'One of the boys who was caught in match-fixing comes from a village near Rawalpindi, where he lived in very basic conditions. Suddenly this boy becomes rich, he has two houses in Lahore, he is a glamour boy, he comes on television and the gap between rags to riches has been achieved. So he is a product of this environment; the environment of corruption!...I made sure Danish Kaneria stayed a Hindu. There was pressure from Inzamam; there is no doubt about it, but we are very proud of a Hindu playing for Pakistan!' Shaharyar Khan, former chairman of Pakistan's cricket board, in an exclusive and frank interview with Rediff.com's Manu Shankar.
The Pakistan captain said Tendulkar thoroughly deserves the honour of being the first to score 13,000 runs in one-dayers.\n\n
Nepal became the latest nation to join the One-day International (ODI) club, securing their 50-overs status for the first time at the ongoing ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
The Pakistan coach was concerned with the heavy overnight rain in Wellington that cleared on Tuesday morning but caused a delay.
"We seem to have trouble in icing the cake," said the NZ captain.
Pakistan leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has been ruled out of the rest of the one-day series against South Africa with a pulled stomach muscle.
Former leg-spin great, Abdul Qadir has advised flamboyant Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi to say goodbye to cricket and slammed Umar Akmal, saying he lost his place in the national team because of his own mistakes. Qadir, known for his candid comments, said at a function in Lahore that Afridi had aged and was no longer fit for top level cricket. "I don't think cricket is any longer the forte of Afridi and he should say goodbye," Qadir said. He also didn't mince any words on the exclusion of batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and his son-in-law Umar Akmal from the list of probables for the tour to England. "To me Shehzad is simply more of an actor than a cricketer while Umar Akmal has lost his place in the team because of his own mistakes," he added. Umar, who is married to Qadir's daughter, has in recent months been at the centre of controversies raising questions over his commitment to the game.
Yusuf Pathan became the first batsman in the Twenty20 history, and sixth overall, to be adjudged out for obstructing the field.
Pakistan were 301 for five at the close on the second day of the first Test.
Arthur described coaching the Pakistan team as a fulfilling period of his career.
Sri Lankan cricketers are to get fielding tips from the man who pretty much revolutionized the art after former South African player Jonty Rhodes agreed to a short stint with them.
"I stand by what I told the media earlier today. Mickey Arthur used first poor language and then abused me. Inzamam bhai (ul-Haq) and Mushtaq bhai (Ahmed) are both witness to this incident at the NCA," Umar told PTI on Wednesday.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers of the Pakistan team from cricket World Cups.
Former India batsman Lalchand Rajput has been appointed as the coach of Afghanistan cricket team. He replaces Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had stepped down in April this year and became the chief selector of Pakistan. Rajput has been recommended by the BCCI and has been preferred over former South African batting star Herschelle Gibbs and West Indies' Corey Collymore.
At a time when international sides have refused to tour Pakistan due to security concerns, the country's Cricket Board has invited a team of Australian presenters to conduct High Performance Level-three and Masters coaching courses this month.
As lobbying and counter-lobbying intensify, right now, it looks like a T20 match, discovers Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Former Pakistan captain and current team coach Inzamamul Haq has said that Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar should have announced his retirement after the Pak-India series.
Former Pakistan Test captain Inzamamul Haq has rated Pakistan as favourites to win the forthcoming limited-overs series against India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has instructed its national team players to send back their family members after suffering successive defeats in the Test series in South Africa.
Mani said the selectors and management had solid reasons for resting six regular players against Australia.
Sports psychologist Maqbool Babri will accompany the Pakistan cricket team on their tour of India this month for the first bilateral series between the two countries since 2007.
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria on Saturday accused Shahid Afridi of treating him unfairly all through his career and blamed him for a rather short limited overs career. Kaneria, only the second Hindu to play for Pakistan after his maternal uncle Anil Dalpat, took 261 wickets in 61 Tests at an average of 34.79. However, he only played 18 ODIs between 2000 and 2010.
The stars met up during a prayer meet in Mecca.
Gearing up for what promises to be a high-voltage limited-overs series against arch-foes Pakistan, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the toss will play a crucial role in the clashes as both teams are quite similar.
Pakistan's former captains Moin Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq have criticised Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for arguing with umpire Aleem Dar during the 2nd Test in the ongoing Test series against England, saying his behaviour was "unacceptable" and the ICC should have taken him to task.
Former India batsman V V S Laxman says India's recent success shows a captain is as good as his team and the presence of other finishers in the team has made lifer easier for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Statistical highlights of the fifth One-dayer between India and Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
Ireland lost their maiden Test match to Pakistan by five wickets on Tuesday, but went down fighting at Malahide in Dublin. Starting the day on 319 for seven with Kevin O'Brien resuming on 118, Ireland were only able to add 20 runs to their overnight total to set Pakistan a target of 160.
Waqar's attitude resulted in disharmony in team, says Razzaq.
Sarfaraz said that he was under no pressure as captain before the mega-event.
Pakistan have dropped out-of-sorts pace bowler Mohammad Amir from their 17-man squad for next month's two-Test series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates, with left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz earning a recall.
After 42 matches, including a tie, the wheat has been separated from the chaff and the organisers are already hailing what they claim is "potentially the greatest World Cup ever."
He joins an elite group of players who have made a century in their 100th Test -- the others being Colin Cowdrey, Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ricky Ponting (both innings) and Graeme Smith.
