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With the three-match series in the bag, Pakistan are likely to continue tinkering with their starting XI for Monday’s fixture in Dhaka

Danyal Rasool21-Nov-2021

Big picture

Pakistan aren’t renowned for learning from their mistakes quickly, but over the weekend, this side righted one wrong from six years ago. In 2015, days after the World Cup ended, Pakistan went to Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series and a solitary T20I. Undercooked, perhaps even unmotivated, they found themselves flayed by the home side, who ultimately sent Saeed Ajmal into international retirement. In 2021, with Pakistan having to turn up in Bangladesh again to play a limited-overs series just five days after another World Cup concluded, they have shown none of the hangovers from 2015, taking the most efficient path to a series win.That renders the third game a dead rubber in what is already a relatively low-profile series, but Pakistan’s rise in the format has meant a fair bit of jostling for places in the starting XI. With Mohammad Hafeez returning to the fray and a slew of fast bowlers and power hitters waiting in the wings, any opportunity for this side is an opportunity to impress given the next T20 World Cup is less than a year away. That means every match, even dead rubbers, remain important as teams continue to work their combinations out, though it’s probably worth noting conditions in Bangladesh might as well be on a different planet to what Australia will have in store.Related

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The home side are in freefall and it might have some way to run yet. Series wins against Australia and New Zealand before the T20 World Cup turned out to be completely irrelevant when it came to performances at the tournament, with Bangladesh failing to win a single Super 12s game, while the two sides they vanquished on home soil competed in the final. Returning to familiar comforts against Pakistan, too, hasn’t given them any respite, and two fairly indifferent performances, despite the return of a raucous crowd, see them playing for pride on Monday.There’s a whiff of the unsettled behind-the-scenes as well. The board came in for criticism after Bangladesh’s shoddy showing at the T20 World Cup, and when senior player Mushfiqur Rahim was rested – ostensibly injured – for this series, he came out and stated, unequivocally, that he was fit to play. The absence of Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal for different reasons has exposed Bangladesh’s lack of depth, and in these circumstances, playing a resurgent Pakistan simply comes at a bad time for them.

Form guide

Bangladesh: LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWLWW

In the spotlight

If Bangladesh were hoping to unearth someone new in Tamim and Soumya Sarkar’s absence, the openers in this series have only illustrated how heavily Bangladesh rely on those senior players. Both games have seen the hosts on the back foot from the outset, Mohammad Naim and Saif Hassan struggling to take advantage of the field restrictions. Across the two games, the openers have scored a combined four runs in 20 deliveries, allowing Pakistan to take high-impact top order wickets cheaply while using up precious powerplay time in the process. It isn’t as if they’re batting when they would rather not, given Bangladesh won both tosses and chose to put runs on the board. They cannot afford to let Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers run roughshod over them for a third successive game.In a crowded field of Pakistan fast bowlers, Mohammad Wasim has found a way to shine. Having warmed the bench for the entirety of the T20 World Cup, Wasim was brought in for Bangladesh, arguably the most challenging place for an express pace bowler to make their mark. He has been Pakistan’s best bowler in the series so far, following up figures of 2 for 24 in the first game with 3-0-9-1 to hamstring Bangladesh’s innings on Saturday. With competition for places hotting up ahead of a home series against West Indies and a visit from Australia looming early next year, a player like Wasim, who generally finds himself on the fringes, needs to take every opportunity to shine, dead rubber or otherwise.Mushfiqur Rahim’s absence has led to some off-field drama in the Bangladesh camp•Getty Images

Team news

Bangladesh announced late on Saturday that pace bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi and batter Parvez Hossain Emon were added to their squad for the third game. Both players are yet to make their T20I debuts.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Yasir Ali, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Aminul Islam/Kamrul Islam Rabbi, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Taskin AhmedPakistan have tinkered with their line-up in the first two games, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that continue. Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi each got a rest, so Haris Rauf could be in line for the same in the final game. Shoaib Malik will miss the game due to the illness of his child and will depart for Dubai before the match.Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Hasan Ali, 9 Mohammad Wasim, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Afridi

Pitch and conditions

The pitches in Dhaka were what we’ve come to expect from Bangladesh, and the two-paced nature and lack of bounce kept scores low in the first two games. The weather should not play spoilsport.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh last lost a home T20I series in December 2018, when West Indies beat them 2-1. They won the last three home bilateral series before the ongoing one
• Shoaib Malik is 77 runs away from becoming the third Pakistan batter inside a month to reach 2500 T20I runs. Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam got to the landmark at the T20 World Cup in the UAE

Bowling coach lauds ‘fantastic team man’ Boult after he became the third New Zealand bowler to 250 Test wickets

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo23-Aug-2019How does Trent Boult maintain a near-blinding standard over so many years, and across so many formats? Before rain washed out two further sessions of play in Colombo on Friday, Boult became the third New Zealand bowler to 250 Test wickets during a double-wicket maiden that perhaps swung the match in New Zealand’s favour. This milestone comes in a year in which he averages less than 22 in Tests, following two full calendar years in which he averaged 23.90 (2018) and 24.77 (2017).On English tracks, in a completely different format, Boult had also had a good World Cup, having taken 17 wickets to sit eighth on the tournament table. Bowling coach Shane Jurgensen thinks the key to Boult’s consistency has been his fitness and his “simple” action.”Today’s a special day for Trent – becoming the third New Zealand bowler to 250 wickets,” Jurgensen said. “I think he has a very efficient bowling action. Overall, it’s quite simple. I think that allows him to do what he does. Being accurate is really important in all parts of the world. He’s got an advantage being left-handed, and that creates variation for our bowling group.”He’s one of the best bowlers in the world and he’s proved that for a long time. He’s got that skill to expose any type of conditions that are available to him. I also think he can bowl across all different periods of the game. That’s really important. He’s one of the leaders of being able to do that – the ability to adjust to all periods.Trent Boult throws the ball to Tim Southee•Associated Press

“He’s also got great passion and energy which he brings to our team. He’s our energiser bunny in the warm-ups. He loves his soccer. I think the skill and execution and the way he’s contributed to the team has been amazing. He’s a fantastic team man as well. And he does a lot of hard work off the field. He doesn’t stop working on his fitness or his resilience. Those factors have contributed to the success he’s had.”Also delivering a double-wicket maiden on Friday was Boult’s longtime partner-in-crime Tim Southee, who removed Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella in quick succession. Southee is also only three wickets away from hitting the 250 mark. He is slightly slower to the milestone, however – Boult achieving it in his 63rd Test, while Southee is playing his 67th. On Friday, the pair combined to produce four wickets for just 32 runs.”Tim and Trent have been doing it for a while,” Jurgensen said. “Today there might have been a little bit of swing with the overhead conditions, and it just seemed to be doing a little bit. They both work really hard on their fitness, and that’s a big factor in their resilience.”They’re always giving each other a bit of a hard time [because they are so close to each other in terms of career wickets]. That’s what’s great for the team – they keep things lighthearted. They support each other a lot too – they back each other up on the field and off the field.”

The allrounder is currently unable to bowl and believes he is “years” away from being ready for international cricket

