Tag: Captain

  • ‘Na Jaa Yar’: Sarfaraz Ahmed disheartened after Mohammad Nawaz’s injury

    ‘Na Jaa Yar’: Sarfaraz Ahmed disheartened after Mohammad Nawaz’s injury

    Quetta Gladiators all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz’s injury left team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed disheartened as he expressed his sadness on Twitter.

    Taking to Twitter Sarfaraz wrote: “Na jaa yar. (Don’t go mate). Get well soon.”

    Replying to his team’s captain, Nawaz said: “I wish skipper. Ameen.”

    On Friday, Gladiators suffered a huge blow as Nawaz was ruled out of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) seventh edition due to an injury.

    Nawaz’s injury was another big setback as earlier pacer Mohammad Husnain was banned.

    After his injury, Nawaz took to Twitter and wrote: “I’m absolutely gutted on leaving my team during @thePSLt20 due to an ankle injury. Now I’ll be cheering for #PurpleForce from my home @TeamQuetta.”

    According to reports, Nawaz has suffered a navicular bone nondisplaced fracture.

    Ever since the first PSL edition in 2016, Nawaz has been an instrumental part in Gladiators’ success both with the bat and ball, as well as with some great fielding as well.

    Gladiators are yet to play some crucial PSL matches as Sarfaraz-led side is still struggling to get into the play-offs. They have played five matches and only won two out of them.

    Meanwhile, the former champions will be locking horns with Islamabad today (Saturday) at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

  • ‘A remarkable start in Khi’: Rizwan on five out of five wins

    ‘A remarkable start in Khi’: Rizwan on five out of five wins

    Pakistan’s wicket-keeper-batter and captain of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans has turned to his social media after winning five out of five matches in the Karachi leg of PSL 7. He has also thanked all team members and the management of the franchise for their contribution to the victorious start.

    “Alhumdulillah 5/5. A remarkable start in Khi by @MultanSultans in @thePSLt20. Each member of this team is a match-winner. Grateful to entire management, coaching staff & owners for the trust, support and freedom to operate,” he said in a tweet.

    He also promised to repeat the winning streak in Lahore as well. He added: “One game at a time, Champs!”

    While in a later tweet, Rizwan thanked his fans and requested them to remember Sultans in their prayers.

    Sultans crushed Peshawar Zalmi on Saturday with a 57-run victory. Zalmi didn’t have a good beginning to the mammoth 223 run-chase.

    Multan was given a solid opening start of 85 runs from Shan Masood and Rizwan, which provided a solid foundation for a huge total. Afterwards, it was Tim David’s blistering innings that stole the show.

    Rizwan bagged the Player of the Match award for his prolific 82-run inning.

    For Sultans, Imran Tahir and Shahnawaz Dahani were able to take three wickets, while Blessing Muzarabani and Abbas Afridi took a wicket each.

  • Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch ‘can’t wait’ to tour Pakistan

    Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch ‘can’t wait’ to tour Pakistan

    Australian captain Aaron Finch has said that he cannot wait to go to Pakistan for the white-ball leg, consisting of three ODIs and one T20I.

    “As a player, I can’t wait to go to Pakistan for the white-ball leg,” said Finch, according to Sportstar.

    The right-handed batter said that Pakistan has not been able to play cricket at home for a long time.

    “That’s one part of the world that’s been deprived of (international) cricket for a long time now, and world cricket’s in a much better place when Pakistan’s thriving as a cricket nation,” he added.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday announced the revised schedule of the Australia men’s cricket team’s tour of Pakistan in 2022.

    The Australian cricket team will arrive in Pakistan in the last week to play three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I at three different venues Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Lahore.

    It will be Australia’s first tour of Pakistan after 24 long years. The Aussies’ last tour of Pakistan was in 1998 when they won the three-match Test series by 1-0 as two matches were drawn.

  • Angry Inzamam schools Babar after Karachi Kings’ fourth consecutive defeat

    Angry Inzamam schools Babar after Karachi Kings’ fourth consecutive defeat

    Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Inzamam-ul-Haq has schooled Karachi Kings captain Babar Azam for not finishing the match on Friday despite playing complete 20 overs against Peshawar Zalmi at National Stadium Karachi.

    Kings’ poor performance continued to frustrate the fans in the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) as the Babar-led side has lost all their matches in the tournament.

    Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Jashn-e-Cricket’, former chief selector Inzamam criticised Babar for not being able to finish the match with a win.

    “If you are the world’s number one cricket player and stands on wicket throughout 20 overs, then you should be finishing the match, otherwise get out without playing complete overs,” said Inzamam after the Kings failed to achieve the target of 174.

    Azam’s 63-ball 90 included 12 fours and a six.

    The former captain was also not pleased with the home team’s selection and batting order in the PSL 2022.

    Inzamam-ul-Haq also criticised Australian authorities for declaring Mohammad Husnain’s bowling action illegal.

    “Hasnain has been playing cricket for 2-3 years and his bowling action did not seem to be illegal,” he said.

    “Why do 90% of players get banned after going to Australia?” he questioned.

    Inzamam said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should have sorted out Hasnain’s bowling action issue before the start of PSL.

    Meanwhile, PCB has said in a statement that the board will work on the young pacer’s bowling action and get it cleared as soon as possible.

  • Twitter praises Qasim Akram’s all-round performance in U19 CWC

    Twitter praises Qasim Akram’s all-round performance in U19 CWC

    Pakistani Twitter praises the Under-19 Pakistan cricket team captain Qasim Akram for the heroic all-round performance with the ball and the bat at the U19 Cricket World Cup as the 19-year-old became the first player in the 45-year history of Youth ODIs to hit a century and pick up a five-wicket haul in the same game.

    Pakistan posted a massive 365 for three, courtesy Qasim’s 80-ball 135, opener Haseebullah Khan’s 151-ball 136 and Muhammad Shehzad’s 69-ball 73.

    Coming in at number three, the captain shared a 229-run stand with Haseebullah after the 134-run opening stand was broken by Raveen de Silva.

    With his off-spin, Qasim (5 for 37) broke through the Sri Lanka line-up to leave them stumbling at 41 for 5 and they never recovered. Sri Lanka was eventually bowled out for 127 with number nine Vinuja Ranpul top-scoring with an unbeaten 53 off 58 balls.

    Qasim’s talent is well known in Pakistan circles. The teenager generated a lot of interest among not one but two champion teams at the PSL. Islamabad United had him on its wish list but in the end, he went to Karachi Kings, where he will be joining the senior national captain Babar Azam.

    Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Twitterati are lauding the cricketer for his outstanding performance.

  • Babar Azam named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

    Babar Azam named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

    Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam has been named the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for his achievements as a captain of Pakistan cricket team and his individual performances.

    Babar scored 405 runs in six matches at an average of 67.50 with two centuries. He played only six ODIs in 2021, but he made vital contributions in the two series that Pakistan played this year.

    He was the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs and was the Player of the Match in both of Pakistan’s wins in the 2-1 series victory against South Africa. The architect of Pakistan’s chase of 274 in the first ODI, Babar made a century and laid the foundation with an 82-ball 94 in the final ODI where the visitors posted 320 batting first.

    He was the lone warrior for Pakistan when they were swept by England 3-0. He accumulated 177 runs in three games but found no support as none of the other batters managed to score more than 100 in the series.

    Azam’s best performance this year came in a losing cause in the final ODI against England.

    With the series already lost, Pakistan were playing for pride as well as crucial ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points in the third ODI at Birmingham. Put in to bat first, Pakistan posted 331, with Babar scoring close to half of the team’s runs.

    Read More – ICC receives criticism for not naming Babar Azam T20 World Cup ‘Player of the Tournament’

    Not only in ODIs but Babar was also good with the bat in the ICC T20I World Cup 2021. Azam registered the most number of runs in a maiden T20 world cup with 303, which makes him the first batsman to score 300 runs in the T20 World Cup 2021.

    Twitter is flooded with congratulatory notes for the 27-year-old skipper. We have collected a few, have a look:

    https://twitter.com/mdk_gul/status/1485513152708157443?s=20

    https://twitter.com/AhmadDaniyal33/status/1485514895932248067?s=20
  • Shadab Khan admits he provoked Sarfaraz Ahmed to scold cricketers on field

    Shadab Khan admits he provoked Sarfaraz Ahmed to scold cricketers on field

    Pakistan’s all-rounder Shadab Khan has recently admitted in an interview that he used to provoke former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed to scold cricketers when they were fielding.

