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All the live updates, records and chatter from the latest round of the Ranji Trophy

Hemant Brar25-Dec-2019

In a similar scenario in 2016, the ICC’s technical committee had awarded full points to Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2020India have qualified for the 2021 Women’s World Cup following a decision by the ICC’s technical committee to split points for an ICC Women’s Championship series against Pakistan that went unplayed. That series was originally scheduled to take place between July and November 2019, but it did not go ahead, in a climate of political tensions between the two neighbouring countries.The ICC has also decided to split points for the South Africa-Australia and Sri Lanka-New Zealand series that have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.”With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC (technical committee) concluded that the series could not be played because of a event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” the ICC said in the media release on Wednesday.The technical committee comprises Geoff Allardice (ICC general manager of cricket), Chris Tetley (ICC head of events) and Jonathan Hall (ICC general counsel).Faced with a similar scenario in 2016, the ICC’s technical committee had awarded Pakistan full points for a similarly unplayed series against India. On this occasion, there was one difference that prompted the ICC to split points.In 2016 the BCCI had neither responded in writing nor provided any explanation about why they could not play Pakistan. The technical committee hence went ahead and awarded full points to Pakistan.This time around, the BCCI engaged with the ICC early on in this round of the Women’s Championship, making its stand clear about why it could not play Pakistan in the ODI series scheduled in 2019. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI made extensive submissions as early as 2018 demonstrating that it could not get the relevant permission from the Indian government to play Pakistan. That helped the ICC’s technical committee to invoke the clause on this occasion.Due to the splitting of points (three to India, three to Pakistan), India qualify as the fourth-placed team on the ICC Women’s Championship table with 23 points, behind Australia (37), England (29) and South Africa (25). Had all six points gone to Pakistan, they would have qualified with 22 points, ahead of India with 20.Pakistan instead finish with 19 points, just above sixth-placed New Zealand (17), who qualify for the World Cup automatically as hosts. West Indies (13) and Sri Lanka (5) bring up the bottom two spots.The remaining three places at the World Cup are due to be decided in July’s qualifying event in Sri Lanka, though the ICC confirmed that the dates for the tournament are “under review” on account of the pandemic.The teams competing in that qualifier will be Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka (through the ICC Championship), Bangladesh and Ireland (through their ODI status), and the winners of the five regional qualifying tournaments: Thailand, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea, USA and Netherlands.

A compressed tournament is set to be held between August 18 and September 10

George Dobell12-Jun-2020CPL organisers have confirmed their intention to stage the competition entirely in Trinidad & Tobago between August 18 and September 10.The competition will be played, subject to government approval, behind closed doors with the top-paid players expected to accept a salary cut of up to 30% when compared to 2019 levels. There will be no salary cut for players below the US$20,000 bracket.Players are currently required to arrive in Trinidad by August 1 in order to satisfy the quarantine period mandated by the Trinidad & Tobago government. There is a possibility this quarantine period could be lifted, at least for visitors from certain nations, in due course.ALSO READ: Trinidad & Tobago government “very much open” to hosting CPLWith a smaller window available for the tournament, it will feature double-headers on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and only three matches – two semi-finals and a final – in the play-offs rather than the usual four. Games will start at 10am and 5.30pm during the week and 10am and 2pm at the weekends.All players will stay in the tournament hotel in conditions overseen by a medical advisory committee. Match officials will also be expected to take a 30% pay cut. Most CPL staff have already done so.”Should the tournament take place it will take place entirely in Trinidad & Tobago, which is the most successful country in the Caribbean in controlling the spread of the virus – recording just one new case since April 30 and just 117 total cases overall,” Michael Hall, the CPL operations manager, wrote in an update sent to various stakeholders.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“One of the consequences the Covid-19 pandemic will have is that the CPL will be played behind closed doors in 2020. We were therefore faced with the very difficult decision of whether to play the tournament at all.”[But] we also felt strongly that it is important for cricket to be seen to be getting underway again as well as to show the world that the Caribbean is open for business.”We have taken the decision to stage the tournament (subject to final approval from the government of Trinidad & Tobago, which we expect next week). I can advise that the tournament period will be from August 1 to September 12, with the first matches on August 18 and the final on September 10.”While there is no firm date for the draft at this stage, it is expected to be at the end of June. Players who have already signed contracts will be asked to sign a “variation letter” agreeing to a cut.”We accept we are asking players to give up a portion of their salary,” Hall wrote. “However without such a gesture it will be impossible to run the tournament, so we need to be clear that non-acceptance of the proposed reductions will result in your clients already under contract being replaced, or if not already contracted, being removed from the draft list.”

