Pressing Matters

Host Ismail Farooq and Chelsea fan Haris Saleemi bring you another club season preview before the Premier League season starts.

Sarri's departure, Lampard's appointment - including his credentials, ability and club legend status, Chelsea's transfer ban, and current situation of the squad is all discussed in detail.

"Sarriball" is no more, Eden Hazard is gone, no new players can be bought, a club legend is back - where does that leave Chelsea going into the new season?

RUNNING TIME: 41m46s

On Wednesday,7th of August, PCB announced that nearly the entire coaching staff - head coach Mickey Arthur,batting coach Grant Flower, bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, and fitness trainer Grant Luden - will not have their contracts extended.This may come as a surprise to many, especially Mickey Arthur's axing,considering the rumours were circulating about his contract being extended.

Micky Arthur's record and journey has been more of a roller-coaster with some big achievements and some very disappointing results. The Test and ODI team have declined under Mickey Arthur with a win loss ratio of 0.59 and 0.94, in these formats respectively. Wheras the T20 team has performed incredibly well where Mickey Arthur's team boasts a win-loss ratio of 4.29 and top the T20 team rankings. The Pakistani team won the Champions trophy under him in 2017, but failed to make an impact in the Asia Cup and (arguably) in the ODI World Cup(2019).

Many former players are now being linked to the job of head coach and of chief selector.

Listen, as Shanawar Burhan, Ahmed Rizwan and Ali Azhar discuss the peformance of the now ex-coaching staff and discuss the future candidates for the jobs.

The Leading Edge is back after the ODI World Cup 2019 to cover all about cricket and the ongoing Ashes series.

From being an average leg-spinner to becoming one of the greatest Test players to being stripped off captaincy and banned from the game for 1-year to make a dream return to his favourite format. This,as it may look like one, is not a movie script but the story of Australian hero of the first Ashes test, Steven Peter Devereux Smith.

In the first test of Ashes 2019 and the ICC World Championship, Australia defeated England by 251 runs thanks to Steven Smith, who became the first Australian since Matthew Hayden(in 2002) to score 2 centuries in the same Ashes Test match. He,also jumped to the no.3 spot of the Test ranking and joint-3rd in the list of most centuries by a player in Ashes.

Listen, as Shanawar Burhan, Ahmed Rizwan and our new member Ali Azhar, discuss all about the first test, Smith's masterclass and England's chances in the rest of the series.

Pressing Matters is back after the summer break to discuss all things Manchester United. The situation of the club is discussed with two lifelong United supporters, Nauman Zaheer and Gibran Saleem, alongside our host, Ismail Farooq, who is a Liverpool fan trying to contain himself and stop himself from saying "European Champions" each time United's problems are talked about.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's managerial ability, United's boardroom decisions, Ed Woodward, summer transfer dealings, new season's expectations - we get into all that, and more, for the only season preview you need for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

RUNNING TIME: 37m17s

History will be made on Sunday, as we are sure to get a first time winner of the biggest crown in ODI cricket, when New Zealand faces off against England in the final of the ICC World Cup 2019  

Both teams have had their troubles in the group stages with both just making it to the top 4 in their final group games(with a little help from India :p). But we are in for a treat if their semi-finals performances are somewhat replicated. 

In the first semi-final, New Zealand defeated India, and that too convincingly(read shockingly) by destroying the Indian batting line up. Virat Kohli failed once again in an ODI World Cup knockout game and even Jadeja's spectacular knock couldn't save India. New Zealand, meanwhile go into their second successive final.

In the 2nd semi-final, the English destroyed the Aussies in a one-sided match, and marched onto the final on their home-soil. 

So, will the English lift the trophy on their home soil, or will New Zealand finally get the trophy their performances have deserved? 

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, Haseeb Kazmi and Ahmed Rizwan talk about the semi-finals' result and preview the final of the World Cup.

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Kiwis shock the Indians [00:07]

Is Dhoni finished or just unlucky ? [04:38]

Virat's captaincy too reliant on Dhoni? [07:07]

Kohli in World Cups = Kohli in other matches ? [09:39]

Kane Williamson, you legend [15:45]

The under-rated Ross Taylor [21:31]

The English going crazy [24:34]

The FINAL [30:30]

RUNNING TIME: 35m30s

"Head to head hona chahiye tha yeh NRR kia fazool cheez hai."

"Pakistan's loss to West Indies crushed their chances."

"New Zealand were lucky they had their match against India washed out."

"Had Braithwaite's shot crossed the boundary rope, Pakistan would have been playing the semi-final."

A lot of Ifs and buts as Pakistan crashed out of the world cup on Net Run Rate. Analysts and cricketing experts all over the world are arguing over which method(NRR vs Head-to-Head) would have been better. 

Simultaneously, we have seen two retierements from the cricketing world. Two very different cricketers, with very different career trajectories retire in the same cloud of unsatisfaction(although one is still looking to play the T20 world cup next year).

