All posts by csb10.top

Agha promises 'fearless and high-risk' brand of cricket as Pakistan captain

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Salman Agha has promised to deliver a brand of “fearless cricket” as he becomes the fourth T20I captain for Pakistan since January 2024. Agha replaced Mohammad Rizwan as T20I captain for the upcoming white-ball tour to New Zealand, the latest in a revolving door of captains that has seen Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam come and go before him.Pakistan’s results have remained poor, highlighted by a group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup last year, in which they lost to the USA. That has prompted a wholesale change in the squad, with a number of new faces and, significantly, the absence of a few familiar ones.Chief among them are Rizwan and Babar, whose batting at the top of the order has widely been as a key cause for Pakistan’s outdated, risk-averse approach. While the door has not been permanently shut on them in the format, it is clear they have been dropped, not rested.Related

  • Salman Agha: Pakistan players 'need to become superstars' for PSL to grow

  • Pakistan in NZ: Babar-Rizwan dropped for T20Is with Agha captain; no Shaheen for ODIs

  • The inexhaustible kindness of strangers in Pakistan

  • Aaqib Javed's post mortem: Lack of experience in the ranks hurt Pakistan

  • Shahid Afridi: the T20 cricketer before T20s were a thing

“It’s an honour for me and also a challenge,” Agha said at a press conference in Lahore. “We’ve brought a few youngsters into the team who have been playing the brand of cricket in domestic cricket that we want to play in the national side going forward.”We have to focus on our intent and approach. We have to improve that. In modern day cricket, these things are important. This is a young team and we want to play fearless cricket. That is high-risk cricket, which is a requirement in modern cricket. There will be failures with that approach, but we have to support our players.”The PCB said it has made Agha captain with an eye on the Asia Cup (in the T20 format) later this year and the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year. They have recalled Shadab Khan, a player in tune with this brand of cricket, as vice-captain ostensibly for this project.”The reason for Shadab coming back is that he has good captaincy experience, plus also his mindset is to play aggressive cricket,” explained the interim head coach Aaqib Javed. “His mindset is important because as vice-captain, with Agha also thinking that way, Shadab will be good. The combination is good.”Aaqib, who is also the selection head, remains in those positions for the series of five T20Is and three ODIs against New Zealand, though there has been speculation about a new coach. Asked specifically about the fates of Babar and Rizwan, he linked their non-selection clearly to the style of play Pakistan were hoping to adopt.”You can’t rule anyone out forever, but for the moment, we feel that we need to bring in newer, younger players and change the style of cricket we are playing,” he said. “Many teams have separated their T20 sides from the others, up to 80-90% [of the personnel] different.”Afridi and Haris Rauf missing from the ODI squad add to the sense of big-name axings, and Aaqib was clear that they would have to go back to domestic cricket to improve their games.”Top players like Babar, Shaheen, Riz, they travel so much they don’t have time to play their domestic cricket,” he said. “Now they have time to play domestic cricket. Until you play four-day cricket you will not improve in Tests or ODIs. It cannot be that you play 70% T20 cricket all year and then suddenly you play Tests or ODIs.[File photo] Shaheen Shah Afridi has been dropped from the ODI side, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are out of the T20I side•AFP/Getty Images

“The players have to think about this themselves because ultimately they are responsible for their own game. You can’t force players… don’t players have a responsibility themselves to think about their game and where it is going? That I should sacrifice and take a break from T20 and play four-day or List A so that I can get my form back?”Both Agha and Aaqib spoke of developing a pool of 20-25 players for Pakistan to work with over the next 18 months or so. Both also stressed that backing them through failures would be just as important.Aaqib acknowledged the instability that has beset Pakistan cricket over the last couple of years, of which he is, for now, a beneficiary.”We have changed nearly 16 coaches and 26 selectors in the last two years or so,” he said. “You put that formula on any team in the world, I think they will also be in the same situation. Until you get consistency right from the top down to the bottom, from the chairman down, then your team will not progress.”

South Africa sports minister: Afghanistan at Champions Trophy is 'hypocritical and immoral'

by csb10.top Uncategorized

South Africa’s sports minister, Gayton McKenzie, has added his voice to the growing backlash at Afghanistan’s participation in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy, comparing the Taliban regime’s treatment of women in the country to Apartheid, and saying it would be “hypocritical and immoral to look the other way”.McKenzie’s intervention comes with South Africa due to face Afghanistan in their tournament opener in Karachi on February 21, and follows similar political pressure on fellow Group B participants, England. Earlier this week, a group of 160 British politicians called on the ECB to boycott its fixture against Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26.”If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen,” McKenzie said in a statement from South Africa’s Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture. “As a man who comes from a race that was not allowed equal access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done towards women anywhere in the world.”His intervention comes after Peter Hain, the renowned anti-apartheid campaigner and former British government minister, wrote to Cricket South Africa to voice his own concerns about the ban on women’s and girl’s cricket in Afghanistan, which has effectively been in place since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.In a subsequent statement, CSA acknowledged receipt of Hain’s letter, but echoed the response offered by the ECB, saying that, as the Champions Trophy is an ICC event, “the position on Afghanistan must be guided by the world body in accordance with international tournament participation requirements and regulations”.This stance has also been taken by the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who urged the ICC to “deliver on their own rules”, which state that all Test-playing nations must also have in place a national women’s team and a programme of women’s cricket.However, an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that the Afghanistan Cricket Board could not be held responsible for policies set out by its national government.”The ICC will not penalise the ACB, or its players, for abiding by the laws set by the government of their country. We will continue to constructively use our influence to assist the ACB in developing cricket and playing opportunities for both men and women in Afghanistan.”Both the ECB and Cricket Australia – who complete the four-team Champions Trophy Group B – have refused to engage Afghanistan in bilateral contests, with Australia having indefinitely postponed a T20 series that had been scheduled for last March.South Africa did, however, face Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in the UAE in September, with CSA stating at the time that it would continue to schedule bilateral engagements as there was “no justification for subjecting Afghan cricket players – both male and female – to secondary persecution for the actions of the Taliban.”

Obed McCoy replaces injured Matthew Forde in T20I squad

by csb10.top Uncategorized

West Indies have called up Obed McCoy for their remaining two T20Is against England. McCoy replaces Matthew Forde in the squad after Forde suffered a thigh strain in training ahead of the third T20I of five.Forde was initially included as cover for the suspended Alzarri Joseph, playing the second match of the series, in Barbados. He was replaced in the XI by Joseph in St Lucia, as West Indies conceded the series after going 3-0 down.McCoy was not available for the start of the T20I series after sustaining an injury during the CPL. He last played for West Indies during their home series against South Africa in August.England secured their first series win in the Caribbean in any format since 2019 with victory at the Daren Sammy Stadium on Thursday, with the remaining two games set to be played at the same ground over the weekend.

Mehidy 87*, Jaker 58 help Bangladesh fight back on truncated third day

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Bad light forced the third day’s play of the Dhaka Test to be called off at 4pm local time, an hour before the scheduled end of the day. Bangladesh fought back in the game and now lead by 81 runs, with South Africa still short of three wickets. The hosts ended the day on 283 for 7, thanks mainly to half-centuries from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and the debutant Jaker Ali.Play was stopped at 3.17pm after 17 minutes of play under floodlights at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. There was earlier a 78-minute stoppage due to rain from 1.42pm onwards. This is unseasonal rain in Bangladesh due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, which is forecast to turn into a cyclone on Wednesday.Mehidy was Bangladesh’s saviour on the day with his fourth half-century this year, once again saving the team’s blushes from a difficult position. They were 112 for 6, from where Mehidy and Jaker added 138 runs for the seventh wicket. It is Bangladesh’s third century stand from the seventh wicket in their last five Tests.Mehidy struck nine fours and a six in his 171-ball stay on the third day, batting confidently enough to pass some of that confidence to Jaker, who had got only 2 in the first innings. But the day had started horribly for Bangladesh, who lost three wickets in the first 30 minutes of play, with a Test to save.Kagiso Rabada had removed both of Bangladesh’s overnight batters Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Mushfiqur Rahim by the fourth over of the day. Mahmudul edged a wide one, giving first slip an easy catch after making 40. Rabada then blew away Mushfiqur’s middle stump later in the over with a delivery that was similar to his dismissal of the same batter in the first innings; while Mushfiqur lost two stumps on the first day, this time it was the middle pole which came off.When Litton Das was caught behind off Keshav Maharaj shortly afterwards, Bangladesh slipped to 112 for 6, and were in danger of an innings defeat on the third day. Mehidy and Jaker then stepped in, battling through a tough first session, and helping Bangladesh go past South Africa’s 202-run first-innings lead.Jaker, who played second fiddle to Mehidy, struck the ball nicely through the covers. He pinched two fours through fine leg too, one of them getting him to a half-century. Jaker hammered Rabada with a confident pull shot too. He also took three fours off Rabada, twice through the off side and once through a pull.Mehidy, meanwhile, was mainly effective against Maharaj, hitting him for four boundaries through the covers – sometimes even lofted ones, but mostly along the ground. He generally handled spin well, as Bangladesh got within one run of South Africa’s lead at lunch.An hour into the second session, rain stopped play for 78 minutes. Before the rain break, Jaker reached had his maiden Test fifty. He fell lbw to Maharaj after getting beaten trying to turn the ball on the leg side. The umpire gave it out despite a casual appeal from the visitors, but replays showed it was the correct decision. Jaker struck seven fours in his 111-ball stay.

