the state team and played one Ranji Trophy match to

Pakistan were in trouble. Their unbeaten record in their adopted home was under threat. At lunch on day one of their series against Australia in 2014, the scoreboard read: Pakistan 50/2 in 29 overs.It wasnt unexpected either. Pakistan had not won a series for two years. Australia, meanwhile, had reclaimed the No. 1 ranking earlier in the year after destroying England and South Africa. Azhar Ali was going at his unique morose pace but was still far better off than Younis Khan, who had managed 14 off 77 balls. At that moment a former Pakistan cricketer sashayed into the press box with two predictions: first, Pakistan were going to win this series; second, Younis would score big, and continue to do so until he played on a wicket with steep bounce.Over the next fortnight, as Pakistan ground Australia down on course to a historic series win, those early troubles were forgotten. The second era of Team Misbah had begun.But after Younis struggles during the 2015 World Cup, and his status as a certified internet meme during the current tour to England, Ive been reminded of the second of those predictions. That prophecy was based on the evolution of Younis stance, particularly the crouch he employs, so I wondered, how much change could there possibly be?The first two images are of Younis (No. 1 in Asia, No. 2 outside) in 2006, the next two are both in Asia, and show his evolution from 2012 (No. 3) to 2015 (No. 4). The final image is from his latest innings, at Old Trafford. In all five he ends up playing a drive down the V, yet his starting position, particularly the crouch, has changed. Its not that he hasnt succeeded with his latest technique (there is hardly any difference between the fourth and fifth images), but it almost feels like hes thinking about it as he plays rather than doing it subconsciously.The exaggerated crouch might seem like a deterioration rather than an evolution if youve only seen him bat this summer. Yet that crouch has helped him prosper in Asia. It allows him to deal with the low bounce of those wickets and helps him to continue being a fourth-innings god.Since his last tour in truly non-Asian conditions, in 2013, Younis had averaged 66 in 22 Tests going into this series. It has also enabled him to remain in the discussion about the best player of spin in the world. After two dismissals to Moeen Ali, and the best imitation of Bambi on ice that Lords has ever seen, it seems like Younis has finally fallen off the cliff edge that he has been teetering on for years.Of course, Younis is the last person you should count out, even in his twilight years. This is a man who says with a hearty chuckle that he never remembers anything positive written about him, but who carries around clippings of everything bad written about him to look at when he needs motivation. He was once told by a member of the management staff that he wasnt good enough for Test cricket and that his career was finished. Over 7000 Test runs (at an average in excess of 60) later, that prediction ranks alongside Charles Duell allegedly saying at the turn of the 20th century that Everything that can be invented has been invented.If anyone has earned the benefit of doubt, its probably Younis. But, as the saying goes, Father Time is undefeated.The question to be asked is whether Pakistan would forego everything Younis has done over the past five years if it meant they had to settle for him batting the way he did a decade ago. The answer, sadly, might be yes.The first of the predictions issued by that former player on that afternoon in Dubai was based on the logic that nearly all of Australias success prior to their tour of the Emirates had been on true pitches and that they wouldnt be able to deal with the two-paced nature of the desert. In hindsight, a 2-0 result looks logical. After all, since the retirement of McGrath and Warne, Australias record in Asia reads: played 15, won 1. Its a worse record than what Pakistan or India have in an equivalent number of Tests in England or Australia, but one thats far less likely to be brought up. England have also failed to win any of their nine Tests against Pakistan in Asia in this century. But neither of these facts is seen as a lack of mental, technical or masculine fortitude in the way its seen when the roles are reversed. In essence, Younis is the inversion of foreign batsmen who tour Asia, but those two scenarios are rarely considered equivalent. All Test cricket is created equal, but some is more equal than others.Yet its not just Younis who was exposed in England, in the words of Pakistani broadcasters and columnists. The Pakistan spinner who debuted in that Dubai Test has also been revealed to be a fraud, we are told - Yasir Shah, one match after becoming the No. 1 Test bowler in the world, has finally been proved as too good to be true. In Manchester, Yasir was Taylor Swift to Cook and Roots Kimye (or is it Coot? Rook? Jolistair? Never mind).Such statements might seem preposterous to non-Pakistani ears, but there are many who have waited almost two years for this day. On his debut, the most common refrain was: Pakistan let Imran Tahir go for this guy? A legspinner who didnt even have a googly?For two years the praise for Yasir has been delivered through gritted teeth, every achievement brushed aside for fear of being proven wrong. Cricket in Pakistan is not seen as a science, where opinion evolves with evidence. Its seen, as that tired cliché goes, as a religion, and to change your opinion based on mere facts would be considered blasphemy.Theres a larger truth to these views about Yasir. This is a country where leggies are judged by how big they can spin their stock balls and how good their googly is, and never by how often they can land it on a sixpence. Yasir, with seven years of domestic cricket under his belt, is very much a Misbah spinner - someone who relies overwhelmingly on control, suffocation and subtle changes, as shown by the fact that 43% of his wickets have been bowleds and lbws (though the impression that figure gives was dulled by an Old Trafford wicket where he never found his length), a higher percentage than nine of the 12 leggies who have taken 100 Test wickets, and the best since Bhagwath Chandrasekhar.Yasirs skill lies in the way he can change his length and speed by the minutest extents, where the search for a wicket is a long-form article, not a scene in an action movie. Of course, to comment on a book, you really ought to read it, and to comment on Yasir you really have to watch his spells, not judge him by highlights and the scorecard. But hey, who has that much time before a TV show?Yasir is, quite simply, the spin version of Mohammad Asif, another man who always felt like he was under-appreciated in his country.Now with their backs against the wall, Pakistan need Yasir and Younis more than ever. Its a challenge they have mostly been able to rise to. Even if they dont, Pakistan will always have their Lords redemption. Stitched NHL Jerseys . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. 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The BCCI has been asked by the Supreme Court to give an undertaking by Friday, October 7, that it will unconditionally implement all the court-approved recommendations of the Lodha Committee. If the board failed to provide such an undertaking, the Supreme Court indicated it would pass an order on Friday to replace the boards office bearers with a panel of administrators.The court asked the BCCIs legal counsel Kapil Sibal to check with the board and respond by October 7; Sibal is understood to have asked for more time but the court refused.What do you want? TS Thakur, the Chief Justice of India and head of the three-judge bench hearing the matter, said. Either we pass orders tomorrow or you give us a statement that you will abide unconditionally by the recommendations and directions of the Lodha Committee.The latest developments in the tussle between the BCCI and the Lodha Committee took place in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The court was hearing the BCCIs response to the status report filed by the Lodha Committee last week, which recommended that the BCCI office bearers be superseded because they were impeding the implementation of the recommendations passed by a Supreme Court order on July 18.There was a dramatic turn of events towards the final half hour of the hearing. Sibals argument that the BCCI needed approval from two thirds of its member associations, according to the Tamil Nadu Societies Act under which the board was incorporated, received sharp response from Chief Justice Thakur.Thakur said the BCCI had been the face and forefront of defiance against the Lodha Committees recommendations. You are giving the lead to the associations, he said. You are trying to obstruct the Lodha panel. His suggestion to the BCCI in response to its members resistance was to either block their funding or to debar them.At that point, Thakur gave the BCCI an ultimatum: agree to push through the recommendations, agree to discuss with the Lodha panel and stop wasting our time.The BCCI then asked for time until October 17, keeping in mind that the court will take a 11-day break next week, but the request was denied. Sibal was asked whether he could give the BCCIs undertaking of acceptance by Friday, and when he said it was not possible because the board needed approval from its state associations, he was told: If you dont implement the recommendations, we will pass the orders.Justice Thakur reminded the BCCI and the state associations that their money was public money. He warned that funds would be stopped to states that did not want to accept the Lodha Committees recommendations. When Sibal said the state associations had their own by-laws and the BCCI had no control over them, the court said: If the associations are reluctant to reform, why do you continue to give thhem money? You are giving crores of money to them even as they refuse to reform?Sibal contended that halting payments to states would affect the domestic season - the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy had begun this morning.dddddddddddd Then there will be no domestic matches, Thakur was quoted by Hindu as saying. If matches are to be conducted, they will be held in a transparent manner. Season or no season, we will not allow a penny to be wasted. Objectivity and transparency is more important than seasons.At the start of the hearing on Thursday, the court heard submissions made by the amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium. If it were to approve the Lodha Committees recommendation to supersede the BCCI office bearers, the court asked Subramanium, would there be eligibility criteria for the people comprising the panel of administrators, and whether they needed to be cricketers? He said there was no criteria as long as the new administrators were of impeccable stature and integrity.Thakur then asked Sibal if the boards existing office bearers - the president, secretary, treasurer and join secretary - had any special skills. Sibal said BCCI president Anurag Thakur was a cricketer, having played one Ranji Trophy match for Himachal Pradesh.At this point Vikas Mehta, the lawyer representing Cricket Association of Bihar, one of the petitioners in the hearing, intervened. He claimed that Anurag Thakur, while serving as president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, had appointed himself chairman of selectors of the state team and played one Ranji Trophy match to fulfill the eligibility criteria set by the BCCI to become a national selector. Anurag Thakur eventually served as a junior national selector.Highlighting an example of the BCCI going against the court and the Lodha Committees directive, Subramanium said the board had transferred large sums of money - about INR 550 crore - last week to its state associations, despite not forming the disbursement policy mandated by the committee by the September 30 deadline. Subramanium said the horse had bolted the stable by the time the Committee found out about the transactions.Sibal defended the payment saying it was routine business and not related to the future as claimed by the Lodha Committee.The court was also told that ICC chief executive David Richardson had said the BCCI president Anurag Thakur had asked the ICC for a letter saying it would not allow any government nominee on the BCCI apex council. The Lodha Committee had recommended that one official from the Comptroller and Auditor Generals office be part of the nine-member Apex Council, which would replace the existing BCCI working committee. ' ' '