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Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars to kick off PSL 2025 on April 11; final on May 18

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 08:19:04 +0000

The tenth season of the six-team Pakistan Super League (PSL) will begin on April 11 with a fixture between defending champions Islamabad United and two-time champions Lahore Qalandars in Rawalpindi. The matches – 34 in total – will be played across Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan and Lahore, with the playoffs slotted for Rawalpindi (May 13) and Lahore (May 14 and 16) and the final also in Lahore on May 18.

The refurbished Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host the most matches, 13, including two of the playoff fixtures and the final, while Rawalpindi will host 11, including the opener and the first qualifier, and Karachi and Multan will host five matches each. There will be a total of three double-headers: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi and Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans in Karachi on April 12; Sultans vs Kings in Multan and Qalandars vs Gladiators on May 1; Sultans vs Gladiators in Multan and United vs Kings in Rawalpindi on May 10.

“We are thrilled to officially announce the schedule for the historic 10th edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League,” PSL chief executive Salman Naseer said in a PC statement. “Over the past decade, the HBL PSL has grown into a globally recognised tournament, showcasing the best of Pakistan’s cricketing talent.”

This season, there will also be an exhibition match in Peshawar before the start of the tournament – the teams for it have not been announced yet, but it is scheduled for April 8, three days before the start of the tournament proper.

“As part of our commitment to expanding the reach of the HBL PSL, we are delighted to host an exhibition match in Peshawar before the start of the tournament, which is a significant step in bringing top-tier cricket to Peshawar, a city with a deep-rooted love for the game,” Naseer said. “We remain dedicated to enhancing the experience for players, fans, and stakeholders, who have witnessed some breathtaking contests in the league over the years.”

Starting this year, the PSL will be played in an April-May window, clashing with the IPL. This year, the schedule was changed to accommodate the ongoing Champions Trophy, which is being played in the traditional PSL window, but from next year, because the ILT20 and the SA20 have eaten into the PSL window, it will officially move to later dates.

This edition will also be the last six-team PSL, with the PCB and the six existing franchises having agreed to add two new teams from 2026.

Though the cities for the two new teams have not been announced yet, there could, potentially, be some changes around, since the ten-year lease ownership agreements the PSL had reached with franchise owners expire in 2025. All six owners have the right of first refusal, meaning ownership of a current franchise only goes up for sale in the event of an owner declining to match the franchise’s valuation.

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Fakhar Zaman dismisses retirement talk

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:58:49 +0000

Fakhar Zaman has dismissed speculation that he is planning to retire from international cricket, targeting a return from the injury that cut short his Champions Trophy within the next month.

Fakhar, the hero of Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy win with a hundred in the final, strained an oblique muscle chasing a ball in the very first over of Pakistan’s opening game against New Zealand in Karachi. He went off the field immediately, came back later but eventually could only come out to bat at No.4 – instead of his usual opening slot.

He struggled visibly with the injury during a 41-ball 24, as Pakistan crashed to a 60-run defeat. Fakhar was distraught in the dressing room after the dismissal and, given the uncertainty surrounding his arrival into the side, and that he turns 35 in April, the fact that it could’ve been his last game for Pakistan was not lost.

But talking to PCB digital, Fakhar confirmed he is not going anywhere. “I heard about this [retirement rumours] a lot and even my friends messaged me about it, but there’s nothing to it,” Fakhar said. “The ODI format is my favourite format. Yes with my thyroid, there was a thing that I could take more time getting back into it. But I want to play T20s, ODIs, even Tests again. As far as my comeback is concerned, I spoke to the doctor and I can start playing cricket again within the month.”

Fakhar had not played international cricket since the 2024 T20 World Cup last June in the USA and West Indies, where Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage. He last played an ODI in the 2023 ODI World Cup, another event where Pakistan exited before the knockout stages.

In the run-up to this tournament, however, he’d been left out of Pakistan’s central contracts. And he had also been issued a show-cause notice after a tweet he put out last September criticising the decision to drop Babar Azam from the Test side. Later, when chairman Mohsin Naqvi organised a “connection camp” to get senior players to air their views, Fakhar was among the most outspoken, singling out a senior official for particularly trenchant criticism.

That would seem to be in the past for now, with Fakhar committing to a return with Pakistan. “The doctor has advised me that I can start training again in three weeks. So I think I should be back to playing cricket in a month’s time.”

Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament when they lost their next game by six wickets to India. Fakhar was replaced by Imam-ul-Haq, a move which only enhanced the scrutiny on their top order’s seemingly outdated method. In both the defeats, the focus was on laborious innings by Babar Azam (64 off 90 balls against New Zealand) and captain Mohammad Rizwan (46 off 77 balls against India), the former stymying momentum in a big chase and the latter leading to a below-par target being set.

Pakistan had already lost Saim Ayub to injury before the tournament and the subsequent loss of Fakhar was a double whammy that coach Aaqib Javed identified as one of the pivotal reasons for their poor showing. Fakhar has a career strike rate of nearly 94 in ODIs and was clear about the way to play in the modern game.

“The biggest thing is the situation. If you are chasing 150-200 runs you go in with a different mindset and if you are chasing 350, you have a different mindset. But strike rate does matter, especially these days. And you have to play risky cricket. Cricket has become so fast-scoring, all teams come with that plan. If you take risks, you can score runs, although yes, you can also lose your wicket doing that.”

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Aaqib Javed laments lack of experience after Pakistan’s early exit

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 15:49:42 +0000

If you’re looking for the reason why Pakistan crashed out of their own home tournament, look no further than this one: personnel. Specifically, the inexperience of that personnel. This was the main thrust of white-ball head coach Aaqib Javed‘s post-mortem.

Pakistan have one more match to play, of course, against Bangladesh, who are also already out of contention for the semi-finals in the Champions Trophy. That match in Rawalpindi on Thursday is also under serious threat from rain, and perhaps a sodden outfield, with this having been a wet week in the city.

Javed spoke at length about the various permutations and combinations in selection that could have improved the team’s output this tournament. But clearly still hurting from the loss to India on Sunday, he also made the point that India’s XI had a far greater body of work on their resume than Pakistan’s.

“When Pakistan and India is playing, it’s not only cricket – it’s more than that. You need a lot of experience,” Javed said. “This Indian team was the most experienced – they have almost 1500 games together. And Pakistan is on the bottom, with less than 400 games together. If you look at players like Babar Azam is the only one who has played more than 100 games. Then there’s Mohammad Rizwan (88 ODIs) and then Shaheen Afridi (64 ODIs).

“The rest of them have less than 30 matches. Tayyab Tahir has played like eight games. Imam-ul-Haq (73 games) was coming back in the team. The main thing is, when nothing works, and when you are talking about more than a game, then the experience counts. There is no doubt.”

Part of this lack of experience was also down to having lost Fakhar Zaman, one of their most-aggressive batters and one of the stars of the 2017 Champions Trophy, in the first game of the tournament. They were also without Saim Ayub, who had hit 235 runs and taken two wickets in Pakistan’s 3-0 ODI series in South Africa in December. Ayub had been ruled out of this tournament with an ankle injury.

“Similarly, we had to bring in Khushdil Shah because Saim was unfit. The reason is that in one-day cricket, you cannot go with 5 bowlers. You have to make a combination of seven batsmen and four bowlers.

“When Saim was there, he used to bat at the top and he used to bowl five to seven overs. When he was not there – we saw that if you do a little research – even with the terrific performances that Khushdil Shah has given in one-and-a-half years of cricket, his wickets…there’s no comparison. It was not even a close case or anything. But our job in the selection committee was to give him the best replacement option.”

In the absence of these players, it was down to the big five: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen to step up, Javed said. But match-winning performances from these players never came.

These players have come under particular fire in Pakistan since the team’s exit.

“A common person who doesn’t play and is not part of the team management wants reasons and the names of people because of whom this team is losing,” Javed said. “As far as Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris are concerned, our plan was to make the best possible 11 or 15. There is no doubt that Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris are excellent bowlers. If you compare them with the bowling attack of any team, they are one of the best fast-bowling options.

“And if you look at Babar – apart from him what other options do you have? We always say that if the team loses, change the team. This is the most inexperienced team already.”

Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf

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Urooj Mumtaz: Rizwan’s lack of strike rotation ‘a massive fault’

admin — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 06:58:49 +0000

The loss to India has all but pushed Pakistan out of their home Champions Trophy, and it had a lot to do with a middle-overs slowdown. They ended the first ten overs at 52 for 2, but the next 14 overs netted them just 42 runs. Urooj Mumtaz lay the blame squarely on captain Mohammad Rizwan, who, she said, had played too many dot balls in that period.

