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  • Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    Here is what you need to know about PSL 7 draft, schedule

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition will begin on January 27, 2022, with the draft to be held on December 12. The league, which begins about a month earlier than usual to make room for Australia’s upcoming tour in March-April, will have the final take place on February 27.

    “Following an opening ceremony, defending champions Multan Sultans will take on hosts and 2020 champions Karachi Kings at the National Stadium with the first ball to be bowled at 7pm” on January 27, a PCB press release said, adding that 2019 champions Quetta Gladiators would go toe to toe with 2017 winners Peshawar Zalmi the following day.

    “After Karachi, which will host 15 matches from January 27 to February 7, action will shift to the Gaddafi Stadium where the remaining 15 league matches and the four play-offs will be played from February 10-27,” the PCB said.

    It will be the first time since 2017 when the headquarters of Pakistan cricket will host the PSL final.

    The National Stadium in Karachi had staged the league’s finals from 2018 to 2020, while Abu Dhabi was the venue for the 2021 final, where Multan Sultans defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs.

    Speaking on the matter, PCB Chairperson Ramiz Raja said: “I am delighted that the HBL PSL 7 schedule has been announced. This will now get the ball rolling with the teams to start planning and finalising their line-ups and the PCB increasing the pace of the operational delivery to ensure they provide quality playing facilities for the players as well as a five-star experience to the fans and our valued commercial partners.”

    “The HBL PSL 7 will also kickstart what will be a bumper year for Pakistan cricket with the Australia men’s cricket team to play a full series in March-April with England men’s cricket side to tour Pakistan twice for white-ball and red-ball cricket,” Raja added.

    Player draft

    According to the press release, the PCB has decided to hold the player draft for the league at its National High Performance Centre in Lahore on December 12.

    “Each side will come to the draft with a maximum of eight-player retentions from the last event,” it further stated. “Following the finalisation of player categories, the transfer and retention window is now officially open and will close on December 10.”

    According to the press release, Lahore Qalandars will have the first pick in the Platinum category, Diamond category, Gold category and Emerging category, Peshawar Zalmi will have the first pick in the Silver category, and Quetta Gladiators will have the first pick in the Supplementary category.

    Local players’ category renewals

    The press release said the PCB, after a review and assessment process, had updated local players’ categories.

    “In the biggest moves, Pakistan wicketkeeper/batter and Multan Sultan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan (previously Silver), Asif Ali of Islamabad United (previously Gold) and Lahore Qalandars’ Haris Rauf (previously Diamond) have been placed in Platinum Category.”

    Moreover, Multan Sultans’ Sohaib Maqsood, who was named the Player of HBL PSL’s sixth edition, and Haider Ali of Peshawar Zalmi have moved up from Silver and Gold categories to Diamond category, respectively.

    Schedule for matches in Karachi:

    • Jan 27: Karachi Kings vs Multan Sultans

    • Jan 28: Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Jan 29: Multan Sultans vs Lahore Qalandars; Karachi Kings vsQuetta Gladiators

    • Jan 30: Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United; Karachi Kings vsLahore Qalandars

    • Jan 31: Quetta Gladiators vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 1: Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 2: Peshawar Zalmi vs Lahore Qalandars

    • Feb 3: Quetta Gladiators vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 4: Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 5: Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars; Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 6: Karachi Kings vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 7: Quetta Gladiators vs Lahore Qalandars

    Schedule for matches in Lahore:

    • Feb 10: Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 11: Lahore Qalandars vs Multan Sultans

    • Feb 12: Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 13: Peshawar Zalmi vs Karachi Kings; Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 14: Islamabad United vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 15: Peshawar Zalmi vs Quetta Gladiators

    • Feb 16: Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 17: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 18: Multan Sultans vs Quetta Gladiators; Lahore Qalandars vs Karachi Kings

    • Feb 19: Lahore Qalandars vs Islamabad United

    • Feb 20: Quetta Gladiators vs Karachi Kings; Multan Sultans vsIslamabad United

    • Feb 21: Lahore Qalandars vs Peshawar Zalmi

    • Feb 23: Qualifier (1 vs 2)

    • Feb 24: Eliminator 1 (3 vs 4)

    • Feb 25: Eliminator 2 (Loser Qualifier 1 vs Winner Eliminator 1)

    • Feb 27: (Qualifier v Eliminator 2) Final

  • Ramiz Raja confirms PSL for women cricketers

    Ramiz Raja confirms PSL for women cricketers

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has confirmed Pakistan Super League (PSL) for women cricketers.

    In an interview to international media, Raja said that Pakistan does not have any system for women’s cricket, we do not have any schools or colleges for it.

    While talking about women cricket, Chairman PCB said that this kind of cricket will be the first in Asia because women cricket is also an integral aspect of Pakistani cricket.

    Referring to the difficulties faced by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (AFG) in the interview, Raja said that cricket in Afghanistan is currently facing difficulties but like the cricket boards of other countries, PCB also stands by Afghanistan.

    Earlier in a video posted by PCB, Raja hinted at the possibility of organising a women’s Pakistan Super League in the near-future. Ramiz was speaking after ECB CEO Tom Harrison visited Pakistan last month to try and repair relations following the recriminations of England pulling out of a two-match T20I series in October.

  • NCOC reportedly allows full capacity crowd for Pak-West Indies series

    NCOC reportedly allows full capacity crowd for Pak-West Indies series

    The National Command and Control Center (NCOC) has reportedly allowed a hundred per cent crowd capacity for Pakistan vs West Indies series at the National Stadium, Karachi.

    Read More – PCB announces schedule of West Indies tour of Pakistan

    The three-match T20I series is all set to commence from December 13 after which the teams will face each other in the ODI series, which is part of the ICC World Cup Super League, at the same venue.

    According to Cricket Pakistan, NCOC has allowed 100 per cent capacity after a request by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

    Children up to the age of 12, who have been vaccinated, will also be able to enjoy the game at the stadium.

    Moreover, NCOC has directed PCB to follow all Covid-19 protocols for these matches.

    Meanwhile, the Windies had earlier announced their squads for the T20Is and ODIs. Match officials for the series have also been announced by PCB.

    Aleem Dar, member of ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, will team up with Ahsan Raza, one of the four Pakistani umpires in the ICC International Panel of Umpires, for the on-field umpiring duties of the first of the three T20I.

    The Windies are scheduled to arrive in Karachi on December 9.

  • Shaheen Shah Afridi jumps to top five in Test rankings

    Shaheen Shah Afridi jumps to top five in Test rankings

    Pakistan’s young fast bowler Shaheen Sha Afridi has jumped to the top five of the ICC Test bowling rankings for the first time following his five-for against Bangladesh in Pakistan’s eight-wicket win in the first Test in Chittagong.

    Afridi, who finished with a match haul of seven wickets, moved up three places to number 5, overtaking James Anderson, Kagiso Rabada and Neil Wagner in the process.

    Each of the three bowlers Afridi has overtaken will have an opportunity to make gains of their own. Wagner could have the first crack if he makes New Zealand’s XI for the second and final Test against India in Mumbai. Anderson is likely to line up for the first Ashes Test next week, while Rabada will spearhead South Africa’s pace attack during their home Tests against India later this month.

    Meanwhile, Afridi’s new-ball partner Hassan Ali also moved five places to 11th, his best-ever position so far, following seven wickets in the Chittagong Test. This included figures of 5 for 51 that hastened Bangladesh’s collapse in the first innings after Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 206 runs for the fifth wicket.

    Read More – Hassan Ali equals Waqar Younis, Imran Khan’s record in Bangladesh Test

    Among batters, Tom Latham and Dimuth Karunaratne made significant gains for their efforts in Kanpur and Galle respectively. Latham, who made 95 and 52 in New Zealand’s thrilling draw, jumped five places to No 9, while the Sri Lankan captain was two spots higher at seven following scores of 147 and 83 in Sri Lanka’s 187-run win in the first Test.

