Ali rebutted reports that Prime Minister Imran Khan instructed the players to avoid celebrations in the match against India at Manchester.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has received an official reprimand for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his side's five-wicket win against Pakistan in their Asia Cup clash in Mirpur on Wednesday.
'At the end of the day, an India-Pakistan game has got more to do with pressure than anything else. The team that handles the 'P-factor' better on the day is more likely to win' 'Shoaib Malik is the danger man in the Pak squad'
Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz has heaped praise on Boxing Day Test centurion Azhar Ali, saying the opener is `one of the greatest batsmen` the country has ever produced. Azhar (unbeaten at 139) struck his 12th Test century and first Down Under besides sharing an unbeaten 115-run stand with Asad Shafiq (50) to guide Pakistan to 310-6 at the end of the rain-curtailed second day's play of the second match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday.
Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali shared an unbroken partnership of 132 to lift England to 414 for five and a lead of 311 runs over Pakistan on the fourth day of the third test at Edgbaston on Saturday. Bairstow was unbeaten on 82 and Moeen 60 not out at the close with England in a good position to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series if they can bowl out the touring side on the final day.
Pakistan dominated the first day of the opening Test after bowling out England for 184 and battling to 50 for one in overcast conditions at Lord's in London on Thursday.
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.
England fast bowler Stuart Broad has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee for publicly criticising an umpiring decision during the ongoing fourth Test against Pakistan, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Sunday.
The International Cricket Council asked Al Jazeera to share evidence that would help the governing body further investigate corruption in the sport after the news organisation aired a documentary on the matter last weekend.
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.
Match-fixing has become a major concern for the ICC in recent years.
West Indies' Roston Chase retired hurt as the hosts crawled to 218 for five against Pakistan in their first innings on day three of the third and final Test in Dominica on Friday.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who is a popular name among T20 leagues around the world, was not picked along Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga.
South Africa will need to knock off just 41 runs on Sunday to beat Pakistan in the second Test and take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-test series despite Pakistan providing gallant resistance on the third day at Newlands.
Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq has opened the door to a return for disgraced opener Salman Butt, who was jailed for 30 months in 2011 for his role in a spot-fixing scandal. The 31-year old Butt, 31 was suspended in the 2010 Lord's Test against England at Lord's along with fast-bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif for conspiring to deliberately bowl no balls during the match. However, Amir made a comeback to the international stage and also played in the recently concluded T20 World Cup for Pakistan. Having served a five-year ban, the former captain returned to domestic cricket at the start of the year and his early form indicates he's lost none of the ability that saw him score more than 5000 runs at international level between 2003 and 2010. The southpaw was in terrific form in Pakistan's domestic circuit scoring 135, 99no, 6, 30, 81no, 95 and 90 in the space of just 12 days in January.
Put into bat in a stop-start, rain-hit match, India posted a commanding 336-5, with Rohit Sharma (140) smashing his second century of the tournament.
Four-time champions India will back themselves to reach their third successive final at the U-19 World Cup when they face arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-finals, in Potchefstroom, on Tuesday. Both teams go into the last four clash unbeaten. While India beat Australia in the quarter-finals, Pakistan outplayed Afghanistan.
Their arrival itself was mired in drama and a mercurial Pakistan would look to bring the focus back on their cricket when they take on an enigmatic Bangladesh.
Virat's captaincy may have come of age in this competition.
Rain had the final word as the ICC Champions Trophy warm-up game between Australia and Pakistan was washed out after only 10.2 overs of play in Edgbaston on Monday.
Sunday's clash at Old Trafford is the most eagerly-anticipated of all the group-stage matches at this ICC men's cricket World Cup.
Pakistan's Yasir Shah claimed five wickets to put the breaks on England's scoring on Day 2 of the 1st Test at Lord's in London on Friday.
Sri Lanka's top cricket administrators say it is difficult to believe allegations of pitch-fixing in a 2016 Test match against Australia which have triggered a probe by the International Cricket Council.
