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South Africa will have to do without two of their pacers from the first Test against Sri Lanka, including Gerald Coetzee and Wiaan Mulder after the scans declared the pair unfit to bowl. Although Wiaan’s absence will be limited to the rest of the Sri Lanka series, Coetzee will have to skip at least six weeks. This means he will not only sit out the ongoing tour against the Islanders but also the entire all-format Pakistan tour in December.  The fast-bowling all-rounder bowled a handful of overs on the last day of the opening Test. He started the day bowling…

Problems don’t seem to be ending for England’s Test captain, Ben Stokes. Mind you, these are absolutely not related to how his team is playing. They just won the Christchurch Test, and though the 2-1 defeat in Pakistan was just a few weeks ago, the fast-bowling all-rounder has bigger problems than to keep dwelling in the past. During the opening Test versus New Zealand in Christchurch, Stokes bowled a total of 19.3 overs, his highest number of overs since 2022. His twentieth over was when he finally had to pull out of his unusually long bowling stint.  While it did…

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has adopted a new No Objection Certificate (NOC) policy to halt players from featuring in overseas franchise leagues that clash with the country’s domestic competitions including the T20 Blast, the Hundred and the County Championship. The policy applies to all players, be it male or female, with any form of contract with England Cricket either central, development, skill contract, or other agreements with the board. The ECB Chief Executive, Richard Gould, said that the policy has been approved to ‘protect the integrity of the sport’ “There’s never been a better time to be a…

The International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting will live to see another day as the talks between all the sides as to where the Champions Trophy 2025 will be held could not break the impasse on Friday. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair and other members flew to Dubai for the meeting, which was joined virtually be most members, on Friday. The meeting lasted for only 15 minutes where the PCB presented their long-held stance of not accepting a hybrid model, or at least not without putting forward a few conditions of their own, one of which is to implement a…

Ever since their clean sweep over Pakistan, Bangladesh have been on a downward spiral. Should they lose the upcoming Test versus West Indies, it will be their third Test series defeat in a row. Surely, these defeats can not be random, especially when they have come in clumps as big as this. But what has been the common factor between all these defeats? Mind you, these were not close losses either. From an innings defeat to losing by seven wickets or more than 200 runs, the Asian team has been on the receiving end of morale-shattering, heavy drubbings of late. …

It is not exactly a very big day tomorrow. There have been more important days, but dare I say that this day would hold answers to several unasked questions. International Cricket Council (ICC) will meet its board of directors virtually to decide how the BCCI will be granted their wish. So far, there are three propositions for Pakistan to choose from, but each has its own way of harming the country and ICC’s credibility as an organization (if that matters anymore). The first, obviously, is one final attempt to bring the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) around for the hybrid model…

The clock’s ticking and we are almost in the final hours to get to what will (should) be the game-changer in the Champions Trophy rollercoaster. It has been going on for months, years if you count the reasons behind it. India have refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan have declined all suggestions that do not mention the entire tournament taking place in their country. This leaves the ICC with nothing but to look towards the board members. And so, all eighteen of the members will meet and try to get to the end of this badly…

It was a flighted Shoaib Bashir delivery thrown outside off on purpose. Bashir knew what he was doing. After the end of the day’s play, the 21-year-old spinner said he saw Kane Williamson gearing to get out of his crease. What would your thoughts, as a bowler, be if you had seen the opposition’s best batter leaving the crease defenseless? Hoodwink him to beat the edge and allow the keeper to do the rest of the job, right? Bashir thought the same but what he failed to account for was that the batter in question was Kane Williamson. He might…

It has all come down to the last game. Despite a comprehensive win over Zimbabwe in the last game, the ghosts of the first are far from exorcised. A moment’s falter can again descend Pakistan to rock bottom. But on the brighter side for Pakistan fans, the team, in the previous game, looked in such a good touch that it can not be so short-lived. It is fair to say that Pakistan have cracked the code to win in Bulawayo. In fact, it would be fairer to say that they have simply parroted what Zimbabwe did in the first game…

England left Pakistan with bags full of happy memories, the last time they played a Test tour there, in 2022. Bazball was new and fresh, back then. It was invincible. It was incomprehensible. It was a mystery. Coming here this time, they might have expected to be welcomed the same way and if anything an inning win in the first Test match further bolstered those expectations. But little did England know all hell was going to break loose and make the rest of their stay in Pakistan become a part of their ‘forgettables’. Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain and co-creator…