It is here again! The time to - wear your greens, calculate your if and but scenarios, go through high level thrills and some heartbreaks, build your fantasy teams, place your bets, tune into your favorite sports channel, follow The Pavilion religiously, participate on numerous forums on whatsapp and all other social media, wave your flags, and support team Pakistan - is here again! This time comes every 4 years and it is here again. It is time for the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup! It seems like yesterday that a few of us were gearing up to fly down to London to follow Pakistan at the World C ..read more

It’s important to find the best cricket shoe for your specific needs. Batsmen and fielders will want a lightweight and comfortable cricket spike that is suitable for spending hours in the field and is going to give them a spring in their step when they need to react. Whereas bowlers are going to need a specialist bowling boot that can handle the rigours of the bowling movement and provide traction whilst preventing injury. That is why cricket bowling shoes typically have a strap across the ankle to keep the foot locked in as it goes through the bowling motion at the crease. Bowling spikes als ..read more

Azhar Ali is probably the most under rated batsman ever to play Test Cricket for Pakistan. I am not too sure why he does not get the respect that a batsman like him deserves. More than 7,000 test runs; a 40+ average; 19 test centuries; a triple hundred; a double hundred. The only Pakistan batsmen ahead of him are the greats Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan. I get that he can't be classified as a test great given that his average is quite far from the coveted 50 mark, but he has been the mainstay of Pakistan's test batting line up for the past decade. He is al ..read more

Last night in Karachi, Pakistan levelled the 7-match T20I series against England, in a win that was completely Pakistani in nature. Defending a middling 166, Hasnain got Pakistan to just the start they needed, as he had England reeling at 14-3 in 2 overs. When England's new white ball stars - Ben Duckett and Harry Brook - built a partnership and got going, it seemed England will canter to a win. Even after Duckett got out, Moeen Ali continued the charge and England were well on their way. But the two Mohammads - Nawaz and Wasim - struck in the space of 6 deliveries to dismiss both Moeen and ..read more

It has not happened way to many times to be a lapse of judgement. Babar Azam has some aversion to fully utilizing his spin resources in T20Is, especially after the 14th over an innings. EXHIBIT 1: Pakistan vs Australia, T20 World Cup 2021 Semi Final The first time I noticed it was in the Semi Final of the T20 World Cup in 2021. Pakistan had imposed a challenging 176 and had Australia in a precarious situation at 103-5 in 13 overs. 7 overs to go with 74 runs to get. Imad Wasim has bowled his 3rd and the innings 12th over giving away only 3 runs. Shadab bowled the final over of his spell ..read more

Babar Azam and Virat Kohli sent the media into a frenzy yesterday as they shook hands during the teams' practice session yesterday at the ICC Academy. The BCCI's official Twitter account posted a 35 second video showing the team's first practice session in Dubai. Within that clip was the handshake, which has since become viral across social media! The Asia Cup 2022 gets underway in Dubai on Saturday, 27th August, with the hosts Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan. But it is the following day, Sunday 28 August, that everyone seems to be waiting for. That is the day of Pakistan vs India. The ..read more

There is no doubt that Babar Azam is the best white ball batter in the world currently. He is ranked 1 in both ODIs and T20Is. There is also no doubt that Babar is also the best batter in the world across formats. He is the only batter ranked in the top 4 of each format. I have no doubt that Babar Azam will become the first batter in the world to be ranked 1 in each of the three formats at the same time! Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, and Matthew Hayden are the only ones who have achieved the number 1 ranking in each format; however none of them have held that ranking at the same time. Babar ..read more

He is only 22 years old and has played only 6 Test Matches, yet today he produced one of the finest test innings of all time. Abdullah Shafique's unbeaten 160 off 408 deliveries was a monumental effort that led Pakistan to their second highest run chase ever in Test cricket. His 160* in a successful chase in the 4th innings of a test is: - The eighth highest score by a batter. - The second highest by a Pakistan batter - The second highest against Sri Lanka - The highest at Galle - The highest by a Pakistan opener. In his short test career, Shafique has already played two epic fourth ..read more

This is a different Pakistan team under Babar Azam. They have turned a corner and have the kind of belief in themselves that past Pakistan teams have not had. For three decades Pakistan fans have been scarred by many a chase in Tests and ODIs where they have looked like winning the match, only to falter during the final lap. Not this Pakistan team! While the team seems to have moved forward from the scars of the past; for Pakistan fans it will take time for these scars to heal. We are probably the most nervous cricket fans in the world. Anyone will favor the team that requires 50 odd runs ..read more

Growing up in the 80s and 90s the cricket staple used to consist of multination tri-series, quadrangular tournaments, and even six-nation tournaments. Ofcourse there were World Cups every 4 years and bilateral tours consisting of Tests and ODIs, but these multination tournaments used to generate a lot of buzz. They were like mini world cups. Pakistan and India did not tour each other back then either. But they would frequently play in Sharjah as part of an AustralAsia Cup, a Rothmans Trophy, a Sharjah Cup, a Sharjah Champions Trophy. Besides the two multination ODI series in Sharjah every ye ..read more