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  • Dale Steyn unhappy with South Africa’s T20I squad against Pakistan

    Dale Steyn unhappy with South Africa’s T20I squad against Pakistan

    Dale Steyn is unhappy with South Africa’s T20I squad for the home series against Pakistan next month.

    Read more – Dale Steyn says PSL is ‘more rewarding’ than IPL

    Reacting to the squad on Twitter, Steyn questioned selectors for dropping main players like Faf Du Plessis and David Miller from the squad.

    “I missed the reason why our big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?” questioned the renowned.

    It must be noted here that Pakistan and South Africa will play three T20Is. After Pakistan, South Africa has also announced their white-ball squads for the tour. The 17-member T20I and 22-member ODI squad will be led by Temba Bavuma.

    Proteas ODI squad

    Temba Bavuma (Captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts, Rassie van der Dussen, Junior Dala, Lutho Sipamla, Wiaan Mulder, Sisanda Magala, Kyle Verreynne, Daryn Dupavillon, Lizaad Williams

    Proteas T20 squad

    Temba Bavuma (Captain), Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Rassie van der Dussen, Janneman Malan, Sisanda Magala, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Kyle Verreynne (WK), Pite van Biljon, Migael Pretorius, Lizaad Williams, Wihan Lubbe.

    Pakistan Squads:

    T20I: Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) (Northern), Arshad Iqbal (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Asif Ali (Northern), Danish Aziz (Sindh), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Mohammad Hafeez (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sharjeel Khan (Sindh) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab)

    ODI: Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) (Northern), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Danish Aziz (Sindh), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab)

    Test: Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Imran Butt (Balochistan), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Tabish Khan (Sindh) and Zahid Mahmood (Southern Punjab)

  • Local court directs FIA to book Babar Azam in harassment case

    Local court directs FIA to book Babar Azam in harassment case

    A local court in Lahore on Thursday ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to register a case against Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for allegedly harassing and blackmailing his former class fellow Hameeza Mukhtar.

    According to reports, Additional district and session’s Judge Hamid Hussain also directed the FIA to book two other women in the case.

    The order was issued after it emerged that the mobile phone number, which was being used to harass the complainant, belonged to the 26-year-old cricketer and two women identified as Maryam Ahmed and Salemi Bibi.

    The investigators have been directed to register the case within the stipulated time without any delay.

    In November 2020, Hameeza, who claimed to be Azam’s neighbour and schoolfellow, accused the Pakistan skipper of all cricket formats of blackmailing, adding that the cricketer had “tricked her into love” and “tortured” her when she demanded him to marry her.

    She alleged that Azam engaged in illicit relations with her on the false promises of marriage and that she got pregnant out of wedlock but had to go for abortion on the cricketer’s insistence.

    Hamiza further said that she had financially supported Babar when he was struggling with his career, adding that she spent millions of rupees on him.

    Mukhatar also said that she had moved a total of five petitions in the court and would continue her struggle till she got justice.

    In January, she also promised to surrender her mobile for further inquiry into the matter but didn’t appear in the court nor provided any digital evidence.

    VIDEO: Did the woman who accused Babar Azam of harassment really drop charges?

    Later, on January 18, Babar Azam was summoned to court, at which his elder brother Faisal Azam appeared and sought some time for verifying the matter. He is yet to make an appearance in court.

    A copy of the court order

    However, Azam has rejected the allegations.

    In December 2020, Lahore police had declared Mukhtar’s accusations against Babar as false after the complainant remained unable to provide any concrete evidence to support her claims.

    Meanwhile, Azam’s counsel, Barrister Harris Azmat, while requesting the court to reject the petitioner’s plea, had said that Azam was a national cricketer and hero, adding that Hameeza had started blackmailing the national cricket team captain in 2016 whereas the police had cleared him in an investigation.

    Police also submitted an investigation report in the court, as per which the national cricketer was found innocent and the woman was leveling baseless allegations.

    Barrister Azmat said that Azam’s case was being covered by Indian media and the woman may have targeted the national cricketer once again at the behest of someone.

  • Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Amir confused over PCB’s player-selection criteria

    Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Amir confused over PCB’s player-selection criteria

    Shahid Afridi on Wednesday said that he was unable to understand the “standard of selection which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) adopts,” while choosing players for the national team.

    Speaking at an event in Lahore, the former captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team not only expressed his confusion over PCB’s selection process but also said that the PCB did not have a solid plan in place for the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) sixth edition because of which it had to be postponed.

    Afridi said that selectors, coaches, and captains form a team together.

    “Now, I am hearing that there are differences between them but these matters should not be leaked. It’s wrong to leak internal matters of the board,” said the skipping, adding that the most important role in the selection of the team is played by the captain as they have to make decisions on the field.

    “There is a lot of pressure on the skipper. He also has to answer questions to the media. If you want to take Babar Azam with you in the future, you have to give him power. We have to work with him,” he said. “Most importantly, the internal matters of the team shouldn’t be leaked.”

    Afridi said he does not understand the method of selection of the team and questioned the criteria based on which players are picked.

    “Players who have merely played two matches are being selected. For instance, Naseem Shah was selected and was allowed to play with very experienced bowlers. But now, Naseem is nowhere to be seen. If you invest in a player, you have to take them forward [with the team],” Afridi remarked.

    It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim has refuted claims of a rift between him, Azam and head coach Misbah ul Haq, saying that there was no truth to them.

    Later, while talking about PSL6, which had to be called off after several players tested positive for COVID-19 despite staying in the biosecure bubble, Afridi said that the tournament should not have been postponed.

    “I don’t think the PSL should have been postponed. The Pakistan Super League is a very big brand of Pakistan. It is our honour, but the PCB did not seem to have a Plan B in place,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Mohammad Amir, who announced his retirement from Pakistan Cricket due to issues with PCB management, directly hit Wasim and said that the chief selector lacks the vision needed to take the country’s cricket forward.

    Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Amir questioned the change in selection criteria for opener Sharjeel Khan.

    “There is no doubt that Sharjeel [Khan] should be in the white-ball squad because he is the most dangerous player in white-ball cricket in Pakistan,” said Amir. “One or two series ago, you were saying that he needs to work on his fitness to get selected so why have you taken this decision now? The only thing you considered is his performance, right?”

    “It is important that they [selection committee] keep the same criteria of selection for every player,” he added.

    “I don’t see any vision of the chief selector. I don’t know if he is asked to work like this or it’s his own mindset. Selecting teams on public opinion is not the right thing to do. He should select players who are best suited to play for Pakistan,” he further stated.

  • Mohammad Wasim denies rumours of rift with Misbah-ul-Haq, Babar Azam

    Mohammad Wasim denies rumours of rift with Misbah-ul-Haq, Babar Azam

    Chief selector Mohammad Wasim has rejected claims of a rift with head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam. Over the past couple of days, different media reports suggested that both coach and the captain were unhappy with the team selection for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

    Wasim, while talking to a local media outlet, said that he has heard about the rumours of a rift between the trio but there are no legitimate grounds for these speculations.

    “I have been hearing about the same rumours [of rift] but I don’t believe there is any truth in this,” said Wasim. “We have a standard procedure which was followed during the selection of the teams for the South Africa home series and it was similarly followed this time around as well.”

    “The selection committee had three meetings with the captain and the coach whereas there were separate meetings of the selectors as well. So I don’t really know where are these rumours coming from.”

    The Men in Green are scheduled to face South Africa in three ODIs and four T20Is after which they will travel to Zimbabwe.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan batting great Inzamam-ul-Haq is also not happy with how things have panned out after the announcement of the squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe by Chief Selector Wasim.

    While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Inzamam revealed that skipper Azam is unhappy after his suggestions were ignored while selecting the team.

  • Imad Wasim shares adorable video with newborn daughter

    Imad Wasim shares adorable video with newborn daughter

    Imad Wasim has shared the first glimpse of his daughter with his fans on social media.

    Sharing a video of himself with his newborn, the Pakistani all-rounder said that it was the first time that he was holding his daughter.

    “Holding my baby girl for the first time,” said Imad in the caption. He added that it was the “best feeling” that he ever had.

    The Karachi Kings captain had announced the birth of his daughter earlier this month. The cricketer had also shared that the family had named her Syeda Inaya Imad.

  • PCB to bear former cricketer Tauseef Ahmed’s medical expenses

    PCB to bear former cricketer Tauseef Ahmed’s medical expenses

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced that it would bear all treatment costs of former Test cricketer Tauseef Ahmed, who recently underwent two stents during angioplasty.

    According to details, Tauseef Ahmed will remain under observation for 12 hours, said PCB’s spokesperson while talking to media, adding that Tauseef has been an asset to Pakistan Cricket.

    “I am in touch with Tauseef Ahmed. [Once discharged from the hospital], he will stay at the National High-Performance Centre until he is able to travel,” said the spokesperson.

    The former spinner is currently undergoing treatment at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, where his angioplasty was successfully carried out.

    According to Tauseef’s nephew Saifuddin, Ahmed has been given two stents during the procedure.

    “After 12 hours of observation at the recovery centre, he will be transferred to another ward,” said Saifuddin, adding that neither Ahmed nor his family faced any problems at the hospital.

    Saifuddin says he is “hopeful that Ahmed will be discharged from the hospital soon.”

    The former cricketer had suffered a heart attack while attending a wedding ceremony Sunday night.

    Meanwhile, several cricketers including Ramiz Raja, Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez prayed for Ahmed’s swift recovery.

  • KRL Stadium renamed to Shoaib Akhtar Cricket stadium

    The Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) cricket stadium has been renamed and will now be known as Shoaib Akhtar cricket stadium. The initiative was taken to honour the world’s fastest bowler that Pakistan has produced.

    Rashid Latif, who is a former Pakistan Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman, and now a cricket analyst announced the news on Twitter and shared pictures of the ceremony, which had Akhtar and other former cricketers in attendance.

    https://twitter.com/iRashidLatif68/status/1370334687521034240?s=20

    Congratulatory messages flooded in soon after the news was announced. Famous cricket commentator and TV presenter, Dr Nauman Niaz, congratulated Akhtar and termed it a well-deserved honour.

    https://twitter.com/iRashidLatif68/status/1370334687521034240?s=20

    Akhtar was the fastest and bowler and had a notorious reputation. Many have labelled his bowling ‘scary’ due to his fearless, aggressive, and unparalleled performance on the field.

  • VIDEO: Umar Gul recites Azaan in baby daughter’s ear

    VIDEO: Umar Gul recites Azaan in baby daughter’s ear

    Pakistani bowler Umar Gul shared a delightful video on Friday in which he can be seen reciting the Azaan in his newborn daughter’s ear – which is a ritual practiced by Muslims around the globe when their children are born.

    Taking to Instagram, Gul shared the video with a caption that read: “Giving Azaan again in my little princess’s ear! This feeling is just out of the world.”

    “Alhamdulillah for all His Blessings,” he added.

    On March 8, Gul had announced the birth of his third child.

    “Allah has blessed us again with his Rehmah! Baby Zainab is finally home and baby and Mama are both in good health,” the cricketer had written on Twitter.

    “May Allah bless her with long and healthy life, full of love and blessings,” he added.

  • Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Hafeez returns to Pakistan squad for Zimbabwe, South Africa tours

    Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim on Friday announced the Pakistan squad for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

    Pakistan is scheduled to play three one-day internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa from April 2 till April 16. After the South Africa tour, the team will depart for Zimbabwe, where they will play two Tests and three T20Is against the Chevrons.

    In the T20I squad, Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan have returned to the team after being dropped for the matches against South Africa in Pakistan.

    Opener Sharjeel Khan has also returned to the squad, while emerging players Mohamamad Wasim Jr and Arshad Iqbal have been called up following their strong performance in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    Interestingly, Mohamamad Wasim Jr has also been named in the ODI squad.

    On the other hand, Pakistan’s star leg spinner Yasir Shah has been excluded from the Test squad due to an injury.

    Multan Sultans bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who picked up quite a lot of accolades during PSL 6, has been given his maiden Test call.

    Read more – From Larkana to PSL6: All you need to know about Shahnawaz Dahani

    T20I squad

    Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohamamad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir.

    ODI squad

    Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakil, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad, Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir.

    Test squad

    Babar Azam, Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mehmood, Sajid Khan.

  • Colleagues congratulate Umar Gul on arrival of second daughter

    Colleagues congratulate Umar Gul on arrival of second daughter

    After Imad Wasim and wife Sania Ashfaq welcomed a baby girl last week, cricketer Umar Gul and his wife have welcomed their little bundle of joy.

    The current bowling coach of Quetta Gladiators took to Twitter on Monday to announce that he has been blessed with his third child, a baby daughter.

    “Allah has blessed us with his rehmah again,” wrote the right-arm fast-medium bowler. “Baby Zainab is finally home and the baby and mama are both in good health.”

    Soon after Gul announced the news, friends and colleagues including Mohammad Hafeez, Fawad Alam, Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shadab Khan extended their wishes to the couple.

    Umar married a Dubai-based doctor in October 2010. Their first daughter, Rehab Umar, was born in May 2012. Following this, the duo also had a son.

    The cricketing star was appointed as Quetta Gladiators’ bowling coach for the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League, which was postponed after a surge in Covid-19 cases.