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Tag: Sri Lanka

  • Resolution in Punjab Assembly wants Sarfaraz fired

    Resolution in Punjab Assembly wants Sarfaraz fired

    A day after Sri Lanka humiliated Pakistan with a 3-0 win in the T20 series marking the former’s return to the country ever since the 2009 bus attack, a resolution in the Punjab Assembly has sought skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed’s removal from the national cricket team.

    “The team that tops the global T20 rankings, has lost from a team that sits at the eighth spot,” read the resolution submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Malik Zaheer Iqbal.

    Seeking Sarfaraz’s removal from the team, the resolution further demanded an investigation into Pakistan’s whitewash against a comparatively inexperienced team like Sri Lanka.

    Earlier, head coach, chief selector and former national cricket team captain Misbahul Haq conceded that the defeat had been a “wake-up call for the team”.

    Pakistan have been humbled thrice in Lahore, losing the first game by 64 runs, the second by 35 and the third by 13 runs, to a Sri Lankan side missing some of their top players, such as Lasith Malinga, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews.

    “This was an eye-opener for us and you as well. The way we go after the seniors, and what we did in the World Cup. We forget their performances,” said Misbah at a presser in Lahore as he appeared to blame the team’s naivety and struggles against spin bowling the reason for the defeat.

    Sarfaraz, who came in to bat at number four and scored 17 off 16 balls before throwing away his wicket, appeared to pin the responsibility of the failed run chase on his partner Haris Sohail.

    He has earlier been trained guns at also for his poor performance at the 2019 World Cup, which was followed by a campaign seeking his removal as the captain.

  • Babar Azam beats Kohli, becomes 3rd fastest to reach 11 ODI hundreds

    Babar Azam beats Kohli, becomes 3rd fastest to reach 11 ODI hundreds

    Pakistan top-order batsman Babar Azam has surpassed Indian captain Virat Kohli to become the third-fastest player to reach 11 one-day international (ODI) hundreds. Babar reached this milestone in just 71 innings while Kohli needed 82, The News International reported.

    According to the details, the right-handed batsmen, who had scored 96 in Pakistan’s last ODI against Bangladesh during the 2019 World Cup, smashed his eleventh ODI century while playing against Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the National Stadium in Karachi on Monday.

    The first match was washed out without a ball being bowled at the same venue on Friday.

    South Africa’s batsman Hashim Amla remains the quickest to 11 ODI hundreds, getting there in only 64 innings. Another South African Quinton de Kock reached hi 11 hundreds mark in only 65 innings.

    Babar Azam also became the quickest to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year for Pakistan, reaching to the milestone in only 19 innings.

    Babar has so far scored two centuries and seven half-centuries in this year.

  • Najam Sethi trolls Imran Khan with ‘Relukata’ tweet

    Najam Sethi trolls Imran Khan with ‘Relukata’ tweet

    Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi has trolled Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan after it was reported that various Sri Lankan players had opted out of the proposed Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan.

    Sethi took to Twitter to mock PM Imran for his comments on international players who took part in the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2017.

    “Imran Khan should guide the PCB on how to make sure Sri Lanka doesn’t send a “Relukata” team to Pakistan!” Sethi tweeted.

    The former chairman was highly crticised in 2017 for bringing in second tier players for the HBL PSL final which was held in Lahore.

    Adding to the criticism Imran Khan called the international players ‘phateechar’, ‘rallukatta’ and ‘from Africa’. The former World Cup winning captain believed that these second tier players could have been called to play in the country regardless of the security conditions.

    These terms used by Imran Khan were classified as derogatory and racist during the time and he also received massive backlash for the comments and had to justify his stance accordingly.

    Sethis’s remarks come at a time when the PCB is still striving to get international cricketers to play in Pakistan.

  • Kashmir crisis: Sri Lanka rejects claims, says ‘it never supported Pakistan’

    Kashmir crisis: Sri Lanka rejects claims, says ‘it never supported Pakistan’

    In what is being termed as an embarrassment for the country, Sri Lanka has rejected Pakistan’s claims of enjoying President Maithripala Sirisena’s support against Indian decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution in held Kashmir.

    “The president acknowledged that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and expressed his desire that this dispute should be resolved according to wishes of Kashmiris under UN [United Nations] Resolutions,” read a statement issued following Pakistani High Commissioner Maj Gen (r) Dr Shahid Ahmad Hashmat’s meeting with the Sri Lankan president Tuesday.

    According to the statement, President Sirisena “also offered Sri Lanka’s mediation and facilitation of dialogue between Pakistan and India to re-activate the SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] forum”.

    The Pakistani High Commission’s claims, however, were rejected by the Sri Lankan president on Thursday.

    “The President’s Media Division wishes to state that the said meeting took place at the request of the High Commissioner of Pakistan and during which he briefed the president about the recent developments with regard to India’s abrogation of Section 370 and annulling of Article 35A of the Constitution of India.”

    It added that the president gave a patient hearing to the high commissioner’s views and said that both Pakistan and India have excellent friendly relations with Sri Lanka, adding that the country’s interest is to see the growth of regional cooperation.

    “The president did not make any other comment on the issues pertaining to Pakistan and India,” it concluded.