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, Ahmed Rizwan, Sajid Faiz Malik and Ali Shayan talk about what ifs, retirements and the last stages of the World Cup.

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Pakistan crash out [00:08]

500 against Bangladesh ? [05:21]

Shoaib Malik's ODI retirement and his T20 aspirations? [09:25]

Was Ambati Rayudu hard done by? [15:50]

Who will make it to the final? [19:24]

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"India jaan boojh kar match haara hai." 

No this is not your average Pakistani's statement but what even many of the pundits said about India's failed run chase against England. In a match where Pakistan needed India to beat England, India failed to deliver the type of performance that is typical of the new-age India. Dhoni has come under a lot of criticism and so has the Indian team who hit only one six in 50overs in response to England's 338(which included 13 sixes).But they lost to a brilliant England team who finally proved themselves in a big pressure match and ended India's unbeaten run in the World Cup. 

So did India lose intentionally or was England just too good on the day?

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, and his guests, Sajid Faiz Malik and Muhammad Owais talk about neck to neck fight for the top 4.

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Pakistan just about go over the line [00:27]

What was Gulbadin Naib thinking? [05:18]

Grant Flower, what exactly is your job? [05:52]

Did India actually lose the match intentionally [09:35]

The Razzaq-Akmal controversy and former players [16:36]

Can Pakistan still go through? [19:57]

RUNNING TIME: 24m19s

Pakistan's Virat Kohli or Umar Akmal's cousin ?

These are two of the most common terms that we use when we try to describe Pakistan's focal point of batting right now: Babar Azam. When he starts off his innings with beautiful cover drives, we try to make him Pakistan's version of one of the best batsmen of this generation, India's Virat Kohli, while as soon as he gets out(mostly due to a bad unnecessary shot), we draw comparisons with a wasted talent(arguably) of our country and his very own cousin, Umar Akmal.

But the former comparison was used more often as Babar scored a scintillating century against New Zealand, and that too while chasing (something which Pakistanis are not known for, rather the opposite). What makes the match-winning innings even special is that it made Babar the 2nd fastest batsmen to 3000runs in ODIs and the first middle order batsman since 1987 to score a century for Pakistan in a World Cup.

This amazing knock, combined with some amazing well-executed bowling gave Pakistan a very much needed victory against New Zealand and may just be the catalyst to send them to the semi finals. Other results and Pakistan's next 2 matches will decide Pakistan's fate but it is only Pakistan's to lose from here given the opportunity they have now.

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, and his guests, Ahmed Rizwan, Sajid Faiz Malik, Ali Shayan and Muhammad Owais talk about Pakistan's march towards the top 4.

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The mercurial Shaheens halting Kiwis' run [00:06]

Imad Wasim, the spinner ? [10:16]

Paksitan's 2 down ? [13:45]

The openers need to step up [21:54]

England and Pakistan's top 4 chances [29:56]

Player of the tournament so far[36:02]

RUNNING TIME: 38m38s

"You're a wizard Harry."

This Harry Potter reference is what was used by Shaniera Akram(Wasim Akram's wife) in her tweet to express what we all were feeling about Haris Sohail, after his blistering knock of 89 off just 59 balls against South Africa. This amazing knock propelled Pakistan to victory and helped them gain well-needed momentum before the big clash against the Kiwis.

We also finally got to see a nail-biting contest between the Kiwis and West Indies. This contest not only gave us the best match of the tournament(so far), but also gave us one of the most(or almost) heroic individual performances in World Cup history by Carlos Brathwaite, who has a knack of snatching victories from his opponents(just ask Ben Stokes).

Finally we saw the first Bangladeshi to score a 1000runs in World Cups in Shakib al Hasan, who has once again proven his mettle as not only Bangladesh's greatest but also as one of the top all-rounders the game has produced.

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, and his guests, Ahmed Rizwan and

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RUNNING TIME: 32m02s

“No, Sri Lanka got about ten new members or something. Don’t they? Sri Lanka have picked a couple of guys I haven’t played against and I have been playing for ten years. I think that’s the surprise (package) for me.” - Eoin Morgan

Eon Morgan, jokingly, picked Sri Lanka as the surprise packages at a press conference two weeks ago but he was proven right as Sri Lanka actually surprised them by playing some beautiful cricket and beating them at their own turf. This leaves England's chances in the balance as they still have Australia, India and New Zealand to play against.

In other results, Bangladesh have been a dominant side in this World Cup and have given a very tough time to all their opponents while South Africa, on the other hand, have been a disappointment and have only clicked in patches.

These recent results have left Pakistan with an outside chance to still make it to the top 4.

All this and more as Shanawar Burhan, and his guests, Ahmed Rizwan, Muhammad Owais and Sajid Faiz Malik, discuss all the recent results of the World Cup.

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RUNNING TIME: 32m24s