Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Steven Smith’s return to the team is starting to look like a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. It’s hardly been over a week since he was knocking balls in New York with a tennis ball and an incrediball, but the kind of character he is, he’d want to get back on the team first thing, running. Smith suffered a compound dislocation in his little finger during the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s while attempting a catch off Temba Bavuma in the slips. He opted out of surgery to ensure he doesn’t lose much time off the field.…

West Indies’ coach Daren Sammy has been handed a fine after criticising third Umpire Adrian Holdstock during the opening Test against Australia in Barbados. Sammy, after the second day’s play, met with match referee Javagal Srinath and expressed his concerns about what he believed were umpiring misjudgements, which disadvantaged his side immensely. Sammy’s concerns were rooted in two instances on day two, one of which was a controversial LBW decision, which was given out by Holdstock despite UltraEdge showing some spikes, indicating an inside edge. The second was a catch taken by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, which seemed to have…

Nepal’s journey to the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year will now take an important stop in Australia’s Northern Territory. The side has been named as the first participant of the Top End Series, which will be played in Darwin between August 14 and 24. Nepal, who must battle eight other sides in the Asian Regional Finals in October to secure one of three spots in the World Cup next year, were given a bye to the Asia/EAP Regional Final because they participated in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup. Currently, they, along…

Najmul Hossain Shanto has decided to step down from his position as Bangladesh’s red-ball captain after the team lost the series 1-0 against Sri Lanka on Saturday. The loss marks their first defeat of the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Shanto announced his decision during the post-match conference after the second Test in Colombo and said he had already informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) before going public. “I have an announcement to make,” Shanto told reporters. “I am stepping down from the Bangladesh Test captaincy. I don’t want to continue as captain in this format, and I want…

Zimbabwe’s cricket calendar is anything but light this year. In the latest addition, they are set to host Sri Lanka in Harare for a white-ball tour in late August. This will be the first time since 2016 that Sri Lanka will play a bilateral in Zimbabwe. The series, which was squeezed to fit in Zimbabwe’s already demanding schedule, will see both teams play two ODIs, instead of three games as part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), and three T20Is between August 29 and September 7. The tour in its entirety will be played at the Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe’s…

Jofra Archer might make his long-awaited comeback in whites next week, following England’s announcement of a 15-man squad, which features him, for the second Test game against India, set to be played at Edgbaston. Archer, if he plays, would return to the red-ball format after a four-year-long enforced hiatus owing to his injuries. He last played a Test in April 2021 during England’s tour of India. Since that tour, the English pacer has come face-to-face with a series of frustrating injuries that have kept delaying his return. His injury run began with a strain in his right elbow, of which…

New Zealand will play a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe involving South Africa, themselves, and the hosts. The series, which is set to begin next month, will feature Adam Milne and uncapped Bevon Jacobs joining the side. Jacobs was a part of New Zealand’s Sri Lanka-bound squad in December last year but remained on the bench. However, following his signing by Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he didn’t get any game time either, he is likely to get his debut cap during the tour, as confirmed by the newly hired Kiwi coach Rob Walter. “Bevon’s been an…

Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna had a full-of-horrors Test match in Leeds. Shardul, who returned to the side after 18 months, was expensive in his spells and could only grab a couple of wickets across both innings. And while Krishna was a tad more lethal, having taken five wickets throughout the game, he was equally expensive, if not more. He bowled at more than a run-a-ball in both innings and was naturally at the centre of the slamming post-match. Krishna, who took six wickets in the Sydney Test earlier this year, was selected for his ability to hit the deck…

The first real test of your self-restraint begins when you realise the alternatives you have are miles behind the thing you vowed to avoid. Right that moment, you have two options. The first, the more ideal one, is not to give in to your hankerings, no matter how bad the situation is. The second is to start negotiating with yourself to loosen the restrictions. India stand at the same crossroads right now. They are not only one down, just a game into the series, but also have several things to fix, things which would take some time to fix. And…

India were sailing ahead of England almost the entire Test, but at times they didn’t; turned out to matter more in the end. As Shubman Gill recounted, the difference between what India aimed to score in the third innings and what they actually put up was jarring. The latter half of the Indian batting lineup was cleared for just 29 runs. The first half wasn’t too impressive either. Barring Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, both of whom scored centuries, India’s highest individual score while setting the target was 30. “I think yesterday we were thinking that we’re going to give…