Following reports of three senior Pakistan players misbehaving with fielding coach Grant Luden, it is learned that opener Ahmed Shehzad may be sent home from the World Cup.
Pakistan named Babar Azam as their new captain in one-day internationals, putting the elegant batsman in charge of both their limited-overs teams after a stellar year with the bat. The top order batsman, who took over Twenty20 captaincy earlier this year, succeeds Sarfaraz Ahmed as Pakistan's white-ball leader while Azhar Ali also got an extension as skipper of the Test side for the 2020-21 season.
India and Pakistan meet in their opening World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Ahead of what promises to be a thrilling contest here's a fact-file on the teams.
Hashim Amla struck an unbeaten half-century as South Africa brushed aside some early alarms to record a six wicket victory over Pakistan on day three of the first Test at Centurion Park on Friday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Sunday said that former greats like Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram will be holding online sessions with current and emerging cricketers in Pakistan to help them remain focused in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown. These sessions have been arranged by the Pakistan national men's cricket team management in collaboration with the International Cricket Operations Department as they are looking at innovative ideas to ensure its elite players and future prospects remain connected with the game.
Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and as many T20Is in a bio-secure environment in England amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tainted fast bowler Mohammad Amir was named in Pakistan's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup even as seasoned opener Ahmed Shehzad and veteran bowler Umar Gul were shown the door.
Six of the 10 Pakistan cricketers bound for England who tested positive for COVID-19 have now registered negative results on re-testing, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday. Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, however, must return a second negative result before they can join the main squad of 20 players who will leave for England on Sunday.
Fast bowler Dwaine Pretorius took a record 5-17 in South Africa's six-wicket victory.
England captain Eoin Morgan hit the winning run as the tourists secured their first T20 whitewash with a thrilling super-over win against Pakistan in the third match of the series in Sharjah on Monday.
hree run outs cost Zimbabwe dear as they slumped to a 108-run loss and a 2-1 series defeat to Pakistan in the third one-day international at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Devon Conway's struck 63 to help the hosts score 173/7 in their 20 overs.
They could be breathing down each others' necks in their marquee World T20 clash on Saturday, but a few of Indian and Pakistani cricketers, on Thursday, showed great camaraderie.
Shakib Al Hasan's fine all-round showing powered Bangladesh to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Friday, their first Twenty20 international win over their Asian rivals.
Skipper Kane Williamson and fellow opener Martin Guptill forged the highest partnership in Twenty20 Internationals to secure New Zealand a series-levelling 10-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second match in Hamilton on Sunday.
Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and as many Twenty20 matches against England. The first Test will begin at Lord's on July 30.
Pakistan's tour of New Zealand started in the worst possible fashion, as they were humiliated by Auckland in the opening Twenty20 tour match on Thursday. Put into bat first, Pakistan were bundled out for 90 runs in 17.4 overs as Auckland's left-arm pacer Michael Bates ripped through the top order at Colin Maiden Park. Auckland overhauled the target off 13.2 overs winning the match by five wickets.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt has set off another controversy by claiming that the national team's head coach Waqar Younis had resigned before the 2015 World Cup after being insulted by Ahmed Shehzad.
Suspended from international cricket for an illegal bowling action, Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal on Friday returned to the national side.
Pakistan edged Zimbabwe by two wickets in the second and final Twenty20 International on Sunday to clinch the series 2-0 at a boisterous Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been rested from the team's short limited-overs tour to South Africa this month to prevent the risk of aggravating a hip injury, the country's cricket board said on Saturday.
The Sindh high court today lifted the domestic ban on six Pakistani players who had joined the Indian Cricket League, thus clearing 17 'rebel' players to play in local tournaments. Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Humayun Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Riaz Afridi and Arshad Khan thus joined 11 other Pakistani players who got a similar reprieve from the court last week, PCB lawyer Shan Gul said.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat against India in their Asia Cup ODI.
India have won the Asia Cup on seven occasions, Sri Lanka on five occasions, with Pakistan winning it twice.
Pakistan will be desperately looking to ensure the painful defeat to India becomes a distant past when they run into an in-form New Zealand in Mohali on Tuesday with an aim to bounce back into the World Twenty20 and pacify their bitter fans back home. Pakistan are coming into the Group 2 Super 10 game having suffered their 11th defeat to the arch-rivals in ICC's world events. The 2009 champions entered the tournament after an early elimination in the Asia Cup. On the other hand, the New Zealanders are on a roll with two massive wins over hosts India and Australia, making them one of the strong contenders to lift the coveted trophy on April 3. Another win and they will be in the knockout stages of the mega-event. New Zealand have emerged as the team to beat after the stunned tournament favourites India first up, before getting the better of traditional rivals Australia in a trans-Tasman battle.
Pakistan have named Azhar Ali as their One-day captain following the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq from One-Day Internationals after this month's World Cup.
Pakistan show rare consistency to scale T20 summit
The PCB banned Shehzad for violating anti-doping regulations after he tested positive for a prohibited substance in May and his suspension was scheduled to end on November 10.
Part-time off-spinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets without conceding a run in the last over as Australia edged Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller to win the third and final one-day international by one run in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Zimbabwe recorded their first win over Pakistan for 15 years as they cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the opening one-day international at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
Australia knocked Pakistan out of the ICC World Twenty20 with a convincing 21-run victory, setting up a virtual quarter-final against hosts India to be played in Mohali on Sunday.
Pakistan have axed senior batsman Younis Khan for next month's One-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates as they announced their ODI and Twenty20 squads on Wednesday.
Pakistan will be eager to raise their game.
Images from Pakistan's 129-run victory over the UAE in Wednesday's World Cup Group B match in Napier.
'He is a really exciting talent and probably the guy I am looking forward to seeing the most this summer. I have seen the Aussies a lot and I have seen a lot of the Kiwis, but I am really excited to see him'
Pakistan continued their impressive tour of Sri Lanka by comprehensively beating the hosts by 29 runs in the first Twenty20 International of the two-match series on Thursday.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor scored centuries as New Zealand completed their World Cup preparations with a crushing 119-run win over Pakistan in Napier on Tuesday. It was their eighth win in their last 10 completed matches.
Pakistan grabbed a World Cup quarter-final berth on Sunday following their seven-wicket victory against Ireland that also cleared West Indies' last eight passage from Pool B.
Merv Dillion claimed five wickets for 29 runs as the West Indies won the Champions Trophy match by 138 runs.
