Testing time for Pakistan cricket on and off the pitch

Testing time for Pakistan cricket on and off the pitch
In both matches the home team worked its way into superior positions, only to lose grip. Pakistan has failed to win any of its last 10 home Tests, drawing four and losing six. The next visitors are England in October. Uncertainty has surrounded the venues for the three Tests. (AFP)
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Updated 12 September 2024
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Testing time for Pakistan cricket on and off the pitch

Testing time for Pakistan cricket on and off the pitch
  • In the last 2 years, Pakistan cricket has experienced 4 coaches, 3 PCB heads, 3 captains and changes to domestic cricket formats

From the outside, Pakistan’s cricket appears to be a mess. What it must be like inside, one can only guess. The latest downturn was a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which secured its first-ever victory over Pakistan in that format on Pakistani soil.

In both matches the home team worked its way into superior positions, only to lose grip. Pakistan has failed to win any of its last 10 home Tests, drawing four and losing six. The next visitors are England in October. Uncertainty has surrounded the venues for the three Tests.

This is because much-needed renovation work is taking place at international venues in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan in preparation for the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy which Pakistan is due to host in March 2025. It will be the first time the country has hosted an ICC event since 1996, when it co-hosted the ODI World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. Since then, international cricket in Pakistan has been sparse, especially after the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009. The Trophy is a mini-ODI World Cup, consisting of the eight top-ranked teams in the 2023 ODI World Cup. These will be Pakistan, India, Australia, England, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, New Zealand and South Africa. Pakistan is the holder of the Trophy, having defeated India at the last time of asking in 2017.

It was always going to be a bone of contention over whether India’s team would be allowed to travel to play in Pakistan. It has not done so for 16 years, since the Asia Cup in 2008, when an MS Dhoni-led side lost to Sri Lanka in the final played in Karachi. It remains India’s last fixture in Pakistan, whilst India’s last bilateral series in the country was in 2006. The decision-making process for future visits to Pakistan has just become more complex.

Jay Shah, serving as secretary of the BCCI and president of the Asia Cricket Council, will take over as chair of the ICC in December. As is well known, he is the son of the minister of interior in India. Constitutionally, the ICC chair’s role is independent. It will be a big test for Shah if he can fulfill this obligation. The geopolitics of cricket and Asian cricket, in particular, is now subject to a new dynamic. Shah’s replacement as president of the ACC is unknown as yet. There are strong rumours that it could be the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister.

The potentially strong involvement of the interior ministers of both countries in the decision-making process is an intriguing one. Pakistan will not want to forego its hosting opportunity, especially as it is spending more than $45 million on stadium upgrades, as well as additional funding for the women’s game. How cruel it would be if that opportunity was to be pulled away at short notice.

Furthermore, in an attempt to enhance the standard of domestic cricket, the PCB has introduced a champions one-day cup for the 2024 season. It aims to provide a competitive platform for emerging talent and a bridge between domestic and international cricket. Five regional teams will compete between Sept. 12-29 in Faisalabad in a single league format, with top teams advancing to knockout stages. Neither of the current national captains have been made captains of a regional team. However, previous captains and a current vice-captain have been. The motives for this have not been explained, but stability does not appear a consideration.

Rumours abound that the current test captain, Shan Masood, may be replaced. He provided one explanation for Pakistan’s defeat by Bangladesh: “Whatever format you play is the format for which you will produce players. You cannot play more T20 cricket and get Test players.” This deserves to be unpacked.

At first sight, he seems to be suggesting that players should be developed according to the format to which they are most suited. Alternatively, he could be suggesting that if the focus is fixated on playing T20 cricket, particularly by those younger players coming into the game, then the future development of a sufficient number of those able to succeed at Test cricket will be diminished. He went on to say: “You cannot prepare for science and then sit for a maths exam. If you are being tested for maths, you study maths. To play red-ball cricket, you must play red-ball cricket.”

There is logic in this, but there will be those who disagree. They will point to examples of players who have succeeded across all formats. They will point to the transfer of attacking skills and mindsets from T20 to Test cricket. An example has been England’s approach to Test cricket since 2022, the so-called “Bazball.” Entertaining, bordering on recklessness and met with ridicule in some quarters, it has produced mixed results.

These were on show this week in England’s final Test of a three-match series against Sri Lanka. The team’s approach has been widely condemned as complacent, sloppy and disrespectful to both the opposition and to the format of Test cricket. It led to defeat but, seemingly, not much contrition. England will head to Pakistan under a slight cloud to face an opponent in disarray, both on and off the pitch.

