A unique love story has unfolded as Shahad Hussain, a 23-year-old man from Chitral, Pakistan, married 18-year-old Flores Sarah from the United States. The couple connected through the popular online game PUBG and maintained a long-distance relationship for three years.
Their relationship led to a traditional wedding held at a private hotel in Chitral, with the Nikah ceremony performed by Maulana Khaliq-uz-Zaman, the khatib of the Shah Mosque in Chitral. Sarah’s mother attended the wedding, and she did not need to change her name since it was already an Islamic one.
Raisuddin, a local from the Marooi area of Chitral, confirmed their three-year relationship, stating that Sarah had obtained her mother’s permission before marrying Shahad. The wedding followed local traditions, with Sarah wearing a traditional bridal outfit and her mother dressed in local attire. Women from nearby areas also joined the celebration.
This story highlights how cross-cultural relationships can also develop through online gaming and social media, leading to marriages that cross geographical boundaries.
In a similar heartwarming cross-border love story, Seema Haider from Pakistan and Sachin Meena from India found each other through the popular online game PUBG.
Seema Haider, drawn by her growing affection for Sachin, decided to leave her home in Pakistan and cross into India to be with him. This bold move was filled with challenges, not just because of the geographical distance but also due to the legal and social barriers they faced as citizens of two different countries with complex relationships.
In an interview shared by BBC, Seema and Sachin opened up about how the romance began for them and what they mean to each other. They started talking on PUBG in 2020, becoming close friends in seven months. According to the lovers, they met in Nepal in March for the first time, and Seema got Sachin a ticket.
YouTube sensation Darren Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, has announced his goal to compete in the 100-meter dash at the 2028 Olympics.
The 19-year-old YouTube star with over 33 million subscribers, famous for his high-energy videos and athletic challenges, shared his dream to move from online fame to professional sports.
This announcement comes after IShowSpeed raced against Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles in a 50-meter dash. Although Lyles won, IShowSpeed impressed many with his speed and determination. The event, organised by YouTuber MrBeast, offered a $100,000 prize and showcased IShowSpeed’s athletic abilities.
Lyles suggested that IShowSpeed train hard and consider a rematch over a longer distance, such as the 100 meters. IShowSpeed’s aim for the 2028 Olympics indicates he is serious about taking on this new challenge.
Moving from being a YouTube star to an Olympic athlete will not be an easy task as it will involve rigorous training, meeting qualification standards, and competing against experienced athletes. IShowSpeed’s determination and current athletic skills have, however, gained him support from his fans.
With the 2028 Olympics four years away, it will be interesting to see how IShowSpeed progresses in his training and if he can qualify to represent his country. His journey from a digital entertainer to an aspiring Olympian is an exciting story that blends the worlds of social media and sports.
The final and deciding match of the 3-Test series between Pakistan and England is underway in Rawalpindi. In this decisive match, England won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan, but they were dismissed for 267 runs.
Sajid Khan took six, while Noman Ali took three wickets for Pakistan.
England’s aggressive strategy, popularly known as ‘Baseball’, also seems to be failing as half of England’s team returned to the pavilion for 267 runs.
A video of the match is also going viral on social media, in which Harry Brooke gets out after scoring five runs, then Muhammad Rizwan says ‘No more Baz-ball’.
The English team has been famous for playing baseball and cricket for the last 2 years. Be it social media or news headlines, this word has been attributed to the England cricket team.
What is the term ‘Bazball?
The basic meaning of the word Bazball is to make quick runs with the aim of winning the test matches. England’s cricket team ushered in a new era of Test cricket under coach Brendon McCullum from New Zealand.
The former Kiwi batsman’s new thinking has apparently changed the way the longest format of the game is played.
In 2022, the England Cricket Board appointed McCullum as the head coach of the English team and Ben Stokes as the captain. After this, the English team changed its strategy by completely changing the style of the traditional Test match to an aggressive playing style in the Test matches.
While the batsmen used to bat slowly in the Test match, now the English team has changed this style and started batting fast and has taken the run rate to 4-5 runs per over.
The England team has adopted the style of playing fast in Test cricket, so aggressive play in Test cricket is now called ‘Baseball’.
The announcement for the Pakistan cricket team’s white-ball captain is expected today.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif hinted that the future of the team will be decided after an important meeting between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and Muhammad Rizwan.
However, Sports Journalist Shoaib Jatt has posted on X (Formerly Twitter), “Surprise CAPTAIN announcement on the way”, hitting toward something surprising.
Muhammad Rizwan is a strong candidate for captaincy, but it will be decided after he meets with Mohsin Naqvi. Shadab Khan, Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha were also strong candidates along with Rizwan.
NEW SELECTION COMMITTEE:
Earlier, the board announced the new selection committee for the national team.
