Category: News

Pakistan didn’t have the best of the starts losing a couple of wickets in the first two overs before Salman Agha, Mohammad Haris and Shadab Khan led the fightback and bowlers put on a show in Lahore for the hosts to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series against Bangladesh. Lahore: Pakistan overcame a difficult start to tighten screws over Bangladesh with both bat and ball to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series on the back of all-round effort in the opening game at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday, May 28. The captain and vice-captain, Salman Agha and Shadab Khan, combined to push Pakistan’s score beyond 200 before Hasan Ali stuck in and registered his maiden five-wicket haul as Bangladesh lost the steam after gaining an early advantage. It was an abhorrent start for Pakistan, losing both their dashers, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman and the danger of the same old story repeating itself was very evident. The repair job from Salaman Agha was cautious but Mohammad Haris played his shots. His innings didn’t last long, but the 18-ball 31 eventually became a bridge between the start and the eventual acceleration. Agha smashed an outstanding fifty and Hasan Nawaz and Shadab Khan contributed crucial 40s at near-200 strike rates to take care of the latter overs. Pakistan were really severe on the leggie Rishad Hossain as he ended up conceding 55 runs off his last four overs.  A six from Faheem Ashraf in the end took Pakistan to the psychological 200-number and Bangladesh had their task cut out. Jaker Ali, captain Litton Das and opener Tanzid Hasan tried adding life to Bangladesh’s innings, but the regular wickets didn’t help the innings’ flow for Bangladesh. Whenever the Bangladesh batters tried to up the ante, they would lose a wicket at the other end. Falling wickets disrupted momentum for the visitors multiple times as Hasan Ali, fresh off a sensational PSL for Karachi Kings, ran riot to register his maiden five-wicket haul and Bangladesh ended up 37 runs short of the target. It was a winning start for Mike Hesson and Co in his first game of the new assignment as Pakistan’s white-ball coach and he would be keen to sweep Bangladesh with bigger and tougher challengers to come. For Pakistan, the change in personnel and the belief in the ones doing well in the PSL seems to be working but the team management and the selectors need to trust and give time to the new captain and this squad to be able to function fully, come the T20 World Cup next year.   Source link

For Nitish Kumar Reddy, the 18th edition of the IPL has lent a first-hand experience of just how fickle the T20 format can be. At the start of this year’s summer ritual, the 22-year-old must have intended to build on his breakthrough 2024 season. In Sunrisers Hyderabad’s run to last year’s final, Nitish had been the surprise package, his quickfire knocks and a few overs of medium-pace providing Pat Cummins’ men greater depth in the two core departments. The all-round skills, in turn, helped the youngster from Andhra Pradesh get fast-tracked into India’s T20I and Test teams. And he had decent success too, notching up a maiden Test century against Australia at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Down turn But over the last two months in the IPL, Nitish has endured a conspicuous downturn. In 13 matches this season, the middle-order batter tallied just 182 runs at 22.75. His strike rate of 118.95 was also not up to scratch. He will have to shift focus now to the five-Test tour of England, where he is part of an 18-member squad as one of two seam-bowling all-rounders alongside Shardul Thakur. SRH coach Daniel Vettori threw his weight behind Nitish. “It’s always tricky to play that role at No. 4 or 5. But we know that Nitish, when he’s at his best, builds his innings and can then capitalise at the end against pace and spin. So I think it is just one of those seasons that’s a little bit of a learning for him, but he’s too good a player not to bounce back,” the bespectacled Kiwi told reporters. With the ball, too, Nitish had a negligible presence, rolling his arm over in just the last three matches. “He brought a side-strain into the tournament, and then it was just a slow, meticulous build-up. It was purely down to injury,” Vettori revealed.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra took centre stage and talked about Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion from India’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of England where both sides will lock horns across five Test matches. New Delhi: The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) took centre stage and announced Team India’s squad for the upcoming five-game Test series against England. Both sides will lock horns in the first Test from June 20, and with the squad announced, it was revealed that ace batter Shubman Gill will be the new India Test captain. The squad features the likes of KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and many more stars. One of the most notable misses in the squad was batter Sarfaraz Khan. The batter was picked in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 but did not get a chance in the playing XI in any of the five Tests. With his exclusion from the Test squad for the England tour, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra took centre stage and talked about how the BCCI did not provide Sarfaraz with a chance to fail and dropped him. “Sarfaraz Khan is not part of the team. You have to obviously feel for the boy. Seeing him you are saying that he might not score runs, but he hasn’t failed. Neither did you play him in the BGT nor have you kept him in the team here. You wrote the kid’s obituary without giving him a chance to fail,” Aakash Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.  “However, he is also part of the India A squad. So score runs in the side games and show what they are doing is wrong. Show that you can score runs in England as well. It is actually up to you now to prove that point,” he observed. Furthermore, Aakash Chopra talked about Karun Nair being picked in the Indian Test squad after a hiatus of seven years. “Indian cricket has given Karun Nair another chance. He is a part of the team. Only time will tell whether he will get a chance to play or not. He will be a part of the India A squad as well. Score runs and put forth a solid case for you to be included in the XI,” he said. Source link