Pakistan smashed their third highest One-day total of 364 in a crushing 147-run win over New Zealand to move 2-1 up in the five-match series on Sunday.
India and Pakistan meet in their opening World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Ahead of what promises to be a thrilling contest here's a fact-file on the teams.
Pakistan ended their tour of Sri Lanka with a dramatic one-wicket victory in the second Twenty20 on Saturday to complete a 2-0 series win, having also triumphed in the Test and ODI encounters.
Pakistan's wily spinners gave a masterclass in slow bowling to bamboozle South Africa's batting line-up and lead their side to a 66-run victory in the second one-day international in the United Arab Emirates on Friday.
Pakistan's legendary cricketer Imran Khan has stressed the need for his country's side to play ' correct combination' to succeed while maintaining that the nation has 'enough talent'.
Sri Lanka's late order batsmen held their nerve to beat Pakistan by two wickets and level the series in a match in which fortunes swung from one side to another in Dubai.
The Pakistan men's cricket team arrived in Kolkata on Saturday evening for the ICC World Twenty20 after high drama over the last few days.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
India's young fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has added his name to the record books after capturing the most T20 International wickets in a calendar year. Bumrah, who only made his T20I debut in January against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, has taken 28 wickets for India in the game's shortest format from 21 matches.
Veteran Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has declined Pakistan Cricket Board's offer of a 'fitting send-off', saying he still has a lot to contribute to the game and his country. A tweet from PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi over the weekend raised speculation that Ajmal and fellow veteran Shahid Afridi were set to announce their retirement from the international game.
Following the development, PCB managing director Wasim Khan said that they are extremely disappointed with the recent turn of events and 'asserted that sports and politics should be kept separate'.
Bhajji, Afridi among 8 ambassadors for ICC Champions Trophy
As we head to the head to the business end of the tournament, that involves three former champions, a look at the players who flattered to deceive, faltering under the weight of expectations, hurting their respective teams.
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.
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.
Australia knocked Pakistan out of the ICC World Twenty20 with a convincing 21-run victory, setting up a virtual quarter-final against hosts India to be played in Mohali on Sunday.
Opener Ahmed Shehzad struck 70 from 50 deliveries to help Pakistan cruise to a 25-run victory over Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 international played at Harare Sports Club on Friday.
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.
World cricket's most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammad Aamir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Saturday.
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.
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.
Saeed Ajmal said he was heart-broken after the third umpire ruled Tendulkar not out. Tendulkar, who made crucial 85 runs in the semifinal at Mohali, was on 23 when Gould ruled him out LBW off Ajmal. But third umpire Billy Bowden, after a review, overturned the decision.
Pakistan have axed senior batsman Younis Khan for next month's One-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates as they announced their ODI and Twenty20 squads on Wednesday.
She displayed an all-round performance enabling Australia to register a seven wicket-win over England in the second T20I in Brighton, England, on Sunday.
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been rested from the team's short limited-overs tour to South Africa this month to prevent the risk of aggravating a hip injury, the country's cricket board said on Saturday.
Shakib Al Hasan's fine all-round showing powered Bangladesh to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Friday, their first Twenty20 international win over their Asian rivals.
A New Zealand-based website begged to differ and have released the worst team of the just concluded cricket World Cup, with Eoin Morgan as the captain of the underachieving players.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has turned down the Afghanistan Cricket Board's request to host its
Afghanistan's participation in next month's T20 World Cup is becoming a matter of intrigue after Taliban's takeover of the strife-torn country.
The students in Lucknow's Vedic Pathshala chanted special hymns and prayed for the Indian team's victory. The kids appeared quite excited as they have been given special permission to watch on Saturday's match.
India fast bowler Mohammed Shami replaced an indisposed Hardik Pandya in the ICC World XI squad for the T20 International against the West Indies at Lord's in London, on May 31.
Kane Williamson's assured unbeaten 70 guided New Zealand to a comfortable four-wicket win over Pakistan in the second One-Day International in Sharjah on Friday to level the series at 1-1.
Akhtar has often advised Pakistan's management to take cue from Indian management.
Left dismayed by the terror strike in Peshawar which left 132 children dead, Pakistan's cricket team is planning to visit the attacked Army school and pay its tributes.
In T20 cricket Gayle, perhaps, holds the same place that Don Bradman has in Test cricket.
Kamran Akmal voiced his unhappiness at being kept out of the national team despite good performances in domestic cricket.
10 all-rounders who may leave a mark on the World T20.
Former captain Mashrafe Mortaza and two other Bangladesh cricketers, Nazmul Islam and Nafees Iqbal have tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus. The 36-year-old Mortaza was reportedly unwell for the last couple of days and tested positive for the contagious disease on Saturday. He is currently in self-isolation at his residence in Dhaka.
Sporting stars joined the country in mourning the demise of iconic actor Dilip Kumar
Talented wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal notched up a breezy century under pressure before the bowlers came to the party and guided Pakistan to a bonus-point 72-run victory over Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.
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