Pakistan

Toss Pakistan chose to bowl vs Australia Pakistan opted to field first in the first of three T20Is at the Gabba. A match that lightning and persistent rain delayed in Brisbane for the best part of three hours got underway as a seven-over contest. Pakistan will field a batting-heavy line-up, with left-arm fast bowler Jahandad

Big picture: Who cares wins Australia have been lambasted in some quarters for supposedly “not caring” about the ODI format following their shock 2-1 loss to Pakistan. They are fielding an equally diminished T20I side with three first-choice T20I bowlers, the permanent T20 captain Mitchell Marsh and their best T20 opener Travis Head unavailable. It

The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said his board was “not prepared to accept” a hybrid model for the Champions Trophy, insisting Pakistan was preparing to host the entire tournament in the country. In a discussion with media at the Gaddafi Stadium, which is undergoing renovation ahead of the Champions Trophy, Naqvi said there had

Australia 163 (Smith 35, Rauf 5-29, Afridi 3-26) vs Pakistan Haris Rauf caused Australia a whole heap of problems once again with a fiery 5 for 29 as they were skittled for 163 in the second ODI at the Adelaide Oval to give Pakistan a terrific chance of leveling the series. Rauf ran through the

The surfaces Pakistan prepared for the recently concluded three-Test series against England have been given a seal of approval by the ICC, who labelled the pitches for all three Tests “satisfactory”. The series, which Pakistan won 2-1, drew widespread attention for the pitches that were prepared. In the first Test, the surface appeared exceedingly flat,

Captain Pat Cummins has downplayed the so-called “bat off” for the final spot in Australia’s Test team but has noted that it does provide a “final piece of information” and help the player chosen prepare for the first Test given the public scrutiny around the contests against India A. Cummins spoke at the MCG on

Big picture: Pakistan’s year-long gap amid chaos Australia’s top-order bat-off in Tests is front and centre. But before India arrive for the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the men’s international season begins with a white-ball tour by Pakistan. That includes three ODIs and T20Is each, and starts in Melbourne on Monday. For the hosts, this provides the

There were less consequential, if more combustible, issues at hand, too. Moments after the Pakistan captain struck the winning six, he sat down for an interview with the host broadcaster, which involved a few awkward exchanges with commentator Ramiz Raja, with Raja querying Masood clumsily about how he had led the side to six consecutive

Darren Gough has been appointed head coach of Lahore Qalandars. His first assignment with the franchise will be the Global Super League (GSL) in Guyana, which starts on November 26. The appointment is understood to be a prelude to a more permanent role in Qalandars’ stock competition: the PSL. Aaqib Javed, who served as head

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes India will get looked after “amazingly well” if they travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in February next year and reckons it would be a great thing for cricket. “I think whatever I’m reading, there are positive vibes from [the] Indian government and [the] BCCI,” Akram said. “I

Pakistan cricket descended into familiar tumult when Kirsten on Monday resigned as the head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I sides. He was six months into a two-year contract and departed on the eve of Pakistan’s white-ball tour of Australia. Kirsten, who was at the helm of India’s triumph at the 2011 World Cup, leaves

Gary Kirsten has resigned as the head coach of Pakistan’s ODI and T20I sides. Kirsten, who was appointed by the PCB on a two-year contract in April 2024, lasted barely six months in the role. ESPNcricinfo has learnt a public statement to this effect will be put out imminently. There had been a rift developing

The revised central contracts for the Pakistan men’s cricket team have been announced, nearly four months after they were due. Shan Masood, who captained Pakistan’s Test side to their first series win since July 2023 this week, keeps his spot in Category B. Whether he lasts the full year in that position, though, is uncertain,

Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah all return to the national team for the ODI and T20I series against Australia next month. The trio, who were omitted from Pakistan’s last two Tests against England, make a return in both white-ball formats. None of them, however, will feature in the ODI or T20I series

Two weeks before they played each other in the Australian Open final in 2017, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were ailing, injured athletes who were perhaps fading into the twilight. When, against the odds, they wound up facing each other in the final, the victorious Federer famously said, “Tennis is a cruel sport, there are

Months after they’d hit the reset button, Pakistan were ready to burn it all down again. Aleem Dar, freshly announced as a member on Pakistan’s latest selection panel, glowered at the Multan surface. It had played host to a game where England racked up the fourth-highest total in Test history before dispensing swiftly with Pakistan.

