كشف حسين الشحات لاعب فريق الكرة بـ الأهلي، آخر التطورات الخاصة بـ إصابته وموعد عودته للتدريبات، موضحًا موقفه من تجديد عقده مع القلعة الحمراء خلال الفترة المقبلة.
وقال حسين الشحات في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة ام بي سي مصر2: “يتبقى أسبوعين وسأعود للتدريبات مع الفريق، وكان الجميع بحاجة إلى هذا الفوز، خاصة أمام نادي الزمالك، لرغبتنا في مصالحة جماهير النادي الأهلي”.
وأضاف: “لا توجد مشاكل في غرفة الملابس، وبالنسبة لمباراة المصري، لو أُعيدت 100 مرة فلن تدخل الكرة، كانت من أفضل المباريات التي لعبناها ولكن الحظ لم يكن معنا”.
طالع | عدلي القيعي: الأهلي فاز على الزمالك بالمنطق.. و”كل الشكر للكارهين” بعد حملة المظلومية
وبسؤاله عن تألق زيزو أمام الزمالك، أجاب: “هو لاعب كبير ولا أحد يستطيع التقليل من إمكانياته، قادر على حمل الفريق بمفرده، وكان يتمتع بثبات انفعالي في مباراة الزمالك”.
وواصل: “كان جميع اللاعبين يدعمونه، وهذا ما يميز الأهلي؛ الجميع على قلب رجل واحد، وكل اللاعبين كانوا يرون مدى تركيز وجاهزية زيزو”.
واختتم تصريحاته قائلاً: “لم أوقع على التجديد للنادي الأهلي حتى الآن، وقد كان لدي عرض من السعودية”.
تغلب فريق مانشستر سيتي على خصمه سوانزي سيتي بثلاثية لهدف، خلال مباراة الفريقين مساء الأربعاء، ببطولة كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية “كأس كاراباو”.
والتقى مانشستر سيتي وسوانزي سيتي ضمن مباريات الجولة السادسة عشر لبطولة كأس كاراباو، وحسم فريق بيب جوارديولا التأهل لدور ربع النهائي.
وتم الإعلان عن الفائز بجائزة رجل مباراة مانشستر سيتي وسوانزي، بحسب ما أوضحت شبكة “سيتي إكسترا”.
وحصل على جائزة رجل المباراة، ريان شرقي، لاعب فريق مانشستر سيتي بعد الأداء الذي قدمه خلال مواجهة الأمس.
اقرأ أيضًا | ردود أفعال جماهير مانشستر سيتي بعد تألق عمر مرموش أمام سوانزي: ذكرنا بـ أجويرو
وسجل شرقي هدفًا لصالح مانشستر سيتي، وساهم بتمريرة حاسمة سجل منها عمر مرموش الهدف الثاني للفريق.
ولمس شرقي الكرة 119 لمسة، وله 74 تمريرة دقيقة، ودقة التمرير بلغت 80%، وله 14 لمسة داخل منطقة جزاء الخصم، و11 تمريرة إلى الثلث الأخير، بالإضافة إلى 6 فرص، وفاز بـ 5 من المواجهات الأرضية.
