Pakistan's stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez hit a fighting fifty to set up a comprehensive six-wicket victory against Australia in the second one-day international on Sunday that levelled the five-match series.
Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif won't be able to participate in the Twenty20 series against England in Dubai, as the UAE has refused to revoke a travel ban on him.
The PCB banned Shehzad for violating anti-doping regulations after he tested positive for a prohibited substance in May and his suspension was scheduled to end on November 10.
It has traditionally been a battle between India's batting and Pakistan's bowling whenever the arch-rivals have met on a cricket field and Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reckons the trend will continue in their World Twenty20 contest on Saturday. The Pakistan captain is looking to bank on his team's winning record against India the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pakistan have defeated India in all four matches that have played at the Eden Gardens. "We have good memories of the ground," Afridi said. "We have played well at this ground, we know the conditions and the pitch suits us as well." Pakistan were the last team to land in India, putting aside safety concerns that led to the switching of their match against India from Dharamsala to Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
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.
The most sought-after megastars of the current generation are primed to show their might against a bunch of enigmatic cricketers as India and Pakistan engage in an ICC T20 World Cup face-off, something that transcends the 22-yard strip.
A fit-again Muhammad Irfan returned to the Pakistan cricket squad announced on Friday.
Seasoned Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf questioned his continued omission from Pakistan's Twenty20 team after being left off a shortlist for next month's four-nation tournament in Toronto, Canada.
The road to the knockout stage for Sarfaraz Ahmed and his men is just an improbable mathematical calculation and that too provided Pakistan win the toss and bat first.
The opener was to have led the Indian domestic champions in the annual four-day Mohammad Nasser Trophy from Sept. 8 against hosts Karachi, winners of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last season.
Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum asked how the former Pakistan leg spinner was appointed assistant coach since he was blacklisted after the match-fixing scandal.
The duo have not been included in Pakistan's squad for the second ODI against the West Indies, despite being cleared of doping offences.
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.
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.
Both teams retained the eleven that played in the drawn third Test at St Kitts.
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.
Wasim Jaffer and VVS Laxman scored half-centuries in their return to the Indian team.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
Pakistan's Younis Khan will miss the third ODI against West Indies due to the death of his elder brother.
It was 15 minutes of total confusion as TV replays of Dhoni's catch were inconclusive.
Cricketing greats such as Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Akram and Inzamam ul Haq have picked India as the overwhelming favourites to win the World T20 title at home.
The Indian opener stayed off field for most part of the England innings due to back spasms
A couple of losses for hosts England has only brightened the 1992 winners' prospects of a semi-final berth.
Former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have expressed dismay over the national team's meek surrender in the Twenty20 series in New Zealand and said the crisis before the ICC World T20 in India was 'worrisome'.
'Very disappointed with the result. We all expect the Indian team to play better cricket #INDvAUS.'
'To me whole @zairawasim episode smells of sexual bias. Can someone say d same thing 2 @aamir_khan @BeingSalmanKhan @iamsrk?' tweeted Gambhir.
The Pakistan captain became the seventh player to appear in 300 one-day internationals.
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.
Here are the statistical highlights from the third day's play of the fifth and final cricket Test between India and England in Chennai.
Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame before the start of the first Twenty20 International between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City.
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.
Wasim Akram backs Babar Azam to take over Test captaincy, urges him to be assertive
Babar Azam scored an impressive hundred while Shoaib Malik smashed a quickfire half century to help Pakistan thump Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first one-day international in Dubai on Friday.
The 50-year-old Lara also gave his opinion as to what the team is required to do to become successful in the longest format of the game.
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.
Shoaib Akhtar has requested Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar to hold the All-Stars Cricket event in Pakistan as well.
