Journey to 2012 ICC World Twenty20

Cricket new rising star will be held in Sri Lanka in 2012. The process of qualification of the same has already started. We would be following the qualification process very closely here. First to start with we will have a complete understanding of the process.

What is Twenty20?
Twenty20 is the latest format developed in cricket. It consists of both team batting or balling for 20 overs. The match lasts for 3.5 hours much comparable to other sports like Baseball, Football etc.
It involves explosive form of cricket with much higher ratio of 4's and 6's and is entertaining for the crowds. ICC (International Cricket Council) has made it the guiding vehicle to introduce cricket to new markets.

How many teams will be playing World Twenty20 and what will be the format?
16 teams will be playing in the world cup. The format has not yet been decided. Most likely it will be 4 pools of 4 teams each. Then top 2 teams qualify to Super 8's with again 2 groups of 4. Then we will have a Semi Final and a Final.
Whenever the exact format comes I will definitely update the same

How many similar world cup have happened and who are the winners?
This would be the 4th World Cup. The previous 3 have been as follows
2007, South Africa:- India defeated arch rivals Pakistan to win the first World Cup
2009, England:- Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka
2010, West Indies:- England defeated arch rivals Australia to lift their first ICC trophy

What is the qualification process?
To understand the qualification process we need to understand the structure of ICC.

ICC has got 3 level of membership.
Test Nations:- These are the highest level of members who are officially allowed to play Test Cricket (5day matches). These nations only have voting rights. Presently there are 10 Test Nations:- Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies (A combination of 20 Caribbean nations) & Zimbabwe
Associates:- These are countries where cricket is firmly established, but yet not at a level to play Test Cricket. In simple words, cricket is one of the major say 15 games with a proper structure to manage it. There are 34 Associate Members.
Affiliates:-These are nations where cricket is in developing stage and has got regulation to play it as per ICC regulations. There are 60 Affiliate Members.

ICC manages Associate and Affiliate through 5 regions. These 5 regions are:-Asia, Europe, Africa, Americas & East Asia Pacific

The Top Associate and Affiliate from these regions form a part of the World Cricket League. There are 8 Divisions of World Cricket League. Division 1 to 7 have 6 teams each. Division 8 has 8 teams. The rest of the nations play in the Regional Division i.e WCL Africa or WCL Europe etc.

The World Cricket League runs over a period of 2 years. It is in 50 Over format. Since a world cup (50 Over) is after 4 years, hence for a 50 Over WC, 2 cycle of WCL happen.
From previous Division 8, the top 2 teams would have qualified for Div 7. The 3rd stays in Div 8. From previous Div 7 the bottom 2 are relegated to Div 8. Hence 5 slots left. These slots are filled by 1 team from each region. At the end, again top 2 teams go to Div 7, 3rd stays and rest 5 go back into regional tournaments.
For Div 3 to Div 7, there are 6 teams. Top 2 qualify to higher Div. Middle 2 stay and bottom 2 are relegated to lower Division.
In Division 2, the Top 4 qualify for 50 Over WC Qualifer. Bottom 2 are relegated to Div 3. This Div happens once in 4 years. The 4 teams in Div 2 are the teams rank 7 to 10 from 50 Over WCQ and 2 more come from Div 3
Division 1 are teams ranked 1 to 6 in WCQ. Like Div 2 it also happens once in 4 years. All teams in Div 1 get ODi status i.e there 50 overs and 20 overs matches are recogonized in official records
Finally happens the World Cup Qualifers. It has got 12 Teams. 6 teams from Div 1, Top from Div 2 and Top 2 from Div 3 form a part. Based on ranking Top 6 again go into Div 1, 7 to 10 in Div 2 and 11 & 12 in Div 3.
Hence in Div 3 for the first cycle in WC qualification top 2 teams reach the Div 2. Then Div 2 is played. Top 4 into WCQ and bottom 2 back to Div 3. In the next cycle the top 2 teams go into WCQ directly

Hence this was the complete ICC structure.

Coming back to the qualification structure for 2012 World Twenty20.
As expected the Test Teams directly qualify. Hence 10 slots gone. Left are 6.

