Day: November 1, 2021

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

Former Indian cricketers have lashed out at the Indian cricket team for their poor showing in the 2021 T20 World Cup. India lost their second consecutive match of the mega event and are on the verge of elimination from the Super 12s stage after suffering two heavy losses. India sit on the fifth spot in Group B as they lost their first match against arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets and the next match against New Zealand by 8 wickets.

Former Indian cricketers, including Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Sunil Gavaskar, Gautam Gambhir, and Kapil Dev, voiced their concerns at India’s poor performance and lashed out at the players for their below-par displays.

Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, took to Twitter to raise questions about the future of Indian cricket after a terrible performance at the T20 World Cup. Sehwag said that these performances would hurt India, and serious steps need to be taken to restore order in Indian cricket.

Sehwag’s fellow opening partner, Gautam Gambhir, said that despite having some of the best players in the world, the Indian team lacks mental toughness. He said that this has been the trend in Indian cricket over the past 6-7 years as they have been knocked out of ICC tournaments whenever there is a pressure game.

India’s World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, said that serious questions have to be asked from the Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli, and Indian cricket team management to identify the reasons behind their loss. He said that the people have every right to criticize the team as they have been hurt by such woeful performances. He said that it cannot be called a one-off as India has been struggling in major events.

Former middle-order batter, VVS Laxman, said that the Indian team looked like they played without a plan, and the batting unit completely crumbled under pressure. He added that the batters made poor shot choices and were very tentative in their approach.

India will face Afghanistan in their next encounter and will have to win the match to give themselves a chance to qualify for the semi-finals. The match will be played on 3 November in Abu Dhabi.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Indian cricket team is on the brink of elimination from the 2021 T20 World Cup after suffering heavy losses in their first two matches of the competition. While the Indian team was regarded as one of the strong favorites to win the T20 World Cup, their performances have shown a lack of depth and quality in their line-up.

It is no secret that India is the most powerful cricketing nation in the world and their cricket board, BCCI, is certainly the richest cricket board in the world. Indian cricket stars are also certainly some of the biggest cricket stars in the world and it is much owed to their portrayal in the Indian media.

The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and many more are signed with some of the biggest brands in India and appear regularly in advertisements and commercials on Indian television. While it has helped in building a strong image for Indian cricket around the world, it has also led to a lot of overconfidence in fans and the players.

Indian media has been renowned to create advertisements that clearly display their overconfidence and arrogance. One such advertisement was the infamous ‘Mauka Mauka’ series which mocked Pakistan’s record against India in World Cups. Pakistan did manage to finally defeat India in the ongoing T20 World Cup and give a befitting response to their neighbors.

Another advertisement has surfaced online after India’s second defeat of the tournament at the hands of New Zealand. In the advertisement, Indian cricketers, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant are discussing India’s schedule in the T20 World Cup, and rather than focusing on their group matches, they are talking about their potential opponents in the semi-final.

The advertisement shows India’s complete lack of respect for their opponents and their overconfidence in qualifying for the next round of the T20 World Cup. With just three more matches to go in the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup, India will need nothing short of a miracle to move on to the semi-finals of the mega event.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of the spat between Shoaib Akhtar and Dr. Nauman Niaz and has directed the PTV network committee to take immediate action on the incident.

According to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan PM Imran was appalled at the arrogance of Dr. Nauman Niaz and said that this is no way to treat Pakistan’s national heroes. He appreciated Shoaib’s efforts of trying to resolve the issue despite being embarrassed in front of the entire nation. He said that no one has the right to ask anybody to leave the show, and he should have thought a hundred times before insulting Shoaib.

The incident between Shoaib and Dr. Nauman occurred during the post-match discussion after Pakistan’s magnificent five-wicket victory over New Zealand. Dr. Nauman was apparently annoyed at Shoaib’s condescending tone and told him to leave the show as he was being rude and over-smart.

Despite being taken aback by Dr. Nauman’s statement, Shoaib tried to resolve the issue by calming the situation down and asking Dr. Nauman to apologize. Shoaib insisted a few times that Dr. Nauman apologize, but Dr. Nauman refused to do so. Consequently, Shoaib decided to tender his resignation from PTV on live television as he explained that he was humiliated and embarrassed in front of the entire nation.

The two personalities have since been suspended from on-air activities as the PTV network has established a committee to further review the incident. Shoaib revealed that he has already resigned, so there is no point in PTV’s committee moving him off-air. Dr. Nauman, on the other hand, has not talked about the matter since his suspension.

Source: Pro Pakistani