Author: Mishaal Mubarak

Barring the first T20I match wherein they won, West Indies have not had much to write home about during this tour of Sri Lanka. That is until Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie sew a record 9th wicket partnership of 119, West Indies’ highest to date. West Indies found themselves hanging at 58 for the loss of eight wickets when these two decided to play for some face-saving. Though akin to all their efforts thus far in the series, this partnership, too, could not help the visitors get over the line. Taking nothing away from the magnificent partnership, Sri Lanka as…

Probably the second most popular Test series after the Ashes, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia, is set to start on November 22 in Perth. India have announced their squad for the five-match red-ball series. Three uncapped players namely Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Abhimanyu Easwaran have been added to the squad. Harshit and Nitish are both part of India’s traveling reserves for the ongoing New Zealand Test series, while the opener Abhimanyu becomes a part of the squad after a brilliant domestic season.  Abhimanyu, who was in India’s squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2022, is likely…

There have been an awful lot of changes in Pakistan cricket in the past two weeks. A new selection committee was formed, core players were dropped from the team, pitch curation and selection were handed entirely to the newly formed committee, and all this was done without involving the Test coach, Jason Gillespie, or captain, Shan Masood. Gillespie confirmed this a few days ago when he said that his role has been limited to just a match-day strategist.  “It was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making decisions. I was not involved in…

Whether it was Pindi’s metamorphosed pitch, Pune’s black soil track, or Mirpur’s fourth innings surface–all showered their love generously onto the spinners today. The sun rose in the sub-continent with three Test games waiting to get started. One of these Test games where Bangladesh, playing South Africa, were hoping against hope to stay in the hunt on the penultimate day. The track was not essentially a rank-turner but had worn down to act like one after three days of play. Taijul Islam was lucky to find three scalps to add to his five-for from the first inning. He was the…

It has all been a gamble with Pakistan cricket for the past few weeks. And they have decided to add another to the list, that is to expect Rawalpindi’s pitch to help spinners throughout the third Test match. Pakistan’s 152-run win in the second Test match means that it will be down to the final Test match to decide who bags the series. More than teams, it’s an answer-seeking mission for both sides’ strategies. Bazball will take a solid hit if England lose the third Test match. If they win it, Pakistan’s new-found strategy will have to be binned, though…

New Zealand caught India off guard in Bengaluru. To be precise and fair, the Indian team let down their guard only for a few fleeting moments during the toss, and thats when the visitors decided to attack and attack most viciously. Rohit Sharma decided to bat first on a pitch that, in all fairness, was quite secretive about what it holds. The weather had bestowed it with moisture, but the surface, which was under covers for three days straight at that point, had nothing green on it. It was a bad toss to win for Rohit and the next few…

The Commonwealth Games Federation has decided to remove a number of disciplines, including cricket, from the upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Games set to be staged in Glasgow, Scotland in 2026. After being removed from the event following the 1998 Commonwealth Games edition in Kuala Lumpur, cricket had only just made a comeback in 2022 in the form of a Women’s T20 competition. Other sports including field hockey, table tennis, squash, badminton, shooting, and wrestling among many others have also been axed making the upcoming CWG edition limited to only ten sports.  Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Katie Sadleir stated that…

Jos Buttler will miss the ODI series against West Indies, which is due to begin in Antigua next week. Buttler sustained a calf injury while preparing for the recent season of the Hundred. The injury saw him miss his stint for the Manchester Originals in the Hundred as well as the white-ball series against Australia last month, though he was scheduled to return for the Australia series. Marcus Trescothick, England’s interim head coach, confirmed earlier that Buttler will make a comeback in the Caribbean. “Let’s make it clear, he will come straight back in. At what position, I don’t know.…

Australia, chief selector, George Bailey, confirmed a week ago that Steve Smith will move back to his original No. 4 position, after trying his luck at the opening spot following David Warner’s retirement. As per Bailey, the Australian Test captain Pat Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald, and Smith himself made the decision. The No. 4 position was left vacant by Cameron Green who will miss at least six months of cricket due to a lower spine surgery. Smith said that, although he did not explicitly request a move back to his original No. 4 position, it is his preferred spot as…

Everything has fallen into place. Everything has worked out in the end. The risk the PCB took just two days before the second Test match paid off, and paid off well. Not only that, but Pakistan has suddenly discovered its strength. The basics of the art of pitch curation have also been revealed divinely to the team. Heave a sigh of relief, PCB. All is well now. But how long before Pakistan finds itself face-to-face with the same problems again? Many would bet their bottom dollar that the first words at the post-victory PCB meeting were: How do we make…