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As many as six Pakistan Women cricketers – out of the party of 18 – are in isolation in Karachi after testing positive for Covid-19 ahead of the upcoming three-ODI against West Indies.As things stand, the series will go ahead as scheduled, with the three cricketers who had tested positive on October 28 expected to reintegrate with the squad by November 6, after ten days of isolation, while the three who tested positive soon after – between October 29 and November 2 – will join the squad by November 9. The first ODI will be played on November 8, in Karachi.The Pakistan squad was at the PCB’s high-performance centre in Karachi for a preparatory camp to prepare for the series, when the first three cases were reported and, as per the protocol, the three players were placed in isolation for ten days. The remaining players and members of the support staff subsequently went into six days’ quarantine.But three more cricketers, from the group that was in quarantine, tested positive in fresh tests, but on different days, and their isolation periods will end on November 7, 8 and 9. The remaining members of the squad were allowed to train at the end of their quarantine.The PCB hasn’t named the players who have tested positive, but a board spokesperson confirmed that the team will have a full 15-member squad in place by November 6 and have their playing XI ready for the first game.Pakistan had named an 18-member squad with Javeria Khan as captain for the series against West Indies as well as for the women’s ODI World Cup qualifiers, to be played in Zimbabwe – both Pakistan and West Indies will leave for Zimbabwe immediately after their series; the tournament will be held from November 21 to December 5.West Indies – led by Stafanie Taylor – landed in Karachi on November 1, and after fulfilling the requisite Covid-19 protocols, had their first training session at Karachi’s National Stadium today.Pakistan squad: Javeria Khan (capt), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Maham Tariq, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wk).

Ottis Gibson has urged the Bangladesh bowlers not to panic if – and possibly when – they come under the cosh from England’s big hitters during Wednesday’s T20 World Cup match in Abu Dhabi, explaining that the opponents’ aggressive style would offer chances for his side to pick up wickets.Related

• Left-arm spin test awaits England's top order in powerplay

• Bangladesh run into confident England in first T20I meeting between sides

• Bangladesh bungle with match-ups obsession

“We have to be on our A game if we want to challenge them and ultimately win the game,” Gibson, the team’s bowling coach, said. “We know that England are a very powerful batting line-up. The key is to be accurate with what we deliver, and back ourselves. We know they will come out hard, but they also give you chances.”The message is not to panic. Understand that you will get hit off a good ball. That’s their mentality. But they also give you opportunity to take wickets. We must be calm to execute our skills and plans, and considered about every ball we bowl.”England beat West Indies convincingly in their opening game but lost four wickets on their way to chasing down the paltry 56-run target in Dubai. Bangladesh have never faced England in T20Is, so they will bank a lot on Gibson’s knowledge of the opposition from his time working with them. But on the subject of “chances”, it is hard to forget how Bangladesh’s last match panned out, when Liton Das dropped Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka at a crucial stage of the game.Bangladesh have dropped six catches in the tournament so far, but Gibson tried to play down the misses. “One or two catches get dropped in every cricket match. Obviously when the catches play a part in the result, it is highlighted more but we do a lot of catching practice,” he said. “When the guys are out in the middle under pressure, mistakes like catches going down happen. I won’t say it is a concern.”Gibson said that the coaching staff had been fully supportive of Liton, who has also been in the middle of a lean run with the bat, and was also fined for an argument with Lahiru Kumara during the game.”He is one of our best fielders. The fact that a couple of catches went down doesn’t diminish what he contributes to the team. Of course, anybody can drop a catch. It is highlighted because those catches, you can argue, contributed to the result,” Gibson said. “He has been one of our key players for a while. The reality is that any other fielder in that position could have dropped those catches as well. We remind him of his quality, and that he is a key player for us. We support the player, whether it is Liton Das or any other player.”Bangladesh also haven’t got the best from Mustafizur Rahman, who took a four-wicket haul against Oman, but has looked off-colour at times.”Fizz is a key bowler for us in any conditions. His cutters are more effective in Bangladesh but one thing I like about him is his ability to adjust to conditions very quickly,” Gibson said. “He is key especially in the backend of the innings, but he can also swing the ball back in now. We have worked very hard on it. He is a weapon for us with both the new and old ball.”

India’s assistant physio Yogesh Parmar testing positive for Covid-19 ahead of the Manchester Test left the team feeling vulnerable and fearful, according to pacer Shardul Thakur. Speaking to the , Thakur said that the physio had worked with “everyone” ahead of the match, and so the team was shaken by his test results.”We were worried about what will happen, who will be infected since Parmar had treated everyone,” Thakur said. “We didn’t know how things would go ahead because tracking this infection is next to impossible. The next four-five days were vulnerable for us because there was fear that it could happen to me or it could happen to anyone. Everyone was worried about their and their family’s health.”Related

• Manchester Test postponed indefinitely

• Shastri returns positive lateral flow test, placed in isolation

The fifth – and final – Test in Manchester was postponed indefinitely in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak within the India bubble. News that the match wouldn’t begin as originally planned came in hours before the scheduled toss on September 10, after Parmar had returned a positive Covid-19 test on September 8. He had had to double up on his duties midway into the fourth Test at The Oval, after lead physio Nitin Patel went into isolation, having being identified as a close contact of India head coach Ravi Shastri, who tested positive on the third evening of the fourth Test. Two other members of India’s support staff, bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar, had also tested positive at the time.Before the tour came to an abrupt end, though, Thakur, a frontline pace bowler, had played a key role – with the bat – in India going 2-1 up in the Test series. His twin fifties at The Oval were pivotal to India’s 157-run victory.Thakur, who made his Test debut in 2018, had made a comeback of sorts with the red ball for India on the 2020-21 tour of Australia, and since then he has three half-centuries in five innings. He has worked hard on his batting, he said, and the string of significant scores – he also made a vital 67 in India’s series-clinching, three-wicket win at the Gabba – was no coincidence.”Lower-order batsman contributing always helps, and there have been many instances where 40-50 runs make a huge difference. When I made my comeback in the Indian team, I practiced with our throwdown specialists Raghu [Raghavendra] and Nuwan [Seneviratne] – they are very quick. Initially, I wasn’t able to play them. I tried to improve my footwork when I faced them and slowly, slowly my batting improved. The more I played them the more I got adjusted to the pace. Whatever runs I have scored so far, there has been a process that I have followed, it’s not a coincidence or stroke of luck.”He also picked up a vital tip from former India captain MS Dhoni along the way. “Once I was in Mahi room and holding his bat. He told me that my batting grip is too high and I need to hold it lower to get better control over the shot. Now I hold my bat there and it helps.”Thakur plays under Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings and, following the upcoming IPL, he will also be working with Dhoni at the T20 World Cup; Dhoni has been named team mentor, and Thakur is a reserve player in the squad. He expects Dhoni to give India a leg-up during the campaign.”I’m very happy with the decision,” Thakur said. “I’ve played along with him for three years now, and I know that his experience comes in handy. He will bring more ideas to the team. I think Virat [Kohli] and Ravi will also get some help from him. Mahi will bring one more angle, especially when we’re in tricky situations.”

South Africa are “optimistic” Vernon Philander will be able to bowl on the fourth day of the ongoing Test against England after an x-ray revealed bruising but no fracture to his right hand.Philander was hit by James Anderson while batting and received treatment on-field before going on to score 52. He did not take the field for the first 38 overs of the England innings but returned for the final 13, although he did not bowl. Barring anything “out of the ordinary” normal service should resume on Sunday.Philander sustained the injury off the 12th ball he faced, when he had not yet scored a run. A short ball from Anderson reared up and struck him on the glove but did not prevent him from playing some of the better shots in the South African innings. Although Philander routinely wrung out his hand after several shots, he did not appear to be in any significant discomfort and found the boundary seven times, including with a bottom-handed hoick over midwicket.When South Africa’s innings concluded, Philander was taken to the hospital and could not join his team-mates on the field. He returned to the change-room and received icing before making an appearance in the final hour. Even though Philander would have been able to bowl immediately – because his injury is external and so does not require him to spend the same amount of time on the field as he was off it – he did not bowl on Saturday afternoon and fielded with his left hand. Overnight rest should see him ready to bowl on Sunday morning.The diagnosis is a relief for South Africa, who feared being robbed of a third first-choice player. They are without Faf du Plessis for this Test after he remained at home following the birth of his first child and will be without Kagiso Rabada for the second Test after he was suspended for a code of conduct violation.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:25

Bangar: Tewatia’s introduction turned the match

A sensational display of end-overs bowling from Mohit Sharma and strangulation by legspin from Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, helped apply the choke on Kolkata Knight Riders. By securing one of three wins they needed, Kings XI lived to fight another day.In what was an engaging last five overs off which Knight Riders needed just 50, Mohit brought out all his slower variations – the knuckleball, back-of-the-hand slower deliveries and offcutters – and delivered them with precision to deny Chris Lynn, who wiped out half of Knight Riders’ 168-run target off just 52 balls, and Manish Pandey. The pair’s dismissal off successive deliveries off the 18th over helped close out a tight game, with the Sharmas – Mohit and Sandeep – defending 29 off the 12 deliveries to ensure three playoff spots were still up for grabs.Knight Riders’ productive first sixKings XI made four changes, two of those being forced. One of them – Hashim Amla – had just smashed a 60-ball 104, his second century of the season, in the previous game. Even so, the rest of the batsmen stuttered as they finished with just 189 when they should’ve posted 210. Now, without Amla, who along with David Miller was unavailable because of national duty, Kings XI needed a robust beginning from the openers. Manan Vohra, who had earlier in the tournament shunted up and down the order to accommodate both Shaun Marsh and Martin Guptill, sparkled briefly, but his dismissal brought about a restrained approach. The first six overs fetched just 41 for the loss of the openers. Knight Riders had begun well.Maxwell, Saha keep the innings aliveOn a surface where the ball was deviating just about enough to keep the medium-pacers interested, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme bowled six overs in tandem, conceding just 22 off the first four immediately after the Powerplay. Kings XI limped to 63 for 3 in the first half. They went 17 deliveries without a boundary after Shaun Marsh’s dismissal in the ninth over, before Maxwell cut loose – hitting de Grandhomme for two successive sixes off legitimate deliveries to trigger a surge. Maxwell’s picking of lengths was impressive as he played the pull effectively against the pacers. Wriddhiman Saha, on 10 off 17 at one stage, pinched crucial boundaries to move to a run-a-ball 26. At 115 for 3 with five to play, Kings XI needed big back five overs. But they were denied.Kuldeep Yadav, returning in place of Piyush Chawla, was rewarded for his willingness to flight the ball as he had Maxwell caught at wide long-off in an attempt to hit him for a third successive six. In his next over, he had Saha stumped after being biffed across the line one ball earlier. A cameo from Tewatia lifted them to 167, not underwhelming but not match-winning either.Getty Images

Narine tees off, Lynn consolidatesTwo quiet men, who don’t believe in intimidating opponents with words, let their blades talk. Sunil Narine’s no-frills approach fetched him four fours in a 10-ball 18. Lynn, playing in only his second game after returning from a shoulder injury that kept him out for three weeks, didn’t show signs of “not being a 100 percent” as he revealed during a flash interview. Time and again, he was tested against the short ball, only for the deep midwicket and wide long-on boundaries to be peppered with regularity.The best shot of his knock – a flat-batted swat off Matt Henry which he fetched from outside off – showed how brutally effective he can be even if not at full tilt. Yet, this wasn’t as brutal a knock as the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore. By bringing up a half-century off just 29 deliveries, Lynn ensured Gautam Gambhir’s struggle against spin – he scratched around 17 deliveries for 8 before mistiming a slog to deep midwicket – didn’t deeply disturb the asking rate.Tewatia spins a webOne ball after sending back Gambhir, Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, saw off Robin Uthappa, but to not give any credit to Axar Patel would be doing injustice to his efforts. Running around from straight deep midwicket, he covered quick ground before putting in a dive to catch the dipping slog sweep inches from the ground near deep square leg. Now, the choke was on. Axar followed it up by conceding just three in his next over. The spinners – Tewatia along with Axar and Swapnil Singh – at that stage had combined figures of 2 for 30 off six overs. Knight Riders needed 86 off 54 balls.Maxwell’s punt on Mohit pays offBy leaving two overs of Mohit in the last five, Maxwell gambled. Considering the form Lynn was in, it was a tough proposition. But the pressure applied by the spinners left Knight Riders with a steep task against a bowler, who justified the INR 6.5 crore investment, at a crunch moment when the game was on the line and Kings XI’s chances of staying alive was hanging by a thread. That he bowled just three overs may have been a decision Kings XI could have rued, but on the night, it was his experience that prevailed.

Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Lions
Bengaluru, April 27, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Form guide

• Royal Challengers Bangalore (sixth): match washed out v Sunrisers Hyderabad, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs, defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs

• Gujarat Lions (eighth): lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs, defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 4 wickets, lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs.

Head-to-head

This season: A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli set up a Royal Challengers total of 213 in the first innings. That was enough to ensure a 21-run win despite a 44-ball 72 from Brendon McCullum.Overall: The teams have met four times, with Royal Challengers winning thrice and losing once. They have batted first in three of the four matches, posting totals of 180, 248 and 213.

In the news

With the allrounder Dwayne Bravo ruled out of the entire season with a hamstring injury, Lions have signed up Irfan Pathan as a replacement, who will now be playing for his sixth IPL franchise.The last match at the Chinnaswamy, between Royal Challengers and Sunrisers Hyderabad, was washed out without a ball bowled. According to the Meteorological Centre’s forecast for Thursday, Bengaluru can expect “one or two spells of rain or thundershowers”.The washout against Sunrisers left Royal Challengers with only five points from eight games. Their hopes for making the playoffs, therefore, hang by a thread. Even six wins out of their six remaining games may not guarantee qualification.

The likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Chris Gayle/Travis Head/Shane Watson, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Tymal Mills/Adam Milne, 9 Samuel Badree, 10 S Aravind, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalGujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Aaron Finch/Jason Roy/James Faulkner, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Smith, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Shubham Agarwal/Praveen Kumar/Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Nathu Singh

Strategy punt

Brendon McCullum has a poor record in T20s against both Samuel Badree (26 off 34 balls, two dismissals) and Yuzvendra Chahal (20 off 23 balls, three dismissals) – a case, perhaps, for Royal Challengers to bowl their legspinners in tandem with the new ball. The last time they met Lions, Royal Challengers opened the bowling with two spinners in Chahal and Pawan Negi.

Stats that matter

• Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have outstanding records against Lions. Kohli averages 91.00 and has a strike-rate of 160.58 against them, while de Villiers averages 228.00 and scores at 198.26.
• Lions did not play Dhawal Kulkarni in their previous match, against Kings XI Punjab, but could include him at Chinnaswamy. In the IPL, he has conceded less than eight an over against Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers – his economy rate against Gayle is a mere 6.77. He has also dismissed Kohli four times and Gayle three times.
• Ravindra Jadeja’s economy rate of 9.70 is the worst for any spinner who has sent down a minimum of 50 balls this season. He has only taken two wickets at 97.00 – the worst average of spinner this season.
• The first six overs of Royal Challengers’ innings should make for interesting viewing. They have the worst Powerplay run-rate (6.78) of all the teams this season, while Lions have the worst economy rate (9.80).
• Gayle has scored only 69 off 70 balls in the Powerplay this season, with a 61.5% dot-ball percentage, the worst among all batsmen this season.
• Jadeja has a good T20 record against Kohli, conceding only 104 runs to him off 95 balls. He has, however, struggled against Gayle, de Villiers, Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav, conceding more than nine an over against each of them.
• Of all the spinners to bowl a minimum of five overs in the Powerplay this season, Yuzvendra Chahal has the best balls-per-boundary ratio – 10.00. Harbhajan Singh (9.00) is second on that list. Sunil Narine (6.75) is a distant third.

Bangladesh’s players have often stressed on the need to do well in the first hour of a session. But they have understood, and justifiably so, that far too many times they have given it their all in the first hour only to fizzle out in the second.In their last three Tests in New Zealand and India, there have been examples of Bangladesh starting well in a game or a session, only to be unable to carry on for the rest of the day and press home the advantage. In Hyderabad against India, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi started strongly on the opening day, but the pair, as well as subsequent bowlers, could not keep up the pressure on the Indian top order. The same situation transpired with the ball on a number of occasions in Wellington and Christchurch, where they could not push on after a good start.This happens even more when Bangladesh are batting. Too often, they lose wickets in a cluster in the latter part of a session after getting into a position of strength. Well-set batsmen lose focus, which is one of the two problems addressed by coach Chandika Hathurusingha.”The one-percenters and five-percenters are letting us down,” Hathurusingha said. “We know that we have the capability. There are two things – one, concentrating over a period. We sometimes switch off. The other thing is something that we have identified and spoken about, which is that we have to play the whole session rather than giving everything in the first hour and fading away in the second hour.”We have discussed the game plan, how to be competitive for two-hour sessions. We did well when we tried this in the two-day practice game. I think this is going to help us. Now, we will learn from those mistakes and identify those moments in the game when they come, and obviously, we are going to keep reminding [ourselves] those things during this series.”Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s opening batsman, also spoke of the need to achieve small targets within the Test. One of the early boxes he has ticked has been getting a big score in the practice match in Moratuwa, where he cracked 136 off 182 balls with nine fours and seven sixes.”The team and I have to take on small targets so that our process remains on track. If we can bat well and stick to our plans, we can do something good. Things will be different.”I did well in one innings, but that doesn’t mean I will keep playing the same way in Galle. But, as I said, if I am on track with the process, it gives me more chance to get a big score.”Tamim said that Bangladesh have a chance to beat Sri Lanka in a Test series, something they are yet to do. “We know the importance of the series. We feel we should win it if we play good cricket,” he said. “They are also a good, young team. We are mentally prepared and everyone is trying their best to make it to the final playing XI.”Hathurusingha said that the players, having impressed more on an individual level, and sporadically as a team in New Zealand and India, would now have to put it all together for a major team effort in Galle and Colombo despite the heat, which is a worry.”I think we have a good chance this year – other than the two Test series in India and New Zealand – for various reasons. We had good performances in those conditions, but here, we stand a good chance if we execute our plans.”Skill-wise, both teams match really well. Home advantage for Sri Lanka is a huge factor. It is totally different to any other Test country. Heat is a huge factor, for concentration and building pressure. That’s the only thing that I am bit concerned about, but we are going to be very competitive.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSouth Africa rode a roaring 187-run first-wicket stand and two effortless centuries from their openers to a monumental 384 for 6 and, eventually, the No. 1 ODI ranking. Their reward for winning an 11th ODI on the trot was the unseating of Australia – whom they had also thrashed 5-0 at home last year – and moving one point clear at the top of the table.South Africa’s dominance of Sri Lanka in this series has been complete. They outbatted, outbowled and outfielded the visitors again, and this win – an 88-run thumping – was a fitting finish. The only consolations for Sri Lanka were Asela Gunaratne’s hard-earned-but-inconsequential maiden century, as well as having batted 50 overs for the first time in the series.If Quinton de Kock was the early aggressor, taking the innings by the collar inside the Powerplay, Hashim Amla bided his time, and only later fashioned violence from timing and grace. Amla embraced all-out attack only after reaching triple figures, but even at his most belligerent, did not lose the characteristic zen. The head stayed steady and the wrists whipped through the ball at the point of contact. His 154 from 134 deliveries was his second-highest ODI score, and again helped showcase the awesome might of this South Africa top order. Even on days when AB de Villiers does not fire, they can still make insurmountable scores.It was thanks to more poor catching, more wayward bowling, and the general lack of menace in their attack that Sri Lanka found themselves stuck chasing the biggest score of the series. Though they had made something of the pursuit of 368 in Cape Town on Tuesday, they did not manage to stay in the game beyond the early stages of their innings this time.Niroshan Dickwella flashed attractively for a 19-ball 39, but the rest of the top order fell around him. They were 82 for 5 in the 14th over, their fate virtually sealed, but Gunaratne and Sachith Pathirana sought to make the best of a bad situation by putting on a 93-run sixth-wicket stand. After Pathirana departed, the tail made it their mission to get Gunaratne to his hundred. He wound up with 114 off 117 balls, and Sri Lanka made their way to a somewhat respectable 296 for 8.Sri Lanka had in fact asked South Africa to bat at the toss, and though Suranga Lakmal bothered Amla’s outside edge in the early overs, de Kock quickly set about lighting the thrusters under the innings. He collared a pair of boundaries in each of the eighth, ninth and tenth overs. By the time the fielding restrictions ended, South Africa had sped to 71 for no loss, and de Kock to 47 from 35 balls.Hashim Amla went on to his 50th international hundred•Associated Press