For these 6 slots there will be a 20-20 WC Qualifier. It will also consist of 16 teams. The 16 teams will be decided as follows:- 6 teams of Div 1 (Because they have official ODI and 20-20 status). Rest 10 slots will be filled as follows Region (WCQ Slots):- Asia (3), Europe(2), Africa(2), Americas (2) and EAP(1). Hence from 16 teams 6 will go into World Cup

The 6 teams of Division 1 are Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands & Scotland

Now next questions comes into mind, how will regional teams be decided
The regional tournaments of 5 regions have all been scheduled. These are as follows

Europe
Europe Div 3 (Slovenia):-Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey
Europe Div 2 (Belgium):-Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Hellas, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, winner of ICC Europe Division 3
Europe Div 1(Jersey/Guernsey):- Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Norway, Spain, Winner from ICC Europe Division 2

Africa
Africa Div 3 (Ghana):- Cameroon, Gambia, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Rwanda, Seychelles
Africa Div 2 (South Africa):- Zambia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana, winner from ICC Africa Division 3
Africa Div 1 (Kenya) also known as African Premier League:- Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa Emerging, Zimbabwe Emerging, Winner from ICC Africa Division 2

Kenya, are already in qualifiers. South Africa and Zimbabwe are Test Nations.Even if they win the Divisions tournaments the next highest ranked teams will qualify.

Asia
ACC (Asia Cricket Council) makes a ranking of Asian teams based on the performance in Senior, U-19 and U-15 tournaments. The teams which perform good across all age groups will get higher ranks. This is to encourage overall development of cricket starting right from children. Based on these ranking the top 10 teams have been given a chance to play for qualifiers out of 18 teams in Asia

ACC T20 (Nepal):- Afghanistan, Nepal, UAE, Oman, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bhutan, Kuwait, Maldives, Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan are part of WCL Div 1. If they come in top 3, then the next highest rank would qualify.

Americas
Americas Div 3 (Costa Rica):- Belize, Chile, Peru, Mexico,Costa Rica, Falkland Islands
Americas Div 2 (Suriname):- Bahamas, Brazil, Panama, Suriname, Turks and Caicos Islands, Winner of America Division 3
Americas Div 1 (TBC):- Argentina, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, USA, Winner from ICC Americas Division 2

Canada are part of WCL Div 1. If they come in top 2, then the next highest rank would qualify.

East Asia Pacific
EAP Div 2 (Samoa):- Indonesia, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Philippines, South Korea
EAP Div 1 (Papua New Guinea):- PNG, Fiji, Japan, Vanuatu, Winner from ICC EAP Division 2

The race has already begun with Africa Div 3 already over and Americas Div 3 going on as I type this blog. I would be updating each and every division. Stay here to be tuned to all the action. This is truly going like Football qualification with the best 16 making, only difference is test teams have a direct entry which they surely deserve. Keep tuned for all the action. I am excited.

Great Initiative by Nimbus & IHF

Recently in News is a great Initiative. IHF and Nimbus announced to form a Hockey League which will start in November 2011 and end in Feb with over 250 Players and 100 Matches. What is good is that WSH will cover the flaws that PHL had. All the matches of PHL were held in just one city. Hence what incentive would have any fan have to watch a match between Pune and Chennai. Such matches had empty stadiums while matches of Sher e Jallandar or Chandigarh Dynamos had full houses in Chandigarh. When the tournament was help in Hyderabad, we had similar full houses for local teams. This shows Hockey has following. It may not be as popular as Cricket but still has a decent enough following

WSH has announced that it will be a 10 team competition. Each Team will be of a Franchisee which will be owned by some corporate or person just like IPL teams. I tried to anticipate the city which could have IPL teams. They can be broadly classified into 3 categories
1. Cities where hockey is really popular
2. Cities which have good economy and population to support any such initiative.
3. Cities which have initiative to support such initiative.

In the first category I would put the following Cities:- Chandigarh, Ludhiana & Jallandar, Rourkela
In 2nd category would be following towns:- Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Chandigarh
In 3rd category the cities are:- Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal, Indore, Guwahti (and Imphal Combined) & Ranchi, Nagpur

This makes a list of 20 Cities. In the long term the WSH should be a 20 city spectacle with 380 matches and around 450 players involved. This would give a complete following and all parts of India involved in it.

The tournament should be held for 90 days with 30 Matches per week. The match timings can be 6 to 7.30 PM, 7.30 to 9 PM, 9 to 10.30 PM, 10.30 to 12 PM on weekdays and on Saturday Sunday and extra match from 4.30 to 6 PM. This would give an excellent TV as well as Stadium Crowds. The earlier slots can be given to teams of smaller cities as people there can easily finish office and reach the stadium by 6 and later slots to bigger cities. Such an slotting would also mean complete house full in stadiums.

