Author: shoaib.jatt

JHANG: Pakistan players have started training under the International Tent Pegging Federation (ITPF) qualified South African coach Dylan Paksha for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.

Pakistan Tent Pegging Federation hosted a training camp ahead of the World cup qualifiers and for the first time availed the services of an international qualified coach.

In the training campaign, players participate in the training drills in the morning and evening sessions.

Dylan is working with the players to coach them in a modern style. She has coached former world champion Egypt, alongside England, Jordan, and the United States of America (USA).

“Pakistan players are really talented and I think they are capable enough of winning the world cup,” she said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan will host the world cup qualifiers, while South Africa will be hosting the mega event in 2023.

READ: Joe Root steps down as England Test captain 

KARACHI: Following the dismal playing conditions offered during the historic Test series against Australia, the curators and ground staff have started to rebuild all 13 main pitches of the National Stadium, here on Friday.

As Australia’s historic Test series against Pakistan after a gap of 24 years is about to conclude today. The curators and ground staff have been assigned to rebuild all 13 pitches of the square of the field.

The staff is also replacing the old soil of the square with the fresh Nandipur soil.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have recently delayed the idea of the drop-in pitches and decided to improve the quality by importing Australian soil and hiring a foreign pitch consultant, who will be available for his consultancy in March/April this year.

READ: PCB postpone the plan of drop-in pitches installation

LAHORE: The biggest Chess and Scrabble event in the history of Pakistan – Punjab Mind Sports Masters 2022 – has kicked off here on Saturday.

More than 600 participants from all walks of life are competing in the largest and most prestigious mind sports competition in the country’s history. Young children, girls, women, men and senior citizens are also taking part in different competitions.

On this occasion, Sports Minister Punjab Rai Taimoor Khan said this tournament will help in bringing the new talent to the spotlight and they will then soon represent Pakistan on the biggest of levels.

“New talent will emerge from this tournament and we will then take them to the next level,” he said.

“We are promoting mind sports to our fullest. This tournament has participants from all age groups,” he concluded.

READ: FIFA may soon uplift ban from Pakistan Football Federation

KARACHI: The preparations at the National Stadium for the upcoming second Test of the Benaud-Qadir trophy between Pakistan and Australia are in full swing.

As Australia’s historic tour to Pakistan after a gap of 24 years is underway, the touring side will lock horns with Pakistan in the second Test of the Benaud-Qadir Trophy here from March 12 to March 16.

For the historic Karachi Test, the preparations are in full swing at the National Stadium as the ground staff is working on the outfield, enclosures, stadium building and most importantly on the pitch.

The square of the field, which used to comprise of 11 pitches has been extended to 13 with the addition of two new pitches for the practice by the two teams.

Furthermore, reports suggest that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has instructed the pitch curators to prepare a lively pitch to make Karachi Test consequential.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Rawalpindi Test between Australia and Pakistan is close to getting drawn as the touring side is still 90 runs behind (Tea Break) in response to Pakistan’s 476 in the first innings.

READ: Smith stands tall as Australia get to 364/4 at Tea Break

KARACHI: The widely spread virus has begun to dent the training camp of the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team as the pacer – Ghulam Fatima contracted the virus ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Following Fatima’s contraction of the virus, the isolation of the women’s squad has been extended further for the next three days.

After the isolation period, the squad will undergo another round of testing on January 31 and the training camp will restart on February 1 after the squad returns negative results.

Earlier, wicketkeeper batter Sidra Nawaz also fell victim to the virus.

It is worth mentioning here that the upcoming Women’s World Cup 2022, will kick off on March 4 with the hosts New Zealand taking on the West Indies in the curtain-raiser, while the final of the event will be played at Hagley Oval on April 3.

Pakistan will start their World Cup campaign against the arch-rival India on March 6 at Bay Oval. The green shirts will play seven matches against the remaining teams. The top four teams from the group of eight participants will then qualify for the Semi-finals.

READ: Pakistan announces World Cup squad, Bismah Maroof returns

LAHORE: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has moved closer to uplifting its ban from Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as the matters between the federal government and Normalization Committee (NC) has been settled.

In a recent development, the federal government has ordered the provincial government of Punjab to hand Lahore’s FIFA football house to NC.

Furthermore, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza also contacted FIFA to share the recent development with the governing body.

On the other hand, the NC also expressed concern over Pakistan’s possible deprivation from the world football competitions.

“Due to FIFA sanctions, the country is deprived of competing in international events,” NC stated.

The committee, however, stated that the team can prepare for FIFA World Cup 2030 qualifiers by competing in the youth tournaments.

“Nine international events will be held this year, including the Asian Games and the Asian Youth Games,” NC stated.

“The team can prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2030 qualifiers by competing in the youth tournaments, whereas the qualifiers for the 2030 World Cup will be held in 2027” the committee added.

