Tag: Australia tour to Pakistan

  • ‘The light of my eyes’: Mohammad Yousaf shares heartfelt message for daughter

    Former cricketer Mohammad Yousaf has announced his daughter’s marriage on Twitter with a heartfelt message. Yousaf also shared a picture with his daughter.

    “My daughter, the day of your ‘rukhsati’ has arrived today,” writes Yousaf.

    He wrote, ”It was just yesterday when you were like a small little doll.” Yousaf also called his daughter the light of his eyes.

    He concluded the post with love and warm wishes to his daughter.

    Currently, Mohammad Yousaf has taken days off from his duty as batting coach to attend his daughter’s wedding.

    He will rejoin the Pakistani national team as a coach for a clash against Australia in the third Test match. It will begin in Lahore at Gaddafi Stadium on March 21.

  • ‘The greatest’, Babar Azam scores Test century after two years

    ‘The greatest’, Babar Azam scores Test century after two years

    Though Pakistan’s victory is uncertain in the second match between Pak and Australia, Pakistan’s cricket team captain Babar Azam is in action today.

    Azam scored a Test century after a gap of two years in the match.

    The Pakistani skipper completed the century in the 78th over, as soon as he hit the ball, the crowd and his teammates lauded the skipper for his “epic” century.

    https://twitter.com/TheRealPCB/status/1503708175861747716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1503708175861747716%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geo.tv%2Flatest%2F405334-pak-vs-aus-babar-azam-scores-first-test-century-after-two-years

    The Pakistani skipper completed a century in the 78th over and as soon as he hit the ball, the crowd and his teammates lauded the skipper for his “epic” century.

    Currently, Pakistan is chasing a 506-run target with Babar at the crease and opener Abdullah Shafique with 8 wickets at hand.

    Pakistan has only a day (tomorrow) to win.

    Several tweets have been posted to praise the cricket star.

  • Twitter spots Vicky Kaushal watching Pak VS Aus Test series in Karachi

    While all the cricket fans are disappointed by the performance and pace of cricketers during the ongoing historic Pakistan-Australia Test series, one thing has proved to lighten up our mood.

    Twitterati spotted Indian actor Vicky Kaushal’s doppelganger watching the second Pak vs Aus Test series in Karachi.

    Known as Salauddin Khan, the doppelganger posted a side profile picture of himself on Saturday with a caption, which says: “First ever experience in the stadium. And guess what. It was shitty.”

    https://twitter.com/salao786/status/1502652116367720452?s=20&t=-JYKalQSMOFXcd9RHjkOeg

    After this, people immediately started commenting on his uncanny resemblance with Kaushal.

  • ICC rates Pindi wicket below average, Babar Azam defends

    The Inter­national Cricket Council (ICC) rated the first Test match between Pakistan and Australia pitch “below average” and penalised it with one demerit point after the match ended in a dull draw earlier this week in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

    In a report, Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC match referee for the Pak-Aus Test series said, “The pitch did not have a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers nor assisted the spinners. In my view, this does not represent an even contest between bat and ball. Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines, I rate this pitch as below average.”

    In response, The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) claimed that no Pakistani venue has received a demerit point before. However, it accepts ICC’s decision and has given assurance of the quality of pitches in upcoming matches.

    It is pertinent to mention that demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period. When a venue gets five demerit points, it is suspended from hosting international cricket matches for one year.

    Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has defended the Rawalpindi pitch. The cricketer said that no matter how a pitch is it is important for players to perform on it.

    However, Australian opener David Warner said that he is hopeful of a result-producing wicket in Karachi Test against Pakistan which is going to be played tomorrow (Saturday).

    After the Rawalpindi draw match, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry criticised PCB for “choosing a dead wicket” in the historic Test Match.

  • Pakistan Test squad for Australia series to see some changes

    Pakistan Test squad for Australia series to see some changes

    Pakistan Test squad for the Australia series is reportedly to see some changes, reported Geo News.

    The report stated that the decision regarding the replacement for injured Mohammad Nawaz will be made in the next couple of days.

    Nawaz had to leave Pakistan Super League (PSL) following an injury to his foot. The left-arm spinner was representing PSL franchise Quetta Gladiators.

    It was also reported that the team management is concerned about the form of pacer Hassan Ali. Hassan is representing Islamabad United in PSL 7 and was unable to impress fans with his performance.

    Read More – Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Pacer Naseem Shah, who is on the reserves list, is likely to get promoted to the original squad.

    Team Australia is set to tour Pakistan after 24 years and is scheduled to play three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I.

  • Australia announces squad for white-ball leg of Pakistan tour, Starc, Warner, Cummins among absentees

    Australia announces squad for white-ball leg of Pakistan tour, Starc, Warner, Cummins among absentees

    Cricket Australia has announced the squad of 16 players for the white-ball leg of the historic Pakistan tour.

    Several big names including the likes of David Warner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are giving the ODI and T20I series a miss.

    Notably, Australia, who are set to tour Pakistan for the first time in 24 years, will play three ODIs and a one-off T20I in Pakistan, which gets underway on March 29.

    Cricket Australia won’t release their contracted players to join the early stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, which is scheduled to take place in April.

    Chief selector of Australian cricket team George Bailey has said that he is confident that the team will do well in the series.

