Category Uncategorized

Calls for fewer games, better pitches and more overseas players to revive league

Matt Roller14-May-2020Shane Watson has criticised the expansion of the Big Bash season from 32 group games to 56, describing the tournament as “just too long” and suggesting that “the quality of the cricket has been put on the back burner”.Watson, an influential figure in the as the president of the Australian Cricketers’ Association and one of Australia’s most experienced T20 players, proposed a four-step plan to “save our beloved BBL before it’s too late” on his blog ‘T20 Stars’ which involves: reverting to the format used in the 2017-18 season; only playing on “international quality” pitches; increasing the number of overseas players permitted per team from two to “three, if not four”; and stopping players from being mic’d up to ensure they can focus on the game itself.Discussions about the Big Bash’s format have been a near-constant feature of the Australian summer in recent years. The tournament’s group stage lasted 32 games in 2016-17, when the average attendance was over 30,000, but while aggregate attendance has grown steadily, the average has decreased markedly to around 18,000 in 2019-20.An expanded finals stage meant there were 61 games in total last season, and Watson said that “the writing was on the wall” ever since CA announced its new broadcast deal in 2018 that involved extending the season.”Continuing on after the kids go back to school is another reason why the tournament runs out of puff in the lead up to the finals, when this should be the time when the tournament really cranks up,” Watson said. “Again, the tournament is just too long. It’s disappointing for all of the families that follow the season so closely until school goes back, and the last thing parents want is for their kids to stay up [until] nearly midnight watching the matches on a school night.”Watson also criticised the standard of the tournament, suggesting that a combination of poor pitches, a lack of international players, and the distraction caused by conversations with commentary teams has diluted the quality of cricket.”A lot of the warning signs… have very sadly started to come to fruition,” he said. “I know all too well that the quality of the cricket that is being played in the BBL is now behind some of the tournaments around the world.”The one thing that the IPL and PSL do is make the quality of the cricket, the product, the number one priority. This is where the BBL has really lost its way. The quality of the cricket has been put on the back burner in the Big Bash and the entertainment gimmicks have been brought to the forefront.”As the BBL is comprised of 8 teams, the talent pool is already stretched pretty thin and now with the extension of the tournament, it is a challenge to keep your best players fit. Right now, if a team gets a few injuries, the franchise has to continue to find club cricketers to fill in. This happened way too many times during the season just gone. If the BBL wants to be one of the best T20 leagues in the world they need to have the best players in the world participating in the league.”Watson described the pitches he played on at the Sydney Showground as “very ordinary at worst and pretty good once in a blue moon”, and suggested that the Thunder should either ensure the drop-in wickets at the ground are “world-class” or consider playing all their home games at Manuka Oval in Canberra.The average scoring rate in the competition dropped from 8.37 in 2016-17 to 7.82 in 2018-19, coinciding with an increase in the number of fixtures played at outgrounds – though it did jump back up to 8.15 in 2019-20.”In theory, it sounds great to play games out in regional areas, so other BBL fans can watch their favourite players,” Watson said. “Well, they need to make sure that the pitches are up to a world-class standard to ensure that world-class cricket can be played at these venues.”

Queensland managed a small first-innings but could face a tough chase in conditions that continue to aid the bowlers

Alex Malcolm04-Mar-2019A critical unbeaten half-century from Daniel Hughes gave New South Wales a chance to put up a challenging fourth-innings total after giving up a first-innings lead to Queensland at the Gabba.The Blues began their second innings on day two 35 runs behind Queensland after the Bulls’ tail wagged courtesy of Jimmy Peirson and Mark Steketee.Hughes lost his opening partner Nick Larkin in the third over of the innings, with only five runs of the lead erased, when Michael Neser made the breakthrough having Larkin caught behind.Hughes was joined by Kurtis Patterson and the pair chipped away at the lead and put the Blues in front with a 48-run stand before Luke Feldman struck.After five wickets in the first innings, including finding the outside edge of Patterson, Feldman nipped one back off the seam from around the wicket to find Patterson’s inside edge and Peirson took an excellent catch to his right.Hughes pressed on to his 13th half-century in Sheffield Shield cricket from 137 balls. He played with the patience required in conditions that continued to swing and seam. Moises Henriques was fine support, finishing 23 not out from 60 balls to leave the Blues 68 runs in front with eight wickets in hand.Earlier, Peirson and Steketee both made 41 as the Bulls climbed out of a hole at 7 for 104 to establish a lead. The pair added 50 for the eighth wicket before the breakthrough came via the unlikely source of batsman Jack Edwards as he had Peirson caught behind for his first wicket in first-class cricket.Steketee swung hard and found the boundary five times in his unbeaten 41, his equal second-highest score in Shield cricket. He added 30 with No. 10 Feldman before Sean Abbott and Trent Copeland finished the innings with wickets in consecutive overs to bag three scalps apiece.

A six-wicket haul from the left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate completed Kerala’s humbling in Surat, where Vidarbha won by 412 runs to set up a semi-final meeting with Karnataka

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2017PTI

A six-wicket haul from the left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate completed Kerala’s humbling in Surat, where Vidarbha won by 412 runs to set up a semi-final meeting with Karnataka. Kerala, who were bowled out for 176 in their first innings, did even worse in their second, slumping to 165 all out after being set an improbable target of 578.Vidarbha already led by 501 when the fifth day began, and they declared after scoring a further 76 runs for the loss of three wickets in 22.4 overs in the morning. Akshay Wadkar, their wicketkeeper, completed his second half-century of the match in that period, and was unbeaten on 67 (110b, 4×4, 1×6) when Vidarbha declared. KC Akshay, the left-arm spinner, took two of the wickets that fell in the morning to finish with innings figures of 4 for 118 and match figures of 9 for 184.Kerala had been batted out of the match, but they still had a chance to save it. Sarwate, however, had other ideas, taking 6 for 41 in 16.2 overs – his fifth five-wicket haul in only his 14th match; he now averages an astonishing 16.40 in first-class cricket – to bowl them out in 52.2 overs. Salman Nizar, batting at No. 3, scored 64 (104b, 4×4, 4×6), but none of the other Kerala batsmen got to 30.

A round-up of all the Group B matches from the third round of 2016-17 Ranji Trophy matches

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2016As many as 13 wickets fell in Kolkata as Karnataka took the opening-day honours, taking a 41-run lead with seven wickets intact after bowling Delhi out for 90 in less than a session in their Group B fixture at Eden Gardens.Stand-in captain Karun Nair’s decision to bowl first was vindicated by the new ball bowlers. S Aravind, the left-arm seamer – who replaced the injured captain Vinay Kumar – triggered the meltdown, taking 4 for 12 in 11 overs as Delhi slumped to their lowest score against Karnataka. Their previous-lowest was 138 in the 2005-06 season.Aravind was complemented by Abhimanyu Mithun and offspinner K Gowtham, who returned to the state side after four years during Karnataka’s season-opener last week. Mithun took two wickets, and Gowtham took three, including that of the in-form Rishabh Pant (24) who had been put down twice – once by Gowtham himself at backward point, and once by Mayank Agarwal at slip.While the surface had a green tinge, it was far from menacing as the scorecard suggested. This was in evidence as the Karnataka openers added 87. While R Samarth, coming off a double century against Jharkhand, exuded confidence in his 53, Agarwal buried flamboyance for discipline for his 56, before fending a Vikas Tokas bouncer to third slip. Karnataka ended on 131 for 3, with Nair and Mithun at the crease.The effectiveness of Karnataka’s seamers may have encouraged Ishant Sharma, who was returning to competitive cricket after chikungunya kept him out for more than a month. But he was ineffective for the most part, as his length erred on the shorter side. On the odd occasions where he bowled full, he was driven comfortably. In comparison, Aravind proved that minute deviations on a helpful surface are just as effective as raw pace.Delhi’s only highlights came towards the ends of the day, when Robin Uthappa (5) and Agarwal (56) were caught in the slips.Cheteshwar Pujara carried forward his good form from the New Zealand Tests•Associated Press

Saurashtra’s Cheteshwar Pujara (79 not out) and Sheldon Jackson (105) made Maharashtra rue their decision to bowl first in Vizianagaram. The pair’s 164-run third-wicket stand helped Saurashtra recover from the loss of their openers in the first session and post 285 for 3 at stumps. Jaydev Shah, the captain, was unbeaten on 35.Jackson, who walked in to bat at 67 for 2, struck 10 fours and five sixes in his 12th first-class ton, a 155-ball 105, before Akshay Darekar, the left-arm spinner, dismissed him in the final session. Sagar Jogiyani (24) and Avi Barot (28) were the other batsmen to be dismissed, falling to Rahul Tripathi and Mohsin Sayyad respectively.Ganesh Satish (93 not out) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (83) were the architects for Vidarbha, who went into stumps on Day 1 of their clash against Assam in Trivandrum on 254 for 3. The base was built during the course of a 131-run second-wicket stand between the pair, after Faiz Fazal, the captain, elected to bat. Offspinner Swarupam Purkayastha, picked up two wickets in four deliveries to briefly spark a revival, but Ganesh and Ravi Jangid ensured there was no further damage.Pankaj Singh’s second five-wicket haul this season put Rajasthan in a strong position against Jharkhand in Vadodara.Kaushal Singh top scored with 56 in Jharkhand’s 209 all out after electing to bat. Kaushal’s 96-run sixt-wicket stand with Ishank Jaggi (49) helped Jharkand climb out of a hole at 69 for 5. Pankaj Singh took three of those first five and ended with 5 for 60 off his 21 overs, while Nathu Singh and Ajay Singh took two wickets apiece.Rajasthan were 26 without loss at stumps.

The BCB has received expression of interest from 11 enterprises for the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League

Mohammad Isam18-Aug-2015The BCB has received expression of interest (EOI) from 11 enterprises for the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. But no one who participated in the first two editions submitted their applications, after the BCB had terminated contracts with the seven franchises last year due to payment issues.Afzalur Rahman Sinha, BPL governing council chairman, said that the new franchises have to pay BDT 1 crore (USD 128,625) as a bank guarantee. They have also set a few subjective criteria, including involvement with sports at some capacity in the past.The EOI were received from DBL Group, Sohana Group of Industries, Beximco, BBS Cables, Blues Communications, Networld Bangladesh, Mediacom Limited, Index Group, Bengal Communications, Axiom Technology and Fiber@home Limited.”The next step will be to scrutinise the interested parties,” Sinha said in a press conference on Tuesday. “We will speak to them [the bidders]. Those who are real sports lovers and were involved with various clubs and sports in the past, will get priority.Ismail Haider Mallick, the governing council’s member-secretary, said that the process of choosing the new franchises should be completed within the next three weeks.”We hope to start on November 22 or 25. Groundwork has been completed. We wanted to do the BPL with five teams but seeing the response it now seems we can start with seven teams.”We hope to complete the processing for the new franchises by the first week of next month. They have submitted their expression of interest (EOI). We have already reduced the structure,” he said.Mallick added that those interested in owning a new team must understand that the business model of the BPL has reduced significantly, and it has to be run similar to the way Dhaka clubs operate in the Dhaka Premier League (a domestic one-day tournament), but first they have to ensure the bank guarantee.”The new franchise owners have to keep in mind that they can’t do business here. They will be spending as much as a title-challenging Dhaka Premier League club does. They shouldn’t expect anything in return. Those who are sports-oriented, will get preference. They will also have to meet some financial conditions.”Everyone says the right things when they are taking the franchise. That’s why we have put a financial bar that they have to meet to reach the next stage,” he said.Mallick said that if the new franchise owners include any of the old defaulters, they will be asked to be removed. At the moment, BCB’s legal unit are in arbitration with the previous franchises for recovering payments.”We have said it time and again that we have financial dispute with seven franchises,” he said. “It has gone to arbitration, not in our hands. Our legal department is handling the matter. Nobody has cleared their debts so they couldn’t apply for a franchise.”Among the new applicants, we didn’t consider the older ones. Many of them contacted us. If they clear their dues before we finally announce the franchises, the board will take them into consideration.”Mallick added that player payments for the previous editions had been “done” and only some issues remain with local players.”Some cricketers have made legal claims. We had said during the second BPL that all payments should be made by the board. But the cricketers received payments from the franchises. Now we can’t match their claims. We can see differences.”We had made Naimur Rahman [BCB director] as the point man for the local cricketers. He has settled most of it. Now we will just have to pay them this month,” he said.

Khulna Royal Bengals, led by Shahriar Nafees’ 71, claimed their first victory in five games as they beat Duronto Rajshahi by seven wickets in Mirpur

The Report by Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2013
ScorecardShahriar Nafees played a responsible knock for Khulna Royal Bengals yet again•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Khulna Royal Bengals claimed their first victory in five games, beating Duronto Rajshahi by eight wickets. Chasing 139 to win, the Royal Bengals, led by Shahriah Nafees’ 71, sauntered to victory in 19.2 overs.Nafees, like in the previous two wins by his team, was the key contributor in the victory. He struck eleven boundaries in his 52-ball knock, finishing the match with a six off Ben Edmondson with five runs required for victory. He guided the chase with two partnerships; he added 63 for the second wicket with Travis Birt, who made 23 off 26 balls with two fours and a six, and followed this up with a 54-run stand in 6.4 overs with Jehan Mubarak, who remained unbeaten till the end for a 27-ball 30.Earlier, Rajshahi had recovered to post a fighting total after they had slipped to 64 for 6 in the 11th over. Mukhtar Ali and Sean Ervine added 42 for the seventh wicket, and Mukhtar remained unbeaten on 41 to lead them to 138. Mukhtar hammered four boundaries and two sixes during his 30-ball innings.For the Royal Bengals, Krishmar Santokie took three wickets while left-arm spinner Sanjamul Islam and legspinner Noor Hossain picked up two each.Both teams played with different captains today; Lou Vincent led the Royal Bengals despite Nafees being in the playing eleven, and Tamim captained Rajshahi in place of Chamara Kapugedera.

Rajasthan and Haryana both stumbled their way through the group stages, and the semi-final between them promises to be a close fight. But fog may spoil the party

Sharda Ugra in Lahli 09-Jan-2012Will it, won’t it? Like a marauding medieval army sweeping over the vast plains of Haryana, the mere premonition of a winter fog has settled over those involved in the Ranji Trophy semi-final starting on Tuesday in Lahli, outside Rohtak.It is home team Haryana’s first Ranji Trophy semi-final in two decades. It is Rajashtan’s first as defending Ranji champions. To have that happen only because it has snowed in the distant Himalayas is of course meteorologically logical. Yet its consequences on cricket can be dire. Should the side batting second not complete 30 overs in their first innings due to bad weather, Haryana will go through on net run-rate.The match venue, Lalhi’s Ch Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium is a fog-magnet, set amid scenic open fields of sugarcane and mustard. Five years ago, when word went around that Virender Sehwag was coming to bat here, 2000 materialised from the neighbouring villages to watch Viru.As the teams practised at the Bansi Lal stadium on Monday, the sun shone after two days of grey misery, and anxiety dissipated. Were the semi-final scheduled to start today, match referee Pranab Roy reckoned that even a 9:30am start would have been possible.It is not as if the weather is part of Haryana’s home advantage. In last year’s quarter-final, in Lahli, they scored 379 for 6 declared in their first innings. Only 195 overs could be bowled in the entire match, and Tamil Nadu, who were 285 for 6 at the end of the game, went through to the semi-finals. They had qualified because they scored their runs at 3.60 an over during the game, against Haryana’s rate of 3.26. The same rule will apply in this year’s semi-final, should at least 30 overs be completed in the team batting second’s first innings. With fog lurking, who wants to win a toss and decide what to do?”The fog is a weather condition you can’t really control,” HCA secretary Anirudh Chaudhry said. “Saying we should not play here is like saying let’s not play in Chennai because it rains there. We are not worried about it.”Neither Rajasthan nor Haryana would want their campaign to end this way. The teams have tumbled their way through the league phase but landed on their feet, each finishing third in their group and somehow squeezing into the knockouts. They have played their best cricket when it mattered most, with minds free of clutter and fog-free game-plans.The semi-final will be a contest between two sets of unheralded triers and, barring a handful of better-known ‘professionals’, largely faceless fighters. If Rajasthan have been a revelation over the past two seasons, then Haryana’s omnipresence at the business end of the Ranji Trophy has surprised many. Amit Mishra, the Haryana captain, said getting to the latter stages of the tournament consistently would help his team earn recognition.”A lot of people don’t know that we have qualified for the knockouts three times in a row now,” Mishra said. “We need such matches to get our team’s profile higher.” By winning the Ranji Trophy last season, after starting the season in the Plate division, Rajasthan showed teams like Haryana how to upset the more-fancied teams. They would not want to be at the receiving end of their own lesson.Mishra, though, stuck to the facts. “I don’t want to get into discussions about underdogs and favourites. They are defending champions and this is our home ground.”Locals say the Lahli pitch is a swing and seam bowler’s delight; in both matches played here this season, however, first-innings scores crossed 300. Haryana coach Ashwini Kumar termed Lahli a “medium-pacer’s track”. Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar said he thought there would be runs in the pitch. “The surface will do a bit at the start but should things should pan out well later for the batsmen,” he said.The biggest blessing for the bowlers, Kumar says, is how clean the air is. “It is completely pollution-free. So bowlers who have the stamina to send down seven-over spells in normal conditions can run in and bowl 10 overs here. The air is so clean.”It has remained so over the course of the last five years, since Lahli’s first Ranji match, in 2006-07. However, a lot else has changed in Lahli, and Rohtak, and certainly in Haryana cricket. Aakash Chopra, the former India opener, played for Delhi in the 2006-07 season, and was involved in the match in Lahli that ended in three days and relegated the home team to the Plate division.He returned this year to find the journey from Rohtak to the stadium quicker, and on a smoother road. The ground has grown into a larger facility, and Chopra is happy to be away from the hotel where players had to pay Rs 10 for a bucket of hot water – free for India players – in the bad old days. Chopra now represents Rajasthan and he will face a new generation of Haryana bowlers in Lahli.Some weather reports promise clear skies over Lahli for the next three days. The Indian meteorological department predicts fog on Tuesday. The other semi-final, Mumbai v Tamil Nadu, may have a star cast, but Haryana v Rajasthan has the makings of a real thriller.

Australia’s women did what the men spectacularly failed to do by inflicting a series defeat on England as they went 2-0 up with victory in the second one-day international at Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2011
ScorecardAustralia’s women did what the men spectacularly failed to do by inflicting a series defeat on England as they went 2-0 up with victory in the second one-day international at Perth. An unbeaten 103 from Meg Lanning, her maiden ODI hundred in her second match, ensured the home side made easy work of chasing down of 215 with more than eight overs to spare.England captain Charlotte Edwards hit 90 to lift England’s hopes of levelling the series but their bowling attack couldn’t control the Australia batting. Lanning and Shelly Nitschke (70) put on an opening stand of 151 to do most of the work in the run chase before Leah Poulton helped seal victory.The 18-year-old Lanning hit eight fours and a six during a superbly paced innings which suggested she has a fine career ahead of her. “Meg and Shelley were unbelievable,” said Alex Blackwell, the Australia captain. “Shell has obviously been around the Southern Stars squad for quite a few years now and is one of our key players and she was brilliant again tonight.”Meg is only 18 and playing just her second one-day game, but batted with experience beyond her years tonight and it is a credit to all the hard work she has been doing. She is really benefitting from having the experience of Shelley with her at the top of the order and she’s showing that she could be a very good opener for Australia for a long time.”England had been handily placed during their innings as Edwards and Heather Knight (72) added 107 for the third wicket to take the total to 2 for 159 in the 42nd over. But their hopes of a late onslaught were damaged by four run outs as Australia showed their fielding skills.”I’m pleased to get some runs under my belt and make a good score, but it’s difficult to take as we lost the game,” said Knight. “We’re obviously bitterly disappointed, but we have a lot more cricket to play with another big series ahead and the Ashes Test. We’ll rally round as a team and stick together to come back fighting and look to take some momentum into the games ahead.”The one-day series is followed by five Twenty20 internationals, the first two played ahead of the men’s matches in Adelaide and Melbourne next week, before the one-off Ashes Test in Sydney.

Michael Clarke is wary of New Zealand’s bowling attack and aggressive batsmen as he makes his first tour with his new Twenty20 side

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010Michael Clarke is wary of New Zealand’s bowling attack and aggressive batsmen as he makes his first tour with his new Twenty20 side. Clarke has won his three matches in charge since Ricky Ponting retired and the Australians signed off with an eight-wicket thrashing of West Indies in Sydney on Tuesday.Shane Bond, the fast bowler, wants to give Australia their biggest test of the summer and Clarke is expecting a tough assignment. “They’ve got a good attack,” Clarke said in Sydney before departing for New Zealand. “They’ve got some good strikers of the ball, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, and they’ve got a great captain, Dan Vettori, so we have to be at our best.”The World Twenty20 starts at the end of April and Australia have overhauled their team since they were knocked out at the first stage during the 2009 event in England. Clarke and Cameron White are in charge and Clarke is not getting carried away by the team’s strong start against Pakistan and West Indies.”I feel we’re a long way from where I’d like us to be, but I certainly believe we’re improving, we’ve got a good squad,” Clarke said. The series begins on Friday in Wellington and finishes in Christchurch on Sunday.”It’s really important that we look forward to our first tour as a T20 team and try and continue our success,” he said. “They are our last two games leading up to the World Cup, so I think it’s really important to continue to build that momentum going into the World Cup.”

Fakhar Zaman, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first week of August, has recovered and is part of the squad

Danyal Rasool17-Aug-2025Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have not been selected in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE. Fakhar Zaman, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first week of August, has recovered and is part of the side.Salman Agha will lead the 17-member squad, which will also participate in the tri-series against UAE and Afghanistan in the lead-up to the Asia Cup.Babar last played a T20I in December 2024. In PSL 2025, he scored 288 runs in ten innings for Peshawar Zalmi. It included knocks of 56*, 53* and 94 but his overall strike rate was 128.57. He was part of the recent ODI series against West Indies where he had scores of 47, 0 and 9.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rizwan, like Babar, has not been part of Pakistan’s recent T20I squads for the home and subsequent away series against Bangladesh, followed by the T20Is in the West Indies. He made 53 in the opening game of the ODI series against West Indies, followed by scores of 16 and 0.Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said Babar had been challenged with improving his T20 game. I think it’s really harsh to challenge a player on their form on three games,” he said at a press conference. “Babar played nicely in the first ODI but missed out on the next two. There’s no doubt Babar’s been asked to improve in some areas around taking on spin and in terms of his strike rate. Those are things he’s working really hard on.”But at the moment, the players we have have done exceptionally well. Sahibzada Farhan has played six games and won three Player of the Match awards. A player like Babar has an opportunity to play in the BBL and show he’s improving in those areas in T20s. He’s too good a player not to consider.”Shaheen Afridi, who had also found himself out of favour in T20 cricket of late, retained his place for the tri-series and the Asia Cup, though Naseem Shah missed out once again. Naseem is currently in action in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).Lahore Qalandars fast bowler Salman Mirza, who was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with eight against Bangladesh in the away T20I series, was included in the side. Ahmed Daniyal, who also impressed briefly, though was not part of the squad. Both specialist wristspinners – Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem, kept their place.The squad is something of an amalgamation of the sides that have played T20I cricket under Hesson in the three T20I series over the summer. The recent ODI series – which Pakistan lost 2-1 in the Caribbean – appears not to have influenced decision making either way. Hesson said he intended to stick to the aggressive top-heavy approach he has championed in the format, and repeated that Pakistan’s game was suited to such a style.”We were challenged with three different surfaces [in each of the three series]” Hesson said. “In Lahore, the surfaces were flat and the batting excelled. We went to Bangladesh where they were incredibly challenging and low-scoring games. Our top order sets the game up. All the games we won the top order performed really well. The third game in the West Indies, our openers put on 140 [138]. We need that at a run rate that gets us ahead of the game. T20 is all about setting the game up and being ahead of the game all the time in case you get yourself out. From a batting point of view we’ve got a line-up that can continue to do that.”The tri-series in the UAE between the hosts, Afghanistan and Pakistan will serve as a warm-up to the T20 Asia Cup, which will begin on September 9. Pakistan have never won the T20 version of that tournament; they reached the final when it was last played in 2022.

Pakistan squad for the UAE tri-series and Asia Cup

Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem