A letter to Lala, also known as ‘Boom Boom’

At this precise moment in the ICC Cricket World Cup no one doubts the abilities of the dark horse of the tournament, the Pakistani team. The team has demonstrated their capability and prowess quite clearly in their win against Sri Lanka. They have beaten one of the hosts of this World Cup in front of a packed crowd, on their own turf.

Now since our captain has made it clear after the match that this is everyone’s team, I feel that as a nation, we need to give him a few suggestions.

First of all, anyone who watched the Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka match, one member of the team clearly stood out, and not because of his skills. He was responsible for most of the mishaps on the field that day; from the comical run out to the missed stumpings and the dropped catch – one Akmal was always in the equation and it wasn’t the one named Umar.

See, it is quite simple – with the Sri Lankan top order removed at 96/4 in a 277-run chase they should not have been able to get as close to the target as they did towards the end of their innings. They could have done what England did to India (had to mention it!). For that to happen, our team needs to be quicker and faster in the field, with no excuses for shoddy fielding. Yes, Shoaib Akthar was brilliant in bursts and yes, you our captain, rocked the ground with your bowling but it was not totally our hard work that won us the match, but it was more a combination of chance and circumstance. Thus we need to remove the chief bungler, Kamran Akmal – trust me, the team will be better off without him!

In this match, Abdul Razzaq, who has the ability to knock any team out of the match with his cudgel of a bat, only faced four balls when he was dismissed. Now I understand that this was due to the fact that Misbahul Haq and Younis Khan had to pull a Miandad-esque effort to repair our innings – which I might add, they did to perfection –but Razzaq should have come onto the field sooner than later. In fact, here is an idea: since Misbah has picked up a hamstring strain (I have chewed all my nails off while watching him play), why don’t we let him rest for the next match that is against Canada and have Razzaq play in his position? Imagine what he will do to the team from the Great White North.

Thirdly there is one talented bowler in our dressing room called Junaid Khan. Obviously the match against Sri Lanka demanded the senior, experienced players. However, Umar Gul has yet to show us his magic, so why don’t we give Junaid a chance? Maybe Shoaib Akhtar can pass on some tips (cricketing one’s, please) to the younger talent as they bowl side by side? We will need someone in the future to lead the bowling attack.

Last but not the least, Lala we call you ‘Boom Boom’ for a reason, and if you are wondering why the crowd goes crazy when you walk out on the field, it is in expectancy of what is to happen. So can you make it happen, preferably in all the matches, up until the Semis and the Final? Please?

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan heads home from India

NEW DELHI: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan will fly home from India on Monday after paying a fine of $33,216 for carrying large quantities of cash out of the country, an embassy official said.

Khan, 37, was charged at the weekend with carrying undeclared foreign currency in violation of India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act and customs rules.
He is rated as one of the top singers in Bollywood, India’s prolific Hindi-language film industry.
The musician, a nephew of late Pakistani legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and his group were boarding a plane to Lahore via Dubai on February 13 when authorities found $124,000 in cash in their bags.
“He has paid the fine and he will be taking the first flight to Pakistan,” an official at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi told AFP, asking not to be named.
Under Indian customs rules, visitors are allowed to carry only $5,000 in cash in and out of the country.
The Pakistani foreign ministry had intervened on Khan’s behalf and offered him the support of the High Commission.

I want Gulzarji to write poems for me: Katrina

She is definitely one of the most beautiful women in the Hindi Film industry. However, no one has ever written a for Katrina, she believes that love is the only beautiful thing in the world. The actress wishes that Gulzar saab would write one for her.

Recently at the launch of Pritish Nandy’s book ‘Love Poems’ she says, “Nobody has ever written a poem for me. But if actually someone writes a poem for me, I think that will be very .”

She was looking her best in an off-white knee length dress, Katrina, 26, surprised everyone present there saying, “I want Gulzar saab to write poems for me.”

Gulzar, 74, has written many and innumerable songs, was also present at the event. He said, “Inshallah, I would write a poem for Katrina for sure.”

The entire event was about love poems, and it was obvious that everyone wanted to know Katrina’s views on love and romance. The actress obliged everybody by sharing her views.

“Even though love is known to entail pain, disillusionment, disappointment, still I don’t want to be pessimistic about love. I would rather want to have a positive approach to love. I believe that there can be a happy ending, because love is the most beautiful thing in the world,” said Katrina.

