Pakistan cricket team is going through a nightmare period of time at the moment. From a forgettable campaign at the ODI World Cup 2023 to a humiliating exit in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup, Pakistan have failed to put up a good show. Not just the players but the Pakistan Cricket Board also went through numerous changes, which ultimately resulted in their team’s debacle. Many former cricketers and experts have criticised the players and skipper Babar Azam has always been on the receiving end.

Babar, who was once the No 1 ODI batter in the ICC rankings, miserably failed to produce a good knock for his team during the ODI World Cup in India. Later, he carried his poor form in the T20 World Cup, where his team got eliminated in the group stage.

To make things worse, a video from Team Pakistan’s net practice session has gone viral on social media, where Babar was seen struggling against star pacer Naseem Shah‘s younger brother, Ubaid Shah.

Babar Azam struggling against Naseem Shah’s younger brother Ubaid Shah in the nets pic.twitter.com/0HvMlHbQ06

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 17, 2024

Ubaid, who is just 18 years old, easily dominated the 29-year-old Babar with his brilliant pace.

Earlier, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi heavily criticised Babar and stated that he has got enough chances but he failed to deliver.

“Babar has got a full open chance to lead Pakistan. He has been given enough time to show his worth as captain. Now whatever surgery the PCB wants to do, they should take their decision,” Afridi told the media in Birmingham where he was taking part in the World Legends Championship.

“I have also captained Pakistan and so have Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq but whenever the team has performed badly in the World Cups, first thing the captain faces the knife (sic),” he said.

Talking about Team Pakistan, Babar and co will be squaring off against Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, starting from August 21 in Rawalpindi.

(With PTI Inputs)

A split photo showing the boy and Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling action.© Twitter

Peshawar:

 Three coal miners were killed and four others injured when a coal mine collapsed in northwestern Pakistan, police said.

The incident took place on Tuesday in Darra Adam Khel town, 35 km southwest of Peshawar. The miners hailed from Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, they said.

Emergency response teams were quick to reach the site, where they managed to retrieve the bodies of the three deceased miners. The four injured workers were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital.

Expressing his sorrow over the incident, KPK Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur extended his condolences to the families of the victims and offered prayers for the swift recovery of the injured miners.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan opened up about his recent struggle to find the purple patch with the bat and ball on the international circuit. Shadab is enjoying a memorable debut in Lanka Premier League Season 5 with the Colombo Strikers. In his very first game, he snared a hat-trick against the Kandy Falcons and has since thrived in the conditions, picking up 16 wickets, the most by any bowler so far in this LPL season. As the LPL caravan moved from Dambulla to Colombo, Shadab picked up his third four-wicket haul of the tournament against the Jaffna Kings at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

As Shadab continues to rewrite record books, he opened up about his struggle to deliver for the Pakistan team.

“I was struggling for three months. I hadn’t taken a wicket in the last seven international games. I came here, started bowling and am now always taking wickets. That is the beauty of cricket. You have to enjoy these types of scenarios as well… sometimes you perform, sometimes you don’t. But the process that you follow has to be consistent,” Shadab said, as quoted from a press release by LPL.

Shadab recalled his first outing in the league and expressed that the pitch was helpful for spinners. But he went on to add that a T20 bowler requires variations to be successful across conditions.

“The pitch was helping us as it was a bit slow and gripping a bit… But T20 cricket is very hard nowadays, as 200 is easily changeable. As a spinner, you have to have your variations because on flat tracks, if you don’t have variations, you can go for runs. But if you have variation, you can take wickets as well as contain runs. So that is very important, and it is also important that you land it in a good area,” Shadab added.

The 25-year-old stated his intention to contribute as an all-rounder across all departments of the game for his franchise, the Colombo Strikers.

“I am performing for my team, and that is a good sign. I am the main bowler, and if I am taking wickets, that is a positive sign for me and my team. I want to contribute in all three phases. So far, I am contributing in two as a bowler and fielder. Hopefully, I can contribute with the bat too,” Shadab concluded.

