Tag: Cricket

  • Ramiz Raja, Wasim Akram recall how ‘desperation’ helped them win 1992 World Cup

    Ramiz Raja, Wasim Akram recall how ‘desperation’ helped them win 1992 World Cup

    Pakistan’s legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram and former batsman Ramiz Raja, who were a major part of Pakistan’s World Cup winning side in 1992, recalled the turning points and surprising moments of their historic win.

    Talking about the memories in a YouTube video, Raja revealed that the Pakistan side, who were the first to arrive in Australia for the tournament, had a miserable start but able leadership kept them driven towards their goal of achieving glory.

    “There seemed to be a selection process when we first got to Australia because we were the first team to show up. Our captain wanted us to acclimatise to the conditions and we took several extra players. We were losing to mediocre teams there and our confidence was low. We were trying out different combinations. Then we suddenly played West Indies and lost badly. We kept losing, but one thing we had was the quality leadership of Imran Khan which kept us engaged,” said Raja.

    The 57-year-old claimed that a combination of desperation and a right direction led to performances that surprised the world.

    “We were thinking forward after every loss. We were battle-hardened and ready to play our best cricket because of that initial time,” said Raja. “When a team comes into desperation mode and you know that your direction is right, you take a leap that surprises everyone including yourself. Individual performances started coming out. Everyone started pinching in. If you play as one and you want to win with a noble cause [building a hospital] nothing can stop you. The desperation mode and our spirit turned everything around.”

    Akram revealed that the Men in Green had even lost to an over-40 side before the tournament while the team still held on to hope even after defeats in the initial stages of the tournament.

    “We even lost a game against an over-40 team. Our condition was really bad. Imran Khan still gave us confidence that we would win. We peaked at the right time. We defeated one of the favourite teams of the tournament New Zealand. We had faith that we could beat them,” said Akram. “Once we started winning, we knew that we would keep the momentum going. Ramiz in the end took the final catch which was a great moment.”

    The legendary pacer stated that a newspaper article helped him bowl faster and with confidence which ended up helping the Men in Green in their pursuit of a maiden World Cup victory.

    “Before the game against Australia, when I was having breakfast I saw the newspaper. I wasn’t controlling the new ball very well. The newspaper quoted Imran as saying that Wasim should be bowling fast. I think I started bowling as fast as I could after that and that helped me get wickets. My favorite moment and the highlight of my career was taking those two wickets in one over,” he concluded.

    Later, interacting with the new-age cricketers, the legends including Aamer Sohail, Aqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed cherished the memories of 1992 World Cup with Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nida Dar, Mohammad Hafeez, Imam-ul-Haq and Haris Rauf etc.

    Check out some unseen pictures and a close-up of the World Cup trophy in this video:

  • Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Babar Azam grabs second spot in latest ODI batting rankings

    Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam has dethroned Rohit Sharma to grab the second spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. With 837 rating points, Babar has gone past Rohit’s tally of 836 points after the latter failed to play big innings in the first ODI against England.

    Captain of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli is still at the top with 868 rating points to his name. England’s opener Jonny Bairstow played an innings of 94 in the 1st ODI to clinch his career-best 7th position in the ODI rankings.

    The English captain Eoin Morgan has moved to 24th place whereas all-rounder Ben Stokes has moved up from 75th to 64th in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers.

    Stokes also went past his fellow all-rounder Chris Woakes to clinch the third spot in the ODI rankings for all-rounders. After a match-winning knock of 98, India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has moved two places to 15th and pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has gained five places to get into the list of top 20.

    The rankings are updated after taking into account the performances in the 1st England-India ODI and the first two matches of the New Zealand-Bangladesh series.

    On the other hand, Azam is on the same spot of three in T20I rankings with 801 rating points followed by Kohli who moved up one spot with 762 rating points.

    On the contrary, thePakistani skipper is at sixth place in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.

  • Babar Azam responds to harassment allegations

    Babar Azam responds to harassment allegations

    Babar Azam on Friday responded to the allegations of harassment on him and the case that has been petitioned before a local court in Lahore.