When media asked her about her Valentine’s Day plan she said, “No plans, I will be working on that day.”

I hope Amir comes back strongly: Wasim Akram

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram admitted that the lengthy bans handed out to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for corruption on Saturday represented a new low for the besieged sport in the country.
“I feel sad for all three of these kids, two just over 20 and one just 18,” Wasim told AFP.
“I feel for their families because they are key players. This is a low for Pakistan  cricket.”
The International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption tribunal on Saturday banned Butt for 10 years (five suspended), Asif for seven years (two suspended) and teenager Amir for five.
The bans were handed after an investigation into allegations made by the News of the World that the players deliberately bowled no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August.
Wasim said he hopes the punishments will serve as a lesson.
“Not only for cricketers in Pakistan, but also for the players of the world, this should be a lesson, and I sincerely hope that the ICC has set an example with this verdict and this will serve as a clean-up, not only in Pakistan cricket, but in world cricket,” said Wasim.
Wasim said Amir is a special talent.
“I was very happy to see Amir’s progress, but with this punishment his career will suffer. I hope he comes back strongly,” said Wasim, of the teenage left-arm paceman who has been compared to him.
Former Pakistan spinner Iqbal Qasim termed the decision as “upsetting”.
“All three players were the future of Pakistan cricket, so it’s a very upsetting day,” said former spinner Iqbal, who is also the head of the National Bank team for which all three players featured in domestic matches.
“All three had promising careers but it’s sad that they fell into a trap and couldn’t recover.
They could have earned more through playing international cricket,” said Qasim, also a former chief selector.
Qasim said the decision must serve as reminder for other cricketers as well as for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“I hope these punishments will help future cricketers be more responsible.
I think it should also serve as a jolt for the PCB who should have curbed this before it happened,” said Qasim.
Former captain Rashid Latif said the loss of the three players will be temporary.
“To gain an honest system, and have unquestionable integrity, you have to lose something and players come and go – this will be a momentary loss for Pakistan cricket,” said Latif, who blew the match-fixing whistle against fellow players in 1994.
Former paceman Sarfraz Nawaz termed the decision as “pre-judged”.
“The ICC had decided to give punishments to the players because there was too much pressure on them to curb fixing,” Nawaz told AFP.
“It’s an important day for world cricket and very sad for Pakistan.”
Nawaz said Amir and Asif will be sorely missed in next month’s World Cup.
“Amir and Asif are a huge loss,” said Nawaz, of the new-ball pairing.
“They are the world’s best opening bowlers and will be missed, while Butt has matured into a solid opener.”
Fans in the street had a mixed reaction, some calling the decision a “conspiracy” against the Pakistan team.
“The ICC is biased,” said student Mohib Alint.
“They banned three key players so that Pakistan could not win the World Cup.”
But other fans blamed the players.
“All three have spoiled Pakistan’s cricket image. We cannot play cricket at home because teams do not travel to Pakistan because of security fears and now because of spot-fixing, teams will refuse to play us anywhere,” said banker Shabbir Hussian.

KJo is the wedding planner

Finally, and Avantika Malik have turned to Karan Johar to plan their wedding and wedding functions. is more than happy to help them. Initially the bride-to-be wanted to do things on her own, but as came closer, it hit her that she is getting stressed with all the planning and needs help.

She did not know whom to ask. The groom was of no help, as he is busy shooting the next movie of Yash Raj productions. A souce revealed, “Avantika was getting stressed about everything from her wedding trousseau to the menu. Imran was in conversation with his I Hate Luv Storys producer and mentioned how his sweetheart was panicking and KJo immediately offered to look at the list and help her with all the suggestions. When he sat down with Avantika and saw her plans, he was not very happy with a few things. So the veteran of all things Shaadi took the reins in his hands and became the unofficial for the couple.”
The first and the most important thing was the trousseau. Karan asked Varun Bahl and Manish Malhotra to design the clothes of the couple. Karan was very specific with the details. He asked Avantika to wear a burnt orange color lehenga and not only this, he picked a green colored Maang Tikka for her as well.

