It doesnt take much to set off a Pakistani fan. 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. 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Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona.PITTSFORD, N.Y. - Being a fan who had never seen a pro golf event in person, the PGA Championship sure was a sweet way to start. I had tickets to Fridays second round for the better part of a year and traveled to Oak Hill Country Club with the simple goal of soaking it all in - see the course, watch the players up close, and hopefully, see Tiger and Phil in person. How did I do? Ten things come to mind. 1. Rain, baby. Despite rain never being in the forecast it had started overnight and was in full downpour mode when we arrived at the course at about 9am. Luckily play was never delayed but the deluge was pretty consistent for about three hours. It didnt take long for the gallery areas around Oak Hill to become mudpits - it wasnt very country club-like, but at least I wore old (and comfortable) shoes. 2. Major Sighting. We entered the course through a gate near the 11th hole. As we found our bearings and walked to the 12th, I cashed in on one of my goals right away - the years major winners were playing through. The pairing of British Open winner Phil Mickelson, U.S. Open winner Justin Rose and Masters champion Adam Scott had a huge gallery following them and there was electricity in the crowd as each hit their approach shots. 3. Seriously, no photos. The spectator guide that was sent to us said that taking photos was not allowed. And yet, cellphone calls and texting from the course was allowed in designated areas. So I figured that people would be trying to sneak shots here and there when they could. Well guess what? There were staff at the course in green marshal shirts marked "Mobile Device Enforcement" scanning the crowds for those brave enough to try. And it worked. I heard "Put it away, please" several times. Seriously, no photos. 4. The Range. Having seen the Canadian Open several times, my travel mates swore that this was the place to be to get the best up-close look at the players. And boy were they right. While the crowds on the course were four and five-deep trying to track approach shots, the practice area was relatively lightly attended. But it was truly something to see. In the space of about 90 minutes we saw Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Brandt Snedeker, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker, Davis Love III, and many more. Matt Kuchar and Padraig Harrington walked right past me to an elevated tee area. Martin Kaymer launched rockets alongside fellow former PGA champions Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel. And later, Miguel Angel Jimenez showed up after his round smoking his trademark cigar. Fantastic. 5. "These guys are good". Thats an old PGA Tour ad promo but its absolutely true. Watching these guys hit in person shows why they are the best in the world. Players start with sand wedges and hit short bounce-bounce-stop shots that are nothing short of trickery. Bounce-bounce-stop. One after another. Irons are hit for accuracy, distance, and with unbelievable arc. Drivers are belted so far that you lose track of them for a second or two before they re-appear on a bounce more than 300 yards away. Thats the part you cant truly appreciate on television. 6. TThe Dufner Dips.dddddddddddd Ten guys from Ottawa made the trip with bright red custom-made t-shirts and called themselves the Dufner Dips. Their goal was to find fan favourite Jason Dufner and give him his own red shirt for luck. For the thousands of fans who attended, they were the only ones I saw all day who dressed alike in support of a player. I stood next to them on the range while they did interview after interview with the media. One fellow said they had been interviewed nine times that day. When Dufner appeared at the other end of the range they went to track him down - I can only imagine he was thrilled to accept their gift. 7. Out of the sky. Walking the par-4 10th hole, a golf ball, literally, dropped out of the sky in front of us. Sergio Garcia had whipped his tee shot right and into the trees - it hit a branch above us and fell into the muddy gallery area. We never even heard "fore!". We circled the ball and Garcia showed up minutes later to take stock of the situation. He summoned a rules official, who determined that Garcia could take relief of one club because the ball lay in "damaged grounds" because of the gallery. After taking a drop he asked us to remain "very quiet please", then calmly hit an iron off the mud, over the trees in front and up near the green. Unbelievable shot. From there he got up and down to save an unlikely par. And it all happened from about six feet in front of me. 8. Ticket Envy. All spectators at the event were asked to wear their hanging tickets at all times. Mine said "Grounds" but I quickly learned that there were plenty of other kinds. "Wannamaker Club" looked good. "Clubhouse" was pretty solid. But I have to admit that "Mercedes Box" or "American Express Club" had me at hello. Still, "Grounds" got me around the course just fine. But without free snacks. 9. Parking. Several homes around the course were selling lawn space for fans to park on. And these were not small homes - they were beautiful houses with massive lawns. We parked on a lawn for $30 that could probably accommodate 30 cars. Quick calculation: $900 per day for four days, $3,600 plus whatever they made earlier in the week for the practice rounds. Sweet gig - too bad the PGA is played at Oak Hill only every decade or so. 10. Ah yes, Tiger Woods. The worlds No. 1 golfer arrived about an hour before his tee time and you could hear the buzz in the crowd before you saw the man. He did an interview and then proceeded to the practice area, where I was able to watch him hit for about a half hour from 50 feet away. He was hitting alongside Love and Stewart Cink, but to the gallery the two former major winners were practically invisible. Tiger didnt say a word. He barely acknowledged the crowd. He was dialed in, preparing for his round. I watched him hit drive after drive, thinking about all the things that have made him one of the biggest celebrities on the planet. Was I star struck? I have to admit that I was. And from 50 feet away, I could only think about how I was fortunate to cross off one of the bucket list moments of just about any golf fan - to see Tiger live. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '