Author: Mishaal Mubarak

If Mitchell Starc had a Pinterest mood board, his would, most certainly, include an aesthetic shot of a pink ball, a picture of a baggy green, rattled stumps, and an Aussie white uniform with five days’ worth of dirt. Before the final Test at Sabina Park started, Starc was already part of the headlines, nearing his 400 wickets milestone, and ready to play his 100th Test in the subtext. He says he doesn’t like this kind of attention. But if he was looking to avoid that, bowling a searing spell, taking three wickets in his opening over, grabbing the quickest…

Losing down-the-wire games isn’t the same as losing when you aren’t toe-to-toe. The abrupt snuffing out of nervous excitement from a moment ago is ruthless, more so when it ends in a way as cruelly anti-climactic as it did for India at Lord’s. Mohammad Siraj’s bails were uprooted by the slightest of nudges from the ball. After the game, it was hard to tell what Shubman Gill was exhausting himself to do: hide the disappointment that he couldn’t land on the better end of a fantastic game or express the triumph that his team stretched the impossible until it became…

Devon Conway, who was earlier left out of New Zealand’s squad for the Tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa starting July 14, has received a late recall in place of injured Finn Allen. Allen picked up an injury while playing for San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket (MLC) and was ruled out of both the Tri-series and the playoff stages of the game. Conway has been a regular in franchise cricket lately, though his last international appearance in the format came in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He had a fairly off-season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in…

Nathan Lyon isn’t a part of Australia’s XI facing West Indies in the last Test at Sabina Park. This is the first time in 12 years that he has been left out of the side’s Test bowling attack without any injury. Australia selector Tony Dodemaide said the decision was made on the basis of ‘exceptional circumstances’ that arose in the light of Australia’s first pink-ball Test with a Dukes ball. In his last day-night Test game, Lyon only bowled one over across both innings. Spinners, typically, aren’t much of help when bowling under lights. The pink ball generally swings more,…

Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins will not be a part of Australia’s limited-over home series against South Africa in August. He has, instead, opted for a conditioning break ahead of the home Test summer, which also includes the all-important Ashes. Having already been excluded from the five-match T20I series against West Indies, the Australian bowler will extend his time off into the South African series, which includes three one-dayers and as many T20Is in the Top End. In addition to Cummins, the rest of the Australian fast bowler trio will also not stay in the Caribbean for the shortest format…

Sabina Park is set for a pink-ball game debut, with Australia taking on the hosts, West Indies. Australia have only ever lost one pink-ball game, which makes them the most successful team in day/night Test games. But that only defeat came at the hands of a rampant West Indies, who did so at Australia’s much-vaunted Gabba. Team Overview: With regards to the series, Australia already have it in their kitty, with two wins. But no game is meaningless in the World Test Championship (WTC) cycles, and it would be the greatest motivation the hosts have to spoil the visitors’ party.…

England were at Lord’s the same time last year as well, playing against West Indies. But none of the teams made that game more significant than the fact that England’s premier pacer, who has been so for decades, bid farewell to the sport. A year on from that game, not finding the same longevity with their existing pacers and conceding more than 1000 runs in the previous Test at Edgbaston would have made them miss the pacer in question more than any of their shoddy bowling displays of late. With India now off the mark as well, England need to…

Pakistan have announced a significantly revamped squad for their upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which will be played from July 20 to 24 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Salman Agha, who led Pakistan to a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh at home in May-June, will captain the side, though his deputy from the last series, Shadab Khan, will sit this one out. Shadab, who recently had a shoulder injury, is still in recovery. Besides him, Pakistan will also be without Haris Rauf, who sustained a hamstring injury while playing for San Fransico Unicorns in Major League Cricket (MLC). Rauf…

The ODI series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh hangs in the balance as both sides move to Pallekele, where rain awaits them. Bangladesh have channeled their most incredible form, in both worst and best ways respectively, in the first two games in Colombo. They failed to gun down 244 on the same ground where they defended 248 in the next game. But one can hand some of this credit to how Colombo treats batters under the lights. The venue has historically favoured teams batting first. The results in this series haven’t been any different. However, Pallekele will not have any…

India need only seven wickets to pull the series back to level terms. They set England a gargantuan 608-run target, knocked off their top three before the close of the penultimate day, and most importantly, did it all without their main man, Jasprit Bumrah. If that sounds like something that would swell a coach with pride, well, it sort of is. Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel looked as if all his worries in the world had momentarily disappeared. “Very, very happy so far,” Morkel said. “We had a deep or good discussion after the last Test in terms of areas…