Under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan made history by defeating defending champions India in the final of the 2017 International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, which happened exactly five years ago on June 18 at The Oval.
Fakhar Zaman scored 144, which played a big part in Pakistan’s victory. Other than him, Azhar Ali’s 59, Babar Azam’s 46 and Hafeez’s 57 led to Pakistan’s win against India.
One cannot forget Mohammad Amir’s bowling. He showcased his fiery skills by dismissing all three of India’s openers. The entire Indian cricket team was dismissed on 158 in just 30.3 overs.
Since June 18, every year on this day Pakistan celebrates its victory against its arch-rivals.
Here are some tweets celebrating Pakistan’s victory.
Time flies. Wrote this on Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 victory: “Pakistan's stars aligned to help a young team script their own miracles” https://t.co/ImECRkBeMP
Pakistan is ruling the ICC One-Day International (ODI) batter rankings with skipper Babar Azam on the top while opener Imam-ul-Haq jumped past Virat Kohli to get to the second spot. Earlier, Imam was in the third place in the rankings just below Babar Azam and former India skipper Virat Kohli.
🔸Imam-ul-Haq leapfrogs Virat Kohli into top two 🔼 🔸Shaheen Afridi, Josh Hazlewood surge 📈 🔸Zeeshan Maqsood makes all-round gains 💪
The police on Friday filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Mohammad Waqas Ashraf, a fan who ran into the ground during the second One Day International (ODI) between Pakistan and the West Indies.
The FIR is registered under Sections 188 and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). According to the police, Waqas tried to escape the scene after meeting Shadab Khan on the pitch. However, it can be clearly seen in video footage from the match that Waqas was caught by the police on the boundary rope immediately.
“A man swiftly entered the ground from under the fence near gate number 3, saluted and hugged a cricketer (Shadab Khan) after reaching the batting crease,” says the FIR against Waqas.
A police official while talking to Geo Super said that the man has been sent for physical custody.
As part of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour™ by Coca-Cola, the official FIFA World Cup™ trophy touched down in Lahore accompanied by a delegation that included notable FIFA personnel as well as former FIFA World Cup™ winner and legendary footballer, Christian Karembeu. The initiative under the hashtag #BelievingIsMagic is aimed at promoting inclusivity and visibility of all FIFA partner nations ahead of the final games in Qatar.
Hajra Khan, Captain of Pakistan Women’s National Football Team, awaited alongside a panel of senior Coca-Cola leadership for the FIFA delegation to touch down at the airfield. After receiving a warm welcome to the country, the delegation was escorted to the trophy’s arrival event in Lahore, hosted by Hajra Khan and attended by several of Pakistan’s leading sportspersons, celebrities, dignitaries, ministers of state, and digital media opinion leaders in attendance.
The people of Pakistan have always enjoyed a rich sports culture, as well as a storied athletic history. The country is responsible for producing over 40 million footballs a year, and the manufacturing of sporting goods contributes significantly to Pakistan’s economy. A documentary highlighting football in Pakistan was screened during the event to shine a light on the country’s contributions to football.
Ahmad Hanif Orakzai, Vice President, Pakistan Sports Board, was the chief guest for the trophy arrival event. He spoke about the government’s ongoing and upcoming efforts to bring football to the mainstream. The Vice President went on to speak about transforming Pakistan into a country that celebrates and facilitates sports at all levels. He extended his heartfelt thanks to the FIFA delegation and presented them with a locally made football as a token of the country’s appreciation.
“The reason for our strong focus on sports infrastructure is because we know the best formula for our future is to empower the youth of Pakistan. Thanks to Coca-Cola, we now have a strong partner in turning this dream into a reality,” he said.
During the course of the event, Pakistan’s leading youth athletes were brought to attention and appreciated for their contributions to the country.
Former FIFA World Cup™ winner and legendary footballer, Christian Karembeu, was the star of the show in more ways than one. He stood next to the trophy, providing Pakistani fans an opportunity to see a legend of the game next to football’s most coveted prize. He expressed his gratitude at being given this amazing opportunity to be part of an initiative that aimed to inspire Pakistan’s youth.
“I am honestly amazed to see the enthusiasm of Pakistani football fans. It has been amazing to hear these stories from young footballers from all these diverse communities, and I love the fact that they all have positive outlooks on their respective journeys. The future of Pakistani sports is definitely bright,” said the legendary footballer.
“Sports brings communities and nations together and at Coca-Cola, we are delighted to champion this spirit of unity,” said Fahad Ashraf, Vice President, Coca-Cola Pakistan and Afghanistan Region, in his address to those gathered.
As the sun set on the day’s proceedings, attendees enjoyed musical performances in an event hosted by the renowned Anoushey Ashraf and Dino Ali. The concert was headlined by big-name performers like Talal Qureshi, Shae Gill, Hasan Raheem, and Abdullah Siddiqui.
Christian Karembeu was once again in the limelight at the grand finale as he unveiled the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy in spectacular fashion. And that’s how the night ended; the crowd cheering wildly for the trophy and the legendary footballer holding it, against a backdrop of colourful confetti and flashes of cold fire.
Pakistan is one of the 51 countries where this year’s tour is taking place, bringing Coca-Cola and FIFA one step closer to visiting all 211 Football Nations by 2030. #BelievingInMagic
Pakistan defeated West Indies on Friday by 120 runs in the second One Day International (ODI). Pakistan is also leading the three-match series by 2-0. It is Pakistan’s 10th consecutive ODI series win against West Indies.
On Wednesday, Pakistan won the first match by five wickets. The last match will take place on Sunday (June 12). The ODI series is being played in Multan.
Twitter is celebrating the 2-0 series win.
President Dr Arif Alvi and former Captain Shahid Afridi also congratulated the team.
Well played Pakistan. Congratulations for the series win, which is also your 10th consecutive against the West Indies. @babarazam258 & @ImamUlHaq12 continue their outstanding batting and Mohammad Nawaz gets a good 4/19. Enjoyable game of cricket.
Congratulation on the series win boys @TheRealPCB 👏🏽 was great to see @babarazam258 and @ImamUlHaq12 on their 6 consecutive +50 scores, well done. But really enjoyed the bowling today specially @Wasim_Jnr@mnawaz94 and some good fielding too. Pakistan Zindabad 🇵🇰 #pakvswi
From Pakistan's team today, Fakhar Zaman is the only player who was born the last time West Indies won a bilateral ODI series against Pakistan 31 years ago #PAKvWI#Cricket
Its so good to see cricket thriving in the grounds of Pakistan. Congratulations to team Pakistan on the series win with all round performances by everyone. Well bowled @mnawaz94 .Lets win the last one too! #PAKVSWI@TheRealPCB
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has surpassed Virat Kohli, the former Indian captain, as the fastest to 1000 ODI runs as a captain.
On Wednesday night at the Multan Cricket Stadium, Pakistani captain Babar Azam made history by smashing a century against West Indies in the first ODI, his 17th in the 50-over format, to set a new record.
He became the first Pakistani batsman to achieve 1000 runs. It took only 13 innings for the world’s number one ODI batsman to achieve this milestone.
Kohli was the first captain to score 1000 runs in his 17th innings, followed by AB De Villiers (20 matches) and Kane Williamson (22 matches).
Babar is also the only batsman in ODI history to score three centuries in a row twice. He previously accomplished this feat against the West Indies in 2016, but this time he did so with a century against the West Indies, followed by two hundreds in the second and third home ODIs in April of 2022.
Babar’s third successive century in ODIs came against Australia in Lahore earlier this year, when he scored 114 and 105 to help Pakistan win the series. It’s worth noting that Babar is now ranked first in the ICC hitters rankings for T20Is and ODIs.
Former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli became the first Asian to reach 200 million Instagram followers on Tuesday.
Kohli is one of the world’s most-followed cricketers and the third most followed professional athlete after Cristiano Ronaldo (451M) and Lionel Messi (334M).
The West Indies Cricket Team arrived in Multan on Monday and received a warm welcome. They will play three International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Super League One Day International (ODI) matches against Pakistan.
The visiting squad is likely to have a training session today (Tuesday). The two teams will lock horns on June 8, 10, and 12 in Multan.
The West Indies team just finished their series in the Netherlands, whitewashing the home side 3-0. However, Pakistan, who won their last ODI series by 2-1 at home against Kangaroos reportedly started their training on Monday.
Under the captaincy of Babar Azam, Shaheens currently stand at tenth position with six wins out of 12. Whereas, West Indies stands at fourth position with eight wins in 18 matches.
Once again, Rafael Nadal proved why he is the best player in French Open history by defeating long-time rival Novak Djokovic in a late-night thriller to advance to the men’s singles semi-finals.
Nadal, seeking his 14th French Open title, got out to a strong start and held off defending champion Djokovic to win 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4) at Roland Garros.
After more than four hours on the court, Nadal won at 1:15am local time. On Friday, the 21-time Grand Slam winner will meet third seed Alexander Zverev. After surviving a comeback by teenage phenom Carlos Alcaraz earlier on Tuesday, Germany’s Zverev, 25, advanced to the semi-finals for the second year in a row.
“To win against Novak there is only one way: to play your best from the first point to the last,” said 35-year-old Nadal, who thanked the Paris crowd for showing their “love”.
“This is one of those magic nights for me.”
Fifth seed Nadal avenged his semi-final loss to Djokovic last year and improved his Roland Garros clay record to 110 wins in 113 matches.
The pair’s rivalry is the longest durable in men’s tennis, with Nadal narrowing the deficit to 30-29 in the head-to-head after winning their 59th meeting.
“Nadal demonstrated why he is a great champion by remaining psychologically strong throughout the match. Without a doubt, he is deserving of it “Djokovic stated.
Pakistan Women’s cricket team captain Bismah Maroof has been allowed by the Commonwealth Games (CWG) to take her daughter with her to the tournament.
Earlier, the Commonwealth Games village said they will not accommodate Bismah’s infant daughter. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had asked the CWG Federation for two extra accreditations to accommodate Maroof’s mother and daughter in the village.
“I want to thank the Commonwealth Games for accepting our request to accommodate our captain Bismah Maroof’s family at the Games village, which will allow her to focus on the task at hand without any worries about her young infant daughter,” PCB’s head of women’s cricket Tania Mallick said in a statement.