Alex Malcolm03-Dec-2019Highly-rated Western Australia allrounder Cameron Green believes he ‘is a few good years’ from being ready for international cricket despite calls from Ricky Ponting for him to be included in Australia’s squad for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.Green, 20, made his second Sheffield Shield century in three matches in a thrilling win over South Australia. He also has two five-wicket hauls in just 11 first-class games and is averaging 37.71 with the bat and 21.53 with the ball, although he hasn’t bowled in the last two Shield games as a precaution after experiencing some back soreness earlier in the season. He already had a long history of back trouble and, at 200cm tall, he is being carefully managed by the medical staff.Ponting told that Green could be included in an extended squad against New Zealand, as a “left-field decision” to give the youngster a taste of the international environment without actually playing. This came days after Western Australia team-mate Marcus Stoinis said Green “could be the best allrounder Australia has had” during the match against South Australia.However, Green was very quick to play down both sets of comments and dampened the excitement around his immediate international prospects.”I did read that, [they are] incredibly nice words from Ricky,” Green said. “But I think it’s still a bit premature, to be honest. Obviously he’s got a pretty massive word in Australian cricket. But I think at the same time he said it would be a pretty left-field move, and I totally agree with that.”I think it’s still way too early to be taking those comments pretty heavily. I’ve only played a couple of games as a batsman in the WA squad. I haven’t really got those runs on the board, to be honest. I may have got a couple of good scores out of the way, but I’m definitely a good few years off I’d say.”Green, who was due to have another MRI on Tuesday, is still not bowling again and may have to wait until the BBL after experiencing back pain in the match against Queensland. He had fears of yet another stress fracture but the scans were clear.”I thought it was pretty serious,” Green said. “I’ve had three or four back injuries in the past that actually didn’t hurt while doing everything else apart from bowling. This one, my back was actually pretty sore in the field and at home so I actually thought it was going to be a lot worse but the scan actually came up absolutely clear. My back was fine. I’m not really sure what was causing the pain but I was just sore.”Green burst onto the scene in 2017 having been given a rookie contract by Western Australia while he was still at school in Perth. He took a five-wicket haul on Shield debut against Tasmania in Hobart and played twice more that summer, but further back trouble in 2017-18 meant he did not play any Shield cricket that season. He played four matches early last season but again was managed after the BBL break due to ongoing back issues.However, despite not bowling at the moment Green still wants to be a genuine allrounder. “Coming through as a junior I’ve always seen myself as a genuine allrounder,” he said. “At times for WA, I was definitely a bowling allrounder, batting nine or ten and not scoring too many runs. So I’m pretty happy I’m getting a couple of runs out the way but in the future, I’d like to be a genuine allrounder.”He has been gleaning as much advice as he can off Stoinis about the allrounder’s role. The pair shared a 122-run stand on day one against South Australia to dig WA out of a hole, but Green has paid more attention to Stoinis’ bowling. “He thinks about the game so much and every single time he gets a wicket I go up and ask did you change anything, just trying to take little hints of what he does,” Green said.Green’s batting was a major strength as a junior. He was a top-order player all through his schoolboy and underage cricket and has three first-grade centuries batting high in the top six for his WACA Premier club Subiaco-Floreat. His fast-track to Shield level came through his raw ability with the ball rather than the bat, where from 200cm he can bowl at close to 140kph and swing the ball away from the right-handers with a semi side-in action.But his run-glut this season comes as no surprise. He credits a minor technical adjustment, with a return to a more natural stance and set-up. Green is an extremely orthodox player and as a junior he batted with a traditional bat tap and late pick up, like his hero Ponting, but last season he veered away from that set up to stand still with his bat raised upon delivery which left him feeling a touch rigid.”I think it’s just getting that confidence,” Green said. “I’ve always been able to hold the stick in a way, it was just having that confidence to do it at this level. As a junior growing up it was those steps from second grade to first grade, from first grade to Futures [League], and then Futures to Shield. It’s not always your ability, it’s probably more the confidence you’ve got that you can play at that level. Probably getting two scores out of the way probably gave me that confidence.”

“I was playing matches without any sleep. Since I found it taxing, I had to quit IPL and go home midway”

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2021India and Delhi Capitals lead spinner R Ashwin was playing the last few days of the truncated 2021 IPL “without getting any sleep” when his family members were down with Covid-19 and a few of his cousins were admitted to the hospital. As many as ten members of his family had tested positive when Ashwin decided to leave the IPL to support his family. Around ten days later, the IPL was postponed as Covid-19 cases started rising across teams in the biosecure bubbles.”Almost everyone from my place had got affected due to Covid,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel on Thursday. “In fact, a few of my cousins also got admitted and were serious and they somehow recovered.”I couldn’t sleep for almost eight-nine days. Since I couldn’t sleep, it was really stressful for me. I was playing matches without getting any sleep. And since I found it really taxing, I had to quit IPL and go home midway. In fact, when I left around that time, I had thoughts on whether I will be able to play cricket thereafter. But still, I did what was required at that point of time. Anyway, after that, I thought there won’t be any cricket for some time.”Related

