Saeed Ajmal wants to be best against the best

Saeed Ajmal. PHOTO: AFP

ABU DHABI: Prolific off-spinner Saeed Ajmal Sunday vowed to regain the title of world’s best Test bowler by punishing South Africa in the two-Test series starting here from Monday.

“I will try my best and want to be the number one Test bowler,” said Ajmal, who wrecked the then top Test team England with 24 wickets here last year but has a decidedly less glorious track record against South Africa – now the world’s best team.

His superlative show against England lifted Ajmal to the top spot in the International Cricket Council rankings for a brief period but he has since slipped to fourth place.

The Faisalabad-born bowler, who celebrates his 36th birthday on the first day of the upcoming test, played down the pressure of being Pakistan’s main weapon against the Proteas.

“Every day is a new day for me and every match is a new match. I try my best in every match and want to perform in the same manner as I did in the last one without taking on extra pressure,” said Ajmal who has an average record against South Africa.

He managed just three wickets in the first Test in Dubai in 2010 before being dropped from the second Test in a 0-0 drawn then.

Ajmal took a ten-for on a spin-friendly Cape Town pitch in a lost cause in February this year but failed in the remaining two matches, getting only a single wicket.

That prompted captain Misbahul Haq to urge Ajmal to lift his performance if he wants to anchor the team’s win against South Africa. But the spinner insisted he doesn’t need to vary his style to take wickets.

“I will go into the Test with 100 percent confidence. I have only one target and that is to take more and more wickets, be it (Graeme) Smith or (Jacques) Kallis, I bowl as I bowl,” said Ajmal.

But the lengthy gaps in between tests, he said, takes its toll.

“Big gaps are not good. It’s not very positive and you need 15-20 days to regain your rhythm. But we had a camp and practice matches so I am okay with my rhythm and, come Monday, I will try to be at my best,” said Ajmal.

The second Test starts in Dubai from October 23 followed by five one-day and two Twenty20 internationals.

Pakistan have been forced to play their home matches in the UAE since the 2009 terror attack on a Sri Lankan team bu

60 killed in India temple stampede: Police

An image of an earlier stampede in India. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE

BHOPAL: A stampede on a bridge outside a Hindu temple killed at least 60 people in India Sunday and dozens more may have died after they leapt into the water below, police said.

“Sixty people are confirmed killed and the figure could reach 100,” local Deputy Police Inspector General DK Arya told AFP.

“More than 100 others have been injured” in the disaster in the Datia district of central Madhya Pradesh state, he added.

Arya said the stampede was triggered by rumours that it might collapse after being hit by a heavy vehicle.

“There were rumours that the bridge could collapse after the tractor hit it,” he said.

“Many people are feared to have fallen into the river and are unaccounted for.”

Other police sources said that some 20,000 people were on the bridge over the River Sindh when the stampede broke out.

Up to 400,000 devotees were already inside or around the temple in Datia district, which is around 350 kilometres north of the state capital Bhopal.

NDTV, an Indian television network, cited sources at the scene as saying the situation was exacerbated by police charging at the crowds with heavy wooden sticks known as lathis.

However Arya insisted “there was no baton-charge”.

Hindus are celebrating the end of the Navaratri festival, dedicated to the worship of the Hindu god Durga, which draws millions of worshippers to temples especially in northern India.

India has a long history of deadly stampedes at religious festivals, with at 36 people trampled to death back in February as pilgrims headed home from the Kumbh Mela religious festival on the banks of the river Ganges.

Some 102 Hindu devotees were killed in a stampede in January 2011 in the state of Kerala while 224 pilgrims died in September 2008 as thousands of worshippers rushed to reach a 15th-century hill-top temple in Jodhpur

Twix Milkshake

The chocolate bits will satisfy your sweet-tooth and when served cold, the milkshake is ideal to beat the scorching heat.

Attention all chocolate lovers! Take a big gulp of this deliciously refreshing and energizing milkshake to revitalize yourself after a long day. The chocolate bits will satisfy your sweet-tooth and when served cold, the milkshake is ideal to beat the scorching heat. I promise you will love it!