Pakistan bowling came to the fore after Mohammad Hafeez's unbeaten fifty as they defeated World T20 defending champions Sri Lanka by 15 runs in their warmup match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. Hafeez struck an unbeaten 70 from 49 balls to help Pakistan post 157/5 before they restricted Sri Lanka for 142/9 in front of a cheering crowd of more than 10,000. Sri Lanka were wayward with their bowling especially in the death overs and bowled eight wide balls, including five from Dushmantha Chamara, further helping Pakistan's cause.
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been suspended for a year and fined 1 million rupees ($9,500,00) after failing to disclose two approaches made by bookmakers during this year's Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday.
Mohammad Aamir is part of the Pakistan family and will always have the support of his team mates as he prepares to return to Lord's six years after the scandal that derailed his career, fast bowler Wahab Riaz has said.
Pakistan, who briefly topped the Test rankings last year, have now lost six straight Tests, one to West Indies in Sharjah, two in New Zealand and three in Australia.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews blamed his butterfingered fielders for the three-wicket loss against Pakistan which ended their campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy in Cardiff on Monday.
India launched their campaign in the Champions Trophy with a resounding 124-run victory over Pakistan, in Birmingham on Sunday, extending their dominance over the arch-rivals in major International Cricket Council tournaments.
Pakistan recovered from a dreadful start, thanks to a century by Sarfraz Ahmed, to post a respectable total of 251 before Root and captain Eoin Morgan shared a third-wicket stand of 112 to lay the platform for the hosts to go 2-0 up in the series.
An inspired Pakistan hammered a blundering India by 180 runs to lift the ICC Champions Trophy, riding on a scintillating hundred from rookie opener Fakhar Zaman and a sensational bowling spell from Mohammad Amir.
England should have gambled on seamer James Anderson's fitness and included him in the squad for the first test against Pakistan at Lord's, paceman Stuart Broad has said. Anderson, England's most successful test bowler with 454 wickets, was left out of England's 12-man squad for the first match of the four-test series beginning on Thursday. In his absence, Toby Roland-Jones or Jake Ball will make a test debut at Lord's.
Tainted former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif says he wasn't the first nor would be the last to have indulged in spot-fixing and should have been treated better by the Pakistan Cricket Board, which gave "everyone a second chance" except for him. Asif was banned for seven years for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan's tour of England, where he bowled deliberate no balls for money. He also served jail time in the UK after being found guilty along with Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt.
West Indies and Bangladesh will play two Twenty20 matches in Florida in August, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Tuesday.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Aaqib Javed has said that Ashish Nehra is a short term solution to India's fast bowling problems.
The spot-fixing scandal happened in August 2010 during Pakistan's tour of England and then captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were banned by the ICC for their involvement.
Supremely confident of his pace attack, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Friday said his fast bowlers are capable of sending the Indian top-order packing in the first six overs itself when the two teams lock horns in the Asia Cup T20 group league match, in Fatullah on Saturday. "Pace bowlers are the main form of attack in these conditions. We have got four pacers and they are just cricketers who are considered to be wicket-taking. Our fast bowlers will try to utilise the opening six overs by removing their batsmen as that is considered to be their strength," Afridi said at the pre-match press conference. Afridi though acknowledged that Indian batsmen do play spinners very well. In the spin department, Afridi will be supported by left-arm spinner Muhammad Nawaz, who has done well in the recently concluded PSL. "Indian batsmen usually play spinners very well and they have in-form players in their squad as they have come here playing some good cricket. I think apart from me there is Mohammad Nawaz who performed really well in the domestic cricket as well as in the PSL. The fast bowlers are also in good shape whether it is Amir, Wahab or Irfan.
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was referring to Pakistan's victory against India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in England in 2017, when they claimed a crushing 180-run victory.
New Zealand pacemen Trent Boult and Grant Elliott shared seven wickets as the hosts bundled out Pakistan for 210 to win the first one-day international at the pacy Basin Reserve by 70 runs on Monday.
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