Pakistan

Opening batter Saim Ayub and fast bowler Khurram Shahzad are in line for Test debuts after being included in Pakistan’s squad for their upcoming tour of Australia. Pakistan, under newly appointed red-ball captain Shan Masood, will play three Tests on the tour, in Perth (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7). The 21-year-old

Wahab Riaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has been appointed the new chief selector of the senior men’s team. His appointment comes not long after Inzamam-ul-Haq stepped down from the position amid conflict-of-interest allegations and in the wake of widespread changes in the set-up at the end of a below-par ODI World Cup campaign. Wahab,

Mohammad Hafeez will serve as Pakistan’s head coach in Australia and New Zealand. Hafeez had also been appointed as Pakistan team director – the position Mickey Arthur held until now – on Wednesday after a reshuffle followed Babar Azam‘s resignation as Pakistan captain. ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB will merge the roles of team director and

Even by the standards Pakistan cricket sets itself for chaos, yesterday was a high-water mark. A lengthy meeting at PCB headquarters at the Gaddafi Stadium was followed by a staccato reshuffle, kicked off by Babar Azam‘s reluctant resignation as Pakistan captain in all formats. Let’s take a look at what happened and what it all

Shortly after the resignation, the PCB issued a statement saying Babar was offered the option to continue as Test captain, while the decision to remove him as white-ball skipper was presented to him as fait accompli. “After consultation with his family, Babar decided to step down and PCB stands behind his decision. PCB respects his

Babar Azam has resigned as Pakistan captain in all formats following their poor 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, where they failed to qualify for the semi-finals with just four wins in nine matches. “I vividly remember the moment when I received the call from PCB to lead Pakistan in 2019. Over the past four years,

Morne Morkel has quit as Pakistan’s fast-bowling coach a month before his contract was to expire. In a short statement on Monday, the PCB announced that Morkel had resigned after Pakistan formally exited the ODI World Cup, and that a replacement would be announced “in due course”. No reason was provided for the development. Morkel

Ben Stokes says he will decide whether to re-enter ODI retirement after undergoing knee surgery, in a post-script to England’s disappointing World Cup campaign. Stokes’ 84 from 76 balls helped England to a 93-run victory against Pakistan, which came too late for the 2019 champions to salvage much from their campaign, other than qualification for

Pakistan finished with five losses in nine matches and had struggled through the middle of the league stage, losing to India, Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa all in a row. Babar’s own form wasn’t quite to expectation, given the extremely high standards he often sets in white-ball cricket. He averaged 40 and struck at 82.9,

Big picture: Pakistan chasing the almost impossible So here we are: one last time in the group stages at Eden Gardens, and for both of these sides – almost certainly – one last time at this World Cup. As title defences go, it was an all-timer of a disaster for England, comparable not just with

How do you plan for a game which you need to win by 287 runs? That is Pakistan’s task against England in Kolkata on Saturday, in order to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup: not just to win, but also win by the biggest margin in the history of their men’s ODI team.

Islamabad United have appointed former New Zealand coach and Royal Challengers Bangalore director Mike Hesson as their head coach. United praised Hesson’s “exceptional track record in international cricket and a reputation for strategic leadership”, and said he would bring “unparalleled excellence and experience” to the team. United were the PSL’s most successful side initially, winning

Pakistan captain Babar Azam believes that as long as Fakhar Zaman was batting on Saturday, they “could even have chased 450” against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Speaking on an in-house PCB video, Fakhar and Babar talked about their unbeaten 194-run partnership that saw Pakistan post 200 for 1 in just 25.3 overs before rain put

Fakhar Zaman was in a reflective mood in the aftermath of a pulsating chase in rainy Bengaluru on Saturday that kept Pakistan’s World Cup hopes flickering. He resonated a sense of being a deep thinker who sticks by his methods, and those who’ve helped him on his path to redemption, through thick and thin. There

Zaka Ashraf‘s tenure as the head of the PCB is set to continue until at least the end of the ongoing World Cup. The extension was confirmed by the patron of the board and current interim prime minister of Pakistan Anwar ul Haq Kakar in a TV interview on Friday. The current interim management committee

Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, has likened the extensive security ring and life around it as a throwback to “Covid times”. He spoke of the mental toll it can take on the players but isn’t using that as an excuse for their blow-hot-blow-cold performance so far at the 2023 men’s World Cup. “As a

Zaka Ashraf, the head of the PCB, has been accused of “flagrant misdoings and unconstitutional decisions” by a member of his own management committee, as the official end of his incumbency approaches. The four-month tenure of the administration led by Ashraf is due to end on November 5, at the end of this week. But

Inzamam-ul-Haq has resigned as Pakistan chief selector with immediate effect after meeting PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf in Lahore today after uncomfortable questions around a potential conflict of interest were raised. Reports in the Pakistan media emerged that Inzamam is one of four active directors in a UK-based company called Yazoo International Ltd. Another director at

Do Sri Lanka still have a chance of qualifying? With four points from six games, Sri Lanka are on the same boat as Pakistan and Netherlands. The situation is dire, but they aren’t completely out of it yet. Mathematically, it’s still possible that two teams finish on 12 or more points, and as many as

Pakistan’s coach Grant Bradburn stopped short of calling them an isolated team in international cricket, but did point out the lack of experience against big teams and in India as they fight to stay alive and hope for other results to go their way in the World Cup. After winning the first two matches, against

Pakistan have brought in Usama Mir as a concussion substitute for Shadab Khan during their World Cup match against South Africa in Chennai on Friday. As per the rules governing concussion subs, it was a like-for-like replacement, with a legspinner coming in for the same kind of bowler. The replacement was needed after Shadab injured

Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach, said that his team’s failure to put together the “perfect game” was to blame for their struggles at this year’s World Cup, as he urged the PCB to steer clear of “witch-hunts” in the wake of their agonising one-wicket loss against South Africa. A last-wicket stand between Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz

The victory was set up by their bowlers – Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen in particular – who dismissed Pakistan for 270 in 46.4 overs despite them having been well placed at 225 for 5 in the 40th over. And when Aiden Markram, who overtook Virat Kohli to become the second-highest run scorer of the

Big Picture – Can Pakistan get back on track? As one campaign unravels, another gathers full steam. It’s a familiar theme for Pakistan and South Africa across much of ICC tournament history. While South Africa have often looked among the most formidable sides in the early stages of these tournaments, Pakistan stutter and stall until

Babar said he was particularly disappointed by his bowlers’ inability to pick up wickets in the middle overs, and his fielders not being focused and proactive. Batting first, Pakistan posted 282 for 7 – a total Afghanistan chased down with ease, with an over to spare. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave them a positive

Afghanistan 286 for 2 (Ibrahim 87, Rahmat 77*, Gurbaz 65, Shahidi 48*, Hasan 1-41) beat Pakistan 282 for 7 (Babar 74, Shafique 58, Noor 3-49, Naveen 2-52) by eight wickets 8-0 or 7-1? Nah, we are not about that one. Coming into their fifth game of the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan had not beaten Pakistan

After seven defeats to Pakistan in ODIs, Afghanistan finally got one back, in Chennai on Monday. While Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, who scored the winning run, said the win “tastes sweet”, veteran allrounder Mohammad Nabi said this win was bigger than the one against England earlier in the tournament. “This win tastes nice. The way

Big Picture – Advantage Afghanistan? It’s now roughly halfway through the World Cup, and the table is beginning to take shape. Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two sides that take each other on in Chennai, are nowhere near the head of it, and it’s already beginning to approach must-win territory for each of these sides. Defeat

Australia 367 for 9 (Warner 163, Marsh 121, Afridi 5-54) beat Pakistan 305 (Imam 70, Shafique 64, Zampa 4-53) by 62 runs Australia may have drawn level with Pakistan today, but really, they were one step ahead all evening. A game that briefly threatened to break into a thriller ultimately had Australia clinching a routine

When Tareen, a former co-owner of Multan Sultans, resumed full control of the franchise, he told ESPNcricinfo he wanted more females applying for coaching and management roles. “It’s about equal opportunity,” he had said at the time. “Normally for these roles, sides only interview men. We want more female candidates to apply for these roles