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  • Younis Khan breaks silence on feud with Hassan Ali

    Younis Khan breaks silence on feud with Hassan Ali

    Younis Khan has finally broken his silence on a feud with Hassan Ali.

    According to reports, Khan said Ali had apologised to him after their heated exchange of words, and that the two had moved past the incident.

    “Hassan Ali apologised to me, and I had forgiven him,” Younis Khan said in a statement. “To play up the Hassan Ali incident [and use it] as a possible reason for my resignation comes as a surprise to me,” he added.

    Speaking about his resignation, Khan said he had kept silent over the matter in the larger interest of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistani cricket. Khan clarified that it was PCB’s Strength and Conditioning Coach Yasir Malik who had requested him to speak to Hassan Ali about taking an ice bath.

    “I have never looked towards the PCB for a job or for any position,” he said. “I was approached for the position [of batting coach] by the Board,” added the former batsman.

    Senior Pakistan sports reporter Saj Sadiq tweeted about the spat between Younis Khan and Hassan Ali a few days ago, stating that a verbal fight between the two took place when Ali refused to take an ice bath as suggested by Khan.

    As per Sadiq, the altercation got to the point where the two had to be separated by coaching staff members and other team players. 

    A day earlier, Sadiq spoke more about the incident, saying that Khan had allegedly locked himself in a room and refused to talk to Ali, even after the fast bowler had apologised to him.

    The news of the heated exchange between the two was reported after Khan stepped down from his position as batting coach a few days ago.

  • Dale Steyn thanks Rumman Raees for birthday wish in a unique style

    Dale Steyn thanks Rumman Raees for birthday wish in a unique style

    Dale Steyn has thanked his former Islamabad United fellow cricketer Rumman Raees from Pakistan Super League ina unique style

    Raees took to Twitter and wished the speedster saying: “Number one and nothing rest, the legend. Happy Birthday Dale Steyn , stay blessed. Thanking the Pakistani bowler, Steyn shared his selfie with a framed photo with Raees when he had a fanboy moment with him and when Steyn used to played for Islamabad.

    It was a wholesome moment when Steyn gave Raees his jersey of IU and Raees gave him a framed picture of the two when he shared his fanboy moment with the South African pacer.

    Hassan Ali also wished his “favourite” bowler, appreciating him and calling him an inspiration.

  • Younis Khan, Hassan Ali reportedly involved in heated exchange on South Africa tour

    Younis Khan, Hassan Ali reportedly involved in heated exchange on South Africa tour

    Younis Khan, who recently resigned from the post of batting coach in Pakistan’s men’s cricket team, was reportedly involved in a heated exchange with star pacer Hassan Ali during the South Africa tour, sports journalist Saleem Khaliq reported.

    As per details, Younis had approached Hasan over a matter outside his domain in the dressing room after the match, but the latter hit back with a strong response which left the former batting coach unhappy. Younis also remained quiet and reserved during the rest of the tour, after the incident.

    No comment has been made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the matter yet, while Younis has not shared anything about the incident either.

    PCB and Younis, on June 22, mutually agreed to part ways. A dental treatment and strained relationship between Younis Khan and the top PCB officials was the reason behind the former’s resignation as the batting coach of the Men in Green.

    Younis was also allegedly accused of leaking team lineups to his friends in the media before matches.

    Khan, along with former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif, made a special appearance on ARY News’ popular program ‘Har Lamha Purjosh’, where he recounted the events that took place in the dressing room during his tenure as captain in 2009 and how they used to say that the cricketer is very rude.

    Rashid, while endorsing Khan’s position, revealed that the former players had a big hand in grouping the team against him.

  • T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    The 2021 men’s T20 World Cup will not take place in India anymore. It is set to begin from October 17 in the United Arab Emirates, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14.

    Reportedly, the tournament will start days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE, starting September 19.

    While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to write to the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially about shifting the T20 World Cup to the UAE, it has already set the ball rolling in terms of planning for the tournament to be held in the middle east.

    As per the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup will be split across two groups and played in the UAE and Oman.

    Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four team from this lot of eight i.e, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams. The Super 12s phase, comprising 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24. The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE, i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games – the two semi-finals and the final.

    With Round 1 being co-hosted by one of the venues in the UAE and Oman, the BCCI is confident that will offer enough time to refresh the pitches across the main grounds in the UAE for the Super 12s.

    On June 1, the ICC granted BCCI until the end of June to give its final word on whether India will be able to host the T20 World Cup. With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the global cricket calendar last year, the ICC postponed the 2020 World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in Australia, and decided India would host the tournament in 2021 with Australia hosting the 2022 edition.

    However, the grim pandemic situation in India, which was flattened by a second wave this summer, forced the BCCI to abruptly suspend the IPL at the halfway stage in May.

    That development instantly cast doubts on whether India could be fit to host the multi-team World T20 after travel between cities was identified as a prime area of concern for teams getting exposed to coronavirus outside the bubble during the IPL.

    The BCCI had shortlisted nine venues for the T20 World Cup, but an ICC team, meant to carry out inspection, had to cancel its visit in April. Despite the pandemic numbers climbing down since the alarming peak of April-May period, public health experts have predicted India will face a third wave later in 2021. With the ICC deadline expiring in a few days, the BCCI is expected to make its decision public on moving the event outside to the UAE.

  • Prominent personalities congratulate Multan Sultans on winning PSL 6

    Multan Sultans beat Peshawar Zalmi in the final to win their maiden Pakistan Super League (PSL) title. Congratulatory messages started pouring in as soon as the match ended, with some prominent personalities congratulating the team.

    Have a look at some of the congratulatory messages:

  • Memes break the internet after Multan Sultans win PSL 6

    Multan Sultans won Pakistan Super League 6 (PSL 6) after defeating Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs last night. As cricket lovers are happy for Multan Sultans’ maiden PSL victory and #Champions is trending on Twitter, here are some memes to celebrate their victory.

    https://twitter.com/Zi99Ham/status/1408140816573423621?s=20

    Read More: Firdous Ashiq Awan vs Qadir Mandokhel: Memes you can’t miss

  • Haider Ali and Umaid Asif suspended from PSL final for violating bio-secure bubble

    Haider Ali and Umaid Asif suspended from PSL final for violating bio-secure bubble

    Peshawar Zalmi’s Haider Ali and Umaid Asif have been suspended from Pakistan Super League (PSL) final against Multan Sultans in Abu Dhabi after the duo admitted to charges of violating the tournament’s health and safety protocols by meeting people from outside their bio-secure bubbles. They also failed to maintain the prescribed social distancing.

    A press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that the incident occurred on Wednesday and the decision to withdraw the two players was taken on the morning of the final by the tournament’s Covid-19 management panel comprising PCB chief operating officer Barrister Salman Naseer and Director-Commercial and PSL 6 head Babar Hamid.

    “The two cricketers were found not to have interacted with any other squad members at any time after the incident and have been placed in room isolation,” the PCB said.

    For the same reason, Ali has also been withdrawn from the upcoming tours of England and the West Indies and replaced by Sohaib Maqsood.

    Earlier in March, PCB had reportedly allowed Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy to reintegrate with the Peshawar Zalmi team without completing the three-day quarantine period after the two had allegedly breached COVID-19 protocols before the postponement of PSL6. The violation took place when the two met franchise owner Javed Afridi outside the team’s bio-security bubble. Similarly, Naseem Shah was ruled out of PSL after he broke COVID-19 protocols but later when his test was clear and accepting his mistake, he was allowed to join the rest of the team in Abu Dhabi.

    Meanwhile, Sultans, who made it to the finals for the first time, will face the four-time finalists Zalmis on Wednesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

  • ‘Good things happen to good people,’ Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja congratulate NZ on winning World Test Championship

    ‘Good things happen to good people,’ Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja congratulate NZ on winning World Test Championship

    Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam, Ramiz Raja and several members from the cricket fraternity took to social media to congratulate New Zealand for winning the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) title. The black caps defeated India by eight wickets at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, on Wednesday.

    Taking to Twitter, Babar wrote: “Congratulations to New Zealand on this remarkable feat. WTC is indeed a premier contest and you can’t succeed without perseverance and dedication. Team India also put up a great show throughout the tournament. Awesome contest!”

    Former Pakistani cricketer and commentator Raja said: “Good things happen to good people. Congrats Kane Williamson.”

    “Congrats @BLACKCAPS on winning the #WTC21. You were the superior team. #TeamIndia will be disappointed with their performance. As I had mentioned the first 10 overs will be crucial & Flag of India lost both Kohli & Pujara in the space of 10 balls & that put a lot of pressure on the team,” tweeted Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

    Virender Sehwag praised Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor for their match-winning partnership. “Missed being 50-over champions 2 years ago in the same country, but winning the inaugural World test Championship in style, many congratulations @BLACKCAPS , absolutely worthy champions. Happy for Kane Williamson and @RossLTaylor”, he tweeted.

    Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum took to Twitter to pass on his wishes to Kane Williamson and his team. “To Kane and all of the boys, We love you”, he wrote on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/Bazmccullum/status/1407766493492781058?s=20

    Test cricket legend VVS Laxman also congratulated New Zealand for their win in the WTC Final. He tweeted, “Congratulations @BLACKCAPS on being deserving champions. NZ bowlers were terrific, Williamson & Taylor brought in their experience to finish the job. Indian batsman will rue not playing to potential in 2nd innings,but India can be proud of the way they played the WTC cycle.”

    “Congratulations NZ” started trending on Twitter even before the New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway came out to bat.

    New Zealand’s four-pronged pace attack led by Tim Southee produced an excellent exhibition of seam bowling on the reserve day of the WTC final against India to bowl them out for a score of just 170 in the third innings of the match.

    India set a target of 139 runs. New Zealand reached 140 for two in 45.5 overs, winning by eight wickets. Williamson smashed 52 runs off 89 balls, packed with eight fours. Meanwhile, Taylor, who hit the winning boundary, slammed an unbeaten knock of 47 off 100 balls.

  • Peshawar Zalmi is the ‘strongest’ team in the tournament, says Shahid Afridi

    Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi said that Peshawar Zalmi is the strongest team of the tournament, while talking to Arab News.

    “I believe if Multan Sultans continues with its [current] form, it can win,” Afridi told the news media publication. “But the combination of Peshawar is excellent when we see their bowling and batting. So in my view, the strongest team [in this tournament] is Peshawar.”

    Afridi said it was a matter of happiness that his team, Multan Sultans, has qualified for the finals. “I extend congratulations to the entire squad, especially [captain Muhammad] Rizwan.”

    The final of the sixth season of the PSL will be played today between Multan Sultans and Peshawar Zalmi.

  • Jahangir Khan wants Humayun Saeed to play him in his biopic

    Jahangir Khan wants Humayun Saeed to play him in his biopic

    Squash legend Jahangir Khan has said that if a film was made on his life, the hero should be Humayun Saeed.

    Khan was invited to Shahzad Iqbal’s Jashan-e-Cricket. The Host asked that who is your favourite actor? To which the legendary player replied that he doesn’t watch many films but he likes Abid Ali, Nasir Sahab and Jamshed Ansari from Pakistani dramas. He also mentioned Shehnaz Sheikh’s name as his favourite actress.
    Shahzad further asked: “If a biopic is made on you, who do you think can act well in it?” The host gave him the options of Fahad Mustafa, Fawad Khan, Humayun Saeed and Sheheryar Munarwar, Khan chose Humayun.

    He added: “It is very important for inspiration and I think it is very important for our children. We have many sports legends, I think biopics should be made for their learning.”

    Shahzad also asked that if he has any plan to write an autobiography, to which Khan said: “I haven’t think about it as yet but I think I should.”

    On November 28, 1981, Khan became the world’s youngest world champion. He is a great squash player who won 555 events consecutively. He retired from Squash in 1993 after helping Pakistan to win the World Team Championship in Karachi.