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Ashwin said his family went through a “testing time”, which his wife had also described as a “nightmare of a week”.”In between, when people in my house started recovering, I thought of coming back into the IPL and that’s when IPL was called off,” he said.Ashwin is currently with the India squad in Mumbai where they are serving a 14-day quarantine, of which the first seven days were “hard quarantine” in which players were not allowed to get out of their hotel rooms. After seven days and three negative tests, they could use the gym and train, and after the tenth day, they could visit common areas and interact with other players.The Test squad will fly to the UK on June 2 for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and five Tests against England in August-September. The India Women’s team will also travel on the same charter flight for their all-format tour of England, comprising one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is.Ashwin called reaching Mumbai via a charter plane a “different experience” and “with each passing day, the struggle is only getting worse”. But he hoped “if we are able to provide a little amount of joy to you guys in these testing times, that will give a sense of satisfaction and happiness to us.”Ashwin is in the bubble with his wife and two daughters. He also said all the players and staff members had received at least one dose of the vaccine while he got his second dose of Covaxin in April-end when the IPL was still on.The BCCI is now planning to conduct the remainder of the 2021 IPL in the UAE in the September-October window but it may clashing with the CPL and international cricket, with the T20 World Cup scheduled to start from mid-October.

Trevor Hohns steps down having served collectively on the selection panel for 21 years

Andrew McGlashan01-Aug-2021George Bailey has been named the new chairman of selectors of the Australia men’s team following the retirement of Trevor Hohns.Bailey, who played 125 times for Australia, joined the panel in 2019 and takes on the top job ahead of selecting squads for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes later this year.Hohns steps down having served collectively on the selection panel for 21 years – 16 as chairman – across two periods from 1991 to 2005 and 2016 to 2021.”Firstly, I would like to thank Trevor for his incredible work which has helped shape the success of Australian cricket over a long period, including during my days as a player and captain,” Bailey said.”In what can be a challenging job Trevor has always been calm, consistent and approachable. Similarly to his journey, he has made my transition from player to selector as smooth as possible. There is a lot I will take from Trevor’s style and very much look forward to the journey ahead.”George Bailey joined the selection panel in 2019•Getty Images

Hohns’ first period as chairman from 1995-2005 involved a period of huge success for the national team which included the 1999 and 2003 World Cup victories plus the record run of 16 Test wins.He stepped down from his first stint after the 2005 Ashes defeat but returned in 2016. The second spell included the dramatic fallout from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal which required the management of the post-ban returns of Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft that happened during the 2019 Ashes were Australia retained the urn in England for the first time in 18 years.”The game has been great to me and I have loved every minute of it, from the good times to the bad,” Hohns said. “I have been extremely fortunate to be involved with some of the greatest Australian teams of all time and many of the best players to have played the game.”The successes of the side over the years have been great but I remember my time just as much for the wonderful people you work with and those you meet along the way. It has been an amazing journey for me, but all things come to an end. I am happy with my decision.”Trevor Hohns’ first period as chairman from 1995-2005 involved a period of huge success•Getty Images

Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s head of national teams, paid tribute to Hohns’ service to the game and the qualities of his successor.”The impact Trevor has had on Australian cricket has been unparalleled over a long period of time,” he said. “For someone to have played such an integral part in so many incredible eras is a feat few, if any, ever achieve.”The role of national selector is one of the most scrutinised in Australian sport and Trevor has performed it with great strength, judgement and humility. We will miss his experience but respect his decision to take a step back from the game and are grateful for his stewardship.””George is a highly respected leader who is now well established on the NSP alongside Justin as the head coach,” he added. “He has brought recent playing experience with a deep understanding of the game, an open and collaborative style and a desire to keep improving the selection function.”Oliver also confirmed a third member of the selection panel would be appointed in the coming months.