Ingredients:

Twix chocolate bars 3

Milk powder 4 tbsp (heaped)

Sugar (optional)

Ice cubes 7

Water 1/3 to ½ a glass

Method

•  Add the Twix bars, milk powder, sugar, water and ice to an electric blender.

•  Blend the ingredients well, until they are mixed completely.

•  Serve chilled.

Arooj Waqar runs a Facebook cooking page called Mona’s Kitchen and aspires to convert her passion for cooking into a career

Did you know?: Timberlake obsessed over details

Justin Timberlake (R) and Jessica Biel (L). PHOTO: REUTERS / FILE

LOS ANGELES: Singer-actor Justin Timberlake says that he gets “obsessed” over small details concerning the decoration of his home.

He says that his house has a mixture of contemporary as well as other pieces of art, reportscontactmusic.com.

“I’m a bit of an art collector and I can get a bit obsessed with details, like handles on drawers. But I guess ‘contemporary with a bit of other stuff mixed in’ would describe our home,” Bang Showbiz quoted Timberlake as saying.

Eventually, it is his wife Jessica Biel who makes most of the decisions.

“I tell myself I have a choice in things, but that’s just because I’m in denial,” he said.

Timberlake and Biel exchanged vows in October last year.

China to install GPS in government cars to track misuse

China to install GPS in government cars to track misuse. PHOTO: FILE

BEIJING: China will install GPS systems in government cars to thwart personal use by officials, domestic media said on Friday, citing the Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog, as it cracks down on the profligate lifestyles of corrupt officials.

Almost 200,000 government cars have been misused for private purposes, the Beijing Times newspaper said, citing the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The agency also recommended that ministries and regions detail the expenses of car costs.

The southern city of Guangzhou adopted a similar plan using Global Positioning Satellite systems in 2011, the paper said. According to the graft watchdog, the city has already saved 42 million yuan, which is around $6.87 million, each year, or 5,000 yuan per car.

Since taking over as Communist Party chief late last year and as the head of state in March, President Xi Jinping has called corruption a threat to the party’s survival and vowed to go after powerful “tigers” as well as lowly “flies”.

Xi has sought to calm growing public anger at the flamboyant lifestyles of many officials, most of whom are on low salaries. The government has vowed to fight the “four tendencies” of bad cadres, which include “hedonism” and “extravagance”.

On Wednesday, the Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog also reported it had carried out a secret investigation into cadres who used public funds over last week’s National Day holiday to stay at rural bed-and-breakfasts.

Hujra: Where boys used to become men

Hujras were the equivalent of the sewing circle — not any more. ART BY JAMAL KHURSHID

The boys are cozying up in a corner, shooting marbles. One of them grabs another’s collar in a spirit of mutually shared camaraderie.

A few yards away, teenagers are lolling back on charpoys or squatting by them, playing cards in the shade of an old tree. Discreet smiles are exchanged from time to time as a village scandal quietly rolls off someone’s tongue. A little further ahead, a few middle-aged men sip tea and exchange thoughts on the Afghan drawdown while reminiscing about the good-old days. Preparations are underway for the night time tappay (singing) session as someone tunes the rabab strings. In the background, the caretaker, Kakhay, is keeping a watchful eye. The sense of community in the hujra is as real as the men sitting there.

In the veranda right below, “Har kala rasha” is written on a wall. It loosely translates to “May you always come,” in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region and is a phrase that usually indicates the space you are entering is a hujra.

A community club of sorts, found in almost every village and mohallah, the hujra is an integral part of Pakhtun culture. Usually shared by the whole community, it may sometimes be a space owned by a person of means, normally an open area stretching up to 1,200 square yards. Most hujras have a clearly marked boundary but no door, signalling that everyone is welcome. While lively conversations dominate the course inside the hujra, the open terrace adjacent is occasionally used for communal gatherings such as funeral prayers or wedding ceremonies.

Popularly known as a hujra or daira in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, it has been given various names throughout Afghanistan as well, ranging from kotta in Kabul, a sarachah in Khost,jammah in Dera Ismail Khan and chawk in Lakki Marwat.

Qazi Hanifullah, a teacher of Pakhtun culture for nearly 20 years at the University of Peshawar, explains that the hujra is an institution where men learn about life. Everything, from sensitive subjects such as sexuality, emotional and psychological problems to bigger issues such as succeeding in life, is discussed openly by the men who come from all ages and backgrounds.