Hence the Total 20 teams can be by any names. If I steal PHL and IPL names then teams can be
1. Mumbai Thunders
2. Maratha Warriors Pune
3. Hyderabad Sultans
4. Bangalore Hi Fliers
5. Chennai Veerans
6. Kochi Champs
7. Chandigarh Dynamos
8. Sher e Jallandar (Also have Ludhiana as a part too)
9. Delhi Dazzlers
10. Lucknow Nawabs
11. Kanpur Warriors
12. Bhopal Super Kings
13. Indore Chargers
14. Ranchi Challengers
15. Rourkela Steelers
16. Kolkotta Tigers
17. Ahmedabad Lions
18. Imphal and Guwahati Rangers
19. Jaipur Royals
20. Nagpur Thunders

As of now the players should be selected by draft system, where 4 foreign players in playing 11 should be allowed. Also 2 players from under 21 should be compulsory be there in the team. 40 Indian players would be allowed as Icon player and ranked. As per the draft system each team could get a max of 2 of these players.
Hence in a squad each team could have such a recommended structure:- Total squad of 22, with 2 Icon players, 5 Indian players from draft system, 3 Indian players from the Catchment Area, 4 Youth Players & 8 foreign players. The playing 11 would be like 4 Foreign players, 2 youth players and 5 Indian Player with at least 1 from catchment area.

It would give a chance to Indian players, youth players, have a local tinge to team with at least 3 local players- 2 Youth and 1 catchment area player. It would also give an exposure to players against Indian Ikon players as well as good foreign players. Coaches can be from any area. Good foreign players will bring new styles. The Indians would learn a lot. With money coming in, more people get interested.

In any case it is not to rival cricket. India has a huge population and can cater to each sports as well as different timings can ensure full houses for both the sports IPL and WSH.

However if I look at present which can be the 10 teams it can be as follows
1. Mumbai
2. Delhi
3. Kolkota
4. Bangalore
5. Hyderabad
6. Ahmedabad
7. Chennai
8. Jallandar
9. Chandigarh
10. Lucknow

I hope the league picks up and is a super hit

Raising the Team

"Why do we have to raise a Team. We have to first settle our people, identify the identity of Jinnahpur" said the Cultural Minister Abu Latif on the suggestion of former cricketer Wazir Hussain. Wazir replied, "My dear sir, seeing their cricket team play and inshallah doing good, would start making the awam think on other issues besides the development and corruption issues of Jinnahpur". "How can you be so sure on this" replied the minister very much interested by the logic given. After all it was hard times for the government. "Sahib, look at me. In my times I was a great cricketer. We had so many Muhajir playing cricket. Karachi was always a important center for cricket. It is in our blood. It helps us take out all the daily frustrations and makes us enjoy. I have no doubt it will go that way". "Hmm go ahead. You have my blessing, you can have the stadium, but a budget no more than 1 crore rupees". "1 crore but but that" said Wazir but was cut by Abu Latif "We have to feed people, that is the maximum I can do. I already gave you the stadiums. Talk to some multinationals they will give you some money too". "Ok Janab, atleast I have the stadium" Wazir said somewhat satisfying himself.

Wazir in his old days was a star player for Pakistan Cricket Team, who had a clean image away from all controversies. Whole of country liked him and not just the Mohajir's. Then when the civil war broke out and Pashtun right outside Hyderabad and both Mohair and Sindh forces defending, he decided it was enough and left for Dubai. After 5 years and 1 year after formation of Jinnahpur he came back.

Jinnahpur was a challenging task from beginning. It was primarily based out of Karachi with a few districts around it. Karachi contributed towards a large percent of GDP of Pakistan, and Jinnahpur got that in legacy. But it had to give some remunerations to other 4 landlocked states for getting the big chunk, in return the landlocked nations pledges certain volume of trade through Karachi, the old way. Yes Jinnahpur was the gateway to Sindh (Who were now about to develop their port though), Seraikistan, Punjabistan,Pakhtunistan, Afghanistan and even central Asian ports. However lately it got great competition from Indian cities of Amritsar and Ferozepur, Jaiselmer which served as Inland ports from India. With so many people in the city state, and a challenge on mainstay of Trade, things were looking challenging. Having the highest urban population and high literacy rates of Muhajir, they had started to make some way in the Service industry

Wazir went ahead thinking on a plan. First he needed to form a Board. He was deciding on the list of his former friends who would help him. Many were dead thanks to the civil war. Some were abroad, and some so busy just to have daily meals. He could not pay them. He virtually had no budget, but just love for cricket. Thanks to his stint in Dubai, he had got enough money and with his son working in USA, he had a decent amount of money coming, so that he did not have to worry on income.