Ever since Pakistan were awarded the right to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a lot has been said and writted about India’s participation in the marquee event. Recent reports have claimed that the Indian cricket team is unlikely to get clearance from the goverment to travel to Pakistan for the tournament. This has raised major doubts over India’s participation in the tournament. For the unversed, India did not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023, and their matches were played in Sri Lanka under the hybrid model.

Similarly, some reports have also claimed that the BCCI will raise the same issue with the ICC at the upcoming general meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

However, BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla denied all the rumours that claimed that India are unlikely to travel to Pakistan, adding that the BCCI is yet to do a discussion on the same.

Amid the ongoing debate, an old video of former India spinner Harbhajan Singh schooling a Pakistani TV presenter has resurfaced.

Last year, Harbhajan made an appearance on Pakistan’s ARY News where he had a heated discussion with the host of the show, Wasim Badami.

“If our players are not safe in Pakistan, we won’t send the team. If you want to play, play; if not, don’t. Indian cricket can still survive without Pakistan. If you guys can survive without Indian cricket, then do it,” Harbhajan had said.

Indian cricket can survive without pakistan

Harbhajan Singh on fire pic.twitter.com/NVtkJzX7o9

— Politics Pe Charcha (@politicscharcha) July 12, 2024

On the contorary, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt recently claimed its their right to host the Champions Trophy, adding that India must travel to the country just like the rest of the participating teams.

Butt also highlighted how India’s kabaddi and tennis teams have played tournaments in Pakistan in recent times, saying that the Indian government cannot pick and choose.

“Pakistan have got the rights to host the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and it should be held in Pakistan. Like all the other teams, India should also come to Pakistan. Pakistan went to India for the World Cup, so India should also do the same. A lot of things have been said about the relations between the two countries, but India’s kabaddi and tennis teams have visited the same Pakistan. Either you cut off completely, or you try to be normal everywhere. You can’t pick and choose, which they have been doing,” Butt said in a video on his YouTube channel.

File image of new Pakistan chief curator Tony Hemming.© X (Twitter)

Harbhajan Singh (L) and para-badminton star Manasi Joshi© X (Twitter)

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday decided to reduce duration of its central contracts from three years to one but opted against reducing payment to its players. The decisions were taken during a meeting in Lahore called by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Among those present in the meeting were Pakistan’s new red-ball coach Jason Gillespie, white-ball coach Gary Kirsten, selectors Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood and other senior officials. The board said it intends to make significant overhauls to its policies after the national team’s debacle in the T20 World Cup, wherein Pakistan failed to make the Super Eight stage following defeats to India and the USA.

“The selectors have recommended no change in the financial part of the central contracts which would now be revised into 12-month contracts with players fitness, behaviour and form all to be assessed every 12 months,” a board official said.

Last year, the former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf had an agreement with the players following which they were issued central contracts guaranteeing no change in agreement clauses and financials for a period of three years.

The official said PCB has now made it mandatory for all centrally and domestic contracted players to undergo fitness tests every three months. The two head coaches would regulate the tests.

It was also decided that while considering player applications to obtain NOCs to play foreign leagues, stringent technical guidelines would be followed wherein the primary objective would be to ensure the player’s fitness and availability for the national team.

“Only (those) players with a high fitness and performance criteria will receive NOCs, ensuring a high standard of representation in international leagues,” the official said.

It was decided in the meeting that all players will have to appear in domestic cricket mandatorily and selectors have been asked to monitor this before selecting any player for the national teams.

The official said everyone present in the meeting unanimously decided that there should be zero tolerance on disciplinary cases and instances of player making groups will be met with strict penalties, in order to uphold team unity and morale.

Plans are also underway to upgrade the high-performance centers nationwide to bolster grassroots cricket.

New centers in Islamabad and Peshawar are set to be established with Gillespie and Kirsten tasked to oversee these initiatives.

Representative image© AFP

Salman Butt feels India must travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.© BCCI