Current Final

Category: Sports

  • Pakistani cricket fan holding Palestinian flag beaten up by guards in second T20

    Pakistani cricket fan holding Palestinian flag beaten up by guards in second T20

    A cricket fan who invaded the pitch during Pakistan’s second T20 against England at Headingley has complained he was beaten very badly by the security guards.

    Speaking to Geo News from the accident and emergency unit of the Oldham Hospital, Muhammad Ayshaam, 25, said he wanted to have fun and get a selfie with the closest player Adil Rashid when storming the pitch towards the end of the match.

    Live scenes showed Ayshaam storming the pitch by dodging at least five security guards on his way, making it straight to Rashid, pausing there for three seconds to attempt a selfie and then running back to the stands, successfully dodging the security men chasing to get hold of him.

    Thousands of cricket fans cheered and clapped as Ayshaam flipped his way back to the crowd and ran up the stands to melt into the crowd, while the security men continued their chase.

    But Ayshaam, who works in a warehouse and was carrying a “free Palestine” flag with him when invading the pitch, says he was beaten “very badly” by the security guards. As he was running out, an English fan stuck his leg out to drop him and then two Pakistani security guards tried to grab him and Ayshaam dodged them too.
    Then four to five security guards chased him and one of them tackled Ayshaam on the ground.

    “I fell on the concrete with full force. I have deep cuts on [my] left elbow and on both hands. I couldn’t stand when they tripped and pushed me. They also dragged me even when I requested to sit down on [the] floor. My left foot was in so much pain. I couldn’t stand and they carried on dragging and pushing me,” he said while talking to Geo News.

    The English Cricket Board (ECB) and other sporting managements have declared that invading pitches by fans is unacceptable and those involved in anti-social behaviour will be dealt with the full force of regulations and laws.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan will face England today (Tuesday) in the final T20 of the three-match series.

  • PTV to take action against fake account impersonating the channel

    PTV to take action against fake account impersonating the channel

    Pakistan Television (PTV) Sports channel’s Twitter account has claimed that the Facebook account body shaming Azam Khan is fake and PTV management will take strict action against the fake account.

    “In response to speculation circulating regarding Pakistan Television Corporation’s social media handles body shaming a Pakistani cricket player, this is to notify that the handle perpetuating this act is fake and does not belong to PTV,” tweeted PTV Sports.

    In another tweet, PTV Sports added: “Further the PTV management has taken notice of the malicious post impersonating PTV, and will be approaching PTA & other concerned authorities to take strict action against the fake account spreading disrepute on PTV.”

    “As the National Broadcaster of Pakistan, we are cognisant of our responsibilities, and will always hold true to the aspirations of the people of the country & continue the positive projection of Pakistan to the world,” concluded the Twitter account of sports broadcasting channel.

    Earlier, Pakistani celebrities like Adnan Siddiqui, Faysal Quraishi, Haroon Shahid among other big names turned to their social media to call out the insensitive remarks by the sports channel’s social media account.

    Meanwhile, the post was later deleted from the imposter Facebook account.

  • Haroon Shahid, Faysal Quraishi call out PTV Sports for body shaming Azam Khan

    Haroon Shahid, Faysal Quraishi call out PTV Sports for body shaming Azam Khan

    Faysal Quraishi and singer turned actor Haroon Shahid took to social media to share an insensitive post by Pakistan Television (PTV) Sports’ official social media account, which posted a picture of Azam Khan with a caption that read: “Khata hai lekin lagata nahin.”

    Faysal turned to Instagram stories and wrote: “Shame on you @ptvsportspk.”

    Similarly, Haroon took to Instagram stories, saying: “Not a joke. At first I thought it’s a fake page running under the name of PTV sports. To my surprising, it wasn’t,” adding, “Is this how we are going to ridicule our players.”

    National High-Performance Centre batting coach Mohammad Yousuf said wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan can’t look to hit sixes all the time.

    He added that Azam has to learn to assess match situations and see what the team needs him to do and what approach he has to take.

    Azam, who is the son of former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Moin Khan, recently made his international debut as he featured in the first T20 International against England on Friday.

    In the match, which Pakistan won by 31 runs, he made five runs off three balls, which included a boundary.

    In the second T20 International, Azam only made one run as Pakistan was beaten by 45 runs.

    The 22-year-old was called up to the national team on the back of strong performances in domestic cricket.

    In the Pakistan Cup, he accumulated 186 runs in seven games for Sindh, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 46.50 and a strike rate of 124.83.

    As for the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he scored 174 runs in 10 matches for the Quetta Gladiators at an average of 17.40 and a strike rate of 133.84.

    “Hitting sixes is important in T20s, but a proper batsman has to look at the match situation first and foremost and also look at what the team needs,” Yousuf told a Pakistani media outlet.

    Meanwhile, netizens are also trolling Azam with insensitive memes on social media. Hashtag Azam Khan fat was also trending on Twitter.

    The three-match T20 series is now tied at 1-1 and the decider will be held on Tuesday.

  • Case registered against thieves for stealing hockey, ball from statue of Samiullah Khan

    Case registered against thieves for stealing hockey, ball from statue of Samiullah Khan

    Bahawalpur Police on Sunday registered a case against unknown thieves who stole a hockey stick and ball from the statue of former hockey player Samiullah Khan.

    As per reports, Bahawalpur Cantt Police Station has initiated the investigation with the help of CCTV footage.

    The administration has put a new hockey stick and ball, restoring the statue to its original condition.

    The theft occurred in less than two weeks after the statue of hockey player Samiullah was set up at a crossing to honour him.

    Read More: ‘I respect all women’: Abdul Razzaq responds to criticism for his comments on Nida Dar

    An investigation is underway and the police have started conducting raids to arrest the suspects.

    Samiullah Khan played for Pakistan between 1973 and 1982. At the FIH World Cups, he was a member of two winning teams: 1978 and 1982. Khan won silver from the 1975 World Cup. He participated only in one Olympics in 1976 where Pakistan won bronze. Khan scored 55 goals in international hockey, including 12 in four World Cup appearances.

  • ‘I respect all women’: Abdul Razzaq responds to criticism for his comments on Nida Dar

    ‘I respect all women’: Abdul Razzaq responds to criticism for his comments on Nida Dar

    Former cricketer Abdul Razzaq has come up with a clarification note after receiving immense criticism for making sexist comments about women cricketers in general and Nida Dar in particular.

    Taking to Twitter, Razzaq shared that he has clarified his position on a phone call with Nida.

    “A clip from a TV show has surfaced, highlighting some comments I made towards my fellow cricketer Nida Dar. Although these comments were made in a lighted-hearted way and not to offend anyone, on reflection the choice of words and their presentation was poor and wrong,” he wrote.

    “I have subsequently called Nida Dar and clarified my position. I have the utmost respect for all women, especially our women cricketers, who have made great strides in our sport. Nida is our shining star and I hope she continues to make Pakistan proud,” the former all-rounder added.

    Razzaq and Nida appeared in G Sarkar with Nauman Ijaz on Neo Tv. During the show, Nida was asked if women athletes always have to leave the sport after marriage.

    “Do you have some kind of allergy with marriage? You don’t want to talk about it at all,” the cricketer was asked.

    Dar commented, “They try to play the sport as much as they can since you never know after the wedding.”

    While intervening in the conversation, Razzaq said women athletes do not marry as they always try to compete with their male counterparts.

    “Oh, they don’t get married,” Razzaq said. “Their field is as such. When they become cricketers, they strive to be as equal as their male counterparts, if not better than them. They want to prove that not only men but women can also do it,” said the cricketer.

    “The feeling [to get married] is gone [by the time they excel. If you shake her [Dar] hand, she is anything but feminine,” said Razzaq.

  • Pakistan, India placed in same group in T20 World Cup

    Pakistan, India placed in same group in T20 World Cup

    Pakistan and India will meet in the Super 12s stage of the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup, to be co-hosted by the UAE and Oman between October 17 and November 14. This will make it the first face-off between the two teams in more than two years; their last fixture was in the 2019 50-over World Cup.