Sitting in home, he took out all his old contacts. He tried to set dates with as many industrialists, cricketers, news agencies. He kept calling them to have meetings with them. After forming a board was his priority. Alone he could never do it. Then one day he met Coxjee, the Parsee Businessman in the city. He had a wide range of Industry and thanks to Indians was able to recover back many of his factories, who were turned into rubble. With him he talked on forming cricket, and how it could bring back Coxjee his lost reputation, due to closeness of His team. "Well Wazir, I can give you money, not like old days but yes can give you, but I want complete control of the Board". Shocked Wazir, not trying to be rude "It would be a board for Jinnahpur Cricket Team and not Coxjee team sir". "Then what is the use of me investing money in it. I put in the money, you run it and politicians have the profit". "No no sir. You got me all wrong. As I told you, biggest benefit is that you would be known as reviver of the Cricket Team, and as a shareholder in the Board, which will be another company, a share of the profit's". "You plan to have the board as a company" replied the surprised Coxjee."Oh yes sir, we Mohajir's are professional and will be here too. It would be a company" and then taking out the structure he had thought "It would be a company with 50% shareholding of a Trust and 50% of the investors, and the Board would comprise of 6 Members of regional boards, all cricketers and 1 president again a cricketer besides 1 government and 3 member of the 50% shareholders". "You have been doing a lot of thinking" chuckled Coxjee "But with such a structure no one will invest. You have cricketers running the business. They will want to have more tests rather than 20-20 for the pure cricket. No sir" said Coxjee. "Then what structure do you want sir". "Have 50% private stake of investors and have 5 representation from board" said Coxjee realizing whoever owns he will make profit. "It all depends on how much you invest. I can agree to 50% of investors and maybe 4 members of Corporate board representing anyone who has more than 10% stake, but cricketers will run it" with a commanding voice said Wazir.

Hence the deal was struck. The lengthy discussion resulted in Coxjee agreeing to pay six regional squads their salary, besides agreeing to let 4 more corporate house investing provided he had the title sponsorship of the team. He agreed to invest 10 Crore Rupees which was roughly 500 000 USD. Wazir continued to knock the doors of rich people. He worked hard. Just kept meeting. Some met him, many refused, but still he kept trying. With loads of haggling wrestling the lone soldier was successful. He had now got loads of Money. Now it was time for real action

He was already contacting the cricketers. When they met him, most of them were in bad state. He now could promise them some hope. He then found people willing to spread his cause. Carefully selecting the 6 people whom he intended to be regional representatives without telling them. He off course assumed he will be the president of the Board. He though that he was justified to be that much selfish.

Finally and his team managed to have 6 teams for the regions he had thought without telling anyone. He then called all the teams to his gardens and then informed people willing to leave their jobs will get a yearly contract worth 2 Lakh. Most of the people were poor. They had come with such hopes itself. He then introduced the lawyer send by Mr Coxjee and he came out asking people to take their cheque and sign the contracts.

It was a dream come true for Wazir. He then along with the six representatives went to Coxjee office where they were provided a space for JCB or Jinnahpur Cricket Board. Joined by Aly Mitha the government representative and 4 other board members all the details were discussed. The domestic tournaments, ICC recognition, when will team start playing, how will future talent come and so on"

The local league had started and after a short visit the ICC happily gave them Associate Status. Test was a little far away. Only Punjabistan and Paktunistan had got the same.

Then one day sitting in office Wazir got a call. His face got red. When he put down the phone, asked Rehmat the board member what happened. "We have got to arrange a team soon. I had asked Kenyan to come, they have agreed to come provided we cover all the traveling and staying costs" said Wazir. "But they should do it" protested Rehmat. "It is the start, don worry I will get it done" smiled Wazir.

Emergency board meeting was called. A performance of players was discussed and a team was formed.

