Pakistan lose Colombo Test too, Sri Lanka lead 2-0

August 26th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam has once again denied match -fixing allegations during the Sri Lanka series, asking cricket fans not to believe and pay attention to such rumours. Terming the reports about Pakistani players being approached by Indian bookies during the Sri Lanka series as 'baseless' and 'far from truth', Alam said such allegations affect the morale of the players.

August 22nd, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan's former fast bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz feels that team captain Younis Khan should retire from international cricket and hand over the mantle to Shahid Afridi. Sarfaraz, 60, said that Younis has failed as a captain and should be replaced by Afridi.

August 13th, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Thursday appointed former captain Javed Miandad as its batting consultant following the national team's disastrous tour of Sri Lanka this summer. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said Miandad has been asked to help Pakistans struggling batsmen ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy that gets under way in South Africa from Sep 22.

August 8th, 2009 KARACHI - Following the Pakistan cricket team's dismal Sri Lankan tour, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is expected to overhaul the team management. The News quoted PCB sources, as saying that the team's manager and assistant manager are likely to be sacked, while the coach and captain will be asked for an explanation once the team returns home on August 13.

August 7th, 2009 KARACHI - With four Pakistani players injured, the current Twenty20 world champions may not be able to put their fittest foot forward during their face-off with Sri Lanka in Colombo on August 12. The News quoted Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam, as saying that the team management has decided not to call for replacements for theTwenty20 game.

July 29th, 2009 KARACHI - The menace of match-fixing reared its ugly head again Wednesday with a media report claiming that Pakistani cricketers were approached by bookmakers in Colombo during the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka. Express, a mainstream Urdu daily, claimed in a report that some unidentified Indian bookies approached several Pakistani players during the second and third Tests against Sri Lanka in Colombo earlier this week.

July 25th, 2009 DUBAI - Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has replaced Gautam Gambhir at the top of the Reliance Mobile International Cricket Council's rankings for Test batsmen following his match-saving performance in the third Test against Pakistan in Colombo. The 31-year-old compiled 130 not out in the second innings Friday to go with his 45 the first innings that lifted him above Gambhir.

July 19th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas will retire from Test cricket after the third match against Pakistan in Colombo starting Monday. Vaas announced his retirement plan here Sunday, but said he will continue to play One-day Internationals and Twenty20 cricket till the 2011 World Cup.

July 17th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar has been given another chance to prove his fitness ahead of the team selection for the one-day series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin July 30. Pakistans interim chief selector Wasim Bari has asked Shoaib to attend a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore later Friday.

July 13th, 2009 KARACHI - Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq fears the internal rift in the national cricket team could be one of the reason behind their below-par performance in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka. Inzamam also felt that skipper Younis Khan is making no efforts to bring the team together.

July 8th, 2009 KARACHI - A fortnight after their team's World Twenty20 triumph at Lords, Pakistan cricket fans had a rude awakening Tuesday when Younis Khans men crashed to a 50-run defeat in their first Test against Sri Lanka from a seemingly winning position at Galle. The defeat means that Pakistan's poor run in Test cricket continues as it has failed to win a single Test in the last 30 months.

July 3rd, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan all rounder Shahid Afridi has said that Sri Lanka Test series would be challenging for the players, as they would have to change gear from the Twenty20 format of the game to the five-day mode. Afridi said players would also have to make adjustments due to the different and challenging weather conditions in Sri Lanka.

July 1st, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given the green signal to the security arrangements being made for the safety of its cricketers in Sri Lanka. Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said Wednesday that he was personally satisfied with the security cover being offered to the national team which begins its 45-day tour of Sri Lanka June 29.

June 30th, 2009 COLOMBO - As middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf makes his way back into the Pakistan team for the Test series against Sri Lanka, captain Younis Khan has said performance, and not big names, matter in the game. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function where the trophy for the Test series was unveiled, Khan expressed hope that his team would start from where it had left in England after winning the ICC World Twenty20 Championship.

June 28th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lanka cricket authority has made foolproof security arrangements for the visiting Pakistan cricket team, as it does not a repeat of the Lahore terror attack in which six Sri Lankan players were injured. Spokesman of the Sri Lanka team, Charith Senanayake said military security have been hired by the board to safeguard the visitors.