When slip fielder Upul Tharanga failed to lay a hand on a catchable outside edge from Amla in the 15th over, South Africa were allowed to continue progressing at their hectic pace.Tharanga did change his bowlers up regularly, in attempts to prevent batsmen from establishing a rhythm, but save for that edge from the offspin of Dhananjaya de Silva, chances failed to come. Both batsmen were severe on errors of line from the spinners, who collectively bowled quickly through the air. With little turn on offer, de Kock and Amla were plundering runs into the outfield off most deliveries, and rarely failing to seize boundary opportunities.At the halfway stage of the innings, no bowler had managed to concede less than a run a ball and South Africa, at 180 for 0, were almost certainly heading for a mammoth score. It was in the 25th over that de Kock struck his 15th four of the innings – a powerful sweep to beat backward square leg – and went to triple figures for the 12th time in his ODI career. Few of his other hundreds would have come so easily. He holed out to deep cover soon after, though, finishing with 109 off 87 deliveries.Perhaps in an innings like this, it is the likes of de Villiers, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien who are expected to take control of the death overs, but in fact it was Amla himself who led the final charge. Having timed the ball beautifully for the first 40 overs, he seamlessly incorporated power into his game after completing his 24th hundred in the 41st.He carved sixes over point, slammed the short balls over deep square leg, and even struck cleanly down the ground – launching successive Lahiru Madushanka balls over the rope between long-on and cow corner in the 47th over. Having scored his hundred at slower than a run-a-ball, Amla smoked his next 54 runs in 22 deliveries. Each of his five sixes came in that period.Sri Lanka’s top order came out attempting to get ahead of their taxing required rate early, but wound up making too many fatal mistakes. Tharanga sent an outside edge to third man in the fourth over; Kusal Mendis picked out mid-off with a lofted drive in the sixth; Dickwella, after slapping and scooping merrily, was caught at mid-off as well. Sandun Weerakkody and de Silva did not last long either – the latter’s modest tour of South Africa ended by a Tahir googly, which bowled him through the gate.Gunaratne was slow to begin with but sped up after the departure of Pathirana, who had been the aggressor in their association. Having seen off the quicks, Gunaratne picked out the spinners to attack, sweeping and reverse-sweeping especially well, while the likes of Jeffrey Vandersay and Lakmal gave him company. He reached triple-figures in the 48th over – his second fifty having come off 25 balls.

Umar Akmal, the Pakistan batsman, believes he can revive his Test career despite not having played the format for nearly six years.Akmal, 26, had made his Test debut at the age of 19 in 2009. He scored a century in his first innings but did not make another one in his next 15 Tests and was not picked again in the format after September 2011. He had scored 1003 runs in 30 innings, with six half-centuries, and averaged 35.82.Akmal was of the opinion that his batting style was suited to the way Test cricket is played presently. “I still wonder what I did wrong and where I went wrong to be dropped from Test side,” Akmal said in Dubai, where he is playing for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. “They only dropped me saying that I am not suitable for Test cricket because I don’t hold back, which is required in Tests.”But the approach to playing Test cricket has changed over the years. Now teams score 350 or so in one day and matches hardly go into fifth day. I was playing the very same brand of cricket, which was actually evolving at that time, but I was dropped because I play fast and not the conventional way. Was that my mistake? If so, then the whole world has now adapted this modern form of cricket in Tests as well.”Around 2010 and 2011, Akmal’s form dipped and subsequently he began to make headlines for discipline problems. His limited-overs form began to suffer as well and he has only two centuries in 105 ODI innings and eight half-centuries in 77 T20I innings. His flashy shot selection was a point of much debate. Akmal’s duck against Peshawar Zalmi on Sunday was his 24th in the format – the most in T20 cricket.Akmal, however, said that his position in the batting order adversely impacted his ability to play long innings and score big. He preferred to bat up the order but was kept in the lower middle, often having to play the low-percentage role of aggressor towards the end of an innings.The recent 1-4 defeat in Australia was Akmal’s first ODI series since the 2015 World Cup. He made 131 runs with a high score of 46, having batted one innings at no. 5 and four at no. 6.”I am not careless, just playing my natural game,” Akmal said. “If I am asked to score ten per over then what you expect from me? Should I play for myself, score at five, and let the run rate mount on my team? No, I rather go out, play big, and try to achieve my team’s requirement. And we all know where I play [in the batting order], at which number. People often compare me with other batsmen but why don’t people realise that the number I bat at is critical and there is the burden of extra responsibility.”I still try to help my team out of pressure situations by pushing back the opponent, but sometimes I am not able to do so. But my intentions are clear that I want to play for my team according to the requirement and will play my shots.”Another issue is Akmal not satisfying the PCB’s standards of fitness, on which there has been greater emphasis over the last three years. At his previous assessment, Akmal was weighed at 91kg and his fat-level reading was 115.6 – anything over 100 is considered high. Akmal, however, defended his fitness levels.”If you talk with different players around the world, some are slightly bulky and some are smart in physique, but that doesn’t mean weight defines their actual fitness,” Akmal said. “I don’t remember going off the field in a game, or conceding a second run. I am energetic in the field and my running between the wickets is fine as well.”So what exactly do you expect from me? To be smart and thin, why? I can quote you many examples in which those players are theoretically fit but cannot even clear the circle. I have a natural body and if I try to reduce it I may lose my strength for power hitting.”

