Tag: Pakistan Cricket

  • Afridi, Vince move to Quetta, Azam Khan moves to Islamabad

    Afridi, Vince move to Quetta, Azam Khan moves to Islamabad

    The reports of former captain Pakistan cricket team Shahid Afridi being moved to Quetta Gladiators were circulating on social media and now the news has been confirmed by the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) page and franchise Quetta Gladiators. It’s going to be the fourth PSL team for the 41-year-old after he last played for the Karachi Kings, Multan Sultans and the Peshawar Zalmi. In the previous edition, he was a part of the Sultans, who won their maiden PSL title under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan.

    For the Gladiators, Afridi is most likely to play under Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy. The upcoming edition may well be his last season in the T20 championship. The former Pakistan all-rounder wished to sign off from the PSL after guiding the Gladiators through to title glory.

    “I am excited to join Quetta Gladiators, a side that has had a roller-coaster ride in the past few events despite winning the title in 2019. In my final HBL PSL event, it will my dream and wish to sign off with another HBL PSL trophy after tasting success with Peshawar Zalmi in 2017.

    “HBL PSL is an event that encourages and inspires a player to give his very best. I will use the same motivation to help my team and put in performances that can help us achieve our event objectives,” Afridi said on PSL’s official website.

    Along with Afridi, England’s James Vince has also been traded from the Sultans to the Gladiators. Iftikhar Ahmed, who played for Islamabad United in last edition, will play alongside newly traded Vince and Afridi in the Gladiators.

    Young wicket keeper-batter Azam Khan, who represented the Gladiators last season, will play for United in the upcoming season. The PSL draft is scheduled to take place at the High Performance Centre in Lahore on Sunday, December 12.

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket, celebration

    VIDEO: Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket, celebration

    Pakistan cricket team clinched the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Wednesday despite the fact that two days were washed out due to rain. Sajid Khan’s outstanding 12 wicket-haul was the highlight of the match but Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket was the cherry on the top.

    Azam in the second innings bowled two overs, took a wicket, and only conceded a run with an economy of 0.50.

    The captain picked up the wicket of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 14 off 70 balls.

    Miraz tried to sweep Babar’s delivery and missed the ball, which touched his pad as a result. Pakistani fielders appealed for LBW, but the on-field umpire declared it not out.

    However, Babar straight away went up for the review, which clearly showed the impact was in line, and the ball clearly hitting between the leg and middle stump, which forced the umpire to reverse his decision to out as the entire Pakistani team became ecstatic.

    The Pakistan team was all excited to see their skipper pick up his wicket, while Babar himself was all smiles.

    The wicket was an important one as well for Pakistan as Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy continued to defy Pakistan’s bowling and were looking in a position to deny the visitors a win.

    Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series, breathing life into a rain-hit Test match that was otherwise headed for a certain draw.

    Pakistan team is headed home and all set to play the next series against West Indies on the home grounds.

  • Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition will begin on January 27, 2022, with the draft to be held on December 12. The league, which begins about a month earlier than usual to make room for Australia’s upcoming tour in March-April, will have the final take place on February 27.

    “Following an opening ceremony, defending champions Multan Sultans will take on hosts and 2020 champions Karachi Kings at the National Stadium with the first ball to be bowled at 7pm” on January 27, a PCB press release said, adding that 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators would go toe to toe with 2017 winners Peshawar Zalmi the following day.

    “After Karachi, which will host 15 matches from January 27 to February 7, action will shift to the Gaddafi Stadium where the remaining 15 league matches and the four play-offs will be played from February 10-27,” the PCB said.

    It will be the first time since 2017 when the headquarters of Pakistan cricket will host the PSL final.

    The National Stadium in Karachi had staged the league’s finals from 2018 to 2020, while Abu Dhabi was the venue for the 2021 final, where Multan Sultans defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs.

    Speaking on the matter, PCB Chairperson Ramiz Raja said: “I am delighted that the HBL PSL 7 schedule has been announced. This will now get the ball rolling with the teams to start planning and finalising their line-ups and the PCB increasing the pace of the operational delivery to ensure they provide quality playing facilities for the players as well as a five-star experience to the fans and our valued commercial partners.”

    “The HBL PSL 7 will also kickstart what will be a bumper year for Pakistan cricket with the Australia men’s cricket team to play a full series in March-April with England men’s cricket side to tour Pakistan twice for white-ball and red-ball cricket,” Raja added.

    Player draft

    According to the press release, the PCB has decided to hold the player draft for the league at its National High Performance Centre in Lahore on December 12.

    “Each side will come to the draft with a maximum of eight-player retentions from the last event,” it further stated. “Following the finalisation of player categories, the transfer and retention window is now officially open and will close on December 10.”

    According to the press release, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Platinum category, Diamond category, Gold category and Emerging category, Peshawar Zalmi will have the first pick in the Silver category, and Quetta Gladiators will have the first pick in the Supplementary category.

    Local players’ category renewals

    The press release said the PCB, after a review and assessment process, had updated local players’ categories.

    “In the biggest moves, Pakistan wicketkeeper/batter and Multan Sultan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan (previously Silver), Asif Ali of Islamabad United (previously Gold) and Lahore Qalandars’ Haris Rauf (previously Diamond) have been placed in Platinum Category.”

    Moreover, Multan Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood, who was named the Player of HBL PSL’s sixth edition, and Haider Ali of Peshawar Zalmi have moved up from Silver and Gold categories to Diamond category, respectively.

    Schedule for matches in Karachi:

    • Jan 27: Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans

    • Jan 28: Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Jan 29: Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars; Karachi Kings vsQuetta Gladiators

    • Jan 30: Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United; Karachi Kings vsLahore Qalandars

    • Jan 31: Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 1: Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 2: Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars

    • Feb 3: Quetta Gladiators vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 4: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 5: Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars; Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 6: Karachi Kings vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 7: Quetta Gladiators vs Lahore Qalandars

    Schedule for matches in Lahore:

    • Feb 10: Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 11: Lahore Qalandars vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 12: Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 13: Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings; Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 14: Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 15: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 16: Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 17: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 18: Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators; Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 19: Lahore Qalandars vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 20: Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings; Multan Sultans vsIslamabad United

    • Feb 21: Lahore Qalandars vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 23: Qualifier (1 vs 2)

    • Feb 24: Eliminator 1 (3 vs 4)

    • Feb 25: Eliminator 2 (Loser Qualifier 1 vs Winner Eliminator 1)

    • Feb 27: (Qualifier v Eliminator 2) Final

  • West Indies announces squads for Pakistan, to play three ODIs, T20Is each

    West Indies announces squads for Pakistan, to play three ODIs, T20Is each

    The Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the squads for the Windies tour of Pakistan.

    The side will play three T20Is and the same number of ODIs at the National Stadium Karachi from December 13 to 22.

    Four uncapped players – Justin Greaves, Shamarh Brooks, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast-bowling all-rounder Odean Smith – are included in both squads.

    Smith and Motie are also selected in the T20I squad for the first time, along with left-arm fast-bowling all-rounder Dominic Drakes.

    The ODI series will be West Indies’ fourth series of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League

    Squads

    ODIs

    Kieron Pollard (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Nicholas Pooran, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.

    T20Is

    Kieron Pollard (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice Captain), Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

  • ‘We are on the right track’: Babar Azam after Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh in T20I series

    ‘We are on the right track’: Babar Azam after Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh in T20I series

    Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has credited his side’s inspiring teamwork for their stunning clean sweep against hosts Bangladesh in the recently ended three-match T20I series.

    Discussing his team’s prolific performance after the final fixture, the superstar batter mentioned how every member of the Pakistan side is aware of their roles. The strategy has paid dividends for them in their recent assignments, according to the skipper.

    The 27-year-old feels that a form slump is part and parcel of the game. Babar added that he intends to take positives from the series, despite his own underwhelming outings. He also recognized contributions from the likes of Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah and lauded them for stepping up.

    Babar also assured fans that the team is on the right track. Pakistan will now shift their focus to red-ball cricket when they lock horns against Bangladesh in a two-match Test series. Azam is keen to capitalise on the momentum they are carrying. He said: “The management and I have assigned specific roles for everyone and the players have been executing their plans nicely. Everyone expects me to do well. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this time. I always try to perform in every game, but there are always ups and downs in cricket. This teaches you that it is important to remain positive all the time. We are on the right track and will look to carry the same momentum in Test matches as well.”