    Speaking to the media via video link, the Captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team said: “This is my personal matter and my lawyer is dealing with it in court. We face many hurdles in life and this is not the first one and I don’t want to discuss it further as I want to focus on the upcoming series of South Africa and Zimbabwe.”

    Earlier on March 18, a local court in Lahore had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to register a case against the skipper for harassing and blackmailing his former class fellow Hameeza Mukhtar.

    During the media interaction, Azam also addressed the rumors of his clashes with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management and the selection committee regarding the selection process of the players.

    “I want to clear all rumours [of a rift] between me and the management. It is better if these things remain in the meeting rooms. Debate is good for the team, some people agree with the debate and some do not. This is a normal thing and should remain in the meeting rooms,” said Azam.

    He further said: “This is not my team, this is our team. So, I do understand the protocols of selection.”

    “The role of captaincy is given to me and I have to utilize the players according to the situation [of the match]. I welcome the new team and InshAllah the results of the tour will be good,” added the captain.

    Earlier, rumors were rife that if there is a rift among Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain over the player-selection criteria but later Wasim had denied reports that there were any differences on the selection matters.

    The national side will face Proteas in three ODIs and four T20Is in South Africa, starting from April 2.

  • KRL Stadium renamed to Shoaib Akhtar Cricket stadium

    The Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) cricket stadium has been renamed and will now be known as Shoaib Akhtar cricket stadium. The initiative was taken to honour the world’s fastest bowler that Pakistan has produced.

    Rashid Latif, who is a former Pakistan Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman, and now a cricket analyst announced the news on Twitter and shared pictures of the ceremony, which had Akhtar and other former cricketers in attendance.

    Congratulatory messages flooded in soon after the news was announced. Famous cricket commentator and TV presenter, Dr Nauman Niaz, congratulated Akhtar and termed it a well-deserved honour.

    Akhtar was the fastest and bowler and had a notorious reputation. Many have labelled his bowling ‘scary’ due to his fearless, aggressive, and unparalleled performance on the field.

  • Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim on Friday announced the Pakistan squad for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

    Pakistan is scheduled to play three one-day internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa from April 2 till April 16. After the South Africa tour, the team will depart for Zimbabwe, where they will play two Tests and three T20Is against the Chevrons.

    In the T20I squad, Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan have returned to the team after being dropped for the matches against South Africa in Pakistan.

    Opener Sharjeel Khan has also returned to the squad, while emerging players Mohamamad Wasim Jr and Arshad Iqbal have been called up following their strong performance in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    Interestingly, Mohamamad Wasim Jr has also been named in the ODI squad.

    On the other hand, Pakistan’s star leg spinner Yasir Shah has been excluded from the Test squad due to an injury.

    Multan Sultans bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who picked up quite a lot of accolades during PSL 6, has been given his maiden Test call.

    Read more – From Larkana to PSL6: All you need to know about Shahnawaz Dahani

    T20I squad

    Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohamamad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir.

    ODI squad

    Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakil, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad, Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir.

    Test squad

    Babar Azam, Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mehmood, Sajid Khan.

  • Remaining PSL6 matches to reportedly be held in Lahore

    Remaining PSL6 matches to reportedly be held in Lahore

    Lahore has reportedly been chosen as the desired venue to host the remaining Pakistan Super League (PSL) sixth edition’s fixtures after five of the six franchise owners urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to shift the tournament there.

    According to details, in a virtual meeting chaired by PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, franchise owners expressed their concerns regarding the postponement of the league after multiple COVID-19 cases emerged among players and officials.

    “Five out of the six franchises urged the PCB to shift the remaining matches of the PSL 2021 to Lahore,” a PCB official told a local media publication.

    While the Government of Punjab has given the green signal to host the fixtures, a final decision regarding the matter will be taken in the next meeting which is going to be held in the coming days.

    Lahore was originally scheduled to host 14 of the 34 matches of the PSL 6 from March 10 onwards, which included the final of the competition.

