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New Delhi, Sep 2 (Ians) With franchise cricket resulting in players from different countries playing together, players are losing their aggression as they feel friendly towards players from rival countries.

Sparks are sure to fly when archrivals like India and Pakistan or England and Australia cross swords in the field.

However, even in these ‘friendly’ times, former India opener Gautam Gambir says the feeling of friendship with opponent teams should be left outside the field. He said he never had a friendly banter with players from rival teams.

“Friendship with opponent teams should always stay outside of the field. This trend has now started with the emergence of franchise cricket formats. I have never experienced on-field friendly banter, or friendly gestures with opponents during my time. Even during friendly conversations with opponents, we had aggression in our eyes because we were playing to win for our country,” Gambhir told Star Sports,...

Lauderhill, Florida, Aug 28 (Ians) The Texas Chargers held their nerve at crucial moments, and put on a fantastic performance, as they defeated the New York Warriors, via a Super Over in the final of the inaugural US Masters T10. The Chargers won it narrowly in the Super Over.

Batting first, the New York Warriors lost opener Kamran Akmal off the first delivery, before Tillakaratne Dilshan and Richard Levi steadied the ship. The duo put on a 30-run stand for the second wicket, playing with a risk-free approach, before Levi was knocked over for 17.

Dilshan added 18 to the cause and was the next to depart, with Misbah-ul-Haq being joined by Shahid Afridi. They could not kick on as Afridi was dismissed for 1, by Ehsan Adil, who finished his spell with 3 wickets.

The skipper could add only 5 in the seventh over, and Abdul Razzaq (3) departed in the 8th over, with the score at 62/6. After that,...

Lauderhill (US), Aug 23 (Ians) After Sohail Khan’s four wickets in four deliveries, Jonathan Carter turned on the style with the bat as New York Warriors wrapped up a comprehensive 6-wicket win over the Atlanta Riders in US Masters T20 match.

Carter completed the chase with two sixes of the final two deliveries of the game and Sohail was awarded the Player of the Match.

Asked to bat first, the Atlanta Riders’ openers Robin Uthappa and Lendl Simmons started off things in a steady manner. The duo took the Riders to the 50-run mark in the fifth over, having smashed 3 sixers and 4 boundaries between themselves in that time.

The openers, well set by now, were setting up the platform to tee off in the final few overs, even as the New York Warriors bowlers tried to dry up the runs. By the 7th over, the Riders were at 72/0 with Simmons...

Lauderhill, Florida, Aug 18 (Ians) The New York Warriors defeated Morrisville Unity by six runs in the US Masters T10 League, here on Friday. The New York Warriors posted 124/3 in their 10 overs before restricting Morrisville Unity to 118/5.

The Morrisville Unity couldn’t get their batting innings going right from the beginning of their innings as Parthiv Patel was dismissed by Dhammika Prasad for 3 runs in the third over. Chris Gayle and Corey Anderson also departed in quick succession, leaving Morrisville Unity in deep trouble at 33/3 in 5 overs.

Thereafter, Obus Pienaar played a brilliant innings of 35 runs from 12 balls and Shehan Jayasuriya smashed 28* runs off 10 balls, but they couldn’t take their team over the line.

Earlier in the day, Morrisville Unity won the toss and put the New York Warriors into bat. Tillakaratne Dilshan got the Warriors off to a great start as he struck Calvin Savage for consecutive boundaries in the second over.

Dubai, Sep 12 (Ians) Several top cricketers from across the world, including former greats from Pakistan, congratulated Sri Lanka for their amazing victory in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night.

Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram said Sri Lanka came into the final with the mind-set that they had to clinch the trophy.

A collective impressive performance by Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga and Pramod Madushan led Sri Lanka to the title with a clinical 23-run win. This is Sri Lanka’s sixth Asia Cup title — 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2022. After losing their opening game against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and then again Pakistan to clinch the 2022 Asia Cup.

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. That was the mantra of this amazing Sri Lankan team so congratulations… better team won (the trophy) in the end,” wrote Akram.

Shahid Afridi “appreciated” the...

Lahore, Dec 13 (Ians) Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal has said he will not play for Pakistan Super League (Psl) side Peshawar Zalmi in Season 7 after he was picked by the franchise in the silver category. The aggrieved cricketer took to social media and YouTube to express his disappointment. Speaking on YouTube, the 39-year-old, who […]...

Lahore, May 30 (Ians) Former Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal said that Indian cricket is going through a golden period because the country never "compromised on their red-ball cricket" and also because former cricketers are keenly involved with the development of the game.

