South Africa coach Rob Walter said his team will be wary of an under-performing England, who have the ability to beat anyone on their day, when they meet in a key Champions Trophy match on Saturday.

Bangladesh’s spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed is close to signing a two-year contract extension with the Tigers. The former Pakistan spin wizard left to be with his family in Lahore after Bangladesh’s final ICC Champions Trophy group-stage fixture got washed out in Rawalpindi but had a chat with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan about Bangladesh’s disappointing campaign in the global event and some of the factors that contributed to it. The excerpts are as follows:

India skipper Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami are fit and raring to go against New Zealand in the final group match of the Champions Trophy, the team said Friday.

Since its foundation in the 1960s, Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has always been a well-planned city, with separate zones for administration, educational and commercial institutions and residential areas –unlike most major cities in the Indian sub-continent.

The all-important ICC Champions Trophy Group B match between Australia and Afghanistan in Lahore ended in a no result due to rain, sending Australia through to the semifinals while leaving Afghanistan’s hopes of making it to the top four on the brink.

“All of us have our backs to the wall. Everyone’s salary [in DPL] has decreased. We discussed how we can get out of this situation. The players have already accepted it for this season,” a cricketer who was in today’s meeting told The Daily Star.

Champions Trophy fever in Pakistan has plummeted after the hosts crashed out of the first major cricket event in the country in three decades without winning a game.

Jos Buttler said on Friday he is to step down as England's white-ball captain after a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign ended with them failing to reach the semi-finals.

Afghanistan's Sediqullah Atal plays a shot during the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Australia and Afghanistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 28, 2025.

Ron Draper, who was the oldest living Test cricketer, has died in Gqeberha at the age of 98 years and 63 days, his family said Friday.

Afghanistan made a remarkable comeback to stun England and knock them out of semifinal contention with an unforgettable victory.

Australia will also progress even if the game is washed out.

But the thousands that were present at the Gaddafi Stadium and the millions who tuned in from around the globe to watch the Group B encounter between Afghanistan and England on Thursday, witnessed an absolute cricketing ‘tamasha’ in the truest sense.

Rain is forecast in Lahore but even a washout will keep Afghanistan in contention to reach the semi-finals, but they will then have to depend on other results or net run-rate.

Before leaving Dhaka for the ICC Champions Trophy, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had boldly announced his grand goal of bringing the trophy home, raising many eyebrows.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes Jos Buttler's time is up.

Two Bangladesh stars -- Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman -- have not signed with any clubs for the upcoming Dhaka Premier League (DPL), and the latter may not play the league at all this season.

Hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh have had several similarities in their disappointing ICC Champions Trophy exits.

Despite having been on the receiving end of one-sided affairs against India (six-wicket defeat) and New Zealand (five-wicket), Shanto somehow found some inspiration from their performance in the first two games.

The 44-year-old batting great joins a team he captained in 2014 and his last IPL season as a player came two years later.