    Shadab recently appeared on Hum News’ Morning Show and talking about his favourite captain Sarfaraz, he shared: “He (Sarfaraz) used to get angry during the field. Not only on Babar but any player who did not put effort in the field, I used to go to Saifi Bhai (Sarfaraz) as I mostly fielded beside him and tell him to scold the players.”

    Wicket-keeper-batter Sarfaraz is famous for his temper. The former captain has often received criticism for his strict on-field conduct even as Pakistan’s skipper, dishing out swear words to his teammates. But the right-handed batter had earlier defended his actions, stating that what happens on the field is restricted to it and not beyond that.

    Shadab recently opened up to his fans during a question-and-answer (Q&A) session on Twitter and spoke about a wide range of topics, including cricket and his teammates.

    Khan also revealed that his favourite captain for the seventh edition of the PSL would be former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz, who is playing for Quetta Gladiators.

    He also revealed that Sarfraz is the one who gave him his nickname Shaddy.

  • Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Will Shaheen Afridi become Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team? Shaheen speaks out

    Star pacer of the Pakistan cricket team Shaheen Shah Afridi praised the captaincy of the national team’s all-format skipper Babar Azam and wished for him to continue in this role for at least 10-15 years. The speedster said that he has no plan to captain the team as Babar is leading the team brilliantly.

    Read More – PM Khan predicts winning team of PSL 7

    In a pre-Pakistan Super League (PSL 7) media conference, Lahore Qalandars’ newly appointed captain Afridi was asked whether he would like to do the captaincy of the Pakistan team in the future.

    “I don’t have any plans for now as Babar is leading the side so well. Under his captaincy, the team gelled strongly and performed. I wish he continues as captain for at least 10-15 years,” he responded.

    “In the future, if any opportunity comes to me, I would love to do it for my country. But, for now, I want Babar to continue for long,” he added.

    It must be noted here that Shaheen and Babar will be leading their respective franchises Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings for the first time in PSL 7.

  • PM Khan predicts winning team of PSL 7

    PM Khan predicts winning team of PSL 7

    Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has met a delegation of Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qalandars Atif Rana met the PM with newly appointed Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi.

    During the meeting, PM Khan wished the franchise good luck and predicted that they can win this edition of PSL.

    Imran Khan said that the decision of making a young captain can be fruitful for the team. The youth has always made difference in changing the results.

    PM has said that the franchise has adapted a unique style among the other franchises. Finding the talent from grass-root level is the USP of Qalandars.

    On this occasion, the CEO Atif Rana informed the PM about the services of the franchise in the past while he also briefed him about the franchise’s future plans.

    PM Khan said that the contribution of this talent hunt in the Kamyab Nojawan Programme is admirable.

    Along with Atif and Shaheen, Director Cricket Operation Aqib Javed and Special Assistant to PM Usman Dar were also present at the meeting.

    The seventh edition of the league is set to begin from January 27, with the first match to be played between former champions Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings at National Stadium Karachi.

  • Shaheen Afridi on controlling his anger during a match

    Shaheen Afridi on controlling his anger during a match

    Pakistan Cricket team frontline pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has recently talked about controlling his anger on the pitch during a match. Fast bowlers are known for their aggression and newly appointed Lahore Qalandars captain shared how he controls his anger after being given a leadership role.

    Talking to the media after a training session for the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition, Shaheen said: “I must maintain my composure while working diligently to enhance my performance. If my performance improves, I will then be able to speak to others regarding their performance.”

    The 21-year-old speedster stated that as a captain, he makes sure that the entire team follows suit. “The responsibility increases,” he said, adding that while there is no pressure, the responsibility must still be taken up by the captain.

    “I am receiving a lot of assistance from Muhammad Hafeez. He is a senior member of the team. I ask him and learn what is favourable for me,” said the fast bowler.

    Speaking about the Lahore Qalandars’ pre-camp, Afridi stated that the camp was helpful because it allowed him to gain a better understanding of the players and their personal qualities, as well as to better understand him.

    Meanwhile, Afghan star Rashid Khan while talking to a private news channel, said that he is excited to play under Afridi’s leadership. “I will try to help him control his emotions during the match since he is also a Pathan,” he said.

    Rashid further added: “I will guide him on the field using my experience of leading Afghanistan in the past.”

    Last year in December, the pacer was appointed as the captain of the PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars ahead of the seventh edition of the league.