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  • Fakhar Zaman responds to PCB’s Show-cause notice

    Fakhar Zaman responds to PCB’s Show-cause notice

    National cricket team’s batsman Fakhar Zaman has responded to the show-cause notice issued by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for supporting former captain Babar Azam.

    Babar Azam was dropped from the Pakistan team against England, after which opener Fakhar Zaman posted a post in support of him, saying that Babar deserved better treatment.

    He had given an example and said that India’s star batsman Virat Kohli also had a bad time, and despite three years of poor form, he was not benched, but throwing out the country’s best batsman will send a negative message to the team.

    After his post, PCB took action and issued a show-cause notice to Fakhar Zaman, seeking his reply. The batsman has sent his reply to the PCB.

    According to reports, he said, ‘I am under the PCB, and I must accept the decisions; writing about Babar Azam was not meant to criticize or hurt anyone. PCB’s central contract is of the opinion; I spoke as a fellow player; my only aim was for Babar Azam to have a chance in difficult times. PCB is our institution; we will continue to respect it.’

    After seeing Fakhar Zaman’s response, the board will decide on his inclusion in the team for the tour of Australia.

    The Pakistan team for the tour of Australia is likely to be announced on Monday; the Pakistan team is scheduled to participate in the ODI and T20I series next month in the land of kangaroos.

  • PCB postpones Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

    PCB postpones Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has postponed the most important first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The event was supposed to start on October 20, but the details of the season have not been finalized yet.

    According to reports, the announcement of the new dates for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is expected soon, and the domestic department is waiting for the approval of Chairman Mohsin Naqvi in ​​this regard.

    Regional teams were supposed to participate in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and the players of different regions were busy preparing for it, but the final teams have not yet been announced, and the schedule has not been decided.

    This is not the first time that PCB has changed the domestic cricket schedule. Earlier, the U-19 tournament was also stopped and postponed on the first day after it started.

    The PCB Domestic Department has also instructed the departments to be ready for the President’s Trophy as a backup plan.

    If there is further delay in organizing the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, a first-class departmental tournament will be organized first. This tournament was earlier scheduled for January 6.

  • This cricketer gifted new shoes to Sajid Khan when he had none to play

    This cricketer gifted new shoes to Sajid Khan when he had none to play

    Pakistan right-arm spinner Sajid Khan has revealed that when he was selected for the national team cricket camp, he had no shoes to play in.

    In a viral clip on social media, Sajid talks about his struggles. He said, “When I was selected for the cricket camp, I had no shoes to wear. Then fast bowler Imran senior saw me. He asked, ‘Sajid, you don’t have shoes to wear’. I was shy, so I said no, I have two pairs. But he understood that I have no shoes, so he gifted me his cricket spike shoes.”

    “Whenever I played cricket, I used to perform at my best, but I was the first to be dropped from the team. I have played school cricket in Peshawar, from U-13 and U-16. I used to perform everywhere. The best performance in the comeback inspired me, and I had a unique way of celebrating,” he further added.

    Sajid Khan has taken seven wickets for 111 runs in the first innings of the second Test match against England, while he has also taken one wicket in the second innings of the game.

    Sajid Khan was not part of the team against England, too, but the worst defeat in the first Test and Abrar Ahmed’s poor performance and injury forced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to give Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali another chance.

    Sajid Khan has proven his selection right, but only the PCB selection committee knows whether he will continue to be a part of the permanent team.

    He took seven wickets in the first innings of the second Test while 2 in the second innings against England in Multan on October 17, 2024.

  • Pakistan’s star debutant against England: Who is Sajid Khan?

    Pakistan’s star debutant against England: Who is Sajid Khan?

    Born in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1993, Sajid Khan made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in April 2021. The start of the career was not good as he could not get any wickets in his first match and two wickets in the second match.

    Sajid has so far played 8 Test matches for Pakistan, in which he has taken 25 wickets with an average of 38.

    In 2021, the match played against the host Bangladesh dismissed eight players for just 42 runs, due to which the entire Bangladesh team was 87.

