Category: Sports

English Test captain, Ben Stokes’ home was robbed by masked individuals who stole jewellery and valuable, rare items.

The English Test captain has appealed for help on social media from the relevant authorities to recover the items. The robbery occurred on October 17 in Castle Eden while Ben Stokes was playing a Test series in Pakistan.

In a message he posted on the social networking site X (formerly Twitter) he wrote, “My wife and two children were at home when the robbery took place, but the family remained safe.” Many of the stolen items hold significant emotional value for him and his family, making the losses irreplaceable.

Stokes shared the details of the incident and pictures of the stolen items on his X account, including an OBE award given in 2019, a Christian Dior handbag, an England cricket signet gold ring, and some bracelets.

Indian cricket team has made a unique move to avoid whitewash against New Zealand at home.

At Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, Rohit Sharma’s men will be facing Tom Latham’s 11 Kiwis, and the Indian team is desperate to avoid a whitewash on home ground. In a unique move, the Indian coach and captain have called up 35 bowlers for net bowling.

Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma pressured the Mumbai Cricket Association to arrange 35 net bowlers for India’s practice session.

After the defeat in the second consecutive Test in Pune, this was India’s full-fledged training session after a two-day break. India made a special request for extra bowlers for this session.

In this session, the Indian batters focused on facing spinners and practised playing spin bowling as Mitchell Santner had wreaked havoc in the last Test by taking 13 wickets.

Earlier, India suffered a Test defeat on home soil for the first time in 12 years. They lost to New Zealand after winning 18 consecutive Test series at home, while New Zealand achieved success in a Test match in India after 36 years.

In the new International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings, the national Test team’s vice-captain Saud Shakeel and spinner Noman Ali have made a significant jump into the top 10.

Saud Shakeel has moved up 20 spots to the 7th position, while Noman Ali has moved to the 9th spot.

Saud Shakeel recently scored 280 runs in the three-Test series against England, including a century and a half-century in five innings, earning him the title of the series’ best player.

Pakistani spinner Noman Ali, after his stellar performance in the third and final Test of the recent series, has also made it into the top ten. Noman took nine wickets in the match and moved up eight spots to reach a career-best 9th position, while fellow spinner Sajid Khan also improved his career rating by 12 places.

Jasprit Bumrah’s reign as the number one Test bowler has ended, with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada becoming the number one bowler in the latest ICC Test player ranking. Rabada took nine wickets in the first Test against Bangladesh. Hazlewood is now second in the Test bowlers ranking, with Bumrah in third and Ashwin in fourth.

Among Test batters, England’s Joe Root maintains the top position, followed by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson in second place. India’s young Yashasvi Jaiswal has moved up one spot to third, while Virat Kohli has dropped six spots to 14th.

New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra has also entered the top ten, moving up eight spots to 10th.

Legendary athlete Muhammad Younis, who won 27 gold medals in international competitions for Pakistan, has passed away at the age of 77. According to the Athletics Federation, Malik Muhammad Younis is considered one of the top athletes in the 800 and 1500-meter races.

Muhammad Younis won the gold medal in the 1500-meter race at the 1974 Asian Games held in Iran. He also won silver medals for Pakistan in the 1970 and 1978 Asian Games.

According to the Athletics Federation, Younis also won a gold and a silver medal for Pakistan in the 1973 Asian Track and Field Championship.

In the 1970s, many of the national records set by Muhammad Younis still stand today. His 1500-meter record set in 1970 remains unbroken by any Pakistani, and his records in the 3000 and 5000-meter races also remain intact.

The Athletics Federation reports that his athletics career came to an abrupt end in 1979 following an accident. In 1991, Muhammad Younis was awarded the Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan.

Australian Wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade has announced his retirement from international cricket. He will serve as a coach for Australia in the T20 series against Pakistan.

Wade said, “I knew my time in international cricket was ending after the T20 World Cup. I have been discussing my retirement and coaching role with George (Bailey) and Andrew (McDonald) for the past six months. I’ve been thinking about coaching for a few years, and I’m very excited and grateful for this new role.”

Wade had already retired from Test cricket in March 2024. He was part of the Australian team in the T20 World Cup held in June 2024 but was not selected for the tour of England in September 2024.

