Surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra pushes IND-ENG ODI series behind closed doors

R Ashwin takes on narratives around Motera pitch; asks what defines a good Test pitch

India’s premier bowler Ravichandran Ashwin who reached a special milestone in the last Test against was irked by members of English media who kept on asking him the questions around the quality of pitch that was used in the Motera Test. He was asked if the pitch at Motera was a good one and whether the surface allowed a fair contest between the bat and ball. Clearly irked by too many questions on the narrative around the quality of the pitch, Ashwin asked a counter-question on what defines a good Test pitch and who gets to decide the quality of a pitch. The journalist from the UK was relentless, and he asked once again. Ashwin too was not to give up the fight and shot back by putting the onus of scoring runs and taking the game deep into the third and fourth day on batsmen, instead of bashing the quality of the pitch. "Yes, of course. The bowlers want to win the game. The batsman needs to bat well to get runs. No question about it. What makes a good surface? Who defines this? Seam on the first day and then bat well and then spin on the last two days? Come on! Who makes all these rules, we need to get over it and not talk about whatever picture you want to paint,” Ashwin shot back at the journalist from one of the publishers from the UK. “If you're asking if it is a good Test surface, I don't see any of the players coming from England having an issue with the surface. They want to improve, they look like they want to have a contest. Is it the players and the people who are reporting back that want their players to not complete and complain about the pitches? Because we have never done that on any of the tours." A section of cricket pundits and former players have lamented that the nature of pitches that Ashwin has played on and taken wickets would have allowed the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to touch the 800-1000 Test wickets. He does not get bothered by people downplaying his achievements by players, as he said it is been a phenomenon that has been going on since the last decade. He had tweeted taking a dig at people who he said pushes narrative down to the throat of people. "I'm absolutely not disturbed with things being taken away from the context because this is what's been happening for the last decade, if not more. That is why I put out the tweets that I did. I think people need to get the context of what's happening here. There have been some people who have messaged me and said the match has finished in two days. What about all the three pink-ball Test matches we've played, everything's ended within three days' time,” Ashwin said. "I do not know what to say because when somebody just throws an opinion out there about the surface - and having had played the game - unfortunately maybe they've not played the pink-ball Test matches, so they do not understand this facet of the game. My angst against the whole thing is the fact that when people say something there are so many of them who are watching the same picture but are not able to paint a different one compared to somebody who is driving and selling a certain case to us and this needs to stop." Notably, the third Test between India and England ended inside two days with batsmen from both sides failing to read the amount of spin, and natural variations that were on offer off the pitch. India’s left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up an 11 wicket haul in the Test, while Ashwin himself picked seven wickets across two innings, and in the process went past the 400-wickets mark in the longest format of the game.

Wahab Riaz’s best-ever PSL figures lift Zalmi to numero uno position in Points Table

After a nightmarish bowling performance in the previous game against Quetta Gladiators, where he ended up with his worst ever PSL figures (2-54 in four overs), Peshawar Zalmi skipper came back with a bang to achieve his best ever bowling performance to roll over Islamabad United. Riaz, 35, picked up four wickets to break the back of the United batting lineup. He was greatly helped by Zalmi’s English import Saqib Mahmood, who picked three wickets and ended up with figures of 3-12 in 2.1 overs, while Riaz finished at 4-17 in his quota of four overs. Chasing a total meagre target of 119, Zalmi were rocked by United’s Hasan Ali who dismissed Imam-Ul-Haq for nought in the very first over. Hasan was supported well by Islamabad’s emerging talent Mohammad Wasim Jr., who got rid of dangerous Kamran Akmal in the very next over. The two bowlers kept it tight for the first four overs, conceding only 11 runs in the first four overs. Slowly but steadily, senior Zalmi batsman Shoaib Malik in partnership with Englishman Tom-Kohler-Cadmore started ticking the scoreboard, adding 63 runs in 64 balls for the fourth wicket. When Cadmore was finally removed by a Fawad Ahmed googly in the 13th over, the wicket, instead of being an entry into the game for the United, rather closed the door on them. Because Haider Ali arrived at the crease with six off Ahmed took the game away from United very quickly. He scored an 18 ball 36 and closed in on the target, getting out, just when the Zalmi required three more runs to win. Ali added 47 runs in 25 balls with Malik, who remained unbeaten on 29. Earlier in the evening, Zalmi skipper Wahab invited Islamabad to bat after winning the toss. Even after Alex Hales providing a quick strong start, the other batsmen couldn’t accompany him for long. Irishman Paul Stirling, playing his first game became the first of the four scalps of Riaz while Phil Salt failed once again as he was removed by Mahmood. Mahmood's three-wicket haul pushed him to 10 scalps in just four games making him the leading wicket-taker in PSL 6 so far. Skipper Shadab Khan got run out and Faheem Ashraf, who was promoted up the order played a loose shot, getting out off a Umaid Asif delivery. Soon Alex Hales (41 off 27) also departed, leaving too much to be done by the likes of Asif Ali, Hussain Talat and Iftikhar Ahmed, all of whom failed on this occasion. With this win at the NSK, Zalmi have gone top the table in the league after playing four games. They will next face Karachi Kings on a double header’s day on March 3rd. Riaz, who after conceding 105 runs in his last eight overs, gave his best PSL performance, was awarded Man of the Match.

