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  • Not in a position of hosting Asia Cup 2022, says Sri Lanka Cricket

    Not in a position of hosting Asia Cup 2022, says Sri Lanka Cricket

    Amid the ongoing economic and political crisis, Sri Lanka has withdrawn from hosting the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. This news came after Sri Lanka decided to postpone the third edition of the Lankan Premier League (LPL).

    Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) informed the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) about their decision that they are not in a position of hosting the Asia Cup because of the current political situation.

    The venue is yet to be decided. It could either be the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or any Asian country, including India.

    Sri Lanka will reportedly consult the UAE Cricket Board, requesting them to provide a venue to host the event. Sri Lanka Cricket will remain the official host of the Asia Cup, but the tournament is set to be played in Dubai and Sharjah between August 27 and September 11, according to ESPNcricinfo.

    The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be a T20I tournament. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and one other team from the qualifiers will be competing against each other in the T20 format at the Asia Cup 2022. UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Hong Kong will compete with each other in the qualifier rounds to get the spot as the sixth team in the tournament.

    Since 1984, 14 Asia Cups have taken place. India won the Asia Cup title seven times. Sri Lanka is second to India with five cups to their name while Pakistan has won this title two times.

  • Abdullah Shafique shines as Pakistan completes record run-chase, beating Sri Lanka in 1st Test

    Abdullah Shafique shines as Pakistan completes record run-chase, beating Sri Lanka in 1st Test

    Abdullah Shafique scored an unbeaten 160 as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first Test on Wednesday in Galle, chasing down a record mark of 342.

    To take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, the visitors won the game in the final session on the fifth day of competition.

    The most successful fourth-innings chase at Galle previously occurred in 2019 when Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by a score of 268.

    For the hosts, left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya got four wickets and is on the verge of a record-breaking four consecutive five-wicket hauls in his first two Tests.

    In a series-leveling Test victory against Australia last week at the same location, he grabbed 12 wickets on his debut, six in each innings.

    As soon as Sri Lanka used up their final two umpire reviews, which both featured Jayasuriya, Pakistan started the day on 222-3.

    Mohammad Rizwan began the day with a boundary off Ramesh Mendis and maintained his optimism by taking singles and twos before being bowled out for 40 by Jayasuriya.

    Rizwan, a wicketkeeper-batsman who entered the two-match series following a successful stay with English county Sussex, was not saved by a review.

    Shafique has so far maintained his composure and performed the anchor job flawlessly, scoring his second Test century on day four to put the pursuit in front.

  • ‘England will miss him,’ Twitter is sad over Ben Stokes’ sudden ODI retirement

    ‘England will miss him,’ Twitter is sad over Ben Stokes’ sudden ODI retirement

    England cricket team all-rounder Ben Stokes announced his shocking retirement from One-Day International (ODI) cricket on Monday citing the “unsustainable” rigour of playing all three formats of the game.

    Stokes was recently appointed as the captain of the England Men’s Test side.

    Today’s (Tuesday) match against South Africa at his home ground will be Stokes’ last ODI. However, he will continue to play Twenty20 Internationals and Test cricket.

    The 31-year-old said, “This has been an incredibly tough decision to make. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. Hard as this decision was to come, it’s not as hard as dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it.”

    Ben Stokes has not played a T20 international for 16 months. He missed the World Cup last autumn while he was taking a break from the game to prioritise his mental health.

    Following the news, cricket fans couldn’t hold themselves from expressing their sadness over Stokes’ retirement while some of his fans and fellow cricketers wished him luck.

  • Babar Azam outpaces Virat Kohli as the fastest Asian batsman to make 10,000 international runs

    Babar Azam outpaces Virat Kohli as the fastest Asian batsman to make 10,000 international runs

    Pakistani team’s captain, Babar Azam, became the fastest Asian batsman to reach 10,000 runs in international cricket on Sunday by surpassing Virat Kohli’s previous mark.

    At the Galle International Stadium, Babar reached the milestone during Pakistan’s opening Test match against Sri Lanka. Contrasted to Kohli’s 232 innings, the top ODI and T20I batter only needed 228 innings to reach 10,000 runs.

    Javed Miandad, a legendary Pakistani batsman, had previously accomplished this feat in 248 innings, making him the fastest Pakistani batter to reach 10,000 runs in international cricket.

    The 27-year-old accomplished another milestone by scoring 10,000 runs in international cricket, making him the 11th Pakistani batter to do so.

    It is worth noting that the right-handed batter is ranked fourth in Test batting thanks to Babar’s consistency, and he is the top T20I and ODI batsman.

    He is comfortably at the top of the list for Pakistani batters and ranks fifth all-time among batters, just behind Sir Vivian Richards (206), Hashim Amla (217), Brian Lara (220), and Joe Root (222), but ahead of players like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith (both 232).

    Babar Azam has also hit the headlines for encouraging Virat Kohli on Twitter while he was having a rough stretch with the bat. Kohli is currently going through a difficult period of form.

    Finally responding to Babar’s tweet, the 33-year-old Kohli said, “Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best.”

  • Pak vs Sri Lanka: first Test match begins

    Pak vs Sri Lanka: first Test match begins

    The first match of a two-match Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka has started today. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first.

    Leg-spinner Yasir Shah and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz have been recalled to Pakistan’s lineup for the first Test match. The Pakistani side is playing with three fast bowlers, under the leadership of Babar Azam.

    In a squad meeting before the start of play on Saturday, batting coach Mohammad Yousuf gave all-rounder Salman Ali Agha his maiden Test cap.

    Sri Lanka made two changes to the team that beat Australia in a series. Dhananjaya de Silva and Oshada Fernando replaced Kamindu Mendis and Pathum Nissanka.

    Teams

    Sri Lanka: Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha

    Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (capt), Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

    Pakistan is playing in Sri Lanka despite a state of emergency in the country. Sri Lanka imposed a state of emergency on Wednesday after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country due to massive protests.

  • ‘This too shall pass’, Pakistani captain Babar Azam backs Virat Kohli to regain form

    ‘This too shall pass’, Pakistani captain Babar Azam backs Virat Kohli to regain form

    After the batter lost form and was benched for the upcoming West Indies series, the Pakistani captain Babar Azam spoke out in favor of the former Indian captain Virat Kohli to stay strong on Thursday night.

    Due to a groin injury, Kohli missed the first ODI against England and scored just 16 runs in the second game, which India lost by a score of 100 runs at Lord’s.

    After scoring 1 and 11 in the T20I series and failing in the rescheduled fifth Test, the right-hander has now gone 77 consecutive international innings without reaching three figures.

    Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal are both resting for the same tour, so his name is also absent from India’s T20I squad to play the West Indies.

    Fans and former greats have questioned Kohli’s place in the team because of the impending T20 World Cup and the need for World Test Championship points to stay in the running for next year’s final, but his Pakistani counterpart has expressed his support on social media.

    Few players have the same understanding of the challenges of maintaining world-class form as Pakistan’s captain, who is currently experiencing a golden period.

    Babar is ranked first in the MRF Tyres ICC batting rankings for both ODI and T20I matches, as well as fourth in Test cricket, after scoring international centuries in recent series against Australia and the West Indies as well as a T20I half-century against Australia in Lahore last month.

    Prior to the England ODIs, captain Rohit Sharma stood up for his teammate, giving Kohli additional support earlier in the week.

    “When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years.”

    “We know the importance of Virat Kohli. The experts have got all the right to talk about it but for us these things don’t matter,” he added.

    https://twitter.com/VEDANTAGR2926/status/1547657447287926789
  • Tendulkar claims Bumrah best bowler, Salman Butt disagrees

    Tendulkar claims Bumrah best bowler, Salman Butt disagrees

    Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah was declared Man of the Match for his career best figure of 6 for 19 after India’s phenomenal victory in the first One Day International (ODI) against England in a three-match ODI series.

    Former Indian captain and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar tweeted: “Bumrah is the best bowler across all formats.”

    Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt does not agree with Sachin.

    “Shaheen has not played much but is among the very best. He is no less than him (Bumrah). Shaheen with experience will only get better and then he has more pace and offers a different angle,” said Salman Butt on his YouTube channel.

    Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi made his debut in 2018 with 204 wickets in 96 international matches. He has been named as ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year. He is the first Pakistani and the youngest ever player to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

  • Gang caught running fake IPL to scam Russian gamblers

    Gang caught running fake IPL to scam Russian gamblers

    In a betting fraud similar to the 1973 movie The Sting, a gang staged a phony “Indian Premier League” competition with farmers serving as the participants.

    Before Indian police broke the scheme, the so-called “Indian Premier Cricket League” advanced to the quarterfinal round.

    Police claim that the tournament started three weeks after the original IPL ended in May, but that did not stop the gang, which they claim rented a secluded farm in the western state of Gujarat.

    According to Insp. Bhavesh Rathod, they set up a cricket field replete with “boundary lines and halogen lamps.” In addition, the accused had mounted high-definition cameras to the ground and employed computer-generated graphics to show results on a live-streaming screen.

    The group allegedly paid unemployed youth and labourers Rs1,054 (£4.20) per game to broadcast the matches live on the “IPL” YouTube channel.

    According to the authorities, players followed the orders of the “Russia-based mastermind” and alternately wore the jerseys of the Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, and Chennai Super Kings.

    To give the competition an authentic feel, crowd noise sound effects were downloaded from the internet and a speaker with a talent for impersonating an Indian commentator from the real IPL was employed, according to Fox Sports.

    The cameraman simultaneously made cautious not to show the full field, beaming close-ups of the players instead.

    Russian gamblers were duped into placing bets on a Telegram channel the gang had set up, and the group would then use walkie-talkies to warn the phony umpire on the field.

    According to Rathod, the fictitious official “would signal the bowler and batsman to strike a six, four, or get out.”

    The policeman said, “We got a tip-off and we busted the racket while a ‘quarter-final’ match was being played.

    In the first instalment, the Russian gamblers gave the accused more than 300,000 rupees, according to Rathod.

    A gangster is duped by a bunch of con artists who set up a fictitious betting enterprise in the movie The Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi reveals details about his relationship with fiancé Ansha

    Shaheen Shah Afridi reveals details about his relationship with fiancé Ansha

    Pakistan’s star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi talked about his fiancé Ansha in Geo News‘ programme ‘Aik Din Geo Ke Sath.’

    While answering a question about his engagement with Ansha, Afridi said: “It was my wish and Alhumdulillah it is fulfilled now.”

    “I met her and will meet her soon,” he added.

    “I found my heart and that’s enough for me,” remarked Shaheen Afridi while answering a question about getting engaged at an early age.

    The host further asked Afridi if his fiancé gets jealous of his female fan following, to which he replied, “I am not sure, maybe she feels something like that.”

    Read more- Shahid Afridi, Shaheen Afridi confirm wedding proposal, exchange love on Twitter

     Shaheen and Ansha got engaged last year in March. Ansha is Shahid Afridi’s daughter.

  • Pakistan and India to reportedly play against each other on August 28

    Pakistan and India to reportedly play against each other on August 28

    India and Pakistan will likely play against each other in the Asia Cup 2022 on August 28, as per a Sri Lankan journalist.

    According to the journalist, India and Pakistan will be paired in one group in the Asia Cup while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will play in another group.

    Asia Cup is scheduled to be played in the T20 format between August 27 and September 11.

    Both teams last played against each other in 2021 T20 World Cup where Pakistan had beaten India by ten wickets.