Ravindra wages lone battle with Sri Lanka two wickets away from victory

by csb10.top Uncategorized

New Zealand 340 and 207 for 8 (Ravindra 91*, Jayasuriya 3-66, Ramesh Mendis 3-83) need another 68 runs to beat Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Chandimal 61, Ajaz 6-90)Rachin Ravindra led New Zealand’s charge as they scored 194 runs in the final two sessions of day four in pursuit of their target of 275, but a fast-deteriorating Galle surface and relentless pressure from Sri Lanka’s spinners meant they have only two wickets in hand to notch the remaining 68 runs.At stumps, Ravindra was unbeaten on 91, but he was fast running out of company; Ajaz Patel just about managed to survive through to stumps. New Zealand will, no doubt, fancy their chances of completing this chase, but it will not be easy when the nature of the surface is taken into account.This was a day, therefore, that belonged to the spinners, starting with Ajaz’s five wickets in the morning session – he finished with 6 for 90 – and ending with Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis grabbing three apiece. In all, 14 wickets fell in the day, 13 of them to spin.Related

  • Ajaz 'grateful' for 'world class' Ravindra keeping New Zealand in the contest

But on a day when the pendulum got a solid workout, it was Sri Lanka who found themselves in the ascendancy at the close. That was largely down to a final session in which they grabbed four wickets.However, it had not exactly started that way, as New Zealand came out following the tea interval with renewed intent. Sri Lanka started the session with the pace of Lahiru Kumara from one end, but that was a short-lived ploy after Ravindra and Tom Blundell plundered his shortish lengths for 14 in an over. That ushered in a period of quick runs with Ramesh targeted for a pair of boundaries two overs later.Ramesh Mendis dismissed Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee in quick succession•AFP/Getty Images

Before long, Ravindra and Blundell had added 56. At that point, New Zealand needed only 123 more with six wickets in hand. But on this surface, one was never truly in and so it proved when Blundell opted for a reverse sweep only to be bowled around his legs.Glenn Phillips was the new man in. Given his blistering 49 not out amid a lower-order collapse in the first innings, his wicket was always bound to be crucial. As it turned out, Phillips didn’t bother the scorers all that much, edging to second slip for 4 while attempting a forward defence.Mitchell Santner batted time in order to support Ravindra’s solo offensive at the other end, but he ran out of patience and drove a tossed-up delivery straight into the hands of short cover.Into the tail proper, Sri Lanka needed little time to dismiss Tim Southee, who struggled to come to terms with the spin being extracted outside his off stump by Ramesh. After several close calls, one hit him on the back leg in front of middle and leg. The appeal was huge, but the umpire did not move. But Ramesh was able to convince his skipper to go upstairs, and New Zealand lost their eighth.The game had undergone a similar up-and-down trajectory earlier in the day as well. Play had begun with Sri Lanka losing six wickets for 72 runs as their second innings was wrapped up inside the morning session. Ajaz took five of those in a little over an hour and Will O’Rourke, who bowled a slightly off-colour spell with the second new ball, ended with 3 for 49.Sri Lanka, though, would finish the session with the wicket of Devon Conway, who chopped a sharp in-seamer from Asitha Fernando. But the post-lunch session once again began with the visitors fighting back.Ajaz Patel holds up the ball after his six-for•AFP/Getty Images

While Jayasuriya and Ramesh were consistent with their line and length, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson were keen to sweep and use their feet to ensure the spinners didn’t have it all their own way.Williamson, in particular, was busy throughout, at times sliding deep into the crease and other times stepping out to get to the pitch of the ball. A lofted six over extra cover, with the spin, against Jayasuriya was a session highlight. Just before that, he had hit a sumptuous cover drive.But Jayasuriya had the last laugh, dragging one shorter having seen Williamson step out one time too many, and turning it past a panicked forward defence as Kusal Mendis whipped off the bails. Such was the turn, it left Williamson briefly confused and gesticulating in frustration at the pitch as he walked off.That ended a threatening 45-run stand between two players who had caused considerable damage in the first innings.Before the session was over, Sri Lanka also had the wickets of Latham and the dangerous Daryl Mitchell in the bag, the former done in by Dhananjaya de Silva’s an arm ball and the latter by one that spun back prodigiously from Mendis.But then New Zealand, led by Ravindra and Blundell, fought back once more before the spinners hurt them once again.