Soft-tissue injury rates shot up in German football after post-Covid resumption

Matt Roller25-May-2020Fast bowlers need to build up their workloads “as sensibly as possible” in order to help mitigate increased injury risk as they look to return from a prolonged period of rest, according to Surrey’s lead physiotherapist.Plans are being drawn up around the world for players to return to training after an enforced break from the game, and Alex Tysoe told ESPNcricinfo that building up progressively will be vital for seamers in order to avoid the “undesirable” injury scenario seen in Germany’s Bundesliga.A report by sports scientist Joel Mason found that injury rates shot up from 0.27 per game to 0.88 in the first weekend of top-flight football in Germany for two months, with soft-tissue injuries particularly prevalent as teams rushed back to the pitch. Tysoe said that fast bowlers needed to find a sensible balance as they prepare to return to cricket.ALSO READ: ECB handed discretion over move to stage two training by government“There’s a lot about elite sport and the Covid situation which is not ideal, and we’re possibly seeing the effects of a sustained lockdown on football” he said. “You’ll have seen in the Bundesliga, there were a reported six soft-tissue injuries in the first eight games, which is an unusually high number for that league and sport.”Bowling is a lot more difficult to facilitate during this period because players haven’t been able to use their local clubs or outdoor facilities. We know from a research point of view that one of the ways to mitigate the risk of a sharp rise in workload is to try and improve the individual’s relative strength, and then all you can do is be sensible when you get back into things: increase people’s bowling workloads as fast as possible but as sensibly as possible too.”Tysoe is a co-author of a recent paper published in the which examined bowling loads and injuries for 49 fast bowlers at six different counties, and some of the conclusions drawn are relevant to the ongoing crisis.The study was primarily methodological, exploring the ability of ‘differential loads’ to predict injury risk compared to the widely-used ‘acute-chronic workload ratio’ method, but also demonstrated that large week-to-week increases in bowling loads and bowling after a long period without are associated with the possibility of heightened injury risks.”A simple analogy is that if you’re flying a plane, you have to consider the throttle, the level of the nose, and keeping your wings level on the horizon,” Tysoe said. “If you can keep all those within certain ranges, then your plane is much more likely to have a nice smooth journey; if you move the nose up and down, the wings left and right, and you’re messing around with the throttle, it’ll be a bumpy ride. It’s about getting up to cruising height nice and smoothly and staying there.”It’s similar in the case of fast bowlers: it’s about making sure that they’re not doing too much, too soon, relative to the last 42 days, that on a week-to-week basis they’re not adding to what they’re doing too quickly, and that if they do have a break it’s not for too long. What we want now is to have a nice smooth take-off, to get back to that analogy, where we’re getting bowlers to take off reasonably quickly while doing it as safely as possible.”Surrey’s lead physiotherapist Alex Tysoe•PA Images via Getty Images

Tysoe has been at The Oval in the past week, overseeing Sam Curran and Amar Virdi’s first few sessions back bowling, and said that things had gone “really smoothly”. Eighteen England bowlers are now back in individual training, with a seven-week run-in between their return and the planned first West Indies Test on July 8.The ECB’s performance director Mo Bobat has previously said that the schedule for this summer is likely to be “pretty brutal”, and that it may be necessary to rotate fast bowlers in order to reduce injury risks. Seamers have been bowling around six overs each per session and will gradually build up over the coming weeks.”A lot of work went into drawing up the protocols with the ECB, and then implementing all of the logistics,” Tyose said. “The important thing is that the players are safe, and that they can still have some quality training – otherwise there’s no point doing it. The ECB have been brilliant throughout the process, and we’re looking forward to seeing how things progress.”ALSO READ: How are cricketers keeping fit in lockdown?Surrey are one of two counties, along with Lancashire, not to have furloughed players during the lockdown, meaning the squad have been checked in on regularly. The club have run weekly Zoom yoga sessions to help increase the squad’s mobility, and Tysoe is hopeful that if a county season is possible later in the summer, players “are not going to take too long to turn around at all”.”We’re satisfied that they’re in as good a position as they could be at the moment. When we do get the green light to get back in and know when fixtures are, we’re in a position where we’re comfortable we can get them turned around in a relatively quick period of time.”For the fast bowlers, they can’t bowl in the nets or outside but we can mimic those movements with medicine balls to make sure soft tissues are used to repeatedly producing those powerful, dynamic movements.”One of the things we can’t do is influence the bone density of the spine. Pete Alway, who did a PhD with the ECB, did his research on spinal density of fast bowlers, and we now know that there’s nothing that can strengthen the spine for bowling better than bowling itself. You lose spine density pretty quickly when you stop bowling, and predictably it can take you longer to build that up: we need to be mindful of building them back up sensibly.”

