Flamboyant allrounder and former captain, Shahid Afridi believes that Pakistan cricket think-tank has erred by having too many expectations from out of favor batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal. "I don't know but it was wrong to expect them to be like Virat Kohli or Ab de Villiers and perform like them," Afridi said on Geo News channel on Monday. Shehzad and Umar considered to be two of the country's best young batting talent have been axed for the tour to England on disciplinary grounds and were not called for the training and skills camps set up by the cricket board. PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan made it clear that it was the decision of the new selection committee to sideline the two youngsters. Afridi said there was no doubt that Shehzad and Umar needed to work hard on their cricket and approach. "I also agree there should be no compromise on discipline. But I think it is best if we stop expecting too much from them and just let them be and let them play the way they do. With more experience I am sure they will be much better," he added.
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik feels the underdogs tag would help them do well in the ICC World T20, like it did when they ended up winning the 1992 World Cup and 2009 World T20. "It's good that we're underdogs and that gives you a lot of confidence at the same time. We are here to do well," Malik said at the open media session in Kolkata on Sunday. Drawing parallel with Imran Khan-led team's World Cup winning moment in Australia, the senior Pakistani cricketer said: "Let's talk about 1992 World Cup first. "People were not expecting us to do well and win it but we won that. Same thing happened in 2007 World T20 when we did well before losing to India in the final. In 2009, we were not that big as a team but still we won. The same is the case going into this edition."
Having made his Test debut on November 15, 1989, Sachin Tendulkar went on to dominate the cricketing world in the next two deacdes, etched his name repeatedly in the record books and left behind a lasting legacy.
The 28-year-old left-arm pacer made the surprise announcement in a video interview released by Pakistani website Khel-Shel.
'There's so much in favour of batsmen these days. Fields are small, two new balls, powerplays, bats have got bigger than they used to be, the list can go on. You bowl a 'no ball' and it's a free hit. But I have never seen a rule change that favours the bowler.'
Australia will have to win both Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to go one point clear of South Africa, who displaced them at the top in July, but there is still little clarity about the side who would walk out for the first match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
'At the end of the day, an India-Pakistan game has got more to do with pressure than anything else. The team that handles the 'P-factor' better on the day is more likely to win' 'Shoaib Malik is the danger man in the Pak squad'
'I felt Test cricket is just beyond my reach.' 'And slowly, slowly, I started doing well.' 'In the second Test against Pakistan, I scored a fifty and when we went to Sialkot I played a series-saving innings, which was a game changer for me.' 'At that stage that was the most important innings of my life.'
Following badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei's provisional ban, Rediff.com brings you ten top sports persons who gave in to drugs - one of the mighty perils that has affected modern sporting culture.
The trouble-prone Pakistan cricket team dressing room was once again witness to some drama and it took PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan's intervention to diffuse the controversy generated by Misbah-ul-Haq's decision to rest from the third ODI against Australia.
As Ashwin plays his 50th Test, Rajneesh Gupta gives us the offie's awesome numbers.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the Indore Test.
The former Pakistan captain said he had enjoyed the most playing his cricket in India.
Kagiso Rabada considers himself 'blessed' to have been a part of the 'Born-Free generation' with parents, who endured tough times to create a level-playing field for him.
Australia enter their World Cup quarter-final as runaway favourites against Pakistan in Adelaide on Friday, but will be wary of an enigmatic team that have proved a major thorn in their side at past tournaments.
Sachin Tendulkar has tipped defending champions India to make it to the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup which begins in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday.
Pakistan can break World Cup jinx against underperforming India, believes former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas.
Pakistani fast-bowling legend Waqar Younis has said that the South African pacer Dale Steyn is one of the best in the world he has seen in past two to three decades.
Organisers are confident West Indies will take part at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand early next year despite the crisis caused by their withdrawal from the tour of India earlier this month.
He became the second-fastest cricketer in the world to reach 200 Test wickets but Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin says the thought of creating records never crossed his mind since he is 'happy competing with himself'.
A cricketing rivalry that transcends beyond the realms of 22-yards will be reignited when India and Pakistan square off in a World Cup encounter that could have fascinating sub-plots with rain gods threatening an anti-climactic twist.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers of the Pakistan team from cricket World Cups.
Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi will be replaced as Pakistan's T20 captain after the World T20 in India, PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan announced on Monday, while hinting his days as a player were also numbered. PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters in Lahore on his return from Kolkata on Monday that the board and Afridi had a understanding that he would retire after the World Cup. "He is captain till the World Cup under this understanding and he has said he will retire after the event. Even if he changes his mind and wants to carry on we will have to see whether he can be picked as a player or not," Khan said.
Images from Day 5 of the fourth Test between England and India, at The Oval, on Sunday.
Plagued by injuries over the last couple of years, veteran South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn is aiming to retire from limited overs cricket after the 2019 World Cup in England.
'When you looked at him even at that age, you could make out he was special.'
Pakistan look to get their so far lacklustre World Cup campaign going with a win over Zimbabwe.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
In Martin Crowe's death, cricket has lost one of its most iconic figures in recent memory, says Shakya Mitra.
'Six of us were not talking during the World T20 in 2009 but we still managed to win the title.'
The World Cup quarter-final at the Adelaide Oval looked set for a tame ending after Australia shot out Pakistan for a meagre 213. Paceman Wahab, however, sparked the match into life with two wickets and an enthralling duel with Shane Watson.
Factbox on the third World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
'It is easy to criticise the fast bowlers, but do they have the support they need to grow as bowlers? No!'
With barely four months to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup in the Australian continent, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels Virat Kohli's batting success will decide India's success at the sporting extravaganza.
Banned Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal vowed to correct his illegal bowling action and return to cricket before next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The International Cricket Council might have confirmed that the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir can return to cricket after the expire of their bans, but a divided house seems to have emerged in Pakistani cricket.
Imran Khan will always be first and foremost the enigmatic 'Kaptaan', who pulled off the impossible -- transform an immensely talented but fractious bunch of cricketers into world beaters.
Australia's 111-ball 60 against England in the fourth Ashes Test is the shortest all-out first innings ever in Test cricket history. Rajneesh Gupta presents other such shocking collapses on the first day of a Test in recent times.
When the defending champion India take on Pakistan in their potentially high-octane campaign opener of the ICC Cricket World Cup on February 15 at the Adelaide Oval, the awe-inspiring Sachin Tendulkar would be conspicuously absent for the first time in a match between the two arch-rivals in the showpiece event.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged his 18th five-wicket haul as India dominated the first day of the second test against West Indies in Jamaica on Saturday.
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