Former Cricketers Excited About Pakistan vs South Africa Test Series
The very historic Karachi’s National Stadium will host the first Pakistan-South Africa Test on Pakistani soil in over 13 years when the play will begin on Tuesday, 26 January 2021. The National Stadium Karachi is viewed as Pakistan’s fort of Test cricket however South Africa stays one of just two teams to have beaten the home side in the 42 matches hosted at the venue.
South Africa won here by 160 runs to take what ended up being a conclusive and decisive 1-0 lead in the last series to be played between the two teams in Pakistan. The current Pakistani batting coach Younis Khan scored a smashing century in the second innings of the match, while debutant spinner Abdur Rehman took eight wickets in the match.
Former Cricketers Welcome South African Team
Former Pakistan cricket stars are looking forward to an exciting series between both teams, as they both possess the world-class talent and promises to produce quality games. The batting coach Mohammad Yousuf who has played seven Tests against South Africa with 357 runs showed his excitement and said, “South Africa’s trip is a big milestone for cricket in the country, Pakistanis people love cricket and it is their greatest passion. There is a lot of interest in Test cricket and I have some very fond memories of playing Test cricket all over the country. I am very confident that fans will enjoy a great series as both teams will enter the series with adequate preparation and planning.” He added, “South Africa possesses experienced players but we have the advantage of playing at our home grounds. The Pakistan squad is well aware of the conditions at the National Stadium and even the new players inducted in the squad have rich experience of playing first-class cricket at the venue.”
Younis Khan having a total of 990 runs in 14 Tests against South Africa said, “After the Test tours by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the tour of South Africa is a magnificent occasion indeed. National Stadium is my home ground and I have played here for a long time, the conditions and pitch will suit Pakistan.” He further said, “South Africa also has some quality players which makes for a competitive series. Young Pakistan players who will play Test cricket on home soil will have a lot to gain from this experience, they will learn the nuances of the longest format and their confidence will also grow.”
Fast bowler Umar Gul having Six Tests, fifteen wickets against South Africa shared, “This is a significant series in terms of cricket homecoming as South Africa is one of the top cricketing nations. I remember the 2007 Karachi Test which South Africa won against us as I was part of the Pakistan team back then. We all wish that the Babar Azam will lead team Pakistan to a massive win, and better our record against South Africa at one of our favorite Test venues.”
Taufeeq Umar who has played Six Test matches against South Africa with 730 said, “South Africa’s tour is a very encouraging development for everyone and I am looking forward to witness what should be a keenly contested series. This series will help bring more Test cricket to our country. Both the teams are balanced and inform and we are in for a thrilling series, I wish Pakistan the very best, I believe we have the squad that can prevail in the Test series.”
Left Handed Test batsman Salman Butt also shared that, “we all welcome them and thankfully we have cricket back in Pakistan, remember it’s a cricket-loving nation and this is something that binds the whole nation together so it’s a pleasure to have them here, it would be a great learning curve for everyone especially the youngsters and a good experience for the public to see their stars.” While talking about recalling his moments when Hashim Amla scored a century, Younis khan made a century, Danish also did a wonderful century in the past, cricket memories are stronger even though we lost the match but we had a great game of cricket!” He also gave a message to be themselves and be positive and get ready for the greatest Test Series!
The slow Left Arm former bowler Abdur Rehman who scored eight wickets in the 2007 Karachi Test on debut said, “South Africa playing again at the National Stadium has brought back some wonderful memories of my debut Test in 2007. For me performing against them in my debut Test was nothing short of a dream coming true”
While talking about the team’s current bowling trio he said, “In the present squad, spinners Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, and Sajid Khan have considerable experience of first-class cricket. The trio has played a lot of cricket this season at this venue and knows well about the conditions and the pitch. The spinners along with Yasir can really trouble South Africa; Yasir will be the linchpin of the bowling attack.”
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic for almost more than a year, gear up everyone as Pakistan is going to witness one of the finest games at National Stadium Karachi, starting from January 26th, 2021.
