Pakistan

The relationship between Pakistani cricket and politics has thrown up another candidate set to straddle the two, with fast bowler Wahab Riaz named as the caretaker Sports Minister of Punjab. Wahab, who is currently playing for Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League, will take his oath of office once he returns home. There is

Haider Ali, the Pakistan batter, will join Derbyshire for the 2023 county season. Haider, 22, has played 35 white-ball matches for his country, including two appearances at the recent ICC T20 World Cup, where Pakistan were runners-up to England. In 33 T20I appearances, he has scored 499 runs, including three half-centuries, one of which came

The PCB will honour former women’s Test batter Kiran Baluch and former captain Sana Mir by naming enclosures in the Bugti Stadium, Quetta, after them. Former men’s captains Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan are among the other players, from a list of 10, to have their names put on enclosures in the stadium. This

Ben Stokes has been named ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year, after leading England’s stunning revival in the format. Babar Azam collected the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy awarded to the ICC’s Men’s Cricketer of the Year, while Nat Sciver won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy as Women’s Cricketer of the Year. “I’d like to

In the Platinum category, Lahore Qalandars picked Sam Billings for Rashid Khan; Peshawar Zalmi replaced Rovman Powell with Richard Gleeson; Islamabad United picked Gus Atkinson and Tymal Mills for Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Alex Hales. Multan Sultans replaced David Miller with Izharulhaq Naveed. Quetta reserved their pick for Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, who will depart the

The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited the country’s private and government departments besides three military institutes to be part of the domestic circuit. The PCB has initiated a restructuring of domestic cricket, and a return to the 16-team hybrid first-class model featuring both regions and departments. The PCB has already abolished the previous six-team model

Former Pakistan batter Haroon Rasheed has been named chief selector by PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who said that the rest of the selection panel would be named later. Rasheed played 23 Tests and 12 ODIs for Pakistan between 1977 and 1983 and apart from his previous role as a selector, has also served as PCB’s

The ICC has rescinded the demerit point it had handed out to the Rawalpindi pitch after Pakistan’s first Test against England last December. The surface used at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium was deemed “below par” by match referee Andy Pycroft, the second successive Test pitch at that venue to have been given that rating. However,

Pakistan will not pull out of their upcoming bilateral series against Afghanistan, like Australia did, with PCB chairman Najam Sethi saying that “cricket and politics should be kept separate”. The series in March, however, will now comprise three T20Is and not ODIs and will be played at an offshore venue, with the Afghanistan and Pakistan

Baig, who had only recently recovered from a shoulder injury, fractured the index finger on her bowling hand during the second ODI against Australia on Saturday. She will be replaced by batter Sadaf Shamas in the Pakistan squad for the rest of the series and the women’s T20 World Cup starting next month. Shamas was

Rawalpindi will host the most number of games in PSL 2023, which gets underway on February 13 in Multan with a contest between Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars, the defending champions. A total of 11 matches will be played in Rawalpindi, while Karachi (nine), Lahore (nine) and Multan (five) will host the remaining games. The

The Pakistan women’s T20 league, meant to run alongside the PSL next month, will not go ahead as planned. The new PCB management committee, headed by Najam Sethi, decided to shelve the league, with the aim of holding it in September. The new league – which will bear a different name – will be a

Shadab Khan, the Pakistan allrounder, has signed to play for Sussex in this year’s Vitality T20 Blast As previously reported by ESPNcricinfo, Sussex have been working to land a number of overseas signings, with Shadab expected to be available for the duration of the Blast. Sussex will be the 24-year-old’s second county, having turned out

Sohail isn’t the only injury enforced absence for Pakistan in the second innings on Friday. Fakhar Zaman will not take the field either owing to a hamstring issue. It inhibited him immediately after reaching his eighth ODI hundred, and he went on to add just one run to his tally. Tayyab Tahir, who was called

Pakistan cricket is bracing itself for a wholesale review of its team structures, which could result in changes to the captaincy, after the end of a disappointing home season. Senior officials in the board’s new management set-up have indicated their willingness to signal to players and coaches that they will “challenge the status quo if

Mickey Arthur will not be returning to Pakistan cricket, after talks with the PCB failed to find a way to make any arrangement work. The PCB had been in discussions with Arthur for a new stint as head coach over the last few weeks. But the PCB announced on Tuesday that Arthur’s long-term contract with

Mark Coles is back as head coach of the Pakistan women’s team, and will join the squad on their ongoing tour of Australia. The New Zealander takes over the responsibility from interim head coach Saleem Jaffar, who was originally working as the team’s bowling coach with fellow former Pakistan men’s international Taufeeq Umar as batting

The PCB has appealed against the ICC’s decision to award a demerit point for the Rawalpindi pitch used for the first Test against England last month. That surface was eventually declared “Below par” by match referee Andy Pycroft, the second successive Test pitch at that venue to have been given that assessment. At the time,

Sarfaraz Ahmed has said that his fifth-day century that almost helped Pakistan pull off an epic chase against New Zealand in Karachi on Friday was the best in his Test career. Speaking at the post-match presentation after bad light forced a draw with Pakistan needing 15 more runs to chase down 319 and New Zealand

The thrill of securing a draw in the dark may provide its own endorphin rush, but Babar Azam was lucid enough to see the bigger picture. The Pakistan captain has acknowledged his side had not met expectations during the home Test season, which came to a close with a 0-0 draw in this second Test.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has rejected PCB chairman Najam Sethi’s claim that ACC president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah “unilaterally” announced the ACC calendar of events for 2023 and 2024 without informing the Pakistan board. On Thursday, Shah in his capacity as ACC president announced details of all ACC competitions over the next two

Pakistan’s interim chief selector Shahid Afridi said it was “impossible” for fast bowlers to play all three formats consistently. Speaking in Karachi following the announcement of the Pakistan’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand, Afridi emphasised the value of rest for fast bowlers, and the need to manage formats. “You need to

Pakistan have recalled middle-order batter Haris Sohail and opening batter Fakhar Zaman for their three ODIs against New Zealand next week. The 16-man squad also includes maiden call-ups for 29-year-old middle-order batter Tayyab Tahir, legspinner Usama Mir, and middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam. Shadab Khan sustained a finger injury at the Big Bash League, and has

Afridi has been troubled by his knee since July, when Pakistan were in Sri Lanka for a Test series. He was out for three-and-a-half months before being brought back, perhaps prematurely, for the men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. He had a good tournament, picking up 11 wickets in seven bowling innings including

The Pakistan Junior League (PJL) has been scrapped by the PCB’s new administration, with new plans instead to “revive junior series on a home and away basis” going forward. The decision to scrap the league had been expected since Ramiz Raja was was removed as chairman of the PCB, and was taken at Saturday’s meeting

No one knew where the decision had come from, least of all Saud Shakeel. The left-hander had put together 55 runs, chewed up 108 balls, and put on an unbroken 81-ball partnership with Mir Hamza. He was batting out of his skin to keep out Ish Sodhi – a man who’d beat the defences of

A friend makes bionic limbs. Back when he was studying for his masters, he went to his supervisor with a question about a process he had been following. “Potentially a stupid question,” he put to the tutor, “but I’ve noticed everyone does this thing that way. But why can’t we do it this way?” “I

Pakistan have recalled hard-hitting batter Sharjeel Khan into the ODI fold after five years, with the team’s new chief selector Shahid Afridi naming as many as six uncapped players in the 21-man probable list for the upcoming series against New Zealand. While the final squad will be trimmed to 16 players next week, there will

As such, the laws of the game bar substitutes from leading a side. Rizwan was spotted moving his fielders around but, in theory, any fielder can do that. Word from the team management initially was that Rizwan – the side’s designated vice-captain – was the acting captain in Babar’s absence, but for reviews, Sarfaraz Ahmed,

“Politics should not be mixed up in cricket,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel. “This is a game of cricketers and a playing field for them. Some people come from outside the circle, and to adjust one person [Sethi], they had to change the entire constitution. I have not seen this anywhere in the world.