Azhar praises Buttler-Woakes partnership, saying his team were “one punch away” from victory

Danyal Rasool08-Aug-2020Test cricket is a peculiar game, but Pakistan cricket is odder still. In front of an eerily empty Old Trafford, Chris Woakes squeezed – edged, let’s be honest – Shaheen Afridi through third slip where, for some reason, a catcher wasn’t present. The ball rolled away for four, and England celebrated a famous win against a Pakistan side that had this match sewn up so often it was impossible to follow where it all came loose.Four days ago, there may even have been a sense of faint pride about the side taking England to the brink. Pakistan, after all, came into the series firm underdogs, having not won an away Test match since the last time they visited England two years ago. They were going through a transition of sorts, having axed the captain last year, and trying to blood a raw, albeit deliciously exciting, pace attack that has its best years ahead of it. They had played no cricket at all in months, while England were still cooling down after a high-intensity three-match series against West Indies, having just finished playing two successive Tests at Old Trafford, the venue of the first match against Pakistan.Once the dust has settled, the more measured voices in the camp, like head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, may try and remind them about all that in a bid to avoid spirits taking a hit before the second Test begins in just four days. Maintaining that sense of perspective will be particularly difficult, however, as Pakistan remember the number of times they could have killed England off before the match got to its climax. Barely 24 hours earlier, they found themselves batting again on a 107-run lead, and anything like the grit the visitors had shown in the first innings would have ensured they would not walk away from Manchester trailing the three-match series.Earlier on day four, Azhar Ali’s men found themselves in a what seemed an equally unassailable position, having dismissed half of England’s side with 160 runs still left to get. Jos Buttler, having endured a difficult Test match, found himself batting alongside Woakes, who averaged 5.22 with the bat over his past seven Tests. That his side threw away such sizeable advantages particularly stung captain Azhar, who bemoaned Pakistan’s inability to kill off the game when they had the chance.”I wouldn’t say we lost the match in [our] second innings, but we missed a chance to knock England out of the game there,” he said. “That is a missed opportunity. But only once has such a huge total ever been chased at Old Trafford. We were on top and with the tail coming in, we were sure we’d wrap it up if one more wicket fell. But they attacked from the off and snatched the game away from us. We do regret losing an opportunity to build partnerships in that second innings, which meant we couldn’t set them a chase of 300-plus, and that was a factor in us losing.”I’ve been playing Test cricket for a long time and I know that Test cricket is hard. It’s never over until it’s over. This has been shown again today. The good thing is everyone stuck to their task and unfortunately we were outdone by a brilliant partnership. Yes, in hindsight a lot of things can be done, but when they came and attacked the spinners, playing sweep shots and reverse sweeps. It all worked for him. Unfortunately, nothing worked for us and when you play innings like that, you have to be a little lucky and fortune favoured them. Sometimes you just have to give credit to the opposition.”Misbah-ul-Haq watches on from the Pakistan balcony•Getty Images

There will be sections in Pakistan, however, unlikely to be appeased by the generous praise for Buttler and Woakes, instead honing in on some of the decisions Azhar took when the game got twitchy. Michael Atherton, on Sky’s commentary, pointed out earlier in the day that Azhar had never captained the side in a Test match that went down to the wire, and wondered if that lack of experience may hurt Pakistan should the visitors find themselves under pressure. The call to delay handing Yasir Shah the ball for 40 minutes after tea was both unexpected and unsuccessful, as were some of the fielding positions, not least the absence of the third slip through which Woakes edged England to victory.His loss of personal form over the past couple of years with the bat is a compounding factor. Azhar has managed 139 runs in his past 12 away Test innings, never crossing 40 during this time. It’s a run that has seen him score three ducks, including one in the first innings here, and fail to cross single digits eight times. He may have lacked a certain astuteness in the field here, but the fact he was only handed the captaincy because Pakistan felt Sarfaraz Ahmed’s worrying drop in batting form made his position untenable is one he will be keenly aware of.”After playing international cricket for ten years, I understand when I need to take certain decisions. When I bat, I’m not thinking about the captaincy, whether or not I’m out of form. And when I’m captain, I don’t think about my batting at all, whether I scored a 100 or 0. That’s the job of the captain. There’s a lot of disappointment that we had this game in the palm of our hands, and we led at most points in the game, but that can happen sometimes. We’ve had a great record in England, it’s a better record than any other Asian side has here. We should have won this game too, so I don’t think we struggle in England as such, and I’m confident we can challenge in the remaining two games.”We just have to credit Woakes and Buttler. They took the game on after the fifth wicket from the first ball. They started playing shots and this is one of the best partnerships in the recent past. We were in control of the game; we were one punch away from finishing the game off, but they came and dominated us during that period. At times we were kind of unlucky but for the most part, they were brilliant. They knew it wouldn’t be possible to win if they kept batting the normal way. Maybe when the ball got a little softer, it wasn’t doing as much as it did when it was new, especially for the quicks. Buttler, when he’s against spin, can play 360 degrees so it’s hard to set an attacking field on him. He put pressure on us, it worked for him, and he outplayed us in that period.”Pakistan have little time to lick their wounds, and must set their sights to Southampton, where the remaining two Test matches will be played. However, with away Test losses mounting up, the trip south may be an uneasy one for Azhar.

Response from chairman to damaging claims from former player about club culture

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2020Yorkshire has promised a full independent inquiry, as well as a wider review into its policies and culture, in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s claims that he had been driven to the “brink of suicide” by institutional racism within the club.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday, Rafiq expanded on similar comments made to Wisden.com and the Cricket Badger podcast, and highlighted how the lack of diversity within the Yorkshire dressing room had made him a target, including from senior players and one captain whom he stated was “openly racist”.In addition, he claimed that the club had treated him coldly in the wake of a family tragedy, releasing him from his contract shortly after his son was still-born, despite having claimed they would look after him “professionally and personally”.Now aged 29, and pursuing a career away from cricket, Rafiq added that he had chosen to speak out to “prevent anyone else feeling the same pain”.”Any allegation of this nature is hugely concerning to everyone from the board to the playing staff here, and we take the reports very seriously,” read a statement from Roger Hutton, Yorkshire’s chairman, following widespread calls, including from ESPNcricinfo, for a public response to Rafiq’s comments.”On Monday this week the club took the decision to launch a formal investigation into the specific allegations made by Azeem Rafiq, and a wider review of YCCC’s policies and culture,” Hutton added. “We are in the process of finalising the structure of this investigation and we will be approaching impartial external parties to be part of the review to ensure complete transparency. Further announcements will be made to detail this process in the coming days.”We fully acknowledge that just as in many walks of life, sport, including cricket and Yorkshire as a club, must do better to fully promote a culture of zero tolerance to racism or any form of prejudice.”Rafiq’s comments are especially damaging to Yorkshire given the club’s recent efforts to reach out to its local Asian communities – not least in Bradford, where the historic Park Avenue ground was recently restored in a multi-million pound initiative to serve as an outground for county fixtures, and a hub for the local parks cricket scene.ALSO READ: Azeem Rafiq was ‘on brink of suicide’ after experiencing racism at YorkshireHowever, Rafiq, who grew up in Barnsley and in 2012 led Yorkshire in a T20 against Durham to become the youngest captain in the club’s history, claimed that his story – which has been used as a symbol of the club’s desire to embrace the ethnic diversity in the county’s urban areas – did not reflect the realities within the dressing room.”Look at the facts and figures,” he said. “Look at a squad photograph. Look at the coaches. How many non-white faces do you see? Despite the ethnic diversity of the cities in Yorkshire, despite the love for the game from Asian communities, how many people from those backgrounds are making it into the first team?”It’s obvious to anyone who cares that there’s a problem. Do I think there is institutional racism? It’s at its peak in my opinion. It’s worse than it’s ever been.”In the club’s defence, Hutton added: “We accepted a long time ago that change was needed at Headingley to improve diversity, especially in terms of racial inclusivity. Since 2014 we’ve prioritised community engagement with numerous groups right across the county, and across many cultures and ethnicities. While as an organisation we’ve made real efforts to that end, we are not perfect and it’s a work in progress.”As a player and former captain, Azeem was extremely highly respected and well regarded by the club and its supporters alike. Azeem was a gifted bowler and a respected leader of our team, and that was why he became the first British South Asian captain of the Yorkshire T20 side, and the youngest ever captain of the team.”We have tried to make contact with Azeem this week to discuss his experiences, and will make further contact in the weeks ahead as it’s important that we hear his grievances in as much detail as possible.”The future direction of our organisation’s culture will be best-shaped with the understanding and the input of players, staff and supporters from all minorities and genders, and we will continue this process with the formal investigation that will start in a matter of days and be conducted thoroughly, impartially, and with urgency.”

