Cool Inzy is game for repartee and Other News stories......

[MIG]

A few news stories from todays Indian papers in one thread ( dont feel like starting a new one for each )

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Cool Inzy is game for repartee
http://cricket.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1036368.cms

Siddharth Saxena

[TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI, FEB 28: Ten minutes to go for the scheduled Pakistan press conference and in the midst of the nervous energy that precedes such events, coach Bob Woolmer ambled in almost unnoticed. Stepping over TV cables, he quietly took his designated place on the podium.

Picking up a pencil, he proceeded to do a head count of the clutch of microphones already trained at the head chair. He then made a little scribble on a notepad, and sat back and waited for his captain to arrive.

It was almost worth the wait.

Behind those perennially-sleepy eyes, Inzaman-ul Haq sports a mischievous glint. Underfire for a pathetic tour Down Under, Inzamam fielded questions at his first meeting with the press on the tour with a rare aplomb and uncharacteristic candour.

Sample some. How did he cope with the calls for his head in the Pakistani media, following the tour of Pakistan, Inzaman, replied, deadpan: "In truth, I never read too many newspapers when I got back. I knew they'd be after me, so I quietly stayed clear of them."

What he thought of the constant flux that is the Pakistan team with a new coach and a newer deputy in less than a year? Inzamam was fluent: "Look, I've been around for 14-15 years in the team now. By now, you get used to these things. If you are in Pakistan, you have to get used to these things."

When someone asked him what did the Pakistan team had to offer this time in terms of an off-the-field controversy, the skipper said: "I suggest, we let the series begin. It'd be slightly difficult to promise something right away. By the time the tour is over, you'd have had your fill."

The focus then turned to Woolmer who was here previously as South African coach. "There were four TV cameras back then. Today I counted 22," he said, adding, rhetorically, "I can't understand what the difference is?" Now we know, what those early notes were for.

Secured squad: The Pakistani cricket team has been accorded Z-plus security, normally provided to heads of states. A DCP and an ACP level officers have personally been monitoring security.

[MIG]

Crossfire: Sehwag vs Inzamam
http://cricket.indiatimes.com/articl...22,curpg-1.cms

Siddhartha Mishra

[TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]


NEW DELHI, Feb 27: Pakistan lands in Delhi for a 50-day tour. Goodwill Hunting will be dimmed by the clash of the titans — international cricket's rivalry No 1. It's Apocalypse Now. Check out the sound & fury of Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Indian opener Virender Sehwag.

Pakistan captain: Inzamam-ul-Haq

• Pressure on you: Last year, it was different. This time, India plays at home and there is always more pressure on the home team.

• Your team Vs Our team: Admittedly, India has more experienced players. The Pakistan team might be relatively inexperienced but we're not short on talent and enthusiasm. We respect the opposition but we are intimidated by nobody. We enjoy playing against India like no other team. Inshallah, we'll win the series.

• The X-factors: Sachin and Rahul are class batsmen, Sehwag has shown that he can be a dangerous player. Besides, you have an old hand in Anil Kumble. As captain,Ganguly has produced results. We have Yusuf Youhana, Younis Khan and myself as batsmen who are experienced and can handle pressure. The bowlers to watch out for are Rana Naved-ul-Hasan,who performed very well in Australia, and Danish Kaneria — he is our trump card.

• No Shoaib, no problem: Cricket is a team game and you always try to win with the team that you have. Shoaib's absence notwithstanding, we have good bowlers in Rana, Mohammad Sami and Danish.

• Game plan: Our basic strategy is to keep faith in our players. There will be no major changes in the batting order. Specific strategies will be decided on a match-to-match basis. Since subcontinental pitches favour batsmen,we'll need to pile up big scores. Of course, in the final equation, it's the bowlers that have to take 20 wickets to win a match, and we have the bowlers.

• Who dares wins: The team that handles pressure better will win the series for the simple reason that there is very little to choose between the two sides. The deciding factor won't be experience, but talent and passion. Yes, cricket is a team game but individual performances can change the course of a match and even the entire series. I'm confident our boys will rise to the occasion.



Indian opener: Virender Sehwag

• Pressure on them: Playing at home is an advantage — you play on familiar pitches with the spectators right behind you. The pressure is on Pakistan; we have the edge in home conditions.

• Our team Vs Their team: We have experience, more established names. Besides, the Challenger series plus the Duleep/Deodhar Trophy matches have ensured that our players are not short on match practice. Pakistan has some big names but it is relatively inexperienced.

