It was a horrendous year for Pakistan cricket team, a lot of atrocious things happened for them in 2010.Starting from Pakistan's tour of Australia last winter, which began in December 2009, was a disaster for the tourists. The Test side, captained by Mohammad Yousuf, was beaten in all three Tests at Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart, with the defeat in Sydney all the more remarkable after Pakistan had looked set for victory on the final day. Australia resumed on the final morning 80 runs ahead with only two second-innings wickets remaining. But Mike Hussey scored 134* and added a mammoth 123 for the ninth wicket with Peter Siddle before Pakistan were bundled out for 139 to hand Australia a 36-run win.
Pakistan were then whitewashed 5-0 in the one-day internationals, lost the only Twenty20 international and were reeling from nine straight defeats in all formats by the time they left Australia in February. More worries for Pakistan came when SHAHID AFRIDI was caught on camera biting the ball in a one-day international against Australia in Perth and banned for two Twenty20 games.
After the return from this tour, former skippers Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely from representing Pakistan after the inquiry found them guilty of "infighting which... brought down the whole team", although the PCB later stated the bans were not intended to be for life. Five other players were also punished. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were banned for a year and heavily fined for unspecified indiscipline, while Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were all heavily fined and warned that their conduct would be monitored during a six-month probationary period. All suspensions were subsequently lifted at various points during the year.
Having won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009, Pakistan were losing semi-finalists in the Caribbean in May in ICC World Twenty20 2010, Thanks to Australia's Mike Hussey who hit three sixes in the last over to cost them their place in the final.
Then Pakistan went to England for a long tour against Australia and England.Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi ended a four-year exile from Test cricket to lead Pakistan in the Tests but then resigned the captaincy and retired from Test cricket after his team lost the first Test by 150 runs against Australia. Batsman Salman Butt was named as his replacement as Test skipper on 17 July. During the fourth test on 29th august against England Pakistan was 2-1 down, reports then surfaced that would rock the world of cricket, with the News of the World alleging that three Pakistan players had been involved in spot-fixing during the Test. It was claimed that Amir and fellow seamer Mohammad Asif had deliberately bowled no balls at pre-arranged times in return for money from a bookmaker's "middle man". New Test skipper Butt was also implicated. Butt, Amir and Asif were provisionally suspended by the ICC and interviewed by British police, as was seamer Wahab Riaz, although no charges were brought. The ICC's anti-corruption and security unit's investigation remains ongoing - as does the police investigation.
With the accused trio back in Pakistan, the remaining tourists moved on to the limited-overs leg of the tour. After two sparsely-attended Twenty20 defeats in Cardiff, Pakistan soon trailed 2-0 in the five-game one-day international series before a superb spell by pace man Umar Gul helped Pakistan win the third ODI at The Oval to keep the series alive. But corruption was soon back in the headlines after the ICC announced that it was investigating "a certain scoring pattern" in the third ODI, although no England player was under suspicion. And an already tense series was inflamed further when PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told Indian television that he had heard some bookmakers saying some England players had been paid to lose at The Oval. England was understandably incensed at Butt's accusations and Captain Andrew Strauss admitted the team had "strong misgivings" about taking the field for the last two ODIs. Tensions boiled over at Lord's as Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz were involved in a brief spat in the practice nets, with reports claiming the pair had thrown pads at each other. The England Cricket Board threatened to take legal action against Butt unless he apologized. A tour mired in controversy ended on 22 September as England won the deciding ODI at the Rose Bowl.
Butt retracted his claim a week later, while tour manager Yawar Saeed, who had managed numerous tours since the 1970s, resigned.
In early October, Pakistan named their squads for their "home" series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Veteran batsman Misbah-ul-Haq, omitted from the tour of England, was named as their fourth Test captain of 2010, with Afridi continuing as limited-overs skipper. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was left out because of injury, giving another chance to the fit-again Zulqarnain Haider behind the stumps. With the one-day series against South Africa level at 2-2 and all set for a deciding fifth match, details began to emerge that wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider was no longer with the squad, and had boarded a plane to the UK. He was later quoted as saying that he had quit international cricket after receiving death threats for refusing to fix games.
We, the hardcore fans of Pakistan cricket are praying for a quick end of a abominable 2010.
& hopes happnies comes in Pakistan in shape of World Cup 2011
INSHA-ALLAH.
PAKISTAN ZINDABAD
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