A member of the PakPassion forums writes about what it takes to build a top-class international team.

PakPassion's Saj discusses the squads chosen for the 4th edition of the PSL and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each of the 6 sides, and explains why he feels Islamabad United have given themselves the best chance to claim yet another victory in Pakistan's premier Twenty20 tournament.

Listen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_SUq8Fln7Y

Discuss!

A respected member of our forums previews Pakistan's upcoming Test series against an experienced New Zealand side.

Mohammad Abbas is a man of simple pleasures. A family man, a man who just likes the quiet life and has no time for celeb status or glitz and glamour.

Growing up in the 90’s, India-Pakistan rivalry was synonymous with UAE. This was the decade when UAE was a buzzing cricketing destination and a match between the arch-rivals was the biggest draw. India then at the start of the millennium had decided that they will no longer play in the UAE, and the Asia Cup 2018 will be kind of a comeback for them after almost two decades.

The cricket relations between the two teams haven’t improved much. The Asian cricketing giants no longer meet each other regularly. Cricket matches between the neighbouring countries have now been relegated to only ICC events. The last time the two teams met was over a year ago in the Champions Trophy final where Pakistan hammered the Indian team by 180 runs to win the title. 

The circle of life spares no one. Nature's innate purpose is to remove the old and withered and replace it with the new and budding. Naturally, this applies to the Pakistani Cricket Team as well. Over the past 3 years, the Pakistani team has gone through monumental changes in its core structure and power hierarchy. We've seen the 3 biggest characters of Pakistan cricket (Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq) depart from each format of the game one by one. With each player's departure comes a void which can only able to be sealed by players capable of leading the team forward and working well as a unit to overcome any obstacle present ahead of them. This current lot of players, led by Sarfaraz, seems to have finally broken through the shackles of the cricket of the early 2000s and modernised their approach to the game, and it would serve Pakistan well if they stick to this approach.

Today’s victory was by no means flawless, but arguably that is what made it all the more impressive; it showcased the ability of this young team to wrestle back the initiative despite not being at their best. In short, it showed dogged determination and character. That bodes well for the future.

A respected member of our forums looks forward to Pakistan's participating in a much anticipcated T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe which also features Australia.

Writing for PakPassion, Talha Syed describes the Scotland vs England and Scotland vs Pakistan T20I series in vivid detail and explains what it means for an ordinary fan to witness such a fantastic set of games in Scotland.