Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani speedster, believes that things will get better. He even predicted an India-Pakistan World Cup and Asia Cup final.

It is still unclear whether India will travel to Pakistan in September for the Asia Cup 2023. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has threatened to pull out of the ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in India a month later, if they don’t. The BCCI secretary Jay Shah made the initial announcement last year, stating that the Asia Cup is likely to be moved to a neutral location because India will not travel to Pakistan. 

The former cricketers of both countries and the BCCI and PCB have been engaged in a never-ending brawl ever since. India and Pakistan only meet in ICC events and Asia Cups, it should be noted. Since Pakistan’s tour of India in 2012-2013, they have not played a bilateral match.

But Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani speedster, thinks things will get better. He even said that India and Pakistan would meet in the World Cup and Asia Cup finals.

“India and Pakistan will play the final in the Asia Cup and also in the World Cup. India will come to Pakistan (for Asia Cup) and Pakistan will also travel to India for the World Cup. I am very hopeful that things will improve between India and Pakistan, and trade will open. I urge people from both sides to spread positivity and close the gap instead of burning bridges,”

Akhtar told Sports Today.

The Rawalpindi Express also mentioned that he would like Pakistan to take “revenge” on India in the 2023 World Cup semi-final in Mohali

Strikingly, Akhtar was not a part of the Pakistan XI in that semi-last, which India won serenely to walk to the finals.

“I want to take revenge for the 2011 World Cup, I hadn’t played in that match. I want to watch the India vs Pakistan final in Wankhede or Ahmedabad, wherever it happens in India. I will try my level best to watch the final,”

he said.

At the point when gotten some information about whether an India-Pakistan last is truly conceivable considering the way that it is as yet not known whether Pakistan will head out to India for the world occasion, Akhtar said the legislatures of India and Pakistan should play the lead job as the issues are not in BCCI or PCB’s hands.

“BCCI and PCB have nothing in their own hands. They can’t do anything without asking their governments (in the case of bilateral series and travel). So there is no point in giving statements. Both sides should stop giving statements. When things improve between the governments, they talk, and things will improve. Who is PCB or BCCI to stop or start anything? It’s in the BCCI’s interest if Pakistan land in India for the World Cup. It will be the biggest news at that point in time. But stop running your business,”

he added.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was seen correcting the ‘English’ of his compatriot on LIVE TV. The situation took place when the duo appeared for a discussion on Pakistan’s ARY News with the video going viral all over the internet.

Akhtar, who was talking to the host of a show on Pakistan’s ARY News, first praised Akmal. He said, “Kami is our match winner…he must be listening to this…he has played really well for Pakistan.”

Later, mocking Akmal’s accent, Akhtar said, “mai sun raha tha, ye bhi keh raha tha sakreen…sakreen ni hota hai screen hota hai (I heard him speak, he was saying ‘sakreen’…it’s screen and not sakreen)”.

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“You have to note these things, my intention was not to belittle Babar… he is a brand face…I want him to look that way,” he added.

“Babar is as big a player as Virat Kohli, if you see Virat’s video…he speaks fluently,” the 47-year-old said.

While in another show, Kamran also took a dig at Shoaib and said, “Jitne Babar ad kar rha hai, utne Shoaib Bhai bhi nhi kar rhe honge.” (The number of advertisement Babar is doing these days, I am sure Shoaib (Akhtar) must not be doing as many.)

He is our captain. The world knows him and he’s world’s number 1 player. He’s becoming better in speaking, media handling and everything he’s getting is due to the cricket he is playing. He’s doing fine there.”

ENG vs PAK: As a result of several players in the visitors’ camp contracting a virus and becoming ill, the start of the Pakistan-England Test in Rawalpindi appeared to be in jeopardy, and the scheduled start of play was also in doubt. However, the game began as scheduled on Thursday morning, and the Rawalpindi stadium crowd witnessed Pakistani history being written. 

Four batters scored centuries on the opening day for the first time in Test cricket history. 