The captain and head coach have been removed from the new selection committee of the national team; Aleem Dar, Aqib Javed, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali and Hasan Cheema are included in the new selection committee. All five members will be voting members.
The non-voting members include Azhar Mehmood, Bilal Afzal, Nadeem Khan, and Usman Wahla.
However, PCB has not included the captain and coach in the selection committee.
Videos of the English cricket team carrying chairs after a photoshoot and Pakistan’s red-ball coach Jason Gillespie clearing empty water bottles from the stadium are going viral.
The England team players and support staff participated in the group photo at the Pindi Cricket Stadium before the third Test against Pakistan, after which the players of the England cricket team started lifting chairs from the ground.
Another video of national red ball coach Jason Gillespie going viral, in which he can be seen picking empty water bottles from the stadium.
The decisive match between Pakistan and England will be played at Pindi Stadium starting tomorrow.
In the first match between the two teams, Pakistan was defeated by an innings and 47 runs, while in the second match, the visiting team was defeated by 152 runs.
PAKISTAN PLAYING XI AGAINST ENGLAND:
Pakistan has announced the playing XI for the Rawalpindi Test against England.
No change has been made in the Pakistan team. Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique will be open during the third test match as well.
Captain Shan Masood, Kamran Ghulam and Saud Shakeel are included in the playing XI. Muhammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha and Aamir Jamal are also part of the team.
Pakistan will play with three spinners, including Noman Ali, Zahid Mahmood and Sajid Khan. England had announced the playing eleven for the Rawalpindi Test yesterday.
The English team has made two changes for the Rawalpindi Test and decided to play with three specialist spinners.
After Pakistan’s Test win against England in Multan, Pakistani fast bowler Muhammad Amir came forward to support former captain Babar Azam.
Babar Azam was intensely criticised online after Pakistan’s win, with internet trolls citing his absence from the team as the reason for Pakistan’s win. The 30-year-old has been under constant scrutiny following his recent failures with the bat.
Amidst the growing backlash, Babar received unexpected support from Amir, who advised the public to desist from this vile practice.
The left-arm fast bowler wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Please stop this nonsense that Babar was not in the team, so the team won. We played with a better plan, took advantage of home conditions and won. Please don’t get personal with your players; yes, talk about the performance, but don’t get personal.”
He was possibly referring to Shoaib Jatt in his tweet, who has been critical of Babar Azam for a long time and attributed the 30-year-old batsman’s absence to Pakistan’s win.
Babar is currently out of the national team after being dropped for the remainder of the England series but is expected to be back in the squad ready for the tour of Australia.
Pakistan will play ODI matches against Australia o
Veteran sports journalist Faizan Lakhani trolled Shoaib Jatt for criticising Babar Azam after Pakistan won against England in the Second Test in Multan.
The national selection committee dropped Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Nasem Shah from the second and third Tests against England on Sunday, October 13. The committee added right-handed batter Kamran Ghulam, spinner Sajid Khan, and Noman Ali on the team, and luckily, they performed well in the match.
Kamran Ghulam scored 100 in his debut match, while Sajid and Noman took all 20 English wickets to secure the win for Pakistan.
After their best performance, Shoaib Jatt shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Do you know? These three were not included in the team because the (Babar Azam) did not want them in the team; Babar did all this to ensure that his friends’ group always remained safe, no matter how much loss it caused.”
Faizan Lakhani replied woth an old video of Shaoib in which he criticised Noman Ali for not taking wickets. Faizan wrote, “You, too, were not happy with Nomi, nai?”
This was the first Test win for Pakistan in the last 44 months on a home ground, and also the first time in 52 years that spinners took all of 20 wickets in a Test match.
Pakistan won this match, defeating England by 152 runs.
Pakistan eSports Federation has apologised for the earlier miscommunication regarding Pakistan’s representation at WEC 2024. The final decision between ASI8 and 52 Esports will be made after the PMGC 2024 draws tomorrow.
PESF stated, “We apologize for any misunderstanding caused byOur previous announcement. It was mistakenlyConveyed that 52 esports would be representing Pakistan at the wec 2024 in riyadh. We would like to Clarify that it has not yet been confirmed which team Will represent pakistan. We are awaiting the final pmgc 2024 draw results. Once those are released, we will be able to confirm Whether as18 or another team, potentially 52 esports Will be participating in the wec.”
“We hope for the best outcome and extend our best Wishes to both teams. Thank you for your patience, And we will provide updates as soon as we have Official confirmation. Best of luck to as18 and 52 Esports from all of us!”
Previous Update:
Pakistan eSports Federation (PESF) has replaced Pakistan PUBG Mobile team ASi8 with another team, 52 eSports, for the World eSports Championship (WEC) 2024 without any official confirmation.
As per the details, Team Asi8 topped the Pakistan as well as regional qualifiers for the WEC whereas 52 was in the 2nd spot. However, the federation decided to replace Asi8, prompting severe criticism from the gaming community, including the owner of the Asi8, Shehbaz Mengal.
Why did this happen?
Team Asi8 has qualified for the WEC and PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC), and both events are scheduled for November of this year. PMGC will start from October 31 to December 8, while WEC is planned for November 11 to November 18.
A total of 48 teams around the world participated in the PMGC, and the event was divided into three groups (Group Yellow, Green and Red) with 16 teams in each. Group stage matches of PMGC will start from October 30 to November 16, but the dates for each group have yet to be announced.
The groups will be announced on Thursday, October 17.
How can Asi8 play both events (WEC and PMGC)?
If team i8 is placed in the yellow or green group in PMGC, their matches could end before November 11 (Before starting WEC), and they could easily participate in WEC.
PESF statement on WEC 2024:
PESF announced on October 15, “We regret to inform our community that team asi8, The champions of both our national qualifiers and the Regional qualifiers for week 2024, will not be able to represent Pakistan at the world esports Championship (we) in Riyadh this year. Asi8 is Facing a scheduling conflict due to its participation On page 2024, which overlaps with the week 2024 dates. As per the official rules, the second-place team from Our national qualifiers will step in to represent Pakistan. We are proud to announce that 52 esports Who secured the runner-up position will be taking Asi8’s place at WC 2024. We have full confidence in 52 esports, who have shown exceptional skill throughout the qualifiers. We Hope they continue to represent Pakistan’s talent on The global stage. Asi8’s achievements are highly appreciated, and we wish them success. We look forward To seeing both teams make us proud. Let’s support 52 esports as they carry our flag in Riyadh!”
Criticism of PESF:
Team Asi8 owner TRYNDA (Shehbaz Mengal) shared an Instagram story stating, “Regarding the IESF tournament, initially, PESF officials told us not to use the AS logo on our jerseys. If we wanted to use it, we’d have to get AS to sponsor PESF separately because it’s PESF’s slot, not i8’s. I discussed this with IESF, but they said it’s our federation’s decision.”
“I then requested permission. PESF officials stated that any sponsors would pay them to select a lineup representing our country, not i8. However, the prize leveraging my experience as a pool would be i8’s. We agreed to this. Later, they asked us to choose between PMGC and the World Cup due to scheduling conflicts. I requested confirmation of dates, but they didn’t know the exact dates. However, they responded that it was their slot, and I had no say in it. At least they should have waited for the PMGC draws or permitted us to create a lineup that can perform internationally. After all, sponsors pay PESF, and prize money goes to players; we don’t benefit but enhance our country’s reputation,” he further added.
Another eSports creator, TeenWolf, stated on Instagram, “Unprofessional, team ka slot ha apna slot banaya hua hai.”
What are the team stats, and which team should participate in WEC?
Team i8 has been one of the best teams in Pakistan in the last few years and has won many national events, including (PMCO 2021, PMPL Fall 2022, PMPL Sring 2023, PMPL Fall 2023) and PMCO South Asia. Asi8 has already participated in PMGC 2022 and 2023. In PMGC 2022, i8 made an unbelievable comeback of the event’s history in the last match of the survival stage.
On the other hand, 52 won PMPL Pakistan spring 2022 and qualified for the PMWI 2022, where they finished in the last spot.
We don’t have any issue with Team 52 as they will represent the Pakistani flag on the global stage in WEC, but PESF should have waited for the official announcement and dates of the PMGC group stage matches.
Also, the slot for WEC was won by team i8, so PESF should have asked the team asi8 owner if they wanted to withdraw from the WEC or permitted them to make another lineup under their tag.
Pakistan is playing against England in the first Test match of the three-match series in Multan, where they scored 556 runs in the first innings. Pakistani fans were hopeful that Pakistan would win this Test due to their strong batting intent, but they overlooked the strength of the English batting lineup.
England has declared on 823. Harry Brook has scored 317 runs, while Joe Root was dismissed for 262 runs.
It looked like Pakistani bowlers had surrendered themselves in front of the English batting lineup.
Pakistani fans are upset about the cricket team’s performance, while some are brutally trolling with hilarious memes.
Pakistani famous YouTuber Ducky Bhai (Saad Ur Rehman) and his wife Aroob Jatoi have been arrested for displaying weapons on social media.
According to the details, Aroob posted pictures on her Instagram account displaying illegal weapons, after which police arrested the couple from Bahria Town. The famous social media couple has also been accused of promoting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) slogans against the government.
According to Samaa News, the couple blamed each other during the investigation. Aroob posted a picture on her Instagram and accused Ducky of being responsible.
Ducky has over eight million subscribers on YouTube, while his daily viewership is in the millions.
Earlier, police arrested TikToker Nadeem Mubarak, famously known as Nadeem Nani Wala, in Lahore for using a fake number plate, ‘IK 804’.
