Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Steve Smith returned to captaining the side after a long time. One Test game in, and he has already made sure no one would forget it anytime soon. Galle is not the place you go to tick milestones as a visiting team, but Australia were too ecstatic to care about that. Especially after what they did in the first innings, scripting a ginormous 652-run total and following it up with bundling the visitors for just 165 runs. In hindsight, Australia’s decision to field three frontline spinners and just a sole pacer paid off, Smith thinks so too.  “I thought all…

Sri Lanka’s head coach, Sanath Jayasuriya, blames the team’s batting issues for the massive inning-and-242-run defeat against Australia in the Galle Test. Australia scored a whopping 654 runs in the first innings before declaring. Following this onslaught, they bundled Sri Lanka for a combined total of 412 in both innings.  Jayasuriya said the players’ inability to grasp the situation well after Australia posted the gigantic total instead of how the wicket play was what became the reason behind the defeat “There was a serious problem with shot selections, as well as with handling situations. I don’t think certain players have…

Jos Buttler, Brendon McCullum, and their men landed in India, hoping to unleash a Bazball-like something. The last two World Cup campaigns were removed from their memories with a combined effort of time and some pep talks by McCullum. The old captain was saved. A new coach was hired. England were on their way to start everything anew in India.  But all of a sudden, it’s all back to square one for the visitors. There is one game left, of course, in Mumbai, of all the venues. Buttler must not have forgotten much about the last time his team played…

Despite the pair’s prolonged slump in form, Indian coach Gautam Gambhir thinks Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have a ‘massive role’ to play in India’s Champions Trophy campaign. Speaking at the annual BCCI awards, the Indian coach said that the duo is ‘hungry’ to perform for the country, which is why they add value to the team. “I think both Rohit and Virat, they add so much value to the dressing room. They add so much value to Indian cricket as well. They’ve got to play a massive role (in the Champions Trophy). And I’ve said it before as well,…

Brady’s Knighthead Capital get Birmingham Phoenix It’s raining millions at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) headquarters lately as another Hundred franchise sells off its stakes. It is understood that Knighthead Capital LLC, which is the partner firm of New England Patriots and Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady, has won the bid for stakes in Birmingham Phoenix. Knighthead Capital won a bid of £82 million for 100% stakes in the franchise, which amounts to £41 million for the 49% stakes.  Reportedly, Knighthead submitted a sealed bid, which was allowed by the ECB for franchises with two or fewer bidders,…

The first criteria for sending in a concussion substitute is that a player should legitimately have suffered a concussion. The second is that he or she must be a like-for-like replacement for the player being replaced (obviously in skills, we are not manufacturing clones here). In the fourth T20I against England, India met the first criteria and evoked controversy over the second.  Shivam Dube was hit on the helmet on the second-last ball of the innings. Although he managed to pass the on-field concussion test, he complained of a headache in the innings break. Indian management was quick to make…

Mitchell Marsh, who only featured in one Big Bash League (BBL) game and skipped three to rest before the Champions Trophy, has now been ruled out of the eight-team tournament. A media release by the Cricket australia (CA) cited “lower back pain and dysfunction” as the reason behind his exclusion. The nature of his back pain is such that he is unlikely to play again in this season, putting his IPL assignment with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in jeopardy.  Marsh, who won the Allan-Border Medal last year for his consistent performances across formats, has had a relatively subpar season this…

Fakhar Zaman makes a comeback to the team as Pakistan announce their squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. The 15-member squad will play the tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa as the build-up to the tournament. Zaman, who was earlier dropped from the team on a disciplinary basis after he tweeted in favor of Babar Azam following the latter’s axing from the side, will mark his return to competitive cricket for the first time since the T20 World Cup in June last year. The young opener Saim Ayub has been left out of the squad as he recovers from…

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have decided against hosting a pre-tournament captain’s meetup or photoshoot event ahead of the Champions Trophy. This means captains will not travel before their teams to Pakistan for the event, as is traditionally done for the captain’s gathering. As told by a PCB official, the decision was taken to tackle logistic concerns as many teams will be busy playing their international games leading up to the tournament. Several teams will land in Pakistan or their respective venues close to or on the date of the opening game on February…

There are few things more thrilling than a five-match T20I series in cricket. One would be hoping to go on a bump-free, smooth path before an upset knocks them back to reality. A similar situation has unfolded in this series so far. The series stands at 2-1, with India leading in a way that makes each match a battle for survival for England. But what could hurt England’s survival chances is something that has been their Achilles’ heel for quite some time now—their lack of spin resources. Among teams that have played a minimum of 20 games since the start…