Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s wife, Serbian actress and model Nataša Stanković has left India and gone to Serbia with her son.
According to Indian media reports, videos of Natasha Stankovich leaving India, in which she and her son Agastya are seen at the Mumbai airport, are going viral on various social media platforms.
On the other hand, the model has also shared a story about this on Instagram. In his Insta story, he shared pictures of himself packing a bag and driving a car.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Saudi Arabia will host the 2025 Olympics esports games.
A 12-year partnership with Saudi Arabia has also been announced. IOC President Thomas Bach said, “Saudi Arabia has a lot of expertise in the field of e-sports with all its stakeholders.”
On the other hand, Saudi Sports Minister Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud said, “Saudi Arabia is excited to partner with the IOC and welcome a completely new era for international sports. Participating in the Olympic Games is a great honour for any athlete.”
Saudi Arabia is currently hosting the eSports World Cup in Riyadh. The event features 21 different video games and draws participation from various eSports teams representing different countries.
Pakistan’s eSports scene is struggling, while other countries like India and Nepal have a massive audience. We need to work together to revive our eSports sector.
PUBG Mobile was banned in India in 2020, but the game makers made a new version called Battle Grounds Mobile India (BGMI) for the country because they have a vast audience. Their creators are consistent on social media platforms. I was watching a BGMI live streamer, Jonathan, in India on YouTube, who has more than six million subscribers, and his live stream crossed 136,000 viewers. Meanwhile, there is a maximum of seven to nine thousand live audiences on Pakistan PUBG mobile official channels.
Here are some initiatives that can help us to revive eSports in Pakistan.
1-Building Online Presence
We must encourage eSports players to build their online presence on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. This will help them gain recognition with a broader audience.
2-Supporting Local Events
We need to support our local tournaments and events to create hype. This will attract sponsors and investors and provide a platform for gamers to showcase their skills. In Pakistan, no one is ready to invest because we have a smaller audience. A few events have been organized in the last year, like Gamekey Arena, Gamer Galaxy eSports Festival, and now the Zong Manhunt series 2024.
3-Building a Strong Community
We must develop a strong community that promotes and celebrates our eSports players. We have some minor social media pages like esportsnetworkpk, Tysonesports, Esportsguypk, Instantesport, Gamingnewspk and Soomro, who are helping to promote our eSports.
4-Collaborating with Education
We must collaborate with schools and universities to create eSports programs and teams. This will help identify new talent for the future, and eSports is a significant source of income.
5-Ask the government to help with visa issues
Pakistani eSports players face visa issues in Malaysia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal. In the past, Pakistan’s Tekken star Arslan Ash missed a big event due to a visa issue, while Pakistan PUBG mobile teams i8 and 52 eSports didn’t go to Brazil despite qualifying for Pubg Mobile Global Open (PMGO).
Reviving Pakistani eSports requires a collective effort. We need to work together to create a supportive system that encourages creators and players, attracts investors, and celebrates talent.
Pakistani Hip Hop band Young Stunners is popular both in Pakistan and India. The duo are super popular across the border and Indian star wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant is also a fan.
In a recent interview, when Rishabh was asked about his favourite songs, he said, “I don’t have any favourite song, but I like a song named ‘Afsaanay’. I love other songs sung by the same singers.”
The famous music band started their journey 11 years ago with the songs ‘Burger e Karachi’ and ‘Maila Majnu’. The trio include Talha Anjum, Talha Younas, and their music production, Jokhay.
China’s famous PUBG Mobile player Paraboy has officially joined JD Esports for a transfer fee worth $759,000, more than 21 crore Pakistani rupees.
The veteran player started his Esports journey in 2019 with team XQF and attracted everyone with his skills in Pubg Mobile Club Open (PMCO) 2019. After that, NOVA Esports acquired XQF. Now, he will be seen playing under different tags after a long time.
He won two PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) trophies including PMGC 2020 and 20121 with his previous roster. He has earned more than $1,300,000 as an Esports ethelete. He won gold medal in Asian game in 2023.
NOVA was in the Ninth spot in PMGC 2022, but they failed to qualify for PMGC 2023.
JD Esports has been struggling for the last four years, and they have never won any big titles. Now, they will play Peace Elite League (PEL) summer with veteran players this year.
Pakistan cricket team’s fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has argued that everyone supports the team during good times, but fans should offer support in bad times too.
During an interview on Thursday on YouTube channel ‘CrickWick’, the fast bowler said, “We are your team, not a street cricket team, or a team where players are selected based on recommendation. If you don’t support the team, you will be like the media.”
He revealed, “I have taken a lot of help from [father-in-law] Shahid Afridi and worked a lot on my batting at the Moeen Khan Academy. My role is to hit boundaries in the last overs, so that’s what I practice mostly.”
Shaheen is part of the national cricket team’s squad and is currently playing in the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad called Babar Azam a “fake king” while commenting on his performance as the head of the team.
During the Geo News program ‘Harna Mana Hai‘ on Wednesday, host Tabish Hashmi showed Ahmed Shahzad his statistics against Babar Azam and asked him for his opinion.
On this, the cricketer said, “Babar Azam is being compared to my eight-year-old stats on social media, while the situation was completely different at that time. We used to get 2.5 to three lakh rupees, but now we get 50 lakh rupees per month. He has every opportunity, but still, he is behind in the world in modern cricket.”
The former opener batsman went on to say, “The strongest captain in Pakistan was held accountable after two to three series but no one held Babar accountable. In five years of captaincy, he could not win a single trophy. Babar ignored domestic cricketers to accommodate his friends and disrupted the system of domestic cricket.”
The 32-year-old added, “I believe I could have improved my stats, but Babar’s stats are worse than mine, but if you are a king, then you are a fake king. You have made people crazy on social media, now you should raise your hands and admit that you are responsible.”
National players, including captain Babar Azam, are under severe criticism for the worst defeat in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup.
The finals of the PUBG Mobile Super League (PMSL) Central and South Asia (CSA) are starting today, with a prize pool of USD 200,000 (approximately 55 million PKR).
The PMSL league stage ended on June 9 with twenty teams participating, including four Pakistani teams, AgAsi8, 52 Esports, R3G, and GG Esports. 4MV from Mongolia topped the league stage with 654 points.
The top 16 teams from the league stage have advanced to the finals. From Pakistan, GG Esports could not qualify for the finals. On the basis of three weeks league stage, each team gets bonus points to start their journey in the finals.
Here are the bonus points of each team:
1-4Merical Vibes – 57 points
2-RUKH eSports – 53 points
3-MadBulls – 53 points
4-DRS GAMING – 52 points
5-IHC ESPORTS – 45 points
6-Horaa Esports – 45 points
7-Falcons Force – 45 points
8-De Muerte – 32 points
9-Team Lakers – 30 points
10-ASagi8 Esports – 29 points
11-A1 TMT Esports – 28 points
12-Everest Gaming – 28 points
13-R3GICIDE – 28 points
14-HardBass Team – 24 points
15-52 Esports – 21 points
16-Stronger Esports – 20 points
The finals will span across three days, starting from June 13 and ending on June 15. Pakistan Pubg Mobile Official channel will live streamed the PMSL final on YouTube.
Pakistan has finally clicked their first victory in the ongoing T20 World Cup, defeating Canada by seven wickets in New York.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and invited Canada to bat first.
First inning:
Canada scored 106 runs after losing seven players in the allotted 20 overs. Aaron Johnson played 52 runs for Canada in an innings.
On behalf of Pakistan, Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf dismissed two players each. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah took one wicket each.
Second inning:
Pakistan lost their first wicket in 20 runs, as Saim Ayub returned to the pavilion and scored six runs. After that, Babar and Rizwan made a partnership of 63. Babar Azam scored 33 runs, while Muhammad Rizwan scored 53 runs.
Dillon Heyliger took two, while Jeremy Gordon took one wicket for Canada.
Pakistan will play their last match of the first round against Ireland on June 16. Pakistan’s hopes for the next stage are pinned on the USA’s match against India tomorrow. If the USA wins tomorrow, Pakistan’s journey will end in the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s former middle order batsman Umar Akmal has taken to Twitter to inform the world about his fitness. And he’s done so in a rather weird way.
The middle-order batsman took to X (formerly Twitter) o announce: “Attention please! This is for those who think I am not fit.” Accompanying the post were shirtless pictures. The purpose of the bold move is to remind the management of the Pakistan Cricket Team that he is ready to step up if needed.
The timing of Umar Akmal’s post is no coincidence. The team’s struggle in Pakistan’s 2024 T20 World Cup campaign and the weakness of their middle order are obvious to everyone.
The tweet went viral as fans took to trolling him. Here are some reactions to Umar Akmal’s pictures:
