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  • Which anchor is a good cricketer? Inzamam ul Haq spills the beans

    Which anchor is a good cricketer? Inzamam ul Haq spills the beans

    Pakistan media anchors, like the rest of the country, are very fond of playing cricket. We know that many of them play cricket quite regularly, including Kashif Abbasi and Talat Hussain. But has one of the legends of the game ever praised an anchor’s cricketing skills? Well, that has happened now.

    During a live show on Geo News on Friday, former Pakistani batsman Inzamam ul Haq revealed which anchor is also a very good cricketer.

    While discussing Zaka Ashraf’s resignation as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman on Friday, Inzamam ul Haq joined a live call on Geo News with anchor Shehzad Iqbal. During the conversation, Inzamam ul Haq said, “Look Shehzad, I am telling you a little thing, you also play very good cricket and you are a very good batsman I don’t think most people know.”

    Coming back to the topic, Inzamam said, “Zaka Ashraf’s tenure as PCB chairman was not good for Pakistan cricket. He was elected to organize PCB elections but he did not and resigned without organizing elections. He did some good things too in his duration, but the duty for which he was elected, he didn’t do.”

    Ashraf resigned on Friday as PCB chairman, leading to Shah Khawar being appointed as acting chairman of PCB on Tuesday.

  • Shah Khawar appointed acting Chairman of PCB

    Shah Khawar appointed acting Chairman of PCB

    Shah Khawar has been appointed as the acting chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday.

    According to Geo news sources, Interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar has officially nominated Mohsin Naqvi to the Board of Governors (BOG) of PCB while Election Commissioner Shah Khawar is the Acting Chairman as per the PCB Constitution.

    Caretaker Federal Minister IPC Fawad Hasan Fawad has confirmed in a conversation with Geo News that Mohsin Naqvi has been nominated as a pattern representative in the BOG of Pakistan Cricket Board, the notification of which has also been issued.

    He said, “Mohsin Naqvi has been nominated in BOG in place of Zaka Ashraf, the Prime Minister has also accepted the resignation of Zaka Ashraf”.

    “I had a meeting with Shah Khawar in which he was told to complete the BOG of Pakistan Cricket Board soon and complete the election process”.

    It should be noted that as per Clause 2 of Article 7 of the PCB Constitution, as soon as the post of Chairman becomes vacant, all the powers are transferred to the Chief Election Commissioner and constitutionally he will be bound to complete the process of election of the board within four weeks. After the election, the elected chairman can take charge of his office within a week.

    In the present situation, the way for Mohsin Naqvi to become the chairman of PCB has been paved because Mohsin Naqvi will have retired from the duties of caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab by the date of PCB election and taking over charge by the general elections of February 8.

  • Is Ali Hamza PCB’s choice for PSL 9 anthem?

    Is Ali Hamza PCB’s choice for PSL 9 anthem?

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has on Monday approached singer Ali Hamza for the anthem of Pakistan Super League 9, Urdupoint sources say.

    Ali Hamza was one of the producers of season 11 of Coke Studio. The singer is part of the band Noori, formed with his brother Ali Noor, and is best known for his song “Par Chana De” in Coke Studio Season 9.

    PCB had earlier roped in singer Ali Zafar who is known for his blockbuster PSL anthems.

    In an official statement, Zafar said, “I had hired choreographers, singers, and producers to create the second PSL anthem and proposed three different anthems for the brand and the PSL franchise. One of the female officials was shocked and pointed out that my association with PSL would damage its brand and integrity”.

    “After working on it for two months, hiring musicians and music producers at my own expense, I came up with three different versions of the anthem for PCB to choose from. After planning to finalize and release one of them, I was told by PCB that I could not go ahead with the anthem for this reason but I would not like to disclose it at this time”.

    The anthem will now be produced by another singer and now it seems Ali Hamza’s magical voice will be the hallmark of the ninth season, but it remains to be seen if PCB signs a deal with the singer. Earlier, Fawad Khan, Naseebo Lal, Aima Baig, Young Stunners, Asim Azhar, Arif Lohar, Shae Gill and many others have also come up with great anthems for the league.

  • National cricketers not happy with PCB’s NOC policy for foreign leagues

    National cricketers not happy with PCB’s NOC policy for foreign leagues

    National team players are unhappy over the non-issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for foreign leagues.

    According to Urdupoint sources, players have expressed strong reservations over PCB’s policy about NOCs for leagues, and have been engaged in several discussions with the team management on the matter.

    In their complaints to the team management, they have said that each player is being evaluated for issuance of NOC under different criteria. Some players have played three leagues within a year and they are of the view that other players should also be given NOC. If there is no national responsibility, the PCB will have to issue the NOC.

    They are questioning the utility of having two NOCs when they are not allowed to play the full league. Despite the national responsibility, PCB is not willing to issue NOC and the players cannot even seek compensation for being excluded from the central contract under unfair circumstances. Players have questioned how the workload is determined without any medical or biomechanical tests. Players can also consider opting out of central contracts in case of injustice. It may be noted that PCB has issued NOC to Azam Khan and Shadab Khan who have already played two leagues. In response to a query, the source acknowledged the tension in the board’s policy and said that if there is no permanent chairman, the NOC policy is also not permanent.

    A review of the NOC policy will be considered if a new chairman is appointed. It may be noted that wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Haris had to return from Dhaka without participating in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as the PCB refused to issue him a NOC. Harris arrived in Dhaka to represent Chattogram Challengers in the 10th edition of the BPL.

    However, PCB rejected his NOC request due to his participation in two leagues from July 2023. He played in Canada’s Global T20 League in July and Lanka Premier League in August 2023. Earlier, PCB had announced that they have given NOC for participating in the upcoming franchise-based leagues. According to the cricket board, the NOCs were issued as per the provisions of the players’ central contract.

    “This decision was made in the best interest of all stakeholders involved, balancing the importance of playing time with workload management”. Both the leagues started on January 19. Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Muhammad Wasim Jr., Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, and many other Pakistani stars are part of various BPL teams. Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, and Muhammad Amir will play from Desert Vipers Imad Wasim from Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ILT20.

    Pacers Ihsanullah, Naseem Shah, and Muhammad Hasnain were not given NOCs because of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Haris, and Iftikhar Ahmed did not get NOC for BPL. Their NOCs are on hold as they have played two leagues since July 2023. Players under contract in the ILT20 are exempt from this requirement as they were signed by the franchises before the central contracts.

  • Why did Zaka Ashraf quit Pakistan Cricket Board?

    Zaka Ashraf, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee, resigned on January 19. At the time, the reason for his resignation was unknown.

    According to Geo News sources, personal reasons have been mentioned in the Zaka Ashraf’s resignation. Zaka Ashraf also resigned from the post of Chairman PCB Management Committee and Member Board of Governors.

    It should be noted that on January 22, Monday, caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi was approved to be appointed Chairman Management Committee of PCB.

    The caretaker prime minister has approved the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi. Sources say that the caretaker prime minister has also appointed Mohsin Naqvi as a member of the Board of Governors of PCB.

  • Mohsin Naqvi Appointed Head of PCB Management Committee

    Current interim Chief Minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi has been appointed as Appointed Head of Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman (PCB) Management Committee.

    In the past 13 months, the Pakistan Cricket Board has got its fourth new chairman. After accepting the resignation of former PCB Management Committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf, Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has nominated Mohsin Naqvi as his candidate in the PCB Governing Body.

    According to the PCB constitution, Election Commissioner Khawar Shah will form a 10-member board of governors as the interim chairman, with Mustafa Ramday as the other representative of the prime minister.

    Mohsin Naqvi will no longer be caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab after the general elections. After this, he will participate in the election of PCB chairman and become a strong candidate to become the head of the cricket board for three years.

    On January 19, Zaka Ashraf resigned from the post of PCB chairman, after serving in the post since July last year. He was initially appointed for four months and later, his tenure was extended by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar till ODI World Cup 2023.

  • Pakistan hockey team fails to qualify for Olympics for third consecutive time

    Pakistan hockey team fails to qualify for Olympics for third consecutive time

    Three-time Olympic gold medalist Pakistan failed to qualify for the Olympics for the third time.

    In the third-place match of the qualifiers played in Muscat, Pakistan failed to take the lead against New Zealand by 2-1.

    To get a place in the Paris Olympics, the team had to get the third position in the Olympics qualifier, but in the third-position match, Pakistan was defeated by New Zealand 2-3.

    The first quarter of the third-place match played in Muscat was scoreless, but at the beginning of the second quarter, Abubakar Mahmood converted a penalty corner into a goal to give Pakistan the lead.

    However, six minutes later Scott Boyd of New Zealand leveled the match.

    In the next moment, Pakistan got a penalty stroke on which Abu Bakr Mehmood scored to give Pakistan the lead again.

    Pakistan’s 1-2 lead was maintained until the last few minutes of the last quarter, but New Zealand’s Hugo Engels scored eight minutes before the final whistle to make it 2-2, and then Scott Boyd scored a goal in the 58th minute to give New Zealand a lead of 2-3 which remained till the end of the match.

  • Pakistan’s winning start in Under-19 cricket World Cup

    Pakistan’s winning start in Under-19 cricket World Cup

    Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by a huge margin of 181 runs in the first match of the Under-19 cricket World Cup.

    Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan and scored 284 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs, Shahzaib Khan scored a brilliant century and Saad Baig scored a half century.

    On behalf of Pakistan, Shahzeb Khan was the top scorer by scoring 106 runs off 126 balls, Saad Baig scored 55 runs and Riazullah scored 46 runs.

    On behalf of Afghanistan, Khalil Ahmed dismissed 4 players, Bashir Ahmed 2, Ghazanfar and Naseer Khan took one each.

    Chasing the target of 285 runs, the entire team of Afghanistan collapsed on only 103 runs, 7 players could not even enter double figures, Noman Shah scored 26, Sohail Zarmatni and Rahimullah Zarmati scored 20, 20 runs.

    On behalf of Pakistan, Obaid Shah took four wickets and Mohammad Zeeshan dismissed three players, Aamir Hasan and Ahmed Hussain took one wicket each.

    Pakistan’s batsman Shahzaib Khan was man of the match for his brilliant batting.

  • Did cricketer Sarfaraz Ahmed leave Pakistan?

    Did cricketer Sarfaraz Ahmed leave Pakistan?

    Reports of former Pakistan cricket team captain Sarfraz Ahmed leaving Pakistan and moving to London along with his family have turned out to be false.

    According to Geo News sources, there is no truth in the news of Sarfraz Ahmed leaving Pakistan. The former Captain is currently in London for a holiday and he is returning to Pakistan soon.

    Sources say that Sarfraz Ahmed will play Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the domestic league as well. Sarfraz Ahmed’s wife is living in London while his son is also studying in London.

    Close sources say that Sarfraz Ahmed made a comeback before and now he will make a comeback in the Pakistan team again.

    The news were circulating on social media that the former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed had left Pakistan.

    Here are some false news;

  • Dear Shoaib and Sana, public marriages should have public closure

    Dear Shoaib and Sana, public marriages should have public closure

    Needless to say, today’s big story has hit some people hard — and harder hit are the ones who were taken by surprise. We still remember the time when Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza got married.

    Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza married in a traditional Muslim ceremony in Hyderabad, India in 2010, followed by a Valima ceremony in Sialkot, Pakistan. Izhaan, the couple’s first child, was born in 2018.

    The rumours of Sania and Shoaib’s separation were around for a long time, but nothing was confirmed. There was an ongoing debate on social media which spiked whenever they either stopped following each other or removed pictures from Instagram.

    On the other hand, Sana Javed and Umair Jaswal’s marriage was also under discussion as rumours of their separation were widely spread on social media. In November 2023, speculations about the couple’s separation gained traction as users observed that Sana Javed and Umair Jaswal had deleted all traces of their shared moments from their Instagram accounts.

    Recently, Sania posted a story on Instagram which stated, “Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard….Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely.” And people felt for her, picking up that something was yet again, not okay. And she wasn’t able to fully express it, yet.

    Even now, stories are circulating through sources that Shoaib and Sania have divorced – with no comment by the reportedly former couple themselves

    We aren’t here to moral police two of our biggest superstars. But we would like to say, we expected that seasoned celebrities would show their fans a better, more respectful way to starting new chapters in their lives. Sania, Shoaib, Sana, Uzair, there are people who connect with them, follow them, want to be like them, which is why we would’ve appreciated an understanding of what’s going on.

    Sania, throughout this process, has said nothing. Amidst all this, Shoaib posts a picture with Sana, announcing his third marriage, and while we are happy for the new couple and their new beginning — we do have to ask — perhaps it might have been better to give their fan following who are invested in their lives, closure.