Shahid Afridi terminates contract with Sydney Thunder

By Afshan Younis

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 19, 2012: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Khan Afridi has cancelled his contract with the Big Bash League franchise Melbourne Renegade after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allowed him as well as the other two Pakistani cricketers to take part in the KFC Big Bash League 2012.

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Shahid Afridi’s latest decision to refuse the PCB permission to play in the KFC Big Bash League has the potential to put a crack in relations of the PCB authorities and the flamboyant all-rounder who has been in the center of major controversies with the cricket board.

Earlier on Monday, the PCB chairman Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf allowed three Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, and Umar Akmal to participate in the KFC Big Bash League 2012 after receiving a formal request by the Cricket Australia for inclusion of the international cricket stars in its domestic Twenty20 cricket league.

Cricinfo reported Monday that the Pakistani players will leave for Australia after playing in group stages of the local Twenty20 tournament and will miss out on the final phase of the event.

The KFC Big Bash League is swinging into action on December 7 and Pakistani players will have to return home by December 12 when the camp for the tour to India will commence. As per the arrangement, all the three players will be available for only one game to their Big Bash League franchises.

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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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Basit Ali, Shoaib Mohammad join race for Pak batting coach job

By Shoaib Ahmed

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 9, 2012: Former batsmen Basit Ali and Shoaib Mohammad have jumped into the race of winning job of Pakistan batting coach.

Talking to TheSportsNEXT.com on Thursday, former middle-order batsman Basit Ali, who used to copy batting style of batting legend Javed Miandad during his career, said that he hasn’t formally applied for the job but has genuine interest in getting the job of Pakistan batting coach.

He added that he has talked with some people in the cricket board about a possible stint with the national cricket team.

Former opening batsman Shoaib Mohammad, who represented Mohammad family in Pakistan cricket, told this scribe that he was interested in getting either batting or fielding coach job with the national cricket team and was waiting for his chance to work at the PCB.

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Big Bash League to rev up Pak cricketers: Zaka Ashraf

By Shoaib Ahmed

KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) November 8, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appreciated the Pakistani cricketers getting a chance to play in the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) saying playing under Aussie conditions will help them become better cricketers.

PCB double standards comes to the fore yet again as stylish Mohammad Yousuf is yet to get NoC for featuring in President’s Trophy

Talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com on Thursday, the PCB Chairman said that playing in Australia domestic cricket competition is a good opportunity for Pakistani cricketers.

"In Big Bash League, Pakistani cricketers make good money and get ample opportunities to play against the world’s top players on Australian wickets which is going to help them to achieve the competitive edge at international nationals”, Zaka Ashraf told this scribe.

The PCB has once again showed its double standards as on one side it has allowed top cricketers like Saeed Ajmal, Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi to play in the KFC Big Bash League but on the other it has stopped Mohammad Yousuf from playing in the domestic cricket tournament.

It is a good omen for Pakistan cricket that foreign cricket leagues are inviting them but at the same time it’s a hard nut to crack for the cricket fans in Pakistan that why Zaka Ashraf is yet to hand Mohammad Yousuf NoC to play in the domestic cricket competition.

The PCB refused to issue a non-objection certification (NoC) to Mohammad Yousuf for his participation in the ongoing President’s Trophy first-class cricket tournament.

Only last month, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf had told this scribe at the National Stadium during the exhibition match between Pakistan Stars XI and World International XI that he was not going to risk Pakistani cricketers before the much-anticipated Pakistan-India cricket series as the national team can’t bear fitness problems to any of the top cricketers.

However, on the other hand, Mohammad Yousuf, who is out of PCB selectors’ favors for a long time, is still waiting for green signal from the PCB to play national domestic cricket tournaments but the PCB officials are keeping mum on his issue.

The PCB’s silence has prompted former skipper Rashid Latif to lash out at the cricket board officials who are not doing justice to the talent and experience of Mohammad Yousuf.

Rashid Latif wants Mohammad Yousaf in his domestic team Port Qasim Authority and he requested the PCB to issue him the required NoC in this regard but he is yet to receive the PCB version on the issue.

The PCB officials and authorities were not available to comment on the issue despite of several attempts.

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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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Saleem Malik applies for batting coach job

By Tasawwar Abbas

Should PCB takes benefit from experience of Saleem Malik?

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: Former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik has applied for the post of batting coach for national cricket team claiming he was not barred any longer.

Talking to local media on Thursday, Saleem Malik, who was a formidable middle-order batsman, said, “I am cleared and my life ban was lifted four years ago. I am cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) so I can now be involved in any cricket related activity.”

The PCB had banned 49-year-old Saleem Malik in 2000 in the light of an inquiry conducted by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum which found him guilty of offering bribes to Australian cricketers in return of losing matches.

Three Australia cricketers Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, and Tim May had alleged that Saleem Malik had offered them huge sum of money to underperform during Australia tour to Pakistan in 1994.

Despite of getting banned by the local court, Saleem Malik always denied the charges pleading his innocence. Malik was also named in an inquiry conducted by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India which resulted in life bans for former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma.

Saleem Malik found some respite in October 2008 when a Lahore court lifted life ban on him but the verdict was never endorsed by the ICC who is still persistent in stopping the PCB from appointing him at any position.

Saleem Malik was a classy batsman for Pakistan and scored 5,768 runs from 103 Test matches besides scoring 7,170 runs from 283 One Day Internationals and he knows what it takes to be a good batsman.

Pakistan cricket is in need of good batsmen as the recent breed has failed to keep up with the international standards and led Pakistan to a number of defeats especially in the overseas series and tournaments.

Earlier this month, the Pakistan Cricket Board advertised the position of batting coach to help local batsmen get over their vulnerabilities in international cricket.

For a cricketer of Saleem Malik’s experience, coaching certificates don’t really matter but the real question remains on his character which has a tainted history of controversies.

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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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Pakistan team to win semi-final: Zaka Ashraf

By AM Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 4, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Broad (PCB) Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf expressed his hope on Wednesday that the national cricket team would win semi-final against Sri Lanka because players are united and have performed very well throughout the ICC World Twenty20 2012.

Zaka Ashraf told local media here that Mohammad Hafeez was leading the team in good fashion as skipper and the team was fully capable to perform well.

The team would win World Twenty20 title because it has developed into a good combination, Zaka maintained.

To a query regarding Shahid Afridi’s future, he said: “Afridi is an outstanding all-rounder and has the ability to change the situation of match. I hope Afridi will perform as he was key player in past.”

"We have appointed a fielding coach and now team is showing good result in fielding,” he added.

He said that team would keep playing with the same spirit and perform well to bring more laurels for the country.

Captain Hafeez said that team would succeed in semi-final. “We will fulfill the hopes of the nation.”

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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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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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