Pakistan

The National Stadium in Karachi has been renamed the National Bank Cricket Arena after the PCB signed a five-year naming-rights deal with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), a government-owned commercial bank. The stadium is on a 99-year lease from the federal government since 1980 and is the largest stadium in the country with a

The PCB has upgraded Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali from the diamond to the platinum category for the upcoming eighth edition of Pakistan Super League, while Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been moved down from platinum to gold and Peshawar captain Wahab Riaz from platinum to diamond. Hasan Ali, who left Zalmi for Islamabad United

According to Anil Kumble and Stephen Fleming, the unbeaten 82 from Virat Kohli that sunk Pakistan in Melbourne had two standout characteristics. One, the ability to find boundaries at will in the second half and, two, the display of high fitness levels that are crucial to maximising run-scoring at a ground of MCG’s size. At

India 160 for 6 (Kohli 82*, Hardik 40) beat Pakistan 159 for 8 (Masood 52*, Iftikhar 51, Arshdeep 3-32, Hardik 3-30) by four wickets That front foot… Just the way it lunges at the ball… Even in this game… Even against these guys… Virat Kohli isn’t a man. He is a feeling. It’s why every

It swung wildly, one way now, the other way a moment later. Till it came down to 31 from 12. Haris Rauf. Just three from his first four balls. That made it 28 from eight. Advantage Pakistan. Hold on, said Virat Kohli. Bang, and bang, and it was 16 from six, to be bowled by

The Melbourne weather has had to tie itself in knots to usurp the chicken-and-egg situation between Pakistan’s middle-order issues and their opener’s slow strike rate to emerge as the biggest talking point in the lead-up to their first match of the T20 World Cup. That situation has got to the point where a journalist told

Former Pakistan captain Javeria Khan is set to return to the T20I side after 15 months, having been called up for next month’s home series against Ireland. The selectors have also called up uncapped offspinner Umm-e-Hani for the ODI-leg of the tour. Senior fast bowler Diana Baig has been ruled out of both series with

Pakistan batter Shan Masood has been taken to hospital after suffering a blow to the side of his head during a training session in Melbourne. He was struck by a stray shot off the bat from Mohammad Nawaz; as Masood was not batting at the time, he wasn’t wearing a helmet. Masood fell to the

His comments come after the BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, who is also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president, suggested that next year’s Asia Cup would have to be played somewhere other than Pakistan, given India “can’t go there”. In reply, the PCB had put out a statement saying Shah’s comments were made “unilaterally” and raised

The PCB has taken strong exception to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s statement that the 2023 Asia Cup will be moved to a neutral venue since India were not going to travel to Pakistan. The PCB said the decision was made “unilaterally” and raised the prospect of an “impact” on

India will not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023, raising questions as to where the tournament might now be held. The development occurred on the day of the BCCI’s annual general meeting in Mumbai, where BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president, suggested that next year’s

Two weeks ago, within hours of finishing a T20I series against England at home, Babar Azam and the other Pakistan players flew out to New Zealand for the last leg of their 2022 men’s T20 World Cup preparation. On Friday, within hours of winning the tri-series final in Christchurch, they were on the flight to

Earlier this year, Azam skipped the National T20 Cup to play for Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League. He was, at first, not provided an NOC to travel to the West Indies but eventually got it. Azam did quite well in the CPL, scoring 257 runs including back-to-back fifties in qualifier one and the

For women, the pathway to Pakistan’s senior women’s team had till recently now been unclear, with no lines going down to the grassroots level, meaning a pool of only 30-35 competitive cricketers at the senior level. Women cricketers had two tournaments: three teams each playing the National T20 and ODI Challenge Cups. But the PCB

Fakhar Zaman, who had earlier been named in the reserves’ list, has been moved into Pakistan’s squad of 15 for the T20 World Cup. Usman Qadir, meanwhile, is now one of three travelling reserves – alongside Mohammad Haris and Shahnawaz Dahani – after failing to recover from a hairline fracture on his right thumb. Both