Finally the day came. The stadium was a house full. The Kenyans were known to be strong. The match developed a lot of interest. Sitting in the executive area was Coxjee, Wazir and the Minister Abu Latif. "I always told him it would be hit, encouraged him to go ahead, and gave all the support" said Abu Latif. "Oh yes sir without it could never have been possible" said Wazir, with Coxjee giving a smile, but wazir din feel sad. He had got what he always dreamt of- A Jinnahpur team playing and it was right in front of his eyes. He smiled and enjoyed the match.

What is my Culture

As I sat in the Train I was thinking of old times. When I was born my parents used to tell me those were progressive times. Some people also called us "Model Economy". Then our neighbor the biggest enemy had 2 wars with us. In first we tried to gain territory but lost the war. In second they cut us into 2. Then the war in Afghanistan.

It was the time that I got married. Thankfully it was for the new marriage and love of my wife that I stopped from becoming a Jehadi. Oh Jehadi's soon they were all over. What they wanted I really never understood. Probably always fighting really motivated them or was it injustice? It is a point I can debate and debate from both sides but never agree with one.

As a Seraiki there are many similar unanswered question. Are Seraiki's Punjabi with a different dialect probably with Sindhi Effect, or are we a separate race with separate culture. I really don't know. Many of my people still debate, again I am lost

Oh but the Jehadi's, they came and just kept coming. Bombs were fun for them, but as my teritory never had got the development were always saved from them. They wanted those explosions in developed areas. Finally came the floods. I lost everything. My beautiful wife, 2 sons and a daughter. House of Mud just dissolved, maybe my small farm would be more fertile. But what use was it for me. I was lost. Lost everything, also lost the direction

And then when everybody was asking for separation. It was the buzz word. The Baluch had been always asking, the Sindhi's also did. The Pashtun's were confused. No not for their identity but Afghanistan or not. Even the Mohajir's had their identity. Oh we were still confused. It is then someone got up, said no state now. Separate country. Mr Jinnah was so happy now.

We heard of so many riots, Karachi, Quetta were hotbeds. Oh the people loved their fighting. But hey all leader, that is not the only fight, do sometimes think of fighting poverty of your people. I was Hungry. I wanted food. My land needed some yound hands, oh Kushal & Reaz my sons, I really miss you both. For such a selfish reason. But I am hungry my children.

I had enough of all that. Took this same train, arrived in Lahore. I thought being a metric will find some job, "even the Master's are laborer uncle" said the willy thekedar Naseer. That shrewd clever hawk made my bones crumble and just gave me 2 roti with onion and achaar.

One day while working tired I looked at the sun, and that is what I remember. Got up to find myself in a old shabby Hospital. It was run by a kind Sikh Lady just called Bijee from India who on hearing about the state came here to help. Oh India, they must be behind all this. Oh really, if they had so much control, then why did Mr Jinnah you separate. I have heard now there are no hungry people. They don't have Naseer's they say. We always looked at them envied them, try to beat them. But somehow, I hate them, do not know why, but it is inside me. I am sorry Bijee when I get fine I will leave this place

Thinking all this was interupted, I heard a boom. The Pashtun warlord had reached the outskirts of our dear Lahore. They were again coming on the old route which their ancestors took. At that time you killed qafir's silly. We are Muslims. Boom. Another one exploded near me, to bring me back to reality. Got up, badly looking for one earthly possession I have my shoes. Oh where is it, din know but picked any shoes and ran out. 30 Km away was the dream place. Many people had escaped there. Most of them were thrown back. India.

Just walking on my feet kept going there. Was I the only one. Oh no. I could see no end. On the way were many more Bijee's and Sardar Sahib's from India with their food camps or called Langar's. It was equivalent to mocking us and serving us food. How much could they be like this. Oh Indians you are behind this and now you mock us. I hate these Indians

Oh far I found many tents. And also Tanks, guns, Soldiers. Have the Pashtun's reached here to massacre us. Oh no. They are all wearing dresses. Look disciplined. Now you Indians have stepped on our soil. Oh you must be loving it. Laughing at us. We competed with you. Defeated you at Cricket Hockey. We were better than you but you destroyed us.

The Indians had stopped us. We were taken behind the security lines, to save from the Massacre. Oh in front of me an old man collapsed. Oh he has something. Is it food. I must rush to get it. But these old bones. Before I could reach it was all over. Only what was left was the common man's news paper Jang.

I picked to read it. On the front page what a terrible site. So many dead bodies in thee picture. You cannot count them. It was a Pashtun Army run over by Baluch's. The Pashtun were parked right outside Karachi. It was a revenge by Baluch's over killing all their brothers when the Pashtun's had captured Quetta.

