Author: ali.hassan

KARACHI: England’s Test squad looked determined to continue their aggressive approach as all the players partook in the robust six-hitting batting drill ahead of the Karachi Test, scheduled to commence on December 17.

A video is making rounds on social media, in which the English squad can be seen participating in a six-hitting practice session at the National Bank Cricket Arena here.

In the video, England’s Test head coach Brendon McCullum was standing behind the stumps, while each English player came out at the crease to slog the ball out of the park off Paul Collingwood.

English players are ready to play Karachi Test in T20 style#Karachi #PakvsEngland pic.twitter.com/F0Kcvhxyeq

— Ali Hasan 🏅 (@AaliHasan10) December 16, 2022

 

It is pertinent to mention that the England Test team adopted an aggressive approach following the appointment of their head coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, often called “BazBall”.

The touring side continued to trouble Pakistan with their ruthless style of playing Test cricket and also created a record for making the most runs on the first day of a Test match in the first match.

The aggressive approach of the English side, has thus far, benefitted them well as they lost just one out of their last eight matches since McCullum and Stokes took reigns.

England also lead the three-match historic Test series against Pakistan 2-0 and will lock horns with the Babar Azam-led Pakistan in the final Test from December 17-21 with Stoke’s sight set on the whitewash.

READ: Imam-ul-Haq ruled out of Karachi Test 

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam commented on Azhar Ali’s retirement from Test cricket and the possibility of giving him a farewell, said the Playing XI for the Karachi Test will be decided later.

Babar, while talking at a pre-match press conference responded to a question regarding Azhar, who announced to hang his boots from red-ball cricket ahead of the final Test.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate Ajju bhai for such a decorated career. His career is quite an inspiring thing for us and for the youngsters and the performances he delivered throughout it,” said Babar.

“When we came, he was a senior player and he gave us confidence and we learnt a lot from him. He has played in different situations and the way he performed helped us as a youngster. He always backed players and brought positive energy to the dressing room.

“We will decide [Playing XI] at night, so let’s see.”

It is pertinent to mention that the final Test of the historic series between Pakistan and England will commence on December 17 here.

READ: Rehan Ahmed to debut as England unveil Playing XI for Karachi Test

KARACHI: Pakistan’s left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq walked off from the national men’s team’s ongoing training session ahead of the Karachi Test of the historic home series against England.

According to the details, Imam, who had been suffering from a hamstring injury, walked off from the team’s training session.

The left-handed batter was seen limping back to the dressing room after presumably feeling discomfort in his right hamstring.

Notably, Imam was taken to a local hospital in Rawalpindi for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans amid the second Test and did not bat at his usual batting position.

The left-handed opener, however, came out to bat at number five and scored an important half-century in the run chase, which went in vain as England sealed a dramatic victory to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

It is pertinent to mention that the final Test of the historic series between Pakistan and England will commence on December 17 here.

The Karachi Test is likely to be Pakistan veteran batter Azhar Ali’s last international match as the 37-year-old announced his retirement from red-ball cricket in a press conference here today.

READ: Azhar Ali announces retirement from Test cricket 

KARACHI: Legendary fast bowler and Karachi Kings President, Wasim Akram, has disclosed that his franchise will pick the players in today’s PSL Draft according to their team plans devised for the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League. 

The much-awaited players’ Draft for the eighth edition of the PSL will begin shortly as the players and management of all six franchises have gathered in Karachi.

In an exclusive talk with ARY News before the Draft, Karachi Kings President said every team would be trying to pick the best players for their side.

“We will try to pick players according to our plans,” he said.

Wasim, popularly known as Sultan of Swing added that in franchise cricket, the teams kept on switching players and experimenting with new names.

Karachi Kings have already recruited veteran Shoaib Malik and promising Haider Ali with last season’s skipper Babar Azam in a trade with Peshawar Zalmi. Meanwhile, it has retained Imad Wasim, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Amir, Qasim Akram, Aamir Yamin and Mir Hamza.

Furthermore, Karachi Kings President hailed the marquee tournament for reaching new heights of popularity, saying PSL has become a big brand now around the globe.

“This time more prominent names are joining the Pakistan Super League,” he said.

 

 

 

KARACHI: Pakistan held a full-strength training session on Thursday at the National Bank Cricket Arena before the final Test of the three-game series against England, starting on Saturday.

All the players of Pakistan’s Test squad participated in the first training session held in Karachi while only a few England players were present on the field today along with their coaches.

On Thursday, England’s players and coaches observed the pitch and evaluated the conditions of the venue for a long part before they return to the ground for the full-strength training session tomorrow.

On the other hand, Pakistan captain Babar Azam along with head coach Saqlain Mushtaq and batting Mohammad Yousuf also assessed the wicket keenly in order to plan accordingly for the last game.

Pakistan players engaged in rigorous batting, fielding and bowling drills throughout the day as they gear up for the final encounter and deny England a chance to clean sweep the series.

Preparations ahead of the third Test ✅

🇵🇰 and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 teams train at National Bank Cricket Arena, Karachi 🏏#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/GU95sK3l7I

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 15, 2022

It is pertinent to mention here that England have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after they beat Pakistan in Rawalpindi and Multan Tests.

READ: Williamson steps down, Southee to lead Kiwis Test side on tour of Pakistan

KARACHI: Captain of Pakistan U19 Women’s Cricket Team Aroob Shah was rewarded with a fully-funded four-year scholarship from a private university here.

According to the details, the scholarship guarantees Aroob to receive four years of education from the university, free of cost.

Notably, Aroob has represented Pakistan in five T20I and two ODIs and is poised to lead Pakistan in the inaugural U19 Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place from January 14 to 29, 2023 in South Africa.

Speaking on the occasion, Aroob thanked the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the private university and emphasized studying alongside her profession is her top priority.

“I am grateful to the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the [private University] for providing the fully funded scholarship,” Aroob stated.

“Studying side by side and playing cricket is my top priority.

“The university itself will bear the expenditure of Rs one million on my education in four years,” she concluded.

READ: List of foreign players in diamond category for PSL 8 Draft revealed 

KARACHI:  The tickets for the final Test between Pakistan and England, scheduled from December 17 to 21 at National Bank Cricket Arena Karachi, will be available for purchase from Tuesday.  

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced it had kept the ticket prices at nominal rates, starting from Rs150, in order to ensure that the action would be accessible for all cricket fans.

According to the details, the ticketing price for the General enclosure – Nasim-ul-Ghani, Iqbal Qasim, Muhammad Brothers, Intikhab Alam and Wasim Bari- has been set ticket at PKR150, and a  First-Class enclosure – Asif Iqbal, Waqar Hassan and Majid Khan – ticket is for PKR250.

Meanwhile, a Premium enclosure – Imran khan, Quaid, Wasim Akram and Zaheer Abbas – is for PKR300 and a VIP enclosure – Hanif Muhammad, Javed Miandad and Fazal Mehmood – is for PKR500.

The physical tickets can be purchased from Asghar Ali Shah Stadium in Nazimabad, RJ Mall (Pakistan Physical disability cricket association) and Sector-35-F, Korangi n0.4.

Furthermore, van booths at Do Talwar Clifton and Numaish Cowrange will also be set up by the PCB, through BookMe, to further facilitate the fans in obtaining the tickets.

It is pertinent to mention here that the visiting side has an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after they sealed a dramatic win by 26 runs in the second Test in Multan earlier today and also triumphed over Pakistan in a tense finish in Rawalpindi in the first game.

READ: ‘Pakistan should include Sarfaraz, Shan in Playing XI’ suggests Malik

PHUKET: In a major achievement, Pakistan claimed its first medal in the ongoing 13th WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships & Congress held in Phuket, Thailand. 

Asian Champion Shahzad Qureshi bagged a bronze medal in the men’s master bodybuilding category after he finished third out of 20 participants competing in the category.

Meanwhile, his compatriot Ejaz Ahmed stood behind him as Pakistani bodybuilders grabbed two out of the top five positions in the competition.

Following his remarkable feat, medalist Shahzad thanked the president of the Pakistan Bodybuilding Federation Kunwar Moiz and secretary Sohail Anwar for their support.

Furthermore, several Pakistani bodybuilders are yet to compete in different categories at the event which will run until December 12.

READ: Labuschagne achieves another feat to join elite company in Test cricket

LAHORE: India refused to issue visas for the Pakistan team to participate in the Blind T20 World Cup 2022, previously scheduled to commence on Tuesday (December 6) in New Delhi.

According to the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC), the foreign ministry of India has rejected the visa applications of the Pakistan team, halting them to participate in the mega event.

The tournament was supposed to commence in New Delhi today, but it has been postponed due to uncertainty surrounding Pakistan’s participation and arrival.

According to the details, the national blind cricket team was scheduled to leave for India on December 4, however, India’s reluctance in issuing visas has put their world cup campaign in jeopardy.

The top-ranked side and two-time runners-up Pakistan were considered one of the favourites to win the title considering their performances in recent international fixtures.

“This unfortunate incident has left Pakistan Blind Cricket Team in the lurch. Pakistan was a serious contender to win the World Cup as Pakistan has been the Runners-up twice in the earlier two editions of this format of World Cups (2012 & 2017) and has beaten the current T-20 World Champion India five (5) times consecutively in the last five encounters during two Tri-Nation competitions in 2021 and 2022 and won both events,” said PBCC in a press release.

“It was highly likely that Pakistan and India would have locked horns in the Final of the ongoing World Cup and considering the current form of Green Shirts, Pakistan had the high chances to win the World Cup,” the statement added.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of PBCC Syed Sultan Shah expressed his disappointment over India’s unprofessional act and asserted that the World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) will take strict action against India.

“It is disappointing to see India once again playing politics in sports,” said the PBCC chairman.

“World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) will take strict action against India. They might face a ban on hosting events in the future,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention that Shah is also the president of the global blind cricket governing body WBCC.

READ: Shaheen, Sidra nominated for ICC Player of the Month for Nov 2022 

LAHORE: Pakistan women’s football team will travel to Saudi Arabia to partake in a quad-nation tournament, scheduled to take place in January next year.

According to the details, the Green Shirts will feature in the quad-nation tournament from January 11 to 19, the remaining three teams include hosts Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and Comoros.

To participate in the upcoming international fixture, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will soon announce the schedule of the training camp.

It is pertinent to mention that this will be the second international engagement of the Pakistan Women’s team after the charge of FIFA’s nominated normalization committee took the charge of PFF.

Earlier, the green shirts participated in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)  championship after an eight-year hiatus.

After losing to India and Bangladesh, Pakistan thrashed Maldives 7-0 to conclude their first international tournament on a winning note.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan women’s football team also marked their return to FIFA rankings after a six-year absence.

Following their reinstation in the rankings table, the green shirts occupied the 160th rank with a total of 928.4 points.

READ: ‘We had to play cautiously,’ Imam on team’s defensive approach