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Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper, believes that winning a Test series against India in India equates to a bigger task than beating Australia at home

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2012Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper, believes that winning a Test series against India in India equates to a bigger task than beating Australia away, which England did for the first time in 24 years in 2010-11.Later this week England depart for a training camp in Dubai before the four-Test tour of India, where they will be seeking a first series win since 1984. In the latest edition of Alison’s Tea Break, Prior describes winning on the subcontinent as “the final frontier” for a team who are determined to climb the Test rankings again after losing their No. 1 status to South Africa at home earlier this year.Prior’s contention is perhaps one of the reasons why he was central in attempting to smooth Kevin Pietersen’s return to the England set-up ahead of the India series. Prior was one of the senior England players to meet with Pietersen ahead of his return to the Test squad. He was also quick to pick up the phone to Pietersen in the aftermath of the batsman’s extraordinary press conference at Headingley when he stated “it’s tough being me” in the England dressing room.”I’ve seen Kev, we had a good chat or meeting, whatever you want to call it,” Prior says. “Obviously I don’t want to go into too much detail about what went on in the meeting but the important thing about it is KP playing for England will make England a better team. He is a phenomenal player, we all know that.”The really important thing is that we are all pulling and moving in the same direction, and whether it be KP, or myself – if one person steps out of line in the other direction, it’s tough. Our team ethic and team ethos has been the most important thing in our success over the last couple of years and we want to make sure we look after that and make sure we can get it back to where it was.”Prior explains why he felt compelled to speak to Pietersen after the second Test against South Africa, what he felt it achieved and the extent to which he believes England can recapture the dressing room ethos that he feels has been central to the team’s success over the last couple of years.”To be honest, all the time it was KP having an issue with the ECB, IPL, etc, but the minute he said he had an issue with the dressing room, it suddenly became the players’ problem,” he says. “I felt the only thing to do was to say ‘Right, what are your issues?’ Kev will probably admit he did a few things wrong but if one of our senior players is saying he’s struggling in the dressing room then it would be wrong of us not to look at it and say, ‘Okay what are we doing that’s making him feel that way?’ So it works a bit both ways.”In the interview, Prior also discusses what makes for a successful and happy dressing room and the importance of trust and respect in a team game, as well as reiterating his desire to get back in the one-day and Twenty20 squads once again for England.

In one of the more one-sided games of the tournament, Kolkata Knight Riders breezed to an eight-wicket win and made amends for fluffing a chase against the same opponents, Kings XI Punjab, three days ago

The Report Kanishkaa Balachandran18-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGautam Gambhir led by example with an unbeaten 66•AFP

In one of the more one-sided games of the tournament, Kolkata Knight Riders breezed to an eight-wicket win and made amends for fluffing a chase against the same opponents, Kings XI Punjab, three days ago. A deflated Kings XI limped to 124 on their home surface after winning the toss but there were no twists as Knight Riders, led by Gautam Gambhir, attained the target with a risk-free approach.The pitch had a layer of grass and offered movement off the seam, but it didn’t have the kind of moisture that gave the bowlers an edge in the previous Mohali game, against Pune Warriors. Nevertheless, the batsmen didn’t have the freedom to hit through the line – a staple fare in the plenty of games so far in the IPL.None of the Kings XI batsmen could bat through. Adam Gilchrist kept the momentum going with a couple of boundaries through the on side, but pulled a hamstring while completing a quick single. He had to retire, and his untimely departure in the sixth over dented the run-rate.Kings XI were going along at 7.50 but post-Gilchrist, it had declined to as low as 5.93. The Knight Riders bowlers didn’t allow any big partnerships to develop, nothing higher than 24.Much depended on Marsh to give the team momentum, but he departed for 33, albeit in controversial circumstances. He chased a wide delivery from Lee shaping away and got a thick outside edge which dipped to the wicketkeeper, but Manvinder Bisla immediately claimed the catch. The umpires conferred and took Bisla’s word, but replays couldn’t confirm if he had his gloves underneath the ball. Marsh accepted the ruling, but the team owner Preity Zinta didn’t appear too pleased with the decision, querying one of the match officials before Gilchrist stepped in to restore calm.It triggered off a steady collapse as David Hussey fell shortly after due to bad calling, before Dimitri Mascarenhas and Paras Dogra perished going for the big shots. Gilchrist returned in the 17th over to pick up the pieces and he struck the only six of the innings, in the final over. That Kings XI managed only three boundaries in the last ten overs showed how Knight Riders tightened the noose.Brendon McCullum got the chase off the blocks with forceful pulls to the on side, but ironically fell to an embarrassing shot in the same region. Piyush Chawla bowled a long hop way down the leg side but somehow, McCullum contrived to find short fine leg, prompting a disbelieving grin from Chawla.Gambhir remained strong square of the wicket on both sides, cutting when given width and nudging away deliveries on the pads.Bisla launched Harmeet Singh for a six over mid-off but was bowled dragging one on to his stumps just before the halfway stage. With a paltry target to defend, Kings XI could have attacked more, kept a slip or a couple of men in close catching positions to force a mistake. Gambhir had the freedom to use his feet against the spinners, getting to his half-century off 36 balls.Gambhir had earlier demanded more application from his middle order. Today, he led by example.Edited by Siddarth Ravindran

Opener Aftab Alam anchored Habib Bank Limited’s chase of 235 on the final day with a patient century, amid support from captain Hasan Raza and Fahad Masood, to set up their first title win since 1977-78

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Hasan Raza’s run-a-ball 54 shut PIA out of contention•Getty Images

Opener Aftab Alam anchored Habib Bank Limited’s chase of 235 on the final day with a patient century, amid support from captain Hasan Raza and Fahad Masood, to set up their first title win since 1977-78. Pakistan International Airlines required seven wickets on the final day but Alam’s determined innings helped tilt the scales from a precarious 56 for 3 on the third day to inflict on the opposition their first defeat in the competition in a game that mattered the most.Alam and Masood, the two overnight batsmen, consolidated the advantage their team had enjoyed at stumps the previous day, working the ball around comfortably for singles and finding the occasional boundary. In the morning session, Alam collected fours through fine leg, and then drove Shoaib Malik to the deep-cover fence. Masood was less fluent, but the steady flow of ones and twos thwarted PIA’s hopes of putting HBL’s batsmen under pressure. Their only hope was to pick up wickets, and urgently given HBL were progressing smoothly. They got a lucky break when Masood, aiming for a single to mid-off, was caught short of his crease by a direct hit that made it 146 for 4. The elation, though, was short lived.The scoring rate actually picked up with the arrival of Raza to the crease, and Alam continued to be ruthless when an opportunity was on offer. Raza kicked off his innings in streaky fashion, with an edge to the third-man boundary, but got into his groove soon after, punching Anwar Ali through the covers. Alam eventually ceded floor to Raza, giving him most of the strike and reaching his fifth first-class century in the process. He had batted in the middle order in the first innings and his promotion to the top in the second proved decisive.Raza, meanwhile, stepped up by targeting the seamer Aizaz Cheema, striking him for two fours and then tore into him with victory in sight, reaching his half-century with three boundaries in four balls. Though Alam had been dismissed by then, Raza’s attack hastened PIA’s downfall. Kamran Hussain finished the game off in the 79th over, driving Kamran Sajid to score the winning runs.The day-night game was an unprecedented event in Pakistan first-class cricket and was not without controversy. The match was hotly-contested with lots of chatter between the players and even accusations of ball-tampering; the trigger for the uneasy atmosphere on the field, though, appeared to have been poor umpiring for a major part of the game.