Tea break came at a good time for England, says opening batsman, after an impressive day under the lid at short leg

Andrew Miller17-Nov-2018Keaton Jennings believes the second Test at Pallekele is “set up for a bit of a thriller” after a gripping fourth day was brought to an early close by rain with the match very much in the balance.By the close, Sri Lanka needed another 75 runs to square the series with three wickets in hand, one of them being the unconventional and aggressive wicketkeeper, Niroshan Dickwella, who has the range of strokes required to overcome the spinning conditions and get his side across the line.However, Jennings – whose sharp reactions at short leg were instrumental in two of England’s seven wickets on the day – believes that the brief passage of play after tea, in which Angelo Mathews and Dilruwan Perera fell in quick succession, has tipped the balance firmly in England’s favour.The first of those wickets was the key scalp of Mathews, who had been firmly entrenched on 87 in a sixth-wicket stand of 43, but then fell to Moeen Ali to his second ball after the break.Asked if the tea interval had come at an ideal moment for England, Jennings told Sky Sports: “15-20 minutes earlier would have been ideal, but I think it really did. It stops their momentum, and you come out with fresh energy.”When you walk off the field with 80 needed, and five wickets in hand and a guy well set, it’s tense, but then you get two breakthroughs and suddenly it looks a different game.”Wickets have fallen in clusters, as we saw in our innings. It is tough to start, so hopefully we can strike early and put the pressure on.”Dickwella, however, remained unbeaten on 27 from 30 balls at the close, having taken a leaf out of England’s own book in both of their innings – using the sweep to good effect to disrupt England’s lines and lengths and keep the scoreboard moving.”He’s a bit awkward,” said Jennings. “He sweeps, reverse sweeps, puts you under pressure, so hopefully we can hold him tight.”Even some of the good balls turn too much, so that slow turn allows you to get the ball away square, so even when you bowl good balls you still seem to go at threes and fours an over. We need to restrict that as much as we can.”Despite Sri Lanka’s late setbacks, Mathews remained upbeat: “It is evenly poised,” he said. “Unfortunately I got out at a very crucial time. But we still have got a batter at the crease. Then guys like Akila Dananjaya and Suranga Lakmal are no mugs with the bat. So we are not out of the game. If we get one good partnership we are in with a win.”We are still 75 runs away. The ball is soft and the wicket is slow. You have about another 18 overs for the new ball. We need to get as much before as we can. The first hour will decide. Cricket is a funny game.”Jennings added: “We need to have a good first half hour tomorrow, even if we just restrict the scoring rate, that will build the pressure on them to play a false shot. There’s enough balls in there to create that pressure, we just need to make sure we hold that scoring rate.”Our mood is really positive. A good day’s work but it’s set up to be a really good Test match. The last four days have been absolutely amazing to watch.”If you’d arrived before the Test and looked at the surface, I’m not sure you’d have expected it to get to day five.”On the subject of his own involvement in the field, where he put in arguably England’s most impressive stint at short leg since James Taylor starred on the tour of South Africa three years ago, Jennings joked: “It’s a good job to do badly, I’ve heard!”I really enjoyed it on this surface, when you feel in the game all day, it’s good fun. It’s like being in the slips in England, you feel in the game and want to make a difference.”

The thinness of resources in Pakistan’s middle order has opened the door for Misbah-ul-Haq to revive, once again, his international career