READ MORE: PAKISTAN SUPER LEAGUE 6 ANNOUNCES FINAL TEAM SQUADS DRAFT 2021
Records Shattered At The Gabba, As India Wins The Test Series Against Australia!
India has scored a famous victory in the Test series against Australia, chasing down 328 on the last day of the final game at the Gabba Stadium to win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India pulled off a record run chase in an exciting last session. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant featured with a daring 89 not-out as the physically exhausted tourists chased the 328-run target with three overs to go, winning by three wickets. Australia had not been beaten at the Gabba since tumbling to Viv Richards’ all-vanquishing West Indies side by nine wickets in November 1988. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also congratulates Indian team after smashing Gabba breach, he claims that this is, “one of the greatest Test series wins ever.”
India’s 329 for seven additionally crushed the 69-year-old record for the greatest run-chase at the Gabba, set by Australia who scored 236 for seven to beat the West Indies in 1951.
The Test-Series win was a noteworthy accomplishment considering India were bowled out for their least Test score of 36 to lose the first Test in Adelaide, prior to bouncing back to win the second in Melbourne. The guests, decimated by injuries and captain Virat Kohli’s non attendance for paternity leave, batted all through the last day to draw the third Test in Sydney.
While talking to Channel Seven and Sony Ten 3, Sunil Gavaskar said,
“Absolutely, this is a magic, magical moment for Indian cricket. They were not prepared to just save the game. They were wanting to go out and finish the tour in a blaze of glory. Young India has done it. Young India has shown the way. Young India is showing that they are not afraid. What a win, what a magnificent win. It starts with Shubman Gill playing such a wonderful innings this morning. Then the old war horse Cheteshwar Pujara making sure that there were no inroads made by the Australians in that middle session. And then Rishabh Pant coming in, once again promoted up the order at No.5 by this managing to Rahane, who has an unbeaten record now. Two out of the three Test matches here he has captained he has won. And before that he has captained India twice, he has won both those Test matches. Natarajan making his debut, what a debut it has been. Prithvi also. But what a tour, what a win.”
Cheteshwar Pujara’s Smashing Innings
Sunil further said for Pujara’s innings, “See, whatever I say about him will be very, very less. He put his body on the line for Indian cricket, for the Indian cricket team. He took blows on gloves, body, helmet but he didn’t deter. His presence at the other end also gives confidence to young stroke players that there is someone holding the other end. That’s why his innings was so important because if India had lost two wickets in the second session, it would have made things difficult. He held the fort together until the second new ball. And with that, Pant grew in confidence and see, what unfolded. It’s such an extraordinary day.”
He also told Sony 3, “This series win is even more magnificent because this time Australia had their full-strength team. The ball was turning on the fifth day. Yesterday also some balls kicked off, some kept low when Australia were batting. So to score on that pitch, and with such ease, the last two-three wickets fell while trying to bring the target down. It felt really nice because this young Indian team has shown something different. In this win, to whom will you give credit? Mohammed Siraj took five wickets, Washington Sundar took three, Natarajan three. Then the way Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur batted. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, the way they batted. After seeing all this, and they are all young players, I think the future of the Indian cricket is so bright that we can have great anticipation for every upcoming series.”
Fearless!
Regardless of Australia’s fearsome record at the Gabba, the Indian batsmen showed no fear and never looked keen on playing for a draw, even in the wake of losing the wickets of Pujara and Mayank Agarwal after tea. Pant exploited any free ball, yet in addition played some crazy strokes, demonstrating the impact T20 cricket has had on Tests. India began the morning on four for no loss in the wake of bowling Australia out for 294 not long before downpour halted play late on the fourth day. Australia’s expectations of securing victory were raised early when Cummins attracted Rohit Sharma forward to a ball that got the external edge, Tim Paine taking a fine jumping catch before first slip. In any case, as India have appeared since their capitulation in Adelaide, when they were bowled out for 36, they are never out of the challenge. Their work in the fourth Test is significantly more outstanding considering the high number of injuries on their tour.
