Tag Futebol

A timeline of Ijaz Butt’s tumultuous three-year tenure as chairman of the PCB

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2011October 7, 2008 – Ijaz Butt is named as the PCB chairman, replacing Nasim Ashraf. Two members of the three-man selection committee – Salahuddin Ahmed and Shafqat Rana – resign immediately.October 20, 2008 – Six months before Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson’s contract is about to expire, Butt claims that “we have no utility for Lawson.”October 22, 2008 – Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, reveals plans to sue Butt after being accused by the chairman of stealing official documents.January 13, 2009 – Butt describes the board’s financial status as “terrible” and claims reserves had been halved over the two previous years, in thinly-veiled digs at the administration of Ashraf.February 9, 2009 – Javed Miandad’s resignation as director-general of the PCB takes an ugly turn at a senate hearing as Butt and Miandad trade allegations over the fiasco.February 11, 2009 – Following a six-hour grilling of PCB officials in Islamabad, a standing committee on sports asks the president to dissolve the PCB because it was “incapable” of running cricket. Butt brushes aside calls for his sacking by senators, and says he continues to have the support of president Asif Ali Zardari, the board’s patron.March 5, 2009 – In the aftermath of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, Butt accuses Chris Broad, the match referee for the Lahore Test, of lying in claiming that security was lax for the visiting team and officials. A week after the attack, Butt is confident that teams would tour Pakistan in “six to nine months”. He is also confident that Pakistan would remain a co-host of the 2011 World Cup.April 17, 2009 – World Cup matches are moved out of Pakistan following the security concerns. Butt responds with a statement that suggests double standards in the ICC executive board, which he claims ignored security concerns in the other three host countries.June 30, 2009 – Butt abruptly disbands the national senior and junior selection committees without providing details on when the next panel of selectors would be named.August 7, 2009 – Butt seeks legal advice on the means to tackle unsubstantiated match-fixing accusations during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka.August 27, 2009 – Butt settles the legal dispute with the ICC over the hosting of the World Cup, and expects US$1.8 million as compensation.September 1, 2009 – Saleem Altaf is sacked as the COO of the board, after developing differences with Butt over administration matters.October 22, 2009 – Butt muzzles the centrally contracted players from speaking to the media without permission, in order to prevent controversies and leaks.January 9, 2010 – The head of Pakistan’s parliamentary committee on sports, Jamshed Dasti, calls for Butt’s sacking, calling him “physically unfit” and questioning his handling of the aftermath of the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan team’s bus.January 22, 2010 – With the tour of Australia still on, Butt announces that Pakistan will have a new captain replacing Mohammad Yousuf after the end of the tour in early February.January 24, 2010 – Miandad hits back at Butt’s public comments on the salary he was drawing as PCB’s director general. Miandad also writes to the Pakistan president that Butt is “too old” to head the board.Ijaz Butt had “solid reasons” for the removal of Shahid Afridi as ODI captain•Associated PressFebruary 10, 2010 – The PCB is served a legal notice by the Cricket Council of the United States of America (CCUSA), over comments made by Butt, where he had referred to them as an “illegal” institution.February 26, 2010 – The PCB initially indicates that two players from the current Pakistan squad are involved in match-fixing, but later insists that the players, cases and incidents were old ones and that nobody from the current squad was involved.March 10, 2010 – The PCB carries out the deepest cull of a senior cricket team in many years, banning and fining seven of its top players after the side’s disastrous tour of Australia. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are banned from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, while Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan get one-year bans. Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers are fined Rs 2-3 million [$24,000-35,000] for various misdemeanours and put on six-month probations. All banned players – except Yousuf who retires – appeal their bans, and are pardoned after lengthy wrangles with the board.September 19, 2010 – In an extraordinary outburst in the background of the spot-fixing controversy, Butt points a finger at the England players for their role in the batting collapse that cost England the ODI at The Oval and said the board was investigating a conspiracy, involving “august cricket bodies”, to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.September 23, 2010 – The ECB and the Professional Cricketers’ Association send Butt a pre-action letter, seeking a “full and unreserved apology” for alleging that England’s players were involved in fixing the outcome of the Oval ODI.September 29, 2010 – Butt apologises for claiming England’s players had taken “enormous amounts of money” to lose the third ODI at The Oval against Pakistan.October 20, 2010 – Younis Khan returns to the Pakistan team after a meeting with Butt to clear “all outstanding issues”, ending a nine-month exile.May 12, 2011 – Butt says the series of bans on seniors in the national team was part of his strategy to eradicate player power and maintain team spirit.May 27, 2011 – Butt says that there were “solid reasons” for the removal of Shahid Afridi as Pakistan ODI captain but that he will reveal those reasons at a later date.June 6, 2011 – The PCB sends a legal notice to the ICC raising questions about a proposed amendment to the ICC’s constitution, which would allow the governing body to suspend a member in case of government interference in the running of a national cricket board.October 13, 2011 – Zaka Ashraf, a top banker and businessman, replaces Butt as the chairman of the PCB

