Pakistan Test opener will continue to stay in Karachi as he has been advised against travelling as a precautionary measure for two weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2021Pakistan Test opener Abid Ali has begun his rehabilitation after undergoing two angioplasty procedures last week.He has been discharged from the hospital and since shifted to a hotel where he has begun his post-surgery rehabilitation. He will continue to stay in Karachi, away from his home in Lahore, as he has been advised against travelling as a precautionary measure for two weeks.Abid, 34, was withdrawn from a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match abruptly after he complained of chest pain while batting on 61 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last week and was taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with a case of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and underwent a stenting procedure in his artery.Related

• James Taylor forced to retire with serious heart condition

• Abid Ali undergoes angioplasty day after being hospitalised

• Abid Ali diagnosed with heart condition

On Monday he tweeted a video that showed him walking on a treadmill. “Alhumdulilah, getting back in the momentum as per the doctor’s instructions,” he wrote. “A big thank you for the immense love and support shown by my family, friends and followers. I will recover soon. Keep praying.”The PCB medical team is liaising with an interventional cardiologist in Karachi to follow up on Abid’s treatment as he is a centrally contracted player and one of the key fixtures in the Pakistan Test line-up. He recently had a successful outing in Bangladesh, where he was Player of the Series after scoring 263 runs at 87.66.In Karachi, he was playing for Central Punjab in his sixth first-class game this season and had scored 778 runs at an average of 86.44 with three hundreds. On the last day of a game at UBL Complex in Karachi, he had crossed a half-century when he had shown discomfort around his shoulder and chest area before he was rushed to the hospital.Abid has been the highest run-getter in Tests for Pakistan since his debut in 2019, and in 2021 he is fifth in the world with a tally of 695 from nine matches, including a double-hundred against Zimbabwe in Harare. He made his debut in Rawalpindi in 2019 after spending 12 years in domestic cricket for 7116 runs in 106 first-class games. He made his Test debut at the age of 31 and began with a century, and also became the only player in history to reach three figures on both Test and ODI debuts.Neither the PCB nor Abid has made any comment yet about his future in the game. The PCB refused to divulge the exact nature of his medical condition but previously James Taylor, the former England batter, was forced to retire from cricket immediately after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition called ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy).

Both men believe criticism of the players is wide of the mark

Alex Malcolm08-Feb-2022Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey doesn’t subscribe to the theory that a small group of players and staff were key to Justin Langer’s departure as head coach while Usman Khawaja believes Test captain Pat Cummins or limited-overs captain Aaron Finch needs to answer some questions to end the speculation.The current Australian players and staff have been conspicuous in their collective silence in the days following Langer’s resignation on Saturday morning.Related

• Cummins: 'Don't think Langer should be surprised' with players asking for coaching change