Sri Lanka Women 122 for 6 (Samarawickrama 35, Sanjeewani 26, Sandhu 3-17) beat Pakistan Women 121 for 6 (Maroof 42, Dar 26, Ranaweera 2-17) by one run Achini Kulasuriya bowled a stunning final over to help Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the second semi-final and march into the final of the Asia Cup. Kulasuriya bowled

Liam Livingstone and Will Jacks are in contention to make their Test debuts after being included in England’s 15-man squad for their tour to Pakistan as spin-bowling allrounders. Alex Lees and Matthew Potts have become the first players dropped under England’s new regime, led by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, while Stuart Broad misses the

A PCB statement on Tuesday said that Afridi will be available for selection for Pakistan’s T20 World Cup warm-up matches on October 17 [vs England] and October 19 [vs Afghanistan]. His match fitness will be assessed after that ahead of their opening World Cup match against India, on October 23 in Melbourne. “I am super

Pakistan 149 for 4 (Babar 79*, Shadab 34, Tickner 2-42) beat New Zealand 147 for 8 (Conway 36, Rauf 3-28, Wasim 2-20, Nawaz 2-44) by six wickets On a day where everything clicked into place for Pakistan, they swept aside New Zealand to cruise to a six-wicket win. A day after Bangladesh had been given

Pakistan 137 for 6 (Dar 56*, Deepti 3-27) beat India 124 (Ghosh 26, Sandhu 3-30, Dar 2-23) by 13 runs Pakistan recovered from a surprise defeat against Thailand and inflicted a thrilling 13-run defeat on India in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup clash at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Allrounder Nida Dar led Pakistan’s charge

The PCB has announced the launch of women’s T20 league, with the inaugural edition set to run alongside next year’s PSL. There will be 12 games played, all of them in Rawalpindi, with the final due to take place on March 18 2023, the day before the Pakistan Super League final. The league will comprise

Thailand Women 117 for 6 (Chantham 61, Tuba 2-18, Dar 2-26) beat Pakistan Women 116 for 5 (Ameen 56, Tippoch 2-20) by four wickets Thailand pulled off one of the biggest wins in their still-young cricket history, beating Pakistan by four wickets in their Women’s Asia Cup match in Sylhet this morning. The stars of

The top T20I teams are “one step ahead” of Pakistan in terms of their approach, particularly with the bat, according to chief selector Mohammad Wasim. He also feels that the top order, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam specifically, needs to “show more faith” in the middle order for the team to achieve the sort of

England 170 for 2 (Salt 87*) beat Pakistan 169 for 6 (Babar 87*) by eight wickets Pakistan made a change up top, replacing a reliably consistent wicketkeeper with a potentially explosive one, but it was England’s wicketkeeper-batter who had the last say. In a sensational shock-and-awe approach that paid off to its fullest extent, it

Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah has tested positive for Covid-19, one day after it was announced he had contracted pneumonia. He has, however, been released from hospital, and the PCB said he was “feeling better.” Naseem is the second person in the Pakistan camp during the current series against England to have contracted Covid-19, a

Pakistan 145 (Rizwan 63, Wood 3-20) beat England 139 for 7 (Moeen 51*) by six runs For the second successive game, Pakistan were put in to bat first, scraped to what appeared a below-par total, and saw their bowlers bail them out. After being bowled out for 145 in 18.5 overs, the hosts took the

The PCB is concerned that the growth of Indian investment in franchise T20 leagues could leave their players locked out of opportunities to develop overseas. The auction for the inaugural SA20 – in which all six teams were bought by IPL franchise owners – was held last week and did not feature a single Pakistani

Big picture The deafening acclaim within the National Stadium on Sunday night told the tale of the tour so far. Even allowing for the emotion and excitement of England ending their 17-year absence in Pakistan, there had been fears beforehand that a seven-match T20I series was simply too much to take in, but they were

The Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, is set to start from Tuesday with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) defending their title in the 31-match event. Five other teams – Northern, Central Punjab, Southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan – will be taking part in the tournament, which will kick off with three simultaneous games in three of

England will not take any risks with Jos Buttler‘s fitness during the Lahore leg of their Pakistan tour as they look to ease him back from a calf injury sustained playing in the Hundred last month. Buttler was never in contention to play in the first four T20Is in Karachi and, even with the series