READ MORE: STEVE SMITH IN HOT WATERS AGAIN AFTER SCUFFING RISHABH PANT’S MARK!
Steve Smith In Hot Waters Again After Scuffing Rishabh Pant’s Mark!
Australian captain Tim Paine on Tuesday defended batsman Steve Smith, who was blamed for scraping/scuffing up the guard mark of Rishabh Pant during the drawn third Test here, stating that the Indian group would have raked up the issue if any wrong was submitted.
Rishabh Pant made a tornado 97 to offer India a chance at dominating the game in the quest for 407 however it finished in a draw.
Steve Smith
Steven Peter Devereux Smith is an Australian international cricketer and former captain of the Australian national team. Smith is consistently rated as one of the top-ranked Test batsmen in the world, according to the ICC Player Rankings. The batsman has been called the “best since Bradman” due to his distinctively high Test batting average. In domestic cricket, he plays for New South Wales. Although, he was initially selected for Australia as a right-arm leg spinner, later played primarily as a batsman. After a couple of matches in 2010 and 2011, he was a standard part in the Australian group after 2013 and took over the captaincy from Michael Clarke in late 2015, after which he prevalently batted at number 3 or 4. He has won Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year) in 2015; ICC Test Player of the Year in 2015, 2017; ICC Men’s Test Player of the Decade: 2011–2020; the Allan Border Medal for the best part in Australian Cricket in 2015, 2018; Australian Test Player of the Year: 2015, 2018 and Australian One Day International Player of the Year: 2015. He was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year for 2015. In 2014, Martin Crowe portrayed Smith as one of the youthful Fab Four of Test cricket alongside Joe Root, Kane Williamson, and Virat Kohli. On 30 December 2017, he arrived at a Test batting rating of 947, the second-most elevated ever, just behind Don Bradman’s 961.
Ball-Tampering 2018
In March 2018, Smith was widely criticized for ball-tampering in the third Test against South Africa, during which he stood down from the team captaincy and was replaced by Tim Paine. Following an investigation by Cricket Australia, Steve Smith was banned from all international and domestic cricket in Australia for one year starting from 29 March 2018, and from consideration for any leadership role for an additional year.
Steve Smith Scuffing 2021
With a defensive approach during a virtual press conference fellow Australian cricketer, Paine said,“I have spoken to Steve about this and I know he is really disappointed with the way it has come across. And if you watch Steve Smith play Test cricket, that is something that he does every single game five or six times a day.” He further said, “He is always standing in the batting crease, shadow batting, as we know he has got those sort of many Steve Smith quirks, so one of them is he is always marking sand.” Paine said that had Smith changed the guard marks, the Indian team would have taken up the issue.
“He (Smith) was certainly not changing guard and imagine if he was, then the Indian players would have kicked up a bit of stink (at) that time,” he said.
“But that is something I have seen Steve doing many times in Test matches and Shield games that I have played with him, when he is in the field, he likes to sort of walk up to where he bats and visualize how is he going to play,” Paine elaborated that given how this has been perceived, especially by cricket fans, there would be reconsideration.
Steve Smith was also awarded the ICC Awards Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade.
Frenzy Indian Fans on Twitter
Fans and followers have been frenzy over social media after the controversy surfaced.
Some posts are funny and we enjoyed them thoroughly!
Former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag also shared the damning footage on social media, accompanied with the caption: “Tried all tricks including Steve Smith trying to remove Pant’s batting guard marks from the crease.”But I am so so proud of the effort of the Indian team today,” he added.
Indian player Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are always in a neck-to-neck competition when it comes to Test cricket performances and we have seen how exaggeration is a thing for the Indian team and media as well as Steve has a title under his belt now. And for Steve Smith, either it’s cheating or scuffing it is a poor form of playing cricket considering his recently awarded title by the ICC.
READ MORE: RASHID LATIF TROLLS ICC AND TARGETS IPL!
Pakistan Super League 6 Announces Final Team Squads Draft 2021
The final squads for the HBL PSL 6 are here. The teams have finally chosen their warriors to play for their respective teams! The Pakistan Cricket Board conducted the players’ draft for the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League on Sunday in Lahore.
More than 400 international players were registered for the sixth edition of the Pakistan Superleague. Over 90 players from the West Indies, 40 from Sri Lanka, 80 from England, around 30 from South Africa and Afghanistan each, 20 from Bangladesh, 14 from Australia, and eight from New Zealand were in the lineup. The international star-studded player pool included Chris Gayle, Dawid Malan, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Dale Steyn, and Dinesh Chandimal.
The draft consisted of 18 rounds — 16 regular and two supplementary — with all franchises selecting players based on their pick order.
Supplementary Pick
Lahore Qalandars have opted for Ahmed Danyal as their final supplementary pick. Akif Javed has been chosen by Islamabad United. Peshawar Zalmi has opted for Amir Khan as their final supplementary pick. Multan Sultans pick Imran Khan Sr. as their supplementary pick. Quetta Gladiators choose Usman Khan as their final pick in the supplementary round. England’s Joe Denly moves to the Lahore Qalandars franchise. Karachi Kings have opted for Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad as their supplementary pick. Multan Sultans have Carlos Brathwaite as the final pick opted for the day.
Emerging Players Round
Quetta Gladiators pick Saim Ayub. Multan Sultans pick Shahnawaz Dhani. Peshawar Zalmi pick Ibrar Ahmed. Karachi Kings pick Qasim Akram, Lahore Qalandars pick Maaz Khan, Islamabad United picked Mohammad Wasim Jr., Lahore Qalandars pick Zaid Alam, Peshawar Zalmi pick Mohammad Imran, Multan Sultans pick Mohammad Omar, Islamabad United pick Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, and, Arish Ali Khan was picked by Quetta Gladiators.
Silver Round
Karachi Kings pick Joe Clarke, Quetta Gladiators picked Cameron Delport, Multan Sultans pick Sohail Khan, Peshawar Zalmi pick Umaid Asif, Islamabad United pick Rohail Nazir, Lahore Qalandars pick England’s Tom Abell and Zeeshan Ashraf, Karachi Kings pick Danish Aziz, Multan Sultans pick Mohammad Rizwan, Islamabad United pick Reece Topley, Peshawar Zalmi retain Saqib Mehmood, Quetta Gladiators pick Afghanistan’s Qais Ahmed, Peshawar Zalmi retained Imam-ul-Haq, Multan Sultans pick Sohaib Maqsood, Islamabad United pick Iftikhar Ahmed, Quetta Gladiators pick Abdul Nasir, Karachi Kings pick Mohammad Ilyas, Lahore Qalandars pick Salman Ali Agha, Lahore Qalandars pick Mohammad Faizan, Peshawar Zalmi pick Mohammad Imran, Multan Sultans pick Sohaibullah, Karachi Kings pick Zeeshan Malik, Multan Sultans pick Adam Lyth, Peshawar Zalmi pick Mohammad Irfan.
Gold Round
Lahore Qalandars retain Samit Patel, Peshawar Zalmi picked Amad Butt, Quetta Gladiators choose Usman Shinwari, Karachi Kings retain Chadwick Walton, Islamabad United retain Phil Salt.
Diamond Round
Karachi Kings – Mohammad Nabi, Peshawar Zalmi – Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, Karachi Kings – Dan Christian, Peshawar Zalmi – Sherfane Rutherford, Islamabad United – Lewis Gregory.
Platinum Round
Islamabad United – Hassan Ali, Multan Sultans – Chris Lynn, Lahore Qalandars – Rashid Khan, Peshawar Zalmi – David Miller, Quetta Gladiators – Chris Gayle, Quetta Gladiators – Tom Banton
PSL was in a rush throughout the year due to COVID-19, but now the situations are settling up accordingly, all the people with a love for sports are excited for PSL6. We hope to see a good game and even better performances this year from the players!
