ames with an upper-body injury sustained in the season opener. ... Nashville has scored at least one power-play goal in eac | Forum

It doesnt take much to set off a Pakistani fan. Nike Air Vapormax Soldes . The recent movements on the Test-rankings table have provided plenty of fodder for discourse, to say the least. The irony of it is that in trying to discredit others, Pakistanis often fall back upon the same tropes that have been used against them, talking about discrepancies between teams home and away records, and the quality of opposition faced.Yet for those within the dressing room, that equivalence is considered false, particularly the notion that Pakistan playing in the UAE is like any other team playing at home. According to one Pakistani player, you can consider it the same the day a Pakistani team gets the crowd and control over the pitches that other Asian nations do. According to another, you can consider it truly Pakistans home the day another team cant put out their best XI for a home Test because of visa issues. There have even, finally, been some public utterances about the difficulty of being nomads.But if Pakistan really want to prove their point, all they have to do is point towards their home ODI record. Of course thats not exactly likely to happen since many of those complaining were responsible for that record.If you leave out the current series against West Indies, since moving to the Emirates in 2009, Pakistan have played 12 bilateral ODI series there (against nations from among the top nine), winning three. Outside of the Emirates the record reads: won seven, lost ten. The most obvious divergence was under Misbah-ul-Haq, when Pakistan won just two of their seven home series and four of the eight series away from home against teams in the top nine, including historic wins in India and South Africa. While the rest of the world uses home ODIs to induct new players and pad up their records, Pakistanis have struggled to even compete in them.In a way, the recently concluded series against West Indies was a window into an alternative world, where Pakistan are like any other team in the world, stronger at home. Of course, if the ICC rankings did weigh home and away results differently from each other, as they ought to, maybe Pakistan wouldnt be struggling to qualify for the World Cup right now.The reasons for Pakistans record are pretty obvious. Their wins were led by their bowling attack. From the 2011 World Cup through the 2015 one, no team had a better economy rate than Pakistan, and their collective bowling average was in the top tier too. This was due to the efforts of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, and to a lesser extent Shahid Afridi. But spin wasnt the only reason for it. In 2013, when Pakistan played more ODIs outside Asia than they did in it, both Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan averaged under 23 with the ball. (Note: all these stats are against the top nine ODI nations only.)But now, devoid of pace bowlers of that level (the occasional Wahab Riaz or Mohammad Amir spell aside), bereft of the spin trio, and without Misbah to handle it all, Pakistans bowling has fallen off a cliff. Whatever they have gained on the batting front has failed to compensate for their bowling deficiencies.The ODI game in general has, over the past decade and a bit, gone from treating bowlers as equal citizens to considering them glorified bowling machines. And it is here that Pakistan wont be able to catch up, regardless of whether Babar Azam becomes the most complete batsman Pakistan have had in 20 years or whether Umar Akmal reaches his destiny.The reductionist viewpoint would blame it on individuals or selection matters, because trying to scratch the surface requires too much effort. The most common prescription heard is that Pakistans batting needs to attack relentlessly, like other teams batting line-ups do. This, of course, is followed by a smug look from the deliverer of that insight, as if no one else had thought of it before. In response to this wisdom, all one has to do is point to a simple stat: in the third ODI in England, the one with more broken records than a vintage vinyl shop, each of the English top eight had T20 strike rates in excess of 125, while only two of the Pakistanis (Sharjeel Khan and Sarfraz Ahmed) did by contrast. So even if Pakistan attack relentlessly, will it change much?In the last two years of the Royal London One Day Cup, over 13% of all completed matches had first-innings scores in excess of 325. In the premier 50-overs competition in Australia last season, that number was 13% as well. In Pakistans national one-day competition in 2015-16 it was under 6%.Pakistan are stuck in an era the world has moved on from. Without any scrutiny, thanks to the absence of international cricket at home, cricket in Pakistan has been damaged on a level that is evident only now. And that really is the true cost of Pakistans exile. The ecosystem of cricket - and this includes everything from the sponsors the board attracts to the understanding of the game among the cricket-following fraternity - has stagnated as cricket has been outsourced. (Thats why former commentators take offence to the standard of local broadcasting being compared to the 1980s, saying, It was so much better than this in the 80s.) Nowhere is this more obvious than in the tools the players use.Much has been made in recent months of modern bats, but its a discussion Pakistanis cant even participate in. In a TV show last year Saqlain Mushtaq spoke of how the finances available to Pakistani cricketers do not even suffice for them to have the diet and nutrition that athletes needs, let alone extend to enabling them to buy the equipment they require. Current Pakistani players tell of using bats made in England or India and then realising they have to change their games - because its the first time they can actually time the ball for boundaries, thanks to these bats, rather than having to thrash at everything. One player said he had to learn the art of batting afresh this year just because he finally has bats similar (but not the same, it is pointed out) to those used by players from the richer boards. Long gone are