Tag: USA

Sialkot-born middle-order batter Saif Badar has claimed that he is willing to play for Pakistan if an opportunity arises, despite moving to the United States of America (USA).

Badar represented Pakistan in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016, held in Bangladesh. Star all-rounder Shadab Khan was also part of the Pakistan squad, which finished in fifth position.

The middle-order batter also played for Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises Islamabad United and Multan Sultans before relocating to the USA in 2022 to pursue better opportunities.

Recently during an interview with a local sports outlet, he justified his decision highlighting the lack of chances in Pakistan.

“My goal is to play as much cricket as possible and continue improving as a player. Moving from Pakistan to the USA was about seeking more opportunities to play the sport,” said Badar.

“Pakistan boasts a rich cricketing heritage and a well-established system. In contrast, the USA is still developing its cricket culture as it isn’t traditionally a cricketing nation.

“However, I’m optimistic about the investments being made in USA cricket, which will certainly lead to improvements.”

He recently participated in Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024, representing Los Angeles Knight Riders, a franchise co-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

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The 26-year-old batter mentioned that he is a fan of the Indian superstar and had hoped to meet him during MLC, but his wish wasn’t fulfilled this year.

“I’m a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan, so I was hoping to meet him in person during the season, although he couldn’t make it. Hopefully, there’s a chance next season,” he shared.

He revealed that his decision to relocate to the USA was driven by a desire to pursue new opportunities. Furthermore, he expressed his eagerness to embrace the possibility of playing in the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) if given the chance.

“My move to the USA is primarily about enhancing my opportunities. If the chance arises, any player would welcome it. Right now, my focus is on personal improvement. We’ll see what the future holds,” he added.

The young batter was questioned about the potential of receiving a call-up from the Pakistan national team, similar to Usman Khan.

He stated that his primary focus at the moment is on advancing his career in the USA. However, he expressed that if the chance were to arise, it would be a dream come true for him to represent Pakistan in cricket.

“Playing for Pakistan has always been a dream since I started cricket. Currently based in the USA, I’m focused on playing here. While I don’t anticipate a call-up, if the opportunity arises, representing Pakistan would be an honour no one would turn down,” he concluded.

READ: Virat Kohli eyes multiple batting milestones in Sri Lanka ODIs

Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam returned to Pakistan earlier this morning after a disastrous ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in the United States of America (USA).

He reached Lahore from New York after a brief layover in Dubai.

The star batter did not return to the country with the team after getting knocked out from the mega-event in order to spend time with his family in the USA.

He is expected to meet the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi and discuss the reasons for the team’s dismal performance in the tournament.

It is worth mentioning here that Babar Azam has been under hot water following the national men’s team’s early exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

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Pakistan had a disastrous start to their campaign as they suffered a shock loss against the co-host United States of America (USA) after a Super Over.

The 2009 champions then succumbed to a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India at a jam-packed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 9.

The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit and despite their victories over Canada and Ireland, they failed to reach the Super Eights stage.

READ: Rohit Sharma achieves major milestone in T20I cricket

The United States of America (USA) pace bowler Ali Khan has reflected on his side’s stunning victory over Pakistan during the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, questioning the batting intent of the Green Shirts.

Former champions Pakistan had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they endured a shock loss against the USA in the Super Over as they failed to chase down the 19-run target.

Senior pacer Mohammad Amir bowled the Super Over for Pakistan and conceded 18 runs. In response, the Green Shirts only managed 13/1.

Ali Khan, who picked one wicket for 30 runs against Pakistan, stated that the USA team had more self-belief, which led to the famous victory.

“Our belief was bigger than them. I think Pakistan took us lightly. It was their first game, and they hadn’t played on that ground before while we’ve played there often,” Khan said while talking on a YouTube channel.

The pacer also criticized Pakistan’s batting approach and raised questions over their intent, especially in the powerplay.

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“We were used to the conditions. When they started batting, we didn’t see intent from them, and they batted very slowly in the powerplay. Yes, Rizwan got out early but we didn’t see much intent after that. Fakhar Zaman hit a six and showed some intent but luckily I got him out. Pakistan didn’t play attacking cricket there and went into their shell,” he added.

Following the defeat against USA, Pakistan succumbed to a frustrating six-run defeat against arch-rivals India.

The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit from the tournament. The former champions got on the winning track when they registered a hard-fought seven-wicket victory over Canada to keep Super Eights hopes alive.

However, USA’s match against Ireland was abandoned without a ball bowled due to persistent rain in Florida, resulting in Pakistan getting knocked out of the tournament as USA progressed from Group A along with India.

Pakistan then edged past Ireland in another stiff challenge to bow out of the T20 World Cup 2024 with a win.

READ: Usman Khawaja regrets not seeing Afghanistan play in Australia

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies have won the toss and elected to field first against the United States of America (USA) in the Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Kensington Oval on Friday.

