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Pakistan fans vent ire on TV setsISLAMABAD: Information minister Mushahid Hussain's remark that ``nuclear Pakistan'' will write success s...

Pakistan fans vent ire on TV sets

ISLAMABAD: Information minister Mushahid Hussain’s remark that “nuclear Pakistan” will write success stories both in Kargil and in cricket has boomeranged with the hat trick of defeats at the hands of Bangladesh, South Africa and arch-rivals India.

People smashed between 50,000 and 70,000 TV sets and had no dinner on Tuesday when Pakistan lost to India at Old Trafford just when most of the countrymen, like their captain Wasim Akram, had taken victory for granted.A BBC programme, “Muktoob-E-Pakistan”, said there was not much grief when South Africa beat Pakistan.

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However, when they lost to Bangladesh, about 30,000 houses in Karachi had no food. The reason was not an overwhelming feeling of national humiliation but because most of the cooks were Bengalis who were too jubilant to work.Just a few days before the Indo-PAK World Cup match, information minister Mushahid Hussain had said the “chain of success that Pakistan achieved in Chaghai (nuclear-testing site)will continue through Kargil to the field of cricket.”

But ironically, Pakistan “achieved” a hat trick of defeats, leaving cricket fans bitter about their captain and other team members.

Gaekwad slams points system

TRENT BRIDGE: With the Indian fate almost sealed, coach Anshuman Gaekwad today slammed the points system by saying that Super Six qualifiers should have started afresh.

"Overall, the points system was very encouraging. But that should have been left at the league stage itself. Once the teams have qualified for Super Six, they should have started afresh," Gaekwad said as Indian hopes hung on the slender thread of a Zimbabwe win over Pakistan at The Oval.

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"In this respect the format was found wanting. Look at South Africa winning four matches in the league stage yet crossing over to the Super Six with only two points. I don’t know what sense it makes," Gaekwad said.

But skipper Mohd azharuddin and Gaekwad defended India’s performance, saying the team was paying the price fortheir one defeat to Zimbabwe in the league stage. "We’ve played pretty well through the whole tournament. It’s just the Zimbabwe game where we let ourselves down and now we are paying the price," Azhar said.

South Africa keen to settle old score LONDON: Australian opener Mark Waugh can expect a hostile reception from the South Africans when he reaches the crease in the at Headingley on Sunday.

Hansie Cronje’s men have an old score to settle with the in-form right-hander from New South Wales.

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Last year, the South Africans looked set to win the third Test at Adelaide and square the series against Australia when Waugh, after fending away a ball, swung round and hit down his stumps.

The umpires, however, infuriated the South Africans by judging that Waugh’s stroke was already complete and that he could not be given out hit-wicket.Waugh went on to make 115 not out. Cronje, in a moment of indiscipline, later pierced the door of the umpires’ changing room with a stump.Waugh’s fate could decide thegame.

Unsympathetic skipper

LONDON: Australia’s Darren Lehmann, fresh from having his finger torn open by an express delivery from Zimbabwe paceman Henry Olonga, should not expect too much sympathy from his skipper.

Steve Waugh, one of the hard men of the game, said the left-hander would only play in final Super Six game against South Africa if a win was absolutely necessary, but added with a wicked smile: "if the stitches come out, you can just put them back in."