Tag: Cricket

  • ‘My apologies’: Dale Steyn clarifies stance on IPL controversy

    ‘My apologies’: Dale Steyn clarifies stance on IPL controversy

    Dale Steyn has issued a clarification over his comments on the Indian Premier League (IPL). The South African great, in an interview had said that “cricket kind of gets forgotten” in the money talks in IPL, adding that Lanka Premier League (LPL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) focus more on cricket compared to the IPL.

    “I found that playing in those other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player,” Steyn had said while talking about his IPL experience. “I think when you go to the IPL there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on the amount of money that the players earn that somewhere along the line the cricket kind of gets forgotten. When you come to the PSL or the LPL, there’s an importance on the cricket.”

    Steyn’s comments had stirred up a storm in India with Indians incensed at the fact that he praised the PSL over the IPL.

    Following the backlash, the bowler clarified him stance on the matter saying that “IPL has been nothing short of amazing in my career”.

    Steyn said that he had not intended to degrade, insult or compare any of the cricket leagues.

    “Social media and words out of context can often do that. My apologies if this has upset anyone. Much love,” he tweeted.

    The South African pacer has had an impressive record as far as the IPL is concerned. The highest auction price for the fast bowler came in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015, when Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped him up for INR 9.5 crore (approx. USD 1.3 million today). He has taken 97 IPL wickets at 6.91, making him one of the most economical bowlers of the cricket league.

    Meanwhile reaction from most Indian IPL fans on Twitter was quite aggressive, with some hurling personal insults at Steyn.

    https://twitter.com/not_ritx/status/1366682769472901123?s=20

    On the other hand, Pakistani fast bowler Hassan Ali has some other remarks about the South African player. Taking to Twitter, Hassan shared a picture with Steyn, teaching him some bowling techniques. “Dale, you are my favorite. That’s it, that’s the tweet,” he wrote.

  • Dale Steyn says PSL is ‘more rewarding’ than IPL

    Dale Steyn says PSL is ‘more rewarding’ than IPL

    Former South African pacer Dale Steyn, who is playing for Quetta Gladiators in the ongoing sixth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is less rewarding compared to other leagues in the world.

    Speaking to an online publication, Steyn said that cricket gets forgotten, amid money talks, in the IPL which is why he decided to skip the last season.

    “I wanted some time off. I found that playing in these other leagues was slightly more rewarding as a player. I think when you go to IPL, there are such big squads and so many big names and so much emphasis on maybe the amount of money players earn and everything like that, so sometimes, somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten,” said Steyn.

    “When you come to like a PSL or the Sri Lankan Premier League (SPL), for that matter, there is an importance on the cricket. I have only been here for a couple of days and I have had people in and out of my room, just wanting to know about where I have played and how I went about it. Whereas, when I go to something like IPL that gets forgotten and the main topic is how much money did you go for in this IPL?”

    “That’s just me being brutally honest,” he added.

    “I wanted to stay away from that and really put more emphasis on playing and bringing good vibes to good cricket teams and tournaments I feel are worth it,” said the cricket star.

    Read more – Daren Sammy recalls being called ‘kalu’ by Indian cricketers during IPL

    Steyn also praised the “breeding machine” of Pakistan’s fast bowlers and called Babar Azam “a wonderful player”.

    “There is a breeding machine of fast bowlers here in Pakistan, which is great to see because the wickets are not conducive to fast bowlers,” said the South African great. “I had a chat with Shaheen [Afridi] last year – I think he broke his thumb. He was down but he was amazing. At Melbourne Stars, I had Haris Rauf with me, and I was really impressed by him. Not long after that, he played for Pakistan.”

    “Babar is a great player and it would be a great opportunity to get him out or bowl against him. But you never know, I might not get to bowl against him because it’s only four overs or he might get out for a duck. But he’s been fantastic [in] the last couple of years,” said Steyn.