Cricinfo staff26-Nov-2009The thinness of resources in Pakistan’s middle order has opened the door for Misbah-ul-Haq to revive, once again, his international career. Misbah was dropped from all three Pakistan squads before the team left on its tour of New Zealand, following a poor run with the bat this year.The withdrawal of Younis Khan from the New Zealand trip, however, not only left Pakistan without a captain, but also a No. 3 who averages 50 in Test cricket. Mohammad Yousuf, who took over the captaincy from Younis, immediately asked for Misbah’s return, citing the need for his experience in a middle order which included inexperienced batsmen Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal in the first Test in Dunedin.A member of the selection committee told Cricinfo that Misbah would most likely be in New Zealand before the second Test, due to begin in Wellington on December 3. “We don’t know exactly what day he will go, but we are keen to send him there to be part of the squad,” the official said. The decision needed to be approved by the board but that is thought to be a formality.The request for Misbah’s inclusion was initially turned down by Pakistan’s selection committee. However, following the failure of most of Pakistan’s batting line – the Akmal brothers apart – in the first innings of the ongoing first Test in Dunedin, the selectors agreed to send Misbah out to New Zealand. Before the younger Akmal saved Pakistan with a hundred on debut, Pakistan had collapsed to 85 for 5, and the middle order of Alam, Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, was looking undermanned, particularly with an opening pair as flimsy as Imran Farhat and Khurram Manzoor.The decision is bound to cause comment, especially as Pakistan already have a large 17-man squad touring in New Zealand. Additionally, they already have a middle-order option, Faisal Iqbal, in place. If he plays, he will at least provide a safe pair of hands in the slips. Farhat, who has a long history of dropping chances in the slip cordon, was at first slip and he promptly dropped two in New Zealand’s first innings.Misbah returned to the Pakistan team after a five-year hiatus in 2007, in magnificent fashion. His inventive, fearless batting led Pakistan to the brink of World Twenty20 glory that same year, and he bolstered his reputation as Pakistan’s man for a crisis by scoring two Test hundreds in India towards the end of the year. The returns since were not so spectacular and this year in particular has been poor – an average of 28.57 in five Tests and 300 runs in 13 ODIs. He has been scoring domestically, however, the route through which he came back into the national side in 2007 and the day he was axed, he responded with a career-best 284 in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

Sri Lanka had gone from 69 for 0 to 83 for 7 inside 34 balls before finishing on 107 for 8, run-outs accounting for five of the wickets

Danyal Rasool28-May-2022It did come down to the final delivery, but the result was the same as in the two previous fixtures. Instead of cruising to victory, Pakistan earned it right at the death, sweeping the T20I series 3-0 over Sri Lanka.In a low-scoring match, Sri Lanka found their innings derailed by an astonishing middle-order collapse where they lost seven wickets for 14 runs, with five of wickets in the innings falling to run outs. Pakistan, in the chase, let the game drift, and as Sri Lanka picked up regular wickets, the nerves began to fray. And with two runs needed off the final ball, it took a misfield from the bowler, Kavisha Dilhari, to allow them to complete the job.Sri Lanka batted first after winning the toss yet again, but this time, the opening batters hung around. Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera also appeared more proactive throughout the first half of the innings, sweeping often and sweeping well against the spinners. Pakistan had to shuffle their bowlers around frequently, turning to Tuba Hassan as early as the eighth over. But Sri Lanka kept turning the strike over, and finding regular boundaries.It wasn’t until the 12th over, when 69 runs had been put on, that a wicket finally came. It was courtesy a run-out, but it opened the floodgates. A dramatic passage of play saw Sri Lanka go from 69 for 0 to 83 for 7 inside 34 balls, gutting all the momentum that had been built. When Sugandika Kumari was run out off the innings’ final ball, it was the fifth of the innings, and Sri Lanka had managed 107, pretty much exactly similar to the 105 and 102 they had scored in the first two games.Pakistan, who made a few changes to their line-up, opened with Iram Javed, whose two boundaries off the first over suggested Pakistan were looking to make short work of this chase. But, after that, Sri Lanka’s spinners ground the Pakistan batters down, and they retreated into their shells as the asking rate slowly crept up. Kumari removed Iram shortly after as she tried an ambitious lap shot, while Oshadi Ranasinghe, who starred with three wickets for 18 in her spell, began by getting rid of Omaima Sohail. Muneeba Ali, the other opener, batted on to score 25 off 33 balls.Pakistan managed just 45 in their first ten, and from that point on, the visitors always had an edge. The ante was upped by Ayesha Naseem and Nida Dar, but neither could take their innings beyond a cameo, and so it always felt like unfinished business was left over.It would come down to the last over, with eight required, and the game was now an ugly, scrappy contest with each side jostling for ascendancy. Until the final two deliveries, Dilhari had kept a lid on things, and with Bismah Maroof facing, Pakistan needed four in two balls. It came down to two off one, and just when the game appeared destined to be a tie, Sri Lanka lost their nerves. When a run-out looked imminent, Dilhari fumbled, and Pakistan completed their second run, triggering raucous celebrations.