• Agar named as third spinner in Australia squad to tour Pak

• Langer apologises for being 'too intense' in resignation letter

• Langer resigns as Australia coach after rejecting short-term extension

Alex Carey and Khawaja were the first players to do any media appearances, with both men speaking in the lead-up to the restart of the Sheffield Shield season on Friday, while Bailey spoke following the announcement of Australia’s 18-man Test squad to tour Pakistan.Bailey said he was consulted by Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley and head of national teams Ben Oliver about Langer’s position but he did not believe the accusations that a “faceless few” individuals had been key to the coach not getting a long-term contract were accurate.”I was consulted,” Bailey said. “I’m led to believe that it was a very, very broad consultation. It went wide. Again, I’ve been consulted back since the middle of last year,” Bailey said.”I don’t subscribe to the fact that there was individuals that were key to making the decision.”Bailey also thought Langer’s apology in his letter of resignation was unnecessary.”In JL’s letter that he apologised for being too intense, I mean, I don’t think that’s something he had to apologise for,” Bailey said. “One if he felt that way, but two, I don’t think he was too intense.”A number of ex-Australia players, many of them Langer’s former teammates, have rebuked the current playing group in the media following the coach’s resignation. Bailey encouraged many of them to reach out if they had any concerns about the inner workings of the Australian team.”It’s hard as a past player to keep your finger completely on the pulse of what’s going on within the team,” Bailey said. “A lot of their opinions can be based on hearsay and second and third-hand information. So I would always encourage those players to reach out and get a good understanding of what’s happening.”Khawaja said he wasn’t consulted on the coach’s contract and noted he had not been around the team during the India Test series last summer and the West Indies and Bangladesh limited-overs tours last winter where issues between Langer and the players had bubbled to the surface. But he urged Cummins and Finch to address the issue.”I think at some stage one of the captains, probably Finchy or Patty will probably have to stand up and answer some questions just to get rid of all the speculation that’s going around and to just put an end to it all,” Khawaja said.Both Khawaja and Bailey said they had contacted Langer since his resignation. Both praised the departed coach for bringing humility back to Australia’s men’s cricket team.”One thing that I do love JL for, what I feel he bought back into Australia was humility,” Khawaja said. “I felt like he brought humility back in the Australian cricket team. You talk about legacy, for me, that’s one thing that he’s left behind. Because I know what we were playing like before he was coach, and I know what we were playing like after he became coach. So I haven’t said that to him yet. So I’m saying it to you guys.”Bailey added a similar sentiment recalling Langer’s first day on the job.”Funnily enough through a bit of a quirk of fate, and I can’t remember why it was, but I was actually present in Brisbane the day that JL first spoke to the Australian group when he took on the role,” Bailey said.”I sort of feel like I was there for day one of the journey despite coming on in this role halfway through. But I vividly remember his two points that day. He wanted the team to earn respect with Australians and he wanted to develop great cricketers and great people. And I think he has absolutely done that. I think the team have done that. JL has done that. The staff around the team have done that.”

The entire touring party has been asked to go into isolation for 48 hours before they are tested again

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2022Several members of the Afghanistan touring party in Bangladesh, including some players, have tested positive for Covid-19. It is understood that the Afghanistan squad, currently training in Sylhet ahead of a white-ball series against Bangladesh, have been asked to go into isolation for 48 hours – which ends on Wednesday – before they appear for fresh tests.The BCB has extended its support to the visitors, even though technically, the tour hasn’t started, and the Afghanistan squad is in Sylhet, since February 12, on their own.”Definitely we will support them in this situation,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB cricket operations chief, said. The visiting side will come under the BCB’s care officially on February 19. The tour is scheduled to start on February 23, with the first ODI in Chattogram, followed by two more games at the same venue on February 25 and 28. This will be followed by two T20Is in Dhaka on March 3 and 5.

The Bangladesh captain says he wants his side to finish in the top four on the World Cup Super League points table

Mohammad Isam28-Feb-2022Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal called Afghanistan the hungrier of the two sides following the visitors’ seven-wicket win in the third ODI in Chattogram. Tamim’s frustration stems from his side’s meek surrender in a match that carried ten World Cup Super League points even though it was a dead rubber as far as the series was concerned.Tamim has been stressing on treating every game equally since Bangladesh won the ODI series against Sri Lanka last May. There too Bangladesh played poorly in the third match. He repeated the message ahead of the third ODI in Zimbabwe in July, which Bangladesh closed out successfully.On Monday, they were bundled out for 192, before losing with 59 balls to spare.”Losing back-to-back wickets makes it difficult,” Tamim said. “Three run-outs also didn’t help. If we could have managed 250, we could have probably had a better chance. Credit goes to Afghanistan. They were hungrier than us to win the last game. Rashid [Khan] bowled very well today although we played their spinners really well in the first two games. [Rahmanullah] Gurbaz batted really well.””I wanted the team to finish [the series] on a high and get the maximum points,” Tamim said. Bangladesh currently sit atop the points table, but they have challenging assignments up ahead, and Tamim wants his team to aim for a higher position on the World Cup Super League table, not just be satisfied with the World Cup qualification. The top eight teams on the points table automatically qualify for the global event, with the others facing a qualification tournament.”You don’t know about the future,” Tamim said. “We are playing next against South Africa and Ireland in their conditions. We are playing against England too, so there’s nothing guaranteed. You have to make sure you get maximum points from every opportunity.”If we win one or two [matches], we will probably qualify for the World Cup. [But] it is not my target. My personal target as a captain is to finish in the top four. If you want to claim that you have come to win the 2023 World Cup, it wouldn’t make sense if you qualify as the seventh or eighth team.”His opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi was glad Afghanistan could grab ten points after conceding the series. Afghanistan end this series at No. 4 on the points table.”Every game was important for us in this ODI series,” Shahidi said. “We were disappointed after the first two games, but that happens in cricket. These ten points will make our future a little bit easier. I am happy how we played.”Shahidi credited the spinners and fielding efforts but he had special praise for Gurbaz who struck an unbeaten hundred.Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck an unbetaen 106•BCB

“I feel very proud of the way we played in this game,” he said. “Gulbadin [Naib] took a great catch [to get rid of Litton Das]. The way Rashid and [Mohammad] Nabi bowled, the three run-outs, all of these were turning points.”The way Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan started… Gurbaz got injured in the last game, so he was still not feeling good yesterday. When he told me that he is available, I gave him confidence. I told him, ‘You are the one I have belief in.’ I told him that whenever he goes out there, he should try to score a hundred.”He is a match-winner. Whenever he gets a start, he makes it big. We have a bundle of youngsters in the team. Ibrahim Zadran is technically really good. Riaz Hassan gave us a good start today. I am sure they will all play well for Afghanistan in the future.”Tamim too reserved special praise for Litton who had scores of 136 and 86 in the last two ODIs. Litton has turned around his form since the T20 World Cup, scoring hundreds against Pakistan and New Zealand in Tests, and finishing as the team’s highest scorer in this ODI series.”It is really pleasing to see him shining,” Tamim said. “I hope he can continue to do so in the near future. He is a quality player. I think he batted exceptionally well in the second game and today. He was very calm at the start but he never missed an opportunity to score runs.”You had to bat as if you were batting in a Test match because we were playing on a grassy pitch for the first time at home. The ball does a bit. He played the three spinners with a lot of comfort.”

With WA only needing a draw to claim the Shield title, Whiteman made 123 and Hardie finished 119 not out to all but bat Victoria out of the game with a day to play

Alex Malcolm03-Apr-2022Western Australia have one hand on the Sheffield Shield trophy after centuries from Sam Whiteman and Aaron Hardie took the game away from Victoria on the fourth day at the WACA ground in Perth.With WA only needing a draw to secure the title after claiming the bonus point lead on day three, Whiteman produced a superb display of concentration and determination to blunt the visitors for more than three sessions and found able support from Hardie, who produced an outstanding century, to push WA’s lead to a nearly unassailable 393 with four wickets in hand and a day to play.Whiteman batted 500 minutes for his 123 from 338 balls, to go with his 85 in the first innings. He became the second WA player to face more than 500 balls in a Shield final after Mike Veletta did it in 1987.Hardie showed his blossoming all-round talents, adding his second Shield century to his three crucial wickets in Victoria’s first innings.The pair produced a brilliant 184, the highest sixth-wicket partnership for WA in a Shield final after coming together at a critical point in the first session. WA had crawled along to 5 for 110, with a lead of just 190, after the fall of Teague Wyllie and Josh Philippe in quick succession.But Whiteman’s disciplined leaving and Hardie’s obdurate defence wore down Victoria’s attack across more than 62 overs on a warm afternoon.Whiteman hardly made a mistake, having already batted the final session of the third day. Scott Boland, Will Sutherland and Mitchell Perry threw everything at him but his judgement of length was superb. He also played the spin of Jon Holland and Matthew Short with similar discipline and assured footwork. He sweated on anything short and wide unfurling cuts and late cuts behind point in between long periods of leaving and defending.He brought his century off 268 balls with a late cut off Holland. It was ninth in first-class cricket and his eighth Shield century. It was also his sixth ton in the last four seasons since becoming a full-time top order batter, having started his career in WA as a specialist wicketkeeper-batter before a bad finger injury forced him to abandon the gloves.Sam Whiteman walks off at tea with an unbeaten century•Getty Images

Hardie overcame a nervous start and survived a close lbw shout off Sutherland just after lunch. The umpire deemed it just going over the top after the ball hit the back thigh in line with off. He also edged Holland from over the wicket, but the ball brushed the gloves of keeper Sam Harper and fell short of Peter Handscomb at slip.But the longer he went, the tighter his defence became and the better his driving was off both feet. He hit the spinners powerfully wide of mid off from both the front and back foot and produced a couple of sparkling straight drives, including one to bring his century in fine style.Victoria bowled well throughout the day and deserved better than their returns. They ground WA to a halt in the morning session thanks to Boland and Sutherland. WA scored just three runs in the first nine overs of the day and only 43 in the first 30 overs before lunch. The slow scoring and the dual breakthroughs gave Victoria hope that they could bowl WA out and chase down a target of under 300.Wyllie, who scored just 23 off 86 balls, edged Perry to slip prodding a forward defence at a ball he could have left. Handscomb held yet another catch to add to his record season tally. Shortly after, Philippe played a loose shot to Holland, chipping him to cover for 1.But they failed to make another breakthrough until the final hour when Whiteman finally made an error in judgement and lost his off stump shouldering arms to Sutherland.Hardie and Joel Paris saw WA to stumps without further loss and only a miraculous final day chase from Victoria would deny them a first Shield title in 23 years.

The middle-overs contest could be key to the game’s outcome

S Sudarshanan08-May-20221:50

Should Mumbai Indians give Kieron Pollard a break?

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When Kolkata Knight Riders played Mumbai Indians last time, Daniel Sams ended the match with an over to forget, as Pat Cummins took 35 off it to score the joint-fastest half-century in the IPL, while Venkatesh Iyer made an unbeaten 50 after opening the batting with Ajinkya Rahane.Just over a month down the line, Cummins and Venkatesh, lacking form, find themselves out of Knight Riders’ XI. Rasikh Salam and Tymal Mills are out of the competition. Both teams are staring at a league-stage exit with eight and seven losses respectively, even though mathematical possibilities remain for Knight Riders.The two teams have taken contrasting routes to their positions of strife. Mumbai have lost the fewest powerplay wickets of any team in IPL 2022 (12), and Knight Riders the most (23). They have tried five opening combinations, without much success, and their run-rate of 6.53 is the lowest of all teams in the powerplay, while Mumbai are among the top four fastest starters this season at 7.91 runs per over.

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You can watch the match on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi.

In the middle overs, however, Knight Riders have achieved the best run rate among all teams (8.97), while Mumbai rank bottom at 7.42. Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum alluded to this after their loss against Lucknow Super Giants when he said, “We’ve been good throughout the middle phase, not too bad at the death, but the powerplay, we’ve been a little stuck.”Mumbai, whose campaign got off to a disastrous start with eight successive losses, have finally managed to put together what seems like a balanced bowling attack with two spinners and three seamers to go with the part-time medium-pace of Kieron Pollard. With Sams managing to turn his season around, Mumbai look set to deliver the final blow to Knight Riders’ playoffs chances.However, the five-time champions have managed the second-worst economy rate (9.04) of all teams in the middle overs, which Knight Riders could look to exploit, provided they get through the powerplay relatively unscathed.Umesh Yadav has picked up eight wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2022•PTI

In the news

Umesh Yadav missed Knight Riders’ last clash after pulling his calf-muscle. Umesh’s eight wickets in the powerplay are still the joint-second-most this season but there’s no word yet on his availability.

Likely XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 B Indrajith (wk), 2 Aaron Finch/Sam Billings, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Shivam Mavi/Venkatesh Iyer, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Harshit Rana/Umesh YadavMumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 M Ashwin/Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kumar Kartikeya, 11 Riley Meredith

Strategy punt

• Sunil Narine has dismissed Rohit Sharma nine times in 23 T20 innings while only conceding 183 runs in 170 balls. Tim Southee, meanwhile, has dismissed Rohit four times in 14 innings while going at less than seven an over. There is a case, then, perhaps, for these two bowlers to share the new ball even if Umesh – whom Rohit has a healthy record against – is fit to play.

Stats that matter

• Mumbai have won 22 of their 30 games against Knight Riders. Their win percentage of 73.33 makes this the most lopsided rivalry in IPL history.
• Rohit’s average of 19.80 in IPL 2022 is his worst in any season of the tournament.
• Mumbai are set to play their 250th T20 match overall.
• In all T20s since the start of 2021, no batter has hit more sixes in the death overs than Tim David (47).

Masood and Madsen show the way before Middlesex turn up the heat

Paul Edwards13-Jun-2022
“Hominem te memento” whispered the auriga in the ear of Roman generals during their triumphs. Remember that you are a man. Perhaps Mickey Arthur should detail a junior member of staff to say something similar to Shan Masood during these weeks in which he is making batting appear the simplest thing on the planet.Or perhaps not. Masood is enjoying a magnificent season partly because, having experienced failure, he understands the nature of success. The Pakistani opener will only need to recall his uncharacteristically wild slash to a ball from Ethan Bamber in the eighth over of this morning’s play to be freshly aware of his fallibility. Stevie Eskinazi took the catch at first slip and thus ended one of the finest 49s you could ever see. And this match in its tree-ringed paradise may yet hinge on how well Masood bats in the fourth inningsArthur’s achievement in the East Midlands has been rather different and more complex. Rather than remind Derbyshire’s cricketers of their vulnerability, he has encouraged them to make the most of their strengths. The result is that a team which lost half its 14 first-class matches in 2021 has so far been defeated just once this season. The side’s competitive edge, and thereby Arthur’s influence, was apparent in the first half of this day’s play, never more so than when Wayne Madsen and Brooke Guest were putting on 82 for the third wicket.But at that point, Arthur might have asked George Scrimshaw, one of Derbyshire’s 12th men, to go out and murmur words of caution in the batsmen’s lugholes. For once Guest had been gated for 40 by a ball angled in to him from Bamber, very little went well for Godleman’s team. Indeed, Middlesex’s bowlers seized control of the day, their efforts led by a man who needs no reminding of human frailty. For given even a regular helping of luck, Toby Roland-Jones would have gained many more than four England caps; instead, his recent career has been wrecked by injury and he must commit himself to Middlesex. Plainly he does not find it a hardship.Roland-Jones’ devotion to his county’s cause has always been very plain but his spell of 7-4-14-5 this afternoon was extraordinary even by his standards. Maintaining a tight line and using a recently changed ball, he exploited the Derbyshire players’ every weakness – and there was suddenly an abundance of those. The result was that having been well placed on 175 for two and 208 for three, the latter giving a deficit of 43, the home side collapsed like a detonated power station, losing their last seven wickets for 21 runs in exactly 11 overs.Declines of that magnitude and velocity often determine the outcomes of games. By close of play, Middlesex were 95 for 3, giving them a lead of 117 and the opportunity to bat a couple more sessions of the third day before leaving, or even setting, a target on a pitch which is offering the spinners plenty of encouragement. Mark Stoneman is unbeaten on 60 and has hit eight fours and a six, with all but one of his boundaries on the leg side. The visitors’ advantage is nothing like enough but it is difficult to see them subsiding like Derbyshire did and harder still to see the home side chasing more than 240 unless Masood plays an innings from the Gods. And come Wednesday, Thilan Walallawita and Luke Hollman should enjoy bowling on this Queen’s Park pitchBut it was not the twisters who caused havoc this afternoon. Rather, it was Roland-Jones loping in with those lovely long strides who persuaded Madsen to play a little too far from his body and thick-edge a catch to Sam Robson in the gully. For all that Masood is by five furlongs his side’s best batter, Madsen is still the player his colleagues look to when their ship’s listing in rough water. It was almost natural that his dismissal began the submersion.Next over, Leus du Plooy came half-forward to Tim Murtagh but merely edged Eskinazi the second of his three slip catches. Ten minutes later, Anuj Dal missed a straight one from Roland-Jones, who was to bowl similarly probing deliveries to Alex Thomson and Sam Conners before either had scored. The batsmen trusted their pads; it was not a wise move. At one stage, Roland-Jones had taken four wickets for absolutely spit in 21 balls. On the first day of this match the public address system had gone on the blink; this afternoon, some of the locals – flat vowels, warm hearts – probably wondered if someone could smash the bloody thing again. Derbyshire’s innings ended when Luis Reece hoisted Murtagh into the heavens and Max Holden took the catch at deep square leg.Middlesex’s lead was 22. It’s now 117 and feels much larger than that. Beyond a doubt, it does not seem 24 hours since Masood had hit five blissful fours off Murtagh’s new-ball bowlers, the skipper being among the sufferers. Four of those boundaries were conceded by Roland-Jones, though, the man who this afternoon ran through Derbyshire’s batsmen like ten pints of Hook Norton coursing through an Oxonian’s bowels.

The Australia fast bowler with a finger injury wants to play a part in the ongoing ODI series, but not at the cost of his Test place

AAP17-Jun-2022Australian quick Mitchell Starc is still holding out hope of featuring in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, but only if it doesn’t compromise his chances of playing in the Tests.Starc sliced open his left index finger on his shoe spike during his follow through in the T20I series opener last week. The 32-year-old has been able to bowl full steam at training in recent days, but ICC rules preventing bowlers from using tape on their fingers means Starc hasn’t been able to feature in games.Starc had the stitches removed on Thursday, but just how well his finger recovers from this point on will determine whether he will be fit for game three of the ODI series against Sri Lanka on Sunday. He is hopeful of playing at least some part in the five-match series, but only if it won’t compromise his chances of featuring in the two Tests that follow.”I’m still holding onto hope that I will,” Starc said of his chances of featuring in the ODI series. “There’s still a fair bit of glue still in the wound. That will start to dissolve a bit more in the next couple of days. Once we get to Colombo we’ll have a look at it again and see where it’s at.”I’m still training. It’s just a matter of where the wound is at, and obviously with one eye on the Test series as well and not compromising that.”Starc said it was frustrating to feel super fit and still unable to play.”I feel really good with the ball in hand,” he said. “I’ve had to bowl at training with the tape on, and it’s purely that I can’t do that in the fixture due to the ICC rules which is why I’m not playing.”If it’s game three, four, or five [that I play], I’m not sure yet. We’re just making sure we’re not compromising the Test series [which starts on June 29].”Australia have been riddled by injuries on the tour to Sri Lanka. Marcus Stoinis (side strain), Sean Abbott (finger) and Kane Richardson (hamstring) will play no further part, while Ashton Agar (side strain), Starc and Mitchell Marsh (hamstring) have also been injured. Agar is out of the remainder of the ODI series but hopeful of being fit in time for the second Test.Star batter Steven Smith sent a scare through the camp in Friday’s 26-run ODI loss when he pulled up lame while sprinting for a second run. Although he was able to play on after receiving strapping on his upper left leg, he will be assessed over the coming days.”I don’t know how sore he is or how much of a niggle he might be,” Starc said. “After he got the strapping he played a pretty nice drive through mid-wicket, so I’m sure he’ll be fine to play the next game.”

His absence opens the door for either Haris Rauf or Faheem Ashraf to make the XI

Sreshth Shah21-Jul-2022Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle that begins on Sunday. The PCB said in a statement that Afridi suffered a knee injury during the fourth day of the first Test that Pakistan won by four wickets.Afridi had played a key role in Sri Lanka’s first innings in the opening Test, taking 4 for 58 in 14.1 overs to bowl the hosts out for 222. But he bowled just seven overs in Sri Lanka’s second innings that lasted for 100 overs, and left the field after appearing to be in discomfort on day three. He will, however, stay back with the Pakistan contingent in Sri Lanka till the end of the Tests “where his initial rehabilitation and management will continue under the supervision of the team’s medical staff.”Afridi was initially seen hobbling in the field after a diving effort, and was spotted with an ice pack wrapped around his knee thereafter. He had also undergone an MRI scan in Galle.Afridi’s absence opens the door for one of fast bowler Haris Rauf or bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf to make the XI for the second Test, if Pakistan opt for another seamer despite Galle providing spin-friendly conditions. Afridi’s injury also delays his bid to become the 11th Pakistan seam bowler to take 100 Test wickets. He is currently on 99 scalps in the format.Pakistan’s next commitment is a three-match ODI series in the Netherlands starting August 16, after which the Asia Cup T20 competition is scheduled to be held later that month. It is still unclear whether Afridi’s injury is serious enough to put his participation for those games in jeopardy.Sri Lanka have injury concerns of their own too ahead of the final Test of the series, that is also part of the World Test Championship. On Thursday, it was learnt that offspinner Maheesh Theekshana was ruled out of the second Test with a finger injury.

The home side is missing Chatara and Muzarabani, but the visitors have a fresh team, with a new captain, and a poor record in the format

Mohammad Isam29-Jul-2022

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There will be an air of expectation and anticipation at Harare Sports Club when Zimbabwe take on Bangladesh in three T20Is starting Saturday.Less than two weeks ago, Zimbabwe topped the T20 World Cup qualification tournament, signing off with a rousing show in the final when they beat Netherlands by 37 runs. Bangladesh are a superior side on paper, but not much more than that, especially in T20Is, a format they still haven’t quite come to terms with.So Zimbabwe have reason to believe. Four of their five main batters have strike rates between 126 and 150 in T20Is. Among them, Sikandar Raza has the best strike rate as well as the most runs, and the best innings score. The others – Wessly Madhevere, Sean Williams and Regis Chakabva – are in form too. Raza, the main allrounder in the team, also has recent experience playing the Bangladesh players, having taken part in both last season’s Bangladesh Premier League and Dhaka Premier League.Related

• Nurul Hasan might only be a stop-gap captain

• Raza: 'Nightmare of not making 2019 WC never went away'

Raza is also Zimbabwe’s joint-highest wicket-taker in T20Is this year, though Zimbabwe would have liked to have Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani to give Raza company. But they do have Luke Jongwe and Ryan Burl, who have both been among the wickets of late, and Williams, who has an excellent economy rate in the format this year and bowled well in the qualifiers.Bangladesh, meanwhile, have travelled without their four most experienced cricketers. Tamim Iqbal has retired from T20Is. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah – who recently lost the captaincy, with Nurul Hasan taking charge – have been rested, while Shakib Al Hasan has taken a break. That’s 391 matches worth of experience gone.Nurul, therefore, has a lot on his plate. A solid wicketkeeper who is known for his innovative batting, Nurul, however, hasn’t scored a lot of runs in T20Is recently. Overall, too, 271 runs from 33 T20Is at an average of 12.90 and strike rate of 111.98 shouldn’t strike fear in opposition hearts.But Nurul has stressed on “impact runs” rather than just runs – something the team will expect from him. Nurul will also hope that their new line-up can get them decent totals. The onus will be on Litton Das to lead, while Afif Hossain has a bit of something about him. There’s also Munim Shahriar, Anamul Haque and the returning Najmul Hossain Shanto and Parvez Hossain Emon among the batters.Sikandar Raza is the man in form, with bat and ball•AFP/Getty Images

Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam are the main quicks, while Nasum Ahmed should do well too. Bangladesh will also have to find the right time to use Mahedi Hasan and Mosaddek Hossain, while the returning Hasan Mahmud and Mehidy Hasan Miraz will have chances coming their way too.

Form guide

Zimbabwe WWWWW
Bangladesh LLLWL

In the spotlight

Sikandar Raza is on a hot streak with bat and ball. He took a career-best 4 for 8 in the qualifier final against Netherlands. He also scored 82* and 87 against USA and Singapore earlier in the tournament, apart from couple of forties against Afghanistan back in June.Bangladesh’s six-hitting problem doesn’t seem to have gone away, though Afif Hossain has shown some ability there. Afif has struck 18 sixes in the last 12 months, the most in this team. But it is really low compared to the big teams around the world, with Nicholas Pooran leading with 46 sixes. Afif is one of the few form players in his T20I team, having struck a half-century in the third match in West Indies the other day.Afif Hossain is Bangladesh’s best bet when it comes to hitting big•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Zimbabwe are likely to be unchanged for the first game on Saturday, sticking with the XI that beat Netherlands in the final.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Regis Chakabva (wk), 2 Craig Ervine (capt), 3 Sean Williams, 4 Wessly Madhevere, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Milton Shumba, 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Tony Munyonga, 9 Luke Jongwe, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Richard NgaravaBangladesh have to rebuild their batting in the absence of the seniors. They have Shanto, Shahriar and Emon as options, but none of them are middle-order batters.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Anamul Haque, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Afif Hossain, 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Nasum Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

In the last 12 months, sides batting first have averaged 160 at Harare Sports Club. Three out of six teams have won batting first. The weather on Saturday is likely to be fair and dry.

Stats and trivia

• The Zimbabwe v Netherlands final, held in Harare, had the most lbw decisions in a T20I match.
• Bangladesh have used ten different opening pairs in their last 29 T20Is.
• Mustafizur Rahman’s 66 matches makes him the most experienced T20I player among the two teams.