Imad was caught on camera smoking a cigarette in the Multan Sultans dressing room. The moment went viral on social media, and the player faced a lot of criticism.

Islamabad United’s victory in the final was made possible by Wasim’s incredible 5/23 in 4 overs. Even after limiting the Multan Sultans to 159, Wasim’s team had some difficulty achieving the goal. The winning runs of the game were eventually scored on the last ball of play.

“Didn’t know that it would go on to be the best ever tournament. Just wanted to have an impact in the team’s win. It was a new experience – taking five wickets in the final. Took lesson that we should’ve finished it one over earlier. I’m happy playing cricket. Trying my utmost to contribute for the team. 4-5 years of cricket left in me,” Imad Wasim said after the final as he was named the player of the match.

The post PSL Final: Imad Wasim’s Actions Spark Outrage and Backlash in Viral Smoking Video appeared first on Cricket Country.

His stint with Quetta Gladiators will mark his return to Pakistan as in February 2022, Tait took up the role of Pakistan’s men’s national team bowling coach. A year later former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel replaced him. He will be looking to use his previous experience to get the best out of the players.

“I’d like to thank Nadeem Omar (Quetta Gladiators owner) who trusted me with the bowling group, including Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, and Mohammad Amir. Some great talent there to work with alongside the great Shane Watson,” Tait said in an official statement.

During his time with the Pakistan team, Tait was quite vocal in his criticism of Pakistan’s pace bowlers struggling to maintain high workloads.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, he had stated that there was “no way – no way – express pace bowlers can currently play all three formats consistently.”

In the same interview, he praised pacer Muhammad Hasnain who will once again fall under his wing, while also pointing out his recuperating ankle injury.

“Hasnain has got the ability to bowl proper rapid, but there’s no doubt [there’s an air of vulnerability to him]. My input with Hasnain is purely about just using his athleticism. Getting that grunt as a fast bowler and being angry. Just running in fast and feeling good,” Tait said at that time.

The announcement continues to reflect on Gladiators making an overhaul of the coaching staff. They will be keen to change their disappointing past performances which saw them miss the playoffs for four successive seasons.

During the initial phase of the PSL, Gladiators were the most consistent franchise, in the first four seasons they reached the final three times, and also lifted the title in 2019.

Season 9 of the PSL will kick off on February 8 and will be played till March 24.

The post Shaun Tait appointed as the bowling coach of Quetta Gladiators for PSL 2024. appeared first on Cricket Country.

“Sasur, mai tumhare muh se ye dubara na sunu (I don’t want to hear this word from your mouth again),” Shahid Afridi told Shaheen during a chat with Samaa TV.

Shahid Afridi explained that Shaheen shouldn’t refer to him as his father-in-law because he recently won a cricket trophy. Afridi was speaking in reference of the Legends League Cricket championship that Asia Lions won after defeating the India Maharajas by nine runs.

“Log kehte hai Shaadi ke baad enjoyement khatam ho jaati hai. Bilkul nahi hoti aap aur jyada life ko enjoy karte ho aur jab bacche ho jaate hai toh aap life ko aur enjoy karte ho. He has won PSL with Lahore Qalandars. Next day, I won the Legends League Cricket trophy in Qatar,” said the former PAK skipper.

Shaheen Reveals Experience Of Bowling To Shahid

When Shaheen bowled against Shahid Afridi in the Pakistan Super League five years ago, he also made it clear how special it was for him. The left-arm pacer disclosed the type of relationship he shares with Shahid Afridi.

“He is my role model. He has been the inspiration for me. I have enjoyed Lala’s batting, I used to switch off TV when he used to get out. Ye mere hero hai. He is like my friend,” said Shaheen.

Afridi claimed that Shaheen is similar to his son and that his maturity surprised him. “I have always been a friend to my wife and daughter. Shaheen is like my son and friend. He is a very good boy and he has surprised me with his captaincy. It is so good to see the maturity in him at such a young age,” said Shahid Afridi.

The post Tumhare Muh Se Dubara Na Sunu: Shahid Afridi Warns Shaheen Afridi For Addressing Him As ‘Sasur’ appeared first on Cricket Country.

Amidst reports that both teams can play their Asia Cup and World Cup matches at neutral venues, Sethi made a big remark saying that PCB is ready to bear the financial losses that will happen by boycotting the Asia Cup and World Cup, adding that PSL has made them financially stable.

“If we don’t play Asia Cup, we will face a loss of $3 million. If we don’t play World Cup or boycott it, then our relations with ICC will worsen. India and Pakistan game in a World Cup also holds great significance. Issues will arise,” Sethi said in an interview with a local TV channe as quoted by CricketPakistan.pk.

“As far as finances are concerned, my personal opinion is that in the past, PCB was dependent on the money from ICC, so we had to agree to their terms. However, now PSL has made PCB financially independent. We get the same amount from PSL, which we receive from ICC. We have decided that we are ready to bear loss of $3 million in order to protect our honour and political stance,” Sethi added.

Sethi said that he understands that people of Pakistan want the Men in Green to stay firm on their stance if India don’t come to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.

“I know people don’t want us to go to India if India doesn’t come to Pakistan. People want us to stand our ground and not be dictated to,” he added.

The post ‘PSL Has Made Us Financially Stable’: Najam Sethi Confirms PCB Will Boycott Asia Cup And Cricket World Cup In India appeared first on Cricket Country.

“I wish to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore, I follow IPL too. I love their kit and Virat Kohli plays for them too. I admire Virat bhai’s journey from a youngster to a legend and he’s one of the best athletes in the world,” Pakistan batter Saim Ayub said.

Ayub became an overnight star after a sensational show in the Pakistan Super League 2023. Playing alongside Babar Azam for Peshawar Zalmi, Ayub grabbed a lot of eyeballs with his sensational strokeplay. Later, he was drafted into the Pakistan squad for T20I series against Afghanistan. He is also part of the Pakistan squad for the T20I series against New Zealand.

Sam Ayub Expresses Love For Babar Azam

Ayub also expressed his love for Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. The youngster revealed that batting alongside him in PSL was a dream come true.

“I wished to bat with Babar bhai. When I scored a fifty against Lahore Qalandars in PSL, Babar bhai was appreciating me on the other hand. We opened and I scored fifty in front of him. I celebrated that. I didn’t celebrate my first fifty because it was a losing cause. In the next fifty, I was standing with Babar bhai and felt so proud so I celebrated it. said Saim Ayub,” he said.

Sweet Sour Start For RCB In IPL 2023

Meanwhile, RCB started off its IPL 2023 campaign with a brilliant win over Mumbai Indians but suffered a crushing defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in the following game.

The post ‘Virat Bhai Plays For RCB, I Want To Play IPL’: Pakistan Batter Sam Ayub’s Big Dream That Might Never Come True appeared first on Cricket Country.

Young player wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan who was also the part of the squad had to deal with alot of criticism, he was a star player of Islamabad United scoring 282 runs at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 161 in the PSL, but he returned 0 and 1 in the first two games but was dropped for the third match.

Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed slammed the young pacer as well as the selectors for his selection in the squad. He said that it was clear to him that were was no consideration to the fitness levels of the players mentioning that had he been in a squad like that, he would have refused to play.

“I am not sure what sort of experiment this was. It’s clear to me that no consideration was taken when selecting the squad for this series about what standard of skills and fitness levels are needed to represent Pakistan, he said.

“If I was a player in that squad, I would have refused to play with this team. First, at least attain some levels of fitness before playing. Hopefully, they will have learned from this,” Javed was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan”, he further said.

Earlier during the second match, a Pakistani fanboy body-shamed Pakistan batter Azam Khan by mocking his physique. His actions were caught on camera and this video has gone viral all over internet.

Pakistan fans not happy with Azam Khan after his dismissal#AFGvPAK pic.twitter.com/BXaWVYqDma

— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) March 26, 2023

Azam Khan recently made his international debut. He is the son of former Pakistan cricketer and captain Moeen Khan, the batter lasted for only 4 deliveries in the second match. Azam was dismissed for a for a duck in the first T20I and just one in the second.

The post “If I Was a player, I Would Have Refused To Play”: Former Pak Pacer Slams Azam Khan For His Fitness appeared first on Cricket Country.

At 112-5, Lahore were in trouble of getting bowled out for a below-par score but Shaheen Afridi smashed 44 off 15 balls to take Qalandars to a solid score of 200-6. In the second innings, Sultans were motoring along nicely with over 100 runs in the 10th over, with nine wickets in hand and looked set for an easy win. However, Rashid Khan dismissed dangerous Rilee Rossouw before Shaheen Afridi ran riot and took the wickets of Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Anwar Ali and Usama Mir to trigger a collapse.

Abbas Afridi hit a few lusty blows and brought the equation down to 13 runs in the final over but Zaman Khan held his nerves and helped his team win by one run.

Qalandars’ title-winning run was aided by some outstanding performances from Fakhar Zaman, Sam Billings, Rashid Khan and Shaheen Afridi.

Meanwhile, post the remarkable win, an Indian user posted a hilarious meme on Twitter, showing a morphed video of Shaheen Afridi and Sam Billings dancing to celebrate Qalandars’ win in PSL final. When Billings came across the post, he shared the meme with a laughing emoji.

??? https://t.co/nkEjGiQi8l

— Sam Billings (@sambillings) March 18, 2023

The post Sam Billings’ Hilarious Reaction To Indian Fan’s Meme On Lahore Qalandars’ PSL Win | CHECK OUT appeared first on Cricket Country.

Qalandars were in deep trouble at 112-5 when Shaheen walked into bat, ahead of David Weise and Sikandar Raza, and needed something extraordinary to post a healthy total. Shaheen smashed five sixes and two fours to turn the game on his head.

Shaheen Afridi show in PSL final.

He smashed 44* runs from just 15 balls including 2 fours & 5 sixes when Lahore was 112/5 in 15th over.pic.twitter.com/n8kQzvniQV

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 18, 2023

In the second innings, Lahore was once again in trouble when Rilee Rossouw was going all guns blazing and Multan were in a comfortable position at 105-1 before Rashid Khan broke the dangerous partnership.

Afridi took over after the breakthrough and took the wickets of Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Anwar Ali and Usama Mir to trigger a collapse. A cameo by Abbas Afridi kept Sultans in the hunt but Zaman Khan held his nerves and defended 13 in the final over as Qalandars won the match by 1-run.

“Second final, second win, credit to the entire team. It was a team effort. It went to the last ball but we didn’t give up. We had the belief that we’d win the final. I couldn’t pick early wickets but I was able to pick 3 crucial wickets and put my team on top,” said Afridi at the post-match conference.

The post Shaheen Afridi Turns Shahid Afridi As His Brutal Onslaught Help Lahore Qalandars Defend PSL Title | WATCH VIDEO appeared first on Cricket Country.

Babar started the tournament with a knock of 68 and has smashed three more half-centuries since then. In a match against Quetta Gladiators Babar slammed 115 off 65 balls as Peshawar put on a total of 240.

During a match against Multan Sultans on Friday (March 11), Babar scored 73 runs, En route to the knock he achieved another milestone in his career. He passed Shane Watson in the list of batters with the most runs in T20s. In total of 253 matches, he has scored 8065 runs. He sits at 16th position in the overall list.

Watson retired from International cricket with 8821 runs in 343 matches in T20 format. Watson also scalped 216 in the shortest format.

Babar is close to score 9000-run mark and will aim to score complete 10000 runs in the next one year. Chris Gyale tops the list of batter with most runs. In total he has scored 14562 runs in 463 matches. The West Indies legend is followed by Shoaib Malik.

Malik has scored 12528 runs and is still an active player. If he plays for next 2-3 matches then he might surpass Gayle’s record. With 12076 runs, Kieron Pollard sits at the 3rd spot. Aaron Finch is at 4th spot with 11392 runs.

India legend Virat Kohli acquires the 5th spot with 11326 runs. He can very well become the first player to reach the 15000-run mark in the next few years.

The post Babar Azam Breaks Shane Watson’s Record, Moves Up In List Of Leading Run Getters In T20 Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

Babar batted at an overall strike rate of 176, however, the rate took a dip when he was nearing the century. Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull, who is commentating in the PSL, was not impressed by Babar’s dip in scoring rate and slammed him on air.

“Rather than putting the team first… the last little while, that’s all that been happening. Rather than looking for boundaries, still, so much firepower to come. Hundreds are brilliant, stats are great, but it has to be team first,” Doull said during the match.

Babar Azam has often been criticised for his slow strike rate but the batter has maintained a stern stance that he will play his game according to the situation.

“Jason Roy changed the game totally. Bowling was not up to the mark, what we discussed we did not execute. Having one more spinner wouldn’t have helped as the pitch was great. We wanted to carry on with the same combination from last game. The way Saim Ayub started, it helped carry on the momentum, as a youngster he is improving day by day and it’s good for Pakistan cricket. As a professional, you need to identify a few things and we will sit and discuss what went wrong. We have back to back games now and we want to come back,” said Babar after the loss.

Coming back to the game, Roy’s brutal 145 off 63 balls clubbed with Mohammad Hafeez’s 41 off 18 helped Quetta chase the target with 10 balls to spare.

The post Simon Doull Launches Scathing Attack On Babar Azam ‘Hundreds Are Brilliant But…’ appeared first on Cricket Country.