Oh this bloodshed. Mr Jinnah how do you feel. The Indians surely must be happy. Their plans worked.

Staying in the camp was difficult. Sometimes I got the food. Disease was all around. Then one day came Shahbaz Sharif. The aged leader announced they needed soldiers to fight. His brother Nawaz was hanged by Pashtun. The Taliban was back. I voluntered, but the selector chucked, "Baba Apne ghar Sambhalo, apne mundeyan nu phejo" (Old man take care of your house, send ur sons instead). Then asked "kithon de rehan wale hon" (Where do you belong to). Bahawalpur. His face froze. People around me froze

Then said "Saale Seraiki ithe Jasoosi karan aaya hai" (Hey Seraiki have you come to spy on us). Kut saale nu (Thrash him). Then it was all kicks and punches. I relaxed inside me. Kushal, Reaz I am coming. Shabana my dearest I will meet you and so my cute daughter Noor. But then suddenly some shots. Oh these Indians would let me die also. They took me aside and after first aid took me to the Seraiki corner of Camp.

The Seraiki leader Mr Gilani had mobilized forces. He has mascaraed Punjabi's, Pashtun's. Sindhi's were spared and asked to leave. Oh now we were awake from our sleep when the Pashtun's had whole Pakistan with them

Over time in camp I saw people trying to escape to India. Many were shot. India was a No no. Stay here you will get you food. We will soon take you to Seraikistan. Oh what Seraikistan, but there is no Seraikistan, I told the Indian Captain. "Ab tumne bana to liya hai. Nahi bhi banaya to bana loge" (You have already made it. If not you will soon make it).

The Indians had come in Karachi. They had to save their lost brothers the "Mohajirs" They also reached Bahawalpur. The arrogance of Indian Captain was a reflection of that. They provided Punjabi's with arms and Bombarded the Pashtun positions. The Baluch were strong enough to defend themselves. The Indians always supported them. The Pashtun and Baluch were into a unsaid pact. No attacking each other. Soon everybody were back to their old borders.

Meanwhile we all were given cards. For the first time I was not a Pakistani but a Seraiki. Oh is it my identity. Oh you Indians now you mock us by providing such cards. The Punjabi's allowed us to be back in Lahore, saying you are Punjabi's only, their brothers. Seraiki is just another dialect of Punjabi. Oh Am I a Punjabi now.

A year passed in Lahore. It was always tense. Seeing my Seraiki card finding Job was difficult. I got a job of cleaning table in a Indian Hotel Chain. Oh you Indians, destroyed us and now doing business with us. We always heard something is going on. People are talking Pakistan issue would be solved. Leader met, disagreed and came back. Many of so called Seraiki's started to go back. Then one day we heard that an Brave Indian leader has landed in Peshawar. Oh really. A year ago they were fighting. Now they talk. How is it possible.

The Indian was working for what they wanted. Destruction of Pakistan. Another year passed when the same leader announced everybody is meeting in an Indian City of Dalhousie. Oh it was named after the British. Mr Jinnah got Pakistan from them, such a great leader, but these Indians are working for our destruction.

2 weeks of haggling finally produced results. The Jang during these 2 weeks was filled with Speculation. An agreement was Signed. Pakistan was over. Now it was 6 Nations. Kashmir was already taken over by Indians long time back. Punjabistan, Pakhtoonistan, Baluchistan, Jinnahpur, Seraikistan and Sind were formed. Punjabistan got Lahore and Islamabad, Pakhtoonistan got Peshawar & Quetta, Baluchistan lost quetta and got a massive aid to develop Gwadar, Jinnahpur of Mohajir. They vilified our great leader's name and Got the all important City of Karachi. Oh Indians you also took away the vein of Pakistan and gave it to your lost brothers. Sind lost Karachi, imagine the Sindhi's. They thankfully had Hyderabad and a massive aid from India to develop another port. I was to go to Seraikistan with my Bahawalpur as capital.

The Cards had sealed our fate. We could not choose our country. I had to go back. Then Indians came and asked me to report next week at Railway Station. It was my slot to go to my supposed dream home land.

Oh the week. I saw so many people coming. They had lost everything and had to start. People desperate not to leave. They had lived over generation, but no, you are not Punjabi's, you cannot stay in Lahore. I had nothing to loose except my shoes.