“Rizwan, time and again, is at fault of chewing up too many dot deliveries. Then there is one release shot that comes out,” she said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. “He was on 40-odd from something like 70 deliveries at the point where he looked like taking another release shot. He was 30 off 68 [24 off 53] at one point when he hit that one four. Saud [Shakeel], on the other hand, is not the normal aggressor; it is Rizwan who is normally the aggressor when he does get going and does get set.”

During the period in question [overs 11 to 24], Rizwan faced 45 deliveries, and 29 of those were dots. He didn’t hit a single boundary, and got only 16 singles. Eventually, Rizwan struggled his way to 46 off 77 balls. He fell when he skipped down the pitch to try and loft Axar Patel, but missed and was bowled.

Rizwan had slog-swept Kuldeep Yadav for four off the first ball he had faced. His next boundary only came on the 49th delivery he faced off Ravindra Jadeja in the 25th over. Another – the third and last – came off Jadeja in the 27th. When he was dismissed by Axar in the 34th over, Rizwan’s partnership with Shakeel was worth 104, but it had taken 144 balls.

“I think Rizwan, in his 46 off 77 – strike rate of 59 – just wasn’t good enough because we’re talking about a team where the best batter in the team [Babar Azam] is obviously out of form, hasn’t been churning out those big runs… and he got out early,” Mumtaz said.

“Imam [had] that unfortunate run-out. So it was down to Rizwan as captain to put his hand up and show that brave attitude. Maybe even not just trying to botch everything down, but maybe just better strike rotation, [the lack of] which I thought was a massive fault, and probably applied a little bit more pressure on Saud as well.”

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Rizwan after India loss: ‘We can say for now that it is over’

admin — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 22:48:51 +0000

The defending champions only have a game against Bangladesh left and are left relying on other results in the group to sneak them through to the last four. That is a situation Pakistan have found themselves in regularly in recent tournaments and it is one Rizwan does not much care for.

“We can say for now that it is over,” Rizwan said after the game. “That is the truth. We’ll see what Bangladesh does with New Zealand, then New Zealand with India and then what we do. It’s a long road and it depends on other teams.

“As a captain, I don’t like depending on others. If you are good enough, you show it by winning and keeping things in your hands. Waiting on other teams, I don’t like worrying about their results. What matters is that India and New Zealand beat us. They played strong and we didn’t play well. If we get a chance [to sneak through] then so be it.”

Rizwan acknowledged the side will have to face difficult questions about their performances here. Their exit is confirmed if New Zealand beat Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Monday and, if so, it will mark the third ICC white-ball tournament in a row in which they’ve exited before the knockouts.

Rizwan, who took over as the white-ball captain late last year and led the side to bilateral ODI series wins in Australia and South Africa, was frustrated by his side making the same mistakes they’ve made in their recent losses – in a tri-series involving New Zealand and South Africa and then their opening game here.

His own innings today – a 77-ball 46 – will come under scrutiny much in the way that Babar Azam’s innings in the opening loss did. It was far more inert until a late acceleration, but his dismissal was one of three quick wickets in the middle which robbed Pakistan of whatever momentum they had built.

“When you lose, you’re obviously disappointed and it’s a difficult time, difficult questions come up,” he said. “We made mistakes in all three departments, that is why we lost today.

“In our team meeting yesterday we had said we’ll target 270-280 on this, given the outfield was slow, the pitch was slow. If we’d got 280 the result might have been different. Saud [Shakeel] and I started building up a partnership, over which we took some time, but after that our shot selection was poor. That gave them a chance to take wickets and put pressure on our middle order. They built on it, and we couldn’t stabilise ourselves.

“We made mistakes we’ve been making in the last few matches. These aren’t new mistakes. We’ve been making them in the last four games. We work on them, but we are humans, our players are humans, these mistakes happen. We’re trying to work on those, we’re trying to put the effort in to resolve those. What I believe is that India’s effort was greater than us, they were braver than us. That is why they got the result. We made mistakes, maybe because when we had to show bravery in some moments we didn’t show enough. In our fielding we needed to show more energy, but maybe we were lacking in that, and so made mistakes.”