    “These were the things that we were missing,” said Babar who was delighted to see fans back in the stands. The star batter stated that his Pakistan side were overjoyed to see fans slowly returning to the stadiums. He also revealed that his players enjoyed seeing the fans cheer for them. Babar applauded the middle-order for firing with the bat alongside their improved fielding and believes those are the key takeaways from the series.

    “We enjoyed a lot. The way in which the fans showed their support in all three games, these were the things that we were missing. The fans are being allowed into the stadium as things are opening up slowly and it is a wonderful thing. I am very pleased with the team’s consistency. It’s good to see how players are taking responsibility,” he added.

    The right hand-batter recently surpassed veteran batter Mohammad Hafeez to become the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in T20Is. However, Azam had a quiet series with the bat, as he could only score 27 runs from his 3 appearances.

  • Pakistan seals victory against Bangladesh in first T20I

    Pakistan seals victory against Bangladesh in first T20I

    Pakistan has sealed their first victory against Bangladesh after Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah and Shadab Khan contributed in clinching the match from the home team.

    Bangladesh posted a total of 127 runs but it became tense in the middle after Pakistan lost Fakhar’s wicket on his 36-balls’ 34. But with the vital hits from Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, they sealed the game for Pakistan with four balls to spare.

    Captain Babar Azam posted 7 runs, while Mohammad Rizwan could only score 11 runs. Khushdil Shah also posted 34 runs off 35 balls, contributing a decent share in the total.

    Pakistan needed 2 runs in the last over and Shadab hit a six to seal the deal for the Men in Green.

    Hassan Ali, with a comeback performance, took 3 wickets while giving just 22 runs in his 4 overs and bagged Player of the Match award.

    Pakistan will be playing their next match of the series tomorrow, November 20.

  • Indian government has apprehensions about participation in 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan

    Indian government has apprehensions about participation in 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan

    Pakistan has recently been awarded the rights to hosting the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025. Just a day has passed and the Indian government expressed apprehensions about participation in the international tournament. India’s Sports Minister and Former BCCI President, Anurag Thakur on Wednesday, said that the Indian government will monitor the security situation at the time in Pakistan before taking a decision on whether the India team will travel for the eight-team global tournament.

    “The Indian government had earlier also made its decision,” Thakur said while talking to reporters in Delhi on Wednesday. “When such global tournaments happen several factors are considered.”

    He added: “Even in the past, you would have seen many countries have pulled out to go there (Pakistan) and play because the situation there is not normal. Security is the main challenge there, like teams have been attacked in the past, which is a concern. So when the time comes, the Indian government will take a decision depending on the circumstances then.”

    Read More – Threatening e-mail was sent to New Zealand cricket team from India: Fawad

    The Champions Trophy is the first ICC tournament that will be hosted in Pakistan since the 1996 men’s ODI World Cup which was co-hosted by two other countries: India and Sri Lanka. No Indian team has played cricket in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.

    The two neighbours have not played any bilateral cricket in Pakistan since Rahul Dravid’s side travelled to Pakistan in 2005-06 for a full tour comprising three Tests and five ODIs. Pakistan toured India for a reciprocal tour in 2007-08 but the strained political equation between their governments since then has restricted ties to one white-ball bilateral series in 2012-13 in India and games between the two in ICC tournaments. Pakistan traveled to India to play in the 2011 ODI World Cup semi-final and later to participate in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

    The 2023 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in India during October and November. Earlier, the global tournament was shifted from India to UAE and Oman citing fears of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.

  • Pakistan to host 2025 Champions Trophy as ICC announces 8 tournaments, Ramiz cheers

    Pakistan to host 2025 Champions Trophy as ICC announces 8 tournaments, Ramiz cheers

    Pakistan will host the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, which means that the Pakistan cricket team will defend its title in its own home ground. Pakistan won the last Champions Trophy in 2017.

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday confirmed the 14 host countries of the ICC men’s white ball events from 2024-2031. Eleven Full Members and three Associate Members have been selected to host two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups, four ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and two ICC Men’s Champions Trophy events.

    The USA and Namibia will host an ICC World Cup event for the first time. While Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe have previously staged major events and will do so again over the next decade.

    The hosts were selected via a competitive bidding process overseen by a Board sub-committee chaired by Martin Snedden along with Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Skerritt. The ICC Board accepted the recommendations of the committee who conducted a thorough review of each bid along with the ICC management. A similar process to identify the hosts for ICC Women’s and U19s events for the next cycle will be undertaken early next year.

