worst article in a long time

[Holysmoke]

Rashid Latif has been adored not only in Pakistan, but all over the cricket world. He was agile behind the stumps but earned more popularity because of his fight against match-fixing. He put his career at stake but never gave up the daring quality of calling a spade a spade. Latif?s honesty has earned him respect as he now runs an academy in Pakistan. Latif has seen the game grow over the years and believes that the fever will catch everyone ? from enthusiastic kids to old men who can barely walk. Everyone will be glued to the television to watch the live action from the Caribbean. He did not mince words when asked to compare Indian captain Rahul Dravid with former skipper Sourav Ganguly. Latif said Ganguly backed his players well and it resulted in better performances. Excerpts from an interview to Shahid Hashmi: Shahid Hashmi: How do you think the World Cup will be followed in the sub-continent? Rashid Latif: Cricket is the most popular sport in the sub-continent and part of most people?s routine. I have been following the game since 1977 and a major watershed was when India toured Pakistan under Bishen Bedi. That series generated a lot of interest in both countries. The sub-continent has produced heroes like Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar who have been instrumental in making cricket popular. Cricket is a fever that gets to everyone and the World Cup is an event which is followed in every house, in every city and in every office. Pakistan or India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka everyone is hoping that their team will win. Although the timings of the matches are very odd, I believe a lot of children will miss the action because of their studies, others will follow it excessively. You will have very little attendance in schools, colleges and offices, simply because people would not be able to start their days early after watching the matches late in the night. Asia is the biggest market for cricket at the moment but timing could be a major factor. There are also serious fans backing the best teams and acknowledge good play whether it?s from their own team or from any other team. Shahid Hashmi: How was the cricket fever when Pakistan played the quarter-finals of the 1996 World Cup in India? Rashid Latif: When we reached Bangalore, we were taken out from the airport from a different route. There were so many people on the way to the hotel that the Indian administration had to take extra measures to protect us. The way to the hotel was blocked. It was a chock-a-bloc at the hotel gate, so it took us several minutes to enter our rooms. When we reached the hotel, there were a lot of people and everyone wanted to garland us. If we opened the door, people would shout ?show us your face?. They just wanted to have a glimpse. Shahid Hashmi: Do you think that there are any negative points of popularity? A lot of players say that they can not spend a normal life as fans follow them everywhere. Rashid Latif: Popularity had no negative points for me. Or may be I was not that popular. You have a recognized face and it is a great thing. When you are invited by a television channel, you instinctively want to avoid it. It could be a negative point. You also cannot spare enough time for the family. Shahid Hashmi: Which country from our sub-continent do you think has the best chance in the World Cup? Rashid Latif: I would say Pakistan. I think we have a balanced team. I would rate Sri Lanka the next best team and India as the third. I think conditions in the West Indies will suit us. Had it been South Africa or Australia, I would not have rated Pakistan high because conditions there are difficult for us. The twenty overs of Powerplay can be used well because we have good hitters in (Shahid) Afridi, (Imran) Nazir and Shoaib Malik. Our middle-order too is strong with Inzamam (ul-Haq), Younis (Khan) and (Mohammad) Yousuf capable of building on the brisk starts. The bowling is depleted because of the absence of pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad but I think Danish Kaneria can be a good strike bowler. People though are not rating Pakistan high because we lost a recent series in South Africa. Shahid Hashmi: How do you rate India?s chances? Rashid Latif: India seem to be restricting themselves and their wins are not confident ones because they are in a transition phase. May be, they have a good plan which they do not want revealed. I feel Dravid is no match for Ganguly as captain. No match. Ganguly was 70 percent better than Dravid and also was a good leader. Ganguly backed his players to the hilt and his aggression was the key to India?s fine performance in the 2003 World Cup. Shahid Hashmi: Many believe that under Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka have taken rapid strides and would be a dangerous team in the World Cup? Rashid Latif: For me, Sri Lanka is the dark horse. A lot of people are calling them the favourite team and that they could win the World Cup. They can win five matches on a trot, a trait which even Pakistan and India cannot do. And if they win five, they can win six too. They have good spinner in Muralitharan, quality pace bowlers and good batsmen. Shahid Hashmi: How has Tom Moody helped the Sri Lankan team? Rashid Latif: I think Tom Moody is a very good coach and has given good results. He is a very cool customer. He has the nature of an Australian and has also coached in England, so he has three cultures embedded in him, English, Australian, and Sri Lankan. When captain Atapattu was out because of an injury, Jayasuriya came out of retirement and then Jayawardene controlled the team and was backed by the coach. Moody is young and was a good One-Day player himself, so he has quality and plans things well.

[Holysmoke]

Re: worst article in a long time how can u publish such an interview :huh: the guy is talking total nonsense :duh: