Category: Sports

Tim Wigmore of the British newspaper The Telegraph has taken a dig at India, saying the reputation of the game has been sacrificed to benefit the country in the Champions Trophy, while stressing that India is using its power to prevent Pakistan from hosting the final.

Wigmore, the Deputy Cricket Correspondent, termed the entire saga a “complete disgrace”. The two venues of the Champions Trophy are Pakistan and the UAE. The final is scheduled in Lahore, but if India reaches it, it will be played in the UAE.

Wigmore did not mince his words when dissecting that one country has so much power that it can prevent another country from hosting the final. The venue of the final will not be known until March 4, i.e. five days in advance, there is no example of this anywhere. 
 

Lahore is preparing again after hosting the 1996 World Cup final, the fans and organizers do not know whether the final will be held there or not.

Pakistan was awarded the 2025 Champions Trophy with 15 matches, but India was not given the option to play the matches in another country, Tim said.

 
Wigmore pointed out that the seven countries in the event do not know where they will play the knockout matches; only India knows where they will play in the semi-finals and finals.

ICC events continue to sacrifice the reputation of the game for Indian interests. In the 2019 World Cup, India did not play a match for eight days after the start of the tournament, while South Africa was playing the third match, Tim wrote.

A gap of 15 days has been added from the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to the international match. In the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, India’s final group matches were kept at the end to see the run rate.

India’s final matches in the T20 and ODI World Cups were played against weaker opponents. This year, India’s semi-final was held in Guyana without considering the group position in the T20 World Cup, Tim said.

In the Champions Trophy, India will have to form a squad according to the conditions of one country, while the other seven teams will have to look at the conditions of two countries for their squads.

Cricket West Indies has announced a 15-member squad for the tour of Pakistan.

The West Indies team will play a warm-up match and two Test matches during its tour of Pakistan in January.

The leadership of the 15-member squad for the tour of Pakistan has been entrusted to Kraigg Brathwaite, while Joshua de Silva has been appointed as the vice-captain.

Two Test matches are to be played in the series between Pakistan and West Indies, one of which is scheduled in Karachi and the other in Multan. As Karachi Stadium goes through upgrades, the first Test is also being shifted to Multan.

The Cricket West Indies announcement also includes a new schedule, according to which the West Indies team will arrive in Pakistan on January 6 and play warm-up matches in Rawalpindi on January 11 and 12.

The first Test will be played from January 14 and the second Test from January 25 in Multan.

West Indies squad:

Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Joshua Da Silva, Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Amir Jangoo, Mikyle Louis, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.

2024 was a rollercoaster year for Pakistani cricket, filled with unforgettable highs and crushing lows. Here are the top five moments that shattered the hearts of cricket fans across Pakistan.

1-T20 World Cup 2024: Pakistan’s Defeat to the United States

 Pakistan faced the United States of America in a crucial group-stage match during the T20 World Cup 
Pakistan faltered under pressure, leading to a narrow defeat. The match ended in a tie, and Pakistan lost in the Super Over, resulting in their elimination from the tournament. 

2. T20 World Cup 2024: Loss to India

During the same T20 World Cup, Pakistan faced their arch-rivals, India, in a highly anticipated match. Batting first, India posted a low total of 120 runs. At one point, Pakistan was about to end when Pakistan needed 43 runs in 41 balls with eight wickets in hand, but Jasprit Bumrah snatched victory from Pakistan, who lost by  seven runs.

3- Ireland’s historic win over Pakistan

In May 2024, Ireland defeated Pakistan for the first time in T20 internationals. Pakistan batted first, posting a competitive total of 182 for 6 in their 20 overs. Key contributions came from their top-order batters, setting a challenging target for the hosts.

In response, Ireland’s innings was anchored by former captain Andrew Balbirnie, who played a stellar knock of 77 runs off 55 balls. Ireland achieved this total in 19.5 overs for five wickets.

4. Test Series 2024: Whitewash Against Bangladesh

In 2024, Pakistan’s Test team suffered a whitewash against Bangladesh on home ground. The series consisted of three Test matches where Pakistan struggled to compete, leading to consecutive defeats. Bangladesh won this series with a 2-0.

5. T20 Series 2024: Whitewash Against Australia

Later in the year, Pakistan’s T20 team faced Australia in a series that ended in a whitewash. Australia dominated Pakistan in the T20 series in three matches, with Pakistan unable to secure a single win throughout the series. 