As the day came I came out of my Hut. Saw the city for the last time. Met my Paktun friend in the city for the last time, met my Punjabi frnds. I am a Seraiki's I shouted with tear in my eyes. Took the tonga and reached the Station. There the officer gave me the ticket and guided me towards my bogey. Many Indian volunteer's were there helping us in our destruction. Oh Indians you have been successful. You have destroyed us.

I came to my seat with all gloomy faces around. I could not find a smile except for a mad man who was just laughing. I took my seat. A pearl of tear in my eyes, cursing had a whole flashback. Thought to myself who asked for Pakistan, who gave birth to Jehadi, who mis managed the floods, who fought with each other, killed each other. Was it the Indians. They had some role but who were the real culprit. It was the dead Pakistani inside us.

Wiping my tear, I had found my real identity. I was a Seraiki. I had found my culture.

PS:- This story is an imagination of What will be the future of Pakistan. The views about India in the story do not reflect my views but merely trying to portray how a Pakistani would have been thinking. Enjoy the story :)

How to Spread Cricket

We all recently saw news of the bold decision of FIFA to take up the bold decision of giving 2018 World Cup to Russia and 2022 World Cup to Qatar!! IRB, the International Rugby Board is also in such a league. They have been trying very hard to expand Rugby. The 2015 WC was awarded to a Emerging Nation Japan. They are also promoting Rugby 7's and it certain to be included in next Olympics.

All these things also brought a thought in my mind, what can we do to expand Cricket. Surely ICC has been undertaking development program. But my thought something is missing. Then I have come out with few thoughts. On many of them ICC may be working or plans to do that.

The Biggest Step would be to use the powerful and fast form cricket as the vehicle to spread cricket the 20-20. We have a 20-20 World Cup every 2 years. The 2012 is in SL and 14 is in BD. Both these nations are co hosting 2011 50-50 World Cup. Hence instead of these countries hosting it again, the 20-20 cup should have been given to emerging nations. The list of emerging countries are Ireland, Holland, Scotland, UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malaysia, Canada, China (When their team achieve some performance level), USA, Argentina, Hong Kong (Along with China maybe), Singapore, Afghanistan (When the Security Situation is right), Namibia, Oman, Nepal, Bahrain, Botswana.

Similar to FIFA, ICC should have an open bid from the bodies. The thing behind it is to make it Bid. Market it as the World Cup of a very popular game's most popular format or anything. For such bids the boards take the alignment of their government. So that brings in some extra funding.
Have some basic rule's
1. Give the hosting rights 5 years in advance
2. The Host nation or nations will have a guaranteed spot to play
3. Some basic expectation of Cricketing Infrastructure
4. ICC should have a plan to ensure that the host will be expected to earn out of the whole investment made.

Once the host has been decided, (lets assume Malaysia is Chosen as the Host 2016 World Cup). We begin with our Objective 2016 Malaysia. The priorities are
1. Have at least 6 decent cricket stadiums for World Cup
2. Have a good competitive cricket team ready for World Cup
3. Have a good level of local interest in the tournament and game
4. Establish a local cricket league with a robust way to attain talent for future

For Malaysia 2016 we will proceed as follows:-

Firstly ICC, Malaysian Cricket Board, Malaysian Olympic Council and Malaysian Government set up 2016 Fund with contribution from each side and a committee to handle all funds. The committee will have members from each of the 4 organization as per the bid submitted. Also ICC will provide the money to have share of the profits. The contribution from other organization can be for in any form- Loan, Aid, Profit Sharing or Partnership all as per the bid.

Then the next step would be choosing a pool of 30 players who will be offered Central Contract. The value for first year would be based on a rough norm of 15 times per capita income. For next 4 years it will be min as per the same thumb rule. if commercials allow then no upper limits. The contracts will be of 4 Grade A, B, C & D as per player capability.

ICC will also draw up a complete 5 year plan for Malaysia where they will have a busy schedule playing games against Test nations, their A teams, junior teams and in all 3 forms of cricket. 3 Coaches (Main, Bowling & Batting) will also be appointed.

Parallel to this the process of Developing 7 stadiums starts. 2 of these are in the capital Kuala Lumpur. The other 5 stadiums will be based at Johor Bahru,Kota Kinabalu, Shah Alam, Ipoh, Subang Jaya. The stadiums should be ready in 2 years.