Imran confirmed saying, “Karan has been very helpful. He has been an excellent mentor and a friend to Avantika. He has helped us immensely and sorted our lives. I did not have time for planning but he really helped Avantika in all the planning.”

Preity tries to break the world record, but fails

Preity Zinta has finally taken a first step towards her debut. She has started shooting for the promos of Guinness - Ab India Todega, the show that she will be hosting on Colors Channel.

The actress tried to break an international record at Film City herself!

In a while pulling a truck she says, “Australia ka Derek Boyer ka Guinness World Record aaj main toodoongi.”

Later she stated, “Chaliye main naa kar saki toh kya hua? India kar ke dikhadega. Ab garv se har Hindustani bolega, Guinness World record, Ab India Todega.”

This is a desi version of the international show, produced by Miditech and will be aired later this year.

According to the channel, the never-say-die attitude of Priety echoes the concept of the show and it also represents the spirit of new India. She will try to encourage all the viewers to take a plunge to make or break records.

Surily Goel will be styling Preity for this show. Surily says, “I am excited to style Priety for her television debut. A show like Guinness World Records will be a great platform to experiment with various looks. Her personality is quite sporty, energetic and adventurous, and hence, I will style her keeping her personality in mind. I have given her a waistcoat over a casual shirt teamed with boots and gloves especially for the promo shoot.”

City stumble as Suarez enjoys dream Liverpool debut

LONDON: Manchester City lost ground to local rivals Manchester United in the Premier League title race after twice giving up the lead in a 2-2 draw away to Birmingham on Tuesday.
A share of the spoils at St Andrew’s left Roberto Mancini’s men eight points behind leaders United, having played a game more than the table-toppers.
Carlos Tevez gave Manchester City a fourth minute lead with a neat, clipped finish following a pass from David Silva.

But Birmingham were level 19 minutes later when Serbia striker Nikola Zigic scored from close range after getting on the end of David Bentley’s free-kick.
City suffered a setback when defender Micah Richards, who first needed several minutes of on-field treatment, was carried off on a stretcher following a head injury.
However, they subsequently regained the lead when, four minutes before half-time, Aleksandar Kolarov curled a 25-yard free-kick around the wall for a fine goal.
But City failed to press home their advantage and were punished when, following Patrick Vieira’s clumsy challenge on Kevin Phillips, the hosts equalised through Craig Gardner’s penalty 13 minutes from time.
“If that was a penalty then there would be five penalties in every game,” a frustrated Mancini told the BBC.
Elsewhere, new Liverpool striker Luis Suarez marked his debut by coming off the bench to score the Reds’ second goal in a 2-0 win over Stoke.
Victory saw the Merseysiders, who lost Spain forward Fernando Torres to Chelsea on deadline day, continue their resurgence under Kenny Dalglish.
Liverpool went ahead in the 47th minute at Anfield when Raul Meireles crashed the ball in after Stoke had failed to clear a Steven Gerrard shot.
Suarez, a 22.6 million pounds (36.3 million dollars) signing from Ajax on transfer deadline, came on for Fabio Aurelio shortly after the hour mark.
And in the 79th minute he sealed Liverpool’s third straight clean sheet win under Dalglish when he rounded the keeper and rolled the ball in despite a despairing attempt by Andy Wilkinson, who deflected the strike into his own net, to hack clear.
“We’re all delighted with that result – and three clean sheets in a row is a great return,” Dalglish said.
“Everyone’s pleased for Luis too. He hasn’t even trained with us yet but he showed what he’s all about tonight and I can’t wait to get working with him.”
West Ham climbed off the bottom of the table with a 3-1 win away to Blackpool.
Victor Obinna gave the Hammers a 24th minute lead at Bloomfield Road when Blackpool goalkeeper Richard Kingson allowed a near-post shot from the Nigeria striker to squirm through his grasp.
And the London club doubled their lead when Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane, signed from Tottenham on transfer deadline day, scored on his debut to grab his first league goal since November 2009 when he followed up after two blocks from Obinna shots.
Blackpool playmaker Charlie Adam, who saw possible deadline day moves to both Spurs and Liverpool fall through, pulled one back when he beat Hammers keeper Robert Green direct from a corner.
But barely two minutes later the visitors were 3-1 up when Obinna let fly with a superb 30-yard shot.
“We scored three and we could have scored more, I am very happy,” said Hammers boss Avram Grant.
Tottenham maintained their pursuit of a Champions League place with a 1-0 win away to Blackburn Rovers secured by Peter Crouch’s third minute header that saw them close to within three points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Life for Newcastle without Andy Carroll following the striker’s 35 million pounds departure to Liverpool started with a 1-0 loss away to Fulham.
Damien Duff’s 67th minute goal decided the match and defeat for Newcastle was compounded by an injury to striker Shola Ameobi, who lasted just 13 minutes at Craven Cottage before going off with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
Bolton new boy Daniel Sturridge, on loan from Chelsea, struck in stoppage time after pouncing on a poor backpass from Ronald Zubar to seal a 1-0 win over Wolves that dropped Mick McCarthy’s men to the foot of the table.