    Meanwhile, in the same meeting, the franchise owners complained about their lack of involvement in the planning of the tournament. They also demanded to be taken into confidence over the bio-secure bubble for the remaining fixtures.

    Chairman Mani assured the franchise owners that there will be nothing to complain in future.

    PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan, Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer and Director Commercial Babar Hamid also attended the meeting.

    The Board is to complete the sixth edition most likely by June because the national team will be touring England for an ODI and T20I series and from there it will fly to the West Indies. On their return, Pakistan will host England and New Zealand from September, leaving no room for PCB to organise the event at a later stage.

    The official said there was also a possibility of PSL resuming later this month in case of postponement of the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

  • India qualify for ICC World Test Championship Final, will face NZ at Lord’s

    India has qualified for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final after beating England with an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

    India outclassed England with both the bat and ball inside 3 days to set up the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June.

    Resuming on their overnight score of 294 for 7, the hosts added another 71 runs on Day 3 thanks to Washington Sundar and Axar Patel’s 8th-wicket partnership to post 365 in their first innings.

    Having conceded a 160-run lead on day 3 of the contest, England needed a vastly improved batting performance in the second innings but another disappointing show saw them getting bundled out for 135 in the final session.

    Left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up yet another five-wicket haul while Ravichandran Ashwin also grabbed 5 for Team India.

    India needed just a draw to reach the WTC final but a victory means they qualified for the summit clash in the top spot with 490 points. India registered 12 wins from 17 Tests, lost 4 and drew just 1 Test in the competition.

    No other team came close to matching India’s record. England had 11 wins from 21 Tests but still ended up in fourth place.

    Read more – Kevin Pietersen mocks Team India after Chennai loss against England

    New Zealand had already qualified for the WTC final with 420 points from 11 Tests with 7 wins and 4 losses.

    https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1368149627464118274?s=20

    The World Test Championship final will be played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 18.

  • Najam Sethi highlights problems, suggests solutions for PSL6 resumption

    Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi has criticised the board and the management of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) over the way the sixth edition of the tournament was handled. In a series of tweets, Sethi, who launched the league in 2016, highlighted the problems and suggested some solutions to resume the event with better planning.

    “Bio-secure bubble for six teams, support staff, commentators, broadcast teams, etc is very difficult,” said Sethi. “It should have been outsourced to [a] competent [and] professional third-party like Ministry of Health, Security Agencies as during IPL in Dubai, NZ, SL, etc.”

    Highlighting the problems, Sethi said: “COVID tests were not done regularly. In fact, the broadcast teams, ground staff at stadium and hotels, etc were outside the bubble while being in constant touch and contact with players.”

    Sethi also said that the reputation, trust and credibility of PSL and PCB has suffered and “big damage has been done, especially with foreign teams and players”.

    He further said: “Commercial interests of all partners, sponsors, franchises, rights holders, etc in PSL 6 have suffered enormously. They will claim damages and conflict will arise.” The former chairperson feared that PSL might go bankrupt given the losses suffered.

    Presenting a list of solutions, Sethi suggested that PCB should make immediate arrangements to shift the remaining matches of PSL6 to United Arab Emirates (UAE), take franchises and other contracted parties into confidence and assure them that PCB will bear the full cost of this arrangement and convince foreign players for availability in UAE.

    Earlier, when the league was postponed, the former Chairman expressed his disappointment over the development saying: “We — the people, media, security agencies, franchises and players — built PSL brand with sweat, blood and tears.”

    “The nation is reeling with despair and outrage at criminal negligence by this PCB Admin that has disrupted the tournament,” he added.

  • ‘You played with the reputation of the country’: Shoaib Akhtar slams PCB after PSL 6 postponement

    Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for indefinitely postponing the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported in the bio-secure bubble.

    “It is time for blame-game,” said Akhtar is a video posted to his YouTube channel. “You have to admit that this is the responsibility of the medical panel. The bio-secure bubble should have been properly maintained. There should be strict inquiry against the medical panel…it should not be spared.”