Afghanistan lost their group games to Scotland, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong and entered the Super Six with no points, but victories over West Indies, UAE and Ireland – as well as helpful results in other games – meant that Friday’s win took them to the 2019 Wo

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Harare23-Mar-2018Afghanistan completed a miraculous revival to secure their passage to the World Cup in England next year with a five-wicket win over Ireland in the final Super Six match of the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. Afghanistan lost their group games to Scotland, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong and entered the Super Six with no points, but victories over West Indies, UAE and Ireland – as well as helpful results in other games – meant that their World Cup dreams came to rest on their final match against Ireland. Chasing 210 on a slow track, Mohammad Shahzad led the way with a rapid fifty before Asghar Stanikzai, who missed the group stage due to an emergency appendectomy, secured the result with an unbeaten 39.Shahzad, who had been suspended from taking part in Afghanistan’s last two group games after picking up a demerit point in the team’s loss to Zimbabwe, quickly showed what his team had been missing in his absence. Despite the sluggish pitch, he made scoring look easy and his first boundary came from a remarkable pick-up six over long leg off a Barry McCarthy half-volley.In his second match as an opener, Gulbadin Naib was the perfect foil to Shahzad’s more rambunctious style. Having started in Afghanistan’s lower-middle order, Naib has slowly moved upwards and today he wore the responsibility of opener well. Foregoing all but the safest of shots, together with Shahzad he ensured Afghanistan got through the first 15 overs unscathed.At the other end, Shahzad kept the scorecard ticking. Having seen the shine off the ball, he launched the attack on Ireland’s spinners, and moved through the forties with a series of boundaries. Andy McBrine was clubbed to wide long-on, and then onto the roof of the three-storey building at the City End of the ground. Shahzad brought up a 48-ball fifty in the 17th over, but then played one shot too many and was caught in the deep off Simi Singh in the same over.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

That dismissal gave Ireland the opening they needed to start working through the middle order, and by the 30th over Afghanistan had added just 31 runs, losing Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib along the way. Simi had his third wicket when Mohammad Nabi dragged a ball to McBrine at deep midwicket, and at 145 for 4 in the 38th over, Afghanistan were wobbling a little.They had been in a very similar position in their match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo earlier this month, but this time around there was one crucial difference: their captain, Stanikzai, was at the crease. With the required rate creeping above seven, Stanikzai helped take 15 off an over from McCarthy, and he responded to Samiullah Shenwari’s dismissal with an ice-cool dab to the third man boundary off a slow bouncer from Tim Murtagh. Stanikzai was clearly in pain all the while, clutching his side after every big shot or every hard-run two.Najibullah Zadran narrowed the gap between Afghanistan and World Cup qualification to single figures with an enormous six that landed at the top of the grand stand, but fittingly it was Stanikzai who brought them home in the last over. Jamming his bat down on a McCarthy yorker, an inside edge sent the ball skidding down to the fine-leg boundary, and Afghanistan’s incredible revival was complete.For Ireland, a tospy-turvy campaign ultimately ended in disapppointment. Having decided to bat , they adopted a slow and steady approach in the morning. Openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling had both scored hundreds in this tournament, but neither was at their most fluent on Friday. Under heavy, grey skies on a slightly tired pitch they managed just 37 from the Powerplay, despite Stirling taking three boundaries off Dawlat Zadran.Mohammad Shahzad leads Afghanistan’s post-match revelry•International Cricket Council