    Australia’s ODI and T20 squad:

    Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.

    Power-hitting batter Matthew Wade has been excluded from the team.

    Meanwhile, Pakistani Twitterati is not satisfied with these big names who are missing the white-ball leg. Netizens claim that these five names have IPL contracts and this could be the reason for them to ditch the series.

  • Babar Azam is the best player in the world, says Saqlain Mushtaq

    Babar Azam is the best player in the world, says Saqlain Mushtaq

    Head Coach of Pakistan cricket team Saqlain Mushtaq has said that Babar Azam is the best player in the world.

    The head coach of the national team said that when cricket started, it was his dream to play for Pakistan. He wanted to serve Pakistan even after retirement.

    While talking about Australia’s tour to Pakistan, he said that the arrival of the Australian cricket team in Pakistan is welcome, for which he is grateful to Australia and Government of Pakistan. Saqlain said the whole nation is looking forward to this tour.

    Mushtaq said that they will form their own team keeping in view the Australian team, the home series is beneficial for the national side but Australia is the top team at the moment, they are planning for the series.

    In response to a question, the head coach said: “Captain Babar Azam is the best player in the world, he has given very good performances in the past also, Babar Azam plays every format and bowling well.”

    He said that if there are no good spinners now, then there will be in the future. “My thinking about spinners is very positive.” He also added that we will see which pitch will support us.

    Talking about Mohammad Yousuf, he added that he believes in his expertise, he is also working for high performance center. “We have to complete our preparations.”

    The Australian cricket team is scheduled to tour Pakistan in March and April 2022 to play three Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs), and one Twenty20 International (T20I) match.

  • Australia prioritises Pakistan tour over IPL, players to miss a few matches

    Australia prioritises Pakistan tour over IPL, players to miss a few matches

    The Australian team will prioritise their national duty and several prominent players from Australia will miss out the first few matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 action due to the series against Pakistan.

    Read More – Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Australian skipper Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, David Warner and others are all included in the auction. Cricket Australia (CA) laid down a strong ruling that their players were not allowed to abandon international duty for the IPL.

    Earlier, George Bailey, Australia’s chairman of selectors had said that IPL is a good enough “development opportunity” but CA would not release players when Australia was playing.

    “We do see the IPL as a really good development opportunity when it fits, but there’s obviously a huge amount of cricket with a series (in Sri Lanka) planned for immediately-post the IPL as well.”

    He later reiterated and passed a clear ruling on the matter.

    “So, it will be about working with the individuals to ensure they’re getting the preparation they need, but we certainly won’t be releasing players to the IPL while Australia are playing.”

    The Test leg of Australia’s tour of Pakistan, featuring three matches, is scheduled to end on March 25. Australia will then play a three-match ODI series in Rawalpindi, which will also host the only T20I on April 5. In an e-mail to the franchises on Wednesday, the IPL said Cricket Australia had permitted players who were part of both the Test and white-ball leg in Pakistan, to travel from April 6.

    This is a clear statement to IPL and to world cricket that Australia has refused to surrender to BCCI’s foothold in the cricketing world.

    The series is set to kickoff with the first Test match to be played on March 4 in Rawalpindi.

  • Saqlain to continue as Pakistan head coach, Shaun Tait appointed fast-bowling coach

    Saqlain to continue as Pakistan head coach, Shaun Tait appointed fast-bowling coach

    Former Pakistan cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq will continue as Pakistan’s head coach on an interim basis for another 12 months, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also named former Australia quick Shaun Tait as fast-bowling coach for 12 months.

    Read More – Pakistan announces squad for Test series against Australia

    Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf has been roped in as batting coach for the Australia series, which is scheduled to begin on March 4 in Rawalpindi.

    Saqlain, along with Abdul Razzaq, was appointed as interim coach following Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis’ resignations in September last year.

    The PCB had given an advertisement for five coaching positions — national high performance, batting, bowling, power-hitting and fielding — in December last year and had set a deadline for application as late January.

    As per reports, Tait is the only one to have taken up the position via this process for now, the other appointments were made on the basis of internal arrangements — instead of hiring new coaches based on the advertisement, the PCB promoted coaches from the high-performance centre to the national set-up on an interim basis. There were at least 12 applications for the various coaching roles overall but only the individuals who had applied for the role of bowling coach were shortlisted and interviewed, out of which Tait was finalised.

    Read More – Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Since Ramiz Raja’s appointment as the chairman of PCB, there have been many changes in the set-up starting with Misbah and Waqar leaving their roles ahead of the home series against New Zealand. Saqlain, who was the head of international players’ development at the high-performance centre in Lahore at that time, was promoted as head coach but his initial tenure ended with the Bangladesh tour in December.

    Earlier, Saqlain had submitted his resignation following the tour but Ramiz persuaded him to continue in the role for another year, with at least eight assignments including the T20 World Cup and Asia Cup coming up. While Yousuf and Abdul Majeed (fielding coach) have been appointed just for the upcoming series, it is understood the PCB will make assessments during the Australia series before appointing anyone on a full-time basis.

    The position of a power-hitting coach is yet to be filled. While it was rumored earlier that former captain Shahid Afridi will be joining the national side for the role of power-hitting coach.