Furthermore, the normalization committee is optimistic about hosting both Asian Football Confederation (AFC) mega-events this year.

“Both AFC mega-events could be hosted in Pakistan,” NC.

On the other hand, the chairman NC – Haroon Malik said deprivation of participation in the major events, due to FIFA sanctions would be unfortunate for the country.

READ: PCB to remove Ijaz Ahmed due to poor U19 team’s performance: Sources

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to release junior head coach – Ijaz Ahmed along with other supporting staff, following the poor performance of the national side in the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup.

As per the sources, Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja and other board officials are unhappy with the team’s performance in the mega event.

Following this, the cricket board may start ‘operation clean-up’ to remove head coach Ijaz and other supporting staff from their positions.

Reports also suggest that the cricket board’s authorities are also unhappy with the performance of the selection committee.

It is worth mentioning here that the green shirts suffered a humiliating defeat against Australia in the U19 World Cup quarter-final; losing the contest by a massive margin of 119 runs.

The men in green, however, topped Group C by defeating Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Papa New Guinea in an emphatic manner.

READ: ‘Will try to be good host and tough opponents for Australia’ Azhar Ali

KARACHI: Wasim Akram – mentor and president of Karachi Kings, believes that Peter Moores brought a lot of new things with him as franchise’s head coach. 

Speaking in ARY News’ show ‘Bouncer’, Akram said Moores has vast experience of coaching in white-ball cricket.

“Moores brings in a vast experience of coaching in white-ball cricket. He has a good cricketing mind and brings a lot of new things to the team,” he said.

“Our players like Joe Clarke played under him and you can see their impact at such a young age,” the legendary cricketer said.

It must be noted here that Moores was appointed as head coach of Kings for PSL 7 following his vast coaching experience. Remember, Moores coached England’s team twice.

READ: WATCH: ‘Excited to work with Babar Azam’ Peter Moores

KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi’s skipper Wahab Riaz is confident to prove himself as an all-rounder and make an impressive comeback in the national team. 

Speaking in ARY News’ show Bouncer, Wahab said he can bat, bowl and field too and wants to make a comeback as a complete all-rounder.

“I can bat at the top whenever needed. I can bowl too and give my best in the field. I will make a comeback as a complete all-rounder,” he said.

“Being a professional, my job is to give my best and deliver. Whenever I get an opportunity, I try my best to be on top,” he added.

While talking about Zalmi’s strength, Wahab credited players’ input in it. “Every player is important for us and we treat them equally. We give the same respect to junior and senior. So, such an environment is created so that players deliver on the field,” he concluded.

READ: Shoaib Malik to lead Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL 7 initial fixtures

KARACHI: Wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan refused to have any off-the-field tensions with Indian players and said they are ‘brothers’.

Speaking in ARY News’ show Bouncer, Rizwan said all cricketers in the world are the same as they come under the banner of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“On the ground rivalry is something different and it is the beauty of cricket. But, we are all same outside the ground,” the wicket-keeper said.

“Our match against India is always exciting. We are rivals on the ground but they are our brothers outside the ground. I don’t use social media but I have heard about threats to Indian bowler Shami and Virat Kohli’s daughter. Such things shouldn’t be involved in cricket,” he added.

It must be noted here that Shami was threatened in India after they lost their match against Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2021. Moreover, Indian media reported rape threats to Kohli’s six-month-old daughter.

Maiden World Cup victory against India

Rizwan recalled glorious victory against arch-rivals India and credited captain Babar Azam and team for it. “We played like a unit and alhamdulillah succeed. Captain and coaches gave plans to us and we tried to execute them,” he shared.

“Indian players looked like under pressure but our focus was to give them tough time till the last,” he maintained.

The cricketer also reminisced incredible love and support showed to them by Pakistanis after that historic win.

“I can’t explain in words, the love and support we got after winning against India. People were like we have won the World Cup. That feeling was exceptional,” he added.

Quran’s Tilawat behind the stumps

Rizwan disclosed that he recites a couple of Surahs behind the stumps and it is something between him and Allah.

“Not during batting, but yes I recite a couple of Surahs which I remember while keeping,” Rizwan shared. “See, it is something between me and Allah. But, a lot of people ask me what I keep on saying behind the stumps. Also, Nicholas Pooran and a couple of other Multan Sultans’ team members inquired me about this so I shared with them,” he mentioned.

Gift of Quran to Matthew Hayden

Rizwan, for the first time, talked on-air about gifting Quran to Matthew Hayden (Pakistan’s batting consultant for T20 World Cup 2021).

“Being a Muslim, it is our duty to let non-muslims know about Allah and our religion. Hayden was noticing our religious activities. One day he came and sit with us to listen to Friday’s Sermon (Khutbah),

“So, I took a step, and with the help of our media manager, I went to his room to gift him Quran. He was shocked to see that, later on, he took us inside his room and we talked about it,” Rizwan shared.