Author: Mishaal Mubarak

One group in this tournament has gone zen, while the other is immersed in a full-blown rock concert. It’s chaotic in Group B. One slip and your team boards the first flight home. For Afghanistan and England, every game from here on is a must-win. But one of these sides will be relieved of that pressure by the end of this game, though not in the way they would fancy. In other words, whichever team loses in Lahore, will play their last game as a dead rubber. England would not want to be that team, not after crashing prematurely out…

The Australian players just rode back to the hotel after a washout in Pindi. Having already secured one win, in their opener, the rain interference does not threaten them too much. And that only makes them more grateful for how they trampled England the other day. For once, coming into a mega-event, Australia were far from their usual ruthless selves. They had lost their entire pace attack, their captain, one of their most explosive batters, and an all-rounder who would have been very crucial to their team combination in the tournament. The effects of these absences were immediate. The Aussies…

The hunt for the semi-finals is nearly over in Group A, but Group B still has plenty of drama in store, the first of which will unfold in the high-stakes contest between South Africa and Australia. Both teams have secured one victory each. Australia stunned England in what seemed to be a one-sided game in the latter’s favor. South Africa, on the other hand, silenced all the doubts about their form by comprehensively defeating Afghanistan. This game could go a long way in shaping the semi-finalists, but neither side will have it easy. Australia could not have asked for a…

This match will be the most crucial game of the Champions Trophy so far. It will all but confirm New Zealand’s advancement to the semi-finals and could officially end whatever survival chances Bangladesh and Pakistan have left in the tournament. But the Kiwis are in red-hot form, and it will take something special to stop them. Although they have only played one game in the tournament so far, they have looked unstoppable since the start of the tournament. In fact, their exploits in the Tri-nation series before the Champions Trophy made them favorites coming into the event. Bangladesh lost their…

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are just 26 runs away from reaching the 2,000-run milestone as an opening pair in ODIs. Of all opening pairs who have batted together in at least 20 one day games, none have maintained an average better than Rohit and Gill.To put that into perspective, they average over 70 at the top in just 29 innings, the next-best pair on the list sits at nearly 59. Gill believes that he and Rohit are as different as can be, and that is what makes their partnership so potent. “The way we play the game in the…

The world feels like it’s falling apart before these games. The air is thick with tension. Nerves are stretched to their limits. And anticipation crosses a fever pitch. But Pakistan’s coach Aaqib Javed does not think the Pakistan-India clash is any different from other games.  “For the cricketers, this is a profession,” Aaqib said. “For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it is a profession. You try your best. In that, you sometimes lose as well. It is a match… one team will win, one will lose. How does it matter? Why so much pressure? Every game is different.…

If you don’t know how big of a deal the Pakistan-India games are, you were either born yesterday, have been living under a rock—or both. There is no shortage of material deciphering why this rivalry gets the most hype. But this time, things are very different. Is there a similar hype? Yes. Are Pakistan again balancing at a knife’s edge for survival before facing India? Check. But what sets this clash apart this time is the fact that the entire build-up to the tournament has actually been about this very game. The schedule was delayed, meetings upon meetings were held.…

An example of a well-worn cricketing cliche is to name every high-stakes England-Australia clash the Ashes. It is irresistible, really—stopping oneself from using the A-word. But it makes the rivalry more marketable. And at a time when both sides are devoid of their usual pomp, such tactics could come in very handy. Coming into the tournament, Australia lost nearly half of their tentative squad, including their lethal, timeless, three-headed pace attack. Replacements were called in, and Steve Smith was handed the captaincy. But does the side still carry their invincible aura? Not quite. That’s why they would need to begin…

Afghanistan have never been a part of any edition of the Champions Trophy before. It makes sense. Only the best eight qualify for it, and the last time this tournament was played Afghanistan hardly ever played the big guys. But now they are the big guys themselves and their skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi wants the world to catch up to that.  They will begin their maiden Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa in Pakistan, a country where they have hardly ever played international cricket. Do they have every reason to succumb to the pressure? Yes. But the Afghanistan skipper is not…

Afghanistan don’t see themselves as underdogs anymore, and it is high time the world accepts them for who they are: brilliant yet astonishingly underrated. They are not just a team that pops into relevance only when discussions about their boycott surface. And with every tournament, they are further debunking the narrative and proving they deserve to be among the best. Their recent performances speak volumes about the kind of team they have become. They defeated Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and England in the ODI World Cup in India and reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup last year. Now placed…