In one sense, the limitations of Pakistan’s batting had been impacted twice over before the tournament had even begun in earnest. Saim Ayub‘s fractured ankle robbed them of a young, modern and in-form opener and then, two balls into their opening game, they effectively lost Fakhar Zaman, their other opener capable of quick starts.

Rizwan lamented the loss of both, especially Ayub who provided a spin-bowling option as well. It left Pakistan reliant on Imam-ul-Haq in this game, an opener with a vastly different skillset.

Similarly, the presence of only one specialist spinner in the squad – Abrar Ahmed – has been questioned through the tri-series and this tournament’s two games. Rizwan said, however, they couldn’t have brought in another specialist, despite Abrar being their best bowler across the two games.

“In ODIs you can’t have five genuine bowlers. Naseem [Shah], Shaheen [Afridi], Haris [Rauf], Abrar. The fifth, you see New Zealand have Santner and Bracewell, India have Jadeja and Patel. The best we had, the selectors picked them – Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah. If we go with two genuine spinners, that means we are going with five bowlers and six batters and we can’t make a combo of that. So yeah, there will be questions about having another spinner but you can’t go in with five genuine bowlers in an ODI. Maybe in a T20.”

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Manjrekar: ‘Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi have seen better days’

admin — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 06:29:10 +0000

Anil Kumble agreed with Mumtaz, saying, “I don’t think this Pakistan line-up has that quality. When it comes to having that, not intimidation, [but] you had that respect of playing Pakistan, knowing that you had the quality. Now it’s the other way round. I don’t see how Pakistan can look India in the eye in terms of their ability to put a batting line-up that can intimidate the Indian bowlers.”

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‘What’s your focus? Ball, bat’ – Aaqib Javed plays down Ind-Pak hype

admin — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 22:19:24 +0000

Pakistan vs India matches will always inspire passions. But for Pakistan’s players, this is just another opportunity to do the cricketing things they train to do as professionals.

The hype, said Pakistan’s coach Aaqib Javed, is external.

“For the cricketers, this is a profession,” Javed said. “For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it is a profession. You try your best. In that, you sometimes lose as well. It is a match… one team will win, one will lose. How does it matter? Why so much pressure? Every game is different.

“In a Pakistan-India game, the energy will remain high. And this is the beauty of this contest. What does the crowd do? When you play well, the crowd supports you, they clap their hands. When you play poorly, be it India or Pakistan, the home crowd will go against you. As a player, you shouldn’t keep the crowd in mind. We never kept it and neither should these players. What’s your focus? Ball, bat – that’s it.”

Focusing fully on the cricket and not the external hype becomes all the more important for Pakistan, given, after their opening-day loss to New Zealand, they really need points on the board.

There is also particular focus on this game, because although Pakistan are the official hosts, they have had to travel to Dubai, where India have set up camp, and have already played a match. There have been suggestions that it is India who are enjoying the closest thing to home advantage in this scenario. But Javed played those suggestions down.

Almost all of Pakistan’s home fixtures had been played in the UAE between 2009 and 2019.

“There’s no advantage [for India] at all, because if you look at all the Pakistani players, they have been playing leagues here. The PSL has been played here. So there’s nothing really – there’s no advantage or disadvantage.”

The surface in Dubai is expected to play slower and lower than those in Pakistan, partly because the ILT20 has been played here over the past six weeks. Very few of the strips on the square are fresh surfaces.

“We also have to see the pitch and the ground here,” Javed said. “Are these similar to the one we have in Pakistan or are they different? We will play in accordance with the pitches, conditions and the opposition team.”

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Pakistan fined for slow over-rate in Champions Trophy opener

admin — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:29:18 +0000

Pakistan were fine five percent of their match fee on Thursday for maintaining a slow over-rate during their match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy opener at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The tournament hosts and defending champions lost to New Zealand by 60 runs on Wednesday.

Pakistan were found one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration, the ICC said.

While on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Sharfuddoula, third umpire Joel Wilson and fourth umpire Alex Wharf levelled the charge, match referee Andy Pycroft imposed the sanction, deducting five percent of match fee.

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan pleaded guilty to the offence with no formal hearing required thereafter.

In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over if their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Pakistan had suffered another blow on Thursday, with Fakhar Zaman ruled out of the rest of the tournament with injury. Imam-ul-Haq has been approved by the ICC as Fakhar’s replacement. They will next face India in Dubai on Sunday.