At the other end, Porterfield accumulated his runs with more substance than style, and his dismissal – chipping an attacking stroke in the air to a fielder inside the circle – set the tone as, with the pitch slowing up, catches tended to go to fielders in front of square inside the circle.Stirling brought up a 77-ball fifty in the 28th over while Niall O’Brien, bucking the trend of laboured scoring, raced through the twenties with a flurry of boundaries, including a confident swipe over long-on off Nabi. The pair had put on 44 in under 10 overs when a horrible mix-up resulted in Stirling’s dismissal for 55. Niall O’Brien reverse-swept to backward point, Stirling set off for a stop-start single, but then turned and dived for the crease – but by then the ball had been thrown to Mujeeb, who whipped the bails off with the batsman well short.Three overs later, Niall O’Brien drove Zadran low to Shenwari at extra cover, and Ireland were looking a little rudderless at 130 for 4. Simi struggled to get the ball off the square as Afghanistan’s multi-faceted spin attack circled like sharks, but Kevin O’Brien struck three fours and a six in his 41 to help Ireland take 66 off the last 10 overs. Their total of 209 for 7 was modest on paper, and left Afghanistan with plenty to do in these conditions. But having been living on a prayer throughout the Super Sixes, Afghanistan weren’t about to fall at the final hurdle.

“People have their opinions but we don’t listen to them or care about what they say”

Danyal Rasool19-Sep-2022The conference room in Karachi is a cosy little place, one that feels overcrowded when a high-profile press conference is imminent. There’s a flurry of activity as journalists scramble to get themselves to one of the black leather sofas, demand for which far outstrips supply. On a muggy September evening under the glare of the cameras, that effect is further amplified.However, it wasn’t the size of the room, or the number of people packed into it, which might have caused Pakistan captain Babar Azam to feel as if the walls were closing in. After a career that has seen sustained dominance – it might as well be one large purple patch – this is the first time Babar has faced such forensic scrutiny around his personal performances.It came on the back of an indifferent Asia Cup where he managed just 68 runs in six innings. In characteristic Pakistan fashion, the criticism would snowball until questions began to be asked about his leadership, his batting position and even his role in the T20 side.But it was the opinion of former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed that most seemed to rankle. Javed, head coach of Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League, recently said his side’s strategy revolved around trying not to dismiss Babar, captain of Qalandars’ arch-rivals Karachi Kings, “because he plays at his own pace and the required rate keeps increasing”.Related

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If Javed believed Babar was too defensive at the crease, it wasn’t how he came across when pressed for a response. “Well, if that’s his opinion, then fine, good for him,” Babar said, a hint of a smile breaking out across his face.But the grin vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Babar fixed the cameras with an austere glare, his posture straightening and voice hardening. “Everyone has their own point of view but I only want to talk about the Pakistan team. People have their opinions but we don’t listen to them or care about what they say.”Former players can of course air their opinions, but what’s disappointing is the personal attacks. Former players have been through it and know just how much pressure and responsibility there is upon us. I personally don’t bother about such statements. It makes no difference to me.”Babar might, of course, also have pointed out that not getting him out hasn’t always worked out for Javed’s Qalandars. In the 2020 PSL final, Kings threatened to implode in pursuit of a lowish target but Babar held the innings together with his unbeaten 49-ball 63 steering them to the title. Earlier that very season, another unbeaten 46-ball 69 from Babar had seen Kings rout Qalandars by 10 wickets as they chased down 151 with three overs to spare. In both of those contests, only one Qalandars player bettered Babar’s strike rate.But Babar, as the highest-profile player in Pakistan cricket, has learned to rise above the fray as much as possible, his public statements and press conferences more sterile than a disinfectant bottle. Even in this response, squeezed out at the end of a short press conference looking ahead to England’s first game in Pakistan in 17 years, he did not mention Javed directly by name.The rest of the media engagement was replete with the platitudes anyone covering Pakistan cricket is well used to. Babar accepted the value of this series extended beyond its historic nature, keen to use it as a springboard for success leading up to next month’s T20 World Cup.”This series is important to me personally, and I’ll try to get my form back,” he said. “To come out of a bad patch, it’s best not to overthink and keep things simple. The main thing is to keep believing in yourself. I know I’ve done well in the past and will do well in the future.”Sometimes it’ll go well, and others not. People will talk regardless of how well you do, but it’s best to ignore all that.”On the basis of those remarks, it appears Babar’s doing just that.