Pakistan

News Facing the media for the first time since his recent selection, Sharjeel spent a lot of time defending himself against insinuations For most players, a meteoric comeback to the national side four years after a player’s last involvement would be cause for unbridled joy and celebration. But in the case of Sharjeel Khan, things

News The case hadn’t been registered by the FIA yet as Babar’s legal team had obtained a stay order The Lahore High Court has suspended last week’s order by a sessions court that had directed Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to file a case against Babar Azam on charges of blackmail and harassment. This, after

News He will have to reach a level close to his 2017 standard, which was just before his two-year ban Sharjeel Khan‘s return into Pakistan’s playing XI on the tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe will be subject to clear improvements in his fitness. Khan has been given a three-week target to enhance his endurance

News T20I and ODI vice-captain acknowledges his role is that of a bowling allrounder After recovering from his groin injury, Shadab Khan – the Pakistan limited-overs vice-captain – has set his focus on reviving his bowling form as his primary objective. As for his batting, he wants to mould that part of his game as

News The 68-year old is said to be experiencing mild symptoms Pakistan Prime Minister and former cricket captain Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19. The news was confirmed by Dr Faisal Sultan, an infectious diseases expert and a prominent figure in Pakistan’s response to the pandemic. Khan, 68, is understood to be experiencing mild

Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan bat together on the tour of Ireland in 2016 © Getty Images Babar Azam has backed returning opening batsman Sharjeel Khan to deliver despite concerns over his fitness, which the Pakistan captain agreed is “not great”. He insisted, however, that Khan remains a match-winner, which is why he is a

News The whole tournament will take place in Karachi, with bio-security outsourced to a UK-based company The window for the unfinished 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League is likely to begin on May 23, with at least seven days of quarantine to start. The PCB had chalked out two options, with one involving double-headers

News Azam was summoned to appear before the FIA but didn’t, family understood to argue they did not receive the summons A Lahore court has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to file a case against Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, on charges of blackmail and harassment. The charges include two others alongside Azam and

News The rest of the players and support staffers will assemble in Lahore on March 18 One of the players selected in Pakistan’s large travelling party to Africa for the games in South Africa and Zimbabwe has tested positive for Covid-19 and has not traveled to Lahore, where the rest of the players and support

News Pakistan name squads for the three formats for twin tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe Sharjeel Khan has made a comeback to the Pakistan T20I squad, for the team’s all-format tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, after a gap of over four years, a period during which he was out of the game altogether

There has been progress in getting PSL 2021 back on track © PCB/PSL The 2021 season of the Pakistan Super League, which was suspended in the wake of a spate of Covid-19 cases among players and support staff, will resume once again in June. The PCB and the various franchises got together for a (virtual)

News Three potential windows for tournament’s resumption after Covid breaches force postponement The PCB has declared the abrupt postponement of this year’s Pakistan Super League as force majeure, to ensure that the board won’t be held liable for the losses incurred after the sixth season of the tournament had to be curtailed after just 12

News Infectious disease specialists will try to get to the bottom of why a spate of Covid-19 cases broke out in the PSL The investigation into the doomed handling of bio-secure procedures at the postponed Pakistan Super League will be headed by infectious disease experts Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood and Dr Salma Mohammad Abbas. The

The blame game has begun in the aftermath of the abrupt postponement of the PSL, as franchises and league management begin to sift through the wreckage of a sixth season curtailed only 14 games in after a spate of Covid-19 cases among players and support staff. An investigation into what went wrong will take place,

The National Stadium in Karachi wears a forlorn, empty look after PSL 2021 was indefinitely postponed © Getty Images It’s difficult to overestimate the impact of Thursday’s dramatic developments for Pakistan cricket. The decision to indefinitely postpone the Pakistan Super League strikes at the heart of one of the most salient buds of optimism that

News Given a packed international calendar, that could be the only time to stage the tournament without having to void it What remains of the 2021 Pakistan Super League might end up being played as soon as May this year, setting up a potential direct clash with the latter stages of the Indian Premier League.

