Day: November 1, 2021

Pakistan has jumped up to the second spot in ICC T20I team rankings after their brilliant performances in the ongoing 2021 T20 World Cup. Pakistan overtook arch-rivals India who have had a horrid start to their T20 World Cup campaign.

Prior to the start of the mega event, the Pakistan team was ranked number three while India were ranked number two in the world. Pakistan started their World Cup campaign by defeating India by ten wickets and followed it up with thrilling victories against New Zealand and Afghanistan, winning both matches by five wickets.

India, on the other hand, have lost their opening two encounters, first to Pakistan by ten wickets and the second to New Zealand by eight wickets. Their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals are hanging by a thread and will now have to rely on other results going their way to get a chance to move on to the next round.

England maintained their spot as the best T20I side in the world after a tremendous start to the T20 World Cup. England have also won their first three matches of the competition as they defeated defending champions West Indies, Bangladesh, and arch-rivals Australia convincingly.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have also moved up the team rankings after winning two out of their first three matches while Bangladesh have dropped down two places after a disappointing run of results in the mega event.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Bangladesh will be without the services of their star player, Shakib Al Hasan, for the last two Group 1 games against South Africa and Australia.

Shakib has been ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 due to a hamstring injury. He pulled up while fielding during Bangladesh’s game against West Indies, though he did bowl four overs after suffering the injury and even opened the innings while chasing.

Bangladesh Team Doctor, Debashis Chowdhury, said, “Shakib sustained a left lower hamstring strain while fielding during the match against the West Indies. In clinical examination, it was diagnosed as an injury of Grade 1 intensity. He is ruled out from participation in the last two matches of the tournament and until further review.”

Bangladesh will not name a replacement for Shakib as they do not have any reserve players available traveling with the squad.

Bangladesh are currently winless in the Super 12 stage of the tournament after qualifying as Group A runners-up in Round 1. Currently at the bottom of the Group 1 standings, the Tigers have two more games remaining against South Africa on November 2 followed by Australia on November 4.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan’s former fast bowler Aaqib Javed believes that India has not been able to recover from Shaheen Afridi’s spell in their first match against Pakistan. Aaqib said that India looked scared when they stepped onto the ground to face New Zealand and were not able to perform up to the standards as they had Shaheen’s spell at the back of their minds.

India lost their second consecutive match of the 2021 T20 World Cup and are on the brink of elimination from the mega event. India is currently on the fifth spot in the table and will require a miracle to advance into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.

Aaqib believes that India’s confidence was rattled by Pakistan, and Shaheen Afridi’s spell at the start of their innings led to their downfall in the tournament. He said that India panicked when they lost the toss, and to avoid a similar situation as to Shaheen’s, they decided to drop Rohit Sharma to one down.

“Rohit Sharma is one of the best players in T20 cricket, but after one blow of Shaheen Shah Afridi, you changed your openers. You brought in Ishan Kishan as he is a leftie because they were afraid of putting two righties against [Trent] Boult, so Rohit was made to bat at number three. It was only two overs [opening spell] and being the one of the best in the world, Rohit should have gone out as an opener rather than hiding,” Aaqib said.

The former world-cup-winning fast bowler also raised questions on India’s body language and said that they were already defeated before the first ball of the match. He said that they were scared to play their shots and succumbed to the pressure of the mega event.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, has expressed his confidence in his ‘strike bowler’ Hasan Ali despite his poor run in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

The captain and the team management held separate meetings with players during a party organized by seasoned all-rounder, Shoaib Malik, and his wife, Sania Mirza, to celebrate the third birthday of their son, Izhaan Mirza Malik.

Babar lauded the team’s performance and motivated players to carry the momentum into knockout matches.

He also motivated the fast bowler, Hasan Ali, and called him a “big match bowler.” Azam advised him to avoid social media stay focused on his bowling.

Hasan Ali, the third leading wicket-taker in the world after Ravi Ashwin and Shaheen Afridi in 2021, has been off-color in the mega event.

In three T20 World Cup matches, he has picked three wickets and conceded 108 runs in the 11 overs he has bowled in the tournament.

However, Babar remained unfazed by his form and told Hasan Ali that he had his backing.

“You are our strike bowlers, and our support is with you,” Babar told Hasan.

Babar also showed confidence in senior players, including Mohammed Hafeez, and hoped that he would win him matches in the future.

“It doesn’t matter if we face Australia or South Africa in the semifinal, we will beat them and then win the final,” the skipper added.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Afghanistan’s former captain, Asghar Afghan brought an end to a 16-year international cricket by announcing his retirement from the game during the ongoing 2021 T20 World Cup. Asghar Afghan played the last match of his international career against Namibia on Sunday.

The cricketing fraternity was baffled by his sudden announcement to retire from the game in the middle of the mega event and speculated the reason behind his decision. Asghar revealed that he retired from the game as he was emotionally hurt by their defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the ongoing 2021 T20 World Cup.

Asghar said that this is something he cannot explain. He was hurt too much in the last encounter against Pakistan and he decided that he cannot continue with this heartbreak. He said that his sudden decision to retire was taken so that more opportunities could be given to the youngsters in the tournament and it was a very difficult decision to take.

“There’s plenty of memories. It’s very difficult when you retire. It’s very difficult to explain but I have to retire,” Asghar stated.

Asghar is regarded as the finest captain in Afghanistan’s cricketing history and his record speaks for itself. He has the most wins as captain in T20I cricket since the inception of the format. Under his leadership, Afghanistan won 42 out of 52 matches. Only India’s MS Dhoni, England’s Eoin Morgan, and Ireland’s William Porterfield have won more matches than him.

Source: Pro Pakistani