Lions, Stags, Wolves enter last-4 in Faysal Bank T20 Cup

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) December 6, 2012: Lahore Lions, Bahawalpur Stags, and Faisalabad Wolves booked berths in semi-finals of Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 by recording their fifth straight victories Thursday.

Misbah-ul-Haq played rollicking knock of 72 not out to help Faisalabad Wolves beat Karachi Dolphins by two wickets. Bahawalpur Stags recorded 11-run victory over Hyderabad Hawks while Sialkot Stallions defeated Abbottabad Falcons by 34 runs to stay on course to grab the final vacant last-four berth.

FBT20: Rawalpindi Rams thrash Lahore Eagles by 8wkts

At LCCA ground, Rawalpindi Rams thrashed Lahore Eagles by eight wickets. Lahore Eagles, batting first, posted 155 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs. Saad Nasim was top scorer with 44 runs and Abid Ali added 23. Yasir Arafat claimed 3-37. In reply, Rawalpindi Rams achieved the target for the loss of just two wickets. Naveed Malik batted brilliantly and contributed 41-ball 77 runs laced with five fours and seven huge sixes while stylish opener Awais Zia scored 36-ball 54 runs with four fours and the same number of sixes. Naveed Malik of Rawalpindi Rams was named player of the match.

FBT20: Faisalabad Wolves beat Karachi Dolphins in last-ball thriller

Faisalabad Wolves recorded their fifth consecutive victory on Thursday to storm their way into semifinals of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 at Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground in Lahore.

Faisalabad Wolves defeated a star-studded Karachi Dolphins by two wickets on the final delivery of the match.

Pakistan’s former T20 captain Misbah-ul-Haq was the star of the show as he played the captain’s innings and remained unbeaten on 72 runs from 46 balls to steer his team to a superb victory.

Faisalabad Wolves, achieving the target of 146-7 in 20 overs, chased the victory target on the last ball of the match with Misbah playing his unbeaten 72-run innings with the help of four fours and three sixes.

Misbah Khan clinched 3-44 and Shahid Khan Afridi got 2-22 for the Karachi Dolphins.

Earlier batting first, Karachi Dolphins scored 147 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

Khurram Manzoor (51) hit an impressive half century while wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed delivered the final punch (29*) with Khalid Latif also chipping in with 23.

Ehsan Adil was the key bowler for the winners as he captured four scalps for just 28 runs.

Misbah-ul-Haq was named Man of the Match for his captain’s knock.

FBT20: Islamabad Leopards edge out Quetta Bears by five wickets

Islamabad Leopards recorded an impressive five wicket victory over struggling Quetta Bears in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday.

The match stood no significance as both the teams had already crashed out of the semifinals contentions.

Put into bat first, Quetta Bears scored 111 for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.

Farhan Khan top-scored with 32 runs on 32 balls with five fours while Naushad Irshad also played well and remained unbeaten on 19 runs.

Rao Iftikhar Anjum secured three wickets for 11 runs and Imad Wasim took two for 29 runs for the Islamabad Leopards.

In reply, Islamabad Leopards achieved the target for the loss of five wickets from 18.4 overs.

Junaid Nadir (32) and Bazid Khan (23) were the main contributors to the Leopards’ victory.

Arun Lal got one wicket for four runs.

Rao Iftikhar Anjum of Islamabad Leopards was named Man of the Match for yet another superb spell of medium-paced bowling.

FBT20: Multan Tigers pip Karachi Zebras by 17 runs

Multan Tigers continued to impress cricket fans across the country as they edged out Karachi Zebras by 17 runs in Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 at LCCA Ground on Thursday.

Multan Tigers, who can still topple Sialkot Stallions for a place in the semifinal of the event, scored 140 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

The top scorers for Tigers were Zain Abbas (46), Saeed Anwar Jr (39) and Gulraiz Sadaf (22).

Haris Ayaz (2-22) and Faraz Ahmed (2-25) bowled brilliantly for the winners.

Karachi Zebras, in reply, were all out on 123 runs from 19.4 overs. Javed Mansoor (35), Ramiz Aziz (29) and Saeed Bin Nasir 27 played well.

Rahat Ali was hero of the winning side as he clinched four wickets for 15 runs while Saeed Anwar Jr claimed 3-22 and M Irfan 2-17. Saeed Anwar Junior of Multan Tigers was named Man of the Match.

