Pakistan clinched the three-Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after the third and final cricket match ended in a draw at Sharjah stadium here today.
Persistent rain wiped out play in the pre-lunch session a two hours and 35 minutes delay -- which left Sri Lanka with little time to enforce a win despite declaring their second innings at 181-6, setting Pakistan a target of 255 in a possible of 61 overs.
By tea, Sri Lanka had taken three early wickets and were pressing for a win. Pakistan lost a further fourth wicket when opener Taufiq Umar fell for 39, before they finished at 87-4 when umpires called off the match four overs earlier due to bad light.
Skipper Misbah-ul Haq (nine) and Asad Shafiq (seven) survived some anxious moments to salvage a draw.
Pakistan won the second Test in Dubai by nine wickets after the first in Abu Dhabi ended in a draw. The result kept Pakistan on the sixth ranking, as they needed a 2-0 victory to jump one place up and replace Sri Lanka on fifth. Newspaper:Indian Express, 8th Nov
Sharjah: Sri Lanka were Monday forced to bring in all-rounder Thisara Perera in their one-day squad after paceman Dhammika Prasad was ruled out of the five-match one-day series against Pakistan.
"The selection of Perera as a replacement player for Prasad, for the forthcoming five-match one-day series and T20 against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates starting from November 11," said a Sri Lanka Cricket statement.
Prasad was ruled out for the remainder of the series due to injury after he damaged his quadricep muscle on the first day of the third Test against Pakistan in Sharjah.
The 21-year-old Perera has so far played two Tests and 21 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka.
Source:Cricnext
Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to appoint specialist coaches for batting, bowling and fielding for the national team and has already placed an advertisement on its website, inviting candidates to apply for the positions.
Last date to apply for different posts is November 18.
The Board is yet to appoint the head coach of the Pakistan team, although it had advertised for that position in September and a special committee of PCB also shortlisted five candidates, including three foreigners - Dean Jones, Dermot Reeve and Mickey Arthur.
The new PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf had spoken about the need to have specialist coaches to bring about improvements in all three departments of the game. This is the first time the Board has officially announced its intentions of having specialist coaches on the support staff.
source:cricnext
Karachi: Former Pakistan Test coach Waqar Younis has advised flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi to keep his mouth shut and focus on performing well as a cricketer.
In an unusually hard-hitting interview to Geo News in Dubai, Waqar said Afridi needs to rethink his priorities as a senior player.
"All the time he is criticizing somebody and using distasteful language. It is time he just kept his mouth shut and focussed on his cricket," Waqar said.
"To me it seems as if he is always on the lookout for cheap publicity by making unwarranted and unhealthy comments about somebody or someone," he added.
The dispute between Waqar who was then coach of the national team and Afridi who was captain of the one-day team became public after the Pakistan team's tour to the West Indies in May with the latter accusing the former of interfering in his domain as captain.
source:cricnext
Dubai: Recalled Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Tuesday showed confidence to hit his turbulent past six months for a big six, saying he wants to perform for the country and his fans.
The 31-year-old all-rounder was recalled in Pakistan squad for the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, starting in Dubai with the first game on Friday.
Both teams will also play a Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan won the three-Test series 1-0 on Monday.
The popular hard-hitting batsman, who holds the world record of scoring the fastest one-day century - off 37 balls made against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in 1997 - said he is set to put aside all his problems.
"I think its all about cricket, its time to play and I don't want to involve myself in any other thing other than cricket," said Afridi, who in May this year had a fall out with then coach Waqar Younis over selection issues. Newspaper:Times Of India