Wade will continue to play in the Big Bash League (BBL) and other franchise T20 tournaments. He is a part of the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL. He will be part of the coaching team led by Andre Borovec for the T20 series against Pakistan. Informally, he will also be associated with Australia’s coaching team during the ODI series. The coaching team, led by Andrew McDonald, will prepare for the Test series against India.

Wade played a total of 36 Tests, 97 ODIs, and 92 T20 matches for Australia between 2011 and 2024. He played a significant role in Australia’s T20 World Cup victory in the UAE, scoring 41 runs off 17 balls against Pakistan in the semi-final.

Gohar Zaman has deleted his tweet wherein he had claimed that his brother Fakhar had fired players agent company ‘Saya Corporation’.

Now, sources close to the cricketer say that Fakhar has not changed the player agent, and the tweet from his brother’s alleged X (Formerly Twitter) account has also been deleted.

An X account in the name of Gohar Zaman tweeted about dissociation from Zaman’s player agent. The Fakhar’s official X account follows this account.

Earlier, there were rumours that Shaheen Afridi had changed player agents.

Reports of Fakhar leaving ‘Saya’:

Earlier Goahar had tweed on his X account that Fakhar Zaman is no longer part of the company. Several cricketers, including white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan and former captain Babar Azam, are associated with the company.

Sources indicate that Fakhar Zaman left the company due to an alleged social media post in favour of Babar Azam. It is believed that the player’s agent did not choose an appropriate time for the social media post.

Fakhar’s tweet in favour of Babar Azam:

National cricketer Fakhar Zaman had severely criticized Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to drop former captain Babar Azam in the second and third Test matches against England.

Fakhar wrote on X sitting Indian star cricketer Virat Kohli, “It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively.”

“If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them,” he wrote.

The Pakistan squad for the second and third Tests against England was announced on Sunday, while Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi have been dropped from the team.

PCB’s show-cause notice to the Fakhar:

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had taken strict action against batsman Fakhar Zaman after Zaman publicly supported Babar Azam in a tweet on X.

According to Geo, PCB has issued a show cause notice to Fakhar Zaman and asked for a reply within a week. Geo sources say that the notice was issued to Fakhar due his public criticism of the selection policy, stating that the tweet was a violation of discipline.

Fakhar Zaman dropped from central contract 2024-25:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced the central contracts for the 2024-25 season, and unfortunately, Fakhar Zaman was dropped from the list.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has explained the reason behind sacking Fakhar Zaman from the central contract.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, October 27, Naqvi said, “Any national team player cannot go around tweeting his opinion on decisions made by the selection committee.”

Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman recently tweeted in favour of Babar Azam, leading him to be dropped from the central contract. But did Fakhar tweet himself, or was someone else behind it?

Now, national right-handed batsman Ahmed Shehzad has raised his concerns about this issue. In his vlog on YouTube, he said, “Fakhar Zaman’s tweet has cost him dearly. It’s like his wings have been clipped, and I think the Cricket Board’s decision is the right one. The situation is that Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, and Rizwan are all under the same agent (Saya Corporation). That agent got Fakhar Zaman to tweet, which has now led to him being dropped from the team and losing his central contract. Now, it raises the question: will that agent also get the other players to tweet on Fakhar’s behalf?”

“It seems like Fakhar Zaman may be regretting his actions now, as they have backfired on him. His people have used him. Fakhar might realize what happened to him a bit later, but in essence, he’s been used by his own people. No centrally contracted player would ever tweet like Fakhar Zaman did on someone else’s behalf, he added.

Talking about PCB’s decision to drop Fakahr from the central contract, he said, “I think PCB’s decision is spot on. It sends a strong message not only to the player involved but to all other players that PCB makes the decisions and that their role as players is to perform, focus on improving team rankings, and fulfil their roles as best they can. It’s a wake-up call to focus on the field, especially considering the recent decline in Pakistan’s performance across formats.”

Babar Azam was dropped from the last two Test matches of the recent series against England, after which Fakhar tweeted in his favour.

But PCB issued a show-cause notice, and later, he was dropped from the central contract 2024-25.