• The X-factors: There's Sachin, Rahul, Sourav, Laxman and myself, it's natural that our batsmen are expected to deliver. Personally, I can't say whether I'll be able to do a repeat of my triple ton in Multan, but I'll certainly try. Pakistan has class players in Inzamam and Yusuf Youhana, plus good talent in Salman Butt and Yaseer Hamid.

• No Shoaib, yes problem: Pakistan did well in the recent ODIs against Australia without Shoaib, and Shoaib didn't exactly play a decisive part in the last series against us. So, Shoaib's absence won't be a factor. On the contrary, his absence presents us a challenge to our batsmen in that we know Shoaib's strengths and weaknesses as a bowler, but with a new bowler who plays in his place, there's the element of surprise as we might not be familiar with his style.

• Game plan: Strategy is best decided after one knows the nature of the track for a match. Yes, we will certainly discuss specific strategies for individual batsmen in the Pakistan side because though we have the batsmen to pile up Test scores of 600, huge scores go waste unless bowlers pick up 20 wickets to win the match.

• Who dares wins: There's always pressure in international cricket, but it's a totally different level in an India-versus-Pakistan game. Finally, it's a question of our players striking form and handling the pressure. We have the players to win the series and we do expect to win but I don't know by what margin.

[MIG]

A cross-border conquest of hearts
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/1...1300270001.htm

Manish Chand (Indo-Asian News Service)

New Delhi, March 1, 2005|11:01 IST


For over 600 Indians and Pakistanis who had assembled here for a dialogue on bridging the cross-border divide, the experience of meeting each other sans prejudices and preconceptions was a transforming one.

Some of them were much too emotionally stirred to speak while others waxed lyrical about the unstoppable march of peace.

"It's been a wonderful experience. We feel as though we have come home. Dilli dilwalon ki hai," (Delhi belongs to creatures of the heart)," gushes Mohammad Riaz, a lawyer who had come from Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to attend the four-day seventh joint convention of Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) which began on Friday at the Mavlankar Hall here.

This is the first time five people from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been granted visas to visit India to attend this convention. "Now we know that Indians are nice people. All the bad policies are formulated by the governments of both countries, and people suffer. People want peace," said Riaz, who has found his passage to India a liberating one, freeing him from prejudices of a lifetime.

Likewise, Munir Hussain Chaudhary, a lawyer and political activist from Mirpur in PoK - an area that Pakistan calls 'Azad Kashmir' - is excited at his Indian journey and new vistas of experience it has opened for him. He is now praying that the Indian government extends his visa to allow him to visit Rajouri so that he can be united with his long-lost sister. If his wish is granted, he will be seeing his sister for the first time in his life.

Over 100 Pakistanis, out of 320 who attended the convention, are trying to get their visas extended so that they can soak in the sun and sights of India for a little while more.

It wasn't just emotions and dramatic personal experiences. Weighty issues with long-term implications for the future of the region like Kashmir, human and civil rights, the status of minorities and globalisation were discussed with passionate objectivity.

Tapan Bose, general secretary of the Indian chapter of PIPFFD, recalls proudly how the organisation that started with just 100 delegates ten years ago has now spread to almost all sectors of society and has become a mass movement of sorts.

Anis Haroon, a senior member of Pakistan chapter of the forum, sees in the increased people-to-people contacts an affirmation of peace lobbies by both governments.

It was perhaps as an acknowledgement of people power that External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh threw open the doors of Hyderabad House - the stately venue of state banquets held for the heads of state -- for the forum's delegates Sunday.

Last month, the Indian high commission issued over 10,000 visas to Pakistanis coming to India. On an average, the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi issues 8,000 visas every month.

The exuberance and energy circulating in Mavlankar Hall bespoke this collective longing for peace on both sides of the border. If for Amit Chakravorty, a banker from Kolkata, the convention is the place to refresh his perspectives about life across the border, for Shahjehan, a teacher from Islamabad, it was a revelation of the power of dialogue unshackled by biases and state lies.

"It's the common people who bear the brunt of peace. They are the ultimate sufferers. Let's talk and live peace," said the man who tutors a brand new generation in Pakistan in the culture of peace.

[Awesome Anjum]

Interesting stuff, MIG.

[Lightning]

A good read. Thanks dude.

[Gasherbrum]

thanks for the articles. always interesting to read what people on the other side may be thinking.