In today’s cricket news, learn more about former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam who believes that politics should remain out of cricket because it is detrimental to the sport. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes’ England, which proudly endorses the ‘Bazball’ style of playing the longest format of the game, was overwhelmed by Pat Cummins and Co. in Tuesday’s first Test of the highly anticipated Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston.
Intikhab Alam Thought India Should Have Played in Pakistan
Original Source: Asia Cup: ‘Cricket spreads love; India should have come and played in Pakistan’, says Intikhab Alam
I’m against politics in cricket. I think every problem can be solved across the table. It’s nothing. I’m sorry to say this, but our politicians love antagonism. If politicians hadn’t played cricket, life would have been easier.
Cricket has become a profession, in my opinion. We hosted a chess competition in Lahore with 18 Indians. Pakistan’s football team is in India for SAFF. Cricket should disappear if other sports can. End this game. Again, I want our politicians to keep politics out of cricket.
India should have gone to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. It didn’t happen.
What’s this hybrid model? It’s incomprehensible. Pakistan has been allocated four or five matches and the rest of the series would be played in Sri Lanka. It’s illogical. Pakistan will play their World Cup matches elsewhere if they persist to this mixed format.
Without India and Pakistan, can cricket survive? An India-Pakistan match brought the ICC millions. If India and Pakistan don’t play, no ICC cricket event matters. My sole appeal to our legislators is to let the teams play. Meet the cricketers. Share knowledge. Let them go.
Cricket se hi pyar mohabbat badh sakti hai aur koi tareeka nahi hai. Ye chand log wo darwaaze bhi band karna chahte hai (Cricket is the only thing that can lessen hatred and spread love and camaraderie between two countries). That’s the only way, but few on both sides want to close the only hope).
India and Pakistan should play regularly. Every two years, India and Pakistan must play bilateral series. The BCCI and PCB should capitalize on cricket. Imagine the interest in Test cricket if India and Pakistan play regularly. The show was memorable. Viru (Virender Sehwag) becoming Sultan of Multan or the Chennai Test when the audience gave the Pakistan team a standing ovation are discussed.
After the day’s play, a few senior Pakistani players would travel to India’s dressing room for tea, and the next day the Indian squad would visit ours. Young cricketers benefited from those conversations. If Zaheer Abbas, Bishan Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, and Imran Khan are sharing their expertise, what else do you need? The current generation will never see Bishan Singh Bedi versus Zaheer Abbas, Sunil Gavaskar vs Javed Miandad, Kapil Dev vs Imran Khan, or Sachin Tendulkar vs Wasim Akram. In the last decade, we missed a brilliant match between Virat Kohli and Mohammed Amir, and if the situation remains the same, we won’t see how Shubman Gill handles Shaheen Shah Afridi’s inswinging deliveries. We must play often for our children.
The nuisance has spread through social media, YouTubers, former cricketers, and TV anchors. It’s devastating. Listening to such venomous people is pointless. Cricket experts are Tom, Dick, and Harry. They will film rubbish and post it on social media for likes and comments. YouTubers are powerful now, and I don’t know who will regulate them. Because most of them don’t know cricket, they’re bad for our connection.
I’ve visited India numerous times. As captain, I coached the Punjab Ranji Trophy squad for two years. I didn’t feel like I was in another nation. I have many lifetime friends. Cricket is the only way to reconcile.
I’m still friends with Bishan Singh Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar. We’ve become closer over time. They’re my relatives. Kartarpur hosted Bishan Bedi. It was emotional meeting our families. No limits, please. I hope we won’t require visas to visit pals.
Cricketers love and respect one another, and no politician can change that. Our cricketers still greet one other after matches, which is great to watch. They’ve kept that brotherhood tradition.
As a cricket fan, I still believe that subah kabhi toh aayegi (dawn will come).
The “Bazball” Ashes Finale Could Preserve Test Cricket
Original Source: Blockbuster finale could define ‘Bazball’ Ashes — and save Test cricket from its biggest threat
On Tuesday, Australia will play England in the Edgbaston cauldron with an Ashes outcome on the line.
Rain may delay play, so check the weather here.
On Tuesday, the Ashes’ image may be sculpted more powerfully than ever before.
After four thrilling days of cricket conflict, minds naturally drifted to happenings 18 years earlier at the same stadium.
“You can tell this group is massively inspired and motivated by that series,” England quick Stuart Broad said of England’s 2005 Ashes win over Australia.
“It’s great the series are being related because 2005 inspired our group to play and win Ashes series…
“I think we’ll inspire the nation if the series is half as good as that one.”
Billy Bowden’s crooked finger, which condemned Australia to a shocking two-run loss at Edgbaston, ushered in a new Ashes era.
Australia had been dominating the world, including India, and hadn’t lost a Test series to England since 1986-87.
But under Michael Vaughan, England overcame its inferiority mindset and made Australia appear vulnerable for the first time in a long time.
The sport’s return to the mainstream delighted the audience.
Members of the golden age won the Ashes again at home in 2009, away in 2010-11, and in India in 2011.
Many similarities exist between 2023’s Edgbaston finale and 2005’s. The simplest is that Australia won 18 years ago with 282 and will need 281 on Tuesday.
The most important thing is that whatever happens next, if the weather cooperates, will inspire Test cricketers everywhere.
The timing is right for this year’s Ashes series since T20 franchise leagues and their big cash investments threaten to cannibalize the game’s longest format.
Players could be tempted from Test cricket to T20 mercenarism by 12-month, play-around-the-world contracts.
Just ask the PGA Tour—money will win and build whatever it can.
However, evoking sentimentality, emotions, and passion plays to define national athletic identities can prevent that.
The Ashes often provide a platform for the above.
This Ashes is, and T20 franchise cricket never will be.
Test cricket’s five days of mental, physical, and tactical combat cannot be matched by most sports.
One of the best examples of Test cricket being more than that is this year’s opening Test at Edgbaston.
Battles are continuously fought between teams, individuals, and even between players.
England entered the Test after failing to capture the urn on home soil in 2019 and being thrashed 4-0 in 2021-22.
The setback spurred a cultural revolution under new coach Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, who feared England becoming the Ashes’ longtime beta. However, against archrivals Australia, that vital change is being tested.
The first Test will either vindicate their tremendous upheaval or prove the classic Ashes narrative of modern English inadequacy versus the Australians.
Australia will lose to “Bazball” England at some stage in a five-Test series. However, if that loss comes first, questions about their methods may increase and echoes of 2005 may get louder.
In this Test match, unique individual tales have emerged.
In response to England’s aggressive attitude, Pat Cummins’ captaincy has been criticized for caution.
Cummins took the Dukes ball and tore Ben Duckett’s heart out in the final 20 minutes of day three, before Scott Boland took two wickets in three deliveries to shape the Test.
“That is the Australian team I have known for all of the time I have been watching Test cricket,” Vaughan observed after Cummins sparked the Aussies.
On the opening ball of the next day, Joe Root, a Test cricket classicist, attempted a ramp shot that would have embarrassed Glenn Maxwell.
A modern great with his own flair tore it up and rebranded himself.
Stokes’ bat would have taken such risks and been explosive. To keep everyone wondering, he scored just three runs off 19 balls in the second innings.
Khawaja’s 141 off 321 balls in the first innings was a turning point in this Test match. In 13 innings in England, where he was twice dropped, he had only made one half-century.
Khawaja spoke to the press about a “emotional” day with his three-year-old daughter Aisha after overcoming his English demons.
Cricketers worldwide melting.
Except for England fast Ollie Robinson, who called him a “p**ck” the next day and told him to “f**k off.”
Ashes, eh?
It may seem unrelated to the play, but it adds flavor to the Ashes’ simmering soup that might boil on the last day.
These times are rare, as any Test cricket fan knows.
Many Tests, despite their peculiar charm, end in a dull draw on a Rawalpindi highway or a sodden shemozzle at the SCG.
Test cricket’s flaws contributed to the establishment of T20 cricket.
But without those frustrations and mistakes, Tuesday at Edgbaston wouldn’t be as special.
Summary of Today’s Cricket Sports News
Overall, The former captain of Pakistan expressed concern that politics were stifling the historic cricket rivalry, lamenting the loss of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for today’s cricket players.
Finally, Australia won the first match of the Ashes 2023 series at Edgbaston thanks to a late innings from Pat Cummins. The climax of the ‘Bazball’ Ashes would define the series and preserve Test cricket from its greatest threat.