New Zealand may be on a roll having notched up two big wins in the ICC World Twenty20 but coach Mike Hesson today sought to downplay the hype surrounding his team, saying Tuesday's match against Pakistan will be a challenge because of their unpredictability and pace attack. Victories against favourites India and Australia notwithstanding, Hesson said they guarantee nothing. "We don't think too far ahead of ourselves, we had a couple of good games of cricket against some good sides, I think we have played pretty well, but it doesn't guarantee that you are going to play well next time. It's important we train well today and prepare as best we can," Hesson said addressing a press conference on the eve of the match. Asked if he thinks Pakistan are an unpredictable side, the coach replied in affirmative. "Yes, they are unpredictable, but very skillful."
Australia broke Pakistan's dangerous third-wicket partnership to reduce the tourists to 177 for three, still 361 runs in arrears, at tea on a rain-disrupted third day of the third and final Test on Thursday. - Scorecard: Opener Azhar Ali was the batsman to fall for 71, leaving elder statesmen Younus Khan, who is inching towards his 34th Test century on 84 not out, and Misbah-ul-Haq, who has made 18, to resume for the extended final session.
The India captain dropped three points despite a first innings score of 82 in the third Test in Melbourne, but still enjoys a 34-point lead over Kane Williamson.
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.
Beijing's political risks are also escalating because of a renewed wave of public anger in many parts of Balochistan against human rights abuses by Pakistani troops deployed to crush the low-intensity insurgency in the province, the report said.
The former India fast bowler claimed that Delhi Police 'continuously tortured' him in custody to extract confession of his involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players of World Cup 2019.
The prosecution complaint, ED's equivalent to chargesheet, has urged the court for confiscating attached assets totalling to Rs 1.22 crore in the case, besides other punishment under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Jofra Archer would have walked out of the West Indies dressing room on Friday wearing burgundy not light blue. That he did not can be traced back to the day he was left out of the West Indies squad for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup despite having already shone for the age-group side.
Family members of those convicted alleged that an attempt has been made by the BJP to polarise the UP Assembly elections and questioned the timing of the judgment.
New leads into the Mumbai terror attacks have revealed that the two bombs that went off at Vile Parle and Wadi Bandar were planted by slain terrorist Ismail Khan and his associate Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman, who is in police custody.
Cricketing legends Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and Sourav Ganguly have heaped praise on Virat Kohli with one comparing India's batting mainstay to tennis great John McEnroe and another saying that his value in the team is more than his teammates.
'Our fielding was not up to the mark as seen in previous matches. It was such kind of performance where we were hoping for a breakthrough rather than making things happen. The runs given in the middle overs were too much'
Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.
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.
Tainted former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik on Wednesday pleaded with the Pakistan Cricket Board to drop his life ban for match-fixing and help fulfil his goal to take up coaching assignments. The 57-year-old Malik was found guilty of match-fixing following a judicial inquiry in 2000 in a scandal that rocked the cricket world.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players at World Cup 2019.
Top militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, one of them an accused in the Delhi high court bomb blast, were killed and another arrested in a fierce encounter in the Kishtwar district of Jammu region on Monday.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
Pakistan's Azhar Ali and Younus Khan forged a 120-run partnership to stall a rampant Australia on day two of the third and final Test in Sydney on Wednesday after a Peter Handscomb century had helped drive the hosts to 538 for eight declared.
David Warner hit a record century inside one session and his fellow opener Matt Renshaw a maiden hundred over three as Australia reached 365 for three at close of play on the opening day of the third Test against Pakistan on Tuesday.
Timeline of the spot-fixing scandal that led to the conviction of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif in the Southwark Crown Court in London on Tuesday.
Teen sensation Rashid Khan and fellow spinners Mujeeb ur Rahman, Zahir Khan and Hamza Hotak have been named in the 16-member Afghanistan squad for the inaugural one-off Test match against India, starting in Bengaluru, from June 14.
The veteran actor performs Dastangoi: The Adventures of Amir Hamza at the Asia Society New York on Monday.
The on-going tussle between the executive and the judiciary in Pakistan is expected to take a new twist with the Pakistan government proposing to amend the constituion and simplify the procedure to oust Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Amir Mir reports
The ruling by Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to disqualify Yousaf Raza Gilani as prime minister has sent the Asif Ali Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party government into a deep political crisis. Amir Mir reports from Islamabad
The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday the documentary will allege spot-fixers bribed the groundsman at Galle to doctor the pitch used for the 2016 second Test between hosts Sri Lanka and Australia.
Pakistan showed yet again on Monday why it's always a good idea to predict the unpredictable when it comes to their cricketing fortunes. As far as the early stages of their ICC Men's World Cup 2019 campaign are concerned, it has been a case of well beaten one minute, dynamic the next for Sarfaraz Ahmed's team.
He was the heroic chief justice who refused to bow down to the all-powerful Gen Pervez Musharraf. But today, as his son is embroiled in a scam, the halo over Pakistan's Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has slipped, reports Amir Mir
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.
Interior ministry officials in Islamabad say that to act against Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the government needs actionable evidence. It has also said that a respectable Pakistani national can't be prosecuted on the basis of hearsay and that too just to please India. Amir Mir reports
As many as 174 members voted in favour of the motion in the 342-member House while members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were absent during the voting.
Rohit Sharma produced an elegant hundred before Kuldeep Yadav flummoxed the Pakistani batsmen as India inflicted a humiliating 89-run defeat via the Duckworth-Lewis method on their arch-rivals.
Players security beefed up after lynching incident in Pakistan
Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund is appointed as Prime Minister with two deputies Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Molavi Abdul Salam Hanafi.
Statistical highlights of the first ODI match between India and New Zealand, in Dharamsala, on Sunday.
The Indian opener tops the Champions Trophy MVP table. But Hasan Ali, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren't too far behind, note Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
Here are the top 10 images from the big news that shook the world in the previous week.
Maxwell closer to return, trains with Victoria
The Delhi Police's Special Cell on Tuesday busted a Pakistan-organised terror module with the arrest of six men, including two ISI trained terrorists.
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