In case you haven’t been able to keep up, here’s a short recap of the last five months in Pakistan cricket. We became World Champions, but were branded as match-fixers by a very bored politician. We beat our arch-rivals in a major ICC tournament, but developed a habit of losing ODI games to our perpetual...

In the age of stump microphones, slow-motion lip reading, and ICC penal codes for racist slurs on the field, Pakistan’s pioneer sports channel has come up with an unbelievable series promo. The private sports channel’s teaser for the upcoming India-Sri Lanka cricket series defies belief. As video...

Dear Imran Farhat, So, you’re back. I’d tell you it’s good to see you again, but it’s not. You must be over the moon, what with being picked for all three formats. Why, you must think you’re a regular Kevin Pietersen, eh? Unfortunately, Imran, you’re not. You may be a year or so older. You...

‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you, it’s much more important than that.’ Bill Shankly said these words. He was a charismatic man and Liverpool Football Club’s most successful manager. The quote was classic Shankly: witty, passionate, and showing his...

The umpiring in the New Zealand semi-final was poor, but things are much better than they used to be. The umpire today is less policeman or headmaster, more executioner. The ball stuns the guilty pad or whizzes past the hanging bat, and then the bowler and fielders roar in unison, a mad mob, without...

It’s hard to recall an instance in world cricket when the fate of one match had so much riding on it. That the Champions Trophy Pakistan-Australia match yesterday was a reminder of how relevant the topsy-turvy nature of 50-over format is to cricket was only an afterthought. The game was largely...

Wajahat S. Khan writes about the undertones of racism within the India-Pakistan rivalry. The former US President Jimmy Carter sneaked a place into the back pages of most Pakistani dailies (which is, unfortunately, where they print the best international stories) by saying that the ‘real’...

Imran Yusuf delivers a satirical look at Saturday’s Champion’s Trophy encounter between Pakistan and India. Before even a single ball had been bowled, chucked, or tampered with at SuperSport Park, Centurion, the hotly awaited India-Pakistan clash had already pulled a surprise. Indian captain...

The most interesting thing about the Champions Trophy is that everyone is interested to see if ODIs are still interesting. For the first time in its history, the Champions Trophy actually matters. It has had significance thrust upon it. The tournament happens every two years and is occassionally referred...

Imran Yusuf examines why Test cricket has failed to capture the public imagination in Pakistan. The recently concluded Ashes series featured two ordinary teams playing a lot of average cricket with very few outstanding feats. Yet it was an outstanding series: an epic contest, a compelling narrative,...