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  • ‘World ka gold medal b ayega’: Talha Talib wins Pakistan first ever medal in World Weightlifting Championship

    ‘World ka gold medal b ayega’: Talha Talib wins Pakistan first ever medal in World Weightlifting Championship

    Pakistan’s young weightlifter Talha Talib has won the country’s first ever medal at the World Weightlifting Championship on Friday by winning a Bronze at the snatch event in the 67kg category.

    In a message on Twitter after his victory, Talib said he hoped to win a gold medal for the country soon too. While he also thanked everyone who supported him.

    The 22-year-old weightlifter from Gujranwala managed to create history for Pakistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    He lifted 143kg in his first attempt in the snatch event in the 67kg competition. His following attempts of lifting 146kg and 147kg were unsuccessful, but the lift of 143kg in the first attempt was enough for him to secure a medal for Pakistan.

    Last year, Talha won the Bronze medal in same category at the Asian Championship. The performance earned him a place at Tokyo Olympics, where he finished fifth.

    The performance at the Olympics brought him into the limelight and the country’s sports authorities assured him full support for future events.

    Several notables, including Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Government of Punjab Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti, congratulated the athlete on accomplishing the feat.

  • Afridi, Vince move to Quetta, Azam Khan moves to Islamabad

    Afridi, Vince move to Quetta, Azam Khan moves to Islamabad

    The reports of former captain Pakistan cricket team Shahid Afridi being moved to Quetta Gladiators were circulating on social media and now the news has been confirmed by the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) page and franchise Quetta Gladiators. It’s going to be the fourth PSL team for the 41-year-old after he last played for the Karachi Kings, Multan Sultans and the Peshawar Zalmi. In the previous edition, he was a part of the Sultans, who won their maiden PSL title under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan.

    For the Gladiators, Afridi is most likely to play under Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy. The upcoming edition may well be his last season in the T20 championship. The former Pakistan all-rounder wished to sign off from the PSL after guiding the Gladiators through to title glory.

    “I am excited to join Quetta Gladiators, a side that has had a roller-coaster ride in the past few events despite winning the title in 2019. In my final HBL PSL event, it will my dream and wish to sign off with another HBL PSL trophy after tasting success with Peshawar Zalmi in 2017.

    “HBL PSL is an event that encourages and inspires a player to give his very best. I will use the same motivation to help my team and put in performances that can help us achieve our event objectives,” Afridi said on PSL’s official website.

    Along with Afridi, England’s James Vince has also been traded from the Sultans to the Gladiators. Iftikhar Ahmed, who played for Islamabad United in last edition, will play alongside newly traded Vince and Afridi in the Gladiators.

    Young wicket keeper-batter Azam Khan, who represented the Gladiators last season, will play for United in the upcoming season. The PSL draft is scheduled to take place at the High Performance Centre in Lahore on Sunday, December 12.

  • Rohit Sharma replaces Virat Kohli as India’s ODI captain, to take over from South Africa series

    Rohit Sharma replaces Virat Kohli as India’s ODI captain, to take over from South Africa series

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain of the Indian cricket team. He will take over from his predecessor Virat Kohli starting the three-ODI series against South Africa in January 2022.

    Read More – Video: Ravi Shastri saying goodbye to Indian cricketers, Kohli goes viral

    BCCI tweeted: “The All-India Senior Selection Committee also decided to name Mr Rohit Sharma as the Captain of the ODI & T20I teams going forward.”

    The announcement comes on the day the Indian board announced India’s squad for the three Test series starting December 26. Several floating reports in the media suggested that the change in guard was inevitable, before the board decided to end the suspense with a tweet. With it, Kohli’s near five-year-long limited-overs captaincy tenure has come to an end.

    Rohit, who took over as India’s T20I skipper after the T20 World Cup, led in the recently-concluded three T20I series against New Zealand, which the home team comfortably won 3-0. With Kohli already stepping down as India’s T20I captain, it was only a matter of time before Rohit took over as the team’s limited-overs captain. He was also promoted as India’s vice-captain in Tests, the deputy to Kohli, taking over from an out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane.

    Rohit has led India in 10 ODIs, out of which the team won eight. The biggest achievement of Rohit’s ODI captaincy came in 2018, when in Kohli’s absence, India won the Asia Cup in the UAE, beating Bangladesh in the final. The team won all its league matches, barring a thrilling tie against Afghanistan.

  • Shadab Khan reveals his wedding date, Babar Azam’s number in a tell-all Q&A

    Shadab Khan reveals his wedding date, Babar Azam’s number in a tell-all Q&A

    Pakistan’s right-arm spinner Shadab Khan recently hosted a question and answer (Q&A) session on his Instagram. The prodigious turner of the ball answered to some interesting questions. From his wedding date to Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam’s phone number, Shadab had hilarious responses to the questions.

    A fan asked the young cricketer that when is he getting married? Answering to the question, he said: “The question is good but I don’t have the answer.”

    One of the netizens asked Shadab to share his number. Not only his but the fan also asked for Babar Azam’s number as well.

    Replying to the fan, he said: “Bhai q nahe abhi bhajta houn. (Why not brother. Sending in a while.)”

    Another fan said: “Where does Babar Azam live?” He jokingly replied: “I am not completely sure about it but I think he lives in his home.”

    One of the fans asked that where does the 23-year-old cricketer live? He said that he lives in Rawalpindi. While another one asked for the exact location, Shadab sarcastically said: “Will be sending you the full address, it shall be easy for you.”

    One of the question was hilarious as it read: “Plz marry me bhai.” Shadab laughed at it and replying, he said: “Brothers and sisters can’t marry each other.”

    Another fan said: “Rishta dhoondein aap k liye. (Should we find a ‘rishta’ for you?).”

    While thanking his fans for the concern of his marriage, Shadab said: “I have realised that all of you are so much concerned about my marriage. Thank you for your interest.”

    One of the fans asked about his thoughts on Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket and his bowling. He said that “Babar is trying to take our place (in the team) but he did really well.”

    Babar Azam took his maiden Test wicket on Wednesday as Pakistan clinched the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Dhaka on the same day. Pakistan white-washed the hosts with an exquisite victory of 2-0.

    The Test team has flown back home and are set to play against West Indies in Karachi, starting from December 13.

  • VIDEO: Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket, celebration

    VIDEO: Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket, celebration

    Pakistan cricket team clinched the two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Wednesday despite the fact that two days were washed out due to rain. Sajid Khan’s outstanding 12 wicket-haul was the highlight of the match but Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s maiden Test wicket was the cherry on the top.

    Azam in the second innings bowled two overs, took a wicket, and only conceded a run with an economy of 0.50.

    The captain picked up the wicket of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 14 off 70 balls.

    Miraz tried to sweep Babar’s delivery and missed the ball, which touched his pad as a result. Pakistani fielders appealed for LBW, but the on-field umpire declared it not out.

    However, Babar straight away went up for the review, which clearly showed the impact was in line, and the ball clearly hitting between the leg and middle stump, which forced the umpire to reverse his decision to out as the entire Pakistani team became ecstatic.

    The Pakistan team was all excited to see their skipper pick up his wicket, while Babar himself was all smiles.

    The wicket was an important one as well for Pakistan as Shakib al Hasan and Mehidy continued to defy Pakistan’s bowling and were looking in a position to deny the visitors a win.

    Pakistan whitewashed Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series, breathing life into a rain-hit Test match that was otherwise headed for a certain draw.

    Pakistan team is headed home and all set to play the next series against West Indies on the home grounds.

  • Pakistan beats Bangladesh by an innings in the rain-affected second Test, wins the series

    Pakistan has beaten Bangladesh in the second Test match of the two-match series by an innings and eight runs at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday. Earlier, Pakistan declared their first innings of the rain-affected Test at 300/4.

    Sajid Khan became the player of the match. Sajid, Pakistan’s star bowler, has the fourth best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a Test innings.

    Abid Ali was named as the player of the series. He scored 133 and 91 in the first Test of the series.

    As per sports journalist, Mazher Arshad, Pakistan is the the first team in history to take 13 wickets to win on the last scheduled day of a 5-day Test match.