Bowling in the death overs “definitely the biggest challenge in T20 cricket,” says the Mumbai Indians quick

Vishal Dikshit22-Sep-2020Entrusted with the final over in Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2020 opener against Chennai Super Kings in the absence of Lasith Malinga, where he was taken for two fours in two balls by Faf du Plessis to end the match, Trent Boult called bowling in the death overs the “biggest challenge in T20 cricket”.”It’s the biggest challenge in the game, to be honest,” Boult said of bowling at the death. “It’s very difficult to bowl in the last couple of overs when the batsmen are set; du Plessis was set the other night on 50 runs, and when guys are hitting from that platform it’s very hard to defend.”Personally, I want to try and stick to my strengths, try and execute yorkers and take the pace off [the ball], and just try and stay a step ahead of the batsmen. It’s definitely the biggest challenge in T20 cricket.”ALSO READ: Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians – Talking Points<brJasprit Bumrah's poor day out added to Mumbai's concerns against the Super Kings. He leaked 32 runs in his first three overs before bowling the penultimate over, when the Super Kings needed 16 from 12 balls. He dismissed Sam Curran on the second ball but only after being hit for a six on the first ball. By the time the last over started, the Super Kings needed just five runs.Boult said he expected Bumrah to "bounce back" as he had been "working very hard the last couple of days to find that rhythm".Mumbai, and Boult, will be up against it again on Wednesday when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. The Knight Riders are expected to field a power-packed middle order, with the likes of Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell in the mix. Russell is coming offf three half-centuries in the recent CPL and had a strike rate of 249 in the death overs last IPL, including a 40-ball 80 not out against Mumbai at Eden Gardens.To add to that, Russell has an impressive record against both Bumrah (49 runs off 33 balls, one dismissal) and Boult (17 runs off nine balls, one dismissal) in T20s."He (Russell) is one of the most destructive batsmen in the game and therein lies the challenge," Boult accepted. "That's personally why I play the game, I like to take on the big players and look to take wickets, I'll be looking forward to that challenge and I am sure I'll face it at some stage in this tournament."Boult found some early swing against the Super Kings with an opening spell of 3-0-15-1 but expects the pitches to deteriorate as the tournament goes on."I'm presuming the wickets are going to change, not drastically, but they will deteriorate in the next couple of months," he said. "It's pretty hot here, the day games will be interesting with the heat and humidity and how the wicket seems to quicken up little bit under lights."The wickets are going to change throughout the tournament but from what we experienced the other night, in the humidity the ball definitely swung around a little bit, being early in the tournament and a fresh wicket. From my point of view, I just want to be on the mark with the ball and take wickets. I'd like to see them as swinging-friendly conditions with a bit of pace in the wicket but the teams are assessing conditions and adjusting as quickly as possible."

World’s No. 1-ranked T20I bowler rejected Scorchers offer to play in T20 Challenge instead

