each every time England play. Twenty-six of those pounds are set to go on gambling, but that still leaves 34, which break down as 13 on food and drink, five on transportation, and 12 on boozy celebration or sorrows-drowning.

While betting is illegal in Asia, the Asians will, nevertheless, wager tens of millions of dollars over the festival on everything from who will win to who scores the first goal. This will boost the economic activities, though only underground. A large slice of this will change hands at market stalls or in underground gambling dens. Hong Kong is the region's illegal betting centre, with bookies in Malaysia and Singapore linking their operations there. Some of Asia's biggest betters are in China, where a man was jailed last year for 30 months in a football gambling case involving more than 75 million dollars. It speaks of the vast spread of betting that Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam has called for betting to be made legal so it can be managed.

Definitely the mega event will boost economic activity, and the losses wherever they fall are just temporary and mostly because of shift of attention of people from business to sports. This is a very temporary situation, that will be followed a compensatory boost in the financial markets.

Trading across European financial markets is expected to slow when investors will take their eyes off the ball and instead watch the soccer World Cup. Financial activity is also set to be hit because so many investment bankers are going to matches in Germany as part of corporate hospitality packages. London banks had bought about 20,000 of the 350,000 hospitality tickets available. Staff levels could even be reduced on mornings following big evening games. The Asian markets are already estimating the potential negative impact the tournament could have on them.

When the football-mad Brazilians will put business on the backburner by closing the Sao Paulo stock market Bovespa and the Brazil Federation of Banks two hours early on the days when Brazil play, it will certainly cast a negative impact on the business, however very temporarily. Its main stock market announced to close transactions early on June 13 and 22 to allow employees, operators and investors to watch Brazil's matches. The Brazil Federation of Banks also announced to cut hours of operation on the days.

A BBC report has pointed out that English football fans watching World Cup matches on their office computer screens could cost their employers billions of pounds. Their study reckons that if half of all British workers spend just one hour a day watching football online, the British economy could find itself four billion pounds out of pocket. The mega event has overshadowed the importance of British Formula One Grand Prix scheduled to be held on June 11, that has failed to sell out due to public interest in the German event.

Another example of business loss is the German toymaker company Nici. Poor sales of cuddly toy versions of the World Cup mascot Goleo the lion have been blamed for severe financial problems at Nici, which filed for protection against its creditors. Nici paid 28 million euros to win the licence to produce Goleo but sales of the shaggy lion wearing a football jersey have failed to take off. The company, which has annual sales of about 130 million euros, has not disclosed exactly how many Goleos it has sold.

Even a share of loss will fall in the accounts of FIFA itself. The federation suffered a serious setback when a German court said it had no right to the exclusive use of the name of the 2006 finals. The Karlsruhe-based court rejected the world football body's attempts to secure a patent on the German-language slogan 'Fussball WM 2006' (Football World Cup 2006). The decision could have wider implications.

It's of great importance for cricket lovers across the great divide, particularly when the two cricketing giants (India and Pakistan) will be in the field

By Gul Nasreen

A Battle that Never Ends

Pak-India Cricket Series 1952-2006

By Khurram Mahmood

Printed by S M Art Press

Pages 112

Price: Rs 150

"There is nothing like an India-Pakistan match," said prominent cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott, while commenting on an Indo-Pak cricket encounter in Sharjah. Yes, Indo-Pak cricket has always pulled more than capacity crowds and produced marvellous results. The same applies to a book on Indo-Pak cricket and one is one hundred per cent sure that the book at hand titled 'A Battle That Never Ends', which has chronicled the past, present and future prospects of the game between the two archrivals will attract a record number of readers in Pakistan as well as India.

The two Asian cricketing giants have the reputation that whenever they clash, they produce great cricket, a game which needs to witnessed, stored in minds for 'recollection from tranquility' and also put into black and white so that the cricket lovers can enjoy those bygone moments again and again by reading it in their leisure whenever they want.

'A Battle That Never Ends' fully serves this purpose as it has not only authentically documented almost each and every great moment of the Indo-Pak cricket since 1952, but has depicted the details in an interesting way to hold the attention of the readers till the end.

Written by Khurram Mahmood, a prolific cricket writer, the book is a mini library on Indo-Pak cricket. It contains all the relevant details like Pakistan and India performances in the cricket field, individuals and teams shows, and other statistical data from 1952 to the last Pakistan-India series played in Pakistan 2005-06.

It's of great importance for cricket lovers across the great divide, particularly when the two cricketing giants (India and Pakistan) will be in the field. In this perspective, the fans will definitely enjoy reading this book in the future Indo-Pak encounters.

As laid down in the preface, the book contain all relevant details like Pakistan and India's performances on the cricket field, players and teams' performances, and other statistical dates from 1952 to the last Pak-India series played in Pakistan in 2005-06.

The apt and pithy headlines and picturesque pages land an added charm to the book.

Continuing his practice of documenting cricket moments, Khurram Mahmood, whose previous successful projects include 'History of Pakistan Cricket', 'A Chronicle of World Cup', and '50 Years of Pakistan Test Cricket', 'Clash of the Titans', and 'Pak-England Cricket Series Since 1954', has very authentically and beautifully laid down the details in the most befitting fashion.

Aesthetically designed, the eye-catching cover carries a beautiful picture of the captains of the two sides -- Inzamam-ul-Haq and Rahul Dravid flipping a coin in the air to decide the winning of toss. It also signify the importance of winning a toss as far as the Indo-Pak contests are concerned.

Consisting of about 112 pages, the contents provide first hand information and in-depth analyses of Indo-Pak cricket since 1952 and the various stages it went through. One would recommend it to not only the Pakistan cricket lovers, but also to the Indian readers because the book has focused on the game between the two. Though at times, the author becomes subjective while laying down the details, the book is of equal importance for the Indian readers as far as the information and statistical data provided in the book are concerned.

One would particularly recommend the chapter called 'History of Pak-India Test battles' (page 54) and 'Pakistan turn the tables on India in Inzamam's 100th Test' on page 39 for avid cricket readers, who will definitely enjoy the details that follow.