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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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

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