Pakistan

Feb 16, 2020 Danyal Rasool Ahead of the PSL 2020, we look at each team’s strength, weaknesses, squads and support staff details. Karachi Kings Team overview For all the talk of Lahore Qalandars woes in the tournament’s history, there is little justification for Karachi Kings to feel any smugness at the travails of their traditional

9:14 AM GMT Umar Farooq Firdose Moonda South Africa have withdrawn their interest from touring Pakistan for three T20Is considering their players’ workload following the India tour next month. The proposed tour will be rescheduled later after both boards find a new window this year. South Africa’s tour to Pakistan was mainly facing logistical challenges

1:15 PM GMT Umar Farooq in Lahore A 12-member MCC squad, led by Kumar Sangakkara, landed in Lahore on a week-long trip to play a series of four T20 matches starting Friday. This could be another step in the right direction – some are even terming it a “major coup” – as Pakistan aims to

12:10 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Mohammad Hafeez is free to bowl again after his bowling action passed an assessment test. The Pakistan allrounder, who has faced troubles with the legality of his bowling action throughout his career, was reported in a Vitality Blast game in August last year. An assessment at Loughborough University then concluded

7:05 PM GMT South Africa’s tour to Pakistan in March will come with logistical challenges for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). South Africa end their tour to India on March 18 and PCB intend to make them stay in Dubai – until the Pakistan Super League (PSL) ends on March 22 – and then fly

10:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Umar Akmal‘s alleged misbehaviour with a staff member after a failed fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore was the result of a “misunderstanding”, the PCB said after concluding its inquiry into the incident. Akmal will face no sanction, only a reminder of his responsibilities. A board statement

10:34 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Waqar Hasan, the last surviving member of Pakistan’s inaugural Test team, which played India in Delhi in October 1952, has died in Karachi at the age of 87. A middle-order batsman, Waqar’s first outing in Test cricket wasn’t too auspicious, as he scored 8 and 5 in an innings defeat,

3:33 PM GMT Pakistan had often been criticised for their slow scoring rate whenever they played Test cricket in the UAE. In the 31 Tests they played there over the past decade, they scored at under three runs an over. However, since bringing Test cricket back home, Pakistan’s scoring rate has suddenly jumped to 3.76

3:06 PM GMT Pakistan quick Naseem Shah has been cleared of serious injury after he complained of pain around his left rib cage on day three of the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. The 16-year old, who had become the youngest player to take a Test hat-trick on the third day of the Test,

7:25 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Nasir Jamshed, the former Pakistan batsman, has been sentenced to 17 months in prison at Manchester Crown Court, after pleading guilty in December to a conspiracy to bribe fellow cricketers in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Jamshed, 33, was given a ten-year ban by the PCB in August 2018, and

5:32 PM GMT In a major change to the existing policy governing participation in T20 and other leagues across the world, Pakistan’s cricketers will now be allowed to play four leagues, including the PSL, in a year. Permission to play in other leagues is contingent on a number of factors, including taking part in the

8:00 AM GMT Big picture India’s highest score this World Cup is 297. Pakistan’s is 294. India have taken 40 wickets in four games. Pakistan have taken 39. And that might’ve been 40 too, had their group stage game not been abandoned with Bangladesh at 106 for 9. Pakistan captain Rohail Nazir has beaten an

11:11 AM GMT Umar Akmal is likely to find himself in hot water with the PCB once more after he is said to have misbehaved with staff during a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The junior Akmal is believed to have exposed himself in frustration during one test, and now finds himself

1:04 PM GMT Nearly two months after Wasim Khan stepped down as head of the PCB’s cricket committee, the board recalled Iqbal Qasim back to the set-up to take over the key position. The panel is now entirely independent from figures that hold other roles in the PCB, with one exception – Urooj Mumtaz, the

6:38 AM GMT Pakistan have recalled offspinner Bilal Asif into their Test squad, in a bid to counter what is expected to be a left-hander heavy Bangladesh line-up, for the first Test in Rawalpindi, starting February 7. Seam-bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf also returned to the squad after having been ignored for the team’s most recent