    Meanwhile, Indians are not happy with Steyn’s statement and are criticising him on social media.

    https://twitter.com/jokn17611521/status/1366721056812113922?s=20

    https://twitter.com/svnvdr08/status/1366720983667597316?s=20

    https://twitter.com/karthik_jammy/status/1366654766630137868?s=20

    According to Cricinfo, Steyn’s “career trajectory has coincided with the rise of the IPL and has seen him become one of the more prized assets for any IPL franchise, and has consistently seen heavy competition for his signature. The highest auction price for the fast bowler came in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015, when Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped him up for INR 9.5 crore (approx. USD 1.3 million today). He has taken 97 IPL wickets at 6.91, making him, by some distance, the most economical fast bowler among players with over 50 wickets in the league.”

  • ‘Vibes only’: Twitterati react to Lahore Qalandar’s anthem

    Pakistani cricket fans are very enthusiastic as Pakistan Super League’s (PSL 6) matches are as interesting as the team anthems.

    Recently, Lahore Qalandars released a new video of their official anthem on Saturday night and it surely put a smile on everyone’s faces.

    https://twitter.com/lahoreqalandars/status/1365693957548740613?s=20

    The video shows Lahore Qalandar’s top players dancing to its song sung by Abrar ul Haq. While some social media users liked the anthem’s vibe, others made it into a meme.

  • VIDEO: Chris Gayle ties a shalwar in two minutes

    VIDEO: Chris Gayle ties a shalwar in two minutes

    West Indian Cricketer Chris Gayle, renowned for his jolly and fun-loving personality, recently took the ‘Shalwar Challenge’ in a video shared by the official accounts of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    https://twitter.com/thePSLt20/status/1364914438109876225?s=20

    Though the legendary cricketer accepted the challenge, he was surprised by the width of the shalwar’s waistband.

    “What? Whose waist is this?” questioned Gayle upon seeing the shalwar.

    As he puts the drawstring in the shalwar, he continues to express his shock at the width of its waistband.

    “This person eats too much,” remarks Gayle. “I don’t know what this person has been eating. [Is this] extra large? It’s gotta be a joke.”

    He goes on to say that the person for whom the shalwar was stitched should “stay away from meat,” and “should be a proper vegan”.

    The clip also shows some funny bloopers wherein the Universe Boss could be seen struggling to wear the shalwar and getting help from other people.

    At the end of the video, Gayle wears the shalwar, without pulling the drawstring, and bursts into laughter.

    Read more – Quetta Gladiators’ Ben Cutting and PSL presenter Erin Holland tie the knot

    Earlier, the 41-year-old cricketer who was excited to be in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years, said that he’s eager to score runs for his new PSL franchise, Quetta Gladiators, and show the fans what he is and what they missed in all these years. After scoring 68 runs off just 44 deliveries against Lahore Qalandars, he also treated audiences to his googly dance.

    Later Quetta Gladiators also shared Gayle’s famous googly dance on their social media platforms.

  • Rizwan, Fawad promoted to Category A and C

    Rizwan, Fawad promoted to Category A and C

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Test Cricketer of the year 2020, Mohammad Rizwan, has been promoted to Category A of PCB’s Central Contract List 2020-21 following stellar performances across all formats in the ongoing season. In the elite category, the 28-year-old has now joined Pakistan captain Babar Azam, former captain Azhar Ali and star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.

    Since the current central contracts were announced on May 13, 2020, Rizwan is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Tests with 529 runs in seven matches at an average of 52.90, while he is overall the third leading run-scorer in T20Is with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike-rate of just under 139. In the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, he scored 25 runs.

    Behind the wickets, Rizwan has accounted for 16 batsmen in Tests, three in ODIs and eight in T20Is in the season during which Pakistan played international cricket against England, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and South Africa. Their upcoming assignments are in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

    As part of its policy to acknowledge, incentivise and reward high-performing cricketers, the PCB has also elevated Fawad Alam from A+ domestic contract category to Category C of the PCB Central Contract List 2020-21, while it also offered Category C contract to T20I specialist Mohammad Hafeez, which he politely turned down.

    Fawad Alam scored centuries against New Zealand and South Africa and has now aggregated 320 runs in 11 innings of six Tests. His 102 against New Zealand in the Boxing Day Test earned him the PCB Individual Performance of 2020 award.

    PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan while talking about the promotions said: “I want to congratulate Rizwan and Fawad for earning well-deserved and well-earned promotions. This is a reward for their hard work and high-quality performances during the difficult and challenging bio-secure environments that tested their determination, resolve, commitment, mental toughness and physical fitness to the limits.

    “The decision to promote the players was made during a meeting with the Chair of the Selection Committee, Muhammad Wasim, while we were reviewing player performances in the 2020-21 season and discussing the upcoming commitments.

    “It was agreed during the meeting that three players were the most deserving and outstanding performers in the season to date and, as such, they needed to be rewarded now instead of waiting for the time when PCB Central Contract List for 2021-22 will be reviewed and announced.

    “However, Mohammad Hafeez declined the reward and while I am disappointed, I fully respect his decision. He wants to wait for the PCB Central Contract 2021-22 list, which he is fully entitled to. Hafeez has been one of our star performers of the season and we hope he will carry the form and momentum to Africa.

    “I am sure this merit and performance-based decision will once again send out a loud and clear message to all professional cricketers that the PCB will not only recognise, appreciate and acknowledge their performances and achievements, but will also reward them so that they can strive to do better next time.”

    Taking to Twitter, Alam expressed his happiness over the promotion, writing: “Alhamdulillah! Can’t thank Allah enough for always being in my favour and granting me successes. Hard work pays off indeed. Thank you PCB for elevating me to category C of the PCB’s Central Contract list 2020-21.”

    Read more – Fahad Mustafa says ignoring Fawad Alam for a decade was ‘a failure of our system’

    Similarly, Rizwan also expressed his “relief” over the promotion on social media.

    Updated PCB Men’s Central Contract List for 2020-21:

    Category A: Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

    Category B: Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Asad Shafiq (Sindh), Haris Sohail (Balochistan), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Shadab Khan (Northern), Shan Masood (Southern Punjab) and Yasir Shah (Balochistan)

    Category C: Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imad Wasim (Northern), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab) and Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

    Emerging Players’ Category: Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern) and Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh)

  • Peshawar Zalmi chase down 194 with an over to spare

    Peshawar Zalmi has chased down 194 runs with an over to spare, beating Multan Sultans with six wickets in the fifth fixture of Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) sixth edition at the city’s National Stadium.

    After putting 193-4 on the board, thanks to James Vince’s 84 and Mohammad Rizwan’s 41, the Sultans felt confident that they had enough on a pitch that had been favouring bowlers.

    Openers Kamran Akmal (37) and Imam-ul-Haq (48) provided a solid foundation, upon which Tom Kohler-Cadmore (53) capitalised and, when in the end some late hitting was needed, the young Haider Ali, chipped in with an unbeaten 24 off 8 to get his side over the line.

    With his much needed half century, Cadmore became man of the match.

  • Shadab Khan to represent Manchester Originals in The Hundred league

    Pakistan’s T20I vice-captain, Shadab Khan, will be seen in action in the upcoming Hundred tournament in England this year.

    According to a sports journalist, the star all-rounder has been picked in the Hundred draft by Manchester Originals.

    Other big overseas names drafted for the Originals include Kagiso Rabada and Nicholas Pooran.

    Other than these, Harry Gurney, Jamie Overton, Tom Lammonby, Steven Finn, Colin Ackermann, Richard Gleeson, and Tom Hartley are the other players picked by the franchise.

    The inaugural Hundred tournament is scheduled later this year. It is pertinent to mention here that the 8-team tournament was to take place in 2020, however, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation across the world.

    The teams includes Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Birmingham Phoenix, Trent rockets, Welsh Fire, London Spirit, Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave.

    The opening match of the tournament will take place on July 22 between the Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals at the Oval in London.

    Meanwhile, it is reported that the Pakistani skipper, Babar Azam is among the players in the highest reserve price bracket. While Shaheen Shah Afridi will also be playing in the tournament.

