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Shadab Khan to lead Pakistan in T20I series against Afghanistan

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Shadab Khan will captain Pakistan’s T20I side against Afghanistan in the absence of regular captain Babar Azam, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials announced late Monday.

Pakistan also decided to rest several key regulars for the series, including Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan.

Shadab has been the vice-captain of the limited-overs side in the last two years and even stood in for Babar during the T20I series in the tour of New Zealand in 2020.

Speaking after the announcement, Shadab said: “I am grateful to the Almighty for this opportunity. Representing your country is an honor for any cricketer and to lead it is even a bigger honor so I am very excited and eager to take this role.

“This is a big responsibility as I will be leading a nation of 220 million people and I will try my best to do justice with it with all the ability that I have.”

Several new talents such as Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan are in line for their T20I debuts after impressing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) while the likes of Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim have earned a recall.

Pakistan will depart for the UAE on 22 March for the series which starts on 24 March in what will be the first multi-game bilateral assignment between the two sides.

All three games will be played in Sharjah where Afghanistan will be on the hunt for their first limited-overs victory over Pakistan.

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Patel and Mendis help Sunrisers beat Kings in Dhoni’s 400th T20

Fast bowler Harshal Patel grabbed four wickets and Kamindu Mendis showed his allround skill as Sunrisers Hyderabad upstaged Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in Chennai on Friday.

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Patel grabbed 4-28 and was ably assisted by skipper Pat Cummins and Jaydev Unadkat — both finishing with identical figures of 2-21 — to dismiss the home team for a below-par 154 in 19.5 overs.

South African youngster Dewald Brevis was the top scorer for the Kings with a blistering 25-ball 42, cracking four sixes and a boundary on his debut for the franchise.

Skipper M.S. Dhoni failed to make his 400th T20 a memorable occasion, managing just six runs and coming out on the losing side.

Sunrisers achieved the target in 18.4 overs for the loss of five wickets with Ishan Kishan leading the way with a solid 34-ball 44 with five boundaries and a six.

Mendis struck an unbeaten 32 off 22 balls, adding 49 in an unbroken sixth wicket stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy who finished with a 13-ball 19 not out.

The victory lifted Sunrisers to eighth on the 10-team table topped by Gujrat Titans with 12 points in eight matches while five-time champions Kings are at the bottom with four points in nine.

Patel, declared man-of-the-match, attributed discipline as the key for his fine bowling.

“I figured out pretty early that hitting it on a good length around the stumps was important because it was hard to hit with the horizontal bat,” said Patel.

Dhoni blamed losing a cluster of wickets for the poor batting show.

“I think we kept losing wickets and another thing is in the first innings the wicket was slightly better,” said Dhoni. “A total of 157 wasn’t a justifiable score.”

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings were rocked by Sunrisers’s pacer Patel who ripped through the middle and lower-order batting.

The home team started on a wrong note when opener Shaik Rasheed was caught in the slip off the very first delivery of the match by fast bowler Mohammad Shami.

Seventee-year-old Ayush Mhatre was impressive in his 19-ball 30, which was studded with six boundaries, while Ravindra Jadeja managed 21 with a six and a boundary.

Jadeja’s dismissal brought Dhoni to the crease as the crowd roared to welcome their hero in his 400th T20 match but Dhoni’s stay lasted for just ten balls.

It was Brevis who assured Kings get past 150 with some lusty hitting.

Deepak Hooda also chipped in with a 21-ball 22 with a six and a boundary.

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Sri Lanka A defeats Afghanistan A by 4 wickets in Abu Dhabi

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Afghanistan A was defeated by Sri Lanka A with a margin of four wickets in the ongoing 50-over tri-nation cricket series.

The match was held on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Afghanistan had previously lost one match against Ireland and another against Sri Lanka in this series.

Batting first, the Afghan team set a target of 229 runs after losing eight wickets.

In response, Sri Lanka A chased down the target, losing six wickets.

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Afghanistan qualify for U19 Cricket World Cup 2026

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Afghanistan’s U19 cricket team has officially qualified for the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, following the final day washout in the Asia Qualifiers.

After securing three big wins in their first three games, today’s match against Nepal U19s was washed out. Thanks to their superior Net Run Rate, Afghanistan U19s topped the table and book their berth in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, which will take place early next year in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

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