Author: shahzad.malik

The Pakistan cricket team reached Sydney from Melbourne today to partake in the upcoming third Test against Australia, which is scheduled to start on January 3rd at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Pakistan Test squad will participate in the training session to prepare for the final Test on January 1st and 2nd, after having a rest today.

For the unversed, Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Pakistan in the three-match Test series with a 79-run victory in the second Test in Melbourne.

The enthralling Boxing Day Test between Pakistan and Australia concluded on the fourth day when Pakistan, in pursuit of 317, bundled out on 237 in the second innings.

The touring side was at one stage in a comfortable position to seal a historic victory when they required a further 100 runs with five wickets in hand.

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However, Mohammad Rizwan’s debated dismissal off Pat Cummins opened the floodgates for Pakistan and they collapsed from 219/5 to 237 all out.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins led his side from the front as he claimed his second ten-wicket haul in Test cricket to guide his side to a dominant win over Pakistan.

Australia Test squad

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner.

Pakistan Test squad

Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sajid Khan.

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LAHORE: Pakistan’s top-order batter Sahibzada Farhan asserted that he is ready to play at any number for his team during the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand commencing on 12 January 2024.

While talking to the media during Pakistan’s training camp for the New Zealand series, Sahibzada Farhan opened up his batting number.

“I have been playing as an opening batter for the last three years, however, I have also played at the number three position and have performed at this number too,” said Farhan.

“I am ready to play at any number for Pakistan whenever I get a chance.”

He further expressed hope that Pakistan will do well in New Zealand citing their past performances.

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“Our team have performed well in New Zealand and we will try to do better this time,” he further added.

Sahibzada Farhan was recalled into the T20I squad on the back of his impressive performance in the National T20 Cup, where he was the highest run-scorer with 492 runs in 12 innings at an average of 44.72 and a strike rate of 178.90.

He has previously represented Pakistan in three T20Is back in 2018.

Pakistan squad for the tour of New Zealand

Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Zaman Khan, Aamir Jamal, Azam Khan (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan (wk) and Abbas Afridi.

Schedule of the Series

First match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 12 January, Auckland

Second match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 14 January, Hamilton

Third match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 17 January, Dunedin

Fourth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 19 January, Christchurch

Fifth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 21 January, Christchurch.

READ: Shan Masood achieves rare feat during Boxing Day Test against Australia

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed former Test all-rounder Yasir Arafat as the High-Performance Coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team today.

Yasir Arafat will be part of Pakistan’s team management for the upcoming five T20Is against New Zealand scheduled from 12 to 21 January 2024 in New Zealand.

Pakistan cricket team is currently in Australia for the three-match Test series, where they lost the first Test by a huge margin of 360 runs in Perth, while the second Test is underway in Melbourne.

Australia scored 187-3 on the first day of the second Test against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with Marnus Labuschagne (44) and Travis Head (9) on the crease.

Hasan Ali, Aamir Jamal and Salman Ali Agha picked one wicket each for Pakistan.

The second Test was interrupted by rain in the latter half of the day, consequently allowing only 66 overs of play.

LAHORE: Spin bowler Abrar Ahmed, wicketkeeper batter Haseebullah Khan and pace bowler Abbas Afridi earned their maiden call-up to the T20I squad of Pakistan for the tour of New Zealand.

Wahab Riaz, the head of the national men’s selection committee, accompanied by selection consultant Kamran Akmal announced a 17-member Pakistan squad for the T20I series during a press conference.

Pakistan is scheduled to play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand commencing from 12 January 2024 to 21 January 2024.

This will be Shaheen Afridi’s first assignment as the T20I captain after being named Pakistan’s captain in the shortest form following Babar Azam’s resignation last month.

Leg spinner Shadab Khan was ruled out of the series due to an ankle injury, which he suffered during the National T20 Cup.

Abrar Ahmed, who is currently part of Pakistan’s Test squad in Australia, will form the spin attack in New Zealand with fellow leg-spinner Usama Mir as well as all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz and Iftikhar Ahmed.

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Haris is rested for this series after being part of the Pakistan squad for the home T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year.

“We have rested Mohammad Haris for this series. We know his capability and he is part of our plans going forward,” said Wahab Riaz over Haris’ exclusion from the squad.

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“There were some domestic performers in First Class cricket who we wanted to give a chance and increase our pool of players, so we rested Haris from this tour,” he added.

Opening batter Sahibzada Farhan was recalled into the T20I squad on the back of his impressive performance in the National T20 Cup, where he was the highest run-scorer with 492 runs in 12 innings at an average of 44.72 and a strike rate of 178.90.

Farhan has previously represented Pakistan in three T20Is back in 2018.

Explosive wicketkeeper batter Azam Khan was also recalled into the T20I side, after missing out in the last T20I series against New Zealand.

22-year-old pace bowler Abbas Afridi also earned his maiden call-up to the national side after his impressive performances throughout the year.

Afridi was the highest wicket-taker in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) earlier this year with 23 wickets in 11 matches, and he followed that with 14 wickets in nine games during the National T20 Cup.

Pakistan’s squad will partake in a training camp from 28 December 2023 to 03 January 2024 in Lahore to prepare for the tour.

In addition to the selected played in the squad, some additional players have also been invited to feature in the training camp, including, Ahmed Shehzad, Omair Bin Yousuf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Amir Khan, Sajjad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aarif Yaqoob, Shahab Khan and Mohammad Imran Jnr.

Pakistan squad for the tour of New Zealand

Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Zaman Khan, Aamir Jamal, Azam Khan (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah Khan (wk) and Abbas Afridi.

