Author: Tahir
Babar Azam found himself rooted to the crease in disgust. He couldn’t believe the shot he’d played after being set on a surface where there was limited threat from either the pitch or the bowlers. He must have thought he’d never make that mistake again, but two sessions later it happened.So, on a day where Babar scored two half-centuries, the bigger talking point surrounded his shot selection. Well set during Pakistan’s first innings in the opening session, Kwena Maphaka had bowled one well down leg side, and managed to coax Babar into tickling it through to the wicketkeeper. It has…
Left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann and offspinner Todd Murphy will join Nathan Lyon to provide three frontline spinners for what are expected to be favourable conditions in Galle which will host both Tests.However, the Test career of Mitchell Marsh is now in significant doubt after he couldn’t find a place among the 16 names following his omission for the final Test against India.The team will be captained by Steven Smith in the absence of Pat Cummins who will be on paternity leave and recovering from an ankle injury he has managed during the home summer. Josh Hazlewood has also been left…
Players from Australia and England have called for future multi-format Women’s Ashes series to include three Test matches, although the chances of that becoming a reality are slim, certainly in the next four years.In the upcoming series, the one-off Test – a four-day match under floodlights at the MCG – will be played as the final instalment of the Ashes for the first time since it was introduced in 2013. The match is worth four points for a win and two for a draw meaning one side could be in a position knowing that avoiding defeat would be enough to…
“It’s a new series, a new opportunity,” West Indies Test coach Andre Coley said ahead of the two-match series in Pakistan.The last series between the two sides, in Kingston in 2021, was drawn 1-1, but West Indies have not won a Test in Pakistan since November 1990. It’s also true that there haven’t been too many of these – only seven since that game – but the best West Indies have done since that 1990 series is a draw, in Multan in November 2006.As such, the series is part of the World Test Championship cycle, but doesn’t mean much for…
While Padikkal and Prasidh will fly out with a majority of the Indian contingent from Sydney on Wednesday, Abhimanyu was granted permission to fly out a day in advance. He was subsequently booked on an earlier flight by the Cricket Association of Bengal to be able to link up with the state squad in Vadodara, after stops in Singapore and Ahmedabad.On Wednesday, Abhimanyu will train with the rest of the Bengal squad ahead of their pre-quarter-final fixture against Haryana. Akash Deep, the other Bengal player in the India squad, has been ruled out because of a back niggle, which kept…
The PCB has relocated its ODI tri-series with New Zealand and South Africa to Lahore and Karachi, as it readies the two venues to host the Champions Trophy from February 19.The four-match tri-series, due to start on February 8, was originally scheduled to be played in Multan. But the PCB has decided to move it to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the National Stadium in Karachi, a move the board said “reflects the PCB’s confidence in the readiness of these upgraded venues”.The board said in a statement: “Given the advanced stage of preparations at the Gaddafi Stadium and the…
Shakib Al Hasan is awaiting the result of a second test of his bowling action from Chennai in India after failing his previous assessment from UK’s Loughborough University that had left him suspended from bowling in top-flight domestic and international cricket.Shakib was reported for a suspect action during an English county match in September. This prompted the ECB’s action, and, in accordance with clause 11.3 of the ICC’s regulations for illegal bowling actions, his suspension was automatically recognised and enforced by the ICC in international cricket and by all national cricket federations in their respective domestic competitions.Shakib is expecting a…
Shastri’s suggestion comes on the back of India’s 3-1 series loss in Australia. Rohit opted out of the final Test in Sydney citing poor form having tallied 31 runs in five innings, while Kohli tapered off after starting the series with a century in India’s 295-run win in Perth. All his dismissals were either caught behind or caught in the cordon.Shastri’s suggestion comes on the back of head coach Gautam Gambhir’s view that players should make themselves available to play domestic cricket “if they have the commitment to play red-ball cricket”.”I think fitness is very important,” Shastri told the ICC…
Bangladesh’s selectors are waiting for Tamim Iqbal to make up his mind about a possible comeback to international cricket ahead of the Champions Trophy next month. The deadline for announcing squads is January 12, and the BCB is willing to wait till the last minute to see if Tamim wants to play. Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain led the talks with Tamim at the Fortune Barishal team hotel in Sylhet; Tamim is captaining the side in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).Tamim retired from international cricket in July 2023, before reversing his decision the next day after intervention from then Bangladesh…
Martin Guptill has officially confirmed his retirement from international cricket, having last played for New Zealand in October 2022. Guptill, 38, will continue to feature in T20 leagues around the world.Guptill is currently in action for Auckland in the Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition, and has also signed up for the PSL draft, where Islamabad United have the option to retain him.Guptill leaves the international stage as a white-ball great for New Zealand, having racked up 7346 runs in 198 ODIs – only Ross Taylor (8607) and Stephen Fleming (8007) have scored more in the format for the…