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Babar Azam
Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam was conspicuous by his absence from the team's training and there was no clarity on his availability for the Champions Trophy clash against India here on Sunday even as the country's cricket board chief Mohsin Naqvi urged the side to win "at any cost". Speculation is rife that he may be not be considered for the match after he was not seen at the practice session on Saturday evening. The practice was attended by PCB chief Naqvi and Azam was the only player who chose to take the day off. Azam copped a lot of criticism for a 94-ball 64 in the 60-run loss to New zealand in the opening match. He was lambasted for failing to accelerate while the asking rate crept up in the chase of 320 runs in Karachi. Interim head coach Aqib Javed, who addressed the media after practice, did not give any specific reason for Azam's absence, saying that the former captain chose to rest. Last night, Naqvi met the Pakistan cricket team at the Dubai International Cricket ..
All-rounder Sikandar Raza inspired Zimbabwe to a stunning 80-run win on the DLS method in the rain-affected first one-day international against a new-look Pakistan white-ball team on Sunday. Raza made a crucial 39 runs and lifted Zimbabwe from a precarious 125-7 to 205 all out by sharing a 62-run eighth wicket stand with No. 9 batter Richard Ngarava, who top-scored with 48. Under overcast conditions, Raza (2-7) picked up two wickets in one over as Pakistan limped to 60-6 in 21 overs before it rained and denied further play as Zimbabwe took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Pakistan's second-string new ball bowlers debutant Aamer Jamal and Mohammad Hasnain couldn't make an impact on Zimbabwe's openers after the visitors had rested frontline pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah for the white-ball series in Zimbabwe. Pakistan also rested its ace batter Babar Azam for the first time in an ODI since 2019 as it experimented with its bench strength ahead of next year's Champio
Premier batter Babar Azam had lost his interest in captaining the national white ball teams after a critical report submitted by the limited overs head coach Gary Kirsten to the Pakistan Cricket Board. In discussions with insiders in the cricket board and those close to the Pakistan team, it was apparent that Babar had lost his mojo after the T20 World Cup in July in which the team fared poorly under his captaincy. "Babar was not happy with the observations and recommendations of Kirsten and even assistant coach, Azhar Mahmood and felt he was solely being blamed for the disappointing performances,"one insider said. "He had indicated to the cricket board after some parts of Kirsten's report became public that he was not interested in remaining captain." The insider said Babar had complained to some board officials, who had worked a lot with him that it was unfortunate the PCB didn't take his past performances and results into their consideration nor showed the required confidence an
Captains Babar Azam and Shan Masood, along with other senior players, will attend a day-long workshop on Monday, convened by the PCB to outline the future vision for Pakistan cricket. The Pakistan Cricket Board has named the day-long workshop the "Strategic Connection Camp," to be held at a local hotel. Along with captains Babar Azam and Shan Masood, senior players Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi will be in attendance. The meeting will also be joined by national team head coaches Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, and High Performance specialist David Reid. We aim to identify key issues, foster open dialogue and collectively agree on a strategic path forward to successfully reshape Pakistan cricket. PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement. The Connection Camp is a critical step toward unifying our approach to restore Pakistan cricket to its former glory. Our aim is to ...
Mushfiqur Rahim dug in to score a superb 191 and share a record stand with Mehidy Hasan Miraz as Bangladesh nullified Pakistan's pace attack in the first test on Saturday. Mushfiqur's 11th test hundred, and first against Pakistan, came in more than 8-1/2 hours and lifted Bangladesh to 565 all out on Day 4. It was Bangladesh's third highest score away from home, as Pakistan's ploy to go with four fast bowlers failed to work on a greenish wicket that eased considerably for batting. Pakistan, which made 448-6 declared in its first innings, lost opener Saim Ayub early in its second and was 23-1 at stumps, trailing by 94 runs. Abdullah Shafique was not out on 12 while captain Shan Masood was unbeaten on 9. Mushfiqur's marathon 341-ball knock, featuring 22 fours and a six, ended in the final session when he attempted a square cut against Khurram Shahzad's good-length delivery and was caught behind. Mushfiqur and No. 8 Mehidy, who scored 77, made the four fast bowlers toil under hot and
Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and vice-captain Saud Shakeel struck centuries as they guided the home team past 400 for the loss of six wickets on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh on Thursday. Rizwan was the more aggressive of the two batters and is unbeaten past 150 with 11 fours and three sixes, while left-handed Shakeel, resuming on 57, was dismissed on 141. The batters stretched their overnight fourth-wicket stand to 240. Resuming on 158 for four, Bangladesh pace bowlers couldn't trouble the overnight Pakistan batting pair on a greenish wicket before captain Najmul Hassan Shanto went to his spinners in the latter half of the first session, but still couldn't find the breakthrough. Rizwan and Shakeel compiled 48 runs in the first hour. Bangladesh pacers couldn't extract lateral movement, which saw Pakistan slipping to 16 for three on the opening day and curtailed to 41 overs due to wet patches in the outfield. The two-Test series is part of the I
The second cricket test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Karachi starting Aug. 30 will be played without fans due to ongoing construction work at the National Bank Stadium, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday. The PCB started renovating the stadium this month as part of its preparations for next year's Champions Trophy, which begins Feb. 19. The PCB said it has suspended ticket sales for the Karachi test with immediate effect and that fans who have already purchased tickets will receive a full refund. The health and safety of our fans is our utmost priority, the PCB said in a statement. After careful consideration of all available options, we have decided that the safest course of action is to hold the second test in front of an empty stadium. The cricket board said it wanted to make the stadium more spectator-friendly for the Champions Trophy, which will be the first ICC event hosted in Pakistan since the 1996 World Cup. The first test match will be played at ...
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has sought the help of Shannon Young, the renowned Australian power-hitting coach, to reinvent his T20 skills after an underwhelming campaign in the just-concluded World Cup. Babar made 120 runs from four matches at a strike-rate of 101, as Pakistan bowed out of the ICC showpiece even without entering the Super Eights. Babar met Young, who coached Australia's Glenn Maxwell and Jake Fraser-McGurk, and discussed with him the essential skills required to execute power shots successfully in T20 format. The meeting took place in Lahore where Young is on a private visit. Young has been credited with mentoring a number of Australian players and improving their power-hitting skills. The young batting sensation McGurk had set the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) alight with his range-hitting while playing for the Delhi Capitals. Babar has often been criticised for his low strike-rate and inability to regularly hit sixes in the shortest format and