Won't tolerate if he degrades my people: Naveen Ul- Haq hits back at Afridi

Another Pakistan squad member tests COVID-19 positive in New Zealand

One more member of the Pakistan Cricket squad on the tour of New Zealand has tested positive for the coronavirus, the country's health ministry has said. The latest case was one among the cases that were under investigation yesterday, the ministry added in his daily health bulletin. Embarrassingly for the Pakistan squad, that was the only case of Covid-19 reported in the last 24 hours, as per the health bulletin. The latest addition is the number of cases in the tourist camps will not change the overall tally as the new case is one among the cases deemed under investigation. But, it adds on to the number of active cases in the camp to 8 while the other two have been categorised ‘historic’ by the health officials in New Zealand. The tourists have already been issued a ‘final warning’ after they were caught on surveillance engaging in interactions with each other along with sharing food. The health ministry then noted that the conduct of the tourist significantly improved but the rising number of cases may well put the tour and the series under jeopardy.

AUS vs IND: Virat Kohli becomes fastest batsman to 12,000 ODI runs

Continuing his dominance in One-day cricket, Indian captain Virat Kohli has completed 12,000 runs in the ODIs in the third match of the series against Australia in Canberra. Virat achieved the feat when he pushed a Sean Abbot’s delivery to mid-off to take a single. Kohli has dominated one-day cricket since he started hitting hundreds 10 years earlier. He has reached the landmark, only in his 242 innings, which is a record and beat Sachin Tendulkar who had taken 300 innings for 12,000 ODI runs to become the fastest to the landmark. He has also trumped Ricky Ponting who took 314 innings while Kumar Sangakkara took 336 and Sanath Jayasuriya took 379 innings. Virat Kohli has been an ODI legend and most likely will end up as an all-time great in the format on the back of 59 fifties and 43 hundred that he has notched up so far in his career. His record in the ODI format shows a peculiar pattern that establishes him as a great batsman and that is having more hundreds away than at home. Before the ODI against Australia in Canberra, in the previous 241 innings, Virat has scored 24 ODI hundreds away from home while at home his bat has produced 19 hundred. He is also touted as one of the great finishers of the game although he bats in the top order. He has won accolades as a finisher because he in general, makes sure that once he gets in and scores a hundred, he leads India to a win in chasing efforts. He has played a lot of match-winning innings while chasing and teams across the world can’t take sigh of relief without dismissing him early in his innings.

England in SA: Dawid Malan: The beauty and the beast

Malan's soothing blitz not only justifies his tag as the number-one ranked T20I craftsman but also purchases him a breather in England's merry-go-round.

Malan's Brilliance Blows Away South Africa to Give England Series Whitewash

England completed a highly satisfying clean sweep over hosts South Africa in the three-match T20I series with a comprehensive 9-wicket win in the final game, at Cape Town. The star of the show, once again, was batsman Dawid Malan, who finished with 99 not out. He was ably assisted by Jos Buttler who remained unbeated on 67 at the other end. Thanks to the superlative batting of these two individuals, a seeminly big target of 192 was chased down by the visitors in just 17.4 overs. For the first time in this series, the toss went in favour of South Africa, but they chose to bat first, the same situation that England put them in during the first two games. The Proteas were propped up by two good innings. Faf du Plessis once again came good, scoring 52 off 37 balls. He was bettered by the man with whom he created a 128-run partnership, Rassie van der Dussen. The latter smashing 74 in just 32 balls. This undefeated partnership took South Africa to 191/3 in their 20 overs. In reply, England romped home thanks to a blazing 167-run partnership between Buttler and Malan. The wicketkeeper batsman scored 67 off 46 but got upstaged by Malan whose 99 came off just 47 balls. Captain's Take After suggesting that his team wasn't far off the mark in the first two games of the series, South Africa captain de Kock accepted that in this match, they were thoroughly outplayed. But he still thinks his team isn't out of sorts. "It's disappointing, but they blew us away. They put our bowlers under a lot of pressure, played cleverly and we couldn't stop them. We are not playing as badly as it is perceived to be. We are coming up against the English first-up and, going forward, the boys are confident." the captain said after the match. Eoin Morgan was satisfied by his team's performance in this match. After being apprehensive about aresa of his team's game in the first two matches, the England skipper was full of praise this time. "It's extremely pleasing. Dawid and Jos were absolutely outstanding. To win a game in such commanding fashion builds a lot of confidence in the changing room. To be able to chase a total like that, given we didn't get off to an absolute flier, it's very encouraging signs." Morgan did notice that there is still room for improvement, probably hinting at his team's bowling. "We need to put together an allround game, we've progressed nicely, but as regards performance, striving for that collective performance is important," he pertinently added. Expert's Take Nor surprisingly, the comments by experts and followers of England team, following the match, were full of praise for Malan. Former England cricketer and now, a commentator, Ebony Rainford-Brent had the same reaction to the left-hander's batting. "Only just noticed Malan’s T20 international strike rate is 144! Same as Buttler. Impressive!," she noted. How good Malan is was also explained succintly by commentator Daniel Norcross. "Babar Azam is the fastest man to 1000 runs in T20I (26 innings). Kohli second fastest (27). Dawid Malan has scored 855 runs in 19 innings at an average of 53.44. Only two men average over 50 after 20 innings (Azam and Kohli). If Malan plays one more match he will be the third." Cricket author and analyst Freddie Wilde summed up the current position of Malan in the England team. "There are still actually a fair few T20Is before the World Cup—& time for players to fall in & out of form—but it's increasingly hard to imagine an England team at the World Cup without Dawid Malan in it. Coming from the outside he's made himself close to undroppable." Always upbeat about England's prospects, former captain Michael Vaughan chipped in with his comment. "Whoever beats England will win the T20 World Cup next year ... #JustSaying" Only time will tell whether this is overconfidence or not.