    Over in Bangladesh, the nature of Pakistan’s come-from-behind win had a few other gainers too. Abid Ali’s 133 and 91 helped him jump 27 slots to a career-best 20th rank, one place above Mushfiqur. Among the other gainers was Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam climbed two places to 23rd after picking up a seven-for in Pakistan’s first innings.

    Pakistan will play the next Test match against Bangladesh from December 4 to 8.

  • Sania Mirza visits Nishtar Park Lahore, plays tennis with Aisam-ul-Haq

    Sania Mirza visits Nishtar Park Lahore, plays tennis with Aisam-ul-Haq

    Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, who is also Pakistani superstar cricketer Shoaib Malik’s wife, visited Sports Board Punjab’s State of the Art Tennis Stadium in Nishtar Park Sports Complex (NPSC) Lahore on Tuesday and played tennis with Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq.

    On her visit, Sania played practice tennis matches for one and a half hour with Pakistan’s international tennis stars Aisam-ul-Haq and Aqeel Khan.

    On the occasion, Sania appreciated the top standard facilities provided at SBP Tennis Stadium. “SBP Stadium is equipped with all modern facilities and it will help a lot in producing several top class tennis players in future,” she added.

    The 35-year-old athlete said Pakistan has plenty of tennis talent and SBP’s tennis stadium and academy are playing key roles in further nurturing the emerging male and female tennis players.

    Her visits to Karachi and Lahore have grabbed the attention of the Shoaib-Sania fans.

    In one of the videos shared earlier, she praised the taste of Karachi’s biryani. “Though I am from Hyderabad in India, the taste of Karachi’s biryani is the best.”

  • Babar Azam named captain of Karachi Kings for PSL 7

    Babar Azam named captain of Karachi Kings for PSL 7

    The all-format captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Babar Azam, will lead Karachi Kings in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which is starting in January next year.

    Read More – 2020 Sports Roundup – Some losses, some gains

    The franchise confirmed the long-rumoured development on its official Twitter account on Tuesday.

    “Big announcement for Karachi Kings fans! Our national team skipper, the one and only Babar Azam, will now be the captain of Karachi Kings as well!”

    “This is such an honour for me that the whole team management, including Imad Bhai, has entrusted me with the captaincy of our beloved Karachi Kings team. This means the world to me,” Babar said in a video message attached with the tweet.

    “I have been playing for the Karachi Kings for the last five years, and this is like my home and family away from home.

    “I will work as hard as possible to take the team to even greater heights than what we’ve already achieved so far. My promise is that I will give it my all to make sure we keep on growing towards bigger and better things,” Azam said.

    The players’ draft for the seventh edition of the PSL is due for the second week of December while the tournament is likely to start in late January. Karachi and Lahore are expected to host 17 matches each with the playoffs and the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

    Earlier, under the leadership of all-round spinner Imad Wasim, the Kings won their first title, playing against their arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars in 2020.

  • Messi wins record seventh Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo slams false claims

    Messi wins record seventh Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo slams false claims

    The Paris Saint Germain (PSG) star Lionell Messi has grabbed another record seventh Ballon d’Or on Monday night.

    Messi, 34, effectively retained the trophy he last won in 2019 — controversially, the award was not handed out by France Football last year because of the coronavirus pandemic — after a year in which he ended his long wait for an international honour, winning the Copa América with Argentina, and left Barcelona, the club where he had spent all of his career, for Paris St.-Germain.

    “It’s incredible to be here again,” Messi said. “Two years ago I thought it was the last time. Winning the Copa América was the key.”

    “I don’t know how many years I have left,” he added, “but I hope many more.”

    The Argentinian footballer also took to his Instagram to express his joy on winning the award again. He also thanked people who supported him.

    Messi finished with 613 points in the voting, only 33 more than the runner-up, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. In 2019, the last time the trophy was awarded, Messi beat Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk by only seven points.

    Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has hit back at the editor of France Football who claimed the Manchester United forward’s only ambition is to “retire with more Ballons d’Or than Lionel Messi”.

    Ferré told the New York Times: “Ronaldo has only one ambition and that is to retire with more Ballon d’Or [awards] than Messi. I know because he has told me.”