Ashwin: It 'most certainly' helps for India to have just a few Test centres

by csb10.top Uncategorized

In the aftermath of a match that forced India to play an extreme kind of Test cricket – scoring their first-innings runs at almost nine an over and declaring after 34.4 – to secure the result they wanted because of days lost to rain and poor drainage in Kanpur, there has been a heightened focus on whether Test match cricket in India needs to be held at only the major centres. R Ashwin weighed in on that debate on Monday at the end of play.”Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers has attained by having so many Test centres is you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country,” he said. “It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.”The second is there are certain requisite ingredients that goes into making a Test match happen, like for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest on. These are no-brainers.Related

  • India beat the weather and the clock to sweep Bangladesh 2-0

  • Stats – India extend dominance at home, at breakneck speed

  • Rohit: 'We were ready to get bowled out for a low score if it meant forcing a result'

  • Bangladesh walked into India's trap and couldn't find a way out

“But having said all this, does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does. Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England. They have certain select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that.”What Ashwin had strong words on was the quality of India’s bowling attack. No one took more than three wickets in either of the innings, but collectively, they bowled Bangladesh out in just 121.2 overs.”Each one of those bowlers that bowled along with me, alongside me, have the ability to hold on to a game, bowl with discipline and yet produce wicket-taking balls,” he said. “When we talk things like this, we have to be able to understand the finer nuances of the game to get what I am saying. It is not just their ability alone, it is also the belief of the entire team.R Ashwin finished the Test series with 11 wickets•BCCI

“When Rohit [Sharma] says that you make 400 [to the batters], try and make a game out of it, it tells you that the captain believes the bowlers will get the job done. I believe in my bowlers. These bowlers have done it day in and day out. And they have the ability to pick 20 wickets. So, having that as one, you will encounter situations where batters do dominate against our bowling attack as well. It is only given in this game. But the bowling attack is quite special. And I really do hope that this legacy of bowling is taken forward.”India have the comfort of playing both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Test matches at home. In less than two months, they’ll be flying to Australia where it is very likely that they’ll have to choose between the two of them. How do they cope with that situation?”It is very simple for me. If he plays, I will bad mouth him all day, all night,” Ashwin joked. “I have repeated this again and again. It doesn’t cross my head anymore at all. If he is the one that has to play, he is the one that has to play. I have complete faith and I have got his back when he goes out there to play. Going to another country, especially a country like Australia or England, and your team putting in an extraordinary performance and you winning a Test match, makes me an incredibly proud Indian. So, for me, [it’s about] putting a larger cause in front.”He is the second left-arm spinner to 300 wickets. I think he has got 3000 runs. These are no mean achievements. It is just that sometimes when you miss out, you feel you are missing out. And nobody likes missing out. But the fact is, India is blessed to have two bowlers who can play in the same spot and are good enough. So, it doesn’t cross my mind. It used to once upon a time. I might be lying if I said I didn’t because we all want to play. But it doesn’t anymore. Because the larger goal is at the forefront of my mind.”

Heather Knight: Dani Gibson's 'bravery' elevates her T20 World Cup credentials

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Heather Knight said that Dani Gibson personifies the “bravery” and “clarity” that England want in their T20I side ahead of October’s World Cup. Gibson’s nine-ball innings of 22 contained five boundaries, all off international bowlers, and changed the course of the Hundred final at Lord’s to help London Spirit win their maiden title – men’s or women’s.Gibson walked out at No. 5 after Knight had been castled by Shabnim Ismail’s 74mph in-ducker, which left Spirit 56 for 3 off 56 balls, with a requirement of 60 to win off the last 44. She inside-edged her first ball for a single, then hit her next five for boundaries to take the requirement down to a run a ball and change the complexion of the game.”I forget how young she is,” Knight said of Gibson, who turned 23 earlier this year. “We saw the game she played at Lord’s, a reverse-sweep to go and win the game against Australia last year, and that’s the sort of mindset that we want in that England side: the willingness to take risks, take the game on and express what your talent, and Dani epitomises that.”She’s a player that can impact a game in all three facets… she hasn’t gone as well as she would’ve liked with the ball in the last couple of games, but [to have] the character to go, ‘I’m going to go and win this game for us’ was unbelievable. She’s a great ball-striker. She’s got real clarity about how she wants to play and that’s exactly what we want for her. I’m delighted for her.”Gibson, who has batted exclusively at No. 5 after opening the batting last season, had only faced two balls in Spirit’s previous four games heading into the final, following a series of dominant top-order performances.”I was thinking yesterday that our middle order hasn’t faced many balls or had much time in the middle recently,” Knight said. “We talked a lot about trying not to have nervous chasers and really trying to break the back of it. Today’s innings was a real stand-out for her to go in and be that brave, and take the game on. It took the pressure off the rest of the batters.”After steering Ismail past short third, Gibson pulled the third ball she faced through midwicket for four. “It was really important for me to get off to a good start,” she said. “I’ve never actually played the pull shot very well, so I was buzzing with myself. I was disappointed with how I bowled [0 for 16 from 10 balls] and felt like I’d let the team down.”Knight was the second-highest run-scorer in the women’s Hundred this year, and Gibson said she felt the need to take on some responsibility after her captain’s dismissal: “Heather has batted so well for us throughout the comp: it was time for other people to step up… I didn’t want to think about things too much. That’s when I’m at my best: I just wanted to play simple cricket and see where it took me.”Related

  • 'Tall Paul' Walter could make BBL return to Brisbane Heat

  • Healy: 'Hard to fathom' T20 World Cup going ahead in Bangladesh

  • Bangladesh turmoil: ICC mulls back-up options to host women's T20 World Cup

  • Charlotte Edwards blames Southern Brave's wooden spoon on slow start

  • Dean three-for, Redmayne fifty lift Spirit into first final

Gibson fell with 27 required off the final 29 balls, and Deepti Sharma took Spirit over the line with two balls to spare, swiping a six over long-on. “Deepti has been unbelievable with bat and ball, her clarity and calmness,” Knight said. “Bar today, her intent has been awesome, the willingness to take the game on.”England will head to Abu Dhabi next month ahead of October’s T20 World Cup, and Knight believes that her players will do so with confidence after dominant performances in the Hundred. “I’m really pleased,” she said. “It’s great to see the rest of the girls contributing and I’m very excited to meet up again in a couple of weeks.”Nat [Sciver-Brunt] has been unbelievable. She’s barely got out and the way she’s played has been awesome. It’s really pleasing going into a World Cup. I haven’t probably had the best few Hundreds, so I was really desperate to do well this year. I was really pleased to contribute… I felt quite fresh and really wanted to show what form I’m in.”There is uncertainty over whether the tournament will be staged in Bangladesh as planned due to security concerns amid anti-government uprisings, and Knight is hopeful that a decision will be reached in the next week. “It’s out of our hands, and the focus has been on this competition [the Hundred],” she said.”Hopefully, there will be a decision soon with planning and things like that, and getting things in place – obviously squads [are] being picked. It shouldn’t impact it too much, but it’d be nice to know where it is and get our hands around that and what the conditions are going to be like.”It depends where it is, really. If it’s in the UAE, conditions in October are pretty similar to Bangladesh in terms of pace of wickets and bounce… we won’t have a huge amount of experience there, but obviously we’ve got a training camp in Abu Dhabi. We’ll have to wait and see: hopefully, we’ll find out next week.”

