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  • Waqar Younis advises Shaheen Afridi to copy Jasprit Bumrah’s World Cup blueprints

    Waqar Younis advises Shaheen Afridi to copy Jasprit Bumrah’s World Cup blueprints

    Pakistan’s former fast-bowling great, Waqar Younis, has advised pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to learn from India’s Jasprit Bumrah, if he wants to make an impact in the World Cup.

    Afridi has been struggling with his pace and fitness during the World Cup, putting in what fans have called unimpressive performances in all three World Cup matches, conceding 139 runs and taking only four wickets so far.

    While talking to AFP, former national pacer Waqar Younis said, “I don’t know if there is any problem with Shaheen’s fitness or not but his bowling lacks discipline and he is trying to get wickets. When you do the same thing over and over again, like Shaheen does with his yorkers in succession, the batsmen knows that and they are ready to play it”.

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    Younis suggested that, “Shaheen follow the example set by Bumrah,” whom he described as a “top bowler”. Bumrah is putting pressure on the opposition teams, Waqar pointed out, adding that his line is above the off stumps, “as we saw, that he bowled well against Pakistan”.

    “There was a lack of discipline from Pakistan’s bowling side in the World Cup. I don’t think it’s just because of the lack of  Naseem Shah, he used to bowl with Shaheen Afridi and both of them put pressure on the opposition batsmen” Waqar Younis said.

  • Usama Mir and Fakhar Zaman may be included in squad against Australia

    Usama Mir and Fakhar Zaman may be included in squad against Australia

    Pakistan’s opening batsman Fakhar Zaman and leg-spinner Osama Mir have been declared fully fit before a crucial match between the green shirts and Australia, Geo News has said in a report.

    Fakhar Zaman was suffering from knee pain while Usama Mir had high fever. Both the players have recovered just in time to be considered for the match against Australia. The Pakistani team has reached Bangalore, where a practice session is scheduled to be held from 6 pm to 9 pm today. Pakistan will play its next match against Australia on October 20 on Friday.

  • Shahid Afridi’s sister passes away

    Shahid Afridi’s sister passes away

    Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi’s sister has passed away.

    According to sources, the deceased was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Karachi, her brother Mushtaq confirmed on social media.

    Her funeral prayer will be offered at Zikriya Mosque of Defense Phase 8 this afternoon after the Zuhr prayer. Yesterday, Shahid Afridi requested users on social media to pray for the recovery of his sick sister.

  • World Cup 2023: Australia defeats Sri Lanka by five wicket to register first win

    Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the 14th match of the ICC ODI World Cup, the Kangaroos’ first win in the event after two continues defeats.

    The Sri Lankan team won the toss and decided to bat first, which did not turn out well and the Sri Lankan team was dismissed for 209 runs in 43.3 overs.

    The opening pair of Nissanka and Kaushal Perera gave Sri Lanka a brilliant start of 125 runs, Nissanka scoring 61 runs with eight fours and Kaushal Perera scoring 78 runs with twelve fours.

    As soon as both of them got out, the Sri Lankan batting line fell apart. Charith Asalanka tried to stay at the wicket for a while by scoring 25 runs, but he too got out and the entire team was bowled out for 209 runs in the 44th over.

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    Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa took four wickets for 47 runs, with Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc getting two wickets each.

    In the counter-innings, Australia also struggled initially with the first wicket falling at just 24 with Warner 11 and Steve Smith not out. Both were dismissed by Madhu Shanka. Mitchell Marsh and Lebouchen added 57 runs for the third wicket to improve the team’s score. Marsh got out for 52 runs, followed by another good partnership between Lebouchen and Josh Ingles in which both By adding 77 runs, he put the team on the winning track.

    Lebouchen was dismissed with an innings of 40, Maxwell with 31, and Stoins with 20 to get the remaining runs and give Australia their first win in the event after two successive defeats.

    Australia achieved the target in the 36th over with a loss of five wickets. Adam Zampa was declared the player of the match.

  • ICC may review Mickey Arthur’ comment ‘bilateral series’ after match against India

    ICC may review Mickey Arthur’ comment ‘bilateral series’ after match against India

    International Cricket Council (ICC) may take action against Pakistan’s cricket team’s director Mickey Arthur for his comment referring to “bilateral series” after match between Pakistan and India.

    During a press conference on Saturday after the match between Pakistan and India, Mickey Arthur said, “Today’s match looked like a BCCI event not ICC, I didn’t hear “Dil dil Pakistan” coming through the microphones too often tonight”.

    ICC chairman Greg Barclay was attending a session of the International Olympic committee in Mumbai where he voted for inclusion of T20 cricket in Olympics 2028. He reportedly asked about Mickey Arthur’s comments.

    “Every event that we have, there’s always criticisms from various quarters,” Barclay said, adding that “Perhaps we’ll take away and try to work on, try to do better, so this event’s only the start. Let’s see how the whole thing plays out and we will go away and we will review what could change, what we can do better than this, how we can improve World Cups, and the general offering around cricket.”

    Barclay stressed that he was satisfied that the tournament will still be an “outstanding” World Cup.

  • Hardik Pandya reveals meaning of secret gesture before Imam ul Haq wicket

    Hardik Pandya reveals meaning of secret gesture before Imam ul Haq wicket

    Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has revealed the secret behind the gesture he made prior to the dismissal of Pakistani opening batsman Imam ul Haq.

    A notable incident occurred during the World Cup match between Pakistan and India played in Ahmedabad in which Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen whispering to the ball just before the dismissal of Imam ul Haq. One ball earlier, Imam had hit a boundary on Hardik Pandya’s ball.

    While speaking about the incident, Hardik Pandya said, “I basically hurdled abuse at myself to bowl a better length.”

    India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the match.

  • Our prayers are with the victims in Gaza: French footballer Karim Benzema

    Our prayers are with the victims in Gaza: French footballer Karim Benzema

    Karim Benzema, a world-famous football player from France, has issued a statement in favor of the people of Gaza.

    Karim took to X (former Twitter) to say, “Our prayers go out to the local people of Gaza who are once again being subjected to an unjust bombardment from which even children and women are not safe”.

    Israel has been heavily bombarding Gaza for the past nine days, in which more than 2,600 people have been martyred and more than 10,000 have been injured.

    American President Joe Biden has called Israel’s attack on Gaza as their right to defend themselves and said that the elimination of Hamas is necessary. However Biden has also warned Israel that ground action on Gaza would be a ‘big mistake’.

  • Cricket has been officially included in Olympics

    Cricket has been officially included in Olympics

    Cricket has been approved to be formally included in the Olympics, fulfilling a long standing demand by fans of the sport.

    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai approved the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The Organizing Committee has proposed the inclusion of five sports in the Olympic Games apart from cricket, including baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse in the 2028 Olympics Los Angeles.

    According to the IOC, cricket will be played in the T20 format at the Los Angeles Olympic Games 2028.

  • Why was Pakistan defeated by India in World Cup 2023?

    Why was Pakistan defeated by India in World Cup 2023?

    India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the 12th ICC Cricket World Cup match played on October 14 in Ahmedabad’s Narinder Modi Stadium in India.

    The Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first. Pakistan started collapsing after 155/2 when Babar Azam was bowled out after scoring 50 runs. The remaining eight players returned to the pavilion while adding only 36 runs to the total. Pakistan set a total of 191 runs that India achieved in 30.3 overs while losing only three wickets.

    Fans started blaming the whole team and raising questions about Babar Azam’s captaincy, but no one talked about all the other issues that played a major role in this defeat.

    1: Lack of psychological training

    Pakistan cricket board hired psychologist Maqbool Babri before the Asia Cup 2023 to provide counseling to the Pakistani men’s cricket team. The duty of a sports psychologist is to improve stress management, effective teamwork, visualization, and many other psychological problems that an athlete faces during the game.

    First of all, we should ask PCB management what type of psychological training has been provided to our players to play the biggest match of cricket in India, our arch-rival. What type of training do they get to control their stress amidst a hostile crowd of 132,000? They should be asked about what type of training session is given for mental strength and how to use biofeedback and neurofeedback.

    2: Lack of bowling variations

    Pakistani bowlers were conceiving runs during the power play and also during the middle overs. They were not getting wickets in middle overs. A question should be asked of bowling coaches, whether they are unaware of Indian conditions which are similar to Pakistani conditions? Why were our bowlers unable to introduce more variations when the same is being done by their Indian counterparts?

    3: Defensive approach in batting

    ODI (One Day International) cricket is not a game of 250 or 260 runs anymore, now every team aims to score 300+ runs from the very beginning. Other teams have attacking opening pairs that score 60+ runs in power play and give very good momentum to the middle order. If we look at our openers they play defensively from the start of the match and due to their defensive batting style, get out early and leave the load on the middle order. Openers should have an attacking mindset and put pressure on the opponent’s bowlers.

    4: Zero support in the stadium

    Pakistan cricket team was playing with almost zero support from fans in the stadium because India had not issued any visa for Pakistan spectators.

    5: Chanting and booing by Indian fans

    Indian fans started booing at the start of the match when Pakistan captain Babar Azam came out for the toss.

    After this incident, Indian spectators started chanting “Hum tumhary baap hein” during the match when Babar Azam was batting.

    Another incident occurred when Muhammad Rizwan was returning to the pavilion and Indian spectators started chanting “Jai Shree Ram”.

    Remember that before this match Pakistan’s team received support from fans in Hyderabad. Pakistani cricketers also shared on social media that Heydrabad’s people were loving and amazing hosts.

    6: Harassing Pakistan player Muhammad Rizwan

    Indian lawyer Vineet Jindal, who has filed a complaint against Pakistani cricket presenter Zainab Abbas for old tweets, has now filed a complaint to the ICC (Internation Cricket Council) against Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan for his tweet in support of Palestinians and praying in the stadium.

  • Cambodian football team receives pathetic reception in Islamabad

    Cambodian football team receives pathetic reception in Islamabad

    The Cambodian football team coming to Pakistan for the qualifying round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 was given a shameful reception in Islamabad.

    The Cambodian team coming to Pakistan to play the World Cup 2026 qualifying round under the leadership of the officials who received crores of rupees from FIFA. As members of the Pakistan Football Federation’s normalization committee, the team received a poor reception.

    According to sources, a local coaster and Shahzoor truck were hired to take the team players and their belongings to the hotel in a shameful manner. Pakistan Football Federation’s Normalization Committee (NC) gave a unique welcome to the Cambodian football team, setting a high example of indiscipline.

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    On behalf of Daily Jang, NC member Shahid Khokhar and Chairman Haroon Malik tried to inquire about the situation over the phone, but they did not answer the call.