Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar says he is he is not the least bit surprised by Pakistan's poor run in the ongoing World T20 Championship.
Scathing in its criticism after Pakistan's loss to India in a World Twenty20 match, the media here came down heavily on national coach Waqar Younis and skipper Shahid Afridi for their "faulty gameplan" and team selection. In a low-scoring rain-curtailed 18-over-a-side showdown t the hallowed Eden Gardens last night, India first restricted Pakistan to 118 for five and then overhauled the target in 15.5 overs on a turning track. With a moisture-laden pitch on offer following rains, Pakistan went by their strength and included four seamers in the playing eleven, leaving out left-arm spinner Imad Wasim. But the plan backfired as, to the surprise of all and sundry, the wicket turned from the first over itself. In a sarcastic article, the 'Express Tribune' newspaper criticised the Pakistan team's tactics and questioned the logic behind including four seamers on a turning wicket.
The former Pakistan captain and pace ace suggested either Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis or Aquib Javed for the job.
Pakistan Cricket Board Shaharyar Khan has made it clear Misbah-ul-Haq will lead Pakistan in the World Cup 2015.
Waqar Younis has hit out at his batsmen for failing to accelerate.
Wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed was, on Tuesday, named captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 team, replacing Shahid Afridi who resigned from the position after the side's dismal World Twenty20 campaign.
Pakistan's cricket board (PCB) have backed struggling Test and one-day skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to lead the team at next year's World Cup but have considered potential replacements should he decide to stand down from his role as captain.
The fastest man on earth Usain Bolt arrived at Bangalore International Airport to make his date with India on Tuesday as he features in a friendly cricket match with India's star players Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.
"He (Sarfaraz) has shown himself to be a fine captain and yes he was struggling a bit for form but when a senior player is under pressure you have to encourage and back him, not dump him like this".
Yashasvi Jaiswal batted like a man among boys while Kartik Tyagi reminded Pakistan of Waqar Younis's toe-crushing yorkers as defending champions India walloped their arch-rivals by 10 wickets to enter their seventh ICC Under-19 World Cup final, in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Tuesday. Images from the Under-19 World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Tuesday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board and coach Waqar Younis indicated that disgraced left-arm pacer Muhammad Aamir would soon be given a chance to play for the national team again. PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan told the media in Lahore that the Board was considering giving a comeback chance to Aamir, who served a five-year ban for spot-fixing which expired last September.
It rejected the bail plea of the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack in an abduction case
Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has had to apologise to the national team's coach Dav Whatmore over seemingly innocuous remarks the player made in a television interview about having a foreign-born coach.
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.
Pakistan cricket on Monday plunged into crisis as the Islamabad High Court, which had restored Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, declared in its detailed judgement all decisions taken by the Najam Sethi-led management committee since February as "null and void".
The Management Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board appointed former wicketkeeper Moin Khan as head coach of the national team for the upcoming Asia Cup and World T20 Cup tournaments in Bangladesh, ignoring former Test captain Waqar Younis for the top job.
The witness, Bhalol Khan, recorded his statement in the anti-terrorism court (Islamabad), which is holding the trial of seven Mumbai attack accused, including LeT operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.
Pakistan were granted an extra review option after being robbed of a wicket due to an apparent error by TV umpire Paul Reiffel during the second Test in Colombo.
Coach Misbah-ul-Haq and his fellow selectors have been criticised by Pakistan media for placing too much expectation on such young shoulders, particularly against an ascendant team that thrives on home pitches.
Experienced Pakistan players Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Sami received surprise call-ups to the national side for the two T20 matches against the touring Zimbabwe team after spending close to three years in the wilderness.
Pakistan show rare consistency to scale T20 summit
Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who has been remanded to police custody in an abduction case, on Wednesday challenged his detention on charges of kidnapping in a Pakistani court.
Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq, who is often blamed for his slow approach to game, showed that he can be an attacking skipper when situation demands. In the crucial game against South Africa, the 40-year-old was seen adopting a carefree approach, which helped the sub-continent nation stun the one of the pre-tournament favourites by 29 runs.
Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal will miss the first Twenty20 against New Zealand on January 15 after being slapped with a one-match ban for violating the ICC's dress code during a domestic game.
'The physio told me I might have a problem walking in the future because of the back injury and that I need to stop playing cricket.' 'But I was very keen that I kept playing.' 'I told him just get me pain free and I will make a comeback.' 'And I did exactly that.'
'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.'
Gazan youth to become part of a group called the "Vanguard of Liberation".
Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis, on Sunday, refused to step down from his position despite being in the line of fire for the team's disastrous World Twenty20 campaign, saying that he will not go out as a 'villain'.
With MS Dhoni opting out of the tournament, Virat Kohli will lead Team India as they attempt to regain the title they last won in 2010. Here're the statistical highlights pertaining to the tournament.
Sanjay Manjrekar hailed the trend of bowlers emerging as game-changers for India but stressed that the country needs a bowling superstar to inspire young generation.
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.
Sri Lanka took the upper hand after the third day of the opening Test at Galle on Friday, reducing Pakistan to 118-5 after Kaushal Silva's second Test century took the hosts to 300 in their first innings.
'I fulfilled the promise that I made to myself -- getting Kohli's wicket!'
Pakistan's chief selector Moin Khan returned home from Australia on Thursday and escaped an embarrassing situation at the airport, where a small group of protesters gathered to vent their anger with eggs and banners.
England's James Anderson is the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets.
The best they can do, in the event they defeat Australia and line up for the semi-final in Sydney, is summon spinner Saeed Ajmal.
Aaqib Javed-coached United Arab Emirates take on Waqar Younis-tutored Pakistan at the picturesque McLean Park in Napier at the ongoing ICC World Cup.
Mahinder Pal Singh has become the first Sikh cricketer to be selected in Pakistan's National Cricket Academy after he was picked for a fast bowlers' camp, being organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The 21-year old Mahinder was selected at an emerging player camp, organised by PCB in Multan in November. "It was a proud moment for me to be selected for the camp," Pal, who hails from the tribal region of Pakistan but lives in Nankana Sahib outside Lahore, told PTI. The eldest among five siblings, Pal is the first member of his community to be recognised at this level.
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.
Devoid of any international cricket since the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi is hopeful of an international series in Lahore later this year.
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