Bangladesh are expected to make two changes to their side for the second Test against England at Dhaka on Saturday, as their coach seeks a higher level of discipline with both bat and ball

Andrew Miller in Dhaka19-Mar-2010Bangladesh will make two changes to their side for the second Test against England at Dhaka on Saturday, as their coach, Jamie Siddons, seeks a higher level of discipline with both bat and ball following their 181-run defeat in Chittagong last week.Their new-ball bowler, Shadahat Hossain, has been dropped to make way for Shafiul Islam, while Aftab Ahmed’s place at No. 4 has been taken by the uncapped Jahurul Islam, who joined the squad on the eve of the first Test following Raqibul Hasan’s shock “retirement” from international cricket.”This was definitely a moment I have looked forward to since I became a cricket player. The dream of playing cricket at Test level has always been my chief motivation,” said Jahurul. “I have been in good form coming into the national team and I will take the confidence of the runs I had scored into the Test match.”Meanwhile Raqibul’s potential return to the team has been delayed after he was handed a three-month suspension by the board despite Siddons being optimistic that a decision that he described last week as “rash and foolish” would soon be forgotten.”We’ve spoken to him, but it is still up to a board decision to release him back to play,” said Siddons. “That’s not happening yet so he’s left his run a little bit late. I would have had him back no problem but there’s a few little delays happening. Hopefully we’ll have him back for the England tour and the Asia Cup.”After a torrid start to the Chittagong Test, in which Bangladesh slumped to 51 for 3 after conceding a hefty 599 for 6 declared, the team settled down to produce three decent days of Test cricket, with their batsmen amassing 627 runs across their two innings, while restricting England to 209 for 7 second time around. However, Siddons remains frustrated by such peaks and troughs, and wants an improved focus at Dhaka.”The one thing we’re aiming for is to be consistent,” said Siddons. “All of our top order – apart from our No. 4 position – are centurions in Test cricket now, and they have all made them in the last four months. But we’re still having Mahmudullah making a fifty then nothing, Tamim [Iqbal] 80 then nothing, Shakib [Al Hasan] nothing then a score. To get scores of 400 you need more consistency than that.”To make 630 over two innings against England was a reasonable effort, but we’re still probably 150 short. Our players are all confident of performing at this level and they’ll be confident of performing on that wicket. We just need them to put it together in the same match. That’s what England did to us, and it’s what we need to do back to them if we want to be successful.”We bowled, I think, nine maidens in 145 overs [138.3],” said Siddons. “It’s ridiculous, and it’s not good enough. Test cricket should be a game where you have to work a lot harder for your runs, but we couldn’t bowl one side of the wicket, and when we wanted to bowl at the wickets we couldn’t do that either. We also need to make more runs in the first innings. We batted on probably the flattest day, and only made 296, and that probably wasn’t anywhere near enough.”One aspect of Bangladesh’s performance that will change, however, will be their decision if they win the toss. At Chittagong, Shakib called correctly but chose to field first, a move that Siddons later admitted was the wrong one. This time, with another spin-friendly surface in prospect, there’s no doubt that they be aiming to put a score on the board first-up.”If the wicket plays the way we expect it to, and day one should be flat, if we win the toss we will bat,” said Siddons. “And if we do bowl I hope we put the ball in better areas and make them work a little harder for their runs. I expect it to turn a bit more towards the end of the game, because the footmarks play a bigger part on this wicket. Hopefully it will turn from day one, but we won’t be taking that risk.For me, as usual, it’s about us playing our game as well as we can,” he added. “I’ve got no expectations, I just want our players to play well. Each day is different, so our expectations change every day, according to the situation of the game. But I expect us to play pretty good cricket. It’s our home conditions, and we played reasonably well at Chittagong, but we’ll need nearer 700 [runs in the match] to win the game here.”Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Jahurul Islam, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.

In terms of value per match, the T20 tournament is now behind only the NFL

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Jun-2022An IPL game is now worth a record INR 105 crore (USD 13.44 million) making it – in terms of value per match – the second-most lucrative sporting product in the entire world, behind only the NFL (USD 35.07 million*). This figure may actually rise considering the e-auction for the T20 tournament’s media rights, which began on Sunday, continues.The combined sum bid so far is INR 38,850 crore (USD 4.97 billion) – that is INR 21,090 crore (USD 2.7 billion) for Package A (TV rights for India sub-continent) and INR 17,760 crore (USD 2.27 billion) for Package B (digital for India subcontinent); it is already 2.38 times or 138% higher than the 2018-22 IPL rights deal, bagged by Star India in 2017 for $2.55 billion.These numbers are based on there being 74 games per season in the next five-year rights cycle starting in 2023. As it stands, the IPL has overtaken the Premier League, whose value per match, as per the 2022-25 rights, is listed at USD 11.34 million**.Doing away with the process of closed bids, the IPL put its media rights up for sale for the first time through an e-auction. In an e-auction, bids are filed through an online portal managed by an independent company. The highest bids across all categories are flashed on screen – simultaneously and live – but names of the bidders are not disclosed to ensure rivals don’t bump up prices.For this auction, the IPL set a minimum base price for each of the four categories and asked bidders to list their price on a per match basis. For Package A the per match base price is INR 49 crore (USD 6.3 million). For Package B it is INR 33 crore (USD 4.2 million) per match. For Package C it is INR 16 crore (USD 2.05 million) per match. For Package D it is INR 3 crore (USD 390,000).On Sunday, Packages A and B went up for bidding simultaneously with all the key bidders among final list of seven keenly contesting. The highest bid for Package A on was INR 57 crore (USD 7.29 million) – 16.3% higher than the base price set by IPL. The highest bid for Package B was INR 48 crore (USD 6.14 million), 45.4% higher than the base price.The combined figure – INR 105 crore – is already 93.6% higher than the per match value in the previous IPL rights deal (INR 54.23 crore).The bidders – Disney-Star, Sony, Viacom-Reliance, Zee, Fun Asia, Super Sport and Times Internet – will resume the auction on Monday 11 am IST. As per the rules set by IPL, the winner of Package A has the right to compete for the digital rights by locking horns with the highest bidder in Package B. The auction process will continue till one of them drops out. Once the highest bidder for Packages A and B are determined, the auction process for Packages C & D will commence.All USD values are approximations where 1 USD = 78 INR

