BREAKING | Wasim Khan steps down as PCB CEO

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Wasim Khan stepped down from his post on Wednesday. The board made the confirmation in a statement. 

"Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed Wasim Khan has tendered his resignation as Chief Executive. As is the process, the BOG (Board of Governors) will meet later today to consider the matter," the PCB said.

Earlier, Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis, the head coach and the bowling coach of the national team had also resigned from their respective posts. 

The development has come at a time when Pakistan cricket has suffered some major blows after England and New Zealand teams abandoned their respective tours. 

First the Blackcaps cancelled their trip a few minutes before the start of the first ODI citing security concerns and this was followed by the cancellation of the trip from the England side. 




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IPL 2021 | MI vs PBKS: Hits & Flops as Pandya-Pollard show overshadows Ravi Bishnoi heroics

Well, it was always coming and that the power-packed batting lineup of the Mumbai Indians took so long to come with their might in the end overs was only a respite for the other teams. The Kings XI Punjab were not he lucky bunch of people though as they could not prevent themselves from the wrath of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya in the final phase of the game. The Kings fought hard with the ball and tried all their tricks till the pair of Pollard and Pandya were not present together in the middle and as soon as the big man from Trinidad started middling the ball, there was not much left for the men in red to do in the game. The Kings had to engulf yet another loss after coming so close with incredibly good spell of bowling in the initial phase but the failure of batsmen turned out to be the main difference as they fell short of a defendable total against Mumbai. Here, we’ll analyse the best and worst performances of the second clash of the day between the Mumbai Indians and the Punjab Kings. Hits Ravi Bishnoi When the Kings dropped Ravi Bishnoi from the playing XI against the Rajasthan Royals in their first game of the UAE leg, there was widespread criticism of the Kings management over their refusal to back a young and promising leg spinner. The night against the Mumbai Indians was a perfect occasion for the rookie spinner to show what he brings to the table and that he is not a one-season wonder. He was instrumental in the Kings’ defence of 125 runs against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but that performance came at a spin-friendly pitch at Sharjah and hence the game against Mumbai was a litmus test. He is not a conventional leg spinner who uses the googly as variation and instead he uses it as his stock delivery but batsmen are refusing to see his peculiarity. The Kings did not have too many runs to defend and breaking through early was essential for their cause and Bishni turned out to be the man for KL Rahul. First, he enticed Rohit into playing a lofted shot when the ball was not near to him and followed that up with a beauty of googly to get through the gap between bat and pad of Suryakumar Yadav to send him back to the pavilion on a golden duck. He was on a hat-trick and delivered another googly that Saurab Tiwary could barely defend. His four overs produced only 25 runs against Mumbai that is considered a brutal batting unit against spinners and hence his performance can’t go unnoticed. Bishnoi is just 21 years old and by all accounts has a long and bright career ahead. He has not been able to earn an India call up yet but that is not too far from his reach if he maintains consistency with his craft. Hardik Pandya The struggling journey of the Mumbai Indians in this edition of IPL can be truly depicted in the journey of Hardik Pandya. Once a flourishing all-rounder, he has been reduced into a batsman and as soon as the form left his bat, there were agonising repetitive failures in the past. The fitness issues did not leave him even in the UAE leg of the tournament and he could feature in the first two matches that Mumbai lost. Then, he came back against the RCB but could not contribute anything and the side slipped into another loss. Hardik walked out to bat past the halfway stage and was carrying a bag of bad form and dodgy fitness of the recent past. He had a formidable challenge in the form of Bishnoi to combat before moving ahead to the big and crucial task of taking the Mumbai Indians. Hardik knew that the game was hanging in balance and his side was heavily reliant on him and Pollard after the fall of Saurabh Tiwary. He accepted his lack of form and chose not to take risks initially to take the game deep before unleashing the close to his best power on the Kings bowling attack. With 40 needed off the last four overs, Hardik decided to open up his shoulder and despatched Mohammed Shami for a four and six to show a glimpse of his brutal best. Kieron Pollard was a more than able partner and he reduced the equation to a comfortable 16 runs of the last two overs by foiling the tactics of Arshdeep Singh. Hardik made sure the men in blue did not need all of 12 balls and called out the bluff of Shami, who kept him double guessing by bowling short outside off stump with no fielder back to defend shots. The Mumbai Indians are known for peaking at the right moment and the win over the Kings by the usual mode of aggression by Pandya and Pollard could just be the start of another Mumbai fire going into the business end of the tournament. Aiden Markram Amid all the ridiculous selection and strategic calls the Kings have taken this season, first the selection and then inclusion of Aiden Markram in the playing XI has been one of their best decision. He was in red hot form against Sri Lanka just prior to the UAE leg of the IPL and hence he was roped in as a replacement for Dawid Malan. While Malan could not find a place in the team, Markram’s form has been valued highly by the Kings management and the young South African has repaid the faith shown in him. On the night against Mumbai, he was the lone man fighting with the bat and he was the glue that held the Kings together. He has not found it easier to hit big shots but has not looked out of place either. After the failure of KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, he sticthed valuable partnership with Deepak Hooda to propel the Kings to a score they could dare to defend. He was perfectly fine in changing the tempo of the innings as he started to change the course of his and Kings’ innings with the crisp boundaries of Trent Boult and Rahul Chahar. Markram has been touted very highly in South African cricket and the ease with which he has batted in his maiden appearance in the league that has not treated foreign batsmen too well on first occasion will go a long way for him in the near future. Flops Suryakumar Yadav More than 400 runs for Mumbai Indians at number three for the last three editions of the IPL and not so long back Suryakumar Yadav could not set a foot wrong on the cricket field. His truckload of runs in the domestic cricket and IPL compelled fans to show severe disappointment in his non-selection in the India T20 squad. The opportunity came and he was all set to grab all of them with both hands. He announced his arrival on the big stage with all his swagger and flair. His IPL exploits earned him an ODI cap and then a place in India’s extended Test squad for the series against England. However, like the form of every other batsman, his form has also hit a stumbling block and all stakeholders of his form such as he himself, the Mumbai Indians and the Indian T20I team, a slump in form could not have come at a worse time than the current one. He has looked like a pale shadow of the batsman he has been and although he could not spend time at the crease against the Kings, the fact that he failed to pick Bishnoi off his hand was some failure for a batsman of his standard. Stepping down the track and hitting spinners over cover for fun has been his go-to shot in the shortest format and it appeared he tried to do so while being frozen in the crease and Bishnoi’s googly rattled his stumps. There is a lot riding on Surya’s bat for Mumbai and India in the present and near future and he would do well to have a word with himself or Mahela Jayawardena, who has been a champion batsman of big occasions to sort out whatever is not working for him. Mohammed Shami Mohammed Shami has all the ingredients it takes to be a great fats bowler in all formats. He has a deceptive bouncer, an accurate yorker, nice wrist and seam position to extract best through the air and off the surface, but yet he has not cracked the T20 code yet after so many years at the highest level. His contribution was essential for Kings’ chance in the game and he was the culprit who killed their efforts in what turned out to be the final over of the game. Hardik Pandya was struggling to get going and he offered him a leg-stump half volley to get back all his lost rhythm and confidence in the 17th over before trying to play a bluff game with him in the penultimate over. Hardik was setting up to play straight deliveries but Shami was gambling on bowling outside off stump to flummox him. After beating him on a couple of occasions, Pandya was up for the challenge and he could preempt the batsman’s move and became a victim of his own bluff. His bluff was brutally called off by Pandya, who smashed him for 17 runs and sealed the game for Mumbai and left the Kings’ team and fans scratching the head on what his attempts were in the final two overs. The Mumbai Indians got to 10 points after the win over the Kings but will have to wait for others to fail while keeping his regained form on track to get to the first four on the points table. On the other hand, the Kings looked muddle in their tactics and had to pay a big price of slipping to sixth on the points table.

