Babar Azam acknowledged that Sri Lanka outperformed his team
Opener Nasir Jamshed smashed a fluent 74 to help Pakistan pull off an unconvincing five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the second one-day international on Thursday. Chasing 239 for victory, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi came to Pakistan's rescue with a powerful 43 not out from 27 balls after Zimbabwe had reduced the hosts to 178 for five in the 38th over.
The central contracts stand-off between Pakistan Cricket Board and top national players ended on Wednesday.
The mutual respect shone through as they exchanged greetings and shared a warm hug on the field.
Former Pakistan T20 skipper Shahid Afridi has said that his country are failing to produce fine cricketers while highlighting the immediate need to focus on quality rather than quantity to turn the things around for themselves. The 36-year-old observed that there are more of first-class cricketers in the squad in contrast to his early cricketing days when a break at this level was a difficult task, the Dawn reported. Pinpointing the lack of cricket at the grassroots level as the reason behind Pakistan's downfall, Afridi expressed his desire to open cricketing academies for young talent in the country.
Pakistan to field unchanged XI against India in Asia Cup
It will be hard to catch up with Afridi now! After another incredible bowling performance on Wednesday at Mirpur (9.3-1-30-4), Afridi is now over 200 'runs' clear of Yuvraj Singh in the MVPI list.
The new rules in One-Day International cricket have made it difficult for slow bowlers, Pakistan's experienced leg-spinner Shahid Afridi said on Monday.
The last time Pakistan won a Test Down Under was in late 1995 when nearly half of the current side were not even born
Yasir Shah promoted, Shoaib Malik retained in top category
Pakistan expected to give all in must-win World Cup clash against Bangladesh
Images from the World Cup match between Pakistan and Canada played in Colombo on Thursday.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi does not think fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is ready for a comeback to Test cricket.
Pakistan's ODI and Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi says he has no intention of going back on his 'emotional' decision to retire from Test cricket, as he has lost the desire to play the longer format of the game. 'I have no real desire to play Test cricket and the reason I lost this desire was because I was not selected consistently for Test matches,' Afridi said.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has emphasised that bowling during the final powerplay will play a crucial role in the outcome of the matches in the World Cup and his side is paying special attention to this area.
Former Pakistan captains Younus Khan and Shahid Afridi were among four senior national cricketers being chased by the country's financial authority for unpaid taxes totaling 80 million rupees.
Shahid Afridi is not the ideal candidate to lead Pakistan in Test matches but his temperament and aggression undoubtedly made him the best available option before PCB, feels former captain Wasim Akram.
Pakistan's One-day skipper Shahid Afridi has said that he is under no threat regarding the World Cup captaincy issue as he had never run after the captaincy in his entire career.
The naming of Pakistan's Twenty20 and ODI squads for this month's tour to India was not without disagreements as the selectors overruled captain Misbah-ul-Haq while axing experienced all-rounder Shahid Afridi for the series.
The Pakistan all-rounder was seen pushing his bat at a spectator who said something to him on his way back to the pavilion after being dismissed.
The World Twenty20 build-up has been far from ideal for Pakistan but captain Shahid Afridi said his team is in a positive frame of mind even though it needs to be more disciplined in executing strategy. Pakistan could win only two matches during last month's Asia Cup, a debacle that came close on the heels of a limited-overs away series loss to New Zealand. Afridi said his side has been guilty of deviating from plans and this shortcoming will have to be overcome when it takes on Bangladesh (March 16) and India (March 19) in the opening two matches here. "We are missing that (execution of plans). But I don't think we should live in the past. If we play to the team plan, we would do well," Afridi said in a press conference on Sunday. "The first game is always very important. You take rhythm from the first match. We will try to take the rhythm from the first match. The pitch and conditions suit us. Both the matches will be very important," he added.
Pakistan Senate's standing committee on sports on Monday recommended the cricket board to ban dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi for at least three series for ball tampering in a One-day match in Australia last month.
The all-rounder said he is keen to open again because of the problem Pakistan is facing at this position for sometime now.
In the ODI rankings, Sri Lanka's two ODI matches at home against Zimbabwe =saw a number of movers, most notably on the bowling side through spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who moved to a career high rating (634) and rank (11th) with four wickets across the matches.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Friday said that a side strain might stop him from playing even the second Test against Australia at Headingley, after which he desires to retire from the five-day version of the game.
The stars met up during a prayer meet in Mecca.
Asia Cup: Injury scare for Pakistan''s Naseem Shah versus Bangladesh
Captain Shahid Afridi smashed a blistering 60-ball 124, his second century in the tournament, to steer Pakistan to a resounding 139run win over Bangladesh in an inconsequential Asia Cup match in Dambull aon Monday. Powered by Afridi's blitzkrieg and useful half-centuries from Imran Farhat (66), Shahzaib Hasan (50) and Umar Akmal (50), Pakistan posted an intimidating 385 for seven, their highest score in ODIs, after electing to bat.
In a major blow to the Ruhuna Royals, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has withdrawn from the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) to attend to his ailing wife back home.
Electrifying Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi rated Australia's domestic Twenty20 Big Bash higher and tougher than the cash rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pakistan's first sports film 'Main Hoon Afridi' is all set for release on Eid.
Shahid Afridi may have realised a long-cherished dream to captain Pakistan in all formats of cricket but he would have a tough time dealing with the pressure that the job brings with it, feels former skipper Rameez Raja.
Afridi has said that previous defeats in the cricket World Cup against India will not matter.
Former skipper Shoaib Malik is set to replace Shahid Afridi in Pakistan playing eleven for the second Test against Australia at Headingley, which is also likely to see the return of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi made a dramatic announcement on Friday that he will quit Test cricket and captaincy after his side's second five-day game against Australia next week. After Australia beat Pakistan by 150 runs in the first Test at Lord's Afridi said the second and final match, starting at Headingley on July 21 would be his last.
Pakistani selectors have dropped the flamboyant all-rounder for the first one-day international against West Indies.
Rohit's men start overwhelming favourites but Shaheen, rain pose threat
Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi on Saturday apologised to the cricket lovers on behalf of the team for the recent spot-fixing scandal, which has rocked the international cricket.
Their eyes trained on the big-ticket T20 World Cup in the Americas in June, the national selectors aren't finding it easy to pick just one among Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the upcoming Afghanistan series.
Disgraced former Pakistani Test captain Salman Butt has accused former team-mate Shahid Afridi of giving a statement against him in the spot-fixing case to get over the shock of losing his captaincy.