Big picture It is, once more, that time of the Asia Cup again. One match away from the match that never happens. For years, decades, even, the prospect of an India-Pakistan final has teased and tantalised, but remained just out of grasp, leaving the two giants of the subcontinent sportingly and commercially unsatiated. And for

Neither Rauf nor Naseem batted in Pakistan’s chase against India, which ended on 128 for a 228-run defeat, which affected Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the Asia Cup final. They must now beat Sri Lanka in their final Super Four game. In case the weather forces an abandonment, Sri Lanka will go through to the

If this is the kind of positive spin that can only come from a member of the coaching staff, that is because, it is. Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn described the match as a “gift”, not only for giving Pakistan a sighter of the challenge India pose, but also because it brought his own team’s

Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah‘s participation in the rest of the Asia Cup is in doubt after they picked up injuries during the Super Four game against India in Colombo over Sunday and Monday. ESPNcricinfo understands that the fast bowlers are almost certain to miss Pakistan’s next game, against Sri Lanka on Thursday, and they

South Africa 169 for 4 (Brits 45, Goodall 36, Kapp 29*, de Klerk 24*, Iqbal 2-32) beat Pakistan 168 (Sana 69, Riaz 53, de Klerk 4-32, Klaas 3-14, Khaka 2-21) by six wickets They might have swept the T20I series, but Pakistan are finding the ODIs a tougher nut to crack, conceding the series at

A Dutch court has sentenced former Pakistan batter Khalid Latif to 12 years in prison after he was tried in absentia for urging people to murder Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders. The court ruled that statements by Latif should be regarded as incitement to murder, sedition and threat. Latif lives in Pakistan and has not

Haris Rauf hasn’t taken the field against India on Monday’s reserve day in the Asia Cup Super Four game in Colombo after feeling “a little discomfort in his right flank” on Sunday’s scheduled match day. Only 24.1 overs were bowled on Sunday before rain pushed the game into the spare day. The extent of Rauf’s

For much of this World Cup cycle, it is Pakistan’s top three with the bat who have generated the most encouraging headlines. But ahead of their second meeting against India in just over a week, the focus is now firmly on the three with the ball. “I feel very proud of the fast bowlers I

There is a reserve day for the Pakistan vs India match, though – the only Super Four game to have that luxury. However, the umpires will try to achieve a result on the match day itself. In case there is a delay or an interruption, the hours of play can be extended by 90 minutes.

South Africa 292 for 4 (Luus 107*, Kapp 100, Sandhu 2-50) beat Pakistan 165 (Riaz 49*, de Klerk 3-23, Mlaba 3-39) by 127 runs Centuries from Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp laid down the platform for a 127-run win that gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the ODI series against Pakistan in Karachi on

Pakistan suffered an injury scare in the first Super Four match of the Asia Cup, with key fast bowler Naseem Shah going off the field with an injury to his right arm. He returned to the field shortly after, following treatment from the physio. The incident occurred in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s innings while

Big picture: Teams share complicated relationship Talk of rivalries has dominated the Asia Cup. India-Pakistan. Pakistan-Afghanistan. The Naagin derby. Heck, you could even throw in the Rohit derby. Here’s another sizzling rivalry to kick off the Super Four stage. Pakistan and Bangladesh have endured a long and complicated relationship on and off the field, and

A deadlock between the PCB and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has thrown the planning for the last leg of the Asia Cup into disarray. Over the last 48 hours, the ACC took significant steps towards moving the last five Asia Cup matches to Hambantota – a move the PCB was on board with –

Pakistan 150 for 5 (Maroof 39, Sekhukhune 2-24) beat South Africa 144 for 5 (Wolvaardt 72, Sandhu 2-16, Iqbal 2-25) by six runs South Africa were still in the 151 chase till the 19th over with Laura Wolvaardt batting on 72 off 53 balls before Iqbal had her caught. The visitors, needing 18 off the

Pakistan will be going into their final Group A match of the Asia Cup, against India on Saturday in Pallekele, with the same side that beat Nepal in Multan on Wednesday. It is the second time Pakistan have opted to name their line-up a day early, a practice that is set to continue throughout the

Ravi Shastri believes India have the upper hand in Saturday’s Asia Cup game against Pakistan in Pallekele, but only just. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of the fixture, Shastri said that Pakistan were a much improved side, and have “narrowed the gap” with India, but the strength of India’s line-up and an experienced captain

50 overs Pakistan 342 for 6 (Babar 151, Iftikhar 109*, Kami 2-85) vs Nepal Babar Azam put up a masterclass in ODI batting as he scored 151 off 131 balls to lift Pakistan up to 342 for 6 in the opening match of the 2023 Asia Cup. Batting was tricky in Multan and Nepal had

Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali have earned promotions in the PCB’s new central contracts with Ameen promoted from Category C to A. She is one of just three women in the highest category of the PCB’s central contracts, with Nida Dar and Bismah Maroof retaining their places in Category A. Muneeba, who scored Pakistan women’s

Big picture – a massive occasion for Nepal Nepal are making their Asia Cup debut. They are meeting Pakistan for the first time in any format. It’s a massive occasion for them, a day of celebration no matter how things pan out on the field. Nepal’s very presence at this Asia Cup is validation of

Multan Sultans will become the first T20 franchise in Pakistan with a female general manager, replacing the departing Haider Azhar with journalist Hijab Zahid. It will make Zahid, who presently works at Grassroots Cricket, one of the only female general managers of a T20 franchise anywhere in the world. Sultans, who have reached the final

Saud Shakeel has been added to Pakistan’s squad for the 2023 Asia Cup. Tayyab Tahir, who had initially been named in the 17-member squad, misses out but will be part of the traveling reserves. Shakeel has only played five ODIs so far but made an impressive start to his Test career. He has amassed six

Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs Afghanistan Pakistan won the toss and, as has been the theme of this series, elected to bat first against Afghanistan as the teams moved to Colombo for the third and final ODI. Since they have already sealed the series 2-0 and with their first Asia Cup fixture just four

A total of 360 cricketers, from 18 regional teams, are going to be offered PCB domestic contracts for the 2023-24 season in Pakistan, nearly double the number of contracts they had offered over the last few seasons. Twenty of the players will be offered the A+ category, and the remaining 340 in categories A to

Qasim Akram will captain Pakistan at the Asian Games, where the men’s team will play for a gold medal in – T20 – cricket between September 28 and October 7 in Hangzhou, China. With World Cup preparations in full swing, Pakistan have, as expected, named a young, second-string squad, with Asif Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz

TossAfghanistan chose to bat vs Pakistan Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat in the second T20I against Pakistan in Hambantota on Thursday. Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0 after a crushing 142-run win in the opener on Tuesday. Afghanistan made two changes to the XI that played in the first match with Rahmat

Political developments could make their impact felt on the PCB yet again after Pakistan’s Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) ministry sent a note to the Prime Minister’s office that places the spotlight on the future of PCB head Zaka Ashraf. The letter references guidelines issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, asking to “ensure immediate termination of

Toss Pakistan chose to bat vs Afghanistan On a hot Hambantota afternoon, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan as the two sides finalise their preparations for the Asia Cup. Pakistan fielded a full-strength side, with Naseem Shah returning and Shaheen Shah Afridi slotted at No. 9, thus offering batting depth.

Nearly two months after the end of their previous central contracts, the Pakistan players and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are close to signing off on fresh contracts. There is optimism that all players will sign them this week and, if not, almost certainly before the Asia Cup starts on August 30 after a number

Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn has said that Pakistan have bought into the new-look attacking style they adopted against Sri Lanka in the Test series, promising the ODIs would see more of the same being implemented. He also said the players called up to training camps in Lahore and Karachi over the past week had

Imran is widely regarded as the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced and one of the game’s greatest allrounders. He led them to their first global title in 1992 at the MCG, a culmination of a decade of captaincy in which he turned Pakistan into one of the best sides in the world. He led them