Bowlers then take over to lead TKR to third successive victory in CPL 2020

The Report by Firdose Moonda23-Aug-2020Half-centuries from Colin Munro and Darren Bravo, who also shared in a 98-run stand with Kieron Pollard, propelled the Trinbago Knight Riders to the highest score of this year’s CPL and the top of the points’ table. The defending champion Barbados Tridents made a fist of the chase, and were ahead of the required run-rate after the PowerPlay but could not sustain their scoring. They remain in the bottom half of the table.Knight Riders picked up pace after a watchful start which brought just 27 runs in the first five overs. They scored at more than 10 runs an over for the remainder of their innings, giving Tridents a mountain to climb in response. Tridents’ innings played out in opposite fashion. They raced to 68 inside eight overs, thanks largely to Johnson Charles’ 52, but then lost three wickets for seven runs, leaving the middle order with too much to do in the second half of the innings.Nursing the scoring rate Ashley Nurse was the first spinner Jason Holder turned to immediately after the Powerplay, just as Munro had started to free his arms, and he proved the most economical of the Tridents’ attack. Nurse found turn and grip on a wearing surface and would have had Sunil Narine’s wicket at the start of his second over but Shai Hope could not hold on to a thick outside edge. Narine only lasted until the next over anyway, as Nurse and Raymon Reifer kept the Knight Riders’ fairly quiet. Nurse was the only bowler to concede less than eight runs an over and was eventually rewarded when Munro slogged his final ball to deep midwicket, where Rashid Khan took a tumbling catch. The One-Handed Six Specialist and his 3,000 run partner Knight Riders entered the last four overs with a strong foundation of 116 for 3 and then upped the ante. Mitchell Santner’s only over cost 19 runs and included Pollard fetching a wide delivery with one hand to send it down the ground for six. At the end of the next over, Pollard pulled it off again, this time against Reifer, who bowled it too full. Pollard took his bottom-hand off the bat to get under the ball and hoist it over long-on. And in the over after that, Darren Bravo reached the milestone of 3,000 T20 runs when he belted a low-full toss from Jason Holder down the ground for four. The Knight Riders’ scored 69 runs in the last four overs, 52 of them in boundaries.Not quite brotherly love Only the off-side seemed to get the better of Charles, who all but three of his 52 runs on the other side of the field, but Dwayne Bravo could have caused Charles trouble with his first ball. Charles hit Dwayne to the left of deep midwicket, who just happened to be Bravo’s little brother, Darren, who ran and dived and tried to hold on but couldn’t. Worse than the missed chance, or that Charles was on a roll, was that the wicket would have been Dwayne’s 500th. Darren made amends when he took the catch that dismissed Kyle Mayers but Dwayne will have to wait for the next match to take his milestone wicket.Back of the bat and back to the changeroomPollard was not the only innovative stroke-maker on the day. Jonathan Carter, whose contribution was a mere 8, scored four of them off the back of his bat when he got down on one knee to scoop Dwayne Bravo over fine leg. Carter switched his stance but not his bat and instead of turning it around in his hands, just used the other side. He wasn’t able to provide much more entertainment though. He lost his leg stump to Ali Khan and the most exuberant celebration in the two overs later. Apart from the customary fast-bowlers’ roar, Ali ripped off his sweat band and chucked it away in delight.

The Scorchers have built a new squad after last season’s wooden spoon, and the Stars will hope to top last season’s show

Alex Malcolm15-Dec-2019

Melbourne Stars

Captain: Glenn MaxwellCoach: David HusseyOverseas players: Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Dale Steyn (South Africa – first six matches), Pat Brown (England – expected from January 8)Full squad: Pat Brown (overseas replacement), Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Peter Handscomb, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Tom O’Connell, Dale Steyn, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Adam ZampaLast season: 2ndThey suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final, collapsing from an unlosable position against the Renegades. But they rode the wave of momentum to make the final after finishing fourth. There were a lot of positives to take out of their best season to date despite the bitter disappointment at the end.What’s changed for the season?They have a new coach after Stephen Fleming stepped down. Former captain David Hussey takes the reigns of a squad that has shaped nicely. They have added Dale Steyn and Pat Brown as their overseas fast bowlers who will play roughly half the tournament each as well as Nathan Coulter-Nile, who is primed to play a big part in what could be his first full BBL for many years. Hilton Cartwright also comes into the squad as an all-round option. He has a modest T20 record with the bat, but he and Coulter-Nile add exceptional athleticism in the field which the Stars view as vital on the wide expanses of the MCG.Australia impactMaxwell’s availability will be a big question. He has been away from cricket since October to manage his mental health, but is back playing club cricket in Melbourne and looks set for the BBL. Normally, he would be an automatic pick for the India ODI tour but the Stars will benefit if he doesn’t go. Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, and Coulter-Nile could be in the national frame but seem more unlikely than likely, which again helps the Stars. The only man they may miss is Adam Zampa, who will almost certainly travel to India.Player to watchNic Maddinson had also taken a mental health break this season but he is in the form of his life with the bat and seems most comfortable in the Melbourne environment. He could be primed for a big tournament with a settled role.Key stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)Among 32 bowlers who have bowled over 200 deliveries in the last four overs of a T20 match, Pat Brown has the best average – 12.42 – for any pace bowler. His death bowling and variations in the T20 Blast is the reason why the Stars have punted on Brown. It will be interesting to see how he bowls at the bigger grounds in Australia.Chris Jordan ripped through West Indies’ middle order•Getty Images