FBT20: Sialkot Stallions a victory away from SF berth

At Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground, Sialkot Stallions stunned Abbottabad Falcons by 34 runs. Put into bat first, Sialkot Stallions piled up a good total of 164 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. Haris Sohail remained unbeaten on 62 runs with six fours and three sixes while Shoaib Malik added 33 runs and Rana Naveed 27. Pace bowler Junaid Khan bowled well and grabbed 3-22. In reply, Abbottabad Falcons could manage to score 130 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. Yasir Hameed made 37 runs and Hammad Ali 33. Rana Naveed bagged 2-26. Haris Sohail of Sialkot Stallions was declared man of the match.

FBT20: Unbeaten Bahawalpur Stags enter last-four

At Gaddafi Stadium, Bahawalpur Stags, which is taking part in the National T20 for the first time, defeated Hyderabad Hawks to enter the semi-finals of the event on the sixth day. Bahawalpur Stags won the toss and decided to bat first. They lost their early wickets at a low score as their two batsmen were shown pavilion on just 13 runs while their third wicket fell on 47 runs. Stags players then played responsible innings and contributed well to make their team’s total a reasonable one. Ali Haider remained top scorer with 26-ball 40 runs while Usman Tariq added important 34. Bilal Khilji played captained innings and smashed 37 and remained on the crease till the end of their innings. Rehan Riaz and Kashif Bhatti bowled well for the Hyderabad Hawks and bagged two wickets each.

Hyderabad Hawks took a good start and scored 44 runs for the first-wicket partnership but Stags captain with his superb ball dented the Hawks batting getting the first wicket of Sharjeel (28). Zeeshan and Azeem Ghumman then played well and added 29 runs for the second-wicket partnership which was broken by Attaullah in the 11th over and soon Hawks lost another wicket in 13.1 over as Imran bowled out Zeeshan Gull (24). After that no batsmen of Hawks could play a big innings and lost their wickets one after another. Hawks tail-enders showed some resistance but could help their team to score win. Karam Hussain, M Talha and captain Bilal Khilji took two wickets each to guide their team to impressive triumph.

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PCB allows Ajmal, Afridi, Umar short stint at KFC Big Bash League 2012

By Ubaid Awan

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 19, 2012: After a request by the Cricket Australia, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday allowed three Pakistani cricketers Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, and Umar Akmal to enjoy a short stint at the KFC Big Bash League 2012.

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The permission will mean that the three top Pakistani cricketers will miss the final stages of the local Twenty20 tournament which runs in parallel with the Australian Twenty20 competition.

The decision is also to the contrary of the PCB’s earlier stance of saving its cricketers from injuries ahead of the all-important tour to India. PCB selectors will also be going through their previous statements where they had made it mandatory for the top cricketers to make sure their presence in the domestic T20 competition to be picked for the India tour.

The top quality trio will return home for the conditioning camp in Lahore for the India tour but will miss the major part of the country’s domestic Twenty20 competition.

It is important to mention here that Saeed Ajmal is associated with the Adelaide Strikers, Shahid Afridi signed up with Sydney Thunder after transferred from Melbourne Renegades, while Umar Akmal is due to represent the Sydney Sixers in the KFC Big Bash League 2012.

Talking to local media on Monday, a PCB spokesperson said that the decision was reversed after receiving a request by the Cricket Australian and the three Pakistani cricketers will miss the final stages of the local T20 tournament to be part of the KFC Big Bash League franchises for a brief period.

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Busy politician Imran Khan says NO to PCB invitation for India tour

By Bipin Dani

MUMBAI, India (TheSportsNEXT) November 19, 2012: Pakistan's World Cup winning captain Imran Khan has excused the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for its invitation to tour India on the occasion of the Pakistan cricket team's tour in December this year.

This was revealed by Zaka Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, while talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com on Monday.

The PCB has decided to send ten former cricket legends to India on the occasion of the revival series between the two nations.

Speaking with TheSportsNEXT.com’s correspondent from Lahore, Zaka Ashraf said, "So far, we have only received a letter of rejection offer from Imran Khan. He (Imran) has been a very busy politician and owing to his busy commitments he has expressed his unavailability. Still, we are persuading him to make it".

At 39, Imran Khan led his team to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992.

In April 1996, he founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which mean Movement for Justice. In the same year, through worldwide fundraising, he founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Last year, he was due to deliver Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture (initiated by Sardesai family a year after the former India batting star expired) in Mumbai. However, owing to his busy schedule he could not make it.

"We have many legends in the country and his place will be taken by some other great", Ashraf added.

Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Mohammad, Javed Burki, Wasim Bari, Intikhab Alam and Sadiq Mohammad are the other players who will be sponsored for India trip.

"These players will be good will ambassadors for Pakistan cricket and can help in improving the cricketing relations between the two countries. It was decided to invite two players for each venue", Zaka Ashraf signed off.

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Zaka Ashraf may replace Nadeem Sarwar with ‘Professional’ media manager

By Tasawwar Abbas

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 13, 2012: Back-to-back controversies has turned Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Zaka Ashraf unhappy with his media manager and he has decided to replace Nadeem Sarwar with a professional, TheSportsNEXT.com has learnt.

A close source to the PCB chairman told this scribe on the condition of anonymity that Zaka Ashraf understands his media managed is incapable of handling tough situations with the media therefore the cricket board and cricketers keep finding them in the hot frying pan of controversies consistently.

Sources said, “Zaka Ashraf is unhappy with Nadeem Sarwar’s performance as PCB media manager and has received plenty of complaints for his rude behavior with the media persons”.

They added, “Some media persons contacted the PCB chief and told him about Nadeem Sarwar’s list of favorite sports journalists besides complaining of misbehave with the ones who are not in his good books”.

Zaka Ashraf’s advisors have also suggested the PCB chairman to relieve Nadeem Sarwar as PCB media manager for his inability to handle issues in a subtle manner and thus earning the cricket board a bad name in the local media.

Sources claimed, “Some PCB officials have also submitted their complaints with the chairman regarding rude behavior of Nadeem Sarwar and advised him to hire a professional manager for the all-important job”.

It is important to mention here that like most of the appointments at the Pakistan Cricket Board, Nadeem Sarwar was also brought into the PCB fold due to his political influence as he used to serve Bilawal House Islamabad. Nadeem Sarwar has been reportedly misbehaving with the sports journalists and recently had a verbal quarrel with Islamabad’s sports journalists followed by an altercation with the Karachi sports journalists.

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PCB stops Afridi, Umar, Ajmal, from Big Bash League participation

By Tasawwar Abbas

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 15, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday barred three of the country’s top Twenty20 stars Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi from participating into next month’s KFC Big Bash League to prepare for the upcoming India series.

There was a growing criticism on the PCB for letting the key players participate in the Australian domestic Twenty20 competition ahead of the all-important series against India.

Former skipper Shahid Afridi was due to represent Sydney Thunder while the world’s best Twenty20 bowler Saeed Ajmal and hard-hitting Umar Akmal had signed contracts with Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers, respectively.

Pakistan will play two Twenty20 Internationals and three One Day Internationals during the course of two weeks long tour to India which happens to be their first full series since 2007. Pakistan cricket team will land on Indian soil on December 22 with first match on Christmas Day.

Talking to local media persons, Chairman PCB Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said, “Since the Big Bash League was clashing with our Twenty20 tournament we have asked the players to feature in the national event so that selectors can check their form and fitness for the selection of the squad for India.”

It is important to mention here that Shahid Afridi has already presented his services for the domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament which will be played either in either Multan or Karachi from December 2, 2012.

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Faisal Iqbal completes 10,000 First-Class career runs

By Afshan Younis

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 15, 2012: Pakistan’s experienced middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal has completed 10,000 runs in First-Class cricket career.

Faisal Iqbal, 30, achieved the feat during second day of the President’s Trophy match between the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Representing the Pakistan International Airlines, Faisal Iqbal, who is nephew of legendary Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad, needed 14 runs to complete his 10,000 First-Class Career Runs which he achieved during an innings which eventually proved the top score for his team.

Faisal Iqbal made 31 runs during the PIA innings which was culminated at 101 all out in response to the SNGPL’s first innings total of 234 runs.

The PIA need more from their senior batsmen including Shoaib Malik who failed to give his wife Sania Mirza a birthday present as he could only manage 10 runs during the struggling PIA innings.

Faisal Iqbal is playing in his 177^th First-Class match and during 277 innings the right-hand batsman has scored 10,014 runs at a healthy average of 40.21 with the help of 22 hundreds and 55 half centuries. Faisal has also taken 149 catches during his First-Class career.

Despite of a glittering First-Class career, Faisal Iqbal has never been a permanent member of the national cricket team as he has played only 26 Test matches where in 44 innings he has scored 1,124 runs at an average of 26.76 hitting a century and eight half centuries. His highest Test score is 139 runs which he made against India in Karachi in 2006.

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PCB picks 10 legends for tour of India

By Babar Malik

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 3, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) picked Saturday a 10-man delegation of former cricketing legends, who will represent Pakistan as goodwill ambassadors during tour of India in December.

The selected players include Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Burki, Wasim Bari, Intikhab Alam and Sadiq Mohammad.

PCB selected players on the basis of their debuts in 50s, 60s, and 70s and said it would continue the process in the times to come.

The PCB issued a statement Saturday which explained the legends selection criteria. It stated, “These players will be goodwill ambassadors for Pakistan Cricket and can help in improving the cricketing relations between two countries”.

However, nothing good in Pakistan cricket comes without a controversy or blame-game. Some of the cricket journalists and former cricketers have criticized on their selection of legends which ignored legends like Asif Iqbal, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Rashid Latif, Moin Khan, and Javed Miandad.

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PCB keeps Misbahul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez at charge

Monitoring Desk

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportNEXT) October 26, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to retain Misbahul Haq for Tests and One Day Internationals and Mohammad Hafeez for Twenty20 Internationals as captain, PressTrustofIndia reported Friday.

Quoting a PCB official, the PTI reported that PCB chief is satisfied with performance of both the captains. “There are no plans to make any changes in the team management and the same set up will continue for the tours to India and South Africa starting from December," the official added.

The official further stated, “The chairman had long discussions with Mohammad Hafeez and coach Dav Whatmore and he feels that with Hafeez doing a good job in gelling the team there is no reason to immediately search for a new captain for the Test and ODI teams”.

Misbahul Haq, who is 38 now, is taking an active part in the Presidents Trophy first-class tournament representing Sui Southern Gas Company but has failed to score big runs as he slumped to a pair in his first match and so far has scored 102 runs at a meager average of 17 runs per innings.

However, the veteran middle-order batsman is confident that runs will soon follow his bat. He told reporters, “It happens and I can sense the runs are around the corner already in the last match I stayed at the crease for a while and the confidence is returning. I am sure the runs will come when the tournament starts after Eid break as lot of matches remain in the season”.

It is important to mention here that both Misbahul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez represent the same team in the domestic cricket tournaments.

When asked about the PCB’s latest decision for using Kookaburra balls in domestic cricket matches, Misbahul Haq appreciated the initiative saying it would help local cricketers to get in terms of the international level.

“I feel the decision of using Kookaburra balls will at least help in decreasing the gap between domestic and international cricket. Both bowlers and batsmen will get a fair idea of how the ball behaves”, he added.

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Zaka Ashraf settles Razzaq-Hafeez row

By Nadira Mushtaque

PCB chief settles differences among Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday held a meeting with Pakistan’s Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez and veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to settle their bilateral issues and imposed 0.1 million rupees fine on Abdul Razzaq, sources told TheSportsNEXT.com.

As per sources, the PCB authorities have backed the Twenty20 captain after Razzaq sprayed venom against him upon his return to Pakistan from Sri Lanka after Pakistan crashed out of the tournament in Semi-Finals.

Abdul Razzaq was of the view that he deserved a place in the playing-eleven and Mohammad Hafeez ruled him out of the match while skipper put burden on team management for making Razzaq sit out of the must-win match.

Following his media outburst, the PCB chief kicked Abdul Razzaq out of the squad for the upcoming Hong Kong Super Sixes where he was initially included as captain.

Sources also claimed that Abdul Razzaq’s inclusion in the Pakistan-India series was also under question for his breach of contract but the veteran all-rounder took a U-turn by submitting his apology to the PCB chairman.

Following the apology, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf summoned both Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Hafeez in his office on Friday where he meddled between the two all-rounders.

Sources said that during the meeting Abdul Razzaq offered his apology to Mohammad Hafeez for his remarks and PCB chairman resolved the issue between the two cricketers.

Sources also claimed that following the resolution of the issue, the PCB may recall Abdul Razzaq back into the squad for the Hong Kong Super Sixes 2012.


Later, speaking at a joint press conference, Abdul Razzaq publicly admitted his mistake saying the incident made him sad and now he was happy to move on forgetting the past.

Mohammad Hafeez told reporters, "There are conflicts everywhere but we should forget the past and think about the future".

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PCB advertises for batting coach

By Nadira Mushtaque

Pakistan Cricket Board on the look for a Batting Coach, Finally!

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 18, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday issued an advertisement for hiring batting coach for the national cricket team.

As per the job requirements stated by the PCB, the ideal candidate should have level-III coaching course degree from the International Cricket Council (ICC), and must possess five years experience of working with professional cricketers.

The last date for application submission is November 4, 2012.

At present, Head Coach Dav Whatmore is handling the additional role of batting coach while he has Mohammad Akram as bowling coach and Julien Fountain as fielding coach in his team.

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PCB chairman not happy with inconsistent Abdul Razzaq

By Nadira Mushtaque

Zaka Ashraf puts blame of Bangladesh's hesitance to tour Pakistan on Punjab government.

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 15, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said Monday that the cricket board has supported veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq consistently but he failed to come up with the goods on regular basis.

Talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com, Zaka Ashraf said, “Selectors didn't want to select Abdul Razzaq for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 but I intervened to get him selected in the team but performance was not that remarkable to earn him an automatic place in the playing eleven”.

Talking about absence of senior cricketers in the domestic cricket tournaments, the PCB chief said the board has made it clear to all the players in the national circuit that they must play domestic cricket if they want to get considered for national selection. “None of the players would be allowed to play county cricket if they try to prefer it over domestic cricket”, he made it clear.

International cricket is returning to Pakistan’s biggest metropolis Karachi next week and the PCB chief was not only happy about it but he mentioned the board officials were keeping a very close look at the PakistanXIvWorldXI matches at National Stadium on October 20-21, 2012.

He stated that the International Cricket Council has been supporting the PCB on a number of issues especially in resumption of international cricket. He alleged that lack of security arrangements by the Punjab government never helped the PCB to make foreign teams tour Pakistan. He added that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was almost certain to send its team to Pakistan but Punjab government’s refusal to provide sufficient level of security made the BCB to stop its team from touring the war-torn country.

Talking about gutsy players like Ahmed Shehzad and Zulqarnain Haider, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said that both the players are good international cricketers and the PCB supported both of them for a long time but both have psychological problems which is not helping their international careers.

“Zulqarnain Haider threatened selectors after they dropped him for the Australia series and Ahmed Shehzad showed indiscipline in a number of domestic matches against umpires. Services of sports psychologist Maqbool Babri will be taken for both the players”, he said.

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I will never want my son to play cricket: Zulqarnain Haider

By Bipin Dani

MUMBAI, India (TheSportsNEXT) October 9, 2012: Pakistan's run-away wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has become father of a baby boy. His wife gave birth to a son last week.

Expressing sheer joy, Zulqarnain Haider said, "My two daughters, Zahra and Firza have their brother now. We have named him as Mustafa".

According to him, the PCB chairman arranged to send a flower bouquet at his residence. Though it could not be confirmed but if so, it may certainly be out of the practice.

"No, I don't want my son to be a cricketer", Haider added. "I want him to be a religious man and devote his life to preaching Islam across Pakistan", he added.

Two years ago, Haider left the team hotel in UAE and left to London without informing the manager.

He has been asked by the PCB to take counseling sessions.

When asked whether he would come to India to witness the matches later this year, he said, "I would like to cement my place in the team and come there as a player".

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Zaka Ashraf meets former Test captain Majid Khan

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) September 28, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf held a meeting with former legendary player and Pakistan Test Captain Majid Khan at his residence on Friday.

 

During their meeting ways and means to further improve the domestic cricket structure in Pakistan came under discussion.

The PCB Chairman briefed Majid Khan on the measures being taken to revamp the Domestic Cricket set-up and sought his suggestions to further rev it up.

Majid Khan also shared his views on return of international cricket to Pakistan which is on the top priority of the PCB chief’s list.

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PCB appoints Javed Miandad as batting consultant

By Ubaid Awan

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 8, 2012: Former Pakistani captain and ex-head coach Javed Miandad has been appointed as batting consultant of the national cricket team for the upcoming 2012 ICC World Twenty20, sources told TheSportsNext.com on Saturday.

 

The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 is commencing from September 18, 2012 in Sri Lanka where cricket teams from across the world would vie for supremacy in the shortest format of the game.

Sources told this scribe that PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf made the appointment on Saturday after realizing the need to have senior professional with the team during the mega event.

Javed Miandad will remain with the Men in Green during the course of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, sources added.

Javed Miandad, 55, who represented Pakistan between 1975 and 1996, is the country’s leading run scorer in Test cricket.

Regarded as the “greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced” by ESPNcricinfo, Javed Miandad has previously worked with the PCB as batting coach of the national cricket team but his over-enthusiasm and habit of interfering into players’ issues made senior cricketers in the team to get him off the job in 2003.

Miandad has had a total of three coaching stints with the national cricket team.

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Javeria Khan, Sana Mir among top 20 cricketers in ICC Rankings

By Sardar Khan

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 8, 2012: Pakistani women cricketers continued improving their performances in the recently concluded tour to England which in return have poured value in their position in the ICC Rankings for Women Cricketers.

Pakistan women cricket team’s middle order batsman Javeria Khan has achieved a unique distinction of making it into the top 20 women batters of the world.

Javeria Khan reached this feat during Pakistan’s recent tour to England where she performed reasonably well both in One Day International and Twenty20 International matches.

This is the first time that any Pakistani woman batsman has made it into the top 20 ICC World Rankings.

On the other hand, Captain of Pakistani women cricket team Sana Mir continued improving her rankings by her effective bowling skills.

Sana Mir has jumped to 11th from her previous best ranking of 12th.

The tour of England has proved a good preparation for Pakistan team where Pakistani batsman Nain Abidi scored the first-ever ODI century by any Pakistani woman against Ireland while Javeria Khan also remained top scorer in the last T20 match of the tour against West Indies where Javeria was top scorer with 37 from 43 balls while Bismah Maroof scored 36 of 47 balls.

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Shahid Afridi pondering his options

By Ahmad Jatt

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 5, 2012: Pakistan’s star all-rounder Shahid Khan Afridi is dejected after severe criticism by cricket fans and former cricketers and is pondering his options and is likely to announce a very important announcement about his career after returing home, TheSportsNext.com has learnt.

As per the sources, Boom Boom Afridi is under stern stress following huge criticism by not only the fans but also from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) authorities and team management therefore he is making up his mind for something big.

Sources told this scribe on Wednesday, “Shahid Afridi talked to some of his close friends whom he usually introduces in media as his Buzurgs (elders). He asked for their advice about his international career and most probably he will announce a very important announcement in coming days".

They added, "Afridi also discussed the stress which he is facing nowadays by the team management and senior colleagues in the Pakistani team”.

It is important to mention here that Shahid Afridi has scored just 177 runs in his last 15 matches in four different series and tournament and got just 10 wickets in these matches which resulted in a huge wave of criticism.

"Yes! It is absolutely right that Shahid Afridi is under stress because of criticism. Management thought Afridi is not fit for batting slot and in the presence of Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal it’s quite difficult to fit him in spinner slot too", the sources said adding, “Some of the senior cricketers also joined former cricketers and advised him that he must take a break from the game".

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PCB renews contracts of its 50 employees

By Ubaid Awan

KARACHI (TheSportsNext) September 4, 2012: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Tuesday, renewed contracts of about 50 of its non-permanent employees and appointed former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari as Instructor for Game Education.

 

As per the details, a number of former cricketers including former leg-spin maestro Abdul Qadir managed to keep their presence at the cricket board by winning the contractual jobs.

Contracts of these employees had expired on June 30, 2012.

Abdul Qadir has been given the responsibility of taking care of grass-roots cricket while Wasim Bari was handed the job as Instructor of Game Education.

Most of these employees have been offered contractual jobs spanning over three months, six months, a month, and a year.

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