    However, Ronaldo has disputed that version of events and took to Instagram to claim that Ferré “lied” during the interview.

  • Pakistan beats Bangladesh in first Test with a convincing win

    Pakistan beats Bangladesh in first Test with a convincing win

    Pakistan has beaten Bangladesh in the first Test match of the two-match series by 8 wickets in Chittagong on Tuesday.

    Courtesy of openers Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique, the Pakistan opening pair formed a 151-run opening stand before Shafique was dismissed on 73. Meanwhile, Abid Ali fell short of his fourth Test century by 9 runs as Taijul Islam caught the Pakistan batter in front of the wickets.

    The openers capitalised on their century partnership and took it further to 151 runs before Abdullah was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan.

    Earlier, resuming Day 4 at 39/4, overnight batter Mushfiqur Rahim (16) was bowled by pacer Hassan Ali and the hosts lost their fifth wicket with the lead still being under 100. Yasir Ali had to retire, hurt after playing a knock of 36 and this brought Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan together at the crease.

    Shaheen Shah Afridi went on to take five wickets as Bangladesh was bowled out for 157, setting a 202-run target for the visitors.

    Meanwhile, leading the way to the win, Babar Azam and Azhar Ali sealed the deal for the side with a winning partnership and with back-to-back boundaries, Pakistan takes a 1-0 lead.

    Pakistan stands on 24 points on the points table of the ICC World Test Championship.

    Abid Ali bagged the Player of the Match award after his prolific innings against the hosts in Chittagong.

    Meanwhile, in the post-match ceremony, skipper Babar Azam said: “The way Bangladesh played in the first innings that was really good but Shaheen and Hassan were outstanding. That’s the beauty of Test cricket that it allows you to make a comeback. We didn’t have much time to prepare for the Test but we gave our best. I am really pleased with the way Abdullah Shafique built his innings. Abid Ali was outstanding, scoring tough runs to pull the team out from difficult position.”

  • Sensational Shaheen Afridi takes another fifer, stuns Bangladesh batters

    Sensational Shaheen Afridi takes another fifer, stuns Bangladesh batters

    Pakistan will need 202 runs to win the second Test match as spinner Sajid Khan and pacer Shaheen Afridi stunned the Bangladeshi batting order to dismiss the hosts for 201 runs on Day 4.

    The fourth day of the first Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh resumed on a good note for the visitors on Monday when fast bowler Hassan Ali provided the Men in Green an early breakthrough followed by Sajid Khan’s dismissal of Mehidy Hasan.

    Bangladesh, batting to survive and give Pakistan a fighting total, were five wickets down before they reached three figures on the scoreboard.

    Earlier, Afridi in a video message, said that he wants to give his hundred per cent and he credited his fellow pacer Hassan Ali that he is enjoying the bowling spells with him. He said that we want to give our best to achieve the best for the national side.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan is hopeful to defeat the hosts with Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique’s exceptional opening partnership. The national side only need 93 runs to win the first Test on the fifth day of the match.

  • ‘Lahore, Lahore hai’: Sania Mirza falls in love with Lahore

    ‘Lahore, Lahore hai’: Sania Mirza falls in love with Lahore

    Indian tenis ace, Sania Mirza, who is currently in Pakistan, has fallen in love with the city after she has been showered with love in the heart of Punjab.

    Read More – ‘Pakistan or India?’: Sania Mirza finally puts the banter to rest by revealing who she supports

    Several videos of her visit to Karachi and then Lahore are circulating on social media.

    In one of the videos, she can be seen saying Jinhay Lahore ni vekhya O jammiya nahi with her fans. Her husband can also be seen in the video.

    In another video, Sania can be heard saying that she received this much love on her wedding and whenever she visits Pakistan. She also thanked her Pakistani fans who came to meet her.

    The star tennis player was in Pakistan to launch her signature perfume Splash in a collaboration with a Pakistani brand.

    She was also seen in Karachi with her husband and son Izhaan on the launch of her and Shoaib’s perfume.