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  • ‘Reading Namaz in front of Indians’; Rizwan targeted by same lawyer who harassed Zainab Abbas

    ‘Reading Namaz in front of Indians’; Rizwan targeted by same lawyer who harassed Zainab Abbas

    Indian lawyer, Vineet Jindal, who had previously filed a case against sports presenter Zainab Abbas, resulting in her leaving India under security threats, has now turned his proverbial guns on Pakistani cricketer Muhammad Rizwan.  

    Jindal has written a complaint against Rizwan to Greg Barclay, the head of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for offering prayers on the field.  

    He goes on to write that the act of Namaz raises “questions about the spirit of the match and ideology”, since it was said in a “field amid many Indians.” 

    He also writes that Rizwan offering prayers among Indians is “symbolic” of the “intentional depiction of his religion.” 

    Users on social media are in a state of shock with some suggesting that ‘it seems to shock Jindal that Rizwan is, indeed, a Muslim’.  

    https://twitter.com/salmank11727912/status/1713418526650974243?s=48&t=rOeCbdRYErknX-iusAjnIQ

    Jindal continues to criticise Rizwan for dedicating his win to the people of Gaza, saying that dedication was against the ideology of India. His criticism seems unwarranted since the ICC, when responding to a similar comment by an Indian journalist said that Rizwan’s tweet about Gaza was his right since posting his opinion on social media did not fall under the rules of the game. 

    Netizens are also worried that Jindal seems to assume that Rizwan is Indian and not Pakistani. Why else would he have to follow Indian ideology?  

    He ends his complaint by asking ICC to take action against Rizwan. 

  • World Cup 2023: Afghanistan defeat defending champion England in huge upset

    Afghanistan has defeated defending champions England on Sunday in a thrilling match of the cricket World Cup 2023, pulling off a huge upset with a margin of 69 runs.

    England captain Jos Butler won the toss, inviting Afghanistan to bat first.

    The start of Afghanistan’s innings against England was excellent, with a partnership of 114 runs between opener Rehmanullah Garbaz and Ibrahim Zadran for the first wicket, but then Ibrahim was sent to the pavilion by English bowler Adil Rashid for 28 runs.

    After scoring three runs, new batsman Rahmat Shah also fell prey to Adil Rashid while Rahmanullah Garbaz was also run out after scoring 80 runs, and Azmatullah Umarzai was dismissed by Livingstone for 19 runs. However, Ikram Ali supported the team by playing an innings of 58 runs, Rashid Khan scored 23 runs and Mujeebur Rahman scored 28 runs.

    Thus, the entire Afghanistan team was bowled out for 284 runs in 49.5 overs. Adil Rashid took three wickets and Mark Wood took two wickets.

    Chasing the target of 285 runs, England’s batting suffered from difficulties from the beginning, with a continuous fall of wickets. The English batsmen appeared frozen, except for Harry Brook, none of the batsmen could resist the Afghan bowlers.

    Read More: ‘Today’s match looked like a BCCI event, not ICC’: Mickey Arthur

    England’s first wicket fell for three when Bearstowe was dismissed for two, then Joe Root for 11 and David Mullan for 32. Apart from this, captain Jos Buttler scored nine runs, Livingston and Sam Curran scored 10, 10, and Chris Woakes scored nine runs. On one side, the wickets of the English team kept falling, while on the other side, Harry Brook scored a half-century and gave the team hope of victory. He was also dismissed for 66 runs.

    Adil Rashid scored 20 runs, Mark Wood scored 18 runs and Topley scored 15 runs. The Afghan bowlers controlled the entire English team in 40.3 overs, thus Afghanistan defeated the defending champion England by 69 runs in the World Cup.

    Mujeebur Rahman and Rashid Khan took three and three wickets respectively while Mohammad Nabi dismissed two players.

  • ‘Today’s match looked like a BCCI event, not ICC’: Mickey Arthur

    ‘Today’s match looked like a BCCI event, not ICC’: Mickey Arthur

    Pakistan cricket team director Mickey Arthur has said after his team’s defeat by India, “Today’s match was not an International Cricket Council (ICC) event but looked like a home event of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). I didn’t hear “Dil Dil Pakistan” coming through the microphones too often tonight.”

