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  • Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Australia announces full-strength squad for Pakistan tour

    Cricket Australia (CA) has named a full-strength squad for their first tour to Pakistan in 24 years, with Ashton Agar the only addition from the extended group of players that won the Ashes.

    The CA announced the team after it’s Executive Board’s endorsement for the tour following a schedule change agreed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) due to logistical challenges.

    Mitch Marsh, Josh Inglis, and Mitchell Swepson have all been named in an 18-man squad for the historic three-Test tour of Pakistan.

    According to Australian website Cricket.com.au, while squads for the limited-overs matches that will follow the Tests are yet to be named, the fact that no Test players have pulled out is a vote of confidence for the tour.

    Thorough security assessments were conducted by the security experts hired by the Australian board before the tour was given the go-ahead.

    The report stated that Jhye Richardson is the only player of note to miss the trip as Australia manages the body of the 25-year-old fast bowler, who has struggled with injuries over his career.

    “This squad covers all scenarios, including the conditions given that it has been such a long time since Australia was last in Pakistan,” selection chief George Bailey said.

    “With several subcontinent tours and a one-day World Cup in India on the near horizon, this is a great first test challenge for the group after the successful home Ashes series.”

    “It’s also a very historic tour given the length of time since an Australian side last toured Pakistan.”

    Australia Test squad:

    Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

  • Fawad Chaudhry welcomes Australian team, recommends Lahore and Karachi’s desi food

    Fawad Chaudhry welcomes Australian team, recommends Lahore and Karachi’s desi food

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has welcomed the Australian cricket team to Pakistan after they confirmed their tour to Pakistan for the first time in 24 years. Australia will play a full-fledged series in three Tests, three ODIs and a solitary T20I on their tour starting March 4.

    The minister also recommended the Australian team to try desi food in Lahore and Karachi.

    Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Welcome to Pakistan a beautiful country of ours, May you enjoy your trip and do try Our very Desi food in Karachi and Lahore.”

    Rawalpindi will host the tour-opening first Test, swapping with Karachi, which will now host the second Test from March 12.

    The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will be the venue for the final Test.

    The schedule has been revised to ease logistical and operational challenges as well as to avoid Pakistan Day rehearsals, which usually commence in Islamabad in the second week of March.

    The two cricket boards have also agreed that the Australia Test side will complete their isolation in Australia, before arriving in Islamabad on February 27 on a chartered flight. After a one-day room isolation, they will hold training sessions at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

    Australia’s white-ball players are expected to arrive in Lahore on March 24 following isolation in Australia. After a one-day isolation upon arrival, they will integrate with other members of the side and travel to Islamabad for the first ODI in Rawalpindi on March 29.

  • ‘I cried’: Hasan Ali on Matthew Wade’s drop catch in T20 WC

    ‘I cried’: Hasan Ali on Matthew Wade’s drop catch in T20 WC

    Pakistan’s right-arm fast bowler Hassan Ali has recently opened up about Matthew Wade’s drop catch in the T20 World Cup. The pacer said that he cried after dropping that catch.

    In an interview, Hassan revealed that he cried after that incident and so did Shaheen following the dropped catch.

    “After the match, I was crying and so was Shaheen, it was an extremely sad moment,” said Hassan.

    Hassan also revealed that he ‘wasn’t able to sleep for days’, terming it as the toughest phase of his career.

    “It was a tough moment of my career and it was quite difficult for me to forget. I haven’t revealed this to anyone until now but I didn’t sleep for two days, my wife was with me and she was tense as I was not sleeping,” he said.

    “Shoaib bhai came to me and told me that you are a tiger and that I shouldn’t fall. In addition to that, I also received a lot of support on social media which helped me ease through the pain,” he said.

    He went on to say that he was gutted following that costly dropped catch but he decided to move on while travelling to Bangladesh briefly after Pakistan’s exit from the mega event.

    “I was quiet and sitting at the side as the dropped catch was appearing in my mind continuously but while travelling to Bangladesh I told myself that I should move on,” he said.

    Hassan also added that the 27-year-old pacer does not take the matches lightly and always tries to perform for Pakistan.

    It is pertinent to mention here, following that dropped catch from Hassan, Wade smashed three consecutive sixes to Shaheen and powered his side to the victory which also booked a final berth for the Kangaroos.

  • Australian A-List cricketers to miss Sri Lanka tour to prepare for Pak series

    Australian A-List cricketers to miss Sri Lanka tour to prepare for Pak series

    Cricket Australia has confirmed that they are preparing for Pakistan tour and this is the reason why their players David Warner and Mitchell Marsh will not attend the Sri Lankan series.

    Read More – ‘All looking really positive’ for Pak tour, says Australian Captain Pat Cummins

    Chief selector of the Australian team George Bailey, while announcing the team for the Sri Lankan series, revealed that David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and others are granted leaves to prepare for the Pakistan tour.

    The head coach of the Australian side, Justin Langer, will miss the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka as he will be busy preparing for Australia’s full-fledged tour to Pakistan in March this year. The Aussies will play three Tests, three ODIs as well as one T20I match against Pakistan.

    Aaron Finch will continue to lead the Australian side in the series.

    Australia T20I Squad:

    Aaron Finch (C), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

    On the other hand, Australian media claims that Cricket Australia and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are in a process of dialogues to play all the matches at one venue. Earlier, the first Test match of the series was set to start from March 3 in Karachi. The second in Rawalpindi from March 12 to 16 and the third in Lahore from March 21 to 25.

    The Australian cricket team will be visiting Pakistan in March and April.

  • ICC T20 World Cup: When will Pakistan play arch-rival India?

    ICC T20 World Cup: When will Pakistan play arch-rival India?

    Arch-rivals Pakistan and India will start their 2022 ICC T20 World Cup campaign by having a clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, October 23 2022.

    Both sides are placed together in group 2 in the Super 12 round for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 to be played in Australia. They will be joined by Bangladesh, South Africa and two teams from the first round in the group.

    The schedule for the T20 World Cup 2022 was announced on Friday by the ICC which confirmed that the 16-team tournament will be played from October 16th to November 13th at different venues of Australia.

    Hosts and defending champions Australia will play New Zealand in the opening match of the Super 12 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday, 22 October in a re-match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 final.

    Pakistan will kick off its World Cup 2022 campaign with a match against India on October 23 in Melbourne. The match will start at 1pm PKT.

    On October 27, Pakistan will face the winner of the first round’s Group B, which most likely can be the West Indies. On October 30, the green shirts will take on runner up of first round’s Group A, which – going by seedlings – can be Namibia.

    The semi-finals will be played at the SCG and Adelaide Oval on November 9 and 10, respectively. It will be the first time the Adelaide Oval will host a World Cup semi-final.

    The MCG will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 final, which will be contested under lights on November 13, 2022.

    Read More – Video: Indian ‘Mauka Mauka’ ads you might have missed

    Meanwhile, on their last encounter in the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pakistan thrashed India by winning from 10 wickets. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan produced a magnificent batting performance as they remained unbeaten on 68 and 79 respectively to chase down the target with 13 balls remaining.

  • ‘Disappointed’: Djokovic reaches Dubai after deportation from Australia

    ‘Disappointed’: Djokovic reaches Dubai after deportation from Australia

    Serbian Tennis Ace Novak Djokovic has been deported from Australia after his visa was cancelled by the Australian government. The dream of his 10th Australian Open title was dusted when an Australian court upheld a government deportation order.

    As per details, three Federal Court judges on Sunday sided with Immigration Minister Alex Hawke’s decision made to cancel the Serb’s visa on public interest grounds.

    Shortly after the ruling, federal agents escorted unvaccinated Djokovic to the airport in Melbourne, where he boarded an Emirates flight bound for the United Arab Emirates.

    The 34-year-old landed in Dubai on Monday morning.

    Before his departure, Djokovic said he was “extremely disappointed” by the Australian court’s ruling, but said he respected the decision.

    “I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open,” he said in a statement.

    “I am uncomfortable that the focus of the past weeks has been on me and I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love,” he added.

    After landing in Australia, the Serb star fought for his visa for almost 11 days. The tennis ace was participating in the tournament eyeing his 21st Grand Slam Title.

    The country’s immigration minister cancelled his visa on the grounds that Djokovic’s presence in Australia may be a risk to the health and “good order” of the Australian public and “may be counterproductive to efforts at vaccination by others in Australia”.

    Djokovic was scheduled to play his first-round Australian Open match today (Monday).

  • PCB to award cash incentives to 15 cricket players

    PCB to award cash incentives to 15 cricket players

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will be giving cash incentives to 15 Pakistani cricket players in recognition of their outstanding performance throughout 2021.

    Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja is expected to present the cash prize of Rs1.5 million to each of the top 15 players who remained an integral part of the unit in all three formats of the game.

    Two Test specialists Abid Ali and Sajjid Khan have also been invited apart from 18 players (three reserves) for their exceptional show in the longer version of the game.

    “The reception to honour the top cricketers is meant to recognise the services of all those cricketers who have helped the team stand tall in almost all the formats of the game,” a PCB official said in a statement.

    “Barring some brief hiccups, the team members have given exceptional performance throughout the year. Be it T20 World Cup performance, Test matches performance at home and abroad, the team has shown exceptional courage in all the departments of the game.”

    “Beating South Africa at their own soil and later sweeping through Bangladesh in their own backyard were exceptional achievements that needed to be recognised,” the PCB official said.

    Pakistan won 20 of 29 T20Is during the year which also saw them putting up some resolute show in the T20 World Cup. The team that was unbeaten eventually lost to Australia in the semi-finals but not before winning many hearts for the competitive element that was on display.

    The reception which will only be attended by the PCB high-ups is supposed to improve morale of the team members in front of the hectic season that also incorporates some important series and T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October/November.

    Pakistan may also host leading international outfits including Australia, England, New Zealand, and West Indies through the coming season.

    Every player in the 15-man squad would receive Rs1.5 million each as cash incentive while the rest of the five including three reserves and two Test specialists will also be awarded.

  • Australia cancels unvaccinated Tennis Star Novak Djokovic’s visa, reportedly lied on visa application

    Australia cancels unvaccinated Tennis Star Novak Djokovic’s visa, reportedly lied on visa application

    Australia has cancelled Serbian Tennis ace Novak Djokovic’s visa for a second time in a row over his right to remain in the country unvaccinated.

    The decision by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke means that the 34-year-old tennis star will be deported.

    However, Djokovic can still launch one more legal challenge to remain in the country.

    The men’s tennis number one was scheduled to play in the Australian Open, which is set to begin on Monday.

    “Today I exercised my power… to cancel the visa held by Mr Novak Djokovic on health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so,” the minister said in a statement.

    The move also means Djokovic likely faces a three-year ban on obtaining a new Australian visa.

    Djokovic’s visa was first revoked shortly after his arrival in Melbourne on 6 January, after Australian border Force officials said he had “failed to provide appropriate evidence” to receive a vaccine exemption.

    After a legal battle in Australia, the star player’s visa was reinstated by a judge, who ordered his release, ruling that border officials ignored correct procedure when he arrived.

    But on Friday evening in Melbourne, Mr Hawke cancelled Djokovic’s visa under separate powers in Australia’s Migration Act.

    As per details, the act allows him to deport anyone he deems a potential risk to “the health, safety or good order of the Australian community”, however Djokovic can still appeal this.

    It comes after Djokovic addressed allegations that he had made a false declaration on his travel form which stated that he had not travelled in the 14 days prior to his arrival in Australia, when in fact he had been to Spain.

    He said the mistake was made by his agent, calling it “human error” and adding that it was “not deliberate”.

    He also admitted meeting a journalist and having a photoshoot after testing positive for Covid-19.

    Earlier, a conversation between two Australian newsreaders on Novak Djokovic’s visa saga had gone viral, after a video of it was leaked online. In the video, the newsreaders can be heard talking against the tennis star while saying that “he’s going to get away with this”.

  • ‘We are in this together’: Australian cricket chief says if team tours Pak, ‘I will go with them’

    ‘We are in this together’: Australian cricket chief says if team tours Pak, ‘I will go with them’

    Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) Chief Todd Greenberg has told Australian cricketers that he will travel to Pakistan with them if the tour gets final approval but respects the wishes of “one or two” who might want to back out of the trip. If the team gets security clearance to travel, it will be Australia’s first tour to Pakistan since 1998.

    “I’ve made an assurance to the players that they won’t go alone. If they’re going to Pakistan, I’ll be going with them and I think that’s important. It’s an opportunity to show the players that we’re in this together,” Greenberg told Australian publication The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

    “The ACA accompanied Cricket Australia on a pre-tour of Pakistan late last year, and the reports were all very positive,” he further added.

    “But we’ll continue to take the advice of DFAT and other government organisations, as we need to be able to satisfy not just the players, but their families, that it’s safe to tour.” International teams have been reluctant to travel to Pakistan since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009.

    However, international players have competed in Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the West Indies also travelled to Pakistan in December 2021 for a Twenty20 series.

    Greenberg is aware that despite security assurances, a few cricketers might be unwilling to travel to Pakistan but he won’t force anyone.

    “There may be one or two players who won’t be comfortable despite the best advice we give, and that’s OK, we need to respect that.”

    CA chief executive Nick Hockley is also planning to travel to Pakistan for at least some part of the tour, while the interim chair Richard Freudenstein may visit for a period to meet with his counterpart Ramiz Raja, unless a new permanent chair is chosen by then, according to the report in the SMH.

    New Zealand and England had called off their tours to Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup last year, much to the disappointment of cricket fans in Pakistan.

    Chairman PCB Raja had earlier emphasised that cricketing nations need to back each other but said that “western bloc” was not helping the cause. He said he was expecting Australia to do the same what England and New Zealand did to them.

    It must be noted here that Pakistan will be hosting series with England twice in 2022. The Englishmen will visit Pakistan for seven-T20I series in September-October and they will return for a three-Test series starting in November, after the T20 World Cup in Australia.

    Pakistan and New Zealand Cricket Boards are also in constant talks to plan a series between the two nations.

    Meanwhile, the seventh edition of PSL is also set to kick start from January 27. International players from many cricketing nations will participate in the league.

  • Ramiz Raja to propose ICC four nation T20I ‘super series’ including Pakistan, India

    Ramiz Raja to propose ICC four nation T20I ‘super series’ including Pakistan, India

    Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja has said that he will be proposing to Internation theal Cricket Council (ICC) a four nation T20 International series which will include Pakistan with the ‘Big Three’ of cricket — India, Australia and England.

    Taking to Twitter, Ramiz wrote: “Hello fans. Will propose to the ICC a Four Nations T20i Super Series involving Pak Ind Aus Eng to be played every year, to be hosted on rotation basis by these four.”

    Chairman PCB said that this series can be played on a rotational basis by these four nations and profits can be shared on percentage basis.

    He further wrote: “A separate revenue model with profits to be shared on percentage basis with all ICC members, think we have a winner.”

    Pakistan and India faced each other in the group stage of the T20 World Cup in UAE, where the Babar Azam-led emerged victorious by 10 wickets. It was Pakistan’s first win against India in the ICC World Cups.

    Pakistan dominated the group stage and reached the semi-final without any hassle. However, the national side lost to the eventual champions Australia in the semi-final.