PLAYING XIs

USA: Steven Taylor, Andries Gous (wk), Nitish Kumar, Aaron Jones (c), Corey Anderson, Milind Kumar, Harmeet Singh, Nosthush Kenjinge, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar

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West Indies: Shai Hope, Johnson Charles, Nicolas Pooran (wk), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (c), Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Obed McCoy, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

READ: Shaheen Afridi will get Pakistan captaincy again: Wasim Akram

West Indies’ great Brian Lara has backed the United States of America (USA) instead of Pakistan to qualify for the Super 8 of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

The Men in Green are relying on the results of other teams after they lost two out of their three games in the group stage of the marque event.

The Babar Azam-led Pakistan faced USA, the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup 2024, in their opening game and were handed a shocking defeat in the super over.

In their second game, Pakistan faced another heartbreak as they failed to chase down the 120-run target set by arch-rivals India in New York on June 9.

However, they kept their hopes alive by defeating Canada on June 11.

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Reacting to the qualification scenarios of the team, Brian Lara said that Pakistan had a chance to qualify for the next round, however, he is backing the USA to join India in the Super 8s from Group A.

“Of course mathematically they (Pakistan) have a chance. I think the USA just got to take care of a win in their last game, they do that and they qualify,” he added.

“But we’re hoping that they get to win plus the USA lose their game. So my money is on the USA, I think they’re full of confidence and they would want to make it to the Super 8 that will be so huge, historic for US cricket,” the former West Indian batter said.

Babar Azam’s men are set to take on Ireland on June 16 in their last group-stage game.

They will not only need to defeat Ireland but also hope that the USA, who are second in Group A standings, lose their game.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup 2024.

READ: Florida’s weather casts dark shadow on Pakistan’s fate in T20 World Cup

The United States of America (USA) became the first team to be penalised five runs under the new stop-clock rules in their T20 World Cup 2024 loss to India on Wednesday but coach Stuart Law insisted it “did not affect the outcome of the game”.

The sanction has been introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in an effort to speed up play. A team is penalised if after two warnings they still take more than a minute between overs.

On Wednesday, the USA were penalised at the start of the 16th over and instead of needing 35 runs off 30 balls to reach their 111-run target, India’s task became 30 off 30 deliveries instead.

“We had a few warnings in earlier games, and it’s something we do talk about to get through faster between the overs,” said former Australian international Law.

“We’re only a fledgling team. There’s plenty to learn. There’s not just the cricket aspect of the game of cricket, but there’s also the other intricacies that need to be embedded. It’s a rule that’s only just come in.

“A lot of our players wouldn’t have heard about it before we played in the Bangladesh series or the Canada series earlier this year.”

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Despite the penalty, Law said the five-run sanction would not have impacted the outcome of the Group A clash.

India won by seven wickets with a comfortable 10 balls to spare to qualify for the second round Super Eights.

“Five runs wasn’t going to affect the outcome of the game,” added Law. “The players know the rule, but it’s something that if you haven’t played with it for a long time, it’s very difficult to have it embedded in your brain.”

Law said he has no issue with the new regulation if it helps speed up passages of play.

“There needs to be a pace of play. I think if you’re dragging games out that should last three and a half hours, they’re going for four and a half hours, that’s a bit much.

“I don’t see it as a bad thing, I see it as a good thing. The game continues to move. When momentum is with you, you want to keep that momentum running quicker and put the opposition under pressure that way.”

Despite the defeat, the United States will still qualify for the second round with a win or even a no-result in their final group game against Ireland on Friday.

READ: “That’s in our best interest” Hazlewood on England’s elimination

NEW YORK: Arshdeep Singh’s four-fer, followed by Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten half-century led India to a hard-fought victory over the United States of America (USA) in the 25th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The seven-wicket victory propelled India to the Super 8s of the ongoing mega event.

India had to make hard yards to chase down the 111-run target as the USA bowlers bowled tightly.

The former champions got off to an unwanted start to the run-chase as they lost both their openers Virat Kohli (0) and Rohit Sharma (3) inside three overs with just 15 runs on the board.

Following the early debacle, Suryakumar Yadav joined Rishabh Pant in the middle and the two combined to anchor the run chase.

Pant and Yadav added 29 runs for the third wicket before the former was cleaned up by Ali Khan in the eighth over.

Yadav then stitched a match-winning partnership with Shivam Dube and steered India over the line in the penultimate over.

Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for India with an unbeaten 50 off 49 deliveries while Dube made a 35-ball 31 not out.

Saurabh Netravalkar was the pick of the bowlers for the USA with two wickets while Ali Khan took one.

Sent into bat first, the USA could only accumulate 110/8 in the allotted 20 overs despite Nitish Kumar’s brisk 27 in the middle.

The co-hosts had a disastrous start to their innings as their opener Shayan Jahangir (0) and wicketkeeper batter Andries Gous (2) fell victim to Arshdeep in the first delivery of the innings.

In-form Aaron Jones then briefly stabilized the proceedings with a cautious third-wicket partnership with Steven Taylor.

