Pakistan

4:01 PM GMT Danyal Rasool It is a fact universally acknowledged that things change dramatically in Pakistan cricket, but the symmetry of the latest development coming out from the PCB is so neat it might have been considered too corny for fiction. In January 2017, after a 4-1 ODI series thumping in Australia, Azhar Ali

4:23 PM GMT Sarfaraz Ahmed is gone as Pakistan captain and it has looked like he’s been going for some time now. Even before Andile Phehlukwayo happened. Quite a bit before that. Some stray thoughts and observations in the aftermath of his sacking. Sarfaraz’s sacking wasn’t unexpected and neither is it entirely unjustified If there

8:29 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Sarfaraz Ahmed has been sacked as Pakistan’s Test and T20I captain ahead of the November-December tour of Australia, and has also been dropped from both the teams following a run of poor form in the two formats. In his place, Azhar Ali has been named the Test captain and Babar

1:44 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of Cricket Ireland, has restated his interest in Ireland touring Pakistan. He had been in Lahore for the recently concluded T20Is against Sri Lanka and was very impressed with the way the series went off. “First of all, we have been treated fabulously well,” Deutrom

3:40 AM ET Misbah-ul-Haq has been welcomed into his dual position of head coach and chief selector with a 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series at the hands of a second-string Sri Lanka side. That has left Misbah and captain Sarfaraz Ahmed “clueless” with “lots of questions to answer”. Pakistan have been No. 1 in

3:00 AM ET Sri Lanka have made a whopping five changes to the XI that won them the first two T20Is in Lahore, as they bat first for the third time in the series, after winning the toss. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama, batsmen Oshada Fernando and Angelo Perera, allrounder Lahiru Madushanka, and fast bowler Lahiru Kumara

5:09 AM ET Misbah-ul-Haq cited deficiencies in practically all departments of the Pakistan T20I outfit following their back-to-back defeats to a second-string Sri Lanka side in Lahore, but defended the decision to bring back Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal. Over the last two years, Pakistan have won 21 of out the 28 T20Is and lost

3:00 AM ET Big Picture Yes, even the first-string Sri Lanka had lost their four most-recent T20I series, and sure Pakistan topped the rankings, but there are no two sides that revel quite as much in chaos as these two, so in some ways, a comfortable series victory to the underdogs is not a huge

3:00 AM ET Toss Sri Lanka elected to bat v Pakistan Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first in the second T20 against Pakistan, in Lahore. There is the threat of dew later in the evening, but it had not proved to be a major obstacle for their bowlers two nights ago,

7:24 AM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has come out in support of returning batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal after their loss to Sri Lanka in the first T20I. Shehzad and Umar have had a mercurial past with Pakistan, for various reasons, and the revival of their careers in Lahore

3:00 AM ET Toss: Pakistan opt to bowl v Sri Lanka Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl in the first of three T20Is against Sri Lanka. Nineteen-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain was set for his second T20I, beating left-armers Usman Shinwari and Wahab Riaz to a place in the starting XI. Allrounder Faheem

3:00 AM ET Big Picture Sri Lanka did not embarrass themselves in the two ODIs, but they did not come close to winning a match either. On the surface, their prospects in the T20I series seem even bleaker. Pakistan are the top-ranked T20I side in the world, having won 11 of their past 13 series

2:11 AM ET Danyal Rasool Less than 15 months ago, Danushka Gunathilaka found himself banned from all forms of cricket, further action pending following the results of a Sri Lankan police inquiry. He had been suspended for breaching curfew during the middle of a Test, but far more gravely, the offence was linked to an

7:20 AM ET Featuring in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) is going to be “a fantastic opportunity” for Nida Dar after she became the first Pakistan women’s player to be signed for the league, by Sydney Thunder. The opportunity, she says, will help her raise her game as the Women’s T20 World Cup is

2:28 PM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore Netherlands are set to host Pakistan for the first time ever in 2020. Comprising three ODIs, to be played between July 4 and 9 in Amstelveen, it will be their longest series against a Full Member country – outside of the newly inducted Ireland and Afghanistan. Pakistan will