    Reacting to the development, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja said, “It’s a matter of great pride and delight that Pakistan will be hosting ICC Champions Trophy 2025.”

    ICC Chair Greg Barclay said: “We are delighted to have concluded this competitive bidding process for the first time for ICC events. To have 14 Members hosting 8 events is a reflection of the truly global nature of our sport and I’d like to thank every Member that submitted a bid and offer our congratulations to the successful bidders.”

    “It is fantastic to be returning to so many previous hosts, but what is really exciting about this process is the countries who will stage ICC events for the first time including the USA which is a strategic growth market for us. This gives us the opportunity to deepen our connection with fans in traditional cricket nations and also reach new fans around the world.”

    2024 T20 World Cup: USA and West Indies

    2025 Champions Trophy: Pakistan

    2026 T20 World Cup: India and Sri Lanka

    2027 ODI World Cup: Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa

    2028 T20 World Cup: Australia and New Zealand

    2029 Champions Trophy: India

    2030 T20 World Cup: England, Ireland and Scotland

    2031 ODI World Cup: India and Bangladesh

    It should be noted that Pakistan is set to host Australia in 2022 and England will be visiting Pakistan next year with additional two T20Is that will be played in Pakistan after England’s chief Tom Harrison visited Pakistan.

  • ‘That’s the spirit’: President Alvi praises Mohammad Rizwan for his performance despite bad health

    ‘That’s the spirit’: President Alvi praises Mohammad Rizwan for his performance despite bad health

    President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has praised Mohammad Rizwan for his outclass performance in the semi-final against Australia despite the fact that he was was not well and admitted in hospital for two days before the match.

    Taking to Twitter, President Alvi wrote: “That’s the spirit. This is symbolic of the emerging ‘Brand Pakistan’. And my friends it is the new Pakistan.”

    Rizwan scored a half-century against Australia in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup, beating captain Babar Azam. He became the player who scored a thousand runs in the calendar year.

    He also broke the record of England’s Jos Buttler, who had just set it for the most runs by a keeper in a Men’s T20 World Cup. Buttler broke Craig Kieswetter’s record from 2010 in this year’s edition, had scored 269 runs to his name before England crashed out Thursday night in the semi-final.

  • ‘No one should point fingers, I back everyone’: Babar Azam talks to team after losing semi-final

    ‘No one should point fingers, I back everyone’: Babar Azam talks to team after losing semi-final

    Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has given a pep-talk to the team in the dressing-room after they lost the semi-final to Australia in Dubai on Thursday. The young captain stressed it’s important to not point fingers at each other and that the entire team failed to play up to its potential in the heartbreaking loss on Thursday.

    Read More – Hayden lauds ‘warrior’ Rizwan, who was in hospital the night before Pak-Aus match

    Talking about unity in the team, Babar said: “Everybody is sad, everybody is feeling the pain. We need to figure out where we went wrong and where we have to improve. No one will tell us this, we all know this. But we have to learn from this.”

    “We have created a unit at the World Cup and this shouldn’t break. There should be no finger-pointing. We should not go into saying ‘he did this, he did this and all that’. We, as a team, did not play well. No one should point fingers at any other person.”

    “We lost, it’s okay but we have to learn from this. We will. In the times to come, we shouldn’t make the same mistakes,” added the captain.

    “I am telling you again, we shouldn’t let the unit break. We have worked hard to create this. One loss shouldn’t force anyone to leave this unit. As a captain, I am backing everyone. We have created a very good atmosphere in the dressing room, one that feels like family. Everyone has put in the effort. Every match, every player has taken up responsibility,” said Babar.

    “We will put in the effort, that is in our hands but the result is not. I know everyone is sad. But this will last for a short while. We will start thinking about where we went wrong and where we should have improved. Don’t get bogged down. Try lifting each other. Learn, there is a bit of sadness but we have to overcome that,” Babar concluded.

    Pakistan posted 176 runs for the loss of 4 wickets on the board in their quota of 20 overs, thanks to fifties from Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman. However, defending a total in Dubai proved difficult yet again as Pakistan paid the price for some ordinary effort with the ball and on the field.

    Australia will face New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday