India may be forced to forfeit a Davis Cup play-off hosted by rival Pakistan, with the local tennis association saying Thursday the team was waiting on New Delhi’s approval to travel.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought several wars since winning independence from British rule in 1947, and sporting contests between the two have long been the victim of their enduring animosity.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) asked the sports ministry for approval to travel to Pakistan after a request to shift the fixture to a third country was rejected by the International Tennis Federation tribunal.
“The proposal is still pending with the ministry and we are awaiting a decision,” AITA secretary-general Anil Dhupar told AFP.
Pakistan Tennis Federation president Salim Saifullah Khan said 18 members of the Indian squad had requested visas for the World Group 1 clash scheduled for February 3-4.
“We have all the arrangements put in place. They will be given the best security and accommodation,” he told AFP. “Let politics be kept away from sports and better sense prevail.”
New Delhi last hosted the Pakistani tennis team in 2006 and the Indian Davis Cup team last travelled to Islamabad in 1964, according to news outlet India Today.
Local media reports said a 2019 match was moved to Kazakhstan, with the AITA citing political tensions as the reason for the request.
Sports matches between India and Pakistan are rare owing to decades of hostility between the two nations.
They share one of the world’s great sporting rivalries in cricket, by far the most popular sport in both countries.
But their teams have not played a bilateral series in more than a decade, and typically only face each other in larger tournaments.
India refused to travel to Pakistan for the 50-over Asia Cup in September, a move that forced its neighbour to partially relinquish hosting duties to Sri Lanka.
Pakistan travelled to India the following month for the Cricket World Cup after its request to stage some matches in a third country was rejected.
After the fall of four wickets, Mitchell Marsh and Smith took over the batting and both made half-centuries, but Mitchell Marsh got close to the century and was dismissed by Mir Hamza for 96 runs, after which Steve Smith also scored 50 runs and gave the wicket to Shaheen Afridi for a total of 187 runs.
Australia is on now on 187 runs for the loss of six wickets on the end of third day of Melbourne test with the total lead of 241 runs.
In response to Australia’s 318 runs on the third day of the Melbourne Test, the Green Caps, bowled out for 264 runs, but Shaheens pounced on Australia at the start of their inning.
Pakistani batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Aamir Jamal started the game at 194 runs for the loss of six wickets.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 42 runs off 51 balls and returned to the pavilion after being caught out by David Warner on the ball of Pat Cummins, after which Shaheen Afridi scored 21, while Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza could only add two runs each to the score. Amir Jamal remained not out on 33 runs.
When Australia started their second innings, the Shaheens attacked them. On the second ball of the innings, Shaheen Afridi dismissed Usman Khawaja while also dismissing Marcus Labuschagne before lunch.
Mir Hamza took two wickets off two balls in which he guided dangerous batsmen David Warner and Travis Head to the pavilion.
Australia has scored 107 runs with the loss of four wickets with a total lead of 161 runs.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has rejected a request by Australia’s Big Bash League’s (BBL) request to extend the No Objection Letter (NOC) of Haris Rauf, Usama Mir, and Zaman Khan.
BBL was informed of the decision not to extend the NOC of the three players, key Pakistan squad members for the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting January 12.
If the PCB had accepted the Big Bash League’s request, Haris, Usama, and Zaman could have played three additional matches. According to the NOC issued by the PCB, these players were allowed to play the BBL till December 28.
Cristiano Ronaldo, star footballer from Portugal, won another big honour in 2023 by becoming the top goal scorer this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo has surpassed Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe with 53 goals.
In the Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo crossed the milestone by scoring two goals from the penalty spot for Al-Nasr, as Al-Nasr defeated Al-Ittihad by 5-2 to win their third consecutive victory.
The Pakistan’s cricket team is performing worse and worse, day by day. There was a time when Pakistan cricket was at its peak, when everyone talked about the speed and bowling length of Pakistani pacers like Sheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. The time when the first over of Shaheen was dangerous for opening batsmen, when Indian openers could not stay on the crease after facing just a few overs by Shaheen, when the speedster’s each ball was 145+ kilometers per hour (KPS).
But every rise has a fall, and this fall had been authored by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The PCB used every bowler like a machine, not caring about their injuries, mental stress, rest, and many things that are related to the fitness of an athlete.
Before the ODI Asia Cup 2023, the Pakistan pace trio of Shaheen, Haris, and Naseem was considered the deadliest bowling attack in the world. The trio had made it difficult to chase 200 runs in ODI for the biggest teams in the world.
It was a T20 match, but Naseem Shah’s spells at the MCG brought a whole set of different vibes. pic.twitter.com/3TAB6PnZOJ
If you remember the T20 World Cup 2022 final when Pakistani batters could only score 137 runs on a good batting pitch, this trio didn’t allow English batsmen to move and chase easily, but due to the very low target, Pakistan lost the match. In the semi-final of the same tournament, Pakistan stopped the strongest team of the tournament New Zealand by just 152 runs.
There are many reasons but here are some prominent reasons that PCB is destroying Pakistan’s cricket:
1-No backup bowler for the main bowling lineup:
The PCB used only Shaheen, Haris, and Naseem for a long time and didn’t prepare any alternative bowler in case of injuries or any other issues with these bowlers. As a result, Pakistan lost in the Asia Cup due to the unavailability of Naseem Shah in the bowling department, and the ODI World Cup.
The PCB knew that Naseem was injured before the Asia Cup, but they forced him to play, and as a result, Naseem lost his biggest opportunity to play in the World Cup and rested for approximately one year. Now PCB is using Shaheen in all three formats despite knowing that if he continues bowling like this we will lose him in the next one or two years.
According to a report, Shaheen bowled 750 overs at the age of 20, while Protease’s Kagiso Rabada was the second with only 344 overs. Shaheen, who bowled every ball on 145+ KPH, is now bowling at an average of 135 KPH.
India’s Hardik Pandya was injured during the World Cup and Muhammad Shami replaced him, but the replacement was much better than Pandya as Shami became the highest wickets-taker in the World Cup. Every team had a strong backup to give some rest to the main lineup.
2-No permanent spinner in the bowling lineup:
The Pakistan team has no permanent spinner in the bowling lineup. We used Shadab, Nawaz, and Iftikhar as our spinners for a long time. The pacers were covering the spinner’s mistakes. During the ODI World Cup most wickets were taken by our pacers. Where every team had a good spinner we were relying on Shadab, Nawaz, and Iftikhar who are all-rounders.
I don’t know how our selection committee works, we had only one spinner Abrar Ahmed and we included him too in the reserved squad. I mean are you serious? You are going to play the biggest event of Cricket without any spinner?
During Pakistan team’s tour of Australia, we don’t have any good spinners. Australia is playing with a proper bowling lineup in which Mitchel Starc is leading the pace department while Nathan Lyon is one of the best red ball spinners leading the spin department.
In the first test match of this tour in which Australia defeated Pakistan by 360 runs, we had only Agha Salman as a spinner.
3-Giving no chance to young batsmen:
The PCB is not giving any proper chance to young batsmen like Muhammad Haris and Saim Ayub. PCB allows Imam ul Haq to play as the opener in the Asia Cup and World Cup but does not give a single chance to these young batters who were more impactful than Imam as an opener.
PCB included Haris in the reserve squad of the World Cup and Imam in the main squad. On the other hand, where each team’s openers were playing on a run rate of 8+, our batsmen with a strike rate of 4 would have returned to the pavilion before the end of the power play and left all the burden on the middle order batsmen.
4-Involving national players in personal controversies
Former captain Babar Azam’s chat was leaked on ARY during the Wasim Badami’s show. This was a massive controversy because according to Badami, Chairman PCB Zaka Ashraf allowed him to show that leaked screenshot of Babar Azam’s chat with PCB’s CEO Arslan Naseer.
5-Selection of player/captain on personal desires
An audio leak of PCB’s Chairman Zaka Ashraf with an unknown woman came to light in which Zaka Ashraf was talking about Babar Azam’s removal as the national cricket team’s captain and how Shaheen Afridi was preferred over Muhammad Rizwan as T20 team captain.
This is the time when PCB should avoid these propagandas and should think about national cricket otherwise this may lead to the destruction of the only happiness of Pakistanis.
The year 2023 was full of memorable moments of sports but here are some best moments that made us go wow.
1-Australia wins the men’s ODI World Cup
The Australian cricket team won the ODI World Cup in the November, pulling off the ultimate upset after defeating hot favourites and hosts India. Australia won the title by six wickets, brushing off the mighty Indian lineup with ease.
2-Spain wins women’s FIFA World Cup
Spain defeated the in-form England in the final of the FIFA World Cup final with a lead of 1-0. This was Spain’s first ever women’s trophy.
3-Pakistan became the No.1 ODI team
On May 6, Pakistan became the number one team in the International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI ranking under the captaincy of Babar Azam, marking the first time when the green shirts topped the list.
4- Pakistan qualify for FIFA World Cup qualifier’s round 2 for first time
The Pakistan football team qualified for the first time in the history of FIFA World Cup qualifier’s second round. In the first round Pakistan defeated Cambodia by 1-0.
5-Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar 50-centuries record
Indian star batsman Virat Kohli broke batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 50 ODI centuries, achieving the feat in the ODI World Cup’s semi-final match against New Zealand in Mumbai.
6- LeBron became all time highest scorer in NBA history
LeBron James became the all time highest scorer in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. During a match between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunders, LeBron James surpassed the record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1989.
Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38387 points in his career while LeBron James has scored 38390 points in his career.
Pakistani pacers stormed the Australian batting lineup during the Melbourne Test, dismissing the Australian team for 318 runs on the second day.
Pakistani bowlers sent seven players to the pavilion in the first session. Aamir Jamal took three, Shaheen Afridi, Mir Hamza, and Hasan Ali took two wickets each while Salman Ali Agha took one wicket.
At the end of the first day’s play in the second match of the three-match Test series, Australia scored 187 runs for the loss of three wickets after Pakistan won the toss and decided to field.
On the second day, Australia started their first incomplete innings at 187 for three. The remaining seven batsmen could add only 131 runs to the team’s total.
On behalf of the Kangaroos, Marnus Lubusahagne was the top scorer with 62 runs. Usman Khawaja scored 42, Mitchell Marsh 41, and David Warner scored 38 runs.
When Pakistan started the first innings, Imam ul Haq failed once again and got out after scoring only 10 runs. His wicket was taken by Nathan Lyon. At the moment, Abdullah Shafiq is at the crease on 35 and captain Shan Masood with nine runs while the national team’s score is 56.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has banned Mujeeb ur Rehman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, and Naveen ul Haq for two years.
A dispute has arisen between the players and the Afghan Cricket Board for not signing the central contract.
The three players decided to prefer foreign T20 leagues instead of giving priority to their national team, prompting the Board to take strict action against them. The Afghan Cricket Board has now imposed a two-year ban on Mujeeb ur Rehman, Fazl Haq Farooqi, and Naveen ul Haq while also denying them the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for any T20 league for two years after being banned.
Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has shared a Christmas greetings video to show the double standards of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The video shows religious symbols and other insignia on the bats of other players. West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran has a Christian cross sticker on his bat as seen in the video, Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne has a Bible message on his bat and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj has a Hindu symbol on his bat.
It should be noted that Usman Khawaja had asked the ICC for permission to put up a banner with the message of peace on the bat, but the body stopped him from using the peace symbol on the bat.
Earlier Usman Khawaja had worn the shoes during a practice session before the first test against Pakistan, which had slogans written on them to express solidarity with the Palestinians and he wanted to wear these shoes in the second match against Pakistan.
The ICC later said that Usman Khawaja had breached the Clothing and Equipment Act by wearing a blindfold in the Perth Test, for which he was charged.
The match is currently postponed due to rain in Melbourne and the pitch is covered with covers, the match will resume as soon as the rain stops.
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and decided to field in the second Test match against Australia.
Australia scored 90 runs for one wicket before the lunch break on the first day, David Warner was dismissed on 38 runs by Salman Ali Agha.
However, when the game of the second session started, Usman Khawaja scored 42 runs and was dismissed by Hasan Ali. Australia has scored 114 runs for the loss of two wickets, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are at the crease.
The Pakistan team made three changes in the team for the Boxing Day match in Melbourne.
Muhammad Rizwan is playing the match instead of Sarfraz Ahmed, while Khurram Shehzad has replaced Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali has been included in the national team instead of Faheem Ashraf.
Australia has a one-zero lead in the series against Pakistan.
