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.
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.
Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes produced a record 273-run partnership in an unbroken opening stand to help Bangladesh whittle down Pakistan's huge lead to 23 runs at the close of the penultimate day of the opening Test at Khulna on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's maiden 10-wicket match haul against England in Chennai has propelled him to second position behind teammate and India's star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC Test bowler rankings released on Wednesday.
Pakistan side put its World Cup campaign back on track with an upset 29-run win via Duckworth/Lewis method over South Africa
Sri Lanka off-spinner Tharindu Kaushal scythed through Pakistan's batting order to pick up his first five-wicket haul as the visitors were bundled out for 138 on the opening day of the second test on Thursday.
The PCB chairman Shahryar Khan has expressed disappointment over BCCI's lukewarm response to the resumption of the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Muhammad Hafeez led from the front with a blazing 67 as Lahore Lions trounced Sri Lanka's Southern Express by 55 runs in their penultimate Oppo Champions League Twenty20 qualifier, in Raipur on Tuesday, to keep alive their chances of making the main draw of the tournament.
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.
The vagaries of the World Cup draw may have helped Pakistan rediscover their swagger at just the right time to push them to the brink of a quarter-final, according to captain Misbah ul-Haq.
Images from Pakistan's 129-run victory over the UAE in Wednesday's World Cup Group B match in Napier.
The 2015 World Cup so far has been treat for batsmen and spectators alike. Big scores have become synonymous with this edition of the mega event. So, while some shots sailed over the boundary line, others were opportunities, disguised as catches for fielders. Fielders had to lunge, go full stretch and focus to pocket those catches. Rediff.com presents you a chance to treat your eyes to those beautiful catches that made for plain, super cricket moments.
Opening the bowling for Pakistan in a World Cup match with India is enough to get any paceman excited. For Sohail Khan, playing his first international since September 2011, that excitement briefly got the better of him on Sunday.
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.
Images from Wednesday's World Cup mach between Australia and Pakistan, at The County Ground, in Taunton.
England Test skipper Alastair Cook believes his batsmen are well-prepared to deal with Pakistan's fiery attack next month after getting plenty of practice in the middle against a weakened Sri Lanka side.
Lahore Lions skipper Mohammad Hafeez feels his bowlers set the stage for victory over Mumbai Indians in their first qualifier of the Champions League T20 tournament, by restricting the opponents to a low score.
With both teams virtually out of the semi-final race, South Africa and Pakistan will be battling it out for a consolation win in their World Cup match at Lord's.
A responsible half-century from captain Angelo Mathews and some big hitting by Thisara Perera set up a comprehensive 77-run win for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in the second ODI on Tuesday and helped the hosts level the series at 1-1.
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.
A 27-member Pakistan cricket contingent left for India to take part in the Twenty20 World Cup, finally ending days of uncertainty over their participation in the mega event. The team will be reaching Kolkata via Abu Dhabi. The Pakistan squad including 15 players, 12 officials and support staff reached the Allama Iqbal international airport amidst tight security and boarded a flight hours after the Pakistan government finally gave the PCB the green signal to fly to India to take part in the ICC event. Due to a long stay in Abu Dhabi the squad will reach Kolkata later this evening. Head coach Waqar Younis, before departing for India, left a message on his Twitter account calling for unity in the team. "Come on together we can do it," he tweeted a message aimed at motivating the players. He told the media that though the departure of the team for India had been hit by uncertainty and security issues, the focus of the players now would only be on cricket and doing well in the world event.
Images from Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan in Sydney, on Friday.
Captain Steve Smith raised a composed century to push Australia to a 22-run first innings lead in the second Test against Pakistan but the home side's hopes of pushing their advantage were washed away by rain on day four on Thursday.
Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, on Monday, criticised the national selectors for resting six senior players, including skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, saying a good outing would have boosted their confidence ahead of the World Cup.
Joe Root's unbeaten half-century helped stuttering England reach 182 for three at the close on the second day of the second Test on Friday after Pakistan's seam and spin attack ran through the tourists' top order.
Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav's "mature performance" in the ongoing cricket World Cup, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels the duo are on the path to become "world-class" bowlers and have been the key to India's success in the tournament.
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur says his team is calm ahead of the big match against arch-rivals India and says he will field a wicket-taking attack on Sunday
MS Dhoni knows how to win World Cups and that goes quite a long way.
Statistical highlights of the cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan.
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.
After registering a win against Dolphins in the last encounter, Pakistan champions Lahore Lions will go a for the kill to qualify for the semi-final when they lock horns against a formidable Perth Scorchers in the Oppo Champions League T20 in Bangalore.
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.
Languishing at the bottom of ICC ODI team ranking, Pakistan have set sight on direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup when they take on the in-form reigning world champions and number-one ranked Australia in a five-ODI series starting in Brisbane on Friday.
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.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, in Brisbane, on Thursday.
Sudhir Mishra's espionage-thriller Tanaav is a decent one-time watch, observes Namrata Thakker. Tanaav Review
Images from Sunday's World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa, at Lord's.
Babar Azam hit his maiden century while spinner Mohammad Nawaz grabbed four wickets as Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by 111 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method in the first day-night international on Friday. Azam's rapid-fire 139-ball 120 helped Pakistan post a challenging 284-9 in a match reduced to 49 overs a side due to a 70-minute floodlight failure at Sharjah Stadium in the UAE. West Indies -- set 287 to win -- never got close and folded at 175 in 38.4 overs.
In the normal circumstances, Raina, who last played for India in 2018, would be playing in the IPL but instead he is enjoying cooking for his family.
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.
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