READ MORE: PSL2020 FINALE: KARACHI KINGS WINS THE PAKISTAN SUPER LEAGUE TITLE
COVID-19 Getting Serious For Cricket Players
Covid-19’s rise is getting dangerous and questionable for everyone now. With the new Covid-19 strain mutation, it is getting 70 percent more spreadable. And that’s not just it. Government actions seem to be inadequate. The COVID-19 testing policy itself has become a major issue in the past for the cricket team, and then came the quarantine breach from the team. Everything is just so not right for team Pakistan now. But what is more alarming? Players along with analysts contracting the virus.
According to the new media outlets Former Pakistan woman cricketer Sana Mir has tested positive for Covid-19, Mir was part of the commentary and analysis panel of the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Sana Mir
Sana Mir is a Pakistani Cricket player (former). She has played 226 internationals, including 137 as captain from 2009 to 2017, during her glittering 15-year cricketing career. Mir led Pakistan women’s team to gold medal wins at the Asia Games in 2010 and 2014. In 2029, she also became the world’s top-ranked bowler for one-day internationals (ODIs); and, the top wicket-taker for spinners ever among women in ODIs. She has been awarded the Pakistani medal of excellence known as the “Tamgha-e-Imtiaz,” while also winning the People’s Choice Award at the Pakistan Sports Awards.
Previously, she was inducted into the ICC Women’s Committee, in 2019, as one of three female players’ representatives to the preeminent cricket body.
She is not only it, England’s all-rounder Moeen Ali has also been positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival to Sri Lanka. Following PCR tests administered on arrival at the airport in Hambantota on Sunday, January 3, The England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed that all-rounder Moeen Ali has tested positive for Covid-19.
Moeen Ali
Moeen Munir Ali is an English international cricketer. An all-rounder, he is a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-spinner, who played county cricket for Warwickshire before moving to Worcestershire after the 2006 season. Moeen has played for the team England in all formats of the game. He had also won Warwickshire’s NBC Denis Compton Award in both 2004 and 2005 and Worcestershire’s NBC Denis Compton Award in 2009. His off spin is marked by a strongly spun off break and a well-concealed arm ball. Moeen was named as one of five Cricketers of the Year in the 2015 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.[1] Moeen was part of the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On 8 September 2020, in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) match against Australia, Ali captained England for the first time in a T20I match.
Covid-19 Players Updates
Ali will be observing a period of 10-days self-isolation, in accordance with the Sri Lanka Government’s protocol on quarantine. Chris Woakes has been deemed as a possible close contact, and he will observe a period of self-isolation and further testing. The touring party will be PCR tested for a second time on Tuesday morning. At this stage, the team will train for the first time on Wednesday. There is no update of quarantine for Mir at the moment, but we really hope they will stay strong during these hard times.
READ MORE: PAK VS NZ: IT’S A NO FOR PAKISTAN TEAM!
Rashid Latif Trolls ICC And Targets IPL!
Sometimes we just want to say… WHY ICC, WHY! The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its Test, ODI, and T20I teams of the decade on Sunday, and cricket fans in Pakistan are quite in a shock. The T20I XI list includes four players from India, two Australians, two West Indies players, one from South Africa, and a player each from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and no players from Pakistan. Not just Pakistan, no cricketer from England, New Zealand, and Pakistan were included in the team.
The list included MS Dhoni, who retired on August 15, named as the captain of the ODI and T20I teams. Whereas, Virat Kohli has been declared the captain of the Test team which includes the likes of former stalwart skippers Kumar Sangakkara and Alastair Cook.
Replying to ICC’s tweet, Former Pakistani cricketer, now analyst Rashid Latif seemed unimpressed and has taken a dig at ICC and targeted Indian Premier League (IPL) while expressing his disappointment, especially at the men’s T20I team of the decade.