Gary Neville calls end to glittering United career

LONDON: Gary Neville called an end to a glittering career of devoted service to his beloved Manchester United and England on Wednesday by announcing his immediate retirement.
The 35-year-old right back spent 20 years at United, playing over 600 matches for the Old Trafford club and helping them win a raft of trophies including the Champions League and eight Premier League titles.
“I have been a Manchester United fan all my life and fulfilled every dream I’ve ever had,” Neville said in a statement on the club website
.
“Obviously I am disappointed that my playing days are at an end, however it comes to us all, and it’s knowing when that time is and for me that time is now.”
Neville broke into the United first team in 1992 and was part of a renowned group of players who came through the club’s youth scheme including his younger brother Phil, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
They formed the basis of the team built by manager Alex Ferguson which dominated English soccer in the 1990s, culminating in the treble-winning season of 1999.
Phil Neville, Beckham and Butt left United but Gary Neville, Giggs and Scholes remained and Ferguson created another team who won the Champions League again in 2008.
“Gary was the best English right-back of his generation,” Ferguson said, praising his presence in the dressing room and leadership qualities.
“He is an example to any young professional, hard-working, loyal and intelligent. As a United fan born and bred, his fantastic career at Old Trafford has cemented his place in the affection of the club’s supporters everywhere.”
“RED NEV”
Gary Neville was a fiercely competitive and highly consistent defender who read the game well and created many goals with his ability to cross the ball accurately and with pace.
Born locally, he was known as “Red Nev” and frequently displayed his passion for his club, notably celebrating a goal against United’s arch-rivals Liverpool in 2006 with a wild badge-clenching celebration which earned him a fine for improper conduct.
He was appointed United club captain in 2005 and won 85 England caps between 1995 and 2007, helping the national team reach the 1996 European Championship semi-finals.
The end of Neville’s career was blighted by injuries and he struggled to cope with the pace of the Premier League in the few matches he played this season.
His final appearance was against West Bromwich Albion in January when he joined an exclusive group of players to reach 400 Premier League appearances.
“I have played in the most incredible football teams, playing with some of the best players in the world as well as against them and I have been lucky to have been part of the team’s achievements and the club’s great success,” Neville said.