However, with the spread of popular technology and the rampant use of cell phones and computers, the hujras are gradually losing their usual crowd. While the older generation still congregates in these spaces, it has become almost impossible to attract the youth here.

In Hanif’s opinion, this was slowly causing an erosion of Pakhtun culture. “The younger generation knows what is happening in Bollywood or Hollywood but no one is willing to listen to the poet who published his latest book,” he said. “They would know about the latest hairstyle but have no clue why the colour of a woman’s bangles changes as soon as she gets married. They don’t know these things because they are just not interested anymore.”

There are others who believe that while it is not necessarily worrying that the younger generations want to keep up with the rest of the world, there is a risk of losing touch with your own roots. Salma Shaheen, a researcher and professor of Pushto literature, said that while hujras still survive as a building in almost every village of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, they are losing importance as an institution.

“Almost 80% of Pakhtunwali (the Pakhtun code of conduct) is related to hujras,” she explains. “Therefore, a decline of the institution means a decline in Pakhtunwali.”

Comparing it to practices from the British era, Shaheen adds that the Pakhtunwali code was not written down but preserved through word of mouth and practice. A hujra is the only place where these traditions are learnt, acted upon and then passed on to the following generation.

“Unfortunately, the former generation couldn’t pass on this tradition to the current one and I am afraid the next generation would merely know the word, but not its importance,” she says.

In urban areas such as Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera, hujras are also being demolished and replaced by more modern structures. Shah Nawaz Ghamgeen, a resident of Jamrud, takes pride in his vibrant hujra which has survived all odds, including a militant bombing, and is still host to a daily congregation of the village tribesmen.

In most areas, the modern drawing room seems to have replaced the hujra in terms of utility. But for seasoned elders such as Ghamgeen, the collective experience of good company and conversation is hard to replace

Movie review: Rush - driven

Rush is an attempt to understand one of the greatest motorsport rivalries during the Formula One championship in 1976.

Life can be explained through the idiom of sport. The famed-UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once put it this way: Win or lose, courage is what lasts. For those who follow the Formula One championship, one historical example of courage superseding the glory of victory came in the shape of the rivalry between Nicki Lauda and the late James Hunt in the 1976 season — a watershed in the history of racing.

Now these men have been brought to life by actors Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth inRush, a biographical action film written by Peter Morgan and directed by Ron Howard. It documents the struggles of the two sportsmen as they compete for the greatest glory — the Formula One championship.

The complexity of the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt is addressed in a relatively quick manner. We see the two drivers growing out of competing with each other based on mutual respect, despite the desire to push each other to the maximum on the racetrack. Back then, each racing season, one or two drivers would routinely be killed and building a career in the sport meant making sacrifices and taking risks. The difference between both Lauda and Hunt, as seen by Howard, stems from their different approaches to life and the sport itself.

Daniel Brühl is an effortless Lauda, emerging head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. He puts forward a well-crafted performance, much like the racer himself. Hemsworth of Thorfame, too, fits nicely into the role of James Hunt with believable and passionate acting. Actor Olivia Wilde plays a small role as Hunt’s wife, Suzy Miller, whose character in the film is stunted in comparison with that of the support-system wife Marlene Lauda played by Alexandra Maria Lara.

Director Howard, whose legacy as one of modern-day Hollywood’s greatest, has always been challenged by his inability to address nuance, skillfully presents the high-octane action sequences. They are invigorating as the background score thrills the viewer to the edge of the cinema seat. The film’s success is based on its ability to accurately show and transmit the feel of the inside of a race-car, the surrounding track and the atmosphere around a heart-stopping race.

The storyline tends to veer towards the formulaic and Hollywood cliché, which as a result undercuts the rich theme of the rivalry between the two men who were closer to each other than what was popularly perceived. And so while the film fails to delve into their lives, it nonetheless beautifully interprets their struggles on the racecourse where the men are ultimately defined.

Rush is packed with action, bravado, and glamour through savvy cinematography. The combination has probably brought viewers closer than ever to the elitist and male-dominated world of Formula One racing. It is a must-watch and will go down as one of the better sports films in recent times. Its action and cinematography alone will carry it far.