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Rahul didn’t keep wicket for much of training on the eve of the game, and stand-in captain Pooran only said “we’ll see how he goes”

Shashank Kishore01-Apr-2024Lucknow Super Giants will take a late call on KL Rahul’s participation – whether in part or more – in Tuesday’s away fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Rahul played as an impact substitute in Saturday’s home game against Punjab Kings, with the LSG management keen on “easing him back” from injury.IPL 2024 is Rahul’s comeback tournament after a quadricep injury ruled him out of the last four Tests of the five-match series at home against England earlier this year. Rahul had pulled up with the same injury – against RCB, incidentally – during IPL 2023, and had to undergo surgery followed by lengthy rehabilitation.”We’ll see how he goes at training,” stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran said when asked about Rahul’s availability on Tuesday.Related

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• Rahul hands over captaincy to Pooran for game vs Kings

• LSG sign Henry as Willey withdraws from IPL 2024

At training, Rahul did not keep wicket for most of the session. He first underwent a series of timed sprint and mobility drills that were monitored by head coach Justin Langer. Rahul then practiced the full range of his body movements while playing the sweep in particular and felt his left hamstring repeatedly. He then occupied a quiet corner of the field and kept a close eye on the session for more than an hour. Later, he examined at length the slightly unusual M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch that had more than a smattering of grass right through the 22 yards.Rahul also padded up and went out for a hit against the team’s net bowlers and throwdown specialists. After a 15-minute session, he got back to finishing a few more rounds of mobility drills before walking off to have another long chat with Langer. Only towards the very end of the day did he have a short go with the gloves.”It’s always tough when you have to change combinations,” Pooran said when asked how Rahul’s absence on the field had impacted the team so far. “Obviously, it’s different with KL on the field. But our senior players came together and assisted me in making decisions as well. It’s something that happens. Sometimes when your captain isn’t available, all the senior players stand up, and try and make up for his absence.”KL Rahul scored 58 in 44 balls in LSG’s season-opener against Rajasthan Royals•BCCI

LSG have one win and one loss in two games so far, with Rahul returning scores of 58 (in 44 balls, vs Rajasthan Royals) and 15 (in nine balls, vs Punjab Kings). He kept wicket only in the first game, before handing over the responsibility to Quinton de Kock for the second.Rahul is among the contenders for the wicketkeeper-batter’s slot in India’s T20 World Cup squad.Leading into the IPL 2024 season, there had been debate among observers whether he would bat in the middle order to play a similar role he plays for with the national team. So far, Rahul has opened in both matches.”I am not going lose one second’s sleep over KL Rahul,” Langer had said on his regular captain last week. “He is a beautiful player, he’s an outstanding player. There’s a reason he’s had so much success for India and I’m blessed to have him in our team, not only as an opening batsman or a batsman and wicketkeeper, but also as the captain. He is so calm. He’s a wonderful person.”

Shehzad, who hasn’t played in the PSL since 2020, said being a patriot “goes against you” in Pakistan cricket

Danyal Rasool15-Dec-2023Ahmed Shehzad has retired from the PSL in a blaze of fury, blaming a “deliberate effort” by all six franchises to keep him out of the competition. In a detailed statement, in which he said – without elucidating – that he knew “exactly the reasons why I’m not made part of the PSL”, he said he was leaving to keep his self-respect intact.It does not signal a retirement from all cricket, with Shehzad claiming he had been offered money to participate in leagues around the world, offers which he should theoretically be able to take up now. His statement suggested disillusionment with Pakistan cricket, saying patriotism “goes against you”, and pointedly suggesting other players had taken up lucrative league contracts around the globe, while he opted to stay in the domestic circuit.”I have tried really hard in domestic cricket consistently in the last few years, and did reasonably well in the National T20 Cup just before the PSL draft,” he wrote in a post on social media. “There seems a deliberate effort to keep me out, even when franchises have opted for other performers with inferior numbers than me,” he said. “But when everything is pre-planned it doesn’t really matter. I don’t know whose responsibility it is to get top domestic performers in the PSL then.”Shehzad, 32, last played in the PSL in 2020, primarily representing Quetta Gladiators with whom he won the title in 2019, scoring a half-century in that final. He had a poor tournament in 2020, scoring 61 runs in seven innings, and did not play again. He scored 1077 runs in 45 PSL matches at a strike rate of 120.06, and was the first Pakistani to score a hundred in T20I cricket.Despite being out of Pakistan contention for a few years now, there has been something of a campaign this season – on social media if nowhere else – to have Shehzad selected for Pakistan again. Wahab Riaz, the chief selector, has been asked questions about a possible recall for Shehzad on a couple of occasions, as was incoming selector Asad Shafiq. Both have played down his chances though have not ruled out a return.Shehzad had a decent National T20 Cup, with 344 runs at 133.33, but could find no takers at the PSL draft on December 13. Pakistan’s next T20 assignment is a series with New Zealand, shortly after their red-ball tour of Australia.

WA started shakily at 27 for 2 in a 280 chase before Whiteman and Bancroft steadied the ship with a 96-run partnership

Tristan Lavalette20-Nov-2023Fast bowler Jhye Richardson recovered from a torrid start to complete a successful return from injury before stand-in captain Sam Whiteman’s first List A century guided Western Australia past South Australia in the Marsh Cup.Chasing 280 on a batting-friendly WACA surface, WA started shakily at 27 for 2 after losing openers Josh Philippe and Cooper Connolly to seamer Liam Scott. But their Shield openers Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft steadied the ship by playing calmly in a 96-run partnership.Coming off a rare subpar Shield match, Bancroft was reprieved on 10 when Daniel Drew dropped a sitter at first slip off Jordan Buckingham. He looked immovable from there and cruised to his half-century before falling lbw to legspinner Lloyd Pope shortly after.Pope then removed Hilton Cartwright, but Whiteman played fluently and reached 99 with a huge six onto the famous grassbanks before two balls later clinching his first List A ton in his 61st match.He hit the winning boundary with three balls remaining and was supported at the death by big-hitting Richardson, who smashed 25 off 16 balls. Richardson, who has played three Tests in an injury-plagued career, earlier took 1 for 63 from 10 overs in his second match of the season.”He’s super skillful. He’s had a frustrating time, so he’s pretty stoked to be playing,” Whiteman said of Richardson. “He’s also got some runs in him and took pressure off me at the end.”The winless Redbacks were shorthanded after quick Harry Conway was unable to bowl due to a back injury suffered while batting.Two-time defending champions WA moved to a 4-1 record as they jostle with Victoria at the top of the table.In warm and sunny conditions, the surface was hard and flat in a notable contrast to the grassy pitch used during last week’s low-scoring Sheffield Shield thriller between the teams.Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman put up a 96-run stand•Getty Images

WA decided to bowl and all eyes were on luckless Richardson, who last month returned against Victoria in the Marsh Cup after a long stint on the sidelines following hamstring surgery. But he had another setback after subsequently suffering a dislocated shoulder in a second XI match for WA in Adelaide.Having made a successful recent comeback in Perth grade cricket, Richardson made a nervous start opening the bowling against aggressive Jake Fraser-McGurk, who last month smashed the world’s fastest List A century.Richardson started with five wides and his mood deteriorated further in his next over when Fraser-McGurk smashed him for two boundaries and two sixes in a 22-run over.Richardson was reeling after conceding 30 runs in his opening two overs, but Whiteman persisted with him. The gamble appeared to backfire when Fraser-McGurk whacked another boundary before Richardson repaid the faith on the next delivery by getting through his defences with a well-executed slower ball.After Fraser-McGurk’s whirlwind 31 off 15 balls, South Australia batted watchfully and were pinned down in the middle overs by Connolly’s accurate offspin. There have been big expectations over allrounder Connolly, 20, who burst into prominence after his heroics in last season’s BBL final.After impressing in WA’s opening two Marsh Cup matches, Connolly’s hopes of a Sheffield Shield debut were dashed when he suffered a toe injury after an accident on a boat.Hustling through his deliveries quickly, Connolly dismissed opener Henry Hunt and finished with 1 for 41 from 10 overs.Half-centuries from Drew and Nathan McSweeney kept South Australia on track for a score over 300. Drew’s dismissal in the 33rd over halted their momentum after he fell to debutant left-arm quick Liam Haskett, who performed well in three Sheffield Shield matches this season.But Scott hit a six off the last ball of the innings and he carried over the momentum with the ball before Whiteman took over in his second match captaining WA’s 50-over team.

First five-wicket haul of season for veteran justifies Durham’s decision to bowl first

ECB Reporters Network11-Jul-2022Durham 2 for 0 trail Derbyshire 283 (du Plooy 122, Dal 90, Rushworth 7-44) by 281 runsChris Rushworth marked his 36th birthday with his first five-wicket haul of the LV= Insurance County Championship season, taking figures of seven for 44 as Durham bowled out Derbyshire for 283 on day one of their clash at Seat Unique Riverside.Rushworth was irrepressible after Durham opted to bowl first in sweltering conditions. He rose to the occasion to hold the visitors in check with a perfect line and length, despite a brilliant century from Leus Du Plooy. After a flurry of wickets, the left-hander rebuilt the Derbyshire innings with a stand of 166 with Anuj Dal, who produced a fine knock of 90, to frustrate the home side.However, Rushworth returned with the new ball in the evening session to turn the momentum of the day with three wickets before debutant Stanley McAlindon cleaned up the tail to bowl out Derbyshire, leaving Du Plooy stranded on 122 not out.Durham captain Scott Borthwick made a bold decision to field first in the heat and sunshine at the Riverside. But Rushworth would reward his skipper and his team-mates with his best first spell of the term. The seamer found life in the pitch to trouble the Derbyshire openers, removing Luis Reece lbw with an inswinger for five. Tom Mackintosh on debut behind the stumps then produced a brilliant diving catch to his left to hand Rushworth his second wicket as Billy Godleman departed for only three.Durham capitalised on the absence of Shan Masood, who left the Derbyshire camp to join up with the Pakistan Test squad, reducing the visitors to 30 for three when Ben Raine found Wayne Madsen’s outside edge. Brooke Guest and Du Plooy stabilised matters before lunch with a stand of a 55, stymieing Durham’s charge.A refreshed Rushworth broke the partnership by bowling Guest for 29 and then cleaned up Hilton Cartwright’s off-stump for a first-ball duck. Dal survived the hat-trick ball and endured a close shave on seven, narrowly missing his stumps with an inside edge.Du Plooy and Dal would dig in for the rest of the session as the pitch flattened out in the baking heat at Chester-le-Street. Chances were at a premium for the home side amid solid batting led by Du Plooy, who posted his fourth half-century of the campaign. Dal was more fluent at the other end, passing fifty for the fourth time of the season from only 79 balls with six boundaries to his name.The two players worked their way past the century partnership, becoming the first Derbyshire players to muster a hundred stand for the sixth wicket against Durham. Du Plooy’s hard work was rewarded when he notched his first century of the campaign by cutting Liam Trevaskis to the fence, but Dal could not join his team-mate with three figures following the arrival of new ball.Rushworth bounded in from the Lumley End and claimed two wickets in two balls for the second time of the day. Dal could only fend an outside edge through to Mackintosh before Alex Thomson suffered the same fate. McAlindon would end the day with two moments to remember on his first-class debut, removing Sam Conners to claim his first scalp and Toby Pettman to end the visitors’ innings.

India’s 2012 Under-19 WC-winning captain reveals that lack of opportunities at home prompted him to go to the US

Nikhil Sharma14-Aug-2021Some years ago, a cola commercial aired on Indian television showed a young cricketer peeking into the Indian dressing room, hoping to follow in the footsteps of then captain MS Dhoni. The implied message was that this young man had the smarts to wear the India blue one day. Alas, that is not to be, as 28-year-old Unmukt Chand announced his retirement from Indian cricket on Friday, following in the footsteps of his 2012 U-19 World Cup-winning team-mate Smit Patel in choosing to pick league cricket in the United States. over India.But what made him take such a drastic step?Related

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• Chand retires from Indian cricket, will play league cricket in USA

• Patel quits BCCI system to 'carve out a second coming of sorts' in USA

Speaking over the phone from San Francisco’s Bay Area, Chand told ESPNcricinfo, “These last few years have been tough. But I wasn’t going to give up on cricket completely. If I wasn’t getting enough opportunities to play in India, where were the next four or five crucial years of my career going to go? I still get emotional imagining that I will never get to play for India again. But I have made some special memories while playing in India.”In the 2015-16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season, Chand scored 276 runs at an average of 34.50 for Delhi, including a 58-ball 103 against Gujarat. This ton also made him just the third Indian batter with three or more centuries in the format — joining Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina at the time — but he would be axed from the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2017. For the Ranji Trophy, he was part of the squad but never got a chance to play that season. “I am the first to admit that I had a lean patch in first-class cricket, but I was doing so well in white-ball cricket. Things started going wrong at Delhi, and that’s why I opted to play for Uttarakhand in 2019. I also picked up an injury, and that set me back even further,” he said.Chand made his IPL debut at just 18 years and 15 days, and comparisons with Kohli, a fellow U-19 World Cup-winning captain, were inevitable. “Playing the IPL was a massive experience for me, but I wasn’t very lucky during my stint in it,” Chand, who struck his first IPL fifty for Mumbai Indians against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2015, said. In the match that followed, the openers had a long partnership, and eventually, Kieron Pollard was sent up the order, with Chand missing out. He was benched from the playing eleven soon after and faded away from the IPL.Chand now looks back at that time without any regrets. His IPL opportunities might be behind him, but he is now preparing to extend his career in T20 leagues around the world which will now be open to him.The players from the U-19 World Cup-winning Indian team are sometimes called an unlucky batch. Much was expected of names like Chand, Baba Aparajith, Harmeet Singh, Vijay Zol, Sandeep Sharma, Akshdeep Nath, Hanuma Vihari and Patel. Of them, only Sharma and Vihari have graduated to senior honours.”I too dreamt of playing for India one day,” Chand said. “I did realise some of those dreams with my time at India U-19 and India A. I have been abroad for the past two months, but it doesn’t feel too different from home. I am playing with and against new people. There are plenty of Indians in the cricket system here, and the game is being taken quite seriously. Just the shade of blue is not the one I had initially dreamt of.”Chand will turn out for the Silicon Valley Strikers in the Minor Cricket League in Bay Area – he will make his debut against the Socal Lashings on Saturday – and his long-term contract with them will also include guiding future generations of young cricketers. The Minor League Cricket Championship’s National T20 Tournament that starts soon will pit teams from 27 cities across the United States. Over 400 players will compete in 200 matches across 26 venues.

Ireland beat Afghanistan in a T20I after a sequence of 12 losses, having last won against them in November 2013

The Report by Hemant Brar10-Mar-2020
Ireland won the Super OverKevin O’Brien smashed Rashid Khan for a six on the last ball of the Super Over to give Ireland their first win over Afghanistan in last 13 T20Is in the third and final match of the series in Greater Noida.After Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammad Nabi could manage only eight against Craig Young in the Super Over, Paul Stirling hit a four off Rashid’s second ball to reduce the equation to four required from four balls. Rashid got Stirling lbw on the next delivery and conceded just one from the next two to make it three needed from the last ball. But O’Brien sealed the game to give his side a consolation win after Afghanistan had pocketed the series by winning the first two T20Is.It was Rashid who had earlier helped Afghanistan tie the match in regular time. Afghanistan needed 16 from the final over and then 13 from the last three balls but Josh Little bowled two wides either side of a Rashid six. With five needed from last delivery, Rashid scythed the attempted wide yorker over covers to level the scores.Afghanistan, though, had only themselves to blame to be in such a situation. Gurbaz gave them another brisk start with a 29-ball 42, and at one stage, they needed 52 from 48 balls with eight wickets in hand. Then, Barry McCarthy bowled Karim Janat but it was Simi Singh who turned the game around by dismissing Nabi and Najibullah Zadran off successive balls in the 15th over.Unlike the last game, Asghar Afghan struggled for the timing and could manage only 32 off 30 balls before getting out in the final over. Rashid helped them tie the scores but couldn’t fetch them the victory in the Super Over.Earlier, Naveen-ul-Haq and debutant legspinner Qais Ahmad picked up three wickets each to restrict Ireland to 142 for 8. Naveen sent back Stirling and Andy Balbirnie in his first two overs but O’Brien and Gareth Delany added 62 in 6.5 overs to revive the innings. Ahmad broke the stand by dismissing O’Brien for 26 off 21. In the next over, Rashid dealt Ireland another blow by getting rid of Delany, who struck 37 off 29.That put the brakes on the scoring rate and despite Harry Tector’s 22-ball 31, Ireland could manage only 40 from the last seven overs. But what looked like a well below-par total at the innings break proved just enough in the end.

Dean Elgar has resisted the temptation to join the exodus from South African cricket with a Kolpak deal having agreed to re-join Somerset as an overseas player

George Dobell18-Jan-2017Dean Elgar has resisted the temptation to join the exodus from South African cricket with a Kolpak deal and has agreed instead to rejoin Somerset as an overseas player.Elgar, an opening batsman in the South Africa Test side, is understood to have rejected the opportunity to join other counties as a Kolpak registration and will return to the team he represented in 2013. That means he has committed his future to South Africa as a Test player.That will come as a huge relief to supporters of South Africa who have recently seen Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Hardus Viljoen (Derbyshire), Simon Harmer (Essex), Rilee Rossouw (Hampshire) and Stiaan van Zyl (Sussex) sign Kolpak deals which have ruled them out of international cricket for the immediate future.Durham and Yorkshire are both understood to have registered some interest in recruiting Elgar, but Somerset was always his preferred option after he enjoyed his previous stint at the club. He averaged just 24.60 in his brief Championship stint in 2013 (he only had five innings) but is said to have fitted in well in the dressing room.Somerset are currently understood to be trying to persuade Cricket South Africa to allow Elgar to miss a training camp in late May which would render him unavailable for a couple of games. South Africa play a four-Test series against England in July and August which Elgar will be expected to be involved in.Somerset director of cricket Matt Maynard will see, in Elgar, a ready-made replacement – if only for part of the season – for the influential Australian Chris Rogers, who retired in September after leading them to within a whisker of a first Championship title.”He has all the characteristics that you want in a player,” Maynard said. “He’s a fighter, he battles hard and he brings the sort of gritty determination that the members and supporters will appreciate. He has a good array of shots and is a top class fielder. He is a 100% man and the kind of person who will absolutely buy in to the values that this club holds dear.”Over the last couple of years he has proved himself to be an excellent batsman but there is more to his game than that. He will also offer us a more than useful option with his left-arm spin. We were not the only county interested in securing his services for 2017 so we are delighted that he will be with us.”The ECB is wary of being misled on Kolpak registrations as players express a desire to become English-qualified only later to make an about turn. The ECB has confirmed that the attempt by another South African, Ryan McLaren, wo win a Kolpak deal this time last year with Hampshire was declined on grounds of his vacillating between a Kolpak and overseas registration in the past.

Two days after South Africa piled up the highest total in an ODI on Indian soil, Sachin Tendulkar has said that allowing only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle has paved the way for bigger totals

Amol Karhadkar27-Oct-2015Two days after South Africa piled up the highest total in an ODI on Indian soil, Sachin Tendulkar has said that allowing only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle has paved the way for bigger totals.”It is the rules which have made all the difference. When I played, I remember the four-fielder rule was there throughout the 50 overs and in the Powerplay you could change your field but here more or less (for) all 50 overs the rule changed. You could only have four fielders outside and that definitely put more pressure on the bowlers,” Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a training session for next month’s Cricket All Stars series.

Nationality of coach does not matter – Tendulkar

With Ravi Shastri at the helm till next year’s World Twenty20, the India team has had an Indian heading the support staff for the first time in a decade. Sachin Tendulkar, however, insisted that the nationality of the India coach does not matter.
“I believe that a coach should be a capable coach and it doesn’t matter whether he is a foreign coach or an Indian coach. The coach is one who keeps the team in a good space mentally and also conducts the practice sessions well,” said Tendulkar, who had his share of differences during Greg Chappell’s controversial two-year stint from 2005 to 2007.
“From my experience I can say that a good coach is one who can treat you as a friend, who can be a guide for the team. He should be someone who can always come to your help when you have a problem whether with batting or bowling or something else, you should feel comfortable to go and discuss it with him. I like those type of coaches.”

“With four fielders outside the circle the batsman has more option of scoring runs in boundaries, the batsmen who are prepared to take more risks. That is also to do with the T20 format, the batsmen have been practising certain shots which earlier nobody would play.”The statistics itself show that in the last three years, the amount of matches played in Australia, you see the number of times teams have gone 320-plus. In the last 20 years they have not done that and in the last two years if you are able to do it then (it) is definitely to do with the laws.”Tendulkar refrained from commenting on the India team combination but showered praise on the South Africa batting unit, especially the trio of centurions in the series-decider in Mumbai – Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, who alone scored three hundreds in the five-match series.”I felt that South Africa batted really well. I wouldn’t want to take away credit away from de Kock, du Plessis and de Villiers. I thought de Villiers batted really well.”I was watching a little bit and Shaun Pollock kept saying he has not shifted to sixth and seventh gear. It was rightly so, he has figured out how to pace his innings and he did it beautifully. I would give credit to the way he batted.”Maybe he is possibly at the peak of his career. He is really, really batting unbelievably well and it seems that he has got more time than anyone else.”Tendulkar hoped India would fare better in the Test series and appealed to fans to stand by the team during a difficult phase.”We have a very good team. Each team will go through phases. There will be patches where you will play well and there will be tough phases where things will get really difficult and things won’t go to your plans. But that doesn’t mean that every weekend you pass a judgment on your team.”When they do well you say ‘wow they have done really well’ and following week if they don’t do well you start criticising them. I think we need to show more balance. We all are passionate about cricket and we need to be patient also.”

Only 31.5 overs were possible between stoppages for rain on the third day of Essex’s County Championship match against Middlesex at Chelmsford

26-May-2011
ScorecardOnly 31.5 overs were possible between stoppages for rain on the third day of Essex’s County Championship match against Middlesex at Chelmsford.That was long enough, though, for the visitors to establish a first-innings lead of 94 after bowling out the hosts for 291 and by the close they had added a further 39 for the loss of Sam Robson.Essex had resumed on 235 for 7 and the first two wickets were picked up by fast bowler Tim Murtagh, to signal his first five-wicket haul of the season. First he produced a delivery that nipped back to trap Essex captain James Foster lbw without offering a stroke, but not before the batsman had advanced from 44 to 58 to register his fourth half-century of the summer.Foster’s fine effort contained six boundaries and his dismissal effectively ended Essex’s hopes of getting within touching distance of Middlesex’s 385 total. David Masters provided Murtagh with his second success. He stayed long enough to find the boundary with his only scoring stroke before putting up an easy catch to Dawid Malan at short extra cover.Tim Phillips produced a few aggressive strokes with Reece Topley as his partner but was unable to take Essex to a third batting point. They were still nine short when Anthony Ireland removed Phillips for 28 as wicketkeeper John Simpson claimed his third catch of the innings. Murtagh finished with figures of 5 for 82 as Middlesex established their useful advantage.When they went in again they had moved to 34 when medium paceman Ravi Bopara struck in his opening over by bowling Robson, a century-maker in the first innings, with a ball kept low.But Chris Rogers had moved to 32, containing six fours, as he and Ireland reached the close without further mishap. It was announced during the day that 17-year-old Topley had signed a one-year contract for Essex. Although still at school, this is his fourth Championship outing of the season and so far he has taken 16 wickets.

The PCB named Shahid Afridi as leader of the ODI and Test teams ahead of a packed summer, a move that has been largely welcomed by the country’s former cricketers

Cricinfo staff26-May-2010
Shahid Afridi hasn’t played a Test match in four years•Associated Press

“I feel Afridi is the right choice for Pakistan. Although he is fit to lead in one-dayers and T20s, I have my doubts in Tests. But right now, PCB has no choice. They are short on options.”

“Afridi has the quality to unite the team. But he will have to work for it.”

“I think the board should have done this much earlier. I don’t know why they delayed it. I would also urge the PCB to name Salman Butt as vice-captain for the Asia Cup and England tour.”

“I think Afridi can follow in the footsteps of Imran Khan, who not only united the team in the 1980s and 90s but also won a lot of matches for the country.”

“It is a strange decision and one that could badly backfire because Afridi has not been a regular Test player and his last Test was in 2006. So how can the board give him the captaincy for two very tough series against Australia and England.”

“The board has taken its decision but it is a debatable one. It is a big gamble. I think Shahid will be really tested in England as he has been out of the Test side for four years now.”