Cricket

Pakistan's all-rounder Shoaib Malik announced his withdrawal from the upcoming second season of the T10 League citing family reasons. The cricketer was the captain of the team ‘Punjabi Legends’ in the 10-over tournament which begins in UAE from 21st November. Shoaib Malik posted a tweet today from his Twitter account regarding his participation in the tournament: https://twitter.com/realshoaibmalik/status/1062038708008833024 Malik recently represented Pakistan in the limited-overs matches of UAE tour against New Zealand. He was also one of Pakistan’s mainstays in the Asia Cup tournament which was played out in UAE. His wife, Indian Tennis star, Sani Mirza gave a birth to a baby boy on October 29.  Last month, the former Pakistani captain took to Twitter to announce the birth of his son and also revealed his name as Izhaan Mirza-Malik.

The second edition of the innovative T10 League in UAE commences on 21st November and the finalists of last year, Punjabi Legends, will be hoping to advance by one step this time. Led by the mercurial Pakistani legend Shoaib Malik, Punjabi Legends have added a few legendary names in their squad for this year. They will be coached by Mushtaq Ahmed, former Pakistan leg-spinner. Here is how Punjabi Legends line up: Batting unit In Luke Ronchi, Punjabi Legends has one of the most devastating openers going around in T20 cricket. Ronchi struck three consecutive fifties in the 10-over competition last year and capped off with a spectacular 70 from 34 balls in the final. He will be partnered by the West Indian dynamite Evin Lewis. The batsman is a ferocious striker of the white ball

The 3-match India-West Indies T20 series ended last night in Chennai, with India comfortably clinching the series 3-0. It was another comprehensive performance by the Men in Blue at home and the West Indies have a lot of soul searching to do. For now, here is a look at the five takeaways from the T20 series. Rohit excels as a captain, again As he had done in the Indian Premiere League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians a number of times, Rohit Sharma led

India’s legendary left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan will be once again seen in the action as he gears up to take part in the upcoming T10 League. The bowler last donned the Indian uniform four years ago in his final appearance in Test cricket. He has since taken up mentorship and cricket expert roles for various events. Zaheer will be once again be seen in his iconic run-and-jump bowling action as he is set to take the field for Bengal Tigers in the

2011 World Cup winner and a senior Indian fast bowler Munaf Patel has called time on his cricketing career in all format. The 35-year old last appeared in the national uniform seven years ago and was a part of Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017. Munaf Patel cited lack of motivation as the primary reason for finishing his 15-year long career. The right-arm medium pace bowler first came into the limelight with his runaway pace at the MRF Pace Foundation at Chennai. Munaf was subsequently picked for Mumbai and Maharashtra first-class team and his spell of 7/97 on his first-class debut against England A hastened his national selection. In 2006, Munaf Patel made his Test debut against England and was soon drafted in India’s limited-overs team as well. He was a part of India’s 2007 and 2011 World Cup campaigns. He also represented many IPL franchises over the years, such as Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai

The Indian team management has announced that key players Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah will be rested for the third and final T20I match of the series against Windies. India has already secured the series win with the 71-run win at Lucknow in the second T20I game. Leading into the final match of the tour which will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 11th November (Sunday), BCCI has opted to test its bench strength. This also facilitates a resting period

Australia have made a bold move and named their 13-member squad for the upcoming T20Is against South Africa and India without several of their most experienced stars. Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon have been left out of the squad thus raising several eyebrows. Apart from the trio Peter Siddle who was Starc’s replacement in the recently concluded T20Is against Pakistan has also been omitted. To everyone's surprise, frontline bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who are fully fit too have failed

The Decision Review System (DRS), is all set to make its first appearance at an International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 event with it being implemented at this year’s upcoming women's edition of the tournament, scheduled to kickoff in the West Indies on Friday. For the first time, the Women’s World Twenty20 is being held separately from the men’s event and is ready to establish its own identity in the international cricket calendar. All the matches will be broadcast live across 200 countries

Former England cricket skipper Alastair Cook who retired from international cricket in September earlier this year after the 5th Test against India at the Oval is all set to become the youngest cricketing knight According to reports in England, a proposal has been tabled in the House of Lords to award Cook with knighthood. “It is not just that Alastair Cook is unquestionably the best batsman England have produced in recent years but that he can make a massive contribution as an ambassador for

Former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad is the latest member of the coaching staff of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab to walk out of the door. Prasad who was the bowling coach joins the bandwagon following coach and mentor Virender Sehwag in the leaving the KXIP setup. Prasad will be replaced by Sridharam Sriram who was earlier the assistant coach of Delhi Daredevils and also had short stints as the bowling consultant with Australian national cricket team. Prasad who had to give up his

Despite falling short by two runs in the first T20I of the series, the visiting New Zealand side would be hopeful for a turnaround in the second and all-important T20I at Abu Dhabi. The Black Caps have shown that they will not be pushovers and this series is very unlikely to go like the one between Pakistan and Australia last month. New Zealand are a very good T20 side and ran Pakistan close in the first game. A more polished performance in the

Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has announced his retirement from ODI cricket. The 33-year-old wants to focus only on Test cricket and hence called it quits from ODIs to prolong his Test career. Azhar’s last appeared for Pakistan in white-ball cricket was against New Zealand in January. The opener has never played dT20Is for his nation. "It is not a decision that I have taken suddenly. I had been considering this for quite some time. I think the time is right for me

There’s something about Khaleel Khursheed Ahmed. Perhaps it is the fact that he is a left-arm pacer – a rarity in Indian cricket. Or the way he angles the ball across the batsman both ways. Or maybe it is just Indians getting excited about seeing a young pace bowler making news again. But you cannot deny that Khaleel Ahmed has some spark in him. The 20-year-old seam bowler has only featured in 6 ODIs for India but has shown traces of his talent

Cricket Australia chairman David Peever has stepped down from his post after encountering criticism from all quarters. The chairman submitted his resignation after mounting pressure from the findings of the Longstaff review. Earlier this week, the review results were made public, and it led to severe backlash. Deputy chairman Earl Hiddings will assume the position of David Peever on an interim basis. After the embarrassing cheating scandal that took place in the Cape Town Test between Australia and South Africa, many of the senior position holders in Australian cricket had to vacate their seats. Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner, head coach Darren Lehmann, CEO James Sutherland were the noted casualties. Cricket Australia chairman

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has backed the appointment of former Pakistani captain and legendary cricketer Wasim Akram in the newly-formed special cricket committee. The Cricket Board clarified that the Justice Qayyum commission report did not prevent the former cricketer from working towards the betterment of Pakistan cricket. In the aftermath of the match-fixing allegations, former chief justice of the Lahore High Court, Justice Qayyum had submitted a report in the year 2000. It was termed as the most comprehensive report into corruption in

Australia’s coach Justin Langer has guaranteed personally that there will not be a repeat offense of ball-tampering after the ‘sandpaper gate’. While conversing with the Australian legend Adam Gilchrist in an interview for Fox Cricket on Wednesday, Langer also displayed his concern for ball-tampering being an international problem.  In the second Test match against South Africa last year, the Australian opener Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera hiding a piece of sandpaper. Cricket Australia, on further investigation, decided to hand one-year ban to Captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner. Bancroft was banned for six months as well. Coach Daren Lehmann resigned post the scandal and Justin Langer was appointed as the head coach. Speaking about the incident, Langer expressed his astonishment of seeing a piece of sandpaper being used to change the ball condition. “I can’t for a single second understand how we took sandpaper

The second edition of T10 cricket tournament is set to get underway in Sharjah this November. The eight-team cricket extravaganza will be seen in a new avatar with two new teams competing in the 2018 edition. With the governing body of the contest bringing new players from the pool of retiring cricketers, the tournament provides fans with a brilliant opportunity to watch their yesteryear stars back in action. The T10 league is scheduled to be played from November 23 to December 2 in 2018.

When Rohit Sharma walked back to the heritage grade pavilion of the historic Brabourne Stadium after scoring a magnificent 162, the whole of India was excited to observe the proceedings of the remaining 37 balls. Those 37 balls would help the two divided factions of the nation in vindicating their stand about one of India’s legendary cricketers, MS Dhoni. However, Dhoni went back to the pavilion with a 23 from 15 balls. Neither a trail-blazing knock nor a dull ball-eating one. The discussion remains open, the conundrum continues. Leading into the fourth ODI at Mumbai, India had a tough a selection crisis on its hands. Kedar Jadhav, India’s golden arm in recent times, had to make his comeback into the side. Jadhav’s inclusion meant dropping either Rishabh Pant or MS Dhoni. The selectors sided with Pant when the same

India takes on Windies in the fifth and final ODI of the series tomorrow (November 1, 2018) at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. With the series result hanging at 2-1 in favor of the home side, both the teams will try their best to win this encounter and earn the bragging rights. The Windies were thumped by 224 runs in the fourth ODI that took place at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Indian opener Rohit Sharma (162) and number four Ambati Rayudu (100) carried India to the gigantic total of 377/5 in the first innings. The Caribbean batting lineup failed to rise to the challenge as the top half of the batting order collapsed. Captain Jason Holder played a mature knock of 54 and spared the team from a great embarrassment.  Leading into the

After demolishing Australia in the three-match T20I series, Pakistan is ready to host the challenge of New Zealand in the shortest format. Number one ranked team in the world, Pakistan, has won 10 consecutive T20I series and will be aiming to clinch the 11th as well. New Zealand have not played international cricket for the last seven months and now face the stern test against a top side in the testing conditions of UAE. In the recently concluded whitewash of Australia, Pakistan wielded the bat first in all three games and successfully defended the totals against hapless Australia. Babar Azam, who averages 56.56 in T20Is, finished as the top run-getter for Pakistan in the three-match series. He will be the main threat for New Zealand bowling attack