Google puts iPad in the crosshairs

CALIFORNIA: Google provided a glimpse Wedmesday of tablet computer software crafted to dethrone the iPad and courted developers key to the success of Apple gadgets.
Google showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet that won rave reviews at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.
“Honeycomb is tailored for the new generation of tablet-sized computers,”
Google mobile products director Hugo Barra said while demonstrating software features at the Internet titan’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time really optimizing performance on Honeycomb.”
The free, open-source operating system is expected to quickly be built into an array of touchscreen tablets in a booming market currently dominated by the iPad launched by Apple last year.
In a sign that Google is intent on wooing the developers behind the “apps” fueling the popularity of smartphones and tablets, executives here stressed that Honeycomb is built as a platform for software innovation.
Google also announced the launch of an Android Market webstore at market.android.com, where people can get work or play applications for devices running on the mobile operating software.
The Internet gian set out to address a long-standing complaint by allowing developers to make money from in-application transactions such as buying virtual goods, music or other digital offerings.
“We’ve gotten a fair amount of feedback from developers that they want more ways to make money from their applications,” said Android engineering director Chris Yerga.
“Today, we are releasing code for in-app monetization to the entire Android developer community.”
Disney Mobile general manager Bart Decrem said the US entertainment powerhouse had held off bringing its hit “Tap Tap Revenge” music game to Android devices until songs could be sold to players.
Tap Tap Revenge was one of three Disney games for Android unveiled by Decrem at the Google event.
“We’ve waited until the announcement today to bring ‘Tap Tap Revenge’ to Android because giving our users the hits they love is a key part of the game,” DeCrem said.
Disney’s most successful mobile game, Tap Tap has been downloaded more than 50 million times.
The slew of applications for Honeycomb demonstrated after the presentation included interactive software to link tablet users to CNN news stories, images and video.
“There is no secret that tablets are becoming a force in the marketplace and something we are going to be watching throughout the year,” said CNN vice president of mobile Louis Gump. “We’ve been hard at work for an Android app for the tablet.”
A free CNN application for Honeycomb tablets will launch “in the near future,” according to Gump.
The Honeycomb event took place on the same day that News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch unveiled “The Daily,” a digital newspaper created exclusively for the iPad.
Murdoch, an enthusiastic fan of the iPad, said The Daily will only be available on Apple’s tablet computer for now but will eventually appear on other tablets.
“We expect to be on all major tablets. But we believe that this year and maybe next year really belong to Apple,” he said at an event in New York.
The Daily will be sold through Apple’s App Store and iTunes and cost 99 cents a week or $39.99 a year.
Apple has apparently begun more firmly enforcing a rule that financial transactions in applications must go through its payment system, with the Cupertino, California-based firm getting its 30-percent cut.
It reportedly rejected a Sony application linking people to the Japanese firm’s online shop for digital books for its electronic reader.

Amir, Asif and Butt handed lengthy bans by ICC

DOHA: An anti-corruption tribunal of the International Cricket Council Saturday banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for ten years,Mohammad Asif for seven years and Mohammad Amir for five years for their role in a spot-fixing betting scam.
A statement read out at the tribunal said: “The tribunal heard the charges as Amir agreed to bowl no-balls, and did bowl no-balls and Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate balls, and the tribunal imposed the following sanctions.
“On Butt ten years ineligibility, five years of which are suspended on the condition that he doesn’t commit further breaches of the code, and that he participates under the auspices Pakistan Cricket Board in a programme of anti-corruption education.
“On Asif, a sanction of seven years of ineligibility, two years of which are suspended on the condition that he commits no further breach of the code and also participates in an anti-corruption programme.
“On Amir a sanction of five years ineligibility. No further sanctions are imposed on any player.”
Michael Beloff, the head of the ICC’s corruption unit, said the proven charges related to the Lord’s test rather than a preceding match at The Oval.
“The tribunal found that … Mr Asif agreed to bowl and did bowl a deliberate no-ball in the Lord’s test match played between Pakistan and England from 26 to 29 August 2010, Mr Amir agreed to bowl and did bowl two deliberate no-balls in the same test, and Mr Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate no balls, were proved,” Beloff said in a statement.
The tribunal cleared Butt of batting out a maiden over during the test at The Oval for financial gain, but proved the charge against the opening batsman of failing to report an illegal approach by Majeed.
The decisions came after a lengthy nine-hour hearing at the Qatar Financial Center, and following much argument after the players’ lawyers requested the verdict be adjourned as it could affect the criminal case against the players in London.
The charges relate to alleged incidents during a Test match against England at Lord’s last year, when Britain’s News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the players, who are currently provisionally suspended from international cricket, had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.
The members of the tribunal, headed by Beloff, heard the case for six days last month before deferring the announcement on the request of players’ lawyers.
Last month Beloff revealed that while Asif and Amir were absolved of the charges relating to another match, the third Test at The Oval (played before the Lord’s match) one charge against Butt remained under investigation.
In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as their agent with corruption offences and summoned them in court on March 17.
The Pakistan trio have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and had shown confidence of resuming their careers.
The bans on Pakistan players have come just a fortnight before the tenth World Cup starts in the sub-continent, highlighting the difficult times the game of cricket is facing against corruption.
Cricket was badly hit by the menace of match-fixing in 2000, resulting in life bans on Pakistan’s Salim Malik and Ata-ur Rehman, India’s Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and South Africa’s Hansie Cronje.
Butt, Amir and Asif became the first players banned in spot-fixing, the latest innovation in which players obey specific orders during the game pre-arranged with bookmakers.
The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland.