Author: Shamik Chakrabarty

There’s apparently a deafening silence over the future of the Champions Trophy from all the parties concerned. Pakistan are the designated hosts for the tournament, scheduled to be played in February-March next year, but Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, is tight-lipped on the issue at the moment. According to sources in the know, only a handful in the PCB are aware of what is going on. And this has prompted Rashid Latif to assume that the Champions Trophy could well be postponed. Sounds outrageous. The event is barely a couple of months away and the host broadcaster,…

Rohit Sharma has become a lightning rod for the ‘inundation’ of fan abuse on social media. Social media, at times, can be a ‘social disgrace’, with clueless individuals doubling up as keyboard warriors. Only about a fortnight ago, India were “the best team in the world” after hammering Australia in the first Test in Perth. Now, after a shellacking in the second Test in Adelaide, they are apparently “the worst team in the world”. Most of these reactions can and should be ignored. The Indian team is good at shutting out the outside noise. Some issues, however, need addressing. Did…

ML Jaisimha, the former India opener and one of Sunil Gavaskar’s boyhood heroes, used to call cricket a lonely game. It is a team sport, but when a batter is at the crease, against a bowler and 10 other fielders, he is a lonely person out there in the middle. When a fielder is positioning himself underneath a skier, he is a lonely person in the field. As Pat Cummins dismissed Rohit Sharma with a beauty during India’s second innings at Adelaide Oval and the India captain started to trudge off the field, he looked the most lonesome…

Gee, I thought Pakistan have won the World Cup! Err, the Champions Trophy. On Thursday evening, after an informal meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) directors, news emerged that there was a breakthrough in sight in the 2025 Champions Trophy impasse. As RevSportz reported, the ICC, the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have moved closer to reaching an agreement to play the tournament in a hybrid model. In exchange, all the India-Pakistan matches at the ICC events would follow a similar arrangement until 2027. A large section of the Pakistani fans – the keyboard warriors and troll…

Photo: ICC Finally, there’s a hint of a breakthrough in the 2025 Champions Trophy impasse. According to sources, the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have moved closer to an agreement following an informal meeting involving the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) newly-elected chair Jay Shah, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi and other ICC Board members in Dubai on Thursday. Although the discussion is ongoing, it has been agreed “in principle” that for the next three years, till 2027, all India-Pakistan matches in ICC tournaments would be played at a neutral venue. The Champions Trophy, scheduled in February-March next year with…

The grapevine has it that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is putting pressure on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a written guarantee from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the next four ICC events in India will be played based on a hybrid model as well. The PCB, according to sources, wants the agreement to be legally binding. A story is doing the rounds that the Pakistan cricket hierarchy is not comfortable with the term hybrid for the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played in February-March next year. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has publicly spoken…

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has all but accepted a hybrid model for the 2025 Champions Trophy with a few riders, RevSportz understands. They are expected to communicate this to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by Sunday. The game’s governing body will then reconvene its Board meeting to finalise the details – venues, schedule et cetera – of the tournament. The Champions Trophy, an eight-team ODI event, is scheduled to be played in February-March next year, with the PCB hosting the event. According to sources, the PCB will attach certain clauses in their communication to the ICC for agreeing to…

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) stands isolated in the International Cricket Council (ICC). This is with regards to accepting a hybrid model for next year’s Champions Trophy, with all the other member boards siding with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), RevSportz understands. In fact, it’s now a take-it-or-leave-it situation for the PCB. If they don’t agree to the hybrid model, they might lose the tournament. On Friday, the ICC Board met virtually to find a workable solution for the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be played in February-March 2025, with the BCCI refusing to send the India…

“Jin logo ki naam aapne liya, Bumrah unse bhi aage nikal gayi hai (the names you have mentioned, Bumrah has surpassed them),” said Rashid Latif. The question to the former Pakistan captain was whether Jasprit Bumrah could sit alongside the likes of Dennis Lillee, Malcolm Marshall and Wasim Akram. Just going by the hard numbers, Lillee had 355 wickets from 70 Tests at 23.92. Marshall accounted for 376 scalps from 81 Tests at an average of 20.94. Akram took 414 wickets in 104 Tests at an average of 23.62. Bumrah has 181 wickets from 41 Tests at 20.06. His figures…

The Champions Trophy next year would be played in a hybrid model, Rashid Latif has claimed. According to the former Pakistan captain, an agreement has been reached through back-channel negotiations between the BCCI, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan and will play their matches elsewhere, likely in Dubai. “It feels like they (the ICC and the two boards) have decided on a hybrid model,” Latif told RevSportz. “The PCB will not lose the hosting rights, but India will play their matches in a second country. A…