Tag: Babar Azam

  • Throwback: Did Rohit Sharma want to become coach of Pakistan’s cricket team?

    Throwback: Did Rohit Sharma want to become coach of Pakistan’s cricket team?

    From wanting to become Pakistan’s cricket team coach to losing against Pakistan, it’s been a long road for Rohit Sharma.

    After Pakistan’s thumping victory against India, an odd video of Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma surfaced on social media.

    In the video, the reporter asked Rohit, “What would you suggest to Pakistani batsmen so that they come out of this crisis?” Pakistan had just been comprehensively defeated in World Cup 2019 by arch rivals India.

    To this, Sharma sarcastically responded by saying, “If I ever become the coach of Pakistan’s team, I will tell them”.

    On September 4, Pakistan won against India by five wickets in a do-or-die match of the Asia Cup 2022. Sharma scored 28 runs. For Pakistan, Shadab Khan picked up two wickets for 31 runs, while Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Muhammad Nawaz took a wicket each.

    Prior to this, in another India vs Pakistan match which was played on August 28, Sharma got out after scoring only 12 runs.

    In yesterday’s (September 8) match against Afghanistan, Indian cricketer KL Rahul stepped in as captain for the toss. He said that Sharma “wants to take a break”.

    Last year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Rohit Sharma as the new One Day International (ODI) captain of the Indian cricket team. He took over from his predecessor, batting maestro, Virat Kohli.

  • Rizwan dethrones Babar, tops ICC ranking T20I ranking

    Rizwan dethrones Babar, tops ICC ranking T20I ranking

    Pakistan batsman Mohammad Rizwan is at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I batsmen ranking list.

    After reigning at the top spot for over 1000 days, Pakistan captain Babar Azam slipped to the number two slot with 794 points. Rizwan now has 815 points.

    Rizwan, who is currently having a stellar run at the Asia Cup 2022, scored 192 runs in the ongoing tournament with 43, 78 and 71 runs against India, Hong Kong and India again respectively.

    Babar Azam has scored 33 runs as yet in the Asia Cup.

    South Africa’s Aiden Markram is at the number 3 spot with 792 rating points while India’s Suryakumar Yadav down one spot to land at number 4 with 775 points.

  • Hong Kong’s Captain takes tips from Babar Azam ahead of match

    Hong Kong’s Captain takes tips from Babar Azam ahead of match

    Ahead of a crucial match in Asia Cup, Hong Kong’s captain took tips from Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared a video in which the two skippers can be seen chatting with each other.

    Hong Kong skipper, Nizakat Khan, who aspires to follow footsteps of Babar Azam is seen asking tips from Babar Azam.

    Koi tip hame bhi do (give us some tips too),” Khan asked Babar, to which the Pakistani skipper replied: “Kya tips chahiye (what tips do you want)?”

    As per ICC latest ranking table, Babar Azam is at the top of the list in ODI and T201 men’s cricket ranking. He is the fastest batsman to score 2500 runs in T20 international cricket. He took 67 matches and 62 innings to reach this milestone. He also holds the record of scoring most hundreds in a series.

    During the conversation, Pakistan born Hong Kong skipper praised Babar Azam for his batting abilities. In the video, he could also be seen trying out Babar Azam’s bat. Earlier, Nizakat Khan said that it was his dream to play for Pakistan.

    Read more: It was my dream to play for Pakistan: Pakistan-born Hong Kong Captain

    Pakistan will be playing against Hong Kong on September 2 at 7:00 pm. The winning team will qualify for the Super 4. India, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka have already made it to Super 4.

    This the first T20I format match between the two teams. Pakistan is confident of securing a place in Super 4.

  • History of Pakistan vs India matches at Asia Cup

    History of Pakistan vs India matches at Asia Cup

    The cricket rivalry between Pakistan and India is known as the greatest rivalry in the world of cricket. Today, the two sides will meet once again at Asia Cup 2022.

    Pakistan and India have played 14 matches in Asia Cup since 1984. India won 8 out of the 14 matches played in total while Pakistan won five. One match ended without a result as it was rained out.

    Here is the list of Pakistan vs India matches in Asia Cup.

    1984:

    India beat Pakistan by 54 runs while Surinder Khanna was the Man of the Match; he scored 56 runs on 72 balls.

    1988:

    India once again beat Pakistan by 4 wickets. Pakistan scored 142 while India chased the target in 40.4 overs with 4 wickets in hand. Arshad Ayub was Man of the Match.

    1995:

    Pakistan broke its losing streak and defeated India by 97 runs. Aqib Javed was Man of the Match with his magical bowling spell with five wickets to his name.

    1997:

    Match was abandoned because of rain.

    2000:

    Pakistan maintained its wining streak and beat India by 44 runs. Mouhammad Yousuf became Man of the Match by scoring a century on 112 balls. Pakistan scored 295 for the loss of 7 while India managed to score 251 in chase.

    2004:

    Pakistan won the match by 59 runs. Shoaib Malik was Man of the Match. He scored 143 on 127 with 2 wickets.

    2008 Group Stage:

    India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets. Suresh Raina became Man of the Match by scoring 84 runs on 69 balls with 2 wickets to his name. Virender Sehwag also played an outstanding innings of 119 on 95 balls.

    2008 Super 4s:

    Pakistan won by 8 wickets with Younis Khan getting Player of the Match award. His outstanding knock of 123 on 117 helped Pakistan achieve a huge target of 308.

    2010:

    India beat Pakistan by 3 wickets with 1 ball remaining. India chased 267 while Gautam Gambhir became Man of the Match by scoring 83 on 97 balls.

    2012:

    India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets. Pakistan scored 329 while India managed to chase in 47.5 overs. Kohli got the Player of the Match award by scoring 183 on 148 balls.

    2014:

    Pakistan won by 1 wicket. This match took a lot of turns. In the final over, Pakistan needed 9 runs in the last over with 2 wickets in hand. Pakistan lost their ninth wicket on Ashwin’s first ball. On the next ball, Junaid khan took a single followed by two maximums by Afridi. Hafeez became Man of the Match with 75 runs and two wickets to his name.

    2016:

    India beat Pakistan by five wickets. This was the first T20I edition of Asia Cup. India defeated Pakistan with Kohli scoring 49 on 51 balls.

    2018 Group Stage:

    India won with eight wickets in hand. Pakistan scored 162 while India achieved that target in 29 overs.

    2018 Super 4s:

    India once again defeated Pakistan with a tremendous knock of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma of 114 and 111 respectively.

  • Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Pakistan or India: Shane Watson predicts who will win Asia Cup 2022

    Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson predicted the winner of the upcoming Asia Cup 2022, which starts on August 27 (Saturday).

    There will be eight teams in two groups competing against one another in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. The most awaited-match between Pakistan and India will take place on August 28 (Sunday).

    There are many strong contenders – India and Pakistan favoured most among them – but Watson picked India to win the tournament. 

    “My predicted winner is India,” said Watson in the latest episode of The ICC Review. “They’re so strong and depending on what the conditions are, they adapt easily to conditions.”

    “Pakistan,” said Watson when asked about the biggest threat to India’s success. He said the winner of the India-Pakistan clash on Sunday (August 28) would go on to win the Asia Cup.

    “That first game is going to be very special to watch because Pakistan have full belief now that they can beat this Indian team,” said Watson. “I think, really, whoever wins that game is going to go on and win the Asia Cup.”

    Pak-India clash

    “I’m sitting on the fence a little bit!” Watson laughed. “But I think Pakistan have a chance to win that game because of the confidence they’d have got out of winning for the first time in a long time against India.”

    Watson added that Pakistan’s “confidence is going to be flying high”.

    “India is hard to contain, especially their batting. But Pakistan, and as I’ve always known playing against them, when their confidence is high, they’re nearly unstoppable. And their confidence is high now that they know they can beat India in a big tournament.”

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam meets Virat Kohli in Dubai ahead of Pak Vs India clash

    Team India landed in Dubai on August 23 and went straight to the nets to prepare for India’s match against Pakistan on August 28 (Sunday). Ahead of the much-anticipated match, players from both the teams met each other in Dubai.  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video in which Virat Kohli could be seen meeting Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.

    In the video, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were also chatting with Muhammad Nabi.

    Babar Azam retained his top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points, whereas Kohli has been struggling of late.

    Comparisons between the two had started long back and gathers steam ahead of a match between the two rival sides.

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

    Asia Cup is all set to start from August 27 and Pakistan will be playing its first match against India on August 28 in Dubai.

    Babar and Kohli’s video has drawn massive reaction of fans from both countries. Here are some tweets.

  • PAK vs NED: Babar Azam breaks world record

    Pakistan cricket team all-format captain Babar Azam has made another record. In the first One-Day International (ODI) against the Netherlands on Tuesday, Babar Azam broke South Africa’s great Hashim Amla’s record for the most runs in ODIs after 88 innings.

    Though he managed to score only 74 runs during Tuesday’s match, they were enough to shatter record books.

    In that innings, he crossed the 4,500-run mark in the ODIs and broke Amla’s record. Babar now has 4,516 runs to his name at an average of 59.42 in 88 innings. On the contrary, Amla had scored 4,473 runs after batting in the exact number of innings.

    Pakistan will play the second ODI on August 18 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

    Earlier this month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the T20I rankings in which Azam was at the top of the rankings with 818 points.

  • Fawad Alam reveals which bowler made his legs tremble

    Fawad Alam reveals which bowler made his legs tremble

    Test cricketer Fawad Alam has spoken about facing the most dangerous bowler in his career.

    Aisam ul Haq Qureshi and Fawad Alam appeared on the Geo News programme “Hasna Mana Hai,” where they both faced a flood of questions.

    Vicky Chaudhry, a cricket who played with Babar Azam at the Malton White Club, also took part in the show and posed the question to Fawad, “Which bowler makes your legs shiver?”

    To which he replied, “Shaun Tait is one such bowler who I played for the first time in Australia, so at that time I only played two balls of Tait.”

    “Although my legs do not tremble, there are some bowlers I enjoy playing with. Shaun Tait is one of the fastest bowlers I’ve enjoyed playing with, and I’ve never seen a bowler like that before,” Fawad added.

    Vicky asked whether there was a bowler he thought was easy to handle.

    Fawad said that it is possible to presume that some of a team’s bowlers may be attacked, but you can’t assume that all of the bowlers are “halwa” or easy to play.

  • Babar Azam retains top position in ICC T20I rankings

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the T20I rankings on Wednesday. Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam, has retained his top spot in the rankings. He is at the top of the rankings with 818 points.

    Babar last played T20I in April but his consistent runs in the T20I format have helped him stay ahead of other players.

    India’s Suryakumar Yadav is on the second spot with 805 points. Last week, he stood at 816 points, just two points away from Babar. Another Pakistani player, Mohammed Rizwan, is in the top 10 ranking with 794 points and is on the third spot.

    Babar continues to be the only batter in the world ranked in the top five in all three formats of the game. Babar is ranked first in T20I and ODIs, and third in Tests.

  • No ‘mauka mauka’ for India: Star Sports decides not to jinx Asia Cup 2022

    No ‘mauka mauka’ for India: Star Sports decides not to jinx Asia Cup 2022

    Indian broadcaster Star Sports has decided not to make its famous ‘Mauka Mauka’ advertising series for the Asia Cup 2022 match between Pakistan and India.

    According to reports in Cricket Pakistan, the ‘Mauka Mauka’ advertisement was made to make the Pakistan cricket team aware of their forgettable record against India in World Cups with the 1992 world champions failing to win even a single encounter.

    The report further states that the ad has lost its relevance after India’s 10-wicket loss at the hands of the Babar Azam-led side during last year’s T20 World Cup in Dubai and therefore, the advertisement will not be aired anymore.

    The arch-rivals — India and Pakistan — will face each other on August 28 at the Dubai International Stadium.