Author: Mishaal Mubarak

While the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been trying to deal with the matter away from the public eye, many reports suggest that the Women’s T20 World Cup will most definitely be moved out of Bangladesh. An ICC representative mentioned earlier that the best interest and safety of all members will be prioritized amidst this unfortunate situation. “The ICC is closely monitoring developments in coordination with the Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB], their security agencies, and our own independent security consultants. Our priority is the safety and well-being of all participants.” Although the protests have ended with Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s resignation…

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced the list of cricketers who were offered central contracts last month, with a few notable absentees including Kane Williamson and Lockie Ferguson, both of whom opted out of the contract. Everyone knows the reason behind this refusal to sign the contract with the Board for the upcoming season. But for some reason, no one wants to say it out loud, lest the grave consequences associated with it become true. Many knew it was about time that players would start shifting their focus to more lucrative franchise opportunities, but no one wanted this transition to begin…

On the field, all has been quiet at Pakistan’s end ever since they crashed out of the T20 World Cup. Behind the scenes, however, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as a whole has since been mulling over the path forward. Within a week, the team will move on from the thinking stage it has been in for the past couple of months and start putting whatever strategy it has devised into action. What’s funny is that the issues that are deeply rooted can’t be resolved with a few months of contemplation. What’s even more funny is that cricket fans, especially…

England’s Test captain, Ben Stokes, sustained a hamstring injury while playing for the Norther Superchargers in the Hundred. While the results of the scans are awaited, hamstring injuries are known to take at least a few weeks to heal. However, England do not have such an ample amount of time on their hands. The team is expected to make a trip to Sri Lanka for a three-match red-ball series in just a little more than a week. This means that Stokes’ return for the Sri Lankan tour can be scratched out as a possibility, as Michael Atherton also believes. While…

If you are not a batter (or, by extension, part of the batting team), the best sound that you will hear is of the leather of the ball clacking with the timber of the willows. But as a batter in this day and age, this sound is not the only ominous sound that you would fancy avoiding. You need to be careful that the ball does not hit your pads or arms or even the slightest edge of your bat. The safest detour you can opt for is to try and get the ball on your bat so that you…

The fourth edition of the Global T20 in Canada is breathing its last breaths; however, rain has been plaguing the tournament without mercy lately. Just this week, as many as four games were washed out, two of which were play-off games. The first qualifier, which was to be played between Montreal Tigers and Brampton Wolves, was abandoned before the captains could come out for the toss. This saw the Montreal Tigers heading to the Eliminator against Bangla Tigers Mississauga since they occupied a higher position in the table than the Brampton-based team.  Even the Eliminator game was not spared from…

The political tension in Bangladesh has escalated as the country’s long-standing Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajid has resigned and fled the country with the Chief of Army Staff, Waker-Uz-Zaman, forming an interim government. While many deem that this development has marked the end of the anti-government protests that have been taking place for weeks now, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people, the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not seem convinced to hold the Women’s T20 World Cup there. In all fairness, the situation in the country still stands at a crossroads, amid which staging a multi-national event will…

As a part of the major surgery, which was expected ever since Pakistan’s senior men’s team’s early departure from the T20 World Cup 2024, where Babar Azam-led men failed to get past the group stages, the incumbent chief of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi, announced three new domestic tournaments to ‘bridge the gap between domestic and International cricket’. Starting 1st September 2024, three five-team tournaments will be introduced to the country’s existing domestic circuit which includes two first-class tournaments; the Quaid e Azam Trophy and President’s Trophy, one List-A competition namely the President’s Cup and two T20 Tournaments including…

Sri Lanka bamboozled themselves more than anyone in the first ODI. But in all the ecstasy that the victory tie brought, there was an emptiness for the hosts. The hollow but sinking feeling that they struck the gold a little too late. By the time, a true Test of their ODI skills arrives (i.e. a multi-national tournament), this combination might not be relevant anymore. Although the 21-year-old rookie, Dunith Wellalage seems like an antidote to this feeling, the question about the relevancy of whatever the Islanders do in anticipation of the ODI World Cup 2027, will linger for quite some…

If you look at things this way, Sri Lanka was the runner-up when India lifted an ODI World Cup last time. Compare it to today. India are heading toward a Champions Trophy (Assuming they don’t pull out willingly) while Sri Lanka have to wait more than 30 months before they can even think about welcoming an ICC ODI event. There is a long list of what has gone wrong for the Islanders, especially in limited-overs cricket. And an even longer list of the things that are still going the polar opposite of how Sri Lanka would have wanted them. For…