The preparation for the T20 World Cup in the middle of next year will be more exhaustive, with a tour of South Africa, home games against Zimbabwe, and a tri-series in Ireland also including West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2025

Pakistan will play three ODIs at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore against South Africa from September 16 to 22 in the build-up to the 2025 ODI World Cup before leaving for Sri Lanka, where they will play all their group matches – as well knockout matches, if they qualify for that stage.There is no other cricket scheduled for the team for the rest of 2025 apart from a three-match T20I series in Dublin in early August.The major part of the build-up to the T20 World Cup in England in June-July 2026 will be in South Africa, where they play three ODIs and three T20Is in February-March next year, and the same number of ODIs and T20Is against Zimbabwe at home in April-May. That series was supposed to include five T20Is in addition to the three ODIs according to the future tours programme, but has been trimmed to three.Women’s international calendar 2025-26

International calendar
Three T20Is vs Ireland, Dublin, Aug 6-10, 2025
Three ODIs vs South Africa, Lahore, Sep 16-22, 2025
Women’s ODI World Cup, India and Sri Lanka, Sep 30-Nov 2, 2025
Three ODIs and three T20Is vs South Africa in South Africa, Feb 7-Mar 2, 2026
Three ODIs and three T20Is vs Zimbabwe in Pakistan, Apr 24-May 11, 2026
T20 tri-series in Ireland, May-June, 2026
Women’s T20 World Cup, England, June 12-July 5, 2026

Domestic calendar
National One-Day Tournament, Karachi, Nov 6-24
National T20 Tournament, Karachi, Mar 24-Apr 17, 2026
Inter-University, Oct 2025

Pathways
Under-19 T20 Tournament, Karachi, Sep 15-Oct 6, 2025
Pakistan U-19 tour to Bangladesh, Dec, 2025

Pakistan will then travel to Ireland for a triangular T20I series also involving West Indies in May-June before travelling to England for the World Cup.The women’s Under-19 team is scheduled to play a national T20 tournament in Karachi from September 15 to October 6. The PCB has said in a statement that the tournament’s top performers would be invited to a three-week skills development camp afterwards too. This, and a conditioning camp, will lay the foundation for the team for their tour of Bangladesh for a five-match T20 series in December this year.On the domestic seniors’ front, the PCB is “actively engaging in discussions with various departments to introduce a departmental tournament for women’s cricket” and “this initiative will provide additional playing opportunities for our women cricketers”, PCB’s head of women’s cricket, Rafia Haider, said.The tournament, if it comes to pass, would slot into the domestic calendar alongside the women’s one-day tournament, which takes place in Karachi from November 6 to 24. The international players are expected to take part in this event, played on a double-league basis and featuring 15 matches.The women’s T20 tournament will be staged in Karachi from March 24 to April 17 next year. An inter-university tournament is scheduled for October 2025 as well, though no schedule or venues have been announced for it yet.

Elly De La Cruz just won't stop making history in the early days of his promising MLB career.

The Cincinnati Reds phenom stole his 100th career base Friday night in the fourth inning of a matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park, swiping second base against right-hander Mitch Keller.

Per Opta Stats, De La Cruz is the first player in MLB history to notch at least 100 stolen bases and 30 homers over his first two seasons in the big leagues. De La Cruz has mashed 37 homers—and counting—over his first 250 career games.

De La Cruz's accomplishment is even more impressive when stacked up against more MLB history.

He is one of four players in league annals to tally at least 20 homers and 75 stolen bases in his first two seasons, joining Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. and two other players who competed many decades ago—New York Yankees outfielder Ben Chapman and Cincinnati Reds outfielder Bug Holliday.

MLB players with 20+ homers and 75+ stolen bases in first two seasons*

PLAYER

YEARS

HR

SB

Elly De La Cruz (CIN)

2023 to ’24

37

100

Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)

2022 to ’23

50

79

Ben Chapman (NYY)

1930 to ’31

27

75

Bug Holliday (CIN)

1889 to ’90

23

96

De La Cruz also is on the verge of becoming MLB's first player to lead all of baseball in both stolen bases and strikeouts.

Despite the 204 punchouts entering Friday's game, De La Cruz still has a .343 on-base percentage, high above MLB's league average of .312 this season. And he's clearly making the most of his time on base with 65 steals—14 more than Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani in second place.

The Mr. October of the New York Yankees went yard again in Game 1 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers—and no, it’s not Aaron Judge. 

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton blasted a jaw-dropping two-run homer out of Dodger Stadium to give his team a 2–1 lead in the to of the sixth. Stanton sent Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty’s pitch into the left-field seats in a booming hit that “scraped the sky,” per Fox announcers. It marked Stanton’s 17th career postseason home run and his first in the World Series.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and many others in the sports world couldn't help but marvel at Stanton’s monstrous homer.

So, too, did Dodgers star Freddie Freeman.

Fox cameras caught Freeman completely awestruck on the field as he watched Stanton’s moonshot leave the ballpark. 

Simply no words.

Stanton has now crushed a home run in each of his last four games for the Yankees. The ball traveled 412 feet and reached a max speed of 116.6 mph, marking the hardest-hit batted ball in the World Series under Statcast, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs. 

With his 17th playoff homer, Stanton moves up in the all-time rankings and is tied with Bryce Harper, David Ortiz and Jim Thome in career postseason home runs.

The New York Mets took down the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, 7-2, to take a 2-1 lead in their NLDS. Pete Alonso was a big reason why, recording two RBI on the evening, and the first came in the form of a solo home run in the second inning that got the Mets going. The way he flipped his bat after carrying it down the first base line rubbed some people the wrong way, though.

The Phillies' radio broadcasters made it immediately clear they weren't fans of Alonso's celebration. The Mets slugger had barely started his home run trot when the announcers started their criticism.

"A massive bat flip from Pete Alonso. Three-quarters of the way down the line to first base," the play-by-play man said.

"A bat flip is just a ridiculous thing," his partner stated.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Philadelphia radio broadcast will have a bit of a Phillies slant to the commentary. However, bat flips have become an accepted part of the game and Alonso's wasn't even that much compared to what we've seen even in these playoffs, much less over the last few years.

The Phillies will aim to extend the series and even things up on Wednesday night, with first pitch at 5:08 p.m. ET at Citi Field.

After taking time to consider his stinging comments, Wayne Rooney has conceded he was wrong to claim Virgil van Dijk had "downed tools" after signing a new deal at Liverpool. The row had threatened to boil over as the pair clashed live on TV, but the former England and Manchester United star has moved to cool the disagreement and also offered Van Dijk advice on how to get the champions' faltering season back on track.

Rooney and Van Dijk's public spat

Man Utd legend Rooney criticised the Liverpool captain's leadership and form during a difficult run for the Reds, suggesting the Netherlands international’s body language was a "big concern" and that he and Mohamed Salah "haven't really led that team this season" after signing new deals. Van Dijk swiftly hit back, branding the comments "a bit of a lazy criticism". He added "I didn't hear him last year" during Liverpool's march to the title, implying pundits are quick to criticise during downturns in form.

The row escalated when the pair were face-to-face after the Champions League clash between Liverpool and Real Madrid. Van Dijk told Rooney he felt the comments were "over the top" at times, especially the "comment that I signed my new deal and then it was like 'that is it' and I let it slide". Rooney stood by his performance critique on the night, but he has now had a change of heart and further explained his comments, despite the Reds' recent 3-0 defeat by Manchester City.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Maybe I was wrong on that'

Rooney, speaking on with Sky Bet, said: "My job now is to give my opinions, and I like to think I'm straight and honest with my opinions and how I feel. The one thing where I maybe went a bit too strong is where I said he’s downed tools since he signed his new contract – that's a big thing to say, and maybe I was wrong on that. But from a performance level, from what we’ve seen from Van Dijk, I don’t think he's been at that level this season, and I said I’m sure as captain he’d be speaking to players, taking them out for food, which he said he has done. Clearly if he's felt he’s done that, if he had to do that, there’s something not right.  

He added: "As champions, you can’t lose four games in a row. If you lose one game, there’s questions, and if you lose four in a row, there’s something not quite right. I think getting involved too much in the outside noise – that’s our job [as pundits], focus on your game. As a younger player, I’d be looking at Van Dijk and how he reacts to this – how is it going to help them? You have to get on with your game and speak internally."

Rooney focuses on leadership

Rooney added: "I’ve had criticism much worse than what I said about Van Dijk – both on and off the pitch. Of course, people talk and you take someone’s opinion a bit more serious than others but go and do your talking on the pitch. That’s all he needs to do. I’ve praised van Dijk, about his performances and how good he’s been but, if you’re the Premier League champions and you’re the captain of Liverpool, and they aren’t performing as well, (you will come in for some criticism). 

 "We used to do it with Cristiano Ronaldo, where Ronaldo wouldn’t defend as much, and we would all work a bit harder. But it’s a tough game and you’re playing against a top team; you scream at your players to get back in and help. That’s what I was saying about leadership – you need to understand what game you’re in and the importance of the game."

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Getty Images SportVan Dijk's World Cup qualification challenge

The Netherlands haven’t secured their spot at the World Cup just yet, despite sitting top of their qualifying group. Van Dijk will lead his country out against Poland and Lithuania in the coming days, where a win will see them book their place at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.

Chelsea have now reportedly joined the race to sign Crystal Palace star Daniel Munoz, who has already revealed where his “dream” move away lies.

Those at Stamford Bridge aren’t wasting any time before thinking about 2026 reinforcements in an attempt to improve Enzo Maresca’s young side. They were at their ruthless best against Wolverhampton Wanderers, dispatching of the managerless relegation candidates to win 3-0.

Full of praise for his side following a convincing victory, Maresca expressed his delight whilst also admitting that Chelsea could have scored even more goals at Stamford Bridge.

That said, as happy as Maresca was, improvements could still be on the way. BlueCo haven’t exactly been shy when it comes to recruitment in recent years and that looks set to continue in 2026.

After spending big last summer, the Blues are already reportedly eyeing Karl Etta Eyong who has admitted that he dreams of completing a move to Stamford Bridge to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Didier Drogba.

The Levante star has scored six goals in 12 games this season and is now one of the hottest prospects in European football. When next summer arrives, he could yet get the chance to realise his Chelsea dream, whilst another transfer target also potentially gets his move.

Chelsea join Daniel Munoz race as "dream" move shared

According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have now joined the race to sign Munoz from Crystal Palace following an excellent spell at Selhurst Park. Joining the Blues in pursuit of the right-back, however, is Barcelona. The Spanish giants are looking to spoil Chelsea’s plans and help Munoz realise what he previously admitted is a dream move when playing for Belgian side Genk.

Having now ticked off his Premier League dream, it’s difficult to imagine a world in which Munoz turns Barcelona down if they come calling. The good news for Chelsea is that, either way, they’ll be able to bid farewell to playing against such a talented star.

6 passes & 2 duels won: Maresca must drop 5/10 Chelsea star after Wolves

Chelsea breezed to victory over Wolves, although it wasn’t all plain sailing.

ByJoe Nuttall Nov 9, 2025

Praised as “amazing” by Palace boss Oliver Glasner last year, it was only back in August that Munoz was pocketing Chelsea’s Jamie Gittens in a 0-0 draw – limiting the winger to just two touches in the opposition box.

Chelsea star criticised vs Wolves after having fewer touches than Sanchez

He was appointed in August 2022 and was at the helm when KKR won their third IPL title in 2024

Shashank Kishore29-Jul-2025

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and head coach Chandrakant Pandit have parted ways as part of a support-staff rejig in the wake of a disappointing IPL 2025, where they finished eighth on the points table.Signed on the back of his domestic success as head coach of Madhya Pradesh, Pandit was with KKR for three seasons. The highlight of his stint was the franchise’s title win in 2024 after a ten-year gap.”Mr. Chandrakant Pandit has decided to explore new opportunities and will not continue as head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders,” the franchise said in a statement. “We are thankful for his invaluable contributions – including leading KKR to the IPL championship in 2024 and helping build a strong, resilient squad. His leadership and discipline left a lasting impact on the team.”Pandit was appointed KKR head coach in August 2022, taking over from Brendon McCullum. After an underwhelming maiden season in 2023, where KKR finished seventh, Pandit was at the helm when the franchise won their third IPL title in 2024. After Gambhir went on to take up the role as head coach of the Indian team in July last year, Pandit marshalled KKR for IPL 2025 along with mentor Dwayne Bravo and bowling coach Bharat Arun.