Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced a prize of Rs 3 crore for the national hockey team for their performance in the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament.
The Government of Punjab had earlier announced Rs 20 lakh for the national hockey team but later the prize was increased from to three crores.
The national hockey team met Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in Lahore on Tuesday.
“Hockey is not only a sport, it is national pride, the current team has reminded of the past, they will not only provide full support for the improvement of hockey but will also give ownership,” she said.
Maryam added that the players have revived the national game.
The captain of the hockey team, Imad Butt, expressed hope that the national game will achieve more heights with the support of the government.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Australia’s David Reid as the national team’s mental performance coach for the World Cup and series against England on May 22.
David Reid previously worked for the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings, Big Bash team Melbourne Stars and Australian Olympic athletes. He is famous for guiding athletes to stay focused on their goals. He will join the Pakistan cricket team on May 20.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said, “Paying attention to the mental health of the players is not only the priority of the PCB but also its main commitment because the performance of the ground is directly related to the mental state of the players.”
Mohsin Naqvi added, “The presence of an experienced expert like David Reed would benefit Pakistani players both on and off the field.”
Pakistan will play the T20 series against England from May 22 to May 30, and then participate in the T20 World Cup which is scheduled in America and West Indies from June 1 to June 30.
Pakistan cricket team defeated Ireland in the third T20 match clinching the series by 2-1.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bowl first against Ireland in Dublin, Ireland.
Ireland inning:
Lorcan Tucker of Ireland played an innings of 73 runs off 41 balls, his innings was decorated with 13 fours and one six.
Andy Balburnie 35 and Harry Teck Toure 30 were among the other players to score 178 for 7 in 20 overs.
On the side of green shirts, Shaheen Afridi pick 3, Abbas Afridi 2 while Muhammad Amir and Imad Wasim took 1 wicket each.
Pakistan inning:
Pakistan acheived this target in the 17th over. Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan put up a century partnership for the 10th time.
National team captain Babar Azam played a brillient inning of 75 runs which included 6 fours and 5 towering sixes. Mohammad Rizwan scored 56 runs off 38 balls. Saim Ayub was dismissed for 14 runs while Azam Khan was not out for 18 runs.
Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers hit back at the Indian media for misrepresenting his comments on Hardik Pandya.
While commenting on the captaincy of Mumbai Indians captain Pandya in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, De Villiers called him a brave captain, but Indian media has taken his statement out of context.
https://youtu.be/2G7NEqj_yO0
In a video posted on X (Formerly Twitter) AB de Villiers said, “I see there’s a lot of activity on X about the comments that I made about Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians, and it’s a shame that journalism and reporting has got so low. And I’m very happy that some of you have pointed that out. Taking some of my comments and leaving the rest out.”
“I very clearly stated and I will state this again, I absolutely love the way Hardik Pandya plays his game. I love the way he captains. All I was saying is his style of captaincy is something he has certainly worked on. It’s not something he can just walk out of a door and you are a brave captain, he decided,” De Villiers added.
Slamming Indian reporters, the smashing batsman opined, “I wish that you reporters out there would see it for that and write about stuff like that, because that’s actually really powerful. Sometimes you have to put up a front and to show the opposition you are a force to be reckoned with. And that’s what Hardik Pandya does. Well. And I’m saying that style is not always the easiest style to adapt to, especially for some senior players.”
The leadership of Mumbai Indians was handed over from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya, but the performance of Mumbai Indians under his captaincy was very poor and they became the first team to be eliminated from the event.
Despite a star-studded line-up in the ongoing IPL, the five-time champions have struggled under the leadership of Hardik and are ninth in the points table with just four wins out of 13 matches so far.
Pakistani boxer Ilyas Hazara defeated Indian boxer Gurjant Singh in the Big Time Boxing Tournament held in Melbourne, Australia.
Ilyas Hazara raised Pakistan’s flag by easily beating Gurjant Singh and winning the trophy along with the gold medal.
Earlier, Balochistan’s Shahzaib Rind won the tournament by defeating India’s Rana Singh in the finals of the Combat Karate competition held in Dubai last month.
United Arab Emirate (UAE) cricket team captain Muhammad Waseem became the first Emirati player to get International Cricket Council (ICC) player of the month award.
According to ICC, Muhammad Waseem has been declared the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for April for his outstanding performance.
Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus and Muhammad Waseem were nominated for the ICC player of the month award.
Waseem played a vital role in the team’s victory by scoring his third T20 century in the final of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Premier Cup and was also awarded the man of the series award for scoring 269 runs in the tournament.
Former India captain and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar is furious on the English players who left the Indian Premier League (IPL) to play the a series with Pakistan.
Gavaskar urged the Indian Cricket Board to take action against the players who did not participate in the play-off stage of the IPL, asking that fines be imposed on them.
He wrote in his column, “I am in favor of the players choosing the country before anything else but the various franchises are assured of their availability by the players for the entire season.”
“Now if the players leave the league at such a time, it is like demoralizing the franchises, and these franchises probably pay them more in one season of IPL than if they play two or three seasons for their country. Can’t earn,” Gavaskar wrote.
He added, “The franchises should not only deduct a substantial amount from the fee of the players on which they were bought, but also deduct 10% commission from the fee received by each player.”
England’s Will Jacks and Recy Topley are playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore while Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone are representing the Punjab Kings in the IPL.
Jos Buttler is representing Rajasthan Royals, Phil Salt Kolkata Knight Riders while Moeen Ali is with Chennai Super Kings.
England has announced the 15-man squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and the four-match series against Pakistan, while the English players playing in the IPL have been asked to return home to play the series against Pakistan.
The green shirts defeated Turkmenistan by 3-1 in Central Asian Volleyball League securing their third consecutive win in the event. Pakistan having previously defeated Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
On the third day of the ongoing six-day league at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad, Pakistan won against Turkmenistan by 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 27-25 after a tough competition.
Manchester United legend David Beckham has ended the debate of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) among fans, calling Lionel Messi the greatest player.
In a talk show with Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, Beckham talked about how he always wanted to sign Messi and bring him to the United States to inspire the younger generation.
David said, “It’s just that effect that Leo has on the game and the world. One of the reasons we wanted to bring him to America was to inspire the next generation. That was my plan.”
Beckham added, “I have played against him twice, but I’ve been a fan of him and watched him for many years. And I always had the plan to bring the greatest player to ever play the game, in my opinion, to our team. Luckily, it happened.”
He said, “I think everyone’s got their own opinion. There are a lot of great players who have played the game over the years, but in my opinion, he is the perfect player.”
Messi is currently signed with the Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, co-owned by Beckham.
There is always a debate among fans of Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi as to who is the GOAT.
Pakistan cricket team has hit 15 sixes in a T20 match for the first time in the game against Ireland in Dublin.
Playing for Pakistan, Fakhar Zaman hit 6, Rizwan and Azam 4 each, while Saim Ayub hit 1 six.
Pakistan’s previous record was 12 sixes in a match.
This was the second time in history that Pakistani batsmen hit five sixes in the powerplay.
In the second match of the three-match T20 series against Ireland, Pakistan achieved the target of 193 runs for the loss of three wickets in 16.5 overs.