    Speaking further, the former bowler said: “The medical panel should be punished and I request the higher authorities [for this] because they played with the lives of the people. All the blame has been put on Wasim Khan and he has been asked to face everything. But who brought Wasim Khan? Ehsan Mani.”

    “Where is Mani Sahab?,” questioned Akhtar. “Is it the responsibility of Wasim Khan to answer here? Ehsan Mani should give an answer.”

    Read more – Shoaib Akhtar receives flak from celebrities for his comments on ‘Groove Mera’

    Akhtar also asked Prime Minister and former captain of the national team Imran Khan to look into the matter and punish those responsible for the mess.

    “Aren’t you [PCB] that smart to book an entire hotel. People are getting married there, getting haircuts. Daren Sammy getting out. I fail to understand, why would you [Javed Afridi] breach the bio-secure bubble. I am asking the same question from Wahab Riaz,” said the speedster.

    “You [PCB] played with the lives of the people and at the same time, you played with the reputation of the country… Where is the Chairman of PCB, he has to be answerable. I request the higher authorities and the honourable courts to take a very good look into this matter… Where is Mani? Come to the front and answer.

    “This is an insult to Pakistan and Pakistan cricket,” concluded Akhtar.

    PCB on Thursday postponed PSL6, which started last month after seven people tested positive. Later, in a press conference, PCB chief executive Wasim Khan admitted to breaches of COVID-19 protocols in the bio-secure bubble.

    Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi extended his support towards the PSL management, saying “I fully back the PSL and IA it will come back stronger than ever.”

  • COVID outbreak forces PCB to postpone PSL6

    COVID outbreak forces PCB to postpone PSL6

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has postponed the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to rising COVID-19 cases among players and officials involved in the tournament.

    As many as seven players and one support staff official have tested positive for the virus which led to question marks over PCB’s bio-secure bubble arrangements and reservations from foreign players. Quetta Gladiators’ Tom Banton and Islamabad United’s Fawad Ahmed and Lewis Gregory were among the players who tested positive.

    Following the increase in cases, international players were also given the option to leave for their home countries with Karachi Kings’ Dan Christian expected to be the first to leave today.

    PCB also issued a press release on social media which reads: “Following a meeting with the team owners and considering the health and wellbeing of all participants is paramount, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect. The decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition, which had started on February 20.”

    “The PCB, as an immediate step, will focus on the safe and secure passage of all participants, and arrange repeat PCR tests, vaccines and isolation facilities to the six participating sides,” it added.

    PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan and Director – Commercial Babar Hamid will hold a media conference at the National Stadium in Karachi at 3pm today to provide further updates.

    Meanwhile, Hassan Ali, Shadab Khan, Ravi Bopara and Mohammad Hafeez expressed their disappointment over the latest developments.

    While, Faheem Ashraf took to Twitter and wrote: “O Muslims, despair is disbelief. Indeed, in every deed of Allah, there is good.”

    Later, in the press conference, Wasim said: “To make any bio-secure bubble successful, it needs partnership and sacrifice from everyone,” he said. “It is not about the blame game right now. There are a lot of emotions at the moment. Franchises have invested a lot of money and I know that there will be reactions from different sectors.

    “But as I said before, to make any bio-secure bubble, everyone needs to be on the same page, that’s how we managed to conduct a successful domestic season. I understand why they [franchise owners] are saying things like these but it is not about the blame game, its about Pakistan cricket and it’s welfare. It is not the time to fight right now. It is time to accept collective responsibility.”

    Wasim further said that his own proposal was to postpone the event for five days, continue testing but the franchises rejected the idea.

    “My own proposal was to postpone the tournament for five days and see where it goes,” he said. “But the franchises made it clear that the players are anxious and not in the mental state to continue with the tournament.”

    Wasim also reiterated that the SOP’s were shared with the franchises before the competition but no bio-secure bubble can be successful without self-policing.

    “The protocols were shared with the franchises on February 18,” he said. “We are not sure where or how the players contracted coronavirus. You cannot make any bio-secure bubble successful without self-policing.”