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Permalink Reply by Suhaib Jalis Ahmed on September 22, 2007 at 1:16pm

Personally, i was hoping that we dont see a Pakistan vs India final. Living in a place where there are a lot of Pakistanis and indians, I know that whoever looses will have to hear the other boast till eternity.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 22, 2007 at 4:15pm

Suhaib,
I understand your concern. But the upside is that this will accelerate the shift of the epicenter of cricket to South Asia away from places like Australia and England. It'll create an economic boom that the world of cricket hasn't seen before and help improve cricket in Pakistan & India..the players, the facilities, etc. This will happen regardless of the outcome of this match. Of course, I hope Pakistan wins and you and I get the bragging rights.
Riaz

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Permalink Reply by Suhaib Jalis Ahmed on September 22, 2007 at 6:25pm

Amen to that :D
I agree that it would be a welcome relief that the Aussies are not champions. I agree that Twenty20 could not get a better boost than seeing a traditional IndoPak final.
However, in terms of economy, the subcontinent, particularly India, is already dominating cricket. The Asian bloc in the ICC is stronger than it has ever been before. We got to see that when Darrell Hair was relieved from his umpiring duties. A stronger case in point was the recent World Cup in the WEst Indies... where India and Pakistan's early departure became one of the major causes for the event to be probably the most boring and financially unsuccessful of all time. Most sponsors made big time losses.
However, at the end, I guess having more IndoPak matches will eventually result in more financial gains, mutual respect and tolerance. Pakistan has not had a better opportunity of breaking the jinx of not defeating India in a major tournament. A win here would definitely settle the score.

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Permalink Reply by stylishscorpion on September 22, 2007 at 10:17pm

well initially i was of the opinion tht it was better for pakistan not to face AUSSies in the final...bcz we have made a habbit of losing badly in finals against thm, not even giving a fight..and having had a defeat once in this tournamant aussies will come hard on pak in final...but thn looking at the current form of india,i thought (going pessimistic )tht it was better to lose to aussies thn to indians...already indians are boasting off tht pakis cant win against them in such tournaments as proved by our teams track record...and if pakis lose against thm again..(GOD FORBID)...thn we will have to listen to all the nonsense from the media dominated by indians...But one hope lies in this match tht we have already lose to india b4 in this tournament..and the guys might be hungry to win this time!!!!
My heart felt prayer
MAY ALLAH MAKE US WIN IN THE FINAL (AMEEN...)

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2007 at 6:10am

Pak bowling attack looks really good. Well balanced and lethal. Gul just clean bowled Dhoni with score at 114/4 after 15 overs. Looks good for Pak so far.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2007 at 6:32am

158 shouldn't be difficult to get if our openers and middle order perform. It's doable. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2007 at 7:43am

Doesn't look good for Pak with 78/6 after 12 overs. I think our batting has botched it under pressure.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2007 at 8:06am

Sohail & Misbah are on fire. Still a chance.But Sohail just got out. The fat lady hasn't sung yet.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on September 24, 2007 at 8:17am

A cliffhanger with India coming on top. What a fight by Misbah.
Disappointing and exhilarating at the same time.

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Permalink Reply by Suhaib Jalis Ahmed on September 24, 2007 at 8:33am

An amazing match !!! Misbah was unbelievable. At the end, if only our top-order had been of any use.

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