Also Parallel to the above 2 steps, we establish 6 Clubs based out of the 6 cities which will have stadiums. These Clubs will be provided with Funds and a geographical catchment area. The purpose is to effectively cover the whole nation. Their funds will be for 4 purposes. First they can offer contract upto 45 players as per the talent they will encounter.They surely will have a team of 16 contracted players who will playing the first season. The Central players will play in the clubs as per their geographical locale. However if any Club does not get any central contract players they will be provided with 2 players from Grade A or B and one from Grade C or D
Besides this the clubs start the process of introducing the game in schools. The target is to cover atleast 80% of the schools in the Catchment. The Club will provide cricket kits. cricket knowledge, establish coaches to train students. The Club will conduct school tournaments every 6 months. The best of the talent will be offered scholarship till bachelor studies. The only condition would be training or playing cricket for certain no of years. The best of the student can be directly offered Club Contract or even Central Contract as per the talent.
The Clubs will conduct tournament for local sides and general trial camps where the purpose will be to tap talent.

Then we will get into an agreement with a local channel. Some of the parts of the agreement would be
1. The Channel will cover all the Club Matches Live
2. The channel will cover all matches of Malaysia live
3. When no live match is going on then at that time the channel will show the selected good matches of the established teams. The purpose will be to show high quality matches
4. It will also have program on how to play cricket and some other interesting aspects of the Game
5. It will have the exclusive rights to cover 2016 WC live in Malaysia
6. If the channel has objection of covering cricket from 2011 then as a part of agreement ICC will cover the costs and guarantee some level of profit in return to have share in the profits of the WC. The purpose of ICC is to recover costs and have profits in local markets too from telecast rights
7. If in the above period any commercial agreements come ICC gets all the money since ICC is already covering a basic expected profit level.
7. For all the other markets except Malaysia the channel will have no rights. The ICC will have the exclusive rights to sell them


The above steps will cover the objectives 1,2 & 4 and 3 partially in Project Malaysia 2016. To cover point 3 some additional steps will be taken
1. Take a known celebrity as the brand ambassador for the Tournament and promotion
2. Have regular add, campaigns to make the point that Malaysia has got the 2016 WC
3. Have big screens installed in all these cities which will have our TV channel regularly to cover cricket.
4. Have political and other important personalities related with cricket. This will bring notice to the game.
5. Bring the school children to watch the club matches.

And then we have the 2015 WC. The 2014 Club championship was highly successful. It gave profits for the first time. The ticket sales were very good. The channel also got great adds and ICC had mega profits. These were used to provide money to the clubs. The Channel then immediately switched to profit sharing seeing the response. The Malaysian team also got sponsors lined up and the team had various successes. They just one a ODI series against Bangladesh and then won a triangular versus WI and Ireland. They also managed to win the first 20-20 against Australia. It had the street screen filled with crowds cheering for Malaysia with high TRP's.

Finally then came the big tournament. the World Cup. The excitement was huge. To see top teams, top stars like Dhoni, Lee or Shoaib Akhtar. We had many people from other parts of world coming in. All the matches went houseful. The final had TRP rating not matched by any channel. The tournament was a financial success with ICC, Malay Cricket Association making profits. They easily paid the soft loans of Olympic Council and Government.

Malaysia now has got a good cricketing culture re established after British left. Malay CA sets a goal as 2019 to achieve Test Status.

ICC also take a sigh of relieve because of the high investments made here and also allocating the 2018 in 2013. However by 2015 ICC was in a much comfortable position seeing the results and boldly went ahead for the 3rd time to allocate the tournament of 2020. Hence a complete 20-20 line was drawn for next 5 WC after Malaysia

2007:-SA
2009:-Eng
2010:-WI
2012:-SL
2014:-BD
2016:-Malay
2018:-Ken,Tan & Uganda (Yes all 3 play and tournament is made 18 nation)
2020:-Neth & Den
2022:-China
2024:-UAE & Oman
2026:-Ire & Scot

At 2027 the test nations are 35 namely Aus, NZ, PNG, Ind, Pak, SL, BD, Afg, Nep, UAE, Oman, Malaysia, China,Singapore, HK, Eng, Neth, Ire, Scot, Den, SA, Zim, Ken, Tan, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, WI, USA, Can, Argentina, Caribbean (Combined nations of Caribbean besides nation in WI), Pacific (Countries of Oceania), East Indies (Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comorros, Reunion & other Indian ocean islands)

Amen for Jashan Plan 35 by 25