He wrote, “TYPO Error {They forget to write IPL-T20s team for the decade}”
Rashid Latif is a Former Pakistan cricket coach and former cricketer and wicket Keeper. He had played for the national cricket team in Test and One Day International matches, between 2092 and 2097as a wicket-keeper left-handed batsman. Latif also served as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team in 2003, leading the country in 600 test and 250 one-day matches. He was serving as a senior TV-analyst for PTV for years where he discussed cricket alongside host Dr. Nauman Niaz and a variety of other former cricketers. Read: NAEEM BOKHARI FIRED RASHID LATIF ALONG WITH SEVEN OTHERS FROM PTV
Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also seemed to be supporting Rashid’s stance on the current listing and replied, “As Expected.”
This has stirred a wave of anger among Pakistani fans and a series of tweets started surfacing on Twitter,
Some people have actually started calling all of it “Topi drama.”
Well apart from some players, no Pakistani players’ inclusion in the list is a shocker for the nation especially fans and followers, and somehow we smell a little favoritism towards the neighboring players as well.
Pakistani team currently plays Test Cricket against New Zealand in Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.
READ MORE: BABAR AZAM PRESERVES SECOND SPOT IN T20I RANKINGS
Messi Equals Scoring Record Of Pele With 643rd Barcelona Goal!
Pele, widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, scored 643 goals for Brazilian club Santos between 1956 and 1974. And every since players have been trying to reach to his score making his competitive debut in 2004 under Frank Rijkaard, he has matched or beaten countless all-time records in football – even some that, like Pele’s, were once thought to be unbeatable.
Lionel Messi reached to the goal and added one more prodigious achievement to his career, equalling Pele’s record for most numbers of goals.
The Argentine sensation Lionel Messi is considered to be one of the most greatest players of all time. Mesi has won a record of six Ballon dÓr awards. And he also bags a record of six European Golden Shoes. Spent his entire life with Barcelona, the player has won a club-record 33 trophies, including 10 LaLiga titles, 4 UEFA Champions League and 6 Copas Del Rey. Recently the player surfaced on the news due to the whole “Messi-Antoine Griezmann’s former agent Barca-Drama,” when Messi frustratingly admitted that he is tired to being blamed for problems in the club.
The player has notched his 643rd goal for Barcelona in their 2-2 draw against Valencia on Saturday. This achievement has levelled him with the legendary Brazilian to score the leaping amount of goals in his playing career for Santos.
Also Read: MIKEL ARTETA IS SAD OVER MESUT OZIL EXILE
Mohammad Amir Takes Retirement From International Cricket
Sport is all about uncertainties! And it’s not just related to ‘injuries,’ as we recently heard about Shadab Khan replacing Babar Azam due to his uncertain exclusion from the Pakistani team after having a thumb injury in New Zealand T20 series, or Pakistani team members contracting Covid-19 in Christchurch, New Zealand despite all the approved medical tests in Pakistan!
But this time it’s the fast bowler Muhammad Amir, who has taken an indefinite break from International Cricket, according to Pakistan Cricket Board.
Pakistani international cricketer Muhammad Amir is a left-arm fast bowler who made his debut at the age of 17 years for the Pakistan Cricket Team in 2009 against Sri Lanka. Amir made his international debut against England in 2009 ICC World Twenty20. He took the wicket of Ravi Bopara with only his second ball, with Shoaib Malik taking a fine catch, and conceded only one run in his debut international over. Amir made his One Day International match debut against Sri Lanka taking 3 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50 and also scoring 23 runs. He plays for Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan Super League. He has played 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is in his limited-overs career, taking 81 and 59 wickets respectively.
Amir had openly expressed his disappointment on social media after New Zealand tour humiliation after the denial of team training from the Health official of New Zealand Cricket Authority. He had also taken digs at Head Coach Misbahul Haq and Bowling coach Waqar Younis, on Twitter, in the recent past. Amir had previously announced his retirement from Test cricket in July 2019, citing workload concerns, but he is still committed to play white-ball cricket for Pakistan.