The duo added 22 runs for the third wicket until Jones perished in the eighth over after scoring 11 off 22 deliveries with the help of a six.

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Taylor then joined forces with Nitish Kumar and the pair added a further 31 runs to the USA total before the former finally departed in the 12th over.

Steven Taylor scored 24 off 30 deliveries, laced up with two sixes.

Kumar then knitted a brief one-sided partnership with Corey Anderson before Arshdeep Singh struck again for India to dent USA’s march.

He remained the top scorer for the USA with 27 off 23 deliveries, featuring two fours and a six.

Following his dismissal, Anderson (15), Harmeet Singh (10) and Shadley van Schalkwyk (11*) added valuable runs to the home side’s total at the backend.

Arshdeep Singh spearheaded India’s bowling charge with exceptional figures of 4/9 in his four overs, followed by Hardik Pandya, who bagged two wickets.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel chipped in with a wicket.

The seven-wicket victory strengthened India’s grip at the summit of Group A of the T20 World Cup 2024 with six points in three matches while USA remained second with four points in as many matches.

READ: Pakistan players on the rise in ICC Men’s T20I Rankings

Ireland captain Paul Stirling on Friday, asserted that his team can beat Pakistan and the United States of America (USA) in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fixtures.

Ireland are on the verge of an early exit from the 20-team tournament after losing back-to-back matches against India and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Irish captain Stirling, while speaking at the post-match press conference after his side’s 12-run defeat against Canada, claimed that his side can win its remaining group-stage fixtures.

“We’ve got two huge games,” he said. “Still massive every time you put on the shirt you want to go and win, but no reason why we can’t go and beat USA and Pakistan. We need to play a hell of a lot better if we’re going to want to do that. But different conditions, we know them slightly better and will certainly be given it as best a crack as we can.

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Stirling also acknowledged that Ireland did not play to their full potential in their first two matches of the T20 World Cup, stating if they do not play their best, they are bound to lose.

“I think we just want to play as good cricket as we possibly can. I’ve sort of hammered for at least the last year that if we don’t play our best cricket, we will not win games of cricket. So, we need to get back to our best for next week,” said Stirling.

Paul Stirling then went on to laud the inexperienced Canada for playing better while commenting on his side’s shock loss.

“They played better cricket than us for three hours and they won the game, simple as that. That doesn’t really, for me, matter what their tagline is, associate or full member or what, they just played smarter cricket, better cricket all day than us and they won,” Stirling concluded.

READ: “Babar Azam has not improved as captain in four years,” Shoaib Malik

DALLAS: The United States of America (USA) edged past Pakistan in the Super Over to claim a historic upset victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at Grand Prairie Stadium here on Thursday.

The USA scored 18 runs in the Super Over as Mohammad Amir bowled three wide balls, which cost seven extra runs. Aaron Jones (11) got out on the last ball.

From Pakistan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman came out to bat, but the former got out courtesy of a brilliant catch after hitting one boundary.

Shadab Khan replaced Ahmed on the crease and played the remaining balls as Pakistan managed only 13 runs in the Super Over. Fakhar Zaman could not play a single delivery.

The match was tied when Nitish Kumar hit Haris Rauf for a boundary on the last ball of the innings to level the scores.

The USA had a solid start to the chase, thanks to a 36-run partnership between Steven Taylor and skipper Monank Patel.

Naseem Shah removed Taylor, who scored 12 off 16, to force Pakistan’s comeback, but Andries Gous and Patel knitted a solid partnership to keep the hosts in the hunt.

Together they added 68 runs from 48 balls to push the team’s total to 104 before Haris Rauf castled Gous to break their momentum.

Gous scored 35 runs from 26 balls with the help of five boundaries and one six.

Patel also fell in the next over after scoring 50 off 38, featuring seven boundaries and one six.

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Jones then played a brilliant 36-run cameo off 26 balls with the help of two boundaries and two sixes to help his team level the scores.

For Pakistan, Shah, Rauf and Amir claimed one wicket each.

Earlier, the Green Shirts were invited to bat first and were reduced to 26-3 in 4.4 overs, courtesy of USA’s brilliant bowling and fielding efforts.

Shadab Khan joined a struggling Babar Azam, who was playing at 2 from 10 balls and launched a counterattack after settling down.

Khan switched gears and hit Jasdeep Singh for two consecutive sixes in the tenth over, while Azam ended the over with his first boundary.

However, the USA made a comeback with two consecutive wickets to reduce Pakistan to 98-5 in 12.5 overs.

Shadab Khan scored 40 runs from 25 balls with the help of three sixes and one boundary.

Babar Azam added 27 runs for the sixth wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed before falling to Jasdeep Singh after scoring a gutsy 44 off 43.

Iftikhar Ahmed scored 18 off 14, while Shaheen Afridi played an unbeaten cameo of 23 runs from 16 balls to push Pakistan’s total to 159-7 in their allocated 20 overs.

For the USA, Nosthush Kenjige claimed three wickets, while Saurabh Netravalkar bagged two.