Story ACC Test Championship 2006

[sami007]

ACC Anounces Relaunch of Test Championship

The Asian Cricket Council today confirmed that the Asian Test Championship would be brought back for the summer of 2006. The ACC agreed that by playing competetive cricket close to home, the 4 Asian test nations would grow to be better against other opposition. The past year has seen a great rise by the two bitter rivals Pakistan and India. Both have climbed the rankings steadily, Pakistan just having beaten England 1-0 in a 3 match home series. Sri Lanka has had mixed fortunes in the test arena but have had some new talent emerge in the side that brings hope for the future. Bangladesh however are a very young team with much to look forward to later on down the road. The series will have a home-away league with the teams playing 6 matches each. at the end of round 6, the top two teams will face off in a 3-match series. The team finishing higher in the table will host the final series.




NOTE:This is my first ever story thread...so dont be harsh!

 

[sami007]

oh yea that 1-0 is just my prediction .... these matches will be played on BLIC using Witchkings test kits

oh yea im playing as Pakistan...no surprises there!

 

[sami007]

Pawar: India Will Play in Karachi

Sharad Pawar, the new president of the Board of Control for Cricket, has stated the he wants India to play the Pakistan away test in Karachi. The fixture list has been handed out today and looks as follows:

Round 1:
India vs Pakistan - Kolkata
Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka - Dhaka
Round 2:
Bangladesh vs India - Dhaka
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan - Galle
Round 3:
Pakistan vs Bangladesh - Faisalabad
India vs Sri Lanka - Chennai
Round 4:
Pakistan vs India - Karachi
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh - Kandy
Round 5:
India vs Bangladesh - Bangalore
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - Lahore
Round 6:
Bangladesh vs Pakistan -Dhaka
Sri Lanka vs India - Colombo

The series will start with the most mouth-watering fixture in cricket....India vs Pakistan. the match will be played in the Kolkata...site of the famous jubilee celebration match that Pakistan won. Perhaps India will be looking for revenge. Also many predict ROUND 6 to be very interesting. it is very likely that Sri Lanka hosting India could be a crucial tie as far as who gets to go to the Finals. Pakistan have to be the firm favorites having just beaten England. India are second due to a revamped style under new coach Chappel. Sri Lanka are a team on the rise and have much to prove to the world. Bangladesh are defintely the minnows and one doesnt see them causing any trouble to the 3 South Asian giants.

 

[sami007]

Squads Released

All 4 Test nations have released their 16-member squad lists for the upcoming ACC Test Championship:

Bangladesh
H Sarker (Bat)
S Hossain (Bat)
R Saleh (Bat)
H Bashar (Bat + C)
M Ashraful (Bat)
A Kapali (All)
K Mashud (W)
M Rafique (Bowl)
M Rahman (All)
T Aziz (Bowl)
T Baisya (Bowl)
K Mahmud (All)
M Islam (Bowl)
F Hossain (Bat
A Razzaq (Bowl)
A Kabir (Bowl)

India
V Sehwag (Bat)
Y Singh (Bat)
R Dravid (Bat)
S Tendulkar (Bat)
VVS Laxman (Bat)
S Ganguly (Bat + C)
P Patel (W)
I Pathan (Bowl)
H Singh (Bowl)
Z Khan (Bowl)
A Kumble (Bowl)
L Balaji (Bowl)
A Nehra (Bowl)
D Mongia (Bat)
A Agarkar (All)
M Kaif (Bat)

Sri Lanka
S Jayasuriya (Bat)
M Atapattu (Bat + C)
M Jayawardene (Bat)
K Sangakkara (W + Bat)
R Arnold (Bat)
S Jayantha (Bat)
T Dilshan (Bat)
C Vaas (Bowl)
U Chandana (Bowl)
N Zoysa (Bowl)
M Muralitharan (Bowl)
D Fernando (Bowl)
T Kandamby (Bat)
N Kulasekara (Bowl)
F Maharoof (Bowl)
R Herath (Bowl)

Pakistan
T Umar (Bat)
Y Hameed (Bat)
S Malik (All)
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Bat + C)
M Yousuf (Bat)
A Siddiqui (All)
M Khan (W)
S Mushtaq (Bowl)
S Ahmed (Bowl)
S Akhtar (Bowl)
M Sami (Bowl)
A Kamal (Bat)
Y Khan (Bat)
A Razzaq (All)

The squads are ready and thrilled to get this much-awaited competition under way! Up next we take a look at the newest member of the Pakistan team Adnan Siddiqui!

note....please dont flame me for the lack of updated squads...just one downside to BLIC

 

[sami007]

Adnan Siddiqui Set to Make Debut at Lahore

Adnan Siddiqui is the newest member of the Pakistan team. hes a genuine all rounder who bats in the lower middle order. Sometimes he is pushed up the order to allow a more senior batsmen to enjoy his time in the pavillion. He bowls a mean leg-spin and has a very well-developed googly, taught to him by none other than Danish Kaneria who is not in the squad because he wanted icecream as part of his central contract from the PCB but was promptly refused. We are all looking forward to see how young Adnan does in this series and hopefully in the future for Pakistan.

 

[sami007]

whats a good image sharing site that allows large screenshots...how do i attach em and such?

