PAK vs AUS | Ashton Agar receives ‘death threat’; CA terms it unserious

SA vs BAN | Shakib to play South Africa Test confirms BCB President

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hasan said on Monday, 28 February that star all rounder Shakib Al Hasan will be available for selection in the South Africa Test series. Hasan revealed that Sahakib was asked to play for the national team after he wasn’t picked in the Indian Premier League and the all rounder agreed. Hasan’s statement comes right after BCB’s announcement that they want to have a conversation with Shakib and know what his individual plans are for the remainder of the year. The star all rounder earlier wanted to take a break from international cricket to prepare for the Indian Premier League and now that has gone flying out of the window, Shakib has considered coming back to the longest format of the game. Late last year, Shakib had said that he wanted to take a break from Test cricket to focus on the other formats, but then later clarified that his statements were miscommunicated. He clarified his position that he wanted to focus on IPL and get his personal preparation done before the cash rich league. Shakib has been a pivotal player for Bangladesh for many many years, but in recent times has come under fire from the statement-heavy BCB president. Many times, Hasan has indirectly fired shots at Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman for prioritising IPL over national duties. Bangladesh are currently playing Afghanistan in the ODI series - one that they have won by the margin of 2-1, they will now move on to the more important two-match T20I series to test out their preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

BAN vs AFG | Visitors get their hands on crucial 10 points with consolation win in 3rd ODI

Afghanistan amended their course of action winning the third and final ODI against Bangladesh on Monday, 28 February. Beaten comprehensively in the first two ODIs, Afghanistan showed a lot of passion in the dead rubber to win crucial 10 points in the ICC Super League. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal conceded the same point at the post match press presentation and stated that he was really disappointed to let go of the points in such an easy fashion. Afghanistan - finally were able to showcase their all-round strength first affecting a middle order collapse owing to maestro Rashid Khan and then chasing the paltry score of 192 runs. When Bangladesh walked into bat after winning the toss, it did not look like they could get all out for such a small total. Bangladesh were 100/1 at a point with Liton Das anchoring the innings alongside Shakib Al Hasan after the departure of Tamim Iqbal, who is yet to find his footing in the series. However, in the 22nd over, Shakib chopped a delivery into his stump affecting a collapse. Rashid Khan in his classic middle over antics took over the game and bowled an exceptional 10 overs where he took three wickets for just 37 runs. Wickets kept tumbling as in form batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan were sent packing and Bangladesh were reeling at 175/7 by the 42nd over. The collapse eventually reached a stage where the Bangladesh were wrapped up in the 47th over, losing their last 9 wickets for less than 100 runs. Coming into the chase, Afghanistan knew that they just needed to keep their heads calm and see through the tough phases against a bowling attack that has been very good throughout the series. To be fair to Bangladesh bowlers, they did produce chances, only to see them getting dropped in the outfield. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a century and laid the stone for the victory while Riaz Hassan and Rahmat Shah played their part in supporting him. Afghanistan lost three wickets and patiently chased the score down with 10 overs remaining. The win might not mean a lot in the context of the ODI series, but Afghanistan certainly would believe that they have cracked the code for this Bangladesh side going into the T20I format. Afghanistan are a force to reckon with in the shortest international format of the game and the conditions might just suit them better in the two-match T20I series.