    Sajid Khan also guided four players to the pavilion in the second innings, and thanks to this performance, Pakistan won the match by an innings and eight runs, and Sajid Khan was also declared the best player of the match.

    After this series, the Australian team came to Pakistan for a 3-match test series in which Sajid Khan failed and could only take four wickets, after which he was dropped.

    Then Pakistan toured Sri Lanka, where Sajid Khan was neglected, and Yasir Shah was once again tested, but this series turned out to be his last.

    England then toured Pakistan, in which Pakistan lost 0-3, but we got a good spinner in the form of Abrar Ahmed, who took 17 wickets in his first series. After that, New Zealand toured Pakistan, and in this series, too, Abrar Ahmed performed impressively and took 11 wickets. However, Pakistan could not get any success in this match as both the matches were tied.

    When Pakistan toured Australia, Sajid Khan was ignored in that too, but due to Abrar Ahmed’s injury and Nauman Ali’s operation, he had to be called up during the series, and then he got a chance in the third match and took three wickets.

    But this musical chair continued, and Sajid Khan was once again left out of the team on Bangladesh’s tour to Pakistan. He complained that he was left out of the team without giving any reason.

    Sajid Khan was not part of the team against England, too, but the worst defeat in the first Test and Abrar Ahmed’s poor performance and injury forced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to give Sajid Khan and Nauman Ali another chance.

    Sajid Khan has proven his selection right, but only the PCB selection committee knows whether he will continue to be a part of the permanent team.

    He took seven wickets in the first innings of the second Test against England in Multan on October 17, 2024.

  • Is Ben Stoke Has Returned to the Playing XI?

    Is Ben Stoke Has Returned to the Playing XI?

    Pakistan and England are playing the second Test match at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Today is the second day of the five-day game. England’s captain, Ben Stoke, is back in this match. He was out of their first Test due to being unfit.

    He went down with an injury in August during the Hundred. And Ollie Pope replaced him as England’s captain. Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes were rested for the game, and Seamer Matthew Potts was included in the starting lineup for the first time since August.

    Kamran Ghulam took the test cap for the first time on the second test. He got the cap after playing 59 first-class matches and scoring 4377 runs.

    As they clinched victory against Pakistan in the first Test by an innings and 47 runs, the three-match series will have the last match in Rawalpindi starting from 24 October 2022. 

    Moreover, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah were excluded from the squad for the second test match.

    Ben Stoke

    Ben Stokes Reaction to Babar Azam’s Unexpected Withdrawal

    The England captain said, “Everything on that, that’s Pakistan cricket issue. Nothing to do with me.”

    This is Babar Azam’s first drop from the Pakistan team. He has been kept from Aquad since his debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and after his Test debut against the West Indies the following year.

    Matthew Vaughan also criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board for excluding Babar Azam from stepping into the PAK vs. ENG tests since he arrived. He is the ex-captain of the England cricket team.  Demonstrating his opinion on social media, Vaughan wrote, “absolutely stupid decision” to exclude the best player.

    At this point, the former Pakistan captain is the number one ODI batsman and is in position four among T20 batters.

    Ben Stokes Surprised Over Same Pitch for 2nd Test

    England Test captain Ben Stokes is slightly surprised at Pakistan’s decision to use the same pitch for the second Test match. The first test match was played at Multan, which they lost by an inning.

    “But I also confess that there will come a time when a used pitch will be the order of the day, and it will be for the good of the game in most instances. Using the used pitch brings much more into the game for both teams. If it spins and reverses more, both teams have more options. It could be a tactic. I’ve never seen the same pitch being used for back-to-back games.”

    Pakistan Playing XI:

    Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood

    England Playing XI:

    Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir

  • M Haris bans talking about ‘this country’ in Shaheens dressing room

    M Haris bans talking about ‘this country’ in Shaheens dressing room

    Pakistan Shaheen’s captain, Muhammad Haris, has banned talking about the match against India in the dressing room.

    Talking to the media at the National Stadium Karachi, Mohammad Haris said, “The competition is not only with the Indian team in the Emerging Asia Cup; there are other teams, and they all have to be defeated. There is a ban on discussing the match with India in the dressing room as coach Umar Rashid is strongly opposed to discussing the match only with the Indian team in the dressing room.”