Plays of the day for day three of the third Test between New Zealand and India in Wellington

Sidharth Monga in Wellington05-Apr-2009The wiles of McCullum
When Rahul Dravid premeditated a paddle sweep off Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum started moving even before the shot was played but could not reach the ball. Dravid tried the same shot again later in the over but this time McCullum was quicker in moving down leg side and took the catch. It was a moment of amazing alertness from the wicketkeeper with the opposition on 184 for 1, leading by 366. It brings to mind a shot played by Manoj Tiwary in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal but, on that occasion, it was the batsmen who won the battle of the bluffs. Reproduced below is Cricinfo’s commentary of that shot:88.1 Suresh to Tiwary, FOUR, Bluffmaster, Manoj is premeditative in going for paddle sweep, Badrinath at first slip sees it, and starts running towards leg slip, Manoj feels it, and withdraws from the sweep and opens the face towards where the slip would have been. Shot of the dayHot dessert
Gautam Gambhir went into lunch on 96 not out, in sight of his sixth Test century. Off the first ball he faced after the break, Gambhir stepped out to Tim Southee and crashed it through covers to bring up his hundred, his second of the series. There must be a bit of Virender Sehwag in Gambhir.The revelation and the elevation
Sehwag said on television at the start of the day that Zaheer Khan, in Napier, had promised the batsmen a five-for in Wellington if they managed to draw the match. Zaheer kept his word yesterday.The upper-cut has been one of the most profitable shots in this series. Even Dravid is playing it. But what if the ball is wide and too high to reach? If you are Gambhir, you jump a foot in the air and then guide it over slips. For a six.Museum still saves daylight
There has been enough confusion around the end of daylight-saving in New Zealand. But like museums often do, the New Zealand Cricket Museum held on to time. They didn’t pull their clock back by one hour, so according to them, the game started at noon.

Dravid on Ollie Pope: “I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping in these conditions against that quality of bowling”

Alagappan Muthu28-Jan-20243:29

‘We shouldn’t have been chasing 230’ – Dravid

Where did India lose the game in Hyderabad? Was it when their spinners were unable to stop Ollie Pope and England running rampant in the second innings? Was it when their batting was unable to deal with the rookie left-arm spinner Tom Hartley on the fourth day? Nope. Head coach Rahul Dravid says the biggest mistake they made was leaving runs on the field when they batted in their first innings.”I thought we left probably 70 runs on the board in the first innings. You know, I think in our first innings, when conditions were pretty good to bat in on day two, I thought in the kinds of situations we got ourselves into, some good starts and we didn’t really capitalise,” Dravid said. “We didn’t get a hundred, you know, we didn’t get somebody getting a really big hundred for us. So, in some ways, in India, I just felt we left those 70, 80 runs back in the hut in the first innings.”Second innings is always going to be challenging. It’s one of those things that, you know, it’s tough. It’s not easy to chase 230 or it’s not done very often.”Related

• India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes

• A landmark Test for England, Pope, Hartley and reverse-sweeps

• Rohit feels India were not 'brave enough' in the chase

• Pope 196, Hartley seven-for script sensational England win

Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and, to a lesser extent, Shreyas Iyer were among those who were unable to convert their starts into bigger scores in the first innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja did better on that count but all of them were stopped in the 80s. Is this generation of batters not as good as the previous one when it comes to combating spin?”Look, I wouldn’t be too harsh,” Dravid said. “Rahul missed a really short ball. It just stopped. One of those things can go straight into deep midwicket’s hand. But, like I said earlier, I thought even in the first innings we could have converted some of those starts and probably got us closer to 500 and completely sealed the game. But, having said that, you know, I thought 190 was a really good score, to be very honest with you. But then again, not many teams come in and score 420 in the third innings in India and not many players go 196. So, you know, well done.”The final nail in the coffin – Tom Hartley has Mohammed Siraj’s number•Getty Images

Dravid also said that a majority of the batters in this India line-up were still learning the art of playing the long innings. “A lot of players are quite young, in the sense that a lot of these guys do play a lot of white-ball cricket and also maybe don’t get a lot of time to get to play a lot of first-class cricket as well. So they’re learning and I think they’re getting there.”To be fair, there have been challenging wickets as well over the last few years. And it’s been a bit of a challenge for some of our young batsmen to adapt. But they’ve got the skill and they’ve got the ability, and they’ve not come here just like that; they’ve come here by scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket, doing well in A-team cricket. So, you know, they are being picked on merit.”Sometimes it does take time for people to adjust. They’re working really hard. I will say that, I mean, there’s a lot of thought going into a lot of their batting and for them… it’s just a question of them looking to constantly keep improving and developing skills that maybe help them counter these kind of conditions a little bit better.”India’s spinners, though, are incredibly experienced. And a lot will depend on them finding a way to counter England batters playing the reverse sweep as if it’s the forward defensive in the next four Tests.”I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping [than Ollie Pope] ever in these conditions against that quality of bowling,” Dravid said. “Having said that, for us now, it’s important that we respond and come up with some plans and some strategies and see how we can maybe make him play those shots from probably even more difficult lengths and be even more disciplined and even more meticulous with our execution.”Because, I thought a little bit our execution went off. Not by much. Credit to him, but we were a little bit off and hopefully in the next Test match, if we get our execution right, then I hope he makes a mistake.”

Barishal eliminated despite Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s 69

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2023Rangpur Riders 172 for 6 (Shamim 71, Talukdar 29, Khaled 2-23) beat Fortune Barishal 170 for 3 (Mehidy 69, Mahmudullah 34, Shanaka 2-23) by four wicketsRangpur Riders kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the BPL final after beating Fortune Barishal in Eliminator by four wickets. They will now face the losing side from Qualifier 1, starting later this evening.The match went down to the wire with Riders needing eight runs in the last over. Mahedi Hasan, though, settled the matter with two fours – the first a scoop and the second a thick outside edge – off Kamrul Islam, with three balls to spare. But it was Shamim Hossain, batting at No. 3 for the first time this season, who kept Rangpur’s chase intact. He struck four fours and as many sixes in his 51-ball 71, his highest T20 score, before holing out to long-on off Khaled Ahmed.Rangpur had lost Mohammad Naim for a duck in the first over of their 171-run chase when the left-hander skied Shakib Al Hasan. Rony Talukdar and Shamim shook off the early wicket with a 61-run stand. Talukdar struck two fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 29, before holing out to deep cover.Rangpur captain Nurul Hasan and Nicholas Pooran, who returned to the BPL after four years, fell in quick succession. Shakib trapped his opposite number with a classic arm-ball, before taking Pooran’s catch in the covers off a Khaled full-toss.Batting first, Barishal posted 170 for 3, an underwhelming total given how well they were batting in the middle overs. Andre Fletcher, who arrived for Barishal last night, added 46 for the first wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before Mahmudullah took the side to 115 for 1 in the 14th over. It seemed like the perfect base but Mehidy and Mahmudullah fell in the space of 11 balls, leaving the rest of the Barishal batters to go big. But Karim Janat and Bhanuka Rajapaksa could add only 44 runs in the last 4.5 overs.Dasun Shanaka was the pick of the bowlers for Riders with figures of 2 for 23 from his three overs but it was Dwayne Bravo who dried up the scoring with his variations even if he didn’t pick up a wicket.

Neymar collected a yellow card and a subsequent one-game suspension during Santos' 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Vasco da Gama on Sunday.

Neymar suspended for one gameSantos battered in 6-0 defeatBrazilian superstar seen in tearsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Neymar and Santos suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat to Vasco da Gama on Sunday, heightening relegation fears among their fans. The Brazilian superstar was in tears at full time and had to be consoled by a member of staff. Manager Cleber Xavier was given the sack shortly after the loss, but Santos now face being without Neymar for their next game after he picked up a yellow card and a subsequent one-match suspension.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Former Liverpool and Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho was among the goal-scorers during a bleak evening for Neymar and Santos. The one-game ban means Neymar, who has scored three goals in 11 Brazilian Serie A fixtures this season, will miss their next fixture against Bahia on Sunday and the 33-year-old admitted after the defeat it was one of the worst results of his illustrious career.

WHAT NEYMAR SAID

Speaking to reporters after the game, Neymar said: "I'm completely disappointed with our game. The fans have the right to protest in all sorts of ways, obviously without physical violence. But cursing and insulting people today is perfectly acceptable.

"I feel incredibly ashamed; I've never experienced anything like this in my life. I'm crying out of anger, at everything. Unfortunately, I can't help in every way. Today was terrible; that's the reality.

"To sum it all up: it was sh*t. It's a disgrace to play that kind of game wearing a Santos jersey. Everyone needs to put their head down, go home, and think about what they want to do. With today's attitude, if we have to do what we did on the field, we won't even need to show up again on Wednesday."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

DID YOU KNOW?

Santos are in a very real relegation scrap, sitting 15th with only 21 points. Things don't get much easier in the coming weeks either, with upcoming opponents Bahia and Fluminense both sitting ahead of the Vila Belmiro side in the league table.

Brisbane Heat finals hero leaves to join Renegades on a two-year deal and looks set to open alongside Jake Fraser-McGurk

Alex Malcolm11-Apr-2024Melbourne Renegades have poached BBL-winning batter Josh Brown away from Brisbane Heat on a two-year deal as a replacement for the retired Aaron Finch.Brown, 30, burst onto the scene in the last two seasons as a mature-age find for Heat after dominating Brisbane grade cricket and had a huge impact for Heat helping them reach two finals and claim the title last season. It’s understood the initial two-year deal comes with the option of two more.In his first 23 matches in the BBL, Brown has made 624 runs at 27.13, striking at 149.64. He rose to national fame in the BBL finals last season smashing 140 from 71 balls, including a BBL record 12 sixes, against Adelaide Strikers in the Challenger to help Heat reach the final before backing that up with a matchwinning 53 in the final against Sydney Sixers.Related

Cameron White returns to Melbourne Renegades as new head coach

Seccombe and McKay join Renegades and Stars as high performance managers

Melbourne Renegades set to part ways with coach David Saker

Decision on Pucovski's future delayed after extended concussion symptoms

Under-19 World Cup trio Konstas, Hicks and Anderson earn NSW contracts

His form led to overseas T20 franchises chasing his services and he took up an offer to play in the Bangladesh Premier League with Chattogram Challengers. He also made his List A debut for Queensland when he returned from Bangladesh.Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said the struggling Melbourne franchise was thrilled to secure Brown as part of a new-look squad next season.”We are extremely excited to have Josh join our squad,” Rosengarten said. “We’ve identified a clear role for Josh in our batting order which will have a new look this year.”Josh possesses a good balance of aggression and composure, which we all witnessed in the recent BBL finals series. We’ve been watching Josh for a while so his strong season and BBL finals series were no surprise.”Brisbane Heat admitted they were disappointed to lose Brown having offered what they believed was a strong offer.”We provided Josh and his management with a two-year contract offer that was very lucrative and a significant uplift,” Joe Dawes, the new Queensland Cricket general manager, said. “However, we understand the lure of a four-year commitment for him as a player, even though we believed our offer was very competitive and more than fair.”Our fans will justifiably be disappointed that he won’t be with us going forward, and as a club, we are sad to lose Josh, no doubt.”Brown looks set to form a formidable opening partnership with Jake Fraser-McGurk. He was grateful to Heat for giving him the chance to play in the BBL.”I’ve enjoyed my time with the Heat, they gave me my opportunity, for which I’ll always be grateful and have cherished memories including winning a BBL Championship last season,” he said. “But I am extremely excited for a new challenge and hopefully achieve the same success with the Renegades.”It’s a young group with a lot of talent and firepower, especially in that batting group. I can’t wait to partner with the likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Will Sutherland and see what we can do.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Principal jogador da Seleção Brasileira, o atacante Neymar causou preocupação ao sair da partida contra a Sérvia na última quinta-feira com dores no tornozelo direito. O camisa 10 teve uma entorse no local e ainda e está fora do duelo contra a Suíça, na próxima segunda-feira, pela segunda rodada da Copa do Mundo.

