Dein erstes Forum » for the 1976 Romanian Olympic team

Pakistan are in poor form, have out-of-sorts batsmen and a depleted spin attack, says guest writer Saj Sadiq of www.pakpassion.net, but they CAN win the World T20 for inspirational captain Shahid Afridi… On a beautiful Kolkata evening on April 3, in front of thousands of cheering spectators, and witnessed by millions around the globe, a grateful and proud Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi lifts the ICC World Twenty20 trophy.Its been a tumultuous few months leading up to this momentous occasion for a team of mavericks, who until this tournament, have never looked like world-beaters with consecutive 20-overs series defeats to England and New Zealand and a disastrous Asia Cup campaign to boot.The nation rejoices and Shahid Afridi bows out from international cricket with a victory of great proportions which a cricket-mad country will treasure for many years.This is indeed a fairytale finish to the ICC World Twenty20 of 2016 and a fitting farewell to Shahid Afridi that many in Pakistan will hope to see - but even the most fanatical of their supporters will understand the magnitude of the leap of faith required for this dream to come true.Lets start with some recent history first - as if the series losses to Bangladesh, England and New Zealand within the last 12 months and then a disastrous Asia Cup were not bad enough news for Pakistan, the chaotic build-up to the World Twenty20 due to security issues could well have knocked the wind out of any group of players.Coming back to the recent cricket performances, it is true that there have been flashes of brilliance here and there, though the overall standard of cricket from this team has been well below par. The performances have been bereft and deficient of any confidence, planning and aggression and a ranking of seven is not inaccurate. Afridi has probably grimaced a few times after his sides recent T20 performances While the form of several players is an issue, it is widely agreed that the 15-man squad is more or less the best the selectors could have chosen, although the route taken to achieve this goal may have been rather circuitous. The picking and dropping of Khurram Manzoor and vice versa for Ahmed Shehzad being the prime example of this painful approach to build a squad which, on paper, has some merit.With Indian pitches known for aiding spin, it is a fact that there are still issues with Pakistans spin department. A spin attack heavily reliant upon Shahid Afridi, an unproven Mohammad Nawaz and an out-of-sorts Imad Wasim hardly fills anyone with confidence.If we look at Pakistans Twenty 20 performances in previous World Cups, spin has played a massive and crucial part in their success. In addition there is the small matter of the absence of Pakistans spin hero of old, Saeed Ajmal, from whose absence the team has not recovered completely. Pakistan will have to do without Saeed Ajmal in India Add to that the current ban on Mohammad Hafeezs bowling and one gets the impression that spin will not be Pakistans main weapon in this World Cup. With Yasir Shah also cooling his heels on the back of an ICC ban, Pakistan will need to have Shahid Afridi firing and will pray and hope that the young back-up spinners will provide adequate back-up to the skipper in the spin department.Pakistans pace attack, however, is a completely different kettle of fish. Led by the superb and ever-improving Mohammad Amir and containing in-form pace aces Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Sami, with the dangerous Wahab Riaz, the pace quartet has the ability of changing any game very quickly. If runs are put up on the board by the batsmen, Pakistans pace bowlers have the ability to defend any decent total. While the pace attack has variety and experience, with each member keenly aware of their role, the same cannot be said with any degree of confidence about Pakistans brittle batting line-up.If the shocking batting performances of late are any guide, Pakistan batsmen have the ability to render any good performance of the bowling attack and negate any advantage their hard work brings to the table. The bowling will only be useful if the team is capable of posting or chasing good totals.Mohammad Hafeezs questionable form, Ahmed Shehzads inability to rotate the strike, Shahid Afridis non-existent batting contributions and Shoaib Maliks on and off cameos, are all massive problems that Pakistan will have to contend with.The issue will be compounded on flat pitches if none of these batsmen fire and while Umar Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed have been great fighters of late, they cannot be relied upon to rescue the team every time. Mohammad Amir will be a key man for Pakistan in the World T20 If the fairytale is to come true, a spell of magic is necessary to provide the batting performances which the bowlers will gladly defend or use to their advantage.The truth is that Pakistans batting has consistently failed lately and in a very tough group, and facing some quality bowling attacks, if the batting continues to misfire, Pakistan may well fail to progress in the group stages.If recent performances are any guide then purely from the teams point of view and considering their poor form, getting out of the group may well be the only success Pakistan can hope for.However despite the chaos, confusion and poor form, Pakistan cricket teams have the ability to astound and surprise. Their best performances are usually saved in the face of adversity.The class of 2016 may not be among the favourites at the World Twenty20, but write this team off at your peril.Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games in 27 days of the 2016 ICC World T20. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Also See: Afridi: Pakistan are ready Pundit World T20 picks How to watch World T20 Sky Cricket on Twitter Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys China . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. http://www.cheaparizonacardinalsjerseysauthentic.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Arizona Cardinals Jerseys China . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Authentic . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Three weeks after his 30-day suspension ended, San Diego general manager A.J. Preller is mixing with his fellow general managers at baseballs annual GMs meeting.Major League Baseball suspended Preller without pay on Sept. 15 after a league investigation showed the Padres had withheld medical information from trade partners, including a July deal that sent All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz to Boston.I think you always learn from everything, Preller said Tuesday. We own the issues that came up, and now going forward, youve got to learn from them and get better.There arent any apparent signs the wrongdoing is affecting Prellers communication with other teams. Preller said the Padres have had active discussions with teams. Weve had teams inquire about some of our players.MLB gave the Red Sox the right to rescind the trade, but they passed because, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred, Pomeranz was healthy and the trade deadline had passed, so Boston could not have acquired anyone else.Thats over and done with at this point, so we need to move forward, Red Sox manager Dave Dombrowski said.Dombrowski said there must be open communication between all clubs, including the Padres, if youre going to do your job properly.Preller said he and the Padres have learned their lesson.Weve definitely focused on making sure the issue never comes up again, he said. As far as medical record keeping, I think the intent is to be best in class. From our standpoint, were pretty confident were going to have the personnel in place and the process in place so theres no confusion going forward on where were at and where we sstand on things.ddddddddddddWhile Preller was serving his suspension, President Mike Dee departed in what the club said was a mutual decision. Managing partner Peter Seidler said the move was unrelated to Prellers suspension or the medical records issue. San Diego lost 94 games and tied for last place in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds.Across the room from where Preller spoke Tuesday, Los Angeles Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi was coy with reporters asking about the teams prominent players who became free agents, including closer Kenley Jansen.Zaidi said his top priority is retaining the big four of those free agents, but he wouldnt say who they were. He likely was referring to Jansen, third baseman Justin Turner, pitcher Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick, although second baseman Chase Utley also is a free agent.Joe Blanton and J.P. Howell, part of Los Angeles bullpen, also became free agents.Certainly the first part of our offseason is going to be driven by retaining our own guys, Zaidi said. We obviously have a good number of free agents. Once we get through the early period and some of that sorts itself out, we might have a second phase to the offseason filling out holes based on how that retention works out.Los Angeles led the major leagues with a payroll of about $255 million in 2016, down from a record $270 million last year.Free agency is an expensive proposition period, Zaidi said, but theres a lot of competition for good players. This is how free agencys supposed to work. ' ' '