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Pakistan Cricket Team
Pakistan were on Monday fined 50 per cent of the match fess of their third and final Test against England at Birmingham, along with a deduction of 11 World Test Championship points for maintaining slow over-rate. The ICC said on their website that Pakistan, who were crushed 0-3 in the Test series by hosts England, were found to be 11 overs short of the target "after time allowances were taken into consideration". Pakistan had lost the series opener at Leeds by an innings and 103 runs, the second Test at Lord's by 194 runs and the third Test at Edgbaston by 8 wickets. "Pakistan have been hit with a pair of sanctions for maintaining a slow over-rate during the third and final ICC World Test Championship contest against England in Birmingham," the ICC said. The sanctions were imposed by ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle, on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Allahudien Palekar and fourth umpire Russell Warren. "It means Pakistan lose ground at the bottom of
Pakistan's fast bowling great and former captain, Wasim Akram believes that the problems in the Pakistan Cricket eco system are so deep rooted that it is not possible even for him to resolve them single handedly. Wasim was Pakistan was struggling at the international level because of shortcomings across batting, bowling and fielding, as well as instability in the first-class domestic structure. He also blamed inconsistency in the cricket board's decision-making as a major reason for the current state of affairs. "I knew before the Test series started in England we would lose three nil because of the glaring problems in our batting and bowling," he told a sports website. He added that responsibility for Pakistan's struggles lies with multiple stakeholders rather than any one individual or group. "I get asked all the time, 'Can you do something to help Pakistan cricket?' But the issues are a lot deeper. These are the top players, there's nothing else there. The systems aren't there
Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted he was blindsided by the decision to tear up his squad ahead of this week's final cricket test against England, saying the drastic cull was "news to me." Babar learned of the wholesale changes only after an official statement by the Pakistan Cricket Board, he said on Tuesday, the day before the third test at Edgbaston. "It was news to me," Babar said in Urdu. "I found out after. "The PCB decided it, so they will be able to explain better. The PCB's decision must have been taken after some thought process. It's better if you ask them why." Heavy defeats at Leeds and Lord's were met with sweeping changes by the PCB, who sent seven players home and removed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul. The replacements summoned included five with no test experience, while white-ball coach Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke were drafted to take charge at Edgbaston. Babar framed the remarkable overhaul as a fresh chance for the players "to showca
Next year's Pakistan Super League could be held in January after the media rights holders of the T20 event complained about limited advertising revenues during the April-May window when IPL is held in India. This year the PSL again clashed with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the suggestion to hold the event early next year came at a meeting of the PSL Governing Council in London on September 1. According to a reliable source, media rights holder Walee Technologies who also own a franchise in the eight-team PSL tabled the proposal to have the PSL in January-February. The PSL since its inception in 2016 has been held in the February-March window but because of ICC events in this window in 2025 and this year, the PCB was forced to reschedule the league to April-May where it clashed with the IPL. Franchise owners have also expressed concerns over declining interest in the PSL amid Pakistan's poor performances across formats. The source aware of developments said that the media ri
In an unusual move, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday decided to send seven members of its touring Test squad home and replace them with a fresh set of players ahead of the third and final match against England. Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad have all been released from the squad, the PCB announced. The Board also released head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, replacing them with Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke, respectively. The sweeping changes come after Pakistan suffered heavy defeats in the first two Tests at Leeds and Lord's. The third and final Test is scheduled to begin on September 9. The seven replacements are Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Saad Baig, Muhammad Randhawa, Razaullah and Muhammad Imran Jnr. Of the seven, five have played international cricket, while two - Muhammad Randhawa and Razaullah - are yet to represent Pakistan at any level. Saim Ayub an