Perth Scorchers

Captain: Mitchell MarshCoach: Adam VogesOverseas players: Liam Livingstone (England), Chris Jordan (England)Full squad: Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Chris Jordan, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Mitchell Marsh, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam WhitemanLast season: 8thThe Scorchers had been – and still are – the most successful team in BBL history, having not missed the finals in seven seasons, which included three titles. But after finishing top of the table in BBL07 and losing the semi-final, they finished last in BBL08 winning just four games.What’s changed for the season?They have completely overhauled their list. Simon Katich has been working as a consultant with new high-performance manager Kade Harvey. Shaun Marsh (Renegades), Michael Klinger (retired), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Stars), Hilton Cartwright (Stars), Clint Hinchcliffe (Stars), Usman Qadir (not contracted) and David Willey (not contracted) have all departed. They have signed Liam Livingstone and Chris Jordan as new overseas players. Fawad Ahmed comes in from the Sydney Thunder to change the dynamic of the attack with AJ Tye and Jason Behrendorff out injured. Kurtis Patterson has been signed as part of a new-look top order alongside Livingstone.Australia impactThey won’t be as affected as other teams. Australia’s one-day tour of India could see Ashton Turner and Jhye Richardson leave for five games if selected, but it is highly unlikely they will lose any others. Injuries are a bigger issue.Player to watchMatthew Kelly only played seven games last season but he made an impression with his death bowling, taking 11 wickets at a strike rate of 14.7. Given the injuries to key bowling personnel, he will be a pivotal player this season.Key stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)In this day and age, where spin plays a big role in T20s, the Scorchers have predominantly been dependent on their pace bowling to win titles. It has worked for them until last season. In the last edition, the Scorchers took only 13 wickets with spin at an average of 33. No team took fewer wickets with spin. This edition they are looking to better that record with more variety in the attack.

Being the “sole nominee” put forth by the board, there was no need for a subsequent election process

Nagraj Gollapudi15-May-2018Shashank Manohar will continue as the ICC chairman until 2020 after he was elected unopposed for a second two-year term. In a media release, the ICC stated that Manohar was the “sole nominee” put forth by the board. As a result, there was no need for an election process, which originally would have been scheduled during the annual conference in June.In 2016, Manohar had vacated his position as BCCI president to be elected unanimously as the ICC’s inaugural independent chairman. Six months in, Manohar said he would step down for personal reasons, but was persuaded by several ICC board members to stay on in the job. Manohar subsequently said he would leave by the end of the first year, halfway into his term. After the same group asked Manohar to reconsider his decision again, he opted to carry on till June this year.During Manohar’s tenure, the ICC has taken significant strides in overhauling its structure and constitution by becoming a more democratic body. Despite stiff resistance, Manohar managed to persuade bigger boards like the BCCI to adopt the new ICC governance structure as well as a new finance distribution model, which would ensure revenue from commercial deals would be shared evenly by both the major and minor members.Manohar also pushed for reforms in the ICC’s constitution including having an independent woman director. Pepsico chairperson Indra Nooyi was appointed as the ICC’s first independent woman director earlier this year, and will assume the role formally when she attends the ICC annual conference in Dublin.On being re-elected, Manohar said he was happy to continue having “fulfilled” the promise he had made when he took over the job two years ago, and was looking forward to the road ahead. “Over the next two years, we can look forward to launching a global strategy for the sport in partnership with our Members so we can grow the game and ensure more of the world can enjoy cricket,” Manohar said. “The sport is in good health but we are the guardians of the game and we must continue to work hard to maintain that.”