News Tournament’s organising committee to hold emergency virtual meeting with franchises on Thursday The Pakistan Super League has reported three more cases of players testing positive for Covid-19 on Thursday morning, bringing the tally of total positives in the tournament bubble to seven, of which six are players. Following this development, the tournament’s “organising committee

Quetta Gladiators 176 for 7 (Usman Khan 81, Dhani 3-44) beat Multan Sultans 154 (Rizwan 66, Qais Ahmad 3-21) by 22 runs At the 14th attempt, the unthinkable happened: the team that lost the toss and were asked to bat first managed to win a match in the 2021 Pakistan Super League. Winless in their

News A total of 244 test results are out, and results for 40-45 tests, all from one franchise, are awaited One support staffer and two overseas cricketers currently involved with the Pakistan Super League have tested positive for Covid-19 a day after the game between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators had to be postponed following

News Fast bowler prioritised “good vibes” at the teams and leagues he chose this year Dale Steyn said he turned his back on the world’s most lucrative T20 league, the Indian Premier League, because he found the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Sri Lankan Premier League (LPL) were “slightly more rewarding”. The South African

© AFP Monday night’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators has been delayed after legspinner Fawad Ahmed tested positive for Covid-19. Ahmed had showed symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated. Members of his side have tested negative while the players of the other side are being tested.

News He must, however, pay a fine and take part in a PCB rehabiliation programme first Umar Akmal‘s 18-month ban has been slashed by six months by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), making him eligible to return to representative cricket as the PCB had originally suspended him on February 20 last year. According

News Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam accept their upgrades after a PCB performance review Mohammad Hafeez has rejected a Category C PCB contract. ESPNcricinfo understands Hafeez’s reason for declining the contract is that he was unhappy at being offered the lowest grade of contract. While Hafeez has been without a central contract since 2019, in

Report This was the fourth-highest successful chase in the history of the PSL Peshawar Zalmi 197 for 4 (Kohler-Cadmore 53, Imam-ul-Haq 48) beat Multan Sultans 193 for 4 (Vince 84, Rizwan 41) by six wickets Peshawar Zalmi picked up their first points of the season with a near-perfect batting display in chase against Multan Sultans.

Report Bopara’s half-century, Mahmood’s double-strike in vain for Peshawar Zalmi Lahore Qalandars 143 for 6 (Hafeez 33*, Rashid 27*, Mahmood 2-22) beat Peshawar Zalmi 140 for 6 (Bopara 50, Butt 23*, Shaheen Afridi 3-14) by four wickets Shaheen Afridi started it, Rashid Khan did his thing in the middle with the ball, and then came

Islamabad United 151 for 7 (Gregory 49*, Brathwaite 2-23) beat Multan Sultans 150 for 8 (Rizwan 71, Wasim 3-29) by three wickets Lewis Gregory dragged Islamabad United across the line in their season opener against Multan Sultans in Karachi with 49 not out from 31 balls to seal a three-wicket win with six balls to

News The two had breached Covid-19 protocols and were required to serve a three-day quarantine and return two negative tests The PCB has allowed Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy to reintegrate with the Peshawar Zalmi set-up without completing the three-day quarantine period, as the board had announced earlier. The breach of Covid-19 protocols happened when

News Two members of Peshawar Zalmi’s squad, meanwhile, are in quarantine after breaching biosecure protocols With hours to go for the start of the sixth edition of the PSL in Karachi, one player has tested positive for Covid-19, with symptoms, and has been sent into isolation for 10 days. In a separate incident, two senior

News Multan Sultans coach backs the decision to change captains just days out from the start of the 2021 PSL season The decision to elevate wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan as captain as captain of Multan Sultans was more to do with his inherent leadership qualities than his recent red-hot form, according to head coach Andy

News Mohammad Rizwan, the leading run-scorer, jumped 116 places to 42nd in the batting list South Africa’s left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi has risen to a career-best second position in the ICC T20I rankings for bowlers, following his four-wicket haul against Pakistan in Lahore. Shamsi was the joint leading wicket-taker in the three-match series, picking up