England became the first team to score 500 runs on the first day of a Test match, scoring 506/4 at stumps, thanks to the efforts of Zak Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107), Ollie Pope (108), and Harry Brook (101*). Since it had been 17 years since England had played in a Test series, it was already a historic occasion. 

On the first day, the visitors doubled the party and scored more than 500 runs. Cricketers from the past began making fun of the game. Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani pacer, praised England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum and referred to the “Bazzball” theory. Akhtar said in a video that she shared on social media that if England players had set a world record despite being sick, what would they have been able to do if they were healthy?

“Thankfully, the England players are unwell, as the news reports said. Yeh tabyat theek nahi hai to 500 maar diye, tabyat theek hoti to bohot bura haal karte (They scored 500 when they are sick. They would have thrashed us if they were fit and fine). Their [England’s] coach Brendon McCullum doesn’t believe in batting slowly in Test cricket. He asks his players to score run-a-ball. England have playing aggressive cricket since he came to the helm. They don’t stop. Debutant Liam Livingstone will bat at No. 7, so they have depth in their batting line-up. So, I think, Pakistan also needs to change the mindset,”

said Shoaib in the video.

ALSO READ: ENG vs PAK, Test: Stumps, ENG 506 for 4

“It’s a young team, full of innocent people. But Test cricket is actually very bruising. Pakistan need to assess where they are standing because it’s not easy. It wasn’t pleasing to see our kids getting hammered,”

Shoaib concluded.

The previous first-day run total set by Australia against South Africa in 1910 in Sydney was 494. Only four other times have teams scored more than 500 runs in a single day—three times by England and once by Sri Lanka—but never on the first day of a Test.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar and India fast bowler Mohammed Shami got into a Twitter argument after Pakistan lost the 2022 T20 World Cup final to England by five wickets.

Akhtar tweeted an emotional emoticon after Pakistan’s defeat in the Melbourne title match by 137 runs

Then Shami, who was part of India’s T20 World Cup squad, retweeted Akhtar’s comment and said: “Sorry brother. It’s call (sic) karma”. The tweet went viral within minutes. Then, Akhtar also responded to the tweet.

“And this what you call sensible tweet..” Akhtar tweeted, along with a photo of Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle and one of his tweets which read: “Credit to Pakistan. Few teams would have defended 137 the way they did. Best bowling team.” Akhtar’s response also went viral.

In terms of the match, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran performed admirably as England defeated Pakistan by five wickets to become the first team in history to win both the 50-over and 20-over white-ball championships.

Jos Buttler’s team held Pakistan to a score of 137-8 in front of 80,462 enthusiastic fans at the packed Melbourne Cricket Ground. Curran, the tournament’s player of the match, scored 3-12, and Adil Rashid contributed 2-22.

England responded by falling to 49-3 in the sixth over as they struggled to gain momentum against a ferocious pace attack and were unable to score boundaries. 

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However, Stokes (52 not out) and Moeen Ali (19) combined their expertise with composure to lead England to 138-5 with six balls remaining, bringing an exciting tournament that lasted nearly a month and 45 games to a close.

Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan and Afghanistan delivered a nail-biting thriller in Sharjah in the Super 4 phase of the current Asian Cup on Wednesday. It won and secured a spot alongside Sri Lanka in the final. However, after the match, Sharjah’s cricketer’s stadium saw unpleasant scenes, including Afghan fans, clearly disappointed with the defeat, smashing chairs and attacking Pakistani fans.

In a video shared by former Pakistani pacesetter Shoaib Akhtar, an Afghan fan can be seen smashing a chair and throwing it at a Pakistani supporter.

“This is what Afghan fans are doing. This is what they’ve done in the past multiple times. This is a game and it’s supposed to be played and taken in the right spirit.@ShafiqStanikzai your crowd & your players both need to learn a few things if you guys want to grow in the sport,”

Akhtar wrote in a Twitter post

Shafiq Stanikzai, who happens to be the former president of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, said that no one can control the emotions of fans and that the whole country should not be taken with him when discussing such incidents. Akhtar replied.

