Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Tomorrow in Dubai, India will make their third consecutive appearance in a Champions Trophy final. They have won one of the first two and lost the other. Irrespective of the results, they entered both as favorites. There is plenty that makes them the favourites this time, too. They are more familiar with the venue than any of the participating teams, their players are better-suited to the conditions, and their opposition lacks juju in knockouts. But from what has been seen over the years, finals and history, don’t respect any of that. All that matters once both teams have stepped off…

In an alternate universe, Lahore and Auckland sit in each other’s laps. They both thrive together, with their very similar cultures. Boats from Auckland sail to Lahore every hour. No, even better. There are no boats between them. There is nothing between them. Not land, not water, not anything. They are one. Just as they were, momentarily, yesterday when Miller ran a couple off the last ball, it was in vain. He ran for nothing. New Zealand would have won the game anyway. Because alternate universe or not, New Zealand did see Auckland at an arm’s length while standing in…

Pakistan have cycled through four captains in T20Is since the start of 2024. If there is one thing Pakistan have adhered to consistently, it is inconsistency. Mohammad Rizwan’s appointment as the skipper, at least, did look like the last entry through the revolving door for some time to come. But turns out a dismal title defense was all it took for the PCB to turn towards someone new once again. Salman Ali Agha is that someone. For how long will he stay? No one can say. But while he is here, Agha wants to introduce a high-risk brand of cricket,…

South Africa and New Zealand are cricket’s greatest not-quites. They are the reason the world respects the fine line between not winning titles because a team was not good enough and not winning titles because a team was almost good enough. Surely, a day must come when one, or both, breaks free of this curse. And it’s certainly not as though they don’t get the chances to understand the dynamics and stakes involved in semi-finals and finals. Going by how often they have featured in knockouts in the recent past and how frequently the ICC has started organizing mega-events, the…

For every bully, there is a bigger bully. Every final boss is eventually outdone. Every hunter becomes the hunted. No one is at the top for long, especially when faced with an opponent of equal might. For a team like India, which has only known sheer invincibility lately, no time would have been better than a semi-final to face an opponent like Australia, who match their every high to perfection.  In the context of the Champions Trophy, this game could do two things. First, it could close the Dubai chapter and, consequently, the constant back-and-forth between Pakistan and the UAE.…

Whatever happened in the last few weeks for England was dreadful. Probably worse than just that. The more they pushed to mend the broken, the worse it became. They would not think twice about erasing it from their minds if given a chance. England have not exactly been in a form that anyone could envy, but Brendon McCullum’s signing for white-ball coaching was seen as the first step to revolution even by the most realistic minds.  However, that revolution will have to wait because England are currently occupied with figuring out what went wrong for them. And, to be fair,…

India’s win against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) has propelled them to top Group A. This means the second-place holder in the Group B will contest them in the first semi-final, and that is none other than Australia. This also means that South Africa will be the team to fly back to Pakistan after making a pointless trip to the United Arab Emirates.  This will be India’s fourth consecutive semi-final appearance in ICC events, having played the semis in the T20 World Cups 2022 and 2024 and ODI World Cup 2023. However, they will have less…

Finally, the Champions Trophy has all its semi-finalists: South Africa, Australia, India, and New Zealand. But the drama is far from over. It’s like having all the right pieces of a puzzle but none in the right place. No one knows who will face whom and in which semi-final. But this match will provide answers to all those questions. As it stands, New Zealand and India occupy the first and second positions, respectively, on the table. If we go by how the teams are currently placed, India will face South Africa, and New Zealand will face Australia in the semifinals.…

Contrary to what the glass-half-full brigade would advise, there is little you can do when things are not going your way. You could have the sanest excuses, the soundest justifications, and the most accurate insights into your decline, but nothing changes the results. England’s fate, lately, has followed a similar route. This is the third ICC tournament they have crashed out of in as many years, without getting their hands on the glory.  In the immediate aftermath, Jos Buttler resigned as the side’s captain, but there is still no certainty whether this will bring any glad tidings for England whenever…

South Africa have one final group stage game left in the ongoing Champions Trophy. If they win it, they will soar to the top of the table with five points, scampering through to the semi-finals. If they lose it, they’ll still very probably make it to the next stage, but as second-place holders instead. Wherever they end up, the Proteas would want to avoid facing India in the knockout game. And this has nothing to do with India’s invincibility or South Africa’s PTSD from the T20 World Cup final last year. The issue is that whoever draws India in the…