India have made it to the inaugural World Test Championship (Wtc) final with series wins against England and Australia, among others and will meet the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand in the summit clash at Southampton from June 18-22.

"India have not compromised on their red-ball cricket. At school level, India have two-day, three-day cricket. Today, they have a pool of 50 players because Indian cricket has given a lot of importance to Test cricket.

"Among all the legends of Indian cricket, except Ms Dhoni, no one has retired after playing white-ball cricket. All the others played a Test match as their last one. That gives us a great idea...

Lahore, Jan 10 (Ians) Chris Gayle and Dale Steyn will be sharing a dressing room as both have been picked by Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (Psl) draft that took place on Sunday. Australia's Chris Lynn will move to Multan Sultans from from Lahore Qalandars, who secured the services of star Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.

If he plays, this will be the first time since 2006 that Gayle will play competitive cricket in Pakistan. Steyn, meanwhile, had earlier opted out of the Indian Premier League that will be held later in the year.

The Psl starts on February 20 and the final is scheduled to be played on March 22.

Squads at the end of the Psl 2021 draft:

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Musa Khan, Zafar Gohar, Hasan Ali Lewis Gregory, Phil Salt, Rohail Nazir, Reece Topley, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Ahmed Saifi Abdullah,...

Lahore, Oct 18 (Ians) The Pakistan Cricket Board (Pcb) has been left "disturbed and disappointed" after 12 persons, including nine players and three officials of the ongoing National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi, breached the bio-secure protocols in place for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though the Pcb did not disclose the identity of the cricketers and officials who breached the protocols, Pakistani newspaper 'Dawn' said that the guilty included senior players like Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Khurram Manzoor, Sohail Khan, Anwar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq plus officials Abdul Razzaq, Basit Ali and Rashid Khan. The individuals had spent time outside the bubble area within the vicinity of the team hotel on Friday.

Issuing a warning, the Pcb has stated that those breaching the bio-secure protocols in future will be sent packing from the tournament.

"The Pcb is disturbed and disappointed that some senior players and officials have breached the bio-secure...

Lahore, Oct 14 (Ians) Veteran Pakistani wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal on Tuesday became the world's first wicket-keeper to effect 100 stumpings in T20 cricket, the shortest format of the game.

Kamran, 38, achieved the feat while playing for Central Punjab during the National T20 Cup fixture against Southern Punjab on Tuesday.

"The first wicket-keeper to record 100 stumpings in T20 cricket, congratulations Kamran Akmal on a wonderful achievement!" tweeted the official handle of Pakistan Cricket.

Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is second in the list with 84 stumpings in T20 cricket. Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara is at the third spot with 60 stumpings and is followed by Dinesh Karthik (59) and Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad (52).

In T20 Internationals, Dhoni leads the chart with 34 stumpings in 98 matches. He is followed by Akmal who has 32 stumpings to his name in 58 games for Pakistan. Next in line are Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh (29), Shahzad (28) and Sangakkara (20).

Overall, in international cricket -- including all the Test,...

Lahore, Oct 14 (Ians) Pakistan's Kamran Akmal has become the first wicketkeeper in T20 cricket to affect 100 stumpings in the shortest format of the game. He achieved the feat while playing for Central Punjab during the National T20 Cup fixture against Southern Punjab on Tuesday.

"The first wicketkeeper to record 100 stumpings in T20 cricket, congratulations Kamran Akmal on a wonderful achievement!" tweeted the official handle of Pakistan Cricket.

Former India skipper Ms Dhoni is second in the list with 84 stumpings in T20 cricket. Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara is at the third spot with 60 stumpings and is followed by Dinesh Karthik (59) and Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad (52).

In T20 internationals, Dhoni leads the chart with 34 stumpings in 98 matches. He is followed by Akmal who has 32 stumpings to his name in 58 games for Pakistan. Next in line are Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh (29), Shahzad (28) and Sangakkara (20).

Overall in international cricket, Dhoni is at the numero uno spot with 123 stumpings.

New Delhi, Sep 24 (Ians) It was on this day in 2007 when Team India, led by Ms Dhoni, won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup, defeating Pakistan in a pulsating summit clash which kept the fans, both in the stadium as well as those across television sets, on the edge of their seats till the very last moment.

With one wicket in hand, Pakistan needed six runs from the final four balls at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Joginder Sharma, who was probably bowling the over of his life, was under immense pressure after giving away seven runs of the first two balls.

Misbah-ul-Haq was at the crease along with Mohammed Asif and all the players in the Pakistani dug-out were on their feet, waiting for Misbah to score the winning shot and celebrate what would have been one of their biggest wins at the international stage.

Amid all the nervousness,...