  • Pak vs Ban: Sajid Khan shines with an eight-wicket haul

    Pak vs Ban: Sajid Khan shines with an eight-wicket haul

    Pakistan’s off-spinner Sajid Khan has successfully put Pakistan in a position to win the second Test match against Bangladesh after he took eight wickets for 42 runs in one innings in a match that has largely been affected by rain. Pakistan enforced a follow-on after Bangladesh were bowled out for just 87 runs in their first innings and can manage a victory if the visitors bowl out the hosts today. Pakistan declared their first innings at 300.

    Sajid, Pakistan’s star bowler, has the fourth best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a Test innings. The other three are: Abdul Qadir (9-56), Sarfaraz Nawaz (9-86) and Yasir Shah (8-41). Cricket statistician, Mazher Arshad, tweeted: “Sajid Khan’s 8-42 – the best bowling figures by an off-spinner in Tests since Muttiah Muralitharan’s 9-51 vs Zimbabwe in Kandy in 2002.”

    Pakistan lead the two-Test series 1-0 after winning the first Test against the hosts.

    Praise for Sajid Khan:

  • VIDEO: Plane with ‘Free Kashmir’ banner flies over UK football stadium

    VIDEO: Plane with ‘Free Kashmir’ banner flies over UK football stadium

    A plane carrying a “Free Kashmir, 2,500 days occupied” banner was seen during a football match in Manchester, leaving spectators surprised.

    The plane crossed the stadium during the Crystal Palace vs Manchester United match, which was taking place at the Old Trafford — a football stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England.

    It is still not known as to who was flying the plane and why it carried the banner on Sunday.

    This was not the first time that such an incident has happened. Back in 2019, an aircraft towing a banner reading “Justice for Kashmir” had flown over the venue of the Cricket World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka at Headingley in Leeds, England. 

    Following the incident, the Old Trafford stadium — which was to host India’s semifinal clash against New Zealand — was declared a “No Fly Zone” by the local authorities, the Indian Express reported.

  • Umpire signals wide with his legs, video goes viral

    Umpire signals wide with his legs, video goes viral

    A video of an umpire has gone viral on social media in which he can be seen signalling wide with his legs.

    Taking to Twitter, former English cricketer Michael Vaughn shared the video, saying: “Surely we need to see this chap join the ICC Elite panel.”

    A Twitter user also shared another video of the same umpire under Vaughn’s tweet in which he is signalling for a boundary.

    In Maharashtra’s Purandar Premier League 2021, when a bowler bowled a wide delivery, the umpire left everyone in splits with his extremely unique way of signalling. Contrary to the normal way of giving the ‘wide’ decision by stretching the arms, the umpire did something extremely outrageous. He turned back, performed a headstand and stretched his legs instead to make the signal.

    The players on the field were also captured laughing as it was something that was probably happening on the field of cricket for the first time ever. “Yeh kya kar diya! Yeh wide ka style dekhiye, yeh bhi kamaal kar rahe hai, inka bhi naya andaaz hai. (What did he do? Look at this style of giving a wide. He is doing wonders, he has invented a new style),” the commentators said while describing the incident.

    The umpire eventually made sure that he would get up and make the wide signal with his hands as well so that everyone gets to know what the decision was.

  • Ajaz Patel becomes third bowler in Test history to take 10 wickets in an innings

    Ajaz Patel becomes third bowler in Test history to take 10 wickets in an innings

    New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel has picked all the 10 wickets in an innings in the ongoing Mumbai Test against India on Saturday.

    He had scalped all four wickets to fall on the opening day of the Test and carried on with his brilliant bowling on the second day as well to run through India’s line-up.

    India was bundled out for 325 runs in their first innings with Ajaz ending with magical figures of 10/115, which are really very rare to witness in international cricket.

    He became only the third bowler in international cricket to achieve this incredible feat. Jim Laker and Anil Kumble did the unthinkable earlier. Many bowlers came close since then, but they couldn’t grab all 10 wickets in an innings. All the wickets were brilliant set ups as well from the left-arm spinner nipping out top players of spin bowling.

    Pakistan’s veteran leg-spinner Abdul Qadir has also grabbed 9 wickets in a match against England. This feat was achieved by the Pakistani legend in Lahore in 1987.

    Anil Kumble took to his Twitter and congratulated the Kiwi bowler.

    “Welcome to the club,” he wrote.

    Several people from the cricket fraternity congratulated the cricketer for this amazing feat.