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IPL 2021 | MI vs PBKS: What Experts Said after Hardik Pandya's 'furious assault' takes MI home

Mumbai Indians were finally back to winning ways after they clinched a 6-wicket victory against Punjab Kings in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night. Chasing a target of 136 runs in 20 overs, MI went over the line at the end of the 19th over after Hardik Pandya unleashed an assault against the PBKS. The right-hander struck a couple of fours and a maximum to wrap up the game in Mumbai’s favour. MI didn’t really have a great start to the proceedings as they lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav early in the chase. But Quinton de Kock and Saurabh Tiwary steadied the ship for the side as the two left-handed batters stitched 45 runs for the third wicket before De Kock was cleaned up by Shami for 27. Tiwary then put up a stand of 31 runs with Hardik Pandya for the fourth wicket before he was undone by Nathan Ellis for 45 off 37, courtesy a brilliant catch from KL Rahul behind the stumps. Hardik was then joined by Kieron Pollard in the middle and the West Indies all-rounder showed his true class and calibre. Pollard struck 15* off 7 deliveries that included a maximum and a four while Pandya remained unbeaten at a 30-ball 40. Ravi Bishnoi and Ellis were the pick of the bowlers for Punjab. While the leggie returned with figures of 2/25 in 4 overs, Ellis scalped one wicket at the cost of 12 runs in 3 overs. Earlier, despite getting a decent start, the Punjab Kings were restricted to 135/6 in 20 overs. While Punjab kept losing wickets at one end, new recruit Aiden Markarm kept scoring runs on the other side but was eventually out for 42 off 29 by Rahul Chahar. Deepak Hooda and later Harpreet Brar chipped in with some valuable contributions of 28 and 14* respectively. PBKS skipper KL Rahul agreed that the total that the side had put on the board wasn’t enough on this kind of a track. “It was a great fight, but 135 was not enough on this pitch. We should have got about 170. The boys showed a lot of fight with the ball, we have done that two games in a row. The next three games will be interesting for us as the table looks interesting,” he said in the post-match presentation. MI captain Rohit Sharma lauded Hardik Pandya for his knock. “The way he (Hardik) understood the situation was very crucial from a team's perspective, it's important for him to spend the time in the middle as he's coming back from a injury,” he said. Experts’ Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle lavished praise on Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard for their match-winning efforts. “Huge plus for MI. The hitting duo is back. Pandya and Pollard,” Bhogle tweeted. Journalist Ayaz Memon appreciated the way PBKS tried to defend a small total while pointing out MI’s top-order batting failure as well. “Hardik takes MI home with furious assault on Shami but match closer than scoreboard reflects. Punjab put up stout defence of modest score. Top order failures still Mumbai’s worry,” he wrote on Twitter. Former India bowler hailed Mumbai Indians for the win. “Good win for MI Heat is on points table,” Pathan wrote on Twitter. Punjab Kings will next play KKR in Dubai on Friday while MI will be up against DC in Sharjah on Saturday.