Fifth-wicket stand of 154 in 77 overs follows 45 for 4 on third evening after Yorkshire set 520 target
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 12-May-2025Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper knuckled down for a monumental fifth-wicket stand of 154 in 77 overs to steer Essex to the unlikeliest of Rothesay County Championship draws against Yorkshire at Chelmsford.The pair came together in the depths of despair at 45 for 4 on the third evening and batted for four-and-a-half hours together, spanning 458 balls, and looking to have made it through two complete sessions on the final day. Pepper, though, fell to the last ball before tea after a 229-ball 68 that included five fours and two sixes.Critchley followed after the interval for 75 from 246 balls as Yorkshire scented their second win of the season with three wickets in 21 balls. However, last-wicket pair Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter saw out the final 38 minutes and 82 balls to prevent a second successive defeat.George Hill dismissed both batters to return career-best match figures of 9 for 82, supported by Jack White’s season’s best 4 for 43, but to no avail as Yorkshire toiled in vain for one more wicket.The target of 520, with 456 still nominally required at the start of day four, was always going to be beyond Essex’s compass and it became more a case of settling in to save face.As a sign of what had been anticipated, the Essex flag was flying upside down on its pole beside the pavilion as if in surrender. The plans for survival, however, were set out from the start as Pepper and Critchley blocked and blocked with little alarm. It was not until the 20th ball of the day that they moved off their overnight 64 for 4 when Critchley angled a Ben Coad delivery wide of the slips for 10 third boundaries. They were the only runs scored in the first half-an-hour’s play.Indeed, it was only the introduction of Hill after 35 minutes that had the usually flamboyant Pepper opening his morning’s account, turning the ball down to fine leg for a single.The first sign of serious aggression came when Critchley hooked Matty Revis so firmly that the square-leg umpire had to take evasive action as it sped to the boundary. Revis attempted a short-ball barrage at Pepper and it nearly came off when the Essex batter gloved one up and over Jonny Bairstow’s head behind the stumps.Pepper broke out of his self-imposed shackles by sweeping Dom Bess for one six and adding a second over long leg. In between, he survived a difficult chance off an uppish drive past mid-on.Reprieved, Pepper scampered the single soon after lunch that took him to a 155-ball fifty followed quickly by the century stand that ate up 51 overs. Critchley’s fifty was more circumspect, reached with another four guided down to third from his 190th ball faced.Yorkshire’s hopes seemed to hinge on the second new-ball, but they failed to make it count immediately and Bess was recalled to the attack after nine fruitless overs. However, to the final ball of the 13th over with it, on the cusp of tea, Pepper was caught leaning into a Hill delivery and departed lbw.Noah Thain lasted 15 balls before he was bowled through the gate by Bess and Critchley’s marathon innings ended when he got the faintest of tickles to Hill and was caught behind.Shane Snater held out for 32 balls without scoring before he fell lbw to White. Kasun Rajitha’s 21 came off 40 balls before he played down the wrong line and was bowled by Dan Moriarty. But then Porter came in to join Harmer and thwart Yorkshire.
Manchester United’s wage bill has come into huge question over recent seasons, with their spending on players being way above their league standing from 2024/25.
The Red Devils had the second-highest wage bill in the Premier League last season, spending a staggering £180m on wages alone – with only rivals Manchester City spending more.
Ruben Amorim has been tasked with the challenge of reducing such a figure during the summer – something which he managed to partly achieve on deadline day.
The club agreed to send Jadon Sancho on loan to Aston Villa for the entirety of the 2025/26 season – with Unai Emery’s side agreeing to pay 80% of the winger’s £250k-per-week pay packet.
However, the hierarchy would’ve likely spent some of those funds saved had they agreed a deal for one of the numerous targets who were on their radar during the summer transfer window.
United’s move to land Wharton & Baleba this summer
Throughout the transfer window, United targeted a move for a new midfielder for the squad, resulting in a deal being pursued to land Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton.
It was reported that the Red Devils were keen on a deal for the England international, but a switch became unlikely after Amorim’s side were quoted a fee in the region of £100m.
Adam Wharton in action against Chelsea.
Another option they considered was Brighton & Hove Albion star Carlos Baleba, even entering talks with the player’s representatives over a switch to Old Trafford.
At one stage, it appeared as though the player himself would be open to a switch to join the Red Devils, but like Wharton, he stayed at his current employers after the Seagulls stated he was not for sale.
Whilst the hierarchy were unable to land a new midfielder for Amorim, they still have a player on the books who desperately needs to be sold in the near future.
The United player who earns more than Wharton and Baleba
United do have numerous top-level talents on their books at present, with academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo just one of the options currently at Amorim’s disposal.
However, the Englishman has found minutes hard to come by over the last couple of months, starting none of the Premier League outings – with his only start coming against Grimsby in the Carabao Cup.
