Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Coming off a defeat against Afghanistan and West Indies, Uganda and PNG (respectively) would hope for the two points to somehow land in their kitty. Uganda was trounced by the Afghanistan team on Monday after they suffered a ginormous 125-run defeat, skyrocketing the Afghan team’s NRR and plunging theirs lower than even the wreck of Titanic. However, they would still feel they have a good chance against PNG because there is no other way to survive in this tournament teeming with beasts. To stay above the water level, for now, Uganda need to triumph over PNG at Providence on Wednesday.…

India currently top the ICC Team ranking charts in white-ball formats but boy does that matter? The Asian team has always been a beast in bilaterals but have not been able to mimic the same invincibility in ICC Tournaments. There has been an ICC trophy drought in India ever since they won the Champion Trophy in 2013 and naturally, debates revolving around it sneak in somehow before every major tournament. During the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, India’s performance was downright mortifying. Though the next edition saw them making it into the semis, the team was still not…

Group D has South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh besides the Netherlands and Nepal. Even if one of them withdrew from the tournament, got abducted by aliens, or forgot how to play cricket at all, the other two would march toward the Super 8s before letting the associates even move a muscle. The Netherlands and Nepal do not realistically (not mathematically, hypothetically, or miraculously) have a chance to make it to the next stage, given how tough this group is. It’s as if this group is set by default at the hard level of difficulty. However, T20 is known for…

Their ODI World Cup defense a few months ago was downright shambolic but the same can not be anticipated to happen this time too. Jos Butler’s side in T20Is is not a fluke. The players know what they have to do and when they have to do it. But this defense will not come without its challenges. The most significant aspect of this is its psychological side. After winning the trophy at the G, England lost 3 back-to-nack bilaterals. No offense to anyone, but these tours involved playing teams like Bangladesh and West Indies. It was only against Pakistan, just…

If Afghanistan want to get through to the Super 8s, they need to ensure two things. One, they do not fumble against the relatively easier sides in the Group and two, they put up a strong fight against the big guys including New Zealand and West Indies. Beating Uganda and PNG would be the first ray of hope for them as well as a bare minimum. In case they fail to register a victory in any of these games, they might as well pack their bags to head back because the damage would be irreparable after that. Uganda have reached…

One side has had a long-standing relationship with the game’s shortest format. The other has never so much as touched the ICC T20 World Cup. But given how things stand right now, both teams face the same worries – the silverware has been elusive for years and it’s getting frustrating now. For Sri Lanka, this situation is a tad more up the wall. Although neither of the teams has made it to knockouts in 10 years, the numbers bode more misery for the Lankans. Its last two World Cups have been nothing short of shambolic. But this year things, by…

The world turned its head towards this Northern cousin of South Africa, Namibia, when they defeated Sri Lanka in the First round during the last T20 World Cup in 2022. The world again turned its head in Namibia’s direction when they bottled the best chance they had to proceed to Super 12s by losing two tantalizingly close games against the Netherlands and the UAE. This time, though, life is not as kind to them. They not only have to stress over sharing the group with Australia and England but also have to keep an eye out for Scotland and Oman.…

West Indies has been on an absolute juggernaut since the start of this year. Not only as a team but the Caribbean players individually have wreaked havoc wherever they got to play cricket. They showed they were worth every penny during the Indian Premier League, displayed a semblance of their bygone self against the Proteas and when that seemed not enough to them, they decided to hand the defeat to one of the favorites of this World Cup; Australia. Everything looks to be in their favor. Stars are finally perfectly aligned for them. Now is the time to cash on…

Many firsts will unfold when the hosts United States of America welcome their neighbors at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas tomorrow. It will be the first time both the teams will compete in a T20 World Cup. It will also be the first International match played on the Grand Prairie soil. Most importantly, it will be cricket’s first date, and blind date at that, with the continent that holds so much for the game we all love. But for these two teams, it’s nothing new. They will not face each other, donning cricket kits for the first time. It’s…

India is home to many of the world’s religions but the one that almost all of the Indians follow is cricket. Subcontinent generally and India specifically teems with aficionados of the game, who are as passionate about the sport as one can get. However, these emotions do not always breed positives as can be understood by the recent statement Simon Doull gave. The former New Zealand pacer revealed that he received death threats from the cricket-mad country for something as trivial as difference of opinions. Doull, who was one of the commentators in the Indian Premier League, criticized Indian batter…