    On Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the make-up of the groups – both for the first round and for the Super 12s stage – for the big-ticket tournament, which will be the first multi-team, global event organised by the ICC since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic early last year. The final of the World Test Championship, featuring India and New Zealand, was hosted in Southampton last month.

    The ICC did not unveil the schedule for the 16-team tournament, which is expected to be finalised shortly.

    The first-round matches will be split between two groups, with the games to be played in the UAE and Oman. Group A has Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands and Namibia, while Group B has Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Oman. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 12s, which will be played in the three UAE centres – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

    Teams in the Super 12s have been pooled into two groups as well. India and Pakistan are in Group 2 alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan and two qualifiers – B1 and A2. Group 1 comprises defending champions West Indies along with England, Australia and South Africa and the other two qualifiers – A1 and B2. The groups, the ICC confirmed, were selected on the basis of the team rankings as of March 20, 2021.

    In the 2020 edition of the tournament, which was originally scheduled for Australia and was later postponed by the ICC because of the Covid-19 pandemic, India and Pakistan were in different groups because they were number one and number two in the ICC T20I rankings at the time of the deadline. That would have been the first time the two teams would not have contested in the group stage of a global tournament since the 2011 50-over World Cup.

    This time, India are second behind England, and ahead of New Zealand, followed by Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan and West Indies.

    “There are some great match-ups offered by the groups and it starts to bring the event to life for our fans as our first multi-team event since the onset of the global pandemic draws closer,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s acting chief executive, said in a statement on Friday. “Given the disruption caused by Covid-19, we selected the cutoff date as close as possible to the event to ensure we were able to include the maximum amount of cricket in the rankings which determine the groups. There is no doubt we will witness some highly competitive cricket when the event gets underway in just three months.”

    The tournament was earlier scheduled to be played in India, but owing to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic in the country, the BCCI decided to move it overseas, even though the Indian board continues to be official hosts for the event.

  • ‘What’ve we won before or after 2017 CT?’: Kamran Akmal slams Pakistan’s cricketing policies after whitewash by England

    ‘What’ve we won before or after 2017 CT?’: Kamran Akmal slams Pakistan’s cricketing policies after whitewash by England

    Wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has slammed the former coaches for the present scenario of the Pakistan cricket team. His statement came after Babar Azam-led Pakistan was whitewashed after losing the last match to England by 7 wickets.

    Ben Stokes-led England, which featured mostly inexperienced players as the regulars were isolated due to the Covid-19 outbreak, trashed the visiting party in all the three ODIs. After the humiliating series loss, the Pakistan team has been receiving flak from several former cricketers of the country for getting hammered by a second-string team.

    In a conversation with paktv.tv, Akmal heaped praise on England’s cricketing system for setting up an example of how to form a team in adverse conditions.

    “The biggest plus point of England cricket is their system. The players they selected for the series didn’t show a single sign of nervousness, neither did they hit the panic button. They didn’t even complain about the absence of regulars who were in isolation, because they have that kind of confidence,” Akmal said.

    “All the players have played in domestic cricket hence; they handled the pressure well and played with planning. They passed a message to the world how a cricket team should be made and what should be the selection criteria,” he added.

    Akmal further pointed out that the damage was done to the team during the tenure of former coaches and the same old policies of the governing body has hampered Pakistan’s cricketing environment.

    “If you have two coaches of similar types, then that will cause problems. Coaches have the biggest role in constituting a team. Did the last two Pakistan coaches improve the team? They started all this and now the current management is facing flak.

    “The players need to play cricket more and more. They need to spend more time on the ground. They need to focus on every format but unfortunately, T20 is getting more attention. Their lies the problem,” Akmal said.

    “Vicky Bhai [Waqar Younis] was the head coach earlier and then there was Mickey Arthur. What have we won after or before the 2017 Champions Trophy? We were number one in T20Is and in Tests just for a month. But what about India who has been on the top for five years?” he added.

    Pakistan will take on England in a three-match T20I series starting from today (Friday).

  • Abdul Razzaq faces backlash over sexist remarks about a female cricketer

    Former cricketer and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq recently appeared in a TV show hosted by Nauman Ijaz with Pakistan women’s cricket team’s Nida Dar, where he passed sexist comments about her.

    During the show, one of the members interrupted Dar while she was talking about her profession and said that women cricketers leave their profession and get married.

    Abdul Razzaq was quick to jump in, saying, “Oh, they don’t get married.”

    “Their field is as such. When they become cricketers, they strive to be as equal as their male counterparts, if not better than them. They want to prove that not only men, but they can also do it as well. The feeling [to get married] is gone [by the time they excel].”

    “Aap inko hath mila kay dekh lein, yeh larki to nahi lagtein,” said Razzaq. (If you shake her [Dar’s] hand, she is anything but feminine).

    https://twitter.com/emclub77/status/1415197775998951428

    People on social media are calling out Razzaq over his sexist comments.

    https://twitter.com/talkingcurves/status/1415549722450874372
  • ‘Massively disturbing this 3-0 score line’: Ramiz Raja reacts to Pakistan getting whitewashed

    ‘Massively disturbing this 3-0 score line’: Ramiz Raja reacts to Pakistan getting whitewashed

    Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Ramiz Raja has reacted to Pakistan’s “disturbing” 3-0 whitewash by England in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series on Tuesday.

    Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “What started off as an aberration, a momentary glitch became a norm! Massively disturbing this 3-0 scoreline!!”

    Pakistan’s Babar Azam-led unit suffered a three-wicket defeat in the third ODI despite posting a gigantic 331-run total on the scoreboard.

    On the other hand, he was angrier while giving his views on his YouTube Channel. “I’m not surprised with the result in today’s game. This was on the cards as this team had already mentally disintegrated.”

    He said that Pakistan never recovered from the shocking defeat in the first ODI, which led to bad headlines about the team across the globe.

    “It has become a trend that we have stopped learning from our mistakes,” Raja said. “Whenever there is added pressure, we make more mistakes. As in today’s game, we made fumbles and dropped catches on the field. Similarly, our bowling was below par due to the added pressure.”

    “They started bowling half-trackers and shorter lengths on a straight pitch, which is nothing less than inviting batsmen to hit you all around the park,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Azam became the quickest to reach 14 ODI centuries milestone in just 81 innings. This also makes Azam the first-ever Pakistan skipper to score an ODI century against England in England.

    On the list of quickest to 14 ODI centuries, the 26-year-old is followed by Hashim Amla (84 innings), David Warner (98 innings), Virat Kohli (103 innings) and Quinton de Kock (104 innings).

  • NCOC responds to cricketer Junaid Khan’s tweets about Covid vaccine shortage

    NCOC responds to cricketer Junaid Khan’s tweets about Covid vaccine shortage

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), reacting to Pakistani cricketer Junaid Khan’s concerns about the non-availability of Covid-19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), said that there is no shortage of vaccine in the province.

    In a couple of tweets, the KP-based pacer said that the government has made it mandatory for tourists to get vaccine before visiting northern areas, but the dosses “are not even available”.

    “Joke of the day! @Asad_Umar says Covid vaccine is a must for tourists in KPK and Gilgit Biltistan but first @ShahramKTarakai @AsadQaiserPTI and Asad Umar need to know that the vaccination they are making compulsory are not even available,” he wrote.

    Junaid said that the district administration of Mardan and Bunair had confirmed the situation.

    “No vaccine is available. Those that have taken their first dose more than 6/7 weeks ago are still waiting for their second dose. If they are not available where will people get vaccinated from?” he added.

    Responding to the cricketer, NCOC said more than one million doses are available across KP, backed by an efficient supply and management system.

    “In Buner, Swabi and Mardan, the minimum stock level of 30,000 doses each is being maintained, which is recouped from Provincial Stores based on the daily consumption rate,” the national Covid-19 monitoring body said.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan has paced up its inoculation drive. More than half a million doses were administered on Monday in the country.