    The format of the game is:

    • 100 balls per innings
    • A change of ends after 10 balls
    • Bowlers deliver either five or 10 consecutive balls
    • Each bowler can deliver a maximum of 20 balls per game
    • Each bowling side gets a strategic time-out of up to two and a half minutes
    • A 25-ball powerplay start for each team
    • Two fielders are allowed outside the initial 30-yard circle during the powerplay
    • Teams will be able to call time-outs, as has been the case in the IPL since 2009
    • A simplified scoreboard is also proposed
  • Sarfaraz vs Hafeez memes break the internet

    Sarfaraz vs Hafeez memes break the internet

    All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed have faced each other for the first time since after their Twitter spat, and memers cannot stop flooding social media with hilarious memes.

    Lahore Qalandars on Monday chased a 179-run target to beat Sarfaraz’s Quetta Gladiators in the fourth fixture of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL).

    The match, during which Sarfaraz seemed visibly perturbed over his team’s performance, had followed a spat between Hafeez and Sarfaraz after the former congratulated Mohammad Rizwan for his century against South Africa in the T20 series.

    Here is what memers had to post…

    Taking to Twitter, Hafeez had earlier written, “Congratulations @iMRizwanPak on scoring T20 hundred. U r a Star shining star Wonder how long u need to prove that u r NO1 wicketkeeper/Batsman in Pakistan in all formats of the game.”

    Sarfraz, responding to the all-rounder’s Tweet wrote, “Hafeez bhai Sb, whoever has played for Pakistan from Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari, Tasleem Arif to Saleem Yousuf and from Moin Khan, Rashid Latif to Kamran Akmal and even Rizwan right now has always been number ONE for the country and have been respected accordingly.”

    What do you think of Monday’s Lahore-Quetta clash? Let The Current know in the comments…

  • Gwadar stadium to host cricket match between Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings

    Gwadar stadium to host cricket match between Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings

    Gwadar Cricket Stadium is all set to host a cricket match between Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise teams Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings on March 25, Fakhr-e-Alam announced on Monday.

    The TV host-singer shared the news in a video posted on his official Twitter account. “I want to break the news that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially informed the Government of Balochistan that it wants to organize a match between Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings on March 25, right after PSL ends,” Alam said in the video.

    “Congratulations to everyone who wanted this to happen. There can’t be better news for cricket fans, for me and for people of Balochistan.”

    The 45-year-old added that initially he wanted an official PSL 2021 match to be played at the venue but because the stadium doesn’t meet the standards set by International Cricket Council (ICC) and PCB, it was difficult to arrange the fixture.

    Alam was grateful to PCB and the owners of the two franchises for their support and willingness in playing a match at Gwadar Stadium, which was in the headlines recently for its striking beauty.

    “I want to thank PCB: Wasim Khan, thank you very much,” he said. “Both the franchises – Nadeem Omar and Salman Iqbal, thank you guys for doing this,” the host added.

    Earlier on Friday, the stadium held its first exhibition match between Gwadar Dolphins and Showbiz Sharks on Friday as a tribute to late mountaineer Ali Sadpara.

    Alam also showed his confidence in the provincial government saying Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal is a “very dynamic and progressive” man and that he’ll successfully arrange the match.

    Later, when a sports journalist, Ihtisham Ul Haq, tweeted about the news that Karachi will play against Quetta on March 25 in the Gwadar Stadium, KK owner Salman Iqbal confirmed the news and said, “Insha Allah.”

    Meanwhile, CM Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan shared Fakhar’s video on Twitter and said: “Inshallah this shall be fully facilitated.”

    “Its Mashallah good to see Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings to play in Gwader. This shall be good for Balochistan cricket, youth and Gwader….And, for Cricket in Pakistan,” he added.

  • PSL 6 opening floods social media with memes

    PSL 6 opening floods social media with memes

    The sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) started with a virtual opening ceremony on Saturday evening followed by the first match between Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators at the National Stadium in Karachi.

    The opening ceremony featured Atif Aslam, Rapper Imran Khan, Aima Baig, Naseebo Laal, Humaima Malik and Young Stunners.

    Soon after the ceremony ended, social media started to flood with memes.

    https://twitter.com/N_seharBaig/status/1363168189375344641?s=20

    Also Read: Memes comparing white vs brown things are lit

    https://twitter.com/moinshah235/status/1363140871546355713?s=20

    https://twitter.com/MemesByZayn/status/1363170905917063169?s=20

    What did you think of the ceremony? Let The Current know in the comments…