There is still time for Pakistan to regroup its playing composure through the new tournament and a “connection camp” meeting on Sept. 23. This is designed to initiate a comprehensive evaluation of every facet of domestic and international cricket. Skeptics abound, pointing to chronic issues of instability that ride on the whims of politicians and affect the PCB’s management. In turn, these are reflected on the field.

In the last two years, Pakistan cricket has experienced four coaches, three PCB heads, three captains and changes to domestic cricket formats. It will be fascinating to witness how the frenzy of England’s approach to Test cricket matches up against the febrile and chaotic nature of Pakistan’s political-cricketing environment.


Australia edge India to reach Women’s T20 World Cup semis

Australia edge India to reach Women’s T20 World Cup semis
Updated 13 October 2024
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Australia edge India to reach Women’s T20 World Cup semis

Australia edge India to reach Women’s T20 World Cup semis
  • If New Zealand win, they will take second place in Group A and reach the semifinal of the tournament
  • Pakistan’s win will leave them, India and Kiwis all on four points and run-rate will decide who advances

SHARJAH: Holders Australia overcame the absence of skipper Alyssa Healy to edge India in a tense nine-run win on Sunday that locked up a semifinal spot in the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Tahila McGrath led six-time winners Australia in Sharjah after Healy dropped out with a foot injury suffered batting in a victory over Pakistan on Friday.
Healy’s replacement Grace Harris top-scored with 40 and McGrath hit 32 as Australia posted 151-8 after electing to bat first.
In reply, India finished on 142-9 with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hitting an unbeaten 54 as she put on a fourth-wicket stand of 63 with Deepti Sharma, who made 29, and took the fight to the final over.
India needed 14 off the last six balls, but lost four wickets as Australian bowler Annabel Sutherland gave away four runs.
The victory extended Australia’s winning streak to 15 in the tournament.
They officially qualified for their ninth straight semifinal of the tournament when India were 74-3 in 10.4 overs of their chase.
India need arch-rivals Pakistan to win their final group match against New Zealand.
If New Zealand win, they will take second place in Group A and reach the semis. A Pakistan win would leave them, India and the Kiwis all on four points and net run-rate would decide who advances.
Medium-pace bowler Renuka Singh rocked Australia early with two wickets on succesive balls to send back Beth Mooney, for two, and Georgia Wareham, for a duck.
Harris steadied the innings in a 62-run stand with McGrath, who led from the front with a 26-ball 32 including four fours.
Ellyze Perry smashed 32 off 23 deliveries to drive the innings. She put on a brisk stand of 33 for the sixth wicket with Phoebe Litchfield, who hit an unbeaten 15 and finished the innings with a six.
Off-spinner Deepti took two wickets, including Harris and Perry, and nearly had Litchfield lbw.
The left-handed Litchfield went for a switch hit and the ball hit her pads from outside the leg-stump for a southpaw, but India protested the call to be considered for a right-hander after the change of stance.
The batter was walking off but came back smiling after the third official ruled her not out.
Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck was earlier ruled out of the rest of the tournament after she dislocated her shoulder against Pakistan.


Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title

Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title
Updated 13 October 2024
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Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title

Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title

SHANGHAI: World number one Jannik Sinner defeated 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner took a crucial break in the fourth game of the second set to defeat the Serb in 1hr 37min and deny him a 100th career singles title.
“He was just too good today, too strong, too fast,” Djokovic said after the match.
Sinner said it was a “very special day,” saluting his opponent as a “legend” who kept playing “incredible tennis... year after year.”
In a nod to former Djokovic rival Roger Federer, who was watching from the stands, the 23-year-old joked: “There are legends everywhere, I just try to keep up a little bit.”
Facing off before an impassioned crowd, neither player blinked in the first set, unable to break the other’s serve.
Sinner quickly took control in the tiebreak, breaking Djokovic’s serve on the first point and going 5-1 up.
The Serb steadied himself but then netted a volley to bring up set point at 6-3.
Sinner failed to convert initially but didn’t miss the second time behind serve.
The next key moment came in the fourth game of the second set when Sinner was up 40-15 on Djokovic’s serve.
Djokovic saved one break point with a fiery ace but couldn’t stop a superb forehand down the line from Sinner that saw him pull ahead.
All that remained was for the Italian to hold his nerve, hitting an ace to finish the match and claim the title.
Sinner’s victory is the latest triumph in a formidable season, in which he has won two Grand Slams and retained the top spot in the rankings since June.
But it is also a year that has seen him embroiled in controversy after he twice tested positive for a banned steroid in March.
In August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted Sinner’s explanation that the drug entered his system unintentionally when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy to the player.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency said last month it would appeal against the decision to clear him of wrongdoing and was seeking a ban of up to two years.
That news came as Sinner was contesting the China Open, where he lost in the final to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who was also watching from the stands on Sunday.
“This year has been very, very tough for me... At points I lost a little bit of smile,” Sinner said on Sunday.
“It’s never easy to play in these kind of circumstances,” he added.
“I feel like I’m strong when I go on the court trying to not think about it... When I wake up I try to focus on every single (match or practice) I do, but then of course I have moments when I think about it which is not comfortable.”
Djokovic said Sinner played “the big points better” and “deserved to win.”
The 37-year-old said that getting a 100th title was “not a live-or-die type of goal,” but he would keep trying.
Djokovic became the last man standing from tennis’ golden era after Rafael Nadal announced his retirement this week and said that, despite the loss, he was pleased with his performance in Shanghai.
“I played pretty good, which gives me, I guess, a reason to believe that I can still play with these guys that are the best in the world at this level,” he said.
“As long as that’s the case, I guess I’ll still feel the need to keep on competing and the motivation to be out there.”


Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
Updated 13 October 2024
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Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam

Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
  • Pakistan on Sunday left out Azam from the second England Test squad after he failed to pass 50 in his last 18 Test innings
  • It is the first time Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan team since his white-ball debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015

MULTAN: Babar Azam was on top of the world two years ago — Pakistan captain and top-rated batsman in all three formats — but he will celebrate his 30th birthday at home on Tuesday when the second Test against England begins in Multan.
Pakistan on Sunday left out Azam from the second Test squad after a poor run of form where he has failed to pass fifty in his last 18 Test innings.
It is the first time Azam has been dropped from the Pakistan team since his white-ball debut against Zimbabwe in Lahore in 2015 and Test baptism against the West Indies a year later.
Azam shot to prominence with three successive hundreds in an ODI series against the West Indies in 2016.
He replaced India great Virat Kohli as world number one ODI batsman five years later, a place he still occupies having been briefly deposed in between.
He is still ranked fourth among Twenty20 batsmen but it is the long format where his form has suffered the most and his slump has seen him fall outside the world’s top 10.
A 13-year-old Azam was a ball boy in Pakistan’s Test against South Africa in Lahore in 2007, where he could watch his childhood idol AB de Villiers.
From the streets of Lahore he rose to play in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, topping the batting charts for Pakistan with 298 runs in six games.
Two years in at the U19 World Cup in Australia he was captain and again leading run-scorer, with 287.
In 2015 he was picked for the senior side and after thrilling in the white-ball game developed into a modern-day great in all three formats, often drawing comparison with Kohli.
His opening partnership with Mohammad Rizwan in Twenty20s has realized 3,268 runs in 70 innings — the most by a pair in the format.
He anchored Pakistan’s only T20 World Cup win over arch-rivals India in 2021 in Dubai.
He hit an epic 196 against the famed Australian pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to draw a Test in Karachi in 2022 — hailed as one of the greatest innings in Pakistan.
But the pressure of captaining a struggling Pakistan took its toll and began to affect Azam’s form with the bat.
Following Pakistan’s first round exit from the 50-over World Cup in India last November, where his side lost to Afghanistan for the first time, Azam stepped down from the captaincy in all three formats.
When the Pakistan Cricket Board hierarchy changed in April this year he was reinstated as white-ball skipper.
But it proved to be a short-lived tenure as Pakistan lost a T20 to Ireland before crashing out of the T20 World Cup in June after being stunned by the USA and losing to India.
He resigned as white ball captain for a second time earlier this month.
But it was in Tests where his form deserted him the most and a poor run in the series defeat against Bangladesh last month saw him score just 64 in four innings.
His 30 and five on a faultless Multan batting wicket in the first Test defeat against England, coupled with the formation of a new selection panel straight after, saw him left out for the second Test despite a vote of confidence from captain Shan Masood and his coach Jason Gillespie
He was seen in an emotional discussion with Gillespie on Sunday at Multan stadium before leaving the squad for the journey home to Lahore.
The break from cricket will give a tired Azam time to rest, reflect and recuperate, after two years of mental, emotional and physical toil on the front line of a struggling side.
“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players, especially Azam, regain their confidence,” said selector Aaqib Javed.


Saudi footballing legend Khalid Musaad honored with testimonial match

Saudi footballing legend Khalid Musaad honored with testimonial match
Updated 13 October 2024
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Saudi footballing legend Khalid Musaad honored with testimonial match

Saudi footballing legend Khalid Musaad honored with testimonial match
  • Special game set to take place in Jeddah

JEDDAH: Saudi footballing legend Khalid Musaad will be honored with a testimonial match on Nov. 12, celebrating 15 years of service with Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, and the Saudi Arabian national team.

