Shoaib Akhtar lambasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for bringing in 'average players'
The central contracts stand-off between Pakistan Cricket Board and top national players ended on Wednesday.
Opener Aiden Markram made a return to form as he scored 78 to help South Africa into a strong position on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan at Newlands on Thursday.
The Pakistan team's over-dependency on their opening stand came back to haunt them as Zimbabwe defeated them in a low-scoring thriller by one run to clinch their first Super-12 win of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Thursday at the Perth Stadium.
Thousands of fans from both countries have crisscrossed the globe to watch their team in action and trust rival captains Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam to tell you this is another 'match' for them, but all the 22 players and reserves know that this is 'The Match'.
The source also said that the board felt Babar would be better off just captaining the white-ball squads and that the Test captaincy should be given to someone else, preferably Shan Masood or Mohammad Rizwan.
Pakistan retained under-fire skipper Misbah-ul Haq and out-of-form Muhammad Hafeez, but dropped tall left-arm pacer Muhammad Irfan from the 28-man probables' list for the two-Test series against South Africa.
Opener Azhar Ali was unbeaten on 85 as Pakistan crawled to 169 for two on a rain-affected first day of the series-deciding third Test against West Indies in Dominica on Wednesday.
England were 7-1 at stumps with Ben Duckett (4) and Ollie Pope (3) batting together
A well-informed source close to Shaheen said that the bowler was upset that not even once the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi or the national selectors have spoken to him about their future plans as far as the captaincy or appointment of coaches is concerned.
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam finally found their scoring touch with half centuries in a 105-run stand to lay the foundation for victory.
Sealing their second T20 World Cup, England are now the first nation to hold both global white-ball trophies, having won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019.
Given the relative paucity of cricket this year, Test cricket has emerged as a healer for deprived fans, notes Dhruv Munjal.
On the ropes at 43-4 early in their innings, Pakistan rallied behind spectacular half centuries from Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan to post 185 for nine and delight the lively crowd of 30,000 roaring them on at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The selectors have also put Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Musa Khan and Mohammad Nawaz on standby to cover for any player who fails pre-tour COVID-19 Testing scheduled later this month.
Hayden believes that the team's performance would improve by the time they travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Stokes brought his first half-century in T20I cricket with a four in 47 balls while levelling the scores. He (unbeaten at 52* off 49 balls) then brought up the winning runs, with Liam Livingstone at 1* and England finished the innings at 138/5 in 19 overs.
Younis Khan scored an epic unbeaten 171 to guide Pakistan to their highest successful run chase and a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third Test in Pallekele on Tuesday. It enabled the tourists clinch the three-match series by a 2-1 margin.
Following in the footsteps of openers Abid Ali and Shan Masood, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam smashed centuries before Pakistan declared their second innings on 555-3.
David Warner scored a sparkling, unbeaten triple hundred after before being reprieved by another no-ball as Australia declared their first innings closed at 589 for three before the dinner-break on Day 4 of the second Test against Pakistan, at the Adelaide Oval, on Saturday.
Azhar was named Test captain this month in place of Sarfaraz Ahmed whose spot as wicketkeeper has been taken by Mohammad Rizwan.
Babar Azam scored his 18th century as Pakistan trounced New Zealand by 102 runs in the fourth One-Day International at the National stadium in Karachi on Friday. His 107 off 117 balls fired Pakistan to 334 for 6. In reply, New Zealand were shot out for 232 all out, their lowest total of the series.
Six of the 10 Pakistan cricketers bound for England who tested positive for COVID-19 have now registered negative results on re-testing, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday. Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, however, must return a second negative result before they can join the main squad of 20 players who will leave for England on Sunday.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 3rd Test played between England and Pakistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Monday.
If divine intervention in 1992 was the heavens opening up against England in their do-or-die game, even the best bookies couldn't have predicted that the Netherlands would beat South Africa in 2022. A handful of them must have made a killing.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Adelaide on Sunday.
Rain and bad light did not allow full play on any of the previous four days since Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat but Pakistan's Abid became the only male cricketer to hit a century on his debut in both the Test and ODIs.
South Africa need seven more wickets to win the third Test at the Wanderers and sweep the series after Pakistan were 153 for three wickets at the close of play on Sunday, still 228 runs short of a daunting winning target.
Images from the opening day of the third and final Test between England and Pakistan in Southampton, on Friday.
In the bowling department, pacer Mohammad Abbas (13th) and experienced leg-spinner Yasir Shah (24th), who have in the past, been ranked third and first, respectively, and left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi (32nd) are other Pakistan players to watch.
Batsman Fawad Alam, who was also named in the 20-member squad along with two specialist spinners could make a comeback to Pakistan's Test team after 11 years.
The win also pushed the Black Caps firmly into contention for one of two berths in June's inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's.
'For me, I've played against Kane when I was about 14-years-old and now to be playing Test cricket with him as well. He's a very special player and probably will easily go down as New Zealand's greatest.'
"I really love the game, but most importantly, I want to win another World Cup for Australia."
Fast bowler Jake Ball hoped that his performance on his Test debut against Pakistan would help silence those critics who questioned his inclusion in the team.
Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler shared a record partnership and James Anderson grabbed three wickets to put England in total control at the close on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday. Images from Day 2 of the third and final Test.
Sri Lanka ended the day at the score of 64/3, still trailing the hosts by 127 runs.
Vernon Philander took two wickets in as many balls to leave Pakistan on 17 for two wickets at the end of the first day of the third Test after they had rallied earlier on Friday and bowled hosts South Africa out for 262.
'He is a really exciting talent and probably the guy I am looking forward to seeing the most this summer. I have seen the Aussies a lot and I have seen a lot of the Kiwis, but I am really excited to see him'