Sophia Dunkley slam-dunks Welsh Fire to victory in opener

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Sophia Dunkley guided Welsh Fire to victory over Manchester Originals at Emirates Old Trafford in the Hundred, navigating a mid-innings wobble to see her side over the line with four balls to spare.Dunkley’s 69 from just 47 balls formed the backbone of her side’s response to the home side’s total of 113 for 7, and it required some late acceleration from her to get the job done after Manchester Originals’ spin duo of Sophie Ecclestone and Fi Morris had stemmed the scoring rate and pegged Welsh Fire back.With 12 runs needed from the final 10 balls, it was Dunkley’s calculated risk-taking against Ecclestone that proved most crucial, slapping her England team-mate for four through the covers and then repeating the dose behind square on the off side with a reverse-sweep.Captain Ecclestone’s 15-ball 27 – including two customary lusty blows for six – had earlier given her Originals side something to bowl at after an underwhelming effort with the bat.Her innings was the lone Originals knock of note, excluding the opening pair of Laura Woolvardt and Beth Mooney who started the day in imperious form, racing to a partnership of 58 with Woolvardt in particular playing some shots for the purists.Dunkley’s half-century continued a trend of England Women’s players standing up to the big occasion in the Hundred, following her teammates Alice Capsey and Heather Knight – off the back of head coach Jon Lewis challenging his charges to dominate throughout the competition.Meerkat Match Hero Sophia Dunkley said: “It definitely got a bit closer than we thought. I didn’t really feel in the innings for the first half of it. It was quite hard to time the ball, so I found it really difficult. But once you got the pace of the wicket it was easier. At the end I had to take some calculated risks and it got a bit close but luckily we got over the line.”We were really happy with how we bowled and how we controlled the innings. Spin was definitely quite hard through the middle, and pace off the ball, so we knew it was going to be difficult but we were definitely pleased at the half-way point.”I couldn’t time it too well throughout the middle. I tried to over-hit a little bit. I had to tell myself to keep calm, strike the ball and keep my head still – and managed to get a few away. I moved a little bit better towards the end and we got over the line, which was great.”We were definitely heartbroken at the end of last year [exiting at the Hundred Eliminator] so we’ve got that grit about us that we want to try and go all the way, and redeem ourselves a little bit. We’re just really looking forward to getting going in the competition.”

St Lucia Kings sign Heinrich Klaasen and Noor Ahmad for CPL 2024

by csb10.top Uncategorized

St Lucia Kings have signed South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen and Afghanistan wristspinner Noor Ahmad for the 2024 edition of the Caribbean Premier League 2024 ahead of the player draft.Faf du Plessis, whose stint with Kings last year was cut short due to injury, has been retained. Namibia allrounder David Wiese and Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa are also among the overseas retainees.Kings have 12 confirmed players for the season and will have five spots to fill at the draft in July. They have retained the core of Caribbean players, which includes Johnson Charles, Alzarri Joseph, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde and Khary Pierre. Fast bowlers Shadrack Descarte and McKenny Clarke round out their retentions. Colin Munro, who was named du Plessis’ replacement last year, has been released, and so have Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams and Chris Sole.Klaasen has been in phenomenal form in T20s since 2023. He finished as the second-highest run-getter in the SA20 earlier this year and was in top form in the IPL as well with 479 runs in 16 games . His strike rate in the format since 2023 is 176.80. This will be Klaasen’s second stint in the CPL, having represented Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2022 where he made 118 runs in five games.Kings made their fourth consecutive playoffs spot in 2023 but lost in the Eliminator against Jamaica Tallawahs.The 2024 edition of the CPL is set to run from August 30 to October 7. Kings will open their campaign against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on September 1 in Basseterre.

Pakistan drop Hasan Nawaz from SL ODIs and T20I tri-series

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Pakistan have dropped batter Hasan Nawaz from their upcoming ODI and T20I series later this month. He has been sent instead to participate in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. No replacement was nominated for him for the ODIs, while Fakhar Zaman is called up to the T20I squad in his stead.Nawaz, who initially rose to prominence when he scored a match-winning T20I hundred against New Zealand at Eden Park in March in his third T20I, was initially marked out as a shining talent. Consequentially, he was allowed an extended run in the side despite numerous failures including five ducks in his first ten games.However, his ability for big hitting, especially during the middle and late stages of T20 innings, was deemed extremely valuable, and his ceiling was considered higher than just about every other player. That reputation was burnished further thanks to a dazzling PSL campaign where he took Quetta Gladiators to the final, finishing as the third highest run-scorer at a strike rate over 162.But over the past two months, he has begun to be viewed as more dispensable. He was dropped from the later stages of Pakistan’s run to the Asia Cup final this year for Hussain Talat, a batter with a much lower explosive profile. He has only played four ODIs – three against the West Indies in August, and averages over 56.Even so, the manner of his dismissal in the first game, when he charged George Linde on a spinning track and ended up stumped, signalled a particular lack of match awareness, and he was not picked for the remaining games. Similarly, his T20I run over the past few months has become a problem for Pakistan. In his last eight matches, he has reached double figures just once, averaging under 7.Pakistan play three ODIs against Sri Lanka from November 11 before commencing a T20I tri-series that also involves Zimbabwe from November 17. It will be the first multi-team T20I tournament ever held in Pakistan.

Pakistan squads

ODIs: Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali AghaT20I tri-series: Salman Ali Agha (capt), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq