Afridi, Umar dropped from Pak squad for Champions Trophy

April 30, 2013

Pak_squad

Karachi, Apr 30: Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Umar Akmal were the prominent names to be axed from the 15-member Pakistan cricket squad announced for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim announced the squad yesterday in Lahore after lengthy deliberations although the selectors had finalised it last week and submitted it to the board Chairman for approval.

At the end of the day, it transpired that the selectors made two changes to their submitted squad replacing injured middle-order batsman Haris Sohail with Umar Amin and preferring to pick left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz over Aizaz Cheema.

The rest of the squad remained the same and Qasim said that Afridi was dropped because of his recent poor bowling form.

"Afridi's bowling has not been up to the mark in recent matches. He has not taken wickets and his primary role in the team is that of a bowler," Qasim told a press conference.

The same set of players with the addition of a few more are expected to get the central contracts for the year 2013.

The Pakistan Cricket Board also announced that Australian Trent Woodhill would be the batting coach of the team for the Champions Trophy and would join them in England.

Woodhill is presently on the coaching staff of the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.

Yesterday, the two major exclusions remained Afridi and Umar, who went to South Africa for the recent one-day series, and the inclusion of uncapped pacer Asad Ali.

Asad has toured with Pakistan on recent tours to India and South Africa without getting a chance to play any match.

The source said selectors relied on experience after consulting the captain and coach.

Qasim said Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil and Wahab are the five pacers selected in the squad while the spin department will be handled by Abdul Rehman and Saeed Ajmal.

"The selectors have also given a final warning to senior pros Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal to gear up and perform or consider the Champions Trophy their last tour with the national team," he said.

Interestingly Afridi was also given a similar warning when the squad was announced for the one-day series in South Africa but he went wicketless.

Pakistan will play one-day series in Scotland and Ireland in May before going to England for the Champions Trophy.

This will be their first visit to England since the 2010 spot-fixing scandal and they are placed with South Africa, India and West Indies in their group.

Pakistan squad: Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq (Capt), Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil and Wahab Riaz.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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