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IPL 2021 | KKR vs DC: Hits & Flops as Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana propel Knight Riders towards Playoffs

It was a low scoring affair but by no means a boring one as Kolkata Knight riders defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by three wickets in Sharjah to win their fifth game of the Indian Premier League 2021 and consolidate their position at the fourth position in the points table. With their third win out of four games in the UAE leg, the Knight Riders now have 10 points from 11 games. Capitals on the other hand couldn’t get past the Chennai Super Kings which they were aiming to with a win in this game and thus remain at 16 points from 11 games. With a win, not only would they have gotten over the Super Kings in the points table, but would have become the first team to cement their place in the Playoffs. But it wasn’t to be. Much like in every game, this too had some Hits and Flops in terms of players and they will be analysed below. Hits Sunil Narine It was a wicket that was favouring spin and no doubt Sunil Narine would have benefitted from that. However, the way he bowled was just unbelievable. Getting Shreyas Iyer, one of the best players of spin, deceived by pace and line and his stumps rattled, is nothing less than mind-blowing. Apart from Iyer, the 33-year-old also dismissed Lalit Yadav and gave away only 18 runs from his four overs. However, the moment that got him to Man of the Match was his batting. At a time when KKR were struggling at 96-5 with 32 runs still needed from 32 balls and making runs getting difficult with each passing ball, Narine came and in just 10 balls changed the face of the game. He hit the premier bowler of the Capitals, Kagiso Rabada for 19 runs in one over and the game was almost over. Nitish Rana Another man that was primarily responsible for the KKR victory in this very tightly contested game was Nitish Rana. While Narine changed the game in the 16th over, there was another time that Rana changed the game, and it was in the 14th over when Lalit Yadav was bowling. Rana, a Delhi teammate of Lait Yadav, had some idea or the other about the bowling of his domestic cricket teammate and hit him for 15 runs in four balls before Dinesh Karthik hit another four in that very over to bring the equation down from 52 off 42 to 32 of 36. The fact that Rana remained till the end to carry his team home even as wickets kept falling showed that he was determined to get the two points and thank those who always showed faith in him. Tim Southee Although the KKR debut of the Kiwi would be more remembered for his alterations with Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Tim Southee also bowled brilliantly in the conditions, which wasn’t really favourable to him, especially with the heat turning his face almost red. But determined to prove the call to replace an injured Andre Russell with him right, Southee bowled the full quota of four overs and gave away only 29 runs to take a wicket as well. The best moment was the last over that he bowled. He gave way only six runs, four of which came from a dropped catch. Had that catch not been dropped, the last over might have seen four wickets, which remained three only, two of which were runouts. Flops Kagiso Rabada In a match as low scoring as this one, each ball is important and considering the fact that there was not even a single six hit in the entire innings of the Capitals, Rabada giving away two six and 20 runs in a single over was criminal, to say the least. Not only did he gave away 20 runs, but at a moment in the game, where a tight over could have turned the game n Delhi’s favour by all means. In total, the Proteas bowler gave away 28 runs in just three overs. This is after he bowled a wicket maiden to remove Shubman Gill Lalit Yadav Lalit, who did not bowl in the last game that he played and remained in the playing XI only keeping in mind the Sharjah wicket which supports spinners. Both his ability to bowl off-spin against plenty of lefty batters in the KKR batting order and also his ability to play spin better made him an automatic choice in the XI. However, in the game, both the tricks of his trade failed him big time. First, the 24-year-old was trapped leg before by Narine on a duck while batting, then he was taken to the cleaners by a lefty, Nitish Rana while bowling, making it a forgetful game for him. He gave away 35 runs in only three overs. Having achieved this victory, the Knight Riders would now look to carry the momentum in their last three games where they face Punjab Kings in the next match and Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in the next two respectively, to make sure they reach the Playoffs. The Capitals however play a tough Mumbai Indians in their next game.