India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in a Super 10 Group 2 match to record their first win in the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 55 to guide India home in their chase of 119.
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.
A 27-member Pakistan cricket contingent left for India to take part in the Twenty20 World Cup, finally ending days of uncertainty over their participation in the mega event. The team will be reaching Kolkata via Abu Dhabi. The Pakistan squad including 15 players, 12 officials and support staff reached the Allama Iqbal international airport amidst tight security and boarded a flight hours after the Pakistan government finally gave the PCB the green signal to fly to India to take part in the ICC event. Due to a long stay in Abu Dhabi the squad will reach Kolkata later this evening. Head coach Waqar Younis, before departing for India, left a message on his Twitter account calling for unity in the team. "Come on together we can do it," he tweeted a message aimed at motivating the players. He told the media that though the departure of the team for India had been hit by uncertainty and security issues, the focus of the players now would only be on cricket and doing well in the world event.
India fast bowler Mohammed Shami replaced an indisposed Hardik Pandya in the ICC World XI squad for the T20 International against the West Indies at Lord's in London, on May 31.
The national team manager Intikhab Alam has blamed captain Shahid Afridi for Pakistan cricket team's recent poor performances, including at the World Twenty20 in India. The report states that Afridi was involved in 'needless controversies' during the World T20. In the five-page report submitted to the PCB and fact-finding committee of the PCB, Alam said that the team failed to sustain the stress and the pressure associated with the world event. "The recent Asia Cup and the ICC World T20 have made it evident that we have critical gaps both in batting and bowling and our fielding keeps on leaking runs, thus releasing pressure. In bowling, with the exception of Muhammad Amir, we do not have a bowler who can win us matches. "Our death bowling also is way below par. And the same goes with our batting line-up, where we do not have reliable pinch hitters and the top and power hitter to clinch us games," Alam wrote in his report, leaked to media.
'Shocked and hurt' by Shahid Afridi's comments that Pakistan's cricketers are loved more by Indians than the fans in their own country, former captain Javed Miandad said players making such statements should be 'ashamed' of themselves.
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In Karachi, mobs gathered to raise slogans against the Pakistani players, particularly Afridi and Younis.
Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field against Pakistan in the rain-delayed opening match.
The win at Edgbaston was not the first time an Indian team had vanquished Pakistan in an ICC competition. Rajneesh Gupta surveys the landscape of India-Pakistan encounters in ICC contests.
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The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
With both teams virtually out of the semi-final race, South Africa and Pakistan will be battling it out for a consolation win in their World Cup match at Lord's.
Officials said both the factions of the Hurriyat are likely to be banned under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or the UAPA, under which "if the Central Government is of opinion that any association is, or has become, an unlawful association, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful."
The judge of the anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks was changed for the seventh time on Wednesday, with the current incumbent transferred to another court.
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.
India's Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik join an ICC World XI for the high-profile Twenty20 International against the West Indies at Lord's in London on May 31, being organised to raise funds for stadia in the Caribbean damaged by hurricanes last year.
India have won all their six games against Pakistan in the World Cup.
India came up with a clinical all-round display to beat Pakistan by seven wickets in a one-sided opening Super-10 league match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Mirpur on Friday.
Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar says he is he is not the least bit surprised by Pakistan's poor run in the ongoing World T20 Championship.
A PCB official said the suspended off-spinner has been named in the preliminary squad as he was in the process of correcting his action and would soon appear for an ICC biomechanics test.
Hindu nationalists in India have stepped up attacks on the country's beef industry, seizing trucks with cattle bound for abattoirs.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, on Friday, expressed his disappointment after five of his colleagues were denied travel permission by New Delhi for Saturday's World Twenty20 match between the arch-rivals, in Kolkata.
1997: Sukanya Verma offers a recap of its memorable imagery.
The Pakistan men's cricket team arrived in Kolkata on Saturday evening for the ICC World Twenty20 after high drama over the last few days.
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.
Their path to the semi-finals looking relatively easier in comparison, Australia will fancy their chances when they lock horns with a struggling Pakistan side whose hopes hangs by a thread in the ICC World Twenty20, in Mohali, on Friday.
With MS Dhoni opting out of the tournament, Virat Kohli will lead Team India as they attempt to regain the title they last won in 2010. Here're the statistical highlights pertaining to the tournament.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on Monday claimed that match-fixing was at its peak in 1996 and said the environment in the dressing room was far from conducive.
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.
'If the conditions change and we can have the Asia Cup, it must be held as earnings from it are distributed as development funds to member countries for next two years'
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.
New Zealand secured their third straight win to book a spot in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 after beating Pakistan by 22 runs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali in their Super 10 stage match on Tuesday.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmdullah finished as the MVP in the recently-concluded Asia Cup T20 tournament ahead of compatriot Sabbir Rahman, who was named as the man of the series. Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present the latest edition of the MVP rankings.
An Olympic campaign saved by the fortitude of three women, a cricket team that rediscovered itself under a bold and zealous Virat Kohli -- Indian sports in 2016 was a dramatic mix of highs and lows wherein athletes mostly raised the bar but administrators found new ways to embarrass the country.
Afridi, a former Pakistan captain, said his country's drab show took away all the excitement from what was expected to be a high-voltage Group B encounter.
Pakistan government will not file a fresh petition in an anti-terrorism court requesting for obtaining voice sample of LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in the Mumbai terror attack case, prosecution team's chief Chaudhry Azhar said on Sunday.
With this win, Australia have now gained a 12-2 lead in the series. The team had already secured the Ashes in the first T20I.
'That was a morning where if I wanted to fly, I would have flown as well.'