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Pakistan Retain Senior Men's Team's Coaching And Management Staff

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday retained the coaching and management staff for the men's team ahead of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, followed by the Asia Cup. The decision implies that Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur, head coach Grant Bradburn and team manager Rehan Ul Haq will continue in their respective roles. Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach) and Aftab Khan (fielding coach) have also been retained.

After Zaka Ashraf took over as chairman of the PCB's Cricket Management Committee and appointed a Cricket Technical Committee, speculations were rife that the foreign coaches could be shown the door.

But reliable sources said that better sense had prevailed and Ashraf heeded to advice that it would be risky to make changes in the team management at this stage, with two major events lined up.

Hence, these decisions have been put off until the end of the World Cup.

All members of the team management were appointed by the former CMC and its head Najam Sethi.

Ashraf, meanwhile, has made two major changes.

Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is now the chief selector but Mark Coles, the Pakistan Women's coach, has been released from his duties.

Cole, who was appointed by Sethi for a second such stint, has resigned due to personal reasons.

“He will not be available with the women's side for the upcoming white-ball series against South Africa, which is set to start from 1 September in Karachi,” said a release from the PCB.

But a reliable source said Coles was politely asked to step down with benefits from his contract as the PCB had other plans for the women's team.

Pakistan will play against Afghanistan in a three-ODI series in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, from August 22-26 after which the team will return home for the start of the Asia Cup from August 30.

Player support personnel: Rehan-ul-Haq (team manager), Mickey Arthur (Director - Pakistan men's team), Grant Bradburn (head coach), Andrew Puttick (batting coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Aftab Khan (fielding coach), Abdul Rehman (assistant coach), Dr Sohail Saleem (team doctor), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media manager), Lt Col Usman Anwari (Retd) (security manager), Ammar Ahsan (digital content producer, only for Asia Cup), Maqbool Ahmad Babri (psychologist), Talha Ejaz (analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).

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Asian Champions Trophy: India Rout Japan 5-0, To Face Malaysia In Final

A dominant India mauled reigning Asian champions Japan 5-0 to enter their fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament final at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Friday. While three-time champions India adopted a high-press hockey from the onset, Japan played deep into their defence to thwart the home team's attacks. India got the first scoring chance of the match in the form of a penalty corner but Japan goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa made a confident save to deny home team skipper Harmanpreet Singh.

The Indians set pace of the game and enjoyed bulk of the possession, while Japan played catch-up hockey.

After a barren first quarter, India finally took the lead in the 19th minute through Akashdeep Singh, who slapped the ball in from a rebound from after Hardik Singh's initial shot was saved by Japan second goalkeeper Takumi Kitagawa.

India kept up the tempo and earned their second penalty corner in the 23rd minute and India skipper Harmanpreet sounded the board with a fierce low flick to the left of Japanese goalie to double India's lead.

Just at the stroke of half-time, India trippled their lead through Mandeep Singh.

It was Manpreet Singh who was instrumental in getting the third goal as he intercepted the ball in the mid-field and then beat three Japanese defenders to set it up for Mandeep, who just had to direct the ball in.

The trend continued after the change of ends as India continued to press hard on the Japanese goal.

Sumit probably scored the goal of the tournament with a back stick flick into the net from a tight angle after being brilliantly set up by Manpreet hardwork from the right flank.

Young Karthi Selvam made it 5-0 in India's favour in the 51st minute after being fed by an unselfish Sukhjeet Singh, who received a perfect ariel ball from Harmanpreet.

India will take on Malaysia in the final on Saturday, while Japan will be up against defending champions South Korea in the third-fourth place play-off match.

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Dhawan Announces His Choice For India's No. 4 Batter As World Cup Looms

With question marks over the fitness of Shreyas Iyer, the number four position in the Indian ODI set-up is up for grabs ahead of the World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson are the contenders while R Ashwin thinks rookie batter Tilak Varma can be a good choice at that position. "I would go with Surya at four as he is an experienced player and has been playing international cricket for a while," veteran India Shikhar Dhawan told PTI.

"Also, really looking forward to see how Shubman Gill does in the World Cup. Another batter to watch out for will be Rohit Sharma as he did exceptionally well in the last World Cup," he said referring to Rohit's five hundreds in the 2019 edition."

On India's chances in the World Cup, he added, "We have got a very good side which has the right blend of experience and youth. We will have the home advantage. We know the grounds and pitches and that is going to come in very handy."

As he is not part of the Indian team anymore, Dhawan has a lot more time at his disposal. Besides working on his game and fitness, he spends a lot of time on his varied commercial ventures, which fall under the Da One Group umbrella.

"It is important to be productive. We live quite a high-paced life, especially when you are playing all formats like I used to at one point. Now I have enough time, so I keep myself involved with my business interests.

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With Babar's Captaincy Under Scrutiny, Inzamam Makes Insightful Comments

Pakistan batter Babar Azam has faced scrutiny over his captaincy during a disappointing home season however, Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq on Wednesday said that the top-ranking batter in ODI is performing well as a captain, it would be prudent to have a backup captaincy option available. In December 2020 Babar was named Pakistan's captain across all formats. Babar Azam is a name that quickly springs to mind when conversations revolve around the world's premier batters at present. With his graceful style of play, he has been consistently amassing runs, leading to comparisons with cricket legends, including the esteemed Indian player Virat Kohli.

Inzamam-ul-Haq admitted that all formats should have a single captain to make batter decisions to know which players to choose for matches. So that the captain now knows which player to carry.

"See, lot of changes in captaincy is not good. I think Babar is doing great captaincy, and when I was chief selector before, Sarfaraz Ahmed was not captain of all three formats, but he became captain of all three formats later. So, I feel, there should be one captain of all three formats, if he plays in all three formats. So, he should know how he has to take his players forward. But, this captaincy doesn't come under my domain," Inzamam-ul-Haq said in a press conference. 

The 28-year-old Pakistan captain has played in 104 T20Is, 100 ODIs, and 49 Tests. He is a star in each of all three forms. He currently has 12346 runs, including 30 centuries, to his name at the top level. 

Talking about his performance in the ODI, every time Babar Azam comes onto the pitch, there are expectations of him due to the high standards he has set in ODIs. He is the top-ranked ODI batsman, which makes it more obvious. Babar has barely ever been out of form in the 50-over format, scoring more than 5000 runs at an average of nearly 60.

In his upcoming assignments, Babar is set to lead the Pakistan team in the ODI series against Afghanistan and Asia Cup.

Earlier in the press conference Inzamam-ul-Haq announced a 17-member team for the upcoming ACC Men's Asia Cup. The Asia Cup will kick off on August 30, with arch-rivals India and Pakistan set to lock horns in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on September 2. The tournament will follow a hybrid model, with four matches to be hosted by Pakistan and all of India's matches and a total of nine fixtures taking place in the Emerald Isle.

Pakistan's squad for Asia Cup: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.

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