As a result, the 20-year-old made his feelings clear before Monday’s deadline – subsequently asking to leave Old Trafford on a temporary basis to gain valuable game time.
He’s fallen behind Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes in the pecking order, with Brazilian Casemiro another player whom Amorim clearly trusts instead of Mainoo.
The former Real Madrid star joined in a £60m deal back in the summer of 2022, but has rapidly declined over recent times – as he heads towards the back end of his career at the age of 33.
Manchester United'sCasemirolooks dejected after the match
Despite his age, Casemiro has started all three league outings, but has struggled to impress to date, only completing 80% of the passes he’s attempted in England’s top-flight.
However, despite his recent starts in Amorim’s side, his future appears up in the air, with the player only having one deal left on his contract at Old Trafford.
He probably should’ve been offloaded before now, with his performances last campaign failing to catch the eye – leading to Mark Goldbridge dubbing him as “shocking”.
His current £350k-per-week pay packet is way above what he should be earning – with such a figure making him the highest earner in the squad, taking home a staggering £18.2m per season.
Man Utd’s highest earners (2025/26)
Rank
Player
Gross pay per week
1
Casemiro
£350,000
=2
Bruno Fernandes
£300,000
3
Jadon Sancho
£250,000
4
Matthijs de Ligt
£195,000
5
Harry Maguire
£190,000
6
Matheus Cunha
£180,000
Stats via Capology
The Brazilian currently earns more than Wharton and Baleba, with the pair currently only earning £35k and £12.5k-per-week respectively – highlighting how much the former Madrid talent is overpaid at present.
Given his mammoth earnings, United desperately need to clear the player off the bill, with a real impetus needing to be put on continuing their cost-cutting operation.
There are so many better and cheaper options currently available in European football, which should see Amorim pursue a move for one of the aforementioned talents once again in the near future.
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Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 11, 2025
Big picture: RCB look to end on high
Mumbai Indians almost secured a direct spot in the final on Monday. They needed to keep Gujarat Giants to 156 or fewer but a spirited Bharti Fulmali innings did not allow that. The chance was missed but they will not be worrying too much: they not only won the match against Gujarat Giants and kept their perfect record at the Brabourne Stadium intact but also have one more shot at finishing on top of the table. They are on par with table-toppers Delhi Capitals on points. The only point of concern, if at all any, would be that they have to be back within 24 hours to achieve that.Though the move to make Amelia Kerr open hasn’t made much of a difference with the allrounder falling cheaply in both games, MI will be happy Nat Sciver-Brunt did not have to do the heavy lifting once again. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur made a fifty and there were handy contributions from the middle order. Their bowlers were excellent up front and even though they lost the plot in the second half of the chase, they kept their cool to defend 179 on a batting-friendly surface.RCB, meanwhile, will rue what could have been. The defending champions were unlucky with the toss in all four games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which meant they had to do the difficult task of batting first on a ground where seven out of eight matches were won by the chasing team. They still had a tiny chance of making the playoffs which they let go of in a high-scoring thriller against UP Warriorz and are now coming into this contest on the back of five consecutive losses.RCB also had similar issues from start to finish, including playing this season with a weakened bowling attack and depending on a couple of players to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility. In their previous match, it was the out-of-contention Warriorz who took RCB down with them, and now RCB will look to ruin MI’s chances of wanting to finish on top.
Form guide
Mumbai Indians WWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)Royal Challengers Bengaluru LLLLL
Team news
MI are unlikely to change their winning combination.Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Hayley Matthews, 2 Amelia Kerr, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amanjot Kaur, 6 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 7 G Kamalini, 8 S Sajana, 9 Sanskriti Gupta, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Parunika SisodiaRCB made two changes for the previous match, bringing in S Meghana and Charlie Dean for Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Ekta Bisht. While Dean had a tough outing, conceding 47 in her four overs of offspin, Meghana got off to a rapid start.Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 S Meghana, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Raghvi Bisht, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Kanika Ahuja, 7 Georgia Wareham, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Charlie Dean, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Renuka Singh
Players to watch: Harmanpreet Kaur and Sneh Rana
Harmanpreet Kaur returning to form is great news for MI. Coming into the game against Giants with scores of 4, 22 and 4*, she scored a crucial 54 to power her side to 179. She has three fifties in four innings at the Brabourne Stadium in WPL and will want to make the most of the home advantage to secure a second title for her team.Sneh Rana will be key for RCB•BCCI
Performances like the one she put up against UP Warriorz make one wonder why Sneh Rana isn’t in the T20 scheme of things for India; she last played a T20I for India in 2023. Against UPW, Rana plundered Deepti Sharma for 25 off five balls, giving RCB a chance to hunt down 226. In her first game for RCB this WPL, Rana returned with 3 for 27 but she has been underutilised with the ball in this edition. She has bowled her full quota only once in the four games.
Stats that matter
This is the second time in the WPL that RCB have lost five matches in a row, the first time being in the 2023 season
Sciver-Brunt and Kerr, both from MI, occupy the top of the run-getters and wicket-takers charts, respectively
The attacking department at Tottenham Hotspur has been subject to somewhat of an overhaul this summer, especially after the departure of fan favourite Heung-min Son.
The South Korean departed in a £20m move to join MLS outfit LAFC, ending his Lilywhites career on a high after claiming the Europa League title at the end of last season.
However, it was an emotional departure, bringing an end to his decade-long stint in North London – a period that saw him amass over 400 appearances and become the club’s fourth-highest goalscorer in their history.
At 33, it was undoubtedly the right call to allow him to move on to pastures new, but it’s left a void in the forward area – something which Thomas Frank will want to fill before the end of the summer window.
Whilst Mohammed Kudus has already been added to such a department, the new boss has made it abundantly clear that he wants added reinforcements to help him in his quest to rise up the Premier League table in 2025/26.
Tottenham Hotspur managerThomasFrankcelebrates after the match
Spurs preparing another big move after Eze
A deal for Eberechi Eze has been in the pipeline for numerous weeks now, but a deal seems to be edging closer to completion, after key moves were made by Daniel Levy.
It was reported that the Spurs owner held face-to-face talks with Steve Parish over a move for the Englishman, which has seen a verbal agreement of £55m plus £5m in add-ons be reached in recent days.
A deal for the 27-year-old could see the Lilywhites’ pursuit of a new number ten finally come to an end, subsequently turning their attention to Monaco star Magnhes Akliouche in an attempt to further strengthen the squad.
According to The Independent, Frank’s men have identified the winger as the latest attacking target this window, potentially pursuing a move for the 23-year-old before the September 1st deadline.
AS Monaco's MaghnesAkliouche
Their report claims that the Frenchman is seen as an alternative to Manchester City’s Savinho after the lack of progress on a deal for the Brazilian, with Akliouche a cheaper option, currently available for around a bargain fee of £43.5m.
Why Spurs’ latest target would be perfect alongside Eze
As previously mentioned, a deal for Eze appears to finally be edging towards its completion, in a deal that would be yet another excellent deal for Spurs this window.
The attacking midfielder was one of the most potent number 10s in the division last year, managing to register 26 combined goals and assists – subsequently firing the Eagles to FA Cup glory.
If he can replicate such numbers across the capital in 2025/26, it would be a signing that would go a long way to improving the options at Frank’s disposal – making the side a force to be reckoned with across all competitions.
Such a deal would also allow the Lilywhites to get one over their bitter North London rivals Arsenal, with the Gunners also previously interested in a move for the England international.
However, the prospect of Eze operating in Frank’s side is scary enough, not to mention the potential partnership he could strike up with Akliouche, should he too make the move to join the club.
He may be an unknown quantity to many, but the 23-year-old enjoyed a season to remember in his homeland last campaign, notching seven goals and 12 assists in all competitions.
His underlying stats were just as impressive, adding another dimension to the Lilywhites squad, offering another huge attacking threat in the hierarchy’s quest for added success in the near future.
Akliouche, who’s been labelled “exceptional” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, ranked in the 93rd percentile for touches in the opposition box and passes into the 18-yard box last campaign – highlighting his ability to create or be on the end of chances.
Such numbers would fit perfectly into the hands of Eze, who registered 12 assists last season, with the pair able to link up and improve their respective tallies in North London.
Games played
32
Goals & assists
15
Pass accuracy
82%
Progressive passes
6.5
Progressive carries
4.8
Touches in opposition box
5.4
Passes into the opposition box
2.4
Carries into final third
1.8
Take-on success
49%
Key passes made
1.9
The Monaco youngster also ranked in the 94th percentile for carries into the final third, whilst posting a 49% take-on success rate, subsequently able to get the ball into dangerous areas at any given opportunity.
His talents are further reflected in his progressive passes per 90 rate, averaging 5.5 per 90, with such tools able to find Eze – who will be required to make third-man runs in behind the striker within Frank’s current system.
Whilst both players would set the club back over £100m, they are additions that need to be made if the club are to build on their recent European triumph in 2024/25.
Both players are extremely technical, having the talent to get out of tight spaces and create endless opportunities, with Akliouche in particular being an exciting addition for the immediate and long-term future in North London.
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Rahane misses ton but Mumbai dominate, while Tamil Nadu could get lucky
Shashank Kishore31-Jan-2025Kohli’s short stay It lasted all of 15 deliveries in which he made six. Virat Kohli was beaten twice outside off, once to a full delivery that left him late and then a length ball that he jabbed and missed.He brought out a delightful straight drive in the next over, but was out off the very next delivery when Himanshu Sangwan, a Railways ticket collector at New Delhi Railway Station during the off-season, sent his off stump cartwheeling. Soon, Sangwan became a reel sensation for a superb nip-backer that sneaked through Kohli’s big gap between bat and pad.A strong crowd of around 15,000 who made a beeline for the exit, missed a quality knock from Ayush Badoni. The captain’s 77-ball 99 helped Delhi open up a 93-run lead against Railways, with three first-innings wickets remaining.Pujara 99, Saurashtra on course The stars have aligned perfectly for Saurashtra. They needed two outright with bonus points, both games were at home in Rajkot on turners; they beat Delhi last week inside three days with Ravindra Jadeja taking 12 wickets.Related
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Rahane, Pujara near tons; Tamil Nadu's season on the line
This week, they didn’t need Ravindra’s bowling because the other Jadeja (Dharmendrasinh), was among the wickets (four of them) as Assam were made to follow-on. That Saurashtra were in a position to enforce the follow-on was because of a solid batting performance in the first innings.Their 474 was set up by Cheteshwar Pujara, who was out for 99 early on day two having added four to his overnight score. Assam’s only source of resistance was Riyan Parag, who top-scored with 51 on his return to top-flight cricket from a shoulder injury.Kuldeep made to toil Returning to competitive cricket after three months following a surgery for sports hernia, Kuldeep Yadav sent down 31 overs to pick up three wickets, but Uttar Pradesh were sent on a leather hunt. Double tons from Harsh Gawli and Shubham Sharma helped Madhya Pradesh post an imposting 670 for 7 declared. From a qualification standpoint, this game doesn’t hold much significance since with both teams are out of the knockouts race.Rahane 96 in mammoth Mumbai total Ajinkya Rahane’s quest to convert his maiden first-class fifty this Ranji season into a century met disappointment as he was out for 96 against Meghalaya, but Mumbai opened up a 585-run lead.Meghalaya were 27 for 2 at stumps, giving Mumbai a sight of seven full points that will take them to 29 points and help them seal a quarter-final berth. Coming into the final round, they needed a favour from Jammu & Kashmir, and they’ve helped them along the way by pocketing not just a first-innings lead against Baroda but also opening up the possibility of an outright win.Jalaj continues to shine Earlier this season, Jalaj Saxena – the Kerala allrounder – completed the double of 6000 first-class runs and 400 wickets. In the final round of matches, he picked up a five-for in each innings, both on Friday, as Kerala trounced Bihar by an innings to secure a quarter-final berth.Jalaj took his wickets tally in the tournament to 421, the seventh-best. This was the 10th time he picked up 10 wickets or more in a first-class game. Bihar lasted a combined 64.2 overs across both innings in which they made make 64 and 118 in response to Kerala’s 351 fuelled by Salman Nizar’s 150.TN stutter but knockouts chances burn bright They need 97 and have only five wickets in hand against Jharkhand, but a scenario has emerged wherein Tamil Nadu can qualify for the knockouts despite a defeat. That’s because Chandigarh – who won three successive games outright in the first half – have now conceded the first-innings lead to Chhattisgarh in a game they needed to win with a bonus point. Tamil Nadu’s hopes of pulling off the chase are pinned on Vijay Shankar, who is unbeaten on 33.
