Category: Sports

The future of Pakistan’s T20I team is heading in a new direction without the experienced duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

According to media reports, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning not to recall the two senior players for the upcoming home series against Bangladesh.

The five-match T20I series, scheduled after the PSL 2025 tournament, is expected to feature several new faces. However, reports suggest that neither Babar nor Rizwan will be considered for selection.

The duo have not played a T20I for Pakistan since 13 December 2024, as the team has been experimenting with a younger and more aggressive batting line-up. Despite being Pakistan’s top two run-scorers in T20 internationals, Babar at No. 1 and Rizwan at No. 2, the PCB is moving towards a playing style that aligns with the demands of modern-day T20 cricket.

While the results have not been ideal, with Pakistan recently losing 4-1 to New Zealand, the team management appears committed to continuing this transition. The return of players like Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, and Sahibzada Farhan indicates that, for now, there is no room for the older guard.

The absence of Babar and Rizwan may signal a major shift in Pakistan’s T20 plans. With the Asia Cup later this year and the T20 World Cup next year, Pakistan seems ready to enter a new era of T20 cricket without its two most seasoned batters.

The upcoming series against Bangladesh will offer a closer look at what the future of Pakistan cricket in the shortest format could look like. A series of defeats at home, however, could raise serious questions. Still, the PCB appears firm in its stance for now.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially released the schedule for the upcoming T20 International series against Bangladesh.

According to the announcement, Pakistan and Bangladesh will face off in a five-match T20I series, replacing the previously planned ODI and T20 format.

Initially, the tour was set to include three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20Is. However, in light of preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the boards mutually agreed to replace the ODIs with two additional T20 matches, making it a five-match T20I series.

Both the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board agreed to the changes, considering the importance of preparing for the T20 Asia Cup later this year and the T20 World Cup scheduled for next year.

According to the new schedule, the first two T20 matches will be held in Faisalabad on May 25 and 27. The remaining three matches will be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on May 30, June 1, and June 3. All five matches will begin at 8:00 PM local time.

This series also marks the return of international cricket to Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium after a gap of 17 years, adding further significance to the tour.

The series is expected to play a crucial role in both teams’ preparation for major upcoming T20 tournaments.

Quetta Gladiators on Tuesday registered a dominant 10-wicket win over Multan Sultans in the 10th season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). 

As per the details, Quetta won the toss and decided to bowl first at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Batting first, Multan scored just 89 runs in 17 overs, which is now their lowest total in PSL history. Captain Mohammad Rizwan was the only standout performer with the bat, scoring 44 runs off 44 balls, including three fours and one six. The rest of the batting lineup collapsed under pressure, failing to build any partnerships.

Quetta’s bowling attack was led by Khurram Shahzad, who took four wickets for only 23 runs. He struck early by dismissing Yasir Khan and Usman Khan in his first over and then removed Kamran Ghulam and Curtis Campher in the next. Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Wasim Jr also contributed two wickets each, helping to bowl out Multan for a below-par score.

During the second innings, Quetta chased down the 90-run target in just seven overs without losing a wicket. Openers Saud Shakeel and Finn Allen made the chase look easy with an aggressive start. Saud remained not out on 42, hitting four sixes and three fours, while Finn Allen scored 45 runs with five sixes and two fours.

With this win, Quetta have now secured their third consecutive victory and fourth win in six matches. Multan, on the other hand, suffered their sixth defeat in seven games.

Sultans will play their next match against Karachi Kings on May 1 in Lahore. Their last two league matches will be in Multan – against Peshawar Zalmi on May 5 and Quetta again on May 11.

Pakistani cricketer Umar Akmal has shared that he is disappointed with former teammate Zulqarnain Haider, saying that Haider has returned to his old ways even after Akmal supported him during a very difficult time.

In a recent interview, Akmal said he chose not to take legal action against Haider, even though he could have.  “I have no resentment towards anyone. If I wanted, I could have sent him a legal notice, but I didn’t because I knew about his financial situation,” Akmal said.

The batsman also revealed that he was one of the first people to visit Haider in 2022 when he was seriously ill and financially helped him. He said it was his wife who encouraged him to do so. “My wife was the first among those people who motivated me to take that step,” he said.

However, Akmal said that since Haider recovered, he has again started behaving in the same way. “Recently, when he recovered, he once again started doing the same things, and I think that what people really are but I will still take it positively,” he added.

The two cricketers had a falling out in the past when Haider accused Akmal of damaging his career. That created a lot of tension between them.

Zulqarnain Haider was once a rising star as a wicketkeeper, but he became controversial in 2010 when he suddenly left the national team during a tour of Dubai. 

He claimed he had received threats to his safety. Though he returned to domestic cricket later, he could not make a comeback to the national team.

As HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025 enters a crucial stage, the race for the top four spots is heating up, and some teams are already in danger of missing out on the playoffs. 

With Islamabad United dominating the tournament, others like Peshawar Zalmi and Multan Sultans are slipping behind and may soon be out of the top-four contention if they fail to bounce back quickly.

Islamabad United remain unbeaten with five wins in five games, comfortably sitting at the top with 10 points and a strong net run rate of 2.342. Their recent win over Multan Sultans was another statement of their dominance.

Lahore Qalandars, Karachi Kings, and Quetta Gladiators are tied at six points each and are in the middle of a tight battle for playoff spots. Lahore recently defeated Multan by five wickets, improving their net run rate. Karachi, however, suffered a narrow loss to Quetta, who also beat Zalmi in a high-scoring clash.

At the bottom, Peshawar Zalmi have only won two out of six games, while Multan Sultans have just one win. Both teams must win their upcoming matches to stay in the race.

An important clash between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans is coming up later this week, which could decide their playoff fate. Meanwhile, Islamabad United’s next match is against Lahore Qalandars in what promises to be a high-stakes contest.

Under the PSL’s double round-robin format, each team plays every other team twice. The top four will move on to the playoffs.

London Marathon 2025 has made history by setting two Guinness World Records, solidifying its place as one of the biggest and most iconic long-distance running events in the world.

Guinness World Records confirmed that London Marathon 2025 broke the record for the most finishers in a marathon, with an astonishing 56,649 runners completing in the 26.2-mile race. This surpasses the previous record set by the New York Marathon, which had 55,646 finishers during its chilly November event. Remarkably, London achieved the milestone despite holding the race in warmer spring weather.

The second world record was for the highest number of applicants for a marathon ballot. A record-breaking 840,318 people applied to participate in this year’s London Marathon, as verified by Guinness World Records.

According to BBC Sport, there was a 105 percent increase in applications from people aged 20 to 29. Additionally, 49 percent of the total applications from the UK were submitted by women, indicating a growing interest and gender balance in marathon participation.

Born in 1981, the London Marathon is not only a major athletic event but also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event. To date, it has raised an incredible $1.73 billion (approximately £1.3 billion) for charities.

Notably, this isn’t the first time the London Marathon has earned a world record. In 2020, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually. That year, 37,966 participants from around the world joined in, setting a record for the most people to run a remote marathon within a 24-hour period.

The London Marathon continues to inspire athletes and everyday people alike, combining sport, charity, and community on a global scale.

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s wife, Sanjana Ganesan, has strongly condemned the online trolling directed at their infant son, Angad.

The incident unfolded after a recent IPL match in which the Mumbai Indians defeated the Lucknow Super Giants. While the game created a buzz on the field, social media witnessed a disturbing trend.

Angad was seen on camera with a neutral facial expression, which led to a flood of memes online mocking his demeanour, suggesting that he doesn’t smile even in the happiest of moments.

Some users went as far as speculating about the toddler’s mental health, upsetting his mother deeply.

In response, Sanjana took to Instagram and shared a bold, heartfelt message. She expressed disappointment over people making assumptions about a child based on just a few seconds of footage.

She wrote,  “Our son is NOT a topic for your entertainment. Jasprit and I do everything in our power to keep Angad away from social media because the Internet is a despicable, vile place to be, and I completely understand the implications of bringing a child to a cricket stadium filled with cameras, but please understand that Angad, and I were there to support Jasprit and nothing else.”

“We have no interest in our son being viral Internet content or national news, with unnecessarily opinionated keyboard warriors deciding who Angad is, what his problem is, what his personality is, from 3 seconds of footage,” she added.

She further wrote, “He is one and a half years old. Throwing around words like trauma and depression in reference to a baby says so much about who we’re becoming as a community, and it’s honestly really sad.”

She also criticised those who irresponsibly used terms like “depression patient” to describe their 18-month-old son, saying, “Using such serious mental health terms for a baby reveals how far we’ve fallen as a society”.