the days when Sachin Tendulkar would ask Wasim Akram for bats from Sialkot.And when asked how many players from outside the national team use such bats, the answer is: never more than a handful. Big bats are just not available to Pakistanis, and even if they were, they would struggle to afford them. And then we wonder where all the big hitters went.There is a living embodiment of the stagnation of Pakistan cricket. Located at one end of the Gaddafi Stadium are the offices of the PCB; at the other end is a stand that has been under construction since 2008. Or to put it another way, since construction on that stand began, Rio de Janeiro bid for the Olympic Games, won the bid, invested close to US$30 billion in infrastructure and stadiums, dealt with the public fallout from that spending, had multiple changes in government, hosted the Games and the Paralympics, and now doesnt know what to do with its white elephants. In all that time, construction on that stand at the Gaddafi Stadium has still not been completed. And this, you have to remember, is in the city and the stadium seen by the rest of Pakistan as the one that is given preferential treatment.The base salary of a player in Pakistans national team is barely a third of what their New Zealand or Sri Lankan counterparts earn, let alone what the Big Three offer. And that base salary in turn is extravagant compared to what Pakistani domestic players earn.Thus the achievements of Pakistan, particularly the Test team, need to be seen in another light. Maybe comparing them to Leicester would be unfair on both parties, but there is some equivalence to be drawn with Diego Simeones Atletico Madrid - another team with far fewer resources and much less talent than their rivals; one that momentarily reached the top before that was taken away from them by those with far deeper pockets.But even Atletico had the Calderon. Even they were no nomads. Vapormax 97 Homme Pas Cher Vapormax Plus Blanche Pas Cher . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. http://www.vapormaxpaschersoldes.fr/vente-air-vapormax-97.html . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- One day after Thanksgiving, Nashvilles forwards were thankful for Mike Fishers generosity.Colin Wilson and Ryan Johansen scored twice, Fisher added three assists and Nashville beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 on Friday night.James Neal also scored and Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for Nashville, winners of three straight. The Predators continued their home dominance, improving to 8-1-1.Right now, I think our guys are doing a good job defensively, and because of that, good things are happening offensively, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. Were getting out of our end, were making good decisions through the neutral zone, that allows us to play in the offensive zone.Wilson snapped a 12 game goal drought.Tonight I was just going back door and Fish was finding me, so Im thankful for that, Wilson said. He was making great plays. When he is seeing the ice like that and you know that a player is on, it is nice to be playing with. You know if you get to an area, hes going to get it to you.Dustin Byfuglien scored for Winnipeg. The Jets concluded their five-game trip, losing all five games. They scored just six goals and allowed 20 on the trip.When things start snowballing, sometimes its tough to reverse course, Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. I think we just kind of have our game in neutral right now. Weve got to kick it into overdrive.Byfuglien opened the scoring with 5:14 remaining in the opening period. His wrist shot from the right point deflected off of Wilsons stick and beat Rinne high to the glove side. After getting his skate tangled with Fisher, Rinne fell forward as the puck sailed over his shoulder.Wilson tied it at 5:39 of the second. Fisher had the puck on the right boards near the faceoff circle and sent a pass to Wilson in front, where he had an easy tap-in for his third of the season. The three assists equaled a career high for Nashvilles captain.Were just going to have to play fairly close to perfect mentally, Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. That first goal that we gave up, weve got two gguys behind the net. Vapormax Grossiste. We just cant. We dont have that margin for error right now.Johansen followed 1:08 later on the power play.Fisher sent a pass from the right faceoff dot to Johansen at the left dot, where he beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck with a one-timer. Hellebuyck finished with 25 saves.Rinnes toughest stop came against fellow Finn Patrik Laine at 9:29 of the second. Rinne was able to kick away Laines snap shot from the right side.He has such a great shot, Rinne said of his World Cup teammate. That was his only chance tonight. They didnt have much to be honest with you. We played a solid game.Neal made it 3-1 with 2:06 remaining in the second on the power play.With 2 seconds remaining in major boarding penalty assessed to Winnipegs Brandon Tanev, Neals wrist shot from the left faceoff dot sailed toward the Jets net. In the slot, Jets defenseman Mark Stuart tried to swat the puck out of midair, but tipped it over Hellebuycks shoulder and into the net.Neal did not return to the ice following the second period. The team announced the he was out with an upper-body injury.Tanevs penalty was committed against Nashvilles Colton Sissons, who did not return to the game following the hit.Laviolette did not have an update on Neal or Sissons following the game.Wilson scored his second of the game at 2:13 of the third and Johansen struck again at 8:15.Game notes Predators D Ryan Ellis missed the game with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Anthony Bitetto, who missed Nashvilles last 18 games with an upper-body injury sustained in the season opener. ... Nashville has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its last four games. ... The Jets are 3-12-1 when trailing after two periods this season. ... The Jets have allowed 32 goals in the second period this season while scoring just 14 of their own in the middle frame.UP NEXT: The teams will meet again Sunday in Winnipeg. ' ' '