“You can’t control the emotions of the crowd and such incidents happened in the world of cricket multiple, you should go ask Kabir Khan, Inzimam Bhai and @iRashidLatif68 how we treated them. Am giving you an advice next time baat ko nation pe Mat lena,”

wrote Stanikzai

ALSO READ: Asia Cup: Pakistan beat Afghanistan in last over thriller

As for the match between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afghanistan batted first and scored 129/6 in 20 overs. Pakistan trailing 130, 16 overs put him over one with a score of 87/3. From then on, however, Pakistan fell apart and in his penultimate event he passed by 118/9.

They needed 11 to win the final and it was Naseem Shah who emerged as the Pakistani hero. 

After their establishing victory in the Asian Cup final, Pakistani players celebrated in ecstasy as well, with some wild scenes unfolding in Sharjah.

The Asia Cup Group A match between India and Pakistan took place on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where Rohit Sharma and company emerged victorious, defeating their longtime opponents by five wickets. The star of the show was Hardik Pandya, who put on an all-around performance to lead India to victory. After taking three wickets, Hardik played a match-winning innings of 33 runs in just 17 balls to help India cross the finish line with two balls remaining.

However, Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani bowler, was dissatisfied with the cricket on show, adding that both teams actively sought to lose the match and that it was a “poor day of cricket.”

“I want to congratulate both India and Pakistan. Both teams tried to lose the game, India was almost successful in that. India were trying their best to lose the game but Hardik Pandya took them over the line. You only tell me, if Rizwan will score 45 of 45 balls, what to say? There were 19 dot balls in the first six overs when Pakistan were batting. If you play so many dot balls, you will be in trouble,”

Akhtar said on his YouTube channel

“There was bad selection, both captains Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma made bad selection calls. India dropped Rishabh Pant and Pakistan played Iftikhar Ahmed at No.4. No disrespect to him. I have said so many times that Babar should not open, he should come one down and he anchors the innings. Fakhar and Rizwan should open,”

he stated further

Further criticising the selection calls made by both teams,

“Both teams played bad cricket, Pakistan messed up their batting order. Even India sent Ravindra Jadeja at No.4, so you just think how bad the calls were from both sides.”

Akhtar said

ALSO READ: IND vs PAK Asia Cup’22: Why both teams needed extra fielders

“Pakistan then sent Shadab Khan ahead of Asif Ali, so I was not able to understand the thinking of Babar Azam. It is really really bad cricket. Pakistan did not do the calculation for the last over. It was a bad day of cricket. Both teams played poorly. I did not like it one bit, I don’t care what others have to say,”

he added

With abandonment of series, many Pakistan Cricketers expressed their frustration due to New Zealand’s tour cancellation at the last moment.

The New Zealand cricket team on Friday cancelled their Pakistan tour at the last minute after receiving a security alert from its government. The two teams were set to face off in three ODIs and five T20Is. The first ODI was to take place at Rawalpindi on September 17, 3:00 PM IST.

While many former and current Pakistan cricketers slammed New Zealand for their sudden abandonment and expressed their disappointment of missing the exciting series, a few stood by New Zealand’s decision to protect their players first.

“Following an escalation in the New Zealand government threat levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security advisers on the ground, it has been decided the Black Caps will not continue with the tour,” stated NZC on its website. Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister who had a discussion with Prime Minister Imran Khan made sure that players safety is utmost important and thanked the Govt. of Pakistan for taking care of the New Zealand cricket team. The PCB expressed their frustration by calling a “unilateral” decision by New Zealand to postpone the series. While Shahid Afridi claimed the security alert a ‘joke’, Shoaib Akhtar on his twitter handle wrote – “NZ just killed Pakistan Cricket” along with angry emojis.

This was going to be New Zealand’s first international cricket series at Pakistan after 18 years but unfortunately, it had to be called off after citing security concerns. The PCB is willing to reschedule the matches but it won’t be happening anytime soon as the Kiwis are flying back home soon. Let us hope that the issue gets resolved quickly and cricket returns to Pakistan like the old days.