8:43 AM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore With five months left to the women’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan’s head coach Mark Coles has resigned citing family commitments. The PCB has handed temporary control of the team to Iqbal Imam, the team’s batting coach, and his first assignment will be the home series against Bangladesh starting

4:55 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, two players who have seen precious little international action in the recent past, are back in the Pakistan T20I set-up for the Sr Lanka series, recalled after 16 months and three years respectively. Their recalls were the most notable aspect of a side that also

2:24 PM ET In a bid to reduce losses incurred by PSL franchises, the PCB has reduced the salary cap to assemble a full squad from USD 1.38 million to USD 1.1 million. PSL franchises have struggled to turn a profit ever since the start of the tournament in 2016. In January this year, the

7:52 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf will return to Northamptonshire in 2020 after signing a deal for the first half of the season. He will be available to play in all formats ahead of Pakistan’s tour of England later in the summer. Faheem, 25, played for Northants during this year’s Vitality Blast,

1:16 PM ET Danyal Rasool in Karachi One-Day Internationals returning to Karachi after 10 years. A washout denied fans a chance three days ago. The city prides itself as the most cricket-mad city in the country. There should still be a lot of excitement, right? Tickets should have been snapped up, right? Wrong. ESPNcricinfo understands

8:47 AM ET Danyal Rasool in Karachi The second ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka has been postponed by a day owing to unseasonal rains that left Karachi’s National Stadium waterlogged, washing out the first game of the series in the process. With more rain expected on the day of the second game – Sunday,

1:29 PM ET Danyal Rasool Has Pakistan’s ODI team progressed since the 2017 Champions trophy? Ten months before Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in 2017, the death of Pakistan’s limited-overs cricket had been pronounced, and who cared what they did with the ashes? Pakistan had spent the summer prancing about England, getting pummelled ODI after

3:27 AM ET Mickey Arthur was disappointed that people he trusted – and, as it turns out, helped appoint – ultimately made the decision to not extend his stint as Pakistan coach. Arthur was keen to carry on in a position he had been in for three years and, post-World Cup, had conversations with the

Mohammad Nawaz celebrates a wicket © Associated Press Batsman Iftikhar Ahmed and spin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Nawaz have made comebacks to Pakistan’s ODI squad. Both were part of the first squad announced by Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s new coach and chief selector, ahead of the three-match series against Sri Lanka that is due to take place later this

12:52 PM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore When Waqar Younis twice served as the Pakistan head coach in the past – 2010 to 2011 and 2014 to 2016 – Misbah-ul-Haq was the Test captain on both occasions. Three-and-a-half years since his last stint with the team, Waqar has returned to the support staff set-up as

7:30 AM ET Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan will go ahead after SLC confirmed that the Pakistan government had “reaffirmed” its desire to provide the Sri Lanka team with the same level of security afforded to visiting heads of state. “The Pakistan High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Pakistan Government, has reaffirmed

8:51 AM ET Mohammad Saad has become the first concussion substitute in the history of Pakistan domestic cricket. The middle-order batsman replaced Usman Salahuddin on day two of Central Punjab’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Southern Punjab. Salahuddin sustained a blow to the back of his neck on the first day of the match, while fielding

9:51 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain has been asked to return home from the CPL immediately. He had originally gone to the West Indies with a no-objection certificate that said he could play the entire tournament for Trinbago Knight Riders but it has now been revoked by the PCB with the

2:06 PM ET Umar Farooq in Lahore PCB chairman Ehsan Mani reiterated his confidence in Pakistan hosting Sri Lanka later this month, saying neither he nor his board was looking to shift the series to a neutral venue. According to the original schedule, both teams will be playing three T20Is and three ODIs in Lahore

9:35 AM ET Sarfaraz Ahmed has been retained as Pakistan captain for three ODIs and three T20Is against Sri Lanka in Karachi and Lahore later this month. The PCB have been appointing Sarfaraz on a series-by-series basis and there had been speculation that they may not retain him after Pakistan failed to make it to