Amir stated that, “People talk about my age and retirement but what they don’t realise that I didn’t play cricket for five years. Even if you don’t start your car for a week, even that needs oil change to get it running properly once again.”
The player also showed his sheer disappointment due to the disheartening comments and sarcasm over the years from the team which had led him to take this decision. He also said that his workload management was becoming a major issue behind this decision. He also added that he was continuously facing issues related to fitness, despite the confirmation of the team’s physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon of him being fit during England Tour in 2018.
Upon his return to the international cricket, Amir played a dominant role in Pakistan’s formidable pace attack and helped the team won its maiden International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy title back in 2017.
Shadab Khan Will Lead Team Pakistan in the Absence Of Babar Azam
New updates emerge in Pakistan-New Zealand T20I as all-rounder Shadab Khan will be leading the Pakistan Cricket Team against New Zealand in the absence of Babar Azam, sources revealed on Wednesday.
Shadab Khan plays for the Pakistan national cricket team. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Shadab made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Pakistan against the West Indies on 26 March 2017 and recorded the most economical figures for a bowler completing their four overs on debut in a T20I.
The management PCB is satisfied with the Shadab’s fitness after the training session as he had previously complained of groin injury which restricted him to batting during the training session on Sunday. And they are still hopeful that Shadab would reach full fitness ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand on Friday and lead the side in place of injured Babar Azam.
The recent development arrives after Skipper Babar Azam was omitted from the squad due to a fracture in his right thumb last week. Read: BABAR AZAM PRESERVES SECOND SPOT IN T20I RANKINGS
“World’s second-ranked T20I batsman suffered the injury during a throw-down session, following which he was taken to a local hospital where X-rays confirmed his fracture,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had confirmed in a statement on Sunday.
Pakistani team was already under hot waters during the last few weeks because of the COVID-19 contraction in players, and the statement released by New Zealand Cricket authorities and Health Department stated that following careful consideration regarding Coronavirus, the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield will not be granting the exemption which would allow the Pakistani Shaheens to return back in fields in order to train in groups while completing their time in managed isolation in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Read: PAK VS NZ: IT’S A NO FOR PAKISTAN TEAM!
Azam’s injury came just a day after Imam-ul-Haq was excluded due to a thumb fracture sustained during a net session and advised a 12-day rest.
Pakistani team is scheduled to play the first T20I against Kiwis on December 18.
ALSO READ: FINAL WARNING ISSUED FOR PAKISTANI PLAYERS IN NEW ZEALAND
Naeem Bokhari Fired Rashid Latif Along with Seven Others From PTV
Just days into the charge of Naeem Bokhari as a Chairman PTV, the corporation fired eight highly paid employees of the state broadcaster. Including Former Pakistani Captain and TV analyst, Rashid Latif.
Rashid Latif’s Contribution in Sports
Born and bred in Karachi, Rashid Latif is a Former Pakistan cricket coach and former cricketer and wicket Keeper. He had played for the national cricket team in Test and One Day International matches, between 2092 and 2097as a wicket keeper left-handed batsman. Latif also served as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team in 2003, leading the country in 600 test and 250 one-day matches. He was serving as a senior TV-analyst for PTV for years where he discussed cricket alongside host Dr Nauman Niaz and a variety of other former cricketers.
Former Multimedia Journalist from Samaa also Tweeted her disappointment over the matter; she said PTV continues to bleed money. And now this! She further said stick to the plan if there is any.
As per the sacking order, Latif was a part of PTV since 2016 and was the second-highest paid employee on the list, drawing a salary of 950,000PKR. The order unfolded that “PTV is short of finances. Payments due to PTV are not forthcoming and already has 3,560 regular employees.”
The decision was to drastically reduce the number of contract employees on high salaries and therefore the dismissal of the employees, of which Latif is a part. The former employee, over the past few months, has been very active on YouTube where he runs a channel named “Caught Behind” alongside Dr Niaz.
Read More: Why Shahid Afridi Returned From LPL?