+Seleção Brasileira: Neymar e Danilo estão fora da fase de grupos da Copa do Mundo

RelacionadasSeleção BrasileiraRicharlison tem mais gols do que jogos com a camisa 9 da Seleção BrasileiraSeleção Brasileira24/11/2022VídeoVÍDEO: os melhores momentos da vitória da Seleção Brasileira sobre a Sérvia na CopaVídeo24/11/2022Seleção BrasileiraVeja o que Tite e os jogadores da Seleção falaram após a vitória sobre a SérviaSeleção Brasileira24/11/2022

Após a partida, Rodrigo Lasmar, médico da Seleção Brasileira, explicou a situação de Neymar, e o técnico Tite chegou a dizer que o jogador do Paris Saint-Germain não preocupa. O atleta, porém, passou por exames e seguirá em observação nos próximos dias para tentar voltar nas oitavas de final.

Mas e com Neymar sem condição de enfrentar os suíços, como Tite poderá armar a sua equipe para a próxima partida? É o que LANCE! mostra a seguir.

+ Veja a tabela, os jogos e os grupos da Copa do Mundo de 2022

+Festa brasileira: veja as imagens da torcida do Brasil na Fifa Fan Fest de Copacabana

Quando o camisa 10 foi substituído, o atacante Antony entrou em seu lugar. Esta opção, contudo, não deve estar na cabeça do treinador, já que o atleta do Manchester United atua pelas beiradas. Na substituição, inclusive, Rodrygo foi deslocado para o meio para fazer a função de meia.

O jogador do Real Madrid, que normalmente joga pelas pontas, sabe fazer a função pelo meio. Nos treinos em Turim, em um dos treinos que Tite esboçou a escalação, o comandante do time canarinho colocou o Rayo justamente como “reserva” de Neymar. No clube merengue, na ausência de Karim Benzema, Rodrygo também jogou centralizado.

+Richarlison decidiu: veja a vitória do Brasil na Copa do Mundo em imagens

A segunda opção para o técnico Tite é a entrada do volante Fred. Nesta configuração, Lucas Paquetá jogaria mais adiantado, na função de Neymar, atuando mais perto do gol. Fred, aliás, era cotado para começar a partida. O jogador do Manchester United brigava com Vini Jr pela titularidade.

Tite, entretanto, apostou numa equipe mais ofensiva e escolheu o camisa 20 do Real Madrid. A aposta foi justificada, já que Vini participou dos dois gols de Richarlison. No primeiro, o atacante finalizou para o Pombo pegar o rebote. Já no segundo, o ex-Flamengo deu linda assistência de trivela para o camisa 9 marcar de voleio.

+ATUAÇÕES: Com direito a voleio, Richarlison marca duas vezes e recebe a maior nota em vitória do Brasil

A terceira e última alternativa de Tite, e também a mais improvável, é a escalação de Everton Ribeiro. O jogador de 33 anos voltou a ser chamado por Tite após grande reta final de temporada no Flamengo e pode jogar pelo meio.

O jogador rubro-negro terminou o ano em alta com os títulos da Copa do Brasil e da Libertadores, onde foi destaque nas finais das duas competições, mas está atrás na corrida com os companheiros. Na Data Fifa de setembro, o camisa 22 entrou em campo no amistoso contra Gana, no segundo tempo, mas não saiu do banco contra a Tunísia.

Sydney Thunder made a statement in the WBBL, hitting the club’s highest ever total before holding on for an eight-run win in the top-of-the-table clash against Brisbane Heat.Led by hard-hitting openers Tahlia Wilson and Chamari Athapaththu, Thunder smashed 204 for 4 at North Sydney Oval.Heat were gallant in reply to get the equation down to 24 off the final over, before Jess Jonassen whacked two sixes of Marizanne Kapp to make it 10 needed off two balls. But the South African bowler held her nerve.Related

• Athapaththu bludgeons Stars to help Thunder go top

• Perry's perfect all-round performance crushes Renegades

• Mack, Gibson heroics trump Sciver-Brunt's fifty for Strikers' last-ball win

Wooden-spooners last year with only one win, Thunder now lead the WBBL with a 5-1 record and a game in hand over the rest of the top four.Athapaththu has been a star, but equally impressive is the form of the Thunder’s entire top order. Wilson hit 83 from 54 balls in the best night of her WBBL career, setting the tone early with a 102-run opening stand with Athapaththu from 63 balls.The 24-year-old has made an art of piercing the leg-side field in this tournament, and seven of her 11 fours – as well as a six off Courtney Sippel – came in that fashion on Monday.Heat only had themselves to blame, dropping Wilson three times in her fiery innings.Athapaththu continues to be destructive, hitting 58 off 31 deliveries. She flayed the ball at will through the offside when offered width, and helped take 15 off Amelia Kerr’s first over when she hit the spinner back over her head for six.The Sri Lankan brought up her 50 off 25 balls, doing so in style by slow-sweeping Jonassen for two sixes in one over. The runs took Athapaththu to the top of the scoring charts for the tournament, with 304 at an average of 50.66 and a strike-rate of 143.39.More remarkably, the she was overlooked by everyone in the overseas player draft, before later being scooped up by Thunder.Heather Knight banged out 38 off 19 balls, as Thunder took 69 from the final five overs. Jonassen copped the most treatment, going for 0 for 48 from three overs, while Kerr was 0 for 43 from her three.Sippel had more success, removing Athapaththu and Phoebe Litchfield to finish with 2 for 31, while Nicola Hancock’s 2 for 32 included the wickets of Knight, and Kapp for a golden duck.Mignon du Preez gave Heat some hope in the chase with 61 from 37, but she was caught trying to take on Hannah Darlington in the penultimate over.Jonassen handed the hosts a late scare, but it wasn’t enough to pull off what would have been the competition’s highest-ever chase.

Manchester United are reportedly lining up seven transfer deals during the summer transfer window.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Man Utd eyeing seven transfers
• Red Devils to sign more forwards
• Rashford, Garnacho and Antony could leave

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  United are determined to stage a comeback after a disastrous 2024-25 campaign, where they finished 15th in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils have started the squad rebuilding process and already signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The now reports that United are planning to complete at least seven more transfers, including incomings and outgoings, before the summer window closes, and are lining up moves for more forwards. The club have been linked with a move for Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo, while Eintracht Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike could also head to Old Trafford.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  United will also aim to get rid of some of their present squad members to fund new transfers. Players like Marcus Rashford, Antony and Alejandro Garnacho no longer fit into Amorim's plans and will be sold if they receive the right offers. Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund's futures in Manchester are also far from certain.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• AFP
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?

  United players are currently on holiday after a hectic season and tour in Malaysia and Hong Kong. The squad will reconvene in late July before heading back to Asia for the first part of their pre-season schedule.

Sarfaraz was struck on the helmet by an Asitha Fernando delivery and, after continuing to bat for a while, retired hurt

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2023

Pakistan will use a concussion substitute for the first time in Test cricket, after the PCB confirmed that Mohammad Rizwan will be replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed for the remainder of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.Sarfaraz was struck on the back of the head by a bouncer from Asitha Fernando off the very first ball he faced in the afternoon session of the third day’s play – it was the first ball with the second new ball and Sarfaraz had stepped down the pitch to it. The ball went for four leg byes.Sarfaraz underwent a concussion test as per regulations and resumed, batting without any apparent effect for another five overs. He hit three boundaries in that period but after the last, an elegant clip off a full delivery off Dilshan Madushanka for four through midwicket, he called for the Pakistan physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon and gestured to the back of his head, where he had been struck. After a couple of minutes, he walked off.Concussion substitution regulations require an official assessment of concussion to be provided to match officials and it was duly given to the match referee David Boon. “Sarfaraz Ahmed has been replaced by Mohammad Rizwan as a concussion substitute in the ongoing second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Singhalese Sports Club after match referee David Boon accepted the Pakistan team management’s request for the substitution,” a PCB statement said.”Sarfaraz was hit on his head while ducking a bouncer by Asitha Fernando in the afternoon session on day three. He remains under the observation of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s medical panel.”Rizwan will now be allowed to bat in this innings and is a like-for-like replacement as wicketkeeper-batter. Until this year, Rizwan had been Pakistan’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper for a few years, keeping Sarfaraz out of the XI. But a lean run of form with the bat allowed Sarfaraz to return for the home series against New Zealand earlier this year and he duly cemented his place with scores of 86, 53, 78 and 118 in the two Tests.The first time Pakistan had used the concussion substitution was when Kamran Ghulam had replaced Haris Sohail in the third ODI against New Zealand in January this year. Sohail had been struck by a 150kph bouncer from Lockie Ferguson in the game and was run out soon after.