Pakistan succumbed to their first ever Test defeat against Bangladesh on Sunday after fielding an attack, which did not contain a single frontline spinner.
This year's roster sees ten players each placed in Categories B, C, and D. Notably, no player has been selected for Category A in this cycle, the PCB said in a statement.
The Delhi police Special Cell has busted a terror module with links to Pakistan and arrested five suspected operatives after raids across multiple states, an official said on Thursday.
Pakistan's Kamran Akmal identified technical problems that are affecting Babar Azam's recent slump in form
Pakistan captain Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam have been dropped from the T20 squad for the upcoming five-match series in New Zealand.
The Champions Trophy 2025 final ignited a firestorm of controversy, with former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal leading the charge.
The Pakistan cricket team left for Dubai for the marquee Champions Trophy clash against arch-rivals India without opener Fakhar Zaman, who suffered an injury during the opening match against New Zealand in Karachi on February 19. The left-handed batter has been replaced by Imam-ul-Haq in Pakistan's squad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to investigate a case involving a UK-based Pakistani agent, Mughiz Ahmad Shearachiikh, who has been suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for breaching its anti-corruption code. Shearachiikh and his company, International Cricketers Association (ICA), had signed several centrally contracted Pakistani players last year.
Shaheen Afridi also missed the last two Tests against England in October.
Pakistan and Bangladesh will face off in a dead rubber match in the Champions Trophy on Thursday, both teams looking to salvage some pride after disappointing tournament performances. Both teams have suffered heavy defeats to New Zealand.
Pakistan have made four changes to the side for the second Test against England after resting senior cricketers including former captain Babar Azam from the rest of the series.
Former captain Babar Azam, pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah returned to the Pakistan team for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia.
Babar Azam was dropped on Sunday, while the pace duo Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah opted to withdraw from the remaining two Tests against England.
Spinners took 16 wickets on Sunday as Jomel Warrican's seven-wicket haul restricted Pakistan's second innings to 157, setting a target of 251 for West Indies, who failed to get a partnership going on the turn-heavy track.
Pakistan have dropped plans to conduct "major surgery" on the national team as it included senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh.
While India are on a high after a measured six-wicket win over a sprightly Bangladesh, Pakistan are evidently tense after the 60-run loss in the tournament-opener to New Zealand.
Experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal's scathing attack on the Pakistan team management could hurt his chances of making a comeback to international cricket.
The explosion ripped through the provincial capital Quetta's railway station as passengers gathered on the platform before the scheduled departure of the Jaffar Express to Peshawar.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday demoted premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to Category B from Category A, and did not offer central contracts to senior players Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed and Osama Mir for the 2024-25 season.
India's pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah's absence will certainly hurt India, but the team's quality batting and spin bowling make them title contenders alongside South Africa and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have taken into custody a former naval commando, who was court-martialled earlier, and two other persons for their alleged involvement in a terrorist attack on a naval airbase in Karachi that killed 10 security personnel.
Hasan Ali, who last played a Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in July, has picked up 77 wickets in 21 Tests.
Out-of-favour Pakistan cricketers Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik minced no words in making it clear that they are not happy with the treatment meted out to them.
Before the issuance of the proclamation orders, the court had issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against all five, he added.
The case pertains to hatching a conspiracy, both on physical as well as cyberspace, for undertaking violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, by cadres of Pakistan-based proscribed terrorist organisations.
The selectors also retained former captain and wicketkeeper, Sarfaraz Ahmed in the squad as a standby to vice-captain, Mohammad Rizwan.
The probe into last year's Pulwama terror strike that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead has virtually reached a dead end, with five persons, who were either conspirators or executers of the ghastly attack, being eliminated by security forces in various encounters. However, the case threw unique challenges for the National Investigation Agency, the anti-terror probe agency formed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes in 2008, as it there is no solid information about the perpetrators or the mastermind behind the attack.
Kamran Akmal, the leading run scorer in the Pakistan Super League, is left out of the 15-strong squad after scoring just 68 runs in three ODIs against the West Indies earlier this month.
Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the NIA, the official said.
Pakistan have recalled former captain Shahid Afridi for a one-day series in West Indies but senior players Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal have been dropped for poor displays in last month's Champions Trophy.
Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said Sarfraz Ahmed will replace off-colour Kamran Akmal as wicketkeeper in the Hobart Test against Australia.
The case posed unique challenges, such as a lot of evidence having blown to pieces in the suicide attack and seven accused being subsequently killed in encounters. However, the central agency used forensic tests including DNA profiling of the meagre evidence to breach the dead ends.
The NIA arrested Tariq Ahmed Shah and his daughter Insha Jan after investigation led to their house at Hakripora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, where a video was filmed by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar, who rammed an explosive-ridden car into the CRPF convoy. The video was released from Pakistan after the attack.
Pakistan is flying out Sarfraz Ahmed to India as a reinforcement for injured wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.
Pakistan national selectors have delayed announcement of the national squad for the Asia T20 and World T20 after some sterling performances in the ongoing Pakistan Super League in Dubai. A source told PTI that chief selector Haroon Rasheed had sent a 15-member squad to the chairman of the cricket board for final approval but then asked for some more time to revise the squad. "Haroon has held consultations with head coach Waqar Younis and captain Shahid Afridi over the selection of the squad and apparently the biggest issues are the selection of Ahmed Shehzad, Khurrum Manzoor, Kamran Akmal, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan, Rumman Raees and uncapped left arm spinners, Muhammad Nawaz and Muhammad Ashgar," a source said.
Safdar Nagori, one of the 38 convicts sentenced to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case by a Gujarat court on Friday, appeared remorseless after the sentencing for a terror act that killed 56 people, and was heard saying the Constitution does not mean anything to him.
Pakistani selectors are under pressure from skipper Misbah ul Haq to include glovesman Adnan Akmal and an extra pacer in the touring squad for the Test series in South Africa.
Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and his brothers Adnan and Umar have been axed from the Pakistan squad for the three-Test tour of South Africa beginning next month.
Former captain Younis Khan was recalled in Pakistan squad for the five-match ODI series against Australia starting January 22 in Brisbane.
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