Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Pakistan ended their tour down under on November 18 and almost instantly boarded the flight to Zimbabwe to squeeze in a 10-day tour before crossing the border to South Africa for a full tour starting on December 10. It really is uncharacteristic of Pakistan to play back-to-back cricket this way. As a result, they have done another uncharacteristic thing to tackle it too: rested main players.  Pakistan’s newly hired interim white ball coach, Aaqib Javed, said that they aim to make as many trial-and-error practices with the T20I as possible, but the ODI side will largely remain the same. What…

Bangladesh have only beaten the West Indies twice in a Test series: once at their own home and once in the West Indies. Just a couple of years ago, both teams met and the Windies handed Bangladesh an emphatic whitewash. That does not seem too unlikely this time around, especially with Bangladesh’s regular captain Najmul Hossain Shanto out injured along with Mushfiqur Rahim. On the positive side, both teams can fight it out with everything they have, keeping the bigger picture out of their peripheral vision as both sides make for the bottom of the WTC table. With practically no…

It’s upon us, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is. To think, it’s just a bilateral Test series. But it’s definitely more than that. And this time, the universe was hell-bent on making it more than this more than that. For one, the Indian captain is not the Indian captain that was meant to be. One of their top-order batters has fractured his thumb while training. Perth has received unseasonal rain which messed up with pitch curation. The current Australian side is running out of daylight to bag a BGT. And on top of everything, the WTC final chances of both teams hinge…

Pakistan landed in Zimbabwe today after enduring a clean sweep at the hands of Australia. While this is not a rarity as far as Pakistan is concerned, the reason they are relatively unbothered by the defeat is something else. Pakistan’s newly hired interim coach, Aaqib Javed, says that the team’s focus currently is only on the ODIs. With the Champions Trophy ever so close, where Pakistan will not only play hosts but also have a title to defend, the team has decided to put all they have into building their best ODI side. And to do that Pakistan’s management has…

It was in 2015 when the last time Australia defeated India in a Test series. Since then it has been a dry run for them in, both, home and away conditions. However, this time Australia would want to take advantage of the already bruised Indian team after their 3-0 loss at the hands of New Zealand. For a visiting team, Australian conditions have always been unforgiving, thanks in major part to their pacers. Josh Hazlewood, one of Australia’s relentless pace attack, thinks that the conditions answer better to his team since they know them through and through.  “I love playing…

We are just a sleep away from the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. However, the rare spring rain in the city has made pitch curation a challenge for the team at the stadium. As per the head curator, Isaac McDonalds, this unseasonal rain, which is forecasted to persist as late as the evening before the opening Test, has taken Perth’s characteristic ‘big-snake cracks’ out of the equation. While the pitch curators have decided to leave 8-10mm of grass on the surface, they cannot emulate a similar pitch done for Pakistan last summer.  Despite that and losing one…

Temba Bavuma, who hurt his elbow during the third ODI against Ireland in October, has been called back to lead the red-ball side in home Tests against Sri Lanka. Bavuma injured the same elbow he has been having issues with since 2022, however, he is reported to have recovered from the injury in time to take his captaincy reins from Aiden Markram for the two-match Test series. He last played a Test game in August against West Indies in away conditions, which was his first Test after he picked a hamstring strain during the Boxing Day Test last year.  Bavuma’s…

Following a few back-to-back developments, the case for the Champions Trophy has found its lull back again. After the Indian government denied the team permission to travel to Pakistan for the mega-event, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC), seeking a written refusal to travel from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). However, the PCB has not heard back from the ICC yet on the issue. Indian cricket board reportedly proposed to play their Champions Trophy game in a hybrid setting, however, Pakistan have vehemently refused to entertain any such idea. All…

What do you make of Sri Lanka’s brilliant run in the ODIs of late? Are they up to building their way back to tier-one teams in the 50-over format? True, they played dismally in India’s ODI World Cup which saw them being left out of the Champions Trophy too. But from how it looks, all of this drubbing seems to have shaken them awake. Or has it? It could be a case of fans wanting to see the half-glass full. Sri Lanka have won six out of eight ODIs they played after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. This…

Ben Stokes and Joe Root have not played a single ODI since England’s miserable crash out of the ODI World Cup last year, where they managed to win only three out of their nine matches. However, with another ODI mega-event looming on the horizon, questions arise about how the Three Lions will shape their team this time.  Since the conclusion of the World Cup in India, England have played only two bilateral ODI series. The first, against Australia in September, where Root was rested and Stokes was sidelined with an injury. The second was part of the recently concluded white-ball…