Pakistan 344 (Shakeel 134, Sajid 48*, Noman 45, Rehan 4-66, Bashir 3-129) and 37 for 1 (Masood 23*) beat England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128, Noman 3-88) and 112 (Root 33, Noman 6-42, Sajid 4-69) by nine wickets The wait is finally over. For the first time since 2021, Pakistan have won a

Pakistan offspinner Sajid Khan has found a number of ways of getting under England’s skin, from the moustache twirling to the thigh thumping that accompany borderline invasion of personal space. Much of it has involved bamboozling them with the angle of his spin or the flight of his deliveries, but on Friday, he found another

Pakistan 187 for 7 (Shakeel 74*, Noman 6*) trail England 267 (Smith 89, Duckett 52, Sajid 6-128) by 80 runs Rehan Ahmed’s three wickets gave England the upper hand at lunch on day two of the third Test in Rawalpindi, with Pakistan 187 for 7 in their first innings, still trailing by 80. The legspinner,

Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie has admitted to “frustrations from time to time” over the reduced scope of his job, emphasising the need for clear communication. Gillespie, who, alongside captain Shan Masood, was recently removed from the selection panel, said his current role “wasn’t what he signed up for”, but one he was happy to

Lunch England 110 for 5 (Stokes 6*, Smith 5*) vs Pakistan England find themselves on the ropes at lunch on day one of the third Test against Pakistan at 110 for 5, albeit on a pitch so unpredictable it is not unreasonable to think they might yet achieve a par first-innings score. A Rawalpindi surface

Big picture: Rawalpindi? Rawalspindi… Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Has a team ever taken Mike Tyson’s famous aphorism more literally than Ben Stokes’ England? Their jutted-jaw attitude to risk and reward has served up a glut of remarkable Test matches in recent years, but in Multan last week, their

Pakistan’s national bureau of statistics hosted its inaugural ‘Data-Fest’ conference this week, 10 minutes away from England’s hotel in Islamabad. Under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, this England set-up has shown minimal interest in numbers but there is one figure that stands out ahead of their series decider in nearby Rawalpindi: 101.25, Harry Brook’s batting

Days after the 2024-25 Quaid-e-Azam trophy was delayed, the PCB have announced the final schedule for Pakistan’s premier domestic first-class competition. The tournament will begin on October 26, with the final on December 19. In a major overhaul, the days of parsimony when it came to the number of teams have flown out of the

There is little secret about Pakistan’s ambitions for the pitch by now. Before the second Test reached its inevitable conclusion, Aleem Dar and Aqib Javed were already on their way to Rawalpindi to oversee work on the pitch for the final Test. At the post-match press conference in Multan, Shan Masood said he’d like the

Pakistan have stepped up attempts to prepare a spinning pitch for their Test series decider against England, using industrial-sized fans, outdoor heaters and windbreakers in a bid to dry out the surface at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. After losing by an innings on a lifeless pitch in the first Test in Multan, Pakistan pulled an unprecedented

Jack Leach believes that being dropped by England during their home summer enabled him to fall back in love with cricket, aided by an unexpected phone call from Ben Stokes in the aftermath of a Test win. Leach is the leading wicket-taker in England’s series in Pakistan with 14, but had only played two Tests

Brendon McCullum denied that his England side have been found out on spinning pitches, as Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood confirmed he is hoping for another turner in the series decider in Rawalpindi. Pakistan radically overhauled their strategy between the first and second Tests in Multan, making four changes to their side including the addition of

There is no clarity on when the 2024-25 season of the Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy will start despite Pakistan’s bumper international Test season being well underway. A schedule tentatively put out by the PCB in August had Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament beginning on October 20, but the day before that date, the fate of the tournament

Jordan Cox is set to make his Test debut as England’s wicketkeeper during their upcoming tour to New Zealand, with Jamie Smith due to miss part of the series on paternity leave. Cox, who turns 24 on Monday, has been England’s spare batter for their last five Tests and will get his chance to impress