Long may it continue, England seam bowler Ollie Robinson said. And there's the rub. Robinson was talking about how successful his new-ball partnership with Jofra Archer was working out. In harness together for the first time in test cricket, they have taken 24 of Pakistan's 38 possible wickets in the ongoing series. They are a big reason England clinched the series 2-0 at Lord's on Sunday with a day and a game to spare. The change bowlers, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson, have come off helping Manchester win the Hundred competition and claimed the other 14 Pakistan wickets. It's a pace attack that is exciting England supporters, who have fingers crossed the four quicks can stick together for the home Ashes series against Australia in less than 10 months. But that's a long time for any player and the foursome has yet to be truly tested. Pakistan has underwhelmed and was struggling before it undertook its first tour of England in six years. The loss at Lord's was its 10th in its last
England extended its lead over Pakistan in the second test to 342 runs after reaching 162-6 at tea on a rain-hit Day 3 at Lord's. England's bid for victory had been delayed with no play possible on Saturday morning at the home of cricket because of showers. The hosts eventually resumed in the afternoon on 81-3 in its second innings and with a commanding lead of 261 runs. By tea - and more time lost to rain - England's innings had doubled to 162 runs at the cost of losing three wickets to Mohammad Abbas (3-48). Emilio Gay (31) was quickly trapped leg before by Abbas and Harry Brook (34) was caught behind after a 45-run stand for the fifth wicket with Dan Lawrence. Abbas dismissed Jamie Smith (7) for his third wicket. Lawrence (37 not out) and Gus Atkinson (7 not out) are at the crease. Almost 23 overs have been bowled so far on Saturday. England scored 290 in its first innings before dismissing Pakistan for 110. England won the first test by an innings at Headingley last week so
England wrapped up an innings win over Pakistan inside three days in the first test on Friday, delivering a strong start to the post-Bazball era under returning captain Joe Root. Dismissed for 409 around 40 minutes into day three, England took a 238-run advantage into the second innings and skittled Pakistan for 135 in 37.3 overs before tea. England won by an innings and 103 runs for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second test starts on Thursday at Lord's. "Brilliant performance," Root said. "You look at the prep we had leading in, coming straight from the Hundred, the fact we're in a slight transition stage. I thought the way that we dealt with all of that, the clarity and the way the guys approached this week has been outstanding." England's battery of four seamers pestered consistently at a fuller length that's required at Headingley and Pakistan couldn't endure it. Jofra Archer removed the openers with the new ball, Ollie Robinson got three more wickets, Josh Tongue
England strengthened its grip on the first test against Pakistan on Thursday, with Joe Root and Harry Brook among four batters to make half-centuries in a score of 366-8 that gave the hosts a first-innings lead of 195 runs after Day 2. Brook, the world's top-ranked test batter, came closest to reaching a hundred on his home ground of Headingley but fell for 91 - one of those dismissed by Ali Usman (5-92) in the left-arm spinner's first five-wicket haul. Root (66) and Jordan Cox (73) shared a 150-run partnership after England resumed on 112-2 four hours into the day, with rain causing a long delay to the start of play. Dan Lawrence, playing his first test in two years, hit 51 at No. 6 and was another England batter likely ruing a missed opportunity to go big against some substandard bowling and erratic fielding. In general, it has been a poor showing by Pakistan, which was bowled out for 171 in barely two sessions on Wednesday. Brook dropped on 1 then punishes ...
Pakistan captain Babar Azam was ruled out of the first test against England starting on Wednesday because of a hand injury. Babar was struck on the middle finger of his right hand while batting against the West Indies this month, and hit again in a warmup game last week in Beckenham. "Pakistan captain Babar Azam is unavailable for the first test match," Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed said on Tuesday. "Salman Agha will be the captain for the first test." Ahmed said the finger was not broken and he hoped the pain will reduce so Babar could play in the second test at Lord's starting on Aug. 27. But his absence was a blow to Pakistan. Babar had just been reappointed captain and led the scoring in the West Indies. Agha will captain the test team for the first time. He's the skipper of the Twenty20 side. Shan Masood, whom Babar replaced as captain, was recovered from his own broken finger during the first test in the West Indies. He missed the second test and warmup game but he'll retur
Pakistan ended its eight-match losing streak away from home in cricket Tests with a resounding eight-wicket victory over the West Indies on Wednesday to level the series. First innings century-maker Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam, in his first series since being reappointed as captain, reappointed as captain, led Pakistan to 77-2 with unbeaten knocks of 24 runs each as the visitors achieved victory shortly after lunch on Day 4 of the second test. Babar knocked off the target by hitting back-to-back sixes against left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, whose six-wicket haul in the first innings had limited Pakistan's lead to 43 runs. West Indies won the first test by 90 runs at Tarouba. In the second test, spinners Sajid Khan and Ali Usman utilized favorable conditions on a wearing wicket of Queen's Park Oval to ensure Pakistan remained unbeaten in a test series against the West Indies since 2000. Pakistan lost the wickets of Imam-ul-Haq, brilliantly snapped up by Justin Greaves in the .