However, Pakistani cricket fans are enjoying a good year’s end as Pakistan has defeated Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa back to back.

An unusual event took place during the final match of the three-match ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa as a spectator ended up giving birth to her child at the stadium.

Pakistan on Sunday ended up whitewashing South Africa at Johannesburg’s Wanderers Stadium as Greenshirts won the third ODI by 36 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method.

The match, however, also ended up becoming a celebration of life as people from all over the world witnessed an unusual event when a fan gave birth to her son.

The same was announced on the scoreboard. “Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Rabeng on the birth of a healthy baby boy,” read the announcement.

Meanwhile, the game that was South Africa’s annual Pink Day match – Proteas taking to the field in pink jerseys (kits) for breast cancer awareness – also became a celebration of love as a spectator proposed his girlfriend at the stadium, which she accepted.

With pictures of both events being widely shared on social media, users from all over the world have expressed best wishes for the newly-engaged couple and the newborn.

As 2024 wraps up with the conclusion of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s M6 tournament, the 2024 calendar has officially come to a close.

This year was packed with exciting events that drew fans from all over the world. From regional leagues like South Korea’s LCK to global spectacles in FPS, MOBA, and mobile gaming, Esports continued to grow in viewership and popularity.

Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 most-watched Esports events of 2024 based on data from Esports Insider. This list excludes viewership from China, Facebook Gaming, and Battle Royale games. It’s also worth mentioning that this marks the last ranking before big changes arrive in 2025 for League of Legends and Counter-Strike, promising even more excitement in the future.

10 – VCT Masters Madrid
The VCT Masters Madrid 2024 was the standout VALORANT event of the year, with a peak of 1.68 million viewers, surpassing the game’s World Championship. This makes it the most-watched VALORANT event ever. For comparison, VCT Champions 2024 hit 1.41 million viewers.

This highlights VALORANT’s growing popularity as a leading FPS title. Despite its success, Masters Madrid is the only VALORANT event to make this list.

9 – LCK Regional Finals 2024
The LCK Regional Finals, held in September 2024, attracted 1.82 million viewers, making it the most-watched regional League of Legends event this year. The finals, won by Dplus KIA, marked a significant growth compared to past editions, far surpassing the 1 million peak viewers of 2020.

The LCK’s Summer Split came close to making this list, with 1.6 million viewers.

8 – PGL Major Copenhagen 2024
The first Counter-Strike Major played on CS2, PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, peaked at 1.85 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched Counter-Strike event ever. NAVI’s victory helped boost the tournament’s popularity, although it still fell short of records set by previous CS: GO Majors like Stockholm 2021, which had 2.74 million viewers.

The second Major of the year, Perfect World Shanghai, had lower viewership, peaking at 1.3 million, partly due to time zone differences and missing top teams like NAVI in the finals.

7 – MPL Indonesia Season 13
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) continued to show strong numbers. MPL Indonesia Season 13 peaked at 2.25 million viewers during a match between ONIC and EVOS Glory. Interestingly, this was only the fifth most-watched season in the league’s history, proving the consistent popularity of MLBB esports.

6 – EWC X MLBB Mid-Season Cup 2024
The Mid-Season Cup at the Esports World Cup 2024 brought together MLBB teams from around the world to compete in Riyadh. With 2.38 million peak viewers, it was a success, though it marked the lowest viewership for this event since 2021.

5 – LCK Spring 2024
The LCK Spring Split peaked at 2.65 million viewers, outperforming the Summer Split. The finals saw T1, one of the most popular teams globally, fall short of winning the title. Despite not clinching the trophy, T1’s involvement boosted the event’s viewership significantly.

4 – Mid-Season Invitational 2024
League of Legends MSI 2024 became the most-watched edition of the tournament ever, with a peak of 2.82 million viewers. Held in Chengdu, China, Gen.G claimed victory in this historic event, which also outperformed some past World Championships in terms of viewership.

3 – MPL Indonesia Season 14
The second season of MPL Indonesia in 2024 was a massive success, peaking at 4 million viewers, nearly doubling the viewership of Season 13. Team Liquid ID defeated RRQ Hoshi in the finals, solidifying MPL Indonesia as the top mobile esports league globally.

2 – M6 World Championship
The M6 World Championship for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was another standout event, peaking at 4.13 million viewers. While this number was slightly lower than last year’s 5 million peak, the tournament showed strong growth in average viewership, reinforcing the game’s dominance in Southeast Asia.

1 – League of Legends World Championship 2024
Once again, the League of Legends World Championship topped the charts as the most-watched esports event of the year, with a staggering 6.91 million viewers. This also makes it the most-watched esports event in history, breaking its previous records.

Worlds continues to be the crown jewel of esports, showcasing why it dominates the competitive gaming scene year after year.

PUBG Mobile:

However, if you’re a PUBG mobile fan and worrying about why the game is not in the top 10 list, let us confirm that PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) 2024 is in the 12th spot with 1.4 million viewers.

Saim Ayub is all anyone can talk about after the role he played in securing Pakistan an extraordinary 3-0 victory over South Africa in the ODI series.

As fans shower praise at Saim for his display of batting masterclass, former national team captain Babar Azam has also called him a “cheetah” in a story on his Instagram.

“Cheetah” is often used to praise someone for being incredibly fast, agile and efficient in their actions. It is also informally, and commonly, used as a praise in Urdu and Punjabi languages.  

Babar’s Instagram story comes after Pakistan swept South Africa in the three-match ODI series, and Saim, the young left-handed opener, played a major role in the same.

The former skipper, who himself returned to form in the ODI series and scored back-to-back half-centuries, could not help but praise the youngster’s batting for scoring two consecutive 100s.

Saim was named Player of the Match in the last ODI. He also received the Player of the Series award for his performance.

In a separate post, Babar also wished his friend and national team opener Imam Ul Haq on his birthday.

Pakistan has whitewashed South Africa in a three-match ODI series after defeating Protease by 36 runs in the third and last ODI of the series.

The match being played in Johannesburg was delayed due to rain. When the toss was held after the rain stopped, the South African captain won the toss and invited the visiting team to bat. After the match started, the game had to be stopped again due to rain and three overs were reduced.

Batting first, the national team scored 308 runs for nine wickets in the stipulated 47 overs, thanks to Saim Ayub’s brilliant century. Pakistan fell one run short due to the delayed start of the innings, and South Africa got a target of 308 runs.

Opener Saim Ayub played an innings of 101 runs; Saim Ayub scored a century in 91 balls, and his innings included 13 fours and two sixes.

Apart from them, captain Muhammad Rizwan scored 53, Babar Azam scored 52 runs, vice-captain Salman Agha scored 48, and Tayyab Tahir scored 28 runs.

For the host team, Rabada took three wickets, while Marco Jensen and Fortuion took two wickets each.

In response, South Africa could score 271 runs in 42 overs.

Tony de Zorzi scored 26,  Rassie Van Der Dussen 35, Aiden Markram 19, Heinrich Klassen 86, Marco Jansen 26 and Corbin Bosch scored 40 runs for South Africa.

Sufiyan Muqeem took four, while Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi took two wickets each for Pakistan.

Pakistan has whitewashed South Africa in a three-match ODI series after defeating Protease by 36 runs in the third and last ODI of the series.

The match being played in Johannesburg was delayed due to rain. When the toss was held after the rain stopped, the South African captain won the toss and invited the visiting team to bat. After the match started, the game had to be stopped again due to rain and three overs were reduced.

Batting first, the national team scored 308 runs for nine wickets in the stipulated 47 overs, thanks to Saim Ayub’s brilliant century. Pakistan fell one run short due to the delayed start of the innings, and South Africa got a target of 308 runs.

Opener Saim Ayub played an innings of 101 runs; Saim Ayub scored a century in 91 balls, and his innings included 13 fours and two sixes.

Apart from them, captain Muhammad Rizwan scored 53, Babar Azam scored 52 runs, vice-captain Salman Agha scored 48, and Tayyab Tahir scored 28 runs.

For the host team, Rabada took three wickets, while Marco Jensen and Fortuion took two wickets each.

In response, South Africa could score 271 runs in 42 overs.

Tony de Zorzi scored 26,  Rassie Van Der Dussen 35, Aiden Markram 19, Heinrich Klassen 86, Marco Jansen 26 and Corbin Bosch scored 40 runs for South Africa.

Sufiyan Muqeem took four, while Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi took two wickets each for Pakistan.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairperson Mohsin Naqvi has directed the formation of a ‘Strike Force’ to improve the national team’s T20 performance.

As per the details, the Strike Force will consist of 100 young hard-hitting batters headed by former star all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who will also head the selection of batters.

The decision has been taken while keeping in mind the 2026 T20 World Cup and the unsatisfactory performance of Pakistan’s batting lineup in T20Is over the past couple of years, reports said.

Talented players will be sought from across the country, and 100 youngsters will be selected in a year. The programme will last for six months, which means fifty batters will be sought every six months.

Fresh talent will be trained to hit hard sixes and fours, reports said, adding that the aim of the Strike Force is to provide new blood for the T20 squad with a strong lineup for the 2026 World Cup.

It merits a mention that earlier this year, Pakistan were eliminated from the first round of the World Cup.

Greenshirts’ poor performance had drawn strong reactions and criticism aimed at both the team and management. The same had led to significant changes in the team as well as the managing committees.

Players and officials of the Indian cricket team appear to be hesitating in interacting with local media during the tour of Australia.

During a practice session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australian media was not given the opportunity to ask questions, angering local journalists. 

Only Indian journalists got to question Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the media conversation.

On this issue, the Indian team official said, “The team’s bus was about to leave, that is why he could not take questions.”

On the other hand,  Australian journalists complained to the Indian official, saying, “If you do not take our questions in the future, then tell us in advance; if you do not take questions, there is no point in us coming here.”

Jadeja answered Indian journalists in Hindi (his native language), but when an Australian journalist asked him to answer their questions in English, he moved away.

However, two journalists covering the series, Abhishek Tripathi from Dainik Jagran and Subhayan Chakraborty from RevSportz, said the Australian media was overreacting. They explained that Jadeja couldn’t answer all the questions simply because there wasn’t enough time.

A few days ago, Virat Kohli also had a bitter exchange with a journalist at the airport.

Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli had a heated exchange with the Australian media upon his arrival in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test. According to reports, Kohli confronted media personnel at the airport, believing that they were filming his family without permission. The former Indian captain made it clear that his family’s privacy must be respected, stating, “You just can’t film without asking me,” as per the report.

Channel 7 reporter Theo Doropoulos explained that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding. Kohli reportedly became upset after spotting video cameras, assuming they were pointed toward his children. “It was upon seeing the waiting cameras that Kohli became a little heated over what is largely a misunderstanding when he thought the media was filming him with his children,” Doropoulos said.

The journalist and cameraperson later clarified to Kohli that they were not filming his family members. Kohli then shook hands with the Channel 7 cameraperson and walked away.

The possible schedule for Champions Trophy 2025, which is to be held in Pakistan next year, has been revealed.

According to the schedule, the first match of the event will be held on February 19 between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi, while the match between Pakistan and India will be held on February 23 at a neutral venue.

While there is no confirmation as of yet, the neutral venue is likely to be the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A six-day support parade has also been arranged before the official commencement of the tournament. The parade will include the arrival of the teams and practice sessions among other things.

Th support parade is likely to take place from February 12 to 18, reports said.

Earlier, the controversy surrounding India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the tournament was finally put to bed after all stakeholders reached an agreement.

ICC finally resolves Champions Trophy 2025 conflict

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally resolved the long-standing impasse over the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Under the agreement, India’s matches in the eight-team event will be played at a neutral venue, while in return, ICC events hosted by India will also be played at neutral venues.

According to the press release issued by the ICC, “The ICC Board has today approved that matches between India and Pakistan played at ICC Events during the current rights cycle from 2024 to 2027 (which are to be hosted in India or Pakistan) will be played at a neutral venue proposed by the tournament host. This will apply to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (Pakistan), ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (India and Sri Lanka).”

“In addition, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia has also been awarded hosting rights for one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.”

“The match schedule for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 will be confirmed in the coming days.”

Pakistan will host another ICC event after 4 years, in which Pakistan has been awarded the hosting of the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup.

The 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup will be the first ICC event of the next cycle, and the Pakistan-India fusion formula may also be applied to the Women’s T20 World Cup.

According to the report, in addition to this, until 2027, both teams will play ICC event matches in each other’s country at neutral venues, and the host board will select the neutral venue.

India is hosting the Women’s World Cup 2025 and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.