PSL 6: With revenge on their mind, bruised Qalandars face rejuvenated Kings

Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings, the teams that played the final in the last season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) would be up against each other in the high octane Sunday clash at the National Stadium in Karachi. While Karachi defeated Lahore in their last meeting and won the PSL for the first time, the bruised Qalandars, from last year’s final defeat as well as from the bashing they got from Multan Sultans in their last game, would be looking to give it back to Karachi this time around. The Qalandars have drafted in Sandeep Lamichhane as the replacement for Rashid Khan and would look to employ the leg spinner to give them some mileage wit the ball. Non-performing captain and lack of spinning option: Lahore' top concerns The Lahore team has got an amazing bowling line-up especially with the kind of form Mohammad Hafeez is in. But the problem for Qalandars has been the lack of form from their skipper Sohail Akhtar who has not been able to get into the groove even in a single of the three games he has played so far. His scores of 14, 21 and 7 have made no contribution to Lahore’ plans and it is disturbing news for the team when the skipper is unable to contribute. The other problem that the Qalandars have faced since the departure of Afghan skipper Rashid Khan for his national duties, is the lack of spinning options. Although Samit Patel and Hafeez can both throw in 3-4 overs of orthodox spin, Hafeez has not been tried so far and Patel hasn’t returned the favours when he was tried. Thus the inclusion of Nepali import Lamichhane might just give Qlanadars the much-needed balance in the side. But along with that balance, they would want their skipper to fire as well. Karachi Kings hope Babar Azam continues on his newfound form Babar Azam the star player of the Kings finally found his original form back as he played a match-winning knock against Multan Sultans in the last game. Now that he is back in form, the Kings would want him to continue his form. With him coming back in form, and Sharjeel Khan announcing his arrival with a century in a game earlier than the last one, the Kings now have a great batting lineup that gives them an advantage over the Gladiators. Imad Wasim’ side would therefore be looking to score anything in excess of 190 runs on the board, even if they lose the toss. They have got the bowling to defend the total and might be the first team to defend a total in PSL 6. Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars: Match Details Match Number- 11 Day and Date: 28th Feb, 07: 30 pm IST, 07:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue- National Stadium, Karachi Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony SIX, Sony LIV Pitch Report A fresh pitch is expected for this game. In the last game at the stadium, the Peshawar Zalmi showed that wickets upfront can put pressure on the batting team and it need not necessarily be a high scoring game all the time. However, the wicket was still good for batting and it was the lack of application from the Islamabad side that led to their downfall more than any role of the wicket. Thus in this game too, a wicket with true bounce, pace and ball coming on to the bat is expected to make it a thrilling, high scoring T20 encounter that the National Stadium in Karachi is known for. Weather Update As it has been for the past 10 games, the weather at Karachi would be ideal for cricket with temperatures hovering between 25 and 20 degrees. The chill in the evening might give some assistance for the fast bowlers early on, but apart from that, with dew settling in later in the evening, skippers left with no option but to bowl first. Probable XI Karachi Kings Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Joe Clarke (wk), Colin Ingram, Daniel Christian, Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal Lahore Qalandars Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Joe Denly, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Samit Patel, David Wiese, Ahmed Daniyal, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Maaz Khan DreamXI / Fantasy XI picks Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam (vc), Mohammad Hafeez (c), Fakhar Zaman, Joe Clarke (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Amir, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Babar Azam punishes wayward Multan as Karachi continue ‘bat second win match’ streak in PSL 6

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam finally hit form after a long lull period science the end of Pakistan’s England tour, scoring a match-winning unbeaten 91 to take his side Karachi Kings past Multan Sultans. Chasing a tough target of 196, Babar faced early hiccups as he wasn’t able to time the ball properly. Both Babar and his partner were so much cramped for room in the first two overs, that they could only score seven runs from it, with Sohail khan’s out-swinging deliveries going past Babar’s bat quite often. However luck was by the side of the openers as in the third over, Sohail was taken for 18 runs, even without bowling one bad ball as edges flew past here and there giving momentum to the Karachi batsmen. Once they had the momentum, there was no looking back for Babar. Sharejeel though was caught by skipper Mohammad Rizwan off youngster Shahnawaz Dhani in the fifth over. But even after that Babar continued his march towards the total, ably supported by Kings’ foreign import Joe Clarke. The two added 97 for the third wicket, taking the Karachi total to 153 in just the 15th over, killing the game for the Sultans to even try and make a comeback. Colin Ingram the next man in for Kings didn’t have a great time at the crease as he was caught by Dhani off Sohail Khan for just six runs. The formalities were then completed by Babar and Afghan Mohammad Nabi, completing the second win for Karachi in three games. Babar Azam was awarded Man of the Match for his performance. The Karachi batsmen didn’t give any chance to the Multan fielders but the bowling from the Sultans was average, to say the least. When they had got the two openers in a grip at the start of the chase, Rizwan and the bowlers shouldn’t have let them go at any cost. In the middle overs too, experienced Shahid Afridi was very experience and so was Khushdil Shah the part-time left-arm spinner. Between them, they gave away 60 runs in five overs without even taking a single wicket. The pacers too were wayward in their approach, as they kept bowling wither too short or too full for Babar to exploit them. Usman’s Qadir approach towards googly was also deciphered well by the Kings and it resulted in a sad performance overall from the Sultans’ bowler. Earlier in the day, Sultans couldn’t capitalise on the start given by their top-order batsmen. Put in to bat after losing the toss, Rizwan and Chris Lynn started the innings confidently for Multan. The two of them added 53 for the opening stand in just 4.1 overs. Lynn fell down, still, the scoring rate continued to soar as Rizwan added another 70 runs with James Vince, taking the team total to 123 in just 11 overs. But as Rizwan and Vince fell in quick succession, the Sultans lost the plot and could manage to score only 72 runs in the last 50 balls. Arshad Iqbal was once again the pick of the bowlers for Kings, taking two wickets for 36 runs. With this win at the National Stadium in Karachi, the streak of ‘team winning the toss, batting second and winning the game’ has remained intact even after nine games into the tournament. While Karachi have now moved up to the top of the table with four points from three games. Multan though suffered their third defeat in four games and are at second last position in the table.