a.akh04

[Sheri. @CallMeSheri1_]

Ian Bishop on Babar Azam's captaincy. 🗣️

"He’s more assured in his decision making. He keeps the team in a happier space, it looks like to me. I don’t want us to paint the complete picture of him because England is going to be a different kettle of fish.

As a start, I think he made the right moves. He led from the front. There are a couple of areas I’ve identified, particularly how he aligns his field placements and the way he maneuvered his spinners. The trust they showed in him was great, and, of course, there was his batting. So, it was the ideal start.

However, I’m waiting, as all Pakistanis are, to see the England series. They’re a higher-ranked team playing in their own conditions. That will be the real test." (Grassroots Cricket)

[a.akh04 @ar33b04]

@UtdMaI Ineos said they’re going to spend this summer. Cutting jobs and costs so they can fund the most crucial window of their reign but they have a net spend of 20mill

We are still waiting for our “marquee” cm so we have all the right to complain when false hopes have been given

[MainooUtd @MainooTripz2]

INEOS so far:

• Spent 2 years chasing Dan Ashworth, only to eventually sack him.

• At the end of the season, they conducted an assessment and decided sacking Ten Hag was the best decision for the club.

• Ten Hag wins the FA Cup, and suddenly they change their minds and keep him, only to sack him halfway through the following season anyway.

• They then claimed they had conducted another thorough assessment and concluded Ruben Amorim was the best man for the job.

• Amorim had made it clear from day one that he would play a back three and wouldn't change his system. INEOS agreed and backed the appointment.

• Dan Ashworth reportedly disagreed with the Amorim decision and was subsequently sacked.

• A few months later, INEOS sack Amorim, essentially because he wouldn't abandon the system they knew he was going to play when they hired him.

• They then told fans they would use the remaining six months of the season to find the right, competent manager.

• Six months passed. They did nothing and eventually appointed the interim manager they had already chosen, claiming he was the suitable candidate.

• Now it's August, and that "suitable candidate" has a net spend of around £40m. They aren't even properly backing the manager they supposedly concluded was the best man for the job.

Make of this what you will. #mufc

[Lancashire Cricket @lancscricket]

Lancashire Cricket can confirm the signing of Pakistan spinner @Ali17Noman for the remainder of this year's @CountyChamp season!

🌹 #RedRoseTogether

[Azhar Mahmood @AzharMahmood11]

Abdullah Shafique showed his class, temperament and technique.

Despite not being in the original Test squad and playing mainly T20s recently, his domestic cricket kept him ready and he adapted back to Test cricket seamlessly.

He should have been in the original Test squad regardless.

#Test #PakVsWI

[Gohar Shah @goharshah95]

Abdullah Shafique is a great case study for players who find themselves out of the Pak side.
Quietly went back to domestic cricket (not foreign leagues) , improved his craft. He was playing a Grade 2 tournament in 40+ degrees for very little pay.
He saw and understood the bigger picture, Allah rewarding him within the first innings back.

[Mazher Arshad @MazherArshad]

Abdullah Shafique has 6 centuries in Tests, the most by any Pakistan batter since his debut in 2021. In this period, he also has most sixes (23) for Pakistan and is the only batter with four innings of 300+ balls. You simply can’t leave this Kitaabi player out of the team!

[Caught At Silly Point @atsillypoint]

Nobody in Pakistani cricket divides opinion like Babar Azam. Nobody makes both sides stop and watch either.

There is a test you can run on yourself. Next time Babar Azam walks out, notice what happens to the room. The people who defend him go quiet. The people who have spent two years calling for him to be dropped go quiet too. Everybody watches.

That is the thing his critics never quite account for. Even if you have decided he is finished, even if you have written the posts and made the arguments, when he middles the first cover drive of an innings you stop what you are doing. He never looks ugly. He has probably never played an ungainly shot in his life. There is no scramble in his batting, no survival mode that looks like panic, no heave across the line. Everything is on the same rails, at 5 or at 95.

And that is precisely why the disappointment cuts so deep, because beauty raises the expectation and the temperament has not always met it. The starts that should have become match-defining hundreds have too often stopped at fifty, and the record now reads like a collection of beginnings.

You can love him or dismiss him. What you cannot do is stop watching, and honestly, that may be the most damning compliment in Pakistani cricket.

[Sheri. @CallMeSheri1_]

Ian Bishop on Babar Azam & Abdullah Shafique. ❤️

"The interesting story about these two batsmen is that Sialkot has produced some of the finest poets and writers, including Allama Iqbal, Parveen Shakir, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Fittingly, Abdullah Shafique was nicknamed "Kitabi" by Babar Azam, not because of literature, but because of his textbook batting technique."

[Mazher Arshad @MazherArshad]

From cover drives to poetry, Ian Bishop talking about Iqbal, Faiz and Parveen Shakir on commentary while Sialkot-born Abdullah Shafique is batting. Simply amazing!

[Manchester United @ManUtd]

Look who it is 👀🔙

[Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi @ahsannagi]

Abbas - btw - is one of those few bowlers in the world who you can bank on regardless of the conditions.

[Mike Bohn @MikeBohn]

29-0
20-1
28-1
22-0

🤯 #PFLNY

[UEFA @UEFA]

Further UEFA statement on FIFA plans: ⬇️

[Martien 🇳🇱 @MartienBall]

- Signed Zirkzee just because he had a release clause.

- Wanted to sign Delap just because he had a release clause.

- Signed Tielemans over Anderson and Fernandes just because he had a release clause.

People think INEOS are being smart, when in reality they’re just being cheap. Their priority is saving money, not being successful.

It’s insane to me how people still defend them…

[Sky Sports News @SkySportsNews]

European nations will discuss potentially boycotting the World Cup if Gianni Infantino pushes ahead with plans to sell off part of FIFA to private investors. 🚨

[Mazher Arshad @MazherArshad]

First time in 31 years, Pakistan pacers have taken all 20 wickets in a Test match!

[Assad @LeftArmAround]

30 tests spread over a long time. Averaging 22.Abbas is what Asif should have been.He might even be a little better.

Yes the swag and the visual beauty of his bowling might not be the same. But this guy is bowling royalty. Deserves a lot more respect than Pakistan has given him

[Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog @cricket_broken]

These six balls are exactly why Test cricket will continue to exist.

The setup and drama just doesn’t exist in a T20.

[T @dfwtee_]

MY FINGERS BARELY EVEN TOUCHED YOUR STUPID FUCKING AD STOP REDIRECTING ME TO THE APP STORE.