Imran Khan stunned by Ajmal's omission from ICC awards

Ajmal was not included in a shortlist of four players for the best test player of the year category. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/FILE

DUBAI: Cricketing legend Imran Khan led a protest of former Pakistan captains over off-spinner Saeed Ajmal’s omission from a list of annual awards, terming it a great injustice.

The spinner was not included in a shortlist of four players for the best test player of the year category in the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards to be held in Colombo on September 15.

A 32-man independent jury comprising former players, officials and journalists provoked anger in Pakistan after omitting Ajmal from the shortlist, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Australian Michael Clarke and South Africans Vernon Philander and Hashim Amla.

Ajmal, 34, took 72 wickets in 12 Tests from August 2011 to July this year, including 24 wickets in a 3-0 rout of then world ranked number one England in January-February.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier this week lodged a protest with the ICC demanding a review of the shortlist but the game’s governing body rejected it.

The PCB said it was considering boycotting the ceremony.

Khan said Ajmal’s omission was unjust.

“It is a great injustice to a player who is a match winner in all formats of the game and his omission was surprising,” Khan told reporters during the second Twenty20 match between Pakistan and Australia here on Friday.

Another former captain Ramiz Raja said Ajmal was hard done by the jury.

“I feel that Ajmal was hard done by the jury and it is a serious case for review because if performers are not picked then the credibility (of awards) is missing,” Raja told AFP.

Raja said an award is an honour for the player.

“It’s a great honour for the player to win an award and it hurts not only Pakistan but the whole community,” said Raja, now a renowned commentator.

Former captain and coach Waqar Younis said he didn’t understand the system.

“I don’t know how this system is working,” said Waqar of the process. “Maybe the system needs to be reviewed because 32 people are too much.

“On the basis of performance you can’t overlook Ajmal and it comes as a great surprise to me.”

MTV VMAs 2012 – Best Dressed Red Carpet PICS

Hollywood’s hottest celebs graced the red carpet for the music-filled event looking hotter than ever!

All the most glam stars like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift stepped out for the annual event looking better than ever.

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RAAZ 3 - Movie Review 2012

“RAAZ 3” is stupid but engaging!

It makes no sense most of the time, but still keeps you hooked despite its incoherence. However, only very few moments genuinely scare you. If only the concept was explained better and the sub plots tightly interwoven, it could’ve been a much better film.

The story revolves around Shanaya (Bipasha Basu), an actress at the height of her success. She’s offered the best roles and wins all the awards she’s nominated for. In addition, she also has a passionate affair with a director named Aditya (Emraan Hashmi). This all ends when a younger actress, Sanjana (Esha Gupta) makes her film debut. Suddenly, Shanaya seems forgotten and everybody only wants to work with Sanjana. Soon enough, Aditya also leaves Shanaya for Sanjana, and Shanaya sees her career fading away. She begins to turn to black magic and her only goal in life is to destroy Sanjana and get back the man she loves, Aditya.

As a story, the film showcases some of the lamest concepts, without really dwelling into the logic behind the same. This exactly is the biggest and the most common problem with most Indian Fantasy, Superhero and Horror films, they venture into the farthest end of the imaginative spectrum, without really laying the foundation in the minds of the audience. On comparison, you see a stark contrast in the similar genres depicted by Hollywood. They present the background cause and rationality in such an effective manner, that even the silliest of science fictions seem plausible. But here, ill-sketched characters turn up from nowhere and play some of the most significant parts. For instance, the film shows Bipasha being assisted by dark forces with the help of a spirit, that lives somewhere in an inhabited part of a city. There is no reason apparent for its existence (that too in a visible human form) and no cause for it to provide aid to Bipasha’s evil motives, but it still does. In its spirit form, it looks like a human structure formed out of the garbage in the municipal trash cans, infested by insects and worms, and surrounded by flies. Funniest part is that there is even a name given to this absurdly creepy spirit, “Tara Dutt”. There are so many other daft sequences, that after a time you resign to the standards served and simply stop taking them too seriously.

Despite all this, the film surely is a gripping drama. As was said earlier, you need to accept that there can be no logic or reason to whatever is happening and you simply need to sink into the mood of the film. There isn’t a dull moment ever, and with sudden brief bouts of shuddery instances, it’s an engrossing affair. The performances are competent, although there’s nothing serious that you can write about them.

All-in-all, it qualifies as a decent one time watch. Don’t go expecting anything more than that.

Rating: 2.5/5

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5 Upcoming Shows You Should be Excited About

As we head into fall and winter and begin the transition from barbecues and long summer evenings outdoors, those who don’t get excited over endless hours of football need something else to look forward to. It’s either sex or television, and for the rest of you married folk, you know what that means. (Those who can’t do…watch?) But never fear, it ain’t all “Are You Smarter Than the Average Moron” or “The Bitchelorette;” there are some bright spots on the boob tube horizon. There are a few good women and men ready to take us beyond the bland, to pretend worlds where so we can escape whatever fate November will have brought.

5. “Masters of Sex” (Showtime). Based on Thomas Maier’s Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, The Couple Who Taught America How to Love, this show is Welsh actor Michael Sheen’s first “regular series role for television.” The series stars Sheen and Lizzy Caplan as famed sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson.

Co-starring Margo “Mags” Martingdale, Beau Bridges and Teddy Sears, the show will “chronicle the lives and unique relationship between Masters and Johnson;” the two began their investigation into human sexuality together, and ended up in bed. Premieres early 2013.

4. “Low Winter Sun” (AMC). Chris Mundy’s (“Criminal Minds, Cold Case”) remake of the British series, sinks us into the dark world of corrupt cop Frank Agnew—played by the original series star, Mark Strong—who murders a fellow police officer.

Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson (“The Wire, Treme, Dexter, The Walking Dead”) and with a great cast: David Costabile (“Suits, Breaking Bad, Damages, The Wire”), Lennie James (Line of Duty, Hung, Human Target, The Prisoner”), Sprague Grayden (“24, Sons of Anarchy, Jericho, Weeds”), James Ransone (“Treme, Generation Kill, The Wire”), Michael McGrady (“Southland, The Riches”), the show follows Agnew’s descent after his seemingly clean getaway. The murder triggers a chain of events that draw him into the criminal underworld he had fought to take down. Expected to air early to mid 2013.

3. “The Following” (Fox). From Kevin Williamson (“The Vampire Diaries, Dawson’s Creek”); Kevin Bacon stars as an FBI profiler who returns to field duty to track an escaped serial killer (James Purefoy).

Joe Carroll isn’t satisfied with just breaking out of jail though, he recruits and trains more killers and sends them out to do his bidding; Bacon tries to catch up. Comic-Con reviews were all positive. Also stars Annie Parisse, Maggie Grace and Natalie Zea. Premieres Midseason 2013.

2. “The Americans” (FX). Joseph Weisberg (“Damages, Falling Skies”) and Graham Yost (“Justified”) take us into the lives of a pair of undercover Soviet spies—Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell)—posing as an American married couple who just happen to live next door to an FBI agent (Noah Emmerich).

Set during the Reagan era, complications arise when the arranged pair develop feelings for each other, and Phillip starts to actually like his new home country—even as they operate a network of informants who send information back to Mother Russia. The pilot was directed by Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, Pride and Glory), and this thirteen episode series begins sometime in October 2012.

1. “Hannibal” (NBC). Bryan Fuller’s (“Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, Heroes, Mockingbird Lane”) television adaptation stars Hugh Dancy as Special Agent Will Graham, Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Lawrence Fishburne as Agent Jack Crawford.

The series is set before Lecter was jailed and will focus on the relationship between Graham and the good doctor. Fuller envisions a seven season story arc, with the third season delving into Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon territory. The modern update also has two characters—Dr. Alan Bloom and journalist Freddy Lounds—with their genders changed; they’ll be portrayed by Caroline Dhavernas (“Wonderfalls”) and Lara Jean Chorostecki (“Copper, Camelot”), respectively. NBC has “Hannibal” listed on its schedule as Midseason 2012/2013.