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  • New Zealand defeats Pakistan by seven wickets in fourth T20

    New Zealand defeats Pakistan by seven wickets in fourth T20

    New Zealand defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the fourth T20 of the five-match series played at Oval Stadium today in New Zealand.

    New Zealand won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first. Saim Ayub and Muhammad Rizwan opened the innings but the former failed this time as well, getting caught out at slip for just one run in the second over.

    Pakistan’s second out was Babar Azam who was dismissed for 19 runs on a total of 56 runs, while Fakhar Zaman was also dismissed for 9 runs off 15 balls.

    Sahibzada Farhan, who joined the team in place of Azam Khan, also fell quickly, after just two balls and scoring just one run. Wickets continued to fall, but on the other hand, Muhammad Rizwan continued to push the team’s score forward with responsible batting and completed his half-century. With the score at 126, Iftikhar Ahmed got out after playing an innings of 10 runs off 14 balls.

    Mohammad Rizwan scored 90 runs off 63 balls and Mohammad Nawaz scored 21 runs off 9 balls.

    Chasing the target of 159 runs, the first three players of New Zealand were out for just 20 runs, with the first wicket falling in the form of Finn Allen for eight runs by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Then Tim Seifert was caught and dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi again, who also sent Will Young to the pavilion for just four runs.

    After the early fall of three wickets, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips washed away the Pakistani bowlers and both players not only completed their fifties but also led their team to victory and remained unbeaten.

    Daryl Mitchell scored 72 and Glenn Phillips remained not out with 70 runs. The two players shared a partnership of 139 runs for the fourth wicket while Shaheen Shah Afridi took all three wickets for Pakistan.

    It should be noted that in the series of five T20 matches, New Zealand has a decisive advantage of four-zero now.

  • PTV Sports shuts broadcast as fan shows Imran Khan poster during Pak-New Zealand match

    PTV Sports shuts broadcast as fan shows Imran Khan poster during Pak-New Zealand match

    PTV Sports shut down their broadcast for a few seconds when a fan showed a poster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the stadium during the match between Pakistan and New Zealand.

    Pakistani media regulators have banned speeches and press conferences of Imran Khan, accusing him of attacking national institutes.

    Here are the reactions of social media users:

  • Pakistan team announced playing XI for fourth T20 against New Zealand

    Pakistan team announced playing XI for fourth T20 against New Zealand

    The Pakistan playing XI has been announced for the fourth match of the series of five T20 matches between Pakistan and New Zealand.

    Sahibzada Farhan has been included in the playing XI of the national team for the fourth T20 match in Christchurch today, replacing Azam Khan.

    New Zealand has defeated Pakistan in three consecutive T20 matches to take a decisive lead in the series.

  • PCB decides to give NOC to four cricketers for leagues

    PCB decides to give NOC to four cricketers for leagues

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to give NOC (No Objection Certificate) to four national cricketers for leagues.

    According to Geo News, PCB has decided to issue NOC to four cricketers in the league including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan and Wasim Jr.

    Sources said that T20 captain Shaheen Afridi has a contract with ILT20 while Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Wasim Jr. have contracts with Bangladesh Premier League.

    Fakhar Zaman and Azam Khan are yet to get permission for the leagues, but national cricketers are being given permission for the leagues on a case-to-case basis. The cricketers included in the central contract are being allowed as per the terms of the contract.

  • India defeats Afghanistan in 2nd super over in a thriller

    India defeats Afghanistan in 2nd super over in a thriller

    After a thrilling game, India whitewashed Afghanistan by defeating them in the second super over of the third T20 match.

    In the third T20 match played in Bengaluru, India batted first and scored 212 runs for losing four wickets in the allotted over. In response, the Afghan team also scored 212 runs for the loss of six wickets.

    A super over was conducted to decide the match, in which the match was tied, India scored 16 runs for the loss of 1 wicket, and Afghanistan then tied the match.

    However, in the second Super Over, India defeated Afghanistan.

    In the second super over, India scored 11 runs for the loss of two wickets. In response, the Afghan team could only score one run after losing two wickets.

  • Former cricketer Khalid Latif will contest election on TLP ticket

    Former cricketer Khalid Latif will contest election on TLP ticket

    Former Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif has decided to contest the upcoming general elections on behalf of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP).

    Right-handed cricketer Latif, who has represented Pakistan in five One-Day Internationals, is contesting from the provincial assembly seat PS 89, Malir in Karachi.

    According to Geo News, TLP chief Saad Rizvi had contacted Khalid Latif to offer him a ticket pitched against PPP’s Hakeem Baloch from NA-231.

    Sources say that Khalid Latif has accepted the PS 89 ticket, leading to a contest against Saleem Baloch of PPP and Ashraf Samu of PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Shoaib Haider.

    In September 2023 Khalid Latif was sentenced for inciting the murder of far-right politician Geert Wilders. Latif was being tried in absentia in the Netherlands.

  • ‘Informed that PCB can’t go ahead with the anthem for reasons that I would not like to disclose’, says Ali Zafar

    ‘Informed that PCB can’t go ahead with the anthem for reasons that I would not like to disclose’, says Ali Zafar

    Every year, PSL songs take the limelight as fans get divided over the best Pakistan Super League song, comparing them to previous years, while artists take it as a challenge to put up their best.

    This year, The Current has exclusive insights to a new controversy, which involves a seasoned artist – Ali Zafar.

    A source who spoke to us claimed that Ali Zafar was, once again, trying to lobby for the PSL anthem.

    According to a source, PCB was in talks with Ali Zafar to sing this year’s anthem but some PSL franchises pushed back saying the artist would tarnish the PSL brand because of the controversies surrounding him.

    In response to our article previously published, Ali Zafar had this to say:

    “I was indeed officially contacted by PCB to create the PSL anthem for this year. After working on it for two months, hiring musicians and music producers at my personal expense, I came up with three different versions of the anthem for the PCB to choose from. After one of them was finalized and the release was being planned, I was informed that PCB can’t go ahead with the anthem for reasons that I would not like to disclose at this point.


    I wish the next team all the best with their endeavours.”

    What Happened?

    To show his social media strength and popularity to counter PCB’s reasoning, Ali Zafar went over to social media with a plan.

    On January 12, Zafar posted on X (formerly Twitter), asking if an anthem by him will “enhance the image of the brand of PSL and PCB, deepen the connection with people, and bring more financial benefit to all stakeholders or will it prove to be otherwise?”.

    This was followed by a poll, adding that “I will explain later, why I have posted this tweet”.

    But when the results started to apparently turn against him, Zafar deleted his poll. This was followed by a post claiming that the polls were rigged with the help of bots.

    “Told you to wait to see why I started the poll”, he said.

    X users started trolling Ali Zafar because in the screenshots of polls he shared, the time stamp is the same throughout, indicating, according to users, that the pictures were photoshopped.

    X (formerly Twitter) Reacts

    PSL Anthems

    In January 2016, while performing at the launch event of the team Islamabad United, Ali Zafar released the team anthem “Chakka Choka” and performed it in the opening ceremony of PSL 2016 the following month.

    Then in 2017, Zafar released the anthem for that year’s PSL “Ab Khel Jamay Ga”.

    Controversy

    In 2018, singer Meesha Shafi accused Ali Zafar of sexual harassment which Zafar denied, taking the matter to court and filing a defamation case against Shafi for slander.

    While the case is still ongoing, Ali Zafar has been under heavy criticism for his condescending tone towards Shafi in interviews, while award shows and the entertainment industry has been condemned for engaging him.

  • New Zealand defeats Pakistan by 45 runs in third T20

    New Zealand defeats Pakistan by 45 runs in third T20

    New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 45 runs in the third T20 match played on Wednesday at Oval University stadium.

    In the third match, Pakistan won the toss and decided to field first, the New Zealand team scored 224 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

    Batter Finn Allen, who opened the innings on behalf of New Zealand, scored 137 runs off 62 balls with the help of 16 sixes and 5 fours, while Tim Seifert scored 31 runs and Glenn Phillips stood out with 19 runs.

    On behalf of Pakistan, Haris Rauf took two wickets for 60 runs in his four overs while captain Shaheen Afridi, Zaman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Mohammad Wasim got one wicket each.

    Chasing the target of 225 runs, the national team could only score 179 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs.

    Babar Azam scored 58 runs, besides Mohammad Rizwan 24, Saeem Ayub 10, Fakhar Zaman 19, Azam Khan 10, Iftikhar Ahmed 1, and Mohammad Nawaz scored 28 runs.

    Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi scored 16 and Wasim Jr scored one run.

    New Zealand has a two-zero lead in the ongoing five-match T20 series in New Zealand.

  • Govt stops PCB from organising T10 league

    Govt stops PCB from organising T10 league

    The government of Pakistan has stopped the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from organising a T10 league.

    PCB Management Committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf had planned to organise the T10 league, initiating discussions with English cricket county Middlesex and planning for exhibition matches in Rawalpindi from January 24 to 26.

    A 40-member delegation consisting of men and women cricketers and officials from England was likely to come to Pakistan for the event.

    According to the website ‘Cricket Pakistan’, a detailed project briefing was presented to the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division (IPC) Ministry by a five-member delegation in Islamabad. Later, the budget for exhibition matches was reduced to Rs28 crores.

    However, at the same time, the ministry sent a letter to the PCB headquarters in Lahore, directing them to limit the activities to day-to-day matters, including banning the installation of chairs, solar panels, and fans in stadiums.

    The ministry has also imposed restrictions on signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with any cricket board. Meanwhile, Zaka Ashraf will chair the PCB Management Committee meeting on Tuesday. During this meeting, a new governing board will be established with four representatives from each of the four departments and regions. Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif nominated Zaka Ashraf and Mustafa Ramday as government candidates.

    The first meeting of the governing board is expected within a week during which possible objections to the chairmanship nominations will be cleared and heard. After that, the final list of candidates will be announced. Despite the traditional trend of the Prime Minister’s nominee taking over the chairmanship, the current situation deviates from this norm.

  • Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help Palestinians

    Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help Palestinians

    Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja’s unique initiative to help the oppressed Palestinians has come to light.

    Usman started selling “Freedom and Equality” t-shirts with the words “Freedom is a human right” and “All lives are equal”.

    Cricketer Usman Khawaja in his tweet on social networking website X says “I’ve teamed up with @electricwicky to bring you the uzzy “Freedom and Equality” T-shirts. All profits will be donated to the ‘Unicef Children of Gaza’. Appeal for those who can, please purchase to help support those who are struggling and spread the word!”

    It should be remembered that Usman Khawaja wore shoes with the slogan of expressing solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians in practice. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has punished Usman Khawaja for raising his voice for the oppressed Palestinians of Gaza.