The match will feature Al-Ahly of Egypt and is set to take place in Jeddah.

The Charitable Association for Athletes’ Welfare announced the event on Sunday during a press conference at King Abdullah Sports Stadium.

Nassar Al-Dhaheri, the chairman of the board of directors for the association in the Makkah region, said: “The match is a tribute to one of Saudi Arabia’s greatest football legends, Khalid Musaad, whose retirement in 2004 has long awaited this recognition.”

He acknowledged challenges had delayed the testimonial but expressed pride in organizing the event.

Al-Dhaheri also highlighted the importance of recognizing athletes who had represented their country on the international stage.

He thanked both Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia and Al-Ahly of Egypt for their cooperation in making the event possible. Proceeds from the match will go toward supporting charitable programs for athletes, reflecting the association’s commitment to its goals.

The press conference included a documentary showcasing Musaad’s illustrious career and achievements, both locally and internationally.

The Charitable Association for Athletes’ Welfare announced the event on Sunday during a press conference at King Abdullah Sports Stadium. (Supplied)

In addition to the match between Al-Ahli and Al-Ahly, there is an exhibition game featuring Saudi legends and Musaad’s friends scheduled for the same day.

Musaad expressed gratitude for the efforts that had gone into making the event happen.

He said: “The support I’ve received over the years has been incredible, and I’m deeply thankful to the fans. I’m thrilled that my retirement match will finally happen and I hope everyone enjoys the event on Nov. 12.”

His former teammate Khalid Al-Khawaji said: “I’m delighted that Musaad is receiving this well-deserved honor. He is a phenomenal person and a true professional.”

Musaad featured at Al-Ahli before moving to Al-Ittihad and finally retiring in 2004.

He earned 115 caps for the Saudi national team, participating in the World Cup in 1994 and 1998. His honors include helping to win the Asian Youth Cup in 1985 and 1986; the 1986 Gulf Cup; and playing in the Confederations Cup in 1992, 1995, and 1997.


Lee and Tavatanakit return to Riyadh with hopes of emulating past glories at Aramco Team Series

Thai golfer Patty Tavatanakit, the World No. 22, said she has a strong connection to Riyadh. (Supplied)
Thai golfer Patty Tavatanakit, the World No. 22, said she has a strong connection to Riyadh. (Supplied)
Updated 13 October 2024
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Lee and Tavatanakit return to Riyadh with hopes of emulating past glories at Aramco Team Series

Thai golfer Patty Tavatanakit, the World No. 22, said she has a strong connection to Riyadh. (Supplied)
  • “Winning in Riyadh last year was a career highlight for me. The energy and support was incredible, and I felt like everything came together perfectly on the course”: Lee

RIYADH: Alison Lee and Patty Tavatanakit are set to go head-to-head as this season’s Aramco Team Series, presented by the Public Investment Fund, draws to a close at the Riyadh Golf Club.

American Lee, who represented Team USA in the 2024 Solheim Cup, will return to the star-studded event from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 as the defending individual champion.

It follows her record-breaking triumph in 2023 in Riyadh, which was sealed when she carded a final-round 65 to finish 29-under-par, setting a new 54-hole scoring record on the Ladies European Tour.

“Winning in Riyadh last year was a career highlight for me. The energy and support was incredible, and I felt like everything came together perfectly on the course,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to bringing that same energy and focus to this year’s event as it’s always special to return to a place where you’ve had such a memorable win. I’m excited to see what this year has in store,” she added.

Thai golfer Tavatanakit, the World No. 22, said she has a strong connection to Riyadh, having won the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF on the same course earlier this year. The victory was her first since 2021, and she now returns with confidence, eager to replicate her success.

“Lifting that trophy earlier this year in Riyadh was a huge boost for me and a very emotional win,” said Tavatanakit. “It felt like a turning point in my career and gave me the confidence to win another title straight off the back of it.

“Coming back to the same course is something I’m really excited about and I’m ready for the challenge.”

Organized by Golf Saudi, the five events on the Aramco Team Series add an annual $5 million in prize money to the LET, taking its innovative team format to four continents across the year.

The series brings together teams of three professionals and one amateur.

Stops in Tampa, Seoul, London, and Shenzhen have crowned international winners including Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Korean Hyo-Joo Kim, and Alexandra Fosterling of Germany already this year, ahead of the tournament arriving back in the Saudi capital.