Which will it be for the last day of this Test series? Will it be the Pakistan that we saw towards the end of the Brisbane Test, never quite down and pushing towards what would have been the most epic scaling of a target in Test cricket? Or will it be the Pakistan of Melbourne’s last day, unable to bat out 67 overs on a blameless surface to secure a draw?It is difficult to believe that this Pakistan side is one bad session from yet another whitewash in Australia, what would be the fourth in a row. Difficult as much because this is no vintage Australia side and that this was Pakistan’s most settled side in nearly 15 years to visit; difficult because, for once, Pakistan’s batting has done enough good work most of which their supposedly better halves have wasted.It hasn’t worked out that way but even this deadest of dead rubbers holds some point for Pakistan. A draw will be their best result since the Sydney win over 20 years ago. It will be small consolation, but consolation enough and perhaps an appropriate way to sign off on the Misbah era.”We want to finish this series on a good note,” said Younis Khan, who ended Pakistan’s first innings unbeaten on 175, his first hundred in Australia. “It will be better for us if we show some fight. It will not be easy. Fifth day of a Test, in Sydney, they have two spinners and they have good fast bowlers.”You can’t say [which Pakistan will turn up]. But my wish and effort is – though we cannot win the series, we were capable of winning it but we didn’t – but at least, if we do well tomorrow, if we fight tomorrow, it will be very good for the Pakistan cricket and the side.”It has been a strange tour from which to glean positives. The highs have been exquisite and solely reserved for the batsmen, but they have all come with a bittersweet after-taste. Asad Shafiq’s hundred in the fourth innings at Brisbane, Azhar Ali’s double-hundred at the MCG and now Younis’ 34th century – ordinarily they would be cause for greater celebration for Pakistani batsmen in Australia but they might end up as the footnotes of a whitewash.Younis’ innings itself was unusual in that it came in a dead rubber (only the second of his 34 for which that is the case) and it brought mixed feelings.”Definitely,” he said. “I don’t believe there needs to be big individual performances – I believe in having even minor performances but those which help you to winning a game, towards winning, towards positive result.”But there could be longer-term benefits. “It is a good sign for Pakistan that Azhar for instance scored a double in the last Test and it was Pakistan’s best innings in Australia. Big names have come here, big openers have come here and they didn’t do as well.”Also Asad Shafiq, the way he played in that Test, and then my innings. I think from a series like this, if you have those kinds of innings, it really motivates and inspires youngsters back home. Back home there is no cricket but against top teams – although this is a young Australia team, rebuilding and not like the ones we faced in 2004 and even 2010 – but these performances, the youngsters in the country get good motivation.”I came a bit late to this series so I can’t highlight this [hundred] that much. But on the other side, I did have a desire to get a century here so I’m thankful for that.”