Alex Carey continued his superb form and Liam Scott starred with bat and ball as South Australia rocketed to the top of the One-Day Cup table by smashing New South Wales by six wickets in their One-day Cup match.SA sit top of the table in the 50-over format after crushing last season’s beaten finalists at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. The result was set up by an accomplished performance in the field, rolling the visitors for just 197 after taking regular wickets during the 46 overs.It was a pair of former NSW players who did the bulk of the damage, with fast bowler Harry Conway collecting 3 for 27 from his 9.3 overs, and Jason Sangha picking up 2 for 16, including the key scalps of Nic Maddinson and Oliver Davies. Scott also picked up two wickets, claiming 2 for 31 off his eight overs.NSW’s best contributions came from middle-order batters, with Matthew Gilkes and captain Jack Edwards top-scoring with 35 each.In reply, SA ran into early trouble when Jack Nisbet took the wickets of Mackenzie Harvey and Daniel Drew in consecutive balls as the hosts slumped to 8 for 2.But Carey continued his hot early-season form with the bat, smashing 75 from 63 balls to press his claim for a recall to Australia’s white-ball teams.Jake Lehmann (46 not out) and player-of-the-match Scott (42 not out to back up his two wickets) steered SA home, giving long-suffering supporters reason for optimism.As well as topping the One-Day table, SA are second in the Sheffield Shield after winning two and drawing one of their first three matches.The teams will have a day off before starting their Shield match back at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Nathan Sowter joins Amazon Warriors as a temporary replacement for Tahir
Deivarayan Muthu17-Sep-2024Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have been bolstered by the return of Chris Jordan, ahead of their CPL 2024 home leg, which kicks off on September 18. The Barbados-born England international had played five matches for TKR in 2019, taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 9.05 in their run to the knockouts, where they had lost to eventual champions Barbados in qualifier 2.Jordan, 35, will replace USA fast bowler Ali Khan, who has been sidelined from the entire CPL 2024 with injury.In June earlier this year in Barbados, Jordan enjoyed a happy homecoming, becoming the first England men’s player to take a T20I hat-trick, in a T20 World Cup game against USA.As for Dwayne Bravo, he will play in front of his home crowd for the last time in the CPL. Bravo, who will turn 41 in October, will retire from the CPL after the ongoing season, but will continue to feature in other franchise T20 leagues.Related
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Injured Tahir out for ten days Defending champions Guyana Amazon Warriors have suffered a major blow, with their captain Imran Tahir ruled out for around ten days with injury. Tahir, the oldest player in the CPL at 45, had also missed Amazon Warriors’ last game against Barbados Royals with injury. Shai Hope, who stood in as captain in that game in Bridgetown, will continue to lead the side in Tahir’s absence.Big-hitting allrounder Romario Shepherd is also working his way back from injury, having hurt his toe while training. Shepherd, who had played a key role in Amazon Warriors’ run to their maiden CPL title last season, has featured in just one game so far this season in North Sound, where he slammed 32 off 16 balls.Nathan Sowter has also featured in the ILT20 in the UAE•ILT20Amazon Warriors have brought in Nathan Sowter, the Australia-born English wristspinner, as a temporary replacement for Tahir. Born in Penrith, Sowter represented New South Wales at Under-23 level before joining Middlesex. Sowter rose to prominence in franchise cricket after winning back-to-back titles under Tom Moody at Oval Invincibles. Sowter also worked with Moody at Desert Vipers at the ILT20 2024, which was his first overseas T20 gig. Moody was so impressed with his agility in the field that he christened him ‘Racing Snake’.After their defeat to Royals, Hope admitted that they were missing Tahir, but backed the others to step up.”We’ve got to find ways to penetrate in the middle,” Hope said after the game. “I think we need to find ways to get wickets. Obviously, Imran Tahir is a big loss for us – he was one of our trump cards in the middle overs – but can’t look at that. We have got to work with what we have and find ways to get wickets. We understand the opposition [TKR] that we’re playing next and it’s important that we finish well in the death overs and take care of the batting after.”
Apart from hoping to play Test cricket more frequently going forward, Hashmatullah Shahidi wants “one good home venue” in India instead of going from place to place, as they currently cannot play international cricket back home in Afghanistan.Afghanistan will host New Zealand for a one-off Test starting on Monday in Greater Noida, near Delhi. Their other home Tests since becoming a Full Member have been in Dehradun, Lucknow and Abu Dhabi. Sticking with one home venue will make them a stronger and more effective team in red-ball cricket, Shahidi said.”If you see, India is our home and when we host teams, the other nations have played more cricket than us here,” Shahidi said while addressing the media the day before the Test. “So hopefully we will get one good venue here in India and we stick with that. If we stick with one venue, it will be more effective for us.Related
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Three uncapped players in Afghanistan squad for NZ Test
Rashid takes a break from Test cricket on medical advice
“And one more thing, if you see our players, they have good record in first-class cricket because we play in our own grounds [in Afghanistan]. We know our own conditions very well. So hopefully that time comes in future that teams come to Afghanistan. Then our average will be even higher than what it is right now and hopefully our cricket board and BCCI give a good venue for us in India and we play a lot of cricket in one venue.”Afghanistan have played nine Tests in their six years at this level, and even though they are slotted to play 22 Tests in the current FTP – from 2023 to 2027 – only a handful are against the top sides. In the current FTP, Afghanistan have so far played against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland, and after the New Zealand game, have Tests scheduled against Zimbabwe (six), Ireland (three), India (one), Australia (one) and West Indies (one).”In six years, nine games is not, I cannot say it’s a lot,” Shahidi said. “If we get a lot more chances with the good teams, we will improve, and our cricket board is doing that job. Like with New Zealand, if you see their history of Test cricket and where they are in the rankings right now, it’s a good opportunity for us and hopefully our cricket board will try harder to give us opportunities against good teams in the future. I think if we get more chances on regular basis, we will improve a lot because if we see as a team and as a country, we are brave people and we always accept challenges.It all looked rather wet and forlorn the day before the Test in Greater Noida•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfo
“If we get three- or four-match series in one time, I think it will be very good for us as a side. If you look at our past, we get one Test match and we start preparing for that ten days before. So it’s not easy to come to red-ball cricket. Playing matches will make us even better on judging the ball and playing good cricket in red-ball format, compared to playing in the nets. So if we play three-four games back to back I think it will be better.”Ranked 12th in the ICC Test rankings, Afghanistan are a force in the white-ball formats, ranked ninth in ODIs and tenth in T20Is. They took down teams like England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup last year and made it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in June this year after beating New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh.”About Test cricket, 100% we want to improve,” Shahidi said. “We want to show to the world our best format is Test cricket. And I mentioned before that we accept all kinds of challenges, and I am telling the boys also that these opportunities are very big opportunities for us, each and every one to show our skill, to show our talent and make… if I am a batsman, make a big score, big runs. So your name will be among the big names in the future. So if you want that, this is the place and time to show. I think we have that ability to do it and need to show it.”At this stage, it’s not clear how much red-ball action Afghanistan will get from this Test as a weather threat looms over the game, with rain and moderate thunderstorms forecast for the coming week.