Sanjana concluded her statement with a firm message: “You know NOTHING about our son, nothing about our lives, and I request you to keep your opinions online true to that. A little honesty and a little kindness go a long way in today’s world.”

Jasprit Bumrah and Sanjana Ganesan got married in March 2021, and their son Angad was born in September 2023. The couple is well-loved by cricket fans in India. The trolling was especially hurtful given that Angad is just 18 months old, making the online mockery even more disturbing for the parents.

Despite the off-field emotional turmoil, Bumrah delivered a stellar performance on the field. In Sunday’s crucial match, he took four wickets against Lucknow, leading the Mumbai Indians to a commanding 54-run victory. With this performance, he became the franchise’s leading wicket-taker, having played 139 matches for them so far.

Rajasthan Royals’ 14-year-old batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi has made history by becoming the youngest player to score a century in men’s T20 cricket.

Suryavanshi reached his century in just 35 balls by hitting a six off Rashid Khan — the second-fastest hundred in Indian Premier League (IPL) history and the fastest by an Indian player. The young left-hander smashed seven fours and 11 sixes, scoring a brilliant 101 runs off 38 balls.

Bought for approximately INR 1.1 crore (around £103,789) in last year’s auction, Suryavanshi made his IPL debut earlier this month, grabbing attention by hitting a six off the very first ball he faced in his career.

Continuing his fearless approach in Jaipur, Suryavanshi tore apart Gujarat Titans’ bowling attack, helping Rajasthan Royals chase down a daunting target of 210 runs with ease. He formed a stunning 166-run partnership for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who remained not out on 70 runs.

Vaibhav completed his century in the 11th over. Only West Indies’ Chris Gayle has scored a faster century in IPL history — reaching the landmark in just 30 balls while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013.

This victory ended Rajasthan Royals’ streak of five consecutive defeats and revived their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages.

On the other hand, Gujarat Titans’ Shubman Gill scored 84 runs, and Jos Buttler contributed an unbeaten 50. However, their team slipped to third place on the points table based on net run rate after the loss.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi had already made headlines last year by becoming the youngest player ever picked in the IPL auction. In October, at just 13 years old, he gained fame by smashing a century off 58 balls in a Youth Test match against Australia Under-19.

He was also part of India’s Under-19 Asia Cup squad, where he scored 176 runs at an average of 44. Hailing from Bihar, a state in eastern India, Vaibhav made his first-class debut in the Ranji Trophy at the tender age of 12 and has already played five first-class matches for Bihar.

Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has strongly criticised the Indian Army following the tragic Pahalgam attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir, questioning their ability to provide security and rejecting allegations of Pakistan’s involvement.

Speaking on a private channel, Afridi slammed what he called “baseless accusations” and shifted the focus to the shortcomings of the Indian military, as Indian media quickly blamed Pakistan for the attack.

“A firecracker goes off over there [in Pahalgam], and they [India] say Pakistan did it. You [India] have 800,000 soldiers stationed in Kashmir, and yet this [attack] happened. It means you are incompetent, useless — you couldn’t even provide security to your own people,” Afridi bluntly said.

He also demanded proof of Pakistan’s alleged involvement and accused India of orchestrating violence against its own people. “India commits acts of terrorism, kills its own citizens, and then places the blame on Pakistan,” he stated, criticising the Indian government and the media’s anti-Pakistan narrative built around the incident.

Afridi highlighted, “No nation or religion supports terrorism,” reinstating Pakistan’s opposition to terrorism. “We are always in favour of peace. Islam simply teaches us to be peaceful, and Pakistan never condones such behaviour.”

He also touched upon the broader issue of strained Indo-Pak relations, recalling the atmosphere of hostility during his playing days and making reference to the 2016 T20 World Cup.

“We got a lot of threats before we went to India. I was the captain at the time, and I wasn’t sure if we would even participate,” he said.

“Sports diplomacy is also good,” Afridi stated, pointing out the important role sports can play in diplomacy.

“They are unable to bring their cricket squad here, so they send their kabaddi team. You can either let sport unite people or shut it down entirely if you want to,” he added.

Tensions between Pakistan and India have intensified after militants opened fire at a well-known tourist site, killing at least 26 individuals and wounding several more.

The attack happened on April 22 at Pahalgam, a popular destination in Indian-occupied Kashmir that welcomes thousands of tourists each year.