Matt Roller26-Oct-2020Sophie Ecclestone, the England spinner and the No. 1 T20I bowler in the ICC’s rankings, has revealed that she turned down a contract to play for Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).While quarantining in the UAE ahead of the Women’s T20 Challenge, Ecclestone told ESPNcricinfo in an interview to be published this week that she had been offered the chance to play in the WBBL for the first time earlier this year.After initially telling the Scorchers she would be available, Ecclestone decided to pull out of the tournament after spending the summer in biosecure bubbles ahead of England’s planned international fixtures.ALSO READ: ‘It’s been a difficult preparation’ admits Renegades coach ahead of WBBL“I was going to go to the Big Bash,” she said. “Initially I said yes, but since the quarantine was two weeks and in a bubble I was like: no, I’m all right, I’ll pass and try and do it next year. When this [the Women’s T20 Challenge] came along with six days of quarantine and in Dubai, I thought I could cope with that.”I was going at one point. I had to send them an email saying: I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can do it. Hopefully I can do it next year. I was meant to be going. I feel bad really, but hopefully they’ll have me back at some point.”Six of Ecclestone’s England team-mates are playing in the WBBL: Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight both joined Syndey Thunder, Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver were picked up by Melbourne Stars, and Amy Jones and Sarah Glenn are both at the Scorchers.They had to quarantine in hotel rooms for 14 days before joining the tournament’s Sydney hub, having had only three days at home after leaving Derby at the end of their T20I series against West Indies before flying out to Australia.”We had the training camp at Derby, which was two or three weeks, then the bubble at Burleigh Court [Loughborough] and then Derby again which was a month and a bit, and I think the girls had a three-day turnaround before they flew to quarantine in Australia. I think that would have been too much.”Ecclestone’s revelations come at a time when several players have questioned the long-term viability of bubbles. Last week, Eoin Morgan and Jason Holder both raised concerns about the prospect of players suffering from burnout after travelling from one biosecure environment to another, while Ellyse Perry echoed their points on Saturday.”There’s going to be various struggles for people at different points of time, for all different reasons,” she told AAP. “I don’t think it’s a sustainable option. Obviously this is a unique season and year, but I think there is probably a limit on what we can put people through.”

Philander says family “coming to terms with the brutal murder”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2020Tyrone Philander, the younger brother of South African seamer Vernon Philander, was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon in the family’s home town of Ravensmead in Cape Town. Vernon confirmed the news in a statement released on Twitter.”Our family is coming to terms with the brutal murder in my hometown of Ravensmead earlier today,” Vernon wrote. “I would like to ask that the family’s privacy be respected during this difficult time.”The murder is now the subject of a police investigation and we respectfully ask that the media give the police the space to conduct a thorough investigation. There are no details around the incident at the moment and speculation will make it very difficult for us as a family to mourn in peace. Tyrone is forever in our hearts. May his soul rest in peace.”According to local reports, Tyrone was delivering water to a neighbour when he was shot. Police are investigating the incident. Vernon has two older brothers, Brandon and Darryl.

He had tested negative a day ago, but then developed a fever while isolating in the team hotel in Lahore

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2020Fakhar Zaman will miss Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand, with the Pakistan batsman dropped from the touring party as a precautionary measure after developing potential Covid-19 symptoms. The PCB announced in a press release that Zaman had tested negative as recently as Saturday, but after developing a fever while isolating with the rest of the team at a hotel in Lahore, he was left out as a precautionary measure.”Fakhar’s Covid test report was received on Saturday which came out negative but today he picked up fever. As soon as his condition was reported, he was isolated from the rest of the squad in the team hotel. We are constantly monitoring his condition and remain hopeful of his quick recovery; however he is not fit to travel with the squad and as such has been withdrawn from the touring party,” Pakistan team doctor Sohail Saleem said.The practical implication of Zaman’s absence means Pakistan will need a replacement at the top of the order for the three T20Is they are scheduled to play against New Zealand; the left-handed opener is not currently a contender for a Test slot. Zaman’s international form, particularly in the shortest format, has been something of a lingering concern for Pakistan; he has scored more than 25 runs in an innings only once for more than two years.In the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe, where most of Pakistan’s batsmen made hay chasing low targets against bowling opposition that was, by international standards, less than intimidating, he managed 45 runs at an average of 15. His form in domestic T20 competitions has been vastly more impressive, he was the top scorer in the National T20 Cup, and the second highest scorer in this year’s PSL.ESPNcricinfo understands there is no chance of the player linking up with the team at a later date due to the stringent quarantine measures the touring party will need to observe upon touching down in New Zealand. They tourist will be isolated in separate rooms, not permitted to mix with each other for the fortnight to be spent in quarantine. They will be tested on the third and twelfth days of isolation. Once they return negative tests, they will not need to form a bio-secure bubble within the country, given the near-total absence of community transmission of Covid-19 in New Zealand.Pakistan will not name a replacement for Zaman. Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali, both of whom batted in the top order at some point during the T20I series against Zimbabwe, are likely to be frontrunners to partner captain Babar Azam at the top.