8:00 AM GMT Pakistan Under-19s 190 for 4 (Mohammad Huraira 64, Noor Ahmad 2 for 32) beat Afghanistan Under-19s 189 (Zakhil 40, Abdul Rahman 30, Mohammad Amir Khan 3 for 58) by six wickets In what was built up as a tense clash between two neighbouring countries, Pakistan’s all-round bowling effort combined with a solid

2:51 PM GMT Sreshth Shah at Benoni Afghanistan left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad ran out Pakistan opener Mohammad Huraira at the non-striker’s end in the fourth Super League quarter-final at the Under-19 World Cup, whipping the bails off in his delivery stride with the opener having left his crease. On-field umpire Sam Nogajski referred the matter

1:56 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Peshawar Zalmi have roped in Hashim Amla as a batting mentor for the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The acquisition was announced on Twitter by the owner of the franchise, Javed Afridi. “His gracious presence in the PSL 5 festivity will not only adorn the Zalmi dugout

11:25 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Former England allrounder Ravi Bopara has been named as part of a 12-man MCC squad to tour Pakistan in February. The team will be captained by Sri Lanka great, and current MCC president, Kumar Sangakkara, and coached by former England quick Ajmal Shahzad. Also included in the touring party are

Mohammad Munaf, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has died. He was 84 years old. Munaf played only four Tests for Pakistan, from the late 50s to the early 60s, but hovered around national team selection for a number of years. He toured, without playing a Test, with the Pakistan side on their famous first tour

5:58 PM GMT Pakistan’s 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh at home – their first series win in T20Is in more than a year – has given them some “breathing space,” according to head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq. “Obviously you play for the win and for it, you keep on trying all the time,” Misbah

9:03 AM GMT Mohammad Hafeez, who marked his comeback at the age of 39, was excited with his match-winning contribution against Bangladesh in the second T20I and emphasized on the importance of carrying experience with the team. He also suggested that he has learnt over the years that ‘survival’ in the team isn’t possible without

2:40 AM GMT Alex Malcolm The Melbourne Stars have been dealt another major blow on the eve of the BBL finals with legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane unavailable because of international duty while they also face a nervous wait on Haris Rauf‘s availability. Lamichhane was believed to be available for the whole season, but he informed the

11:42 AM GMT Pakistan are the world’s No. 1 T20I team, but they are just a defeat away from being dislodged from the top of the rankings. They presently have 270 points, just one more than Australia at No. 2. Anything other than a 3-0 win in the upcoming T20I series over Bangladesh – even

4:22 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik insists he is not getting ahead of himself following his call-up for the series against Bangladesh, and will “not set any long-term goals”. Most notably, that meant he wouldn’t commit to saying whether he aimed to be part of Pakistan’s World T20 squad, saying that was

11:46 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Pakistan Under-19s 77 for 3 (Irfan 38*, Naylor 1-12) beat Scotland Under-19s 75 (Uzzair 20, Wasim 5-12, Tahir 3-23, Afridi 2-32) by seven wicketsScorecard It was all rather one-sided in Potchefstroom as Pakistan steamrolled Scotland to get their Under-19 World Cup Group C campaign off to a rousing start. Medium-pacers

Misbah-ul-Haq speaks to the press © PCB Perhaps the most accurate word to describe Misbah ul Haq‘s time as Pakistan’s captain was foresight. It is the reason he never seemed to panic. If Plan A didn’t work out, he had Plan B, C, all the way through to Z. After that, you felt he could

12:16 PM GMT Mohammad Hafeez last played a T20I in November 2018. Since then, he has featured in various T20 competitions at home and abroad, and his record in that period has been modest: 509 runs in 26 matches at an average of 21.20 and a strike rate of 107.38; 16 wickets at 33.75, and

10:11 AM GMT The experienced pair of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez will return to the Pakistan side for the T20I series against Bangladesh next week. Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz have been left out, with pace bowler Muhammad Musa keeping his place in the shortest format, while batsman Ahsan Ali and fast bowler Amad

4:58 PM GMT Pakistan are not fans of the idea of four-day Test cricket, with the current leaders of the coaching staff, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis both opposing reducing Test cricket to four days. They join a growing chorus of coaches and former players, including former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur, as