    The coach was referring to an anthem, sang by Vital Signs, that Pakistani fans sing at all their team matches.

    While addressing a press conference after the match, Mickey Arthur said” We did not play well today, getting out for 155 to 191 is not fair, it was a big match, we could have done better on this wicket”.

    He said “India bowled well, we could have counter-pressured but today we could not play according to the Pakistan way”. He said the team goes into the field to win every match.”Past records are only played in the media. Its a long World Cup, we win two out of three matches,” adding that the team will focus on the next match with patience.

    He was hopeful to play the final with this team, trying to give confidence to Shadab and Nawaz.

    It should be noted that in the biggest match of the ICC Cricket World Cup, India easily defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets.

  • World Cup 2023: India defeat Pakistan by seven wickets

    World Cup 2023: India defeat Pakistan by seven wickets

    India has defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in Ahmedabad on Saturday in a World Cup 2023 match.

    Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first. Pakistan suffered its first loss in the form of Abdullah Shafiq, who fell to Muhammad Siraj after scoring 20 runs, and after this Imam ul Haq was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 36 runs.

    Babar Azam was bowled by Siraj for 50 runs with the total score at 155 in the 30th over. After Babar’s dismissal, Pakistan’s wickets fell one after one and the rest of the batsmen could only add 36 runs to the total score.

    Read More: Indian travel ad degrading Pakistani cricket fans faces criticism, backlash

    In reply, India achieved the target of 192 runs for the loss of three wickets in 30.3 overs. Rohit Shrama scored 86 runs while Shreyas Iyer scored unbeaten 53 runs.
    Shaheen Afridi took two wickets for Pakistan’s bowling side.

  • Why was pre-match ceremony before Pakistan-India not telecast?

    Why was pre-match ceremony before Pakistan-India not telecast?

    The Pak-India takra is underway with Pakistan batting first. A colorful ceremony was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before the match. The event was attended by many celebrities including superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Arijit Singh.

    Indian singer Neha Kakkar also performed at the event. However, the ceremony was only viewed by spectators present in the ground as it was not shown on TV channels.

  • Pakistan team hailed by compatriots as India keeps fans away from match

    As the high-voltage World Cup 2023 Pakistan – India match plays out in Ahmedabad, there are no Pakistani fans at the Narendra Modi stadium.

    Pakistani fans were not given a visa by the Modi government but the Green Shirts have all the support off the ground from home with the public glued to the screen and politicians, along with celebrities, cheering for them on social media.

    Caretaker PM Anwar-ul-haq Kakkar extended his support to the team in a tweet saying, “Let’s bring it home”.

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also took to X to show his enthusiasm by saying that he is “Rooting for Team Green”.

    Asma Sherazi lamented the visas not being issued but wished the team well.

    Ex-cricketers seemed to be equally excited as Mohammad Hafeez posted about the “Match of the year” and expressed his wish for the team to win.

    Wasim Akram reminded the team that “at the end of the day it’s just a game, go out there and do what you do best”.

    Shaharyar Ejaz, a journalist tweeting live from the ground, wrote that he hoped to see the team win on Indian soil.

    Filmmaker Nabeel Qureshi hoped for team Pakistan to play out a “suprise”.

    Fahad Mustafa cheered the team with, “Let’s do this boys”.

    On the other side, there are people vehemently criticizing the Indian Government for not issuing visas to Pakistani fans.

    Professor Ashok Swain lambasted the Government by saying that “It’s not Cricket, It’s Low-life’s Politics”.

    Another user criticised the crowd for trampling the spirit of the game as videos of them booing Pakistan captain Babar Azam circulated on social media.

  • Indian travel ad degrading Pakistani cricket fans faces criticism, backlash

    Indian travel ad degrading Pakistani cricket fans faces criticism, backlash

    The most-anticipated match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is being played on Saturday.

    Billions of cricket fans from around the world will tune in to watch great rivals, Pakistan and India, play at the biggest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium.

    The contest will mark the first instance of Pakistan and India playing a One-Day International against each other on Indian soil after 10 years. Their last bilateral meeting resulted in Pakistan defeating the hosts 2-1.

    In these exciting times, Make My Trip, an Indian travel company, has launched a newspaper ad campaign, mocking Pakistani cricket fans by promising discounts if Pakistan loses the match.

    Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag took to X (former Twitter) and wrote, “Na Ishq mein na Pyaar mein. Jo mazza hai Pakistan ki haar mein.”

    But let’s be honest here, the ad, published in Bangalore Times, Ahmedabad Times and other newspapers, would’ve made sense if the Modi Government had issued visas to Pakistani fans.

    Senior editor of CNN News 18, Pallavi Ghosh, believes that the ad is violating sporting spirit.

    Another X user, Rahul Fernandes, says that this ad doesn’t represent Indian values.

    Sumit also criticizes the campaign by saying, “We are terrible people. First, we deny them visas and then this.”

    It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani journalists got their visas on October 12 and 13, facing unexplained delays by the Indian government, and were not allowed to be in the media box throughout the World Cup.

  • ‘We have beaten India in T20, its not that we can’t beat them here’: Babar Azam

    ‘We have beaten India in T20, its not that we can’t beat them here’: Babar Azam

    Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said in a press conference held before the Pakistan-India match in the World Cup 2023, that his team does not focus on what happened in the past. “We focus on what is happening now, but we will try to give a good performance in tomorrow’s match,” he remarked.

    Babar Azam said that he has not batted as well as he should have in the World Cup so far. Stating that he does not know what the result of tomorrow’s match will be, Babar stressed that he has confidence in the team.

    Talking about Pakistan’s bowling line, Babar Azam said about Naseem Shah, “We will miss him in the World Cup for his impressive bowling in the Asia Cup. I believe in Shaheen Afridi. He is a big-match bowler.”

    Read More: Israel paying YouTube to put false news in children’s videos

    An up-and-down performance in a couple of matches does not mean that there is a question mark, Babar said about his star bowler. “If Pakistan wants to win the World Cup, the fielding should be better,” he told the press.

    He further said that there is no pressure on the players. “I hope we will get support here like in Hyderabad. We have beaten India in T20, it’s not that we can’t beat them here.”

  • After consecutive defeats in World Cup, former Australian captains lash out at team

    After consecutive defeats in World Cup, former Australian captains lash out at team

    Australia lost its first match of World Cup 2023 against India by six wickets, and then lost their second match against South Africa by a massive margin of 134 runs.

    After the second consecutive defeat, former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke said that the strategy of the team in the World Cup is beyond comprehension. “Australia has prepared terribly for the World Cup,” he said.

    Calling it “incomprehensible” to field Josh Ingles instead of Alex Carey, Clarke asked if the latter was responsible for the defeat against India. “I don’t know what the positives are so far. How can you take Alex Carey to the World Cup? If you have taken it, then why did you drop him after one match?”

    Read More: VIDEO: Abdullah Shafiq’s singing video breaking the internet

    Firmly stating that he was not disrespecting Josh Ingles, Clarke said, “I don’t know him but I’ve heard he’s talented. Josh Ingles wasn’t good behind the wickets. He couldn’t even bat. I think Pat Cummins is better for captaincy.”

    On the other hand, former captain Mark Taylor said that Australia’s strategy has not been aggressive, adding that the team is waiting for the opportunity and not trying to get the opportunity. “In Asian conditions, you have to kill to get the batsmen out. If your approach is defensive, think of saving boundaries, then so many boundaries will be scored.

  • Pakistan’s victory against India could be sweet surprise for Babar Azam

    Pakistan’s victory against India could be sweet surprise for Babar Azam

    Cricket fans are holding their breath in anticipation of the showdown between arch-rivals Pakistan and India, scheduled to be played on Saturday. The match is not just another game for fans, it’s an emotional rollercoaster.

    Read More: Are cricket lovers staying in hospitals in Ahmedabad instead of hotels?

    Pakistan’s victory against India will not just be a surprise for Pakistani cricket fans, it will also be a double surprise for Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam as the day after the Pak-India match is his birthday. Pakistan’s victory could be the sweetest surprise for Babar Azam.

    Remember that this arch-rival match will be played on October 14 and Babar Azam’s birthday is October 15.