Edited PTI copy

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Injured Fakhar Zaman ruled out of Champions Trophy; Pakistan call up Imam-ul-Haq

admin — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:19:26 +0000

Pakistan’s hopes of defending their Champions Trophy title have taken a significant dent with opener Fakhar Zaman ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with an oblique injury. Imam-ul-Haq has been approved by the ICC as Fakhar’s replacement.

Fakhar picked up the injury off just the second ball of the tournament, when he hared off in pursuit of a cover drive from Will Young off Shaheen Shah Afridi. When he collected the ball, he appeared to be in some discomfort. After treatment on the field, he was take off, and remained out for more than two hours.

Representing Pakistan on the biggest stage is an honour and dream of every cricketer in this country. I have been privileged enough to represent Pakistan multiple times with pride. Unfortunately I’m now out of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 but surely Allah is the best planner.… pic.twitter.com/MQKmOI4rQU

— Fakhar Zaman (@FakharZamanLive) February 20, 2025

That meant he could not open the Pakistan batting, and when he did come in at No. 4, he was visibly discomfited. He received multiple visits from the team doctor and physio, and took painkillers on the field throughout his 41-ball stay at the crease. It was something of a tortured innings, with his movements restricted, and he didn’t look like he would have a serious impact on Pakistan’s pursuit of the 320 New Zealand had scored. He scored 24 before he was dismissed.

The injury is especially unfortunate for Fakhar and Pakistan. He only returned to the side when Saim Ayub, Pakistan’s standout opener in their three away series wins at the tail-end of last year, was struck down in similar circumstances. He went in pursuit of a ball down to the boundary in the second Test against South Africa in January, only to twist his ankle, which was later confirmed to be a fractured. It has ruled him out until at least March.

Fakhar’s most famous contribution to Pakistan cricket has come in this tournament. He was the star batter in the final of the last Champions Trophy, in 2017, where he scored 114 against India as Pakistan won the tournament.

Imam, who comes into the side, does not have the same pedigree as Fakhar in terms of belligerence, and has not played international cricket since 2023. He does, however, have a stellar record as opener, averaging 48.27 with nine ODI centuries from 72 ODIs.

Pakistan are on the ropes in their defence of the trophy already, having succumbed to a 60-run defeat in the tournament opener against New Zealand. Their next game is on February 23, against India in Dubai.

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Glenn Phillips finds secret to his success

admin — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:59:58 +0000

Since landing in Pakistan a couple of weeks ago, Glenn Phillips has played four ODIs, scored 215 runs off 162 balls, and been dismissed only once. That dismissal came today, in New Zealand’s Champions Trophy opener against the hosts, but not before Phillips has thumped 61 from 39 to take his side well past 300 on a tricky pitch where run-scoring was hard especially early on.

What’s his secret? “I’m just really clear at the moment, I’m seeing the ball really well and I guess being still at the point of contact and I think that goes a long way in being able to be a hitter,” Phillips said after New Zealand’s 60-run win in Karachi. “I haven’t always got it right in the past, but I’ve got a little bit of a feel for it for the moment.”

He had scores of 106 not out, 28 not out and 20 not out in the preceding tri-series against Pakistan and South Africa that served as final preparation for the Champions Trophy. Today, he came in at 191 for 4 in the 38th over, joining a well-set Tom Latham, with New Zealand’s run rate at that point hovering at around five to the over. The pair went on to ransack 125 from 74, New Zealand finishing with 113 from the last 10 which was the second-most by any team in the last ten overs (41-50) of a Champions Trophy innings.

What was it that held batters back before this partnership? “I think we’ve played a different pitch and it’s played a different way every time we’ve been here [Karachi].

“The pacers I think were definitely harder to play in the day when the ball was going up and down a lot. The way Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke bowled [in the chase], it was a testament to how good they did but I think during the day the way the Pakistan boys bowled, especially at the top, made it quite tough for us to get away early on.

“I think we’ve been really adaptable to different styles of pitches, and it was nice to see some turn out there in the evening.”

New Zealand’s next game is against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 24, before they fly to Dubai to take on India on March 2. They will have to keep adapting for a while more to make the semi-finals and beyond, but this was a fine start in that direction.

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