Asia Cup: India overpower Pakistan by eight wickets
Dubai, Sep 19: A strong bowling performance followed by some power packed batting saw India thrash arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in their Group A clash of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Wednesday.
Asked to field first, three-wicket hauls from pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and part-time off-spinner Kedar Jadhav enabled India to restrict Pakistan to a paltry 162. Bhuvneshwar returned figures of 3/15 while Jadhav got 3/23.
In reply, a quickfire half-century by Rohit Sharma and his 86-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan saw India overhaul the target with a whopping 21 overs to spare.
Rohit plundered 52 runs off 39 deliveries, hitting six boundaries and three sixes along the way.
Brief scores:
Pakistan: 162 in 43.1 overs (Babar Azam 47, Shoaib Malik 43; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/15, Kedar Jadhav 3/23) lost to India: 164/2 in 29 overs (Rohit Sharma 52, Shikhar Dhawan 46) by eight wickets.
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50 Pakistan cricketers find no takers in Hundred Draft
London, Mar 14 (PTI): Top Pakistan cricketers such as Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub and Shadab Khan found no bidders in the Hundred Draft where 50 players from the country had signed up.
Pakistan were represented by 45 male cricketers and five female players in the draft.
Naseem and Shadab were in the top category price bracket of GBP 120000 while Ayub placed himself in the GBP 78500 segment.
Among the women players, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Yusra Amir, Iram Javed, and Jaweria Rauf did not find any takers.
The Indian Premier League owners buying stakes in the Hundred teams could be cited as a reason behind this.
Currently, four IPL franchises have stakes in the Hundred teams — Mumbai Indians in Oval Invincibles, Lucknow Super Giants in Manchester Originals, Sunrisers Hyderabad in Northern Superchargers and Delhi Capitals in Southern Brave.
Besides them, Sanjay Govil, an Indian-American entrepreneur has bought a 50% stake in Welsh Fire, while Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, have purchased a 49% stake in London Spirit.
But apart from that, the modest form of Pakistan cricketers in white ball formats too might have played a part in them not attracting any Hundred bid.
Last year, players like Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi also had to deal with NOC related issues with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which eventually curtailed their presence in the Hundred.