 

[sohum]

Ahh the Asian Test Championships. I have tried to do this story twice but stopped midway.

 

[sami007]

yea this will be a work in progress...hey dude can ya help with the images? i really wanna make it look good!

 

[aussie1st]

This sounds interesting, lets see who is the best Asian team.

 

[ashu2411]

good luck. Best wished to indian team.

 

[sami007]

Inzi looking for a good start to the series

A brief Q&A with Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Q: Inzi how are you and the boys getting ready for the 3rd ACC Test Championship?
Inzi: Bismillah...well we are focusing on our batting and bowling. just sticking to the basics. we did well against England and hope to continue that form and play with the same fire and passion.

Q: What about starting the series against India, your rivals, in their own backyard?
Inzi: Well we have to play them eventually and if we win it would be a great way to start the series by taking 3 very vital points from them. Hopefully we can win.

Q: Will you be looking to win all the matches or just the important ones and make sure you get the 10 pts needed to qualify for the finals?
I: well thats a very dangerous thing to do. these sorts of series and championships require momentum and we don want to let up for any reasons.

Q: What does the squad look like?
I: We are going to have Shahid and Malik open the batting, Younis, Yousuf and myself the middle order, the new boy Adnan will be after...then we have the tail.

Aite well there you have it, Inzi is thirsty for victory and looking confident!

1st round probable team:
Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-haq*, Adnan Siddiqui (debut), Moin Khan+, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shabbir Ahmed, Shoaib Akthar and Mohammad Sami.

 

[sami007]

Ganguly has lots to prove

Our correspondent was able to catch up with under-fire India captain Sourav Ganguly and got some information from him:

Q: Alright Sourav?
SG: Yes were doing well...getting ready for this great championship. personally its a great idea and we should help eachother to become greater cricketing nations.

Q:Well i hope youre not gonna be friendly about the opposition on the pitch now Sourav...you are under pressure after some poor form and the test is in your home state, what will you do to ensure victory?
SG: yea victory is very important...we want to get off on the right foot ofcoure! playing against pakistan is never easy and we will go at them hard. i was just looking at the pitch, it seems a nice one to bat on. hpefully we can put up a large score...eithr batting first or second. thats the key. our strength is the batting and we must make use of the good conditions.

Q: Any shakes up in the team then after losing to SL at home in the last test series*?
SG: Yea were gonna try Yuvraj as an opener...its just something new we want to try out. weve also brought back Partiv as WK since KKD Karthick has gone home cuz of some bad food his mother packed for him or something. hopefully, myself, rahu, laxmanl and sachin can hold down the middle order and get the runs we need. Pakistan lit up England in the third test so we know they can put up a very large total.

Q: We know you have a bad record in 1-day finals...do you think your team can take the most of your chances and lift the cup?
SG: Lets not get ahead of ourselves...we have to play 6 test matches first before we can get to the final.

Well the Prince of Bengal is cautiously optimistic and think his team has the best chance of winning this test match and starting the 3rd ACC Test Champs off on a flyer!

Probable Squad:
V Sehwag, Y Singh, R Dravid, S Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Ganguly, P Patel, I Pathan, H Singh, Z Khan and Anil Kumble

*haha jus another bold prediction no offense my indian friends

The first round has started...and i promise some fireworks :happy !

 

[Hariz]

whats a good image sharing site that allows large screenshots...how do i attach em and such?

Use this site. Its a good one.

http://photobucket.com/

 

[sami007]

Pre-Match

Sanjay Manjrekar: Hello and welcome to Kolkata where the first test of the 3rd ACC Test Championship is about to start and the man they call Beefy is out in the middle looking at the pitch.

Ian: Thanks Sanjay...what a great day for some cricket! the weather is beautiful, the crowds ready and the teams are set to get it on. I looked at the pitch earlier and I found it to be very hard and true. the ball should come up to the bat very nicely and theres lots of runs to be had. Just look at how flat and hard it looks...i see the indian side full of batsman scoring lots of runs on it:

whoever wins the toss should look to bat and be at the crease for long stretches of time. Back to you Sanjay!
Sanjay: well its certainly fill your boots time for the batsman and it should be a long day of chasing the leather for the fielding side lets go down to the toss:

Sourav calls heads....its heads!
SG: Ya well have a bat, looks a good one to bat on. were looking for about 400-450 odd and really put the pressure on the young batsman that Pakistan have.
Inzi: yes, we wanted to bat first but its ok...were looking for quick wickets and get them out quickly so we can get some time on this wicket.

Sanjay: There you have it, India will bat first to start this Test Championship. We'll be back later with the start of play from Eden Gardens.

 

[sami007]

India off to a FLYER!

Sanjay: After only two overs of play India are on a blistering pace at 21/0! This special report is so we can bring you the batting and bowling lineups and to show you the tremendous hitting of Sehwag.

The Indian batting lineup:

Pakistans Bowlers:

Sehwag and Yuvraj ready to bat:

Shoaib and Sami sharing the new ball:

Sehwag blasts it over long leg off the 4th ball of the match:

Quite obviously, the bowlers must do somethin to fix the situation. there is no swing, and they must rely on pure pace and strategic bowling to do in the Indian batsman. if they dont...India will put up a very large total for Pakistan to chase. I'll be back at the fall of each wicket and during each interval so...enjoy the match folks!!!