    He said, “Thinking of a match against India puts pressure on the players, and as a captain and head coach, I have banned talking about India. Our preparations for the Emerging Asia Cup are full; we hope to defend our title. The focus will not be only on India; there are also competitions with other teams, and our plan will be different against each team.”

    “I was the captain last year, too; so far, there has been no talk about the captaincy. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made me the captain of different teams; my focus is on the Emerging Asia Cup, and I will play as an opener in the Emerging Asia Cup.”

    The emerging Asia Cup will start on October 18 in Oman; Pakistan Shaheen’s team will leave tonight, and Pakistan Shaheens will play the first match on October 19 against India A.

    Pakistan is the defending champion of this event. Pakistan defeated India in the final of the emerging Asia Cup last year.

  • Bangladesh Cricket Board suspends head coach for slapping player

    Bangladesh Cricket Board suspends head coach for slapping player

    Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has suspended head coach Chandika Hathurusingha for slapping a player.

    The board says that Chandika will be removed from the post after 48 hours of suspension.

    BCB had investigated the allegation during the World Cup 2023. A player had alleged that the head coach had slapped him.

    Phil Simmons has been appointed as interim coach.

    Hathurusingha has been the most successful coach for the Tigers according to results and performance in both his tenures,

    It is not the first time he faced such consequences. Earlier, his contract was prematurely terminated by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2019 for failing in various assignments and being unable to maintain good relationships with the team.

    He later challenged his sacking in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, and demanded 5$ million for loss of income and damages to his reputation. However, he withdrew his application after his desired addition of parties to the legal proceedings was rejected.

  • French footballer Mbappe accused of rape

    French footballer Mbappe accused of rape

    Real Madrid star, French footballer Kylian Mbappe, has been accused of raping a woman in Sweden.

    According to media reports, Mbappe has been accused of raping a woman in a hotel in Sweden, during the time he was in the country from Wednesday to Friday. The incident reportedly took place on Thursday night, and the matter came to light when the victim arrived at the hospital for treatment.

    Police have neither confirmed nor denied the case, but the Real Madrid star called the allegations fake news.

    Mbappe quipped that it was a coincidence that the allegation came a day before a hearing against Mbappe’s former club, PSG, in which Mbappe is seeking £46 million in wages and bonuses.

  • ‘Absolutely stupid decision’: Former England captain lashes out at PCB for dropping Babar

    ‘Absolutely stupid decision’: Former England captain lashes out at PCB for dropping Babar

    Former England captain Michael Vaughan has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for dropping Babar Azam from the squad against England.

    The Pakistan squad for the second and third Tests against England was announced on Sunday, with Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Afridi dropped from the playing eleven.

    Michael tweeted on X (previously Twitter): “So Pakistan hasn’t won in a while; go one nil down in the series and decide to drop the best player.”

    He also tagged Babar Azam and said, “I guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises, but this tops the lot. It is an absolutely stupid decision unless he has asked for a break.”

    Earlier, Fakhar Zaman also criticized PCB on Twitter, saying, “India did not drop Virat Kohli despite his bad form for three years; he was not benched. The news of dropping Babar Azam is a cause for concern, dropping Pakistan’s best batsman will send a negative message.”

    Pakistan will play their second Test match against England on October 15.

  • Australia announces squad against Pakistan for ODI series

    Australia announces squad against Pakistan for ODI series

    Cricket Australia has announced the names included in its squad for an ODI series against Pakistan,z and Pat Cummins will lead the Kangaroos.

    The national team will visit Australia next monh to play three ODI and three T20 matches.

    The Australian squad includes Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser McGurk, Aaron Hardy, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Ingles, Marnus Lebusch, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa.

    Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are on parental leave, so they have not been included in the squad.

    Australian Chief Selector George Bailey said, “This is the last one-day series before the Champions Trophy, so we made an effort to maintain balance in the squad. There is an opportunity for this squad to increase our experience for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February.”

    The ODI matches between Pakistan and Australia will be played on November 4, 8 and 10; the T20 schedule will be announced later.