Schedule of the Series

First match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 12 January, Auckland

Second match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 14 January, Hamilton

Third match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 17 January, Dunedin

Fourth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 19 January, Christchurch

Fifth match: New Zealand vs Pakistan, 21 January, Christchurch.

READ: Pakistan team reaches Melbourne ahead of second Test against Australia

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team’s chief selector Wahab Riaz, who is also serving as the advisor to the Government of Punjab on sports has expressed his aim to create a good sports system in Punjab to promote different sports in the region.

Wahab Riaz also shed light on his plans to support young players in the region.

“We have prepared the calendar for the next two years with the special focus on under-16 players, who will be given Rs. 10,000 monthly salary,” said the former pace bowler.

“A total of six sports tournaments will be held next month, the prize money of which will be Rs. 15.6 million.”

Wahab Riaz further opened up about dividing players into different categories and allocating monthly stipends for them.

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“Ninety players in different sports will be given monthly stipends in diamond, gold, silver and category. The player in the diamond category will get a stipend of Rs. 70,000, the gold will get Rs. 50,000 and the silver will get Rs. 30,000,” added Riaz.

“Players will get stipends from Punjab Sports Board’s endowment funds.”

He stressed the fact that these players will be selected after analyzing their performances irrespective of their age.

Wahab Riaz also announced that Rustam Punjab Dangal and Punjab’s fastest athletics competition will be held next month.

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PERTH: Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been appointed vice-captain of the Pakistan Test Team for the series against Australia on Wednesday.

Earlier, Shaheen was also appointed captain of the Pakistan Men’s T20 Cricket Team.

Shaheen Afridi has represented Pakistan in 27 Test matches and picked 105 wickets at an impressive average of 25.58, including four five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul.

He has also featured in 53 ODIs and 52 T20Is for Pakistan, picking 104 and 64 wickets respectively.

Earlier today, Pakistan announced their playing XI for the first Test of the three-match Test series against Australia, which is scheduled to be played at Perth Stadium from tomorrow.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unveiled the playing XI for the Perth Test.

The lineup features Pakistan captain Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Khurram Shahzad.

This match will be Shan Masood’s first match as the captain after being appointed the Test captain last month following Babar Azam’s resignation as captain.

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Notably, all-rounder Aamir Jamal and pace bowler Khurram Shahzad will make their Test debuts against Australia.

The 23-year-old Khurram Shahzad was the highest wicket-taker of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2023-24 with 36 wickets in eight matches at an average of 20.31 and picked up 13 wickets at 16.62 in the recently concluded Pakistan Cup.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Aamir Jamal has previously represented Pakistan in four T20I matches.

Australia have also announced their playing XI for the first Test under the leadership of Pat Cummins, with Steve Smith and Travis Head serving as co-vice-captains.

Steve Smith will be the senior vice-captain and the first choice to stand in as captain in the absence of Cummins.

Pakistan Playing XI for the first Test

Shan Masood (c), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Khurram Shahzad.

Australia Playing XI for the first Test

Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

READ: Shan Masood named Karachi Kings’ captain for PSL 9

LAHORE: Phil Simmons, the newly appointed head coach of Karachi Kings, reached Lahore on Wednesday to partake in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) 9 Player Draft.

Karachi Kings, Pakistan’s biggest city’s HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, named Phil Simmons as their head coach for the upcoming HBL PSL 9 on November 11.

The franchise proudly welcomes the esteemed Phil Simmons as their Head Coach, marking a significant step in their ongoing revitalization and restructuring process.

Phil Simmons, renowned for his dual role as a star player and as the triumphant coach of the West Indies during the 2016 T20 World Cup, brings a wealth of experience and strategic prowess to the Karachi Kings’ camp.

During his cricket career, Phil Simmons has scored 4,677 runs and picked up 87 wickets. He had a reputation for being an expert limited-over format player.

Karachi is not an unknown territory to the new head coach of Kings’ as he has played a World Cup 1987 match in the city.

Expressing his enthusiasm, Simmons stated, “Returning to Karachi, a city I hold dear from my playing days, feels like a homecoming. I am thrilled to join forces with Haider Azhar and the rest of the team’s think tank, drawing from the rich cricketing heritage of this country.

“I am thankful to team owner Salman Iqbal, CEO Tariq Wasi, and Karachi Kings management for this opportunity. We are eager to move ahead with our rebuilding and restart process of Karachi Kings and establish this franchise as a match-winning unit.”

Salman Iqbal, the owner of Karachi Kings, extended a warm welcome to Simmons, emphasizing the coach’s invaluable addition to the team.

“We are honored to have Phil Simmons join us as the Head Coach. His remarkable track record as a coach and player speaks volumes about his calibre. We are confident his leadership will drive Karachi Kings to greater heights.”

The Karachi Kings management expresses confidence in this revamped coaching ensemble, aiming to create a formidable team ready to conquer the challenges of the upcoming HBL PSL 9.

READ: Pakistan’s Playing XI for First Test against Australia unveiled

LAHORE: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Monday met with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Management Committee Mr Zaka Ashraf.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Kakar appreciated the measures undertaken by the PCB management committee and expressed his support.

PM Kakar also urged the PCB Chairman Management Committee Zaka Ashraf to expand PCB’s outreach to remote regions of the country.

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PM Kakar also expressed support for the organisation of the ninth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL). Addressing concerns about potential scheduling clashes with election day, he said adjustments to the HBL PSL matches should be made to prevent any interference with the voting process.

Emphasising the significance of fostering stronger bonds with other cricket boards, PM Kakar commended PCB’s efforts and stressed the importance of enhancing relations with boards like Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

PM Kakar urged the PCB to collaborate closely with stakeholders and security agencies in preparation for the successful hosting of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

He reiterated the government’s support for the PCB’s initiatives aimed at fostering cricket across all levels within the country.

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