Sunday night thoughtful

1) I have seen the future of Pakistani batting and his name is Umar Akmal. What impressed me about his debut performance (129 and 75) was not the audacious first innings when he helped take the team score from 85 for 5 to 293 before he got out. It was the second inning when, from 24 for 3 until 195, he stood between the Kiwis and a Test win. He played more balls and batted longer in the second innings but oozed calm and class all the way through. The Kiwis put 5 guys on the fence to stem the boundaries and Akmal adjusted, taking what he could. In the first innings he had 21 fours and 2 sixes compared to just 5 fours and 1 six in the second. He showed me that he could adjust his game and not throw it away. More importantly, he has the temperament for a scrap and should be around for a long time to come.

Osman Samiuddin tries to balance hyperbole with pragmatism in his column on CricInfo that talks about Akmal and where he is headed. Pakistan cricket is replete with stories of folks who have made it on a whim and a recommendation. While I am sure being Kamran's brother opened a few doors for Umar, what he has done with that opportunity of his own doing alone.

He worked his way up from junior level inter-city and district cricket, played and performed for Pakistan at Under-19 level and on Academy tours and spent a season wowing people for SNGPL domestically. When he got called up earlier this year to the national side, it was after he had hit three hundreds on an A team tour to Australia, against bowlers like Shaun Tait and Doug Bollinger.

2) When the India-Sri Lanka series began, the BCCI selectors threw a curveball by announcing a 15-member team with Murali Vijay as the 15th player. It is now clear why they did so - they knew Gautam Gambhir would be missing the third Test in order to attend his sister's wedding. Since Vijay is already in the squad, it is now a straightforward substitution, as opposed to having to draft from outside the squad in which case the opener with the hottest hand would have to be chosen and it might not have been Vijay. Somewhere, Srikkanth is pouring himself a cold one to celebrate his foresight and tactical nous.

This is not to say I don't think Murali Vijay can cut it. The last time India needed a replacement opener, he stepped into the breach against Australia and had two proper partnerships with Sehwag (98 runs and 116 runs). His best moment in the match, though, was running out Matthew Hayden in the first innings when the big man mistook him for Sourav Ganguly and took off for a sharp single to mid-off.

3) I saw Ninja Assasin and The Blind Side back-to-back this weekend. The reviews shall follow later, but let me just say that I needed one to wash off the memories of the other!

4) The mantle has passed in the NFL and the devil has found a new person to deal with. Leaving Kurt Warner and Tom Brady behind, a new agreement has been signed with Brett Favre. 24 TD's to just 3 interceptions after 11 games?!! Who is this new 40-year old? The Devil did not go down to Georgia, he went down to Gulfport, Mississippi instead.