Samiullah Shenwari is back after being rested for the ODIs against Ireland, while Hamid Hassan, who last played international cricket in July 2016, makes a comeback to the T20I squad

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2018Mohammad Shahzad is back in Afghanistan’s ODI and T20I squads for their series against Zimbabwe in the UAE in February. The wicketkeeper-batsman’s retrospective one-year doping ban ends on January 17.The allrounder Samiullah Shenwari is also back in both squads, having been rested during Afghanistan’s ODI series against Ireland in December. Among the fast bowlers, Hamid Hassan, who last played an international match in July 2016, has made a comeback to the T20I squad, while Dawlat Zadran is part of the ODI squad but has missed out on T20I selection.The series against Zimbabwe will be the newly appointed head coach Phil Simmons’ first in charge of Afghanistan.ODI squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran. Reserves: Noor Ali Zadran, Karim Janat, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Afsar Zazai.T20I squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Usman Ghani, Karim Sadiq, Najibullah Zadran, Shafiqullah, Samiullah Shenwari, Aftab Alam, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran.

The board wants them to fulfill national and domestic commitments ahead of a full series against Sri Lanka in September

Umar Farooq12-Aug-2017The Pakistan Cricket Board has abruptly revoked No-Objection Certificates given to 13 players currently in England and the West Indies and has asked them to return home to fulfill national and domestic commitments.The board had originally given as many as 10 players, including seven centrally contracted cricketers, permission to play the entire Caribbean Premier League – which began on August 4 and runs until September 9. Three cricketers without central contracts – Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Sami – have also been asked to return after they were selected by Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Lahore Whites for the National T20 Cup. While there is no contractual compulsion on them to do so, it is expected that they will.

Pakistan players called back

From the CPL: Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Babar Azam, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Akmal
From England: Sarfraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Amir

The same notices went out to Mohammad Amir, who was to stay with Essex until September, Sarfraz Ahmed, who was to play five games for Yorkshire in the Natwest T20 Blast, and Fakhar Zaman, who was set to join Somerset until the end of the season.Essex are currently top of Division One of the Championship, after Amir’s ten-wicket haul helped them to a two-day win over Yorkshire earlier this week. They are understood to be in negotiations with the PCB about when Amir is required to return, but could try to bring back New Zealand quick Neil Wagner, who filled the overseas spot in the first half of the season, as a replacement.”The centrally contracted players were given permission to participate in the CPL and English county season subject to recall if the World XI series took place in mid-September,” the PCB said in a statement. “So they are being recalled owing to the changes in the schedule brought about due to the change in the original plan of the World XI’s tour of Pakistan.”The World XI’s visit – subject to security clearance – was originally scheduled for the last week of September but it has been brought forward into a window between September 10 and 16. This change was made to ensure the series would not clash with a high profile by-election in Lahore on September 17, coming in the wake of the Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from the post of Prime Minister last month.However, the final call over the World XI matches is expected to be taken by the government. The Law and Order Committee of Punjab has reviewed the PCB’s request to host the series in Lahore and, according to Najam Sethi, the new chairman of the board, both parties are in agreement over dates and are waiting for the approval of the chief minister.Pakistan are also set to travel to the UAE from September 21 for a full series against Sri Lanka. Amid this tight schedule, the PCB announced a National T20 Championship running from August 25 to September 10.”Owing to the late finalisation and rescheduling of the ICC World XI series to be played mid-September, the PCB has been obliged to schedule its National T20 Cup to start near the end of August and finish before the World XI series so that its national team can leave for UAE to play Sri Lanka starting September 24,” the PCB explained. “This has compelled the PCB to call back centrally contracted players in contention for selection for the World XI series next month from their ongoing Caribbean Premier League and English county stints.”The series has been brought forward to mid-September because the Punjab government wants it to be held before the NA120 election on September 17. It can’t be held after September 17 because there is no time to both hold the series and also give coach Mickey Arthur time for training his team before the series against Sri Lanka starts on September 24. The players have been asked to report for a pre-series fitness testing/training camp, as planned by the national team management and the National T20 tournament that starts in Multan on August 25.”The returning players have been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy for fitness and medical tests under Arthur’s supervision on August 22.