My blog's been bereft of all sports news for a very long time. I can't remember the last time I wrote about sports. In the meantime, the Pakistan cricket team beat two teams ranked second in the ICC Test Rankings, Martina Hingis looked like she'd never left, a Cypriot was excused from military duty for losing to Roger Federer at the Australian Open, the Steelers won the Super Bowl (some say they 'stole' it), the Pistons continue to piston their way through NBA foes everywhere and Chelsea are doing the same in the EPL despite a string of 1-1 draws.

Inzi's freakish dismissal yeseterday, where in some cases it set off intense discussions about the 'spirit of the game', just generally made the match more interesting for me. If Inzi had stuck around, Pakistan would have definitely wrapped up the win regardless of Messers Duckworth and Lewis and the gloom that threatened to cut short the encounter at Arbab Niaz Stadium. As it were, his moment of absudity--blamed entirely on his own lack of knowledge of the rules--resulted in the departure of the great Pakistan stalwart and the weak-backed, supremely reliable spine of Pakistani cricket. What was left was the heir-apparent and a tail that wags deligently at times but is more prone to lackadaisical attacks.

The bundle of nervous tension that is Younis Khan, is all set to replace Inzamam as captain of the Pakistan outfit after the 2007 World Cup when most people foresee the Geat Aaloo's departure from international competition. I'm already a fan of Younis Khan's energy and incessant clapping but his batting displays under pressure leave a great deal to be desired. Not unlike the recently renamed Mohammad Yousuf, Khan is also prone to buckling under the strain of getting quick runs in chasing a large target.

Inzi specialises in just that. His brilliant displays when batting with the tail and his calm assurity of his own ability are what set him apart from almost all others in world cricket today. No other batsmen, great or otherwise, has the disdain for opposition bowlers that Inzi has. As he has shown in the last 3 years, the only person on the field who can get Inzamam-ul-Haq out is a man named Inzaman-ul-Haq.

Younis has displayed the same panache and confidence when batting against India. Indian bowlers, captains, coaches and analysts have no idea how to get the man out. He has 1000 runs against them already from about 6 tests and he doesn't seem like letting up. Three dismissals during the recently-concluded series included a silly run-out on 199, a fabulously surreal catch at point and a first-ball duck on a banana-producing pitch at Karachi as the middle-man in Irfan Pathan's hat-trick.

Yet, what remains missing from Younis Khan's résumé and from his recognition as a present-day great, is the same thing missing from Mohammad Yousuf's elegant staple diet of lofted cover-drives: a reputation for match-winning and match-saving innings. These innings are what make Inzamam "Great" and leave Yousuf, and thus far Younis, behind as good batsmen. These innings are the difference between the chafe and the wheat that is the Geart Aaloo!

I wish the match yesterday had ended without D/L, but only because I wanted to see what Younis Khan was capable of. Yesterday's "Inzamam ul Haq, Out 'obstructing the field' for 16 off 19 balls" could have been the protégé's coming out party. Now we'll just have to wait.