Full list of award winners in Pakistan Super League 2022

The seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League came to an end on Sunday, 27 February with Lahore Qalandars lifting their maiden title. The Shaheen Shah Afridi-led team won their title clash against Multan Sultans by a big margin of 42 runs to end their trophy drought. Lahore were the only team to beat Mohammad Rizwan led team this season. They defeated Multan on two occasions, once in the second half of the league at Lahore ending their 6-match winning streak and then in the finals. This season’s tournament had a touch of vendetta on it with the Pakistan Cricket Board leaving no stones unturned in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. After the cancellation of New Zealand and England’s tour to their country, Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Ramiz Raja pumped the team up with his fiery statements about bringing the pride back to Pakistan Cricket. Pakistan, hurt by the attitude of who they thought were their allies in world cricket, put their best foot forward in the ICC T20 World Cup, only to narrowly miss out on the finals spot. The Pakistan internationals however seemed to carry on from that tournament and put up exceptional performances in the PSL 7, hinting that they once again could be one of the favourites to win the title. On that note, here are the full list of awards winners from the tournament. Batter of the tournament Fakhar Zaman - The Pakistan top order batsman raked up a massive 588 from 13 innings. Zaman was ridiculously good at the top order for Lahore Qalandars and even managed to score a century while chasing just 174 runs against Babar Azam’s Karachi Kings. Zaman brought his A-game to the tournament by playing the T20 anchor role, starting slightly slow and then blasting it as he grew into the game. Zaman’s incredible knocks along with the success of Rizwan and Shan Masood in the tournament would mean that Pakistan have a problem of plenty on their head when it comes to the selection of openers going forward All rounder of the tournament Khushdil Shah - Many did not believe Khushdil Shah had it in him to become of the top lower order hitters in Pakistan. To be fair to the detractors, there are times when Shah Khushdil Shah makes himself look very ordinary. However, for the majority of the PSL 7, crowd saw Khushdil what he could potentially be, raking up big hits in the lower order and bowling spells that produced wickets in the middle overs. Khushdil was adjudged the all rounder of the tournament after scoring 153 runs at a strike-rate of 182 and picking 16 wickets with the economy of 6.9. He also won the award for the fielder of the tournament. Wicket-keeper of the tournament The quality of wicketkeeping in Pakistan is not at an elite level and it came to fore in the final as well, with Zeeshan Ashraf dropping a lolly off Shan Masood in the early overs. However, generalisation does not work in the case of Mohammad Rizwan, who rarely misses a grab and has been very consistent with his stumping and catching abilities behind the stumps. While comparison against the likes of MS Dhoni has not started yet, but who knows? The conversation might just begin if Rizwan improves his DRS game. Bowler of the tournament Shadab Khan - This is one category where the riches of Pakistan are truly showcased and there were plenty of candidates on offer for this award. Imran Tahir, Zaman Khan, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shan Afridi - all had been brilliant throughout the tournament but the award was nicked off by leg spinner Shadab Khan. Despite an injury riddled campaign, Shadab managed to scalp 19 wickets from 8 matches and went wicketless in just one single match in the entire tournament. Emerging player of the tournament Zaman Khan - It could really not have been anyone but him. Slinky action, comes right after Shaheen Shah Afridi’s spells and has a penchant for bowling toe crushing yorkers, Zaman Khan won this award by miles. One of his famous deliveries threw Alex Hales off balance and clean bowled him with an outswing yorker bowled right at the toe end of the leg stump. Zaman Khan picked 18 wickets in the tournament and formed key partnerships with Haris Rauf and his captain Shaheen Afridi to play a key role in the victorious campaign.

Vishnu Solanki loses father & daughter in span of two weeks, plays Ranji game

Baroda batter Vishnu Solanki has been facing a lot on the personal front. Solanki lost his father and day-old daughter in a span of two weeks. The player was in quarantine with the squad in Cuttack when on February 11, he received the news that his wife had given birth to a daughter and Solanki was delighted. But on February 12, Baroda team manager Dharmendra Arothe, woke the batter around midnight to tell him that his daughter had passed away. Solanki returned home and missed the side’s first match against Bengal. He later joined the team back on February 17 for the second match against Chandigarh and scored a hundred for the side. "He said he had dedicated the century to his daughter," team manager Arothe told ESPNcricinfo on February 25. The Baroda batsman was then struck by another tragedy. The team manager had called Solanki to the dressing room all of a sudden while he was fielding and told that his father who had been ailing for a while passed away on Sunday morning. “Later, we came to know that his father passed away,” Baroda captain Kedar Devdhar said according to The Indian Express. “Vishnu saw his father’s last rites in one corner of the dressing room, on a video call. It was really tough for him, but the courage he showed has been remarkable.” The Baroda Cricket Association stood by Vishnu who decided to stay back for the match. “When we got to know about his father’s death, we informed the team manager. The manager told us that he would stay back. It showed his commitment towards the game and his team,” the state association secretary Ajit Lele said.